Chapter 128 - Chapter 128 (1/2)

The mystery item was a black key.

The key he found inside the 'Cursed' Random Box was shining brightly as if to remind him of where it had been hiding all along.

Jin-Woo stared somewhat dazedly at that arresting sight before he cautiously put the weapons in his arms down on the floor again. He then reached into the Inventory and tightly grasped the black key.

'…....'

And, when he opened his hand again....

[Item: Key to the Karutenon Temple]

Rarity: ??

Type: Key

'You have met the required condition.'

A key allowing you entry into the Karutenon Temple. It can be used at the designated Gate.

The location of the designated Gate will be revealed after the predetermined time has been reached.

Remaining time: 417:06:52

The item information he couldn't see before was now filling up his view.

'….Karutenon Temple?'

Jin-Woo began tilting his head in confusion.

What was going on here? He was pretty certain that he had never heard of that name before. So how come it sounded so familiar to him?

'No, hold on. I.... have heard of it before.'

He carefully combed through the maze of his memories until he finally recalled what he was searching for, and his brows shot up in response.

'The dual dungeon!!'

More specifically, that name was etched on a stone tablet held by a statue, found in the ancient temple located right at the end of the dual dungeon.

The memories of that fateful day were coming back to him one by one.

'Right, definitely....'

The voice of Song Chi-Yeol ahjussi, as he read the first line of that stone tablet, suddenly rang so vividly around in his ears.

["The laws of the Karutenon Temple."]

Indeed, that stone tablet's texts indicated that the name of the temple filled with those terrifying statues was none other than 'Karutenon'.

It couldn't have been a simple coincidence that the name carved into that stone tablet, and the name of the temple in the key's information, was exactly the same.

Which could mean.....

'I can go back inside that place with this key?!'

Jin-Woo's eyes grew wider in stunned silence.

The memories of that day, indistinct and hard to recall as if they were enveloped in a veil of fog, suddenly returned to him in their full, gory detail.

'Could it be....?'

No, this was no longer in the category of 'Could it be' anymore. The System was definitely summoning him – summoning him back to the place where it all began.

The key that emitted the bright light all on its own, perhaps fearing the distinct possibility of him never bothering to read its information; and then, there was the name of the location where this key was supposed to be used, written so clearly that he'd never miss it.

No matter how he tried to slice it, there was little doubt that the System was summoning him there.

Oddly enough, Jin-Woo was getting curious about something else as well. Why was this happening now, of all times?

'Is it somehow related to the quests I received from the Demon's Castle?'

This black key, and the 'Cursed' Random Box it came from, was the 'unknown reward' he chose to receive at the end of the 'Collect the Souls of Demons! (1)' quest.

Hoping that maybe there was a connection here, he quickly checked the 'unknown reward' he got from the 'Collect the Souls of Demons! (2)' quest.

'Title.'

Along with the familiar "Tti-ring!" of the mechanical beep, the information regarding his new Title, the one he got as the reward, rose up to his view.

[Title: Demon Hunter]

'You have not satisfied its conditions.'

He hoped that something might have changed, but well, too bad; it was the exact same story as the first time he received that Title.

'Okay, so that one wasn't it.'

Next up, he began reading the item descriptions of the Demon Sovereign's Accessory set, which he got to complete after killing the Demon King, Baran.

[Item: Demon Sovereign's Ring]

Rarity: S

Type: Accessory

Perception +20. Intelligence +20.

When worn together with 'Demon Sovereign's Earrings' and 'Demon Sovereign's Necklace', set bonuses will be unlocked.

Set bonus effect 1. All Stats +5

Set bonus effect 2. All Stats +10

He took a closer look at the information provided, wondering if another, hidden, set effect had been unlocked, but that wasn't it, either.

'In that case....'

There was only one other possibility remaining now, and Jin-Woo shifted his gaze towards the information appearing above his Title column, towards the final suspect.

[Name: Seong Jin-Woo]

[Level: 100]

[Class: Shadow Sovereign]

[Title:.....]

