Chapter 81

Chapter 81: Ham Jiyeon - (1)

Sanghyun arrived at the orphanage, where Ham Jiyeon greeted him.

Since night had already fallen and the orphanage was located on the outskirts of the city, darkness seemed to arrive even earlier.

Perhaps because of this, the children had already gone to their respective rooms and fallen asleep, making the surroundings quiet.

"Sanghyun, I've been waiting for you!"

"I’m not late, am I?"

"Of course not! Sorry for calling you so suddenly. I don’t have many personal connections outside the orphanage."

"Aren’t there quite a few sponsors?"

"I don’t maintain personal relationships with sponsors. I don’t want any unnecessary misunderstandings."

She seemed more reserved than expected.

Back when she was eating pizza in shabby clothes at Hyunjung Market, he thought she was quite the social butterfly.

It turned out to be a misunderstanding.

"But your face..."

"Ah, this makeup? There’s a cute kid named Yumi. She wanted to practice putting on makeup, so she used my face! Hohoho!"

Seeing the lipstick smeared long across her lips, reminiscent of the Joker, Sanghyun couldn't help but chuckle.

At the same time, he saw her sincerity—willing to let the children use her face as a practice canvas.

Running an orphanage and taking care of so many children couldn’t be an easy job.

Besides, if she had the skill to acquire a platinum-grade artifact, she would never have to worry about going hungry.

In other words, she could have lived stress-free.

Yet, Ham Jiyeon chose not to indulge in comfort and instead dedicated her time entirely to the children.

"Let’s talk first. We can’t just jump into a gate blindly."

"The location is over there. Since there are a lot of bushes around, the kids don’t go near it."

Ham Jiyeon pointed toward an area where a single street light flickered weakly, barely holding on.

For a brief moment, it illuminated the surroundings, revealing thickly overgrown bushes as she had said.

"Did you report it?"

"Of course not. You know the unspoken rule. I’d rather take advantage of the benefits first."

She seemed to have a bit of greed.

Sanghyun thought the same.

The first-clear reward was essential.

Since the gate would eventually be transferred to the Player Union, there was no need to do them a favor.

"Before we tackle this together, I want to be clear about what you want. Let’s discuss it beforehand."

"Can I be honest?"

"If you’re not, that’s the real problem."

"I want all the magic stones from the gate! In exchange, I’ll give you all the byproducts and artifacts. Everything!"

"What will you use the magic stones for?"

"They’re easy to convert into cash, right? I need them for the orphanage’s operating expenses. Some of them will also be used to build playground equipment."

Magic stones were widely used not only in medicine and science but also in everyday life.

Playground equipment constructed with magic stones could incorporate various safety features, making them quite popular.

For example, they could generate mana-powered protective fences.

The only downside was the high construction cost, but with a sufficient supply of magic stones, that wouldn’t be a problem.

‘That’s a hard offer to refuse. In any case, if we take down the boss monster, getting an artifact is a given.’

No matter how conservatively he thought about it, this deal would be profitable.

In truth, Ham Jiyeon wasn’t making much of a concession.

The higher the difficulty of the gate, the more valuable the expected artifacts would be.

"I already checked the internal restrictions. It’s for players under level 200, with a maximum of two participants."

"You already scouted it?"

"Sanghyun, I may not look like it, but I’m a player! As a level 185 mage, I should at least do that much, right?"

"Oh? A mage, huh."

"I’m sure my synergy with you, a swordsman, will be great! Let’s show off our perfect teamwork!"

Ham Jiyeon seemed excited.

Apparently, she had an easy time dealing with the gate’s entrance.

However, the entrance was just a small preview.

As they ventured deeper, they would encounter unpredictable environments and monsters. They couldn’t afford to be careless.

"What’s the internal structure like?"

"It seems to be a volcanic type. If I had to compare, it’s like Hawaii’s Kilauea crater and its surroundings."

"That’s quite a detailed comparison."

"It’s almost as if it was copied. So, there might be some unexpected variables. There are signs of an impending eruption."

"That’s troublesome."

Sanghyun let out a small sigh.

Volcanic dungeons or gates typically housed rock-type or fire-type monsters.

For example, golems or fire-wielding mage-type monsters were common.

Of course, this was just a probability-based assumption, and things didn’t always go as expected.

"Are you ready?"

"I packed enough food."

"Any other supplies?"

"As long as I have food, I’m good."

Ham Jiyeon giggled and showed the inside of a large mountaineering backpack she had set down beside her.

Inside, there were chocolate bars, snacks, high-calorie treats, and an assortment of instant meals.

"Let’s go now. We don’t have any extra intel, so there’s no point in wasting time."

"Alright, let’s go!"

The two of them strode toward the gate.

Thus began their raid on an undiscovered gate unknown to the world.

As soon as they entered the gate, Ham Jiyeon’s body floated into the air.

She hovered about a meter above the ground, moving smoothly and silently.

"……"

Both of them remained silent.

Ham Jiyeon had activated the skill ‘Flight’ to lift herself into the air.

It was a precaution to avoid making noise and alerting the gate’s monsters to their presence.

//s_win

//win_h 『Step of Darkness』

■ Skill Level: Stage 1 (0.0%)

■ Consumes 1 mana per second to erase footsteps.

//e_win

Sanghyun also erased the sound of his movement, utilizing Step of Darkness.

