You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿

The woman’s scream echoed through the room, casting a shadow over every face in the office.

Of all places, there had to be a daycare on the second floor of the building where the Dungeon Break occurred.

It was nothing short of a nightmare.

"That's right, there was a daycare on the second floor of the Central Management Building, as part of a welfare program."

Han Jae-young spoke in a tone that didn’t seem too serious.

"Plus, at this hour... isn’t it usually nap time?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

The employee responded, her voice trembling.

"It's nap time until exactly 5, so the curtains should definitely be drawn!"

I blinked at the unexpected detail.

The building was made of glass, so sunlight would shine through most areas, but given that it was nap time at the daycare... it was highly probable the curtains were drawn.

Moreover, since it was a time when Hunters would rarely visit, it was more likely that only regular people were there...

Everything pointed to a very bad situation.

"This shadow monster... If we listen to the Hunter’s explanation, there must be..."

"It makes sense. Monsters tend to prefer younger prey."

"Han Jae-young Hunter."

Yoo Han-ul’s short warning cut through the air. Han Jae-young raised his hands in surrender.

"I’m just stating the facts. Facts are important."

"Don’t stir up fear... But still, no one is allowed to leave the building. You two, come here and sit this person down on the sofa. Don’t let her go."

"Ah? Yes, yes!"

"Understood!"

The two rookie Hunters grabbed the employee’s arms and sat her back down on the chair as she struggled to rush out.

The other female employee beside them was left helpless, unable to decide what to do.

"Ah, Hye-jin unni. The child will be fine. Okay? Calm down a bit."

"How can I calm down in a situation like this? Please, let me go!"

"If you go out, you’ll only be caught by the monster. And shadow ghosts increase in number when they feed. It could make things even worse for the child."

"But...!"

"Don’t they have security cameras at the daycare these days? If we could at least see the footage..."

One of the rookie Hunters timidly raised their voice, proposing a question.

At the mention of cameras, the employee’s eyes widened as if struck by a hammer.

"R-right!"

Then, she started frantically typing on the laptop.

"But when a Dungeon Break happens, the connection to the outside is completely severed. The internet’s down, so how can we access the cameras?"

"It should be possible. It’s an internal system. And since the building has backup power for emergency lights and security cameras, ah..."

The employee covered her mouth with both hands.

A collective sigh of frustration escaped from those looking at the screen.

Outside the daycare’s large windows, they saw monsters lurking.

The shadows were slithering outside the door.

Perhaps because they feared the monsters would notice if there was too much light, two women, likely teachers, were crouching low with about a dozen children huddled close to them. They had pulled the curtains over the windows, hiding the light.

Even through the grainy camera footage, it was clear they were trembling.

Even Han Jae-young clicked his tongue.

"It seems we can’t just sit here waiting for a rescue."

The woman’s scream pierced the air.

"A-young! Please, please! Let me go!"

"I can’t allow that. Even if a civilian tries to leave, it will only increase the number of victims."

As Yoo Han-ul spoke, he stood up.

"I’ll go."

Of course, I expected him to do that.

I sighed inwardly.

After all, he’s a former hero, so it was no surprise. Despite the system’s warning about the temporary drop in his comprehensive level due to inhaling the unknown smoke, he wasn’t showing any concern.

"Th-thank you! Thank you!"

The woman, deeply relieved, grabbed Yoo Han-ul’s hands and clung to them. Her face was filled with gratitude and perhaps even worship. It was as if she was looking at a god.

A motherly reaction, worried for her child.

"My A-young is the one wearing the hat in the camera, please, hurry..."

"Don’t worry. I’ll protect all the children in the daycare."

After briefly squeezing the woman’s hand, Yoo Han-ul pulled away and turned toward the door.

At that moment, I couldn’t tell if the emotion in the woman’s eyes was shame or fear.

Yoo Han-ul briefly glanced back at me. It was clear he was worried. I shrugged.

"It’s not like you should be worried about me."

No matter how much of an S-rank Hunter he was, without the ability to use magic, he was just an enhanced human. While he was better off than a magician who couldn’t use their magic, he was still not suited to fighting psychic monsters.

It made me realize how meticulous the mastermind behind this Dungeon Break must have been.

‘Maybe they triggered this again because I escaped the last crisis using magic, or maybe they did it with Yoo Han-ul in mind, knowing I’d be here.’

There were many possibilities.@@novelbin@@

For now, it was all speculation.

Yoo Han-ul smiled at my words.

"Thanks for worrying about me."

"I didn’t even say that. Where did you squeeze that out from?"

"My own sense. Han Jae-young Hunter is..."

"Oh, in that case, I’ll just watch through the camera."

Han Jae-young waved his hand lazily. He seemed genuinely uninterested.

"Magicians are useless when they can’t use magic. I can’t even be a meat shield. My strength and stamina are garbage."

"Do as you please. We still need someone to protect the rookie Hunters."

"Well, I can’t promise I’ll protect them~"

At this point, even a good-natured person might be getting annoyed. Yoo Han-ul was no exception. He raised an eyebrow and turned to Han Jae-young.

"Han Jae-young, know when to joke around."

"Yoo Han-ul is serious in everything. Have a good trip~"

It seemed like he had plenty to say, but Yoo Han-ul didn’t say anything else. Maybe he thought it would be a waste of time.

He gave a few more instructions to the rookie Hunters and immediately ran out through the glass door.

"Finally, the noisy nagging guy’s gone."

After Yoo Han-ul left, Han Jae-young spoke as if relieved. When I stared at him, he smiled shyly.

"Ah, Jung Da-on Hunter will understand once she works with him. It’s just so restricting. Really tiring."

It sounded like he was describing an ex-lover. How has this guy survived so long? I’m sure it was thanks to his skills and looks.

