The Protagonists Are Murdered by Me
chapter-22

“Ahaha, stupid motherfuckers. You’re making me blush.”

While camped near the dungeon entrance, Taylor burst out laughing when the reporters interviewed her.

Lost Day had gone to great lengths to try and interpret the dungeon, so when they failed, the reporters’ reactions were immediate.

Taylor didn’t miss the opportunity to shout, “you fools, you should have been better organized!” at the reporters.

Unfortunately, most of the words were filtered by the reporters.

Interviewers are often criticized for excessive reporting, yet, now they were trying to make their reports smaller!

Even Yoo Seodam was speechless.

The soldiers were trying to control the situation with the journalists, but they still came in droves.

On the other hand, Lost day remained silent.

Nothing good can come from saying anything here.

Taylor was laughing at them indiscriminately, but then she suddenly turned her head to look at Seodam, who had a serious expression on his face.

Her eyebrows creased.

‘Bastard, you still have lingering feelings for Lost Day?’

Since the founding of Lost Day, Seodam stayed for 12 years.

In the beginning, he stayed for one reason or another, but later…

‘Hell Gate became the reason.’

Hell Gate.

A strange hole appeared in the middle of the Pacific Ocean one day, an unknown place where no common sense applied.

Why it appeared, what’s inside, or how it’s even maintained, humanity knew nothing about it.

However, hunters have constantly challenged it in the hope of conquering it.

Yoo Seodam was also one of the hunters who challenged it.

Saying most hunters died there is an understatement.

The survival rate is 0.3%.

Most of those who returned alive were not able to maintain their sanity, or became disabled, thus making it difficult to live a normal life, let alone as a hunter, for the rest of their lives.

Although the feelings the hunters felt while inside varied, one thing they all shared was ‘absolute fear.’

There was also the famous case of a S-Rank hunter who had survived Hell Gate, but when he returned to society, he pissed his pants when he saw a F-Rank monster, acting as if he could never deal with a monster again.

‘I don’t know what the hell you saw inside…’

Taylor has never been there.

So she doesn’t know what Yoo Seodam experienced inside.

However, she knows Yoo Seodam must still have lingering feelings after coming out of Hell Gate.

That’s why it is a problem.

A few years ago, the international law changed so only A-Rank hunters or better could enter Hell Gate.

Yoo Seodam has lingerie feelings about Hell Gate, but he couldn’t enter it again because he’s not a superhuman.

However, using the power of Lost Day, it was not necessarily impossible.

Taylor thought it was one of the reasons why Yoo Seodam stayed in the guild even though he was treated badly by them, and she also thought that’s why he has a serious expression on his face right now as if he had mixed feelings.

“Hey. Don’t tell me you still have lingering feelings for that guild?”

Asked Taylor, with her teeth clenched as if she’s genuinely angry.

“…What? What nonsense are you saying? I’m still not strong enough, so I was thinking how I could fuck them up.”

Seodam looked at Taylor as if he were looking at a strange creature.

---

Lost Day remained silent to the media.

The reason was simple.

Even though they failed to interpret the dungeon, Yoo Haram thought that if they perform well inside the dungeon to the point where no can refute, their image will recover.

Knowing the fact that reporters were rushing to the scene, Lost Day remained silent until it was time.

That was until a report came back.

“The dungeon entrance authority has refused to let other groups in.”

“…What?”

Answered Lost Day’s A-Rank interpreter, Han Yoojun, with a straight face.

“What, say that again?”

He turned to an officer and asked again because he couldn’t believe it, but the officer with an embarrassed look said the same thing.

“Yes. The dungeon entrance authority has…”

“No, I know that. Why the hell?!”

In the case of dungeons where entry is impossible, a ‘right of entry’ will be given to the first person who discovers how to enter it.

To stop hunters from indiscriminately entering and dying, an international law went into effect that states the person with the right of entry has full command of entry and the troops.

In other words, there was ample room for self-interest.

“There must be a reason. What did they say?”

“Yes, the dungeon entrance authority, F-Rank hunter Yoo Seodam, said his strength is enough…”

“Oh, fuck him!”

Unlike the other guilds and hunter unions who were simply curious, Lost Day was pissed.

This dungeon meant a lot to Lost Day.

The tens of billions of won they invested were not just for their image, but to obtain the ‘unknown knowledge’ that exists inside the dungeon.

Lost Day has invested an unimaginable amount to uncover the very special knowledge that only a few people on Earth knew.

Yoo Haram took a deep breath.

‘No. He’s only a F-Rank hunter. Even if he goes with that crazy S-Rank bitch…I don’t think those two will be able to do anything.”

On the contrary, if they were to fail the dungeon attack, the media would quickly turn on Yoo Seodam, who is receiving high praises now.

Thus, everyone’s attention will be diverted from Lost Day.

It was an opportunity.

Yoo Seodam was making the same mistake that Lost Day made the other day!

‘It’s been a real headache ever since you fucked us…’

‘Haven’t you done enough?’

---

Through the huge door, a colorful blurry space came into view.

Well, it’s certainly leery.

Taylor Nine, swinging her baseball bat in the air with a ‘home run’ expression, spoke.

“Hey, are you sure just the two of us will be enough?”

It was a natural question, considering it’s a deformed dungeon.

The scientific equipment couldn’t measure the general rank of the dungeon, what kind of monsters or natural phenomenons appeared inside.

A world different from common sense.

Even Taylor couldn’t help but to worry about going to such a place.

However, I knew.

This dungeon, which could not be measured with scientific equipment, was made of mana, and for a deformed dungeon, its output is weak.

Although its output is A-Rank, it’s more or less a S-Rank dungeon.

