章 57: Cursed Random Box
Whilst on our way home, Jinwoo grabbed a box of chicken wings, something that I had learned tended to be his guilty pleasure. By the time that we got home, Jinah was already waiting for us and shoved us indoors when she saw that Jinwoo had brought food.
"Did something good happen? You're normally really stingy."
"Well, I'm not sure if it's good or bad yet…" Jinwoo hesitantly answers.
Looking at Jinwoo's expression as he drank an alcoholic beverage, I could see a faint trace of dejection in his eyes.
"Can't get drunk?" I ask while redoing the clips on Jinah's hair.
"I guess not." Jinwoo sighs, holding his can out in front of him.
"Can I try?"
Immediately, Jinah whips her head around, "That's no good Shiro. Firstly, you're too young to drink. Secondly, alcohol makes you all smelly. Jinwoo's already the household alcoholic, I don't want you to become like him."
I could see Jinwoo's face morph like he had taken a fatal blow as he cries out in indignation, "I only drink like once every month and that makes me an alcoholic?"
"Well, you drink more than the rest of us, so yes, yes it does." Jinah deadpans.
Chuckling, I can't help but give a peck to Jinah's forehead and say, "It's only a sip. I won't drink any more than that, is that okay?"
Dumbly nodding her head, she meekly turns forward. Beckoning for the drink, Jinwoo hands his over. With only a small portion of the liquid entering my body, an alarm goes off.
⸢ALARM
–A harmful substance has been detected.
Buff: Cure Toxin's effect is healing you⸥
Handing Jinwoo back his drink, I cough a few times, "Yup, I still have the taste of alcohol. That stuff is disgusting."
"It's not that bad." Jinwoo tries to defend himself, but it falls to deaf ears.
The alarm however makes me look to my very first quest reward.
---
⸢QUEST REWARD – 'Secret Quest: One Who Stands Above King'
–Friendly Neighborhood GOD's blessing: GOD has gifted you with the ability to stay alive for longer so that he can enjoy your journey, however long it may be⸥
⸢QUEST REWARD
–Temporary Effect 'Will Survive': Any butchered body parts are restored.
–Permanent Effect Immunity: All ailments, toxins, and conditional effects are healed. ⸥
Understanding the reward in full, I have the same idea as Jinwoo. But he went first.
"Hey Shiro, don't you fell that Jinwoo has changed. He was so easy-going before and it seems like his personality changed a bit…"
"Well, we've been put into situations in which he's been forced to change. No longer can he live his life the same as before." I explain.
"But you've both been through pretty much the same things, right?" Jinah points out, "Why was he the only one to change?"
"I've... already experienced worse situations than the ones that I'm currently living in, so my time of change has already passed. But for Jinwoo, it's just the start." I frown.
Just then, the phone went off. As I pick up the line, a rather familiar voice comes through. Passing along the message to Jinwoo, we went out to meet with him.
Before that though, I took out the 'Vermin King's Brew'. Opening the lid of the brew, the most repugnant smell enters my nose. Going through a battle in my head on whether to drink this or not, the option to drink it wins. Shakily bringing it up to my mouth, I shove it down my throat, nearly throwing up four times as it goes down.
---
⸢ [A harmful substance has been detected in your body]
3, 2, 1... Cure Toxins has been completed.
Item: Vermin King's Brew's effect Bad Health is fading. ⸥
---
Looking to my stats I can't help but nod my head.
⸢Strength: 42 Agility: 42 Sense: 41 Vitality: 41 Intelligence: 66 ⸥
Shuttering, I cleanse my mouth and head out to meet with Jinho.
In basic terms, Jinho had called us to join an attack force with him. We of course deny him at first, but upon hearing that we would only be helping him 19 times, given our share of the dungeons we raid, connections with Yoojin Architectures, the ability to hide our abilities, and a building valued at 3 billion won, we accept with the condition that it was only the three of us who would be heading into C-Rank Dungeons.
"Why are you suddenly following us out to exercise?" Jinwoo asks Jinah who stretched next to him.
"You two seem to be on a high horse lately. It's not food good to sit at a desk for too long anyway."
"Don't fall behind then."
During out run, Jinwoo asks Jinah what she would do with 3 billion won. When she confronts him about it being a little too unrealistic, Jinwoo speeds ahead, disappearing mere moments later.
"Are you going to speed ahead just like him?" Jinah stares at me.
"Why would I when he gave me the perfect opportunity to spend more time with you?" I give her a sly smile.
A look of realization dawns on her and her cheeks turn a slight crimson. Flirting with her freely until we catch up with Jinwoo again, we find him getting to run just a bit more.
Raising my eyebrow, he says, "Look at your daily quest."
Turning my head, I find that the number had gone over the 10km mark.
"Sorry about this Jinah, but I'm going to start running again with Jinwoo."
By the time that I had finished, Jinwoo had already accepted his reward from the hidden quest. He had chosen the 'Blessed Random Box', giving him a Demon King's Castle's Key.
I on the other hand chose the 'Cursed Random Box'.
---
[Item: Heaven's Key]
Item Class: S
Type: Key
A key that allows you to enter Dungeon Heaven. Can be used in Godoyle Hospital.
---
Laughing inwardly at earning such an item, I recognize that if the key's item class indicated the dungeon's difficulty, then I would have little to no chance of survival. I should level up as much as I can before entering, but I wanted to scope it out first.
