The person did not smile, act friendly, or do anything. His face remained calm, but when their eyes met, he seemed to realize that he should smile a little as a greeting. He raised the corner of his mouth, making the face so beautiful it resembled a woman's face and looked friendlier in an instant.
But no matter how breath-taking the face was for Raydel, this person was a man. He had silver hair draping around his face, tall and looked like he was in his late twenties. His blue eyes searched through Raydel's entire body before stopping at the hand holding the root of all problems, the coin.
"You act like you know me," the villain said.
Raydel froze, trying to be careful.
Of course, if one read the novel 'Ways to Become the No.1 Hunter,' one would know this man, the antagonist of the story.
Deather.
In the novel, Han would have to face a number of obstacles before becoming the No.1 hunter, including fighting against top hunters to take their rankings. So, the last boss, or the final challenge for Han, must be the strongest hunter, the No.1 hunter.
Deather was the No.1 hunter.
He was the strongest hunter in the entire country.
Nobody knew what legendary artifacts he possessed, what power he had, or what he wanted. Everything remained a secret. The last time Raydel read the novel, Deather and Han were about to fight, and the result was not decided yet. The secrets about Deather hadn't been revealed yet since a reader like Raydel unfortunately died too fast. So, he never knew how the fight progressed.
Talking about the novel, the man should appear far later in the story!
"Your legendary artifact," Deather repeated, his eyes looking down at Raydel's hands again, "...looked special."
Raydel tried to pull himself out of the man's grab but failed. He felt like a trapped rat, so he tried to regain his composure and told him the truth.
"If you take it, everyone here will die."
"I think so," Deather simply replied. "The boss in the legendary artifact must have been bloodthirsty then. The more savage, the more special. It must be a strong boss and that makes me want it even more."
For high-ranking hunters, they no longer chased after legendary artifacts for prize, but rather for their own power. He might be able to sense that there was an S-rank boss in the coin. When top hunters killed each other, they needed to predict what sort of power the other side had, so most of them practiced reading the power of others.
And they must know the way to tame such a wild boss as well.
Other hunters witnessed the arrival of the high ranks and stood still, afraid of doing anything because they knew how powerful they were. Deather moved. Raydel's body tensed, thinking that he would pull out his weapon and start slashing at him. So, he looked over the terrified hunters into the train and met eyes with a person silently walking out of it.
Raydel prepared to throw away his pride, opening his mouth. "Han…." But Deather pulled out his weapon first.
His eyes widened, but then he realised that the thing in Deather's hand was not a weapon.
It was… a black card.
The black card[1].
The man held the card in between his middle and forefinger and spoke with the same tone.
"I'll give you everything you want in exchange for that legendary artifact, sounds great?"
Raydel did not say anything. "..."
He forgot that the antagonist was the leader of a large guild and that he would be addressed as 'the boss' by his subordinates throughout the whole novel!
He finally realized what the perfume scent was. It was the scent of the rich. Raydel was not pissed because he met a rich person. He just did not like the fact that the person thought he could buy him so easily. Everyone's lives depended on him and this coin. He could never throw away Cthulhu unless he had no better option.
Most importantly, I already sacrificed my middle finger. Why would I give it up so easily?
His middle finger was throbbing with pain as if to protest the idea as well.
Moreover, something had been bothering him all this time.
"You guys came late because you want us to kill each other so that only a few of us are left, making it easy for you to take the legendary artifact for yourself, right?" Raydel asked. At that moment, Sheryl, who was lying wounded in the train, flashed into his thoughts, helping him make a decision.
Raydel's eyes shone with anger.
"I'm not giving you the legendary artifact."
So, there was only one option left.
'Why didn't you call me for help when they hurt you?'
Raydel shouted over Deather's shoulders.
"Han! Help!"
Eventually, the person who never asked for help from the protagonist was willing to swallow his promise.
Deather turned around the moment Raydel finished speaking. The high-ranking hunters that were watching threw him a dagger. He took it and instantly parried Han's attack with it.
In that split second, the protagonist struck Deather nonstop, but the villain could block all of it.
However, Deather still held on tight to Raydel's shoulder with his other hand so Raydel had to stay close to the fight. The thundering sounds of steels clashing into each other gave him goosebumps. He felt like the blades could at any moment hit him as he glanced at his shoulder and then at Deather, who managed flicked the black card away. Now that he could hold the dagger firmly, he continued the position he used to take Han's attacks.
