From Today, I'm a Player

Chapter 124: Nile Pt. 6

Lee Jun-Kyeong was reminded of something as he looked at Set.

‘The Demon King.’

He thought that he could see a resemblance between the two Hunters.

Just a little while ago, Lee Jun-Kyeong had run into a group of Hunters as they were assaulting a human. However, these Hunters were completely ambivalent about his arrival.

It was because the reputation he had built had no foundation in notoriety.

‘They must have thought that I wouldn’t have harmed them.’

His reputation had been solidified through his achievements as a Hunter as he raided gates, but even though his strength was renowned, there was nothing that insinuated a temper or evil intentions behind it.

Therefore, the Hunters he had met weren’t frightened and had even gone so far as to try to assault the victim in order to mock him, thinking that he wouldn’t have been able to intimidate Egypt’s Hunters when they were in Egypt.

However, Set was completely different.

His mere appearance had frightened them.

It almost felt like the arrival of the Demon King.

He was a Hunter who had made people tremble in fear and forced great change with his notoriety.

Set really reminded him of the Demon King.

However, Lee Jun-Kyeong knew that he still knew little about the Hunter.

There was a lot of inconsistency between the notoriety the man had built and the actions he committed. It was difficult for Lee Jun-Kyeong to fathom his intentions.

"Do you think he’s a good person?" Jeong In-Chang asked with a complicated expression. “I mean that Set, the Hunter.”

“...”

“I can’t tell myself,” Jeong In-Chang continued, his face expressing his conflicting thoughts even further.

That man they called Set, although he had definitely moved to save that man…

“It was excessive,” Lee Jun-Kyeong remarked.

“Yes, exactly.”

Considering Set’s strength, he didn’t have to kill them.

Moreover.

‘I had planned on getting involved in the first place.

Lee Jun-Kyeong had made up his mind to save the man regardless of what the Hunters had said. He had more than enough strength to overpower them without killing them. Even if he was currently in the Nile’s territory, it wasn’t as if the secret organization behind him, Asgard, was weak in any way either.

Furthermore, if it was really necessary as well, they also had Bifrost. Hence, it wouldn’t be difficult for them to just transport themselves outside of the Nile’s influence.

It wasn’t as if it would be his concern if there would end up being a disturbance between Asgard and the Nile, either.

Set would have understood that as well.

‘But even still, he killed them when he didn’t have to.’

“Then, do you feel like he’s a good person?” Jeong In-Chang asked again.

"I don't know."

That was Lee Jun-Kyeong's answer.

***

“It’s been a while since we have met.”

“You’ve lost a lot of weight.”

It was nighttime, and as if it had been predicted, the meeting between Lee Jun-Kyeong and Inebu had still proceeded.

Of course, they weren’t meeting alone.

“...”

Next to Lee Jun-Kyeong sat Baldur.

“...”

While next to Inebu was a Hunter whom Lee Jun-Kyeong had never seen before.

“My name is Lamia. My title is…”

She had a beautiful voice.

The Hunter from the Nile that had accompanied Inebu was a woman who was currently introducing herself to the Asgardians.

“My title is Bastet.”

Bastet.

She was also one of the famous Heroes of the Nile.

Although Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t know much about her in detail, he was sure about one thing.

“It’s been a while.”

She seemed to have met Baldur before.

This wasn’t the meeting that Lee Jun-Kyeong had wanted. Although he and Inebu had both wanted to meet, neither Asgard nor the Nile had truly allowed it.

“And as for the reason you had wanted to see me…” Inebu whispered in a cracked voice, his thin and dry face betraying the horrifying hardships he had gone through.

Lee Jun-Kyeong responded rather simply, “I just wanted to see you.”

At his ridiculous response, Baldur and Bastet’s faces distorted.

They had arranged this meeting because of how much Lee Jun-Kyeong had expressed he had wanted to meet Inebu, just for the Hunter to say it was just because he had wanted to catch up with him.

However, there was another conversation going on in this meeting that Baldur and Bastet were completely in the dark about.

–Hit the table once for yes, and twice for no.

Lee Jun-Kyeong said, directly speaking into Inebu’s mind.

