Episode 420. Hwadong Dungeon Exploration

“Nom nom nom.”

“Is it good?”

“Yep. It’s sweet.”

Omnyomnyom.

I smiled watching Liliana, who was eating chocolate in both hands like a hamster.

It had been a few days since I decided to join the investigation team after meeting Dr. Kang Hyorin.

It was almost time for them to contact me.

“Didn’t you say you had something to do today?”

“Yeah. But I don’t know when we’ll leave.”

“Do your best. And bring back snacks.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

I smiled watching Liliana eat.

She really enjoys her food.

They say even the ghost of someone who died eating looks good, and I bet Liliana would look beautiful even if she died.

‘It must be Pandemic’s doing, right?’

The Hwadong Dungeon, where mana measurement failures happen frequently.

Today’s investigation is supposed to figure out the detailed reason.

Since they’re gathering information simultaneously from Iris Guild branches all over the world, compiling that information will probably reveal other results.

The assimilation of Earth and the Underworld.

It’s the phenomenon of Earth’s dungeons gradually becoming hellish.

I don’t know the reason, but Pandemic’s plan was accelerating.

Because the future scenarios I knew were already unfolding.

‘Is it because I got stronger? Or because I conquered the heroines too quickly?’

I tilted my head and hugged Liliana from behind.

It was frustrating because it was a problem that yielded no answers no matter how much I thought about it.

It could really be because I got stronger, or because I conquered the heroines too quickly.

If it’s a world where destiny exists, something like that might be possible.

Or maybe it’s the butterfly effect I created while getting stronger, coming back as a typhoon.

Ultimately, it’s something I caused.

I have to solve it too.

But for now, let’s relax while touching the soft Liliana.

I slipped my hand under Liliana’s shirt, onto her stomach.

How can she not have any belly fat when she eats like this?

“What are you doing touching my stomach?”

“Just wanted to hold you.”

“Okay. You can touch my breasts too, it’s fine.”

Liliana yielded to me as if accustomed to it.

Since touching her body had become commonplace, I wasn’t particularly awkward about it either.

I thought while hugging Liliana.

‘Maybe the Demon King will appear soon.’

In France, I found out that Liliana is the Demon King’s daughter.

Ever since then, I’ve felt uneasy every time I look at Liliana.

The Demon King’s daughter I saw in Chiron’s memory orb.

Liliana Calliope.

That image still lingers in my mind.

“….”

I squeezed my eyes shut and shook off that memory.

Even if something bothers me, if I decided to trust, I must trust until the end.

If I trust Liliana and Liliana trusts me, it won’t matter whether the Earth becomes hell or the Demon King appears before my eyes.

I took a deep breath and steadied my resolve.

“Why are you sighing so heavily behind me? I told you it’s okay to touch my breasts. Or you can touch down there too.”

“…It’s nothing. Stop snacking and let’s eat a meal. I’m hungry.”

“Yep. Okay. I want to eat chicken.”

“Why do you eat chicken every single day?”

“I don’t know! Buy it for me! Order it quickly!”

Liliana whined, asking me to order chicken, and clung to me.

Right.

It’s actually more comforting when she acts like this.

Even if the Demon King appeared, she’d probably say let’s quickly finish him off and eat chicken.

Tiring-

Just as I was about to order chicken, my smartwatch rang.

“Wait, hold on a sec. I’ll order it.”

“Then, Aloe Chicken, please!”

“…Seriously, why does a chicken place like that even exist?”

I checked my smartwatch.

• Dr. Kang Hyorin: Cadet Lee Hoyeon. Departure is at 7 PM today. I’ll attach a photo of the meeting spot.

• Me: Yes. Understood.

She said she’d contact me that day, and she really notified me on the day itself.

It’s probably because of security or various other issues that they operate like this.

“…Aloe Chicken actually exists?”

I ordered the chicken Liliana wanted and covered my smartwatch.

*

7 PM.

I arrived near the meeting spot.

It was quite a distance from the Academy, but there was a pretty impressive mountain.

Beautiful natural scenery and a well-maintained hiking trail.

It was like a well-kept neighborhood hill.

“…But why is the meeting spot here?”

There was a nicely maintained hiking trail, but the meeting spot was behind it.

A mountain slope with no path or signs.

Iris Guild members were naturally gathered in front of it.

“Hello.”

“Yeah, nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you for the first time.”

“Please take care of me today. Cadet Lee Hoyeon.”

I approached the investigation team, greeting them.

Dungeons appear randomly without any specific conditions.

It could be in a place like this.

Among the members were Irene and Dr. Kang Hyorin.

Those two are probably the core of the investigation team.

“Now that everyone’s here, let’s move.”

Dr. Kang Hyorin cast a barrier around the investigation team and started climbing the mountain.

The Iris Guild members climbed the mountain as if they were used to it.

They seem to have a lot of experience with this.

“Wow, this is steep.”

I muttered quietly.

Moving as a team like this reminded me of chasing Chiron in France.

Come to think of it, Irene was there back then too.

I spoke to Irene.

“Irene-ssi. This path is really rough?”

“…Yeah. It’s not a dungeon reported to the Hunter Association yet.”

“Aha.”

So that’s why the path was rough.

This was a place Iris Guild was investigating solo.

“Do you have a lot of experience with this, Irene-ssi?”

“…Quite a bit?”

Irene answered curtly, avoiding conversation with me.

Can’t we talk a bit while climbing? I’m bored.

“Were you two not on good terms? You asked to be included in the investigation team, so I assumed you were close.”

Just then, Kang Hyorin chimed into the conversation.

Irene’s eyes widened slightly at Kang Hyorin’s words, and I smiled and moved closer to Irene’s side.

