TRPM 341

chapter 341

Strictly speaking, an artifact that prevents rain from falling is difficult to quantify in terms of value.

After all, it’s practically an artifact that can control the weather.

“Right now, it’s just that the rain stopped, so it might not seem like a big deal…”

But what if the storm were at typhoon level?

It might not be able to stop the wind, but at the very least, I think it could prevent rain from falling.

“…Cleansing, drying.”

Using verbal magic—which seemed to be coming up more often than usual today—I cleaned and dried both my and Ryu Amin’s clothes and bodies, then looked around.

The soldiers wearing ponchos and the police in fluorescent raincoats didn’t take them off, even though the rain had stopped.

They probably thought it could start raining again at any moment.

And since the dungeon had been cleared and disappeared, everyone seemed relieved.

“The Association is here! The on-site commander, please report the situation!”

A little late, but people presumably from the nearby Association arrived.

The on-site commander?

“…Hmm. In this case, the on-site commander would clearly be…”

The person in charge of command.

Although the soldiers and police were forming a perimeter, since I had arrived, the ultimate command had effectively been handed over to me.

The squad leader on the soldiers’ side was taking orders from me, so it must be correct.

While I had been entering the dungeon, Ms. Son Ji-hye had temporarily assumed command, but ultimately, the highest authority was mine…

“So, that’s me.”

I would be the on-site commander.

“That’s correct. The dungeon has been successfully cleared…”

Of course, since I wasn’t new to acting as an on-site commander, I reported the situation skillfully.

Although it was my first time for this particular dungeon.

“And the civilian evacuation…”

However, I didn’t know what had happened to the civilians, so I kept my words brief.

Ms. Son Ji-hye, who had been between the soldiers and police just moments before, stepped forward.

“The civilians are currently being protected in temporary tents. Injured people are being treated by our accompanying magician.”

“I see. Were there any casualties?”

“No, none.”

“Thank goodness.”

The Association staff tapped on a tablet as they listened to Ms. Son Ji-hye’s report.

“…Huh?”

The staff member, tapping on the tablet, seemed to see something unbelievable. After glaring at the tablet, they looked at me.

“Could it be… the Artist?”

“Ah, yes.”

“R-Really the Artist? Why are you here…? I don’t mean you shouldn’t be here, but…”

Ah, I understood their reaction.

So, this person is probably my fan who’s been following me as a crime-fighting Artist.

“Um… could I ask for your autograph here? I’m sure there’s a pen…”

The staff member searched their pockets for a pen, wanting me to sign the back of the tablet they were holding.

“Ugh… I only have a ballpoint pen…”

Clearly, it wasn’t an ideal pen for signing. A ballpoint pen is awkward on such a hard surface.

Knowing this, I focused my internal energy at my fingertips and signed.

“Uh…? Uh…?”
“There you go.”

My signature appeared clearly on the back of the tablet. It wasn’t engraved deeply, so it could still be erased easily.

‘The staff member can handle preservation themselves.’

For example, they could apply a protective film over the signature. Thinking this, I returned the tablet, and the staff member let out a sigh.

“Phew… It’s really a relief that the Artist is here. Another hidden dungeon…”

“Hidden dungeon?”

I heard an unfamiliar term.

“Oh, yes. It’s a new type of dungeon that has been appearing worldwide for about a week. It can’t be found using conventional methods and can only be detected once it starts spawning monsters, which makes it difficult in many ways.”

Apparently, the dungeon the Artist just cleared was the third such dungeon in Korea.

“Fortunately, if an Awakened with excellent detection ability approaches, it can be sensed, so it’s not entirely impossible to deal with.”

…I’ve never heard of it.

At least before my regression, I had never heard of such dungeons.

But…

“According to experts, both the previously existing erosion-type dungeons and the current hidden dungeons… the black mist creating these dungeons is evolving strategically.”

Hearing the Association staff member, I recalled what I had heard before.

[(Yes, that’s right. The black mist will continue creating dungeons until all humans on Earth are dead.)]

[It will become increasingly cunning over time.]

[(Eventually, the black mist will attack humanity in a way they can never counter. Its growth isn’t particularly fast, so it will take decades…)]

The Oracle had said that the black mist would continue evolving until it reached a level humanity could not stop.

‘Since the erosion-type dungeons were quickly countered, the black mist prepared a new method: hidden dungeons.’

The black mist will continue to release new dungeons in this way.

