Chapter 178

Chapter 178

Juhyun would say,

“If you want to properly imitate a human.”

“Imitation? Do you want to see a portrait cry? It’s your first time, right?”

“I haven’t finished speaking, so don’t get ready to cry in earnest and listen, Mr. Gio.”

He worried that this scatterbrained portrait would return as some pseudo-god no mere human could handle. If you looked at what most evil gods got up to during their amusements, you could roughly get the idea.

“Rather than stepping in directly, it would be better to make use of items.”

Juhyun worried about Gio like that.

“Don’t go charging in yourself because you’re frustrated and come back with some weird fanatic—listen to me.”

“I am a pure sun that does not deal with fanatics.”

“It’s not only the sun inside you right now, is it? I have more life experience than you, Mr. Gio.”

“Isn’t mine longer if you add it all up?”

“I phrased that a bit oddly. At the very least, I know the standard for what counts as ‘ordinary’ more than you do.”

“That can’t be denied.”

Gio raised both thumbs.

“I’m the type who’s a bit lacking in tact.”

“I don’t think it’s only a problem of tact, but I heard it from Mr. Yoo Seong-woon.”

Juhyun asked, filled with worry.

“You said that back in the ‘Nation of the Deep Sea’ you made a sea passage in the dungeon, right?”

“I heard it wasn’t illegal, so I’m wronged.”

“I’m not scolding you, so keep listening. I even heard you made stairs, not a slide—was that true?”

“Of course I made stairs. Think about it, Ms. Juhyun. If you make a slide down that incredible depth, how much acceleration would build up? People would die.”

“I’m grateful you valued human life, but humans can’t create a staircase passage in the sea just because they don’t want to die. And even more so if it’s inside a dungeon.”

“I know very well what you’re worried about.”

Gio nodded.

“But I’ve lived on Earth for twenty-nine years. Please trust me.”

“You’ve lived twenty-nine years and you’re still like that—what on earth am I supposed to trust, and how?”

“Would you like to see a portrait cry?”

“If you want to stop imitating a human, you can keep saying things like that.”

“...”

It wasn’t really imitation, but it wasn’t as though there was nothing that stung, so Gio obediently shut his mouth. Juhyun nodded as if thanking him for cooperating, then continued.

“But you’re not someone who won’t meddle in humans’ lives, are you, Mr. Gio?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“From the moment I learned you had the nickname ‘the smiling tyrant of the seaside village,’ my trust in you hit rock bottom. Isn’t that right, mercy bomber?”

“Mercy bomber?”

“Since I know you’re not the type to stay quiet, I’m just recommending one thing.”

Juhyun said solemnly.

“Don’t step in directly.”

“And use items?”

Gio grew gloomy.

“I am a beggar. I don’t have any items either.”

“Quite amazingly, Mr. Gio’s cabin is made entirely of items, down to even a single drop of water.”

“Please don’t demean my peaceful, comfortable cabin like that.”

“Since it seems you already know it all and are denying it, I’ll continue. Use items.”

Juhyun advised him sincerely.

“That way, later on, you’ll have something to make excuses with, at least. Don’t forget that the reason you, Mr. Gio, weren’t treated as some holy something during the last spirit-possession incident was because Danara existed as an intermediary.”

“So what do I make excuses for later?”

“I mean you’ll have room to make excuses that you’re human. This time too, you can’t go around spamming miracles just because humans look fun, or because they look pitiful. If you really want to, then avoid humans’ eyes and somehow get rid of witnesses.”

“Does getting rid of witnesses mean killing to silence them? How very interesting.”

“Don’t bring out Argio only at times like this, Mr. Gio. I’m truly serious. No matter how much the Collector is a big company, in a raid with this many participants, it’s hard to cover things up. Above all, it’s an event hosted by the Sun Church.”

“I’ll go and behave.”

And to the end, Juhyun still didn’t say he would trust him. He really was a meticulous man.

