Chapter 161 - Chapter 161 (2/2)

The elites of the Monitoring Division had already finished their preparations a while ago. Woo Jin-Cheol received confirmation from his subordinate and turned around to face the others with a heavy expression.

"Let's get going."

***

The passage before them was incredibly long.

They moved at the fastest speed they could afford, but they didn't break into a full-bore running. Even if they were all nominally high-ranked Hunters, their individual running speeds were vastly different, that was why. Among them, Cha Hae-In was especially fast.

She was about to run ahead, but Choi Jong-In next to her grasped her wrist in a hurry.

"Hunter Cha. What do you think you'll achieve by going there alone?"

"..."

He understood that she wanted to go and save Seong Jin-Woo from danger, but if she went ahead, the whole team might end up falling into grave danger, instead.

"If we try to keep up with your speed, there's a good chance that the entire team might become disorganised, instead."

Cha Hae-In's expression hardened as she stood still, but eventually, she returned to the rear of the team. Woo Jin-Cheol watched her make her way back and whispered softly to himself.

"I guess the rumour was true."

"Pardon?"

Woo Jin-Cheol mumbled some excuses out when Choi Jong-In questioned him.

"Ah... No, it's nothing important."

Choi Jong-In tilted his head slightly but shifted his gaze back to his front anyway. The ominous magic energy that caused goosebumps to break out on his skin was still flooding out from the deepest part of this dungeon.

He had to keep his wits about him here.

He also thought that it'd be the same story for Hunter Seong Jin-Woo who had entered in here ahead of everyone else.

'I pray we aren't too late....'

For the time being, there was nothing he could do to help other than pray for Hunter Seong's safety – while moving as quickly as they could without lowering their vigilance, of course.

However, it was also true that too much tension would in turn dull one's body, as well. In order to dispel some of this tension, he engaged Woo Jin-Cheol in a conversation.

"How did Hunter Seong come across this place, anyway?"

"I also don't know the details. But, by piecing together what the people making the reports said, it seems that Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim knew that this Gate was a dual dungeon even before entering it."

"H-mm."

Choi Jong-In's expression became circumspect. This time, it was Woo Jin-Cheol who asked the question.

"By any chance, can you think of something suspicious?"

"No, it's not that, but..... Just that, this feels quite strange, doesn't it?"

"Strange as in how?"

"I did some research on Seong Hunter-nim in the past, you see."

Choi Jong-In was a Master of a huge Guild. It was his duty to build a Guild with highly capable individuals, so it was only obvious that he'd hold an extreme amount of interest towards Jin-Woo.

"There was an event similar to this, wasn't there?"

Woo Jin-Cheol did personally investigate the event Choi Jong-In was talking about so, he indeed knew a lot about that incident. He quickly figured out what the Master of Hunters Guild was trying to say here.

Less than half a year ago, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo experienced going into a dual dungeon. And now, after all this time, he sought after another one and entered it.

Those who knew this truth would not see today's event as a mere coincidence. Just like how Woo Jin-Cheol had predicted, Choi Jong-In's next words were about that.

"Experiencing dual dungeons twice by himself, when it'd be near impossible for anyone to see it once in their lifetime... Not just that, he willingly walked into the second one on his own volition? Don't you find that strange?"

Woo Jin-Cheol didn't immediately make his reply.

Just as Choi Jong-In had alluded to, many things about Hunter Seong were shrouded in a veil of mystery. The dual dungeon. The Re-Awakened. And possessing a unique ability.

However, there was one indisputable fact, and that would be Seong Jin-Woo being utterly indispensable to the Association, no, the entire nation of South Korea.

And that was why Woo Jin-Cheol requested the Hunters Guild for their assistance without waiting for the clearance from the higher-ups when he found out that Hunter Seong had walked right into this Gate.

No matter what, they had to secure Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's safety. It'd not be too late to ask him the necessary questions afterwards.

Woo Jin-Cheol swam inside his thoughts, before raising his head.

'So, over there.....'

The distance that would have taken nearly one hour for regular Hunters to cross was bridged in less than ten minutes by the rapid marching of these high-ranked Hunters. They could finally see the end of this cave in the far off distance.

"Looks like we're here."

"Yes, I can sense it."

Indeed, they could sense something horrifyingly massive in there. Choi Jong-In's face stiffened hard as he replied. The colour of blood was slowing draining out of his complexion right now.

The only consolation he could think of right now was the fact that he could also sense Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's presence.

'As long as Hunter Seong is fine, it's okay.'

Combining his abilities with the support from these elite Hunters, they'd win regardless of what the monsters within this dungeon were like. Choi Jong-In assured himself with that line of thought and called out to the rest of the team.

"Let's hurry!"

The elite Hunters from the Hunters Guild and the Association rushed past the massive doorway reminiscent of an ancient castle.

And then....

The sight waiting for them beyond was a spectacle none of them had ever seen before during their lengthy and illustrious careers as Hunters.

"This... What on earth is this....?"

"What the hell is this place?!"

First, they found innumerable destroyed stone statues strewn about the floor. Their debris was piling up into small hills all over the place.

"Look, look!!!"

One of the Hunters raised his finger high up.

And in the direction his finger was pointing at, everyone could see a truly gigantic statue of an unknown god standing frozen still, its hands interlocked in the gesture of slamming down. Its head, with half of its face blown away, especially caught their attention.

Woo Jin-Cheol's heart began racing like crazy as he remembered the testimonies of the survivors from the previous dual dungeon incident.

'It was all real... the god statue and the stone statues were all real...!!'

The survivors all said the same thing – that this place was filled with a monstrous god statue that could melt down a rank C Hunter with nothing but a glare from its eyes, as well as countless stone statues whose movements couldn't be picked up by the naked eye.

This whole open area was pockmarked with clear signs of desperate battle having taken place recently.

'Wait a minute. Where is Hunter Seong Jin-Woo?'

It looked as if all the enemies had been eliminated already. Their priority was to confirm the status of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo.

Choi Jong-In shifted his head this way and that to locate Jin-Woo's presence, and eventually found him.

"He's over there."

Jin-Woo was quietly lying on his back just below the god statue as if he was asleep.

"Seong Hunter-nim!!"

Hunters were about to run to his side, but this time, it was Cha Hae-In's turn to raise both of her arms to stop them in their treks. Feeling urgent now, Woo Jin-Cheol turned to look at her.

Her rather shapely facial features were soaked completely from cold sweat right now.

"Cha..... Hunter-nim??"

She bit her lower lip and spoke up.

"Over there... there's something over there."

It was then. A certain stone statue kneeling next to Jin-Woo slowly stood up. The wings on its back were all torn up, and it only had one remaining arm.

"I don't remember inviting you humans in here."

The angel statue stood up completely and swept its gaze over at the Hunters intruding into the temple. The corner of its lips suddenly arched up.

< Chapter 161 > Fin.