Gari Mountain I

It is a busy day. After getting out of the Hero Association's Confinement, I immediately dally off into working my butt off. I hail a cab while wearing an earpiece. "Hey, Hajin, what do you think of my idea?"

"It is plausible. I will see what I can do," he says to me with obvious doubt in his tone, wondering if my crazy idea will even work. "If it doesn't, it will only be a waste of money, but if it does, we will have a stable training ground. It is worth the risk, so I guess I will do it."

My idea is to use Hajin's Story Points and Setting Intervention to modify the Dungeon Core of a Dungeon of our choosing. I suggest to him that we can have an easily accessible Dungeon this way with a controlled environment, thus a safer method of training.

Initially, we are planning on having a trip to Hamgyong Province, which is teeming with strong monsters. But I prefer that we just have a Dungeon of our own. It is less hassle and more efficient. If possible, we can also use this Highly Controlled Dungeon to foster our own forces.

I can totally see that happening in the future.

"So what are you doing now?" I ask. I enter the mall while using [Always Here]. Since our stunt of slapping the Hero Association's face, I have become famous in a sense.

I am in the mall to buy a few clothes as a disguise to cover my face and also to gear up by acquiring the services of the Hunter Mall on the upper floors.

Hajin shortly replies from my earpiece. "I am helping Yeonha settle here in the hideout. I bought some furniture and stuff. The underground of Cube is enormous. It is like another Cube entirely in here. I am also busy drafting a proper timeline for us to follow in the future. I am also uploading data to the system so that the others get the context. Suho is really out of the loop… I don't think we should let Rachel get closely involved with us yet. She doesn't have any heavy responsibility yet and still has a way out."

"I agree." I am already out of the mall with a farmer cap, white face mask, and a tacky rainbow Hawaiian shirt over a white T-shirt and jogging pants. "We should be considerate with Rachel. I know I did her dirty by using her kindness as a breakthrough against Nayun and Suho's stubbornness. I feel bad for what I did. It is not really bad either that she has become involved with us; in retrospect with the plot, she is most likely to be targeted by a Devil too with Lancaster."

I hail another cab, this time with a more remote direction in mind. I continue conversing with Hajin, exchanging information about what the others are doing. I couldn't really talk to him during my imprisonment as Hajin and the others were too busy culling the leftover Djinn presence in Cube.

It appears that the others are doing quite well. Rachel is learning swordsmanship from Suho, who is quite a sufficient teacher already at this point. Nayun is going on a speed run on various easy Dungeons that Hajin has marked for her to get some treasures for our own use. Yeonha is having a sweet time helping Hajin buy stocks and reallocate the budget. Meanwhile, Kim Hajin is busy attending various press conferences as the youngest Nobel Prize winner at the age of 17.

Lastly, there is me. "I have arrived at Gari Mountain already. I should acquire the Seed and the Aether with ease," I tell Hajin as I finally arrive at my destination.

"Be careful. If there are any signs of changes, please retreat immediately so that we can make countermeasures," Hajin warns me gravely.

"Roger that." I turn off my communications and place my earpiece back in my pocket.

I follow the coordinates on my smartwatch. I make use of the auxiliary skills I learned from Cube like rock climbing. I experiment with <Flash > to see what it can do, and while I get better at using it, the journey only becomes easier.

The cooldown of 55 seconds makes the optional skill unwieldy in combat. But as an escape skill, this will help a great deal as I can activate it with a thought.

That aside, this <Flash > proves very helpful in traversing difficult terrain. I can cut the distance that a pit would force me to make detours.

Standing in front of a cave, I dust my hands. Dirt rains down to the ground.

My greedy thoughts on acquiring Aether are momentary. It is a weapon without any form and can change at the user's will. It can also attach to objects. Basically, it is like Venom, heh~! Furthermore, it is an evolving weapon! It is Hajin's trump card and identity from the original novel I know.

I'd love to have it for myself, but I prefer Hajin acquiring it. It is not that I am being faithful to the original, but I prefer having the Seed for myself. It is a selfish and egotistical thought on my part, as that Seed is not merely an item.

It is complicated, but I have my own motivations, I guess.

I carefully size up the cave. It is quite isolated, and this must be the reason why this dungeon remains hidden to this day. I wear the night-vision visor I bought from the Hunter's Mall on the upper floors.

