I Tamed the First Rank Chapter 21

The dungeon, which had been constantly bright like midday because of the unmoving sun, suddenly darkened, and seven stars appeared from all directions. Just as In Yoo-shin was about to cry out in shock at the abrupt transformation, one of the two stars in the western sky started to glow brilliantly by itself.

An old woman stood under the starlight.

Her old and tired shadow reflected the images of people suffering from the plague. In Yoo-shin had a hunch. This was a sign of destruction.

『Help me.』

A little girl’s whisper rang in Yoo-shin’s mind.

He looked around in shock, but he couldn’t see the person he thought was the owner of the voice. There was only the old woman, quietly shedding sad tears.

“Am înțeles.”

Hyeon Gyu-ha spoke while slightly shaking the hidden boss crystal he was holding, and the old woman placed one hand on her chest as if responding and bowed her waist to greet him politely.

As a consequence, the world of the dungeon returned to its original state. The moment In Yoo-shin blinked once and opened his eyes, bright sunlight shone down on him.

It seemed like a few minutes had passed, but when I saw the message indicating the reset time, it turned out that less than a second had passed.

“……”

It was not surprising that the crystal stone, which had been fine until just now, had not only become smaller but had also become a blob of lumpy flesh. I was so shocked that I didn’t have any nerves left to react further.

Hyeon Gyu-ha casually threw the wriggling piece of flesh, vibrant with blood as if it had just been slaughtered, into his inventory.

“It feels more realistic than watching a movie in 4D, right?”

“…… If you imbue mana into the crystal stone of the original hidden boss, is that what you will see?”

“No way. It’s a sight that only Yoo-shin and I can see.”

“Is it related to Gyu-ha’s hidden attributes? It’s like the glitched letters.”

“I don’t think it’s a completely useless attribute.”

“And the trait of being the king’s illegitimate child?”

Hyeon Gyu-ha shrugged his shoulders as if it were no big deal.

“It’s simple. It literally means that my father is the king. My mother wasn’t officially married to him. The system’s judgment was sorta tricky.”

“……”

I didn’t know how much of this was serious or a joke.

My mind was in a confused state. A dungeon break was caused by my breaking the rules. A hidden boss crystal stone. A voice calling for help. Hyeon Gyu-ha seemed to know why all these phenomena occurred. Everything, even the abnormality that In Yoo-shin was not aware of.

His lips trembled. There were so many things I wanted to ask that my tongue felt heavy from all the crowded words.

However, there was only one question that In Yoo-shin could barely ask.

“Is that what you said you were looking for?”

“To be specific, this is a phenomenon that appears with an extremely low probability, when you infuse your mana into the crystal stone of a hidden boss that drops in a specific dungeon. Would you call it some kind of unique item? I consumed it right away because I had good synergy with Yoo-shin-ssi.”

“…… If I ask you what it is, will you tell me?”

“I won’t.”

Maybe it’s because he confidently refused, but I wasn’t not angry. In Yoo-shin just sighed deeply. My head was so full that I had no energy to refute him.

Hyeon Gyu-ha looked down at him for a moment and then moved his lips.

“It’s a name that can only be pronounced here, so I’ll tell you this. The old woman we saw earlier is Sfânta Marţi, the Saint of Tuesday.”

“I see……”

I also met Supreme Deity Atabeyra, so I wasn’t surprised to meet a saint. In the end, the first trip to the dungeon was somehow caught up in Hyeon Gyu-ha’s circumstances.

He just told me nothing and brought me here without proper explanation. It seemed I had a slight glare in my eyes without even realizing it. Hyeon Gyu-ha gently rubbed the area around In Yoo-shin’s eyes with his thumb.

“It hurts my heart to see my Master glare. It’s not good for you to be deeply involved.”

“…… Gyu-ha-ssi seems like a really shameless person.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

He grinned and held out his hand.

“Well then, I’ll take you home safely. How should I do it?”

“By flying in the sky.”

“I’ll definitely take you on a ride, starting with a roller coaster and ending with a gyro drop.”

A short while after.

“Hiiyak!”

“Do you like it that much? You’re an honest person.”

“It’s too fast!”

“It’s not okay to talk informally to a Hyung who is 6 years older than you.”

“It’s too high!”

In Yoo-shin screamed with glee as he was thrown and flown around in the sky of the deserted dungeon. His stress was definitely relieved by the adrenaline, more thrilling and realistic than what you can feel at an amusement park.

There were a lot of disturbing things, but in the end, it was a happy ending.

3.

Hyeon Gyu-ha silently looked down at the lumps of flesh placed on both of his palms. The only difference between the two lumps of flesh, with similar shapes and similar complexions, was their size. The one on the left was small, and the one on the right was large.

When he brought his hands closer, the flesh moved of its own accord. The writhing lumps of flesh, like living creatures, melded together and formed a smooth shape, as if they had been one from the beginning.

‘Now there are three pieces left.’

I can’t believe I have only been able to gather four after 20 years of hunting.

Hyeon Gyu-ha, who was looking down with a complicated gaze, placed the lumps of flesh in his inventory, lay down in the air, and closed his eyes. His coordinates were still twinkling in the corner of my vision.

No matter how many times you check the coordinates, it’s always better to be physically close for the most security.

Hyeon Gyu-ha, who was enjoying a satisfying sense of stability, woke up again when he heard the front door click open. I looked out from the roof and saw In Yoo-shin going out. It seemed like he’s going out somewhere, seeing as he’s even changed out of the comfy sweatpants he was previously wearing at home.

