Chapter 197 – Payback (1)
Translator: Seven
Editor: Ana_Banana
It was a week since the attack on the Forest of Giants Dungeon had begun.
Even though it was considered a very exciting event, the world kept moving on its course.
It was the same for Oh Se-chan.
Since they had made the Messiah Guild their enemy, he was busy all day, every day without break.
“How is the black market these days?”
“Completely dry. Everyone seems to be withholding their goods. It seems there have been rumors that dungeon items would be traded at the Sotheby Auction which starts on January 1st next year.”
Oh Se-chan complained loudly as he heard his subordinate’s words.
“Why are those Sotheby bastards doing something like this all of a sudden.”
After saying this, Oh Se-chan scratched his bald head nervously.
In truth, the thing that bothered him wasn’t the fact that the Sotheby Auction had halted the trade of items and skill pages in the black market.
Honestly, that was a good thing, because it meant that all those items and skill pages would appear in the auction and then it would just be a problem of acquiring them instead of searching.
‘But skills and items exclusive to the Emissary of the Underworld are disappearing too quickly.’
The thing that bothered Oh Se-chan was the fact that items and skill pages for players who had the Emissary of the Underworld as their halo were rapidly disappearing from the market.
‘It could be said to be because of Isaac Ivanov, but…’
This wasn’t strange considering Isaac Ivanov’s recent performance of Isaac Ivanov, the value of players who had the Emissary of the Underworld as their halo.
‘Something is happening.’
But Oh Se-chan’s instincts were telling him that the situation wasn’t as simple as it seemed.
This was why he was frustrated.
Oh Se-chan was not the type to trust things that went against his instincts.
‘Something.’
While Oh Se-chan was trying to find some clue, a subordinate came into his office.
“Boss, I think you need to see this.”
“What is it?”
“There’s a rumor going round in Europe.”
“What rumors?”
“Rumor has it that someone is attempting one of the dungeons the Messiah Guild failed to clear.”
Oh Se-chan tilted his head at that.
“There are people other than us who are willing to attack dungeons the Messiah Guild abandoned?”
Attacking the Messiah Guild’s failed dungeons was like a taboo among the players.
Wasn’t that the reason Isaac Ivanov’s challenge was able to grab the spotlight for such a long time?
There was someone else willing to do that?
Oh Se-chan couldn’t think of such a person.
At least he had no information about such a person.
‘It’s a rumor.’
It was quite normal for rumors to appear and disappear just as quickly.
‘But since he came to see me…’
However, if it was just a rumor, his subordinate would not have come to him.
“So who is attacking?”
“That… there were players that the boss wanted to recruit in the past, right? Who have the Emissary of the Underworld halo…”
“Aren’t there a few of them like that? Well, not many have the Emissary of the Underworld as their halo. Who is it?”
“All of them.”
“Huh?”
“The eleven people who were on our list are all a part of the rumored team.”
Oh Se-chan’s face went slack for a moment before he cried out with his eyes wide open.
“Who is the leader?”
“Johann Georg…”
When he heard that, Oh Se-chan was convinced.
“An eye for an eye, this is it.”
The Messiah Guild had lit a counter fire to extinguish the blaze known as Isaac Ivanov.
…
Kim Woo-jin remembered when he attacked the Forest of Giants Dungeon in the past.
‘277 people entered, 53 died on the first floor, 9 died on the second floor, 17 died on the third floor, and 71 died on the fourth floor.’
It would be strange if he could forget the dungeon where half of the players who entered with him died.
Moreover, those teammates weren’t just coworkers.
They were all veteran players over level 100, very important assets for the Messiah Guild.
However, it was only the aftermath that truly cemented the memory into Kim Woo-jin’s memories.
‘Nevertheless, we were treated like heroes.’
Upon their return, Kim Woo-jin and his teammates were all treated like heroes instead of defeated soldiers.
The reason was simple.
‘Only for the reason that such a result was inevitable against the Twin Headed Cyclops.’
The Twin Headed Cyclops on the fourth floor was far stronger than the Messiah Guild anticipated.
In fact, the Twin Headed Cyclops was completely incomparable to monsters on the same level.
Its size was much larger than that of a normal Cyclops, and the eyes on each head were magical eyes with different abilities.
Those who were exposed to the eye on the right head would be given a curse that made their bodies heavier, while those on the left would become confused by hallucinations.
The Twin Headed Cyclops also had no blind spots.
It was surprisingly fast, it’s skin was tough enough to withstand unique grade weapons, and it had a strong resistance to magic and curses.
