Resurrection Chapter 63 - Just Because You’re Precious

Kang Cheoljun returned about an hour after Kim Yitae had left. Kim Piljoong, who had been grinning with delight at the sight of the sweet potatoes just finishing cooking at the spicy stir-fried chicken restaurant, had to return to the field headquarters alone to hear the report.

Of course, that didn’t even take a second. Kim Piljoong, with his light-speed feet, was truly here in a flash and gone in a flash, so Kang Cheoljun wasn’t surprised when Kim Piljoong suddenly appeared in the empty seat across from him. He shot up from his seat and gave a crisp salute.

Returning the salute, Kim Piljoong swallowed the complaint he was about to make about him showing up right at mealtime. It was because Kang Cheoljun, who had been wandering inside the dungeon for a whole week, was in a sorry state. As if there had been a fiery mess inside, he was covered in soot, looking like a miner who had escaped from a mine.

“You seem to have gone through a lot. Tell me, what happened in there?”

At Kim Piljoong’s question, Kang Cheoljun, like a seasoned Special Task Force member, reported only the key points simply.

“According to Min Gongchan, who was accompanying Seo Heesoo and Kim Yitae, a five-black-star class Searing Archdemon appeared, and while Seo Heesoo was engaged in a fierce battle with the fiend, Yaksha showed up. He tried to abduct Kim Yitae, but Ulfheðinn descended and inflicted a fatal wound. At that moment, the Searing Archdemon self-destructed, turning the entire area into a sea of fire. It seemed Seo Heesoo and Kim Yitae escaped safely, but Min Gongchan couldn’t, so Yoon Younghyun and I rescued him.”

“Then what about Yaksha?”

“His death has not been confirmed, but it is certain that he was left behind in the fiery hell.”

“And Min Gongchan returned with you?”

“That is correct. He is currently receiving treatment in the infirmary, but I have something separate to report about him.”

“What is it?”

“Min Gongchan says that he is a regressor.”

Kim Piljoong didn’t scoff at those words. It was a ridiculous story, but in a world where even the dead could be brought back to life, what was something like regression?

Above all, if he was a regressor, all of his past actions made sense. If that was the case, an unexpectedly serious problem was emerging, so Kim Piljoong scratched his temple in an unseemly manner.

“If what Min Gongchan says about being a regressor is true, then what he said about Seo Heesoo destroying the world is also true.”

“Inferring from the words Yoon Younghyun let slip, Kim Yitae intends to get Seo Heesoo to the maximum level. His choosing Seo Heesoo of all people must mean that he intends to share his purpose. As you know, he…”

“Yes. Seo Heesoo was a paladin and considered it his mission to defeat the Black King and save humanity.”

If Kim Yitae was using Resurrection on Seo Heesoo for such a purpose, the Special Task Force might have to help them.

But Seo Heesoo was no longer a paladin. Even if he hadn’t fallen, he had broken ties with the White Goddess and had now become a berserker. Just because Kim Yitae trusted him, should the OAMA trust him as well?

It was a question with no certain answer. Because you can know the depths of a thousand-fathom river, but not the heart of a single man.

Kim Piljoong thought it was a headache, but the decision wasn’t his to make anyway. The OAMA would ultimately move according to the will of the OAMA Head, and the OAMA Head was also just a person who moved according to the will of the VIP.

Of course, that VIP moves according to the will of the people. In the end, the fate of the Awakened was practically decided by the non-Awakened, who were the absolute majority.

“Good work. I’d like to tell you to go and rest, but I suppose I can’t.”

Kang Cheoljun nodded as if he could guess what orders he was about to give.

“Since Yaksha’s death was not confirmed, I will operate under the assumption that he is alive.”

“In addition, keep an eye on Min Gongchan’s movements.”

“Yes, sir.”

Kang Cheoljun saluted again and walked out of the tent.

After he was gone, Kim Piljoong leaned back his long body against the back of the chair and put his two feet up on the table. Then, he lowered his eyes and lamented.

“I thought I had finally met the love of my life. Don’t tell me he really died…?”

👑

The place that people conveniently call a dungeon is, in fact, another world, and for humanity, it is uncharted territory. It swarms with monsters, but just as many possibilities exist there.

Twenty-five years after the beginning of a new world, also called the Dungeon Era, dungeons were now being transformed into frontiers. Some dungeons swarmed with so many people that it was said there were more hunters than monsters, and some corporations privatized certain spots to develop dungeon resources.

No one could claim rights to the land in a dungeon, but since dungeons were effectively lawless zones, such principles and rules didn’t apply. It wasn’t just corporations; there were many raid parties that would claim spots, whether it was a place where mysterious materials could be gathered or the hunting ground of a specific monster.

Of course, these actions drew criticism from the Hunter Association and the Awakened Federation, and were prone to becoming targets of pickup crime parties (raid parties temporarily formed to commit crimes), so a proper raid party would not openly stake a claim. But the more proper a raid party was, the more likely it was to hide its base of operations inside a dungeon.

