Translator: Min999, Editor: Spade
Proofreader: Sapphire
The next day, Jung Yisun headed to the HN Guild headquarters with Sa Hyeon.
It was early in the morning when he received a call. Sa Hyeon nonchalantly asked Yisun, who had barely slept ‘Did you sleep well?’, and when Yisun didn’t bother to answer, there was the sound of shuffling from the end of the line before the other party said he’d be at his door in an hour.
Once he got into Sa Hyeon’s black car, something he’d never seen happening even in his wildest dreams, Yisun was handed a key card.
“Use this from now on.”
“……What is this?”
“Apartment key card. I live right next door, so you can contact me anytime you need something.”
Completely ignoring Yisun’s incredulous look, Sa Hyeon still gave him the name and location of his apartment. It was so famous that anyone looking for a place in Seoul would recognize the name, and it was also one that Yisun had once checked out with his friends, before they were totally blown away by the exorbitant rent price. Sa Hyeon said he lived in a penthouse at the top of the building, and since he didn’t like having people next door, he just bought the whole apartment.
In this situation, Yisun, who was reminded of the sky high rent prices, felt a pang of bitterness and pointed out the problem with the current conversation.
“And why do I need to live next to you? I have no intention of moving out…”
“I’m sorry, Yisun-ssi but this is coercion. Due to circumstances, I need your restoration abilities to be at 100%. And I don’t think that living in that place would do your mental health any good, don’t you agree?”
Yisun wanted to retort that living next door to him wasn’t considered any better, but since Sa Hyeon had used the word ‘coercion’, there wasn’t much he could say. It was frustrating….
After all he was just wondering if maybe he could bring his friends along with him to his new apartment, but considering what Sa Hyeon just said, that wasn’t going to happen. His clear purpose was to have him as far away as possible from his zombified friends, keeping him away from the environment that immortalized the guilt eating him up.
Rather than feeling annoyed at the sudden move, Yisun couldn’t help worrying about the friends he left back home. Of course, they didn’t need to eat, and didn’t exhibit any natural biological needs… and so he was aware that they didn’t really need his care.
Yisun glanced at the chauffeur in the driver’s seat and the attendant in the passenger’s seat, then cautiously leaned over towards Sa Hyeon. He didn’t really welcome the proximity, meanwhile, Sa Hyeon tilted his head forward obligingly.
“… What about my friends back home ? I’m worried about them walking around and accidentally bumping into something, or getting crushed under a bookcase….”
“Would that kill them?”
“…….”
Sa Hyeon looked at him, awaiting his response, but he didn’t know what to say. If they could have actually died from those dangers, they would have died a long time ago. Although he was aware of that fact, he couldn’t get rid of his worries. and Sa Hyeon, who could read Yisun’s thoughts on his frowning face, warned him.
“The only time we’ll be visiting your friends is when you’ve successfully achieved a full recovery of your abilities, and when I have to fulfill my own part of the deal. Otherwise, You’re not allowed to go back.”
Yisun was very unhappy with Sa Hyeon’s behavior of not allowing him access to what was clearly his own home, but at the end of the day, he had no choice but to comply. He glanced briefly at Sa Hyeon, who was grinning from ear to ear. This man’s ability to read people’s hearts must also be S-rank…
“…. And when exactly are we going to do that?”
Sa Hyeon smiled.
“You’ll find out about that in a bit.”
Yisun sighed and looked away. The realization that he would have to work alongside Sa Hyeon in the future was quite disturbing, and he didn’t even know how long that would have to last. The sky outside his window, oblivious to the knots forming in his stomach, was deceptively clear.
What a blighted start to his morning.
Yisun entered the HN Guild building, which he had only ever seen on TV and on the internet, for the first time. And alongside someone that he from a year ago could have never fathomed.
Yisun really couldn’t understand why Sa Hyeon was walking beside him. He tried to follow behind him with someone who appeared to be an assistant, but Sa Hyeon casually pulled Yisun to his side and so, he ended up walking with him. All eyes were on them as they walked up from the lobby.
