"Wait."
For a moment, Suho felt a certain deja vu.
Looking back, all the recent events were connected.
Gwanaksan Field.
Hyena Guild.
Seoul Station Field.
They all had one thing in common.
"… These are all places that were created a year ago."
[Ehh? Come to think of it! It seems that the aliens have been hiding on Earth since a year ago!]
"A year ago…"
Suho decided to start from there.
"Then shall we go in reverse order? If we search the dungeons, fields, and guilds that were created a year ago, will we come up with something else?"
If they find a demon, they might be able to strengthen Vulcan's Horns more.If any other traces of outer space are found, that would be enough.
[Oh! As expected, our Young Master is very clever! You've grown well. It seems like it was only yesterday when I was teaching addition and subtraction…]
Beru said.
It just occurred to him.
"Right. It was there."
The most famous area in Korea a year ago.
The scene of that horrific tragedy.
"In Magok."
Suho's eyes glimmered.
* * *
Hunter Association Surveillance Division.
"… No matter how much I brush some things off, other things keep coming out."
The more Han Jaehyuk investigated the base of the destroyed Hyena Guild, the more absurd it became.
Even 100 reports were not enough to list all the evil deeds the Hyena Guild had done.
Among them, matters related to crime were transferred to the police hunters.
The areas of intensive investigation by the association were those outside the boundaries of the law.
For example, things like 'stardust'.
… Stardust was not a drug per se.
So it wasn't really illegal to use it.
That means one can keep taking that unknown medicine.
The Hunter Association has continued to investigate how stardust was made and who made it, and this time they finally got a clue from the base of the Hyena Guild.
Ledger of transactions.
When and how much stardust the Hyena Guild purchased.
They found a ledger that recorded who sold it and how.
This made it clear that the Hyena Guild was one of the distributors of stardust.
Although, they weren't sure if they could even find out the main source of stardust.
"I didn't expect some people to buy stardust even when they were in debt."
"It could mean otherwise. If they went to a higher dungeon using stardust, they would have been able to pay off that much debt right away."
"So they were earning money to keep coming back to Hyena and buy stardust?"
"In the end, only the Hyena Guild kept sweeping up the money in the middle. What a really creative economy."
The real problem was that most of the hunters in the ledger were among the 'missing people for the past year'.
Most of them probably fell prey to the boss mob that controlled Hyena from behind.
However, as they continued to examine the ledger, they found one strange thing.
Among those missing were marked with a red line.
They were debtors who were not hunters.
"Who are these people? Is there something different about them?"
"Oh? Team Leader! Look here!"
A subordinate showed some data to team leader Han Jaehyuk.
"If you look here, the date when stardust was received in large quantities from Hyena and the date when these checked missing people disappeared are the same day. Each and everyone of them."
"… You're right."
"Does it have something to do with their disappearance?"
"Hmm."
There was only one thing that came to their minds right away.
"… Could it be that they were traded for stardust?"
"Humans for stardust?"
Team Leader Han Jaehyuk looked through the ledger from the beginning.
He eventually found something out.
"Most likely. There's the quantity of stardust bought from Hyena, but there's no indicated actual amount of money paid for it. It means they didn't pay."
"T-That's right. Could it be that they paid using people instead of money for stardust? Why?"
"We'll have to figure it out. If Hyena didn't make the stardust themselves, those who made it…"
Right then.
An urgent phone call arrived at the surveillance department.
"Team Leader! There's a new report!"
"What report? I'm busy right now…"
"Someone discovered the Stardust Factory…"
"Let's hurry up!"
* * *
When Han Jaehyuk received the report and arrived in front of the Seoul Station Field, everything was already over.
"What the hell just happened here?!"
There sat the survivors who were held in the factory and the hunters who rescued them, exhausted.
"It's a long story but…"
The raid leader explained everything that had happened.
"Factory? You mean they were making stardust in here? Who? Demon?"
The more he listened to the explanation, the more and more the puzzles of the case that he had been investigating lately were being put together in his head.
Right now, there was no time to sit quietly and ponder.
"What? Is that true? Are you saying there's still someone down there fighting the demons alone?"
"Yes. He said he would buy us time to escape… Please… Ack. Please hurry up and go in and save him!"
Meanwhile, Assistant Professor Lim had been stamping his feet, worrying about Suho's safety.
At least in his eyes, Suho seemed to have barely overcome the first demon he encountered.
However, there were as many as 10 such demons in the factory.
'I shouldn't worry, Suho said he would get out of there on his own. Although, he must have said it to reassure us. That rascal, seriously…! Just like in the dungeon at Korea University, he tried to sacrifice himself for us!'
Han Jaehyuk, who heard all the explanations, held the weapon he had brought with a grim expression.
"All right. We'll go right in."
Thud!
His weapons were two steel shields huge enough to cover half of his body.
