TOP 81

Episode 81

The Donation Angel

After the hearing ended.

“It feels kind of empty… but also nice.”

Shin Chaeri spoke to me with a complicated expression.

“What do you mean?”

“Today, I wasn’t much use, was I?”

“…I’m sorry about that.”

I had brought her along thinking she might be needed, but in the end, she wasn’t much help.
Even without her assistance, the allegations were resolved smoothly.

“It’s fine.”

Shin Chaeri smiled brightly.

“Thanks to this, I at least learned how amazing it is that someone like you is registered under our guild name.”

Hmm.
That was true enough.
After all, I was technically a member of the New Cherry Guild.

“On that note, I’m planning to enter a dungeon soon.”

“Yes. Should I look for a six-star one?”

“Yes.”

After the hearing, my six-star Hunter license was confirmed.
Thanks to the investigations department’s leniency, I didn’t lose much time and could move on to my next plan.

One of those plans was dungeon exploration.

Until now, I had entered dungeons by chance, by filling in as a porter, or through grading examinations.
But in the end, to properly enter dungeons, you needed a guild to back you.

It wasn’t easy for an individual to bid on dungeon entry.

Especially…

“Do you have a preferred type of dungeon?”

“Not really. Just somewhere with decent byproduct profits will be enough.”

“Hmm. Got it!”

The more profitable a dungeon, the harder it was for an individual to obtain.
Not only money, but a guild’s capabilities mattered in dungeon bidding as well.

In this situation, New Cherry Guild could get me an appropriate dungeon.

‘Of course, a large guild could do that too…’

But in those, I wouldn’t be able to control the guild master like I did now.
Right now, there was no guild more suitable for me.

“Oh right, I won’t need a porter.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yes. Rather than fussing with that, I’ll just do it myself.”

“…Thank you. That gives us more options.”

I had decided against bringing a porter.
Sure, it would make things more convenient physically, but mentally it would be more uncomfortable.

‘Protecting them would be a hassle, and I don’t like having to hide important information either.’

It was better to do the dismantling myself.
As for carrying things, thanks to the “Dragon Lair,” that wasn’t a problem either.

Anyway.

“I’ll let you know once I secure a dungeon!”

“Okay. I’ll wait.”

I bid Shin Chaeri farewell.

On my way home from the Hunter Administration Bureau.

One major problem had been solved, and now it was time to take the next step.

So I asked Yoo Seol-ah:

“Seol-ah.”

“Yes!”

“Among the Prophets… you know Metheus, right?”

“The Tower Master?”

“That’s right.”

The Prophet, Metheus.
One of those who greatly contributed to humanity during the early Great Cataclysm—he was the founder of the Mage Tower.

And also…

‘The existence I met during the trial to obtain the Dragon’s Authority.’
‘The fragment of history I experienced in “Tenauzeus’s Arrangement II.”’

“Why him, Master?”

“I think I need to meet him.”

That was my plan.

“Hmm…”

Yoo Seol-ah put a finger to her lips, lost in thought—when suddenly.

“Young man…!”

An old lady appeared out of nowhere, blocking our path.

“Could you help me…?”

Then she reached her hand out, asking for assistance.

Swoosh—

I pulled my hand back, unwilling to take it.
Instead, I stared straight at the old woman.

【Yujin. That’s─】

‘A disguise?’

【Right. You noticed?】

‘It’d be strange if I didn’t.’

Though she had put effort into it, the voice, the wrinkles around her eyes—they didn’t quite match.
Clearly, someone was intentionally trying to lure us.

‘What should I do…’

【Do you really need to play along?】

‘Well, not really. Hm.’

Strangely, I had a feeling that if I followed, something good would happen.
It was confusing.

Normally, I trusted my instincts, but this time… what possible good could come from this?

As I hesitated, Yoo Seol-ah stepped forward.

“Grandma! What do you need help with?”

She didn’t seem to notice the flaws in the disguise, simply showing kindness.

“Please, come with me. I need your help…!”

“Mas—cough. Let’s help her, okay?”

She even asked me to help the old woman.

‘Normally, you should be wary of strangers…’

Her innocence was almost admirable. But this time, it actually worked in my favor.

【Shouldn’t you stop her?】

‘Let’s just go.’

【Nothing good will come of it…】

‘No. I think something good will.’

It gave me a more natural excuse to fall for their trick.

‘Besides, I need to collect data on my instincts anyway.’

I had to confirm in advance whether following my gut led to good outcomes or bad.
That way, I’d know how much I could rely on instinct in urgent situations.

“Alright. Let’s help her.”

“Yes! Grandma, where to?”

“This way…”

We followed the old woman, and when we arrived—

“Kehahaha! Fooled you!”

“How stupid! You’ll die here today!”

We were ambushed.

By who?

“How dare you insult me so!”

“…Cobra?”

Black Cobra Guild’s leader—or something like that, I hadn’t cared to remember his name.
Anyway, Cobra and about ten others.

“S-sorry…! I fell for it…!”

Yoo Seol-ah trembled in shock at seeing the disguised old woman reveal herself, and apologized to me.

Of course, I forgave her.

“It’s fine.”

“But… I’ll never fall for it again!”

She clenched her fists in anger.

And then—

【Wow. So it really turned out like this??】

Even Frill laughed in disbelief.

‘Right? My instinct’s accuracy is almost scary.’

Being lured had actually turned into a good thing!

“Hahaha. You may have wriggled free of charges, but I won’t let you go. I’ll take compensation from you!”

Clearly, Cobra wasn’t happy with the Bureau’s investigation results.
After all, he’d lost the case, was humiliated by Yoo Seol-ah, and received nothing.

