Chapter 54

Castle Tower Guild was punished for almost causing great danger by engaging in a private fight amid a dungeon raid. In addition, as it had become known that they’d been trying to steal items, their situation was not very good these days because nearby guilds shunned them.

But nobody expected them to be terminated. It was also their guild headquarters in the middle of the city.

“That’s terrible.” Seora, who was dispatched to the scene, frowned.

The sight of this place was terrible even for her, a Hunter who fought monsters, who was confident that she would not be surprised by anything.

There were miserable corpses all over the place. The bloody smell was so strong that she covered her nose and mouth with her handkerchief. Still, nausea did not subside.

“One guild leader, eight guild members, and three office workers non-Awakened. A total of twelve bodies were identified. All members of the guild died without exception.”

It was none other than Jung Hoyoung of Emissary who appeared with the Dungeon Accident Investigation Team members in the association investigating the scene.

She had the best ability in tracking and searching and had a close relationship with the association, so when such an incident occurred, she was often asked for cooperation. It was the same today.

“It must have been difficult because the bodies are not in good condition. Thank you for your effort.”

“There’s nothing difficult. We can determine their identities as long as we find their heads.”

“Is everyone here?”

“Yeah. There is no trace of the bodies being moved after death. Everyone died here by one person.”

One person. No matter how small the guild, there was no way that the guild leader could be easily annihilated as he was an A-class Hunter. The most horrifying thing was that no one had known about it, even until the death of twelve of them.

“The prime suspect is Hunting Guild, who had a grudge against Castle Tower. But his skill isn’t that great.”

Hunting Guild’s leader Baek Guntae.

He was a pretty good B-class Hunter, but that’s about it. He didn’t have the skills to kill as many as twelve people at once while avoiding people’s eyes. That was confirmed by Seora, who had met him in person.

“But his motivation is enough.”

“You mean the item that caused the problem between them?”

“Yes. I heard it is a top-class Gate Stone that can close even a Level 3 dungeon. It is an item worth billions of dollars, so the angry Hunting Guild’s leader could have literally hunted them.”

If the Gate Stone were sold and distributed fairly, it would have been a huge profit, but unfortunately, it was confiscated by the association. A Dungeon Break had almost occurred because of that thing, so it was a natural action.

“If he hires an A-class assassin, annihilation is not impossible at all.”

“So, is that possible?” Seora looked at Jung Hoyoung and smiled meaningfully.

If Guardian Spirit monopolized most healers, Emissary led by Jung Hoyoung was the assassins’ lair. The only difference was that most of them voluntarily entered under the country’s best assassin.

Being such an outstanding figure, Jung Hoyoung sometimes received secret missions from Song Hanna. All the information Jung Hoyoung knew flowed into Song Hanna’s ears because the guild was closer to being the shadow of the association’s president Song Hanna than an independent guild.

However.

“Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can tell you this time. In the first place, I don’t even let this kind of request be commissioned.”

“I see. Ah, I heard the news that the association has arrested all Hunting Guild’s members as suspects. I’ll go back now, so please let me know if you find anything new. Sung Jarim-ssi, let us… Sung Jarim-ssi?”

Seora, who was looking for Jarim, who came with her, widened her eyes. Jarim’s face was pale as she looked at the clear traces of the annihilation.

“Sung Jarim-ssi.”

“Oh, uh huh. Are you all done?”

“Yes, let’s go. There is nothing more to do here.”

The two left the building together and got into a car parked outside. As Jarim sighed, Seora asked curiously.

“What’s the matter? Did you see anything there? Your complexion is so bad. Did you remember anything from Baskar?”

“No, it’s not… I have to say; I just feel a little weird. Why do I feel some familiarity with the traces left over there?”

“What? Familiar? Then, did you kill some guild members in Baskar…?”

“Huh? No, no. It’s not like that. That’s impossible in the first place.”

Seora was relieved at that firm denial.

However, excluding that, since the exact reason was still unknown, Seora decided to question the Hunting Guild’s members who were arrested first.

After arriving at the association, Seora went straight to the interrogation room where the Hunting Guild’s leader was.

Baek Guntae, who she met again after a few weeks, was quite skinny. They said he’d been having nightmares since he was mentally eroded by White Ghost in the last rift dungeon.