* * *

But there was one thing even this meticulous Juhyun missed.

“Th-the blood stopped?”

“What the—warmth is... coming back.”

“...The organs recovered.”

He should have placed limits on the types and number of Gio’s items as well.

Arms that had been torn off reattached, flesh and organs that had vanished regenerated, the wounds of hunters afflicted with a hemorrhaging curse were staunched in an instant, and corpses that had been gradually losing body heat tasted a miracle close to resurrection.

The main culprit was Gio’s blood dumplings.

“...”

He scattered about seven of them.

“...”

“...Kkeuk...”

From far away, Gio saw Priest Kang Seodam covering his face with both hands, holding back sobs.

“P-priest-nim. Don’t cry! Everyone’s recovered...!”

“Ah... I never knew Priest Kang Seodam would worry this much...”

“Who knew the priest had so much affection in him...”

For some reason, despite the warm comfort and thanks around him, Gio felt as though the aura of sorrow coming off Kang Seodam had grown even stronger. It didn’t seem like it was just his imagination—Kang Seodam couldn’t recover easily.

No matter how little Gio cared about other people’s eyes, he couldn’t pretend not to know about this. Ignoring the gazes reaching him, Gio crept over to Garasani’s side.

Then he whispered.

“I think I made a big mistake.”

“I will speak of it as the Collector’s item, so do not worry.”

“Thank you.”

Gio thought to himself.

‘How did you write a reflection letter again?’

He was the sort who received reflection letters, not wrote them, but in the face of a tremendous mistake, it was fine to throw a teacher’s dignity beyond the universe’s dark matter. Gio apologized to Juhyun in advance.

‘I should write and send a letter as soon as I have time today.’

Even then, it would only be a pretty letter that looked nice, which the recipient couldn’t even read, but it seemed better than nothing. Feeling presences approaching him, Gio lifted his head.

“E-excuse me, priest-nim...?”

“I am not a priest.”

“Ah, yes. Hunter-nim.”

“You must still be out of it since you’re not fully recovered—wouldn’t it be better for you to lie down a bit more?”

“No. After receiving such a precious gift... how could I just lie there...”

A hunter who had just barely come back to life—truly, literally becoming a normal living person from right before the threshold of death—grew teary-eyed, soaked in emotion. Gio wanted to bury himself in a portrait. It was extremely burdensome.

“H-how... how could you give... such an elixir to us...”

“Ah, that medicine is...”

In that moment, Gio realized anew.

‘This can’t be explained by saying it was the Collector’s item.’

He tried to force it anyway, but it wasn’t an atmosphere where he could.

The Collector wasn’t a charitable business guild that gladly scattered precious items for other guild members, and anyone could see the owner of these blood dumplings was Seo Gio.

“...”

Giovanni decided to rely on his own holiness and try some shameless talk.

“...I named that medicine Blood Dumplings.”

“Blood Dumplings?”

“Yes. They were dumplings made from medicinal ingredients obtained with the mercy of the god I serve. This time, by good fortune, I found a colony of medicinal herbs at a place the sun taught me, and the day before coming into the dungeon, I prepared the medicine in advance with them.”

“Such a thing...”

“To be honest, I didn’t know the exact effects. But when I saw the herbs, I thought they would greatly help with hemostasis and recovery, so I made them—and I never imagined I would end up using them like this.”

With the face of a holy priest, Gio traced the sign of the cross.

“This too must be the sun’s will. It seems the holy being I serve with love and respect wished for this raid to succeed. I am that one’s servant and have only faithfully followed—so please, for thanks like what you’re giving now... ask it not of me, but of the sun.”

It was a story full of holes and bound to raise many questions, but the hunters accepted it anyway, swayed by Priest Giovanni’s devout speech and behavior filled with “sincerity,” and by his appearance overflowing with melancholy.

“Come to think of it, the Collector joined even though there wasn’t much time left before departure...”

