Dreimoor

It had been two weeks since he encountered the Blood Mages.

Phew-

Kim Bongpal was leaning against a pile of monsters’ dead bodies and smoking a cigarette. His cigarettes, which occupied the most volume in his subspace bag, decreased pretty rapidly since he’d been smoking consistently. It was the only way he could hide the scent of monsters.

“Fuuuck.”

It felt as if he had returned to the past. Ever since he met the Blood Mages, actually after killing them all, Kim Bongpal had only met monsters. Even when he tried to rest for a while, he had to keep fighting. That was all Kim Bongpal had spent his time doing these two weeks. Still, what was encouraging was that the distance to Dreimoor had narrowed a lot.

And how many more hours was it? Kim Bongpal stopped and focused his mana on his eyes. Using his amplified vision, he could see Dreimoor in the distance.

*

It was a more normal city than he thought. That was the first impression Kim Bongpal felt when he saw Dreimoor from afar. The only Otherworlders Kim Bongpal met so far were a mysterious Black Wizard and those trashy Blood Mages. Since this was a city built by those people, he imagined it to be a hive of villainy. However, most of the people coming and going looked pretty ordinary.

“Where are you from?”

There were even guards. Those who tried to enter the city seemed to respect these guards.

Kim Bongpal answered the guard, thinking that this other world called the Shire was full of contradictions.

“I was told to show you this.”

Then he took out the token that Johan had given him.

“Oh! We’re sorry we couldn’t recognize you.”

The guard’s attitude completely changed.

“Johan said that if I took this and went to Dreimoor, I would get treated here. Do you know what that is about?”

“J-Jo…huh! Yes! I will send a message to Lord Hagar’s mansion right away!”

The guard was also quite surprised that Johan was called by his name. Even the others watching them reacted violently, and the Black Wizard was unexpectedly infamous within Dreimoor.

Anyway, the guards guided Kim Bongpal into the city. And after a brief wait, an old man wearing a black robe similar to Johan’s appeared.

“I heard that you brought Teacher’s token.”

‘Teacher?’

Johan looked several decades younger than this man. Johan must not look his age, though there were cases when a teacher was younger than their disciples. Oddly enough, Kim Bongpal felt he could sympathize with that aspect of the Shire. He’d been annoyed countless times by how he’d been treated back on Earth because of that.

“I have already received a message from Teacher. It’s nice to meet you; I am Mesut.”

“Oh. What did he say?”“He just said that a precious guest would arrive.”

Apparently, there was some kind of magic that communicated from a distance. Most of humankind’s technology didn’t work in the Shire, so magic had the upper hand there.

“Is that so? By the way, is there a place to wash up? I’m going to die of discomfort.”

Kim Bongpal asked Mesut. It took about three weeks to reach Dreimoor, and he hadn’t bathed after the first three days.

*

“Oho. Fuck. I feel alive.”

Kim Bongpal was enjoying the local sauna. If Seo Hayeon heard it, she would give him a harsh comment to stop speaking like an old man.

*

“There is no trace of it being touched.”

Kim Bongpal, after changing into the new clothes Mesut gave him, checked his belongings. Before he left to wash up, he scattered mana-made strings around his bag. If someone touched it, he could track them through the strings. It was one of many tricks he learned in his life.

Originally, there wouldn’t have been anything special in his belongings, but that changed after meeting with the Blood Mages two weeks ago, and he took their compass. He arrived at Dreimoor as it pointed, but the arrow still indicated northeast. Did it point to the northeast section of Dreimoor or beyond?

He had a few questions, but that was something he’d have to check later when he left Dreimoor.

“Hey.”

“Ah. Mr. Kim Bongpal.”

Mesut, who ran into Kim Bongpal, bowed to greet him. It was too polite.

Come to think of it, Wan Yue-chuan was also like that. When Kim Bongpal asked him about the five rulers of Dreimoor, there were two people whom he couldn’t hide his fears. The first was a Blood Master named Shi Wu-yuan, his teacher, and the other was Johan.

‘…Alas.’

What kind of existence in Dreimoor was the mysterious Black Wizard who used respectful honorifics not only to him but also to Lee Kang-chul and other Earthlings? After all, was he just pretending to be decent?

