The Dimensional Swordmaster C18

Chapter 18. The Whereabouts of the Sword (8)

Just as Yurian was about to ask if they were rich enough to afford a summoned being, Gong Sijin approached with a grave face.

“Yuri-ssi, do you know what that monster is?”

“It’s not a monster.”

How many times did he have to repeat himself? Calling a Custos a monster—if the creature could hear, it would probably crawl out of its grave and weep in humiliation.

“Monster or not, do you at least know it well?”

Gong Siyoung tugged on the backrest of his chair, spinning it around. Yurian widened his eyes, as if amazed at the ignorance.

“Custos is a summoned being. It’s like a mage’s pet. Well, not quite a pet—more like a slave under command. Anyway, you can tell it looks dependable, right? Normally, they’re used as gatekeepers. People set them to guard secret basements full of things they don’t want others to find… or vaults packed with illegally hoarded money.”

A Custos could only be controlled by the mage registered as its master. Ownership could be transferred through mana stone inscription, binding it to a new mage. Essentially, it was a servant bound to a specific mana core—nothing like a monster at all. It attacked under orders, but was more akin to a spirit or a beast.

“And disabling it isn’t hard either. You just have to break the mana stone embedded in its eyes.”

The footage paused on the Custos’s face. Yurian walked closer to the screen and pointed at it.

“See here? If you shatter this, it stops functioning. It’ll stay inert until its master retrieves and recharges the mana stone. That’s when you rob the vault.”

He shrugged. Gong Siyoung’s expression tightened.

“If you knew that, why didn’t you help?”

“I said it wasn’t hard to know, not that it’s easy to do. And before I could even say anything, you went and disabled all your weapons yourself.”

The fact that the Custos had disintegrated likely meant its master had set such a condition deliberately—self-destruction upon fulfilling its duty.

“Whoever did it must’ve been one hell of a mage.”

At least eighth circle, he guessed. But no one seemed to be listening.

Gong Sijin and Park Ildo whispered among themselves while others sat in silence. Yurian scratched his chin.

“This is all common sense, though…”

“I really don’t want to hear a lecture on common sense from you.”

Siyoung retorted sharply. Yurian merely shuffled over and sat down beside him. No sooner had he taken the empty chair than Sijin clapped his hands lightly to call everyone’s attention.

“All right. Let’s clarify a few things. Yuri-ssi, you said you couldn’t see the status window even inside the dungeon, right?”

Yurian nodded.

“Then you defeated monsters without using it? Leaving the Custos aside, what about the spiders? You called them Coldwebs by name. Even lit a campfire to warm your hands after burning them.”

“Well, that’s just… common knowledge. You don’t know what a Coldweb is?”

“Not at all.”

In most cases, the status window didn’t display monsters’ names. Hunters could check their rank and, for common types, memorize traits—but rarely had exact identification.

For someone like Yurian to recognize and exploit a monster’s weakness at a glance was almost impossible.

“Coldwebs are easy to handle. Aside from shooting ice webs and swarming in groups, they can be wiped out with just a second-circle fire spell. Burn them, and you’re fine. It’s simple—”

Park Ildo slammed the table.

“Who asked for a tutorial? We’re asking how the hell you knew that in the first place!”

“How? Because it’s basic knowledge. Killing monsters was my job. I kinda need to know these things if I don’t want to die. I only have one life, you know.”

Yurian had once compiled and distributed a monster bestiary himself. The deeper one went into the valleys, the rarer the species became, and after three rounds of subjugation campaigns, he’d learned more than most comrades.

His field experience made that knowledge second nature.

“I see. So it’s common to you, but not to us,” said Sijin smoothly. “That might actually work in our favor. You know what we don’t, and vice versa.”

Cutting Ildo off with a sharp look, Sijin flashed a foxlike smile.

“Since we’re on the subject, I’d like to make an official offer. Yuri-ssi, would you like to join our guild? I’d like to keep relying on your help.”

“Master!”

“Hyung!”

Both Park Ildo and Gong Siyoung shot up from their seats at once. But Sijin didn’t so much as blink.

“If you’re planning to return to your world, at least until then. Should you join us, I promise—under no circumstances will we abandon you.”

He extended a hand, his smile disarmingly kind.

Yurian hesitated. The kinder the face, the sharper the trap—that much he knew. Sijin’s offer was courteous, yes, but kindness didn’t feed anyone.

“I get that I could be useful. Those two don’t seem thrilled, but fine, let’s say I agree. If I join, what happens next?”

“It’s simple. Like any hunter, you’ll clear dungeons for the guild. We haven’t determined your rank yet, but if you can enter one, you’re a hunter. You could help us identify monsters, or even fight alongside our teams.”

Not a difficult task—hunting monsters was what he’d always done.

Seeing his thoughtful look, Sijin softened his tone.

“Of course, we’ll provide full support—housing, food, everything. Our guild’s welfare system is excellent. As for salary, name your number. We’ll meet it. Anything else you need, we’ll handle.”

“Hm…”

Siyoung’s expression was thunderous, Ildo’s even darker. Yurian looked from the two glowering men to Sijin, whose eyes crinkled like a cunning fox’s.

Then, something shiny on the wall caught his eye—a sword resting against it.

It was his sword. The one Siyoung had quietly retrieved and returned, pretending he hadn’t cared at all.

He remembered, too, Siyoung’s figure when he’d first entered the dungeon—supposedly an S-rank sword master, yet falling like a rock through the air.

He doesn’t even know what a Custos is. What the hell was he planning to do alone…

Even without seeing it, he could feel the ominous pressure seeping from the gate within the gate. Monsters swarming unseen—it was a certainty.

If Siyoung couldn’t read mana or use proper support skills, could he even survive inside?

Sure, he was grumpy and a bit prickly, but he’d returned Yurian’s sword—technically an act of kindness.

Besides, Siyoung was weirdly fun to watch… and sort of nice to look at.

And honestly, Yurian could use someone like him in this world. Someone adorable, even if he hissed like an alley cat.

So, deciding an S-rank hunter was basically a stray cat in need of keeping, Yurian nodded.

“All right. I’ll join. But I have a condition.”

Park Ildo sneered. “A condition? From you?”

Ignoring him, Yurian pointed at Gong Siyoung.

“Let me live with him.”

Within minutes, dozens of news articles exploded across the internet.

Flashy headlines updated every few minutes under breaking news banners.

[Hunter World in Shock — ‘Gate Within a Gate’ Controversy Intensifies!]

[Questions Raised Over Gate Clear Reports — Inquiries Flood Yeollak Guild!]

[Emergency Meeting Held Among Major Guild Masters, Confirmed by Hunter Bureau!]

Barely half a day had passed since the revelation of the nested dungeon.

While Sijin attended the emergency guild conference, Yeollak remained on full alert.

It was understandable—no one had ever seen anything like a nested gate.

Meanwhile, Siyoung scrolled through his phone with the sternest face imaginable. He flicked the screen, only for a flood of fresh headlines to appear—twice as many as before.

[S-Rank Hunter Gong Siyoung’s Dating Scandal — “Who Melted the Ice Princess?”]

[Hunter Gong Siyoung Spotted with Civilian Companion — ‘A Lover?’]

[Internet in Frenzy Over Gong Siyoung’s Rumored Romance — ‘Who Could It Be?!’]

“…What the fuck?”