Footsteps echoed through the empty hallway.
Thud thud thud—
Me, Jeanne, and Lee Geuk.
The three of us had been walking in silence for over thirty minutes now.
Our destination was the special training ground of the Korea Hunter Association.
……More precisely, we were heading toward a place created by the manager of the belonging desire floor.
Thud thud thud thud thud thud—
That aside.
Something feels off.
I’d been sensing a strange unease for a while.
It felt like the ceiling and floor were inverted.
Like walking while buried in a pile of sand—an unnatural sensation.
And that wasn’t all.
I looked around.
When the hell are we going to arrive?
We’d been walking for more than thirty minutes, yet the hallway stretched on endlessly.
If it was an exact copy of the association’s structure, we should have reached the training ground by now.
At that moment, Lee Geuk spoke up.
“It seems the manager of this floor considers us unwelcome guests. Heh heh heh—.”
“Unwelcome guests?”
“Heh heh heh— We’re the only three in this floor who haven’t fallen under the illusion magic.”
Lee Geuk tapped the wall with his staff.
The surface rippled like waves on a lake.
Seeing that, Jeanne spoke.
“It appears they’ve distorted space to isolate us.”
So the barrier was the source of the unease.
The reason for isolating us wasn’t hard to guess.
Because we’re uncontrollable variables.
Those who entered the fourth floor would fall under powerful illusion magic.
Even A+ rank hunters succumbed to it, with only three exceptions.
Lee Geuk, whose pure stats reached S-rank level.
Jeanne, an undead immune to mental magic.
And…….
Me, who dumped everything into mental stats.
The mental strength I’d built up to withstand the demonic spear’s yin energy was proving useful in this way.
At that moment.
Shing—
Lee Geuk drew a sword from his staff.
At the same time, intense mana began to whirl around him.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—
Soon after, Lee Geuk swung the sword.
『Jeonjuiga Chiljiilsik Form 4 – Ripple』
Circular sword energy spread out like ripples on a lake.
Before long.
Crash—!
The surrounding scenery shattered like glass fragments.
He’d destroyed an A+ rank monster’s barrier in a single strike.
So that’s the rumored ‘sword energy that cuts the formless.’
But the man himself said calmly.
“Heh heh— Let’s go now.”
Lee Geuk strode forward like a sage.
As I followed, he spoke.
“Since the real world connected to the otherworld, I’ve traversed countless dungeons. And I’ve encountered monsters that bewitch hunters numerous times. Such monsters generally fall into two categories. Cha Hasang, what do you think they are?”
“Not fighting directly and hiding behind schemes means their combat power is lacking…… right?”
“Heh heh heh— Correct.”
Lee Geuk chuckled and continued.
“Besides that, there are cases where they enjoy puppeteering humans. Purely for amusement. But this seems like the former.”
“Is there a way to tell them apart?”
“Very simple. If it were a monster that treats hunters as playthings, we wouldn’t be moving around this easily. We’d be crushed by its mana, barely able to stand.”
Before long, we arrived at the hunter association’s training ground.
The same place where I’d taken the association exam.
The wallpaper color, the floor tile material, even the slightly dented entrance shape.
On the surface, it’s indistinguishable.
At that moment.
Buzz—
A sensation like an electric shock ran through me.
A clash of powerful mana.
The resulting shockwave could be felt from beyond the door.
Jeanne drew her sword.
Shing—
“An ominous energy is emanating. Master.”
I looked at Lee Geuk and said.
“So, you’re saying the other hunters aren’t in their right minds right now? It sounds like they’re fighting inside—what should we do?”
“Not entering the tiger’s den means not catching the tiger cub. Heh heh heh— We must go in.”
Lee Geuk flung the training ground door wide open without hesitation.
Bang—
What unfolded beyond was.
“Wow…… What a mess.”
The words slipped out involuntarily at the sight.
A massive structure towering in the center of the training ground.
It was a gray colosseum made of concrete.
Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble!
To the left of the concrete colosseum, waves of lava flowed, and to the right, an icy valley had formed.
