Chapter 119: Dragon's Resting Ground (2)

Chapter 119: Dragon's Resting Ground (2)

Squeeze, squeeze—

A soft touch pressed down on his shirtless back.

As the thumb squeezed the cramped muscles around his back, a pleasant sensation spread across his body.

"Keep your arms spread out like that. I'll give you a massage."

"... So this is what you meant by spreading?"

"Hehe, why? Were you thinking of something lewd?"

Ha-eun giggled slyly as she massaged his upper back in a circular motion.

"Isn't it weirder to think of something else in that situation?"

"Well... i-if you really insist, I could listen to your request just a little~"

She cleared her throat as her cheeks reddened.

"No thanks."

"Why?"

"That kind of thing doesn't fit you."

Ohjin shook his head with an uninterested expression.

Ha-eun's brows furrowed.

"What do you mean by that! Hey, men drool when I walk past them! Even when I went to go get groceries yesterday—"

"Which bastard was it?"

"Hm?"

"Which bastard drooled while looking at you?"

Ohjin asked out of extreme displeasure with a big frown.

Frightening killing intent filled the room.

"It-It's just a figure of speech! D-Do you think they'd actually drool?"

"Ah, what?"

The killing intent disappeared.

"Damn it... you surprised me."

Ha-eun couldn't conceal her smile and looked away.

"Anyways, just sit still."

Ha-eun resumed her massaging.

"But what's with the sudden massage?

"Well, it's just..."

She slurred the end of her sentence and closed her lips tightly.

'There's nothing else I can do other than stuff like this.'

The sentence that wouldn't come out of her lips roughly tickled the roof of her mouth.

"...Just."

She had received a lot of things from him until then.

She had only been on the receiving end.

—Expensive things that she couldn't possibly pay back.

Even when she was an undeveloped child, when she first became an Awakener, when she was cursed and trapped inside darkness...

And until the present...

When she looked back to the past, it was always full of memories of what she received from Ohjin.

'Compared to that...'

What could she do for him?

"..."

Ha-eun was higher than Ohjin when comparing only the 'Star' rank, but what meaning did that hold?

Ohjin already had strength that was excessively powerful for a 6-Star.

There was nothing she could do to help him, but even if a small amount of time passed, he would reach a distance she couldn't reach in the blink of an eye.

'There's... not one thing I can do.'

—Money?

Ohjin was already considered the ace of the Association and earning enormous amounts of cash.

—House?

Compared to the house gifted by Isabella, the house Ha-eun prepared for him was no different from a worn-out shack.

The absolute least she wanted to do was give him delicious meals but was even failing at that every time due to her poor skill.

The only thing she could think of was massaging his tired muscles after going through a training schedule that was close to self-torture.

But even that was something anyone else could do.

'I...'

Her face started to turn sullen.

"Ha-eun?"

"Ah, yeah?"

"What's wrong?"

"Khm! It's nothing."

Squeeze—

She increased the strength in her thumb.

"Ahh! S-Stop!"

"You're a grown man, stop overreacting."

"I'm not overreacting! I think I'm seriously going to die!"

"Be a good boy and take in my massaging."

"Argh! I'm dying!!"

Squeeze, squeeze—

Ha-eun's touch stimulated his back.

While the act that was hard to determine if it was a massage or torture took place—

Ding-dong!—

"Hm?"

—the sound of the doorbell rang out.

"I wonder who it is."

Ha-eun tilted her head and opened the front door.

Click—

As the door opened, a dazzling blond-haired woman came into view.

"Hehe. Hello~!"

The woman with a gentle smile like an autumn breeze bowed down and gave a bright greeting.

—Isabella Colagrande.

The Awakener who was called a 'Saintess', and the esteemed daughter of one of the most distinguished families in Europe.

In addition... an unpredictable woman who showed a strange amount of interest in Ohjin.

"...Why have you come here?"

Ha-eun glared at Isabella with narrowed eyes.

"Fufu. I have a favor I have to ask of Ohjin."

Isabella smiled refreshingly and took off her shoes.

She quickly went to the living room like it was her own house before Ha-eun was able to stop her.

"Huh? H-Hey! Who said you could come in?!"

"Hmm."

Isabella narrowed her eyes as she looked down at Ohjin, who was laying down shirtless in the living room. He was drenched in sweat as if he had gone through an intense exercise and was gasping for breath.

"...What were you two doing?"

Isabella's eyes glimmered coldly.

"I-I was just giving him a massage."

"A massage? He became like that from a massage?"

"Uh... I did it pretty intensely."

Ha-eun scratched her head and avoided her gaze.

"Ugh. Forgive me. I displayed an unsightly sight."

Ohjin got up with a straight face.

His sturdy abs and chest muscles were fully exposed, as he was shirtless.

"—Ah."

Isabella's pupils enlarged.

"Oh-Ohjin, um... your clothes."

Her shoulders shook while her cheeks gave off a light pink hue.

"Ah, I apologize."

"N-No."

Gulp—

Isabella looked at Ohjin's body with a heated gaze.

As if there was an appetizing delicacy in front of her eyes, she licked her lips while her breathing turned ragged.

"What kind of request do you have for me?"

"Um..."

Isabella puffed her cheeks and pouted.

