You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿

After the system message appeared, a brief silence followed.

Even though everyone gathered here were S-rank hunters, it wasn’t like they regularly faced S-rank monsters.

Especially for Son Hyeong-hwa and Lee Hyeon-jun, who had never encountered a monster named "figurine" before, unlike Han Jae-young.

"S-rank is one thing, but 'figurine'... this is the first time I’ve heard of a monster like that."

"So, is it that Han-ul was defeated by one of these figurines, or by something like the Red Eternal Snow?"

At these words, the woman, who had been bowing her head, suddenly looked up in shock and denied it.

"Mon-monster? What... that’s not...! No!"

She responded with such desperation, as if she had heard an unholy word that she shouldn’t speak.

"Our master is not a monster. He... he..."

"No, there’s something even stranger."

Lee Hyeon-jun interrupted the woman, who was about to speak more, and asked.

"How are we communicating right now?"

"That’s true... Hmm... Sorry, but I’ll look into it for a moment."

Han Jae-young gently helped the woman to her feet while subtly channeling magic into her to begin a scan.

In the dungeon where they had encountered figurines before, the villagers existed as souls, so a translation device wasn’t needed.

However, this woman was not a ghost; she was a living person.

So, as Lee Hyeon-jun had pointed out, the fact that they could communicate without a translation device was strange.

After a brief scan, Han Jae-young nodded.

"...This woman is under a spell."@@novelbin@@

"What kind of spell?"

"It seems someone placed a mental magic spell on her, allowing her to communicate her thoughts regardless of language..."

"Does that make sense?"

Lee Hyeon-jun frowned.

"What you’re saying is that she was made to use telepathy without her will, and that’s...?"

"No, that’s not it! It’s not forced!"

The woman vehemently denied it again.

"She speaks to us because our master granted us his blessing."

"Blessing?"

"It’s because we’ve had many communication problems with wanderers before. Our master gave us this blessing. We are all grateful for our master’s grace."

"..."

Lee Hyeon-jun, who was about to say something more, fell silent.

In fact, magic that uses brainwaves to communicate is already a known magic.

However, even though telepathy magic exists, people often use translation items because prolonged use of telepathy can cause the mental barriers to break down.

Moreover, when it’s someone else who casts such a magic, it becomes even more problematic...

Lee Hyeon-jun just shook his head in the end.

He felt it was pointless to say more.

Son Hyeong-hwa nodded toward Lee Hyeon-jun, confirming that continuing to question her would only result in the woman being too terrified to speak, even if she was forced into it.

"It seems like it’s pointless to talk more. If we go up this mountain, will we meet this master?"

"If you’re visiting our master’s castle... I’ll guide you."

"...Is that okay?"

This response was completely different from the way Jacks had rejected outsiders by throwing stones.

The woman nodded.

"Yes, our master always welcomes guests."

The group exchanged glances.

There were many suspicious points, so blindly following her felt uneasy, but...

"...That man who looked like Han-ul, I mean."

Son Hyeong-hwa asked.

"Is he also at the castle?"

"Well, I wasn’t the one to greet him, but I heard our master welcomed him as a guest. I don’t know anything else."

At this point, it seemed like they had no choice but to confront whatever lay ahead in order to find Han-ul.

In the end, Son Hyeong-hwa nodded.

"...Then please lead the way."

And so, the four of them began to follow the woman.

Though it was a mountain, the scenery was unlike any typical Korean mountain.

The peaks overlapped in layers, and the massive rock pillars, cut as if by a saw, formed strange shapes.

Moreover, it wasn’t just the woman who had been gathering herbs in the forest.

They saw several people bent over, gathering something under large trees.

All of them looked quite shabby.

They waved their hands toward the woman, but upon seeing the group, they were startled and quickly fled.

Han Jae-young tried to gather more information and spoke to the woman.

"What are all these people doing?"

"They’re gathering edible mushrooms or herbs. Farming doesn’t do well here... Our master said it was fine."

"I see... By the way, why is this master referred to as the Red Eternal Snow?"

"Hmm...?"

The woman tilted her head at the question.

"I’ve just heard that name, that’s all..."

