Chapter 46: Howling Darkness

“How could this happen? What should we do about Amon!”

While fighting the janitors, Amon had bent his feet, almost touching the floor, as he was brought to the hospital.

Sonia’s wails echoed in the private room after she received the call.

Seeing her lover sobbing, Amon himself couldn’t even manage to let out a sound.

Thanks to his weeping lover, Amon regained his composure and spoke softly to calm her.

“I’m really fine. This time, it’s not as dangerous as last time.”

“The doctor said! He said you might never walk again!”

“That’s just something he said to cover himself in case something happens later. It’s not going to happen, so don’t worry.”

“But… but…”

Her reaction was a little different from the last time when he had burned his side.

Of course, it made sense.

Back then, Amon had tried to handle things secretly and alone, but this time, it had happened while working, so it felt different to her.

“I knew there’d be injuries when working as a mercenary.”

Of course, he didn’t voice these thoughts aloud.

It wasn’t the kind of thing to say to a worried lover.

***

While Sonia’s tears soaked his patient gown, all Amon could do was offer his warmth and let her know that he was still alive.

He felt her soft hair and let time do its work.

After some time, when she had calmed down, Amon began to explain what had happened in the dungeon.

He told her about discovering the janitors, how they had attacked first, and how he had overexerted himself to finish them off as they tried to escape.

“Did you really have to do that?”

Sonia interrupted.

She understood rationally.

The world was harsh, grudges were complicated, and the fewer risks, the better.

Once you’ve made an enemy, there’s no guarantee of safety until one of you is in the grave, so Amon’s actions weren’t completely wrong.

In fact, rationally speaking, dealing with the injury quickly and making sure everything was finished was probably the wisest choice.

But that was the logical part.

Emotions couldn’t be understood through logic, and so Amon could only respond with a bitter smile.

Amon soothed Sonia again and continued his explanation.

“I think we’ve been tangled up in something shady.”

“CE?”

“Again.”

Sonia’s eyes narrowed.

Amon, realizing the meaning behind her gaze, raised his hands in defense.

“That’s why I’m telling you about it this time.”

“You’re not going alone, are you?”

“I’ll let you know if I need you. Until then, focus on your studies. It’s not certain yet.”

“If it’s about that, then fine.”

With that, Sonia pulled the curtains.

She flicked her fingers, creating a silence barrier, then asked, “So, what are we tangled up in this time?”

“I don’t know.”

When Amon tried to gather evidence, most of it had already burned.

Finding out who had hired the janitors and what materials remained in that place was going to be very difficult.

“But our side’s mage is quite capable. He managed to create information from fragmented words.”

When Amon added some knowledge from his past life, the mage’s restoration ability kicked in, and information began to pour out.

Thanks to that, although it might still be speculation, some highly likely information came to light.

***

“It seems related to the birth of the dungeon we were in.”

“Uh… was it called Wodum?”

“Yeah.”<Howling Darkness>

Shortened to Wodum.

The story of Wodum’s birth was somewhat widely known.

Before it became a dungeon, the company, which had been a giant conglomerate, sold magical seals and magical tools.

The research that led to their downfall was research on magical seals.

This research was quite famous.

Sonia was even aware of the research that had brought the company to ruin.

“I think they got greedy and tried to create an undead legion with magical seals, which led to their downfall.”

“Yeah. As you said, they embedded spyware that made the practitioner become undead and loyal to the company if they died while performing a simple magical seal.”

“Then the CEO and the head of the research lab betrayed each other, and they both perished.”

This part was a well-known story.

It was clearly recorded in the CCTV room located on the first floor of the company’s underground.

But the real problem came after.

Even though they were in a silence barrier, Sonia whispered, as though not wanting anyone to overhear her.

“So you’re saying this is tied to the origin of the lich?”

“Yeah.”

The reason the company had collapsed was already public knowledge.

But no one had any information about the lich that had suddenly appeared after the company’s fall or about how the company turned into a dungeon.

People speculated that the CEO or the head of the research lab had revived through their own magical seals, but since there was no evidence, no one was sure.

The new information that Watson had uncovered was about how the lich came to be.

“The lich… was a result of sabotage.”

When a company collapses, hyenas inevitably swarm to the abandoned place.

However, if the company doesn’t turn into a dungeon, the dungeon special law doesn’t apply to it.

Technologies and information from a fallen company are auctioned off and purchased by other companies.

The problem, however, was that everything came with a cost.

So the company behind this incident came up with a method.

“They used the undead transformation technology to turn someone into an undead and then turned that company into a dungeon. That way, under the dungeon special law, they could get that technology for free.”

“Then the company that took the technology and is using it now is the culprit?”

Sonia’s deduction was spot on.

But Amon had already considered that possibility.

“Well… there are just too many companies.”

“Aha.”

Before it collapsed, the company was quite large, and it had many magical technologies that could be exploited.

Some of these technologies were sold to environmental companies, and others were being used by military contractors.

Thanks to the treasure hunters, who had been rummaging through the company, selling the technology everywhere, there were 137 companies that could be potential culprits.

“So, what’s the chance that the first company to use the technology is the culprit?”

