Chapter 91: Void Church (2)
“I’ve cleared all sorts of dungeons so far, but this kind of backdrop is a first for me.”
Yoon Soo-ho muttered while looking around.
Buildings made of dark, jagged rock, trains weaving between them, suspicious pipes stretching from deep in the mountain valley, and steam engines visible all over the city.
It was hard to believe this was a city sitting right in the middle of a wasteland filled only with monsters and rock.
The heat felt like boiling water—probably because lava from the hellfire volcano influenced every corner of the city.
It seemed to come from the heat radiating through the web of pipes laid across the city.
Energy generated deep in the mountain valley flowed into the city through those pipes.
“With this level of technology, why did they come to pick us up bare-handed?”
Jin-young, who had been sightseeing the unexpectedly advanced city, turned to the Hell’s Watchmen and asked.
At this level, using guns wouldn’t have been strange, yet they still carried primitive spears and wore shabby armor.
One of the devils reacted to Jin-young’s casual remark.
“We Watchmen are the lowest class in Nine City. We’re nothing more than consumables, so using expensive, high-quality equipment would be a waste.”
It was Ulan, the guard captain leading the Watchmen group.
Thanks to his attitude turning friendly after they dealt with the angel monsters, conversation flowed easily now.
“You know that and still don’t have any complaints?”
“A lowest-class citizen like us having complaints changes nothing. As long as we do as we’re told, we don’t starve to death.”
“That’s just straight-up slave mentality.”
“Correct. We’re no different from slaves.”
Even though Jin-young openly mocked them, Ulan accepted it without batting an eye.
It seemed to be a characteristic of these devils called the ‘Red-Horn Tribe.’
While talking, the group soon arrived in front of a building.
Walls made of basalt-like rock and doors forged from dark crimson iron left a strong impression.
Creak—
With the groan of old metal hinges, the door opened, revealing a wide lobby.
Devils in shabby armor similar to the Watchmen’s wandered about, and there were also some who looked like office workers.
“After completing identity verification at the checkpoint, we’ll move to City Hall. Wait here until preparations are complete.”
Ulan led Jin-young’s party into what appeared to be a waiting room.
All four walls were pitch black, with only the door they had just entered as an exit.
[Secondary Objective Achieved]
[Your reputation has improved]
Thanks to obediently following the Watchmen, their reputation improved again.
But the next updated secondary objective made Jin-young furrow his brow.
[Secondary Objective Updated]
[Secondary Objective: Become a Watchman]
It essentially meant joining the lowest class treated like slaves.
Yoon Soo-ho and Choi Hee-yeon also stared at the System Board with stiff expressions.
“It looks like we have to start from the bottom and work our way up to this Void Church place.”
“Seems that way.”
Choi Hee-yeon’s words were met with a nod from Yoon Soo-ho in agreement.
Jin-young, who had been listening to the two, interjected.
“For now, we’ll split into two teams starting from here. Ad sunbae and Soo-ho, you two follow the secondary objective as one team.”
“What about you, hoobae-nim?”
[TL Note: Hoobae-nim refers to a junior, underclassman, or someone with less experience in a school, work, or industry setting.]
At Choi Hee-yeon’s question, Jin-young turned to look at one of the walls.
Tsutsutsuts—
A faint grinding sound echoed as the wall split into dozens of pieces.
The rectangular bricks detached and floated into the room.
“I’m going to look for another way.”
Jin-young stepped out through the newly opened hole in the wall.
Ssssss—
The bricks that had followed him returned to their original positions, seamlessly sealing the wall again.
Yoon Soo-ho and Choi Hee-yeon simply stared in stunned silence.
Guard Captain Ulan, who had finished reporting to the checkpoint chief.
The checkpoint chief, who had listened quietly, finally spoke.
“There’s no need to inspect those outsiders, nor to take them to City Hall.”
For a moment, a question crossed Ulan’s mind.
