{……I should tell anyone who asks next time. If you want to entice the Hero and the Spirit Kings, just serve them Hanwoo beef.}
The reluctant voice of Earth echoed in Roy’s mind, but he was already leaning over the sizzling grill as if ready to dive straight into the cooking Hanwoo.
{Oh? Heis and Charles just contacted me.}
‘From both of them?’
This time, Roy was preparing to grill some sirloin.
Suddenly, he stopped mid-motion, the tongs in his hand frozen as the news from his comrades arrived.
Not long ago, after discovering traces of the mud monster leading toward Gangwon Province, Roy and Earth had immediately reached out to Heis.
‘This world really is incredible. This tiny square thing lets the boss and me see each other’s faces and talk in real time.’
The communication device was a smartphone.
Before parting ways with Heis, Roy handed him the phone Earth had given him.
When Roy tried to explain how to use it, Heis said he’d ask the kids at the orphanage and didn’t need help.
After Roy left, it seemed Heis quickly got the hang of using the smartphone, his face on the screen relaxed and carefree.
‘A mud monster, huh……. Got it. Leave the investigation to me and Charles. Boss, focus on preparing for your debut stage or whatever. We’ll be cheering for you.’
‘……Thanks.’
Once Heis fully understood the kind of job Roy had acquired here, he doubled over laughing.
Since learning to use the smartphone, he never missed any of Roy’s videos and would frequently send funny screenshots to the chat whenever he had a free moment.
“……I’m going to the bathroom for a bit.”
“Too full and got a stomachache? If one person leaves, that’s better for me. Might as well take your time and come back late, hyung.”
Song Doyoon looked noticeably pleased when Roy, who had been the most aggressively devouring meat, stood up and left the room.
Even as he felt like giving Roy’s pouty lips a playful smack, Roy hurriedly exited the room.
“Beep-.” (Contractor, have a safe trip.)
However, hearing Ber’s crying from behind made it impossible not to clench a fist.
‘Nobody’s on the rooftop, right?’
Roy deliberately hadn’t brought any spirits along.
Or more precisely, even if he tried, it might have been pointless.
Despite overhearing their conversation with Earth, their eyes never left the meat.
Only Ber, who had arrived in this world first and got to eat a little more meat, leisurely wished him a safe trip. That alone said everything.
“Heis, did you find something?”
“Ah, boss. Why did it take so long to answer the call?”
I came out as fast as I could. Tell me what you found first.
The voice over the speaker was incredibly sly.
The phone Roy was using to talk to Heis was one Earth specially made, one that was impossible to track.
Usually, to avoid loss or damage in unexpected situations, Roy kept it in his inventory instead of his pocket. Earth checked incoming alerts and notified Roy in real time.
“Boss, do you remember? The Lumen Empire’s three great monster legends. More precisely, legends passed down since the kingdom days.”
“Why bring up that legend all of a sudden……”
Like any country, the Lumen Empire had various legends—from the adventures of the first king to stories of guardian deities. The history of the Lumen Kingdom before it unified the As Continent was one of the longest on the continent.
Several legends flashed in Roy’s mind when he heard Heis. Among them, the one that could be connected to the mud monster was…
“Are you talking about the legend of the Mud Magician?”
“Yeah, that’s right. It looks like the legend was real after all.”
“Is that even possible?”
Roy’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.
‘Why would it be called a legend otherwise?’ Because no such thing actually exists.
The Mud Magician was a sorcerer who destroyed dozens of villages with evil magic.
The rage against him was so immense that after the first king of the Lumen Kingdom defeated him, he cut off his head and limbs, buried them in the mud, and sealed them in an impassable canyon—so the legend goes.
He was one of the evils that usually appeared in the first king’s chronicles.
“I thought it was nonsense too, but when we followed the mud monster’s traces, we found the curse of King Benzer engraved everywhere—on rocks, trees, and the ground.”
“King Benzer, huh.”
“Strange, right? People in this world wouldn’t know that name.”
Benzer Lumen was the name of the first king who founded the Lumen Kingdom.
Though it’s a common name here, it was weird that this name coincidentally appeared in Gangwon Province, Republic of Korea, at this time.
“Did you only find curses? Any other traces?”
“The traces continue deep into the mountains. Charles and I are packing to leave now. The orphanage work just wrapped up.”
Thanks to Earth, the group trying to buy the orphanage land is stalled.
Earth triggered multiple corruption scandals at once, stirring up the prosecution and media.
“Did you manage to persuade that guy? Wouldn’t it have been better to kill him instead of leaving him as a problem? Or maybe Earth could tamper with his memories so he forgets everything about the orphanage.”
The strongest person among those who broke into the orphanage was A-rank Hunter, dagger specialist Oh Taejin.
Roy subtly expressed concern.
Since the orphanage had many kids, naturally, their safety was worrisome.
“You don’t have to worry about that. I trained them perfectly.”
