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Proof-reader: Girondono

After Soo Hyuk left, Romian took out the marble again .

‘Something happened . ’

When he had first laid eyes on the marble, there had been a mysterious glow around it, but now the marble had lost its shine to become lifeless .

‘They probably did it . ’

Looking at the now dull marble, there was a high chance that they had already achieved their goal . On the other hand, it could mean that there wasn’t any danger anymore .

But it wasn’t certain .

Romian stored the red marble in his drawer again, then stood up and got ready to leave . He had to warn his comrades about the people that killed Ketan .

Tap . Tap .

At that moment .

“Is Romian in here?”

He heard a familiar voice with the knocks .

‘Vice-director?’ [TL: Romian is actually not the head, he’s like a commander of a company in the corps . My bad . ]

When Romian opened the door, he saw the vice director of Copine, Heron, standing in front of his door .

“What brings the vice director here…”

Romian’s voice grew fainter as he greeted Heron . Heron didn’t like coming to the commanders’ living quarters . This was because although his relationship with Heron was okay, but that couldn’t be said the same for the other commanders . So, what had Heron come here for? Did an urgent matter suddenly pop up?

“Ah, I just have something to tell you . ”

Heron replied to Romian .

“But where were you going?”

Heron then asked after seeing Romian’s attire .

“Yes, I was just about to meet a friend . ”

“Oh, that’s a problem . ”

Heron exclaimed with an embarrassed expression when he heard Romian’s reply .

“…?”

Meanwhile, Romian was confused at Heron’s attitude so far . Why was he so different today?

“Argh, what should I do . ”

As Heron was grumbling loudly, he quickly looked at his surroundings, before whispering quietly to Romian’s ear .

“The director wants to talk you to you . ”

Romian, who had been wondering why Heron was putting up a show, leapt in surprise at Heron’s words .

“He woke up!?”

Copine, the leader of the Copine Corps, health had deteriorated at a rapid pace after a trip and fell unconscious up until now . The leader of the Copine Corp’s worsening health had affected the entire organisation . To stop his health from worsening any further, they had hired numerous healing magicians and experts, but it was no use .

They couldn’t see any hope of improving Copine’s health, but he had apparently woken up . How could he just wake up by himself when numerous healers had failed?

‘Something…’

Something felt fishy .

“Yes . He immediately searched for you after he woke up . Is your business with your friends urgent?”

However, Romian didn’t have time to think about his doubt . It was because it was Heron’s request . After pondering at Heron’s request for a few seconds, Romian came to a decision .

“No, it’s not . ”

From how Copine, who had been unconscious for a long time, had immediately searched for him, this matter didn’t seem to be ordinary .

“Then come to the director’s room after 30 minutes . Don’t let anyone spot you . ”

“…After 30 minutes?”

“That’s what he told me . ”

Heron, at Romian’s answer, looked around cautiously once again and continued .

“Then I won’t disturb you any longer . ”

Heron then turned around and started walking away . And while looking at Heron’s fading back, Romian thought,

‘Something’s off . ’

He had a strange feeling over the conversation with Heron . It wasn’t about Copine as well . Although Copine suddenly regaining consciousness was also strange, his instincts told him that it was something else .

‘Wait!’

Romian suddenly realised something as he was thinking .

‘Friends?’

He had definitely told Heron that it was a friend, not friends . Yet, Heron had said friends .

‘Wait, no . That’s a common mistake . ’

Heron could’ve made a mistake and not noticed it . It was a mistake that anyone could make .

‘Maybe I’m just too tense lately…’

Romian returned to his room as he sighed . Then to prepare for his meeting with the the leader, he started meditating .

After a few minutes, Romian came out of his room and headed to Copine’s room . Luckily, he didn’t run into anyone on the way . With no one knowing, Romian finally arrived at Copine’s room .

“Hello . ”

At the entrance to Copine’s room, Romian discovered Copine’s wife, Anna, and greeted her respectfully .

“Ah, hello . ”

Was it because Copine had woken up? Anna had a bright smile on her face as she led him into the room .

“Come in . He’s waiting for you . ”

At Anna’s words, Romian entered the room .

“…”

But when he came in, Romian fell into confusion . Copine’s condition looked no different than the last time he saw him . His complexion was pale, while his breath came in ragged wheezes .

Then Anna closed the door .

“Um, what’s going…”

Romian started to turn around to ask Anna about the situation, but when he turned around, he was paralysed with horror .

Rip! Rip!

Anna had started to tear her own clothes . Meanwhile Romian was staring fixedly as he fell into confusion at the sudden turn of events . When he came to himself, Romian felt greatly uneasy . Then, that uneasiness turned into reality .

“Kyaaahhh!”

Anna started screaming as she continued to rip up her clothes .

“What is…!”

Romian exclaimed flusteredly at Anna’s scream . But he panicked even more at her next action .

“No! Don’t please! No! Please stop!”

Anna stole the words he was about to say .

‘It’s a trap!’