Normally, when otherworldly beings first arrived in hell, they were inspected at the checkpoint. If deemed suitable, they were taken to City Hall to be registered as citizens.
And depending on their abilities, they were assigned to various occupations.
Since this procedure had never been skipped before, Ulan was understandably perplexed.
Though he had risen to the rank of guard captain, he was still among the lowest class.
He didn’t dare question the checkpoint chief.
Suppressing the rising doubt, Ulan waited as the checkpoint chief continued.
“You Watchmen will keep them with you for three days. I’ll send further instructions after that.”
“Yes, Chief.”
Ulan finished the uncomfortable meeting with the checkpoint chief and returned to the first-floor lobby.
The Watchmen guarding the waiting room asked him,
“Shall we begin the inspection?”
“No. The chief said there’s no need for inspection or citizen registration. They just need to accompany us for three days.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know either. Maybe they plan to use them as Watchmen.”
Recently, Nine City’s guard force had been suffering from a severe manpower shortage.
The police handling internal security were sufficient, but the number of Watchmen patrolling the outskirts kept dwindling day by day.
It was the job with the highest mortality rate in Nine City—no one volunteered for it.
The perception that it was a job only for the lowest class didn’t help either.
They had mainly recruited vagrants and criminals from the city, but even that had become difficult.
Otherworldly beings who had just arrived in hell were assigned to suitable occupations according to their aptitudes, so they weren’t automatically thrown into the Watchmen role.
“Judging from their combat earlier, they’re quite talented… It might be good for us, but it’s a shame for them.”
“I feel the same.”
Ulan pushed aside his complicated thoughts and opened the door to the waiting room.
Just as he was about to speak, he noticed something was off.
“Where’s the third one?”
“He ran away.”
Yoon Soo-ho answered with a brazen face.
His tone was so shameless that Ulan was momentarily stunned.
“Ran away? How… from here?”
The door had been guarded by Watchmen—there was no way they could have missed it.
If he had broken through the wall, there should have been traces, yet the walls looked perfectly intact from every angle.
Only one possibility remained.
He had used spatial teleportation magic like high-level sorcerers.
“He suddenly disappeared without us noticing.”
At Yoon Soo-ho’s words, Ulan stroked his chin.
He had thought they were fairly decent otherworldly beings when they arrived at the city.
He hadn’t expected to be betrayed in this way.
Of course, he had no intention of punishing the two who remained behind.
They possessed outstanding combat power—who knew when their status might rise.
If anything, the one who should be worried was the escapee.
He hadn’t seemed particularly strong; once he left Nine City’s boundaries, he would meet a miserable death.
“For now, we’ll have to issue a wanted order for the escapee. You two will stay with us for the time being. Just in case, we’ll start you with the basics of being a Watchman.”
Ulan ordered one of his subordinates to head to the Public Security Bureau.
To issue the wanted notice for the escapee.
Then he took Yoon Soo-ho and Choi Hee-yeon out of the checkpoint.
“The main duty of a Watchman is to patrol outside the city and guide otherworldly beings like you into the city. Occasionally, we repel monsters approaching too close to the city or report them to the city police.”
Ulan explained as they headed back toward the city outskirts.
There was only one official gateway for entering and exiting Nine City.
The mountain ridges surrounding the city served as walls to block monster invasions.
The mountain where Nine City was located was high and rugged, but compared to the great mountain visible far in the distance, it was small.
Still, as if sharing the same root, a long mountain range stretched from the great mountain all the way here.
While observing the scenery, Yoon Soo-ho suddenly asked,
“Why is the city called Nine City?”
Ulan answered the question.
“I heard it’s because nine pioneers were the first to settle this land. It’s one city now, but in the past it was nine separate villages. That’s also why the districts are divided into nine zones.”
Yoon Soo-ho mulled over the answer before asking another question.
“Was the Void Church founded back then too?”
At that, Ulan and the other Watchmen’s expressions stiffened for a moment.
***
“If you find anything, contact me through the tentacle.”
