You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿ - Chapter 84

"Yikes!"

The startled child, trying to flee, was soon lifted by the back of the neck, gripped tightly by Yoo Han-ul.
Kicking its thin legs desperately in the air, the child slapped at Yoo Han-ul with its arms, but there was no way that would work.
Yoo Han-ul frowned, his face filled with difficulty.

"I'm not trying to hurt you... but I wonder if you can even understand that."
Yoo Han-ul tried to handle the child as carefully as possible, but the childâs resistance was so fierce that if he let go for even a second, it seemed like the child would run away immediately.
Lee Pyeong-hwa asked, her tone a bit flustered.

"Isn't this the first time we've found a human... in the dungeon? Should we call this an alien?"
Yoo Han-ul shook his head.
"No, it's more likely this is a human from Earth living inside the dungeon."

"How do you know?"
"There's a label on the clothes they're wearing."
Now that I looked closer, I noticed the clothes were so worn that I hadn't realized before, but it was clearly mass-produced clothing with a distinctive label on it.

Han Jae-young frowned.
"You said this was an uncaptured dungeon. This doesnât make sense."
"When I got to New York, I heard that homeless people sometimes disappear into dungeons, saying that life inside the dungeon is better than the streets."

It wasn't an impossible scenario.
If they were completely cut off from the countryâs administration, couldnât access the system, or had no abilities to awaken, then they might enter a dungeon but be unable to capture it.
In terms of the system, it would still be considered an unidentified dimension.

Han Jae-young clicked his tongue.
"The survival rate would be incredibly low, and they still choose to do that?"
"Well, theyâre alive here, arenât they?"
"So, do they speak English? Let's see... there's a translator around here somewhere."

"Is that so?"
"Yeah, itâs a trial version our guild made. It supports twelve languages, so letâs hope one of them works."
Han Jae-young took out a small translator and, after checking it, attached it to the childâs ear, which was still dangling in Yoo Han-ulâs hand.

Then, he spoke to the child.
"Can you understand me?"
As soon as Han Jae-young spoke, the child widened its eyes as if seeing a ghost and stared at him, then nodded.

It seemed the child stopped resisting, likely because it understood, and Yoo Han-ul carefully lowered the child to the ground.
Han Jae-young knelt down to match the childâs eye level.
Honestly, Han Jae-young was well-suited for this.

Though I personally didnât like him, he looked innocent enough to be believed, considering he was half-fairy.
The rest of us hadnât worn the translator, so we could only hear Han Jae-youngâs words.
"Scared, huh? Sorry about that. That guy isn't a bad person, either. So, where do you live? Have you been living here all this time? Arenât you hungry?"

At first, the child only shook its head or nodded, but as the questions continued, it gradually began to speak.
"Itâs Chinese," Lee Pyeong-hwa said.
"Itâs not Mandarin, it seems to be Cantonese."

"How can you tell?"
"My second foreign language was Chinese. I canât understand it, but I can tell itâs Cantonese."
I should have learned Chinese too.

So, this child must be from China, Earth.
After chatting a little longer, Han Jae-young gave the child a healing potion, then stood up straight.
"As Yoo Han-ul said, it looks like the homeless mother brought the child into the dungeon. It seems theyâve been here for a few weeks, living near here in a tent. The child said they came out to play while the mother was drunk."

The mother, unable to bear her living hardships, had grabbed her childâs hand and run into the dungeon.
It was almost like a suicide, but after entering, there was no way to leave, making it a desperate choice.
Yoo Han-ul looked at the child with a somber expression.

"...Weâll have to go and protect the mother as well. They've been lucky so far, but there's no guarantee they wonât face monsters."
I sighed inwardly at that conclusion.
Once I saw that the child was hiding behind the house, I had a feeling this was where things were headed.

"Letâs go ahead with that. I hope sheâs not unconscious."
"Got it."
It seemed that both Han Jae-young and Lee Pyeong-hwa agreed with Yoo Han-ulâs words.

They were good people.
In a situation just like being stranded, with no clear conditions yet found, the priority was to go protect a homeless child and her mother.
âThe child I can understand, but do we really have to go looking for the mother?â

Isnât she practically an abuser?

I had such thoughts, but I couldnât show it.
With the hero and the fairy, and the one named Lee Pyeong-hwa, we were becoming an ill-fitting puzzle piece in this strange situation, so I looked up at the sky.

Quest, âYouâll be blessed if you do good deedsâ is in progress.
Ignoring those in danger is considered anti-social behavior.
 
As expected, the system message popped up.
âI get it.â

Who said we were ignoring anyone?
It was just that the fact that this dungeon had a âSoul Coreâ and probably a giant statue, but we were prioritizing the rescue of a completely useless child, seemed absurdly natural to the point of shocking me.
"Oh, really? You think Iâm like an angel? I hear that a lot."

By now, the child seemed to have fully let down its guard and was holding Han Jae-youngâs hand, chattering away.
In an environment like this, one would normally be highly cautious, but judging by how the child was following him, it seemed the lonely environment had made them crave interaction with others.
The child couldnât even speak English properly and only used Cantonese, so it seemed like they hadnât been part of a proper society in the U.S.

"Her name is Seol Mae. The plum blossom in the snow. What a lovely name."
While holding the childâs hand, Han Jae-young walked along, gathering all sorts of information.
To anyone else, it would have looked like they had known each other for ten years.

Lee Pyeong-hwa murmured quietly.
"Surprising. Heâs really nice to the kid."
"Well, thatâs a virtue."

"Huh?"
"Itâs nothing."
In the eyes of fairies, humans are impure beings just by the fact they need to eat to survive.

But children are still considered innocent, so fairies are kind to human children.
As we walked away from the village, holding the childâs hand, we began to notice something.
"Thereâs a path."

Though the village had been devastated, there were clear signs of a path. Stones had been selected and arranged to make a route suitable for transportation.
In such a small village, there must have been a nearby large town or castle for trading goods, so this made sense.
Since we had already left the village when the sun was setting, the path, devoid of any light, soon became pitch dark.

"Watch your step."
The light Yoo Han-ul brought illuminated the path brightly.
"Still, itâs a relief, Da-on."

"Whatâs a relief?"
"That I found you, even if by accident."
As he walked in step with me, Yoo Han-ul said that.

"If it wasnât by accident, we would have been wandering for much longer."
"...Thatâs true."
âIt was by accident, huh?â

Thereâs no way.
I glanced sideways at Yoo Han-ulâs face as he spoke kindly.
Even though heâs a good person, surely he would feel something strange about this situation, right? Is he testing me?

Could it really be an accident?
Or am I just overreacting because Iâm paranoid?
After walking for a while, we discovered a tent spread out under a large tree.

It was a shabby piece of cloth, nothing compared to the one Han Jae-young had, but it was still a tent.
And in front of the tent, a woman was crying and raving.
The child pulled away from Han Jae-youngâs hand and ran toward the woman.

And...
Slap!
"What the hell are you doing?!"

Han Jae-young ran over and cradled the child, who had been harshly slapped by the woman.
The woman, who had struck the child, looked at Han Jae-young in surprise.
She hadnât expected anyone else to be there.

"Step back."
And Yoo Han-ul also warned the woman in English, his sword drawn.
"I-I didnât do anything!"

Fortunately or unfortunately, the woman, unlike the child, could speak English.
As we got closer, an overwhelming smell of alcohol wafted from her.
She was as skinny as the child, her body wrapped in rags.

"Why did you hit the child?"

"She ran out on her own! Itâs, itâs discipline! Discipline!"
The child, so used to being beaten, didnât even cry despite the harsh slap.

She just lowered her head and cupped her cheek.
The woman, frightened by Yoo Han-ulâs sword, tried to run, but Han Jae-young was quicker.
With a simple binding spell, the womanâs feet were quickly restrained, and she became docile.

"Whatâs your name? Did you come from New York?"
"...Li Wuri. I entered from New York."
"Why did you bring the child to such a place?"

"We donât have any money. I couldnât survive in New York!"
Listening to the story, it seemed that after her husbandâs death, she had incurred massive debt from medical bills and became homeless.
"At least you should have sent the child to a facility!"

"I did! After going bankrupt, I sent her to the social security system. But she ran away. What was I supposed to do?"
"What kind of irresponsible mother are you?"
Lee Pyeong-hwa was extremely outraged.

I sighed.
âI knew this would happen.â
The kind-hearted hero and fairy thought that if the child came into the dungeon with her mother, they should protect them both, but...

How likely was it that a mother who carelessly entered a dungeon with her child could be a good mother?
Maternal love is somewhat romanticized. Not all mothers love their children.
"Hm? Whatâs wrong?"

The child, who had remained silent while being slapped by her mother, suddenly grabbed Han Jae-youngâs clothes and began speaking excitedly.
Han Jae-youngâs expression darkened as he waited for the translatorâs response.
And this time, I didnât need him to translate.

"Yoo Han-ul Hunter, step back. The child is anxious because her mother is being threatened."
When theyâre young, parents are the whole world. No matter how much theyâre abused, they have no choice but to follow.
âUseless.â

The child hurried over and took her motherâs hand, a hand trembling from alcohol addiction.
The atmosphere of the three people, who had tried to do good but were faced with such a sight, became solemn.
"...Donât you think weâve gone off track?"

Finally, I spoke up.
"Letâs find the dungeonâs clear conditions first. Weâll think about that mother and child afterward."
"Well... thatâs true."

Yoo Han-ul nodded grimly.
Han Jae-young also sighed briefly and joined in the discussion.
"Weâve been here for three days, and Yoo Han-ul Hunter said itâs been two days. But the fact that we havenât seen a single monster is definitely a problem. The detection magic has its limits."

"So... does that mean weâll have to keep searching blindly for monsters?"
Lee Pyeong-hwaâs face turned pale.
"If thatâs the case... isnât this essentially a stranding?"

That was a sharp observation.
"If we canât find the boss monster, what happens?"
"...Thereâs no answer."

The system has successfully detected the âSoul Coreâ.
The system is searching for the exact location of the âSoul Coreâ.
 
Lee Pyeong-hwa doesnât know, but Yoo Han-ul and I do. The boss monster is the âSoul Core.â
The problem is, we donât know where the Soul Core is.

Though this isnât a dimension stranding, the system canât even provide proper information, so itâs impossible to predict how long weâll have to search before we find the Soul Core.
Yoo Han-ul spoke cautiously.
"Itâs possible itâs hiding using illusion magic."

"That possibility canât be ruled out."
Both Yoo Han-ul and Han Jae-young agreed.
I also agreed.

âIt seems like itâs hidden really well.â
Wasnât the last giant statue hidden by a massive illusion magic spell?
Itâs highly likely that this dimensionâs Soul Core is hidden by similar magic.

âItâs probably not too far from Yoo Han-ulâs dungeon entry point. But where exactly...?â
"How can we find it... huh?"
Still wearing the translator, Han Jae-young listened to the childâs words and responded.

"Yeah, thatâs right. Weâre looking for a monster... what did you say?"
...No way.
Han Jae-youngâs voice rose by a tone.

"Did you say you saw a plague dragon around here?"
Why is a Chinese relic showing up here?