Chapter 730: How to Secure a Dungeon (2)

A few days ago.

Specifically, it was not long after I received advice from President Seo Ok-hee about starting a guild in Chuncheon City.

If one were to establish even a small-to-medium Hunter guild somewhere, there were three essential things one absolutely needed.

A Hunter guild building, Hunters, and Dungeons.

I had previously discussed with President Seo Ok-hee that securing these three things was the start of founding a guild.

The Hunter guild building was already secured, and about five or six Hunters had decided to defect with me, so the only thing left was to secure a dungeon that could generate profit.

For dungeon acquisition, which felt somewhat esoteric in a way, I received help from acquaintances who were experts in this field.

Dokyung Construction, which builds skyscrapers worldwide with excellent construction methods.

As I had a personal connection with the two young ladies of the Dokyung Group, which manages various affiliates including Dokyung Construction, I conveyed the following request to Sihee and Yehee respectively.

‘If you happen to discover any dungeons that are difficult for the respective country to handle during your overseas business trips, please report it to me.’

Approximately 10,000 dungeons newly appear worldwide each year.

Among them were dungeons where the monsters were so weak that they were scheduled for demolition within days of their creation; dungeons that were so profitable they were managed by keeping the boss monster alive for as long as possible; and dungeons whose boss monsters or the dungeons themselves were so powerful that they could only be destroyed after years, even decades, of concerted effort.

Dungeons corresponding to the second case were generally called D-class or C-class dungeons.

And dungeons that could only be destroyed after years or decades of effort were B-class or higher, so these were precisely the kinds of difficult-to-handle dungeons I was aiming for.

Dungeon gates are facilities that require surprisingly high transportation costs.

‘Artificial gates,’ created by ability users who generate gates, are shaped like small discs, allowing one or two people to easily carry and move them, but ‘Natural gates,’ used to pass through naturally occurring dungeons, basically take the form of a giant door.

If I had to find a comparison, perhaps it’s like a portal where you can’t see the scenery on the other side. Of course, it’s large enough for several people to pass through comfortably.

Therefore, moving these naturally occurring gates involved considerable cost.

Furthermore, even if you tried to destroy them, they wouldn’t be destroyed unless the dungeon was cleared, making these natural gates a nuisance in many areas whenever they appeared.

My initial plan for founding the Chuncheon City guild was to recover these natural gates and use them as capital for the fledgling guild.

Anyway, I now had the means to easily recover and transport such gates.

‘Understood. If I happen to find one, I’ll report it to you, Sungchul-ssi.’

‘I don’t like your commanding tone towards me, but since you say you have a recovery method, I’ll contact you if necessary.’

That was a few days ago, when I had thrown the bait to the two of them for dungeon acquisition.

Of the two sisters from the Dokyung Group, it was the older sister, Do Yehee, who first brought me good news.

-Screeeech.

“So, where do I need to go?”

I casually answered Do Yehee’s call that came in since morning and went into the locker room, taking off my clothes one by one.

Of course, I didn’t forget to switch it to speakerphone so I could hear her voice without interruption.

「It’s Malaysia.」

“Southeast Asia again?”

「Huh?」

“…Ah, sorry. Last year, the summer vacation spot I went to with Sihee was Indonesia.”

That was when I first hunted the S-class monster Kraken, and my relationship with Sihee also deepened.

Even though it was only a year ago, it felt like a distant memory, as if several years had passed.

「Speaking of which, you’ve already purified an island owned by Dokyung once before, haven’t you?」

“What? Did Sihee tell you?”

「I found out myself. I figured there was no way Sihee and Nari alone defeated that S-class monster, so I guessed there must have been one or two more S-class Hunters involved… I certainly didn’t expect it to be a B-class Hunter, though.」

“Ah, you’re talking about when you were my stalker.”

「Stalker? I was just worried if Sihee had gotten involved with some weird connections again, that’s all? But since Sihee didn’t introduce you to me, what other choice did I have but to find out myself?」

“That’s what a stalker is.”

