I Alone Resurrect Chapter 166

I Alone Resurrect Chapter 166

Business Trip to China (1)

Today was the day Kang Hyeon had an appointment with Shin Tae-gil.

Kang Hyeon arrived at a high-end Japanese restaurant, smiling brightly. 

“In winter, it has to be sashimi.”

Although Kang Hyeon didn’t always enjoy meeting with Shin Tae-gil, he was always welcome for a gathering like this.

“You’ve arrived.”

As Kang Hyeon opened the reserved room, he saw Shin Tae-gil waiting there amid an elaborate table setting.

“Why did you call me out to a place like this?”

“I had something important to discuss with you. And we can have dinner while we’re at it. Isn’t it about the season for the ‘defense’ fish right now?”

“Ah, time has gone by that fast, huh.”

It was already November, and the end of the year was approaching.

“By the way, what is this ‘defense’ fish?”

“Huh? You don’t know about the defense fish?”

Shin Tae-gil was surprised by Kang Hyeon’s lack of knowledge about the defense fish.

“I grew up a little deprived as a child. I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never actually eaten it.”

Kang Hyeon wasn’t particularly fond of seafood. He didn’t dislike it, but he’d rather spend the money on pork or beef.

Even after earning money, 90% of his dining-out was beef, so it was understandable that he didn’t know about the defense fish.

“Hmm… The defense fish is like the cousin of tuna, to put it simply.”

“Oho…”

“The bigger the defense fish, the more delicious it is. What you’re seeing here is a giant defense fish over 10kg, so you’ll be quite satisfied.”

Shin Tae-gil licked his lips as he spoke.

“So you basically just called me out here because you wanted to eat this, didn’t you?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“You’re quite straightforward about it, aren’t you…”

Kang Hyeon was taken aback by Shin Tae-gil’s matter-of-fact answer.

“Anyway, tell me why you called me out here.”

“First, take a look at this.”

Instead of answering, Shin Tae-gil suddenly handed Kang Hyeon a piece of paper.

Kang Hyeon, who had been admiring the defense fish, took the paper.

The paper had a photo printed on it of a strange-looking creature.

“Hmm, this thing that looks like it’s going to ruin my appetite, what is it? A new monster?”

“No, it’s not a monster.”

“It’s not?”

Kang Hyeon frowned, as he had naturally assumed it was a monster.

“If it’s not a monster, then what is it?”

“It’s an animal.”

“Huh?”

“We can’t say for certain what species it is… But we currently estimate it to be a canine animal.”

“How on earth is this a canine animal?”

It was true that the skull and triangular ears had a canine-like appearance. The problem was the lower part.

The massive muscles and claws over 10cm long looked like they could even tear apart a Bengal tiger.

“And on top of that, this thing is walking on two legs?”

The most important thing was that the creature was bipedal. 

While there are sometimes dogs that walk on two legs, it’s only for a brief moment.

Fundamentally, animals like dogs, cats, and tigers move on four legs.

“But we can say with certainty that it’s not a monster.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“It doesn’t have a name tag above its head. And it’s a species that has never been reported inside a dungeon before.”

“Hmm… So this photo was taken outside the dungeon?”

“Yes.”

Based on the points Shin Tae-gil made, there was a high possibility that it was not a monster.

“But it doesn’t really look like an animal either…”

“These strange life forms are currently appearing all over the world, in places like Turkey, Brazil, Egypt, China, Russia, Canada, and Australia.”

At Shin Tae-gil’s words, Kang Hyeon stroked his chin, deep in thought.

“For some reason, those country names sound familiar…”

The countries Shin Tae-gil mentioned were places Kang Hyeon had heard about recently.

“They are all places where A-rank dungeons have appeared. And these photos were taken near those dungeons.”

“So you’re saying the dungeons have transformed the earth’s lifeforms?”

“Based on our current investigations, that seems to be the most likely possibility.”

“Whoa…”

Kang Hyeon didn’t know what to say. His head was filled with a mix of confusion and bewilderment.

“Have there been any cases of humans being affected and transformed?”

“Not yet.”

“Anyway, this is a big deal. Those things look really dangerous, and they’re just increasing in number, aren’t they?”

