CHAPTER 146

A quiet town in Samcheok, Gangwon Province, had recently been struck by the appearance of a dungeon named Svartalfheim. The once peaceful and small town was quickly thrown into chaos. In response, the Association was dispatched, estimating the dungeon's rank to be S or higher.

This time, instead of allowing guilds to bid for it, the Association decided to handle it independently. The dungeon's energy fluctuations were so unstable that a dungeon break could occur, even though it had only just appeared.

Shortly after, the Association assigned a guild to subjugate the dungeon. The guild chosen was none other than Odin, one of Korea’s leading major guilds. Odin Guild’s guildmaster, Park Yoon-sung, accepted the task and immediately began assembling a team for the raid.

It had been quite some time since the Odin Guild had tackled a newly emerged dungeon.

Moreover, the Association requested the participation of the Alliance guilds that had come to Korea to assist with conquering the final dungeon.

Although the Alliance had originally agreed to focus solely on the final dungeon foretold by the Prophet, the opportunity to raid a high-ranking dungeon and acquire valuable items was too tempting, so they readily agreed.

Odin Guild also saw this as a good opportunity to coordinate with the Alliance guilds they would eventually raid the final dungeon with. As a result, preparations for the dungeon raid between Odin Guild and the Alliance proceeded swiftly.

"They're here!"

The first to arrive in front of the dungeon was the Odin Guild's car. A tall man was the first to step out of it.

“…”

It was Kang Yoo-hyun. The moment he appeared, camera flashes went off nonstop. With an indifferent gaze, he scanned the crowd before striding forward with his long legs. Right behind him were his younger brother, Kang Soo-hyun, and several high-ranking hunters.

"Why isn’t Han Yi-jin here?"

"What? Han Yi-jin isn’t being deployed this time?"

A quiet stir spread through the crowd of reporters. Han Yi-jin, who had been getting attention from every S-rank hunter lately, was the talk of the town. Rumors that even the Laufey Guild was desperately trying to recruit him only fueled the public's curiosity.

After the collapse of the Association building, Han Yi-jin remained confined to Odin Guild’s accommodation and hadn’t stepped outside even once. He canceled all his official schedules, and with no new uploads to his YouTube channel either, frustrated netizens began voicing their complaints.

The reporters were buzzing with excitement, certain that a hunter with an S-grade auxiliary skill would be essential to clearing this unknown dungeon. Just getting a good shot of Han Yi-jin and Kang Yoo-hyun together would have guaranteed high view counts.

But for him not to show up for the dungeon expedition… Disappointment was written all over the reporters’ faces. Watching the Odin Guild’s hunters make their way toward the portal entrance, the reporters clicked their tongues in frustration.

"It's Liam White!"

"Oh!"

However, their attention was quickly diverted by the appearance of the Alliance's hunters, who appeared one after another. Before long, thoughts of Han Yi-jin faded from their minds.

“Phew…”

I watched the hunters heading toward the portal in the distance. My appearance was now concealed by an invisibility item. It hadn’t been easy sneaking all the way here, but at least I managed to arrive just in time.

I got in touch with Lee Chae-jin through Sim Dante and was able to get a potion from him. True to his nickname, “the genius alchemist,” he had all sorts of potions at his disposal. Having read the novel, I knew very well that the potions he made were far from ordinary.

After Kang Yoo-hyun and Kang Soo-hyun left to tackle the Svartálfheim Dungeon, Do-gyul and Eden started taking turns visiting me, as if they were keeping an eye on me. It seemed they knew I’d try to slip out as soon as I had the chance.

I quietly put them both to sleep and used a teleportation item. The timing had to be perfect to put Eden and Do-gyul to sleep simultaneously. I first lured Eden away and used the Sweet Sleep item on him, then I fed Do-gyul the potion I received from Lee Chae-jin.

Potions that could put an S-class like Do-gyul to sleep were rare, but the one made by Lee Chae-jin was an exception. The quick-witted Do-gyul would have been on guard if I had tried using the Sweet Sleep item on him, but he never suspected the sleep potion mixed into his drink.

Before using the teleportation item, I also drank the potion I got from Lee Chae-jin. It was a potion that could change my appearance for a set period of time. I’d asked for it just in case the invisibility item wore off, but thankfully, it hadn’t yet.

"Now, how am I going to get in there?"

I muttered to myself as I watched the hunters gathered around the portal. The problem now was how to sneak in among these hypersensitive hunters without being noticed. The invisibility item would deactivate if I bumped into someone or if anyone sensed my presence.

If I waited too long to use the portal in a place swarming with high-ranked hunters, the invisibility item would soon wear off. Even with my changed appearance, no one would accept an unfamiliar hunter with no clear affiliation into the raid team.

