As he closed in on the Mega Dungeon, Mark could feel that Dona had woken up. But he didn't mind her for now, even though she was growling softly behind him.
Instead, he ran faster and faster, and soon enough, he could see the entrance to the demon-infested city—Dungeon. No. This was not any Dungeon. This was THE Dungeon in this world.
The separation of the world within the Dungeon and the normal world was like an intersection of two worlds. A dark veil surrounded the skies of the place like a giant, translucent bowl placed upside down on the ground.
The closer Mark got to it, the warier he became. The chance of one or two hunters being around was not low—this was an entryway into the dungeon. Thus, being cautious was better than regretting not being cautious later.
But the mega-dungeon was a mega-dungeon for a reason. There were hundreds of places where one could enter it from, so the chance of Hunters being there was not too high. So Mark wasn't panicking.
He hid in the shadow behind a small streetlight. Taking a deep breath, be looked towards the veil that seperated worlds.
"Dona, are you hurt?" he asked.
Dona purred softly.
When the giant had slammed down on the lands with its foot, she was bruised in many areas by splintering wood and many similar things. Thankfully, she was not hurt that badly, but she was still not perfectly healthy at the moment either. For now, the best scenario would be to find a good place to hide once he entered the Dungeon.
But how dangerous is it?
From outside, he could faintly make out the area inside the Dungeon through the translucent veil. Blurry figures moved in the distance, and even though he knew they were a danger, they were not near the entrance.
Inside this part of the mega-dungeon was a huge abandoned city–nearly the size and advancement of New York City from Earth. Thus, it was full of huge buildings. Finding a place to hide in a city like tgat wouldn't be too hard even if it was demon-infested.
Just as he was wondering, though, Mark heard the sound of something metal being moved. He tensed.
It was a sewage manhole cover in the middle of the road. The lid opened, and a woman in white scientist robes walked out of it.
She had a flashlight in her hand, and moving out of the manhole, she stood up straight and sniffed herself for a bit before rubbing her ass off of the dust.
"Hello," she said and lifted up her hands.
Mark calmly walked out of the shadow.
The Scientist instinctively tensed and took a step back. Mark looked at her once again.
Short, messy, curly, black hair—a pretty face, night-like black eyes, and a busty figure. The smell of oil and grease lingered around the woman, and she seemed to have walked out of some ditch.
In fact, she had just walked out of a ditch.
There was also a thick pair of goggles on her head, and looking at the whole package with her scientist robes, Mark could guess what kind of person she was.
A messy scientist?
She was also really short, just about 1.6 meters or so.
"What do you want, woman?" He asked curiously, looking down at her coldly.
Whatever she was, she was just a normal human. Not a Hunter. Not a demon in diguise. Just human. Normal, simple human. He could kill her easily. Why did she come out all the way here near the mega dungeon?
Why did she intercept me? Is this... some kind of trap? Am I being stalled? Why? How is she daring to do this?
Mark was pretty tired now, but if he used the Soul Spheres in his hands on himself, he could completely heal his tired energy. It was the same as eating a soul, after all. But he didn't want to use it if he was not pushed to his limits.
He might need that inside the Mega-Dungeon.
Yes, using it to heal his stamina and killing Choi Sung would have been a logical decision—he would get the lost energy back after all—but all of that would take time, and other Hunters could be attracted to the scene. That would be stupid.
Choi Sung didn't matter.
The only issue was the fact that Choi Sung knew Mark had intelligence that other demobs didn't. But that was not an issue either since once Mark entered the dungeon, nobody would be able to identify him among the multitudes of demobs or predict his actions.
But killing this woman would be easy in comparison to Choi Sung, and he would get some free Soul Spheres. And since she was all the way here in some ditch, he didn't have to worry about anything else like catching attention. It didn't matter if her death gained attention.
"Don… Don't kill me!" she squeaked, but Mark could see a sort of crazy glint in her gaze.
He looked at her in intrigue.
"My nam.. My name is Hakase Yuri, and I am an aspiring scientist," she said, stuttering. "I am also the one who sent that C-rank Hunter on you."
Oh? A normal human could command a Hunter to do something? She is capable. And a beauty to boot.
Mark took her hand and pulled her up to his eye level. Yuri trembled, legs hanging on the air. Mark kept her hands at bay; she couldn't do anything.
"So, tell me a reason not to kill you, Hakase Yuri; you sent Hunters on my back and are interrupting my escape. Why shouldn't I kill you?" he asked as he walked towards the Mega Dungeon, carrying her comfortably in one hand.
Since the woman dared to come straightforwardly and say this in front of him, she had a goal by coming here to meet him. But he was still as cautious as ever; he was not going to stay in one place and wait to be killed by some Hunter on the way.
"Don't go to the Dungeon," Yuri said, struggling to try and move outside of his grip for a second before she stopped trying. He was too strong. Only logic can work.