Does a stalker need some official license issued by the country? If the person on the receiving end feels creeped out, that’s a stalker.

Now, I know she acted a bit like a crazy bitch out of concern for Sihee, but the previous Do Yehee was one of the few women who crossed the line multiple times and even made me furious.

Her arrogant attitude, which anyone could see as nothing but tormenting Sihee, eventually led me to resort to violence; I even went so far as to thrust my dick in, solely for the reason of punishment, even though I had no interest in her. That says it all.

Quietly recalling that past moment in my mind, I poured the shower water over my body, and Do Yehee’s voice mixed in with the sound of the water.

「You keep making statements that damage my reputation. I wasn’t stalking, I was investigating you for Sihee’s sake…」

“So, where do I need to go?”

「Th-that was because I didn’t know you were a man back then! If I had known, I would never have done such a rude thing…」

“Known or not, the moment you broke into my house, you were already out. It was only because I owed you a favor regarding Eunbyul that I even showed you any courtesy. Otherwise, the last time you tried to interfere with my date, I would have made sure you could never crawl back again.”

「Well. Maybe the current S-class male Hunter you are now, but how exactly the you back then would have prevented me from ‘crawling back’…?」

“Do you like duels? It seems you don’t remember our last match well, but if you want, we can go at it again after a long time.”

「…N-no. I won’t fight you. Never.」

Seeing her voice tremble over the phone, it was clear she had already become convinced that she could never beat me, based on our two duels.

“Anyway, the reason you’re listening to me now is because you know you’ll be fucked if you act out, right? If not, there’s no way you would have contacted me immediately after finding a dungeon like this.”

「It’s not just for that reason… No, more importantly, can’t you tone down your language a bit? Such rough speech and behavior from a gentleman like yourself might raise questions about your upbringing. And it could negatively influence our Sihee…」

“That’s rich coming from you, who’s caused the most negative influence on Sihee?”

「…….」

Perhaps feeling a bit guilty, a brief silence followed from the other end of the line.

Meanwhile, I just waited for her next words while scrubbing my back with a body towel covered in body wash.

「Well, I suppose that’s true.」

“What, you’re admitting it surprisingly easily? I totally expected you to deny it.”

「Because I recently realized that my actions for Sihee’s sake were causing her resentment. Ultimately, if love and devotion aren’t felt by the recipient, it must be because the giver is giving it wrong.」

“…You’re not Do Yehee, are you? There’s no way she’d say something so coherent.”

「Calling me ‘that bitch’ right to my face… Honestly, you are…」

Although a slightly exasperated voice came from the other end of the line, she seemed to clearly know what her own fault was.

Considering the shameless things Do Yehee had done the last time we met just a while ago, this was truly great progress.

Well, after seeing with her own eyes that her hypothesis was wrong, and suffering humiliating training from me as a consequence, it would be strange if she hadn’t changed.

-Whoooosh….

The hot water from the shower, set to maximum pressure, poured over my body, washing the soap suds down to the floor.

I brought the conversation, which had momentarily strayed due to our chit-chat, back to the original point.

“So, where in Malaysia do I need to go?”

「I’ll send you the exact location via KakaoTalk message again. You don’t need to worry about the route to get there. Once you arrive at Tioman Airport, I’ll send someone to escort you to me. Ah, Tioman Airport doesn’t have direct flights, so you’ll need to transit through mainland Malaysia first…」

“Then send me the transit route too via KakaoTalk. You travel abroad often, so you know the fastest route, right?”

「Okay. …By the way, I think I’ve been hearing water sounds intermittently since earlier, are you perhaps talking in front of a waterfall or fountain?」

“No. It’s because I’m showering. You said Malaysia, right? It’s a long trip, so I should get ready to go out quickly.”

「Ah, I see… Yes, yes? What did you say?!」

Do Yehee asked back in a flustered voice the moment she heard that I was talking while showering.

For a woman who had already shared intimacy with me twice, her reaction was just as flustered now as it was before.