Translator: Vine
Translated At: Nyx Scans
Chapter: 116
#116. Leader Decision
2022.11.24.
"What do you mean you don't know what's going on?"
Association member Kim Gwanghyun stared at Silver Plum Blossom with an incredulous face.
She, a Rose Guild member and the person in charge of this Bokgye Mountain qualification test, lowered her gaze as if she had nothing to say.
"We are currently trying to enter Bokgye Mountain somehow, but as you can see..."
Her words trailing off, she glanced at the mountain entrance.
Black smoke.
All five senses were telling her.
She absolutely shouldn't touch that.
Silver Plum Blossom meticulously relayed the situation so far to Gwanghyun.
Of course, the content relayed was nothing special.
Because there was little that could be grasped from the outside.
"Our guild members who entered with the test takers have also lost contact."
Not only that, but as if something invisible were interfering, all the CCTVs installed throughout the mountain were out of order without exception.
Thus, this conclusion could be drawn.
"In my judgment, it seems..."
"Dungeonization is in progress."
Association President Daeyoon, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation from a short distance away, strode over.
Silver Plum Blossom bowed deeply to him.
To her, who wore the face of a sinner, Daeyoon said.
"Dungeonization is something even a Gate Reader cannot predict. It's not Rose's fault, so lift your head."
Saying so, he broadly scanned the surroundings.
About thirty hunters had left the test site midway.
The remaining personnel were likely still wandering in the mountains.
If someone inside didn't notice the 'clearing condition' and stop the dungeonization process, the dungeon would soon be 'completed'.
What they could do from the outside now was to dispatch a search team as soon as the entrance opened after the dungeon was completed, and rescue the stranded and injured.
As quickly as possible.
'However...'
Something was bothering Daeyoon.
'Why today of all days, when the test is being held?'
The noticeably frequent appearance of Unknown Gates recently, GIA's prophecy, and even the sudden dungeonization.
Was it a mere coincidence that all these misfortunes overlapped, or...
'It might be some kind of omen.'
Daeyoon, who had been staring at Bokgye Mountain engulfed in darkness with heavy eyes, turned his head back towards Silver Plum Blossom.
"Doctor Plant?"
"She is hurrying this way. Perhaps in an hour, she will arrive—"
Silver Plum Blossom couldn't finish her sentence.
"P-President!"
Tzzt-tzzt-tzzt—
Suddenly, red sparks began to fly all over Bokgye Mountain.
Whoooosh...!
A wind so strong it was hard to even keep one's eyes open blew.
The blackened forest swayed like waves, and the smoke that had been thick from the mountain entrance gradually cleared.
Could it be that it had completely dungeonized?
All personnel, including Daeyoon, looked up at the mountain with anxious eyes.
Just then,
"Th-there! It's Gunslinger and Shine J!"
Waaaah!
Someone let out a cheer.
Everyone's gaze turned that way.
It was true.
Two shadows, stumbling out from where the black smoke had cleared.
They were B-Class hunters, Gunslinger and Shine J, who had participated in the test.
With them in the lead, other hunters were also following them out of the forest.
"Th-this way! This way!"
Silver Plum Blossom quickly approached them and checked their condition.
Unlike Shine J, who seemed to have no major injuries, Gunslinger, whom she was supporting, appeared to have suffered no small injury.
"Are you alright? What on earth happened in there?"
"Well... suddenly a hidden achievement notification popped up, and then dungeonization... No, I'll explain later, please look at this person first."
"Ah, yes. This way, please."
Silver Plum Blossom moved the injured, including Gunslinger, to the pre-installed tents.
The mountain entrance, which had been like a funeral home, became bustling.
The test takers, emerging from the mountain one after another, seemed to have no major external injuries, with some exceptions.
"Is this everyone?"
Silver Plum Blossom, after giving orders to the healing hunters directly under the Rose Guild, flipped through the test participant list and asked Shine J.
"Well. I was disoriented too. It seems this was about the number of hunters who were in the same space as us. As for the others, I don't really know... Ouch."
Suddenly, Shine J stopped talking and rushed past Silver Plum Blossom.
She ran so hastily that she even ditched her staff, which was practically her identity.
"Leader, you've arrived! I was worried you might have fallen behind!"
...Leader?
Silver Plum Blossom, quickly snatching Shine J's staff, turned around with a puzzled face.
