I Alone Level Up

by Srtyi

10 years ago, after “the Gate” that connected the real world with the monster world opened, some of the ordinary, everyday people received the power to hunt monsters within the Gate. They are known as “Hunters”. However, not all Hunters are powerful. My name is Sung Jin-Woo, an E-rank Hunter. I’m someone who has to risk his life in the lowliest of dungeons, the “World’s Weakest”. H

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Part 0: Prologue

[Daily Quest is now available.]

An articulate voice of a young female.

This was definitely not a game. Of course, it wasn't a dream, either.

But, her voice definitely resounded within my head. Hell, I could even see the quest window floating in mid-air, too.

'Could it be… Even today?"

While fervently praying in my head, I cautiously opened the information window.

Ttiring….

[Daily Quest: Preparations to become strong]

Press-up, 100 times: Incomplete (0/100)

Sit-up, 100 times: Incomplete (0/100)

Squat, 100 times: Incomplete (0/100)

Running, 10 km: Incomplete (0/10)

※Warning: Incompletion of Daily Quests will result in appropriate levels of punishment.

As soon as I got to confirm the contents of the Daily Quest, I began cussing out reflexively.

"Awww… Just how many days has it been already?!"

Part 1: Rank E Hunter

Rank E Hunter, Seong Jin-Woo.

No matter where he went, this title always followed him around.

Jin-Woo's overall strength was almost the same as a regular human being. With the exception of being a bit stronger and his wounds healing slightly faster, Jin-Woo was about the same as regular people in every other aspect.

It was par for the course then, that he'd always end up getting injured. He nearly died several times, too.

Of course, it wasn't as if Seong Jin-Woo liked being a Hunter.

The work was dangerous, others made fun of him, and to confound the matters even further, the pay was pretty pathetic, as well.

If it weren't for the medical aid paid out by the Hunter Association to the Hunters in their "payroll", he'd have turned in his hunter licence and quit by now, and live his life like a regular person.

Unfortunately, someone like Seong Jin-Woo, in his mid-twenties and lacking in any tangible job skills, there was no other way but to remain as a Hunter if he wanted to pay for his mother's hospital fee of millions of won every month.

Should one say that he had no choice in the matter?

That was why, even though he didn't want to, he simply had to participate in the raid supervised by the Association.

Hunters operating within the same area tended to know each other pretty well. In the event of a Gate opening up, all the Hunters in that district would be asked to come, that's why.

The Hunters who had arrived early sipped on the cups of coffee handed out by the Association's employee and shared cordial greetings with each other.

"Oh, hey. Mister Kim, Over here. Here."

"Oh? Mister Park, what are you doing here? I thought you were giving up on being a Hunter?"

"Well, that… My wife is pregnant with our second child."

"Hahahaha, is that so. Yeah, for a Hunter to earn big in one go, participating in a raid is the best, isn't it."

Mister Kim jovially burst out in laughter. Mister Park followed suit with a sheepish chuckle, before asking Kim.

"By the way, why do I feel like that the Association is calling on us less and less nowadays? Did the number of Gates decrease or something?"

"Eii, of course not. That's only because the Guilds are getting all worked up over clearing the Gates; it's got nothing to do with the Association. I hear that various Guilds are jumping in with both feet since there is big profit involved in this whole thing."

"Well, in that case, since this raid is being supervised by the Association, it should be safe, no?"

Mister Park took a glance around as if he was getting nervous.

If a Guild was not involved today, that meant there wasn't enough profit to be had, and if there wasn't enough profit to be had, then that could only mean that this particular Gate's difficulty would be low.

Of course, nothing in this world was 100% absolute.

It wasn't just Mister Park; other Hunters were nervously glancing around as well.

"Hmm. I wonder…."

Mister Kim finished the rest of his coffee while avoiding answering his friend, before spotting a certain someone and raised his hand in happiness.

"Uh! He's here. Hey, Mister Seong!! Mister Seong!"

Other Hunters also displayed joy at discovering that young man.

"Ah, hello."

It was none other than Seong Jin-Woo.

Jin-Woo performed a simple nod of the head at the joyous Mister Kim and walked by.

After making sure Jin-Woo was well out of earshot, Mister Kim began sniggering while confidently speaking up.

"So, Jin-Woo showed up. Then it's going to okay today, too."

Mister Park's eyes widened up and he hurriedly asked Kim.

"What was that? Is that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo really strong?"

"Ahh. Right, of course, you wouldn't know who he is. He's a Hunter who started working shortly after you left, you see. However, every Hunter here knows who that kid is by now."

"He's really that strong? Wait, why is he working for the Association, then? Why not for a Guild or as a freelancer?"

Kim sniggered some more before narrowing his eyes.

"You know what that guy's nickname is?"

"How should I know that? C'mon, man. Just tell me already."

"Humanity's weakest weapon."

"….Weakest? Not something like, the ultimate weapon?"

"Dude, that's the nickname for the rank S Hunter Choi Jong-In. That kid is the 'weakest weapon'. I'm pretty sure he's the weakest Hunter in the Republic of Korea."

"Really?"

Park began frowning deeply.

Why would other Hunters greet this Seong Jin-Woo if he was really that weak? After all, didn't they need someone to trust their backs if things went south?

Park couldn't really understand the reactions of other Hunters.

When Park's head tilted this way and that, Kim chuckled and poked the side of Park with his elbow.

"Eii! The raids Seong Jin-Woo participates in will only have low difficulty because he's so weak. The Association would never entrust him with a tough job, don't you get that? They don't want to see him get killed, right?"

Only then did Park's expression brightened up.

"R-right. Yeah."

His wife was deeply worried about him since this would be his first raid in quite a while. Honestly, even he himself was worried, too. However, now that he listened to Kim's words, he felt like a weight was lifted off his mind.

Kim continued on.

"That guy, there was a rumour not too long ago that said, he got injured participating in a raid of a rank E Gate and spent a week in the hospital."

"A Hunter got injured by a rank E Gate?"

"That's right. No one expected to see a Hunter getting injured during a rank E Gate raid, so they didn't even bring along a Healer, apparently!"

"That's why he spent a week in a hospital?! Pu-hahaha!"

When Park began guffawing too loudly, Kim hurriedly hushed him.

"Stop it, man. Mister Seong might hear you."

"Aigoo. I didn't think of that."

Park cautiously checked Jin-Woo's reactions as he continued to giggle.

Thankfully, the distance was far enough and the youth didn't seem to have heard them.

Of course, they were mistaken.

'I can hear everything, you geezers.'

A bitter smile formed on Jin-Woo as he tried hard to ignore them. At times like today, he couldn't help but blame his unusually-acute sense of hearing.

It seemed that he arrived too early and the raid was yet to commence.

'Did I arrive too early?'

Jin-Woo looked around to while away the waiting time, spotted the Association employee handing out warm coffee, and walked closer.

"Can I get a cup of coffee as well?"

"Oh. Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim… I'm really sorry, but we ran out of coffee just now."

The cold Winter breeze brushed past the tip of his nose.

Jin-Woo quietly wiped his nose with his index finger.

What a sad day it was, for the coffee to run out as soon as it was his turn to get one.

"Why do you persist on being a Hunter, Mister Seong Jin-Woo?"

"I'm sorry."

Jin-Woo lowered his head and apologised.

The young, beautiful girl using healing magic in front of Jin-Woo, Yi Ju-Hui showed how unhappy she was with a pouting expression.

"I'm not trying to get you to apologise, you know? I'm only worried about you. If you continue fighting this way, sooner or later you'll be faced with a truly dangerous situation."

Jin-Woo glanced past Yi Ju-Hui's shoulders and took a look at other Hunters fighting over yonder.

When one entered through the Gate, one would arrive at a place called 'dungeon'. The rank of this particular dungeon should be around D.

A dozen-plus Hunters were taking care of the monsters inside this dungeon without so much as breaking a sweat.

Unfortunately, for a rank E, such a feat was nearly impossible.

Normally, the job of healing the injured Hunters from the back fell on the Healers. Since he always got injured during raids, Jin-Woo was rather well-known among the Healers.

Yi Ju-Hui cautiously asked him.

"Perchance, is there a reason why you can't give up being a Hunter?"

Jin-Woo resolutely shook his head.

He didn't want to reveal anything personal to other people.

"I'm only doing this as a hobby. If I don't do this, I'll probably die of boredom, actually."

Yi Ju-Hui pouted even more.

"If you continue on with this hobby of yours, soon you'd be raiding a dungeon in the netherworld, you know?"

Jin-Woo was taken off-guard from her remark and ended up chuckling out loudly.

Thanks to that, Yi Ju-Hui's nagging intensified.

"Ah, ahh!! Don't laugh! Don't! Your injuries might get worse!!"

Jin-Woo giggled before asking her.

"Where did you even learn to say stuff like that?"

"What do you mean, where? It's from Mister Kim waaay over there."

"Aigoo, that ahjussi really went and did it, didn't he…."

As they chatted and laughed, his treatment was almost over.

It was already too late by then, though. It seemed that the raid was pretty much over now.

Jin-Woo's expression hardened.

'I only killed a single monster today.'

A rank E creature, no less. Seong Jin-Woo began fidgeting with the rank E magic crystal in his hand.

The lowest grade magic crystal from a rank E monster fetched less than hundred thousand won. For something he bet his life to earn, it was a pathetically small amount. (TL: Just over $88.)

'A magic crystal from a rank C monster can sell for over ten million won, though….' (TL: $8830)

Too bad, a rank E Hunter such as himself couldn't even attempt to kill a monster with a rank as high as C.

Out of the blue, someone shouted out.

"Uh? Hey, there's another entrance over here."

The nearby Hunters rushed over there.

"Huh, it's true."

"There really is another path?"

Just as that Hunter said, there was an entrance hidden within the dungeon itself.

"A dual dungeon, is it… So, such a thing actually exists for real…."

Mister Song, possessing over ten years' experience as a Hunter, looked into the hidden entrance and displayed how surprised he was.

The interior of the hidden, cave-like passage was dark and nothing could be seen. Mister Song activated his speciality, flame magic, and tossed it further forward into the passage.

The flame flew forward and illuminated the interior. The passageway seemed to go on forever. Soon enough, the flame lost its forward momentum, fell to the ground and smouldered for a bit before flickering out of existence.

The passage was shrouded in darkness once more.

"Hmm….. Everyone, gather around. Let's have a meeting."

The unspoken leader of this raid, Mister Song, called for other Hunters to gather around. Jin-Woo's treatment was over by then, so he and Yi Ju-Hui also joined in.

Song spoke up while sweeping his gaze over the gathered Hunters.

"As you know very well, a Gate will not close unless the dungeon's boss is killed. Since the Gate itself is still intact even though we took care of all the monsters here, that can only mean that the boss is beyond that passageway."

Song pointed towards the hidden entrance.

Hunters exchanged meaningful glances and nodded their heads. No one could disagree with that notion.

Song continued on.

