This dream had been different from all the others. He was in the present, rather than in the other world, and in a certain building. Sung Joon walked as if he were possessed. At the end of the long, dark hallway, there was a cabinet containing an old map.
Then, Sung Joon awoke from his dream.
“My lord? Did you dream again?” Rishubalt asked.
Sung Joon nodded his head.
“I did have a dream, but it was a bit different.”
Sung Joon looked at Rishubalt and explained his dream in detail. Rishubalt listened to Sung Joon’s explanation to the end, and then spoke with a calm expression.
“It’s possible that an item greatly stained with your desires is calling out to you. It’s likely that it has some sort of connection with your past self. Do you know where it is, by any chance?
“It seems to be in the auction house we went to recently.”
“In that case, it seems that we’ll be paying the auction house a visit soon. It should greatly help you recover your memories, my lord. You must procure it without fail.”
Rishubalt thought an item which was related to Sung Joon’s past self would definitely help him recover his memories.
“It’s imperative that you recover all your memories as soon as possible, my lord,” Rishubalt said.
Sung Joon had to procure the signaling item, if for no other reason than to become stronger, since it could help restore his memories regarding combat.
“Let’s go to the auction house right now.”
Sung Joon didn’t hesitate. He immediately drove his car to the auction house. When he arrived, he asked the workers about the item, but he didn’t get the answer that he wanted.
“I’m sorry, but we cannot tell you about an item slated to be auctioned off.”
All the other workers echoed the same sentiment. Ultimately, Sung Joon decided to visit the auction house daily.
The next day, he stopped by the Bureau and his payment was transferred into his account. Also, he began to visit the auction house daily. Besides, he had money and time to spare.
On the third day, he finally heard that there wasn’t much time before the auction of a map-like item.
“Where will the auction be held?” Sung Joon asked.
“Auction house number one,” the worker replied.
Sung Joon immediately walked over to auction house number one. Since he had visited the auction house for a few days in a row, he knew where everything was.
When Sung Joon arrived at auction house number one he quickly took a seat.
‘There’s obviously not a lot of people here,’ he thought.
A worn-out map wasn’t a popular item, and there were few people who showed up for it, so Sung Joon was relieved.
“It seems like there won’t be any competitors,” Rishubalt said.
Sung Joon quietly nodded his head.
Eventually, the auction began. As he had expected, there weren’t any competitors, so he successfully bid for the item at $200,000.
Sung Joon drove back to his studio apartment and arrived home. There, he brought his measuring tool to the item.
[Unknown Map]
B-rank.
Unknown.
It was the same as when they had checked it at the auction house. He wordlessly raised the map towards Rishubalt.
“I’ll proceed with the appraisal,” Rishubalt reported, and injected mana into the map. The map absorbed his mana, becoming clearer.
“I’m finished.”
When he was finished, Sung Joon raised his measuring tool over the map once more.
[The Great Labyrinth’s Map]
B-rank.
Verifying the ability to sense a specific location effect.
The measuring tool responded, revealing the item’s name and function.
“Did I have some sort of connection with the Great Labyrinth…?”
“Do you not remember?” Rishubalt asked.
Sung Joon nodded his head. A couple of his memories were neither whole nor identical.
Sung Joon folded the map nicely and whilst placing it into the storage box, said, “I’ll leave the explaining to you.”
Rishubalt smiled faintly.
“I’m happy to explain,” he said.
Rishubalt approached Sung Joon’s side.
“When the Empire was first established, The Archmage, Marquis Waltger, created the Great Labyrinth as a training area. Henceforth, the Knight Brigade would use it as an entrance exam or to train. They’re probably still using it right now.”
“I think I remember it now.”
Rishubalt’s explanation had jolted his memory. Sung Joon remembered that when he was still a young knight, he had been tested in the Great Labyrinth in order to join the Knight Brigade.
“I also took the entrance exam in the ‘Great Labyrinth’,” recollected Sung Joon, nodding his head while Rishubalt smiled from beside him.
“Do you remember? I was with you.”
“I remember. We were young and I had shorter hair back then.”
“Do you also remember that everyone tried to stop you from entering the Great Labyrinth?” Rishubalt asked, as Sung Joon recalled the nostalgic memories.
“Were we seventeen back then?”
“That’s correct. Everyone said we’d fail.”
The two had been promising knights of the Empire, but they were still young. Thus, everyone thought that they wouldn’t be able to pass the ‘Great Labyrinth’s’ test.
However, the two had proved that those concerns were pointless, and became the youngest ever to join the Knight Brigade.
“If it wasn’t for you, my lord, I would have failed.”
The test was taken in groups of two. Rishubalt reminisced about the past and remembered Sung Joon’s support.
That was probably about the time it had started. He followed Sung Joon, or Roukel, and became his liege’s shadow.
“It also would’ve been difficult for me if you hadn’t been there,” Sung Joon said.
The memories of his past were scattered and faint, but he was certain of one thing: Rishubalt had always watched his back.
Even until his last breath.
“Now, shall we talk about the map?”
Sung Joon dismissed the melancholic mood with a clap of his hands and raised the map.
“I know it’s a map to the Great Labyrinth, but will I be able to use it?”
“The Great Labyrinth is managed by the Knight Brigade, so it’s highly likely that an Awakening Dungeon portal will open.”