Rose hadn't designated a leader separately.
To the hunters gathered here, each other's existence was that of a competitor, not a teammate, so there was no need for a leader.
And yet,
"Leader, you must have worked hard not only in battle but also descending the mountain. Please come here and sit on my cloak."
Shine J smiled faintly and looked at their leader, the Princess of Dark Flare.
A gaze filled with respect, going beyond mere affection.
Though Eunha had been receiving such gazes continuously while descending, she still wasn't used to them and quickly averted her eyes elsewhere.
"No, it's fine."
"Please don't refuse. Oh, just a moment. There's dust there."
Shine J, unfazed by Eunha's lukewarm attitude, meticulously brushed off the dirt from Eunha's clothes and even took out a hot pack she had stuck inside her own clothes and handed it to Eunha, showing utmost devotion.
"Leader!"
"You've arrived? Did anything happen on your way down?"
Other hunters were the same.
Those who had been resting nearby, as well as those receiving treatment inside the tents, gathered in droves and stood beside Eunha.
Silver Plum Blossom, who had been watching the strange scene for a long time, hesitantly spoke.
"This person is your leader... you say?"
At that, Shine J, who was rubbing a new hot pack with her palm, nodded without hesitation.
"Yes. If it weren't for her, we would have been trapped in the dungeon. It's all thanks to her that we were able to get out of the mountain so quickly."
With a clear smile, she once again glanced at the Princess of Dark Flare, Eunha.
"Therefore, she is indeed our leader."
Isn't that right, everyone?
As Shine J asked, shouting loudly towards the surroundings,
Waaaah—!
The surrounding hunters cheered as if they had been waiting.
"..."
Silver Plum Blossom slowly blinked.
In a short while, the Princess of Dark Flare found herself holding pre-warmed hot packs and hot cocoa in both hands, a thick blanket on her shoulders, and a bucket filled with warm water at her feet. She was distributing the items... no, offerings, that had come as her share to a nearby middle-aged man.
Silver Plum Blossom vividly remembered her, the Princess of Dark Flare, who had been the only F-Class among the numerous applicants.
Her attire made her stand out at the test site from the beginning, and more importantly, she was someone who possessed both the dark and fire attributes that the Association required.
Besides...
'Silver Plum Blossom, keep the CCTV footage of the Princess of Dark Flare separately.'
Doctor Plant seemed to be paying attention to her.
Silver Plum Blossom had always intended to follow her master's orders without question, but nevertheless, a question lingered in a corner of her mind.
What was so special about that hunter?
"Heuk-Peu! Heuk-Peu! Heuk-Peu!"
(Abbreviation for Princess of Dark Flare)
Hunters, even clapping in time with the rhythm, extolled her.
It was an attitude as if treating a hero who had led a war to victory.
An ordinary person might have become cocky, but Eunha's pitch-black pupils held a calm light without a hint of wavering.
'...What on earth happened in the Colony of the Dead?'
Beside the bewildered Silver Plum Blossom, the Princess of Dark Flare lightly took a step closer.
"Um."
"Yes, yes?"
Snapping her head up, a massive bundle, seemingly about to burst, was suddenly thrust before her eyes.
"Where should I submit the collected cores?"
Drip.
A green orb rolled out from a slight opening in the bundle.
Silver Plum Blossom's face, upon confirming the bundle before her, gradually filled with astonishment.
Hundreds of cores, even at a glance.
An amount so enormous that it made one suspect she had practically wiped out all the skeletons in the mountain.
Meanwhile, Gwanghyun, who had been watching them from a short distance away, whispered lowly.
"President..."
"Hmm."
Daeyoon nodded shortly.
Princess of Dark Flare.
His gaze was solely fixed on Eunha.
Yijun abruptly stopped his steps.
"Heuk-Peu! Heuk-Peu! Heuk-Peu!"
The cheers of hunters were heard from afar.
Why was that?
Yijun instinctively hid behind a tree.
Without even having time to fix his disheveled hair.
A cold wind blows.
Cheers for one person were thickly mixed in it.
Yijun placed his right hand on his chest, which was heaving violently up and down.
Thump, thump, thump...
His heart was still pounding like crazy.
His hand on his chest, his eyes darting around urgently as if searching for something.
Finally, they stopped at one place.
A woman with pitch-black hair cascading down to her waist.
