The Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices - Chapter 119: The Proposal from the Phoenix Guild (2)

The dungeon monsters keep offering sacrifices – 119

EP.119 The Proposal from the Phoenix Guild (2)

“Then, excuse me.”

Jung Ye-rin slightly bowed her head as she stepped inside. The guild members who had accompanied her waited outside. It felt awkward. This was the first time I had visitors at my house since returning to Earth. And they weren’t just any visitors; they were members of the Phoenix Guild.

‘What are they up to?’

Initially, I thought they might have come because of the missing dungeon. But judging by Jung Ye-rin’s actions and expressions, that didn’t seem to be the case. I watched her as she took off her shoes, recalling our brief encounter at the café. Could that even be called a connection? She had approached me without any warning, handed me a business card, and then disappeared. It was still an inexplicable action. Truly a strange woman.

However, I couldn’t just throw her out. Considering the Phoenix Guild she belonged to, I had to be cautious. On the other hand, this was an opportunity to satisfy my curiosity. I needed to find out why she had come to see me and whether her visit was a personal initiative or a guild-level affair.

“Um…”

As I stood silently, Jung Ye-rin spoke cautiously.

“Oh, I’m sorry about this.”

Regardless of her purpose, she was a guest in my home. It would be rude to keep her standing. I quickly guided her to the living room. I needed to find a suitable place for her to sit… Oh, right, I had left the gargoyle in the living room. The gargoyle was a monster, but it usually remained in a statue-like state, so I kept it there. As expected, Jung Ye-rin couldn’t take her eyes off the gargoyle.

To avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings, I quickly explained, “That’s just a sculpture. You know, a hobby of mine.”

“Oh… I see,” she replied, somewhat awkwardly.

As I made the excuse, I sighed inwardly. The gargoyle was the size of a human torso and resembled a demon. Who would keep such a sculpture in their living room? Judging by Jung Ye-rin’s bewildered expression, she clearly thought I was strange.

“You’ll get tired standing. Please, have a seat here.”

I tried to act nonchalant as I moved the gargoyle and offered her a seat. The gargoyle was heavy, but Coco came to help me move it.

“Oh…”

Jung Ye-rin nodded as if she had understood something.

“Mr. Lee Kang-hyun, you use your necromancer abilities quite well.”

Her comment confirmed my suspicions.

‘They’ve really done their homework.’

I had never introduced myself as a necromancer. Moreover, Jung Ye-rin wasn’t surprised by Coco’s appearance. She looked at it as if she had already known about it.

But it didn’t matter. I was registered as a necromancer at the Awakener Center. For a guild like the Phoenix Guild, finding out through the center would be easy. Since it wasn’t my real ability, there was no need to correct her misunderstanding. Besides, as long as my summons didn’t harm anyone, it was perfectly legal to have skeletons in the house. It was a natural sight.

After roughly moving the gargoyle, we sat across from each other at the table in the living room. It was time to get to the main topic.

“So, I’m curious why you’ve come to see me.”

“I must apologize for the sudden visit. I’m sorry if I startled you.”

As she bowed her head in apology, Maru placed a cup of tea on the table.

Well, it would be rude not to offer anything to a guest. Maru had done well.

“Oh?”

However, when another skeleton appeared, Jung Ye-rin was once again surprised.

“Amazing! I’ve never seen anyone handle necromancer abilities so freely!”

I smiled slightly at her comment and offered her the tea.

“Please, have some tea. Let me know if you need anything else.”

She hesitated for a moment before starting to drink the tea.

“……”

After taking a sip, she looked surprised again. What was it now? Could the taste be off? The tea Maru had just served wasn’t ordinary. It was a special tea that Celia had offered as a tribute after the recent mission.

‘Was it called Moonlight’s Breath…?’

Seeing Jung Ye-rin’s silent reaction, I took a sip of the tea myself.

“!”

I was equally astonished. The taste was incredible. It had such a deep flavor, and it even seemed to wash away my fatigue. This was truly remarkable.

‘This kind of flavor could fetch a high price….’

I’d have to ask Celia if she could get more. But I snapped out of my thoughts. I wasn’t here to just drink tea with Jung Ye-rin.

“So, I’m curious why someone who knows me so well has come to see me.”

“Well, actually…”

Jung Ye-rin seemed to be either lost in the taste of the tea or organizing her thoughts. She hesitated for a moment before finally starting to speak.

