After that, Sung Jin-Woo stood over the statue and hit it with more punches, each one cracking the stone further.
"...You are not the king. How could... You stand in that place instead of the king? How can you maintain your ego while having a black heart?" the statue questioned, its voice strained.
'I'm completely clueless about what's going on. But this confirms the statue is related to his power—and the king too, whoever it's referring to as king. Probably a Monarch?' Min-Jae thought from the sideline, glancing toward the remaining statues. 'Those aren't moving. Should I just destroy them? Just as a precaution.'
"You said you were opposed to choosing me as a player. But what exactly is a player? What were your intentions?" It was Sung Jin-Woo's turn to ask the question, his voice cold and sharp.
The word 'player' and the fact that Jin-Woo was asking the statue about 'choosing him as a player' confirmed to Min-Jae that making Sung Jin-Woo a player and giving him the system was something planned between the statue and someone else.
'Probably the king,' Min-Jae answered his own question and refocused on their conversation.
"No... Shadow Monarch, you…" The statue exclaimed, addressing him directly. "Do you think the other Monarchs will stand by and watch?"
'Wait. Isn't Jin-Woo supposed to be the Shadow Monarch? No, wait...' Min-Jae thought back through Season 1 and Season 2—every episode he'd watched up to episode seven of the second season—and tried to piece it together. 'I'm making a wild guess here, but can Jin-Woo possibly be the human vessel of the Shadow Monarch?' He shook his head. 'Maybe... But it's confirmed now—there are other Monarchs like the Shadow Monarch.'
"Just answer my question..." Sung Jin-Woo said. Multiple daggers materialized from his shadow, floating in front of him and the statue as a clear threat.
Suddenly, the statue started laughing—though from where Min-Jae stood, he could see the panic in its expression. "It wasn't supposed to turn out this way. I think I know why you were chosen."
"Hunter Min-Jae..." Chief Inspector Woo Jin-Chul spoke from nearby.
"Yeah, I see them," Min-Jae replied.
The statues he'd been considering destroying moments ago had started moving—advancing toward them.
"If you kill me, no one..."
'I'll take care of them,' Min-Jae thought. He gestured to Woo Jin-Chul and Cha Hae-In, signaling his intentions. They both understood and created distance, moving to the opposite side of the advancing statues.
"...will be able..."
"Hollow: Purple," Min-Jae muttered.
He formed the hand sign with his right hand—index and pinky extended, the others folded. Blue energy swirled and merged with red, coalescing into a glowing purple orb. He flicked his fingers forward.
The orb shot out in a devastating streak. Within seconds, the path it traveled was completely annihilated. Massive craters carved through the ground, the walls, everything in its trajectory. The statues were erased instantly—not shattered, not destroyed, but simply *gone*.
"...to stop my puppets!?" The statue beneath Sung Jin-Woo's feet was suddenly confused, clearly realizing all its puppets were gone. "No, it can't be. What kind of being is he?"
"Now?" Sung Jin-Woo said in a commanding tone. "Answer my questions."
"...If you kill the creator of the system..."
"I could go back to being an E-Grade hunter?" Sung Jin-Woo said, a smirk forming on his face. "I've thought about that too. Even if the system's creator disappears, the system that's already been created won't fall apart."
That was the last of the words Min-Jae could clearly hear.
'The statue was the creator of the system?' he thought, surprised. He glanced toward Cha Hae-In and Woo Jin-Chul in the distance. To his surprise, their expressions remained mostly neutral—nothing that suggested they'd heard the conversation between Sung Jin-Woo and the statue, which was now revealed to be the creator of Jin-Woo's system.
Moments later, Jin-Woo used his daggers to shred the statue into pieces.
With that, it was the end of the Double Dungeon. The creator of the system was killed—or perhaps it wasn't. Who knows.
---
As Sung Jin-Woo landed on the ground, he looked around—first toward Min-Jae, then to the other side where Woo Jin-Chul and Cha Hae-In stood. He also noticed her slight injury.
He himself wasn't in good shape either. His outfit was torn and shredded, with blood dripping from his forehead—though it seemed to have stopped now.
Soon, all four of them walked forward toward the exit of the room. Jin-Woo spoke briefly with Woo Jin-Chul and asked Cha Hae-In two or three questions along the way.
"You did well there, Hunter Min-Jae," Sung Jin-Woo said.
Min-Jae walked slightly ahead of him and slightly behind Cha Hae-In and Woo Jin-Chul.
"Well, it was nothing compared to what Hunter Sung has done," Min-Jae replied.
"By the way, there weren't any casualties, right?" Jin-Woo asked.
"No. There were more hunters initially, but I sent them back after seeing the situation."
Sung Jin-Woo nodded. They walked in silence for a few more moments through the dungeon before Jin-Woo spoke again.
"Thanks."
"Hmm... For what?"
"That day, you saved someone really close to me during the school dungeon break incident."
'He's talking about his sister. Obviously, he doesn't trust me enough to directly say "for saving my sister,"' Min-Jae thought.
"Well, that wasn't a big deal," Min-Jae responded. "As a hunter, saving people is our job, right?"
Sung Jin-Woo nodded, and their conversation ended as they walked out of the gate.
---
Immediately as Cha Hae-In walked out, Min-Jae approached the A-Rank healer from the Hunters Guild main team and asked them to heal her injury. It didn't take long—the wound closed within moments under the healer's magic.
---
After everyone was outside, Woo Jin-Chul turned to Sung Jin-Woo.
"How did Hunter Sung Jin-Woo know about the existence of a Double Dungeon?" he asked directly. Both Min-Jae and Cha Hae-In stood nearby, listening.
"The dungeon called me here," Sung Jin-Woo replied simply.
"It called you...?"
"Yes. I received a message to come to this location."
"Can we see the message as well?"
"The message can only be seen in my head," Jin-Woo explained. But the tiredness was vividly clear in his voice.
"Are you okay?" Cha Hae-In stepped forward, concern evident on her face.
Sung Jin-Woo turned slightly to look at her. "Yes, of course I am." He paused, then seemed to waver. "No... maybe a little tired."
Suddenly, his body gave out. He stumbled backward—
Woo Jin-Chul, who was nearest to him, quickly caught him before he hit the ground.
A commotion immediately spread across the area among the other hunters.
'The fatigue finally catching up, probably,' Min-Jae thought, watching from the side.