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Silent, Jiho appeared indifferent when he looked at Hui Seong. But his eyes were cold, warning Hui Seong not to play any weird tricks with him.

There’s no way he’d hand the rights to an S-rank dungeon. Not unless Chun Hui Seong has gone insane. 

Unaffected by the blatantly suspecting gaze being sent his way, Hui Seong showed a pleasant smile.

“It seems as though you do not believe me; however, I am being completely serious.”

“If the condition is that No Name needs to be closer to Heaven Guild than Chungram, I refuse.”

Hui Seong chuckled at Jiho’s sharp tone. Yet although he was smiling, his eyes were cold. 

“Hm, you’re surprisingly sharp. I thought you grew up loved.”

Jiho indignantly glared at Hui Seong.

‘So what he’s saying is that since I grew up loved, he expected me to be slow?’

Seeing how Hui Seong’s mocking him to his face, it looks like Heaven’s guildmaster doesn’t really like Jiho. And he isn’t trying to hide it either.

Being hated on doesn’t bother him because Jiho’s become used to it thanks to the past year. He expected Heaven’s guildmaster not to like him, so this doesn’t affect him at all. 

But to say that he’s being hated simply for issues on profit…. What bothers Jiho is how personal Hui Seong’s spite towards him feels. Because Jiho can’t think of a single reason for that it.

Jiho was quietly contemplating the reason when Hui Lim suddenly appeared behind Jiho and pulled him close. Jiho stumbled under Hui Lim’s speed and weight. Hui Lim’s eyes widened.

“Guildmaster Shin Jiho-nim, are you okay? You must be exhausted. Stumbling and falling like that.”

“No, just now….”

You pushed me with your body? Is what Jiho wanted to say, but Hui Lim cut him off and quickly continued. 

“Oh no, I better carry you so you don’t fall. And while I’m carrying you, let’s go find a spot to rest in.”

Hui Lim whisked Jiho up without asking for his permission this time. 

“Take your time getting ready to take a break before following us. We’ll find a suitable spot.”

Chun Hui Lim one-sidedly reported to Chun Hui Seong before speedily rushing away. Although Jiho is in an embarrassing position, they’re far too high up for him to push Hui Lim off. 

“What is this?”

“Wasn’t I good help?”

Jiho stared down Hui Lim, who didn’t mention a subject. 

“Does Hunter Chun Hui Lim know anything? Why Hunter Chun Hui Seong….”

“Doesn’t like you?”

“…Yes.”

Hui Lim tilted his head to the side and thought about it. 

“Hm…. That guy doesn’t like people, but he’s not usually so obvious about it. I want to ask you the same question. Did anything happen between you two?”

“…No, there is nothing.”

No matter how hard Jiho thinks, they had no point of contact. Since their ages are different–Chun Hui Seong being 39 and Jiho 24–they’ve probably never even met in passing.

Is Hui Seong on bad terms with his older sister or brother? Is what Jiho considered, but if that was the case, his sister would’ve let him know.

“There’s really nothing?”

“Yes, there is nothing.”

“That makes no sense…. You see, that bastard’s two-faced. His hobby’s luring in young guys like you before eating them whole. Though that’s how it is for everyone in that family.”

Even though Hui Lim kept his tone light like he was telling a joke, the frown lines on his forehead gave away his displeasure. 

“…You seem to have a lot of complicated feelings about Heaven Guild.”

“Well, I have a lot of complicated feelings about this country in general. A lot of unsavory things happened, after all.”

Jiho suddenly felt bad about Chun Hui Lim’s skill, [Are You Korean?]. Filled with people’s longing that he’ll become a naturalized citizen, Chun Hui Lim’s HP and MP recovery speed increase whenever he’s affiliated with Korea. 

Chun Hui Lim, who, despite those hopes, doesn’t look like he wants to become Korean, grinned widely.

“There’s nothing bad about having a bit of evil. It’s good if that guy gets into a mess poking around, and it’s even better if you follow me too.”

Jiho frowned at Hui Lim’s subtle inclusion of him.

“I’m not going to follow you.”

“Of course. Why would someone like you leave your family?”