The biggest reason for this is tax evasion. Large, established raid parties earned an enormous amount of money, comparable to corporations, and naturally, the amount of tax they had to pay to the state was also immense.

Rumors circulated that if you earned just an average amount, you’d go bankrupt paying taxes. Even with the tax benefits received for bearing the duty of conscription, it was nowhere near enough.

On the other hand, it was also to protect the raid party’s assets from robbers and thieves. Among those with outstanding other-worldly abilities, there were quite a few thieves. These people knew well that it was more profitable to extort the vast wealth held by raid parties than to enter a dungeon and hunt monsters.

Since fending off and tracking those with uncanny talents for stealth and concealment was next to impossible, raid parties hid their bases inside dungeons and kept them strictly secret.

Of course, even with this, it was not uncommon for them to lose everything they had overnight. Hiding a base inside a dungeon might guarantee secrecy, but it could not guarantee safety. Because setting up a base in a dungeon teeming with monsters everywhere was not as easy as it sounded.

The base of Yaksha, who had kidnapped me before, was also inside a dungeon. He must have put me there thinking I wouldn’t be able to escape since it was a dungeon, but that was a mistake. Because the place where they had set up their base happened to be the Golden Emperor’s hidden sanctuary.

The Golden Emperor, who had been silent for a long time, saw me being held captive there and learned of my ability. And he agreed with my plan to create a max-level Awakened with the resurrection skill to defeat the Black King.

He had no intention of remaining on Earth once the Black King was defeated, so he didn’t much care about my goal of driving out the transcendents and abolishing the Awakened system either.

Having become the Golden Emperor’s first and only apostle, I was reborn as a magic swordsman, destroyed Yaksha’s base, and escaped from that place. After I left, the Golden Emperor sealed off the sanctuary, and with it, Yaksha’s hidden assets that were there were also buried.

Because of that incident, Yaksha had a major conflict with his members. In the end, the raid party Yaksha went through the process of disbandment.

The remaining members formed a new raid party called the Life-sparing Brigade, centered around the vice-captain. Although it couldn’t compare to their time as Yaksha, they were doing quite well for themselves. In the end, it was Yaksha, the raid party leader, who was left out in the cold.

If only he hadn’t taken me to his base, or if only he hadn’t unknowingly set up a base in the Golden Emperor’s sanctuary, none of that would have happened.

As such, setting up a base inside a dungeon carried a great deal of risk in many ways. So, although I set up a hideout inside a dungeon, I had distributed the assets I had collected so far in several places. The safe house in Dungeon 444, where I brought Heesoo hyung and Park Sigyeong, was also one of them.

“We’re here.”

I dispelled the illusion magic I had cast on the entrance and lifted the thick curtain of vines. As I led Heesoo hyung and Park Sigyeong into the entrance of the rather spacious cave, a large pile of luggage stacked in one corner came into view.

Most of it was supplies for setting up a base camp, such as pavilions and tents, a generator, magic stones for fuel, food and daily necessities, and hunting gear. By my calculation, it was enough for two people to survive for nearly a year.

Right now, we were one person over, but this was a D-rank dungeon, so resupplying was relatively easy. It wasn’t like we were going to stay here for a thousand years, so it wasn’t a bad place to lay low and watch the situation for a while.

In fact, if it were just Heesoo hyung and me, we could just go back to the apartment, but with Park Sigyeong tagging along, that became difficult. It was difficult to set up a hideout in a dungeon, but it was even more difficult to find an apartment, so I wanted to keep that place as a home for just me and Heesoo hyung.

I glared disapprovingly at Park Sigyeong, who was looking around the inside of the cave. Noticing my sharp gaze, Park Sigyeong scurried to hide behind Heesoo hyung. He clung to Heesoo hyung’s arm and yelled at me.

“If you’re planning to silence me in a place like this, I won’t stand for it! More than anything, Mr. Heesoo won’t forgive you! Right, Mr. Heesoo?”

Park Sigyeong wasn’t a complete simpleton, as he was wary of me. It was understandable; after witnessing the sight of me reviving Heesoo hyung, he had nearly fainted. Upon witnessing Heesoo hyung’s resurrection, he had babbled some nonsense about it being a miracle, before belatedly recalling the value of the Resurrection I possessed.

He understood in a flash why Heesoo hyung had chosen me as his partner, and why Yaksha was after me. And he had reached the conclusion that I might kill him to protect my secret. After that, he became terrified and stuck to Heesoo hyung like glue.

I sighed and said.

“If I was going to shut you up, I wouldn’t have brought you out of the dungeon in the first place. Why would I go through the trouble of bringing you all the way here?”

“If you’re thinking of getting rid of me when Mr. Heesoo isn’t looking…”

“Now, even if you die in an accident, I’ll be the first one to be suspected, so that won’t happen. Unless Heesoo hyung tells me to kill you, that is.”