Though it consumed 1 mana per second, with a mana stat of 277, it wasn’t an immediate burden for him.

‘A swordsman using this kind of skill?’

Ham Jiyeon glanced at Sanghyun with a curious expression, surprised at his completely silent footsteps.

This type of skill was usually exclusive to assassin players.

For a swordsman who wielded his blade head-on, it was an unusual combination.

Noticing her gaze, Sanghyun made an ‘OK’ sign with his thumb and index finger, smiling.

As if to say, ‘I’ve got my own tricks too.’

At the same time, Sanghyun also found himself intrigued by Ham Jiyeon, filled with both expectation and curiosity.

She seemed to have engaged in solo play or participated in mercenary activities for external engagements.

Anyway, if her level was 185, she was undoubtedly a player who had experienced all sorts of battles, including land, sea, and air. She must also have had expertise.

Just then.

Flap! Flap!

A fairly loud sound was heard.

It was unmistakably the sound of heavy wings flapping—anyone could tell they belonged to a large creature.

‘Red Bat.’

A swarm of red bats appeared! Leading them was a bat that seemed to be their leader, followed by ten others.

Their vividly red bodies, visible even from afar, looked as if they were drenched in blood.

Clench.

Just as Sanghyun gripped his Greatsword of Fighting Spirit and was about to launch his opening attack using the Rising Airflowt skill—

Creak. Crack!

The Red Bats were instantly frozen solid, caught in the sky-blue smoke emitted by Ham Jiyeon.

‘Wow, that’s quite a powerful freeze.’

He was astonished.

Not only was her ability to precisely cast a freezing skill from such a distance impressive, but its power was also overwhelming.

Normally, when a freezing skill was cast in an ambiguous manner, the target would either break free quickly or only have its surface freeze slightly.

However, all the Red Bats caught in her freezing skill were completely frozen and fell from the sky.

Of course, due to their inherent fire attribute, they began to thaw gradually, but it was still a successful start.

Predicting the trajectory of the falling Red Bats, Sanghyun unleashed Rising and Crushing AIrflow in a staggered pattern.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The Red Bats, still frozen, shattered like broken glass before they could thaw.

Caught in the extreme currents pushing them up and down, their fragile bodies couldn’t withstand the force and broke apart.

“You’re a swordsman, but you have a skill that can generate strong currents over long distances?”

“A swordsman can have whatever they want, right?”

“Well, that’s true. But it’s still unusual. It’s normally difficult to specialize in this kind of skill, isn’t it?”

Ham Jiyeon’s surprise was understandable. She had a point.

If Sanghyun had been an ordinary swordsman player, acquiring such an unusual skill would have been nearly impossible.

However, because he consumed artifacts, he could absorb their skills, even those that were typically difficult to utilize.

Skills that required specific weapons or artifacts to be equipped were ‘absolute’ for Sanghyun, meaning he could use them without any conditions.

“Anyway, this combination is great. Freezing them and then shattering them with currents—it works really well on small monsters.”

“Your skill for silencing footsteps earlier, and your long-range attack skills as well… No wonder you’re so popular, Sanghyun. Right?”

“I don’t care much. It’s not like I’m a celebrity. What good is popularity?”

Sanghyun shook his head.

Meanwhile—

Plop. Plop.

Several magic stones dropped from the fallen Red Bats and landed on the ground.

Three intermediate-grade magic stones.

A total value of 30 million won.

“This is a good start.”

Sanghyun picked up the magic stones and handed them to her.

Even if he gave away dozens of magic stones, it wouldn’t matter as long as he obtained a single diamond-grade artifact.

Since it was an agreed-upon arrangement, Sanghyun had no interest in the magic stones.

Flap! Flaaap!

Another swarm of Red Bats appeared.

Seeing that they appeared in the same formation as the previous group that had just perished, it seemed they were part of a single unit.

Sanghyun and Ham Jiyeon exchanged quiet glances and smiled at the same time.

Hadn’t they already figured out the best strategy? When faced with a learned pattern, one simply had to respond in kind.

After that—

A total of 200 Red Bats appeared in intervals, each meeting its end one by one.

It was such a smooth and uneventful dungeon conquest that it almost felt dull.

The advance continued.

Perhaps because the entire ground was darkened by volcanic eruptions, the atmosphere felt gloomy.

Though there was no rain, the sky was filled with dark clouds, adding to the dim ambiance. The overall visibility felt shadowed.

“This is too easy.”

“Usually, when you start feeling that way, the most troublesome enemy appears. It seems to be a designer’s bad habit.”

Seeing the relaxed expression on Ham Jiyeon’s face, Sanghyun shook his head and spoke.

It was a kind of pattern.

From the very beginning, Sanghyun had known that dungeons and gates weren’t naturally formed structures.

Wasn’t the Gapyeong Station Rift proof of that? It was a space created by the Storm God to test him.

In his entire life—including the past 30 years—Sanghyun had conquered thousands of dungeons and gates.

And all of them had been the same.

Whenever things went too smoothly and players let their guard down, something always appeared to strike them hard from behind.

Why?

Because that was the perfect moment to torment players and take their lives. That pattern had never been wrong.

Sure enough—

“There it is.”

Up ahead, in his line of sight—

A monster stood with its arms crossed, exuding an air of absolute confidence, as if it had been waiting for him all along.

Flame Mage.

A magic-wielding monster with a fire attribute, perfectly suited to this volcanic environment, had appeared.