You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿

Late at night.

From the top floor of the HP Guild, Han Jae-young arrived at the underground training area by elevator, where the rhythmic sound of punches hitting a sandbag reached his ears.

Thud!

Thud!

Han Jae-young shook his head inwardly.

Around lunchtime, Shin Ji-eum had come up to the office and complained about the constant punching for the past few days, asking him to do something about it. Yet, here she was, still at it in the late hours of the night.

"Are you really planning to switch to becoming a knight?"

As Han Jae-young asked this, Jeong Da-on, who had been striking the sandbag, turned to look at him.

Her face was as expressionless as always, but her hair, which was tied up high, was damp with sweat, and her forehead glistened. Just two weeks ago, he had dismissed her as someone who didn’t know how to use her body, but now, if someone saw her, they'd likely think she was truly a knight.

Her body, which had previously seemed like that of an ordinary person who had never exercised, now had a slightly more toned appearance.

Well, more than her physique, it was clear from the increasing number of times Da-on cleared the training VR program that something had changed.

"I just thought I shouldn’t waste the strength gains I've made."

She said this, but that alone couldn’t explain why she’d been living in the guild’s training hall for nearly a week after clearing the dungeon.

In reality, it seemed more like she was venting her frustration.

"That’s what a knight would look like, you know. Becoming a magic knight wouldn’t be a bad path either."

"Don’t make me laugh. So?"

"I came to tell you the result, actually."

Han Jae-young sighed and sat down on the bench press.

A week ago.

While clearing a dungeon that had been used as a trash disposal site, a Hunter’s body was discovered in a mummified state.

Though the fingerprints were damaged, it was easy to identify the person thanks to the photo Da-on had taken.

"Her name was Lee Tae-yeon, 27, a female C-rank Hunter. She was once a member of the guild but quit due to her gambling addiction. The landlord of her last address said she hadn't paid rent for three months."

"And family?"

"She was thinking about reporting her missing, but the landlord contacted her, and she knew about it. Apparently, she'd cut ties with her family long ago due to gambling debts."

Hunters falling into gambling.

Considering that being a Hunter is quite a respected and well-paying job, it was surprising, but in reality, it wasn’t all that uncommon.

Maybe it was because constantly risking their lives in dangerous battles with monsters made Hunters accustomed to the kind of thrills that led to addiction.

Especially among lower-rank Hunters, there were more cases of people falling into gambling.

Once they get hooked, they end up making more money than they would by risking their lives for a regular payday, and it’s easier to spiral down.

For someone like Han Jae-young, who had been an S-rank Hunter in South Korea for years, this wasn’t such a shocking story.

"So, what about the owner of Bitnaerim?"

This part was still a bit of a surprising tale.

Or perhaps, it was the kind of story that was so frustratingly familiar.

"Here's the funniest part. When I investigated the so-called 'owner'... it turned out they were a homeless person."

Jeong Da-on raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"It's a case of identity theft. The gangsters bought a homeless person’s ID for a few hundred thousand won and set up the company under that name."

The so-called "owner" that Lee Yun-ho and Won Deok-cheol knew turned out to be an illusion.

The ID had been purchased from a homeless person for a few hundred thousand won.

The actual person acting as the owner was one of the gang members involved in running loan shark businesses and online gambling sites.

It was a classic case of organized crime using stolen identities.

Bitnaerim wasn’t just embezzling government subsidies; it was also a company established by Lee Yun-ho for distributing illegal potions.

By using someone else’s identity to set up a company, even if the police found out, the real criminals would only be charged with identity theft, a relatively minor crime.

Even if they were convicted after a long trial, such fraud cases typically resulted in only a few years of prison time.

"But that doesn’t explain everything..."

"Yeah, it doesn’t."

Even if they were organized criminals, they were still essentially ordinary people.

According to the investigation, it seemed that there were a few low-rank Hunters among them, but those thugs couldn’t have had the technical skills to create the strange things found inside the dungeon.

The mummified Hunters who had died slowly inside the dungeon.

And the S-rank monster known as the Doll Buddha.

Although Han Jae-young didn’t have concrete evidence to report it to academia, he was convinced that the monster had been created by humans.

"The problem is... I don't think we’ll find anything more by digging into Bitnaerim."

Bitnaerim was exactly as Won Deok-cheol had described: a company that did anything as long as it made money.

The investigation revealed that they often sold dungeon entrance tickets and illegal potions through anonymous internet messengers that left no trace.

In fact, they hadn’t properly managed the dungeon entrances at all, except for specific days when they disposed of trash.

"Would be nice to try attacking again, but that's not going to work."

Perhaps because they succeeded in defeating the S-rank monster, once Han Jae-young and the rest of the HP Guild returned to reality, they received a notification saying the dungeon had been cleared and then it disappeared.

That was something that occasionally happened. The purpose of clearing a dungeon was to shut it down for good.

But it was the first time Han Jae-young felt this uneasy after a system notification about closing a dimensional rift.

It felt like they had erased all the evidence before they could even verify it.

"Why did they try to stop us from going another way?"

"They thought the poor management of the dungeon would be exposed."

When a dungeon is auctioned, the company has an obligation to ensure its safety.

If it had been managed poorly to the point of neglect, even a child wandering in out of curiosity could have entered without anyone noticing.

In fact, considering how the monsters inside the dungeon approached people, it meant that Bitnaerim hadn’t even tracked how many people had been in and out.

So, even after interrogating them, they had no answers about why those monsters were there or why people were dying inside.

