Chapter 47 – Dungeon Break

(TLN: Another sponsored chapter. My butt hurts from sitting too much.?? It takes me 4-5 hours to translate/edit a chapter. Thank you Damz_dap for the donation.)

She walked with her hat pull over her head. She unconsciously smiled.

“He’s quite whimsical.”

He put on a mask all of a sudden, and he took her on a date.

It had been a long time since she had fun without worry about anything… Her heart was still beating fast from the excitement.

He seemed indifferent yet he also seemed to care. It somehow made her heart race.

Ddi-ring.

[Don’t shampoo for a day. The medicine will be washed away. Just sleep.]

“Pfft. What the heck?.”

Is he trying open a beauty parlor? When the unexpected fireworks went off, and the people crowded around the two of them, Woojin gave her was some kind of medicine as a present. He applied it on her head.

At first, it stung like medication for mosquito bites. However, she felt a refreshing feeling afterwards, and now it cleared her mind.

Jiwon sent a reply as she laughed.

[Yes, yes. Thank you for the good time today. Beautician-nim should hurry on in and rest.]

“Heh heh.”

She had come home fairly early, so when Jiwon arrived at the dorm, Haejin and Nayoung was about to head out for their night shift.

“Uh? Are you guys going to work now?”

“….”

Haejin and Nayoung didn’t respond to Jiwon’s word. They left after they got ready. Jiwon shrugged her shoulders at their cold reaction.

“Whew.”

She was used to being ignored. Jiwon took a deep breath then she got ready to sleep. She washed her face, and when she exited the restroom, she saw a chicken box strewn across the table.

‘These dongsaengs look like they will be great at eating chicken legs….’

“Pfft.”

When she remembered those words, the recently departed donsaengs’ faces popped up in her mind. She wanted to know what the orcs and goblins looked like. They really looked like a orc and a goblin.

The tail end of her lips started rising, so Jiwon slapped her cheeks.

“Ah ah. I shouldn’t be like this.”

She shouldn’t judge a person by their appearance.

She knew well how hurtful and wrong those actions could be.

After putting on her basic beauty products, Jiwon’s eyes caught the sight of her scar. It was a little bit less puffy.

“Uh? Maybe this medicine really works.”

The Roused had the chance to encounter amazing items, so he might have applied a pretty effective medicine on her.

When she return home next week, she’ll have express her thanks in a proper fashion.

Jiwon sat on her bed when she saw the small shopping bag.

“Oh yeah.”

It was the roulette prize, so it wouldn’t contain anything amazing. Still, she was curious.

Jiwon opened the box. Inside the box, there was a jewelry box with a plastic top.

“Uh?”

When Jiwon opened the small jewelry box, a ring was inside.

“What…what the heck?”

This was a roulette event hosted in the street, so they wouldn’t give out a ring. Did Woojin prepare this? Now that she thought about it the whole day was weird.

The theater was empty, and she had received a ring. There was also the expensive restaurant and the unexpected fireworks, and people holding roses….

Jiwon’s cheeks reddened.

“That’ can’t be it.”

Was Woojin trying to confess to her? Eh-ee.. No way…

It was an unbelievable situation, yet her thoughts became chaotic. She was on the fence, but when she looked at the ring, her heart changed to ‘maybe’.

The only thing that prevent her from believing it was Woojin’s attitude.

“Ah, I don’t know.”

Jiwon flopped on to her bed. She composed, and deleted several text to send to Woojin. In the end, she couldn’t send the text.

She had already received so much, and she would be without a conscience if she also accepted his feelings.

Jiwon looked through her photo gallery.

She smiled at the selfies taken by Iron man and Spider man. It had been 5 years since she was able to take pictures of herself. She fell asleep as she flipped through the pictures.

*

Monday morning.

Guild Alandal’s office.

“One.”

“Stop being.”

“Two.”

“too nosy.”

Woojin sat on the sofa, and he tapped on armrest with his fingers. Every time he tapped, Woo-soonghoon did a push-up.

“Hey, Soonghoon.”

“Yes, sir.”

Soonghoon abruptly stood up.

“Just do what I say, and only what I tell you. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I misstepped when I tried to express my loyalty.”

Woojin grinned.

He was well aware of that fact, and it was the reason why Soonghoon was still alive. If his action had held any malice, his head would have been sent flying instead of him doing push-ups.

“Do it in moderation. Moderation.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Where did you get all the money?”

“I used the guild corporation card….”

“…….”

“One.”

“Stop being….”