‘I was tired today, so I thought I’d rest.’

Outside was dangerous no matter what. I could never leave the Master alone.

Hyeon Gyu-ha lay down with an invisibility skill applied and slowly flew away, following In Yoo-shin.

“6-seya, I’ll be back. Take good care of the house, okay?”

“Squeak.”

In Yoo-shin, unaware that Hyeon Gyu-ha was following him above his head, ran down the stairs of his rooftop home. The old house was at the top of a slope. Since I always rode Hyeon Gyu-ha’s bike, walking became unfamiliar to me.

‘It would be nice if the subway station was a little closer.’

Even after leaving the alley, he had to walk a long way to reach the subway station. He was walking for exercise, but it was disappointing. In fact, if his home had been near a subway station, he would not have been able to afford monthly rent with his meager bank account and annual salary.

Perhaps because it was the last day of the three-day holiday, there were many people even in the middle of the day. A man wearing a cap with the brim pulled down deeply was walking from the opposite direction and bumped into In Yoo-shin…… The moment he almost made contact, he suddenly screamed and fell over.

“Aaaah!”

The man’s arm twisted at a bizarre angle.

“Are you okay?”

Even if you break your arm, it’s better to call 119. While he was panicking, a few people gathered, and a passing patrol car stopped.

“What’s going on?”

“He suddenly collapsed!”

The police rushed in and helped the man who had fallen. Suddenly, a police officer tilted his head and checked the wanted flyer on his cell phone.

“Isn’t this Park Geun-cheol?”

“What?”

“Look here.”

The other policemen’s horrified eyes darted back and forth between the man’s face and the wanted poster. The man screamed and was caught trying to run away.

“Ah, fuck! It hurts!”

“Quiet, you punk. My grandmother hasn’t been discharged yet because of you.”

While pushing the wanted man who was sick into a patrol car, a police officer questioned the person who called.

“Did you catch the criminal? Are you awakened?”

“No. I don’t know why I fell too.”

“Ah yeah? Are you okay? It’s a guy who’s a troublemaker, but he’s quite vicious. Last month’s victim was even hospitalized.”

Hearing that, In Yoo-shin hurried to check for his cell phone, but it was fine. That was the only item that could be stolen from me. Anyway, I was glad that there was no damage, and he was caught right away. I wondered why his arms broke suddenly; he probably got cursed by the victim.

The incident ended quickly. As the patrolmen left, the few people who had gathered soon dispersed. In Yoo-shin also stepped away.

“Why is that car like that?”

“Avoid it!”

Just as he arrived at the entrance to the subway station, he heard a loud scream. There was a truck that crossed the center line and was speeding diagonally. Kiik! Kik! Cars kept making sudden stops and the road quickly became congested.

Right before the speeding truck hit the sidewalk where In Yoo-shin was standing—

“……!”

The truck stopped abruptly as if it had hit an invisible wall. In an instant, the engine stopped and even the wheels that had been idling became quiet.

Only then did the people who were frozen with bewilderment breathe a sigh of relief. In Yoo-shin also patted his pounding heart. That truck almost caused a really big accident.

“Wow, I thought something really big was going to happen.”

“But how did it suddenly stop right before hitting the pavement?”

“Didn’t an awakener stop it?”

People looked around, taking videos with their cell phones, but there was no visible awakener, who was supposed to be showing off and boastfully taking credit.

The driver, who had fallen unconscious, was rescued from the truck by police and paramedics who arrived late.

‘Today, even a spectacle has happened in broad daylight.’

My startled heart could hardly calm down. In Yoo-shin was watching his surroundings, then sneaked into the alley behind the store and took a few deep breaths. Hee, hee, hoo.

It calmed down.

“Lamaze-ssi, I’m so sorry for using your breathing method.”

It might not have been the breathing technique itself, but rather Hyeon Gyu-ha’s brazen face as he taught it, that helped me calm down. Anyway, out of an unknown guilt, In Yoo-shin timidly apologized, then went down the stairs at the subway entrance.

He arrived at Korea University after transferring subway stations once. Even on holidays, In Yoo-shin bought coffee and salt bread to give to the poor, overworked slaves, and knocked on the door of the lab. It was not difficult to find it because I had been here before.

“Are there any slaves here?”

Of course, I was saying this because I heard that Park Seung-gi was the only one in the lab room today. Park Seung-gi opened the door, looking like a swarthy zombie, and gestured.

“Rest area.”

He barely uttered a single word and followed him languidly. It was only after refilling his coffee in a quiet lounge that Park Seung-gi returned to his somewhat human appearance.

“What about other people? Are you the only one in the lab?”

“I went with the professor to the conference. I went to work because I had to check the experiment.”

“Did you stay up all night?”

“I took a nap.”

He took out a gift from his bag to cheer up his friend, who was muttering while taking a sip of coffee.

“I went to a dungeon with Gyu-ha on Saturday.”

“Wow, fuck. Hey! How did you get something so precious? No way!”

PA : It’s too funny when you know all the accident was resolved safely and easily because of Gyu. HEHEHE

 Editor M: That Sfânta Marţi person turned out to be a huge headache while we were editing the translation, but in the end, we figured out that she was a figure from Romanian mythology!

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Credits:

Translator: Hoshi Miya

Editor/Proofreader: PsycheAsylum, Editor M

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