You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿

• Dungeon difficulty is being reassessed.

• Dungeon difficulty adjusted from C-rank to B-rank.

• System Guide: The current rank of this dungeon is B-rank.

• This dungeon is appropriate for the current user's level.

At the sight of the system message, the guild members let out sighs.

"Damn it. Did they actually set up a living space inside the dungeon?"

"If they can ignore safety protocols, they must be real lunatics. Is the system seeing things?"

"But isn't this the first time we've actually observed the synchronization rate increasing and expanding the range? This is something that should be reported to academia, right?"

"To do that, we'd have to figure out exactly how many people have stayed in the dungeon for how many hours."

"Hmm, if that's the case, shouldn't we delay the clearing time and go after the root cause instead?"

The guild members expressed their curiosity, noting that this was indeed an unexpected situation.

But for the HP Guild members, an increase in difficulty wasn't much of a problem.

With S-rank Hunter Han Jae-young and A-rank Shin Ji-eum, and all the other HP Guild members being B-rank or higher magic users, it wasn’t a threat to them.

In fact, what really surprised Han Jae-young wasn’t the system message but something else.

Han Jae-young looked once more at the scene Jeong Da-on was observing through his item.

‘It doesn’t seem all that unusual.’

Sure, it was a scene that couldn’t be seen in modern Korea, so it felt out of place. There were many oddities.

But…

‘Her complexion is completely drained.’

Jeong Da-on's appearance was very strange.

Was the scene really enough to drain her color like that? What had she seen?

Even more so, Jeong Da-on urged them again.

"Hurry up and get out!"

"Calm down, Jeong Da-on Hunter."

Shin Ji-eum stepped forward to comfort Jeong Da-on.

"I know you're panicking, but a B-rank dungeon isn’t something we can’t handle."

To Shin Ji-eum, it probably seemed like Jeong Da-on had panicked from the unexpected turn of events.

Under normal circumstances, that’s what anyone would expect.

Even though Jeong Da-on had shown remarkable abilities right after awakening, she was still young.

And this was her first real dungeon raid, and now such a sudden situation had come up.

Anyone else would be in a panic.

"It’s not about the B-rank," Jeong Da-on responded coldly.

Han Jae-young realized at that moment that Jeong Da-on wasn’t just any ordinary person.

"Why are you hesitating like this?"

Jeong Da-on said, looking directly at Han Jae-young.

Age aside, comparing her dungeon experience to Han Jae-young's was laughable.

Yet, the tone of her words carried a stern criticism.

It wasn’t from a younger, rookie hunter who might be hesitant; it felt like a rebuke from someone who had stood on equal footing with him.

This was strange.

The strange part was not just the situation, but the person herself.

Han Jae-young stared at Jeong Da-on intently.

"Finish what you were going to say. If it’s not about the B-rank, then what’s the problem?"

Jeong Da-on opened her mouth to respond, but then closed it, furrowing her brow.

She seemed to hesitate, and just as Han Jae-young was about to press her further…

• Koo-goong!

A loud sound echoed from far away.

The first to realize the source of the noise was Shin Ji-eum.

"The ground is shaking."

"Is it an earthquake?"

"Can there be earthquakes inside a dungeon?"

"Well, maybe. If you consider that dungeons are fundamentally otherworldly spaces, a physical shock could come as the dungeon range increases..."

"No, are you even a magician? Why throw out such a half-baked theory?"

"Then do you have a better explanation?"

"Alright, alright. Let’s save the dungeon debate for later."

Han Jae-young intervened to stop the brewing discussion among the guild members.

Of course, as a magician himself, he found the topic fascinating. But if he let them go on, they’d be arguing about earthquakes and dungeons all day without paying attention to their surroundings.

Jeong Da-on’s words were right.

As the guild leader, he needed to make a decision in this situation.

"Shin Ji-eum Hunter."

"Yes?"

"Let’s split the team. You take the rest and focus on clearing the dungeon. It should take about two hours for a B-rank dungeon."

"Yes. And you, Guildmaster?"

"I’ll explore that village during the dungeon clearing."

"Understood."

Telling Shin Ji-eum to clear the dungeon without him, a rather forceful request, could be seen as unreasonable. But Shin Ji-eum didn’t question Han Jae-young’s judgment.

None of the other guild members did either.

Despite the somewhat relaxed atmosphere, Han Jae-young’s decisions were absolute in the battlefield of the dungeon.

They quickly prepared to leave for the dungeon clearing.

"Make sure to charge the monster tracker first."

"We’re leaving after just exploring a dungeon like this? I thought something big was going to happen."

"What do you mean? Just seeing something like this is a rare event in itself."

"True."

"Stop talking and get in the car. Jeong Da-on Hunter, are you coming with us?"

"I’m not going."

"What?"

Shin Ji-eum, who was about to get in the car, stared at Jeong Da-on in disbelief before looking at Han Jae-young.

Her eyes pleaded for some explanation, but Han Jae-young just shrugged.

"She says she’s not going, so respect her decision."

"Guildmaster, what’s going on here?"

"It’s fine. Even if it's not fine, I’ll make it fine. Please take care of the other guild members."

"...Understood."

