CH 208

Kim Hyukjin's group went up to the Gran Seoul Dungeon. Yoohyun felt especially at ease today. He couldn't help but hum as he gazed at Hyukjin walking ahead of him.

'Hnnh.' How dashing a back that was. 'Working with Hyungnim is the best.'

Of course, it was true that the difficulty was highest when Playing with Hyungnim. It was hard and dangerous. But the sense of achievement and enjoyment that came with it couldn't be described.

'I wonder what he'll do?'

Gate Players were sealing off the Gran Seoul Dungeon entrance. Hyukjin smirked, inwardly calling those Players idiots. Even after she was crushed so completely by him, Song Junghye didn't call off her goons. She either thought he was bluffing, or thought that doing as he said would be an insult to her pride.

'Or she believes what Jackson said to her.'

Hyukjin found it amusing.

'But a person of Jackson's skill should have found out by now that the [Growth Fruit] in the Gran Seoul has lost relevance.'

Sunhwa, who was keeping pace shoulder to shoulder with Hyukjin, tilted her head. "Oppa. Did something good happen?"

"No, it's nothing."

"Something good happened, huh?" Sunhwa giggled, apparently in a good mood, as if something good happening to her brother was a good thing for her.

'The past Jackson propped up Song Junghye.' That was his assumption, for now. 'But looking at it now, I think he's using Song Junghye a little less.'

Of course, it wasn't yet confirmed. It was also possible Jackson hadn't discovered the secret of this dungeon yet.

'Well, doesn't matter which one it is.'

Whether Jackson had tossed Song Junghye aside, or just didn't know the Gran Seoul's secret yet, both were fun.

"Miss Junghwa," Hyukjin said.

"Yes?"

"How many Sylphid's Wing arrows do you have?"

"More than enough."

"Can I borrow just ten from you?"

"That's nothing, you can just have them. They can be bought in the shop anyway."

Hyukjin was honestly a little shocked.

'She buys these from the shop?'

Normally, the shop didn't sell Sylphid's Wing arrows. They had to be acquired elsewhere. Simply being able to get them from the shop was not normal. There was definitely a Guardian involved.

'Night of Shooting Stars, that dine-and-dasher.'

The Guardian had put up the Tome of the Divine Archer Physique as a reward and had run off without giving it to Hyukjin. The Night of Shooting Stars was such a famous Stage 2 Guardian that Hyukjin was still giving him the benefit of the doubt, at least for now.

"Thank you."

Hyukjin took the arrows from Junghwa and notched one. Junghwa's eyes gleamed.

'He's incredibly skilled as an archer as well, you say?'

Ordinary folk didn't know, but a few people knew about Hyukjin's skill with a bow. The video from Italy had been shared on various platforms. It didn't go viral in Korea, but archers knew about it by word of mouth.

'Show me then.'

But it was a little strange.

'Be it his posture…'

Posture. Breathing. Timing.

'They're all…'

Not perfect. It wasn't just not perfect, but positively rough.

'What's he saying?'

She heard Hyukjin mumbling something. Junghwa craned her ears, but didn't catch the first part.

"Such is the power of intuition."

"The Eye of Insight that sees the true nature of things."

"May all lies."

"Be shattered."

And with it, Hyukjin fired the bow. Junghwa was shocked.

'Kim Hyukjin hasn't had any training.'

He wasn't a trained archer. Judging by his posture, he didn't have any archer-related skills, either. There was no doubt about it.

'But why?'

Everything was rough around the edges, and yet…

'Why is the trajectory so true?'

Junghwa, who had learned archery from a young age, couldn't believe it. She had been taught that posture and breathing were more important than anything, but she felt her reality shaking at the roots.

Hyukjin fired another arrow. There was a gentle whistle, and then a thudding sound as the arrow made contact. It felt like the arrow crashed into an invisible barrier.

He fired another, coming to a grand total of three arrows.

