< Curse Contract >

If it was to this extent, you could call it a scam tour.

The old antique castle had collapsed down like it was hit by concentrated bombing. It was broken, cut, sliced, and burned. It was all cleanly pushed out like a demolition specialty team had all mobilized.

It was the same for the previously tranquil lake. Riette had fallen in a few times so the blue water surface turned murkily gray. The underwater salamanders had been startled by the poison and came up, and then were chopped up by the aftereffects of the fight. When the number of monsters decreased to under a certain amount, the circumstances were the same for the appearing 1st floors boss monster.

The water dragon that had raised its head awesomely in its own way, became Riettes stepping stone and was shoved underwater. Then, it was grazed and hit by Sung Hyunjaes electric shocks and was darkened black, and as it was struggling frantically, it was cut lengthwise with the words youre in the way. Up to that point didnt take even 3 minutes.

Still, it was an A-Rank dungeons middle boss, so to think that it went to the grave as a bystander[1]. It was to the point that I felt sorry.

Anyways, the tourist site that Sung Hyunjae-ssi recommended became a sight that you wouldnt want to look at even if you were paid to. Just look at the corpses piled on the lakeside. It was a relief that it would be reset; if it didnt, the harm done to Soodam Guild would be no jok Right, the guild leader was already beat up. It was to the point of not having any more harm to do. Were those guys even alive now?

To think that there are two more of them.

I wondered who the remaining two were. It wasnt that there werent people I couldnt guess about, but I didnt know for certain. I thought they were in the higher ranks of the ranking competitions, but there was the possibility that they didnt participate at all. The goal of privileges coming and going behind it was big for participation in the ranking competitions, so if they were Hunters who acted alone with personalities like Riettes, they couldve had no interest.

Since fighting in a prepared ring while following rules, gave a different feeling than that dogfight right now.

It looks like it is staring to calm down, right?

At my question, Noah tilted his head slightly.

-Still, if we rashly approach, it could become dangerous.

If we go down, the Seseong Guild Leaders side should be better.

Sung Hyunjae would be less swayed by his emotions than Riette. First of all, he was also older.

-It seems like you are closer to the Seseong Guild Leader than I had thought.

Noah said, moving the tips of his wings and turning the direction. I mean, what kind of terrible misunderstanding.

It is just a thoroughly business relationship. The moment it seems like we will not be beneficial to each other, we will be complete strangers.

If I was a normal F-Rank Hunter like before the regression, would that person have even glanced at me? In the first place, we didnt have a point of contact before. Sung Hyunjae wouldnt have had a bit of interest in me, and I thought he was a bit cool but the disgustingly annoying ranked 1st just that level of an impression. Right now, he was irritatingly amazing, so he seemed like an even more of an irritating person.

Why was my skill so compatible with that person of all people? I mean, it was a useless skill to me, but it wouldve been better if it was a skill that was only good for me. It was problem because it was good for the kids.

Ah, how annoying.

Do you want more cheesecake?

Seeing how he brought one whole cake, wouldnt it be that he liked it? I fed one slice to Noah, and put the remaining one in my mouth. I threw the emptied box and plate into the air. Trash disposal was through the dungeon reset.

Actually, several F-Ranks dungeons were used instead of landfills. Though there were voices worried over whether there would be side effects.

Sung Hyunjae and Riette were standing where the castle was, leaving about a hundred meter distance in between. It was region where it was more cleared away, so I could see the wreckage of buildings here and there.

For the result, would it be Sung Hyunjaes win by technicality[2]?

Riettes attacking power was no joke, but that needed to hit the mark, in order for there to be an effect. The speed also wasnt overwhelmingly superior, so with the scam skill called combat foresight, she couldnt cause decent harm to Sung Hyunjae.

On the other hand, Sung Hyunjae could know his opponents movements ahead of time, so it was a much more disadvantageous fight for Riette. If it wasnt for the poison, that is.

An S-Rank poison skill isnt a easy thing to go up against.

If it was Yoohyun, he would be able to burn it, but with Sung Hyunjaes skills, it seemed like it was hard to completely push it away. Maybe because a miasma that spread like fog was a wide-range tool that made it useless even if you predicted it, Sung Hyunjae couldnt properly approach, and with attacking from afar, there was no way Riette couldnt avoid with her abilities. In the end, rather than the two people, only the innocent surroundings were destroyed.

Still, Riette had more injuries. Sung Hyunjae was annoyingly fine. On top of that, that white coat didnt even get dirty. Did it have something like a cleanliness skill?

Can we go closer?

I asked, coming down at a place slightly apart from Sung Hyunjae. The eyes that turned to look toward us was chillingly fierce. Noah, who had released the beast transformation, reflexively drew one step back.

Of course, its okay. Rather, I want to ask you to come over.

The voice was one step lower than normal.

The baby dragon stays there, without moving. Maybe because I had to struggle because of the poison, its irritating.

Adding to that, there should be a difference in stats. Noah had uneasy eyes, but I could guess why he asked me to come, so I walked over.