"Now normally, we're supposed to relay this information back to the Association and wait for their decision first, but… But, if we do that, we might end up handing over the task of killing the boss to other Hunters, and our takings for today's raid would decrease by a lot."

The expressions of the Hunters crumpled.

Park's face hardened more than anyone else since he needed a lot of cash for his wife's pregnancy.

'Postnatal care eats up so much cash nowadays, you know…'

At this rate, there'd be no meaning behind him risking his life to participate in this raid.

"That's why I'd prefer if we took care of the boss before leaving this dungeon… So, what do you all think?"

Hunters fell into a deep contemplation.

The truth was, no one here could figure out the current situation and so, their safety could not be guaranteed. However, the difficulty of this particular dungeon proved to be very low.

So, the hidden dungeon within it couldn't have been that difficult, either.

"Hmm, hmm."

Song coughed to draw everyone's attention to himself.

"Since we have seventeen people here, let's put this to a vote, shall we? Once the decision has been made, no one complains. So? How about it?"

Others nodded their heads after hearing Song's suggestion. No one was disagreeing with him.

"I vote for going ahead."

Song raised his hand.

And then, other Hunters began raising their hands one by one.

"Me too."

"Count me in as well."

Park was the first to raise his hand, followed shortly after by Kim and a few other Hunters.

Of course, those disagreeing were plentiful, too.

"Let's go back."

"I feel that it'd be better to wait for the Association's decision."

The two opposing camps were neck and neck and eventually, the final votes came down to Jin-Woo and Yi Ju-Hui.

"I'm sorry…."

Yi Ju-Hui bowed to Song and added her vote to 'retreat' camp.

And so, the vote count for 'go ahead' and 'retreat' was at 8:8.

A deadlock.

Song asked the hesitant Seong Jin-Woo next.

"And you, Mister Seong?"

Chapter 1 Fin.

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Everything now depended on Seong Jin-Woo's decision.

Jin-Woo's fingers grasped tight the rank E magic crystal in his hand as he took a glance next to him.

Yi Ju-Hui was shaking her head at him. It looked like she was deeply worried.

Actually, Jin-Woo was worried inwardly as well. Now normally, he would never try to take on any unnecessary risk. Not only did he lack the abilities to do so, but he was also not brave enough, too.

However, Jin-Woo had a younger sister who was about to become a university student in the coming months.

'I've no money saved up….'

Currently, Jin-Woo was twenty-four years old.

He was at an age where he should be concentrating on his academic pursuits, but he gave up on that dream because, well, he had no money. He sure as hell didn't want his little sister to go through the same sacrifice, the same pain as he did.

Right now, every cent was precious to him.

It wasn't only Mister Park who needed a big score today.

Jin-Woo raised his hand up high.

"I vote for going ahead."

It was then, he heard a soft sigh of resignation coming from his side.

Part 2: The Dual Dungeon

The passageway went on and on forever.

In front, Mister Song and other strong Hunters had taken the lead. Song had summoned a small flame on top of his palm to illuminate the way forward.

Mister Kim asked him as he walked alongside Song.

"We've walked really far, haven't we? Shouldn't we consider the time we need to escape from here as well?"

"How long have we been walking?"

Kim looked at his wristwatch.

"Around…. forty minutes."

"A Gate shuts down completely one hour after the boss is killed, so we have a window of twenty minutes left or so."

"If we can't see the boss in the next twenty minutes, I suggest that we should just give up."

"I guess so."

Song nodded his head for a while, before pointing to his back with his thumb.

"Mister Kim? It's dark out in front, so why don't you position yourself behind me?"

Kim stared at Song's flames for a second or two, before he wordlessly pulled out his smartphone and switched on the screen.

And then, the passageway got illuminated rather brightly.

Song alternated his gaze between his flame and the smartphone, before he too wordlessly began searching for his own phone.

The very back of the group was the spot reserved for Seong Jin-Woo, who was injured pretty badly not too long ago, and Yi Ju-Hui, who didn't possess any combat skills whatsoever.

Jin-Woo scratched the back of his neck.

"Pardon me, I… I'm really sorry."

"About what?"

"About, you know, dragging you here against your wishes."

"I'm fine with it, so you don't need to mind me."

Jin-Woo cautiously studied Ju-Hui's expression. She definitely did not look fine at all.

Jin-Woo tilted his head this way and that while trying to read her mood better, before he asked her again, even more cautious than before.

"Are you… really fine?"

That prompted Ju-Hui to shift her gaze towards him.

"Of course I'm not. Are you of a sane mind?! If you were stabbed a couple of inches higher, you'd have a hole in your heart by now! And, what about those injuries on your arms and legs? I worked so hard to heal you somehow, yet you wish to throw yourself into yet another dungeon?? Plus, you don't even know where we're going, too!"

She spoke so quickly that Jin-Woo felt like his mind was getting numb from hearing her.

However, she was right about everything.

If it weren't for the presence of the outstanding Healer ranked B, Yi Ju-Hui, Jin-Woo wouldn't have been able to carry on living unaffected, never mind working as a Hunter. It was a small wonder why such high ranked and hard-to-find Healers were valued so greatly within the halls of the Association.

'Wait, now that I think about it, I owe Miss Ju-Hui a lot, don't I?'

Ju-Hui was a Healer-type Hunter, a rarest of the rare breeds.

Not only that, she was a genius ranked at 'B' as well.

The Association always asked her to heal the injured Hunters whenever a Gate opened up. And whenever Jin-Woo participated in a raid, he'd almost always end up sitting down next to her.

"Are you in pain? Please hold on for a little while longer."

"Haven't I seen you before….? By any chance, are you the person from the last time?"

"You're injured again?"

"It's like, we're running into each other quite often nowadays, isn't it?"

"You said that your name is Mister Jin-Woo? Well, that… Is it going to be alright?"

"Maybe, uhm, this life of a Hunter doesn't really suit you…."

"….You're here again."

"Show me your arm. No, not that one. Use bandages on that arm. I meant the other one with the bone fracture."

At the moment, it was way past the point of Jin-Woo feeling grateful for everything she had done, and firmly into the territory of him being apologetic for inconveniencing her.

When Jin-Woo looked dispirited, Ju-Hui also felt a bit bad about scolding him just now and her attitude softened up considerably.

"You're really sorry?"

"Yes, I am."

Ju-Hui fell into a deep contemplation for a bit, before she began gazing at him with the corner of her eyes and her lips slowly arched up.

"If you're really sorry, then… how about you buy me dinner sometime?"

Now that was a totally unexpected offer.

Jin-Woo looked at her with an expression of surprise and found a teasing smile etched on her face like a teenage girl.

'A teen girl, huh…..'

The truth was, Ju-Hui was still a young girl who had barely entered her twenties.

Didn't she say that she'd be twenty-one next year?

If her long hair was replaced with something shorter, and her current attire was swapped out for a school uniform, she'd completely look like high school senior.

His wandering mind pictured the image of Ju-Hui in a school uniform and his face reddened up somewhat.

When Jin-Woo hesitated with his answer, Ju-Hui's cheeks began puffing up like a balloon.

"What the… You don't want to buy me dinner?"

It happened, right then.

Suddenly, it became quite hectic out in front.

"We found it!!"

"It's the boss chamber!"

Jin-Woo and Ju-Hui's gazes automatically shifted to the front.

And they saw a huge stone door blocking the passage.

Hunters immediately surrounded this door.

"What is this? Why is there a door at the end of the cavern?"

"Have we ever encountered a boss chamber with a door before?"

"This is definitely the first time, I'm sure of it."

"This… Doesn't this feel strangely dangerous?"

Hunters began to express their doubts and fears one at the time.

Since their own lives were on the line here, they had to be cautious and meticulous.

However, if one were to become too cautious, one would end up failing to grasp the heaven-sent opportunity in the first place. Mister Song figured this was one such case.

"Are you all planning to return empty-handed after coming this far?"

Song placed his hands on the door.

"If that's what you want, knock yourselves out. I'm pushing ahead, even if it means I'll be going alone."

Song was a rank C Hunter with ten years of experience.

If it weren't for his age, which was over sixty, he'd be making a killing in a big Guild by now thanks to his excellent skills.

And when a Hunter like that voiced his opinion with such confidence, others began to feel less anxious than before.

"Wait a minute."

A couple of Hunters began recalling rumours of dual dungeons.

"I heard that there are incredible treasures hidden within dual dungeons."

"Yeah, I heard that a certain small to medium Guild found a dual dungeon and grew into a large Guild almost overnight."

"Monsters inside a dungeon always possess roughly the similar ranks no matter where they are located, so the hunt itself should not be too difficult…"

What if there were incredible treasures hidden with the dual dungeon just as the rumours said, and the monsters beyond this door were about the same difficulty as the rank D, E creatures they fought until now?

'I can't let that old man monopolise all the treasure.'

'No freaking way.'

'Postnatal care, the school fee for the first born kid, and let's not forget, this month's rent is almost due, too….'

The opinions of the Hunters were now on the same page.

Jin-Woo, too, steeled himself.

'I can't return home with just a single rank E magic crystal. At a bare minimum, I gotta kill a rank D, no, one more rank E monster!!'

It didn't even have to be a monster, too.

'If it's treasure instead….'

Treasures or rare loot found in a dungeon would normally be divided equally among all the participants in a raid. It was quite a different way of sharing the rewards where one could only take possession of magic crystals one procured by themselves.

'If we score big today, then things might improve at home for a while.'

Jin-Woo nervously swallowed down his saliva.

Ju-Hui saw his determined expression and asked him.

"Is that how the expression of someone who's a Hunter as a hobby looks like?"

Jin-Woo shrugged his shoulders.

"Who'd bet their lives in their main line of profession nowadays? Unless it's a hobby, obviously."

"…..Eh?"

Just as a dumbfounded expression formed on Ju-Hui's face, Song pushed the dungeon's door and it creaked open.

There must've been some sort of mechanism installed on the heavy-looking door, since the physical strength of a sixty-year-old man was enough to easily open it.

Slam!

Now that the door was wide open, the huge open interior revealed itself. Hunters hurriedly rushed in.

"Let's go in as well."

Jin-Woo feared that he'd fall behind, so he grasped Ju-Hui's hand and took the lead.

"Ah….."

Ju-Hui's face reddened slightly as she followed after him.

As soon as Hunters sat foot inside, flames erupted on the numerous torches packed tightly on the walls all at the same time. Thanks to that, the interior brightened up considerably.

"What's the heck? The lights came on by themselves?"

"First time seeing a dungeon like this one."

"Something's…. different about this place."

Hunters cautiously studied their surroundings. The overall atmosphere of the place was similar to that of an ancient temple.

Not only that, an old and somewhat decrepit temple, something that might be buried and hidden beneath the ground; moss and weed could be seen sporadically on the floor, walls and the ceiling.

Several Hunters shrunk back and shuddered slightly.

"it's a bit creepy in here, isn't it?"

"Doesn't it feel like we're being watched by someone?"