"I watched your battle with Choi Sung, and you easily destroyed him using your wits and strength. I'll be straightforward. You are not a mindless demon—and if you don't kill me, we can be partners."
Mark stopped just a meter away from the dark veil. Nobody was in the range of his senses, not inside the Dungeon, not outside it.
"Partners?" he smirked. "What can you offer me?"
"As long as you let me do research on you—or get some other demons for me to research on—I will help you do whatever you want." There was a soft cadence to her tone and she said it softly into his ears. Seductively. There was a crazed, fearless-of-death grace to this woman.
A psychotic scientist?
What Human would dare to go meet the first intelligent demon known to man and be so fearless and calm about it?
Mark was more and more uncertain.
"Your seduction is pretty weak, Yuri. If you were not as beautiful as you were, I wouldn't be tempted at all. And even if you are beautiful, I am not tempted much."
"I have no experience doing this kind of thing," she grumbled, then realized she had messed up and grew silent.
"Well, fuck it." She looked straight into his eyes. "I can offer you many things, Demon. A place where you can stay out of sight of any danger—Hunters and Demons both. An incredibly good information network and also an incredibly smart partner—Me. And all for your cooperation, and nothing dangerous."
Mark squinted at her. "You can easily snitch on me to your strong Hunters—Now that's danger enough if you ask me. Who are you kidding?"
"I have no reason to do that," Yuri shook her head, and Dona looked at her weirdly from his back. "In fact, I don't mind if you bring me to the mega-dungeon with you either, as long as you guarantee to protect me."
Mark contemplated for a while. That was strangely sincere, and honestly speaking, this woman was physically no threat to him. And a Scientist. That could be helpful.
And heading into the mega-dungeon really was a gamble. There would be a Dungeon Demon inside, not to mention its lackeys. If they turned hostile, the chance of him coming out was near impossible.
Whereas, with humans, even if it all came down to shit, he could—theoretically—negotiate with them. Even with that A-Rank Hunter, if Mark had spoken calmly, they might have ended up not fighting at all and cooperating instead. Sure, he would be a high-level prisoner even if he gave them all the info they wanted, but logic was a weapon against humans that he couldn't use on Demons the same way.
If he could grow stronger in between the 'prison' times, then it would all add up to his benefit. That was a scenario if all went to shit—cooperating with humans.
Honestly, Mark preffered to not go into the mega dungeon at all, too. But in the end, that was also a priority; he needed to enter it to figure out how to breakthrough to Tier 1 from Tier 0.
This woman's proposition of giving a place where he will be safe, both from Demons and Hunters, was indeed a very nice option. Added with the promise of an information network, it was nicer.
But it would be all the more nicer if…
"Woman, tell me," he asked in a calm tone, "Do you know how a Demon can become a Tier 1 from Tier 0? How they can evolve?"
The mad scientist's scintillating eyes shimmered. She said with much more fierceness than earlier, "I know. In fact, I have done extensive research on the matter. Nobody, even the demons that are in this world, should know more than me."
Mark squinted.
"Hmm, your propositions are nice, but I just can't trust you. What if you were waiting for other Hunters to come and kill me, like stalling me, for example?"
When he asked that, there really was a murderous intent behind his words.
"That's why I tell you I can follow you to the dungeon if you want. We can be a team!" she said with clear, innocent eyes. She was risking her life now. "I will be the brains and you the brawn. Take me in, please. I am very rational, not at all a racist!"
She really was a bold woman.
Either way, it was going to be a risk. Heading into the dark alleys of the Dungeon, he'd have to face Demons. Heading into the bustling human cities, he'd have to be wary of Hunters finding him. Heading anywhere had its issues, and heading with this woman, he just had to be wary of her and her potential schemes.
Nowhere was safe, so he might as well follow the pah that looked the most easy to handle if shit hit the fan.
"Where is your hideout?" he asked.
"Underground through that sewage manhole," she replied without a beat.
"Let's go before anyone notices."
Honestly, he really liked her proposition. If he could hide from everyone while having intel on everyone, his missions in this world would become much simpler from here on out. In the end, the cute human woman did have some convincing points.
And moreover…
Who didn't like a scientist?
Mark still remembered he had dreams of them; becoming one of them or even dating one of them. It had just been a few days since he became a Demon, and honestly, he was far from settled as one.
In his past life, not to mention talking down on such a pretty scientist, he couldn't even talk straight to one.
Deep down, he wasn't some intelligent demon who was out in the modern world to cause havoc.
Deep down, he still felt like the human man who liked to read in his pastimes. Even he himself was very much impressed by how well he was coping. Probably, Dona had a huge part in helping him cope—she made everything so much easier for his mind.
He was feeling some schadenfreude towards himself, too. Everything was so chaotic.
But just so… curiously fun.
Who'd have known he would find himself a psychotic scientist partner on day three?
Every day was so different these days.