Chapter 54

Sungmin listed the things he had to do .

His first priority was to participate in the black mage dungeon expedition that would happen half a year later . His objective there was to acquire the magic armor, and if possible, other artifacts as well .

After that, there was nothing urgent . There was no need for him to remain in the city of Behengerr either so he was planning to leave at that time .

The most important thing he had to do then, was to prevent Baek Sogo’s death that would occur in 6 years .

If so, then all he had to do was to conquer the dungeon before they did . If the dungeon’s value disappeared, neither Baek Sogo nor Wiji Hoyeon will head there either .

However, that was impossible . Real ‘dungeons’ and not artificial ones were like natural disasters . They were created randomly . Dungeons made like that were sometimes not discovered immediately and were discovered after a lot of time had passed, but this didn’t apply to the dungeon 6 years later . That dungeon would be made 6 years later, and would practically immediately be discovered by the nearby adventurers . They decided to sell the information about that dungeon rather than go explore it, and that was how the rumors about the dungeon was made .

In other words, even if Sungmin headed to that dungeon right now, it would be impossible for him to conquer it anyway . Moreover, it wasn’t like he knew the exact location of that dungeon either . He knew its vague whereabouts, but just searching for it in that wide area would take a lot of time as well .

‘Perhaps I’ll meet Wiji Hoyeon again . ’

The promised date was 10 years later . However, he might meet with her in the process of preventing Baek Sogo’s death . Am I supposed to be happy? – is a question he asked himself several times before, but he only felt bitter about it .

Why did Wiji Hoyeon kill Baek Sogo?

It wasn’t just Baek Sogo either . All the people that entered the dungeon with her were killed by Wiji Hoyeon . Just why? – he presumed that there must be reasons . At least according to what he knew of her .

‘The her I know of . ’

The image he had of her started becoming messy . It was like a noise interference in radio waves . The sound of the cicadas he heard from Mount Msh, that annoying noise echoed in his ears . Sungmin blocked his ears . Nevel’s words, Kim Jonghyun’s words . Everything made his mind chaotic .

The Wiji Hoyeon that Sungmin knew of . The Baek Sogo that Sungmin knew of . The people that Sungmin had met and got to know each other . The people that showed him good will .

There was once a time when he was suspicious of their good intentions . However, he accepted them . Their actions had reasons behind them… . or did they? Did their actions really have a reason behind them? There are no such thing as coincidences . The words Msh spoke of . Life . Sungmin’s life . Just whose is it?

“Ah . ”

His mind became chaotic . Sungmin collapsed on the spot . Why was he brought to the past? It should have been a simple coincidence . The fact that he entered that dungeon was a coincidence, and the fact that he grabbed the stone of reincarnation was also a coincidence . Yes, that was all . Msh said that there are no such thing as coincidences in this world… but Sungmin couldn’t acknowledge that .

If it was not a coincidence, then what else was it?

‘God of time . ’

Denir . The God of time residing in Drimoor . Msh told him to go look for Denir – along with the words that it was up to him as to what he would acquire from his meeting with Denir .

Can Denir answer his question? Kim Jonghyun could not . He seemed to know something, but told him that he could not tell him the details . A forced and offensive something was deeply linked to the question that Sungmin had of himself . Even Msh did not answer . It was as though he could not answer .

A human could not answer, and a God could not answer . Can Denir really answer that question?

His heart was already heading off to Drimoor, but he couldn’t depart immediately . Drimoor was located very far away . From Behengerr, it would take at least over a month to get there by horse . He didn’t even know what would come from his meeting with Denir, so he couldn’t just set off for Drimoor .

So, he was planning to focus on getting that magic armor for now .

“Long time no see . ”

Nevel answered his call and appeared . He took a bow . Sungmin had not called for him for a week now . Rather than taking a quest that he could get from Erebrisa, he thought that it was better to shake off the temptation in his heart .

“I wish to check the quests . ”

“I have already organized them for you . ”

Nevel raised his hand at Sungmin’s words . After he tapped on empty air a few times, a semi-translucent window appeared in front of him . Was that magic as well? – thought Sungmin as he looked at the window that Nevel was looking at .

“There are various types in S-rank missions . Do you have any types that you prefer?”

“Something I can do alone, and something that doesn’t take a lot of time . And if possible, I’d like a mission that I can take not too far from here . ”

“Something you can do alone and not taking a long time – most of those are subjugation missions though . ”

“I do not mind . ”

“Hm… There aren’t many subjugation missions around Behengerr . As you know, most of the missions around here are taken by the Corona mercenaries . ”

Nevel scratched his head and answered .

“The mission that we connect you with are mostly shared with the mercenary guild . Of course, not all of them are like that . Top-secret missions that were asked through us are not open to the guild . However, those types of missions cannot be taken at S-rank . ”

“Is that so?”

“Yes . I can make it work out if you really want to… but with your skills, Sir Lee Sungmin, you will very probably die . ”

Sungmin did not deny Nevel’s evaluation . Although he had skills of an SS-rank capable of slaying an ogre chimera by himself, top-secret missions are just as dangerous as they were secretive . Sungmin didn’t plan to do a dangerous mission .

“Let’s see… . there is one mission that fits your criteria . ”

Reading down the list, Nevel selected one of the missions and showed it to Sungmin . Although it was pretty far off from Behengerr, it was a village that would take 2 days by horse .

“It’s not a mission chosen by the Corona mercenaries . Twin-headed trolls . Do you know of them?”

“I don’t . ”

Replied Sungmin . Trolls were similar to ogres, but were considered below them in various ways . They lacked intelligence and muscular power compared to ogres .

However, there were aspects in which trolls were overwhelmingly superior to ogres in – their tremendous regenerative powers, as well as their resistance to magic . The reason why trolls were classified as A-rank monsters were due to these reasons . If it was a twin-headed one, then it would be a monster befitting of an S-rank .

“Would you like to take it? The reward is 30 million erre . ”

“I’ll take it . ”

Sungmin nodded his head .

***

“So you killed a twin-headed troll this time?”

When he returned to Behengerr mercenary guild, Ludd asked . This was the first time he met Ludd after the ogre chimera subjugation . Sungmin looked at Ludd staring at him and nodded his head .

“Yes . ”

“I heard you didn’t receive it through the guild . …Do you have some other places you can take missions from or something?”

“…I don’t think I can answer that . ”

Sungmin replied with a bitter smile . Ludd shrugged his shoulders .

“Well, you don’t have to take missions from the guild . If you are so skilled, you can go around taking missions directly too . Rather than that… . I heard about it . Apparently you rejected Xeon’s offer?”

Sungmin didn’t speak about it, nor did it seem like Bern spoke about it either . Then did Xeon say it? Sungmin nodded his head while sitting down next to Ludd .

“Where did you hear that from?”

“Xeon said it . That he tried to scout you, but failed . Thanks to that, a lot of the other mercenaries have their eyes on you . ”

Saying that, Ludd giggled .

“No, I guess it isn’t exactly like that . Most people had their eyes on you from the moment you showed off your sword-qi the first time you arrived . Especially so, since you are a no-class . ”

Sungmin did not react to that . He knew that he was receiving attention . The ones that looked at him the most were the no-classes . Most of them had very low ranks, and were admiring and jealous of the peak-level no-class Sungmin . Sungmin was very familiar with these kind of gazes . After all, he felt the same towards Xeon when he entered Corona mercenaries in his previous life .

“Distance yourself from Xeon . ”

Ludd’s voice lowered . Bern couldn’t be seen over the bar table today .

“Xeon is… well… a very vicious guy at heart . He’s very doubtful, and doesn’t trust his allies . All A-rank mercenaries and above in his group are controlled by him . ”

“…I am aware of that . I don’t trust Xeon . That’s also the reason I rejected him . ”

“Thanks to that, he should be feeling very uncomfortable right now . ”

Muttering those words, Ludd drank the beer in his glass in one shot .

“It’s better to not fight with Xeon . Just… it’s easier to stay low in front of him . ”

“Why are you saying these to me?”

Listening to Ludd’s words, Sungmin suddenly asked while looking at him . Ludd blinked his eyes several times .

“You think I’m being nosy?”

“No, it’s not that . I’m thankful that you’re worried about me… . but are you telling me that you can be trusted?”

“That’s up to you to decide . ”

Spoke Ludd nonchalantly .

“But I can swear this . I don’t exactly hate you . ”

“Then?”

“What do you mean then? You want me to love you or something? I’m sorry but I don’t swing that way . ”

Ludd grumbled as he swung he tilted his glass .

“I hate Xeon . A few years ago… that is, when I was still an A-rank, I was scouted by Xeon, but he told me to tell him what was practically my lifeline, so I denied him . After that, I had to go through quite the suffering . ”

“Your lifeline?”

“I am an elementalist . ”

Replied Ludd . This was something that Sungmin knew as well . Ludd used the sword, but did not use martial arts to do it . Instead, Ludd used elemental arts . Elementalists were very rare even in Eria .

“Xeon told me, that I should tell him the oath I took in the elemental contract . Do you know what a taboo is?”

“…No, I don’t . ”

“Elemental arts, is uh… is the contract with an elemental of another world . In that contract, the elementalist must swear an oath about something to the elemental . It’s not something great, but if the elementalist goes against that oath, then his or her contract with the elemental would end then and there . ”

Saying that, Ludd frowned .

“That son of a bitch . He asked an elementalist that? So I said never . After that… I had to go through quite some suffering . As you know, the majority of the missions coming to the Behengerr mercenary guild is taken by the Corona mercenaries . So, there were no missions for me . There are a lot of A-rank mercenaries after all . ”

“…And so?”

“I left Behengerr and became S-rank there . Then I returned – to take revenge against that son of a bitch Xeon . But when I returned… that fucker became an SS-rank already . Shit . ”

Saying that Ludd giggled .

“Well, you are an S-rank so it should be hard for Xeon to do anything to you . But watch out anyway . That bitch Xeon… can’t even trust his own men, but treats everyone else like shit . ”

Sungmin had never heard that Xeon was such a person in his previous life . After all, he was a puny being to know things like these .

“Got it . ”

However, it was different this time . Despite that, he still felt slightly bitter .

It was as though he found out about the vicious and dirty sides of someone he admired .