“First, Bae Jaemin has yet to report us to law enforcement. It seems he still believes that Moon Issak is on our side.”
“Ah…”
“And, Choi Lee-kyung, he tried to threaten your family’s safety, but…”
“What?!” I jumped up, agitated, at those words. Although I had suffered through a lot of danger, I couldn’t hide my distress after hearing that the Priest had tried to hold my family captive.
Kim Olim looked at me patiently, as if she understood my feelings, and continued, “Moon Issak seemed to have secretly hired security. I believe that, since he had you in his grasp, he didn’t want Bae Jaemin to exploit you.”
“……”
“And, because of that, Moon Issak and Bae Jaemin’s relationship has completely fallen apart. As soon as the Priest found out the Moon Issak was backing you, he completely pulled back on his plans to kidnap your family. That is to say…”
“……”
“You haven’t officially become a criminal yet.”
Actually, I was worried that Bae Jaemin might have reported me or prepared a trap while I was on the run.
It’s ironic, but the time I spent helplessly captured in Moon Issak’s grasp was useful in curtailing Bae Jaemin’s actions.
Bae Jaemin couldn’t even report me to the investigative agency because he was conscious of Moon Issac, conscious of the man who was in charge of most violent-crime cases. Maybe that was why he confronted me in person.
Kim Olim’s words did not end there, “However, it would be dangerous to use Moon Issak as a shield now. There are rumors circulating that Moon Issak has recently taken a leave of absence and is isolating himself at home. This is probably because he has yet to recover from our conflict.”
“……”
“If Moon Issak fails to eventually recover, Bae Jaemin could kill Moon Issak or accuse us of murder to the agency to inhibit our movements. He could try and lay a hand on your family again.”
“Then… As expected, we have no choice but to go on the offense.”
“That’s right.”
With that said, a holographic map, created by Jung Garam, unfolded on the table we were gathered around. The map was an elaborate floor plan of Bae Jaemin’s supposed Hub residence.
Then, when Seo Dawon flicked his finger, a graphic of a round, dome-shaped barrier appeared, surrounding the mansion. “If Bae Jaemin uses [Declaration of Sanctuary] during battle, the range of the skill will be about this size. It’ll practically cover the entire mansion.”
I would be at an absolute disadvantage–I wouldn’t be able to call out my servants again.
Seo Dawon continued in a relaxed tone, “But, the Gods of Order are picky and demanding; they wouldn’t want to step into disheveled, messy places.”
“What?”
“[Declaration of Sanctuary] is a sort of supernatural, covenant skill in which the caster makes a ‘request’ of a higher being and borrows their power. In other words, if the contracted ‘higher being’ refuses, the sanctuary cannot be declared.”
“Then…”
“In some of the Hub’s dungeons, for example, the ‘corrupted’ or ‘polluted’ dungeons within the Tower, the Gods of Order can’t intervene.” Kim Olim explained. Then, the corners of her mouth lifted as she touched Bae Jaemin’s mansion, and she stated, “So, we’ll contaminate his mansion in advance. We’ll turn his mansion into a dungeon, like the dungeons in the [Tower of Command].”
I opened my eyes wide at her words.
Come to think of it, the Hub’s dungeons could be advantageous or disadvantageous, depending on one’s class. Just like Kim Sang-yoon explained on a YouTube livestream a while back, depending on the attributes of each class, certain dungeons favored the Holy attribute, while others favored the Evil attribute. There were even dungeons that restricted skills based on the class.
That was the case with the [Tower of Command] as well.
Many Holy Users were dissatisfied as some of their most powerful skills, such as [Declaration of Sanctuary], were restricted. On the other hand, Evil attribute Users had no skill restrictions and even received reduced damage from monsters, making it easier for them to raid compared to Holy attribute Users.
On the other hand, [Second Company] was incredibly friendly to Holy Users. Not only did they have access to [Declaration of Sanctuary], but most of the items dropped in this dungeon were tailored for them as well.
For that reason, strategy guides often recommended or guided Users to target different Dungeons according to their classes and their attributes. The Servants got their idea from this concept.
However…
“But, is it possible for us to create a dungeon?”
The idea of a User creating a dungeon seemed absolutely crazy. However, Seo Dawon wasn’t flustered by my suspicion and said, “If it has all the necessary components of a dungeon, then it may be recognized as one.”
“What are these components?” I asked, recalling what a dungeon’s inside looked like… Various things came to mind, such as a boss monster or the labyrinthian corridors.
Seo Dawon gave me an answer I didn’t expect, “The most important thing is a reward. Users wouldn’t risk their lives to fight monsters for no reason.”
