Chapter 66: The Knights Who Turned Invisible

There’s always at least one thing that shows up once or twice in sci-fi movies or novels.

Optical Camouflage—or a suit with an optical camouflage function.

Press a button, and, though you have no idea how it works, the person wearing the suit becomes invisible.

As technology advanced, there were naturally efforts to develop these optical camouflage suits.

They didn’t produce effects as dramatic as the movies, but in the end, they were developed.

Right now, the Blue Expedition’s first-class Operators appearing in the footage were wearing those very optical camouflage suits.

Three people in prototype suits developed at Cheonghwa Lab.

Among them, the team leader started a radio transmission.

[Chhh—Optical camouflage on. Approaching to within 50 meters.]

As he spoke, the Operators activated their suits’ camouflage function.

Chrrrkkk.

The suits made a noisy sound, as if dragon scales were standing on end and twisting.

Soon, their figures became difficult to make out.

It wasn’t that their bodies had become transparent. Rather, the suits sensed the surrounding environment and took on similar color patterns.

Just like the protective coloration of a chameleon or octopus.

They’d sacrificed nearly all of the suits’ defense to gain this infiltration ability.

[It’s raining, so visibility isn’t good, but the target’s detection ability is above expectations. Don’t get within 500 meters.]

[Roger.]

The three Operators dispersed and approached the Repulsive Trio.

Their helmet-mounted cameras were transmitting the Repulsive Trio’s movements in real time.

One of them even carried a special listening device that could record voices from a distance.

The biggest difference between an Explorer and an Operator lies in their “purpose” for entering the Abyss.

There are those who enter for treasure, like the 17, or to hunt low-level monsters for magic stones on the lower floors.

But ultimately, the true purpose of Explorers should be “conquest.”

That’s why they receive the blessing of the Achievement Monument and enjoy privileges as Explorers.

Compared to other Gift holders, they grow far more easily thanks to the support of the Exploration System.

On the other hand, Operators have a variety of reasons for entering the Abyss.

Many literally act as guides.

They lead rookie Explorers, or guide corporate employees who want to develop Abyss resources.

Or they gather information.

Even if you don’t hire an Explorer, you can hire an Operator, a specialist for a certain floor, to gather information.

And in rare cases, there are Operators who possess abilities comparable to those of Explorers.

Though they still can’t match the combat power of the 17, at the very least, they had enough skill to tail them.

[Chhh, Tower. Arrived at the Ruins entryway.]

[Logging coordinates, Delta.]

In the end, the 17’s secret, which hadn’t even been mentioned in the broadcast, was exposed.

Their entry into the Ruins they’d been searching for was recorded on camera.

They themselves had no idea.

The information was relayed directly to Baek Yuseong, whom they thought they were outclassing.

That’s because all this footage was being played right now on Yuseong’s laptop.

“Wow, it’s like a movie. A real movie.”

“It really is. Kinda cool, actually.”

Shin Jia, who was helping Yuseong, watched the footage in awe.

She’d sometimes watched hunting videos that Explorers uploaded to MeTube.

But this was a covert pursuit operation by special Operators, unfolding in the pouring rain.

As someone who dreamed of being an Operator herself, Shin Jia found it fascinating.

“It’s classified footage, so I have to dispose of it. Watch it for the last time.”

“No, I’m good, I’ve already seen it a lot. I’ll go get some tea.”

Shin Jia started to press the play button again, but stood up from her seat.

Even she felt a little awkward about watching it three times in a row.

After all, she’d come here to help Yuseong.

Yuseong seemed not to care what Shin Jia was doing, focusing again on the map.

Before Yuseong lay a topographic map of the 15th floor.

As is usual with Abyss maps, none of the details were marked.

Yuseong began filling in that blank map with his pen.

Collected papers, materials, information.

And the fragments of memory lingering in Yuseong’s mind.

The map was soon filled with memos in English, French, Italian, Chinese, and completely unfamiliar characters.

There was plenty of information on that map that no other Explorer knew at this point.

If this map were ever made public, it would cause a huge stir.

And based on that information and the data recorded by Operators, Yuseong was searching for the underlying flow connecting everything.

While Yuseong scanned the map as if he’d tear it with his gaze, Shin Jia pulled out a packet of tea from the cupboard.

Yuseong had left the Serpent sashimi at a general store for safekeeping, and Chief Choi from Cheonghwa had given him this packet as a thank you when he came to pick it up.

Chororororok.

She put the teabag into the cup and poured hot water. A gentle aroma soon rose up.

The taste was so good that, before she knew it, she’d brewed more than half of it.