“The truth is, Mr. Lee Kang-hyun, I—”

– Thud. –

Maru brought out ramen. Right, I had asked for food earlier.

“……”

The flow of the conversation was interrupted once again, leading to an awkward silence. It wasn’t the right atmosphere to discuss serious matters with food in front of us.

“If you don’t mind, let’s eat the ramen first…”

I was hungry too, so I suggested we eat. As soon as I took a bite of the ramen,

‘Huh?’

What was this taste? The ramen tasted strange—not in a bad way, but it was so delicious that it felt odd.

‘What is this?’

The rich broth filled my mouth. It had a savory yet deep flavor that enveloped my tongue. The perfectly cooked meat and vegetables added to the dish’s completeness. What was this? This taste far surpassed the ramen made with Maru’s usual skill.

I was so engrossed in slurping the noodles that I suddenly snapped back to reality.

‘This is definitely not an Earthly taste!’

A strong warning bell went off in my head.

“Excuse me for a moment…”

I excused myself from Jung Ye-rin and left the table. I headed straight to the kitchen, where Ciel and Maru were.

“What did you put in the ramen?”

I asked Maru in a low voice.

“Clack Clack Clack.”

Huh? Maru indicated that it wasn’t him who made the ramen but Ciel. I turned my gaze to Ciel.

“Uh… well, you see…”

Ciel stammered as she explained.

“There was… meat in the freezer….”

So she had used some meat she found in the freezer. But there was meat in the freezer? That was strange. I didn’t remember putting any meat in there.

As I pondered, Maru spoke up.

“Clack Clack!”

Ah, Celia had given us some meat a while ago? But what kind of meat was it?

“Clack.”

Hand? Was he referring to something like a pig’s front leg?

I needed to clarify. “Are you saying it was pork?”

“Clack!”

Gnoll…?

“……”

Hearing Maru’s fragmented words, I finally realized it. The hand of a monster Gnoll. Celia had once offered it as a tribute, and I had forgotten about it. At that time, Celia had also offered sacrifices of holy knights, which had caused me to faint. In my unconscious state, Maru had frozen the Gnoll’s hands for later use.

“Damn it!”

I quickly rushed back to the living room. There, Jung Ye-rin had finished her ramen.

“Wow, this is really delicious!”

“Oh…”

This was maddening.

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A few hours before Jung Ye-rin visited Lee Kang-hyun’s house.

Jung Ye-rin had finally gathered information about Lee Kang-hyun. In reality, it would have been easy to find him by requesting information from the Awakener Center or the Hunter Association. Despite strict privacy laws, leveraging the Phoenix Guild’s influence made such tasks trivial.

However, Jung Ye-rin had chosen not to take that route.

‘Jung Tae-young….’

If she had, her eldest brother and the vice guild master, Jung Tae-young, would have noticed. He would have questioned why she was investigating a hunter named Lee Kang-hyun and might have even made direct contact himself.

‘That must never happen.’

Jung Ye-rin gritted her teeth. She could accept being treated differently because she had a different mother. But Jung Tae-young was so ruthless that he had discarded even their younger brother, Jung Woo-jin, who shared the same mother.

After Jung Woo-jin suffered greatly in the Incubus Dungeon, Jung Tae-young mercilessly abandoned him, making him bear the full responsibility when the dungeon disappeared during the monster wave incident.

Therefore, Jung Ye-rin had spent time and money gathering information discreetly. She needed a faction within the guild that could operate independently of the Phoenix Guild. She was convinced that Lee Kang-hyun was the key to overturning the power dynamics within the guild.

‘He knew the strategy for defeating the Goblin Lord.’

Thanks to that information, which was still unknown to the world, Jung Ye-rin had been able to clear the Goblin Lord’s dungeon safely.

“I must recruit him….”

He was a man who already knew the strategy for defeating the Goblin Lord. She had no doubt that he knew about various other monsters as well. That alone made his value skyrocket.

‘I’m the only one who recognizes his true worth.’

Jung Ye-rin resolved to recruit Lee Kang-hyun into the Phoenix Guild. Specifically, as an advisor to her team. Fortunately, Lee Kang-hyun wasn’t currently affiliated with any guild, and his official rank was only F-grade. It seemed odd, but it was highly likely that he was a reclusive master who had ceased his activities.

“Let’s head out quickly.”

Jung Ye-rin quietly set off with a few team members. It would have been proper to contact him in advance, but she felt an inexplicable urge to hurry, so they went straight to Lee Kang-hyun’s house.

