I finished another pleasant training session.
‘I should start putting the foreigners through some dungeon rotations soon.’
Their training was mostly complete. I had wondered if they would undergo a natural Awakening, but that wasn’t the case. So, I planned to use a more brute-force method.
Infinite dungeon rotations.
It was the best way. When you enter a Dungeon, the system synchronization improves because of the Demonic Magnetic Field.
I finished my shower and stepped out, only to find the lights in the training room turned off. People were huddled together with various snacks.
What are they doing?
“One day, I was on my way home after finishing training,” Lee Ja-rang was saying.
“It was particularly dark that day. Eerie. It happened to be a day when I was thinking about a fallen comrade.”
Even with Lee Ja-rang’s awkward pronunciation, everyone was surprisingly focused. It didn’t even seem like an interesting story.
“The moment I stepped into my house, I felt a bloodlust. I tensed up. And then, I heard a voice.”
Lee Ja-rang slowly put a shrimp cracker in his mouth and chewed.
Crunch.
“The Boss was at my house.”
What?
“Ugh. What is that?”
My thoughts exactly.
“Isn’t it scary? It’s terrifying. Training is over, but he’s waiting at home to make you train more.”
“It’s scary, sure, but that’s not the kind of story we were looking for.”
It was hard to follow the flow. It felt like they were talking behind my back.
“I’ll tell a scary story this time.”
A scary story?
“The Boss is watching us from over there right now.”
At Lee No-rae’s words, everyone flinched and looked toward me.
What? Why are they scared? Are they kidding?
“Now that was a bit scary,” Lee Jeong-guk said with a laugh.
Sure, laugh all you want now. You’ll be rolling on the floor soon enough.
“What are you guys doing?”
“Ah, since training ended early, we were sharing scary stories we know.”
Is it because it’s early summer? Back when I was a kid, they used to show scary stories on TV. These days, the news about rising house prices and taxes is probably scarier than any ghost.
“You’re acting like children.”
The situation was somewhat amusing. Grown adults sitting in the dark in front of a few candles, sharing stories. Well, it’s a good memory to have.
“Team Leader, don’t you know any horror legends?”
“Well, I don’t really know what fear is.”
I shrugged as I spoke. A small chorus of boos followed, though they didn’t dare do it openly. Honestly, nothing scares me. If it’s scary, I can just tear it apart.
“I’ll try one. This is pretty popular, though you might not know it, Team Leader.”
“Go ahead.”
Kim Inho began his story as if he were about to teach me what fear truly was.
“One day, a man got lost. It turned into night, and he got hungry, so he entered a restaurant. The restaurant had the unique name ‘A Certain Restaurant.’ The man ordered the popular menu item, the Napolitan, and ate it.”
A story about food? I honestly expected the story about the dumplings—the one where you open the lid and one is missing, then open it again and two are missing.
“But strangely, it was salty, and his head started to ache. Feeling odd, he said the Napolitan tasted strange. The owner apologized and said he would make it again.”
Kim Inho’s eyes sparkled.
“This time, the taste was fine. The man left the shop, and that’s when he saw the sign. The name of the sign was ‘A Certain Restaurant’… The popular menu item was Napolitan…”
Kim Inho didn’t say another word. He looked around and spoke with a grin.
“The end.”
What was that? Was it one of those anticlimactic series?
“Ah, this story perfectly captures the fear of the unknown. Aren’t you scared?”
Thinking I’d find that scary is the only scary thing here.
“The ending branches off into many different versions. You have to look it up to know the real horror.”
Then what was the point? I couldn’t even grasp the crux of the story right now. Unfortunately, this story was a dud too.
“Team Leader, you must be really resilient to horror stories.”
“Honestly, fear is something that only affects those with weak mental strength.”
“Man, you’re so… Fine, I’ll do one this time.”
Seohyeonji rolled up her sleeves and stepped forward.
“It’s called Mary’s Phone Call. They say a girl threw away an old foreign doll named Mary when she moved. But starting that night, she began receiving phone calls.”
Seohyeonji changed her tone of voice.
“I’m Mary… I’m in the trash can right now… At first, the girl thought it was a prank.”
Oh, this one is getting serious.
“I’m Mary, I’m behind you. Suddenly, the calls kept coming from a restricted number.”
Everyone was focused.
“Open the door. Open it! Open up!”
Seohyeonji screamed as if she were the abandoned doll herself.
“Hmm, based on the conversation and the size of the doll, its weight should be about 3 kilograms? A punch needs body weight behind it, so a weight like that wouldn’t be much of a threat. Oh, that’s right. There was a similar story about a possessed doll running around with a knife… That’s all meaningless. You could just kick it away.”
“……”
Seohyeonji glared at me. What? What do you want me to do?
“I’m done.”
“I’ll give it a shot. Mine is a sure thing.”
Kim Taeyang began telling his stories with a devious smile. He went through urban legends like the “Hey, it’s Byeong-cheol” story, the one about the internet TV with the cut wires, and the doorbell markings.
The people listening reacted with goosebumps occasionally, but it meant nothing to me. It was just boring.
“Ghosts are originally only visible to those with weak minds. It means your body is frail, so you’re seeing things.”
“Is that so? Honestly, I think even a ghost would avoid the Team Leader.”
Ghosts are just stories made up by people. A ghost is a dead entity, but a living person is someone who can cause harm at any moment. Naturally, there was no reason to be afraid.