Finally, they reached the 42nd floor exclusively used for Chord’s activities.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, Yisun was greeted by a gold plate. ‘Chord324’ was elegantly engraved on it; it wasn’t until he turned and walked a little further on the marble floor that he saw the entrance to the office. The assistant went first and opened the glass door for them.
Yisun couldn’t help but marvel at the sight in front of him. He had always heard that larger guilds seemed more like professional enterprises compared to the smaller and medium-sized ones. However, he didn’t realize there would be such a huge difference. The black-and-white interior accentuated with gold linings was very neat, the desks were well spaced, and there was ample lighting. Before he walked in, he even saw a dedicated Chord info desk by the glass doors.
It was in a league of its own, a far cry from the Honshin Guild that Yisun had been a member of for four years, it was a difference between heaven and hell, and he didn’t even dare compare. While Yisun was focused on keeping his mouth shut, refusing to show his awe at being in a room the atmosphere of which screamed Sa Hyeon, someone suddenly jumped in front of him.
Of the Chord team members that didn’t bother to get up from their seats to greet their leader Sa Hyeon when he arrived, only one came running over.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Wow! You really brought him. You’re doing fine, aren’t you? I was worried you’d be coming in either half dead or tied up on a leash…”
““Hunter .”
“Yes, sir?”
“Do you really think this a good time to be spouting such childishly crude words to Yisun-ssi when it’s his first day with Chord?”
“A-absolutely not. I apologize for my mindless words.”
Immediately, the man bowed down 90 degrees to his waist and apologized. Yisun accepted his apology with little fanfare. Ki Joohyuk. A familiar name. He was an A-class Hunter in Chord. Among the many Hunters who used magical abilities, he is well-known for his mastery of multiple elements. Typical Magic-type Hunters usually only specialize in one attribute, but Joohyuk excelled in both Water and Fire element magic.
Although Sa Hyeon was smiling, the atmosphere in the room was still chilly. It was then that the secretary behind him picked up the phone and spoke to him.
“The Vice Guild leader is calling for you.”
“For what reason? It’s almost time for our Chord meeting .”
“He did not specify a reason, but he wants you to come to his office right away.”
“If he didn’t say why, then why should I go?”
It was a sarcastic question Hyeon had asked rhetorically, he naturally didn’t need an answer, but Joohyuk, who had been keeping his head down until now, blurted a loud “That’s right!”. Sa Hyeon’s icy gaze turned back towards him again.
But eventually, Joohyuk was saved by a cell phone ringing. Yisun just saw the name “Sa Yoonkang” pop up on Sa Hyeon’s phone screen when he casually rejected the call. But the next text he received wiped the smile from Sa Hyeon’s face. He told Yisun to wait for a few minutes, and turned to head back towards the lobby. Although it was only a fleeting glimpse, Yisun seemed to have caught the word “hospital” in the text.
As if Sa Hyeon’s presence was the only thing holding him on leash, Ki Joohyuk immediately raised his head and politely extended both hands. Yisun, understanding his gesture, held his hands, while thinking amusedly that only people who liked to shake hands seemed to have gathered at Chord.
“I’m a really big fan of yours!”
“Ah, okay…….”
“So I was really surprised when the leader said that Restorer- would be joining us in this raid! I’ve been looking forward to meeting you for about a month now, ever since the first raid, when the leader decided to recruit you….”
“Hunter Ki Joohyuk. The Restorer doesn’t know about this raid yet.”
Joohyuk’s eyes widened in surprise at the words of the assistant next to him. But Yisun was even more surprised. Raid was another term for a “linked dungeon”, and refers to a situation where, after the first dungeon, associated dungeons would appear continuously. This had been happening more and more frequently in Korea ever since the Second Great Dungeon a year ago.
Raids had been a big issue recently, and every single one of them covered in the news. However, Yisun hadn’t seen any articles on a raid that was serious enough to require the intervention of a team like Chord. He was quite sure because he had read all the recent articles about Chord earlier in the morning. The only dungeon that Chord has recently been to was the A-class dungeon in Song-pa district.
“Has the raid already started? Or are there any signs that it will happen soon?”
“Ah…… Um… Well, you’ll find out more about that in a bit.”
