The Hero Returns

There were three guilds and 20 people from each guild, plus Su-hyeun and Lee Ju-ho. The number of people for this raid for the green-colored dungeon was 62. Su-hyeun felt awkward and uncomfortable to work with so many people like this.

<>

This position was also called the raid leader. He never was a raid leader even in the game. So, this situation was really uncomfortable for him.

“Well, I guess what I did in Anyang was something like a raid leader.”

When the outbreak of green dungeon occurred in Anyang City, Su-hyeun was the one who led the people. But at that time, he just had thought he had to gather people. He didn’t think of himself as a raid leader.

“What do you think?”

Lee Ju-ho came close to Su-hyeun, who was standing at the entrance of the dungeon. He poked Su-hyeun’s side and asked, “Well, I was just thinking there were too many people,” Su-hyeun answered.

“Too many?”

“Yes. I don’t feel comfortable working with this many people…”

“I see. Since you always worked alone.”

Lee Ju-ho nodded as if he understood. Normally, people who climbed the Tower of Trials didn’t do that by themselves. They usually made a team of at least two and as many as ten. And when that happened, of course, the Tower of Trials adjusted the difficulty to the number of awakeners.

But even if the level of difficulty increased, the party that made up for the weakness of each other was far superior to the individual. However, in the case of Su-hyeun, it was impossible to look for a party. It was the same for Hak-joon. Unless the one wished to attempt suicide, people didn’t try anything higher than level 8.

“If you are capable, it is comfortable to do it alone. As always, the problem is most people are not capable of that,” Lee Ju-ho said.

“I guess so.”

By the end of their conversation, all team members were ready.

Su-hyeun was the one who was at the head. Since he was the only S-Rank of the raid group, he had to prepare for any risks that could happen.

Splash—

Su-hyeun immersed his feet in the green colored sea. At that moment, he felt like he was being sucked deeply under the sea. Soon, in front of his eyes, the huge dome-shaped space appeared under the sea.

<>

It looked like a dungeon in the sea, like an underwater city. It was a world that would appear in a movie. Numerous huge ships sank and fell on the ground. Countless buildings were scattered around. Above was the sea, but underneath was land. It was a wonderful experience.

“Wow…”

Lee Ju-ho and other awakeners who followed Su-hyeun also admired. It was an amazing dungeon that even surprised a person like Su-hyeun, who had experienced many dungeons. It was natural that other people were amazed.

“Is it like Atlantis? What kind of dungeon is so gorgeous like this?”

“It’s not a normal dungeon,” Su-hyeun said as he looked around.

The other guild masters including Lee Kang-hee responded, “Isn’t that obvious? The level of the dungeon is…”

“Light,” Su-hyeun said as he pointed the above, “the light comes all the way down here.”

“…Yes?”

“We are at the bottom of the ocean. No matter how shallow the depth, the light doesn’t come through all the way to the bottom. Especially not this clear.”

What Su-hyeun said was true. In the case of a typical cave-shaped dungeon, there was no way to get the sunlight. In this case, they just thought that it was bright because the top was not blocked. But Su-hyeun’s realistic sense did not miss even a small thing. First of all, he doubted about the background of the dungeon.

Kyao, kyao—

Miru, who was laying around Su-hyeun’s neck, suddenly began to cry. It raised its head to the top.

Su-hyeun muttered, stroking Miru’s head, “I guess it won’t be easy.”

Su-hyeun narrowed his eyes. Lee Ju-ho looked at Su-hyeun and swallowed with tension.

“What are you doing? Let’s move!”

Somebody urged from behind. He was Lee Kang-hee. Then, the other two guild masters raised their voices toward him.

“Hey, why are you in such a hurry? We have to figure out the structure of the dungeon first.”

“Yes. Let’s trust Su-hyeun and wait for now.”

One of them was the Gambler’s guild master, Park Mo-young. The other was Red Devil’s guild master Kim Taek-hyun. Lee Kang-hee crumbled his face as if he didn’t like the other two who complained to him.

“It’s okay. As Mr. Kang-hee said, there is nothing to figure out here now. Let’s slowly move and see,” Su-hyeun said and began to walk.

Lee Kang-hee glanced at the two men once and led members of Papillon Guild. The other two guilds were followed as well. The city was quiet. Even though more than 60 people moved together, they felt unnatural that the sounds from their footsteps were filling the whole space.

“It is so quiet.”

Lee Ju-ho, who muttered in a very quiet voice, was surprised and closed his mouth. He didn’t expect his voice to sound so loud. It was that quiet.

“What are you so nervous? Relax,” Su-hyeun said.

“Well, I can’t help it. It is so quiet.”

“It’s better to deal with the monster’s raids. This quiet dungeon is better than a noisy forest with birds chirping and beast crying.”

“Well. That makes sense but…”

It was amazing that Lee Ju-ho was able to think so reasonably even in this eerie situation. He shook his head and changed the topic.

“This place. Is this a place like Atlantis?”