“Not all of the specimens have become that violently transformed. That was just one of the more extreme examples.”

“It’s lucky in the midst of unhappiness.” 

If all the animals on Earth became this ferocious, outdoor activities like hiking and trekking would be completely over from now on.

“This is not the only thing. The world is rapidly changing after the A-rank dungeon. The initial malfunction of electronic equipment was just the beginning. Do you know the result of the conquest of the Turkey dungeon?”

“They say that even destroying a single normal core almost wiped out the entire guild.”

More than 300 capable members from the number one ranked guild in Turkey mobilized, but only 3 survivors remained. It was a disastrous survival rate.

“Yes. The situation is not much different in other countries. They managed to conquer the normal cores, but suffered enormous damage. Some countries even deployed the military, but none of them were able to conquer the main cores.”

“It must be really difficult then. How about Korea? There’s no A-rank dungeon yet, but it could appear anytime, right?”

“Domestically, we’ve been preparing for a long time, so there’s no major turmoil yet. But once an A-rank dungeon appears, we don’t know when it might collapse.”

“There’s no real countermeasure then.”

“Yes… Preparing to the best of our ability is the only option we have.”

“I see.”

Kang Hyeon chuckled.

“You said we’d be eating something good today, but you’ve just been giving depressing talks. I’ve lost my appetite.”

“Don’t you think you’ve been eating a bit too much, though?”

The huge plate of large Mackerel had clearly been reduced by more than half, mostly consumed by Kang Hyeon.

“Listening is listening, and eating is eating!”

Kang Hyeon raised his voice a bit and quickly stuffed two more pieces of raw fish into his mouth.

“So, is that all you wanted to talk about today?”

“There’s one more thing left.”

“What is it?”

Shin Tae-gil suddenly changed his posture and leaned forward, staring at Kang Hyeon.

“Kang Hyeon.”

Shin Tae-gil called out Kang Hyeon in a low, ominous voice.

“What’s with this creepy atmosphere all of a sudden?”

“Why don’t you go to China just once?”

“I don’t want to.”

Kang Hyeon refused without even needing to think about it.

“At least hear the reason why you should go.”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? You want me to go and conquer the A-rank dungeon. And then you’ll say ‘The world is in danger! We’ll pay you whatever you want! Just do it!’ After hyping it up, when you actually ask me to do it, well… Kang Hyeon. That’s not going to work. Kang Hyeon. Can’t you just understand our situation a little?”

“Okay, that’s enough.”

Shin Tae-gil interrupted Kang Hyeon.

“What? Are you already giving up?”

“If Kang Hyeon really doesn’t want to go, then there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“I’ll go.”

“Huh?”

“I said I’ll go.”

Shin Tae-gil frowned at Kang Hyeon’s sudden change of attitude.

“Didn’t you just say you didn’t want to?”

“After thinking about it again, I think it’s a good idea to go.”

“Is there a reason you changed your mind?”

“To be honest, I wanted to go from the start. I think going to the A-rank dungeon will break through my stagnant growth.”

Shin Tae-gil’s face twisted into a grotesque expression at Kang Hyeon’s words.

“Couldn’t you have just said that in the first place?”

“That wouldn’t be any fun.”

“…”

“This is what they call ‘playing hard to get’, right? Playing hard to get.”

Shin Tae-gil desperately suppressed the urge to commit murder.

***

Ippotranslation

***

As soon as the day broke, Kang Hyeon visited Jeong Seo-bin’s laboratory.

“It’s been a while. What brings you here?”

“I’m going on a long business trip abroad this time. I came to get some potions.”

Jeong Seo-bin’s laboratory had succeeded in creating magic potions. They were just starting to set up mass production facilities, so the potions weren’t being sold yet, but Kang Hyeon had been receiving prototype samples to use.

“How many do you need?”

“More than 100 bottles? The more the better.”

Jeong Seo-bin sighed at Kang Hyeon’s request.

“We don’t have that many, and the price isn’t cheap either. As you know, we extract magic from magic stones to make them.”

“How many do you have right now?”

“Even if we scrape together everything at the lab, it won’t quite reach 50 bottles.”