Sooghoon was semi-automatically doing push ups, and the person who saved him was Jung-minchan.

“Ah? President is already here? Huh? Mr Soonghoon is also….”

“I told you not come to work today. Did you get my message?”

“Ha ha. How could I rest right now?”

It had only been a week since they established the guild. He was the general director, but he didn’t have many employees underneath him. This mean the work he had to do was getting larger.

There was a mountain of work he had to take care, so how could he rest on an off-day?

Woojin didn’t stop Minchan, since he was the one returning his own off-days.

“Then carry on with your work.”

“Yes, sir. Oh yeah. Our business with the Ministry of National Defense was resolved.”

“Really? Did they accept us?”

“Yes,sir. When the Ministry of National Defense requests it, you have to participate 10 times in a joint operation. Your enlistment is waived if you honor the condition.”

Woojin grinned.

He didn’t need to make a plan. When the Dungeon Break happens, he’ll travel to the region, and he’ll mop-up the monsters. Or he could clear a Dungeon pointed out by the government.

“You did well, director Jung. Ha ha.”

Woojin gave a rare compliment, and Jung-minchan had a satisfied expression on his face.

“Let’s have a company dinner soon.”

“Haha. Yes, sir.”

Woojin’s feelings improved, so he decided to stop torturing Soonghoon. Woojin let him go.

“Ah. It’ll be too boring to go to the Dungeon without Sunggoo.”

Trahnet wasn’t going to invade any time soon, so Woojin decided to rest for one more day. He sank his body into the sofa then he turned on the tv.

He changed the channel several times, and he stopped on a show called ‘Mysterious TV Surprise’.

It was a Dungeon Special. The program talked about the current mysteries regarding the Dungeon, and they showed several people with hypothesis on the subject.

[Monsters are life forms from outer space. The Dungeon is a prelude to the destruction of earth. Soon….]

There was a man touted to be a Dungeon expert, and several scientists were interviewed. They talked about what happened to the Dungeons in the past 5 years, and they were coming up with hypothesis.

One talked about the Dungeons existing for longer than 5 years. The other one talked about extraterrestrial beings invading earth. They also discussed several wild rumors.

[If we consider the invasion of the extraterrestrial beings as only coming from space, we are only approaching the problem from a 3D perspective. Dungeons are like tunnels. Basically, it is a platform or gate used by the extraterrestrial beings. Soon they will be able cross into earth.]

“Yes. He’s right.”

Woojin agreed with this foreign scientist’s words. He showed several evidence as he lended support to his words.

[Even if the beings make a gate, they won’t be able to cross over immediately. It takes 30 days for the Dungeon Break to happen. Why is it 30 days? I’ve formulated a hypothesis about the item called Return Stones. It is the only key that is able to dispel the barrier. I have a hypothesis where the monsters have to protect the Return Stone for 30 days. Then they’ll be able to use the key for themselves…]

“Uh? That sounds plausible?”

Why can monsters only come out 30 days after the Dungeon is made? Maybe the barrier doesn’t exist to protect the Dungeon. It existed to protect Earth.

[The monsters from the early Dungeons were weak. They staggered as if they were on drugs. In the beginning, we received a massive amount of casualty, since we weren’t prepared for the monsters. However, when we compare the current monsters to the ones back then, the past monsters were most definitely weaker.]

Footage from the Dungeon Shock Woojin hadn’t known about was played.

“They are small. I’m sure they aren’t able to materialize because of the low energy.”

This had already been proved through Bibi.

[What was it like after the Dungeon Shock? At the time, we only had 4 star Dungeons. Afterwards, the 5 star and 6 star Dungeons started forming more frequently. If events accelerate in this manner, it won’t be long before 7 star Dungeons would start showing up.]

Before he knew it, Woojin was sucked in by what the professor was saying inside the tv.

The hypothesis he was presenting was precise.

Dungeons with larger amounts of energy was being formed. The number of Dungeons increased steadily after the Dungeon Shock, and similarly, the number of Roused on earth was also increasing steadily.

In the beginning, the highest Rank Roused was Rank C. Now they were in an era where there was a line of Rank A Roused. If they waited a little bit more, a higher Ranked Roused might show up.

No, it was inevitable for them to show up. Woojin wasn’t sure about everything else, but he was sure about this.

Rank A Roused were only on par with the 6th Circle Magicians. Of course, there were higher ranked beings in existence.

So what was the cause of the increased number of Roused, and the appearance of the high rank Dungeons? In what way was the earth changing?