She had no idea that this single teabag cost over fifty thousand won.

“Ahhh…!”

As Shin Jia made tea, she let out a deep sigh.

I was so confident.

While she was waiting to enter university after being accepted, Yuseong had offered her a part-time job.

She thought it’d be the same as before—helping with food or cooking—but it was entirely different.

What waited for Shin Jia was a massive pile of documents.

Most were papers, and not in Korean, but in their original languages.

Among them, Yuseong tasked Shin Jia with classifying the English-language papers.

Her job was to read the papers and sort and organize them according to Yuseong’s criteria.

Since she’d always dreamed of being an Operator, Shin Jia already had some knowledge of the Abyss.

And she was a top student, good enough to be admitted to Seyeon University with outstanding grades.

She was confident she could help Yuseong.

But once she started classifying the papers, it turned out to be harder than she’d thought.

Her sorting speed was much slower than Yuseong’s information analysis.

“I didn’t know Yuseong oppa was so good at foreign languages…”

Today, Shin Jia discovered a new side to Yuseong.

He wasn’t just skilled as an Explorer—he was also fluent in foreign languages.

That made Shin Jia feel a little small and shabby.

So, as she carried the tea on a tray, her shoulders drooped.

“Here’s your green tea.”

Yuseong, who was rarely seen wearing glasses, looked up.

“Ah, thanks.”

He took the first cup that Shin Jia brought.

He sipped the warm, savory tea, stretched his neck as if it was stiff.

He’d been focusing all day, so it was only natural that he’d be tired.

Yuseong’s concentration was enough to impress even a model student like Shin Jia.

“………You’re looking for the White Crocodile, right?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Shin Jia also knew that the Repulsive Trio had filmed a provocation video for Yuseong.

That video was a huge topic online.

The internet was abuzz over who would capture the White Crocodile first.

“But from the materials I’ve seen, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal of a monster.”

But Shin Jia had learned through her research.

The White Crocodile couldn’t compare to the Serpent.

It was rare, but not a boss monster, and unlike the Serpent, there were plenty of cases where Explorers had captured it.

Yuseong nodded.

“That dinosaur meat wasn’t talking about the White Crocodile, you know.”

The “dinosaur” Yuseong had mentioned on the last broadcast referred to a completely different monster.

“But… I mean, I bet it tastes good. I was planning to catch and eat one, anyway.”

“I see…”

So it was true—Yuseong was after the White Crocodile.

Shin Jia’s disappointment was obvious.

“Why the long face?”

“Geez, why do you have to say it like that? What do you mean, long face?”

Yet Shin Jia’s face was clearly downcast for anyone to see.

“I didn’t find anything about the White Crocodile. In the end, I just dug up stuff that wasn’t needed…”

Shin Jia had examined the papers according to Yuseong’s instructions.

She thought Yuseong’s goal was to capture the White Crocodile, so her research centered on that.

But in the end, she hadn’t gathered any information useful to Yuseong.

“The only thing I found is that this mural and that mural are connected…”

What she’d discovered was that the murals found in the ruins on the 14th and 15th floors were connected.

“At this rate, those greasy guys are going to catch it before you do, oppa.”

Unlike her confident start, Shin Jia was discouraged by her inability to help.

But Yuseong answered as if he couldn’t believe it.

“What do you mean? I’ve figured it all out.”

“Huh?”

For a moment, Shin Jia wondered if Yuseong was just saying that to cheer her up.

“Thanks to that mural, I know exactly where they are, and why they’re looking for the White Crocodile.”

“Al, already?”

Come to think of it, while she was making tea, the desk had been neatly organized.

Shin Jia realized that Yuseong wasn’t the type to give empty compliments.

Sure enough, instead of explaining in detail, Yuseong stood up.

“I don’t think we have much time. I’m heading back to the Abyss.”

“…Ah, okay.”

“When I come back, I’ll have caught a crocodile. Let’s have some skewers.”

Normally, anyone would feel averse to eating a monster, especially a fearsome crocodile.

“Sss, I’ll be waiting.”

But, having grown accustomed to Yuseong’s food, Shin Jia instinctively started to salivate.

***

Abyss Entry Management Bureau, Dongdaemun Branch.

Yuseong and Jang Dojin had come down after making thorough preparations.

Considering the ruins exploration, they’d even borrowed an ultrasonic-based radar.

“You came back early this time.”

The Dongdaemun Branch staff recognized Yuseong and greeted him.

Ever since he’d handed out tanghulu, they always greeted Yuseong warmly.

“Yes, I just came out to check something briefly, so I’ll head straight to the 15th floor.”