"Hmm…"

Honestly, I’d only focused on getting this far and hadn’t really thought about what I’d do next. I regretted making a hasty plan due to the time crunch. After all the effort to get here, what should I do now?

"Enter the portal in order!"

"Huh."

While I was still pondering, the hunters who had finished preparing began entering the portal one by one. There was no time left to think.

"Right, I should just stay in the corner…"

"Stay in the corner?"

"Stay in the corner and sneak in… huh?"

"Huh?"

A deep voice suddenly sounded beside me. I turned in surprise and locked eyes with a pair of blue eyes staring at me.

"Wha…!"

"Shhh."

I was about to scream in surprise when a long finger pressed against my lips.

"W-What…?"

"Huhu."

Liam White looked at me with a playful, mischievous smile. I couldn’t understand why he, the representative of the Baldur Guild who should have been at the front, was here. He blinked before asking me a question.

"What are you doing here all alone? Did you get separated from your guild members?"

"Uh, that's…”

What the heck? Could he really be mistaking me for a straggler from another guild? But still, don’t I look way too suspicious? Not that I should be saying this myself, but… Honestly, using an invisibility item to secretly watch a raid team entering a dungeon isn’t exactly normal behavior.

If someone suddenly accused me of being a villain, I wouldn’t have any solid excuse. Could he have found out that I’m Han Yi-jin? I looked at him skeptically, but I couldn’t read a thing from Liam White’s expression. In the end, I sighed and answered.

“Haa… yes, that's why I'm here all by myself…"

“Hmm, you’re not good at lying.”

“Yes?”

Liam White muttered in a low voice. He chuckled as he watched me open my eyes wide in surprise.

"You're cute. You scrunch your nose when you lie."

"W-what did you say?"

I stared at Liam White in disbelief. This bastard is saying the same thing as Eden. More importantly, do I really have a noticeable habit when I lie? This wasn’t normal. I unconsciously raised my hand and covered my nose.

“Don’t look at me like that!”

“Haha, I’m sorry. Sorry.”

“…”

Was the translation item malfunctioning? For some reason, Liam White’s words sounded like Konglish, but perhaps it was just my feelings.

“Anyway, let’s go before everyone else enters."

“Wha—!”

Liam White wiped the smile off his face and grabbed my arm, pulling me along. As I was dragged, I dropped the already-deactivated invisibility item on the ground. It wasn’t a big deal since it was a one-time use, but it still felt like a bit of a waste.

“Liam! Where the hell have you been?”

“A walk.”

“A walk? In a situation like this, you really… huh?”

Andrew Bailey, who had been about to start his usual nagging, stopped mid-sentence when he saw me and tilted his head.

“Who is this?”

"I ran into him not too far from here."

“No, I mean, who is he?”

“I don’t know. Probably a raid team member.”

“What?”

“…”

Like Andrew Bailey, I was just as taken aback. Did he really bring me here without the slightest suspicion? Was he out of his mind? Liam White might’ve grown up with privilege. Even so, he was completely clueless about the real world. He truly had no sense of suspicion.

Even though I was benefiting from his naivety, I couldn't help but feel concerned. I didn’t remember him being this oblivious in the novel. Could Liam White have regressed too? I muttered to myself and silently expressed my sympathy for him.

"Who are you? Which guild do you belong to?"

"Well, I…"

"Let's get on the portal first, Andrew."

"No, wait…!"

Andrew Bailey, who had been pressing me for answers, was effortlessly dragged away by Liam White. As a B-rank, I wasn’t surprised, but seeing even A-rank Andrew Bailey being pulled along like that was impressive. The strength of S-ranks was on a whole different level. I clicked my tongue inwardly and followed them. Moments later, the blue portal rippled and enveloped me.

“Ugh…”

Eden barely managed to open his eyes and shake his head. A small system window flashed warnings in front of him, but he ignored it and turned away.

"You're awake?"

"Where's Yi-jin…?"

"…"

Park Yoon-sung, who had been watching Eden, asked in a low voice. When Eden ignored him and started looking for Yi-jin, Park Yoon-sung's expression darkened.

"Did he leave?"

"….Yes."

"Dammit."

No wonder he had a bad feeling. Eden gritted his teeth. His last memory was of Han Yi-jin holding a small perfume bottle and spraying it in his direction. Han Yi-jin had put him into a deep sleep so he could sneak out of the accommodation.

“We need to catch up to him. He's not safe on his own.”

“He’s probably already inside the dungeon.”

“What?”

“Yeah, hyung is already inside the dungeon.”

Han Do-gyul, who had woken up before Eden, spoke gloomily. Soon, he lifted his head, and his eyes blazed.

"I want to go to the dungeon as well."