Though there was visible dissatisfaction, Shin Ji-eum eventually got in the car.

It was a wise decision.

Han Jae-young noticed Jeong Da-on's intense gaze and explained himself.

"Why did I listen to Jeong Da-on Hunter? Because I can’t handle a bomb like her on the other side. Even with Shin Ji-eum Hunter being A-rank, it's still too much to deal with a bunch of reckless magicians plus Jeong Da-on Hunter."

"..."

"It should only take about two hours for them to clear the dungeon. Meanwhile, we’ll check out that village."

Jeong Da-on blinked.

"We?"

"Yeah. You weren’t curious about the village?"

"That’s true, but... why you? Is it because of the item?"

"Well, if we're lucky, we might find something useful along the way."

Han Jae-young shrugged.

"If we clear the dungeon and leave right now, it’s fine. But I’d feel uneasy leaving the village like this. What if a dungeon break happens?"

According to the system message, there were certainly too many people residing in this dungeon.

And because of them, the synchronization rate had increased, raising the dungeon's difficulty, which likely meant a dungeon break was imminent.

"As an S-rank Hunter, I do have my duties," Han Jae-young continued.

Jeong Da-on seemed speechless for a moment before asking, genuinely curious.

"Is that really... the reason?"

"Well, it’s not some noble public reason... but we should investigate what’s going on."

As a hunter, he didn’t have an obligation to investigate, but there was no reason to ignore such an obvious issue either.

If there really was a human experimentation lab like the True Light Church, he didn’t need to get involved directly. He could just report it to the government, and let them handle it, or perhaps someone like Yoo Han-ul, with his sense of justice, would take care of it.

"And I’m also curious about why Jeong Da-on Hunter is acting so emotionally."

Yes, emotional.

That word fit perfectly.

Jeong Da-on, who had always been cold unless it involved her brother, Jeong Da-jeong, was now acting emotionally.

If it wasn’t that, she wouldn’t act so impulsively.

It seemed like someone who was hiding something.

Han Jae-young thought that it would take some time to understand who Jeong Da-on really was, but perhaps he would discover it this time.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Han Jae-young smiled.

"This is exciting. Although if I see all your secrets exposed just a month in, it might lose some of its thrill."

"...I’m looking forward to it too."

"Excuse me?"

"I think it’s about time for your secrets to be revealed."

Looking at Jeong Da-on, Han Jae-young noticed the corner of her mouth twitching.

It seemed that his attitude was not sitting well with her.

"I looked again."

She was the type of person with a strong sense of pride, and once provoked, her reactions could be intense.

"Now that I think about it, I wondered why someone like you, an S-rank, would avoid using their abilities back when we first met."

"That was due to the circumstances..."

"Enough with the excuses."

"Meow!"

Leo, nestled in Jeong Da-on's arms, mewed as if in agreement.

"Since we entered the dungeon, you haven’t used any magic."

"..."

"Even when dealing with the alchemist, or breaking the barrier, you never stepped forward. You just relied on Shin Ji-eum or used items."

Jeong Da-on’s eyes sharpened.

"Is there a problem?"

In fact, her observation was quite sharp.

Of course, Han Jae-young didn’t plan to confess, so he shrugged and laughed.

"Isn’t it a bit much to jump to conclusions? If I could solve it with items, then that’s just more efficient."

"We’ll see about that."

Jeong Da-on murmured ominously.

"Let’s go check it out."

The atmosphere had become a bit awkward, but nevertheless, the two of them soon arrived at the village they'd seen through the item.

"It’s a strange village," Han Jae-young said as he surveyed the area.

From a distance, it had looked odd, but up close, it seemed even stranger.

It looked like it had once been inhabited, but now it felt weathered by time—like a cultural artifact left unpreserved.

As Han Jae-young led the way around the village, Jeong Da-on suddenly asked.

"Are you okay?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"...Nothing. So, what do you think of this place?"

"It’s an uncomfortable place. Feels like my energy is being drained. Is this some sort of haunted house experience?"

"..."

Han Jae-young had speculated earlier that an organization using Bitnaelim, a company managing the waste disposal in the dungeon, might have set up a human experimentation lab here, and that the residents of the lab were the cause of the dungeon’s rising synchronization rate.

"The source of the anti-recognition magic is here, but..." Han Jae-young said, but there was no sign of anyone around the village.

Instead, it felt like a long-abandoned grave, overgrown with weeds.

At that moment, Leo, who had been nestled in Jeong Da-on’s arms, lightly jumped to the ground.

"Meow!"

After mewing once, Leo circled around his owner and quickly ran off somewhere.

"Did he go to search?"

"Yeah. He’ll be faster than us."

"By the way…"

Han Jae-young, watching Leo’s figure disappear, tilted his head.

"Didn’t his size seem a little bigger? Jeong Da-on’s cat?"

"Can magicians use such vague terms?"

"I'm a magician chasing after romance. After all, romance comes from ambiguity. So, what’s the deal? Did you infuse mana into him?"

"Not really… wait a minute."

Jeong Da-on, who had been walking ahead, stopped.

And Han Jae-young witnessed it.

At the corner of the village, completely withered by time…@@novelbin@@

A human, desiccated like a mummy, was crawling on the ground.