“Mr. Ki-Young, what’s written on there?”

“Oh, Miss Hee-Young. It’s a story about Gedric and Juliena. I thought I should ugh… know about it since I have this sword,” I answered.

“Oh, are you talking about the book that’s inside the room?” she asked.

“That’s right. It was worth a read since it sounded like a legendary story… hm… anyway, it was an interesting read,” I told her.

“That’s great. Could you tell me what it’s about?” she asked.

Sun Hee-Young looked really curious. On our way back to Lindel, I noticed her glancing at me, so I guess she was really curious. Aside from when we went volunteering together, we never really talked, so I thought that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to talk to her. Jung Ha-Yan watched as Sun Hee-Young grabbed my arm, but that only lasted for a moment as she looked as if she wanted me to tell the story. I was sure that even Jung Ha-Yan had gotten bored of us just walking.

‘It’s not a long story anyways.’

I thought that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to enjoy the story while heading toward our destination.

“The story begins exactly 10,000 years ago,” I said.

“10,000 years ago?”

“Yes. It takes place before the Holy Empire, Benigoa, appeared. It said that there was a devastating war during that time; a religious war between the followers that believed in the God of Curses and the followers that believed in the God of Blessings,” I continued.

“Ohh…”

“Have you heard of it?” I asked Sun Hee-Young.

“I have heard of it since the current Holy Empire exists because of the religious war during that time. It’s an interesting story,” she answered.

“During that time, Juliena was a saint that served the God of Curses and Gedric was a holy man that served the God of Blessings. They never encountered each other, but they always stood on the frontline while listening to stories about each other. It was said that the two met on the frontline 15 years after the war started. Anyway, a large battle took place where the majority of the soldiers started fighting,” I said.

“Battle of the Berman Cliffs,” Sun Hee-Young said.

“Do you know of it?” I asked.

“The majority of people that devote themselves to the shrine know about it. We didn’t learn much about Juliena and Gedric, but… if the book that you’re carrying is true, then it’ll be a new page in history,” she answered.

“I’m not sure how the people of the Holy Empire will react, but… if we’re lucky, that’s a possibility. Haha. Anyway, many followers died and as Gedric and Juliena fought until the very end, they fell off the cliff and the war ended that day,” I told her.

“What happened after?” she asked.

“There aren’t any records of that day, however, it’s written here that Juliena and Gedric returned to their shrines exactly one year later. Details were written in Juliena’s diary, but there’s information that I’m embarrassed to say, so it’s difficult for me to explain,” I said.

I was certain that Sun Hee-Young had an idea about it. Gedric and Juliena survived together for nearly a year in a cave on the cliff they fell off of and in the end, they started to have feelings for each other. When I vaguely explained what happened in the cave, I noticed the others nodding. I must have sounded like I excluded the extreme parts of the story and only told the exciting parts because Park Deok-Gu or Dr. Love slowly started moving toward me.

“I think that’s when Gedric and Juliena started seeing each other. Since the war entered a lull, they had more opportunities to meet. Both sides must have been severely injured because of the Battle of the Berman Cliffs. Naturally, both gods tried to separate them, but they were so deeply in love with each other that all they cared about was each other,” I said.

“I think I understand why they ended up in this situation,” Sun Hee-Young said.

“Their actions caused both gods to become angry and during all of this, Gedric created a small shrine within the God of Blessings’ shrine… and that was the Cursed Shrine, the same dungeon we were just in. They grew their love there and in the end, the gods’ anger caused them to bind the two to the shrine,” I explained.

“Oh…”

The God of Curses cursed Juliena so that she wouldn’t be able to escape the small room within the Cursed Shrine and the God of Blessings blessed Gedric so that he would always long for Juliena. They made it so that he would always wander around the Cursed Shrine searching for Juliena. Naturally, the God of Blessings didn’t allow Gedric to find Juliena.

“That’s so sad.”

When Jung Ha-Yan said that, Sun Hee-Young nodded and I continued.

“No wonder they got cursed. Creating another shrine below the shrine that serves a different god… it’s an idea that’s very difficult to understand. I’m sure the Undead that was outside the Cursed Shrine was influenced by the curse that the God of Blessings had placed on them.”

“In Gedric’s diary, it mentioned that the God of Blessings blessed them with eternal life, but to them, it was no different from a curse. That’s the end of the story. Juliena waited for Gedric who would never find her and Gedric would forever get lost in the shrine while struggling to find Juliena,” I said.

It wasn’t a serious story, but I guess Jung Ha-Yan was really touched by it because she was already tearing up.

“I-It’s sad. She had been waiting for the person that would never find her…”

Naturally, I patted her head and as if this was her chance, she jumped into my arms.

“Then are you saying that the Undead we found in the left room back then was Gedric, hyung-nim?” Park Deok-Gu asked.

“Yeah, that’s right,” I answered.

While we were searching for potential survivors, we found Gedric and a group of Undead. Maybe they were influenced by Juliena’s death, but they couldn’t move anymore and for a long time, we couldn’t identify the Undead that we had discovered. We only found out the identity of one of them because it was holding an interesting item.

[Gedric’s Proposal Ring - Epic Rank]

[Resistant to Juliena’s curse.]

When I looked at the item that was sitting in my hand, I had an idea as to how this dungeon was originally supposed to be taken over. Now, I understood why Kim Hyun-Sung always wandered around at night and what was the identity of the Undead that the former party had seen. The way to take control of the dungeon was to find the wandering Gedric. Basically, after defeating the monster named Gedric that would randomly spawn in the dungeon, the party would obtain the ability to resist the curse. It was a tricky method, which was expected for an epic-ranked dungeon.