"Didn't you say that you would talk comfortably to me?"

"Ah."

He had forgotten.

"You're right. Sorry."

"Really... I'm going to get upset if you keep doing this, alright?"

Ohjin chuckled while looking at Isabella puffing air out of her nose with her arms crossed.

"Understood, Miss Saintess."

"Ah! You're doing it again!"

"Haha. I'm kidding."

He shrugged and chuckled lightly.

* * *

* * *

"So what's the request?"

"Hm... Have you heard of dungeons?"

"Dungeons?"

—Dungeons.

They were similar to gates but had a distinguishing feature.

Gates would either stay open forever or disappear after a set period of time. On the other hand, dungeons had the concept of 'clearing'. In other words, dungeons were single-use gates that would disappear once the boss was eliminated or a specific condition was met.

'A dungeon, huh.'

Ohjin had never entered one before but had heard many stories.

Compared to normal gates, dungeons had a much higher probability of containing high-quality starstones. And even if you were unable to obtain starstones inside, they were still profitable, as they gave a separate clear reward.

Naturally, powerful monsters and complicated traps lurked around in dungeons because of how rewarding they were.

"Why are you mentioning dungeons all of a sudden?"

"There was a dungeon discovered around Mt. Baekdu recently."

"...!"

'Mt. Baekdu?'

"...Are you certain?"

"Fufu. There's no doubt since it's information our house investigated."

"..."

'Is that where the star relic Lee Shinhyuk mentioned is hidden?'

That question naturally popped up in his head, but...

'I can't be certain yet.'

—A star relic hidden in Mt. Baekdu.

—A dungeon being discovered in the nick of time.

It seemed too peculiar to say it wasn't a coincidence, however...

'The time frame doesn't match up.'

The group called the Pseudo Star Cult hadn't appeared yet, nor was Lee Woohyuk frantically chasing after them.

The hidden star relic being discovered that quickly didn't make sense.

'Or...'

Ohjin's eyes settled down.

'Did the future... change?'

He had no way of knowing.

"Ohjin?"

"Ah, sorry. I was lost in thought."

"Hoho. It looks like you're a little surprised. Well, dungeons aren't very common."

"Are other people unaware of the dungeon? Or if there's a group that's after a treasure hidden inside..."

"Hmm. I'm not sure about that. To start things off, you're the first person we've told about the dungeon."

Was Isabella also unaware of the Pseudo Star Cult?

'No.'

Isabella's identity was the 3rd ranking Executor of the Black Star Organization.

She was the being known as the Queen of Leeches.

She could've been hiding it on purpose if the Black Star Organization and Pseudo Star Cult had some kind of connection.

'Ultimately, I won't be able to figure it out unless I confirm it myself.'

Tch—

Ohjin gently clicked his tongue.

"So why are you sharing this information about the dungeon with only me?"

"Using the name of the Colagrande House, I would like to officially hire you to explore the dungeon."

"Dungeon exploration?"

"Yes. You're a part of the Association, but we heard you take private requests like a mercenary."

"That is correct, but..."

'Dungeon exploration will be worth my time.'

He would be able to search for the star relic Lee Sinhyuk mentioned inside the dungeon, and even if he wasn't able to, it was worth going when putting all the incredible rewards inside the dungeon into consideration.

"Our remuneration is roughly around this much."

She handed over a check.

'Oh, shit.'

'How many zeros are on this thing?'

"Shouldn't you be able to hire two... no, three 8-Star Awakeners with this amount?"

Ohjin had recently turned into a 6-Star Awakener.

He was a world-renowned rookie, but in the end, he was still a rookie.

"Hehe. But I find you more trustworthy than other people who only have a high 'Star' rank."

Isabella smiled sheepishly.

"..."

Ohjin's eyes narrowed.

'Does that mean she knows about my strength?'

Although he was just a 6-Star Awakener, most 8-Star Awakeners couldn't compare to him.

'I guess being unaware makes no sense.'

He recalled the appearance of her he had seen in Italy. There was no way someone who was powerful enough to kill a 9-Star Awakener with the slight movement of the hand wouldn't be able to recognize his strength.

"Alright. I'll take the request."

"Yahoo! It's our first time partying up together!"

"...Huh?"

'We are going together?'

"You dare party with Ohjin as you please?!"

Ha-eun, who was listening to the conversation quietly, suddenly got up.

"Why don't you back off so you don't end up unnecessarily holding Ohijn back?"

"Oh, my... I'm also one who's quite skilled, you know?"

"Heh, what star are you at? Huh?"

"I'm a 6-Star."

"6-Star? A mere 6-Star is trying to party up with Ohjin?"

"Isn't Ohjin also a 6-Star?"

"That's different!!"

Ha-eun furrowed her brows.

"In any case, if you're going, I'm going too."

"But I don't have any remuneration that I can give you."

"Just give me half of Ohjin's."

"...Stop fighting."

Ohjin sighed deeply and looked at Ha-eun and Isabella.

'This is driving me insane.'

He wanted to go alone, but it didn't seem like he would be able to get either of them to give up.

"Alright."

Ohjin thought for a moment and then nodded his head while exhaling a breath.

"Let's all go together."

It felt like he was going there with an antimatter explosive next to him, but it couldn't be helped.

'This is just my fucking life.'