Leaving behind the scared Hunters, the three, four strongest of the group went in deeper.

"Tsk! Don't say something that might jinx us, will ya?"

"Let's end this quickly and go home."

The interior was nonsensically huge. The chamber was shaped like a giant dome. It was as large as several Olympic stadiums, the one found in Seoul, were put together – no, maybe it was even bigger than that.

However, one couldn't help but feel that it was still inadequate.

The reason for that was rather obvious.

"That…. that thing over there…."

"N-no freaking way that thing's the boss, right?"

In the deepest part of the dome, something so logic-defyingly humongous sat on a throne just as big as itself. It was none other than a huge stone statue of a god!

"Oh, my god…."

"Wow."

Shocked gasps leaked out from the Hunters.

The first image popping up in Jin-Woo's head was of the Statue of Liberty in New York. If that statue sat down on a chair, wouldn't it be as big as that statue of the unknown god?

Well, Liberty was a woman, while the one sitting on the throne was a dude, though.

'No, hang on. Maybe it's even bigger than that…'

Hunters began nervously swallowing their saliva near the foot of the god statue. The taut and heavy apprehension and anxiety were clear to see on their faces as they worried about this statue being the dungeon's boss.

However, the statue did not budge an inch.

What a fortunate thing that was.

"Whew…."

Even Song spat out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, everyone. Spread out."

Now that they found some leeway, Hunters split among themselves and began searching around the vicinity.

"I don't think there's a single monster in here."

"You think so, too?"

"Never mind a monster, I can't even see a single bug, too."

The chamber of the stone god statue might have been massive, yet its actual inner structure was on the simpler side. On the walls, countless torches could be found there. And in front of these walls, more stone statues, slightly taller than a human being, stood tall and unmoving. There were lots of them here as well, found at a certain distance from one another.

"They are all rather beautiful, aren't they?"

"It's like, they are works of art, no?"

Objects held by each of the stone statues were varied and different.

Some held weapons, there was one with a book, some carried musical instruments, and even torches.

"It's as if…."

"They are like statues of a holy temple or something."

Song finished what Kim wanted to say.

"Mm?"

Then, Song found something beneath his feet.

"This… Isn't this a magic formation?"

He found a magic formation that he had never seen before located in the middle of this temple.

It was then.

"Excuse me, Mister Song? Ahjussi, something's written here. Can you come over here and take a look?"

One of the Hunters discovered a statue that was different from others and called out to Song.

Song stopped studying the magic formation and got up from the floor. Other Hunters all gathered around the statue Song was headed off to.

Only this statue featured a pair of wings and carried a stone slate. What the Hunters focused on was the letters carved into this slate. Song took a sweeping look at the slate and muttered to no one in particular.

"It's Rune alphabet."

The Rune 'alphabet'.

Words that could not be found anywhere on Earth, and found only within dungeons; only the Hunters who had 'awakened' the magic-related professions could decipher them.

"The laws of the Karutenon temple."

Song read the very first verse.

With a deeply nervous face, Jin-Woo listened to the contents of the slate, as read out by Mister Song.

However, someone suddenly tugged at his arm.

When he looked back, he spotted Ju-Hui and her deathly-pale complexion.

Chapter 2 Fin.

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Ju-Hui's complexion was incredibly poor; Seong Jin-Woo was deeply taken aback by this sight.

"What's wrong? Are you ill somewhere?"

"T-there. Over there."

Jin-Woo's eyes followed Ju-Hui's trembling pointing finger. She was pointing at the giant god statue. More specifically, she was pointing at the god statue's face.

Jin-Woo could only tilt his head in confusion because it looked pretty much the same as before.

Ju-Hui stuttered some words out.

"The, the eyes… The eyes of the god statue moved towards us. Just now."

"Pardon me?"

Jin-Woo looked again several times, but nothing seemed to have changed. There was no visible change to the god statue.

"Eii… I'm sure you've made a mistake."

However, it seemed like Ju-Hui didn't hear him; her head stayed lowered, and as she held onto Jin-Woo's arm, her entire body trembled even harder.

'Hang on a sec here.'

Even Jin-Woo picked up on this strange but ominous sensation now. The world was eerily quiet. So much so, it felt just too bizarre.

'No sounds….?'

Even the sounds of the flames burning on the torches could not be heard anymore.

"First law."

In the meantime, Song's voice continued on as he read the contents of the slate.

"Worship the god. Second law. Exalt the god. Third law. Prove your piety. Those who do not keep to these laws shall not leave this place alive."

It was then.

SLAM!!

Everyone was jolted back to their senses at the sudden explosion of noise.

"What, what was that?!"

"Where did that sudden noise come from?!"

The first person to notice the change in the situation was none other than Jin-Woo. Because his senses were running at full tilt already, he could tell where the noise was coming from right away.

"The door!! The door is closed!!"

As soon as Jin-Woo shouted out, everyone shifted their gazes towards the doorway. The door they left open was now firmly shut close.

"God d*mn it! I can't stand this!"

The Hunter who was the first to oppose the idea of continued exploration of the dungeon began spitting out cusses as he took large strides towards the door.

"I'm going home, so you all can have fun with a boss or treasures or whatever."

That Hunter glared at Song with an expression that contained all of his dissatisfaction before he spun his head around and angrily grabbed the door handle.

It happened, then.

Song's eyes grew extra large.

"No!!"

Splash!

The area above the Hunter's neck suddenly vanished. The headless body powerlessly collapsed to the ground.

"K, kkkkyaaachk?!"

"Uwaa?! Uwaak!!"

Hunters began screaming their heads off.

The stone statue that smashed a human's head apart with a steel mace returned to its original spot next to the door, as if nothing important had happened, its body completely covered in fresh blood.

"That, that thing can move?!"

"What the hell?? Does that mean every statue in here can move, too?!"

"We gotta fight against these things?"

"I couldn't even see that d*mn thing swing the mace, so how can I?!"

Unlike others here, though, Jin-Woo knew the truth.

….Their troubles only had just begun.

Didn't Ju-Hui say it earlier?

"The, the eyes… The eyes of the god statue moved towards us. Just now."

'If what she said is true….'

A chill rapidly ran down his spine.

Jin-Woo forced his stiff neck to turn around so he could look behind him.

"….Oh, sh*t."

The stone statue of the god was looking down at him.

Part 3: Commencement of the attack

It was then, the god statue's two black eyes changed to red.

Was this the instincts of a Hunter?

No, the instincts of a living being were sending out urgent warning signals.

Something was coming.

Something none of them could contend with!

Jin-Woo turned towards the other Hunters and cried out as loudly as he could.

"Get down!!"

Almost at the same time, red beams of light shot out from the eyes of the god statue. Jin-Woo hugged Ju-Hui and threw their bodies to the floor.

BUZZZ!!

The beam shot right by the spot Jin-Woo had been standing.

A tenth of a second.

No, he survived by one-hundredth of a second.

That was definitely too close for comfort.

Unfortunately, not everyone was as lucky as Jin-Woo.

"Uwaaahk?!"

"Euh-ahahack!!"

Those who were swallowed up by the red light evaporated where they stood. Only the ashes of what used to be human Hunters remained where the beam flew past.

The screams came not from the dead Hunters, but those who witnessed their final moments from the sidelines, actually.

"What the f*ck was that?!"

"Euh, euh-euh…"

"How, how can such a thing even be…"

The remaining Hunters began freaking out.

Out of the seventeen Hunters, only eleven survived.

Not one of them had ever experienced such a powerful attack before in their lives.

'I barely made it because he told me to get down.'

'If it wasn't for Mister Seong's shouts….'

Hunters stared at Jin-Woo while nervously swallowing their saliva. Jin-Woo turned out to be their unlikely saviour. Without his timely warning, they could only imagine what would've happened to them and that thought sent chills down their spines.

While still lying prostrate on the ground, Jin-Woo glared at the god statue.

Its eyes were still glowing in red, but it did not attack again.

'Is the attack… over?'

Jin-Woo looked underneath him. The scared-silly Yi Ju-Hui was trembling in his arms.

This was the reason why she worked for the Association and not for a big Guild, and participated in simple raids like this one, even though she was nominally an excellent Hunter with a rank as high as 'B'.

Ju-Hui's breathing was getting rougher by the second.

He couldn't let her be like this. He had to do something.

Jin-Woo was about to raise his body up, thinking that he gotta do something here, but then, someone grabbed his shoulders and pushed him back down, hard.

"Don't get up."

It was Mister Song, somehow next to the youth before anyone had noticed it. Jin-Woo was flustered, but still did as he was told.

Song then shouted at the other Hunters.

"Nobody move! Stay exactly where you are!"

Song looked around before focusing on Jin-Woo.

"Only those that moved got killed. Those who listened to you and got down survived."

"It seems that way."

Song tilted his head slightly.

"I thought you warned us because you figured something out?"

"No, well, I just felt something dangerous was coming, so…."

A flash of light brushed past Song's eyes just then.

'His instincts are pretty good, in other words. He's a rank E Hunter? If only his abilities were a bit higher….'

Just as Song stared at Jin-Woo with a rueful expression, Jin-Woo too found a little bit of leeway to check out the older Hunter's condition.

And the youth's eyes opened up wider after finding something pretty terrible.

"A-ahjussi, your, your… Your arm?!"

"This is nothing. I can still hold on."

"But, but, still…."

Jin-Woo swallowed down his saliva.

Song's other hand that wasn't pressing down on Jin-Woo's shoulder, his left arm, was gone.

Song studied Ju-Hui's conditions for a bit, before he took off the T-shirt he was wearing, and while not even showing the enormous amount of pain he must be feeling, he wrapped up what was left of his left arm.

"Help me tie up the end, please? It's difficult to so with only one hand."

Jin-Woo could only nod his head then.

They were able to somehow stop the bleeding for now.

Rather than a scream or a pained moan, Song let out a long sigh. It was a sigh containing ten years' worth of experience as a Hunter.

"Fuu….."

Now that the first-aid was over, Song's gaze became a level sharper as he studied his surroundings. Although the god statue stopped attacking them, their situation hadn't improved in the slightest.

And like so, seconds continued to tick by.

"Sob, sob…."

"Just why do we have to suffer like this, this….."

A few Hunters even began shedding tears now.

"We can't stay like this forever!!"

The patience of the other Hunters was running out as well. Jin-Woo agreed with that sentiment, though.

'Right, we can't stay here forever.'

But, what could he possibly do here? If Song's suspicion was correct, then the moment they moved, they'd get attacked.

And, even if they got lucky and managed to evade the beams and reach the door, there were the two stone statues guarding the doorway to worry about, as well.

They were a big problem too, actually.

The movements of the doorkeepers were so fast that he couldn't see it with his eyes. Could he or anyone else open the door and escape before those statues attacked them?

It sounded completely impossible.

Which meant that the annihilation of the Hunters was just a matter of time.

'Wait….. A matter of time?'

When his thoughts arrived there, a strong sense of disharmony filled him up.

An event that couldn't have happened, but it happened anyway.