“Really, you go to deeper and deeper floors every time. You’re setting a national record.”

A male staff member smiled as he wrote Yuseong’s name on the entry form.

At that moment, a staff member named Jeong Yunji came running up in a fluster.

“Yuseong! Yuseong! Wow, your timing is perfect!”

“Yes?”

She’d claimed to be Yuseong’s fan ever since his first video was uploaded to Miracle Channel.

Jeong Yunji pushed her phone toward Yuseong.

“Look at this video. It was just uploaded to the Repulsive Trio channel.”

As a fan, she absolutely hated the Repulsive Trio who’d targeted Yuseong.

Because they were ugly, greasy, and annoying, she called them by the nickname “Repulsive Trio.”

Yuseong watched the video that Jeong Yunji played with great agitation.

The face of Il Horangi, the eldest, filled the screen.

[Baek Yuseong, are you watching?]

It must have been filmed inside the Abyss, as you could see a dense forest in the background.

[We held back for the surprise, but the time has come at last.]

He said that, and the camera turned.

[Sorry, but we already caught it. Ha ha!]

There was a white crocodile, tightly bound with ropes.

It looked a bit different from a regular crocodile—almost like a dinosaur.

It squirmed, trying to escape, but was securely tied down.

“What are we going to do, really? I hate seeing those guys show off.”

Jeong Yunji stamped her feet in frustration.

But Yuseong, unconcerned, kept watching the video.

[Now I can tell you, Baek Yuseong, while your goal might be just to catch this monster, we had a bigger objective.]

Behind Il Horangi was a ruin.

The wall of the ruin was covered in complex murals.

In the center was a recess that looked like a keyhole, and the youngest was holding a key that seemed to fit perfectly.

[As “Treasure Hunters,” true to our name, we were after treasure. And the White Crocodile is one of the three keys to that treasure.]

The camera zoomed in on the mural’s contents.

How to make the key that opens the door of the ruin using a Guardian Stone from a Guardian Golem.

The second was to follow the light emitted by the key to reach the door of the ruin.

The third was to offer the blood of a living White Crocodile on the altar.

If you followed these steps, you could obtain the treasure chest.

Judging by the final image of the chest, that seemed to be the meaning.

[If I had to guess, the treasure we’re getting this time will be the greatest thing we’ve ever found.]

As he said, the chest depicted in the mural was shining gloriously.

[By the time this video is uploaded, we’ll be ready to explore the ruin.]

Il Horangi said, full of swagger.

[Did you say you wanted to eat the White Crocodile? Try and find where we are. Maybe I’ll give you the leftovers. Hoohoo. No matter how hard you try, you’ll never find us.]

With that, the video ended.

It had only been uploaded an hour ago, but the comments and view count were already explosive.

“Ughhh, I’m so angry!”

Jeong Yunji punched the air in rage.

The comment section’s reaction was also concluding that Yuseong had lost.

But Yuseong remained calm.

“Good, now I don’t have to bother looking for it.”

If anything, he seemed relieved that he didn’t have to go through the trouble of finding a rare White Crocodile.

“Yuseong! They’re clearly trying to mess with you. Pretending to show everything, but not revealing their location at all. Just acting confident for no reason.”

Just as Jeong Yunji said.

In the video, they’d only shown the mural and left no clue as to their location.

To find them in the vast 15th floor within a single day was impossible.

“I know where they are.”

“Uh… really?”

Of course, for Yuseong, who already knew their location from his thorough investigation, it was unnecessary.

On the contrary, the mural in the video allowed him to confirm their exact position.

“It’s probably near the Toin Chief’s village.”

It seemed that even the Repulsive Trio didn’t expect Yuseong to deduce their location from the mural.

The mural was densely covered in tiny patterns.

But what looked like simple patterns were actually written in Toin Language.

He could tell it was near the Toin Chief’s village by reading them.

“And, the thing they’re looking for. It’s probably not treasure.”

“…It’s not treasure? It looks just like a treasure chest.”

“It’s not treasure, it’s more like… a prison, maybe.”

They had mistaken what was depicted in the mural for a treasure chest.

But Yuseong, who could read Toin Language, knew better.

What was in that chest was not treasure, but a monster.

The mural in Toin Language said, “Handle with care, extremely dangerous. Monster—very strong!”

Yuseong had encountered this type of monster a few times.

Extremely rare monsters that appeared only in ruins.

Compared to the floor’s normal level, they were far more dangerous.

Yuseong smacked his lips.

“I wonder what kind of monster it’ll be.”

And monsters like that were usually, without exception, delicious.