The other high-ranking hunters wanted to come help, but Deather shook his head and said, "it's okay."
Raydel looked at the fight, finding it so hard to believe that it was real. The villain in a luxurious suit and the protagonist in a black t-shirt and an overcoat. This did not belong here. Deather was looking at Han, interested. He took a step back and pulled Raydel along with him toward the dungeon's entrance.
"Who are you?" Deather asked. "A friend?"
"Yes."
"No!"
Han and Raydel answered at the same time.
Raydel tightened his lips, feeling sure that Han must have heard the denial with his two ears. He glanced at Raydel with no expression, so Raydel looked the other way.
At the same time, Deather who heard the two answers smiled softly.
He thought, no rank.
Deather planted his feet into the ground, arms shaking a little because of the white-haired guy's attacks. He did not utilize any power, yet he strangely wielded so much force. His attacks were fast and powerful, so Deather chose not to counterattack and watched him closely.
With his experiences, he knew right away that this hunter did not have a rank.
No rank, Deather thought before stepping forward. He tried stabbing at Han's flank with his dagger to see if he could block it.
Clang!
It appeared that he could.
Deather narrowed his eyes. The man looked young. He could not be any older than nineteen, but he sure knew how to fight.
"Who are you?" he asked again. "Which guild?"
At that moment, the black-haired boy that had the legendary artifact started to wriggle. When Deather turned to see what was happening, he took a full bite at his hand.
Then, his white-haired friend punched him right in the cheek!
"Deather!"
The other high ranks cried when they saw the strongest hunter made a mistake and got punched so hard blood was streaming down from his nose. Deather wiped off the blood with the back of his hand, baffled. It was not for the fact that Han could reach him, but for the immense amount of power he had.
Deather looked up and stopped everyone in their way when they saw that he had his dagger pointing at the white-haired guy's stomach.
Han froze, his entire body tensed.
"You put up a great fight, but it's too direct," Deather said while his blood dripped down to his chin and fell onto his white shirt.
"You…."
He suddenly sensed something sharp pointing at his throat.
When he turned to look, he saw the boy with black hair holding a dagger at his throat.
So, they help each other? Deather thought. But he said they aren't friends? So, they're partners? But this was no way something that could take him down. The other high-ranking hunters pointed their weapons at the black-haired boy. However, he let go of Raydel willingly. At the same time, everyone's phones rang, notifying that there was a message coming in.
[Time's up.]
Hopelessness took over the other hunters' faces.
Raydel let out a huge sigh, his hands still gripping the coin so tight it hurt. The time for the fight for the legendary artifact was over now. No one could take it away until the government announced another fight for a legendary artifact, or the PVP mode. The chaos had ended.
Finally, it ended…
[Successfully cleared an A-rank dungeon.]
[Start the process of distributing prize to 'Raydel Klein.']
Ting.
[Body Strength +1]
Ting.
[Dagger Skill +1]
Raydel frowned. He noticed that the others were looking around as if they heard the weird noises as well. The dungeon was destroyed, so everyone was leveling up both physically and skill-wise. But the 'ting' sounds rang so many times it made Raydel's head throb.
Suddenly, Han walked past Deather to him.
"Why did you block me?"
The other person got straight to the point.
This again? Raydel thought before stepping away from the protagonist.
"We stopped being friends, didn't we? What did you not understand about it?"
"Stopped being friends? Who told you?"
"But you…," Raydel stopped mid-sentence. He was right, Raydel thought. According to the novel, Raydel betrayed Han, ran into a trap, and died. It did not say anything about Han saying he no longer wanted to be friends with Raydel.
"You… said,'' Raydel mumbled. "I tried contacting you before, but you didn't even care." That happened before his soul got sucked into this body. Wasn't it supposed to say that the protagonist did not want to be his friend?
Han stared at him.
"I never said that."
"..."
Raydel did not know what to say.
"Then say it now."
Silence. Then Han spoke slowly word by word.
"We are still friends."
His tone was serious.
"And unblock me."
"..."
"Excuse me, guys. Hey, you high ranks! Does anybody have healing power?" Raydel heard Shane's speaking.
Raydel remembered something. "Sheryl!"
