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Polluted Land (1)
“Welcome.”
The Hunter Special Committee was held in District 7’s tallest building.
The members include single number rank hunters, guild leaders with more than a certain amount of power, and even a team leader of the company.
Of course, attendance was not compulsory in the sense of respecting individual hunters’ wishes, so there were many people who did not attend due to various circumstances.
However, power-oriented hunters made an effort to take the initiative by attending.
Kim HyungSeok, the successor of the Goryeo group, was such a case.
‘I’ve arrived in time.’
Although the single number rank hunters did not attend, the heads of various guilds he paid attention to sat down.
He wants to hear the full story of this situation is just one of the reasons he came here.
When the time came, he beckoned the secretary.
“I will define this issue as the case of abominable objects. This incident happened yesterday at 2pm, and it is due to the change of a Category 3 Gate to Category 4…”
The secretary’s voice was pleasant to listen to, and most people could quickly understand the whole situation.
The difficulty of the dungeon increased, horror-level monsters popped out, and finally, the abomination appeared.
As a result, it was annihilated in front of the bomb shelter.
But what’s the problem?
“The head of the strategic planning team of the Goryeo Group will make a statement about it.”
As the secretary pointed at the crowd, Kim HyungSeok stood up pretending to fix his tie.
“There is something about the above-mentioned case that deserves your attention. It was not us or the military that led to the direct neutralization of the abomination.”
Everyone had heard the rumors, so they calmly waited for Kim HyeongSeok to speak.
“The Hunters who were in Area 7 at the time will remember. That the irresistible etheric waves that have brought us to our knees. Fortunately, the wave was fatal only to monsters. A disaster grade monster, the abomination, scrambled in fear and was killed by our firepower.”
“What is the cause?”
When someone asked, HyungSeok shook his head.
“I do not know. We don’t know anything that can be speculated as a cause. I’m just guessing there must have been something in the shelter.“
“Then why didn’t you think to search the shelter?”
“We did a belated search and found nothing, and we assumed people were the cause, not the facility… It’s already late after everyone is gone.”
“You should have done a full investigation there. If you lose a cow after fixing the barn, what’s the point.”
When Lee HwiSeong, one of the representatives of the Five Star Alliance, spoke, everyone shook their heads.
But HyungSeok had something to say.
“People were leaving so quickly that we couldn’t come in to investigate. There was no cooperation in the first place.”
“If it were me, I would have blocked the entrance to the bomb shelter and asked for cooperation.”
Lee Hwiseong laughs.
A significant number of hunters choke on the logic that citizens can be forced for convenience.
Of course, there were those who thought that statement was justified.
HyungSeok brought up another story to evoke the atmosphere.
“Anyway, it is clear that there was something in the shelter at that time. If a disaster-grade monster could be engulfed in fear, it would be an amazing artifact. If you have that kind of power, it will only be a matter of time before you show it to the world.”
“So, what is the conclusion?”
Someone asked, and HyungSeok shrugged.
“As usual in our meetings, we are not going to draw any conclusions. However, if such a thing happens in the future, you can refer to CEO Hwisung’s remarks. The convenience of citizens is of course important, but isn’t that convenience also sustained because we are there?”
Therefore, it was said that in the future, the search would be conducted without seeking cooperation from the relevant agencies.
High-ranking official from the Office of the President was also present.
If he doesn’t say anything, it’s safe to say that he’s willing to tolerate it for now.
But someone said something out of the ordinary.
“In the shelter, there was Yoo Ji-Ha, who runs the general store, and he had a cat that looked like a snow leopard, right? Could it be that he is the cause?”
“Hey, what are you talking about…”
“Haha, I wish he is. First of all, he’s cute.”
A few hunters who knew about Beom laughed, and the rest burst into laughter only after seeing the photo.
It’s definitely cute.
HyungSeok coughed and went to the main point.
“Actually, I have other reasons for opening a special committee. Recently, there have been many cases of dungeon contamination, right?”
People straightened up.
The problem with the abomination could be dismissed as a one-time event, but this was not the case.
Contaminated dungeons were appearing intermittently.
Even hunters with moderate poison resistance are often unable to enter.
There were not one or two industries that were making a living with the resources and materials from the dungeon.
In a way, the dungeon contamination incident was more important than the abomination.
HyungSeok cleared his dry throat and explained the outline and solution to the problem.
After a while, there was a break time.
Cha HwaYeon approached HyeongSeok, who was resting with his tie off.
“Who wrote this?”
“What is it?”
What HwaYeon brought in was a post on Mirwiki.
Abominable objects and dangers… Up to that point, it was the same as usual, but the contents were below.
—A monstrous object… It’s ugly, bulky, and smells bad. Even if it receives any kind of attack, it will recover immediately. It moves so quickly that it is unimaginable for its size. It’s dripping messy liquid from its eyes and mouth, and it seems acidic. But wouldn’t it be difficult to propose to someone with that face? I don’t know if there is a gender distinction between monsters…—
HyungSeok frowned.
“Who wrote this?”
HwaYeon’s expression turned into a strange expression.
“I’m asking you. I am wondering if team leader knows anything.”
“I don’t know anything at all. In the first place, we can’t edit MirWiki on our side, right?”
MirWiki appeared along with Hunternet not long after the first dungeon was opened.
It was a interesting bulletin board in which the species names and risks of the monsters named by the hunters were automatically updated.
The content could not be edited by anyone.
Even network experts say they don’t know where the data on Hunternet and MirWiki go.
It was a surprise that the government didn’t know anything about it.
After reading the description of the abomination, the two of them were a little impressed when they realized that it had captured the abilities and characteristics of the creature well.
