Ning entered the room and was quite surprised to see how wide and open it was.
The whole room was white, brightly lit by the glass wall on one side, with devilish paintings hanging on the wall. The sofas were white as well and they were on either side of the room.
One of the sofas was empty, while the other one had 2 people sitting in it, who immediately got up the moment Ning entered.
An older man with white hair moved first as he arrived next to Ning. "You must be the new SSS-ranked hunter, Ning Ruogong. It's nice to meet you," the man said.
Ning shook the man's hand. "Who might you be?" he asked.
The man almost looked offended. "Ahem, I'm Han Ki-Yoon, the vice-leader of the White Devil guild," he said.
"Ah, nice to meet you," Ning said. "Then you must be Kim Min-Soo, the leader of the White Devil guild."
Ning turned to look at the tall girl with pitch-black hair. Her white clothes fit her tightly, revealing the figure within.
"I don't like wasting time on nonsense, so let us get to the point," the girl said. "What will it take you to join our guild?"
Ning smiled. "Access to the S-ranked dungeon to find a cure for Mana poisoning, and a month's break before I start," he said.
The girl narrowed her eyes. "And?" she asked.
"No and. That's it," Ning said. "As an SSS-ranked hunter, I doubt I will have to worry about money anyway. Besides, I doubt you will pay me low."
"That's true," she said, but she couldn't help but hold suspicion. How was she to trust that he would keep his word after entering the dungeon?
Even if he did break his words, who would say anything to the only SSS-ranked hunter that was not an Apostle?
Kim Min-Soo gave some thought to her predicament and asked, "How am I to trust that you won't just leave after I give you access to the S-ranked dungeon?"
Ning thought for a moment. "What exactly would my job be here if I were to join?" he asked.
"Hunting dungeons, taking sponsors, going to talk shows, and the rest," she said. "We will use your image as much as your strength."
"Huh, that's surprising," Ning said. "Well, I don't have much of an image at the moment, so let's just talk about my strength."
"How many dungeons will I have to hunt to make you give me access to the S-ranked dungeon?" he asked.
"The dungeons aren't so easily available that you can get as many as you want. We have to make parties to enter it. Even I might get into trouble if I were to go in alone," she said.
"I won't," Ning said.
"You can't be sure," the girl said.
"I can," Ning replied.
The girl scoffed in return. She had seen such arrogance in newcomers before who thought just because they got a high rank, they were immune to everything.
She had seen them despair inside the dungeon when things were even the slightest bit south. Ning gave her the same vibes.
She decided to show him this despair before it was too late.
"Fine, let's go see just how strong you are," she said and walked out the door.
"Great," Ning said as he turned around. "Isn't it great?" he asked his cousin.
Hi-Ah was way too dumbfounded by the conversation to say anything. In fact, the whole day had been way too over the top for her that from time to time, she would think she was dreaming.
As such, he blankly followed behind Ning, unsure where he was taking her.
The group went down the elevator again and went out of the building before getting in a car to go somewhere else.
The S-ranked dungeon was located about a kilometer away from the headquarters. It was the first dungeon to form in Daegu city, and as such, it was the center of the city, surrounded by massive walls that had people constantly guarding it.
The dungeons grew in power over time, and it was about 3 years ago that the originally A-ranked dungeon had become an S-ranked dungeon.
Once the White Devil's guild took over it, they had been clearing it day after day, as quickly as they could so that they didn't have to suffer another dungeon break.
If an S-ranked dungeon were to break, it would spell the death of the entire city before help could even arrive.
The car stopped by the gate and the four of them walked out.
Ning, Hi-Ah, Kim Min-Soo, and Han Ki-Yoon walked into the compound, and Ning finally saw the 5 meters tall gate that swirled with reddish energy.
"That's the gate to the S-ranked dungeon?" he asked.
"Is this your first time seeing one?" the girl asked.
"This is my first time seeing a gate at all," he said without thinking much.
"Wait, this is your first time seeing a dungeon gate?" the White Devil leader couldn't help but ask.
"Don't look too much into what I say," Ning said. "I like to spew nonsense sometimes. So, should we enter?"
The leader looked at one of the people that was already standing next to them with a tablet and asked, "Is anyone in there?"
"The Beta party entered about 3 hours ago. They should be coming out any minute now," the person said.
"Cancel anyone that's scheduled for after them. Actually, no, just remove a few so I and him can go in as well," she said.
"Wait, why would you want to bring more people? It will be fine with just me, you, and her," Ning said as he pointed to his cousin.
"Me? I can't go into an S-ranked dungeon. I'm only an A-ranked hunter," she said quickly.
"Doesn't matter. I will be there so you won't be hurt," Ning said.
"That's not possible. You will have to focus on the battle. You can't afford to protect someone else," she said.
"Well, then you should protect her. You are going in as well, aren't you?" Ning asked.
The girl frowned. "I can't help her either. I need to be ready if you are overwhelmed. I might end up having to fight the dungeon on my own. That would be quite hard if I have to protect 2 people that have never been to an S-ranked dungeon before," she said.
"Well then…" Ning thought for a moment. "I guess I will just have to get her a guard of her own then."
Ning's divine sense suddenly spread everywhere but inside the dungeon gate. It reached all over the city as he started searching for White Depth Field and Saphandra.
When he finally did find them, he couldn't help but be surprised. "What the hell? Why are you in the police station?" he asked.
White Depth Field was in the middle of an argument regarding his nationality when he heard Ning.
"Master, I took your advice and tried to end a conflict without violence. I used some technique to bind my attackers, but these authorities say that I misused my awakened abilities out of the dungeon and now I should go to prison or something," he replied.
Ning sighed. "Forget that. Come to my location quickly. I have some task for you."
"Oh, okay," White said, and in the blink of an eye, disappeared from the police station.
White arrived inside the compound so fast that the only person who noticed his arrival other than Ning was the female SSS-ranked Apostle.
Her eyes went wide and a pool of dark energy gathered in her hands, ready to strike, but Ning put his hands forward.
"He's with me."
Only then did the rest of the people there noticed him. They spoke around, wondering how someone managed to infiltrate their most secure place without triggering any alarm.
"Hahaha! Ning, you should have seen him. He spent the entire time in the station trying to explain why he has a Chinese name when he's clearly not Chinese. That police thought he was lying about his name," Saphandra laughed out loud in Ning's ears as she moved from White to Ning.
"Why would they be—"
The wind picked up as the dungeon made a buzzing sound. Ning turned around to see around 30 different individuals walking out of the dungeon gate, one by one.
They all seemed covered in dust and dirt, with no sign of blood or injury anywhere.
"Another success it seems," the vice leader at the side said.
"Ooh, can we go in now? You no longer have to worry about her either since I brought her a guard," Ning said. He turned towards White and said, "your task is to look after my cousin when we go inside."
"As you say, master," White said and turned around to Tae Hi-Ah to give her a warm smile.
Kim Min-Soo looked at White once more and contemplated whether it was a good idea to bring him along or not. However, he was already a man strong enough to be SSS-ranked in terms of speed alone.
If she were to deny such a person from entering, she could only imagine what would happen if he got angry.
"Fine, all four of us will go then," she said in the end.
"Leader, what about me?" the vice leader asked.
"I'm afraid I can't afford to lose you in case something goes wrong inside. Just stay out here for now," she said. "We should be out in a few hours."
The vice leader didn't agree to that, but he couldn't disobey his own leader, so all he could do was nod and go to the side.
"Alright, we can go in now."