“Somehow, was it Hunter Seo Gio-nim’s holiness that hinted he should participate in this dungeon?”

“This raid is as though two suns are wishing for success...!”

“Right. If holiness hadn’t helped, there’s no way people could have come back to life like this.”

With no room to think deeply and already exhausted, people were easily swept up by an emotional appeal. Of course, there were still those who held doubts, but leaving it alone, they resolved it among themselves.

“But wasn’t Hunter Seo Gio a tamer?”

“Idiot, it’s not like only priests can serve a god.”

“Ah, really? I didn’t know that...”

“Seems like it’s a rare case, though.”

“Even for priests, it’s hard to be chosen by a god, but for a tamer...”

“At this level, isn’t he practically saint-tier? He must be insanely loved.”

“But since he isn’t Sun Church, is it a sun from another dimension?”

“The Seoul Sun Church must be pretty jealous.”

Maybe because they were hunters who offered up their lives for a living, as soon as their injuries healed, everyone grew lively. Gio took in those strong humans with his eyes and whispered to Garasani standing beside him.

“How long will it last?”

“If the Collector takes action, it will last quite a while.”

“I’ll also think of a method as soon as we return, so please take care of it this time as well.”

“How could I refuse?”

In theory, Gio’s excuse wasn’t completely impossible, but it really was a rare case that might appear once in an era, if that. Once they came to their senses, they would feel doubts.

But that was only if no measures were taken. If Giovanni continued to brainwash—no, to tell the truth—and if the big company called the Collector committed tyranny—no, provided a bit of help—then this story would become an established fact.

What, why. We say it’s like that, so what are you going to do about it. What can you even do?

“...”

Of course, there were also people that didn’t work on.

“Sun God?”

“Yes.”

“Sun God...”

“Yes.”

“...”

“...”

Sanarae looked at Gio with a face that had even lost its smile. It was a subtle expression that wouldn’t be easy to interpret right away, but Gio understood. It was a reaction of, ‘Isn’t that excuse a bit flimsy?’

And Gio ignored it.

‘It isn’t a complete lie.’

His new stepfather was the Sun God. Even though he currently had the form of a cute teddy bear, the dignity of the sun remained unchanged.

‘He even lives with us at my house.’

How much had Gio served him with all his heart and strength? Saying he served the sun was not a lie. Even if, unlike an ordinary priest, it was closer in meaning to supporting him.

Fortunately, Sanarae didn’t dig deeper.

“...You must really be loved a lot by the sun.”

“You’ve seen well, Hunter Sanarae. We’re practically family.”

“At that level, you’d definitely be saint-tier, so I don’t know how the Sun Church will react.”

“That’s ominous wording.”

Based on experience, Gio asked.

“Will they label me a heretic, hold a religious trial, and have citizens throw stones at me?”

“Are you insane?”

“Or imprison me without a trial and lock me in a tank, or lock me in with man-eating fish...”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Being torn apart alive isn’t a very pleasant sensation.”

At that point, Kang Seodam, who had approached, stepped in.

“Please do not view the Sun Church as such a primitive order, Hunter Seo Gio.”

“Ah, my. Was that primitive?”

“...There may be such religions somewhere, but we are not one of them.”

“My apologies.”

“As Hunter Sanarae said, it’s only that the Sun Church may show some reaction.”

“What kind of reaction would that be?”

“...”

Hesitating, Kang Seodam answered.

“...At the very least, it won’t be hostility.”

“Then what will it be?”

“Goodly put, something like recruitment.”

“But the holy beings we serve are clearly different, aren’t they?”

“If we were an order that cared about something like that, we wouldn’t have established ourselves as Seoul’s representative religion.”

“That’s another surprising statement. I see you in a new light.”

“...I... I’ll try hard to block it, in my own way... really... huuuh...”