But no one else seemed to have picked up on "it" yet.

'Something… We missed something here.'

Without a doubt, the answer to their salvation hid in that 'something'.

It was then.

"Don't move!"

Song shouted at Mister Joo, who was at the far end of the group.

"Shut up! Who knows when that thing will start attacking us again!! But you want me to stay here and wait?!"

Mister Joo was a close-combat type Hunter.

These types of Hunters possessed far, far superior physical abilities than regular human beings. On top of this, Joo was about to sign up with a big Guild after his skills were acknowledged by them not too long ago as well.

"I'll not die here today."

While keeping low to the ground, Joo put all his strength down to his legs.

His aim was at the doorway.

The muscles on his legs were swelling up fast.

"D*mn it…."

Song could only mutter out to himself.

Right then, Joo kicked the ground and exploded forward.

Meanwhile, Jin-Woo hurriedly turned his head to look at the god statue. Just as he suspected, the eyes of the statue were fixed on the back of mister Joo.

And then, the chilling red ray shot out from those eyes.

BUZZ!!

The beam slammed on the back of Mister Joo.

"Kkyaaahck!!"

The female Hunter screamed at the top of her lungs.

She must've developed a leak, because a puddle of yellow liquid formed where she was squatting on the ground.

The expressions of the Hunters froze, hard.

"Oh my god…."

Mister Joo no longer stood where the red beam flew past. Only the pair of ownerless ankles could be seen now.

One of the men with a weaker constitution began emptying the contents of his stomach.

"B-blergh!!"

Jin-Woo's expression also crumpled as well.

As expected, the god statue could easily finish them off if it felt like it. It'd be easier than stepping on squirming bugs, actually.

'If that's the case, then…. Why hadn't it?'

It could kill them, yet it hadn't done that.

This was a completely different pattern of behaviour compared to the monsters that attacked as soon as spotting human Hunters in their vicinity.

These statues only moved if certain conditions were met: the doorkeepers that only attacked if someone approached the door; the eyes of the god statue firing that red beam if someone moved.

It was like a game with a set regulation.

'Hang on… Could there be some kind of rules in this chamber?'

It was here that a piece of puzzle found its place in Jin-Woo's head. He began recalling the contents of the stone slate Song was reading not too long ago, that was why.

'The laws of the… Karutenon temple, was it?'

'Regulation' was 'rules', and 'rules' could be 'laws' as well.

The key to their safe escape from this camber had to be buried within those warnings found on the stone slate.

"….Worship the god."

That was the first law.

"Mm? Did you just say something?"

Song shifted his gaze back to Jin-Woo.

Instead of a reply, Jin-Woo simply placed his index finger on his lips. It was a sign asking for a bit of time to think.

'If my thoughts are right…'

Jin-Woo slowly rose up.

Song hurriedly tried to stop the youth, but Jin-Woo shook his head while carrying a determined expression.

'….Doesn't look like he gave up on living.'

Song nodded his head.

Jin-Woo kept his eyes trained squarely at the god statue and carefully stood up.

Almost right away, the eyes of the statue were fixed on Jin-Woo.

BUZZZ!!

And as expected, the red beam was fired in his direction.

If he got down to the ground a moment slower, it'd be his face melting away, instead of a few strands of hair on top of his head!

Lying face down on the ground, Jin-Woo breathed in and out quite heavily.

"Heok, heok, heok, heok."

He nearly died just then. The moment the statue's eyes met his, he thought he was going to die for sure. He somehow did dodge it, but his legs wouldn't stop shaking from the fear.

'Still….'

Still, he learned something important just now.

'It's not attacking someone who's moving around.'

As long as he was squatting low to the ground, he could go anywhere he wanted to and the statue's eyes would remain still.

However, if one stood up, then the red beam would be fired without hesitation.

'The d*mn thing only attacks if we breach a certain height.'

That was why Jin-Woo bet his life on proving this theory right just now.

And now, he was sure of it.

The meaning behind the first law, that was!

Chapter 3 Fin.

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Part 4: The Three Laws

Jin-Woo shouted out towards the rest of the Hunters.

"Everyone!"

Their attention shifted towards him in an instant.

Jin-Woo spoke as he met their gazes.

"You must kowtow towards the god statue!"

Hunters began tilting their heads after hearing him.

"Kowtow….?"

"You want us to kowtow to that statue?"

Hunters exchanged glances with each other, before loudly cussing out at Jin-Woo.

"F*ck you! What bullsh*t are you spewing here?!"

"What the hell! How can you say something like that under the current circumstances?!"

"Have you lost your mind, Seong Jin-Woo?!"

Kim's face became boiling-red as he began snorting like a bull.

"I had no idea you, Mister Seong, would be like this! If I could move, then I'd have punched you in the face already!!"

Jin-Woo bit on his lower lip.

Six of their comrades were killed by the god statue. So, it was rather obvious that the surviving Hunters would cuss him out when he told them to kowtow towards that abominable thing.

It wasn't hard to understand what these Hunters were feeling at the moment.

'And, the most important thing is….'

The most important thing was, he had no logical evidence to back his theory up. He only had his gut feelings.

Indeed, that was the only way to describe it.

However…

"I'll do as you say."

That voice came from Jin-Woo's back. Everyone's eyes immediately shifted there.

It was Mister Song, effectively the leader of this group.

"Mister Song ahjussi?"

"You are going to kowtow to that f*cking statue?"

Just as other Hunters began to freak out, Song looked straight at Jin-Woo.

"Young man. You've discovered something, haven't you?"

Jin-Woo resolutely nodded his head.

"Is it your instinct again?"

"…..Yes. For the time being."

"I see."

Just now, eleven people survived thanks to Jin-Woo's instincts.

Well, with the death of Mister Joo, there were ten now, but still – if it was Jin-Woo's instincts, then wouldn't it be worth believing it at least once more?

That's what Song thought.

When Song knelt down and kowtowed towards the god statue, the mood had become solemn and silent.

"….He's really doing it."

Seizing upon this opportunity, Jin-Woo shouted out once more.

"Everyone, I beg of you! Please kneel before the god statue. We might be able to get out of here alive!"

Might live.

Might be able to get out alive.

The impact those simple words carried was quite explosive.

'We might live?'

'We can get out of here?'

'With just one kowtow?!'

The hesitant Hunters began to plop down to the ground, as if they were really kowtowing. The number of them performing the act gradually increased. In the end, even the complaining Kim bowed his head towards the statue.

However, there was no visible change to the god statue. Indeed, those chilling red light still shone from the eyes of the statue.

Jin-Woo felt his heart go cold.

'Was I wrong?'

It was here that his gaze shifted to Ju-Hui next to him.

No matter how generous one was, it was difficult to describe her posture of squatting on the ground shivering, while holding her head in her hands as her kowtowing.

'What if….'

Jin-Woo carefully grasped Ju-Hui's wrist.

She raised her head like a scared cat. Seeing her, Jin-Woo wordlessly nodded his head. Only then did she relax her muscles somewhat.

With that, Jin-Woo was able to slowly change her posture.

'Done.'

There was only one person remaining now. And that would be him.

Jin-Woo knelt down towards the god statue, placed his hands on the ground, and slowly lowered his head.

Finally, something began to change.

"Huh? Uh, uhh?!"

Hunters who had noticed the change first raised their voices.

"The god statue!! Look at the statue!!"

"It's eyes!"

The red light buzzing in its eyes was gradually weakening.

"What the hell? Is this really going to work??"

Eventually, the red light completely vanished.

"Oh!! Ohhh!!"

Hunters began rejoicing loudly.

"The red light is gone!!"

"We made it!!"

The excited Hunters began standing up one at the time. Even then, the statue didn't fire the red beam.

Jin-Woo belatedly raised his head and spat out a sigh of relief.

"Whew…."

Just as he suspected – this chamber operated strictly within the set regulations.

'If that's the case….'

Then, this game was far from over. Two more 'laws' still remained. The second law, exalt the god. And the third law, prove one's piety.

It was then.

RUMBLE!!

Accompanied by a goosebump-inducing noise, the entire chamber began to shake.

Jin-Woo's expression hardened immediately.

'As I thought….'

His suspicions proved to be correct once more.

Things were only getting started.

The humongous god statue was slowly rising up from the stone throne.

"Huh?! Huhhh???"

Hunters were hugging each other while shedding tears of joy until then, but when they realised this turn of events, they all froze up like statues themselves.

"What…. what the hell!! It wasn't over yet?!"

"This, this can't be!!"

None of them could articulate what they wanted to say. Despair rapidly dyed their expressions.

"Ah…..Ah, ah…"

Soon, the god statue completely stood up from the throne.

The 'creature' swept its gaze around once, and began walking towards the Hunters.

THUD!!

Every time the god statue stepped on the ground, the whole world seemed to shake.

THUD!!

It was so tall that its head was almost scraping against the chamber's indescribably high ceiling.

THUD!!

Even when the Hunters were overwhelmed by the statue's sheer size, the thing was gradually closing its distance to them.

"Mister Seong!! Mister Seong Jin-Woo!!"

"What can we do??"

The Hunters who were cussing at Jin-Woo only a short while ago hurriedly began crowding around him.

"Is there a way out of this?"

"Say something!!"

All these adults were forming tearful expressions as if they'd start breaking down in sobs and wails very soon.

Currently, Jin-Woo was their only hope.

Jin-Woo helped the frozen-stiff Ju-Hui up from the ground and began talking about the second law.

"Exalt the god. That's the key."

"Wait, isn't that…?!"

Kim suddenly butted in as if he knew something others didn't.

"Isn't that what's written on the slate?"

"Correct. Worship the god. Exalt the god. And finally, prove your piety. We need to satisfy all three laws."

Jin-Woo began speaking faster and faster.

Why? The god statue was already a stone's throw away from them.

THUD!!

Everyone's complexion paled as the gigantic shadow loomed over them.

"Let, let me try something."

A young male Hunter who usually kept to himself suddenly took a step forward.

"What the?! What are you trying to do?"

"I've been in a church choir. I'm confident if it's about 'exalting' something."

The young Hunter slowly stepped forward towards the statue while disregarding the dissuasion of Kim. He regulated his breathing while looking up at the god statue before he took a large gulp of air.

"I come to you, Lord…."

His clear voice began reverberating within the chamber.

"….Renew my faith once more….. Bless me with your grace, Lord…"

The statue stopped its march in front of the singing Hunter.

"Oh!! Ohhh!!"

Hunters began gasping out in elation. The god statue didn't move from the spot as if it was absorbed by the singing.

All the other noises in the room vanished. Only the young man's voice could be heard in the chamber's interior.

The young Hunter was encouraged by this and carried on.

"All the weakness found in me… Through your love, I shall overcome…"

Among the Hunters, only Jin-Woo was shuddering from this ominous sensation filling him up.

'This… this is wrong.'

Jin-Woo swallowed up his words several times.

