It all happened in an instant. The guards standing in front of the dungeon gate saw a figure coming out of it. They yelled at it to identify itself, but it simply ran away and while they could've run after it, they had to react quickly as the Japanese team came out of the dungeon next.
Everyone in the area gasped as the dungeon pulsed and slowly started to close itself. Wisps of magic crackled all around the gate as it shrunk. It took only a few seconds for the gate to completely disappear and for a yell of anguish to be heard.
"What happened?!" One of the staff members of the KHG yelled as he ran towards the Japanese team. The guards would've done so too, but the reporters immediately spun into action and tried to approach the hunters.
"We told you to stay away from the area! We won't tell you again!" The leader of the security team exclaimed as he pointed his handgun at one of the reporters. He then turned his head to one of his men and snapped at him.
"What are you doing you dumbass?! Go after that guy who left the dungeon first! He wasn't with those damn Japanese hunters! "
As chaos erupted all around the area, the leader of the hunter team could only punch the ground in frustration.
'I'll find you...Whoever you are.' She swore in her mind. One simply didn't ruin a dungeon that she had paid for with her own money, especially when she was already in an irritable mood before even entering the dungeon.
She snapped at her subordinates too.
"Go after him too!"
Meanwhile, Seneos was already using his years of moving through the streets of that corner of the city to escape as fast as he could. He knew a lot of the shady alleys and the places where they would never look for him.
He ran in one of those alleys and ended up slipping up on the wet ground. He hit his head on the concrete and held it in pain. He got up quickly and made a dash for an abandoned building that he had spotted many times during the last years. It was simply an apartment building that had been destroyed during a dungeon outbreak. Seneos hadn't been around that area during the outbreak, and he could only thank god, as he looked around and saw the damages that had been done to the building.
Dungeon outbreaks were quite infamous due to how much misery they brought. They were calamities and were easy to avoid which made them even more annoying. Simply because everyone knew it was easy to prevent them, and yet in many situations, no one could stop them. It was quite frustrating, but Seneos didn't know what made them so difficult to stop even though most people knew how to do it.
However as he laid on an old couch and breathed a sigh of relief, he could only thank that specific dungeon outbreak in a burst of selfishness. No one would come looking for him here simply because it was so close to the playground that it seemed almost dumb to hide there.
He had learned that tactic from Jeol, to hide close to your enemy who would assume you tried to get as far away as possible. He really hoped it worked. The mere fact that the agents of the KHG pointed their guns at the reporters was a statement of how much authority the organization held. Or rather, how much power the hunters and everyone linked to them had.
Seneos looked down as he felt his phone vibrate in his left pocket. Taking it out, he saw that it was Jeol calling him and instantly answered. She always messaged him, so this time it was something important.
"What is it, Jeol ?" He asked before she could speak. He heard many voices in the background and furrowed his brows when he heard Jeol respond in a small voice.
"I'm in a meeting...A meeting with representatives of the Black Mamba Clan."
"WHAT?!"
Seneos jumped out of the catch and nearly dropped his phone in the process. He quickly secured it in his hands and blinked a few times.
"The black mamba clan? I'm pretty sure that's the name of one of Korea's top hunter's associations, right?" He asked her and heard her hum in response. Out of all the voices, he could hear in the background, he recognized Gumiho and gasped. What was Jeol doing with that creepy man?
Seneos wasn't exactly fond of the man who had left him feeling so uncomfortable. He was just too excited and friendly for someone with such an insidious smile. The problem must've come from the paranoia that Seneos had with powerful people. He just felt weird around them.
"That's right...I'm busy at the moment, so I'll tell you more after the meeting has ended. I received a notification though. There is a dungeon that opened nearby, a D-Rank battle type. So lots of enemies but it's just filled with goblins from what I heard. Those little green savages aren't that dangerous and there are already a lot of low-rank hunters on the case. You can go for...Well you know."
Jeol was surrounded so of course, she couldn't afford to say too much. However, Sen knew what she was talking about. She had been there when Vodka first explained his role as a Dungeon Overlord, so she wanted him to go in that dungeon and kill some goblins to later get them as his first soldiers.
As Sen pondered over this idea, he suddenly heard Gumiho who had taken the phone right from Jeol's hands.
"Hey, Seneos! How is the best friend of my new assistant doing?!" The man exclaimed, making Sen recoil because of how loud he was. Before the poor hunter could answer, the eccentric man spoke again.
