Chapter 83.

“… . ”

Seeing Kim Suho eating a bowl of rice soup, I became lost in thought .

Kim Suho’s current power was at least at the level of an intermediate rank Hero . This world still had many hidden pieces that I set up left undiscovered .

Among these, there were some that would fall into antagonists’ hands . Items like the ‘Lucifer’s Feather’ and the ‘Snaketooth of Beginning’ were things that I wouldn’t dare to try to obtain, but with Kim Suho’s assistance, I might be able to stop them from falling into antagonists’ hands .

…Thinking about it this way, Kim Suho suddenly became a lot more attractive .

I stared fixedly at Kim Suho . He looked like a main character no matter how I looked at him . The rice soup must be delicious as he didn’t notice that a grain of rice was stuck next to his mouth .

“You have a grain of rice stuck there . ”

I took out a few sheets of tissues and took off the grain of rice .

“Ah, thanks . ”

Kim Suho spoke with a thin smile .

“By the way, are you going to do the powerpoint presentation for your class?”

“Yep . ”

“Aren’t you nervous? I would be . ”

I learned long ago that it was foolish to be obstinate about eating medicine . Although I quit college to focus on writing, I still attended until I was a sophomore . I’ve been in 4~5 group projects as well, so I was fairly experienced with presentations .

I also planned on investing some SP into the serenity pill, not necessarily for me, but for Rachel and my other teammates, who had high expectations of me .

If I also add an increased eloquence and persuasiveness effect on the hornflute, it should be a breeze to ace the presentation .

I asked Kim Suho .

“Anyways, the Dungeon is near Suwon, right?”

“Yeah, we should be careful . ”

Suwon was the most dangerous area of the three capital areas: Seoul, Suwon, and Incheon . During Outcall, Suwon went through a bizarre terraforming, turning more than half of the region into a horrifying mountain zone .

Because of this, the west side of Suwon was completely off-limits to the public . Kamak Mountain, which was our destination, was just at the border of this restricted zone .

It was then .

The restaurant’s door opened, and someone clad entirely in black walked in . A big hat, a black mask, and a long, full-body coat . This person could easily be mistaken for a criminal .

“Um, I just called…”

The woman clad in black notified the staff in a soft voice . She then glanced at Kim Suho and me, who were the only other customers in the restaurant . Immediately, her shoulders trembled violently .

“Ah yes, wait just one moment . ”

The staff went into the kitchen . I smirked and turned to the woman . She was frozen like a statue .

“Oh, who’s this?”

I suddenly remembered . Along with hamburgers, rice soup was one of her favorite dishes .

“Yo, Yoo Yeonha . ”

“… . ”

She was desperately pretending to not have heard my crystal-clear exclamation . Seeing that she wasn’t running away, she must still want the rice soup she ordered .

I got up and approached her .

“Since you’re here, why don’t you join us?”

“Y-Yes? Who, who might you be? I don’t know anyone like you…”

She was desperately trying to sound different, but it was too obvious .

“Eh? Yoo Yeonha? You’re Yoo Yeonha?”

Kim Suho also responded . Then, Yoo Yeonha’s eyes began to tear up under her big hat .

“N-No, no, I’m not . I don’t know anyone by that name… . ”

“Here you go . ”

The staff then came out and handed her a packaged rice soup . Yoo Yeonha quickly snatched it out of her hands before running off .

“A-Ah, wait! You need to pay for that!”

The staff shouted at her, but Yoo Yeonha disappeared like the wind . Then, the staff’s gaze slowly turned towards me .

Without any other choice, I took out my card .

“I’ll pay for it . ”

“Yes, thank you~”

For the record, for the next three days…

Yoo Yeonha couldn’t even meet my eyes .

**

Friday, the day of Phenomenon Realm Analysis team challenge presentation .

Currently, Chae Nayun was in a terrible mood .

Her team had been the first team to present . The result was a disaster, even by Chae Nayun’s standards .

Just like Kim Hajin said, Oh Junsik insisted on doing the presentation, stuttering throughout and messing up the entire powerpoint .

“…Ah, I was too nervous . Sorry, I’ll be better next time . ”

That was what he said afterwards . Chae Nayun wanted to smack his head, but she held herself back since class was still going on .

“Next team . ”

Next up was Team Rachel . A man sitting in front of Chae Nayun got up . It was Kim Hajin .

Wearing a pair of round glasses, he got up on the podium .

