HG | Chapter 34

What’s this? Have I seen this kind of notice before?

Hakyung tilted his head and called out to Cheonghyeon.

“Dad. Just now, the system window….”

“Yeah. It seems there’s been a change we weren’t aware of.”

Cheonghyeon agreed with Hakyung’s words.

‘Interesting.’

He genuinely found the dungeon’s change intriguing. It was the first time he saw the dungeon system change on its own, and the fact that it was an ‘outbreak’ dungeon made it even more fascinating.

Outbreak dungeons differed from regular dungeons in every aspect. It was a place where common sense and rules that usually applied in regular dungeons were completely off.

Cheonghyeon briefly reflected.

‘I shouldn’t have been complacent just because it hadn’t changed for a long time… I let my guard down.’

Tsk, he clicked his tongue in displeasure and pulled Hakyung closer to him.

“We’ll clear from the entrance step by step, so while I clear the dungeon, Hakyung, you should hide well… No, just wait here for now.”

“Wait here?”

“In the dungeon, there’s no proper way to escape except going outside. If a monster attacks when I’m not around, just go outside.”

Hakyung nodded at his words but secretly let out a sigh of disappointment.

“I wanted to see you handle the monsters….”

A muttered thought that slipped out unintentionally.

Hakyung didn’t mean it, but it strangely pricked Cheonghyeon’s pride.

‘I thought Dad could handle monsters even while holding me.’

That’s how it sounded to Cheonghyeon. Of course, fighting while protecting Hakyung wasn’t particularly difficult. It just felt a bit awkward to show someone his full use of skills after such a long time.

‘If he gets scared and panics, it’s only a loss for me.’

Last time, he had moved swiftly while holding Hakyung. Even then, Hakyung had been so scared that he went into a panic. Trying to calm his breathing, he ended up licking his tongue and even devouring his body, but the situation of his son panicking wasn’t pleasant.

Leaving Hakyung here, clearing the monsters, and then taking him along was the best option….

Seeing those large eyes sending expectant glances, Cheonghyeon guessed he couldn’t crush the child’s wish.

“Alright. Let’s go together.”

“……! Really?”

“But if you get scared and panic like last time, I’ll make you wait at the entrance. Can you wait quietly then?”

“Yes…!”

His fair face lit up with color. His brightly smiling face was so cute that Cheonghyeon absentmindedly kissed his son’s cheek.

“……!”

Hakyung looked at Cheonghyeon with surprised eyes and then smiled bashfully. His eyes lengthened, and his bright smile deepened.

“It feels like we’re on a picnic, my puppy.”

Cheonghyeon chuckled along and began to enter the interior. Hakyung took a short breath and looked around.

“The direction is different from last time.”

“Yeah. Today, we’re going to clear different monsters.”

“Ah…. Do the monsters here form separate groups?”

“If you’re asking if they have intelligence—yes. Some have quite high intelligence. Not all of them, though.”

It was a phenomenon rarely seen in regular dungeons. There were various reasons for this, but the biggest difference was the intelligence of the monsters.

Unless the dungeon was divided into zones from the moment it was created, it was extremely rare for monsters to form groups and inhabit on their own.

Crunch, crunch….

Hakyung observed his surroundings silently for a moment. It didn’t seem far from the entrance, but it already felt different from last time. If the opposite path looked like a ruined city, this place was….

“A f-flower field?”

“Don’t touch them. They’re all monsters. If my baby gets bitten on the butt, would Dad be sad or not?”

“Eek…!”

Hakyung quickly clung to Cheonghyeon’s side. Cheonghyeon laughed low and tightened his grip on Hakyung’s hand.

“But… they’re prettier than I thought.”

“They’re nice to look at, right? Poisonous mushrooms are usually prettier.”

Poisonous mushrooms. That analogy was spot on.

The blackened earth was the same on this path. There were relatively more intact buildings, but flowers of all sizes hung everywhere, on the ground and buildings alike.

The colors were diverse. There were countless shades of red, orange, scarlet, and magenta. The flowers clinging to the buildings with several floors created an effect as if they were deliberately decorated with flowers.

What should I say about their appearance….

“Are those roses or peonies?”

The unopened buds reminded him of camellias or tulips. However, the leaves were wide like lotus leaves, and they were rolled up in a slanted shape, wrapping around each other, making it difficult to specify any particular species.

On the other hand, the fully bloomed flower heads were very large and luscious. The petals curled slightly inward, resembling plump peonies or similarly shaped roses.

It was then.

“Stop here.”

Cheonghyeon stopped Hakyung, who was walking absentmindedly. Hakyung snapped back to reality and looked up at Cheonghyeon. He personally put a mask on Hakyung.

“Don’t come any closer, and keep the mask on.”

Only after receiving the warning did he realize he had been entranced by the flower field.

‘That was dangerous.’

Hakyung resolved himself again and nodded his head vigorously.

“Wavelength.”

He focused on the voice guiding him.

‘As if pulling it up from the danjeon….’

In truth, a wavelength is an invisible force. Though it’s called the danjeon, it’s such a subtle force that even Hakyung didn’t know where his wavelength usually resided. It could be coursing through his veins with his blood, gathering at his fingertips, or surprisingly, concentrated in his brain.

Cheonghyeon said that the less force there is, the more important it is to visualize it.

‘If you don’t know where your power is, you decide. Gather the power as if pulling it up from below your navel or gather it at your fingertips and spread it. Do you remember the sensation when you emitted your wavelength?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then think of gathering the energy spread throughout your body into one point, and then try spreading it towards the esper.’

‘Yes…!’

This was completely different from what he had learned at school. At school, they taught to ‘breathe by mixing wavelengths.’

He later learned that if your grade was above average, you could emit wavelengths as naturally as breathing. Through the pores of your skin, through your breath, you could use it like breathing without being conscious of it. That was ‘wavelength.’

When Hakyung first heard that explanation, he felt as if he had been hit on the back of the head. A wavelength that circles around your body and represents who you are? Until then, Hakyung hadn’t felt anything. Neither his own nor others’.

There was only colorless, odorless air around him.

However, when he was with Cheonghyeon, the air felt strangely sticky and clinging. If that was due to ‘wavelength’….

‘…I just thought my hands and feet tingled because I liked Dad.’

He had always thought that the tingling in his stomach or the numbness in parts of his body, even when he hadn’t been touched directly, was entirely his problem.

But if ‘wavelength’ wasn’t stored in one part but referred to energy heavily imbued with a specific person’s aura as it passed through their body, it made some sense.

‘The feeling of concentrating the energy dormant in the body and pulling it up….’

When this energy is released through contact, it becomes guiding. By clothing the undulating wavelength with energy, it clearly reveals its power and character.

If energy heavily imbued with a specific person’s character exists alone like breathing, that’s ‘wavelength.’ When it intertwines with others and creates synergy, that’s ‘guiding.’

Eventually, the wavelength emitted by Hakyung reached Cheonghyeon. Although Cheonghyeon didn’t emit his wavelength, Hakyung could tell that his esper was there.

“I-I did it…! I succeeded, Dad!”

His eyes sparkled with joy. Cheonghyeon gently pulled Hakyung’s nape and embraced him.

Smooch.

“Well done.”

A kiss fell on his forehead. Hakyung’s eyes curved again.

“Since my baby put in such effort… shall we finish this quickly?”

“Yes!”

The dungeon conquest began.

***

‘Oh my god….’

He knew Cheonghyeon was amazing, but….

Witnessing him subjugate the monsters, Hakyung could only gape in awe, occasionally swallowing his saliva.

‘Is it always this one-sided?’

Haegakryeong, the worst dungeon in Korean history. Its notorious reputation felt like an empty boast in front of his father.

It wasn’t just that monsters exploded at his touch; wherever he passed, the clusters turned into dust. He moved so quickly that Hakyung could barely see him. Instead, he could only guess that ‘he must have passed there’ as the flower clusters suddenly sank as if collapsing.

‘The teacher said Dad’s fighting style is one-on-one….’

His high school combat practice teacher had said so. It was even in the textbook. ‘Im Cheonghyeon the esper is optimized for one-on-one combat as he kills by touching the enemy.’

Whoever wrote the textbook must not have seen his father’s combat properly. Perhaps they had only seen past videos like Hakyung.

“Wow….”

Look at that. He appears here and there, sweeping away the monsters. No matter how you look at it, it wasn’t one-on-one but a combat style adept at one-against-many.

The more astonishing part was that the battle was silent.

Usually, when monsters gather, there’s a cacophony of strange noises. Was it because the monsters were in flower form, or did his father kill them before they could scream? There were no screams from the monsters.

That was naturally the result of Cheonghyeon’s arrangement. He had deliberately chosen a route where docile monsters resided so that his son wouldn’t be frightened and could practice skills and guiding smoothly.

Unaware of this, Hakyung looked as excited as if he were at an amusement park.

How could he not be excited?

‘Dad, you’re amazing…!’

It was the dungeon conquest scene of his father that he had longed to see.

It was ironic. Haegakryeong, where he had lived without any connection before Cheonghyeon brought him. It was the place where Hakyung lost his parents in his forgotten childhood and also the place that prompted Cheonghyeon’s retirement.

Yet, in that ‘Haegakryeong,’ he was watching his father’s battle and igniting his dream as a guide.

He had become his guide as he wished. How ecstatic would it be to go further and conquer dungeons together?

After the battle, he wanted to embrace him, share his strength, and be the only support for his beloved esper. The instinctive desire as a guide urged Hakyung on.

‘I want to guide….’

His throat felt parched. He wanted to shout that the esper performing over there was his esper, his father, his lover.

Is waiting for the esper to return all a guide can do?

There were guides with exceptional combat skills. Yet, the stereotype of guides as ‘waiting roles’ was largely due to the lack of ‘offensive skills.’ In combat, they had to rely purely on physical abilities.

And the higher the dungeon level, the less effective pure human strength was in cutting or stabbing attacks. At that level, guides had no choice but to wait outside the dungeon or enter heavily armed with all sorts of artifacts. Even then, they had to be cautious and couldn’t recklessly charge in.

High-level dungeon conquests were particularly emphasized by broadcasting stations. Since they couldn’t follow inside the dungeon, they only captured guides waiting near the dungeon or at the Awakener Association, naturally leading to the stereotype of ‘guides are waiting roles.’ In mid-to-low-level dungeons, guides often entered together.

Anyway, thanks to having an extraordinary esper as a partner and protector, Hakyung was having a unique experience.

While he was admiring, Cheonghyeon stopped after dealing with part of the cluster. The flowers clinging to the building were neatly removed. It felt like watching a scene of thorough cleaning.

Cheonghyeon reached out and gathered the surrounding powder towards him. Hakyung’s eyes widened.

“Huh?”

That scene… he saw it in a dream.

The scene where he turned people into powder and used that powder to craft adult toys or devices.

Now, the powder was being swept into the sack Cheonghyeon had spread, but the sight of the powder moving at his gesture suggested that the scene from the dream could be realized.

‘Was it not just a simple dream…?’

Realistic dreams and reality are different. No matter how much he searched his memory, he had only seen him crush objects or monsters into powder in reality, never using that powder to create something.

This led Hakyung to a certain conviction.

‘Dad has a hidden ability.’

Otherwise, there was no way such a mysterious ability wouldn’t be known to the world.

The world only knew his father’s ability as ‘pulverization,’ turning everything he touched into powder. If news spread that the powder could be reused, the world would be shocked and turned upside down.

There was no story anywhere about using the results of one’s skill and recycling them. It was truly a mysterious phenomenon. The International Awakener Management Organization might have secretly obtained similar phenomena, but it was certain that it wasn’t known to the public.

Cheonghyeon filled the large sack with powder, tied the opening, and repeated the process of spreading the sack again. The series of movements flowed naturally like water.

The pile of sacks quickly increased one by one. Even roughly counting, it had long surpassed ten sacks and was heading towards twenty.

‘Dad intended to collect powder from the start….’

He’s my dad, but really, he never does anything half-heartedly.

‘Wait a minute.’

Hakyung stared at the logo on the sack and suddenly realized.

‘If he’s sending that to Hagyeong Pharmaceuticals… what’s it for?’

Does the monster corpse powder have some kind of efficacy?

His father wouldn’t have brought those sacks without reason. He had never brought home sacks piled like that before.

‘No. He must have deliberately not left them at home. I might see them.’

The fact that he had never found those sacks at home from childhood until now was proof.

In other words, Hakyung had no way of knowing when his father started collecting monster corpse powder and sending it to Hagyeong Pharmaceuticals.

There’s a secret with his father.

‘It’s not just his ability he’s hiding… there’s something else.’

He could feel his father’s wavelength. It was clear even from a considerable distance. He could see the golden mirage rippling in his field of vision.

Cheonghyeon had tied the last sack and connected all the sack openings. Then, after checking that the openings were well tied, he lifted the bundle of sacks all at once and leaped towards Hakyung’s side.

Thud!

“Gasp….”

W-Was the sack this big…?!

It seemed like the ground shook a little, with a bit of exaggeration. The sack filled with powder was longer than Hakyung’s upper body, and it looked quite heavy just by looking at it.

He had guessed it would be heavy from afar, but he didn’t expect it to be this big.

“Phew… It’s been a while since I exerted myself, and my arms and legs are aching. If you let me suck your pussy once, it’ll all be better….”

At his playful attitude, Hakyung awkwardly rolled his eyes.

Liar.

Not a drop of sweat, yet….