Under normal circumstances, at least three S-Rank hunters were needed to attack a S-Rank dungeon.

And, wasn’t I only wearing 2nd-Grade equipment?

This would usually be too much to even attempt a B-Rank dungeon.

On the surface this looks impossible.

But there’s no problem.

I was certain.

“If we fail and both die, I’ll curse you in the afterlife.”

“It’s okay. I know what I’m doing.”

Thanks to the Client, I was able to figure out the name of the dungeon.

< This world is the fallen Julexa Empire’s Magic Palace. >

Magic Palace.

As the name suggests, this place is related to magic.

However, the difference in ‘development’ was noticeable.

All day yesterday, while fixing the magic circle, I had my doubts.

It turns out that the magic in Julexa Empire is much worse than those in Vivienda Empire.

If I was to compare, it’s like the difference between the technology of the late 20th century to those of the mid 21st century, or an overwhelming difference of more than 100 years.

But unlike science, the difference in magic compared to technology is that magic could take a greater advantage by fully understanding inferior magic, allowing for more advanced magic.

Although my knowledge can only be considered at the primary and secondary school level at Vivienda Academy, and while I can’t control magic, I could still ‘see it.’

…As a professor at Vivienda Academy, I studied diligently.

“I’ll signal an alarm if it gets dangerous. If things aren’t looking good, the guilds ‘Lekaden’ and ‘Glock’ had asked me if they could step in and help.”

“What? Why them?”

“It’s not just us who hates Lost Day. Also, saving us and attacking the dungeon can boost their image. Don’t you think it’s three birds with one stone?”

“Uh…Really? Is that so? Was there something like that?”

I wasn’t going to go into a dungeon without countermeasures.

I value my life.

Also, there was one thing that was on my mind.

As I turned around, several members of Lost Day were staring at me from the sideline.

Wow, if glaring could kill a person.

Avoiding their gazes, I laughed and spoke.

“Let’s go in.”

[Entering the dungeon, fallen Julexa Empire’s Magic Palace.]

With the feeling of being sucked somewhere, the world changed in an instant.

The feeling was similar to traveling to other worlds to kill protagonists, but slightly different.

Soon, I opened my eyes.

Under the impressive backdrop of a setting sun, the huge half destroyed magic palace came into view.

“Wow…”

[Caution! This world’s Epilogue has ended.]

“Hmm?”

I tilted my head when I saw the message.

If the epilogue has ended, then it has ended.

What do I need to be cautious about?

The Client then spoke.

< When a protagonist finish their story, their world loses its meaning. >

< In other words, the present world is in the process of extinction. >

< Not civilization, but the world itself. >

< If you don’t leave when the world is completely destroyed, your existence will be in danger. >

What the fuck.

You should’ve told me that first!

Momentarily surprised, I let out a sigh.

Whether the dungeon collapses or not, nothing has changed.

But, the word ‘epilogue’ was a little annoying.

“Ugh.”

After shaking my head, I drew something on the ground with chalk.

Taylor stared at me strangely, but I paid it no mind.

“Alright. Let’s go now.”

Taylor and I walked to the entrance of the magic palace.

The entrance was simple.

Just like the magic circle drawn at the entrance to the dungeon, it quickly opened when I added several similar lines to it.

Soon, the interior came into view.

Taylor and I checked the interiors from far away using our telescopes.

There was a two legged creature made of black metal walking around, ominously shimmering blue lights from its eyepiece.

“Crazy, is that golem?”

“No. It’s a guardian.”

Golem and guardian.

At first glance the two creatures are seemingly similar, but are actually different.

Golems are a natural substance that gained a heart and became a living thing, so there were various kinds like fire, water, earth, etc…

In other words, it is a kind of ‘spirit.’

But guardians are magical creatures.

It is similar to a robot in a way.

An energy robot that connects circuits and metals.

And, all those guardians and their circuits were clear in my eyes.

It’s so simple that it feels like reading a picture book as an adult.

Simply put, it is a killing machine.

Also, what about the structure of this palace?

Vivienda’s architecture was clearly aided by magic.

However, the magic was hidden as much as possible, whereas this place was different.

The circuits are clearly visible.

‘As expected…I can figure out the structure of this palace. Well, I guess it’s all meaningless now.”

When I was thinking about it.

Wiwing!!

Suddenly an alarm went off in my ear.

An alarm that is audible only to me.

It is a very basic magic spell, the ‘boundary alarm.’

It was of little use in Vivienda because it’s like a child’s toy, and would be meaningless if someone knew a bit of magic.

Here, no one knows how to use or sense magic.

Meaning, there is an intruder who snuck into this dungeon.

I chuckled.

Even the one who came were clearly visible.

There were three people in total.

No doubt it is the three S-Rank superhumans that Lost Day somehow managed to sneak in.

They weren’t the ones upholding the law or anything like that in the first place.

Since they had invested tens of billions of won, I had expected it.

Still, I was dumbfounded by their brazen behavior.

Maybe they’re doing this at the expense of a huge risk.

“Taylor. We have visitors. I think we should still continue with the dungeon.”

“Oh, fuck. They’re really annoying.”

“You stay put. I’ll go alone.”

“What? Should I?”

I slowly looked through the interior of the palace.

Only

The magic was surprisingly very proper and clear.

This is only the second time I’ve witnessed magic properly, but I was certain.

The magic of this place was not much different.

Therefore, if a building is built using magic…it means a place full of magic.

“Hahaha.”

I put away my aether blade and aether gun.

These won’t be necessary for a while.

From this point on, it’s not Yoo Seodam the hunter but Yoo Seodam the mage.