“Probably not.”

“Why not? Here is the underwater city, too.”

“But still.”

Su-hyeun was sure that this place was not Atlantis. There was nothing to say to explain why. Even if he told him the truth — that he had visited Atlantis — he would not believe him.

<> Su-hyeun thought.

This place was not more prosperous than Atlantis, and it was much more severely destroyed, just like a ghost city.

<>

He could not feel any signs or gazes, even though he was paying attention to all his five senses.

Krrr—

That time, Miru started crying low. Su-hyeun turned his head.

“Watch out, left and right!”

“What?”

Swish—

Hundreds of arrows came from all sides. They were not ordinary arrows. Each one of them was powerful enough to penetrate an iron plate. Because it was not a living monster, there was no sign. It was a trap.

Swoosh—!

Woosh, whoosh—!

Flames soared from all sides. They weakened the arrows. More than 60 awakeners either struck or blocked such arrows one by one.

Swish, swiiish—

But the arrows were not stopped. The arrows with magic came from all in different directions. Su-hyeun wrapped the area with his Flame skill and looked around.

<>

Looking at the trajectory, he could tell where the arrows came from. The problem was the distance.

“To destroy all the traps from here…”

Purr—

That time, Miru cried while watching Su-hyeun.

<>

He nodded and asked, “You know how to do it, right?”

Purr—!

Miru answered with spirit. Su-hyeun was a little nervous. Miru was only five days old.

<>

Who would believe in their child if not their own father?

Schwing—

Su-hyeun drew his sword out of the scabbard. He injected his magic to the sword. Then, he closed his eyes and felt the trajectory of the arrow. The situation was similar to the training done in the basement of Authority building.

The distance was far, but the difficulty was easier. Unlike the slabs, the traps didn’t move.

“Hey, Miru,” Su-hyeun called.

Purr—

Miru cried low.

Whirl, whirl, whirl—

The magic that was injected into the sword was amplified and quickly grew out of power. Before the power disappeared, Su-hyeun quickly swung the sword.

Swish—

The magic shot through the sword was shattered into numerous branches. They flew towards the traps working from side to side.

Wham, wham—

Crack, crack—

The number of arrows that came flying was significantly reduced. Su-hyeun gathered his magic to the sword again. Miru did the same. To be precise, Miru was amplifying the power of Su-hyeun.

“Good. Like that…”

Clang—

Wham, wham—

Su-hyeun who smashed all the remaining traps looked at Miru with a grin.

“Good job.”

Meow—!

Miru answered with excitement at Su-hyeun’s praise. In the meantime, other awakeners who were in the panic looked at Su-hyeun with confused faces.

“W-what was that? What?”

“I don’t know…”

“Did he just intercept all the traps from here?”

They saw it, but they could not believe it. Lee Ju-ho would have been the same as them if he had not seen Su-hyeun before. What Su-hyeun just did was something like a superhuman skill.

<> Lee Ju-ho thought, <>

He wondered if Su-hyeun could focus more in an actual fight. This was not just a matter of strong and weak. Su-hyeun quickly figured out where the traps were. He focused his magic and controlled to distribute it. The accuracy was amazing, too. It was not possible if any of them were lacking. Originally, it was a task for dozens of people, not just one. But Su-hyeun did it all by himself.

“You make me speechless,” Lee Ju-ho said.

“You can skip the praise. Everybody all right?”

The other awakeners nodded.

“Yes, yes.”

“Everybody is fine.”

“We are the same.”

Fortunately, there was no injury because of the quick response.

Su-hyeun nodded as if he was relieved and said, “Then let’s keep going.”

Su-hyeun began to walk again. The team which had been stopped for a while moved again. Lee Ju-ho walked close to Su-hyeun. He looked at Miru who was making purr sounds. It was smiling, lost the plot.

“Was that Miru’s ability? Amplifying your magic?”

“Yes. It is still young, so it couldn’t do anything but a simple supporting role.”

“That was a way better than just a simple supporting role. Do you know how hard to get magic boosting items?”

“It doesn’t only boost the magic. It also can help to increase Strength, Agility, and other physical abilities,” Su-hyeun said.

Lee Ju-ho was speechless at that response.

<> he thought.

This was quite comparable to some fraudulent items. It was not even one year old. Lee Ju-ho was amazed by Miru.

“Hey, Miru?”

Purr—?

At Lee Ju-ho’s friendly calling, Miru tilted its head sideways.

“Let’s be close friends.”

Grrrrrr—

Miru exposed its teeth as if it only cared for its father. Lee Ju-ho, who felt like he was dumped by a woman who had a secret crush, shook his head and sighed out.

“Umm…”

At that time, Su-hyeun stopped walking and looked around as if he was embarrassed.

Lee Ju-ho asked in a weak voice, “What is wrong?”

“This place…”

Clink— Clink—

“…might be a little troublesome dungeon,” Su-hyeun said.

They could hear a shrill sound from everywhere.