His care for Sheryl took over. He rushed past Han and headed straight to the train. Sheryl was still alive, but her face was pale and her body was covered in sweat. Raydel cradled her in his arms as a high-ranking hunter was treating her wounds. His headache returned, blurring his vision, but he still held his eyes open.
Raydel did not notice at all that the protagonist was watching him.
Han followed him into the train. He silently observed Raydel, watching him holding the wounded woman in his arms and the concerned expression on his face. Throughout their friendship, he had never seen Raydel this worried and honest toward anybody else. In a situation with several injured hunters, Raydel would normally whisper to Han how stupid the other hunters were to let themselves be hurt like that.
'I wouldn't be so stupid.'
The Raydel that Han knew was a cruel and heartless person.
He would never protect anyone with his body until he was hurt this bad.
Just like that moment in the S-rank dungeon in the hospital, the Raydel that he knew would never rush in to take the attack for him.
He would let someone else take it while he ran away.
"There's an ambulance outside. Can you carry her?" the high-ranking hunter asked.
Han was pulled back to reality. He noticed that Raydel was barely able to stand, having to put his hands on the ground to support himself. Raydel only focused on carrying the wounded woman that he forgot he was full of injuries as well, so Han walked in.
The headache worsened so badly Raydel felt dizzy. As he was trying to stand up, he heard a sound in his head.
[You acquired a legendary artifact.]
Ting. Ting. Ting.
[You acquired a new skill, 'Boss Summoning.']
[Boss storage of your legendary artifact has increased: 2/5]
[Current Status: There is a conflict between the two bosses. Improve the relationship immediately.]
What?
Someone slid their arms across Raydel's back and supported him.
Then, darkness swallowed everything.
"..."
When Raydel finally gained his consciousness, he found that he was no longer in the dungeon.
He… was in a hospital.
The room was bright. Sunlight of a late morning was gently shining through the fluttering curtains. Raydel was laying down, staring at the ceiling for a while before looking around the empty patient room. If he guessed it right, this was… the same hospital that he had just got out of.
"In a hospital again," Raydel whispered to himself and laughed sheepishly at his own bad luck.
Raydel rubbed his eyes to get rid of the sleepiness. When he flipped to the side, a coin fell out of his shirt.
He picked it up and looked at it.
It was Cthulhu's coin.
Raydel sighed before picking up his phone from the table next to the bed and turning it on.
The phone battery was full. Someone probably charged it for him. Raydel unlocked the phone screen and was shocked when he was flooded by a ton of messages from the government. All of them were from the hunter's status page.
On the status page appeared a mission marked deep red.
[A conflict is found in your skill page.]
[An urgent mission from the anonymous No.1 boss.
Goal: Eliminate the anonymous No.2 boss that is in the legendary artifact's area.
Detail: The anonymous No.1 boss is extremely annoyed that it has to share a living space with the anonymous N0.2 boss…]
Raydel locked the phone screen immediately.
What kind of stupid mission is this?
After sitting there feeling confused for a moment, Raydel unlocked the phone screen again. Did this mean that Cthulhu was the anonymous No.1 boss and the Plague Doctor was the No.2?
"..."
Could bosses really fight each other?
"Just let him live there too," Raydel said to the coin.
Someone softly knocked on the door while he was scratching his head. Then, two people in a suit with a hawk-shaped badge, the Hunter Guild's symbol, walked in. Both looked to be in their twenties and had a professional vibe around them. They greeted Raydel with a polite smile.
"Are you Mr. Klein?" one of them asked. "We are the representatives from Hunter Guild. We'd like to perform a physical examination for you."
This must be one of the government's welfares, Raydel thought. He pocketed the coin and adjusted the bed, so he lay in the fowler's position. He let them start the procedure. A physical examination performed by a hunter was different from the one performed by doctors and nurses because its purpose was to see if there were any energy and curses left. It was also to determine if a hunter should apply for a rank test.
The representatives from Hunter Guild looked at the tablet screen for a while before one of them spoke.
"Mr. Klein, I think you should do a rank test."
Raydel smiled and answered briefly, "ah, okay." He looked outside the window at a little bird chirping on a tree branch for a minute before turning back to the representatives from Hunter Guild. The guild's badges on their suits sparkled, looking nice. It reminded Raydel of the question that the villain asked Han.
