I covered my face with the mask as much as possible and went to Sadang Station after calling a taxi by phone in a secluded spot. The E class dungeon was not that far from Sadang Station, and as it was a bustling area, I got out of the taxi in a corner and used my stealth skill to go to the station and place the phone in the locker.
‘It’s been a long time since I came to a subway station.’
I had my own car before the return, and nowadays, I did not need to ride the subway even more. I stood and watched people going by since there was some time left before the meet. I would have been one of them if dungeons did not appear. Yoohyun would also be using the green line and go through Sadang Station[[,]] while he was riding a slick customized car now.
He was more successful, and Yoohyun might not have found his studies interesting. However, I wished he would attend his classes a little and thought maybe I should go with him. Do classes differ according to grades in universities?
‘They’re about Yoohyun’s age.’
They may have been on a trip since it was summer vacation, as they carried luggage with them. I watched them as they looked like they were enjoying themselves, thinking traveling was nice.
The time to meet came quickly just like that, and I came out of the station to go to the dungeon while being careful not to brush against pedestrians. There were a total of four people in front of the dungeon building.
There were a D class and three E classes, and they did not have any initial skills that I needed to worry about. However, I used the grace since they may have gained a dangerous skill afterward.
‘There seems to be no one else.’
I had to be careful since I was using only a mask to cover my face. They might be ordinary or nice people, but seeing a chunk of gold rolling without any protection would tempt any man. Television had extensively reported that Yoojin Han’s price was exceptionally high.
‘I can manage them even if they changed their occupations to kidnappers.’
Of course, it was not me but Velare who would be managing them. The small jewel snake’s tongue darted in and out as its eyes twinkled on my wrist like it was satisfied with the night walk.
Since low-class hunters would not have adequate poison resistance skills or items, an A class poison skill would be more than enough. However, the best option was that everything went smoothly.
“Thank you for meeting me so late.”
I went forward with a welcoming attitude after undoing the stealth skill. The D class leader looked at me up and down, and as I could not hide a bracelet because I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, I changed the grace into a necklace. They might recognize it since it had been broadcasted on television a few times, and instead, Velare was acting as a bracelet. Since it was a snake with metallic scales, it looked like a unique and fancy accessory when it kept still.
I had on earrings, and that was everything I was wearing right now.
“I heard your voice before somewhere.”
“Really? People say my voice is quite nice.”
I took out the cash as I passed over the hunter’s words, and I placed a hundred 50,000 won bills in an envelope I had bought the same way as the mask. I put forward two envelopes filled with money to the hunter.
He nodded after quickly checking the amount in the envelope.
“Are you alone? You said you’d be going in immediately.”
“Yes, something came up. So, I won’t be conquering the dungeon and will come out after twenty to thirty minutes. I would be grateful if you guys completed the conquest as planned tomorrow.”
“It’s a complete waste of money.”
“Yes. What I need can be gotten near the entrance...I shouldn’t have said that.”
I shrugged my shoulder on purpose.
“Can you get me in since I have to hurry?”
While the D class hunter looked at me suspiciously, he opened the door with the card key without saying anything else.
I went inside the building and took out an outer garment in front of the gate. Velare widened its eyes and moved to my hand to avoid the sleeve as I put on a winter garment in the middle of summer.
“It will be cold inside.”
I knocked three times and went inside the gate, and the snowing forest greeted me as always. Velare shrank in surprise when a fluttering snowflake landed on its nose.
“Is this the first time you have seen snow?”
Velare was still a baby, and the dungeon where jewel snakes came from would be a humid dungeon. The snake chomped on a snowflake as it shook its tale like it was in a bad mood. Velare tilted its head as the snowflake turned to water in its mouth.
The jewel snake turned its body to go inside my sleeve as it seemed to have felt the cold now. Velare only let out its head from my coat and looked around, and I thought it acted quite adorably.
The volleyball came bouncing to me from afar.
[You’re alone? What’s going on?]
There was Velare, but still.
“I came out in secret.”
[Honey, you can’t be going about alone! It’s dangerous!]
Even a volleyball was nagging me, and I showed the necklace that was actually the grace. A bluebird came out from a blue jewel, and the bird landed on the volleyball.
The volleyball sprang up.
[Is it because you have made the item with Mr. Shalos’ stone? It looked exactly like Mr. Shalos when he was young, despite me having not seen him as I’m younger.]
“It’s the same? Wasn’t he a dragon?”
The inventory had clearly said Dragon Lord.
[In that world, all living creatures become dragons when they grow up to a certain extent. Mr. Shalos had been a bird and had played with Mr. White Bird often.]
“The bird who counts the stars?”
I grabbed the volleyball, and the bluebird jumped up to my shoulder.
[I haven’t found it yet! I don’t know where it is!]
[Of course, I am. However, we cannot do much if they go into hiding. They can predict the future. We actually won’t be able to find them until they act first.]
...Where were they after taking someone’s younger brother? I repressed my surging emotions since going after this newbie would not change things.