“Got it.”
Jin-young had entered a narrow, dark alley.
He took out the Stalker Dmitri and the Jackal, now turned into a hunting hound, from sub-space and gave them simple instructions.
Sneak around the city and gather information.
Dmitri, still a Hunter at heart, said that the moment he emerged from sub-space, the System Board appeared before him.
“Don’t get caught.”
“Have you forgotten who I am? A Stalker is never detected by anyone. Sure, I don’t have mana, but simple stealth is nothing.”
Dmitri spoke with confident assurance.
Jin-young had worried they might stand out immediately due to their different appearance from the devils, but after surveying the city, he changed his mind.
This place was home to various races, including humans who looked similar to them.
Of course, they were a minority compared to the red-skinned devils called the ‘Red-Horn Tribe.’
As long as they were careful, there didn’t seem to be much cause for concern.
“Alright. Get going.”
At Jin-young’s words, Dmitri left the alley with the Jackal.
Once they were gone, Jin-young activated Assimilation to conceal his presence.
Tsukwakwakwakwa—
In an instant, he released psionic energy and soared into the air.
He landed on the rooftop of the tallest building in the city.
Perched on the railing, he surveyed the entire cityscape.
‘It’s surprisingly large.’
As he had expected when first entering the city, pipes extended from deep in the mountain valley and connected throughout the entire urban area.
At the source of those pipes stood enormous steam engines spewing hazy smoke as they generated energy.
『In addition to the heat energy from hellfire, Cyclic energy is being supplied throughout the entire city.』
The tentacle said while looking at the same view.
‘The hellfire from that great mountain reaches all the way here. Just how powerful is the hellfire up there?’
Jin-young gazed at the peak of the tallest mountain in hell.
Yet the enormous lava-like monster he had glimpsed beyond the Gate of Hell was nowhere to be seen.
He had thought the guardian-like monster that wandered around the hellfire volcano would be visible here too.
『It may not have existed in the past, or it could be somewhere else.』
‘They probably didn’t implement all the way to that giant volcano, right? Where exactly is the boundary?’
Dungeons usually didn’t allow access to everything visible.
Only a portion of a world was manifested, while the rest was strictly separated by invisible walls.
Even Zero-grade Hunters had tried to break through those boundaries, but none had ever succeeded, as far as he knew.
『You’re not seriously thinking of breaking the boundary, are you?』
‘Aren’t you curious?’
『I am, but it doesn’t seem like a good idea.』
What would happen to the dungeon if the boundary were shattered?
Would it be possible to cross over to the other side of a world that had only been treated as background?
The thought crossed Jin-young’s mind briefly, but he set it aside for now.
‘If I mess up and cause the dungeon to collapse so I can’t return, that’d be a disaster. I’ll prepare a solution later and try it then.’
There were basically two ways to leave a dungeon.
Either exit through the gate you entered from, or clear it and open a return portal.
The portable portal Jin-young currently possessed could only move within the same dimension; returning to Earth was impossible.
『More importantly, I’m sensing quite a strong power right below us.』
‘I was feeling it too.’
Jin-young sensed intense heat rising from the floor directly beneath the rooftop.
A power as fierce and malevolent as hellfire itself.
Compared to the Watchmen he had first encountered in the dungeon, it felt like comparing an ant to an elephant.
He thought it was highly likely the boss monster of this dungeon.
Of course, it wasn’t much of a threat to Jin-young, but he couldn’t just recklessly kill the boss monster.
The dungeon’s main objective wasn’t defeating the boss.
He would need to visit this thing called the Void Church for the main objective to be achieved or updated to the next stage.
After thinking for a moment, Jin-young jumped down from the railing.
Crash crash crash—
He smashed straight through the window and landed in the top-floor office.
“……!”
The suited devil sitting in the chair looked up at Jin-young with considerable surprise.
Jin-young waved his hand casually and said,
“Calm down. I’m not here to kill you—I just want to torture you a little.”
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