Romian bit his lips as he listened to Anna’s screams . He had been had .

‘Why?’

Why did Heron do this? He couldn’t understand .

‘I have to get out of here!’

It was important to know why he had fallen into a trap, but escaping was more important right now .

Finishing his thought, Romian dashed past Anna and crashed out of the room . But Romian froze again when he saw what awaited outside .

Heron was running towards him . The problem was that he was accompanied by other people . All the other commanders excluding Romian were running with Heron .

“Romian! What is going on! What was that scream!”

Heron shouted as he reached the room .

But Romian couldn’t reply to him . He just glared ferociously at Heron while grinding his teeth .

“Didn’t you say you were going to meet some friends? You said that it was urgent enough to leave a meeting, but why are you here!?”

Heron rambled on . Behind Heron, the rest of the commanders were staring at Romian with a curious and embarrassed expression .

It was then .

“Heuk, heuk . ”

Anna’s pitiful cries echoed out of the room .

“You…”

Heron asked with a wooden expression . Romian, who had just been watching so far, chose to speak at that moment .

“Why did you…”

But he couldn’t continue .

“I want to ask something . ”

It was because Heron cut him off ruthlessly .

“What did you do to the leader’s wife!”

“Romian, did you…”

“Hey, you…”

Following Heron, the other commanders opened their mouths one by one . They looked like they had misunderstood, but it couldn’t be helped looking at the situation .

“No! This is a trap!”

Romian refuted desperately . He fiercely shook his head with a wronged expression . But his cries only served to make the commanders more suspicious .

‘If I run…’

Looking at the fooled company leaders, Romian thought . If he ran away, then that was as good as admitting that he was the culprit .

‘But even if I don’t run . ’

The commanders were already under Heron’s slippery spell . It was unlikely that he could reverse this situation .

‘Heron this bastard!’

Romian cursed Heron who had caused this whole situation . He then dashed towards the nearest window . He had decided to run .

Puk!

But Romian fell down as a fiery pain erupted from his waist . Romian looked down at the dagger embedded on his waist then glared up at Heron . Then at that moment, he was able to see it . A triumphant smile that disappeared as quickly as it appeared .

* * *

After the C-rank promotion, Soo Hyuk came down to the 1st floor and lined up to get a mission . As C-rank had the most mercenaries, there were 5 counters as a result, so he was able to get his turn fairly quickly .

“I want to see the mission catalogue . ”

Soo Hyuk said as he held out his token .

“Here you go . ”

The NPC received his Mercenary Token and handed Soo Hyuk the mission catalogue, who then started to go over the missions one by one .

‘Hmm, I have to travel quite far now . ’

After checking all the missions, Soo Hyuk returned to the first page . He then said as he held out the list .

“I’ll do the first mission . ”

[You have selected the quest ‘Flowers on the 7th Peak’ . ]

After accepting the quest, Soo Hyuk reclaimed his token and walked out of the agency . Then while heading to the Eastern Gate, he opened his quest window .

[Flowers on the 7th Peak]

The monsters who resides on the 7th Peak of the Kamain Mountains, the Conda . Collect the flower of life, the Helid, which grows on the Condas’ back!

[Condah: 0 / 20 ]

[Helid: 0 / 20 ]

[Quest Reward: 900 Gold]

It was a monster hunting and material gathering quest .

‘I’ll finish this quickly since there’s no competitors . ’

Soo Hyuk thought as he read over the quest information . The Conda’s physical defence was ridiculously high, and the drop items were of little value so Condas were one of the unpopular monsters . In other words, he would be able to hunt them very quickly .

Soo Hyuk closed the quest window as he arrived at the Eastern Gate and continued heading towards the Kamain Mountains .

After a few minutes, he passed the users crowded around the mountain entrance and plunged into the mountain range .

‘7th Peak . ’

His steps didn’t falter as he walked through the undergrowth, as he already knew the where he was going . His steps only stepped when he arrived at the 7th Pea .

‘I knew that it was unpopular, but…’

Soo Hyuk thought as he stared at the Condas before him .

‘There’s a lot . ’

The mountain peak was crawling with them .

‘One spell seems enough?’

Just the Condas in his sight exceeded 30 . He could wipe them all out with just one wide-area spell and complete the quest . Of course, he still had to gather 20 Helids as well .

“Poison Storm . ”

Soo Hyuk cast Poison Storm at the peaceful Condas grazing on the grass .

Suuaak!

The green gas engulfed the Condas and the drop window appeared as they were sent into eternal sleep . But when Soo Hyuk saw the drops, he couldn’t help but frown .

– 24 Condas’ Back Shell

– 3 Helids

Although he hadn’t counted properly, he was sure that there were over 30 Condas . But the dropped Helids only amounted to 3 .

‘Ehew, of course . ’

He was a C-rank now . Soo Hyuk passed the lingering poison storm and started hunting Condas as he made his way to the centre of the peak .

‘Hmm?’

Then after a while, he stopped in place .