The professor inside the tv was giving a warning.

[Dungeons are not mines. The bloodstones we plunder may just be the bait they are scattering around.]

It felt as if Woojin was hit on the head with a hammer when he heard those words.

Bloodstones had energy in it.

The root of the energy was Mana.

“The mana concentration…”

The bloodstones were used to increase the Mana concentration on earth.

This would increase the number of Roused, and it would eventually change earth’s environment to be more suitable for the activity of monsters….

“What’s the name of that professor?”

After a moment, the professor’s name popped up, and he wrote it down on a memo. His name was James Toppler, and he was from England.

Woojin was immersed in watching the TV when he heard a knock.

“President. It’s Minchan.”

“Come in.”

Minchan spoke to Woojin with a trouble face.

“Ministry of National Defense contacted us.”

“The Ministry of National Defense? They want to mobilize us already?”

“Yes. He aren’t required to participate. We just have to sent a explanatory statement…”

Michan’s job was to make up a believable explanatory statement.

“No. We’ll go. What happened?”

“It’s a Dungeon Break.”

This will be the first time he’ll be able to see the Dungeon Break with his eyes.

“Where is it?”

“It’s in Daegoo. It is the Jookjun station’s 3rd exit.”

“Did Soonghoon get off work?”

“He’s still outside.”

“Ready my car.”

“Yes, sir.”

This would be Alandal’s first joint mission with the Ministry of National Defense, and it would start at Daegoo.

*

“Ooh ooh mmm..”

Jiwon’s eyelids closed heavily as she looked at the clock, and she was surprised.

“Huk!”

Pm 10:20

She went to sleep at around 12, so it basically meant she had slept for a whole day. She hadn’t had any alcohol yet she had slept for a very long time….

Nayoung and Haeji, who was in the same night shift as her, hadn’t woken Jiwon up. They must have went to work without her.

Jiwon didn’t have time to wash, so she started running in haste as she put on her hat.

“Huk, huk. Hello!”

“Ah, yes.”

The dorm’s security guard was puzzled when he faced Jiwon, who had greeted him.

“Who is that?”

Jiwon barely arrived on time as she punched her factory’s attendance card. She went inside the changing room, and she bowed her head towards her fellow employees.

“I’m sorry for being late.”

She wasn’t late for work. However, not being late for work wasn’t everything. Everyone had already changed into their clothes, and they were in the midst of making instant coffees.

Everyone’s gaze was simultaneously focused on Jiwon.

‘Ooh ooh. I slept too much.’

She hadn’t come in to work yesterday, yet she was almost late today. She wouldn’t garner much sympathy. Their gazes made her feel uncomfortable, so she hurriedly change her clothes.

Jiwon took off her hat to change into her uniform.

“My god.”

“Is that really J…jiwon??”

“U..unni?”

Everyone became surprised when they saw her, and Jiwon lowered her head in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry for being late.”

After saying those words, Jiwon put on her work clothes, and she patted herself down to make herself presentable. She was about to put on her work hat on in front of the mirror when she noticed it.

“Uh?”

Jiwon lowered the work hat she was about to put on.

“Uh….”

She was so surprised that no words came out of her mouth.

Ah. People weren’t surprised at her tardiness. They had been surprised by her face.

“M…Ms Jiwon. You hair…”

“Unni. Your face…”

At everyone’s surprised reaction, Jiwon looked at herself once more in the mirror.

The scar that had covered half of her face was gone. The skin on her head had been peeled off so the hideous scars had caused a permanent swelling and distortion. Now the scar was completely gone, and it was covered in luscious hair.

The length of her hair was uneven, but she didn’t care.

Jiwon touched her face with trembling hands.

“My face… My face….”

Tears fell from Jiwon’s eyes.

It was Woojin. It was the medicine Woojin applied on her…

Jiwon’s tears were hindering her eyesight, but she was able to find Woojin’s number on her hand phone. She pressed the call button.

[The call couldn’t be connected. Please leave a voicemail….]

“Ah.”

He picked the wrong time to not answer his phone. Jiwon didn’t know what to do with the happiness, and gratitude that was welling up inside her.

[Chee-ji-jeek. This is a breaking news. Daegoo’s Jookjun Station’s 3rd exit is close to a Dungeon Break. The evacuation of the locals have been completed, and the Roused Kang-woojin has entered the Dungeon…]

The television was hanging on a wall inside the changing room, which doubled as a break room. When she heard the breaking news, Jiwon’s head whipped around towards it.