*HunterNet Anonymous Board*
[Title: Hyeonak’s wholesome-smile Parents’ Day status]
(Photo: Jjapso wearing a carnation headband, ribbon on, riding a kid’s bike)
(Photo: Gidan wearing a carnation headband, swinging a sword)
(Photo: Serhi in a carnation headband, desperately covering his face)
Became “filial-villains” for Parents’ Day.
And they’re fucking good at killing like that.
[Comments]
— Hyeonak bros at it again?
— Is it real that at least one of them knows how to feel shame?
— Why is it always Jjap.Gi.Se whenever this kind of post pops up?
— Jjapso clocked the crazy and joined the right guild.
— Even S-ranks are doing ass-clown shows, so you all go be filial too.
Mom, why’d you birth me D-rank ㅠ If I were S-rank I’d be at Hyeonak doing filial piety too.
That’s... fi?li?al?
Just what they’re clearing there probably adds up to a mid-size foreign car. Best filial piety is cash.
Lol~ it’s a mutated dungeon, no mana stones~
— You were in the same dungeon? Did you see Jjapso hoeing?
? Hoeing what?
[Title: Jjapso Hoeing]
(Photo: Jjapso in a carnation headband, working a hoe)
Hoed a “Failed” monster and pulled a high-grade mana stone.
[Comments]
— No way, stop lying
I saw it with my own eyes.
— I can’t even with these “Failed” monsters popping out, and you got a high-grade out of that? insane
— Is it the hoe buff?
Sounds plausible?
They’re gonna sell the shit out of hoes again.
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ sell it plz ffs
Are we entering the All Hunters Hoe Era now?
Jjapso could shovel bare dirt and still get mana stones.
— On Jurim: big smile
[Title: The Happiest Person Right Now]
Parents’ Day On Jurim
Guild member Jjapso
Daughter Guru
[Comments]
— If only I had given birth to Guru...
— Buying Guru’s massage coupon and kiss coupon.
— Guru vs. Jjapso
No-brainer: Guru
Balance-broken, obvious pick.
Am I the only money-grubber? How many patents does Jjapso have again?
Adorable kindergarten kid vs. rich, hairy thirty-something concept-chasing uncle
Obvious pick—my bad for doubting
(On Jurim, who has both Guru and Jjapso): big smile
Give me at least one, ffs lolol
I’m seething lolol
***
Meanwhile.
The café terrace on the first floor of Hyeonak HQ.
A woman with red hair tied up high did not bother to hide the long scar over her left eye.
Sipping coffee as she watched the peaceful street, she shifted her gaze to Han Roun.
Catching her eyes for a moment, Han Roun smiled.
“Theodora, is this really enough?”
An artificial dungeon core floated above Han Roun’s palm.
Round and small—at a glance it looked no more than a marble for kids. Yet it would be a key component of the upcoming grand dungeon.
Theodora accepted the core.
“Enough. I’ve been preparing on my end, too. Whether it worked or not was always a gamble.”
She toyed with the glossy bead with a fingertip and continued:
“Figured Gnosis would have a way.”
Her face brightened.
“A dungeon that grows by devouring other dungeons—Gnosis is so good at making entertaining things.”
“A few dozen small dungeons equal one grand dungeon, after all.”
“That kind of thinking is brilliant. The implementation, too, of course.”
Like she truly found it marvelous, she rolled the tiny core around, studying it.
Dungeons were created and disappeared countless times across the world.
With this core, they could harness that vanishing power to build a grand dungeon.
“After the Criteito Reactor came out, things got even easier.”
When Han Roun said it modestly, Theodora agreed.
“What was the name again? Jjapso? A prodigy, that one.”
“Helped the plan a lot.”
“What is it with Korean soil? So many good test subjects. I’d love to experiment there next time.”
While Theodora hummed happily at the thought, Han Roun sipped his coffee and asked:
“Starting right away?”