When I stopped paying him attention, Han Jae-young looked around the office, then asked the employee who was wiping away her tears.

"Hmm, can’t we see the security footage with the internal system?"

"Well, there is a security camera folder, but only security personnel can access it..."

"Can I take a look?"

After taking the laptop from her, Han Jae-young started clicking through it and soon had the footage from the building’s security cameras on the screen.

"What is this? Magic?"

"It’s magic. I got access to the internal system credentials."

He had just stolen credentials.

Looking at the intranet, I saw the name of the Central Management Building’s director displayed. I guess if you were at Han Jae-young’s level, it wouldn’t be strange to have that kind of access.

When I stared at him again, Han Jae-young smiled and winked at me.

"Keep this a secret from the director."

"Sure."

I scoffed, but then became intrigued by the situation unfolding on the screen, so I focused on the laptop.

Thanks to the security cameras installed throughout the building, we could clearly see what was happening inside.

"Hehe, is that... is that blood in the hallway?"

"Crazy, there’s already a victim..."

The rookie Hunters, who had gathered to watch the screen, were horrified.

The footage clearly showed the brutal traces of survival. Blood everywhere, people twitching and convulsing on the floor. Shadow-like black shapes seemed to hover over the fallen bodies.

"They’re not dead yet. Shadow Ghosts drain life by feeding on the victim’s fear, but it takes time."

"Well, that’s comforting."

Although Yoo Han-ul had explained briefly, the Shadow Ghost was far from an easy monster.

It induced fear in the form of shadows, then drilled into the victim’s mind, manifesting their worst nightmares and continuing until the victim's life was completely drained. Unlike succubi or incubi, who provide pleasure as they take life, these monsters only bring torment, even until the moment of death.

If the one who triggered this Dungeon Break intended to unleash a Shadow Ghost, then they certainly hated me deeply.

• Crack!

Of course, all of this didn’t matter to Yoo Han-ul, who was already fighting the Shadow Ghost beyond the camera.

"What’s going on?"

"Wait, didn’t your stats drop…"

The scene of Yoo Han-ul fighting the Shadow Ghost seemed overwhelming even on the screen.

I watched Yoo Han-ul’s figure on the screen.

After leaving the office, Yoo Han-ul immediately headed for the nearby restroom. There was a loud crash, likely because he broke the mirror that had been attached to the bathroom.

After grabbing the mirror, he arrived at the emergency stairs, ripped open the emergency door, and shattered the mirror once more.

I was unsure of what he was doing at first, but then I realized he was reflecting light from the outside window into the emergency stairs.

It was the only way to get sunlight into the otherwise dark emergency stairwell.

I quickly understood what Yoo Han-ul was trying to do.

‘He’s got a good sense...’

The weakness of the Shadow Ghost was light, especially sunlight.

To create artificial sunlight, he decided to use the mirror.

How did he come up with that idea so quickly?

Currently, using the mirror was the most effective way to bring sunlight into the emergency stairs, which lacked an outside window.

"But why isn’t Yoo Han-ul using the elevator? Why is he using the stairs?"

"The power’s out, idiot."

I left the rookie Hunters to figure it out themselves and continued watching Yoo Han-ul.

After bringing light into the dark emergency stairwell, Yoo Han-ul ran straight to where the light was shining.

Of course, just because light was shining didn’t mean the darkness would disappear.

The Shadow Ghost, which had been waiting in the dark, lunged at Yoo Han-ul.

But Yoo Han-ul didn’t fall for it easily.

• Ki-eeek!

He cleverly lured the Shadow Ghost into the light and, as the monster hesitated, he fearlessly thrust his sword into its mouth.

Crack!

There was no sound, but the monster was instantly slain.

It seemed simple, but the speed and agility it took to pull that off were remarkable.

"Amazing, right?"

Han Jae-young, who had been watching from the side, smiled.

"At times like this, I envy warriors. They don’t have to think much, just rely on their bodies. Right?"

You don’t seem to think much either.

But I did agree to some extent.

Whether or not Yoo Han-ul had memories from his past life, he was an incredible swordsman, even from the beginning.

I first heard of the hero when he rose to the position of the youngest Sword Master while still a commoner.

The Emperor had promoted him to the position of knight commander, a remarkable honor.

I also remember when the Emperor poured holy water over him and blessed the hero, presenting him with a dazzling silver armor.

...All of it, a past memory.

‘Yoo Han-ul doesn’t have to worry at all.’

I shook my head to clear away the unnecessary thoughts and looked at the daycare footage again.

"...Please, please... A-young..."

Maybe it was the mother’s desperate wish, but fortunately, the monsters in the hallway hadn’t yet noticed the movement behind the door and were just pacing back and forth.

Since these monsters reacted to sound, the teachers’ attempts to keep things under control seemed to be working for now.

‘How long will it take Yoo Han-ul to reach the second floor?’

From the screen, it seemed like Yoo Han-ul was moving more cautiously than usual, likely because of the temporary restriction on his stats. Even though he kept placing pieces of the mirror, the emergency lights indicated he was still on the sixth floor.

‘It’s going to take at least 10 more minutes...’

Just then.

"Uh?"

One of the rookie Hunters, who had been watching the screen, leaned in so close that their nose almost touched it.

"Uh, uhhh?"

I was also surprised.

"What’s going on?"

Just a moment ago, Yoo Han-ul had been effortlessly tearing through the monsters, but now he had disappeared from the camera screen.

As if he had never existed.

Now, all that appeared on the screen were empty hallways, blood-soaked stairs, and the shadowy monsters writhing around.

I reflexively looked at Han Jae-young, who was grinning widely.

He wasn’t smiling because he was enjoying it.

"This is getting interesting."