When I got closer and saw, Sung Hyunjae also wasnt completely fine. Though that was probably why he called me over. It seemed like he couldnt completely avoid the miasma, and was poisoned. Especially the color of his left hand that was lightly injured directly, was definitely different.

It seems the performance of detoxifying items are not as good as expected.

If they werent good, I couldnt have been this fine. Even if they are the same S-Rank poison skills, a curse and poison dragon types is much stronger. If they are also followed by stats, its even more dangerous.

Sung Hyunjae said, making to wrap his left arm around me. That was indeed so. Attack skills were affected a lot by stats, so Riettes poison would be stronger than Noahs. In the first place, the possibility of the types being different was also high. Even if it was an S-Rank detoxifying item, it would take quite a while for the detoxification.

When the talk of curse and poison dragon types came up, what I had briefly set aside came to mind, and a frown formed on its own. Just then, Riette strode over. I saw that her clothes were ripped here and there, and there were also scars that hadnt been treated yet. The sight of her walking over, slightly flushed while holding an empty potion bottle in one hand, looked, how should I say it, reminiscent of a drunkard.

She seemed to be in a good mood like she was definitely drunk.

What, the poison completely disappeared? Thats a bit upsetting.

Riette, who stopped after leaving a roughly 5 meter gap, grumbled.

If you dont have enough potions, should I lend you some?

Its okay, darling. I have enough. Its a waste to erase them all right away. The performance of the potions is so good, that not a single fun memento is left.

They were fun mementos? I shouldnt have said anything, really.

Besides that, how did to you get to going into the dungeon where the Dio Valshesis came out?

The timing was too good to be called a coincidence. Riette replied, taking out a new potion.

Faible told me.

Noah did? Noah, who was slowly coming over while on guard against Riette and Sung Hyunjae like a cat with its fur bristling, suddenly stopped. Then, he sneaked a glance at Sung Hyunjae.

I got the gist of it. One of the investments Sung Hyunjae had on Noah, seemed to be Dio Valshesis Twin title.

I looked up at the man who was right in front of me. At the silent question, he smiled with his eyes.

Ill reply that its the correct answer.

Did you not know you would be thrown away when you told Noah about the dungeon?

Im not a prophet.

So he meant he didnt realize up to that point. It was certain that the cult had given the Dio Valshesis title to the siblings through Sung Hyunjae. It was probably to get rid of Sung Hyunjae and make S-Rank Hunters they could use instead.

And when Riette was ready, they dragged in MKC and Soodam and showed signs of disposing of Sung Hyunjae. It was highly likely that the cult side had purposely been obvious about it. If you included before the regression, they had known each other for a long time, so they wouldve expected that Sung Hyunjae wouldve come out like this, too.

If something was outside of expectations, would it be me?

Do they not know about my title?

If they knew, they wouldve aimed for when I wasnt there. Then, they mightve succeeded in disposing of Sung Hyunjae.

I said that Sung Hyunjae was superior[3] in the twos fight, but if you dragged out the poisoned time, there was enough of a chance of winning for Riette, too. If she had cooperated with the other Hunters and even received assistance, it wouldve been even more advantageous for Riette.

If they had made a proper team with Riette taking the lead and Choi Sukwon and Yoon Kyeongsoo protecting the healer, assistance, and long distance Hunters, it wouldve been really dangerous.

But Riette slipped out of the high rank curse and poison dragon types order. And that high rank curse and poison dragon type was

Riette. Can you tell me in detail about the situation when the Dio Valshesis appeared? Was there possibly some unusual point?

An unusual point? Besides the dungeon disappearing ah, there was something else like a boss monster before the Dio Valshesis appeared.

Another boss monster?

It was something like a large tiger, and we were going to catch it, but suddenly a black dragon appeared and ripped the tiger apart. A gold dragon appeared, too. And

Riette tilted her head and continued.

The Dio Valshesis was easier to catch, than I wouldve thought. It didnt particularly attack? That was a little weird. Was it hurt somewhere?

It was easy to catch, she said. At her words, I tightened my jaws.

It had been a little suspicious. A 5-years-later S-Rank dungeons curse and poison dragon type. The truth that just the two of them, Riette and Noah, had safely hunted the Dio Valshesis in that place, where the level of difficulty shouldve definitely been higher than right now.

Of course, Riette was plenty strong, and Noahs skills were useful. But it wouldnt have been to the level of bridging the gap of 5 years.

On top of that, if there was an original boss monster. Whoever the high rank curse and poison dragon type was, they had, in order for Riettes and her brothers title, purposely made the Dio Valshesis appear in the dungeon was it something like that?

They could make a curse and poison dragon appear in a dungeon. Intentionally.

The moment I realized that, the blood in my whole body ran cold.

It was a D-Rank dungeon. Even if it was a time when unexpected monsters appeared frequently, there were no cases where there was that big of a difference. Han Yoohyun, who had come to save me as if he had conspired or something with the Lauchtas that had appeared in the dungeon I had gone into.

As the puzzle pieces fit together