“Well, I guess that makes sense,” nodded Sung Joon in agreement with Rishubalt’s assessment.
The Awakening Dungeon would open at the places where he bore a grudge.
The Knight Brigade was part of the main force that had attacked Sung Joon on the Ridonia Great Plains, so there was a high likelihood that the Awakening Dungeon would open soon.
“The Great Labyrinth is extremely complex. Even though my memory is intact, it will take a long time to find the right path. The map will definitely help you,” Rishubalt said.
Sung Joon’s memories regarding the Great Labyrinth were hazy, but he at least knew that it would definitely be hard to find the correct path. From now on, he’d need to carry the map around with him whenever he attacked a dungeon.
They had finished their conversation regarding the ‘Great Labyrinth’, so Sung Joon accessed Hunter.com and perused the top rated bulletin board messages. The top messages were all referencing the specialty training center called ‘Iron’.
“‘Iron’, huh… I think I’ve seen this advertisement before…”
He remembered browsing Hunter.com and seeing this advertisement not long ago. He suddenly felt curious, so he clicked on the message and read it.
[Have you gone to ‘Iron’? The facilities are well-equipped, as it was designed for Hunters.]
[Is it a training center for Hunters? It seemed nice. Recommended.]
[I’m a Hunter so I hadn’t been able to use a normal gym, but it’s great that they’ve made a specialty training center.]
[It’s too expensive, so I don’t really…]
The comments looked suspicious, but the messages and the comments generally showed a favorable response to ‘Iron’.
‘Should I try going there once…?’
Sung Joon was curious since they had advertised Iron as a specialty training center for Hunters. The comments confirmed that the membership was expensive, but he wasn’t worried about that since he possessed a fortune of over $10 million.
“Let’s go, Rishubalt.”
Moreover, the studio apartment didn’t have a training space like the mountain, so he hadn’t been able to train. Sung Joon felt like he was in his element and so he drove his car to the training center, ‘Iron’.
He arrived around thirty minutes later. There was an enormous eight-floor building at the end of the parking lot. It seemed like the entire building was the training center.
‘Is this a business started by one of the major companies?’ he wondered as he walked towards the lobby.
It must’ve been a major company, because it would’ve cost an inordinate amount of money to build a huge training center like this in the middle of Seoul.
“Hello, is this your first time here?”
The information desk worker had seen Sung Joon looking around and immediately realized that he was a new customer.
Sung Joon nodded his head and she (the information desk worker) lead him to the office. Then they abruptly began to explain the membership, as well as other corresponding products, but it was too troublesome so Sung Joon didn’t listen to the end, and paid for a three month membership.
A one month membership cost $10,000, but since they were in the middle of a promotion, a three month membership cost $27,000.
It was a sum that would’ve made him tremble in the past, but it wouldn’t anymore.
“We’ll guide you to the changing room.”
Sung Joon followed the worker down a long hallway. Eventually, they arrived at the changing room.
“You can change your clothes in here. If you wear this bracelet, you may use all of the facilities inside the training center.”
The worker guided him amicably. When she had finished explaining, she passed him the bracelet that signified his membership with Iron.
“I’ll guide you since this is your first time here. Could you please change your clothes and come out?”
Sung Joon changed and came out of the dressing room. The employee lead him to the training center. Maybe it was because the building was so huge, but the training center itself was vast, and there were several Hunters utilizing the training equipment.
“You may think the fitness center is quite large, but all the exercise equipment here was specially made to be able to handle a Hunter’s strength,” the employee explained, sporting a boastful expression.
Based on her explanation, the first floor was the lobby, the second floor contained changing rooms and showers, and the third floor and upwards were designed to be training spaces.
She didn’t have any particular explanation regarding the third or fourth floors, but the fifth floor was different. He noticed that the structure looked a lot different when he entered the fifth floor, and the employee seemed overwhelmingly confident.
“This is the fifth floor. This is the hottest location in our training center.”
“Could you please explain why?”
“Of course. This place is the hottest location because you can use the simulated combat system on this floor.”
“The simulated combat system?” Sung Joon asked, and she vigorously nodded her head.
“Yes. It’s powered by a magic stone and materializes a simulated enemy that allows you to train as if you were in a real battle. It’s our most popular feature since it’s just as tense as a real battle!”
“It must be expensive to maintain, since you use magic stones,” Sung Joon said.
After all, magic stones were an expensive power source.
“That’s correct, customer. It is my understanding that not many in South Korea utilize magic stones.”
“I see.”
“Then, let’s continue the tour.”
Sung Joon nodded his head and they continued the tour. He was led to the seventh floor, which was being used as a training facility. He couldn’t go into the eighth floor, since it was for faculty only.
He was most interested in the fifth floor’s simulated combat system.
Sung Joon parted ways with the employee on the seventh floor and went down to the fifth floor. There, he unexpectedly came across a familiar face.
“Ms. Yoon Seol Ah?”
“Mr. Kang Sung Joon?”
They had met so unexpectedly, the two called out to each other, and briefly froze.
Seol Ah was the first to get ahold of herself, and looked at her following retinue.
“Please go up first and continue your work,” she said.
“Understood, Chief.”
Her entourage of three went up first. Seol Ah turned her attention to Sung Joon.
“How did you get here…?” Sung Joon asked.
Seol Ah smiled.
“You didn’t know? The Blue Dragon Group manages this training center.”