Chapter 27: Dungeon Management Headquarters

The pitch-black gate rippled silently.

Kei narrowed his eyes, staring at it. A strange sensation emanated from within the gate.

It wasn’t like an ordinary energy fluctuation. Hidden within that chaos, there seemed to be something else, like a faint pulse buried at the bottom of the deep sea.

Kei pressed his lips together.

His chest began to churn.

The mana in his body kept stirring, as if trying to warn him of something extremely dangerous.

"What’s going on?"

Kei placed a hand on his chest and took a deep breath.

The hunter team had already stepped through the gate one by one. The last one turned his head and said something to his comrades, then disappeared into the black mist as well.

At that very moment, the strange fluctuation inside the Dungeon gate suddenly intensified. Kei felt the mana within him resonate loudly. It wasn’t fear, but a warning.

An instinctive warning he hadn’t felt since falling into this world.

Kei tightened his grip on the box in his hand, his gaze gradually turning cold. If it were just an ordinary Dungeon, his mana wouldn’t react like this.

"What’s inside there... what exactly is lurking?"

He stared at the gate for a long while.

Then, Kei turned his head toward the shop. Sora was still there, completely unaware of what was happening. He had originally only planned to bring the ring to the market to find someone to test it, but now, perhaps he had already found the most suitable candidate.

Kei turned around and walked toward the Dungeon management area operated by the Black Rose Guild.

Kei stepped inside the Dungeon management headquarters of the Black Rose Guild.

Before his eyes was an incredibly bustling scene.

Many hunters were coming and going constantly, some carrying large bulging bags, others hauling various items obtained from Dungeons over their shoulders. Guild staff smiled brightly, both advising hunters and inspecting and purchasing the items brought in.

Everything operated in an orderly manner, but it was not lacking in noise and vitality.

Kei blinked his black eyes.

For a moment, the scene before him began to overlap with another place, an adventurer’s Guild from the old world.

The same quest reception counters, the same noisy adventurers chatting away, the same busy staff counting items and handing out rewards.

Back then, Kei had just joined Daniel’s team. All four of them walked into the adventurer’s Guild together to register their team.

Daniel was still a poor prince at the time, Luna and Aliya didn’t have much money on them either. And Kei owned almost nothing besides a few sets of old clothes and a chipped magic staff.

Their team was so poor that every evening they had to calculate whether they had enough money for that day’s food.

"Let’s take this quest guys! This will be our party’s start!"

Daniel spread a piece of paper on the table, his eyes shining brightly as he looked at the other three.

It was a quest to eliminate a few Goblins in the forest near the city. The reward was pitifully small, but at that time, for them, that amount was enough to eat for several days.

"Daniel, are you sure? This is the lowest-ranked quest there is."

Aliya picked up the quest paper, a hint of doubt on her face.

"It’s fine. As long as we work hard together, we’ll earn money, any quest is fine."

Daniel smiled with great confidence.

Luna also nodded and said gently:

"That’s right, don’t worry Aliya. We’re going to become the strongest team."

Kei stood nearby, saying nothing, just quietly watching the three of them.

They were truly naive, but precisely because of that naivety, those times became strangely enjoyable.

Daniel took on many quests. From eliminating Goblins, escorting merchants, collecting herbs, to protecting a small village from a pack of magical wolves.

Every quest was extremely exhausting.

There were days when their team had to walk from morning until night. There were nights when they had to sleep outdoors, leaning against a cold tree trunk, hungry and sleepy yet still having to take turns keeping watch.

But every time they completed a quest, all four of them would sit around the campfire, share the meager portions of food, and talk about what had happened during the day.Daniel often talked about how he would defeat the Demon King someday.

Aliya always complained about Daniel taking on too many dangerous quests.

Luna quietly healed the team’s minor injuries.

And Kei... just sitting there, listening to their voices echo in his ears, was enough to make him feel warm.

That period of time was truly exhausting, but also truly joyful.

Kei raised a hand to his chest and gently clutched his clothes. Maybe that was why, even after being betrayed by them, Kei still couldn’t bring himself to feel complete hatred toward them.

Those memories were too precious for a mage who had always been alone like him.

Kei used to think that simply surviving was enough. But after meeting them, Kei learned what it felt like to have comrades by his side, that life wasn’t just about existing and surviving to be happy.

Unfortunately, those days eventually ended in betrayal.

Kei shook his head, forcing himself out of the flood of memories.

This wasn’t the old world, and Daniel, Luna, and Aliya weren’t here. Kei couldn’t keep looking at the people before him through the shadows of those who had already vanished.

He was about to step toward the reception counter when he suddenly stopped.

A familiar figure appeared in the crowd. Kei narrowed his eyes, staring intently at that person.

Black hair, a tall build, and a confident, robust aura, he was also a hunter, which was ordinary in a place like this.

Kei held the ring box in his hand, his eyes lighting up, he knew exactly who to give this item to now!

It’s you, lucky guy of today, please help him test the effects of this item!