The moment those two shields were lifted in his hands, a transparent shield was overlaid on his whole body.
'Iron Wall?!'
The moment he saw that, Assistant Professor Lim belatedly recognized who Team Leader Han Jaehyuk was.
He is a C-Class tanker whose skills were recognized enough to receive offers from various famous guilds.
Looking at it now, the hunters lined up behind him all looked great.
'Everything's going to be alright now! Suho will survive!'
Han Jaehyuk led the association's hunters into Seoul Station with a more reliable appearance.
Then, suddenly, looking back in front of the entrance, he asked one last time.
"Ah, by the way, what class is the hunter who remained below?"
"Uhh. That…"
The raid leader opened his mouth hesitantly with a slightly embarrassed expression.
"He's an E-Class collector."
"… What?"
"…"
The raid leader was embarrassed.
Suddenly, the association hunters felt like they were useless.
It was really embarrassing.
* * *
"I'll have to find out about Magok as soon as I get back."
Suho finished all his errands and got out of the factory.
However, when he tried to go up to the ground, he felt something regrettable.
It was because of Broki.
"I just had released such a strong guy as a shadow soldier, so it's a pity to send it away just like this."
The said shadow soldier lasted only for a day.
Its shadow release became futile.
Also, since Suho doesn't know when he'll be able to get a monster of this level again, he wanted to use it as efficiently as possible.
[Do you want to turn around? There are still many lizards nearby.]
"I should."
He decided to clean out the field.
"Broki."
[Grrr!]
Broki, who became a shadow soldier, lost his ability to speak.
However, his intellect was still the same, so there was no need for lengthy explanations.
"Catch them all."
[Grrrr!]
Like a typical beast, Broki had a very good sense of smell.
On Suho's command, Broki searched for lizards hiding all over the field and killed them all by biting them.
Then, he brought the bodies and arranged them in front of Suho one by one.
Suho's level was so high that the lizards don't give much effect any longer.
"All of these are money."
[Uhm. Young Master, since there are so many, I'd like to take a bite…]
"One bite…"
[This small one is definitely a worm.]
Beru tilted his head.
Suho,who had been hunting lizards with Broki, was wearing a crow mask.
Previously, he used it to pretend to be the youngest demon, but this time it was for a completely different reason.
In fact, this item had one minor function.
[Item: Crow Mask]
Difficulty to get: E
Type: Miscellaneous Item
A suspicious mask worn by demons.
Provides vision if used in a dark place.
Can be kept in inventory or sold in the shop.
'It's better than night vision goggles.'
Thanks to the increased senses stat, he was able to identify objects even in the dark. It was nice that the stuffiness wearing the crow mask disappeared completely.
Since each of the demons had one of these nice items, Suho brought all the masks of the demons in the factory.
But, the problem started from there.
"A demon!"
"Huh?"
[Ehh?]
The association hunters who entered the field just in time encountered Suho wearing a crow mask.
They had already heard from hunters outside that demons were wearing crow masks.
On top of that, a huge hyena, Broki, was standing next to Suho, looking absolutely evil.
"Attack!"
"No, wait…"
Before Suho could even open his mouth, the hunters' attacks started pouring in, aiming at Suho.
Ring!
[An urgent quest has arrived.]
Ring!
[Urgent Quest: Defeat the Enemies!]
There are people around who have the intent to kill the 'player'…
"Oh, not this. Reject, cancel."
For his survival, there came an emergency quest.
Suho hurriedly refuses the quest and takes off his mask to reveal his identity.
"I'll be in charge of this guy!"
Team Leader Han Jaehyuk, who had come close, swung his shield at Suho.
Meanwhile, the other hunters attacked Broki all at once.
"Wait, I mean…"
"Iron Wall!"
Flash!
A transparent shield came towards Suho like a huge barrier.
[Young Master!]
Beru shouted.
Suho eventually rolled up his hand to take off his mask.
"I'll just have to suppress it for now."
Right then, a black smoke was overlaid on his fist.
Swoosh.
He pierced himself into the transparent shield that was pressuring him.
With that one punch.
[Strength: 45]
Bang-!
"Huh?"
Han Jaehyuk's body bounced off along with the shield.
Then.
Blag-!
He was plugged right into the wall.
"… What?"
Suho was dumbfounded.
The eyes of the association hunters who witnessed the scene widened.
"Team Leader…?"
"What is that…"
Crack.
The wall where Han Jaehyuk was plugged in collapsed, revealing his face with his eyes turned upside down.
He just fainted.
[Hmm. Can humans only do this much? Well, he invested all his stats only in strength.]
Beside Suho, Beru was nodding his head, saying that it was an expected result.
Suho took off his crow mask with an awkward expression.
"Can we resolve this through a proper conversation?"
"…"
With that, all the hunters nodded their heads coldly.