The shrine was big and considering the possibility that the party may have never found Gedric, it was basically the same as having no way of taking control of the dungeon. They had no choice but to be exposed to Juliena’s curse and slowly die. As for our party, we found a way to resist the curse before finding Gedric. Of course, I knew for sure that Kim Hyun-Sung would have found Gedric sooner or later, but the result wasn’t bad at all.

“Love is definitely scary.”

“I agree.”

I could relate better than anyone else. It was obvious just by looking at Jung Ha-Yan who was in my arms.

Anyway, I had no choice but to gather information about Gedric. Even though Juliena’s ego was still asleep inside the sword, I didn’t know when she was going to wake up so I had to prepare for that day.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been here, but I don’t see the people that told us that they were going to bring reinforcements,” Park Deok-Gu pointed out.

“Who?” I asked.

“Old man Lee Seol-Ho,” he answered.

“Ohh. It’s possible that the Red Mercenary Guild hasn’t returned yet and I’m sure that there must have been other problems too. Honestly, we did take control of the dungeon faster than we thought,” I said.

“But still, shouldn’t they have at least brought other people? It was a good thing that you and bro Kim Hyun-Sung were there otherwise, we could have died,” he complained.

“I’m sure there’s a reason,” I told him.

‘Reason my ass…’

I knew for sure that they wanted us to die there because that would put them in a slightly advantageous situation. It may seem a bit iffy due to the timing, but it seemed like Lee Sang-Hee was thinking that Lee Seol-Ho and the other old gramps had a reason for not sending us support.

“You being too nice is a problem, hyung-nim,” Park Deok-Gu told me.

Both Park Deok-Gu and Jung Ha-Yan agreed, but something seemed strange about Sun Hee-Young.

‘I’m sure that she still doesn’t like those old gramps.’

Lee Seol-Ho and the other gramps were no different from the vagrants in the slums. They were useless and wouldn’t take matters into their own hands. They would sit in their seats and try to make a profit somehow. I had said this before, but the only difference between them and the vagrants in the slums was that the old gramps had been just a bit luckier. To Sun Hee-Young, they were nothing more than a lump of cancer to society.

‘I wonder how Ji-Hye is doing.’

I suddenly recalled the task I gave to Lee Ji-Hye. I was certain that she would complete the task I asked her to do almost perfectly, but since we finished earlier than expected, I couldn’t help but think that she wasn’t done with it yet. Just then, someone ran up to us.

‘Park Ga-Hyeon?’

In front of us was Park Ga-Hyeon, the same person Lee Sang-Hee asked to head to the guild first. Naturally, I sensed that there was something wrong with the way she ran toward us. I was looking forward to the news she had for us, but on the other hand, I felt a bit on edge because she seemed very anxious and a bit worried for someone who wanted to deliver good news. When she arrived in front of Lee Sang-Hee, she spoke while catching her breath. “Ha… ha… sub-guild master.”

“Did you deliver the news? Why are you…”

“I finished everything you asked me to do, but… I-I need to tell you something… I had no choice but to come…” Park Ga-Hyeon said.

“Calm down and tell us the news,” Lee Sang-Hee said.

She seemed worried. She looked like she was thinking about whether it was okay to say it in front of us, but I guess she made up her mind. Not long after, I heard her voice. “The… guild master passed away.”

“Excuse me?” Lee Sang-Hee asked.

“The guild master… passed away,” she said again.

“What are you… the curse should’ve been broken…” 

“He passed away exactly three days ago. He passed away in his sleep… I-I thought that it would be best to tell you first…” Park Ga-Hyeon said.

“...”

I noticed Lee Sang-Hee biting down her lips and I also saw Park Ga-Hyeon crying. Even though I had never laid my eyes on the Blue Guild’s guild master, I guess he wasn’t a bad person. Everyone was saddened by his death.

Honestly, the situation wasn’t bad for our party because if there was no guild master, then it would be easier for us to get power, however…

‘So suddenly?’

The timing of his death was definitely strange because it was an advantageous timing for the old gramps for it to be a simple, natural death. It could be dangerous if a person was exposed to a curse for a long time, but for some reason…

‘Was it Lee Seol-Ho?’

It was only an assumption, but it was convincing.

“Let’s hurry to the guild… I know you’re all tired, but let’s walk… faster,” Lee Sang-Hee said.

“Okay.”

It was what we wanted and just like that, the expedition started walking with a slightly heavy heart. Maybe it was because of the unexpected news, but Lee Sang-Hee was quietly leading the group and the other party members walked silently while comforting Lee Sang-Hee.

The Free City of Lindel came into view. Before we reached the city, Lee Ji-Hye came out to meet us with the old gramps. Seeing how there were a few members of the Black Swan Guild as well, I guess they wanted to show that they were heading toward us. I couldn’t help but laugh because of their ridiculous actions.

“Congratulations on your safe return, Miss Lee Sang-Hee. We were just about to leave…”

“More than that, what happened to the guild master, Mr. Seol-Ho? Did he really pass away?” Lee Sang-Hee asked.

“Yes, he passed away peacefully,” Lee Seol-Ho answered.

“Wh-Where’s his body?” she asked.

“We moved his body to the basement of the guild for now. We were actually thinking about how we should hold the funeral. It happened so suddenly three days ago…” he replied.

“Ah…”

I was no longer interested in their conversation. While Lee Seol-Ho and Lee Sang-Hee continued their conversation, I looked at Lee Ji-Hye and when I tapped my head with my finger, she smiled and tapped her leg.

‘I knew it.’

I should probably listen to the details.