Chapter 79

The moment they felt Infernum’s gaze, the twins began to tremble violently.

Their pink eyes shook as if convulsing, and their thin, vertical pupils expanded into round circles.

Infernum looked down at the twins and asked.

“Why are you here?”

It was a ridiculous question. He obviously knew they had come looking for him.

But those few words were hell itself for the twins.

The twins, who had been frozen stiff until then, flinched and dropped to their knees on the ground.

BANG!

A sound like something breaking rang out.

Ella and Ellun bowed their heads deeply and begged for forgiveness.

“We have committed the sin of disobeying the command given by our lord and leaving the position we were assigned.”

“We will gladly accept any punishment.”

The Fire Dragon Tribe was built upon an extremely strict hierarchical structure.

At the peak of the pyramid, there existed only one person: the monarch.

Obeying the monarch’s commands was an instinct that the Fire Dragon Tribe could not defy.

The fact that Ella and Ellun had come to find me could be considered an enormous act of rebellion.

Even after receiving their lord’s anger, they had not reflected on their actions and instead left the dungeon to find a way to heal themselves.

At this very moment, it was only natural for the twins to mention their crime of abandoning their duty as dungeon gatekeepers and leaving their posts without permission, while begging their lord for forgiveness.

However….

It was not natural for Infernum, the monarch himself, to have come looking for the twins.

From his perspective, the twins were nothing more than mere gatekeepers.

For a monarch to personally come searching for his subordinates, whom he had used as objects to vent his anger on and then discarded.

For a monarch to personally question the crimes of subordinates who had become frightened after their wings were broken and fled was something that simply could not happen.

‘Besides, they’re still young.’

I looked at the twins.

Their bodies, lying face down with their foreheads touching the ground, were incredibly small.

They felt much smaller than when I had seen them through the game’s pixel graphics.

My eyes were drawn to Ellun’s broken wing.

I was about to step forward and say something, anything.

“Trainee.”

Mo Haein called out to me coldly.

It felt as if ice water had been poured over my heated head.

She looked at me while facing me directly, putting strength into her eyes. It meant not to do anything unnecessary.

On the other hand, Dominic whispered into my ear, urging me on.

“Roasted Chestnut. Is this the moment to fire the Burning Ray? I am ready.”

After hearing Dominic’s words, some of my reason returned.

I opened my mouth in a calmer state.

“Infernum-nim.”

The beginning didn’t seem too bad.

At least the harsh words boiling inside my heart had not come out.

‘Captain Mo, I’m sorry.’

However, I intended to resolve this as peacefully as possible.

Besides, this was not a situation where we could fight right now.

Je Hyun-oh and Kwak Hanmuk had not yet returned from the dungeon, and the twins could not be counted as part of our fighting force since they could not disobey their lord’s orders.

Mo Haein and I alone would have no chance against the final boss of a five-star trial.

“Though it is presumptuous, I would like to ask for a small favor.”

I looked up at Infernum with a slight smile.

“All of the small achievements of the restaurant were possible thanks to the Fire Dragon Tribe twins helping me. Would you allow me to continue receiving their assistance? If you would grant me permission….”

“Haha!”

Infernum laughed aloud before even hearing the rest of my words.

The sharp teeth of a dragon were visible between his parted lips.

“You little thing.”

“Yes, Infernum-nim.”

“I refuse.”

“…….”

“I wish for you to be placed upon my table.”

Infernum casually waved his hand.

Following the gesture, which resembled that of an old nobleman, flames erupted beneath the twins’ feet.

“Those two are my possessions, so I will take them back now.”

Ella and Ellun’s faces turned pale with fear.

The Fire Dragon Tribe, born within the lava of volcanoes, could not possibly fear fire.

What the twins feared was not the flames surrounding them, but…

[Small Red Horn of the Fire Dragon: A fresh horn of the Fire Dragon Tribe. When ground into powder and sprinkled onto food, it adds an incredible flavor. However, due to its small size, it is less valuable than ordinary horns.]

“Little Lamb.”

The twins called out to me.

Even though they were standing beyond the surging flames, their faces looked as though they were trembling from the cold.

But they spoke to me with smiles.

“Thanks to you, we had an enjoyable time. The dishes you made were delicious. You have talent, so continue cooking in the future.”

“The food was delicious. You will become the greatest chef, little Lamb.”

I hurriedly reached out my hand toward the twins.

“Wait, Ella-nim, Ellun-nim! Just a moment!”

There was nothing I could grasp.

The twins disappeared into the flames.

I turned back toward Infernum, but flames were also rising at his feet.

His red hair swayed along with the flames.

“Little one. Come to my domain.”

Infernum whispered, revealing his greedy eyes completely.