Inebu was startled as Lee Jun-Kyeong was using Merlin’s necklace to converse with him while hiding from the attention of Baldur and Bastet.

"I missed you too."

Fortunately, Inebu was quick-witted.

Baldur and Bastet looked at each other momentarily and sighed at the ridiculous conversation.

“Are the meals not tasty and plentiful in the Nile?”

It was another unexpected and boring question from Lee Jun-Kyeong.

However, in the shadows, the other conversation continued.

–I’m here regarding what you had mentioned earlier, the red gem. Are you sure that the red gem you spoke of is related to the strength we saw Heracles exhibit at the Battle of Champions?

Inebu began to respond to Lee Jun-Kyeong.

“The meals have been coming quite steadily here.”

Thud.

Both with a verbal answer and a positive knock.

“Then why do you look so emaciated?”

–You said you wanted me to save Horus. Did Horus’ accident have anything to do with that object you called the red gem?”

“It’s just that…there was something that was a little troublesome, that’s all.”

Thud.

Just like that, a conversation that Baldur and Bastet couldn’t understand proceeded. Nevertheless, the two didn’t move away from the unorthodox meeting.

Lee Jun-Kyeong continued to try to ask Inebu about what he had desired using Merlin’s necklace.

“What was so troublesome that it made you into a sack of bones?”

–Was Horus influenced by the red gem? Just like how Heracles was back then?

Thud.

–Was the person who made him like that Set?

There wasn’t a knock of any kind in response to Lee Jun-Kyeong’s last question. Instead, all he received in response was Inebu’s voice, ambiguously responding to one of the questions.

“I’m not really sure myself.”

There was only one question left then.

“Oh dear. It seems I’ll have to send you some good vitality restorative medicine.”

–Do you want me to help you?

Inebu nodded.

"Thank you."

With that, there was nothing else for them to speak about at least in this kind of situation.

–I’ll reach out to you soon.

***

“Did you really ask me to arrange a meeting with Inebu just to have that sort of conversation?” Baldur, Oh Hyeong-Seok, said, his usually amicable face distorted in irritation.

From what Lee Jun-Kyeong had uncovered about his character in the past few days, he had a hunch that the other Hunter had some sort of relationship with Odin. In fact,?Lee Jun-Kyeong felt as though the Hunter’s loyalty to Odin was almost like the loyalty of Jeong In-Chang, who followed him.

‘Is he about to curse at me?’

He thought about it for a moment, but then soon decided not to care as he didn’t have the time to waste on continuing to ponder over Oh Hyeong-Seok’s words.

“If you’ve really made use of Asgard for something as ridiculous as this… Odin won’t look at this lightly, either,” Baldur continued.

As expected, it was clear that the Hunter had thought that Lee Jun-Kyeong was causing Odin trouble.

In response, Lee Jun-Kyeong answered almost cheekily, “Isn’t that person a resultist?”

“What are you…”

“That person will be satisfied with things later.”

Oh Hyeong-Seok closed his mouth and stayed quiet for a while after hearing Lee Jun-Kyeong's unexpected words.

However, he soon recovered.

“You’ll have to be sure to show those results eventually, then,” he warned Lee Jun-Kyeong.

Baldur’s expression was fiery as the Hunter was gradually throwing off his shell of pretense.

‘Does he really not like me that much?’

To think Baldur would hate himself this much just because he was being favored by Odin. It was so much so that if just from a glance…

“Are you his son, by chance?” he asked.

“...”

Oh Hyeong-Seok finally shut his mouth.

“Then have you finished with your work in Egypt?” he finally asked.

In the end, he seemed to have given up on arguing with Lee Jun-Kyeong anymore.

If Baldur had been a hostile force, then Lee Jun-Kyeong wouldn’t have provoked him like this.

‘To think he really liked Odin to this extent…’

However, he had been confident that Baldur wouldn’t be able to do anything to him, who was being so favored by Odin. And, just as he had expected, Oh Hyeong-Seok was only able to express frustration with Lee Jun-Kyeong’s repeated provocations, unable to do anything.

“Yes. My work in Egypt will soon be over. We should head out in about three days,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said.

“Three days?” the Hunter exclaimed.

