#84
After greeting the person in charge, Seo Yi-young grabbed the doorknob to go back inside.
It didn’t seem like Jo Tae-su would issue such an order without reason. Then what could be the reason? There must be a purpose. But for now, the dungeon conquest right in front of him was the priority. Whatever Jo Tae-su’s intentions, he needed to survive this dungeon to do anything.
Seo Yi-young’s eyes twitched as his thoughts reached that point.
…Could it be that Jo Tae-su doesn’t intend to keep him alive?
It was a plausible possibility. Had he decided to discard Seo Yi-young?
Whatever the reason, it was clear he had decided to eliminate Seo Yi-young. Had he judged him to be of no value? Or…
At that moment, Seo Yi-young suddenly remembered that the original Seo Yi-young had called Jo Tae-su “father.” He had even encouraged him to do so. What had he called Jo Tae-su when they met after coming to this dimension? He tried to recall his memory, but he was certain he hadn’t used that cringe-worthy title of “father.” While Jo Tae-su probably hadn’t realized that Seo Yi-young had been replaced, he might have noticed something had changed. Had he decided to eliminate him because of that?
He didn’t think he was jumping to conclusions. Jo Tae-su was certainly capable of such a thing.
Seo Yi-young bit his lip hard. In any case, he’d had bad luck both in the previous dimension and in this one. Just wait. Even if he has to die, he’ll make sure to get out alive.
Biting his lip, Seo Yi-young opened the door and went back into the waiting room.
Anyway, Jo Tae-su was the next problem.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the hunters’ lives depended on him. Though he wasn’t directly participating in combat, Seo Yi-young’s role in supporting from behind was not small. Rather, he needed to ensure that combat hunters could focus solely on fighting.
It would be good if he could prevent injuries before they occurred. Of course, there were hunters with such abilities. But could Seo Yi-young somehow imitate something like that?
Seo Yi-young resented his own poor imagination.
While Seo Yi-young was pondering, hunters from other countries began to arrive.
There were 5 from the United States, 2 from the United Kingdom, 3 from Japan, 8 from China, 2 from Germany, and 3 from Turkey. There were more support hunters than combat hunters, but since their ranks were S to A class, they would be of considerable help.
Among the American hunters were some who had entered dungeons with him before.
Most of the hunters were contacting their respective agencies to receive items they had. After completing their preparations, some hunters called their families. And a few were sitting and watching the news broadcast.
Most maintained their composure, behaving no differently than usual.
The TV screen showed foreign media filming from a helicopter at a distance. Even though they were in a helicopter, they were filming from such a close proximity that one wondered if it was safe to approach so near. Despite warnings to stay away from dangerous areas, they showed no signs of listening.
“Why are they doing that?”
“They’re trying to do in Korea what they do overseas.”
Since it was a disaster-class dungeon, he had heard that there was international interest and coverage, but he hadn’t expected them to report so recklessly.
– Ah, I just felt the air shake. Uh, uhh.
– Reporter Jung Chang-hoo, are you okay? The wind seems very strong.
– Yes. The wind is blowing so fiercely that it’s hard to keep balance even on the ground. Ah. The helicopter in the air is now very, ah, waaah…!
The camera zoomed in on the helicopter falling while filming the sky where they were connected to the scene. After showing the helicopter crashing to the ground for a while, the screen changed to show the face of a reporter in the studio. They continued the broadcast, saying they would provide updates as soon as accurate information from the scene came in.
It wasn’t hard to guess what was happening. Seeing the helicopter crash, he couldn’t just sit still. Even though they had been reckless in their reporting, they shouldn’t have to face such a situation. Especially since helicopter crashes can result in tremendous loss of life. But…
Seo Yi-young had to enter the disaster-class dungeon soon. He didn’t have the luxury of worrying about that incident now. Rather than diverting his attention to that, it would be better to spend more time thinking about the skills he would use in the dungeon.
Even while thinking this, Seo Yi-young’s hands tightened as he stared at the screen.
That’s when someone approached from behind and grabbed his hand. Startled by the unexpected touch, Seo Yi-young flinched.
“Don’t watch that.”
“…What?”
“I’m saying this because you’ll definitely have unnecessary thoughts.”
Choi Do-jun spoke as if he had predicted what Seo Yi-young was thinking.
“No, what thoughts would I…”
“The most important thing to focus on right now is the dungeon conquest. Looking at the situation, the dungeon will appear shortly.”