In response to Yisun’s question, Ki Joohyuk offered a vague response. Yisun frowned, remembering that Sa Hyeon had also said the same thing an hour ago… The two seemed to be referring to the same time period…
Joohyuk smiled at Yisun.
“I’ll tell you one thing up front. If this raid succeeds, Restorer-nim is going to make an amazing comeback. Ah- not only a comeback, But also a Restorer’s first dungeon debut ever.”
Joohyuk grinned, his shoulders were swaying from side to side in anticipation, but as soon as he realized Sa Hyeon was back, he straightened up.
“I wasted my time appeasing that “brat”. Now, Let’s go in.”
Sa Hyeon, who came to stand casually at Yisun’s side, said. For a moment, Yisun was surprised to hear the word ‘brat’ coming out of Sa Hyeon’s mouth. It turns out that all of the rumors circulating on the internet about the bad blood going on between Vice Guild leader Sa Yoonkang and Chord Team Leader Sa Hyeon weren’t completely baseless. But what truly shocked him even more were Joohyuk’s words from earlier.
Dungeon debut.
That meant he really had to go inside the dungeon.
He’s only ever entered one dungeon so far, and that was the Second Great Dungeon… The thought of having to go in again, not to mention this one was also linked another linked, was draining. A sense of dread creeped up along his spine, but he also felt outraged. Just what the hell was a Restorer even supposed to do inside a dungeon?
Yisun walked with Sa Hyeon, his face a mixture of worry and anxiety.
Inside the office, there was a separate conference room surrounded by transparent glass windows.
Sa Hyeon first led Yisun to the topmost seat first, and then sat right next to him. Yisun was very uncomfortable because wherever he looked, Sa Hyeon’s seat would be in view, yet he couldn’t move.
Soon enough, two more Hunters joined them in the conference room, making up a total of five Hunters and one single Restorer in the room. When he saw their faces, Yisun realized that the five of them were the core members of Chord.
Chord was a special elite team made of around 20 people, of which these five, centered around Sa Hyeon, were the most famous. Even if all of the Chord team entered the dungeon, these five would still be the ones to take on the boss, and sometimes, they could clear a whole A-class dungeon with only these members. They were the strongest team in Korea.
“Wow, you really managed to scout him. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Restorer Jung Yisun.”
“I’ve always wanted to meet you!”
The Hunters greeted him excitedly. And Yisun, who was surrounded by A-class and S-class Hunters, couldn’t help feeling nervous. Although he was also an S-class, this was the first time he talked to such high ranked Hunters.
Soon, “Shin, who was Sa Hyeon’s personal assistant and an A-class Hunter, walked to the front of the room.
The woman’s well-built body was fitting for a “tank” fighter. The muscles in her arms and shoulders were quite prominent through the black two-piece suit usually worn by bodyguards, and her bronze-colored hair was tied up in a high ponytail. Shin Jian started the meeting with a formal, businesslike demeanor.
“Restorer Yisun has yet to hear about the raid yet, so I’m going to tell you a little bit about it from the beginning.”
A picture of a scene popped up on the TV behind Hunter Jian. The view was surprisingly familiar to him, although he had only seen it at dawn, it was still obvious.
“Ah, that’s… the District Office Annex…….”
“That’s right. It is the building Yisun-ssi had restored.”
Sa Hyeon smiled and nodded at the bewildered Yisun, while Shin Jian continued her explanation.
“The A-class dungeon that occurred nearby was the first dungeon from this Raid. The only people who cleared and had access to the dungeon are the Hunters present here. And this was found in the Boss Room.”
Jian opened the box on the desk and handed it to Yisun. Inside the box was a bronze colored slab,and as Yisun squinted to read the words on it, Shin Jian displayed a picture of it on the TV screen. As if handing over the box was just to show Yisun the item picked up in the dungeon, Shin Jian quickly explained the meaning of the words.
“The text was written in ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs, it says, ‘The next battle will be fought in the skies of Baghdad.’ And underneath is a number, can you see it..?”
“Ah, yeah. It says 8.”
“When it was first found, the number was 15. With each passing day, the number decreased by one. And so, we figured out that it was a timer counting down the number of days left until the second dungeon occurred.”