But Heis’s voice was full of confidence.
How exactly he ‘trained’ them didn’t need to be said—dozens of sinister methods immediately sprang to mind.
Among Roy’s comrades, Heis was especially skilled in interrogation.
Beyond raw strength, he had a remarkable talent for pushing people’s minds and bodies to utter ruin.
If he personally ‘trained’ them… there was probably little need to worry. And there wasn’t enough time to pull anyone out separately.
“I wish I could join the investigation too, but I think an important shoot is coming up soon.”
Roy’s tone was tinged with regret. His schedule was packed.
The only free time was practice, but even that was too short to go all the way to Gangwon and back after a quick bathroom break.
‘Earth is here helping too, so it’s okay.’
{Heh.}
Using Joel’s body, Earth had gone to Gangwon to assist Heis and Charles with the investigation.
{I’m also taking care of the kids. Turns out I have a knack for babysitting.}
“Above all, the kids really like Earth. They say the name sounds cool.”
That was a relief. Without Heis and Charles, Roy and Earth would have had to struggle much harder.
“Anyway, boss, don’t worry too much. Keep an eye out for other comrades crossing over.”
This last voice sounded heavier than before.
“……I will.”
At Roy’s request, Wind Spirit King Lys spread his energy wide like a net centered on Roy.
Just as they detected Heis and Charles’s energy, they were checking if there were any other traces of people who had crossed from the As Continent into this world.
“Anyway, just trust Heis. There’s another suspicious guy too.”
“Right. But so far, no unusual traces have been found.”
The unknown person who suddenly attacked a fan in front of Bada Entertainment was still a complete mystery.
“Sir! What are you doing here? What’s all this luggage?”
“Waaah…….. You’re trying to abandon us…….”
“Uh, uh……..”
Suddenly, the call grew chaotic.
“Boss, the kids caught me. I’ll call again later.”
Click—
Roy, who just came back from checking on the kids, worried about them, but Heis, who had been living with the children for days, must have felt even more. He already thought of the kids as his own nephews.
However…
“Didn’t even get to talk to Charles.”
Surely, steadfast Charles stood beside Heis, waiting for the call to end.
{Charles seems disappointed but is too busy with the kids to mind.}
Earth, moving Joel’s body, updated Roy on the situation in real time.
“Then let’s get Oriharcon first. Have you found out who owns it?”
{One moment.}
Feeling the shortage of magic power, Roy set a more urgent goal to get Oriharcon as soon as possible.
It was originally essential for crossing into the As Continent, but now the situation had changed.
They had to prevent the destruction of both worlds.
For that, Roy had to restore his abilities to normal.
{One is with Jade Han, a top-tier hunter in the US, and the other is with Ren, a top-tier hunter in Japan.}
“We can’t just take them by force, can we?”
{Both hunters rank in the top three in their countries and lead guilds with over a thousand members. The risk is too high.}
Moreover, both had embedded Oriharcon into weapons they always carried.
Since it was a gem called the “mineral of the gods,” using it in a weapon was a practical choice rather than letting it go to waste.
“Have you found the whereabouts of the other one?”
The last Oriharcon was rumored to be quietly traded on the black market, making it difficult to track precisely.
So Roy asked Earth to investigate its location.
{We’ve got intel that a black market will open in Seoul in a month. The Oriharcon is expected to appear there too.}
“That’ll be insanely expensive, right?”
{Of course. Everyone’s waiting for it. Using a weapon with Oriharcon makes you stronger.}
Roy tapped the rooftop floor lightly with his toes.
Stealing was definitely wrong.
However, he doubted he’d raise enough money to buy the Oriharcon when the black market opened in a month.
“What if I steal it secretly and process it so no one recognizes it as Oriharcon?”
***
After a brief moment of internal struggle, Roy made up his mind.
He could always compensate the original owners later. He even rationalized it quickly.
{So the answer is to sneak it out. Of course, I can hide it well enough. I’ll also have to process it to fit into a pendant anyway.}
Earth’s voice shrugged reassuringly.
{I’m already excited just thinking about a thrilling escapade with the Hero! No, since items sold at the black market can’t be legal, I guess I’ll be the righteous avenger?}
The uneasy feeling that she was leading an innocent kid down the wrong path left a bitter taste.
“……Or maybe I should just buy a lottery ticket.”
Roy had pretty good luck.
After all, he was chosen by Earth just before dying at the hands of Kairus and given a new life.
Moreover, he had already reunited with two comrades he hadn’t even been able to confirm the survival of in this world.
Every bond he formed here in the Republic of Korea was precious.
Just then, the rooftop door rattled.
“Roy hyung, are you here?”
Kim Chan poked his head through the open rooftop door.
Since Roy had gone to the bathroom but hadn’t returned for a long time, he’d been searching all over the building.
“Ah, sorry. I ate the meat too fast and came up here to digest a bit. Let’s go back down.”