The chamber featured its own set of rules. But the young Hunter was 'exalting' the god statue with the 'rule' of Christianity, not with the rules of this chamber.

Thankfully, the statue wasn't moving – but, could singing that hymn qualify as upholding the rules?

Jin-Woo shook his head.

The only reason why he didn't say anything was solely because he couldn't think of a better way to stop the god statue himself.

It was right then!

THUD!!

The weighty noise reverberated throughout the chamber.

"K, kkkkyyyyaaahhhk!!"

The female Hunter screamed at the top of her lungs.

When the stone statue lifted its leg up, bloody mess of what used to be the young Hunter could be found on the ground as well as on the bottom of its foot.

Other Hunters began screaming in panic and shock, too.

"Ahhhhh?!"

"Uwa, uwaaaahk!!"

The face of the statue, emotionless until then, was now crumpled in pure rage.

"It's angry!!"

"Run, run away!!"

Hunters dispersed away from the statue in a hurry.

Unfortunately for the female Hunter, she lost her reasoning and stood on the spot while screaming loudly after personally witnessing the death of the young male Hunter.

"K, kyaaachk!!"

'D*mn it…..'

Jin-Woo was running away while carrying Ju-Hui in his arms, but he turned around so he could go and help that woman out.

But then, Song stopped the youth.

"But, ahjussi…?"

"It's too late."

As if slapping a fly down, the god statue slammed its palm down at the female Hunter.

SLAM!!

"Keuk…"

Jin-Woo inadvertently shifted his gaze away. It was a truly gruesome sight and he couldn't bear to watch it unfold.

"There is no time to waste like this. Are you planning to let this girl die, too?"

Song's words sobered Jin-Woo up in an instant.

It was as he said.

THUD!!

"Uwaahk!!"

THUD!

THUD!!!

"Help me!!"

The statue was not walking around anymore.

No, it was actually running around and stepping on the humans it found nearby. Whenever the thing stepped on the ground, the entire chamber shook around, hard.

THUD!! THUD!!

Jin-Woo gritted his teeth and began running again. Ju-Hui squeezed her eyes shut and held onto him for her dear life.

"Let's split up!"

"Yes!"

Thinking that moving around together was dangerous, Jin-Woo and Song ran in separate directions.

Jin-Woo made sure to run towards the furthest corner from the frenzied god statue. However, there was another Hunter who had arrived there before he did.

It was Mister Park.

Park was running with everything he had.

Tears formed on the edges of his eyes when he recalled his family.

"Sob…"

Back home, a son who resembled him so much and a wife pregnant with their second child was waiting for him. He couldn't die here, not like this.

Perhaps because he ran with everything he had, he was able to run the furthest away from the statue out of everyone here.

"Pant, pant…."

As Park tried to control his heavy breathing in the corner, his friend Kim urgently shouted at him.

"Mister Park!!"

Park raised his head after hearing the familiar voice.

"Yeah?"

Kim pointed at the spot behind Park and cried out.

"Your back!! Look behind you!!"

It was then, something sharp gleamed coldly behind Mister Park.

"Uh…?"

Slice!

Park was sliced in half from the top of his head right down to his groin. His cleanly-cut two halves fell to the ground.

"PARK!!"

The stone statue that killed Park with its greatsword returned to its position as if nothing had happened, exactly like how the doorkeeper did before.

Kim began tearing up after witnessing this scene.

"You sons of b*tches….!!"

THUD!!

THUD!!

Behind him, the humongous god statue was stepping on and killing humans one at the time, and if you ran towards the corner in order to avoid it, then the stone statues located there would start attacking you.

"U, uwaaaah!!"

"My arm!! My armmmm!!"

The interior of the chamber swiftly fell into chaos.

"Heok, heok…."

Cold sweat dripped down from Jin-Woo's forehead.

His legs were getting heavier. His breathing was getting rougher and rougher. However, his head was filled with only one chain of thought.

'Exalt the god. Exalt the god. Exalt the god….'

The words of the second law circulated in his brain non-stop. The key to unravelling this mystery definitely existed within this chamber.

Something within this chamber that they could use!

However, when the Hunters first entered this place, they had searched every nook and cranny, but didn't find a single contraption nor things that might be some kind of tools.

'No, back then or now, the only things here that can move are the stone statues.'

It was then.

A thought raced past Jin-Woo's brain just then.

'Only things moving in here are the statues?'

D*mn it.

Jin-Woo's eyes widened.

"Why haven't I thought of that before?!"

If the only things that could move were the stone statues, then the only thing he could use had to be them, too.

These statues activated when humans got near them, meaning he had to take advantage of this rule.

'What if….!'

Even though he was running short of breath, Jin-Woo roared out loud enough to shake the entire chamber.

"Run towards the statues holding musical instruments!!"

Chapter 4 Fin.

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All the Hunters still alive heard Jin-Woo's voice.

"Instruments?"

A ray of hope found its way into the eyes of the Hunters.

Quite different to back when he told them to kowtow, everyone moved unbelievably quickly. If Jin-Woo was wrong about this, then as soon as arriving near one, they would be killed by the stone statues holding the musical instruments. However, no one here questioned Jin-Woo's words.

Song was the first one to arrive in front of a statue carrying a musical instrument.

Song controlled his heavy breathing and raised his head to look at the statue. And as if it was a lie, the fingers of the statue moved and strummed on the harp.

Cling, clang…

A beautiful melody flowed out.

"It's working!!"

"Hurry to the statues with instruments!!"

Hunters ran towards the nearest correct statues in hurried footsteps.

The statue with a trumpet began blowing it triumphantly; one with a flute began playing with it; the one holding the lyre strummed on its strings.

"Heok, heok, heok…."

While sensing the approach of his physical limit, Kim somehow arrived in front of the statue that held a buzuka and plopped down to the ground. (TL: I don't know what this buzuka could be. TLed as is from the raw.) (ED: Probably either a Bazooka or a Bouzouki, both from the 1900's.)

Ttiring, ttring….

As soon as the statue began playing the instrument, the god statue stopped chasing after Kim. He must've been overcome with emotions, because Kim then began shedding tears while he stayed down on his knees.

"Sob…. Sob…."

Meanwhile, the god statue turned around. The 'creature' searched around and soon enough, found its next prey.

"God d*mn it."

Jin-Woo spat out a cuss as his gaze met the god statue's.

He then began running hard – so hard that his heart might explode. His back was already soaked through in sweat.

'Why?! Why isn't it working?!'

Jin-Woo's resentful glare landed on the stone statue in front of him. The statue holding a drum showed no signs of moving at all.

THUD!! THUD!! THUD!!

The god statue closed in with frightening speed. He was practically on the other side of the chamber from the d*mn thing, yet the distance between the two shortened in no time at all.

Jin-Woo swallowed down his saliva.

'Could it be that the statue won't play because there are two people here? Me and Miss Ju-Hui?'

He couldn't think of anything else. Why? Because, other statues were playing music just fine as soon a Hunter stood in front of it.

'There is no time to think anymore.'

Jin-Woo put Ju-Hui down and got ready to run to somewhere else.

"M, Mister Jin-Woo….."

Still terrified out of her mind, Ju-Hui clung onto Jin-Woo's sleeve. Jin-Woo calmly whispered in her ear.

"We'll both die if we stay together."

Tears began forming on Ju-Hui's eyes. Her fingers trembled as they held onto his clothes. Unfortunately, there was no time to explain to her in detail. Jin-Woo carefully pried her hand away and began running in the opposite direction as hard as he could.

Boom, boom, boom….

When he glanced back, the statue behind Ju-Hui began beating its drum in a slow but steady rhythm.

'What a relief.'

There was only one thing remaining now: to run to the other statue without getting killed!

Only Jin-Woo hadn't received the protection of the music-playing statues. Quite obviously, the rage of the god statue was solely directed to Jin-Woo and him alone.

Jin-Woo did his best to avoid the foot of the thing that rivalled a building in size and crossed the room in a hurry.

THUD!

THUD!!

He fell and rolled around but still, he somehow managed to avoid getting flattened by the god statue's foot.

"Heok, heok."

He might only have been a rank E, but he was still a close-combat type Hunter so his physique came in handy in situations like this.

'Just a little bit further!! A bit more!'

Jin-Woo kept an eye out on the god statue's movements and ran even harder.

His speed increased.

And when the distance remaining between him and the stone statue was mere a dozen feet…

"No, that's the wrong one!!"

….Mister Song cried out to him.

Jin-Woo had been paying attention to the god statue only; he was stunned by the shout and hurriedly turned his head take a look at his front.

"Ahh!!"

It's not a statue with an instrument?

He belatedly realised that the thing that looked like a musical instrument from afar was actually a shield, instead. And sure enough, the statue mercilessly stabbed down with its shield.

"Heok!"

Jin-Woo hurriedly threw himself to the side.

"Kkyahhk!!"

Ju-Hui screamed.

Jin-Woo rolled on the ground and when he came to a stop, he raised his head to see the god statue standing right in front of his nose.

"It's one thing after another…."

His forehead must've been torn from him rolling on the ground, because blood was flowing down and blurred his vision. His view was restricted and he couldn't look too far away.

Jin-Woo quickly searched around his vicinity.

'An instrument…. an instrument….'

However, no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't see a single statue holding an instrument nearby.

Meanwhile, the god statue raised its leg over Jin-Woo's position.

"Heok!"

THUD!!

Jin-Woo threw himself again and somehow avoided the foot of the statue again.

But he had reached his limit.

A powerful dizziness was assaulting him and for some reason, he couldn't even balance himself.

'Please….'

If there was a real god, he thought that he'd start praying right about now.

It was then, Jin-Woo spotted a stone statue that held neither a weapon or a musical instrument.

'Is that…?'

Jin-Woo decided to bet everything on that statue. He crawled on the ground and arrived in front of the statue in question. He then managed to flip his body around and lied down on the ground so he could see the god statue.

He no longer had any energy to move.

"Pant, pant…."

Jin-Woo stared at the approaching god statue and continued to roughly breathe in and out.

The expression of the god statue was far more contorted compared to before as if it got infuriated further by Jin-Woo's continued evasion.

The god statue now stopped in front of Jin-Woo. Seeing a 'creature' as big as a high-rise blocking his entire view, Jin-Woo felt like he couldn't breathe anymore.

"Pant, pant….."

Did it think he was nothing more than a cornered rat? The god statue simply looked down at him and didn't do anything else.

'This is the end….'

Jin-Woo sensed his own unavoidable death approaching closer after looking straight into the eyes of the god statue.

However…

Wu-wu-wu….

From somewhere behind him, a beautiful and otherworldly voice came out.

Jin-Woo turned his head around to see what was going on.

Wu-wu, wu-wu-wu….

The lips of the stone statue holding a book moved, and whenever they did, a divine song flowed out and filled the interior of the massive chamber.

Wu-wu-wu, wu….

The crumpled expression of the god statue slowly reverted back to the emotionless state. Soon, all those horrifyingly contorted facial muscles of the stature smoothed out.