The second dungeon that Yisun-ssi experienced in the past appeared shortly after the first dungeon disappeared. However, that was the first linked dungeon to ever appear in Korea, it was an unusual case. And the following cases appeared gradually over time..
– “Recent linked dungeons have the advantage of allowing time for Hunters to regroup and prepare after clearing the first one and before the second dungeon opens, but the disadvantage is that if the second dungeon is not cleared, the damage is doubled. And If you fail to clear the third dungeon, the damage is tripled. However, they also allowed generous challenge times, starting with 24 hours for the first, 48 hours for the second, and 72 hours for the third.
But that’s in no way reassuring, because the damage caused by the failure of clearing a dungeon in time is too destructive. There have been cases in other countries where large cities in their entirety have been blown away.”
“……Hold on. if it’s a linked dungeon, it means that it will reappear in front of the Song pa City Hall… If so, why did I have to restore the district office annex…..?”
The more he thought about it, the more puzzled Yisun felt. if it was a dungeon cleared by Chord, then usually it would be Restorers from the HN guild team that did the job, but that wasn’t the case. Moreover, it made no sense for them to bother with restoring the place if they knew it was a linked dungeon. It was going to be destroyed again anyway.
Looking at Yisun’s puzzled expression, Sa Hyeon said lazily.
“I wanted to see a demonstration of Yisun-ssi’s current restoration abilities. There was a reason why only the district office annex was restored, even though everything else around it was also destroyed. We didn’t know exactly just how much you’re capable of because you’ve only ever been restoring very minor damage for the past half year.”
“But uncle Taesik clearly said that he bid on that job….”
“We’ve talked to the Hunters’ Association. The damage was measured as B-class, but the payout was A-class. How could a small company ever get something like that?”
“Although it may collapse again, I purposely put an A-class compensation money reward so you wouldn’t feel too bad about it.”
Sa Hyeon smiled, and Yisun was left speechless again. Because if what he said was true, then it also came with an unpleasant realization.
“…. You’ve been trying to reel me in from the beginning.”
“Of course. I’ve spent a lot of effort into getting Yisun-ssi.”
“What if another Restorer had picked up the job?”
“Hmm, I’m not sure about that. What do you think would have happened?”
“…….”
Yisun chose to stay silent, quietly acknowledging how stupid that question must’ve sounded. It was just that this whole thing was so outrageous. Yisun felt even more uncomfortable when he noticed that Joohyuk, who was sitting on the other end of the table, seemed to be having a lot of fun for some reason.
He had been in the conference room for less than an hour, yet he already felt exhausted. Yisun sighed.
“Okay, then why does that linked dungeon require a Restorer?”
As if she had only been waiting for him to finish his conversation with Sa Hyeon, Shin Jian swiftly changed the TV screen. He squinted slightly at the familiar building on the screen. Why would that building show up here so out of the blue?
“This is the first dungeon we entered.”
“…… That’s a…pyramid?”
“Yes. It was the “Pyramid. Dungeons usually don’t have a specific aesthetic, concept, or theme to them, but the last one we entered was definitely a pyramid. There have been several occurrences recently where linked dungeons have taken on the specific shape of architectural structures from the real world .”
The screen changed to reveal a Vatican linked dungeon from a recent event in Italy. This raid had involved a total of three linked dungeons: The Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica. The appearance of these monuments was a bit more bizarrely distorted in the dungeons, but the overall theme was clear.
With that information, and after a long meeting, Chord came to the conclusion that this was a similar case.
“This tablet appeared after defeating the boss of the first dungeon. And it says, “the next battle will be fought over the skies of Baghdad”……. Baghdad is the current capital of Iraq and is close to the site of the ancient city of Babylon. If so, what it means by meeting in the skies can only be…….”
The screen changed without a sound.
““The.”
The Hanging Gardens of the ancient city of Babylon weren’t actually floating in the sky, but they were so named because they were 105 meters tall and would appear to be floating in the skies from a faraway distance.
the Pyramid of Khu’fu, and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Yisun’s expression subtly changed at the sight of these two structures. The “theme”of the dungeon that he had thought of earlier was slowly starting to unravel in his mind.