“Just give me what you have, then.”

“You’re making it sound like you’ve already left them with me.”

Jeong Seo-bin opened her eyes wide and glanced at Kang Hyeon.

“They say people are different when they enter and exit the bathroom…”

“What do you mean?”

“I invested in this struggling lab, gave you magic stones, and got you connections with the government! And now you’re talking like that?”

Jeong Seo-bin scratched her head awkwardly. 

She then gathered the magic potions and handed them over to Kang Hyeon.

Kang Hyeon stored all the potions in his inventory and wondered what else he might need.

“Oh right, you have those dungeon rations, don’t you? I need a lot of those too.”

Dungeon rations were food that could be stored in the inventory and easily cooked and eaten inside a dungeon. Most of them had a small magic recovery function.

“Okay, just a moment.”

“Focus on the beef-flavored ones. Lots of steak!”

“Alright, I got it!”

Jeong Seo-bin called one of the lab staff and gave them some instructions.

Soon, five boxes were placed in front of Kang Hyeon. 

Each box contained 90 rations, for a total of 450 servings. 

Four people eating conservatively could last three months on this supply.

“This is enough. Just bill it to the guild.”

After storing the rations in his inventory, Kang Hyeon was about to leave the lab.

“Are you leaving right away? Since you’ve come all this way, why don’t you have a cup of tea before you go?”

“Do you have anything to ask me?”

“You seem pretty busy. Do you only talk to me when you have something specific you need? We could just chat casually, you know.”

Kang Hyeon chuckled at Jeong Seo-bin’s words.

“You’ve got a point there.”

So they talked about each other’s recent situations.

“Where are you going on the business trip?”

“China.”

“Oh, don’t tell me it’s for the A-rank dungeon?”

“You know about it.”

“It’s the hottest topic these days, so I’m guessing there aren’t many who don’t know about it.”

China had revealed the appearance of an A-rank dungeon called ‘The Great Sanctuary of Krokta’. 

They had mobilized overwhelming forces to conquer the dungeon, but the result was a massive failure. 

They succeeded in conquering the normal core, but over a thousand capable individuals died in the process.

The Chinese government expressed deep regret over the incident, but firmly drew a line when it came to dungeon conquest. 

They claimed the guilds had acted voluntarily and the government bore no responsibility. 

Yet, with a tinge of conscience, they were now recruiting famous capable individuals from abroad for the next attempt to conquer the main core of ‘The Great Sanctuary of Krocta’.

“I think China had no choice. Capable individuals have become a precious national asset these days. They couldn’t just throw future assets into the abyss,” Jeong Seo-bin commented.

“Isn’t that the case for other countries too? If they’re just going to shove them into conquering the main core, it’s essentially sending them to their deaths.”

“That’s true. But there are bound to be people like you, Kang Hyeon, in any country.”

Just as Jeong Seo-bin said, it seemed Korea was also trying to push Kang Hyeon into that situation.

‘Though I guess that’s because they know I won’t die.’

He thought that was probably why he, rather than Han Se-yeon or Choi Dong-woo, had been selected.

“I’ll be going now. The conversation was fun.”

“Are you leaving already?”

“I still have some things to prepare. I’ll drop by again next time.”

As Kang Hyeon was about to leave after greeting her, Jeong Seo-bin stopped him.

“Wait a moment. Take this with you.”

“Huh? What is this?”

“I made this for you. After all, we’re partners, aren’t we?”

What Jeong Seo-bin handed him was a beautifully decorated leather jacket.

“Is this an item? But why a leather jacket of all things?”

“I thought you liked wearing it since you’re always in it.”

“Ah… Yes, I do like it. Thank you.”

The outfit Kang Hyeon usually wore was the guild uniform specially designed by Shin Seong-ah. 

He had been wearing it often out of consideration, and Jeong Seo-bin seemed to have misunderstood that.

‘Well, I don’t dislike it either.’

Kang Hyeon took the jacket and greeted Jeong Seo-bin.

“Alright, I’m really leaving now.”

“Okay. See you next time.”

Jeong Seo-bin waved with a smile as Kang Hyeon left the laboratory, wearing the jacket.

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