"I haven't finished my sightseeing in Egypt yet."

Baldur’s face hardened again, unable to hide his uncomfortable expression.

“I’ll prepare for it then.”

Oh Hyeong-Seok soon had a smile on his face again.

He really was a patient man.

“By the way, let me ask you something,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said the Baldur.

“The Hunter Asgard has hidden within the Nile…”

“That,” Oh Hyeong-Seok interrupted even though Lee Jun-Kyeong hadn’t finished speaking.

“You’ve already met them.”

There was a smile on his lips.

It wasn’t the usual pretentious fake smile that Baldur had, however. It was a real smile, laughing as he teased Lee Jun-Kyeong.

‘I…already met them?’

Oh Hyeong-Seok’s teasing had been successful, as now, Lee Jun-Kyeong had started thinking about it.

***

‘Inebu, Bastet…or maybe one of the Nile Hunters I saw when I arrived in Egypt?’

Lee Jun-Kyeong was now at a loss. Did Baldur tell a white lie to try to mess with him? No matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out who Asgard’s spy was.

Inebu couldn’t have been a spy, whether it was due to his behavior or disposition.

The most likely Hunter was Bastet.

Not only had she brought Inebu, but she also seemed to know Baldur as well. It was most likely that she was the spy of Asgard.

However, there was something weird that Lee Jun-Kyeong couldn’t shake off.

Swoosh.

As he thought to himself, all of a sudden, he noticed someone’s presence.

Lee Jun-Kyeong turned around, and as he stared into the darkness, there, a masked Inebu stood.

"You’re late."

Lee Jun-Kyeong had told him a time and place through Merlin’s necklace, and the man had come to find him, albeit a little late.

“There were a lot of watching eyes…I apologize,” Inebu once again apologized.

“There will still be many other people watching this place as well. Because you’re under the watch of the Nile, Mr. Underdog…” Inebu said as he took off his mask.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault,” he continued.

Even though Lee Jun-Kyeong hadn’t said anything yet, Inebu was pouring out his delayed story, almost as if he had so much stuff to say because of how frustrating their previous meeting had been.

“Why are you blaming yourself, Mr. Inebu?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked.

Inebu, on the other hand, continued to scan the surroundings with an uneasy look in his eyes.

“Don’t worry,” Lee Jun-Kyeong continued. He grabbed Merlin’s necklace, and light gushed out from between his fingers.

It was spatial distortion, a high-end spell that even quite a few Mage-Type Hunters couldn’t easily use.

‘It seems I’m really getting a lot of help.’

As he wasn’t able to use any spells, he was getting quite a lot of help through Merlin’s aid.

“Can you even use magic too?” asked Inebu in surprise.

Lee Jun-Kyeong shook his head.

“I’ve already uncovered the people observing from around us,” he said. Rather than answering the Hunter’s question, he rather assuaged him instead.

After coming to Egypt, Lee Jun-Kyeong had continuously felt gazes placed on him as he continued to move around Egypt’s streets. He could feel the watchful eyes of the Nile glued upon him.

“However…that may not be enough,” Inebu said as he looked up at the sky.

Lee Jun-Kyeong thought for a moment as to who Inebu was referring to.

The Sponsors?

“There is nowhere on Earth where one can avoid the gaze of the Eyes of Osiris,” Inebu said.

“Hmm.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong thought about whether or not they would be able to use that item to get past Merlin’s powers and look into the formation spell. He realized he couldn’t be sure, so he hurried to make his point.

“Then let’s get straight to the point. I would like to hear about the details and what you are asking of me. Mr. Inebu, I’m talking about…”

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at him directly and continued, “The reason why you had asked me to come to the Nile.”

"That's..." Inebu nodded and opened his mouth. "Horus has been unconscious ever since he was exposed to the red gem.”

“What exactly is the red gem?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked. He had to know if it was anything similar to the Madness he was familiar with.

“It came from a red ore…a gem that gives the user an enormous amount of power. The same one as the object Heracles had shown us back on that day…”

He was right.

‘That red gem…’

It was Madness.

Now, he had to know why it had been used by Horus in Egypt.

Inebu began to explain, “It all started after Lord Set brought the red gems to…”