“Hello, I am from Team 3 . Our Dungeon was the Walsin Dungeon . This Dungeon existed on the foot of Gangwondo Snow Mountain, but because the guild in charge of it, the Desolate Moon guild, hasn’t released any information on the result… . ”

Kim Hajin’s presentation was smooth . His voice was soft, and he didn’t seem nervous . He first introduced the information gathered by his team, and then estimated the Dungeon’s internal structure using calculations . He even had a cross-sectional map prepared .

Chae Nayun stared at Kim Hajin’s presentation in a daze, her chin sitting on her hand . His voice was slightly different, and a sense of ease was carried in his occasional smiles . Together with his round glasses, it was as if he was giving the class a lecture .

A smart guy was surprisingly cool .

“Wait, I have a question . ”

“Yes . ”

“How can you estimate the counterflow of magic power with such a small amount of data?”

At that moment, the professor interrupted him and asked a question .

“Ah, about that, if you look at the calculations here… . ”

However, Kim Hajin answered the professor just as smoothly as he always had . Seeing this intellectual side of him, Chae Nayun fell into a trance . With Kim Hajin’s answer, the professor backed down with a satisfied smile, and the presentation soon concluded .

“That’s it for our team’s presentation . ”

Kim Hajin finished his presentation as he pushed his glasses up .

Afterwards, he returned to his seat, which was next to Rachel’s . Chae Nayun stared at Rachel half in regret, half in envy . Rachel and Kim Hajin smiled and gave each other a high-five .

*

After the class ended, I was returning to the dorms with Rachel .

Tomer and other team members strongly asked for a celebratory afterparty, but Rachel and I didn’t participate . I had another appointment, and Rachel just had a reserved personality .

We walked together talking about today’s team challenge . About how Chae Nayun’s team bombed the presentation, about how Shin Jonghak made his presentation so intimidating…

“…Oh right, here . ”

When we reached the crossroad to Dorm 1 and Dorm 2, Rachel handed me a piece of paper .

“What’s this?”

“Are you perhaps interested in the English Royal Court guild?”

“…Yes?”

Before I could give a proper answer, Rachel continued speaking .

“In truth, I asked the Royal Court guild to contact Hajin-ssi, but it seems they assumed things on their own by looking at Hajin-ssi’s rank . ”

Hearing that, I looked at the paper she gave me . It was a contract . Indeed, it had better conditions than the one I saw in the email . If I was still on Earth, I never would have imagined such a treatment .

“…Please consider it . ”

Rachel gave a light bow, then turned and walked to the right .

I watched her leave quietly .

**

After playing with Evandel for about 30 minutes, I headed to a bus stop near Suwon Station, where I promised to meet Kim Suho .

Kim Suho had arrived long ago and was waiting for me .

“Hey Hajin, your presentation was amazing . ”

Kim Suho was wearing light clothing . He was currently low on money, so I volunteered to take care of food and equipment .

“Everyone was full of praises for you . ”

“Oh yeah? Well more importantly, which way should we be going?”

“Follow me . ”

Kim Suho took the lead, and I followed .

Not long afterwards, we arrived at Kamak Mountain .

We then hiked deep into the mountain . Because powerful beast-type monsters lived in Kamak Mountain, we were both on the lookout to avoid them .

“It’s here . ”

Finally, we arrived at a dead end . Kim Suho pointed at the wall in front of us, which was covered in moss and vines .

“…So this is why it hasn’t been discovered until now . ”

Even if you knew it was there, it would have been hard to find it . Not only was it covered in all sorts of vegetation, the entrance was narrow . At first glance, it only looked like a tiny gap .

“Once we go in, it won’t be easy to escape . Are you prepared?”

“Of course . ”

I took out the Desert Eagle from my pocket .

“This is pretty strong . ”

I even prepared a light bullet just in case . Swordsman of Destruction should be a high-intermediate rank monster . The difference between intermediate rank and high-intermediate rank was immense . Even this light bullet, which cost 70 SP to make, would likely only distract it for a moment . However, a moment of distraction was enough . Kim Suho would take care of the rest .

“Then let’s go in . ”

Kim Suho and I jumped into the narrow gap . The gap widened as we walked, eventually becoming big enough to be a tunnel .

The inside of the Dungeon was covered by dense darkness . Instead of turning on a flashlight, I grabbed Kim Suho’s hand and guided him . Shining light unnecessarily could provoke spirit monsters .

“It’s kinda creepy . ”

“Tell me about it… . Hold on . ”

I suddenly stopped and widened my eyes .

There was another pathway on the other side . If we started from the right side, it meant there was another entrance from the left . Was it like this in the original story? No, I didn’t think so .

