bookpower Chapter 363: Margarita (2)
Chapter 363: Margarita (2)
Margarita did not move.
Out of cautious curiosity, O Yu-jin took a few steps forward.
If Margarita had frozen for some reason, she meant to attack together with Kang-hoo.
But—
Hwae-aek!
Margarita’s focus snapped back the moment she sensed a new intruder, and she glared directly at O Yu-jin.
An unexpected eye contact.
“Kyah!”
Just that brief exchange of looks hurled O Yu-jin into sheer terror, forcing her to stumble backward.
It wasn’t the ordinary sense of fear.
It was a deep, primal terror rising from the core of her being—something no willpower or courage could overcome.
Supporting the nearly-fallen O Yu-jin, O Hye-jin asked urgently:
“You okay?”
“Y-yeah... I’m fine... I couldn’t even think of resisting. But it doesn’t seem to affect Kang-hoo.”
All eyes turned to Kang-hoo, their expressions a mix of confusion and disbelief.
Once again left one-on-one with him, Margarita stood motionless, entranced, unable to do anything.
Kang-hoo nodded and stepped even closer, yet nothing happened.
What followed was a dazzling yet one-sided execution that began at the tip of Kang-hoo’s dagger.
Margarita was slashed and cut again and again, yet she did not resist even once.
She was supposed to be the dungeon’s main boss—the hardest, most formidable foe— and yet, now she was little more than a lifeless puppet, powerless to do anything but be hacked apart.
Finally—
Thud!
Margarita, who had served only as Kang-hoo’s training dummy, met an absurdly anticlimactic death.
[Your level has increased significantly to 365!]
His level skyrocketed— by fifteen!
Another massive reward from a solo kill.
Had the entire team shared in the fight, the gain would have been maybe two levels at best.
But because Kang-hoo had slain her entirely on his own, he monopolized all the experience.
Plop. Plop-plop.
From Margarita’s corpse dropped three pieces of Hematite and three Red Magic Stones.
Then Kang-hoo noticed tears flowing from Margarita’s eyes.
When he focused on them, a tooltip appeared—it was marked as an item, not just ordinary tears.
He took out a small vial from his pocket—the tiny bottle that once held The Pill of Awakening.
Tok. Tok-tok.
Margarita’s tears dripped into the vial. Once it filled to a certain level, item information activated.
[Tears of Margarita]
[Detailed tooltip regarding the Wind of God is visible only to those aware of its existence.]
‘I’ve encountered the Wind of God and clearly know what it is, so that’s why I can see this.’
It was a conditional information item.
There were quite a few of these—
“Creator’s safeguards,” designed to prevent anyone from gaining key information by chance or shortcut.
As someone who knew how this world was built, Kang-hoo was familiar with such design choices.
He checked the detailed description.
[By using the tears to trace a Holy Mark upon yourself, you may either have a one-minute conversation with the Wind of God
or discern the location where the entrance to White Paradise exists.
Only one may be chosen. After choosing, the tears will vanish.]
‘I know the Wind of God... but what’s White Paradise?’
Unexpected new information made him hesitate to use the tears right away.
An item that could allow direct communication with the Wind of God was clearly of the highest significance.
Between the Infernal Charm’s Hell Gate and other opportunities, he was being given multiple ways to face the Wind of God.
And the Wind of God, without doubt, was a gatekeeper leading toward the Demon King.
But what was White Paradise?
Judging by the name, it sounded like some peaceful, radiant sanctuary— but what existed there, or what meaning it held, Kang-hoo could not yet guess.
‘Keep it for now.’
Questions that didn’t yield immediate answers usually weren’t meant to be solved on the spot.
He pocketed the vial of Margarita’s Tears. There would be time to consider its use later.
Then he immediately began Skill Plunder.
Since Margarita had died without even fighting, it was time to review her skill list.
She had quite a few, but only one truly caught his eye from the beginning.
[Holy Wrath]
[Skill Proficiency: Lv. Max]
[Continuously consume mana to restore an equivalent amount of divine power. However, HP will be lost accordingly.
You can accelerate the drain to increase recovery speed, but severe side effects may occur.]
‘Perfect for emergency recovery.’
A skill that converted mana and HP into divine power.
Not something to rely on regularly—but in emergencies, it could be lifesaving.
Shff. Shff.
Kang-hoo picked up the Hematite and Red Magic Stones dropped by Margarita, then turned around.
It was a silent question—and a subtle pressure—about how the loot should be divided.
Call it selfish if one wanted, but Kang-hoo had considered all of it his from the beginning.
He was the only one who had dealt damage, though he was curious how the Groo Guild would react.