There is also a new [Hunter's Dagger] in my possession which replaces my [Jambiya]. I wield it with my left hand, feeling odd that it is not asymmetrical to my [Wolf Fang] that I wield in my right hand.

"Huuu~" After taking a deep breath, I glance behind me. An inch away from my feet is a razor-sharp cliff. "Let's get psyched!" I motivate myself.

The Gari Mountain Dungeon is located in the middle of the cliff, buried in moss and vines.

I can feel my heart thumping with excitement. This is an adventure! I calm my nerves lest I invite a calamity from being hotheaded. If I fall, I should be able to use <Flash > and my daggers as improvised picks for insurance.

I continue observing the dark cave with my night-vision visor. As expected, I get nothing. There should be a ghost in that cave, and as spiritual monsters, they don't emit heat and are invisible to my visor. The reason I even bring this visor with me is to play it safe.

We must be very careful about the changes, as they will be our greatest enemy. Who knows? There might be a goblin in that cave, contrary to what we know.

I remove the visor, taking a careful second look at the dark cave. My perception is average among Cube Cadets, but I still manage to see the slight contour hovering at the cave's mouth. This must be the switch monster for the Hidden Dungeon.

I see the Ghost hovering there silently, simply looking back at me like an idiot.

"This is good. There are no changes, thus it is unlikely to have any accidents while completing this Dungeon…" I come to this conclusion within a short second.

Just like in the original story, the Gari Mountain Dungeon is an Undead Dungeon. Monsters in this dungeon include Dullahans, Banshees, and other undead monsters ranging from grade 9 to grade 3 of low-intermediate rank. The boss should be a Death Knight, so it will be impossible for me to defeat it.

But who am I? As long as it doesn't catch me, I should be safe. It is not like I will be meeting it halfway while walking to the target. The undead's most flagrant weakness, except for fire and the holy element, is the fact that they lack in the perception department. Thus, even if I encounter a Death Knight, I should be able to escape safely.

A Death Knight is a High-Intermediate Rank Grade 1 monster. Defeating it is impossible without a High-Rank Hero. "Let's see…" I make a second check on my gear. I have a small bag strapping to my waist. It has small vials with all sorts of potions I similarly bought from the Hunter's Mall.

This is a Hidden Stage. If I kill the switch monster now, I should be able to find the completely isolated space from the Standard Dungeon where I must complete the subjugation. As it is isolated, if there really is a change, it will be difficult for me to escape. I am actually taking a lot of risks here.

But then again, I am quite confident of my survivability and escaping abilities.

In The Returnee Hero, the original owner of Aether is Tomer, a Djinn who becomes a villain in the novel for the purpose of taking revenge on her own father. However, in The Novel's Extra, it is Hajin who uses this weapon. Because of this, Tomer's fate changes, resulting in her meeting a different Chance Encounter that ends up helping Hajin in the future.

It is only a passing thought, but what if I meet Tomer now? Should I contest with her on acquiring Aether? Should I help her? Should I get rid of her? "Should I woo her?" No. That is impossible; she is not my type.

In the end, Hajin decides to let me have free rein.

"There is no use in me thinking about it as it has not happened yet."

I drip my daggers with Holy Water. I discard the glass bottles to the side and enter the cave with confidence. As soon as I step in, an extreme chill penetrates my body.

"Sheesh. It is like winter in here…" I shrug off the chill jokingly.

I stride to the Ghost monster while under [Always Here]. It simply stands there, not even noticing my presence. I slash my dagger at the Ghost, sending it to the afterlife. The Ghost explodes into light particles without a sound.

At that moment, a strange wind blows from a direction, sucking the Ghost's light. That is where I have to go. I alternate with my Night-Vision Visor and normal eyes. This is more tiring than actually killing the ghost itself. I wish I had Hajin's eyes.

My eyes don't miss the incredibly faint stream of light. I follow it. After about ten minutes of walking, I finally arrive at a place that is isolated from the Dungeon.

I look back at the path where I came from, and it is blocked by darkness.

I grab a vial with glittering sand from inside my little pouch by my waist. I uncork the vial and unleash the sand into the air.

It is called Glow Dust, a convenient item to illuminate dark places like a cave. The glittering sand spreads into the air with its magic power spreading outwards. I see the rapid changes in the surroundings.

My eyes land in the middle of the room where a little girl is idly sitting on the cold ground. A cute little witch hat adorns her head, and in her palms is Aether in the shape of a ball.

It is the Witch Evandel, my target of subjugation.