Two people were walking forward from the pathway .

—Where is this?

—A hidden stage I’m guessing?

I couldn’t tell who they were from their faces, but considering the feeling I got from them and the tattoos on their faces, they didn’t look like kind people .

“…Wait, stay quiet for a moment . ”

I quickly checked my laptop using my smartwatch .

There was an alert, just as I expected .

[Criticism – Kamak Mountain Dungeon, which Kim Suho conquers, is too small considering its reward . ]

[Solution – Made Kamak Mountain Dungeon a hidden stage in Suwon Devil’s Nest . ]

In other words, Suwon Devil’s Nest became connected to Kamak Mountain Dungeon .

Coincidentally, today was August 14th, the day Packhorse Master would conquer Suwon Devil’s Nest . In that case, those two guys should be Djinns from Packhorse Master .

“Why?”

Kim Suho whispered .

I clenched my teeth . Packhorse Master’s Djinns were fairly powerful Djinns . They were disguised as Heroes, being at least intermediate rank in power . Even Kim Suho would have trouble dealing with them .

“There are other people in here . ”

“…Damn . ”

For now, I closely watched their movements as I eavesdropped on their conversation .

—Let’s go back first . Rather than arguing with the rest about what we got out of the hidden stage, it’ll be better to conquer it together .

—…Yeah, you’re right .

Thankfully, they went back after confirming the hidden stage’s location .

“Let’s finish this fast . ”

I concentrated magic power on my Thousand-Mile Eyes . In an instant, my vision expanded, and the Dungeon’s internal structure entered my sight .

The Swordsman of Destruction’s location…

Straight, then two turns to the right . The Swordsman of Destruction was sleeping inside the boss room .

*

[Suwon Devil’s Nest]

A medium-scale Dungeon located in the valley of Suwon Mountain Range . By the time this Dungeon was close to being completely conquered, the owner of Chameleon Troupe’s seat of Blue, an African-American man named Khalifa, looked around at the members of Packhorse Master . He had infiltrated the Packhorse Master guild .

Seven of the nine members who participated in the Dungeon raid was sitting on the ground, collecting their breaths .

“James, Johong, did you find something?”

The guild master contacted the group’s two scouts with a communication device .

—Yes, we discovered a hidden path . It seems to be a hidden stage .

“Oh, is that so?”

Khalifa quietly listened in on their conversation .

—We’re currently on our way back . We can conquer it together .

“No, we’ll go there . You guys can continue your investigation . ”

—Yes, understood .

“You hear that guys? It’s time to get up!”

They were currently missing two men .

In that case, now was the best time .

Khalifa tapped his ears, transmitting a signal . Then, he unleashed his magic power in the shape of a door .

Phase Shift . It was an ability that connected one space to another, so long as it was not too far apart . Naturally, this was part of Khalifa’s Gift .

“Cullen, what are you doing? Who told you to open a Portal?”

Although it had a few differences from a Portal, because it looked like one, almost everyone mistook it for an artificial Portal . Khalifa didn’t go through the trouble to correct them .

“…Cullen, close the Portal . ”

“… . ”

Khalifa silently put on a pair of sunglasses .

“CULLEN!”

Annoyed by the guild master’s loud shouting, he even put on earplugs .

“You son of a bitch… . ”

Enraged, the guild master walked up to the Portal .

It was then .

A black blade shot out from the Portal .

The blade cleanly severed him in two . Without even having to ask, the guild master was dead . Immediately, the guild master scattered into black dust .

…A thick silence descended .

The group’s leader had been killed by a single blow . Other Djinns simply stared into the Portal . They couldn’t bring themselves to move or even speak .

Soon, a woman walked out of the Portal .

She had an average height, but a beautiful appearance . When the Djinns met her eyes, their consciousness was sucked into a deep abyss .

One, two, three, four… six Djinns collapsed like lifeless dolls .

“We’ll have to keep one for the sake of stock price . ”

Boss stared at Khalifa, murmuring in a cold voice . Khalifa grinned, then spoke .

“You’re right . Now then, should we go find the hidden stage?”

“You wait here . ”

“…Yes?”

Khalifa tilted his head . Boss retorted briefly .

“The two people inside the hidden stage are candidates . ”

“…Aha . ”

Candidates . They referred to individuals selected by Boss and the members of the Chameleon Troupe to have the qualification of becoming Chameleon Troupe’s new color .

“Is it a… test?”

Boss liquified her body without answering Khalifa . In an instant, her body turned into a black liquid and stuck to the ground . In that state, she moved quickly .

Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters .