NOVEL NEXT Chapter 57
Chapter 57. Goemi Cave
Won Yeong-guk, whose face seemed vibrant with energy, spoke.
“I’ve been having back pain lately, but today my back feels great!”
“Really?”
“Could it be thanks to that water you gave me yesterday?”
“I’m not sure if it has any effect…”
Won Yeong-guk claimed that the pain in his back, which had been bothering him for the past two weeks, had disappeared.
Yoo Ji-han, crossing the barrier and climbing the mountain, tilted his head.
‘He says the pain vanished after drinking that water.’
It’s true that Lucky Whisker and White Umbrella have great effects.
However, it was unknown that those two items had any healing properties.
In fact, elixirs with actual healing effects are documented and sold at quite a high price in the market.
Even wealthy commoners show interest, so many people, not just heroes, buy these elixirs.
‘Since this is a new combination of elixirs, could there be a new effect?’
The combination of Lucky Whisker and White Umbrella as an elixir didn’t exist before.
So, one could think that this new attempt led to a new effect.
But the likelihood seemed too low.
<— Combining Lucky Whisker and White Umbrella in water to gain a healing effect probability>
<2% or less>
The probability was close to zero…
But if it works as a placebo effect, that wouldn’t be too bad.
“Maybe shooting the gun freely relieved some stress?”
“I’ll give you another cup of that water later.”
“Okay!”
Won Yeong-guk replied cheerfully.
Yoo Ji-han then turned to Kim Si-hu.
“Any sight of the Goemi?”
“Just a moment…”
Kim Si-hu was looking down at the map on his mobile phone.
Their location appeared on the MA map, inside Gye-yang Mountain, with several red markers.
The red markers, moving slightly on the map, were the location trackers attached to the Goemi.
The Hero Department had intentionally left a few Goemi alive to attach trackers and monitor their movements.
‘Is there a Queen Goemi?’
Even after becoming monsters, the Goemi maintained their hierarchical system.
And all the entities that Yoo Ji-han’s party had hunted so far had been lower-tier Goemi.
With numerous lower-tier Goemi present, if they were spread out over such a large area, one would assume there was a Queen Goemi among them.
However, news of any other party discovering a queen had yet to reach them.
‘Sampling doesn’t listen at all.’
Yoo Ji-han had used sampling in this regard, but it was still unhelpful.
Sometimes it worked well despite consecutive uses, yet it remained an unpredictable unique skill.
There were heroes who left significant marks in history with just one unique skill…
Life really isn’t fair from the moment you’re born.
“Hyung, GPS seems a bit weird.”
“Why?”
“It keeps cutting out. Maybe it’s an internet issue.”
The marker of a stationary Goemi reappeared at a completely different location.
Either the location tracker distributed by the Hero Department malfunctioned, or it was due to the high mountains disrupting the internet…
“Let’s just follow it for now.”
Yoo Ji-han really didn’t want to touch that smelly powder.
Once it touches the hands, even vigorous washing wouldn’t help get rid of the smell.
——Ugh! What kind of smell is this?
When he got into the taxi heading home, Yoo Ji-han could only remain silent at the taxi driver’s question.
Thank goodness he wasn’t kicked out of the taxi, being a hero doing something worthwhile.
“I think we’re about here…”
About 15 minutes later.
They arrived at an area where the Goemi marker had stopped for several minutes.
Crumble—
As he stepped on a small fallen branch, it cracked underfoot.
Yoo Ji-han made some noise on purpose to lure the enemies while scanning the surroundings.
Ding!
Suddenly, the marker for the Goemi his party had come for reappeared in a completely different spot.
It appeared to be a living entity, moving slowly on the map.
Kim Si-hu frowned.
“Teleportation?”
“……”
Goemi aren’t even rank 3 monsters or higher.
There shouldn’t be any special abilities at play.
It’s either that the Hero Department used some cheap tracker, or the Goemi discarded the trackers attached to them.
“Ah.”
At that moment, a thought crossed Yoo Ji-han’s mind.
He said to Kim Si-hu and Won Yeong-guk.
“Both of you, keep an eye on the ground.”
“Huh?”
“Look thoroughly for any depressions, bushes, or areas covered by rocks.”
Following Yoo Ji-han’s directions, the three began their thorough search.
And a few minutes later, Won Yeong-guk raised one hand high.
“This place seems strange!”
Yoo Ji-han swiftly ran over.
An area completely covered by overgrown shrubs on the ground.
He neatly cut away the brush with his sword.
“……!”
“This is……!”
From under the vines, a small hole revealed itself.
What was visible at the end of the hole was dark, impenetrable gloom.
It was a long, diagonal tunnel, making it hard to gauge its depth.
As his previous prediction turned out to be correct, Yoo Ji-han muttered quietly.
“It’s a Goemi cave.”
*
Yoo Ji-han’s party informed the Hero Department of their discovery of the Goemi cave.
The startled Hero Department hastily called in the parties that had entered the MA to gather at the entrance.
Among the gathered parties were some like Yoo Ji-han’s who had also detected suspicious movements of the Goemi and conducted their own investigation.
There was not just one entrance to the Goemi cave.
“Gye-yang Mountain has become the home of the Goemi…”
They even set up a base at the foot of the mountain!
Won Yeong-guk seemed shocked at the fact that a place he frequently visited on weekends had turned into a monster’s territory.