When the song of the stone statues came to its eventual end, the god statue turned around. Then, just how other stone statues had done until now, it returned to its throne and settled down as if things that happened until now were nothing but a lie.

THUD!!

The noise of the god statue sitting down on the throne resounded throughout the chamber.

"Pant, pant….. Barely, made, it…"

A thin smile formed on Jin-Woo's lips.

Meanwhile, Ju-Hui began running from her position at the far end of the chamber.

"Mister Jin-Woo!!"

She ran with all her might and knelt down next to him as tears streamed down on her face.

"What can I do…. What am I supposed to…."

She summoned all of her magical energy and activated her healing magic. However, nothing seemed to improve.

The dispersed Hunters gathered around Jin-Woo one by one. Every single one of them carried a dark expression.

"What… Mister Jin-Woo…."

Even then, only Ju-Hui was crying in sorrow.

Why was everyone acting like this?

Jin-Woo's lips bobbled up and down. He wanted to ask what was going on, but he couldn't really summon forth his own voice.

Sensing that he had no choice, he tried to prop himself up.

Then, he noticed the pool of blood around his lower torso. Only then did he belatedly realise the change to his body.

"Ah….."

Below his right knee was gone.

Jin-Woo's eyes reflexively shifted toward the stone statue holding the shield. He then saw the trail of blood clearly visible on the end of the shield.

And the rest of his right leg was just below that.

Drip. Drip.

Drops of blood started falling from Ju-Hui's nose. That was the sign of her reaching the limits of her physical stamina.

The healing magic from a rank B Healer was unable to recover missing limbs. Meaning, what she was doing was basically pouring water into a broken jug. Her stamina rapidly bottomed out in the end.

"It's fine now… Miss Ju-Hui. You can stop…."

"I'm going to heal you!! I'll fix you as good as new!"

Hunters stared at the two of them while forming miserable expressions.

Out of the seventeen who initially entered this chamber only six remained now. And from this group of six, two of them had suffered horrible, grievous wounds. Song had lost his arm, while Jin-Woo lost his leg.

They might have survived, but none of them felt like rejoicing at the moment. It was then, yet another strange noise rocked the chamber.

RUMBLE….!!

The middle of the temple, where that strange magic formation could be found, suddenly rose up above the ground.

Jin-Woo inwardly thought that it had finally come.

'Prove your piety, is it….'

He already had a rough idea as to what those words could mean.

Part 5: Final Trial

The circular magic formation in the centre of the temple began rising up noisily and only stopped after reaching the height of a couple of steps.

"An altar…"

Hunters displayed alert reactions as soon as Jin-Woo muttered out.

'An altar….?'

'He just said it's an altar….'

The person who had rescued them from the two preceding crises was not some high ranked Hunter, but rank E Jin-Woo, who used to be the butt of their jokes most of the time.

'If it weren't for Mister Seong, all of us would have been….'

Hunters were thinking this exact same thought. Under the current circumstances, Jin-Woo's words were their lifeline.

And now, that Jin-Woo had muttered out a word 'altar'.

Kim always was quick on the uptake and so, he caught onto the meaning first before anyone else had the chance to do so.

"I get it now. I see how it is."

Kim then unsheathed the sword hanging on his hips.

Now originally, this weapon would be used to cut various monsters down. But for now, it'd have to be utilised for a different purpose altogether.

"Even if I'm a dumb b*stard, I can more or less get what you're trying to say here."

Hunters nervously swallowed their saliva while looking at the sharp, coldly-gleaming blade.

"Oii, Mister Kim. Why are you pulling your sword out like that?"

"Why don't we talk about this first? Let's talk first."

The highest ranked member among the group, rank C Hunter Song was heavily injured, meaning there was no one here that could potentially stop Kim, who boasted a pretty powerful set of skills himself even within the D rank.

Kim pointed towards the altar with his sword.

"The final law, prove your piety. And there's an altar appearing out of nowhere in the middle of this place."

Kim's gaze then shifted to Jin-Woo.

"So, aren't we supposed to offer up a sacrifice? Mister Seong?"

Jin-Woo slowly nodded his head. That was what the youth thought as well. One of the surviving six had to act as a sacrifice.

'That's what the last law probably meant….'

Jin-Woo came to this conclusion.

He sensed more disturbance and raised his head, and realised that the eyes of Mister Kim as he approached closer did not look friendly at all.

A long sweatdrop glided down Jin-Woo's forehead.

"Ahjussi… What….?"

"You, young man, don't say anything and be still!!"

Kim angrily shouted out and pointed his sword at Mister Song, who was squatting next to Jin-Woo in order to check out the youth's condition.

"Just who was it that dragged us to this place? Wasn't it this guy? Yes, it was Mister Song! So, don't you think it's only right for Mister Song to take the ultimate responsibility?"

"Ahjussi!"

Jin-Woo tried to get up in a fit of anger, but then, Song's hand that resembled the bark of an aged tree stopped the youth.

Jin-Woo looked at Song in disbelief.

Song wordlessly shook his head. His eyes were pleading with Jin-Woo, asking the youth to not say anything else. Of course, Jin-Woo had lots of things to say, but he kept them down for now.

Song slowly raised his body up.

"What Mister Kim said is right. I should take the blame for today."

"Old man, I guess we are now finally on the same page."

Kim used the tip of his sword to point towards the altar.

"If you get it now, then let's get going already. Over ten people died here because of you, old man."

Chapter 5 Fin

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One of the dead Hunters today happened to be Mister Park, a personal friend to Mister Kim.

Exploring the dual dungeon was decided with the vote involving everyone, but Kim had already erased that memory off his head after losing much of his reasoning.

Mister Song spoke to Kim.

"I'd like to walk on my own volition, so can you put the sword away?"

Of course, Kim refused right away.

"How can I trust you, old man? Stop wasting time and start moving already."

Song sighed softly under his breath and walked towards the altar. Kim pointed his sword at the older man's back and followed on afterwards.

Jin-Woo bit his lower lip while watching the two men walk away.

'This isn't the fault of Mister Song.'

More than half of the group agreed to do it together. Just because things had gone south, blaming Song for everything was simply too cowardly, he thought.

'But, I….'

Jin-Woo unfortunately did not possess enough strength to stop Kim here.

Kim, thought to be one of the best among the rank D, and Seong Jin-Woo, easily the worst of the rank E. The difference in their strengths was all too clear for him to see. Not only that, Jin-Woo had even lost a leg.

If he tried to confront Kim as he was now, there was a chance that him and even Ju-Hui, who had been focusing solely on healing him, could meet with disaster.

"D*mn it."

Jin-Woo squeezed his eyes shut. He never hated his own powerlessness as much as he did today.

In the meantime, Song had stepped up on the raised altar.

Suddenly, a red flame lit up near the outer perimeter of the altar as soon as he did. Everyone nervously swallowed their saliva and observed the unfolding situation carefully.

However, nothing else happened. Just a single flame came to life, and that was it.

They waited for a while but there was no visible change at all. Not only Kim, but everyone else got flustered by this situation.

Kim quickly turned his head and spoke to Jin-Woo.

"Look here, Mister Seong. This wasn't it?"

Jin-Woo also shook his head.

"Even I…."

He too thought that once a person chosen as the sacrifice stepped up on the altar, the third law of 'prove one's piety' would be completed.

'It's not about offering up a sacrifice?'

If so, then it was not necessarily bad news. If the law was not about sacrifices, then it meant Mister Song could still saved.

Jin-Woo's expression brightened somewhat.

He sweated bucket-loads as he tried to stand up, and two Hunters nearby quickly lent their assistance.

"Please take me closer to the altar so I can study it."

"Mister Jin-Woo, your injuries are…."

Ju-Hui also got up from her spot to follow after Jin-Woo. Her complexion was rather pale after expending too much of her magical energy.

But because she had worked so hard, Jin-Woo's blood loss had been temporarily halted and the pain he felt was reduced to a barely noticeable degree.

'I gotta hurry up.'

The current condition of Ju-Hui, Kim's boiling rage, Song's injuries, and the frightened Hunters – he didn't have a lot of time here.

Jin-Woo eventually arrived at the altar with the help from other Hunters.

"Let's climb up on the altar."

The two Hunters flinched from his statement, but they trusted Jin-Woo and stepped up. Then, three more flames lit up. Right away, Jin-Woo's eyes gleamed brightly.

'It's the same number as the people on the altar.'

Mister Song and Jin-Woo, plus two others who helped the youth – indeed, the flames lit up to match the number of people standing on the altar.

And it kind of looked like that these four flames were drawing a circle outside the altar.

'If I take into consideration the space between the flames, two more will complete the circle.'

It seemed that all the remaining people had to climb up on the altar for something, anything, to get started. Jin-Woo turned his head to ask Song.

"If we wait here, do you think other Hunters will come to rescue us?"

Song shook his head.

"Today is the seventh day since the Gate showed up. These things will start moving first before the help arrives."

"Because it's a Gate ranked D, I see that it's been left alone for far too long."

"Well, that's how the Association operates, isn't it."

A Gate would open up fully after the seventh day. The real meaning of a raid was to kill the dungeon's boss monster and therefore close the Gate before that happened. When failing to do so, the monsters trapped in the dungeons would be set free from the dungeon and they would be able to roam the outside world.

Jin-Woo looked behind him.

The giant god statue was still looking down on them with an overbearing, arrogant expression from its throne.

'If that thing manages to go outside, then….'

The ensuing chaos would be unimaginable. Of course, before that happened, Hunters coming to this chamber to rescue them would all be killed by the statues first.

He was now sure of the fact that they could not wait here forever. Jin-Woo called out to Ju-Hui and Kim.

"Both of you, climb up."

Ju-Hui stepped up on the altar first. The hesitant Kim also followed suit soon afterwards. Two more flames lit up and the circle was now complete.

And then….

Hunters were grandly stunned by what happened next.

"What the hell?!"

"What's going on here?"

As Jin-Woo had suspected, yet another change took place.

'It's coming.'

From the outer most edge of the altar, small blue flames floated upwards and began drawing a circle of their own as well. There looked to be at least thirty of these blue flames, placed real tightly next to each other.

'34. 35. 36….'

Jin-Woo quickly counted them all as the blue flames completed the circle and he realised that there were 36 of them.

'The six red flames that lit up to match the number of people. And the 36 blue flames that appeared outside them. What could be the significance behind that number?'

It was then.

CLANG!

Without a warning, the resolutely-shut door suddenly opened up wide. Hunters reflexively flinched.

"Euk…!"

They all wanted so bad to run towards the wide-open doorway, but having seen the final moments of the choirboy Hunter, they found it hard to take the first step. If one tried to be the first, just who knew what might happen to them?

Everyone's gaze fixed on Jin-Woo as if to demand an answer from him. However, Jin-Woo's lips remained tightly shut.

He couldn't come up with a guess at the moment. He didn't know whether the open door was a trap, or they were now allowed to go out after they upheld the final law successfully.

