Chapter 60: Kim Isang’s Reappearance

Even after approaching near the convenience store, he paused for a moment with a serious expression.

Then, he turned around and began scanning the surrounding paths.

“Why is he doing that?”

“Who knows?”

Isang tilted his head, then took out a talisman from his bosom and attached it to one side of the all-stone path.

Then, he muttered something in front of it, infused mana into the talisman, and walked up to Hyejin and Asha as if nothing had happened.

Before Isang could just pass by, Hyejin quickly spoke to him.

She couldn’t hold back her curiosity about what he had just done.

“Um, excuse me, but I saw what you did just now—why did you attach a talisman to the wall?”

“Who was it that said the virtue of an office worker is patience or something.”

Asha’s indifferent voice pricked at Hyejin’s conscience, but she couldn’t help it.

She was just too curious.

Isang smiled warmly and kindly answered Hyejin’s question.

“Ah, there was a strange energy coming from the wall. Lately, I’ve been feeling murderous intent strangely inside the dungeon, and sometimes it’s confusing whether it’s from monsters or hunters. What I just felt was definitely not from a monster.”

“Murderous intent?”

At Hyejin’s question, this time Asha asked Isang.

“I’ve been feeling it too, but is it that serious?”

Hyejin looked at Asha with a puzzled expression.

Why didn’t you tell me if you felt something like that?

As Hyejin alternated her gaze between Asha and Isang, Suho, who had just opened the door to leave for the day, looked at Hyejin, Asha, and Isang together with a curious expression.

Thanks to that, from inside the door, Eunwoo and Seojun were also looking outside.

Feeling the people’s gazes on him, Isang smiled a bit awkwardly.

“It’s not something to worry about too much since nothing has happened yet. But,”

Soon, his expression gradually became serious.

“Something big might happen soon. It’s just a possibility, but it’s better to prepare in advance anyway. By the way, seeing it like this, this convenience store is really amazing. All the faces I see are familiar.”

The possibility that something big might happen.

It was an ominous prophecy.

Hyejin let out a short sigh and replied.

“They all happen to be famous people.”

Whether knowing Hyejin’s mind was troubled or not, Eunwoo bounded out the door like an excited puppy, wagging his tail.

“Hyung! Hyung, do you remember me? We met once before!”

“Yes. I remember. I knew of you already. SS-rank Healer Yoon Eunwoo.”

“Yes. That’s me, Yoon Eunwoo! Wow, it’s nice to see you again. But why say something that makes people uneasy? It’s not related to the dying puppy we found here last time, right? I thought that puppy was just abandoned.”

Is this place cursed or something?

At Eunwoo’s muttering, Hyejin unconsciously looked around.

Since it was inside the dungeon, it was hard to find pretty and cozy scenery anywhere, but was this place particularly bad?

Seeing Hyejin’s worried expression, Isang smiled lightly and responded.

“Hmm.”

“Come on, you’re joking, right? The puppy being abandoned was probably a coincidence, since this is the dungeon entrance.”

“You’re talking about the puppy I saw back then.”

“Yes, you saw it, right? Cute little thing. Its name is Bailey.”

Isang stared quietly into the air.

It was a gaze as if looking not there but far away, and soon he looked at Hyejin.

“That puppy wasn’t simply abandoned.”

“What? What do you mean…”

“More precisely, it was experimented on and then abandoned.”

“Experimented on?”

The one who urgently interjected into Hyejin and Isang’s conversation was Suho.

“Experiment.” Suho’s keen senses reacted sharply to that word.

“You didn’t say that back then.”

Hyejin tilted her head.

It could be her misremembering, but when he came to buy the omelet, Isang had said the puppy was abandoned by a person but destined to live.

His words were different now.

“I might be remembering wrong, but last time, didn’t you just say it was abandoned by a person? Or did I hear it wrong?”

Isang answered slowly.

“At that time, I thought there was no need to go into detailed circumstances. So I just didn’t mention it. That puppy wasn’t abandoned this time—it was already abandoned before. It was abandoned when its owner handed it over as an experimental subject.”

“I don’t understand. Bailey is doing fine now—what kind of experiment are you talking about?”

“It must have recovered safely after receiving treatment from an SS-rank Healer.”

Hearing Isang’s words, Hyejin’s mind became complicated.

She thought she just needed to run the convenience store well, but strange incidents kept happening.

The theft of the specially made gun.

The murderous intent felt inside the dungeon.

The puppy used as an experimental subject…

Hyejin asked Isang again.

“Please tell me about this murderous intent. If it’s that dangerous, I need to inform the hunters who use the convenience store too.”

At Hyejin’s words, Isang glanced around for a moment and then said to her.