"..."
Only then did Yijun, his face slightly relaxed, lean loosely against the tree.
'【I saw black clouds covering Bokgye Mountain. She was standing under them.】'
Yijun, upon hearing those words from Andrea, had immediately bolted from his seat and rushed out.
He had almost no memory of what happened after.
It was as if his mind had been painted with white paint.
Normally, he wouldn't have acted like this.
There was no need to go to the trouble of coming here himself.
He could have had Catherine contact the Rose Guild.
Or else, he could have just pretended not to know, pretended not to have heard anything, and closed his ears as if uninterested.
But he couldn't.
Come to think of it, it seemed it had always been like that.
For a very long time, whenever it was related to her.
"Uoooooh! Leader!"
Someone shouted.
Yijun, leaning against the tree, slightly lifted his head and looked that way.
"What are you all doing?! It's a ceremony, a ceremony!"
"Leader, come over here!"
The hunters were gathered in one place, pulling someone along.
"No, it's fine."
Though her tone was unwavering and firm, Yijun could tell that her voice actually held awkwardness and bewilderment.
He couldn't not know.
"Hey, Leader, don't refuse."
"That's right, Leader! Aren't you our benefactor, Leader! Come, come over here!"
"No, I really..."
Flash!
The hunters lifted Eunha.
Then they began to repeatedly toss her into the air and catch her.
"Princess of Dark Flare, long live!"
Eunha, stiffly frozen, was enduring the ceremony with her whole body.
But as if even that was unfamiliar, she eventually, with a stern face, brushed off their hands.
She had always had that side to her.
Though she didn't hesitate to do conspicuous things, when she actually received attention, she would inwardly feel awkward.
On the day of the training center graduation, when she took the trainee representative oath, on the day she was decided as squad leader, on the day a young man, thanking her for saving his parents, held both her hands tightly and cried—Eunha always made that face.
"Leader? Leader! Where are you going?"
"...To the restroom for a moment."
"The restroom isn't that way?!"
Not too far away.
But not too close either.
Yijun endlessly watched that scene.
He couldn't take his eyes off her.
From her figure, surrounded by people, he simply couldn't.
Whoooosh...
The wind blew again.
That wind, mixed with cheers and laughter, fiercely swept through Yijun's hair, cheeks, and chest.
Finally, when the wind died down again.
"Maestro?"
"...!"
Yijun, who had been lost in thought, sharply turned his head at the sudden presence.
"Gasp!"
The owner of the presence, Gwanghyun, unknowingly sucked in a breath.
His body momentarily froze stiffly.
It definitely wasn't a mistake.
For a very brief moment, he felt as if he had been bound by something invisible.
"...It was you."
Yijun muttered lowly.
Shooo, the crimson aura that had aggressively bloomed around him scattered into the air as if it had never been.
Gwanghyun slowly lowered his overly raised shoulders.
The sense of restraint that had tightly bound his entire body finally disappeared completely.
"Wh-what brings you here? I hadn't heard that Maestro would be visiting the Colony of the Dead..."
"I just stopped by for a moment because there was something I wanted to confirm."
"Confirm, you say?"
Gwanghyun, blinking, nodded a beat later, "Ah."
It seemed Maestro had also come here after hearing about the Bokgye Mountain dungeonization.
It was just as well.
"The Association President is also over there, so please come with me first. You'll be able to hear the detailed story from the test participants."
"No. I have to go back now."
"Huh?"
The moment Gwanghyun, who had turned his back, glanced at Yijun,
"You saw nothing."
Whoosh.
A pheromone scent, so thick it made one's mind go blank, approached.
"Right?"
As their eyes met, Yijun's ash-gray eyes curved slightly.
A large hand, wearing a black leather glove, suddenly came close to his nose.
Srrk, Gwanghyun's pupils dilated, and his previously clear eyes became hazy.
Finally.
"...Uh, huh?"
When he snapped back to his senses, Gwanghyun was left there alone.
He looked around with a dazed face.
He was sure he had been talking to someone just moments ago...
Was it his imagination?
"Oh, my goodness."
I was going to go to the car to get the documents.
Lately, he had often been losing his train of thought like this.
Unless he was seriously possessed by something, it seemed it was really time for him to retire.
"Ugh, life..."
Gwanghyun, letting out a deep sigh, scratched the back of his neck and left the place.