It was also outrageously aggressive and violent.
It was virtually impossible to hunt that violent creature that would hunt whoever angered it down relentlessly until it crushed them to death.
‘It couldn’t be helped…’
It was natural to be treated as a hero just for returning alive.
However, Kim Woo-jin was unable to accept that fact.
‘…if I was willing to tolerate stuff like that, I’d never have joined the Messiah Guild.’
After all, he was a member of the Messiah Guild before anything else.
A member of the Messiah Guild who believed that they could put an end to this game and save the world!
It was impossible for him to tolerate the fact that there were monsters in the world so strong that he could barely escape with his life.
Therefore, from that day, Kim Woo-jin made preparations so that such a tragic event would never happen again.
He also devised numerous ways to deal with ridiculous monsters like the Twin Headed Cyclops.
And now, the opportunity for revenge had come.
[Proceed to the next floor.]
He had finally gotten the chance to hunt a Twin Headed Cyclops.
Of course, there were a lot of differences from that time.
‘I’ll shorten the distance between Lee Se-jun and I using the Twin Headed Cyclops.’
Especially the fact that Kim Woo-jin was no longer hunting for the Messiah Guild.
…
Cyclops.
They were muscular monsters with an average height of around 5 meters and the most distinguishing characteristic that made them stand out was the fact that they had a single eye.
The hunting difficulty was average.
Of course, the average difficulty only corresponded to normal Cyclopes. (TL: yep, that’s the plural of cyclops)
“It definitely won’t be ordinary.”
“Definitely.”
None of the players preparing to enter the fourth floor of the dungeon dared to look down on the Twin Headed Cyclops they were about to face.
“After all, it’s an A+ rank, 5 day survival quest.”
The difficulty could be reflected by the fact that the A+ rank dungeon had a survival quest rather than a hunting quest.
“It’s strength should be on a whole other level.”
[Entered the fourth floor.]
However, some of the players who entered the fourth floor of the dungeon were faced with this monster immediately.
[The Cyclops’ single eye is watching you.]
“Huh?”
“It’s the Cyclops!”
The 8 meter tall Cyclops that had two heads, each with one eye, was looking at the players who had just appeared.
“Dammit!”
It was a horrific situation for the players.
But it was a situation that was possible.
After all, the place the players appeared on the next floor was not something that they could choose.
Therefore, it was pointless for them to complain or question why such a situation had occurred.
The important thing was to deal with the situation.
“Retreat!”
“Scatter!”
At that moment, the 31 players who were unlucky enough to encounter the Twin Headed Cyclops immediately ran away.
It was a great response.
After all, who would be foolish enough to challenge a monster that had never been hunted before without any preparation?
There was no problem with their judgement or execution.
[Your body has become heavy due to the Cyclops’ curse.]
The problem was the abilities of the Cyclops’ two eyes.
“Kup!”
“Ugh!”
The players who were targeted by the eye on the right head immediately fell to the ground as though someone had stepped on them.
This was because their bodies had suddenly become heavier and their balance was lost.
However, their situation wasn’t that bad.
[You have been confused by the Cyclops’ curse.]
The situation of the players who had been targeted by the left eye was much more serious.
“Dammit, when did Orcs arrive here?”
“There are Lizardmen!”
In their confused state, the players mistook each other for monsters and began to attack each other.
In fact, the only three players who managed to escape were those who had high mobility and ran away without looking back.
“Aaaak!”
“Sa-, save me!”
The 28 players left behind died without even being able to put up proper resistance.
And the commotion caused by the deaths of these 28 players was soon transmitted to the other players who were elsewhere.
Of course, it was impossible for them to grasp the exact situation with just that information.
“Has it started already?”
“Looks like they didn’t even get the chance to escape.”
“It must have more special abilities than we expected.”
However, it was not difficult for them to realise the severity of the situation.
“First let’s move as far away from that sound as possible.”
“All we have to do is survive for 5 days!”
Naturally, the players began using all of their strength to get as far away from where they heard the sound as possible.
Among them were those from the Phoenix Guild.
“Let’s move away as well.”
“If a teammate gets caught by the Cyclops, don’t save them. This time survival is our top priority.”
They too steeled their determination and prepared leave as soon as they heard the commotion not long after entering the fourth floor.
“Now, let’s move.”
“The sound came from there, so let’s go in the opposite direction!”
Soon they began to move.
And Isaac Ivanov also made his move.
“Huh? M-, Mr. Isaac?”
“I-, isn’t that the direction that the sound came from?”
Towards the source of the sound.