At that moment, a familiar voice rang out.
“Hey! You icy bitch!”
A voice blazing like fire.
Profanity that stuck to the eardrums.
I looked toward the source.
As expected.
Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble
Shin Sodam stood tall atop the surging lava waves.
Riding the lava like a surfer, charging forward.
“Burn in half and dieeee—!”
Shin Sodam’s target was Han Seoha, standing atop an ice pillar on the opposite side.
Han Seoha furrowed her brow and said.
“How vulgar. I’ll freeze every drop of moisture in your body!”
“Then I’ll burn every bit of fat on your body!”
As Han Seoha gestured, sharp ice pillars shot up.
The distance between them closed in an instant.
Before long.
Boom rumble rumble rumble rumble crash—!
A massive iceberg collided with a lava tsunami.
Lava and ice fragments scattered everywhere, blanketing the view in thick white steam.
In that moment.
Slash~!
A sharp sword energy cleaved the steam left and right.
What appeared beyond was A+ rank 5, Swordmaster Cheok Junseong.
Spotting us, Cheok Junseong hurried over.
“Master! Are you unharmed!”
Cheok Junseong bowed respectfully.
Then, looking at Jeanne, he continued.
“The Sword Demon of Ravianglily. So you escorted Master. I express my thanks. And you are…….!”
Cheok Junseong stared at me blankly.
Like HardboiledPC, he didn’t recognize me.
So Cheok Junseong is under the illusion magic too.
Lee Geuk looked at Cheok Junseong and said.
“Junseong. Explain the situation.”
“Master, that is…….”
“It’s fine, just tell me.”
Cheok Junseong soon began explaining the whole story.
The association had recovered an S-rank artifact.
They planned to decide its owner among the A+ rank hunters.
Finally, they delegated the decision method to a meeting of the A+ ranks.
Hmm.
What a real mess.
More than that, they believe this?
There aren’t even thirty S-rank artifacts in the entire world.
Each one holds value equivalent to a nuclear weapon.
The number of S-rank artifacts a country possesses determines its power.
They somehow acquired such an incredible item, plan to give it to an A+ rank hunter, and left who gets it up to them?
It’s a situation no normal thinking could accept.
At that moment, Lee Geuk whispered.
“I told you, didn’t I? Under illusion magic, they can’t even perceive normal concepts properly.”
“Even truths like the sky above and earth below can be perceived upside down. So don’t be swayed, and prioritize finding this place’s manager.”
I scanned the inside of the training ground.
Clashing lava and ice.
Shin Sodam and Han Seoha fighting like they wanted to kill each other.
Beyond them, HardboiledPC and Ma Seokdong were exchanging blows.
Bang! Bang! Boom! Bang! Boom!
Each clash of fists echoed like thunder.
Soon after, a fierce shockwave shook the training ground interior.
Meanwhile, the monster that seemed like the fourth floor’s manager was nowhere to be found.
At that moment.
“Stop~! Everyone, stop! Please~!”
A frail boy’s voice rang out.
White Mage Tower Lord Yun Yeobaek was shouting at the top of her lungs.
“Enough now! Let’s stop fighting! Don’t you value your lives!”
At the same time, Yun Yeobaek chanted a healing spell.
Dazzling beams of light began pouring down throughout the training ground.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—
As the healing magic shone like warm sunlight, the A+ rank hunters’ wounds began to mend.
But even so.
Whoosh! Pop—boom!
Crash! Grind grind grind!
Bang! Boom! Rumble boom! Bang!
The A+ rank hunters didn’t stop fighting.
……No, it was getting more intense.
“This is a real mess, huh?”
The words slipped out without thinking.
Jeanne nodded and said.
“This is unimaginable in Ravianglily. They’re nothing more than monkeys with power.”
At that moment, a massive shadow fell toward us.
Thud!
A middle-aged man covered in muscles.
It was the World’s Strongest Man, Ma Seokdong.
“Congressman Lee. You’ve arrived.”