"Actually never mind that, I just wanted to tell you something. No need to go to that dungeon. There are so many hunters who already accepted the job, you'll only get scraps. There is another dungeon though, in Gangbuk. I'll send you the detail via my dear assistant's phone!" The excited man said, and Seneos couldn't help but freeze. ( Gangbuk is a district of the city of Seoul, located north of the city. )
"...That's right at the other side of Seoul...And why are you giving me that information ?" His paranoia came with full force as he questioned the officiate of the KHG who merely laughed.
"Bah! The other officiates are all showing favoritism towards their favorite hunters! Dear Jeol over here doesn't go to dungeons, despite being a hunter. So instead I'm going to show favoritism towards you!"
"Uh....Alright...Thanks." Was Seneos' response. He couldn't very well process what was going on, and he was given the opportunity to when Gumiho suddenly giggled and hung up.
'.....That guy is so damn shady! As if I'm going to trust him!' Seneos told himself as he shook his head. He wasn't going to openly show his feelings towards the officiate, so as to not antagonize someone so powerful, but he also wasn't going to trust anything the man said.
In the end, Seneos was left to wonder if he should go to that goblin dungeon or not, and was given help in his thinking as Vodka's voices suddenly reached his ears.
Meanwhile, at the KHG's Headquarters, Jeol multiplied the niceties and small jokes as she talked with the representatives of the Black Mamba Clan. The clans were often either made by powerful families of hunters, like noble families of old, or by groups of hunters who wanted to consolidate their power.
They were in a chaotic state during their first decade, but nowadays they were immensely powerful and few were the people or organizations who could go against them.
Jeol knew she couldn't afford to offend anyone in that room, but she also needed to build relationships. Those people could get her to new heights if she played her card right. She could've definitely gotten into their favor faster if she had used her charms, and given some of the lustful stares she received she knew it would work, but she wasn't the type to do that.
Her thirst for power stopped where her honor started.
Yet, there was someone else whom she needed to get closer to, her self-proclaimed mentor Gumiho. She tried to get him into the conversation, but his own phone started to ring. He received unimpressed stares from the representatives who weren't too happy with him, however, Jeol could see that they held no power over the man. He was doing whatever he wanted, outright ignoring them and leaving all the work to her. He had been talking to them while she was on the phone, but now he was simply acting as if he was alone in that small room. She was lucky to have trained in preparation, knowing how dangerous the political world was due to her years of spying on her superiors.
He laughed, small bursts of excitement being his trademark apparently, and answered his phone. From the other side, she could hear the voice of the middle-aged man who had previously chastised him because of the coffee machine.
"Oh, what do you want C ?"
"I received news about a dungeon in our district. Apparently, it's a battle type filled with goblins and the staff members there.....They said that there is a high risk of a dungeon outbreak."
If Jeol had to describe the tone of the man, she would say all the work he was doing could be heard in that raspy voice of his. He was tired beyond belief. Perhaps it was physical exhaustion, perhaps he was just done with the world.
Jeol could swear she saw Gumiho's smile drop for a second, his eyes gaining a sharp glint, but it came back right after.
"My, C, what are you talking about?! Those are goblins! Small green little shits who can't make clothes or even actual weapons! They won't cause an outbreak. The staff members must have just been scared because of their number. Goblins reproduce like crazy after all. Just tell them to change the dungeon rank...And also, go to Gangbuk. There is an interesting dungeon there." Gumiho said, changing the topic of the conversation. However, the man named C wouldn't have it.
"I'm going to see what's all the fuss about the goblin dungeon. I'm not going to the other side of the city just because there is an 'interesting' dungeon there. Just sell the rights for it to a clan or whatever...."
The man hung up and Gumiho's smile once again faltered.
"Pheww.....Well, you were talking about the Non-Human pact I presume ?" He asked, his attention finally returning to the people sitting in the room. He pinched his nose as the smoke released by all the cigarettes that had been lit hit him.
Jeol heard him and wanted to correct him, however, someone spoke before her. It was the only person in the room who hadn't spoken yet.
"Absolutely not, you horrendous fox." Came the powerful voice of a woman who straightened herself in her seat as she met Gumiho's eyes.
"Ohhh....Well, let's talk about that then! I don't give a flying fuck about your boring talks of contracts.....Dear President of the Black Mambas~"
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