“Are you still having nightmares?”

“It’s a little bit better now, fortunately. To dream that someone keeps shooting me in the head is terrifying.”

“…”

It wasn’t a nightmare from a ghost.

Seora, who was the one who’d shot him in the head and freed him from the monster, pretended not to hear him.

I saved your life, but you’re having nightmares because of it.

“But starting today, I think I will suffer from a different nightmare. Castle Tower was exterminated, right…?” he asked with a pale face if he had heard of it during the arrest.

“I just returned from the scene. All the guild members, including the non-Awakened workers, died.”

“I heard that there was a strong smell of blood.”

Baek Guntae wiped his face with both hands. Seora looked carefully at his trembling hands and his pale face.

“I am the prime suspect, right? I recently had a problem with Castle Tower.”

“And you have a motive for it.”

“Damn it. I really didn’t! Do you think I was crazy enough to do that? It was obvious that I’d be a suspect!”

“Your appeal doesn’t work. Write down where and what you did from 12 noon yesterday to 10 AM today. You’ll be prosecuted like this if you don’t have enough alibi.”

Baek Guntae swore and wheezed, but he meekly grabbed a pencil and wrote his alibi on the paper Seora handed him.

But he must’ve known that this didn’t make a complete claim to his innocence. His hands were still shaking terribly because of it.

“Damn it, that bastard. I told him not to be greedy and report it to the association properly. Because of him…”

Seora let out a sigh as he spat out swear words in tears.

“Then why did you fight? Of course, top-class Gate Stone isn’t worth just a penny or two, so it’s coveted, but it’s not enough to risk your life.”

I understand you are angry because Castle Tower tried to steal it first, but you should’ve done it in moderation.

But Baek Guntae, writing his alibi while sniffling, opened his eyes wide.

“What? What do you mean? Gate Stone?”

“The item Castle Tower was trying to steal as soon as it was found in the dungeon. As I said before, the association has already confiscated it.”

The next moment, Seora felt the ominousness hovering over her toes since morning, slowly growing in size.

Baek Guntae’s widened eyes were shaking greatly.

“What… What are you talking about? What do you mean by Gate Stone? Who said that? Did the Tower’s guy say that?”

When Seora showed confusion, Baek Guntae’s face turned paler than before. The face, which had completely lost its color, was like a ghost. A terrifying voice came from his trembling lips.

“Crazy, crazy, crazy! No matter how greedy you are! How could you do the worst-!”

“Guild Leader Baek Guntae? Calm down! Guild Leader!”

Baek Guntae grabbed Seora’s arm. The blood-stained hand was so desperate that she couldn’t resist it. Baek Guntae shouted with a face drenched in tears.

“Castle Tower- We need to find the one who killed them quickly! Otherwise, something big will happen! I was wondering why they were killed! Now I know!”

“What the hell are you talking about?! Speak properly so I can understand!”

“What we found in the dungeon wasn’t just a Gate Stone. It’s a, a special item! It was a Gate Key!”

Seora’s face also turned pale at Baek Guntae’s desperate cry.

Now she fully understood why the ominousness kept lingering under her feet and behind her back from the morning.

There were countless items in the world. There were various ways to get things, from killing monsters to by-products inside the dungeon.

However, some things were extremely rare they even had the word “special” before it. This was because there was no fixed way to get it, and the probability of it appearing was extremely slim.

The item ‘Lock’ was one of those special items.

It could completely lock any gate except for the Labyrinth Dungeon so that monsters could not escape from it.

As the grade of the dungeon did not limit it, the lock was also called a special and essential item. Level 1 dungeons that even L-class Hunters could not stop could also be prevented using a Lock.

So, could the locked gate never be unlocked?

No.

It could be opened again as long as there was a Lock and another special item, ‘Key’, that was treated as a set.

‘And the Keys are more special than the Locks.’

If the Lock could close any gate, the Key could open any lock. In other words, it was no exaggeration to say that all the locked gates were in danger now that the missing Key whereabouts were unclear.

Moreover, the problem was that there was only one locked dungeon in Korea.

It was the first Level 2 dungeon that occurred in Korea and the worst dungeon in Korea that had driven countless Awakeneds to death.

The very place where Seora’s mother died after failing a raid. It was Cheorwon Dungeon.