“I told you, the Team Leader doesn’t believe in ghost stories.”
“If you’re going to spend your time telling useless stories, go do another set of squats.”
I said that and headed off to destroy my lower body.
“I heard there’s a ghost-repelling dance.”
“Ah, that? I saw it on a streaming site.”
“They say ghosts have increased because of all the casualties during the First Gate Incident. For real, seriously.”
A ghost-repelling dance. Truly, instead of dancing like that, it would be more beneficial to do one more push-up or one more dumbbell curl.
‘Well, still.’
While ghost stories were a waste of time, I thought it was good for the team members to bond like that. If they didn’t get along, they wouldn’t develop any sense of camaraderie.
I had wiped out the Villain Organization, but for some reason, I didn’t have a good feeling. I felt an inexplicable gut feeling that this was only the beginning.
I had never once faced the person who claimed to be the mastermind. More than anything, the power that had caused them all to vanish recently, as if teleporting, was unpleasant. There was something that was outside of my expectations.
I had been a bit lax with my own training lately while looking after the team’s training. My muscles screamed in delight as I pushed my body properly for the first time in a while.
By the time I finished my shower and came out, it was already dark night.
“Team Leader, you’re working hard, training so late.”
“Yes, I’ve been busy lately, so I haven’t had much time to train.”
I exchanged greetings with the security guard at the main gate and started my walk home. It felt exceptionally dark today. Dim clouds covered the moonlight, making everything pitch black. Since I lived on the outskirts of the city, many of the neon signs were turned off.
Maybe I hadn’t loosened my muscles enough. For some reason, I felt like running. I started jogging toward my house.
The streets seemed unusually empty today. All the shop signs were turned off too. This street wasn’t usually this dark. It was strange.
Flick.
A streetlamp flickered dimly on the dark street.
Click, snap.
The sound of something rummaging through a trash can could be heard.
Thud!
What emerged from the trash bag was a stray cat. The black-furred creature looked at me, its slit pupils blinking, and let out a long meow as it prowled through the alleyway.
“Whoa, you startled me.”
I looked around. No one was watching.
I stood up, dusting off my pants after having nearly jumped back. No one saw that, right?
It wasn’t particularly because of the scary stories the kids told today. In fact, if it’s a human, it doesn’t matter. The directions in which human joints can move are surprisingly simple. Especially when they’re holding a knife. In other words, I can defend against any kind of human attack.
But ghosts are a bit different. Their bodies are transparent. And they possess objects and then suddenly pop out. Physical force doesn’t work on them either.
It’s not that I’m scared. I should just say we have a bad matchup.
Right. I’m just being cautious.
Coo, coo.
The sound of a night bird, which I didn’t usually hear, echoed through the city.
Wait, something’s weird. Those things didn’t used to chirp.
“Looking here~, looking there~.”
I hummed to myself as I walked. Today, the old houses gave off a particularly lonely atmosphere. Only the sound of my singing echoed through the street.
I sang a song featuring a person I quite respect. A great saint who showed endless patience despite a reckless baby dinosaur causing all sorts of chaos. He was a wonderful family man and also a magnificent Sword Master.
“Unknown~.”
I’m almost home now. It’s definitely more pleasant when you sing while walking.
It was then.
Whoosh!
Something black flashed past.
“Riding on a glacier~.”
It must be a stray cat. It felt a bit large for a cat, though.
“Coming down~.”
In that moment, the moonlight that had been hidden by the clouds peeked out. And something was perched on my house’s wall.
“Huh?”
It was a human face. But the problem was, only the human head was floating there.
Today was a pretty lucky day.
A Gate Crisis Alert was issued for this area. Thanks to that, not a single person was out on the streets.
‘Should I rob just one more house and call it a night?’
The man in the black one-piece coveralls looked at his final target. He was what the world called a Villain. He had been a thief since before his Awakening, and he was a charitable angel who donated 10% of his earnings. He considered himself something of a Robin Hood.
‘That house reeks of money.’
It was a house with a garden. He carefully scanned the surroundings. As expected, no one was passing by.
The thief activated his Detection Skill. He didn’t see any suspicious security devices. At most, there were just CCTVs. The thief took some clay from his bag, tore the plastic, and kneaded it. When it reached the right consistency, he threw it toward the CCTV camera.
Thud!
After blocking the CCTV, the thief lightly hopped over the wall.
Tap, zip!
His skills were so fast that someone might have mistaken him for a ghost. He marveled at his own Agility and muttered a prayer to be allowed to be a righteous thief again today.
“Looking here~, looking there~.”
Just then, the sound of someone singing reached him from over there.
‘Crazy. There’s a lunatic wandering around when a lockdown order was issued?’
Unless they were an Awakened like him, they could be killed if they ran into a Monster. The one-piece coveralls he was wearing were a Chameleon Suit with camouflage functions. If he stayed still, most people wouldn’t be able to recognize him. He quietly watched the suspicious individual.
“Coming down~.”
In that instant, the thief froze.
Special Guard. The strongest S-rank Supporter, Hunter Lee Hyunbin.
‘Shit!’
He never expected he would run into the most popular Hunter these days, of all people.
‘Please just pass by. Just pass by!’
He vowed never to steal again as he prayed and prayed in his heart.
Stop.
That was when Hunter Lee Hyunbin stopped singing and stood still.
Their eyes met.