Out of all of those, his gaze stopped moving at his level.

There it was, his level '100', the one he just barely got to reach after massacring every single ant monster, as well as every egg and larva found on the island of Jeju.

'The condition this key's been talking about has to be this.'

That was the most plausible explanation he could come up with.

Because he could take out, or put back, any item inside Inventory with nothing but his thoughts, he'd never really paid much attention to what was inside his storage. Unless he got a new toy he needed to put away, of course.

That was most likely why he only got to discover the changes to this key a couple of days after he reached level 100.

Heck, if it wasn't for him suddenly coming down with an urge to spring clean his Inventory after he took out those weapons from there earlier, he wouldn't even have discovered the key's presence, at least not for a long while.

Good thing that he discovered it before it was far too late.

'417 hours... that's about 17 days from now. I still have over two weeks left.'

The System hadn't lied to him once until now. So, the Gate in question would definitely open up in the location as noted in the item's information.

'I gotta start preparing myself....'

Just as those thoughts raced past in his head, Jin-Woo gasped out in surprise.

'Hold on... was I really planning to walk in there again?'

"Ha, haha..."

A wry chuckle leaked out of his mouth without him realising it.

Sure, they were lower ranked Hunters working for the Association, but still, over half of the raid team got killed in there. Not to forget, he himself nearly died several times, too.

'I even lost my leg towards the end, didn't I?'

What a horrifying memory that was. He used to break out in an uncontrollable shiver just from recalling the emptiness below his knee he saw back then.

But now, fighting spirit began burning powerfully in his eyes, instead.

'I'm different now.'

He felt utterly confident of his chances now.

Heck, he even felt a certain expectation bubbling up inside him, wondering if he'd be able to turn those stone statues, or even the god statue itself, into his Shadow Soldiers.

There was also something else to consider – he might be hit with an unknown penalty if he decided to ignore the System's summons.

Didn't he already realise the fact that, depending on the choices he makes, the System would either become his ally or an enemy? Didn't he learn his lesson back when he ignored the first Daily Quest or when he was issued an emergency quest?

When his thoughts reached up to that point, his hand holding the key was suddenly became soaked in his sweat.

Gulp....

He was so tense that his dry saliva scratched his throat as it slid down. Jin-Woo slowly shook his head and closed his eyes.

'….No, let's not get too worked up over this.'

He needed to calm down.

His pounding heart gradually slowed down as he worked hard to find stability in his emotions. After his chaotic breathing had regained their normalcy, he ever so slightly reopened his eyes.

"Alright."

'If the System has business with me, then it could very well be another opportunity for me.'

Didn't the 'Cursed' Random Box's description say that it would give him what he needed the most?

'Still, it'd be prudent to make some preparations in advance.'

Jin-Woo began thinking about the preparations he'd have to make, just in case. That led him to remember something else he'd been delaying for a little while now.

And that would be the establishment of his own Guild.

Having a Guild would certainly make it simpler to enter various Gates, and it'd also make his, and his soldiers' levelling-up process, that much easier, too.

He had left the very-motivated Yu Jin-Ho in charge of the initial process of founding a Guild, at least for the time being.

'I wonder, how far along is he now?'

Jin-Woo decided to give Yu Jin-Ho a call, but after checking the time, he sheepishly put the phone down. It was two in the morning.

'It's already this late....'

Since he had stuff to do on the following day, he figured that it'd be simpler to just go and pay a visit to Yu Jin-Ho at the same time.

'Yeah, I'll stop by the office tomorrow.'

***

Yu Jin-Ho's glares became a level sharper.

Like the eyes of a hawk locking onto a prey, his glare scanning the computer monitor was filled to the brim with unbridled sharpness. And then, proverbial flames erupted out of his eyes next.

'I shall never forgive those trying to obstruct the path of hyung-nim!!'

Yu Jin-Ho quickly screen-captured the offending online forum post in question, as well as the comments appearing below it, and then, proceeded to write up a formal letter of complaint with lightning speed. He moved so expertly and quickly that he must've had more than enough experience doing this thing.