“Present me with the ultimate cuisine.”

After leaving those final words behind, he burned brightly and vanished.

The flames disappeared. Only sparks of fire remained in the restaurant, drifting through the air.

Pyorong, the system window appeared.

“Wow, Chestnut-ie, wow, our Chestnut-ie, wow, Chestnut hyung.”

Kwak Hanmuk could not hide his amazement as he looked at his money.

Since the current funds were shared among all party members, he was able to see the amount.

Every time he saw the funds endure despite having their insane quota payment taken out, he was amazed.

No matter how many days he spent using it, the money they had obtained from the alien customers just never seemed to run out.

If some kind of anomaly was going to happen, he wished it would only be an anomaly like this.

He had entered Sla2Plate multiple times with Mo Haein, but now it felt as if they had entered an entirely different trial.

Sla2Plate was absolutely not an easy place, living up to the infamy of being a five-star grade.

Originally, they focused their strategy around the dungeon.

Since dying even once inside the dungeon meant immediate death, they always prioritized safety above all else while progressing.

But this time, with Han Goyo and Je Hyun-oh there, he felt completely at ease.

Han Goyo created the fastest and most efficient routes and dismantled every troublesome gimmick, while Je Hyun-oh pushed forward with overwhelming force, making things unbelievably easy.

The restaurant was the same.

When Mo Haein and Kwak Hanmuk managed the restaurant, they were lucky if even ten customers came in a day.

But if they gave up, they would immediately die because of the quota.

They barely managed to keep operating while meeting the steadily increasing quota, but there had been countless times when the restaurant almost caused their deaths.

Only in the later stages did it feel like the business started to work somewhat, and there had never been a situation where people were overflowing like this.

He had experienced firsthand that Han Goyo’s strategies were completely insane.

Even so, he could not help being amazed every time this happened.

From the moment Han Goyo cooked 500 skewers while bringing along Fire Dragon Tribe NPCs, he seemed like a crazy person, but he never imagined he would create fine dining as well.

No matter what he was doing, the restaurant’s reputation score only continued to rise endlessly.

When they returned later, he planned to ask Mo Haein in detail what kind of crazy things Chestnut-ie had done.

After closing the money system window, Kwak Hanmuk swept the scattered ingredient items on the floor into his inventory.

After filling his inventory, he checked the time.

After switching to fine dining, gathering ingredients had become much easier.

Since they only needed to collect an appropriate amount of high-quality ingredients, it seemed like they had enough to return now.

“Lieutenant Colonel Je, let’s withdraw.”

A monster’s desperate scream rang out.

A metal hand, drenched in blackish red blood as it slaughtered something that did not even need to be hunted, continued flashing.

With a clattering sound, six metal wings moved individually, slicing through flesh.

Watching the enormous hidden boss being slowly wounded like a toy instead of being killed instantly, Kwak Hanmuk called out again.

“Lieutenant Colonel Je?”

Only after calling out Lieutenant Colonel Je about three times did Je Hyun-oh finally take the monster’s life.

“Kiaaaak!”

The flame giant, covered in wounds across its entire body, let out a horrifying scream.

After piercing through the giant’s eye and cutting all the way down to its neck in one motion, Je Hyun-oh shook his hand.

He scattered blood onto the ground and silently walked toward the teleportation magic circle.

After leaving the dungeon, Kwak Hanmuk unfolded a large cloth and swept up the piled-up items.

After completing the bundle of supplies, which was noticeably smaller compared to their skewer days, Kwak Hanmuk called out to Je Hyun-oh before lifting it onto his shoulder.

“Lieutenant Colonel Je.”

The black goggles turned toward Kwak Hanmuk.

“Are you feeling bad? Your goggles have been completely dark for days now.”

Je Hyun-oh moved as if nothing was wrong, but Kwak Hanmuk knew from years of experience.

This was when things were most dangerous.

The strange thing was that Je Hyun-oh had been in a very mild state until they entered Sla2Plate.

After entering <Zero> and becoming an infected being, Je Hyun-oh had voluntarily become subordinate to the Trial Response Agency in order to search for something.

Only Director Jang Seokyun and the Samra knew what he was searching for.

Even Kwak Hanmuk, who had known Je Hyun-oh for a long time, knew nothing about it.

He only knew that, along with <Zero>, it was Je Hyun-oh’s greatest trigger.

That was why, when he heard those words:

“The thing I’m looking for. Han Goyo is the clue.”

He came to understand, at least a little, why Je Hyun-oh had tormented Han Goyo so much.

His insanity had flared up again.

However, once he recognized someone as a team member, he was relatively fine.

When Han Goyo disappeared and returned, he even acted fairly normal, as if his illness had been cured.