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***

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The moment Jung Ye-rin entered Lee Kang-hyun’s house, she was taken aback. She had expected a normal house, but there was a gargoyle statue standing in the middle of the living room.

‘Could it be a real gargoyle?’

Gargoyles were typically known as dungeon guardians. They usually remained still like statues but would attack hunters when they appeared. Jung Ye-rin looked at the statue with curious eyes. The details were so intricate that it could easily be mistaken for a real gargoyle. The only difference was that it wasn’t an actual monster.

‘Of course, it couldn’t be a real monster.’

She must have stared too intently because Lee Kang-hyun spoke up first.

“That’s just a sculpture. You know, a hobby of mine?”

It was an unusual taste, but she decided not to question it further. However, she was soon surprised again by the scene that unfolded before her. A skeleton emerged from somewhere and moved the gargoyle statue. And that wasn’t all. Another skeleton appeared, carrying a tray with tea on it.

“……”

She was too astonished to speak. She had to acknowledge it.

‘Mr. Lee Kang-hyun is definitely a necromancer.’

Watching him control the skeletons so freely, Jung Ye-rin couldn’t help but be amazed. It also meant that he had the magical power to maintain the summoned skeletons.

‘How high must his stats be?’

And the surprises didn’t end there. She took a sip of the tea that the skeleton had brought out and was astonished.

‘Could this be Moonlight’s Breath…?’

This rare tea was a genuine article that was hard to come by even on the continent of El Dorad. Although Jung Ye-rin had never been to El Dorad herself, she had tasted it once at the Sacred Guild. And that was only in a small soju glass. Thanks to that experience, she could recognize that the tea she was drinking now was indeed Moonlight’s Breath.

‘Even Kim Soo-ho cherished this tea….’

Only a random few hunters were summoned to the continent of El Dorad. Kim Soo-ho of the Sacred Guild was one such hunter. His exploits as a holy knight of the White Order on El Dorad were well-known. He had been so successful that he received various items and a standard holy sword before returning to Earth. Moonlight’s Breath was one of the items he brought back. Kim Soo-ho had even praised it on a broadcast, drinking it sparingly from a soju glass.

Yet here was Lee Kang-hyun, generously serving the tea in a cup and even offering more if needed. This was shocking to her. She grew increasingly curious about his true identity.

One thing she realized from this encounter.

‘He must have been to El Dorad.’

She had suspected that a hunter of his caliber would have visited El Dorad. Now she was certain.

‘He must have abilities comparable to Kim Soo-ho’s.’

Perhaps he was even more extraordinary.

‘What is his true identity?’

A figure of such renown on El Dorad, living a reclusive life on Earth—it was baffling. Jung Ye-rin found herself lost in thought.

Then the ramen arrived. After taking a bite, she was once again filled with admiration.

‘I’ve never tasted anything like this…!’

The ramen had a depth of flavor that was on a different level from ordinary ramen. The broth was rich, and the meat in the ramen was truly a delicacy.

‘Could this also be something brought from the continent of El Dorad?’

The taste was that extraordinary.

“Wow, this is really delicious!”

Jung Ye-rin, who had already finished the broth, couldn’t hold back her praise. She grew increasingly eager. How wonderful it would be if such an extraordinary person were on her side. Perhaps she was being too hasty, judging solely based on these experiences. But she had already seen Lee Kang-hyun’s true worth. He knew about the Goblin Lord and had been to El Dorad. There must be more abilities he hadn’t shown yet.

However, she also felt a sense of regret. Despite his incredible abilities, she wondered if she could truly bring him into her fold. Why would someone like him join a guild? Even as an advisor, it seemed unlikely. People of his caliber couldn’t be swayed by money or items. With nothing lacking, why would he want to be tied down to a guild?

Jung Ye-rin’s expression grew slightly gloomy. As she sat quietly after finishing her ramen, Lee Kang-hyun spoke up first.

“Now that you’ve finished, let’s get to the main topic. Why did you come to see me?”

Jung Ye-rin hesitated. Was this the right approach? Initially, she had been confident that she could bring him in. She thought the Phoenix Guild would be enough. But reality was different.

‘Someone of his caliber would be a prized asset even for the Sacred Guild….’

After a brief moment of contemplation, Jung Ye-rin made up her mind. Life was all or nothing. She took a deep breath.

“This might sound strange, but… I would like to invite you to be an advisor for the Phoenix Guild, Mr. Lee Kang-hyun!”

And with that, she took the plunge.