Junhyuk looked toward the dark fog and got off his drone. He wanted to enter the fog, but if he did so with the drone, he might damage it, which might cause his reaction time to slow down.

“Did they send a dragon?”

Junhyuk was thinking it could be a black dragon as he entered the fog. He did so alone. He had Sarang stay outside the fog and relayed the information to her. All regular communication devices were being jammed, so he was using his communication orb, which worked.

“What’s it like inside?”

“Honestly, It feels nasty in here.”

Due to the dark fog, he could only see ten meters in front of him. In his mind, this wasn’t an ordinary fog.

“I’m not sure about what they have sent now.”

Junhyuk expanded his spatial sense. While it was being heavily restrained in the fog, he could still sense up to fifty meters.

“Nothing is moving.”

He couldn’t feel anything within that range. Fifty meters wasn’t a lot, so Junhyuk turned to Ganesha walking next to him. The robot had no special powers, but it would still help him in a fight against monsters, which was why he had taken Ganesha with him.

From the fact that it was operating within the fog, Junhyuk concluded that Ganesha wasn’t simply an electronic being.

“Ganesha, can you see anything?”

“I have infrared active, but I can’t see anything. I’m waiting on the a.n.a.lysis of the fog.”

Junhyuk knew the fog wasn’t poisonous, which made him relieved.

“It feels nasty.”

The fog felt sticky to the skin. It felt dangerous. He walked deeper into it, climbing Dobong Mountain. Junhyuk would find out what was inside it. If many others came in, they would all be endangered, so he would do it alone.

He hiked faster.

—

Two hours had pa.s.sed since he had entered the fog, and it was constantly evolving.

“The fog’s territory is increasing.”

“Keep people out of it. Evacuate the area. Do not approach!”

After he said that, Sarang looked at the group and shouted quickly, “Retreat another kilometer!”

After she gave out the order, the military moved quickly. Sarang was a hero, and while Junhyuk was away, she was the highest authority.

After the military retreated, Sarang stared into the dark fog. Just like the monster areas, the fog was expanding.

“Something is moving! I can feel it!” Junhyuk shouted.

Had something appeared inside the fog? The ground was shaking, so whatever it was, it had to be big, but Junhyuk couldn’t see anything big.

However, things didn’t take long to turn.

Sarang saw things running out of the dark fog. Their eyes were bloodshot, and their necks were shaped abnormally. They moved on all fours, hands and feet. Sarang could see that they were human hikers, but they seemed strange. The hikers were foaming at the mouth.

“Hikers, and they look infected.”

“If you can, catch them alive. If not, kill them all.”

Sarang didn’t know what had infected the hikers. She might even be able to save them, but there were hundreds of them rushing toward her.

Their movements were horrid and inhuman. She had to deal with them.

Biting her lips, she ordered, “Don’t try to catch them alive! Fire!”

The military responded to her order. The National Defense Force had armored vehicles mounted with machine guns stationed in the area, and they started firing. The bullets were coated in decomposition liquid.

The hikers were quickly cut down.

Sarang had ordered a ma.s.sacre. She closed her eyes and calmed her mind. As she stared at the dark fog, she could feel something much more dangerous would come her way.

—

When the ground stopped shaking, Junhyuk muttered to himself, “Infected hikers…”

The hikers had gone crazy, so Junhyuk connected with those who might have answers for that: Gongon and Vera.

“A dark fog appeared from a dimensional tear. The hikers in there area were infected and attacked the populace. Do you have any idea about what’s happening?”

Gongon had goggles on, which did not suit him. He lifted his goggles and scratched his chin with his claw.

“I think you are talking about Dark Fog. It has to be that.”

Vera could see Gongon as well, so she said, “You must be Gongon. Nice to meet you.”

“Human, don’t talk to me as if you know me.”

Gongon didn’t know much about Vera, but both of them laughed at his response to her.

“I earned a lot from betting on you. When you say that, do you mean a black mage?”