I looked him straight in the eyes and said:

“Thank you.”

“Keheh. Beg on your knees and I might—wait, what?”

“I said thank you.”

The truth was…
That “Dispel” ring he had used earlier against Yoo Seol-ah? I’d had my eye on it.
I hadn’t had the chance to claim it before, but now he had kindly brought it right to me as an ‘apology.’

“What nonsense! Do you not understand your situation!?”

In fact, he had even given me the justification of being the one to attack first!

“Yeah, I understand. You like donations, don’t you?”

“You—!”

He fumed when I didn’t give him the reaction he wanted.

“Guys, attack! Kill them and take everything!”

“Uraaahhh!”

“Beef for dinner tonight!!!”

He barked an order, and about ten Hunters charged at us.

But.

“At best, you’re just rabble.”

Their guild master was only a five-star.
The rest were obviously below that.
No matter how many came, it was no problem.

“Ice Storm!”

Yoo Seol-ah’s blizzard engulfed the attackers.

“Gahhh!”

“She’s too… strong…!”

Those few who managed to push through got their skulls smashed by me.

Slice! Slash!

It was easy.

Then I turned back to Cobra.

“What guts you’ve got.”

“…Heh. I’m not panicking!”

But he looked panicked.

Clearly, he hadn’t expected his subordinates to be wiped out so fast.
Still, he must have known deep down they wouldn’t stand a chance.

“I was prepared for this! Come forth, warriors!”

Sure enough, he had another card to play.

Another ten men appeared.
And they were…

“Powered exoskeletons?”

Each was wearing an enhanced exoskeleton.
And the design looked very familiar.

“…Those unstable, incomplete suits?”

The same ones used by the thugs who attacked the train on my way up to Seoul.

Which meant…

“Behold our power! We are beyond your reach—we are—”

“Mirinae.”

“—Miri… huh? How did you know?”

It was the world-famous villain group, Mirinae.

【So that’s what he was relying on!】

‘Yeah.’

Honestly, I had found it strange.
Even an idiot wouldn’t think a bunch of Black Cobra guild members alone could handle us.

Still, even now it didn’t make sense.

“Doing this in the middle of Seoul? What the hell are you thinking?”

Maybe in some lawless province, but here?
The Bureau’s Hunters would show up the moment this dragged on.

“Hahaha. If there are no witnesses, it’s just an assassination. We kill you quickly and disappear, simple!”

“…Oh, is that so?”

“No need to stall. Warriors of Mirinae, attack! Kill them fast and vanish!”

Clank. Clank.

The exoskeleton-clad Mirinae warriors advanced.

“Hmm.”

Exoskeletons generally boosted a user by about one rank.
But at best, they were four-stars.

With the suits?

“Five-star level?”

That was all.

“Quit bluffing. If you’d just admitted guilt and paid compensation from the start—”

I cut him off.

“Golem.”

Thud—!

I summoned the Mithril Golem.

Thanks to my recent bulk purchase of magic stones from Geum Yookang, “Dragon Lair” Level 2 had unlocked “Automatic Ether Production.”
So I no longer had to worry about fuel.

And this golem…

Bang! Boom!

Had five-star level strength.

• Mission: Protect Master.

• Multiple hostiles detected.

• Remaining power: 100%.

• Unlock condition for new function met.

• Unlocking “Overclock.”

• Power consumption doubles, output increases by 1.5x.

“Uh…”

That meant… it was actually stronger than an ordinary five-star.

《 Guardian – Mithril Golem 》
Overall Combat Level: 5.88
Functions: Autonomous Combat, Self-Repair, Personal Subspace, Overclock
Remaining Power: 100%
Current Status: Overclock (Estimated operation time – 50 minutes)
Master: Do Yujin

Its combat level had risen from 5.38 to 5.88.
Overclock was that effective.

The golem had suddenly become 1.5x stronger.

“Not bad at all…”

The doubled power consumption didn’t matter.
The Ether produced by Dragon Lair 2 was more than enough.
So in practice, the golem was simply 1.5x stronger permanently.

Bang! Crash!

“Guaaahhh!”

“T-they didn’t mention a golem!”

And the golem crushed the Mirinae warriors mercilessly.

“Damn it! Two of you hold the golem down, the rest kill that bastard!”

Cobra tried shouting commands.

But.

“Frill. Join in.”

【Got it! Ice Spear! Frozen Strike!】

Of course, my hidden strength wasn’t just the golem.
Frill, the spirit of frost, had regained much of her power—and since contracting with me, most of her restrictions were gone.

“Master, I’ll attack too! Ice Storm!”

And there was also Yoo Seol-ah, my guardian.

Together, their combined attacks left the Mirinae warriors helpless.

And then…

“I guess I don’t even need to bother throwing punches.”

I, now a six-star, joined in as well.
With my Aura Blade, I cut through the panicked enemies like paper.

“No way…! You had this much power hidden!?”

Cobra screamed in despair.

He must have thought he could overwhelm me and Seol-ah with numbers, but too bad for him.
What we’d shown back then wasn’t even close to our full strength.

And so, we annihilated the Mirinae scum and even finished off Black Cobra’s guild master.

Of course, we also looted all their equipment.

Among it… was the Dispel Ring.

“Oh.”

《 Dispel Ring – Ring, Rare 》

• Cancels magical effects within 30cm when used.

• Limited number of uses.

• Remaining charges (1/12)

It was a consumable item with limited uses, which was why it was only Rare grade.
I thought it wasn’t much after all… but then—

• Recharge method: If stored in Ether, it regains 1 charge per day. (Hidden!)

Turns out it was a jackpot!

Perfect.
All hail the Tenauzeus system.