Chapter 908. Sera (8)
“What the hell are you talking about? You just appeared out of nowhere...” I questioned.
“You’ll understand once you've seen the report about the situation, sir,” Jo Hye-Jin said.
“What happened? If you came all the way here just to tell me—”
“We’re still investigating the exact time it happened, but we believe it happened at around nine-eleven in the morning. The monster’s first appearance is believed to be within one kilometer of the capital’s clock tower.
"The monster’s sudden appearance completely disrupted the areal; there were many casualties and injured victims,” Jo Hye-Jin said, interrupting me.
“You don’t have to report in such a formal manner. Just go straight to the point, Miss Hye-Jin. You’re saying that a monster has appeared within the capital, and there was a lot of damage, right?” I asked.
“Yes. It was a good thing that Mr. Park Deok-Gu, Mr. Ahn Ki-Mo, and Miss Kim Ye-Ri were nearby, so the damage was minimized, albeit it's still a lot of damage,” Jo Hye-Jin replied.
‘Why were they there?’
Jo Hye-Jin stared at my face, seemingly trying to deduce my reaction.
“Mr. Park Deok-Gu has decided to host a capital exploration.”
‘A capital exploration? Why are they exploring the capital all of a sudden? I think he just needed an excuse to play around.’
“He said they were having drinks at a bar near the clock tower,” Jo Hye-Jin informed.
“Who drinks in the morning?” I questioned.
“They’ve been drinking since last night...” Jo Hye-Jin added.
“You mean he took care of the monster while drunk? That pig...” I said.
What if he had ended up getting hurt?
“How is he?” I asked.
“He suffered a serious injury, but I was told that he had recovered to the point that he can go about his daily activities without any issues,” Jo Hye-Jin answered.
“He sure recovers quickly,” I mumbled. It was ridiculous that he drank all night while exploring the capital, but I was surprised by the fact that he fought a monster despite being drunk. I had a feeling I knew why he didn’t report this to me himself.
He was probably scared that I would scold him, or he thought it wasn’t a serious problem.
I wasn’t sure why a monster appeared in the middle of the capital, but those three were considered the top adventures of the continent, so I was more surprised that Park Deok-Gu suffered a serious injury.
‘Maybe its level was higher than they thought.’
It was impossible for weak monsters to leave even a scratch on Park Deok-Gu.
His Endurance had gone beyond the limits, and he had a ton of buffs from his equipment as well as from his job himself.
I was dumbfounded because all of this happened while I was watching Jung Ha-Yan and Han Sora. Fortunately, Jo Hye-Jin hadn't mentioned anything about Kim Ye-Ri and Ahn Ki-Mo's injuries, which meant that they had carried out their role properly amidst the chaos.
“It’ll be faster if you see for yourself rather than me explaining it,” Jo Hye-Jin suggested.
“Well, I’m sure someone has recorded what happened, and some of them must've died while in the middle of recording it,” I said.
I knocked on the table, and a Goddess’ Mirror popped up. I immediately went to the Videos tab and saw keywords such as "Blue Guild Members vs. Monster" in the rankings.
I clicked on a video, and it immediately started playing.
- What the hell is happening?!
- Seriously. A monster...
- Yes, there seems to be a monster. I think we drank too much.
The three obviously looked drunk.
'Wait, why is Kim Ye-Ri so drunk? Is she even old enough to drink?'
- I think the three of us are hallucinating at the same time. Wait, maybe I'm dreaming, and the two of you are here in my dreamland?
- We need to. Take care of the monster. First.
- I’ll cast a holy power spell. Let’s take this seriously.
Ahn Ki-Mo said that he was going to take the situation seriously, but I couldn't believe him at all because he was stumbling.
The guards of the capital cordoned off the area.
Meanwhile, Park Deok-Gu shouted and charged at the monster.
The camera captured the monster’s entire body.
It had a huge frame, a grotesque-looking face, and a bizarre form.
I had no idea what to call that monster, but it was different from the monsters I had ever seen so far. It had a pair of white wings on its back, and it definitely was a strange monster from the way it was making a buzzing sound.
- This is! Physical magic!
- Then, should I play the role of a berserker who’s crazy for blood?
- Dance of Enchantment.