Of course, the villain must know whether the protagonist belonged to a guild.
"Are the other hunters that were in the same dungeon as me here in this hospital?"
"Yes, but some of them went home already."
"What about the woman named Sheryl?"
"Are you talking about Sheryl Watson? She's on the floor below you."
Raydel let out a sigh, relieved.
That meant Sheryl also survived…
After they finished the examination, the representatives said goodbye and left. When Raydel was the only one left in the room again, he reluctantly canceled the auction for the coin that he had set before getting stuck in the mutated dungeon. Someone even bid five thousand del for it. It was a shame that he couldn't have it. Raydel felt downcast. He did want the money, but for his own safety, he couldn't sell it yet.
He submitted evidence that he had the legendary artifact to the government.
The system processed the evidence for about five seconds before the reward was transferred to Raydel's account.
A prize of a thousand hundred del… this was such a huge amount of money for someone who was a fresh graduate in the past life like him.
It'd be great if I can use this to pay for Jinny's education and skating lessons, Raydel thought, but…
He tried typing in a request to distribute the prize to all the hunters that participated in the dungeon, but a message appeared…
[Failed. You don't have a recipient name.]
[Failed. You can't distribute the prize.]
"..."
He tried requesting it again, but the same messages still popped up.
I can't distribute the prize? Raydel thought before opening the rules of distributing the prize from a dungeon. He read through it and found one of the topics explaining what he was wondering. He tried transferring one thousand del out of the prize to Jinny's account.
[Failed. You can't distribute the prize.]
Raydel read the rules again.
The prize will be locked for twenty-four hours before it is allowed to be transferred to other accounts. This was the reason why he could not transfer it to Jinny.
But the targeted account must not belong to the hunters participating in the same dungeon. So, even though the prize was no longer locked, he still would not be able to distribute it to the others. The government probably kept a close eye on the prize at all times.
"..."
Then, what could he do to give others the prize?
"Why do they have to prevent hunters from sharing the prize? Everyone risks their lives in dungeons just the same," Raydel whispered angrily. There has to be some ways. As he searched for the way, someone knocked on the door. A nurse poked her head in to inform him.
"A government official asked to see you, Mr. Klein."
Government official?
Raydel nodded his head up. His eyes widened when he saw the guest walking in.
Deather, who wore an overcoat over a suit, headed straight to Raydel. He dragged a chair from the dining table and placed it next to the bed before sitting down, giving him no chance to protest. Raydel smelled his perfume. Deather waited till the nurse left before starting speaking.
"I didn't come to take your legendary artifact," he said with a rhythm that sounded like he was manipulating a prey. "Raydel Klein, on Monday the 17th of this month, you were one of the survivors from the S-rank dungeon in Helen Hospital. I want you to tell me what happened."
"..."
Deather works for the government? Raydel could not remember reading about this in the novel.
"Are you lying?" Raydel said.
Deather shrugged before pulling out his staff ID card and showing it to Raydel, but he frowned, not buying it so easily. So, Deather typed a contact number into his phone and handed it to Raydel.
"Do you want to talk to the president?"
"...No."
Fine.
"What happened…."
Raydel had to be polite when the other person came as a representative of the government.
"Before I tell you anything, can I ask you if twenty-one people died in the dungeon we met?"
"Eighteen people died."
"Eighteen," Raydel repeated. "Before I went into the dungeon, I met an old lady who predicted that twenty-one people would die."
"Predicted? Not many hunters have the power to predict. We're lucky that she's not so accurate."
Yes, Raydel was happy that her prediction was wrong. But he had not said what he wanted yet.
"She'll appear again."
Deather tilted his neck.
"What do you mean?"
"Because she… he… loves chaos," Raydel said. "He always disguises as a human and leaves some clues about himself until hunters find out where he lives and defeat him."
"How do you know that?"
Because he read it in the novel, obviously.
This information came from chapter seventy-five of the novel, involving a mutated dungeon. But he could not answer it that way, so he said, "all you need to know is that he's a boss from an A-rank dungeon. But if you want to know his name and abilities ...."
Raydel raised his forefinger.
"You have to give me the names of the hunters that were in the underground dungeon in exchange."
Then, he downloaded a gold shop application. If the government would not let him transfer the money to others directly, he would buy them gold bars instead.
[1] A credit card with no spending limit