It must be known that after B-Rank, the difficulty of gates rises explosively. Luckily the chance of higher ranked gates opening drops with every level, so only a few S-Rank gates have ever opened.
One of them opened on Jeju island. Once the S-Rank dungeon gate broke there, it became a wasteland where humans cannot live anymore. Even if S-Rank hunters created a team, it's unsure if they could clear an S-Rank gate or not. With the current state of deployable hunters, an S-Rank gate is near impossible.
Because of that, I should abstain from S-Rank dungeons, but I wanted to test myself.
Entering the dungeon the very next night, I'm immediately blinded by the white blasting light of the area. Everything was prim and proper and if there was a building or anything of the sort, it'd have engravings and gold added onto it.
As I approach what might be Heaven's Gate, the figure of man pressing his head against a sword greets me. Slowly standing up, the man pulls the sword from the ground, its pommel that of gold and blade like that of pure light. His tunic which he'd been wearing changed into a full suit of white and gold armor. And his previously handsome face was now covered in a helmet, blue eyes shining through the slit. Resting his sword in front of him, he stood there menacingly, his name coated a deep red.
[Heaven's Gatekeeper Luther]
Materializing my katana, I rush towards this humanoid monster and try to slash at his armor, but my blade clamors off it, not even leaving a scratch at where I had cut. Slightly pushing his sword into the ground, I'm blasted away by a wave of light
---
⸢ALARM
-Heaven's Gatekeeper Luther is using [Skill: Prove Faith] ⸥
---
⸢ALARM
-Prove Faith will last for 2 minutes.
-Luther's stats will be tripled. ⸥
---
Holding my katana above my shoulder, sweat rolls down my face when Luther leaves an afterimage behind where he'd been standing and appears below me. Stabbing forward at my stomach, I'm barely given enough time to bring my katana down and strike his sword away from my vitals. Even though I'd managed to block the blow, Luther still pierced through my thigh, making me grit my teeth in pain.
Removing his sword with little resistance, Luther quickly brings his sword down onto my neck. This time, I'm able to properly block the attack, but Luther's strength prevents me from deflecting it away. The agonizing pain in my leg forces me to kneel, still trying to fend off Luther's attack.
As Luther's attack inches closer and closer to my head, I give up, sacrificing one of my limbs to escape Luther's execution. Letting out a gargled cry of pain, Luther nonchalantly walks closer to me, his blue eyes still boring into mine.
As Luther looms over me and gives me a look of… pity, I accept Reward #1 from my daily quest.
Scrambling to my feet as fast as I possibly can, I see what a flicker of surprise in his eyes, and I use 'Water Breathing Seventh Form: Piercing Rain Drop'.
Weaving around his sword which he had raised in defense, I stab straight through the gap in his helm, going so far until the tip of my katana hit the back of it. His sword hand shook for a moment before it eventually turned limp, sending his sword crashing into the ground, the blade of it shattering.
⸢ALARM [You Leveled Up] x4⸥
"That was far too close for comfort." I heave breaths. "If I open that gate right now, I'll die. Let's return later."
Looking at the items that I received from Luther, I can't help but raise an eyebrow.
---
⸢ [Item: Guardian's Necklace]
Item Class: A
Type: Necklace
Agility +20, Vitality +20
---
[Item: Heaven's Gate Key]
Item Class: A
Type: Key
A key that can open Heaven's Gate. Obtained by killing the gatekeeper.
---
[Item: Shard of a Holy Sword]
Item Class: None
Type: Material
A Holy Sword shard that can be obtained by slaying Luther ⸥
---
Easily being able to rest once I arrive back home, a personal request for our assistance comes. A D-Rank Dungeon that the Association wants us to participate in. As we walk to the dungeon area, the two of us are called out.
"Mister Song Chiyeol?"
The armless Mr. Song exclaims, "I didn't recognize either of you! I can't find a trace of your old selves! You changed so much within a few months?!"
"Besides that," I cut Mr. Song off. "Are you going because of the Association orders?"
"That's right. You as well?!"
Nodding our heads, a few moments later, we arrive at the dungeon area, finding three other survivors from that event waiting for us. Leaving Jinwoo and Juhee alone as they have a very touching reunion, I stare at our surroundings, eventually completely turning to the car where men in orange suits were stepping out.
"What a romantic atmosphere. Is somebody filing a drama here? Or do hunters date each other these days?"
"Shut up, you fool. This isn't a picnic." Looking at their caretaker for the day, my eyes are particularly attracted to his spiky purple hair and matching purple eyes.
"They are rehabilitators (criminals) that will be joining the raid with you hunters." Our dungeon prompter explains, "The monitoring department's hunter Kang Taeshik will participate in this raid, so don't worry. The rehabilitators are all C-Rank. Hunter Kang Taeshik is B-Rank. Approximately 10 C-Rank Hunters are needed to beat an average B-Rank Hunter."
Letting Juhee and Jinwoo have a moment, Kang Taeshik comes up to us.
"You heard the explanation. I'll be keeping a close eye on them, so don't worry too much." He begins. "Who will lead the raid today?"
"I'll do it." Mr. Song immediately answers.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
Both Jinwoo and I support Mr. Song as being the leader, and we earn his heartfelt gratitude for trusting him again in return. With that, we enter the dungeon, both me and Jinwoo knowing that something would go wrong.
クリエイターの想い 
Kogatsu
Kogatsu “Logic will get you from A to Z, imagination will get you everywhere.” - Albert Einstein
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