Northward (3)

‘Level 496. The growth is good.’

Thanks to the battles he had steadily fought while traveling, his level had gone up by one more.

If he had grown this much, Ayane and Park Dong-jae should have each gone up by one level as well.

Perhaps because of that, both of them looked excited. The thrill of gaining experience was common to all hunters.

Right before entering, Park Dong-jae asked Kang-hoo, as if he had just remembered something.

“Hyung, didn’t you say the Extreme Period would end soon?”

“That’s right. It’ll probably shift into the Extreme Minimum Period about ten days from now. The environment will completely change.”

“When I looked into it, they said there isn’t enough data on the Extreme Period and Extreme Minimum Period, so there’s no way to predict them right now. How do you know, hyung?”

“That’s only because they haven’t properly gathered information on Ground Zero and the North Korean side. If you look into it with interest, you can figure it out to some extent.”

Kang-hoo lied without changing his expression at all. However, the reason sounded plausible, so no one questioned it.

In any case, Dungeon No. 17 in Nampo Direct-Controlled City was a dungeon where entering before the Extreme Period ended brought great benefits.

Of course, just because it was the Extreme Period did not mean the entire dungeon changed dramatically.

Except for the final 10% section, also called the main boss area, the previous 90% section remained the same during any period.

However, because that 10% change was the core of the reward, Kang-hoo had wanted to come before it was too late.

Jang Si-hwan probably did not know that the interior of Dungeon No. 17 changed during the Extreme Period.

It was even questionable whether he had ever visited Dungeon No. 17 itself. After all, the Jeonghwa Guild did not own only one or two dungeons.

Moreover, the current Jang Si-hwan had his own optimized dungeon-clearing route, so there was no reason for him to pay attention to a dungeon like this.

He was already so busy clearing dungeons while traveling around using connections in various countries that his body could hardly keep up.

“Can I go take care of…… something for a bit? I think this place might be better, at least.”

At that moment, Ayane, whose complexion had looked slightly poor for a while, spoke up.

Bodily functions were natural not only for Ayane but for everyone, but she seemed unnecessarily conscious of it.

Kang-hoo spoke jokingly, partly to ease her needless burden.

“Leaving the bathroom matter aside, if you feel like farting, just do it without worrying about us. I know women do all the same things men do anyway.”

“Hey…… Don’t even bring up something like that!”

Things Kang-hoo thought nothing of were apparently not so simple for her.

Then again, it was also not something one needed to deliberately show. A suitable sense of mystery was necessary.

In any case, thanks to Ayane going off to take care of business, they gained a short break. It would be about one or two minutes.

‘Ayane came to Korea too, and since I’ve set my mind on North Korea anyway…… I think it’d be fine to dig a little deeper.’

There were two major issues that came to mind regarding North Korea.

The first was that he had to go to the area around the Yalu River in relation to the privilege provided by the Angel of the Battlefield.

It was also a privilege he had already benefited from once before.

No matter which reward he obtained, it was a privilege with great benefits, making it an irresistible temptation for Kang-hoo.

Especially from Kang-hoo’s perspective, who had fewer skills related to Divine Power compared to Dark Energy skills, his greed for skills was strong.

Of course, the Yalu River was effectively at the end of North Korean territory, so the route he had to travel was quite long.

In other words, he could not move there just for that one thing, and he needed to find more targets to clear along the route.

‘And there’s also the Ri Jeong-hak foreshadowing. The foreshadowing I wrote as if I’d use it in a truly meaningful way near the end of the original, then forgot about. This has value too.’

The second was the hunter Ri Jeong-hak.

In the original story, he was a character created to give Jang Si-hwan connections and personal ties in North Korea.

He was skilled in kicking techniques that used his legs, and because he also had Qigong Practitioner traits, he skillfully used palm-wind-like skills.

Simply put, one could think of him as a Taekwondo master. And his qigong blasts shot out from his feet.

Ri Jeong-hak, who should currently be living in Yodeok County, South Hamgyong Province, was estimated to be at least level 500 or higher by current standards.

However, because he was living while caring for his elderly mother, he was not in a situation where he could easily leave Yodeok County.

Like “Baek Seon-tae,” who had once admired Kang-hoo’s skill, Ri Jeong-hak was the type who liked hunters with strong abilities.

So if he met him and could sufficiently appeal to him, there was a high chance of making him a companion.

Ri Jeong-hak had high value as a companion, but because he was extremely knowledgeable about North Korea’s internal geography…….

Having him by his side would be practically the same as keeping a map of North Korea’s monsters and dungeons next to him.

In terms of knowledge about North Korea overall, he would probably surpass not only Celestial Assassin and K, but even Kang-hoo himself, the original author.

‘I need to find a way to handle it all as one bundle so I don’t waste movement. There’s too much to touch.’

Yes, North Korea was always like this.

There were far too many foods laid out like a buffet, but if he tried to eat them all, his stomach would burst, so he had to choose carefully.

Still, Kang-hoo had too many immediate tasks to handle to comfortably remain only in North Korean territory.

In the end, he had no choice but to choose and focus, and in the process, there would be things he regretfully had to postpone.

Fwoooosh!

“What the hell? Since when does a dungeon start as a blazing hell?”

“It’s way too hot.”

What greeted Park Dong-jae and Ayane, who entered Dungeon No. 17 one step ahead of Kang-hoo, was a massive blaze.

Usually, the entrance of a dungeon was generally formed as a stable environment so the surroundings could be easily explored.

That was not always the case, but in most cases, it was made to feel like a base camp with few variables.

