The Magical Hunter Girl Decorates the Dungeon! - Chapter 49

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Magical Girl Hunter Decorates the Dungeon! Episode 49
“A B-Rank Dungeon? The place where Si-heon’s soul supposedly is?”
[I said it seems possible, not 100% certain.]
Time remaining until entry: 00:00:48
There was no more time to deliberate. Eji bolted toward the downstream path.
“Eji, watch your footing while you run!”
“Kid, come with me, yeah!”
[Doesn’t it occur to any of you adults to stop this child?]
Of course, Grimoire understood.
Eji would never let slip a chance to save a companion—
and these two adults would fight desperately to protect her.
The scent of grass and metal swallowed four lives into the space.
Entry confirmed.
Transitioning…
As the cave sealed shut, the verdant hillside shrank in an instant, transformed into jet-black gravel, and tumbled away.
In any case, the Dungeon’s Clear Condition had been satisfied.
Before entering its regeneration cycle, the F-Rank Dungeon sent one final message to its conquerors.
Clear reward obtained
: Strengthened Callused Palm (24-hour limited)
And the person meant to see that message was…
Moments later, she opened her eyes in the B-Rank Hidden Dungeon of Yangju City.
“Phew…!”
Radiant sun, grass wavering like velvet, birdsong.
And crumbling ruins greeted Eji.
Entry to Hidden Dungeon confirmed

* * *
Han Ji-hyuk tried to remind himself of a fundamental truth.
‘There’s no strongest person in this world.’
Even mob bosses could die if luck ran against them—that was how the world worked.
The Hunter world was no different.
Even S and A-Rank Hunters often met violent ends.
Jin Si-heon, once among the highest S-Rank Hunters, had bragged about solo-clearing A-Rank Dungeons and barely lasted two years before vanishing…
‘…or so I want to think. But the fact that he survived two years doing that alone makes no sense!’
By any measure, it was a record of madness.
Normally, clearing an A-Rank Dungeon requires five A-Rank Hunters.
The fact that Jin Si-heon solo-cleared A-Rank Dungeons meant…
he possessed the power of at least five top-tier Hunters combined.
‘The more records I dig into, the clearer it becomes. This man is—’
humanity’s strongest.
The word spun circles in the mind of a fifteen-year-old boy, setting his blood on fire.
‘So damn cool… Wait. What kind of Dungeon could’ve swallowed a man like that?’
He’d asked the Vice Chairman, but the man had refused to answer.
‘Whether a Dungeon is cleared or failed is private information. Why are you curious?’
‘I wanted to learn what precautions to take during Dungeon exploration.’
‘There’s only one thing you need to be cautious about: the Dungeon itself.’
‘Sir?’
‘Dungeons are still less than 10% understood—a space of mystery. Even an F-Rank Dungeon could produce unforeseen consequences.’
……
‘Especially the results of a Dungeon Break—unpredictable. It was the most certain catastrophe that claimed the mightiest S-Rank Hunter.’
‘I… understand.’
After responding appropriately, Ji-hyuk began gathering information from the underground network.
He had two sources.
One: connections from his days living in a rough neighborhood.
Two: Grimoire 998.
The former had compiled eyewitness accounts of ‘a tall, handsome Hunter who’d lose his mind if he went a day without cursing,’ while the latter, grumbling all the while, had looked up Dungeon records for him.
Before long, information arrived.
[The Dungeon that broke when Si-heon vanished is here. Seoul Metropolitan Area, C-Rank.]
‘Just C-Rank? Si-heon… Wait, Si-heon vanished?’
[C-Rank means upper 30% difficulty. One mistake is more than enough to cost you your life.]
‘Do you know what kind of Dungeon it was?’
[It had been a good source for Magical Stones, but it grew increasingly unstable, so experts recommended closure. However, the company ignored the warning until the Break occurred… That’s what a Google archive shows, anyway. The original article was deleted at the company’s request.]
‘Which company?’
[GEG.]
One of Korea’s top hundred conglomerates.
Their business reach, expanding rapidly over the past decade, included Magical Stone energy engineering.
Even though he knew it was meaningless, Ji-hyuk headed toward where that Dungeon had been.
Northern Gyeonggi.
The space where a Dungeon and Magical Stone processing facility had once existed underground was now hidden behind a gray fence.
When no one was around, Ji-hyuk scaled the fence with S-Rank physical ability. And he lost all words.
‘Did a nuclear bomb fall on the processing facility?’
Twisted scrap metal, mangled like a swarm of maggots, filled the entire lot.
Some pieces were even driven into the ground, explaining why the factory owner hadn’t cleaned this up.
‘The place where the Dungeon was… has just become a crater.’
No Mana could be felt. The C-Rank Dungeon that had existed here was completely gone.
Ji-hyuk descended empty-handed.
Grimoire 998 stirred awake in the small E-reader.
[So? Nothing impressive, right?]
“Yeah. But this Dungeon Break thing—it’s really terrifying. The Dungeon and the factory are completely destroyed.”
[Hmph. You still haven’t grasped what’s truly frightening.]
“Huh?”
[The factory’s destroyed, but the sidewalk and road next to it—how are they pristine?]
“…Oh.”
It only then occurred to Ji-hyuk that the ruins and the quiet roadside landscape were divided perfectly at the fence line.
As if someone had deliberately targeted only the Dungeon and factory for destruction.
“What on earth is…”
[Like I said? Nobody knows what happens when a Dungeon Break occurs.]
……
[Be careful. I’m worried you admire even Si-heon’s recklessness.]
“N-No, I don’t admire him or anything! I’m going to live carefully.”
[Suit yourself. Want noodles nearby, or should we head to the next town for budae-jjigae?]
“I’m not a little kid. You don’t need to worry about meals.”
[How could I not worry? You need to grow strong like Si-heon, after all.]
“…I’ll make sure to eat well.”
Money he had—a Living Expenses Card from the Vice Chairman, plus savings from running errands in his old neighborhood.
But before searching for nearby restaurants on the map app,
Grimoire’s form trembled.
[Hm…?]
“Grimoire?”
[I’m sensing Mana condensing somewhere. A Gate must’ve opened in the mountains.]
“Goodness! Which direction?”
[Why should you know? That’s the Hunter Association’s job first.]
“But if someone gets hurt…”
[With the Gate opening in the mountains, casualties are unlikely in the short term. Trust the adults and calm yourself.]
“…Understood.”
[I’ll tell you right away if something goes wrong. Now go eat.]
“Yes!”
Ji-hyuk searched for a kalguksu place he could slip in and out of quickly if needed, then dashed toward it.
Not far from there, buried in the mountains of Yangju City,
a Dungeon that had once hidden underground began opening its own Gate.
Initiated by the first Hunter to enter that Dungeon—a Magical Girl.

