Chapter 9

["Yes, sir!"]

Having answered Suho's order, Beru asked another question in bewilderment.

["But should we not strike those impudent wretches from behind if we wish to kill them?"]

"What are you talking about? We're going to mine."

["...!"]

Beru jumped up, frothing at the mouth.

["What? What are you saying?!"]

Beru could not believe it. What in the world was happening?! The great and almighty Shadow Monarch's power was an extraordinary ability, yet Suho intended to use it for mere mining!

["Even now, a war against an army hundreds of millions strong rages out in space! How can you speak of mining?!"]

"I get that, but all I've got right now are three weak goblins. We need to face reality. Dad probably did the same thing when he was weak."

["B-but..."]

"Besides, you said it yourself last night."

Suho recalled his conversation with Beru the previous day.

* * *

On their way home after his discharge the previous day, Beru had spoken with a solemn expression.

["Young Monarch, the mission entrusted to us can be summed up in three objectives."]

For someone the size of a fist, he certainly spoke on a grand scale.

["First: protect Earth from the magic beasts of the outer universe."]

["You mean go into dungeons and kill magic beasts?"]

["Yes, sir. Hunting magic beasts will gradually raise your level, and the stronger you become, Young Monarch, the safer Earth will be. Second, we must find the missing Lady Haein, whatever it takes."]

["Right. You don't know any way to locate Mom?"]

["Unfortunately, I do not. But if we keep hunting those creatures from the outer universe, surely we will find a lead of some kind?"]

In the end, that meant entering dungeons too.

["And third. This is the most important objective."]

Beru pointed at himself, his eyes gleaming.

["I must recover my strength as quickly as possible and return to the battlefield where my liege awaits. With a key fighting force such as myself absent, the precarious balance of the war must surely be in jeopardy."]

By this point, Suho was curious too. Beru's tiny form was merely a way of conserving as much strength as possible. His true form and power were a living nightmare. With such an immense force missing from their ranks, Suho could scarcely imagine how the war was unfolding.

["How do you recover your strength?"]

At Suho's question, Beru's mouth split into a wide grin.

["By eating, of course."]

It was an utterly sinister, chilling smile.

Long ago, in a fragment of a world now long forgotten, the queen of the ants had an idea.

'I will create the strongest soldier.'

The queen needed the strongest soldier to rebuild her kingdom, which was crumbling under humanity's attacks, and to lead its subjects.

Six months passed. At last, the queen gathered all her mana and nutrients to conceive a single life. Her single-minded desire to create a powerful soldier combined with the primordial command to exterminate all humans, giving birth to a horrific monster beyond all reason.

The monster's innate skill was Gluttony. Simply by consuming a target, it could claim a portion of that target's mana and knowledge for itself.

... Recalling that ancient memory, Beru spoke.

["My innate talent is Gluttony. If I keep eating, be it humans or magic beasts, my strength will gradually replenish. It is an inefficient method I have not used in a long time, but I have little choice now."]

Humans or magic beasts...

Suho was reminded once again that Beru truly lacked humanity.

'He isn't human to begin with.'

Drooling as he spoke of eating humans, Beru was a magic beast through and through.

Suho spoke firmly.

["Still, don't go eating just anyone."]

["Oh?"]

["If you absolutely have to, only eat bad people."]

Beru's eyes narrowed.

["Like father, like son. Those are my liege's very words. Long ago, he too commanded me to eat only evildoers if I was going to eat people at all."]

["Dad said that too? What counts as an evildoer?"]

["Why, naturally..."]

Beru smiled faintly.

["Those who harm our Young Monarch."]

* * *

Back in the present.

"That's what you said."

Beru protested.

["Then were we not naturally going to enter a dungeon and level up now?"]

"No, how is an E-rank hunter supposed to enter a dungeon alone? I told you, E-rank hunters can't join raid parties."

Suho was thoroughly practical. As Teaching Assistant Im had explained, the only roles available to E-rank hunters in dungeons were production jobs. Once he leveled up enough for his mana to reach at least D-rank, he intended to get reassessed.

'The hunter ranking system was only established recently, and they say the meters still make plenty of errors.'

"So I'm saying we should start with what we can do right now."

Suho grinned as he spoke. That grin suddenly filled Beru with foreboding.

["Why are you looking at me and smiling like that?"]

"Our third objective."

With a meaningful look, Suho repeated Beru's own words.

"Replenish your mana as quickly as possible. By eating. Right?"

["Th-that is correct. Humans or magic beasts..."]

"Then what about mana stones?"

Beru flinched, his expression abruptly freezing at those words.

"If your ability is Gluttony, wouldn't eating mana stones replenish your mana too?"