Too bad for him, just as everyone was looking at Jin-Woo, a horrifying noise filled up the entire chamber.

Creak….

Creeeaaaak….

The heads of all six Hunters quickly snapped around to look.

"What was that?!"

"It, it's coming closer!!"

"Those d*mn things are all moving now!!"

Hunters' breathing quickened in an instant.

The stone statues that had only moved when a person got near were now several steps closer to the group. Jin-Woo only needed a short moment to figure out what happened, of course.

'No, the statues didn't move. It's the plinths below them that moved.'

That horrifying screech from earlier on most likely came from the plinths beneath the statues grating against the stone floor.

"….They are not moving anymore?"

Kim wiped the droplets of sweat on his forehead as he spoke.

While everyone was still staring at the statues, Jin-Woo's focus was on the blue flames. They had been going out one by one, and three of them had flickered out of existence already.

Creaaakkkk…

Hearing that screech, someone cried out.

"Wha-what was that?! Where did it come from?"

Jin-Woo quickly raised his head. The noise had come from his general direction. The stone statues facing him had moved a little bit closer.

'Why only my side….?'

Was it because he looked at somewhere else briefly?

In order to confirm, Jin-Woo closed his eyes.

The noise resounded out again.

Creaaaakkk…

As soon as he opened his eyes, the noise stopped.

"What the f*ck is going on here?!"

"What, what are we supposed to do about this?!"

Jin-Woo quickly shouted at others.

"Don't take your eyes off the statues, no matter what!"

When he thought about it, he realised that the statues first began moving closer to the group when others were busy looking at him.

'They creep closer when we are not looking at them.'

It was right then, another blue flame disappeared. However, there was still no discernible change to either the group or the statues.

'Could it be…?'

Cautiously raising his arm, Jin-Woo did his best not to take his eyes off the statues while checking the time with his wristwatch.

'As I thought.'

At an interval of one minute, a blue flame was being extinguished.

'The blue flames are the timer.'

It was quite likely that one of the main points of the third law was to stay within the altar until all 36 blue flames died out.

In other words, as long as everyone was keeping close watch on the statues, they'd be safe. It was quite possible that no one had to die at this final huddle.

Wanting to be more accurate about the remaining time, Jin-Woo began recounting the number of blue flames once more.

'There are thirty remaining….'

They only needed to endure thirty more minutes!

Unfortunately, Jin-Woo made a huge mistake, just then.

While he was counting the number of blue flames, his eyes wandered away for a brief moment, and that resulted in the statues creeping closer…

Creeeakkkk….

"Euuuh, uwaaaahhh!!"

The man standing on the opposite side screamed and ran towards the door. He simply couldn't hold on any longer as the horrifying screeching noise coming from his back frightened him so much.

As soon as he left the altar, one of the red flames disappeared.

"No!!"

Jin-Woo cried out urgently.

However, the man running as if he had gone crazy escaped through the open doorway without meeting a grizzly fate, which took everyone by surprise.

"What, what the hell?! Mister Seong! What's going on? That guy made it out alive!"

Kim shouted out, flustered.

Jin-Woo was standing with his back to the doorway so he couldn't really tell what was going on.

"Did something change?"

"The door…. The door has closed just a little."

"The door's closing?"

"No, no. After that guy left, the door moved a little bit, but then stopped."

Jin-Woo then recalled one of the red flames disappearing as soon as that man left the altar.

'God d*mn it!!'

He immediately felt his heart go cold.

One of the questions that he couldn't quite figure out until now as he stood on top of this altar finally had an answer.

How could standing on an altar be a proof of one's piety?

Indeed, he now had the answer to this quandary.

And that answer was probably the worst one for Jin-Woo, who had only one leg now and needed other's help just to keep his balance.

That 'open' doorway was a trap.

A false hope right in front of one's eyes!

If people saw the open door and climbed off the altar at the same time, the red flames would've gone out and the doorway would be closed shut again. And then, the banquet of raining blood and screams would inevitably follow next.

On the other hand, the 'altar' was the proverbial promised land.

If each one did what they had to do in their positions until the timer ran out, then their survival would be guaranteed.

So, it was between the false hope right in front of one's eyes, or the unseen promise of salvation.

The third law was a test to see if one could defend one's position without falling into the sweet temptation over yonder while constantly being under the encroaching threat of death.

However, two flies in the ointment happened in this situation.

The first one was Jin-Woo.

Originally, the remaining group of people would've ran straight for the open door, but they stopped first to listen to what Jin-Woo had to say and that helped them avoid the trap being sprung in the first place.

'We got lucky there.'

Indeed, that had to be the only explanation.

Such a thing was only possible because Jin-Woo managed to figure out the first two laws all by himself and earned the trust of others.

Unfortunately for him, the second fly also happened – something he didn't foresee: a deserter had appeared among their midst.

How would human beings react when there was a hope of survival right in front of their eyes? It was way too obvious.

The man helping Jin-Woo up abandoned the youth and bolted as well. Song hurriedly reached out and propped Jin-Woo up from his back.

Poof.

When that man left the altar, yet another red flame disappeared and as expected, the door closed a little bit more.

Creeeaaakkk…

"Huh?!Uh!!"

Kim dazedly pointed at the second deserter, but just like the first person to abandon them, he too safely escaped past the doorway.

Jin-Woo confirmed the number of remaining red flames and shouted out.

"We must not move! Any more than this, then it'll be the end!"

Chapter 6 Fin

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Front, back, left, and right.

In order to secure all four directions, four people were the bare minimum required.

Jin-Woo himself, Ju-Hui, Mister Song and finally, Mister Kim. A single person leaving now would result in a gap within the field of vision.

Kim wiped the sweat off his forehead and asked urgently.

"Mister Seong, just what is going on here? Explain it to me properly."

"We'll make it as long as we wait here! Only until all the blue flames are extinguished!"

Jin-Woo spat out everything he had deduced so far. Kim nodded his head as his ears perked up.

Jin-Woo quickly ended his explanation and added one more thing at the end.

"Remember, everyone here can get out of here alive."

The laws of this chamber always left open a path for one's survival. The final law would not deviate from that. Jin-Woo was certain of no one else needing to die as long as the remaining people trusted each other.

Too bad, Kim's thoughts were quite different from the youth's. The older Hunter asked hesitantly.

"Look here, Mister Seong… you could be right on this one, but… could the door close shut instead when the timer runs out?"

Jin-Woo couldn't answer that one.

He came to his conclusion after considering several variables, but until the result was in, he couldn't be 100% certain of anything.

However, what Kim wanted was a definite assurance. Rather than an uncertain promise of everyone's survival, the definite survival of his own self had proved to be far more alluring in the end.

"I'm sorry about this, but… I don't think I can stay here anymore."

"Ahjussi!"

"Sorry."

With that parting word, Kim stepped down from the altar. He then ignored Jin-Woo's urgent calling and ran towards the door. He stopped and looked for a brief moment just outside the door, but Kim did not step back inside the chamber again.

Grit.

Jin-Woo gritted his teeth.

"God d*mn it!!"

He had saved the lives of others, but what he got in return was definitely not something like gratefulness or friendship.

His entire body shuddered from the pain of betrayal.

Just as he suspected, as soon as Kim had abandoned them, a gap within the surveillance had been created. It was impossible for three people to guard all four directions.

And so, the statues positioned in the blindspots began creeping closer to the altar.

Creeeaaakkkk…

Creeaakkk…

The encirclement of the stone statue was gradually tightening. Song took a look around and then, spoke to Jin-Woo and Ju-Hui.

"Both of you, you should leave now."

His voice was full of resignation. Jin-Woo looked at the old man.

"But, ahjussi….?"

"Just as Kim had said, I was the one who dragged us all in here. If someone has to remain behind, then it'd be only right that I'm the one."

"But, still!!"

"You two with a better future ahead of you should be the ones to survive today."

Song began smiling, then. He was thinking of these two young people's hearts as they would have to abandon him here.

Jin-Woo helplessly nodded his head. He was uncomfortable about this whole thing, but there was no time left to argue back and forth who should remain in here.

Song then tried to ask Ju-Hui to take care of Jin-Woo.

"Miss Ju-Hui, can you help out Mister Seong here for a bit?"

"Y-yes."

However, just as she was about to prop him up, Ju-Hui plopped down to the floor.

"Ah….."

Ju-Hui tried to get up, but then, tears began forming around the edges of her eyes.

"My legs… I, I can't move my legs…."

Both the expressions of Jin-Woo and Mister Song hardened in an instant.

Ju-Hui's current physical condition did look terrible even from a casual glance. Her lips were in the shade of pale blue, while her entire body continued to tremble ever so imperceptibly.

She was suffering from the side-effects of overusing her magic energy when she was already at her physical limit.

'Because she tried to heal my leg….'

Jin-Woo felt his chest tighten and couldn't say anything. However, they really didn't have any time left now.

Creeeeaaaakkkk…..

The stone statues were relentlessly approaching them without a moment of rest even now.

Jin-Woo shoved Song's hand away and plopped down to the ground himself. Seeing this, Song's eyes grew wider.

"Y-young man…..?"

Jin-Woo spoke up with a determined expression on his face.

"Ahjussi, please take Ju-Hui and get out of this place."

"I told you, I'll be the one staying behind."

"In that case, who's going to help Ju-Hui?"

It was pretty much impossible for him to take Ju-Hui, who couldn't even stand properly, and leave through the door within the time limit.

'Of course….'

There was the other choice of abandoning Ju-Hui behind, as well. However, Ju-Hui had saved his life several times already, and the only reason why she was in this state was because she tried to help him with all her might.

He definitely did not want to suffer the guilty conscience of abandoning such a person behind in this godforsaken place.

"There is no time left. Please leave now."

Song's expression remained hardened as he helped Ju-Hui up. She shook her head desperately while tears streamed down on her face.

"No, you can't… Mister Jin-Woo can still survive, you know? Let me…."

"I promised to buy you a dinner, didn't I?"

Jin-Woo pulled out the rank E magic crystal from his pocket and placed it in her hand.

"Please, use this and enjoy one on me. When I get out of here, I'll be coming around to collect the change, you see."

A smile formed on Jin-Woo's face, prompting Ju-Hui to cry out in anger.

"How can you crack a joke in this situation, Mister Jin-Woo?!"

It was at this moment that Jin-Woo signalled to Mister Song with a nod. The older man then lightly chopped on the back of Ju-Hui's neck.

"Ah…."

With that, Ju-Hui lost her consciousness. Song picked up the unconscious girl and placed her over his shoulder.

"….I'm really sorry about this."

"This is my choice, so it's fine."

Mister Song bowed his head to Jin-Woo.

With that goodbye, Song quickly left the altar.

Creeaakkk….

Creeeeeaaaaakkkk…..

During the time the three of them were chatting, the statues had arrived at the proverbial stone's throw away.

Jin-Woo got on his knees and took several deep breaths.

"Fuu-woo. Fuu-woo…."

He spotted the sword Kim had left behind next to him. So, he reached out and picked it up.