'Stop it guys. I can’t go anywhere because you guys are embarrassing me.'
- Woooooo!
- I-It’s not an easy opponent...
- We should focus more.
- Dance of Enchantment Second Style: Coming-of-Age Ritual.
‘Ye-Ri, are you crazy?’
- H-Hold on... It’s stronger than we think. Wait! Eek! It hurts!
- Dance of Enchantment Third Style: Rosy Wind.
- Eek!
“Take this video down as soon as I’m done watching it and tell those three to submit a letter of explanation—no, a ten-page letter of apology,” I ordered.
“This video is already viral, though...” Jo Hye-Jin said.
- Dance of Enchantment. Truth. Master. My name is Kim Ye-Ri, and no words can describe me. Awaken—succubus Mode.
“All right, fine. Just leave it alone so that it stays in the Benigoa Net forever. They have to see what they were doing while they were drunk,” I said.
- Kgh! Physical Martial Arts—Indestructible!
- Bloodthirster: Berserk!
- Ahhhhh! Physical Martial Arts—Heavenly Subjugation!
“Actually, I’m going to punish them. Let’s give them the highest level of punishment that the guild can impose in my name. Reduce their pay and tell them to return their equipment for two months. The fine will be... ten thousand gold,” I said.
“That’s a good idea, sir,” Jo Hye-Jin said.
The pig was finally sent flying after holding out for so long.
Was that when he got hurt? I saw Park Deok-Gu slamming into a wall, but I was relieved to see him standing up almost immediately. Of course, he probably broke a bone or two upon impact.
They were shouting at the monster with uneasy looks, but it seemed like they hadn't forgotten their roles.
Park Deok-Gu, the vanguard, was fighting the monster face-to-face, while Kim Ye-Ri was taking advantage of Park Deok-Gu's peeling to deal damage to the monster. Ahn Ki-Mo stood at the rear, supporting Park Deok-Gu.
The way he seamlessly cast spells infused with holy power between Kim Ye-Ri and Park Deok-Gu told me that these three siblings had a ton of experience working together.
Kim Ye-Ri was stumbling like a drunken master as she attacked, but it was a perfect performance. She hopped onto the monster’s back and started climbing it up with a dagger in hand. She hopped onto a roof and attached the wire that was attached to her wrist to the clock tower before taking to the sky.
Kim Ye-Ri was soon flying above the city.
‘This is basically a one-man show.’
The guards and adventurers got into a formation and started shooting arrows at the monster. The monster swung its arm like a lunatic, but Park Deok-Gu grabbed its arms, suppressing it. Kim Ye-Ri then hopped onto its arm and hacked away at it.
At this point, the battle was over as long as the monster didn't recover its health.
“It’s holy power.” I pointed out.
“Yes, it is. The videos after this one were uploaded by other adventurers,” Jo Hye-Jin informed.
“Well, I don’t need to look at those. I'm sure many adventurers participated in the battle. There must have been some damage, but they still managed to take the monster down, right?” I asked.
“Yes, sir. Additionally, they brought its corpse here. I thought you might be curious about it,” Jo Hye-Jin replied.
“That’s great. We actually found something similar to that monster. There's a non-disclosure agreement, but it doesn’t matter anymore because everyone in the Sacred Democratic Country will eventually know.
"Rafael’s party was hunting a similar monster around here. Its appearance is kind of different, but they seem to be the same type of monster,” I informed her.
“...”
“The Holy Sword Warrior believes that the monster is related to a dungeon... and I agree with him,” I continued.
“It’s definitely... safer to think that this phenomenon is happening because of a dungeon,” Jo Hye-Jin commented.
“Yes.”
“Are you—”
“I’m helping them,” I answered.
I felt a bit relaxed to see Jo Hye-Jin’s face. Her long hair was still tied up, and her armor was still pretty shiny. However, I could still see Bonobono’s color theme, which meant that she couldn’t quite give up her favorite color.
Obviously, she still had the spear that the God of Sacrifice and Revival had bestowed upon her. She could have contacted me in other ways, but she probably thought that it was more comfortable for us to talk face-to-face.
“It’s probably an unranked dungeon, but I assume the true difficulty is probably Mythic. The monsters are pretty high in level to say that it’s simply because of the dungeon. If we don’t take care of it, similar monsters will keep on appearing in the near future.