–“Could it be the theme of this dungeon…… is it the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“Wow, you recognized it right away.”
“Restorer Yisun’s seems to have a good head on his shoulders. I’ve heard people say that all Restorers were smart, but I guess the intelligence of an S-class Restorer would also be S-class.”
Yisun had asked timidly, but Shin Jian’s generous affirmation drew admiring glances from the other Hunters around the table. Sa Hyeon was smiling wryly, clearly pleased with the situation.
“But the dungeon we had entered collapsed. King Khu’fu’s pyramid in present-day Giza is still standing, but the one in the dungeon was in ruins. These blurry pictures are all I managed to take, but this is what it looked like most of the time.”
Shin Jian then displayed some photos on the screen.
Inside a dungeon, modern devices such as phones become completely useless. It was impossible to make a call, the photos taken by a camera came out black and white, and if you tried to make a recording, all you could hear were strange noises. However, there are some devices that are crafted through special materials for use inside the dungeons, such as dungeon cameras used by large broadcasters.
Such magically processed crystals usually cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but Shin Jian casually showed a picture taken inside the pyramid ruins, and said the image was a little blurry. It seems like she assumed that everyone in the room had the same high-end processed phone as her.
But, of course, what was even more amazing was what was inside the picture.
“The paths were collapsed and difficult to navigate, and most of the ones we could walk were lined with traps. And linked dungeons that share a theme are usually in a similar state.”
This time, Joohyuk spoke up after Shin Jian.
“That means that the second dungeon, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, will also be in a state of ruins. It was actually destroyed in a war with the Persian Empire in the past, and only a few ruins remain today, but… in theory, the dungeon would recreate the original Hanging Gardens of Babylon, but in a ‘collapsed’ state?”
“It was really difficult for us to move around in the collapsed dungeon.”
The other Hunter shook his head, sounding quite frustrated. Most of the structures collapsed, making it difficult to enter, and the monsters were quite annoying to deal with. Although, at the very least, the fight happened inside the Pyramid, there were ample shadows around, and Sa Hyeon managed to clear it….
As he listened to the Hunters complaining, Yisun’s face hardened. Slowly, everything started to make sense. Why he was needed, what Joohyuk’s meant by dungeon debut, and the matter of Sa Hyeon nullifying his friends.
Seeing Yisun’s thoughtful expression, Sa Hyeon’s lips curved up in a smile.
“There has yet to be an official announcement about this dungeon being a linked one. After our findings, Chord first notified the Hunters’ Association and asked them to keep it under wraps until we could figure out how to proceed. The scale of the ‘Seven Wonders of the Ancient World’ dungeon is very large, and the linked dungeon is a class higher than the previous one. “
The first dungeon, The Egyptian Pyramid of Khu’fu, was an A-class dungeon. That means they would be dealing with 6 S-class dungeons in a row starting with the second one. Moreover, the damage of a linked dungeon is multiplied by the number of linked dungeons they’ve cleared. If they failed, the multiplied damage of an S-level dungeon could wipe out a city, maybe even half the country.
The Association is probably keeping this a secret because if it came to light without a proper response, it would cause chaos and fear throughout the country.
Sa Hyeon said, looking straight into Yisun’s pensive gaze, “We’ve cleared the first of seven linked dungeons, there are still six more to go.”
Looking into the obsidian voids staring back at him, Yisun had an epiphany.
Six friends who were unable to die. Six remaining linked dungeons.
As well as the S-class restoration ability that Sa Hyeon needed, the kind that can’t be replaced by an A-class one.
“Yisun-ssi, you will be in charge of entering the dungeon and restoring the ‘Seven Wonders of the Ancient World’.”
EEEEEEE AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME THANK YOU TRANSLATOR 😜😜🤭
Thank you for reading~ <3
oh man this sounds so cool😭
Are the numbers at the end a coincidence.
😮😮
From being a hidden reader to now finally making an account because i want to say thank you for translating this. It is so smooth and very easy to read. Kudos to you translator-nim and to your team 😍