His voice was mixed with strong longing. While Jiho was momentarily silenced by Chun Hui Lim’s true feelings spoken under a pretense of lightness, Hui Lim, who had been flying in a zig-zag pattern, fortunately stopped. 

“This looks good.”

Chun Hui Lim went down with Jiho in his arms. Jiho could finally leave Hui Lim’s arms.

Splash. Water splashed under his boots. Though it’s better than the roads their feet sank in or they had to swim through, it doesn’t look that comfortable to rest in because the ground isn’t solid.

But Chun Hui Lim moved his foot. 

Boom….

Out of Chun Hui Lim’s skills, he used [The One Who Links Taurus] and [Fragment of Cancer] together. While water was pulled out of the muddy swamp, the ground beneath their feet dried up and hardened.

After changing the uncomfortable swamp into a fairly cozy resting area, Chun Hui Lim wiped the sweat off of his forehead.

Although it isn’t difficult to change a normal swamp, it’s not easy to change the terrain of a dungeon where every single particle of sand is infused with mana.

“Amazing….”

Hearing Jiho’s pure admiration, Hui Lim chuckled as if he found it funny.

“You’re the one who’s amazing. You’re the first to threaten me since Joo Yiwon.”

“…That was Hunter Lim Seung Joo.”

“You, him, and I all know that that was you.”

Flustered, Jiho didn’t say anything else. It’s a little embarrassing to be praised so high. Hui Lim stared at Jiho before tsking. 

“Anyways, you should be careful of Chun Hui Seong. Someone as naive as you would be eaten up in an instant.”

“…”

“Well, you have that crazy dog so I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“Are you talking about Yiwon-ee?”

“Yeah. Wow, I just got chills.

“What do you mean ‘crazy dog,’ isn’t that a little harsh?”

“That’s the most PG nickname I have for him.”

“How can you call a person that…. What’s even worse than that?”

“There’s something like that.”

Hui Lim’s tone was annoying. Before Jiho could continue nagging, Hui Lim ran away and started checking that the ground was solid enough in various areas.

Not only did Jiho not want to chase him around to talk to him, but Jiho was also tired. He sat on the ground. And not much time later, other people arrived as well. 

Jiho took the time to think about Chun Hui Seong and Chun Hui Lim while he was resting. However, no matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t find a reason for Chun Hui Seong to be so hostile towards him.  

---

The further they walked, the harder the dungeon grew. The monsters were easy to kill, but it became increasingly harder to advance.

“I want to take a shower….”

The complaints were never-ending. 

Thanks to the high humidity, their clothes stuck to their skin, and their boots have long been soaked in water. They didn’t even have the energy to wipe away the leaves or dirt sticking to their damp skin. 

“It might be okay to hand over the rights to this.”

Though Chun Hui Seong acts like he’s joking, he sounds a bit more sincere this time. In order to take care of this dungeon, a special bonus might be needed for the hunters raiding it.

It took four days to reach the final area of the dungeon.

The terrain in front of them is naturally impossible. What appeared in front of them was a cross-section of the huge swamp, as if someone had cut into it like a cake. It’s so dark under the cross-section that it’s impossible to tell how deep it is. 

Even though water and mud from the swamp flowed down, the water washed against the edge as if there’s an invisible wall blocking it.

In the middle of this unnatural sight is a set of narrow golden stairs that doesn’t fit in the humid, dirty swamp. The stairs are a dizzying height of 10 stories tall, and at the very top is a round island floating in the air. The final boss of this dungeon is probably up there.

“How long will it take us to get up there?”

“I don’t care, I just want to get out of here. I want to see the bright sky.”

“What time is it if we leave here?”

“If we do well, we might see the sun.”

Exhausted by the four-day raid, Heaven’s guildmembers whispered amongst themselves. Jiho, too, wants to get out of here.

Although Lim Seung Joo, who’s always full of ambition, still had sparkly eyes, Sung Moon Young looked half out of it as she stumbled along.

“Hang in there for just a bit longer.”

“Yes, Guildmaster-nim.”

Now that they’re coming near the end, everyone took some time to collect themselves. Jiho cast [Blessing of the Star] on each and every person.

He can use it on two people at once now, but….

‘I should keep it a secret.’

