Vol 1 Chapter 46

"This jewel is redder than a ruby, darker than blood, but its identity is utterly unknown. I obtained it when I first discovered this tower. But now I'm too old to uncover the identity of this jewel, and even moving around in this tower is tiring. What do you say, young man? If you're interested in my story, would you take this brooch and try to find out its identity?"

Ding!

Linked quests were known to rarely occur. Feeling increasingly that this was no ordinary quest, Kapros pressed the accept button without hesitation, with a sense of excitement.

"Hahaha. Good. I knew you'd accept. Well then, let's meet again when you've found out."

As Kapros came out, Kran, who had been restless, hugged him tightly.

"Why are you only coming out now! I was worried! Strangely, the door wouldn't open after you went in."

As Kapros turned his head while being hugged, he caught a glimpse of relief in Yu-wan's eyes, who was standing next to Kran with his arms folded, still maintaining his expressionless face. Kapros grinned.

"Sorry. I got an unexpected quest in there."

"A quest?"

"They gave me an item and asked me to find out about it."

Kapros's instincts told him this wasn't an insignificant quest, but feeling it was premature to explain in detail to the two, he casually raised and lowered the brooch he was holding.

"Ah, there seem to be quite a few quests like that these days. I also..."

Kran nodded lightly upon seeing the brooch and immediately changed the subject. Because of this, Kapros failed to notice Yu-wan's strange expression as he briefly looked at the brooch.

As they walked towards the center to prepare for the maze dungeon, Kapros tightly gripped the unfamiliar brooch in his left hand.

'Lord Superior... So it was possible to master both magic and sword, two different systems.'

Perhaps, he thought, it might be possible for him too. Even though he didn't know how yet, the story he had heard from Berman wouldn't leave his mind.

For the first time, Kapros equipped potions for health recovery on the back of his belt. Until now, he had just hunted without such heavy items, but his thinking had changed slightly after nearly dying during the previous boss hunt. One had to survive first to do anything. Even for Kapros, who had little attachment to life both in-game and in reality, the penalty of being unable to log in for a certain period after dying was somewhat frightening.

He placed three potions on the back of his waist, but in reality, he had bought about 30. When he took out and drank a potion from the back, the remaining potions in his inventory would automatically fill the empty space. It was a useful system for solo players who needed many potions.

"Kap."

Suddenly, Yu-wan called from behind. Yu-wan's voice was so low that when he called like that slowly, it made Kapros feel a bit strange. As he turned around curiously, something was suddenly draped over his shoulders and head. Kapros blinked a few times.

"What..."

What is this? He slightly flipped over the cloth covering his vision.

"A hood?"

It looked similar to the cheap hood he had worn before, which had been damaged beyond repair in the boss room and discarded on the way back. The only difference was that it was thicker and the cloak could be detached.

Kran, who was standing next to him, spoke with sparkling eyes.

"Ah, this is quite good? As expected of the pitch-black swordsman, he bought something as black as himself, but it suits you well. It'll be fine."

As he said this, he patted the top of the hood that Kapros had lifted above his eyes, causing it to fall back down and cover his vision again.

In fact, while Kran called Yu-wan the pitch-black swordsman because of his black armor, Kapros was completely black from head to toe. The fact that Kran didn't say anything to Kapros suggested that the nickname was just meant to irritate Yu-wan.

When Kapros gave a look demanding an explanation as to why he was given this, Yu-wan smiled broadly, which was rare for him.

"Wear it."

"..."

Strangely, Kapros felt that he couldn't refuse to wear it. They set out towards the endless maze dungeon, which was said to be a place that no one would even think of entering without a large party, following Kran.

***

The man wearing sunglasses stopped in front of the distant kendo dojo, unable to move forward. Beyond the brown world created by his sunglasses, the inside of the training hall was clearly visible as if within reach.

He made several attempts to step forward while listening to the faint shouts coming from inside, but eventually turned away. It was then that someone grasped his shoulder.

Startled, the man turned to find an older woman holding a shopping basket, looking surprised. Her face overlapped with the face he knew from long ago.

"I thought it might be... Really..."

At that trembling voice, the man fell into an illusion as if hearing a silent cry directed at him. He staggered backward.

"Ah, wait!"

The woman shouted, but the man shook her off and ran away as if escaping. She called out with her hands cupped towards his retreating figure.

"Seung-jo! It is you, right? Mu-heon was here until just now...!"

With that faint voice as the last thing he heard, the man ran without stopping until he was out of sight. His dragging footsteps finally came to a halt. Behind the disheveled sunglasses, his trembling eyes recalled the words he had just heard and shuddered.

"Kang Mu-heon... is alive...?"

***

"Master! Look at him! He hit me first, waaah!"

"No, Master! That mutt Se-jong kicked me first!"

"Hey, if I'm a mutt, you're a genius! You insufferable jerk!"

"Both of you, stop it."

Mu-heon sat in a chair and tried to stop Se-jong and In-woo, both seven years old, from fighting.

Strangely, these troublemakers who rarely listened to others always seemed to listen to him, which was quite exhausting. Even if he separated them now and made them apologize, they would be fighting again in 5 minutes, so it felt futile.

"I told you both not to fight, but you did it again. Let's see how long you keep this up. Do 100 downward strikes."

As Mu-heon said this, Se-jong and In-woo's eyes welled up. No matter how cute and beloved they were in the dojo, to Mu-heon's eyes, they were just the same boys. He never gave in, even when they cried or threw tantrums.