Since he also seemed to treat Han Goyo relatively well, Kwak Hanmuk assumed it was because it was related to what he was searching for.

But now, suddenly, he was acting like this again because something bothered him.

More precisely, it had been like this ever since he returned from the dungeon with Han Goyo.

Since the two of them had come out covered in blood, Kwak Hanmuk could not help but wonder if Je Hyun-oh’s condition had flared up again.

However, there was one thing that puzzled him.

Je Hyun-oh was not originally the type of person to endure things like this.

If Han Goyo had bothered him enough to make his goggles turn completely dark, he would have done something already.

Instead, he was strangely quiet.

“If there’s a problem with Chestnut-ie, please tell me. I’ll straighten him out.”

Even when he asked in a joking tone, Je Hyun-oh said nothing.

Since he had not expected an answer anyway, it was when he lifted the bundle onto his shoulder.

“Captain Kwak.”

“Yes.”

When he answered politely to the sudden call, Je Hyun-oh said something strange.

“Have you touched the veil Goyo put on you?”

“…What? No, I haven’t.”

The golden veil was something he had only worn once in Clean3, and at the time he had not even thought about touching it.

Besides, he did not even know if something made of light could be touched.

‘It was strange, though.’

He recalled the moment he wore the veil.

It had definitely been a strange moment.

Oddly enough, it felt as if he had longed for this thing for a very long time….

While thinking about the veil, Kwak Hanmuk narrowed the space between his brows and asked Je Hyun-oh.

“Should I buy you a veil? A golden one.”

Of course, Je Hyun-oh did not even pretend to hear him.

Je Hyun-oh, who asked questions but showed not even the slightest interest in the answers, muttered in a languid voice.

“What should I do….”

It was an unclear statement.

Kwak Hanmuk did not know what it meant, but at least it did not seem like he was going to kill anyone right away, so it was probably fine.

The thing he was actually worried about was after this Sla2Plate.

If Han Goyo refused to enlist in the Trial Response Agency.

“…….”

He decided to think about the future when it arrived, and Kwak Hanmuk headed toward the restaurant with Je Hyun-oh.

The appearance of a jungle filled with thick weeds was nowhere to be seen.

It was while he was grinning at the dazzling fine dining restaurant.

BANG!

The restaurant door burst open as if it would break, and someone shot out from inside.

Kwak Hanmuk, startled, muttered the name of the person running across the front yard.

“…Goyo?”

Right behind Han Goyo, Mo Haein immediately rushed out.

Moving at a terrifying speed, she tackled Han Goyo from behind.

The two rolled across the front yard.

After a brief struggle, Mo Haein climbed on top of Han Goyo, grabbed him by the collar, and shouted angrily.

“Are you crazy? Wake up!”

“Captain Mo, but, the true ending….”

“Trainee!!”

Kwak Hanmuk threw the luggage aside and ran over.

Meanwhile, Mo Haein shouted at Han Goyo.

“What are you going to do by running out there without any plan! I know the true ending is important. I know that too. But it’s not more important than your life! Are you going to see the true ending after dying?!”

Mo Haein’s face twisted.

“Those NPCs are just programs, things that repeat! Because of something like that, right now…!”

Kwak Hanmuk first pulled her away from Han Goyo.

He grabbed her shoulders as she breathed heavily and calmed her down.

“Haein-ah.”

“…Fuck.”

Mo Haein cursed and rubbed her face with her hand.

Han Goyo, who had been sprawled out on the dirt ground, slowly got up and sat down.

“I’m sorry…. Captain Mo….”

Kwak Hanmuk had a rough idea of what had happened.

It seemed the restaurant owner had taken the dungeon gatekeepers.

Since Han Goyo was the type of person who acted as if NPCs were real people, he must have immediately run out saying he was going to the Fire Dragon.

Sigh……

Kwak Hanmuk let out a long sigh. This was the kind of situation Mo Haein had the hardest time enduring.

Still, it did not seem like she was at the point of becoming over-awakened yet.

After checking Mo Haein’s condition, Kwak Hanmuk approached Han Goyo, who had his head lowered, and crouched beside him.

“Goyo.”

“Yes, Captain Kwak.”

“Aren’t we a team?”

“…….”

“Let’s move together. What’s so urgent, huh?”

Han Goyo slowly raised his face.

“The restaurant owner… will kill the Fire Dragon Tribe twins.”

“So?”

“The true ending is….”

At the tired excuse, Kwak Hanmuk gave a short laugh.

Looking into Han Goyo’s eyes, he asked again.

“So what is it that you want to do?”

The special mission team’s biggest problem child answered.

“Please… hunt the Fire Dragon with me.”