“Alright. I’ll tell you what I know. Over time, inside the dungeon, I’ve encountered not only hunters who seemed drugged but also corpses that I suspect were killed by fellow humans, not monsters. And from their spirits, I heard unbelievable stories that after taking a strange drug, they felt such strong rage that they lost their reason, and when they came to, they had attacked their comrades.”

“Drug, a drug…!”

“Their spirits were very murky and weak, so the stories I could hear ended there. This is my own speculation from piecing together fragmented stories from various spirits, so I can’t be sure.”

Isang briefly stared toward the convenience store where Bailey was and let out a short sigh.

“When I saw that puppy, I could briefly share its memories. I saw the faces of people feeding it food mixed with white powder while it was scared. I think they chose animals as experimental subjects to make the drug that the hunters took.”

Before they knew it, centered around Isang, the convenience store part-timers, Hyejin, and Asha were sitting at the outdoor table, listening to his story with serious expressions.

As soon as Isang opened his mouth again, Eunwoo threw a question.

“That doesn’t make sense. How could they do such a cruel thing! But I don’t understand—why do you wander around the dungeon so much? Of course, as a Summoner, you’d fight with spirits or souls if you meet monsters. You’re strong too. But with such unbelievable things happening, it’s dangerous. I saw on the community that you’re practically living in the dungeon every day? Like Suho hyung here.”

That was something Hyejin had been curious about too.

She had first seen him when he came to the convenience store to buy an omelet, but she had seen him passing by the store many times while coming and going.

“It’s because there are many grudges inside the dungeon. There are many souls to collect too. Even at this moment, there are unrecovered corpses in the dungeon. They’re probably still appearing.”

“What?”

“I have to comfort them. I can’t leave them there to become evil spirits. I’m a Summoner, after all.”

Hyejin asked abruptly with a surprised expression.

Hyejin was scared of monsters, but evil spirits were even scarier.

She knew he was a Summoner, but hearing the word “soul” from his mouth made her spine tingle.

But Isang continued as if it was nothing.

“And—”

Hyejin quickly nodded at Isang’s words.

Scary was scary, but curious was curious.

“Once I learned that there’s strange activity in the dungeon leading to more deaths, I can’t pretend not to know.”

As Isang replied with a faint smile, Suho, who had been listening to the conversation with a serious expression throughout, cautiously spoke.

“Actually, I’ve been scouting the dungeon too. The Blake Guild’s behavior seems off, and it doesn’t feel right. That’s also why I’m working at the convenience store.”

Isang met his eyes.

“Then, among the things I’ve coincidentally seen in the dungeon, there must be some you’ve seen too, Lee Suho. Ah, I know about you from the news, Lee Suho. SS-rank hunters are famous.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

At Isang’s words, Suho’s eyes wavered.

He too had seen something in the dungeon.

Hyejin turned her head toward Suho.

“Have you seen something too, Suho?”

As Hyejin urged for an answer, Suho slowly opened his mouth.

As if hesitating.

“I saw a large quantity of white drugs, walkie-talkies that look like communication items, and several hunters killed by gunshots.”

“What?”

White drugs aside, communication items? Hunters killed by gunshots?

Hyejin unconsciously covered her mouth.

It reminded her of the theft incident she heard from the crafting company employee a few days ago.

Monsters don’t use guns.

She knew that much without entering the dungeon.

She was wondering if she should mention it when Suho spoke again.

“The corpses I saw before also had gunshot wounds. I found this there.”

Saying that, he took something out of his pocket.

It was a gold badge with the letter B symbolizing the Blake Guild.

Blackened bloodstains were on the gold badge.

Suho had found it, put it in a plastic bag, and kept it.

“When I found this, I thought some Blake Guild member had dropped it. But not long after finding the badge, I saw a large number of hunters’ corpses.”

“A large number?!”

Eunwoo said in horror.

“They were Blake Guild hunters’ corpses. The problem was that their corpses differed from typical ones. Usually, when dying in battle with monsters, they die with their eyes open. They meet sudden death before they can even close their eyes. But the corpses I found all had their eyes closed. Not just one or two. There are too many awkward points to call it coincidence.”

Isang, who had been pondering how much to say throughout, let out a slow sigh and agreed with Suho’s words.

“I think so too. The murderous intent the manager asked about earlier must indeed be from hunters. I wanted to deny it, but at this point, I can be sure. Normally, feeling murderous intent from hunters in the dungeon is natural. They’re all here with the mindset to kill monsters. However, the murderous intent felt now is a bit different. It’s intent to kill people. This dungeon is now covered in murderous intent of people wanting to kill people.”

Hyejin alternated her gaze between Suho and Isang.

If what the two said was true, the inside of the dungeon was now in a very dangerous state.

“Then, shouldn’t we report this to the Hunter Management Headquarters?”