Seo Yi-young, who was about to protest out of a sense of injustice, closed his mouth and bit his lower lip hard at Choi Do-jun’s words. Choi Do-jun wasn’t wrong. What Seo Yi-young needed to focus on now was the disaster-class dungeon that would soon appear. Seo Yi-young muttered to himself once more, as if reminding himself.
Perhaps his composure was disturbed by the pressure of having to use his abilities properly to ensure the hunters entering the disaster-class dungeon wouldn’t get hurt. He needed to stay calm.
“I’ll go cool my head off.”
In the middle of speaking, Lee Chung-mo’s voice interrupted.
“Hunter Seo Yi-young, I wonder who you’ll prioritize healing later?”
“What?”
When Seo Yi-young reacted, Lee Chung-mo continued with a sneer.
“Well, it’s so obvious you two are close. It would be advantageous to get healed even one more time inside the dungeon, right? Don’t you think?”
Seo Yi-young frowned. Lee Chung-mo didn’t hide his sarcasm about the relationship between Seo Yi-young and Choi Do-jun. He couldn’t understand why he was behaving this way before entering the dungeon, as this kind of behavior wasn’t helpful at all.
He felt the gazes of other hunters nearby converging on them.
He wanted to ask what nonsense he was talking about and move on, but it’s not always wise to just endure. Shouldn’t one respond in kind to such provocations? Especially in a situation where all eyes were on them, he needed to draw a clear line to prevent unnecessary talk later. People tend to pay extra attention to provocative words, even if they try to let them go. Seo Yi-young let out a noticeable sigh and opened his mouth.
“If you want to be healed that badly, fight on the front lines of the dungeon.”
“What?”
Seo Yi-young continued, looking at Lee Chung-mo. With this type of person, indirect speech doesn’t work. Getting along peacefully only works with people who are willing to do so.
“You know what I’m talking about. I don’t heal people I favor, I heal people who need it.”
After stating this as if driving in a nail, he turned his head as if not willing to deal with him further, but Choi Do-jun grabbed him.
“Why?”
Choi Do-jun was giving him a look as if reproaching him. Thinking, “Does this guy have no sense?” and about to say a word to Choi Do-jun to save his snark for people like that, when—
“Is there any need to respond to such comments?”
“…Huh?”
“Don’t waste energy on useless things. You can show it in action.”
Seo Yi-young’s eyes moved quickly from side to side. So Choi Do-jun, while seemingly admonishing Seo Yi-young, was actually taking a shot at Lee Chung-mo. Lee Chung-mo’s face, suddenly reduced to a “useless thing,” began to turn red. The hunters who had been watching also started to turn their attention elsewhere, chuckling.
Only after stepping back did he wonder if this was okay. Of course, this wasn’t a particularly unusual situation. There were occasionally hunters like Lee Chung-mo who started unnecessary arguments with their conquest team.
Seo Yi-young tapped Choi Do-jun’s arm, signaling him to stop. He turned his body to move to another place to avoid facing him altogether.
“Hey, you wait-“
Before Lee Chung-mo could finish, a loud siren was heard throughout the building.
Beeeep- Beeeep-
The ear-piercing sound stopped a little later.
“It seems the dungeon has appeared.”
Although Choi Do-jun spoke calmly as ever, looking around, tension was evident in the expressions of the other hunters. The atmosphere was completely different from when they were preparing earlier.
“A disaster-class dungeon has appeared. Repeat. This is not a drill. This is an actual situation. A disaster-class dungeon has appeared.”
An announcement came through the speakers. The air in the waiting room tightened with tension.
The disaster-class dungeon had appeared.
*
Perhaps because it was a disaster-class dungeon, there was intense competition among media outlets from around the world. However, given the situation, they skipped direct interviews with hunters and decided to enter the dungeon.
Since they were going in directly without sending a preliminary investigation team, the hunters heading to the dungeon showed evident tension. The same was true for Seo Yi-young. There were hunters who could provide buffs, but Seo Yi-young was the only healer. Healers were rare to begin with, and hunters with high enough rank to enter a disaster-class dungeon were even rarer, which is why other countries didn’t dispatch any. There were hunters who could provide buffs, but buffs were just buffs after all.
In short, it was no exaggeration to say that Seo Yi-young alone was responsible for the recovery of the hunters entering the dungeon now.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