Ma Seokdong looked at Lee Geuk and continued.
“Perfect timing. I’ve wanted to test myself against you for a while now.”
“Heh heh heh heh— Seokdong, you’ve learned to make amusing jokes.”
“I don’t know how to joke. Congressman.”
Ma Seokdong clenched his fist and approached.
Then Cheok Junseong drew his sword.
“Step back. If you come one step closer to Master, I’ll subdue you.”
“You’re greatly mistaken about something.”
Ma Seokdong looked at Cheok Junseong and said.
“Cheok Junseong, you were promoted to association rank 5 for conquering the Lethe Tower dungeon. But do you think the hunter ranking is a pure measure of strength? No, I think differently. It’s just a meaningless report card based on the association’s performance system.”
“What are you trying to say.”
Ma Seokdong grinned.
His gleaming eyes and bared white teeth created a strange intimidation.
“I’m saying I suspect Congressman Lee Geuk’s hunter ranking is influenced by his association career and congressional position.”
In that instant.
Shing—
Cheok Junseong drew his sword.
“I can’t overlook an insult to Master. Ma Seokdong.”
“I’m looking forward to it. Let’s see if there’s really a skill gap between rank 5 and 11.”
With those words, sword and fist clashed.
Clang!
A explosive sound like steel on steel.
Ma Seokdong’s fist blocked the sharp blade directly.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Fists and blade surged with ferocious momentum.
Attacks so fast they were hard to follow with the eyes.
Watching that, Jeanne said.
“Lee Geuk, his swordsmanship is sharp, but his temperament is dull beyond measure.”
“Heh heh— Isn’t it endearing how a cute disciple thinks of his master?”
“It’s far from endearing. A disciple should trust their master completely. Your disciple stepping in on your behalf is actually……”
At that moment.
Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble—
Dozens of pillars rose from the concrete covering the ground.
At the same time, someone charged toward me.
“Hahahahaha! Weakest-looking target spotted!”
It was A+ rank 9, Mister Concrete ‘Jo Taekyung.’
Jo Taekyung, covered in concrete armor, resembled a golem.
As his massive concrete fist aimed to strike me.
Whoosh— Clang!
Jeanne dashed like lightning and deflected the concrete fist.
“How dare you raise your filthy paw!”
“Don’t get hasty, A+ rank 12! Weakest-looking target, then it’s you next!”
“……I’ll cut you down.”
Jeanne aimed her sword with a cold expression.
Before long, Jeanne and Jo Taekyung clashed atop the concrete pillars.
Watching that, Lee Geuk chuckled.
“A cute disciple, isn’t she? Don’t you think, Hasang?”
“Yes……. But shouldn’t you intervene, Elder? At this rate, the A+ rank hunters will self-destruct.”
“No need to worry. They’re all young folks who know how to take care of themselves. More importantly, have you found the manager?”
Lee Geuk stared at me intently.
His black eyes seemed to pierce through my inner thoughts.
As if reading all my cards.
……His senses are incredibly sharp, as expected.
As Lee Geuk said, I’d been searching for the fourth floor’s manager.
Using a special artifact from my inventory.
<Eye of Truth>
-Storage Number: MRG-2417
-Storage Grade: Observation
The left eye of the Archangel of Truth, Bonferdan.
In the lofty heavens, twelve archangels oversee celestial laws.
Among them, the Archangel of Truth ‘Bonferdan’ observed humans from the primordial era.
The only creatures among all life that perpetrate lies.
Pitiful beings enveloped in ugly, cunning falsehoods, suffering lifelong torment.
Bonferdan pitied them and plucked out his left eye, gifting it to humans so they could discern truth.
Wishing for a peace where lies vanished among humans, filled only with truth.
But humans abused Bonferdan’s eye as a tool of desire.
Endless wars erupted over Bonferdan’s eye, turning the human world into a hell filled with pain and screams.
“To believe in humans. Closer to the Archangel of Folly than the Archangel of Truth.” -Featherback-
Before long, I looked at a corner of the training ground.
“There you are?”