“We’re already eating the small dungeons.”
By now, Hunters inside various dungeons—without knowing why—would be witnessing their dungeon blending with another.
And that would become one massive grand dungeon.
To bind Sheir, they needed at least a Frost Zone S-rank or higher grand dungeon.
They had to grow it properly until then.
“Where will you hide the central core?”
She opened her left eye.
A darkness, hollow and pupil-less.
“Here.”
She pressed the transparent core right in to that empty eye.
“Not fun if it’s easy to spot.”
Just then, phones buzzed.
Not only the two of them, but everyone in the café—no, everyone passing by—pulled out their phones to check a message.
“Looks like they’ve noticed already.”
At Han Roun’s look—half question, half concern—Theodora gave a lazy wave.
A boy who had been quietly eating his parfait beside her finally lifted his head.
“Rovaly.”
“Yes, Mother.”
SSS-class Frost Bloodline. Rovaly Perdok.
Han Roun’s eyes snapped to him.
An SSS-class monster. A being that could become the master of the 99th floor.
Trapped in the vessel of a human child, Rovaly wore multiple restraint devices.
“Go into the dungeon and kill everyone who stands in the way of its growth.”
“Yes.”
Shhk!
Rovaly vanished with a smear of shadow.
Watching the child-shaped figure depart, Theodora grinned.
“Obedient, isn’t he? I took out the vessel’s brain myself and engraved my name into {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} it.”
She sounded proud.
A “vessel” had once been just an ordinary child.
Hearing her say she’d dug through a child’s brain and brainwashed it, Han Roun swirled his coffee with a blank face.
“Are vessels only possible with children?”
“If you want to completely kill the power of an SSS-class monster, a fragile, easily broken vessel is best. So usually, yes—a young child like that.”
“And Sheir?”
“I’ll put him in that vessel.”
Theodora flicked out a red tongue and licked her lips.
“Soon we’ll have a child who listens to me very well. Though who knows how long the vessel will hold.”
Right. On that point, Han Roun remained skeptical as well.
“What about On Jurim?”
Roughly an hour remained before the dungeon would be complete.
They had to keep watch nearby without being caught in the act of fusing dungeons, so they could pull Sheir immediately.
That was Theodora’s objective.
“We just wait until it becomes a grand dungeon. Another cup of coffee?”
***
Meanwhile.
While Gidan and Serhi hunted mutated monsters inside the dungeon, Guru was...
Poke! Poke!
...hard at work hoeing.
Guru wiped sweat and straightened up.
Already this many high-grade stones?
This was a money-making gig.
Fierce flames flared in her big eyes.
Her followers gripped hoes sized perfectly for their tiny hands and, under Guru’s command, dug mana stones out.
“W’ight hewe, poke-poke hewe. Gewdit?”
“Peep!”
“Kkyu!”
Loyal Mephisto and Lukshifer nodded so hard their heads bobbled, while only Veilach yawned—and caught a slap from Mephisto across the cheek.
Just then, Serhi—who had fired a skill through his hoe at a monster—turned his head.
“...Doesn’t this dungeon feel off to you?”
“You look off. You can fire skills with a hoe?”
“Fuck off! And you slice monsters with a hoe?”
“Of course Dani can slice just fine with a hoe~”
Gidan subdued a monster with the hoe, then hopped lightly onto its head.
Serhi scowled at Gidan’s smug grin.
Chuckling, Gidan looked up at the sky and around them.
A moment later, his tone turned serious.
“It is weird.”
Even the feel of the air on their skin wasn’t normal.
Gidan narrowed his eyes and stared into the distance.
Voices that Serhi couldn’t hear rang clear to him.
“People are increasing inside the dungeon.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means... we should kill the boss and get out fast.”
He smiled—
Whoosh!
“...?!”
Beside the boss room’s entrance, a door stretched longer.
Before Serhi could even cry out, the door kept stretching.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
“The boss room is... getting bigger?”