“Just sell us the magic stones, please. As for the rest, ownership is clearly yours.”
O Yu-jin was clever.
She wouldn’t let greed risk offending the guild’s most valuable partner.
While Kang-hoo cleaned up, the Groo Guild prepared to leave the dungeon.
They checked for any leftover monsters.
Sometimes, near a main boss zone, even regular monsters could drop valuable loot.
Unfortunately, none appeared this time.
Ma Jin-ho, who finished preparing first, sighed and shook his head.
When O Hye-jin nudged him and asked why, he spoke his thoughts aloud.
“To be honest, I’m feeling a bit disheartened. Sure, we cleared it... but could we ever do this ourselves?”
“What do you mean ‘we can’t’?”
“Soloing the Fire Dragon. Turning Margarita into a mindless doll and cutting her down. Could we do that?”
“For the Fire Dragon section, we’d just have to skip trying to clear it fully—rush through fast and distract it somehow.”
“...”
“As for Margarita, it’s just mental resistance. We can hire mercenaries or guildmates specialized for that.”
“And you think that’ll work?”
“It has to. We haven’t even started preparing, and you’re already discouraged?”
“It’s just... I felt such a high wall. Honestly, I’m just glad we even have a partnership contract with him.”
Ma Jin-ho wasn’t the type to complain, but he was thoughtful this time.
O Yu-jin and O Hye-jin silently agreed; they too couldn’t shake the sense of powerlessness.
At least they had one more run left under their partnership with Kang-hoo—there was still room to try again.
But they wanted to use that opportunity on a dungeon they hadn’t yet challenged.
This dungeon had given them solid hints; now it was time to apply them without Kang-hoo.
No matter how they planned, it wouldn’t be easy—but they couldn’t rely on him forever.
The Groo Guild’s leaders decided to be grateful that Kang-hoo had shown them the path forward.
Having even a slim chance to break through was vastly different from having none at all.
And indeed, Kang-hoo had shown them that path.
After leaving the dungeon, Kang-hoo immediately sold the three Red Magic Stones to O Yu-jin.
Balance: 741.5 billion won.
When he bought the Sacred Relic earlier, he’d wondered when he’d save up again— but solo runs and sweeping up high-value stones had refilled his funds quickly.
It was the kind of money that could vanish with a single impulsive purchase, yet seeing so many digits in his account was always a satisfying sight.
After finishing the calculations, O Yu-jin reconfirmed the agreement they’d made.
“We’d like to study Margarita’s body within the guild. You’re okay with that, right?”
“Of course. I’ve got no reason to take it with me. Do as you please.”
“Thank you. Really, thank you so much.”
It was a casual concession, but O Yu-jin expressed sincere gratitude.
Studying a boss monster’s corpse—truth be told—rarely led to meaningful results.
It was uncommon to obtain usable materials or loot from it.
To reduce the role of “porter hunters” in the original world logic, most monster corpses had been made nearly worthless.
So even late in the storyline, corpses were seldom used.
[A monster’s significance existed only in life.
Its blood, tears, and sweat shed while alive became items imbued with life force.
But blood spilled after death or skin gone stiff—those were little better than trash.]
He remembered the passage vividly from the original script.
That’s why he felt no hesitation in giving the corpse to the Groo Guild—he’d already secured the tears.
O Yu-jin changed the subject again, bringing up an issue she had wanted to clarify.
“About those South Africa and China dungeons you mentioned—schedules are delayed. We’ve got agreements, but can’t go due to local situations.”
“Civil war issues?”
“Yes. In South Africa, inter-guild conflicts pulled the dungeon into it. In China, a fight over ownership changed which guild controls it.”
“And your relationship with the new guild?”
“Good. We’re friendly with both sides, so negotiations aren’t the problem. The real issue is how often they block each other from entering...”
“So the dungeon might reset early or become unstable.”
“Exactly. Dungeon bounties matter to us, but we can’t neglect your safety.”
“Understood. Variables are part of the game. Just contact me as soon as preparations are ready.”
“Don’t worry—we’re monitoring daily. If anything changes, I’ll let you know immediately.”
“Thanks.”
“Then shall we wrap up for today? We’ve got a lot to process on our end.”
“Sure. Ah—Mr. Ma Jin-ho, could I have a quick word?”
“Me? About what?”
While Ma Jin-ho stayed behind, the others each thanked Kang-hoo and left.
Soon, only the two remained.
Kang-hoo brought up the question that had lingered in his mind since their first conversation.
“You said there’s a hunter named An Hui-yoon who lives on Jeju Island, right?”
“Yeah, I mentioned it in the car.”
“Could you tell me where to find him? I’d like his address.”