“If I were the chairman of a major corporation, I’d probably start using the technology after a delay on purpose.”

“That’s true.”

***

Once Amon finished explaining, the pieces of the puzzle finally clicked together.

The cleaners had every reason to be sensitive about the situation.

Taking technology from a company that turned into a dungeon was a different story from simply taking technology from a company that collapsed on its own.

Depending on the situation, they could face a legal hammer that could shake the company’s existence to its core.

“If this gets out, rival companies will probably tear into it, thinking they’re in the right.”

Even though the world may seem lawless, that’s only from the perspective of ordinary people.

For corporations, the law can be both a shield to defend themselves legally and a sword to strike their enemies.

At least in corporate battles, the law serves its purpose.

So, Amon didn’t know who the mastermind behind this incident was, but if this information got out, the competing companies would definitely file lawsuits.

Depending on the lawsuit’s outcome, they could lose their monopoly on the technology or face heavy fines, which could make the company stumble.

That’s why the evidence had to be erased, no matter the cost.

“I understand.”

Sonia tapped Amon’s bed with her finger.

“How do you always end up getting involved with things like this?”

“It’s not like every time. It’s only been twice.”

“Ordinary people don’t get involved in these kinds of troubles twice, and especially not with a major corporation.”

Amon fell silent.

Strictly speaking, many people get involved in trouble once.

However, most don’t experience a second time because they vanish without a trace after the first incident.

Amon was a bit special in that he had the privilege of experiencing the second time.

But that was essentially not ordinary, which meant Sonia’s words were correct.

Sonia’s sigh made Amon flinch slightly.

“So, this time, you’re really not doing it alone, right?”

“Yeah. I promise. If I need you, I’ll definitely call.”

“That’s all I need.”

There was no option for compromise.

As they had already experienced with the Hexen Group, corporations were tough.

If an action didn’t align with their interests, corporations would cover up the damage caused by individuals, but the case involving Amon and Sonia couldn’t be brushed under the rug.

It was either one of the individuals had to die or the corporation would collapse.

Neither of the two had any intention of dying quietly, so they immediately began planning their next move.

“So, do you have a plan? Like last time?”

“Well… It’s hard to call it a plan. For now, we need to gather information. Before they come after us.”

“What about exposing it to the media before they attack, so we strike first?”

“If we don’t focus properly and expose this, we’ll end up making enemies of all the companies.”

As mentioned earlier, the technology of Wodum had spread across several companies.

‘But what if they exposed it without pinpointing an individual?’

They could end up being attacked by all the companies that had used that technology.

“We need to pin it on one company. That way, other companies will side with us.”

At least, if they focused on one company, others could claim they had no idea and stay out of it.

In fact, the company behind the scenes would be the one to face responsibility and collapse, and then other companies could portray themselves as innocent victims, which would make them more likely to help.

Sonia nodded.

“I get it. So, the key now is to find out who’s behind this. How do you plan to get the information?”

“I’ll ask.”

“Who?”

“Who else?”

Amon showed her the wiki page about the boss of Warden, the lich, on his phone.

“Wouldn’t it be more reliable to ask the person directly?”

***

A few days later, after recovering, Amon returned to his party.

The party members greeted Amon’s recovery warmly.

“Sorry. You weren’t in the dungeon while you were gone? You didn’t have to do that.”

“We couldn’t just go in without you. What if we ran into cleaners or something?”

The response from the buffalo tank made Amon chuckle.

Everyone in the party had been through tough experiences, so safety was their top priority.

They could have called the mercenaries or explorers cowards, but Amon called it wisdom.

“Still, you guys probably couldn’t make money without me.”

[Don’t worry about that.]

The mute sniper responded via telepathy, as if it was second nature now.

[We’ve been doing light requests among ourselves.]

“Thanks to that, our coordination has gotten smoother. We even made a joint spell, and I’ll show you later.”

The dual magic user chimed in, and the ogre gave a thumbs up in approval.

Amon smiled unconsciously at the warm scene.

Cassie approached from behind and draped an arm over his shoulder.

“So, leader. What’s our goal now? You said there’s a way to not get our heads chopped off by those ‘behind-the-scenes’ guys?”

Amon looked around at the party members.

None of them tried to run.

Respecting their will, he skipped the part about giving them a chance to escape and went straight into the plan.

It wasn’t really a grand plan.

“We’re going to raid the dungeon before they find out about us and kill us.”

The party members reacted differently to Amon’s words.

“Whew. So, behind this is a company, and in front of us is a lich.”

[Perfect. A glorious death, or a muddy life.]

“Vox! I’ll live honorably!”

“They say a living dog is more honorable than a dead lion. So, if we survive, that’ll be our honorable victory, right?”

No one was scared.

They were all filled with confidence.

Finally, Cassie also stood with Amon, linking arms with him.

“Meeting you has made my life so eventful.”

“Am I some kind of cursed hero?”

“A cursed hero?”

“There’s a saying like that in the East.”

“Japan?”

“Joseon. No, maybe Japan has it too?”

They exchanged idle chatter as they began checking their equipment.

The Howling Darkness speedrun.

With the appearance of new content, Amon’s heart began to race.