Chapter 148 …
Many people wouldn’t believe it if I told them, but I’m the kind of person who, if I do something, I do it properly.
In other words, a “half-finished sturdy house” just wouldn’t satisfy me.
Thanks to that, Lucy focused on repairing the house from the moment she woke up until she went to sleep. As a result, the house became extremely strong and safe.
Now, even if hunters attacked, there was no need to worry about the villagers getting hurt. They just had to hide inside the house!
“Thanks to this, the completeness went up by 20, and the grade changed too!”
It felt like my dungeon from the past, when it was S-rank, was coming back to life.
Of course, Lucy, who had been working every day to satisfy me, finally collapsed once she relaxed.
“I overworked myself because I wanted to do too much… now I’ve got a fever…”
“Oh dear.”
Her dedication was admirable, but she was still just a child, so she had overexerted herself.
“For now, just feed her six meals a day. The urgent issues are resolved, so tell her she can rest for a month.”
“Yes, I’ll do that. I also made medicine with Mant, so Lucy will get better soon!”
Yoanna smiled and returned to the village.
I stayed behind in the Demon King’s Castle hall and summoned my status window.
It had already been two weeks since I used the “External Exploration Ticket.”
[‘Demon King Dungeon’
Grade: S-rank C-rank
Owner: Demon King ‘Anastasios’ (?? rank)
Population: 16 (Slimes—Kim Gyu + 15 others)
Completeness: 30 (under development)
Public Morale: 20 (limit: 100)]
“Ha, this External Exploration Ticket really came in handy.”
I looked at the status window with a satisfied smile.
To summarize our previously harsh dungeon life:
We always cooked our meals in the field over a fire, and at night, we slept in century-old houses that leaked drafts.
Water was available from the well, but farming had only just begun with the spring wheat sowed. A few days ago, families were surviving only on fruit.
The housing situation was barely bearable because it was spring.
Honestly, if it had been summer or winter, everyone might have run out of the dungeon.
Now that the house repairs were done, once Lucy woke up, I planned to take our time building a shared kitchen and installing a stove.
That meant not only daily bread baking but even wood-fired pizzas…
I smiled with satisfaction.
The inventory showing a “2” shimmered before me.
I still had two more External Exploration Tickets. They could be used again whenever necessary.
[Wow, honestly I thought you’d screw it up quickly, but your ability to bring in talent is impressive, Demon King. I can feel the dungeon changing day by day.]
I grabbed a handkerchief and threw it at the mirror.
[Ouch!]
“What, is this soup? You’re gonna ruin it.”
[Ugh! I meant it in a good way!]
I slumped onto the throne.
I was just about to completely relax when I remembered,
“By the way, I haven’t seen Han Hyunjin lately. What’s he up to?”
Han Hyunjin’s stern face suddenly came to mind.
Since bringing Lucy from the continent, Hyunjin had been scarce.
Has he even come in five times in two weeks?
Some might think that’s a lot, but this was Hyunjin, who used to treat this place like his own bedroom.
It seemed strange that he only showed up occasionally now.
‘He’s not sick, right?’
I thought of Lucy, who had caught a fever from overexertion. While Yoanna was nursing her attentively, Hyunjin, as the lone protagonist type, had no one to bring him even a bowl of porridge if he fell ill.
[Han Hyunjin seems to be in Seoul, dealing with a Monster Wave.]
Ah, that explains it.
If a dungeon gate opens in Seoul and monsters pour out, of course Hyunjin would be deployed.
“Must be a real mess.”
Whenever there’s a situation like that, Hyunjin arrives earlier than the authorities to handle the battle.
To prevent monsters from destroying the city and increasing casualties.
‘He’s very conscientious, and the Association takes advantage of that.’
Hyunjin would throw himself into danger to close a dungeon. The Association even deliberately opens dungeons to trouble him.
I couldn’t help but worry.
“Show me what Hyunjin’s doing.”
I stood in front of the mirror, leaving the throne.
The mirror grumbled but quickly shifted the scene.
[Bang!]
The mirror showed downtown Seoul in ruins, the sound deafening.
Hyunjin was running through the debris, dodging attacks.
The monsters weren’t particularly strong individually, but their numbers were overwhelming.
Even now, not all civilians had evacuated.
This was precisely Hyunjin’s weakness.
No matter how much of an S-rank he was, he was restricted in action as long as people were still around.
He hated civilian casualties.
[Screeech!]
At that moment, a zombie-like monster approached a fallen child.
The child sat frozen, terrified.
The soldier raised its sword, and
[Ugh!]
Hyunjin leaped, shielding the child.
The sword grazed his back.
Splash!
When the red blood spurted, my face tensed.
Hyunjin set the child in a safe spot and leapt back toward the monsters.
Bleeding profusely from his wound.
“…Damn, what an idiot.”
I muttered without realizing it.
The image of Hyunjin, bleeding, replayed before my eyes.
“I don’t like this feeling.”
During the A-rank Monster Wave suppression, Hyunjin suffered a major injury to his back. The wound was treated with potions, but it would take time to heal fully.
The media once again praised Hyunjin for leading the Monster Wave suppression.
To the public, he was the one and only hero, an unparalleled talent. Media and social networks only highlighted his greatness; no one paid attention to his struggles.
He was simply the only S-rank not affiliated with the Association, depicted as a righteous hero.
After the Monster Wave, Hyunjin paused on his way home.
Waking up after a century, he had no friends or family—he was alone.
Even if he went home now, there was no one to welcome him.
Even if he went, only the cold emptiness of the house would greet him.
He was alone in a world a hundred years later.
‘Alone…’
The thought surprised him.
He hadn’t realized he was lonely before.
‘Is this all because of that dungeon…?’
Ana’s dungeon, where people and monsters lived together.
The place where children played seemed even more alive than here.
Lately, he had been too focused on closing other dungeons to visit often.
His feet habitually headed somewhere other than home.
He arrived under the bridge where the police managed the Demon King Dungeon.
If he took a Transparency Potion, he could sneak in.
But he hesitated.
He found it amusing that he habitually returned here.
“My side.”
“I’ve been working on it lately.”
The awkward words Ana once said came to mind.
Hyunjin scratched his cheek and saw his reflection.
His clothes were tattered, and his body was dirty from partially healed wounds.
He turned his back on the dungeon.
Returning in this state would only worry people.
He couldn’t make people worry over something trivial.
…
Yet, strangely, he couldn’t bring himself to leave.
Just then:
[Go in.]
Ego Sword spoke in a blunt tone.
[Who would welcome you back in that room? Who would eat with you if you returned exhausted?]
Though blunt, Ego Sword’s words carried concern.
[That dungeon is more like home to you.]
Knowing this, Hyunjin smiled unconsciously.
Even though he hated Kim Ana, she still told him to enter the dungeon…
“You’re worrying about me?”
[Who’s worrying about you…!]
“I have you.”
[…]
“Don’t I?”
[You idiot… I’m your teacher and sword, not your friend!]
Does that mean the people in that dungeon are his friends?
Hyunjin chuckled, and Ego Sword, seemingly displeased but subdued, whispered:
[…Han Hyunjin, you need people to talk to and share meals with.]
“….”
[…I don’t want to admit it, but there’s no one better suited for you than the people in that dungeon. Warm and kind-hearted. Don’t be lonely anymore, Han Hyunjin. You need people now.]
Hyunjin fell silent for a moment.