The worst that could’ve happened this time is a bit of physical and mental fatigue. But what if someone actually goes for Shin Jiho’s life?

He has to be prepared. It’s been okay because he hasn’t had to leave No Name’s building these past few days. But if he wants to move freely by himself, it might be good for him to recruit bodyguards like Hwang Hye Lim did.

However, the best way is for Jiho himself to become stronger. 

If he wants to protect himself, he needs the hidden combat skill that the system mentioned. Jiho recalled the system window from then.

System Management

Among your hidden abilities is a combat skill.

System Management

Currently, however, your will to attack the other person is too weak. As you have not met the condition yet, you cannot awaken the hidden skill.

‘But I thought my will was strong enough.’

God knows how much he wanted to hit Chun Hui Lim then.

However, that was just one hit. If that wasn’t enough… then maybe in order to obtain the skill, he has to have the heart to kill, not simply to win.

Naturally, Jiho’s killed before. Jiho’s killed multiple monsters that crawled out of the dungeons.

But to some extent, that’s for the survival of the human race. Since the monsters hurt people, Jiho’s never felt guilty for killing them, but he’s never felt the desire to kill either.

Especially another person. Isn’t that something he shouldn’t feel in the first place?

‘Even if it’s uncomfortable and dangerous, it might be better that I don’t have a skill like that.’

Jiho doesn’t want that kind of will. He wants to save people, not kill them. He doesn’t want to throw his morals away just to get stronger.

‘Even if it’s annoying, I’ll just be careful.’

Thinking that he should hire bodyguards, Jiho cast [Blessing of the Star] on Lim Seung Joo, who was last in line.

This time with 1800 MP rather than his usual 1600 MP.

Lim Seung Joo widened his eyes in shock for a moment before returning to his usual expression. Jiho wanted to test [Blessing of the Star] now that it leveled up. It looks like there’s no problem with 200 more MP.

‘I should check the limits again when I get out.’

The list of things to do just grew longer. Well, even though Jiho likes work, all he wants to do when he gets out today is soak in a tub and rest.

“Then let’s go.”

As only one person can fit on the steps at a time, the person taking the lead is obviously Chun Hui Lim. Since the door only opens once they’ve climbed up the entire flight of stairs, Chun Hui Lim, who’s been floating in the air until now, also has to climb with his own two feet. 

Jiho felt proud seeing Seung Joo third in line. Seung Joo was originally standing close to the middle, but as they progressed through the raid, he was recognized for his strength and moved to the front.

When Jiho made it about halfway up the stairs, he heard an explosion come from the island in the sky. It looks like the members in the front encountered the boss monster and started fighting.

Jiho automatically sped up. Actually, there’s not much that Jiho can do after using [Blessing of the Star], but that doesn’t mean he can just wait on the stairs.

Once Jiho climbed all the stairs.

Like the dungeon, the island is a huge swamp. But there were also building ruins here and there. Because the buildings were built out of heavy stone, they make great stepping stones, and so the terrain is actually more advantageous here.

Thanks to that, everyone was wildly attacking the boss monster standing in the middle of the swamp. 

The boss monster looks human, but it’s about 4 meters tall. Naked, its body is covered in moss from head to toe. The only part not covered by moss is its pale face, revealing beautiful features that somehow makes the monster look even stranger.

The boss monster, which had been fiercely fighting back against the raid team led by Chun Hui Lim and Chun Hui Seong suddenly stopped. 

Not caring about the attacks flying towards it, the boss monster slowly turned its head. 

And made eye contact with Jiho.

As soon as Jiho met eyes with the monster’s beautiful green eyes glittering like carefully crafted jewels, he felt chills run through his body.

It seems like the monster felt the same thing. A smile split across the boss monster’s cheeks. Wearing a chilling smile, the monster whispered.

[What luck.]

A monster that talks? Jiho was shocked, but no one else reacted. 

For some reason, it looks like only Jiho can hear it 

[As long as I kill you… I can take it.]

Mumbling something Jiho doesn’t understand, the monster shot towards Jiho. The monster’s eyes sparkled with perverse maliciousness and unknown hope.

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LaZ Bird Corner

!!!

Note: I’ve fixed “A Little Guide,” so it should work now!

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