Chapter 29
Of course, they couldn’t communicate with words. Johan made one of the Uruks use their sign language.
Nod
Albino nodded and stood up.
It seemed like they would willingly guide them to the temple. Johan used a cheap potion to stop the bleeding on Sion’s body.
“Urusa, carry him. If that guy makes any weird moves, kill him immediately.”
It’s better to keep a hostage until the end.
Johan wouldn’t kill the shaman until they reached the temple.
This would prevent any sudden actions from Albino.
Albino started walking endlessly towards the depths of the mountain range.
They were tense, wondering if other monsters might appear, but for some reason, not even a common herbivore was seen along Albino’s path.
30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours.
Even though Johan wanted to complain about when they would reach the temple, Albino’s steps didn’t hesitate once.
Fortunately, Albino was gradually slowing down.
“Surely, this is a place I’ve never been before.”
Despite having been in this area countless times, Johan had never been to this place before.
No one would know about this place.
Ssssk Ssssssk
Albino stopped in front of a cliff and said something.
They couldn’t understand what it meant, but seeing Albino pointing at the cliff, it seemed they had reached their destination.
“Where is the temple? No matter how I look, I don’t see any caves.”
There wasn’t a cave in sight, unlike similar locations before.
Albino was pounding his chest and pointing at the cliff.
After pondering quietly about what Albino meant, Johan soon realized.
“This cliff… it’s a giant mural itself!”
Johan initially thought the cliff was just a steep face of the peak.
However, upon closer inspection, parts of the cliff were colored in a way that couldn’t have occurred naturally.
The mural was at least 100 meters tall and 50 meters wide, a massive painting.
‘Did humans draw this?’
It was awe-inspiring. It felt similar to seeing the pyramids in Egypt.
“It looks like a similar picture to last time.”
The most noticeable feature was the figure resembling a human.
It looked like the figure Johan had seen in the mural while following Kobard.
A man covered mostly by a cloak, wearing a crown.
In front of him, hundreds of soldiers were kneeling, and the man was reaching out towards something.
“I thought he was the god Kobard worshipped, but maybe not.”
This was supposed to be a temple. This meant that the man was a god-like figure worshipped by both races.
If both Kobard and the Uruks worshipped him, he must not be an ordinary god.
He might even be the main god of this world.
“But what does he have to do with me?”
Why did the quest, and the god of the dead, bring him here…
Was this man related to the entire cataclysmic event?
The question didn’t linger long. Albino’s sudden actions and the subsequent warnings occupied all his attention.
[You have encountered the truth of the world. Understanding has increased by 3%. You have gained a skill as a reward.]
The truth of the world, understanding, a reward.
At that moment, Albino’s entire body began to glow white.
Ssssssssk
Albino’s body started to burn as if it were being consumed.
Ssssk Ssssssk!
Albino trembled in pain. Johan looked at the shaman, but the shaman was still just panting heavily.
“No way?”
Johan looked at the wall. The wall was glowing with a faint light that hadn’t been there before.
“Could it be?”
Johan could only watch the absurd situation unfold.
Albino’s skin started to peel away gradually, turning to ash.
He was turning to dust.
Albino stared at the wall like Johan, then calmed himself and bowed to the mural.
Crumb-
Albino’s body collapsed into a heap of ashes as he bowed.
His body had completely oxidized.
This unexpected situation shattered Johan’s mental state.
He felt like he had learned something he shouldn’t have.
“Are the Albinos the key to the truth?”
Johan couldn’t be sure, but if another Albino appeared in this ‘truth space’ again, he would be certain.
Johan focused on the mural again. The faint light eventually converged on the man and then disappeared in an instant.
“The truth of the world… it seems to really refer to the truth behind all these events.”
The sudden cataclysm and the emergence of awakened beings, things that couldn’t be explained logically and he thought would never be explained.
The system was saying there was a reason behind it all.
For Johan, who hoped for peace to return after all these events, this moment was as shocking as the cataclysm itself.
“Just 3 percent, and just recognizing that man’s existence lets me know the truth of the world?”
Just by seeing the man in the mural, he had taken a step closer to the truth. This meant the man was near the truth.
Or maybe the man himself is the one.
“The truth I need to uncover still remains.”
Instead, Johan felt his mind becoming clearer.
The moment when the enormous, indescribable fear felt tangible, like it could be grasped in his hand.
The hope that he might discover the cause of all this misfortune if he tried hard enough alleviated all the anxiety and negative emotions he had been feeling. 『You have completed the ‘Albino Tracking’ quest. Please ask one question about the truth you seek to know. Any question within the bounds of causality is allowed.』
The reward of being able to learn something that could change everything. The moment he heard it, countless questions crossed his mind. He ran over simulations more than a hundred times to figure out what question would yield a satisfying answer.
‘Should I ask about the cataclysm, or about this profession?’
Fundamental questions.