However, Dungeon No. 17 was filled in every direction with flames hot enough to make their faces feel like they would cook as soon as they entered.

The peculiar point was that the flames were not rising by burning things like wood or oil. They were flames of mana.

Kang-hoo immediately grasped that characteristic, stepped slightly ahead of the group, and began suppressing the flames.

He used the Fire Suppression skill he had previously obtained through skill synthesis via the Window of Creation.

Skills that came from synthesis often produced odd skills that were completely different from Kang-hoo’s direction.

To begin with, everything was structured by random probability.

So when he first obtained Fire Suppression, he had wondered when he would ever use it, but the opportunity had come like this.

“Hyung, are you changing jobs to firefighter now?”

When Kang-hoo began suppressing the mana flames with both hands stretched powerfully forward, Park Dong-jae laughed.

It was as if fire extinguisher powder were coming out from his fingertips, rapidly pressing down the flames.

“I heard fires that burn with mana are harder to put out than ordinary flames.”

Ayane was right.

Fire made from mana did not require a separate medium to burn; it only needed mana.

In other words.

As long as there was abundant mana, it could burn nonstop for a long time. Just like the scene before their eyes.

The flames were quickly brought under control.

Soon, the path that had been hidden by the flames opened, and Kang-hoo’s group moved straight along it.

Unlike the fiery start, after that, the travel route itself was simple, so there was nothing in particular to worry about.

But the moment a fork in the road appeared, splitting left and right, Kang-hoo chose the route on the right without hesitation.

The left route looked as flat and comfortable as the path they had traveled so far, but he did not even pay attention to it.

Ayane and Park Dong-jae both.

Inwardly, they wondered why he was deliberately taking the rough path while leaving the easy path alone.

It was a natural reaction.

If the left path could be described as a well-maintained, wide-open road that anyone could see was nicely cleared.

The right path, the farther it went, had less sunlight, and an unidentified demonic aura seemed to flow through it.

However, neither of them showed it. The reason was simple. Because it was Kang-hoo. Because it was Kang-hoo’s decision, they followed.

The two’s trust in Kang-hoo was firm, so they had no doubts for any reason.

Sure enough.

Kushishishit! Kushishishit!

Sheee! Boom! Sheee! Booom!

As if proving why Kang-hoo deserved unlimited trust, an accident occurred on the left path.

Not only did a giant centipede suddenly burst up from beneath the formerly flat ground.

Mana shells that seemed to have been aimed at the road from somewhere poured down as well.

If they had gone that way without thinking, even if they minimized the damage, they would not have escaped injury.

‘This is why even if hunters come to Dungeon No. 17, they never come again afterward. It only makes them suffer like crazy.’

Kang-hoo glanced at the left path where variables had appeared exactly as he expected and thought to himself.

It made them suffer terribly, but the rewards were stingy. This was also a general characteristic of North Korean dungeons.

Of course, if one entered a specific space at a specific time like now, then the story became entirely different.

At that time, one would instead obtain rewards beyond imagination. The term “fortuitous encounter” suited it well.

“Now, from here on, let’s pick up the pace. I have the dungeon information, so don’t worry.”

Kang-hoo took the lead and began running. North Korean dungeons were absolutely safe as long as one avoided the dangerous elements.

Even if one did not know the entire dungeon, as long as one erased only the dangerous things through the process of elimination, there was no chance of falling into a crisis.

Kang-hoo knew the simple way to approach it, so he had no worries.

And since he did not have companions who would act unpredictably, trust alone was enough. Only stamina had to hold out.

For physically severed faults and cliff sections, they broke through using Fallen Wings and the Blue-Position Exchange Formation skill.

For assassin-type monsters that appeared constantly along the way, he saw through their stealth using the Watch option on the “Sight” ring.

The captain-class monster whose only countermeasure was a rear attack from stealth was eliminated with an attack using the Veil of Technique.

The slow-moving giant-type monsters were suppressed by linking Ayane’s Full-Load Single Strike with Park Dong-jae’s debuff.

Thanks to using the most optimized choice in each situation, Kang-hoo’s group pushed forward smoothly.

Because he had various options, there was no need to rack his brain in a complicated way to resolve situations.

Just as soup was eaten with a spoon and side dishes were picked up with chopsticks.

He only had to choose the right tool well. Whether it was a monster or a strange terrain, every problem had a solution.

Kang-hoo’s group was thoroughly excited.

The expressions of the two people, who had been fully immersed in the thrill of advancing without obstruction, suddenly darkened.

“This is…… a bit dangerous.”

“Hyung, should we go around this?”

The monster group that had been hidden by the grassland area began to appear belatedly the moment it came out onto the wide-open path.

Kihoot. Kihot!

A swarm of mutant monkeys appeared on a scale incomparable to the monsters they had faced earlier.

Even by rough estimate, hundreds of them seemed to be completely blocking the travel route.

They were mutant monkeys with muscular bodies and claws that caused paralysis with even a graze.

In Ayane and Park Dong-jae’s calculations, a head-on fight against these things was difficult. No, impossible would be the more accurate expression.

A few of them might be removed with Ayane’s sniping and Kang-hoo’s wide-area skills.

But the picture of annihilating hundreds at once could not be drawn from the start.

However.

“What do you mean, go around? We’re breaking through.”

Kang-hoo’s expression, which seemed to have finished calculating even this situation, was full of composure.

“……?”

Question marks filled Park Dong-jae and Ayane’s eyes. What kind of “insane” method was he going to show this time?