“Then…”
“So, we’ll send an invitation to Bae Jaemin.” Dawon-ie took a small card out of his belongings and handed it to me. I quickly read the received card.
[If you want Ryu Hyerin back, don’t tell anyone and tear this card up.]
I looked up; Seo Dawon smiled and spoke before I could open my mouth, “It doesn’t say we’ll return her alive.”
“But…”
“Moreover, Bae Jaemin won’t expect Ryu Hyerin to be alive. He might not tear up the invitation either.”
“Then, we’ll have failed?”
“However, he’ll have no choice but to tear it apart.” The Mage whispered confidently, “The second most important component of a dungeon is this: you cannot exit a dungeon until you clear it.”
* * *
Strange rumors began circulating on the internet.
It was about a missing celebrity: Ryu Hyerin. The rumor claimed that Bae Jaemin had kidnapped Ryu Hyerin and was hiding her somewhere in his mansion.
Of course, no one believed that rumor at first. Especially since, after Ryu Hyerin had disappeared, her parents continued to support Bae Jaemin through their interview.
Throughout the interview, it seemed as if they were trying to protect the Priest from suspicious gazes, rather than worrying about their missing daughter. Most folks simply thought, ‘Bae Jaemin must have been super nice to Ryu Hyerin’s family,’ or ‘Bae Jaemin has no motive. The two were slated to be married soon, so there’s no reason to suddenly kidnap or kill her.’
Then, public opinion was stirred up by a certain article posted on the anonymous forum section on [Ranking Gods].
<About R H R’s Parents>
Author: Private
Did you know that they’re suing the insurance company now?
They shed tears in an interview, saying that their daughter is still alive…and now they’re suing for her death insurance payout.
Originally, if a User can’t be contacted for a few days after their disappearance, he or she may be treated as KIA; so, they’re trying to cash in on her insurance on presumption of death.
However, advance payment is only possible if there’s some sort of proof that the User has gone missing in a dungeon…
I don’t know why they’re claiming their daughter is alive in interviews if they’re going to ask for immediate payment through a lawsuit afterwards…
If they get paid, the insurance premium is about 20 billion won alone. 1
Also, apparently they’re selling or disposing of all of r h r’s possessions; they’re also already using all the properties in r h r’s name.
[Like] [Dislike]
Likes: 234,222
Dislikes: 71
[Comments] (Expand)
FightingDaddy: Is that real?
└Fighting Daddy: Wow, fuck, it’s true (Link to Article)
└Tora: Is famous User A, R H R?
└Tetetera: Who else would be famously missing A-ssi? You r e t a r d.
└Tora: Why are you cursing :'(
└ZeroPointFive: Wow… these fuckers, stealing all their daughter’s properties when she’s gone missing.
And, soon, anonymous comments followed.
Anonymous: Those bastard parents of R H R were always messed up… They didn’t have a good relationship with their daughter; they’ve been selling her out for a quick buck ever since she was a minor. R H R was the breadwinner of her family… She even gave an interview saying that she had a hard time mentally since she had to plunge into dungeons ever since she was young…
└But now she was Opera’s deputy guildmaster
└Sure, she’s opera’s deputy guildmaster now–does that justify her going inside dungeons when young, exploding monsters, and treating the injured? Don’t bother leaving comments if you’re lacking intelligence.
└When are they getting paid?
└Come to think of it, I haven’t seen any pictures with her family ever since she became an adult *shiver shiver*
└Oh my god
└R H R’s mom went to my church. She used her daughter’s name, borrowed money, and hasn’t paid it back
└Crazy…
Anonymous: Typical scumbags that leech off their daughter’s success.
└Wow, I feel sorry for Ryu Hyerin TT_TT
└Ah fuck… I’m also the eldest daughter, but, as soon as I became a User, mine also borrowed 100 million won each… I used to run two dungeons a week to pay it back, and now I’m finally done… I got fucking PTSD from that.
└I paid back all my sister’s study abroad expenses… Because of that, my right ring finger flew away. After my sister got married, her nephew called me a cripple. So, I cut ties with her whole family…
└Crazy
—–
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Tl: The return of the internet forum comments T_T It takes me a while to localize them… especially when sentences are abbreviated.
You know, the ability to ‘create dungeons’ brings a sort of meta-conversation into what dungeons are…what systems are. If a User can make a dungeon, that means that dungeons don’t come pre-determined from a system. If I’m thinking of computer science, then this whole ‘dungeon’ matter can’t be a discrete state machine–that there’s no predetermined order of dungeons that was decided when the system was made. (I hope I’m using discrete state the right way haha)
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