["I... suppose so, but mana stones contain only minute quantities of mana. They would merely fill my stomach, and the efficiency is rather..."]

"Why is that a problem? Just eat that much more."

Suho beamed.

"The ones you pick up here are free."

["Kreee..."]

* * *

Suho passed through the Gate with the miners. The dungeon they entered looked nothing like the Shadow Dungeon. While the Shadow Dungeon was a ruined city so vast he could not even guess its size, this was a winding cave. With everyone carrying a pickaxe, it really felt as though they had come to a mine.

Suho and the miners slowly made their way deeper inside. Glowing mushrooms and moths scattered throughout the dungeon kept it from being too dark to see.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Pickaxes began ringing out all around them. Perhaps because everyone was experienced, the blows were remarkably steady and rhythmic.

Then, suddenly, every sound stopped at once.

"... Huh?"

"What's that?"

The miners all turned to look in the same direction. There stood Suho, commanding his Shadow Goblins.

["Kerk! Kerrrk!"]

["Kee-hee-hee!"]

Three Shadow Goblins swung their pickaxes, cackling with wicked, sneaky laughter. Behind those bizarre creatures stood Suho, putting them to work.

"Unbelievable."

"So that's what his summoning skill does...?"

Their surprise was only natural. The widely known summoning skills provided combat support through creatures such as Exploding Bugs or Sleep Butterflies. The summoner simply trailed behind, giving directions like a Pokémon Trainer.

"But you can use it like that too?"

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

["Kee-hehek!"]

Suho's Shadow Goblins were slightly smaller than ordinary goblins and looked weaker as well. Still, they had more than enough strength to swing pickaxes, and above all, they never tired, no matter how long they worked. Whenever their stamina dwindled even a little, mana flowed from Suho to replenish their strength.

"Wow... Now this is something."

"Our new guy's incredible! Hahaha!"

The miners loudly sang Suho's praises as they watched him.

"All that talk about summoning skills being lousy was nonsense! What a great skill!"

"If we keep gawking, the rookie's going to mine everything himself!"

"Can't let that happen! Let's show him what us veterans can do!"

Laughing heartily, the miners went back to swinging their pickaxes. There was something rather delightful about the squat goblins working right alongside them.

["Vermin..."]

Watching the heartwarming scene from behind, Beru crunched on mana stones as though they were cookies.

* * *

Meanwhile, the raid party, made up of hunters ranked D and above, was advancing through an area far deeper than the mining site.

"This dungeon's got nothing."

"Tell me about it. Nothing but wolf beasts coming out this whole time."

"Wolf pelts aren't worth much."

Following the raid party and dismantling the magic beast corpses, the collection team smacked their lips in disappointment. Despite their complaints, however, wolf pelts were not entirely worthless. Besides, some corpses contained mana crystals, so they had no choice but to keep plugging away.

"Sigh. Every penny counts."

Wolf pelts steadily piled up on the cart they had brought.

Then it happened.

"Huh? There's something here!"

One of the hunters walking at the front of the group called to his companions. Astonishingly, an enormous ancient structure stood before him. At the sight, the hunters tensed and warily scanned their surroundings.

'Could there be a boss-level magic beast here?'

Powerful bosses rarely appeared in D-rank dungeons. But the presence of a structure like this meant something out of the ordinary might happen. And for hunters, that would be anything but pleasant.

"What is this place?"

"What's here that there's a ruin like this?"

"Shouldn't we go outside and request more backup?"

The hunters murmured among themselves. Their raid leader, however, quieted them and cautiously examined the area.

"Shh. Quiet down. For now, my detection skill isn't picking up any magic beasts."

"Really? Why would a structure like this be here if there aren't any beasts?"

"That's what we're going to find out."

A faint smile appeared on the leader's lips.

"Who knows? There might be treasure hidden here instead of a boss."

"Treasure...!"

At that word, the look in the hunters' eyes changed completely.

Magic beast corpses and mana crystals were not the only things found in dungeons. There were also items, though they were rarely discovered. For hunters, whose strength never grew once their rank was determined, those items were the only way to become stronger.

"Boss! There's something here!"

As they searched the area, they discovered a sword embedded at the center of the ruins. An extraordinary aura rippled from it.

"Holy shit."

Greed filled every hunter's eyes at once.

"We've really hit the jackpot!"

"Whoa, no way! A weapon!"

They would have to take it outside and get it appraised to know for certain, but the weapon they had found looked incredible even at a glance.

"Boss! I'll pull it out!"

The strongest man among the hunters stepped forward, spitting into both palms.

"Huh? Wait, Kim Yongjun! Be caref—!"

The leader tried to stop him, but his hand had already closed around the sword's hilt.

And then it happened. A resonant voice rang inside Kim Yongjun's head.