Chapter 42 – New Continent (2)

The mounds of earth that had shot up collapsed, but the rocks protruding everywhere made the surroundings a mess once again. 

Only the area around the rock where Yeon-hwa was sitting looked intact. 

After confirming that Yeon-hwa had caught the snow cat, Sun-woo began searching the corpses. 

First, Sun-woo searched the corpse of the one-eyed warrior he had faced, but no contamination-causing pills were found on him. 

“He moved fine even with his arm cut off, so did he use medicine?” 

Sun-woo tilted his head. Sun-woo’s suspicion was correct. He had actually used pills to suppress the pain. 

Sun-woo checked the corpses of the other two Blood Cult members. 

The two corpses pierced by rock pillars were extremely gruesome. Even at that sight, Sun-woo began searching the two corpses without frowning. He found his own indifferent appearance in such situations very unfamiliar. 

Sun-woo was finally able to find those pills he had discovered before from the last corpse. 

Unlike their appearance as ordinary pills, different energy was definitely being transmitted. 

“It’s a strange pill. It looks like internal injury medicine but is full of negative energy.” 

Yeon-hwa, who had approached Sun-woo’s side at some point, was frowning while looking at the medicine Sun-woo held. 

Meow. 

The snow cat in her arms also cried softly as if responding to her words. It was a very cute sight, but Sun-woo only glared at the cat sideways. 

“May I take a look for a moment?” 

At Yeon-hwa’s request, Sun-woo handed over the medicine with some hope. He might be able to obtain some information. 

Swoosh. 

Red energy began rising from the pill placed on her hand. 

The energy that rippled like smoke wrapped around her hand and then began seeping into her hand and arm. 

The moment startled Sun-woo tried to move, the color of the energy began changing. 

Starting from the parts in contact with her skin, the energy’s color gradually changed to blue, and soon her entire hand turned blue. 

Shortly after, the energy that had turned blue seeped back into the pill. She handed the pill back to Sun-woo. 

“I reversed the negative energy. It should help the person who took the medicine somewhat.” 

Her face as she spoke looked very tired. 

Sun-woo could also tell that the energy flowing from the medicine had changed. 

‘Could it be that it’s not made in a factory?’ 

It seemed the core parts weren’t made with modern technology. 

Sun-woo thought he now understood the reason the mission had come down that way. The Summoner definitely knew about her abilities. 

***

After Sun-woo put away the medicine, the sight of torches and people’s voices could be heard from down the mountain. 

Among them were Wang Mun-pung and Cho Ryeong’s voices. 

Sun-woo infused energy into his sword and waved it, and people quickly approached where they were. 

They were a party consisting of Wang Mun-pung and Cho Ryeong, along with trading company escort warriors and members of the Hao Sect. 

People were very surprised at the mess around them, but became happy to see both of them safe. 

The moment they confirmed each other’s faces and approached with happy expressions, a long shadow shot forward from behind Cho Ryeong. 

Sun-woo hurriedly blocked in front of her against the shadow shooting toward Yeon-hwa, and 

Clang! 

Sun-woo was pushed straight back along with his sword. 

Startled Sun-woo tried to fully deploy sorcery and roll on the ground with his feet, but Yeon-hwa spoke first. 

“Stop! He’s not an enemy!” 

Sun-woo broke out in cold sweat with his foot slightly raised. A huge scythe was stopped right next to Sun-woo’s neck. 

Without Yeon-hwa’s restraint just now, his head would certainly have flown off the moment he activated sorcery. 

The scythe that had stopped next to Sun-woo’s head folded up neatly and disappeared into the chest of the man standing in front of Sun-woo. 

He was a middle-aged man with a tall stature and cold face. He wore loose clothing, and the scythe that had almost cut Sun-woo was certainly folded inside those clothes. 

Cho Ryeong was bewildered. The person introduced as a trading company escort warrior had moved at invisible speed to attack Sun-woo. 