“No, we’re close. Right? Irene-ssi.”

“…… Yeah. Close. My condition’s just a bit off today.”

Chot-chot-chot.

Irene shook her head and led the way up the mountain.

Kang Hyorin, who was beside me, tilted her head in confusion before starting to climb the mountain again.

“Here it is.”

And then, the guild member in the lead found the dungeon entrance.

Hidden like that, it would be really hard to find.

It was a place people didn’t frequent, and the entrance was incredibly narrow.

The investigation team bent down and entered the narrow entrance, and I followed behind them.

“There probably won’t be any major dangers. We already dealt with the dungeon boss during the preliminary investigation.”

“…?”

Listening to the guild member’s briefing, I felt something was strange.

‘If there are no dangers, why did so many people come?’

It might not seem like much, but it’s strange when you think about it.

The investigators weren’t particularly strong.

That’s why I thought Dr. Kang Hyorin and Irene came along.

But if there are no dangers, there’s no need for Irene and Dr. Kang Hyorin to come.

I spoke to Dr. Kang Hyorin, who was walking beside me.

“Dr. Kang Hyorin.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“If you’ve already dealt with the dungeon boss, there shouldn’t be any dangers. Why did Irene-ssi and you, Dr. Kang Hyorin, come along?”

Dr. Kang Hyorin paused for a moment after hearing my words, then continued.

“Originally, it’s just the investigators. But Irene-ssi requested to include Cadet Lee Hoyeon, and then said she’d come along too.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. She said it was for supervision…? I don’t really know the reason myself.”

“Aha….”

Only then did I nod my head.

Irene must have come along herself to keep an eye on me, just in case I did something strange.

That makes sense then.

No wonder the investigators looked tense the whole time. It must have been because Irene suddenly joined.

“I feel kind of sorry towards you, Dr. Kang Hyorin. It must be inconvenient when a superior suddenly gets involved in the plan.”

“No, no. I came myself too when Irene-ssi said she was participating.”

“…Why?”

“Because I thought something interesting might happen.”

“…”.

She really is a strange woman.

The investigation team members are the most pitiful.

How burdensome it must be to suddenly have two executives involved.

I left Dr. Kang Hyorin, who was grinning, and followed behind Irene.

The inside of the dungeon was quite fascinating.

Passing through a narrow passage and going inside revealed a large cavern, and unpleasant vines were crawling up the walls throughout the cavern.

They were plants I’d never seen before; they probably mutated strangely by feeding on the dungeon’s abundant mana.

‘Thinking about it, this is my first time in a real dungeon.’

Excluding the dungeons I entered for training at the Academy, this was my first experience entering a naturally generated dungeon.

It’s kind of funny that I decided to create a fake dungeon but haven’t actually visited a real one.

I should go with Rebecca next time.

Once all the guild members entered the cavern, an older guild member from the investigation team addressed everyone.

“From now on, we’ll proceed to our respective positions. All monsters, including the dungeon boss, have already been eliminated, so you can rest assured.”

“Okay! Scatter!”

The investigators dispersed throughout the dungeon.

They’re probably checking things like mana concentration.

‘Should I move alone too?’

I could just listen to the investigation team’s results, but if that were the case, there’d be no reason for me to come directly.

Moving around while directly sensing the dungeon’s magic with my mana sensitivity would definitely be helpful.

“Hoo, haa. Hoo, haa.”

I entered the depths of the dungeon, away from the investigation team, and sensed the magic.

‘It really is strange.’

I couldn’t feel the hellish mana Liliana mentioned, but the mana concentration was changing in real-time.

Even in the moment I’m thinking now, the mana concentration had fluctuated, rising and falling.

‘Could this phenomenon be unrelated to Pandemic?’

It’s possible that a phenomenon similar to one appearing in the original scenario could occur by chance.

The possibility is slim, but I have to consider it.

I focused and detected the dungeon’s mana.

‘I might actually be able to make this somewhat carelessly?’

I broke into a pleased smile.

While dungeons are an unknown territory to humans, there are many known aspects as well.

The most basic among them is checking a dungeon’s danger level.

It’s a method of calculating how strong the enemies inside are based on the dungeon’s mana concentration, size, etc.

But if the mana concentration changes randomly like this, all the data accumulated so far becomes useless.

Even if a new type of dungeon appears, there will be less suspicion.

In other words, even if my fake dungeon lacks detail, it can be overlooked.

‘I can get help from the Iris Guild’s investigation team.’

I was planning to deploy the fake dungeon at the Academy anyway.

At that time, I could just get help from the Iris Guild’s investigation team, who have a good relationship with the Academy.

If Irene, who is part of the investigation team, investigates with me and just says, ‘This is a new anomaly.’…

“There, done.”

My brain is working at full speed today.

The plan was perfect too.

As expected, I need to bring Irene into the fake dungeon plan.

‘Things are going well, maybe I should rejoin them soon.’

I should listen to what the dungeon investigation team finds too.

There might be other points I’m unaware of.

Seu-euk-

Just as I was about to return to the cavern.

I stopped in my tracks due to the magic felt from deeper within the dungeon.

“…Hmm?”

An unpleasant magic I’d encountered often enough to be familiar with it now.

It was the magic of a fiend.

Kung- Kung-

Wadadadad-

The unpleasant magic was rapidly approaching from deeper inside the dungeon.

It was a hurried movement, as if it were fleeing.

‘Why is a fiend here?’

They definitely said all danger elements were removed.

That means the fiend entered after the preliminary investigation was completed.

Is it related to Pandemic after all?

‘Let’s kill it first, no, subdue it and then think.’

I raised my magic power and prepared for battle.