Level Up - Chapter 20: Crimson Poison - 2
“I’m going to kill him. Hahaha!”
Joo Kyung Chul, the master of the Crimson Poison Guild, continued to chase Hyun Seok under the mountain.
Hyun Seok took a taxi and got off at Gangwon-do. Leaving the road and heading straight into the mountain.
Naturally, they had no choice but to leave their cars behind and chase after Hyun Seok.
In fact, Joo Kyung Chul should have taken a taxi, but when he saw Hyun Seok moving toward Gangwon-do, He decided to watch him a bit more. In this way, he can minimize his traces at the right time, so that Hyun Seok doesn’t realise that someone is following him.
There were no problems except for two things: there were more cars driving on the road than expected, and there were few cars passing by where Hyun Seok was waiting, so Hyun Seok got off as if he had waited long and climbed up the mountain.
Joo Kyung Chul gritted his teeth when he saw his suit and shoes were messed up while climbing up the mountain.
“How costly was this…?”
Joo Kyung Chul raised his head and looked up. He could see Hyun Seok standing far away.
He seemed to have climbed up to the middle of the mountain. It was not a hiking trail, so there was no sign of people passing by and it was also not easy to move around.
‘What is he doing? I don’t think he’s taking a break…….’
It looks like Hyun Seok was waiting for Joo Kyung Chul. In addition, all the guild members of the Crimson Poison Guild followed by Joo Kyung Chul.
Joo Kyung Chul became alert. He has experienced it several times that he should not rush into someone who shows such a relaxed attitude.
While stopping for a while, the guild members joined him one after another. There were no guild members left under the mountain. All the cars came up close to the side of the road.
It was natural to do so because it was more important to catch the prey Hyun Seok, not the car anyway.
And it was very important for Hyun Seok, too.
“Hyung*, why don’t you go catch him while he’s resting?”
“If you try a little, you can catch him, but what are you doing here?”
There are many differences between Players and ordinary people. The most important thing among them was the existence of mana.
And all physical abilities go up because of mana.
However, increased physical ability does not mean that he has become a superhuman.
It was only when the Players used mana that they were able to exert the power of the superman.
Of course, each time the level goes up, the physical or mana goes up little by little, and if someone becomes a high-level Player, he will eventually gain power beyond human beings, but that doesn’t happen till the 50th level.
That’s why the Crimson Poison Guild members, who came all the way up here, were gasping for air. No matter how strong they were, they had to run up a mountain with no roads.
Everyone was tired. Also, there was a complaint about Joo Kyung Chul, who was taking more time.
There is no way that Joo Kyung Chul would not suffer in such an atmosphere. However, it was much more important for him to eliminate the risk than the complaint of his subordinates.
So, after carefully observing Hyun Seok, I was able to find out why he was standing there.
“Dungeon?”
“What? What do you mean, hyung?” He was confused by what Joo Kyung Chul wanted to say.
“Isn’t that a dungeon?”
Joo Kyung Chul pointed with his finger behind Hyun Seok. It was hidden by Hyun Seok’s body, and it was hard to see at first glance because it was in the mountains, but it was clear when he properly focused.
“Oh, really? Hyung! That’s a dungeon!”
“Looking at the size, it looks like Bronze.”
Hyun Seok was standing right in front of him, so he could check the dungeon’s diameter based on that. It was definitely a Bronze grade.
“I’ve heard that some dungeons are created separately, but it’s my first time seeing them.”
The Guild members were looking at it with curious eyes. But soon their eyes were turned greedy.
It was a dungeon about which the management center had no idea. Therefore, if they use that well, they can get the dungeon items including the Spirit Stone in a negative way to avoid the management center’s eyes.
Joo Kyung Chul thought of it, ‘I’ve heard that some powerful organizations and guilds own some of those dungeons, which seemed to be this way.’
“Jin-ah.” Joo Kyung Chul called Kwak Myung Jin.
“Yes, hyung.” Kwak Myung Jin could at least guess about what Joo Kyung Chul wanted to do.
“I have to catch that bastard. He knows more than I thought.”
“That’s why we’re here. Hhhh!. I’m done with him. Why would he come all the way here? He’ll try to hide in the dungeon. Isn’t he?”
“Right…”
“There’s nowhere to run once you go inside.”
Joo Kyung Chul nodded loudly. That’s definitely true. If someone enters the dungeon, they have no choice but to come back to the entrance or clear the dungeon.
However, even if they clear it, it will reappear at the original entrance of the dungeon .
So, as a result, there is no escape.
But that was not what Joo Kyung Chul wanted.
“What’s his level?”
“I don’t know, but I can guess….”
Kwak Myung Jin turned his head and looked at Choi Chang Soo making him quickly step forward.
“It’s not about level, it’s about skill. I think he’ll be on the 40th level.”
“40? Are you sure?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe he was hiding more of his skills. But….”
Joo Kyung Chul could tell even without listening to the conclusion. If Hyun Seok had the ability to hide, he didn’t have to work with Choi Chang Soo’s group in the first place.
That means Choi Chang Soo and his party was needed.
“We can consider it level 40… We’ll have to play a lot.…to get between level 45 and 50.”
The conversation was over. Joo Kyung Chul said what he really wanted.