Chaos erupted at the Gran Seoul Dungeon entrance. All the authorities of the Icewall guild members occupying the entrance shattered, and it only took three arrows. The leader of Icewall, Song Byeongchan, screamed, "Who is it?!"

Hyukjin glanced at Hyun Junghwa. Their plan was for Junghwa to step forward here, since they had arranged for her to get the credit for this clear. Just for the outside eyes, that is.

Junghwa took a deep breath.

'That's right.'

She and Kim Hyukjin had already come up with a cover story. She had learned her lines. This was what Hyukjin told her:

–They'll freak out when their gate authorities crumble. They'll probably look for the culprit.

Song Byeongchan shouted again, "I said, who the fuck is it?! Get your ass out here right now!"

–When that happens, say this. Your abilities are amplified when you're occupying a gate or an entrance.

"Your abilities are amplified when you're occupying a gate or an entrance."

"You're… Hyun Junghwa?"

–They'll probably recognize you. Since you're more famous than you think, Miss Junghwa.

Junghwa was struck with a strange sense of déjà vu. It was as if… Hyukjin had seen the future and told her exactly what would happen.

–How come you guys aren't running away when your specialty has completely fallen apart?

Junghwa repeated Hyukjin's words letter by letter.

"How come you guys aren't running away when your specialty has completely fallen apart?"

–By this point, people will start looking your way.

Before she knew it, many people were looking towards them. Everything was happening just as Hyukjin had said.

–I've given you guys a chance to run, but... Say that, and then raise your bow. That will conclude things.

"I've given you guys a chance to run, but…" Junghwa raised her bow. She improvised an extra line. "I wonder who my next arrow will hit?"

The Players occupying the gate began to scatter like roaches. They were contracted mercenaries. There was no such thing as loyalty to them. It was inevitable that they weren't about to stand their ground when the threat of death was looming before them.

The same went for the guildmaster of Icewall, Song Byeongchan. 'Dammit,' he cursed. Last time, Lao Yu came and messed things up, and this time, it was Hyun Junghwa. 'And there's even weirdos next to her.'

Especially concerning were the Tutorial Ender So Yoohyun and the Smiling Swordswoman Shin Yeonseo. With their gate authorities in pieces, Icewall was no match for them. So they all fled, leaving not a single person at the entrance.

Hyukjin smiled wide.

"What do you think? Exactly as I said, right?"

Hyun Junghwa felt a flush of fear.

* * *

Yoohyun took the lead.

"I cleared it last time, Hyungnim!"

The Gran Seoul had various fields. Many Players, including the guild members of Taeguk Shield, had divided the forked pathways amongst themselves, acquiring a great deal of information in the process. Yoohyun was one of those Players.

"B-But where are we?"

The problem was that Yoohyun was the navigator. It took at least three hours for Hyukjin's party to find the 'cemetery field'.

Sung-gu hummed, completely at ease. "We've been wandering for three hours and I'm not tired at all. At least there's no danger of dying, right?"

It was so very different from when he was last here with other people. It was refreshing. Yes, this was Playing. When Playing with his fellow Giantgod guild members, there was nothing to fear. All he had to do was faithfully carry out his role as a long-ranged DPS.

After three hours, they saw a black gate shimmering on the wall some distance ahead. It was a gate leading into a different field.

[Marvin Cemetery]

The field's name was 'Marvin Cemetery'.

"Ah! That one! That's the one, Hyungnim. Over there! A lot of skeleton dudes'll show up there."

They headed there without hesitation.

[Enter the Marvin Cemetery?]

Yeonseo was glued to Hyukjin's side.

"This place is scary."

The field was overall bleak, a neglected cemetery that hadn't been well-maintained. Many of the gravestones were broken, and the graves were rampant with weeds. A wet, disgusting stench drifted along in the wind.

Caw–! Caw–! came the raucous caws of crows.

"Can you do something about those crows somehow? Boss, you're an archer."

"..."

Hyukjin didn't acknowledge Yeonseo's half-hearted complaining.