"Where’s the corpse of that monster?” I asked.
“It’s on its way here, sir,” she answered.
“Then let’s head over to the place where the monster that the Holy Sword Warrior’s party had encountered was defeated. Ah, I forgot to ask you this, but I coincidentally saw something on Benigoa Net...” I trailed off.
“What?”
“Something about Jo Hye-Jin of the Blue Guild going on a date with a man...” I continued.
“What do you...”
“You haven’t been on Benioga Net recently? Well, it’s a pretty old story...” I asked.
“Ah!”
“...”
Jo Hye-Jin nodded quietly as if she had figured something out.
“It wasn’t a date,” Jo Hye-Jin said.
“?”
“We simply ate together. I accidentally hurt his griffon. I was going to compensate him, but he said that I could just buy him some food; he also told me that he was a fan of mine...
"However, it turns out that he was a superficial and rude man, so the entire experience was torture for me. I think his name was... Lee Ji-Hoo? Contrary to his first impression, he was extremely rude. Anyway, it’s not what you think, so stay out of it,” she explained.
‘Why is Lee Ji-Hoo being mentioned all of a sudden?’
It seemed that Jo Hye-Jin truly thought of it as a bad memory, and I could see that from the frown on her face.
“Be careful. There are many strange people in this world. I'm sure there are people who are more than willing to take advantage of our innocent Hye-Jin,” I warned her.
“That’s what it seemed like. At first, he gave strange compliments—no, let’s stop talking about it, sir. Let’s go. Ah! Also, you need to issue a statement,” Jo Hye-Jin said.
“What kind of statement?” I asked.
“A statement about the recent events. Miss Oscar and Father Basel have officially requested one from you. It's a monster that can wield holy power, after all,” Jo Hye-Jin explained.
It was understandable. After all, it hadn't been that long since the continent returned to normal. I was sure most denizens were afraid that there was going to be another judgement.
In fact, some of them were probably thinking that they had yet to be forgiven for their sins or that the gods and goddesses of the continent were testing mankind again.
They were probably coming up with all sorts of theories about the apocalypse. I needed to make a statement to reassure them, and I needed to deal with this issue before things became even more chaotic.
I walked into Rafael's camp with Jo Hye-Jin and soon arrived at where the monster's corpse was located. I saw Han Sora and Jung Ha-Yan. It seemed that Han Sora was done speaking with Jung Ha-Yan, but the latter remained uneasy...
“Ha-Yan, are you feeling better?” I asked.
“Ah... y-yes. I’m still kind of tired...” Jung Ha-Yan answered.
“You can go in and rest...” I told her.
“I-It’s fine. More importantly, M-Miss J-Jo Hye-Jin is here as well,” Jung Ha-Yan greeted.
“Hello, Miss Jung Ha-Yan and Miss Han Sora,” Jo Hye-Jin greeted back.
“It’s been a while since we saw each other,” Han Sora said.
They were assigned their own tasks. There had been no expeditions recently, so they rarely ran into each other. Realizing that, I couldn't help but think about planning something that would allow everyone to meet in one place again.
“Tell them to transport that corpse from the capital here, Miss Hye-Jin,” I ordered.
“Yes, sir,” Jo Hye-Jin answered.
“And Miss Sora, please call Rafael’s party for me. The situation has changed,” I instructed.
“Okay.”
When I entered the tent, the first thing I saw was Dominions dissecting the corpse.
The way she greeted us while her face was covered in gory stuff was a grotesque sight.
I waved my hand, afraid that she'd walk up to us.
Dominions obediently went back to her work.
'Where is Thronus? Is he investigating the nearby area?'
And that was when I heard a loud noise...
Boom!
“...”
“...”
“This is the third time,” Jo Hye-Jin said.
Rafael barged into the tent.
“Hyung, are you okay? Y-You should move somewhere safe...” Rafael suggested.
Nothing had happened yet, and it was really far away.
Nothing was going to happen here.
'Wait, isn’t Sera and Cheru in that direction?'
- C-Cheru! Look at that. I-If we take that with us, Father m-might forgive us b-because it's an achievement.
'No, I still won’t forgive you.'
- ...
'Don’t you dare agree with him.'