“It’s not impossible to clear a bronze dungeon if you’re a good Player with a low level. It depends on the grade.”
“That’s right, hyung.”
Kwak Myung Jin immediately knew what Joo Kyung Chul wanted to hear.
“Wouldn’t it be enough with three of us to protect the entrance?”
Joo Kyung Chul grinned and moved forward to take a clear look of Hyun Seok.
“Yes, we should never let him clear that place. The dungeon is ours. You understand, right?
“I’m Myung Jin, Kwak Myung-jin. You can trust me.”
“Yes, I trust you. Let’s go.”
Joo Kyung Chul left that place quickly, followed by the members of the Crimson Poison Guild.
Hyun Seok saw Joo Kyung Chul and his members in front of the dungeon and confirmed those who were running .
‘Twenty-five people. Level up to 28th from 54th. Choi Chang Soo has leveled up again.’
Choi Chang Soo and his party reached the 28th level. The Crimson Poison Guild members were at least on 33th levels.
The Master of the guild, Joo Kyung Chul, had a level of 54. The Chilseong* the faction seemed to have pushed him properly.
Hyun Seok nodded.
“It’s not a bad start.”
Hyun Seok had no intention of letting go of the Crimson Poison Guild nor the Chilseong faction easily.
It will be a headache to leave these guys behind. In that case, it’s enough to just clean them up.
Hyun Seok jumped into the dungeon when Joo Kyung Chul reached there too who was out of breath because of how fast he was running.
‘You really don’t know what a separate dungeon is.’ Hyun Seok thought.
Hyun Seok entered the dungeon like an evil with a faint smile across his face.
Joo Kyung Chul and other Crimson Poison Guild members including Choi Chang-soo, who went afterwards, could see Hyun Seok smiling but never understood the reason behind that smile.
Like that, the seemingly Bronze Grade 3 dungeon swallowed everyone.
Only an ominous black vortex remained as they disappeared. After a while, three of the Crimson Poison Guild’s members slowly moved forward monitoring the dungeon.
They were high-level Players, each of them reached level 40 . Joo Kyung Chul intentionally left excellent members at the entrance so that he could catch Hyun Seok whenever he ran out.
“Don’t relax. We don’t know what’s going to happen next..”
Of course he didn’t intend to. If they miss Hyun Seok here, they won’t be alive.
There was a tension constantly flowing, rising the nervous among each other…
* * *
As soon as Hyun Seok entered the dungeon, he moved to the originally planned point. It was not far from the entrance.
‘There was something I had to do before I fought with the Crimson Poison Guild members who would be here soon.’
It was to move the entrance. If he doesn’t hide it somewhere where no one knows, he might find someone running out of the dungeon.
The key to this operation was not to let anyone escape. Including Players who will guard the entrance to the dungeon outside.
There was a really tricky place near the entrance. It was an undisclosed place, so it would never be known unless you go around and look carefully.
Hyun Seok hid himself there.
After a while, Joo Kyung Chul with his other Crimson Poison Guild members and Choi Chang-soo’s party entered the dungeon.
“What the hell is this? There was a dungeon like this here? I’ve never heard of this place before.”
Joo Kyung Chul frowned and grumbled as soon as he came in.
This place was in the middle of a cave. Moreover, the structure of the cave did not look so simple.It was as if it were intertwined as a maze.
‘Just looking around from place to place, I could see five holes to go somewhere else.’ he thought.
Assuming that each was connected to a few different paths, he was confused by how complicated the structure would be.
“For now, it’s important not to get lost. I see why Hyun Seok brought us into this dungeon. Watch out for the blitz. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
The guild members answered with bright eyes. Certainly, in a dungeon like this, it was important to cope with the sudden attack.
Next, Joo Kyung Chul needed to fit a device so that he could return back anytime. It was also something that cannot be erased or changed by others.
‘This is just the right one.’
“I’d love to be here.”
Joo kyung Chul dug deep into the wall and buried a device.
‘I also hid it well, so that it doesn’t appear on the surface. Even if you look closely, no one can find it.
It was a device that emitted powerful signals. The signal could tell our location.’
It was not possible to find the exact path of a maze, but it was also not much difficult to return to the original position from where we have started, only if we knew the directions.
Unless this cave structure is an artificial maze to screw others’ minds.
Of course, even if it’s a maze like dungeon, they’ll find their way someday if they catch a signal.
Joo Kyung Chul, who prepared such a safety device, led the group inside the cave.
‘I also didn’t forget to mark my way.’
Someone took out a pad and began to record a map. It was a more meticulous team than anyone ever imagined.
When they started going further inside the dungeon, Hyun Seok, who was hiding nearby, showed up.
“It’s going to over soon”
In the past, when Hyun Suk was also a member of the Crimson Poison Guild he never had time to check whether the system was being set up or not. He just had a hard time keeping up his overworked body.
“Okay, let’s move from the entrance?”
Hyun Seok smiled, he went to the entrance and put his palm over the black vortex.
Surprisingly, the vortex began to move slowly. It moved as if it was rolling along the way of mana in Hyun Seok’s hands.
The movement of the black vortex was slow but it was surely magical.
A smile crept around Hyun-seok’s face.
‘Now it’s time to start the real hunt…’
———————————————————
Hyung:- older brother ( used between males only)
Chilseong:- seven start