While there had previously been occurrences of Goemi caves in Korea, a mountain turning into a Goemi cave had never happened before.
“We need to wipe out the Goemi from Gye-yang Mountain immediately!”
“That’s right! Let’s head out right now!”
The rank 4 parties gathered at the entrance all spoke up loudly.
On the other hand, the Hero Department tried to calm them down.
“We understand your eagerness, but please calm down for a moment.”
“We can’t know how many Goemi are below.”
Rushing into the Goemi cave was reckless.
Without understanding the enemy’s scale, careful choices were necessary.
“What if we fill the hole with water?”
“But it’s all dirt. The water will just get absorbed.”
“What if we block the hole and pump in powerful poisonous gas…?”
“Are you crazy?! Do you plan to completely contaminate the mountain?”
From absurd suggestions to fill the cave with water, to ridiculous ideas of covering the mountain with poisonous gas.
Various methods to deal with them were discussed.
However, most of them were unlikely to be effective.
“What about digging a tunnel and going out beyond the barrier?”
“Expanding the barrier right now is impossible; we’ll have to contact the Seoul Branch for additional manpower.”
“We’ll have no choice but to send heroes into the Goemi cave.”
“It seems tough with just a rank 4 party…”
“Would rank 3 be enough?”
The Hero Department officials were deliberating on raising the MA rank.
In this exceptional situation, the authority to command on-site belonged to the Hero Department.
No matter what decisions were made, the heroes had no choice but to follow.
However, among the rank 4 parties listening to the ongoing discussions, strong dissatisfaction arose.
“We can handle Goemi even at rank 4!”
“Whether it’s rank 4 or 3, it’s just a numbers game; it’s all the same!”
Raising the rank was a choice considering the dangers of the MA.
However, for parties that had been hunting Goemi in Gye-yang Mountain without difficulty, feeling looked down upon was natural.
The officials of the Hero Department spoke with slightly troubled expressions.
“If you get hurt, it creates more problems for us.”
“Don’t worry too much about us.”
“Do you know how many Goemi we’ve caught by the end of today?”
“Still…”
The parties opposing the rank elevation didn’t easily back down.
Not wanting to assert their pride, Yoo Ji-han’s party quietly watched them.
Eventually, the Hero Department presented an alternative.
Instead of raising the rank, they planned to call in a few rank 3 parties to enter alongside the rank 4 parties.
“That’s fine by me.”
“As long as we can go in, that’s good.”
The heroes’ dissatisfaction began to wane, and the Hero Department started to recruit parties to enter the Goemi cave.
Most of the rank 4 parties showed willingness to go in.
Yoo Ji-han’s party was the same.
‘I can’t miss this chance.’
Gaining experience fighting in a cramped terrain like the Goemi cave.
While there was risk involved, it was definitely a challenge worth trying.
Just as their previous battlefields had been apartments or golf courses, the reality of varied terrains was vast, but combat experience in such unique spaces wouldn’t be easily obtained.
“I don’t think I can go with Yeong-guk.”
“I’m okay with that!”
Won Yeong-guk decided to stay near Gye-yang Mountain.
He couldn’t take soldiers into a space where even heroes couldn’t guarantee safety.
Yoo Ji-han looked at the other soldiers still playing around.
“I’ll let the Hero Department know, so Yeong-guk, don’t return the ammo and join the party staying by the entrance.”
“Okay!”
“If any Goemi show up nearby, please handle it.”
*
The rank 3 parties that arrived at Gye-yang Mountain were tasked with several rank 4 parties.
For each entrance to the Goemi cave that had been identified up to this point, one rank 3 party and at least three or more rank 4 parties were to enter.
‘Over there, huh.’
Yoo Ji-han approached the assigned rank 3 party, Kang Si-wook’s party.
“What’s your deal?”
“Are they also moving with us?”
“Ah, how unfortunate.”
However, among the rank 4 parties moving with them were also acquaintances of Moon Kyung-jin, with whom they had clashed recently.
Looking quite annoyed, they approached Kang Si-wook’s party and said:
“Senior, are you aware of the incident at Green Light Apartment last time?”
“Those two are not Goemi, they’re people who would stab us in the back.”
“It would be better to leave them behind, they’ll just get in the way…”
They deliberately mentioned the previous incident at the apartment as they scorned Yoo Ji-han.
It was an attempt to exclude Yoo Ji-han’s party.
“Those jerks…!”
Kim Si-hu’s expression contorted at their crude behavior.
“Do those individuals have a record of being officially punished?”
“Not specifically, but…”
“So there’s none, huh.”
“Thinking about the recent incident makes it really unsettling…”
Kang Si-wook, the leader of Kang Si-wook’s party, looked at Yoo Ji-han.
No matter what was said about him, Yoo Ji-han maintained a calm expression.
As their eyes briefly met, Kang Si-wook spoke to those whining to him.
“If there’s no record of punishment, then it’s not an issue.”
“But those two are!”
“I don’t know the full circumstances, but don’t let personal feelings cloud your judgment on-site. This is sincere advice from a senior hero.”
If someone were easily swayed by the surrounding words, they would have found it highly undesirable.
Kang Si-wook, the rank 3 hero, acted precisely according to protocol.
‘Luckily, he’s a normal person.’
Yoo Ji-han thought he had met someone fairly decent.
On the other hand, Moon Kyung-jin’s acquaintances were left with disgust on their faces.