"If this goes on, they’ll probably get a fine for failing to manage the dungeon safely. If they can't pay it, they might serve about two years in prison."

But realistically, that was all that would come of it.

There was no evidence that the people dying in the dungeon were kidnapped, and if they claimed it was due to poor management, there was nothing they could do about it.

At most, they would be charged with identity theft, but that wasn’t a serious crime either.

"The owner has been released after a preliminary investigation, but no matter how much we press, they won’t talk about the mastermind. They say they were just subcontracted, and they don't care about the prison time as long as they survive."

It was someone who had started a company using a stolen identity, after all.

They weren’t afraid of the law, so there was nothing more they could do.

"How about investigating those high-ranking officials at the Central Administrative Office who leaked information to Yoo Han-ul?"

"We’ve already looked into that."

Han Jae-young had tested Yoo Han-ul after hearing that he was entering the dungeon.

"There was foul play during the bidding process for the dungeon. It seems they subtly leaked the bid price to Bitnaerim."

This was a painfully predictable story.

Leaking internal information during a dungeon auction was a common occurrence when people had personal connections.

And as high-ranking officials at the Central Administrative Office, leaking information about a relatively insignificant dungeon was no big deal.

They’d accepted bribes and leaked internal information so that Bitnaerim could win the bid, but when word spread that an S-rank Hunter was going to enter the dungeon, they became anxious.

So, in a hurry, they tried to probe Yoo Han-ul.

"Then, what about that person? What were they up to inside that dungeon...?"

"They say they didn’t know. They claim they just misspoke during a nice dinner. We’ll have to wait for the prosecutor’s investigation to find out for sure."

No matter how you looked at it, it was all absurd.

Hunters who threw their lives away because of gambling, who no one bothered to look for when they went missing.

A high-ranking official who didn’t care at all about managing the dungeon they’d bribed to win.

People who created illegal businesses by stealing identities.

"So many people who claim to know nothing."

Jeong Da-on’s voice held a trace of anger.

Or perhaps, it was more contempt.

"This is a ridiculous country. They assign numbers to you at birth and take your fingerprints when you turn 18, but they can't protect anything they should."

"Well, I guess it's no different in other countries."

"Probably. Wherever there are humans, it's all the same."

At her reply, Han Jae-young stared at Jeong Da-on.

"Hmm, are you mixed with a different race or something?"

This was one of the suspicions Han Jae-young had about Jeong Da-on.

The more they talked, the more he sensed a deep disdain for humanity itself in her demeanor.

And more than anything...

"Why, are you a fairy hybrid?"

That attitude.

Han Jae-young was most intrigued by how nonchalant Jeong Da-on was, even after realizing his transformation into a fairy.

Fairies.

Even in a world full of monsters, fairies were still more of an urban legend.

Especially in Korea, where they were something found in children’s fairy tales.

But Jeong Da-on wasn’t even surprised when Han Jae-young transformed into a fairy. She didn’t show any shock at the very existence of fairies, or even at the fact that Han Jae-young was a shape-shifter.

So, the most natural assumption was that Jeong Da-on herself must be a hybrid of some non-human race, which was why she didn’t react as if it was unusual.

"I don’t think hybrid races with different species are that common. I’m human. You’ve seen my family."

"You think it’s rare to meet a 20-year-old Hunter who uses incantations? Are you really human?"

"It’s almost like you want me to not be human. Do you need an ally or something?"

Saying this, Jeong Da-on gathered her bag and put on her coat, then turned to Han Jae-young.

"I'm just an apprentice Guild member, so I don’t have to come to the guild every day, right?"

"Of course. You're still an apprentice."

"Then don’t contact me tomorrow. I have personal business to take care of."

"Now I’m curious. I’ll contact you anyway."

"I’d rather talk to a cat."

"Don’t you communicate with Leo?"

"Exactly."

With that, Jeong Da-on left the training hall.

Han Jae-young, left behind, understood the meaning of her words a moment too late and clicked his tongue.

The nurse, looking at the IV drip, kindly spoke.

"Choi Mi-yeon, the medication has been administered."

"Okay."

"If you feel any itching or warmth, call us immediately. I’ll come back later."

With those words, the nurse hurried off.

Choi Mi-yeon, left alone in the private hospital room, stared up at the white ceiling.

Hunters in the Water Balloon State needed medication several times a day to keep their bodies functioning normally, and she had been in the hospital ever since pushing herself too hard during the dungeon.

During her investigation by the prosecutors, she had been going back and forth to the prosecutor’s office, but for the past week, her condition had worsened, and the investigator had started coming to the hospital room instead.

To be honest, she almost welcomed the investigation.

There was no one to contact, and no one to talk to.

When left alone, useless thoughts began to take over her mind.

Why did I do that back then? Why didn’t I do that?

If I had done better, if I had known earlier, just a little more...

The waves of self-hatred that visited every night were eating away at Choi Mi-yeon’s body faster than the medication could heal it.

‘It’s frustrating.’

Choi Mi-yeon rose from her bed and opened the window.

The small window, barely big enough to stretch out an arm, was better than nothing.

The cold night air rushed into the room. The curtains attached to the hospital bed fluttered softly in the breeze.@@novelbin@@

"Hello."

And then, a voice like the wind.

Choi Mi-yeon turned her head.

A girl with long hair, as dark as the night’s veil, parted the curtain and poked her head in.

"I’ve come to ask for your help, accomplice."

The welcoming nightmare had arrived.