"Ah, so they must be old. Is this person the lord of this place?"

"..."

But the more deeply Han Jae-young inquired, the more the woman kept her mouth tightly shut.

Eventually, even Han Jae-young gave up on the conversation.

"Just what kind of monster is this 'figurine' that makes the magic flow so strangely?"

Instead, Lee Hyeon-jun quietly asked Han Jae-young.

"Jae-young, you must know something about the figurine, right? The system didn’t send the initial discovery message, so someone must have information."

Sharp as ever.

Han Jae-young nodded.

"Yes, I’ve encountered them a couple of times."

"What’s the strategy for dealing with them?"

"I’ve only personally defeated one. It was highly synergistic for me. It was an unclean entity."

Using his fairy purification powers, Han Jae-young had no trouble dealing with such enemies.

"Really? In that case, having you with us should make this easy..."

Lee Hyeon-jun’s gaze shifted toward his wife, Son Hyeong-hwa, and Jeong Da-on, who was silently following beside her.

"We never know when a fight might start, so we should be prepared."

After several hours of climbing, they finally reached the top of the mountain.

"…Oh my god."

The view that unfolded before them was unimaginable from the plains below.

Between the steep cliffs, a massive castle appeared.

It was a rough stone building, but its tall roof and grand scale were unmistakable of a castle.

The woman bowed her head.

"My guide ends here. Our master will be inside, so please go on."

"Yes, thank you..."

Before Han Jae-young could finish his gratitude, the woman quickly disappeared.

As if talking any longer would result in her death.

"Ugh. I feel like I’ve been possessed by a ghost."

Lee Hyeon-jun clicked his tongue as he patted his back after hours of hiking.

"Not only are there people in this dungeon, but we’re communicating, and now we find this building...?"

"Right. And the system message is still the same."

Son Hyeong-hwa also seemed curious, inspecting the building from every angle.

"But is there really a monster here? It looks like a place where people live."

"...I guess we need to redefine what we mean by monsters."

"Hmm?"

Son Hyeong-hwa glanced at Jeong Da-on.

Jeong Da-on had been silent the entire time they had climbed the mountain, but suddenly, she spoke up.

"In the end, the monsters in a dungeon just mean enemies to humans, but there's no defined form for them."

Her words felt like they carried some meaning.

Moreover, Jeong Da-on’s expression, as she said it, was chilling.

Before anyone could ask more, however...

Creeeak!

The massive doors of the building opened.

It was as if they were beckoning them inside.

"...Let’s go."

The interior of the building wasn’t very large.

It wasn’t a place designed with concern for outsiders’ gazes. The décor wasn’t lavish, in fact, it was rather humble.

The only noticeable effort was the fresh flowers in the vase, perhaps placed to welcome guests.

A figure turned toward the sound of footsteps.

"New guests?"

The figure had white hair that looked almost silver.

Her hair, long enough to reach her feet, flowed down her shoulders like a cape.

Her delicate, pale face was incredibly beautiful, and her eyes sparkled like jewels, a mix of green and blue.

But no one was distracted by her beauty.

• System Warning
• Monster Detected: Figurine (S-rank)

The system message appeared the moment they saw the woman.

And above all...

"Watch out!"

Lee Hyeon-jun was the first to shout.

"Don’t let her steal your magic! Keep your focus!"

They could feel a massive flow of magic trying to absorb everything around her.

It was like a black hole, and if they lost focus, they would be drained of their magic and die.

Swoosh!

"Ha!"

Son Hyeong-hwa was the first to charge, drawing her sword and stepping forward.

At the same time, Lee Hyeon-jun also drew his wand and tore a scroll.

Han Jae-young, too, was preparing for battle by summoning his fairy form...

"Such impolite guests."

Kkrrrrkk!

But it was the enemy who moved first.

The fire arrows that had shot from the scroll Lee Hyeon-jun tore dissipated easily before reaching the enemy.

And it wasn’t just that.

Thud!

Clang!

"Hyung-hwa!"

Son Hyeong-hwa’s prosthetic arm fell from her body.

The sword clattered loudly to the floor.

