Chapter 8
"Come, come! This is the last inn before entering the Dark Demon Well! Eat before you go inside! Who knows when you'll get another proper meal!"
"Weapons must be purchased here! Enter the Dark Demon Well without a weapon and you'll be thrown out!"
"Wound medicine for sale! Any injury can be healed in only two months! Even divine physicians use this wound medicine! Essential equipment for the Dark Demon Well! You won't find it inside!"
Following the map Jin Woon had drawn for me, I passed through several villages belonging to the Divine Cult.
Eventually, I reached a settlement sitting beneath a new mountain peak.
There were many people moving through the streets.
There were even more street vendors.
It was obvious that something important was nearby.
The whole scene gave me a strange sense of déjà vu.
My head almost started aching.
Street vendors selling questionable products and restaurants with terrible food...
They always appeared around places like this.
"Give me some wound medicine and bandages."
"I'm looking for a sword. Is this one any good?"
"Is this really the final inn?"
The Dark Demon Well wasn't exactly a place people visited twice.
Naturally, almost everyone here lacked experience.
Some believed everything the merchants shouted.
Others were so nervous that they tried to buy anything that might possibly help.
The village was packed with people.
If they thought about it for even a moment...
They should have realized that most of those claims couldn't be trusted.
The Dark Demon Well wasn't somewhere ordinary merchants could casually enter.
How could street vendors possibly know exactly what was inside or what people truly needed?
As someone with experience in this kind of situation...
All I could do was sigh.
The quality is probably terrible too. And the food...
Actually, even if the food was good, eating here would probably destroy my appetite anyway.
I ignored them and continued toward the Dark Demon Well.
Grrrrrr... Yaaawn.
Maybe because I passed several stalls filled with the smell of food...
A suspicious sound came from my stomach.
But it wasn't hunger.
The beast living inside my dantian had simply fallen asleep again.
And apparently...
It snored.
Does this idiot even understand where its owner is going?
It was sleeping peacefully with its stomach exposed.
Honestly, the sight was irritating.
Still...
We had decided to share this body.
I might as well get attached to the creature.
I couldn't keep calling it "that thing" or "you" forever.
Maybe it was time to give it a name.
As if agreeing, the beast opened its eyes and blinked.
What kind of name would suit it?
Looking at its appearance, even an ordinary dog's name could work.
Gray fur...
Gray?
Blackie?
Gumi?
Kurama?
I considered several names.
The beast's reactions were terrible.
The final one also felt unnecessarily dramatic.
Then another name came to mind.
Heukrang?
Black Wolf.
The name came from the PMC company I had belonged to in the modern world.
The Black Wolves.
Maybe it preferred being called a wolf rather than a dog.
The moment I thought of the name...
Its tail started wagging enthusiastically.
Decision made.
"From today onward, you're Heukrang."
Whenever I circulated a tiny bit of internal energy toward it like a snack...
Heukrang happily rubbed its face with its paws and wagged its tail.
We now had our own method of communication.
Step.
While naming Heukrang and watching the crowded village around me, I eventually reached the edge of the settlement.
The noisy merchants disappeared.
Everyone remaining nearby wore serious expressions.
The atmosphere itself became heavier.
I could feel the Dark Demon Well getting closer.
After walking a little farther...
The enormous cliff I had seen in the distance began towering above me.
I crossed one more hill.
Then I saw it.
A massive structure carved directly into the cliff.
It looked as if someone had taken the front half of an enormous hall and embedded it straight into the rock.
The building possessed both grandeur and brutal simplicity.
Three characters were written across its signboard in wild, powerful calligraphy.
Dark Demon Well.
The main doors were more than twice the height of a man.
They stood wide open like two enormous arms.
Beyond them...
There was only darkness.
A crowd had gathered before the entrance.
Among them stood several large men dressed entirely in black.
They wore cloaks that covered them from head to toe.
Even their eyes were hidden.
However...
Every one of them carried a sword.
It wasn't difficult to guess that they were the warriors responsible for managing the Dark Demon Well.
The atmosphere grew noticeably heavier the moment I reached them.
"Jo Gwonjong of Baekhan Peak. I have come to enter the Dark Demon Well."
"Cult identification token. Signature. Enter."
Several black-clad warriors sat at a table beside the entrance.
They confirmed the identity of each arriving person before sending them inside.
Every response they gave was short.
It almost seemed as if speaking any longer than necessary was beneath them.
Judging from the situation, they were probably also acting as instructors.
Maybe that was why...
"Hey. Isn't your speech a little too rude?"
Of course...
There were always idiots who felt the need to show off.
But...
"The Dark Demon Corps does not speak twice. Enter."
The warriors didn't hesitate.
One sentence.
One glare.
That was enough to stop the argument.
For only an instant, the words does not speak twice carried obvious killing intent.
The man who had tried to challenge them immediately shrank.
"I-I was only mentioning it. I'll... I'll go inside."
Fake courage always ended in embarrassment.
Soon, it was my turn.
I stepped forward.
"Cheon Sowol of March Pavilion."
"Third Young Master... I see. Enter. Take a wooden token."
"Thank you for your work."
At times like this...
Acting normal was best.
There was no reason to emphasize that I was the Third Young Master.
Just hand over my identification token and follow instructions.
That was the proper approach.
In places like this...
The moment you attracted attention, you became a target.
The military.
Prison.
Anywhere large groups of men lived together.
It was always the same.
I handed over the identification token issued by the Divine Cult.
In exchange...
I received a small wooden plaque.
The number 137 was carved into it.
Apparently, this was my new name.
I hadn't arrived especially early.
I hadn't arrived especially late either.
A nice, ordinary number.
Maybe taking my time had actually been a good choice.
I passed the reception area and crossed through the massive gates.
A long corridor appeared ahead.
It was basically a tunnel carved directly through the cliff.
Torches had been placed at regular intervals.
The passage was bright enough that it barely felt different from outside.
But the cold air...
That was unmistakably the feeling of a deep cave.
A faint breeze came from the opposite direction.
That meant there was another open area somewhere ahead.
This wasn't a completely sealed cave.
I followed the tunnel for a long time.