“You must’ve had the same thought.”

Vera nodded and turned to Junhyuk.

“What’s the radius of the fog?” she asked.

“Right now, It’s about three kilometers.”

“In that case, it’s someone powerful. Someone has to cast Dark Fog to create something of that range, and it has to be a black mage of at least the eighth circle.”

“Right. Black mages will throw off all your senses when they fight you. At the same time, they can see everything within the fog.”

“Can they read my movements?”

“Yes.”

“Are you saying that the mage will be able to move freely around me, and I won’t be able to catch them?”

“Correct.”

Vera nodded and said, “Black mages are hard enemies to deal with.”

Gongon laughed out loud and said, “Even high-circled, s.h.i.tty black mages wouldn’t dare attack a dragon.”

Gongon wasn’t helping him much, so he turned to Vera, who was deep in thought.

“When a strong black mage appears, we gather a bunch of mages to stop the spread of the fog and burn it all down with h.e.l.l fire,” she said.

“Wouldn’t you destroy the city with the h.e.l.l fire?”

“When black mages are at work, losing a city would be the least of your problems. They might bring down an entire kingdom.”

Junhyuk sighed. They weren’t helping at all.

“I understand.”

The mages couldn’t help him. By their accounts, he had to contain the area and drop a nuke on it. So, he contacted Artlan.

He could see Artlan’s face now. Up to that point, he had only been able to hear Artlan’s voice when they communicated. Seeing Artlan, he bowed.

“Hm…! Look who it is!? Our hero Junhyuk Lee!”

Artlan had to be drunk. His response had been rather harsh, so Junhyuk tensed up and said, “It’s been a long time.”

“Doesn’t matter. You are a hero now, so you must be real busy. I heard your dimension is having problems with monster areas and monster waves.”

Junhyuk felt that something seemed off and awkward about Artlan.

“I have a favor to ask.”

“Sure. That’s the only time you call me anyway.”

Junhyuk broke into cold sweats and said, “I’ll call you more often from now on.”

“No need. We’re both busy. You don’t have to talk to me.” Artlan set his goblet down, stared at him and said, “What’s that favor? I want to hear it.”

“A dimensional tear appeared, and the area was covered in a dark fog. Vera told me to burn it down with h.e.l.l fire, but that doesn’t help.”

Artlan started laughing.

“Of course! Mages all respond the same way.”

“What would you do in my situation?”

Artlan grabbed his chin and said, “To be honest, Vera was right. Entering Dark Fog means losing your senses.”

“Is there no other way?”

“It’s simple,” Artlan said, adding, “Head to the center of the fog. There, you’ll find the black mage or the core of the fog.”

“I’ll do that.”

“Right. It’s that simple. But, I don’t know what you’ll find at the center of it. Still, you must find your own path through this. That is also my way of doing things.”

Junhyuk smacked his lips and asked, “Are there things that can cast Dark Fog other than black mages?”

“Not really. Vera should know more about it, but I’ll tell you what I know. Black mages borrow their powers from black demons. Black demons, or the entire demonic tribe, are the only beings that can cast Dark Fog better than black mages.”

Junhyuk nodded and said, “Demons and the demonic tribe. It’s all so hard to believe.”

“You’ve seen dragons, and you should’ve also seen demons and members of the demonic tribe. The dimensional managers have a few of them imprisoned even.”

“The managers are crazy.”

“The managers are behind all of this, so there is another possibility.”

“What is it?”

Artlan scratched his chin and said, “Heroes.”

“What?!”

“Some heroes are like that. They’ll cross the line into other dimensions and kill their enemies there. That way, they get new items more easily.”

“There are heroes that crazy?”

“There are many like that. They do that for the items.”

“But they might lose their own items, or even worse!”

“That’s a possibility, but if they find a worthy prey…”

Junhyuk thought about his items. Some heroes had to win ten times straight to get a chance to buy one of them. He gulped, and Artlan added calmly, “Some heroes don’t do it alone.”