At the sight of Priest Kang Seodam looking like he might be crying a little, Sanarae looked at Gio with subtle eyes.

“Say it.”

“Yeah, it’s nothing...”

“Say it.”

“Really, it’s nothing.”

“Say it.”

“Sorry.”

Sanarae, clasping his hands together and begging, slipped away. It seemed he’d gone to greet the Haeryeong guild hunter who was on the same team as Kang Seodam. Left behind were only Gio, Kang Seodam, and Garasani.

Looking at the chaotic surroundings, Garasani asked Kang Seodam.

“What happened? The state of the communication equipment wasn’t good, so I couldn’t hear the exact circumstances...”

“I believe I told you up to this point, but monsters appeared during the time of the fake moon.”

“We are also well aware that monsters in that time slot become especially ferocious.”

“Most likely, the monsters we encountered will be quite unfamiliar to you as well.”

Kang Seodam continued, frowning as if it were a headache.

“They were undead monsters.”

“Undead?”

“Yes, rotten, mangled corpses. I’m not sure if we only pressed a light trigger, but they vanished again quickly...”

“...”

At Garasani’s silence, Kang Seodam nodded.

“It certainly is a situation that’s hard to understand.”

Why would undead-type monsters inhabit a rainforest like this?

“I thought it was a typical vegetation-type dungeon, but it seems there’s more to it.”

“Then there is a high chance it is a dungeon with a story.”

“And in many cases, dungeons like that are difficult to raid if you don’t know the story.”

“Were you able to identify the monsters’ origins?”

“It was dark, but since I am, in name, a priest of the sun, I did check.”

“Fortunately, it seems they were not people you knew.”

“The clothing itself was also a bit different from Earth’s styles.”

“They could have changed clothes. Did you also check their faces?”

“They were too damaged to recognize their features, so I couldn’t check their faces, but I didn’t feel even a familiar aura... so they wouldn’t have been priests of the sun.”

Before this raid, the Sun Church had attempted one raid already and failed. He wondered if the priests of the sun who died then had become undead, but Kang Seodam shook his head, saying that wasn’t it.

“It’s strange. There aren’t any of my brothers’ corpses anywhere.”

“I understand the four-legged beast-type monsters here do not eat corpses?”

“Even if the order’s information was wrong, there should at least be equipment left behind, but there isn’t.”

“It’s such a vast dungeon—are there not many places you have yet to grasp?”

“Yes, but...”

After thinking, Kang Seodam continued.

“There is information our team discovered.”

“What a coincidence—ours as well.”

“We confirmed there were traces of something as heavy as corpses being dragged somewhere.”

“Our team identified that the evening monsters move to a single place.”

“...Then it seems what we must do is decided.”

Kang Seodam briefly looked at Gio.

“...”

“What would you like me to help with?”

“...No, this is...”

Biting his lip tightly, Kang Seodam asked carefully.

“...If the raid succeeds afterward, would you be able to attend the Sun Church’s funeral mass?”

“Of course I will. Is there anything else you need?”

“Yes, of course. I feel a mountain-like gratitude for the warmth and mercy you have bestowed.”

Hearing Kang Seodam whisper softly so others wouldn’t hear, Gio thought,

‘Why doesn’t everyone ask me to help with funerals...’

Where would you find someone more specialized in funerals than me?

While Gio was secretly thinking things like, ‘Am I, unlike Father, an untrustworthy god? To the point they won’t even let me help with a funeral? Should I learn something like imperial studies after all?’ Kang Seodam called the surviving hunters together.

“After one round of maintenance, we will move.”

Up until now, it had been a process of exploration, but with this many clues, the story changed. Now it was the start of a full-scale raid, and perhaps feeling that, a hunter checking their injuries asked,

“E-excuse me, priest-nim. Where are we moving to?”

“Further inside.”

Kang Seodam answered.

“To the place where the monsters gather.”

There would surely be something.

(To be continued in the next episode)