Lee Hyeon-jun gritted his teeth.

"To dispel so much...?"

Dispel. The pinnacle of reverse magic that canceled out magic by controlling all magic movements within a certain range.

Because of this, even Son Hyeong-hwa’s prosthetic arm, powered by magic, stopped.

"This is ridiculous."

However, even though it was dispel magic, it wasn’t without its weaknesses.

Typically, blocking magic movements forcibly would cause a backlash...

Son Hyeong-hwa, however, simply kicked her fallen prosthetic aside and picked up her sword with her remaining left arm.

"You’d better not underestimate me."

Casting dispel magic meant that the caster couldn’t use magic either.

Which meant, if there was a swordsman among the enemies, it was magic they shouldn’t use.

Son Hyeong-hwa swung her sword at the monster in front of her.

Clang!

However, the sword Son Hyeong-hwa swung collided with a sharp sound.

At some point, the woman had also drawn a sword to counter.

"Well, I’m not sure who’s underestimating whom."

There was a hint of laughter in the woman’s tone. It sounded like she was pitying her opponent.

"I didn’t attack you first... So why are you rushing at me as soon as you see me, huh?"

Creeeak!

It was obvious to anyone that the woman’s delicate arms were untrained, yet the sword she held was pushing Son Hyeong-hwa’s sword away.

In pure strength, she was losing.

Even though it seemed like she was about to put more strength into it...

"Ugh!"

The sword that had been pushed back suddenly stabbed deep under Son Hyeong-hwa’s chin.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

Shock and horror spread across Son Hyeong-hwa’s face.

"What kind of strength is this...?!"

"Step back, Senior!"

Boom!

Of course, Son Hyeong-hwa didn’t have to deal with this situation alone.

Han Jae-young, who had been watching for an opening, swooped down and struck the woman’s shoulder with great force.

It was the power of the fairy, purifying all that was unclean.

Since it wasn’t magic, it couldn’t be blocked by dispel magic.

As with the previous figurines, Han Jae-young was confident that his attack would work.

"Oh, a fairy."

And sure enough, it worked.

The woman, who had been relentlessly pushing toward Son Hyeong-hwa’s neck, took several steps back.

Moreover...

‘Got it!’

With Han Jae-young’s attack, a chunk of flesh from her shoulder was torn away, exposing her white bone.

It was clear evidence that she was an unclean entity.

"Not a bad opponent."

Yet, even in that state, the woman was smiling as though it was all in fun.

The reason for her confidence soon became clear.

"No way, such a regeneration power..."

The flesh that had fallen off healed almost instantly, as if nothing had happened.

Lee Hyeon-jun clenched his teeth.

"...As expected, S-rank monsters are no joke. Jae-young, right now—!"

"Hahahaha, a monster? Me? Aha hahahaha!"

And then.

The woman laughed loudly, as if she found Lee Hyeon-jun’s words amusing.

It was a

laugh like none other.

Her booming laughter echoed throughout the hall, growing louder.

After a while, she suddenly stopped laughing and said:

"You have eyes, but you can’t see. What exactly does the word 'monster' mean?"

"...What?"

"I told you I have no intention of hurting you. And I didn’t attack first. So, who is the monster here?"

At those words, Han Jae-young involuntarily flinched.

The system definitely said that this was the monster they had to defeat.

But...

Looking back at his hunter life, had he ever encountered a monster that looked like a human—no, was human?

Moreover, one that could communicate like this?

...Is this really a monster?

"Then, what are you?"

"Well, I am..."

Just as Han Jae-young was about to ask more, a massive earthquake shook the building.

"…No need to listen."

Fwoooosh!

In the space where magic had been blocked by a large-scale dispel, black flame-shaped magic rose up.

"Listening more will only bewitch you."

The flame illuminated the face of the caster.

It was Jeong Da-on.

Jeong Da-on, with flames rising from her hand, glared at the woman facing the group.

"And you still have a treacherous tongue."

The woman, who had just been laughing hysterically, now looked completely stunned.

"Oh, could it be...?"

But that was only for a moment.

The woman’s eyes widened in shock and then curved into a smile.

"So my star has finally returned."