Though the misunderstanding was cleared and there was no accident, his affiliation was strange and his martial arts level was nonsensical. 

“Heh heh. There’s another backstory.” 

Wang Mun-pung looked back and forth between Yeon-hwa and the middle-aged man, then clicked his tongue quietly. 

“Eh? What does that mean?” 

“What do you mean what? Didn’t you hear at the Hao Sect? Now is the time to pretend not to know.” 

At Wang Mun-pung’s words, Cho Ryeong nodded as if she understood. 

[When incomprehensible things happen, close your eyes and shut your ears.] 

It was one of the survival rules passed down in the Hao Sect. Of course, there was additional content added after, but keeping this content was important now. 

The middle-aged man silently stood behind Yeon-hwa, and Yeon-hwa apologized to Sun-woo. 

“He must have misunderstood seeing my clothes. I’m sorry.” 

Looking at her clothes that had become half rags, it seemed understandable to misunderstand. Moreover, since Sun-woo’s clothes were fine, it might have felt even more so. 

Sun-woo waved his hand dismissively and went to Wang Mun-pung. Since an escort warrior had come, there was no need to stick by her side. 

Unlike Sun-woo, Yeon-hwa seemed to still have things to say. She approached Sun-woo and Wang Mun-pung and bowed deeply. 

“Thank you for saving me.” 

At the dignity emanating from her greeting, Wang Mun-pung and Cho Ryeong widened their eyes and bowed back. 

“I also greet Sun-woo. I hope to see you again.” 

At her words, the middle-aged man frowned and Wang Mun-pung whistled quietly. Some misunderstanding seemed to have arisen. 

Thinking of the pill in his possession, Sun-woo nodded at her words. They would inevitably meet again. 

“We’ll probably meet again soon.” 

At Sun-woo’s words, Yeon-hwa’s expressionless face brightened. She seemed to have misunderstood something too, but Sun-woo had no intention of clearing up her misunderstanding. 

“Hmm. Did you form a connection in that short time?” 

“Hmph, I’m disappointed.” 

Wang Mun-pung and Cho Ryeong were spreading their wings of imagination at the sight of the two. 

Yeon-hwa and the middle-aged man left immediately. 

Though it was strange to move late at night, Sun-woo could roughly guess the situation. 

From her position, it was difficult to continue staying here now that the incident was over. With not knowing when she might be exposed, it was best to leave here as quickly as possible. 

***

The Hao Sect and trading company warriors began moving to collect the bodies. 

“Since the kidnappers were revealed, Lanzhou’s soldiers also moved. They departed toward the manor with Righteous Alliance branch personnel.” 

It was an incident involving the kidnapping of prominent trading company children from Lanzhou. The lord who had been receiving plenty of bribes from trading companies couldn’t help but move. 

“And at the women’s request, Hao Sect and trading company escort warriors came running to rescue you two. Well, it might have been unnecessary work…” 

Wang Mun-pung clicked his tongue while looking around. 

“Thank you.” 

Sun-woo bowed his head. Whether for the mission or not, he was someone who had returned for him. 

Sun-woo also roughly explained the situation so far to him. The story had holes poked everywhere from cutting what should be cut and hiding what should be hidden, but there was too much content Sun-woo couldn’t speak about. 

Wang Mun-pung made a meaningful expression toward such Sun-woo, and Sun-woo had no choice but to turn away from Wang Mun-pung’s expression. 

“But if there was such a fearsome escort warrior, why were they kidnapped?” 

When Wang Mun-pung tilted his head, Cho Ryeong seemed to remember something. 

“Ah, I heard at the Hao Sect a little while ago. Dozens of black-clothed warriors were found dead near where the kidnapping occurred. They say they were defeated by a tremendous expert – could it have been that scary person from earlier?” 

“Luring the escort warrior with a decoy team, then kidnapping the women while the decoy team was annihilated… The logic roughly fits.” 