None of them were unimportant. In fact, any of them would have significant meaning.
After pondering for more than 30 minutes, Johan asked one question.
Perhaps the most necessary, the most primal question.
‘Excuse me, where are my parents resting in which dungeon?’
Johan’s parents, who went missing in a dungeon.
They were completely ordinary people who hadn’t even awakened. There were rumors they disappeared in Kobard’s forest, but that wasn’t true.
They were sucked into an unknown vortex. Johan followed them, but by the time he arrived, the vortex had already vanished.
‘If I just know where they are, I can go find them.’
Anyway, he would learn the truth of the world whether he liked it or not. As for his job as an undertaker, he would naturally master it by continuing to complete quests.
So, resolving the most regretful burden was the better choice.
The system, which had immediately provided answers before, was silent.
As if it were pinpointing their location.
[The bodies of the client, Johan Shin’s biological parents, are in the Nest of the Gale.]
The moment he heard the answer, two emotions swept through his body.
Despair and hopelessness.
The Nest of the Gale was a dungeon with the highest difficulty that no one had yet cleared.
The weakest monster was an A-rank, and the boss monsters were S-rank.
The most powerful, worst dungeon, known as the Gale.
Even when a team of ten 5th rank hunters teamed up, they couldn’t clear even half of it.
‘This is the worst. Even meeting the entry requirements will take years.’
The Nest of the Gale, located in North America, required a minimum rank of 5 for entry.
The minimum party composition for entry was ten 5th rank hunters. Lower ranks couldn’t enter at all.
And since it was in another country, they couldn’t use any shortcuts like in Korea.
It was a situation where he could only attempt if he met all the qualifications of an S-rank.
“Still, I know the location now. I don’t have to wander into weird dungeons anymore.”
Of course, it was a much better situation compared to wandering aimlessly without knowing the destination.
During his time as a tracker, Johan had entered every dungeon to find his parents.
His unparalleled search abilities were developed during that time.
“This is actually motivating.”
A new goal had emerged.
Finding his parents in the Nest of the Gale.
It was a difficult, nearly impossible goal, which made it even more motivating.
Pursuing this goal would likely accomplish most of his secondary objectives as well.
“Alright, let’s go all out. First, let’s see what skill I’ve been given.”
[Excision]
Grade: B
– A procedure to remove organs to prevent the body’s decomposition.
– Also indicates vital points on the body.
A skill acquired after facing the truth, seemingly given by Albino as well.
A skill fitting the concept of an undertaker, with significant utility.
The effect of highlighting vital points would be especially effective against beings different from humans.
He decided to test the skill right away.
Johan’s eyes began to turn red.
Red marks appeared all over the body of the lying shaman.
“Are these the vital points?”
The body was covered in numerous red dots.
He hadn’t expected so many vital points on a monster like an Uruk, at least three times more than anticipated, making it hard to avoid them deliberately.
Sensing the killing intent, the shaman’s breathing grew more rapid. He trembled and soon went limp.
With this, everyone had perished.
“Ha, why do I have to face such trials?”
Barely lifting his exhausted body, Johan felt it had been a mentally draining day.
With the eerie forest, the shaman, Albino, the mural, and the truths.
“This really makes me crave a drink.”
Even just organizing the shocks and information he’d received today would take a whole day.
No, it might actually be better to drink quickly since such things couldn’t be resolved by mental effort alone.
On days like this, he thought, a bowl of clam soup at Jaesang’s place would be the perfect finish.
Quickly exiting the dungeon and inhaling the fresh air of the valley, Johan soon made a phone call while holding his growling stomach.
“Hey, Hee, I’m heading to your place. Prepare a pot of soup for me. And sprinkle some salt on my body before I go inside.”
Bending his waist to enter the cave wrapped in darkness,
someone cloaked in black walked towards the cave’s end.
Despite their small stature, they exuded a fierce aura, concentrating on containing the violent killing intent within.
Surrounded by the natural light of luminous stones, the cave felt cozy.
After a long walk, he finally reached the end of the cave.
There, a mural was drawn.
It depicted something that looked like a human, seemingly watching its surroundings.
A somewhat ominous painting,
“Ooh.”
A sound came from the figure cloaked in black.
He then respectfully bowed to the mural.
The painting, as if watching him pray.
After finishing half of his bow, he drew a dagger from his sleeve.
A blunt, rather crude dagger that seemed incapable of making a scratch.
A thread of magic began to unravel.
An overwhelming magic that contrasted with the dagger, capable of destroying anything.
The crimson magic wavered like a snake’s tongue, covering the mural.
Then he swung the dagger lightly from top to bottom, like performing a dance.
But the power was far from light.
The magic, scraping down the wall, obliterated the entire mural in an instant.
Not a trace of the mural remained.
He was still devout. It was an action done in reverence.
“Forgotten god, the god who desires obscurity, please tell me the next destination.”