* * *
The moment Eji’s feet touched the ground, she realized her Magical Girl Transformation had dissolved. Si-heon and Geum-hee had vanished.
A message appeared announcing her first entry into the Dungeon—the Clear Condition.
Clear Condition: Return the five misplaced ■ to their correct positions
‘Another Black Square!’
Looking closer, the texture seemed slightly different from the Black Square she’d seen in the Association Dungeon. It was as if someone had scribbled over letters with a pen.
‘Let me transform first, then puzzle this out with everyone!’
“Transform!”
Eji spun around, taking in her surroundings again.
A field, a weathered two-story building, a broad pond, a gentle hill. Those four environments filled her entire vision.
“Grimoire! My friend Si-heon! My friend Geum-hee!”
Si-heon and Geum-hee materialized on the ground.
Si-heon tilted his head after hearing the Clear Condition.
“Before the word ‘five’ there’s a black square, and you could see the letter ‘four’ beneath it?”
“Yes. Like someone scribbled over bad handwriting with a ballpoint pen and erased it.”
“You have an uncanny talent for finding Dungeons with strange conditions. Well, let’s just assume there are five of them.”
Geum-hee scratched at her side as she spoke.
“I’m not sure what ‘misplaced’ means, but we’d better wander around slowly and look. Eji, hold your grandmother’s hand tight.”
“Grandmother, can we go over there? The flowers are so pretty!”
Eji grasped Geum-hee’s foreleg and headed toward the field.
The field was peaceful.
With each step, unnamed flowers swayed, and small insects scattered in all directions.
In the distance, a deer bounded past. A sight you’d never see in Seoul.
Eji beamed at the landscape she’d only ever seen on television.
“Grandmother, what’s this? A grasshopper?”
“A locust. Been a long time since I’ve seen one. Want me to take it and fry it up for you?”
“No… Grandmother, what about this?”
“A mantis egg case. Plump little thing, isn’t it?”
“How interesting! Oh, but what’s this…?”
……
The two exchanged glances—
and Geum-hee immediately thrust her foreleg forward, seized the ‘object’ embedded in the field, and wrenched it free.
“Hyah!”
“The pond, let’s go to the pond!”
What the two had found in the field was a Baby Angel Statue Holding Basket.
As Geum-hee took each step, foreign coins in the stone basket the angel held clinked softly.
Si-heon watched the two from where the Dungeon entrance had been.
“Where did you go… what’s that ugly sculpture, elder?”
“A misplaced object from the field!”
Geum-hee waded into the pond with heavy steps and drove the angel statue into the center.
A click sounded.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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