Wang Mun-pung nodded then glared at Sun-woo with narrowed eyes. 

“From what I saw, he seemed at least peak level. You blocked a peak-level warrior’s frontal attack? That would be impossible for first-class level.” 

“Eh?” 

At Wang Mun-pung’s muttering, Cho Ryeong’s eyes widened and Sun-woo could only sigh. 

If he stayed here continuously, everything would be exposed. 

That’s when a voice reached Sun-woo’s ears. 

[Good work. You have safely completed the mission. 350 points awarded. Please move to a place without people. We will settle accounts afterward.] 

Even to Sun-woo, settling accounts and disappearing here definitely seemed problematic. 

“I should also get going now.” 

“No!” 

Cho Ryeong was startled at Sun-woo’s words, but Wang Mun-pung, who had heard the same message, bid him farewell. 

“Good work. We’ll probably meet often it seems. Please take care of things in the future.” 

Sun-woo greeted the two and began climbing up the mountain. 

“Ah, Master? If I join the Righteous Alliance, could I meet Sun-woo again?” 

Cho Ryeong’s eyes sparkled as she watched Sun-woo disappearing in the distance. 

“You won’t find him. He belongs to a team that moves in secret.” 

Wang Mun-pung, who had roughly covered up Sun-woo’s affiliation, could only make a troubled expression at her words. 

“Then how do you enter that secret team?” 

“How would I know that! If I knew, would it be a secret team!” 

The old and young began bickering about that topic for quite a while. 

***

After running for quite a while until no people were caught even by Sun-woo’s senses, a window appeared before Sun-woo’s eyes. 

[Min Sun-woo: 5 Star. Achievement Rate 15%] 

[Additional Inventory 500p] 

[Additional Skill Slot 700p] 

[Additional Basic Recovery Potion 100p] 

[Additional Basic Water 1p] 

[Item Enhancement Stone 100p] 

[Item Transformation Stone 1000p] 

[Summoner Calling Stone 500p] – New 

[100,000 won per point] 

[Types increase as character level rises.] 

[Current Points: 640p] 

His level had risen. And a new function was added. 

Sun-woo pressed the [Summoner Calling Stone] text floating in the air. 

[Summoner Calling Stone – When destroyed, can summon other summoned. Summoned are called according to mission situations.] 

It was definitely the item Hwangbo Ja-gyeom had used when calling Sun-woo and Nan-seol. He had wondered when it would appear, and it finally showed up now. 

Sun-woo immediately purchased the calling stone. A small green bead fell from the air and immediately stuck to his phone. 

It looked like a small accessory attached to the top of his phone. 

“Hmm, is it a method of being equipped to weapons?” 

After all, otherwise other people couldn’t carry it when dimension traveling. 

Sun-woo didn’t use the remaining points and dismissed the window floating in the air. 

And he took out the pill. Unlike before, it was a pill emitting clear energy. 

Before entering this mission, Sun-woo had gone to the association and met the man from the Inspection Office who had told him to come see him. 

He had heard several important stories from him, but the most important among them was the story about this pill. 

The reason the association was chasing contamination-causing pills was not only because they could contaminate people at will, but there was another reason. 

It was to analyze the pills and find out the cause of contamination. The association’s upper management, knowing that summoned could also be contaminated, considered finding ways to prevent summoned contamination the most important thing. 

Until now they couldn’t do anything because they didn’t even know the cause of contamination, but having found medicine that caused contamination, they thought they could also make medicine to cure it. 

Therefore, finding the manufacturing process for making the medicine was very important. 

Sun-woo stared intently at the pill. This pill might become a cure that would protect contaminated humans as well as summoned. 

“Should I experiment with it?” 

When images of his companions flashed through his mind, Sun-woo looked slightly sorry and immediately put the pill into his inventory. 

Soon Sun-woo’s figure disappeared from that place.