"Miss Junghwa, is the gravestone responding, by any chance?"

"No, not yet."

They heard a notice.

[A monster is being spawned.]

Something stood up from a grave.

Skeleton Golem - LVL 35

It was a level 35 golem made of bones. It was slow, but had fairly strong physical attack power, and was unique in that it could restore itself even after being destroyed.

"We won't fight it."

Junghwa couldn't understand that. They wouldn't fight? Then what was he planning on doing?

Hyukjin put Junghwa's doubts to ease with his actions. "Die."

And then, the Skeleton Golem collapsed into a pile of bones.

[In accordance with the 'Death Sentence' of the True Ruler of the Gran Seoul Dungeon, the Skeleton Golem has perished.]

Junghwa blinked like a doe in headlights.

"Mr. Kim Hyukjin. Just what did you do, exactly?"

"Didn't you hear the notice?"

"The notice about the True Ruler?"

"Yes."

"This sort of thing is possible… if you're a True Ruler?"

"You saw it with your own eyes, no?"

There was no need or reason to explain it in detail. It might be different if she was a Giantgod guild member, but she wasn't, and there was no need to tell her everything.

Junghwa picked up on it, too. 'The reason he hasn't used this up to this point…'

It was intentional. An intentional choice to show her the power of Giantgod.

Magic Troll.

Advanced Goblin Soldier.

Orc Archer.

Orc Soldier.

Orc Warrior, etc.

All of these monsters were hunted far too easily by Giantgod. In fact, Junghwa had been thinking this for a while now.

'Giantgod Guild… was this strong?'

But that wasn't the end. Kim Hyukjin had just destroyed a Skeleton Golem with a single word. To Junghwa, it was a whole new world.

She was left wondering just where in the world the man at the forefront of this whole new world, Kim Hyukjin, had come from. How much did Korea's "top" guild, Taeguk Shield, know about Kim Hyukjin?

"Miss Junghwa," said Hyukjin. "May I take a look at the gravestone?"

"Yes."

Hyukjin examined the gravestone.

[Observing with Observer's Eye.]

He didn't see anyth—

'Wait a moment, I see it?'

[The True Ruler of the Gran Seoul Dungeon is checking the 'Gravestone of the Gatekeeper Grave'.]

[The True Ruler of the Gran Seoul Dungeon can set the location of the 'Gravestone of the Gatekeeper Grave'.]

Hyukjin's eyes picked up several spots. He couldn't see them with his physical eyes, but there were round circles of golden light sparkling in a few places.

"Finding the location won't be an issue."

The problem wasn't inserting the gravestone.

"The problem…"

New information was registered in Hyukjin's head.

Thanks to the 'True Ruler' effect, he could easily procure information on everything that had to do with the Gran Seoul Dungeon.

"...is that this is a gravestone for a grave."

It wasn't just something you could stick into any mound of dirt.

"What do you mean?" asked Junghwa.

"What do you think of as a grave?"

"A place where a corpse is buried?"

"If we're to match that definition, someone will need to die."

Someone first had to die, and then the gravestone had to be inserted at their head, then destroyed.

"What do you mean…?"

Hyun Junghwa tensed for a moment. If someone really had to die here, it could be her. After all, it was all of Giantgod against one person.

"No need to be anxious. I never once thought of doing anything to you, Miss Junghwa."

From that, Junghwa could feel it. Overwhelming her was a given from the start. But his words didn't feel like a lie or a bluff.

"Let's pick this spot."

Hyukjin stepped onto one of the graves.

"Please shoot me."

"...What?"

"I'm sure you know the weakness of a human target."

"What are you saying?! I can't do it."

"I'm asking you because I think the person with the gravestone needs to kill me for the best effect."

"But how can you…!"

Kim Hyukjin took out his bow and aimed it at Junghwa.

"If you don't shoot me, I'll shoot you."

Three seconds passed. In the end, Junghwa fired first. The arrow whistled from her Sylphid's Wing precisely towards Hyukjin's heart.

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