Abominations are rare monsters, so there aren’t many hunters who actually saw them.
So, who the hell wrote it?
***
“Hmm…”
When the darkness fades and the dawn entered.
Yoo Ji-Ha was reading a book with Beom lying on his thighs in a hut in the forest.
What made him fall into a dream.
It was a book containing a mythical story about the huge tree of the continent of Gehenna intertwined with various races.
It was a very thick book, and each race was described metaphorically, making it difficult to understand.
A passage that was easy to interpret caught the attention of Yoo Ji-Ha.
It is a story about a natural god created by the huge tree.
“God of Nature… The god of the Wild…”
It can be interpreted either way.
This natural god is the guardian of Gehenna’s nature.
There were many natural gods, but it is said that they suffered twists and turns, such as dying and being corrupted and sealed while fighting monsters.
“You’re a god but you are dying?”
It seems that the god here is not the absolute god that Yoo Ji-Ha thinks.
Instead, it was written that the soul is immortal and can be reborn at any time.
However, there were passages that stood out among the description of the God of Nature.
“How do I read this?”
His name is unknown, but he was a violent wild god with gray fur and black spots.
‘Gray fur and black dots?’
It’s similar to Beom.
He read further that this wild god had messed around with thousands of monsters.
It is also called the tooth of the most violent natural god.
‘It’s like Arctus because it has teeth.’
Yoo Ji-Ha slightly opened Beom’s snout and looked into his teeth.
He was still a baby, so he had cute, blunt teeth.
‘It doesn’t make sense to kill monsters with these teeth, but…’
What if this guy’s identity is hidden?
What if the cute figure he sees now isn’t the real him?
Yoo Ji-Ha remembered that a strange etheric wave had spread from the bomb shelter.
He didn’t feel it well himself, but since the Hunters said it, it must have been.
There was a high probability that the wave was probably caused by Beom.
‘If coincidence continues, it is inevitable.’
Theradrone and Arctus met in the forest of dreams.
Would it be his illusion if he said that the tree in the forest that is growing day by day and the giant tree that appeared in the ancient books are somehow related?
The huge tree roots in the dungeon seemed to guide him as well.
‘As the ‘worker class’, it feels like the tree is entrusting me with the work.’
What if helping Theradrone and saving Arctus were part of some grand scheme?
‘If that’s true, that would be great thing.’
But the question remains as to why him.
He was not a man of great power.
If he was going to entrust a class called a worker, there would have been a more suitable person.
‘Hmm… I don’t know.’
He can’t come up with an answer after thinking about it, so he has no choice but to put it aside for now.
Yoo Ji-Ha, while stroking the sleeping Beom, discovered a strange land around the fog.
It was discolored as if purple paint had spilled on the ground.
“Why did it suddenly become like this?”
This forest of about 100 pyeong was his realm.
It was carefully cleaned and maintained, but a foreign substance suddenly got in.
When he got closer, he saw that the condition was serious, such as a foul odor.
Beom, who had been sleeping, woke up and ran and hung on his back.
“When I think of purple, it somehow reminds me of then Lich’s curse…”
The horror-grade monster that came out of the gate yesterday, Lich.
The Lich can cast a curse that adversely affects nearby living things.
In addition, there were many dungeons that it occupied had the lands turned purple.
At that time, Beom, who was hanging on his back, came up to his shoulder and put his paw in front of him.
As he got down on his knees and looked at the fog, the previous miniature world opened.
“Hyuk.”
Yoo Ji-Ha was startled by what was happening in this small world.
A few liches smaller than a little finger, are giving orders to the undead who are likely to be thousands.
‘What is this, what a mess.’
The lich was not just a lich, but elder rich, a higher-ranking species.
It was wrapped around its body with dazzling jewels and golden nuggets and waved its staff with its skinny arms.
Every time that happened, the undead sprang up from the purple ground.
Among them, there were quite a few horror-grade monsters such as Bone Knight and Revenant.
‘No, can Theradrone to compete with this?’
Although they have grown quite a bit by defeating the devil ants, he is a little pressed by the atrocious appearance of the monsters.
The Elder Lich was waving his wand and shouting something.
—Death to all life! Worship our master!
‘What are you saying.’
He thinks it’s a little cute because the little guy is like that.
Then the status window was updated.
[The Elder Lich is polluting the surrounding land. If you let him be, he will soon invade your territory. Immediate response is difficult, but we would like to suggest a way to reduce his influence. YES/NO]
At this point, he has no choice but to choose YES.
Otherwise, that terrifying elder lich will invade here.
After waiting for a while, a new message appeared.
‘It’s like a site requesting a response from the server that’s buffering.’
[I will introduce the steps to take to reduce the influence of the Elder Lich.
1) Destroy the source of the Elder Lich.
2) Purify the surrounding land.]
‘Huh? Can’t I just hit it with my palm like before?’
If it is 3 essence, Yoo Ji-Ha can intervene and hit it with the palm of his hand.
However, this method had the disadvantage of not being able to fundamentally annihilate the Elder Lich.
‘Oh, that’s why it suggested this method.’
What’s the use of killing it to be alive again?
Yoo Ji-Ha decided to believe in this system.
‘This is not a choice; I have to do both.’
It seems that the land that has already been corrupted will not return after killing the lich.
When he focused on number 1, the fog next to him opened and a miniature world appeared.
Being a little far from the Elder Lich, he didn’t pay any attention to him and was preoccupied in summoning the undead.
Yoo Ji-Ha was startled by the sudden appearance of a royal palace.
The appearance of the royal palace belonged to a kingdom he was familiar with.
‘No way. Maybe this Lich…’