“Mesut? Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“I heard there’s a black market in this city.”

That he learned from Wan Yue-chuan. The black market was said to be overflowing with valuables from the two different worlds of Lupaine and Moorim. Dreimoor’s own specialty was apparently slaves, both human and not.

Of course, Kim Bongpal had no intention of staying in Dreimoor long. Since he enjoyed some rest, he planned to head straight to the territory of the Evil Alliance. Still, he became a little interested in magic, especially enchanted magic items. In fact, the token Johan gave him was quite helpful, and there was no denying that it was the reason he found Dreimoor.

The other thing that Kim Bongpal wanted to find was an introductory book on martial arts, spells, and magic. Or just books with more in-depth knowledge. He was well aware of all the hunters’ special abilities and knew how to counter them, but he was ignorant of the powers of this other world.

When he was dealing with the Blood Mages, he fought like usual, and it worked. But not all the battles ahead would be like that. For Kim Bongpal, knowing what powers the Otherworlders used was necessary.

And one more thing. Now, Kim Bongpal had his own expectation. He wondered if there was any of them that he could use himself. To be honest, he was the strongest of the hunters in terms of talent, and it must be so. Wasn’t he the one with a history of smashing Lee Kang-chul’s ability without any proper ones of his own?

However, there was only one thing he didn’t have: a wide-range attack, the condition needed to become an S-Class Hunter. Kim Bongpal wasn’t interested in getting stronger, but he wanted to use at least one cool attack like that.Moreover, because of the numerous monsters he encountered on his way to Dreimoor, Kim Bongpal felt the need for something that could hit a wide area all at once more than ever. Cutting and slicing monsters was what he did best, but at the same time, it was also the thing he was most fed up with.

And who knew? It had been a long time since Kim Bongpal passed the age to learn martial arts. But what if his body was suited for it?

Johan talking about being special had left him with new expectations to grapple with.

“That’s right. Should I send a notice there?”

“Notice?”

“Yes, the market will send someone if Teacher’s guest comes to visit.”

“No need to. Isn’t it too much trouble? Just let me know how to get there.”

One thing that bothered him was how much the items Kim Bongpal wanted cost. Although Johan cast a spell as if it were insignificant, it would be rare to find a wizard with Johan’s level of ability. Moreover, books dealing with martial arts and spells would be worth a lot of money. Perhaps the Mana Stones that Kim Bongpal had now might not be enough. Therefore.

“Ah!”

“…?”

Kim Bongpal called out to Mesut again.

“Give me some Mana Stones.”

“Pardon?”

“Did Johan say anything? He said he would give me Mana Stones.”

“Teacher did?”

“Yeah. He said he would give me a lot, too.”

He never actually said that, but Kim Bongpal didn’t care. It was unlikely that Mesut would ever ask his teacher if he really said that, and even if Johan found out later, it didn’t matter.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and bring them here.”

In the past few decades, Kim Bongpal has been the world’s best person at spending money. Combined with his logic of what’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is…

“Hmm. What is this? Johan, that bastard. Nothing much, huh? He said he’d give me a lot, but only this much?”

“…I will bring more.”

…this was the result.

*

Dreimoor seemed normal, but it was still the city that the Black Wizards and Blood Mages built. Kim Bongpal was able to realize it while looking at the black market. Slaves wearing necklaces symbolizing their status could be seen everywhere.

Kim Bongpal didn’t feel any kind of pity when he saw them. He’d seen too much already to feel bad.

“Still, that’s what it means to be a dick.”

Kim Bongpal went deeper into the black market after clicking his tongue. The faces of the people coming and going began to change, and the mana he felt from the people also decreased. At the market entrance, there were a lot of idiots who spilled their mana, but the deeper he went, only people who kept their power hidden remained.

Kim Bongpal also hid his mana as he delved deeper, continuing to walk. He thought he could find something good after coming this far, so he looked around to find what he wanted. But soon, Kim Bongpal realized one thing.

‘…Fuck. I shouldn’t have refused to call someone to help earlier.’

There was nothing he could recognize. In other words, he was illiterate here.