‘…For now, let’s focus on the hidden dungeon.’

There’s no point in thinking about dungeons that will appear in the future.

So, I decided to focus on measures for the hidden dungeon. First, I would need data.

‘Even if it’s a hidden dungeon, it can’t be perfectly concealed. With my sense, I should be able to find it. I’ll send dolls on patrol every night to gather data, then organize it and create a detector that can detect both regular and hidden dungeons.’

However, there’s a major problem.

‘…I don’t have any dolls right now…’

The dolls I used while working as an Artist had been used for Woo Ji-min’s revival.

Creating a new doll might not yield one with senses as sharp as the previous ones. Detection is crucial to locate and analyze hidden dungeons.

And sending myself personally is… troublesome.

“…Ah.”

Now that I think about it, I don’t need to intervene personally.

There’s someone whose detection and analysis abilities surpass mine, even if their range is narrower.

‘Not a person, a doll.’

Arthur, Rachel’s doll living in England.

I remembered him, took out my smartphone, and sent Arthur a message.

To summarize the main content of the message, excluding minor explanations and instructions:

‘Do it.’

Just one word.

Meanwhile, in England.

“…Sigh…”

Arthur, lying in bed with Rachel, checked his smartphone message and sighed.

“Why, Arthur?”
“The Artist asked me to do something.”

The hidden dungeon. Looking at the overview summarized in Han Gun-woo’s message, Arthur seemed already tired even before starting.

It looked like tedious work that would take a long time.

‘(A dungeon undetectable by existing detectors… and very few have appeared so far.)’

The hidden dungeon has been rarely detected.

This means that hidden dungeons are far fewer than regular dungeons.

‘(London already has numerous low-frequency generators, and to detect dungeons, I have to go outside London…)’

Even going outside London, finding hidden dungeons would be difficult.

‘(Finding one dungeon isn’t enough. To understand their characteristics, I need to find and analyze at least three.)’

Even if I’m lucky and discover one per day, it would take three days. Hidden dungeons don’t appear daily, so the time frame doubles.

Moreover, Arthur cannot check all of England himself, so the duration increases.

“…Is it really hard?”
“Not hard, just time-consuming.”

But he can’t avoid the task. Not because Han Gun-woo told him to, but because Arthur knows he is the one who must do it.

He knows his analysis abilities are necessary.

“First, I’ll go to the Association and ask the head directly. It’s only been a week, but I need to ask why they didn’t reveal it sooner.”

Arthur said this and got out of bed.

The soldiers and police began withdrawing.

Association staff transported the remaining monster corpses and cleaned up monster blood and other residues.

Civilians, hearing it was safe, started returning to their homes.

Seeing this, my group and I returned to the teacher’s car.

Several vehicles were parked around the teacher’s car.

“Huh? These cars…”
“They must be Association vehicles.”
“Oh, that makes sense.”

The Association arrived later than us.

We chatted as we got into the car.

“Ugh… that was exhausting…”
“Yeah… me too…”
“……”

The three people in the back seat slumped down.

“Huh? Why are you all like that? It wasn’t that hard, was it?”

Ms. Son Ji-hye looked puzzled at them.

“Hmm…”

“It’s their first real operation, so they must have been tense.”

None of the three had handled hard tasks directly, but the tension of being in the field had clearly taken its toll.

“Looks like going to the Rose Festival will be tough, huh?”
“…Ugh…”

At my words, Lee Ha-eun seemed to want to respond but didn’t. She wanted to go, but her body wasn’t cooperating.

‘It was a joke.’

They were drained, but I figured they’d recover quickly. After lunch, they’d probably be fine and insist on going to the festival.

Seeing this, the teacher chuckled in agreement.

“Ha… yeah, I was nervous too.”
“Really? You were nervous too?”
“Of course.”

Even as a former member of the Cleaner Guild, it was her first time commanding in an actual operation.

“I learned command at the academy and observed in the Cleaner Guild, but I’d never commanded real soldiers and police before.”
“Hmm…”

Indeed, given her age and the fact that she studied to become a teacher after leaving the guild, her dungeon-raiding experience would be relatively short.

“So, where to next?”
“Well… let’s eat lunch first and then decide.”

It was almost lunchtime, and the children would have recovered after eating.

“So, what shall we eat?”
“……”
“……”
“……”
“……”
“…Guys?”

No one answered the teacher’s question. Deciding on lunch was apparently as difficult as anything else.