'Now that it had come down to this, I'll take at least one down with me.'

When he looked behind him, Jin-Woo saw Mister Song safely leaving through the doorway with unconscious Ju-Hui still perched upon his shoulder.

What a relief that was.

'Only I'll die here now….'

He wasn't doing this because of some noble determination to sacrifice himself or anything like that. No, there certainly was an element of him calculating the best possible outcome in his decision.

Even if he survived and got out of here today, he would have to live as a cripple for the rest of his life.

Obviously, carrying on as a Hunter would be impossible, then. And it was also questionable whether he'd be able to live normally as well. He was only a high-school graduate, and since he didn't have any discernible job skills, he simply didn't have too many options left to put food on the table.

'Mom's hospital fees… and my sister's school fees, too.'

If that were the case, then he might as well make sure his family would receive a better compensation from the Association, even if it was just a single cent more.

'Was the compensation paid out to the family members 300 million Won or 400, when one dies during a raid?' (TL: Between $267,000 and $356,000)

That was a huge amount for a worthless life of a rank E Hunter.

Creeaakkk….

Creeakk…

Clang.

Finally, the statues arrived.

The first one to arrive climbed up on the altar. Jin-Woo glared at it and lifted the sword up.

"Come."

Unfortunately, the expected attack didn't come from the front, but his back.

Stab!

A long spear penetrated into Jin-Woo's back and exited out of his chest.

"Keok!"

Jin-Woo spat out a mouthful of blood.

An unimaginable amount of pain rushed in like a tsunami wave.

"If you were stabbed a couple of inches higher, you'd have a hole in your heart by now!"

Ju-Hui's nagging he heard only a few hours ago slipped past his mind like a scene from a revolving lantern.

"U, uwaaaahck!!"

The stone statue lifted up the spear. Jin-Woo was lifted up along into the air, still pierced through by that spear. He only got to struggle for a brief moment, though – because the statue slammed him down on the altar.

SLAM!!

"Keok!"

Sounds of bones breaking could be heard from all corners of his body.

He shrunk away from the intense pain.

"Euh….. Euh, euh….."

As he began trembling, the stone statues slowly surrounded him. They formed a encirclement around him. Jin-Woo raised his head and glared at them, his entire being shuddering non-stop.

'I… I don't want to die like this.'

Now that he was facing his final moments, tears pooled on his eyes.

He recalled the faces of his family. He even recalled the face of Ju-Hui, her face full of anxiety and worry for his safety…

'I don't want to die…'

He didn't want to end his short twenty-four years of life in this place.

Step.

The stone statue wielding a sword took a step closer without a hint of emotion. Then, it raised its sword up high.

Even though he was shaking hard, Jin-Woo did not avert his gaze away from this b*stard.

Finally, the statue's sword slashed down.

Swiiiishhh….

'Only if, only if I had one more chance!'

Jin-Woo's eyes shot open wider.

It happened then.

*SFX for the statue's movements suddenly stopping*

As if someone had pressed the 'pause' button, the scarily-fast moving sword suddenly stopped in mid-air.

No, that wasn't actually correct; it hadn't stopped at all. It simply had slowed down so much that he ended up thinking that way.

One millimetre in one minute?

It was very slow, but the sword was still definitely coming down.

'Wha-what's going on here?'

Jin-Woo couldn't hide his astonishment.

It was then, a voice of a female he had never heard of before resounded within his head.

[Completion requirements for the 'Secret Quest: the Courage of the Powerless' has been met.]

Secret quest? Completion requirements were met?

Jin-Woo couldn't understand any of that.

'No, hang on a minute. Besides all that, where did that voice come from?'

Too bad for him, the voice ignored Jin-Woo's questions and continued on regardless.

[You have acquired the rights to become a Player. Will you accept?]

He had acquired a right? Accept what, exactly?

'Sounds like I'll be given something….'

He grew up dirt poor since his childhood, so he had never refused freebies until now. However, that was a story for when he was still alive. What use was there for free stuff when he was dead?

When Jin-Woo hesitated and didn't answer, the voice in his head asked again as if to urge him on.

[There is not enough time left for you to make your decision. Your heart will cease functioning precisely 0.02 seconds after you refuse to accept. Will you accept?]

He couldn't tell whether he was hallucinating or not, but he still got to figure out that he was only a moment away from dying for good. He finally spotted countless other weapons headed in his direction, beside that d*mn sword, that was how.

Now that the things had devolved to such a degree, he might as well.

'….If you're giving it to me, then just give it to me already.'

There was no need to utter anything out at all. He simply thought about it in his head. Even then, the voice of the female replied to him immediately.

[Congratulations on becoming a 'Player'.]

FLASH!!

A blinding light suddenly wrapped around Jin-Woo's body – and at the same time, he lost his consciousness.

Part 6: Penalty

He opened his eyes.

He saw a white ceiling, and his nose stung from the odour of disinfectants. He also felt the sensation of a hard mattress against his back.

Jin-Woo immediately recognised where he was.

'A hospital?'

Ever since he met the rank B Healer, Ju-Hui, the frequency of him staying in one had decreased somewhat, but still, hospitals were familiar places for Jin-Woo, just as he'd be with a local convenience store.

So much so that, he even heard a rumour of there being a special seat reserved for himself at the Hunter's hospital, too.

Jin-Woo raised his upper torso up. He then placed his hand on his chest and felt the vibrations coming from there. His heart was beating without a problem.

'I…. survived?'

It wasn't only that, though. Unlike before, his entire being felt light and airy. He'd be feeling heavy-headed and fatigued whenever he woke up from a hospital bed.

But, it was a different story now. No, it was as if he had woken up in his own bed after a night of a good rest.

'What's going on….?'

This shouldn't have been possible when he thought back to the moments before he lost his consciousness.

A sword was falling on his head right before his eyes.

Even if he got lucky and the sword missed, he was still surrounded by countless scary enemies. Those d*mn things were strong enough to give the assault team formed solely from the rank A – no, rank S Hunters a genuinely hard time.

'But, I came out of that situation alive?'

Was he dreaming things, then?

Fortunately, there was a good way of confirming it for himself.

Jin-Woo pulled away the blanket covering him.

If that situation had been real, then his leg would still be gone, and if he had been dreaming, then his leg would be…

"You've finally woken up."

Chapter 7 Fin.

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Chapter 8: Chapter 8

Jin-Woo was surprised by the weighty voice coming from the corner of the hospital room, and hurriedly turned his head to look.

"I apologise if we took you by surprise."

"Unfortunately, we are unable to wait any longer."

Two men kitted out in black business suits approached Jin-Woo's bed. The youth tilted his head and asked them.

"Who…. are you?"

He had never seen these two's faces before.

One of them with the close-cropped hair like a soldier and wearing a pair of sunglasses presented him with a business card.

"This is who we are."

Jin-Woo received the business card and read what was written on it.

'Woo Jin-Cheol, the section chief of the Monitoring Division, the Korean Hunter's Association?'

The Monitoring Division was the only department in the Hunter's Association with many strong Hunters in their payroll. Well, since this department was tasked with managing the country's Hunters so, quite obviously, they would employ many high-class Hunters to facilitate that purpose.

"What does the Monitoring Division want from me?"

Woo Jin-Cheol dragged a chair closer to the bed and sat down. The other man, who must've been his subordinate, stood behind him.

The unspoken pressure emanating from the two buff guys staring down in close vicinity was quite heavy. The story they conveyed was rather surprising, though.

"I was unconscious for four days?!"

"By any chance, do you remember what happened before you blacked out?"

"Yes, I do."

"Please tell us everything you can remember."

Jin-Woo told them everything truthfully, minus the strange hallucinatory words he heard before he lost his consciousness.

"And that's when you lost your consciousness… Is that all?"

"Yes. I open my eyes next, and I'm in a hospital."

Woo Jin-Cheol and his lackey exchanged meaningful glances. For some reason, they seemed to be troubled by Jin-Woo's lack of knowledge.

Actually, Jin-Woo was the one who wanted to find out what happened the most in this room.

"Just how did I get to this hospital? Did a large Guild participate and kill those d*mn things?"

"Well, actually…."

Woo Jin-Cheol awkwardly opened his mouth.

"By the time the agents of the Monitoring Division and the White Tiger Guild arrived at the scene after being briefed by the survivors…."

The White Tiger Guild was a super-massive Guild and also one of the top five in the country. The Association had recognised the danger, hence they requested the aid of such a huge Guild as the White Tiger Guild in the first place.

Just what did happen back there?

Jin-Woo nervously swallowed a dry spit.

"By the time….?"

"….Everything was 'gone'. The only thing to be found within that open space was you, Mister Seong Jin-Woo. There was not one trace of the god statue nor the stone statues."

"Come again?!"

Jin-Woo displayed a shocked, disbelieving face.

"It's hard for us to believe it as well. If there had been any inconsistencies in the testimonies of the survivors, or if we had failed to find the remains of the victims in the chamber, we might have suspected something fishy was going on."

Woo Jin-Cheol scratched his chin.

It'd been six years since he got ranked as an 'A' and started working for the Monitoring Division. He could confidently say that he had witnessed and experienced pretty much everything during his tenure. However, this kind of situation was a first even for him.

He had asked other Guilds as well as the Associations in other countries, but the end result was nothing worthy to speak about.

That was why…

"So, this is what we've been thinking…."

Woo Jin-Cheol carefully opened his mouth.

"There were powerful creatures in that chamber, without a doubt. But, they were taken care of by an unknown group, or an unknown person. Because, no otherworldly beings escaped from the Gate before it was closed, you see."

They had to consider all the possibilities. Even if the odds were low, they had to confirm them all. The head honchos of the Association deliberated, and then deliberated for some more, and finally came up with a theory.

Woo Jin-Cheol carefully studied Jin-Woo's reactions as he continued on.

"We… suspect that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo-nim might have gone through another Awakening."

Another Awakening!

Jin-Woo's eyes shot open wide.

Although extremely rare, there had been instances of a human who had awakened his or her abilities as a Hunter going through yet another Awakening.

Often referred to as 'Re-Awakening', those who undergo this process would normally become extremely powerful compared to before.

Originally, once a Hunter's rank was assigned at the beginning, it rarely changed. A Hunter's abilities were determined the moment one went through an Awakening, that was why.

However, it was a different story for those going through the Re-Awakening process.

Jumping past their own limitations to rise up from, say, rank C to A, or even from B to S, such things had happened before.

Woo Jin-Cheol nervously swallowed his saliva.

'Seong Jin-Woo…. If he went through a Re-Awakening and became a rank S, no, maybe even exceeding that, then it's possible for him to kill those monsters all by himself.'

The god statue was said to have melted rank C Hunters with nothing but its eyes, according to the survivors.

If one were able to kill such a creature even while unconscious, just how powerful one could possibly be?

To prepare for this unlikeliest possibility, Woo Jin-Cheol labelled this incident as 'top secret' and made sure everyone involved would keep their mouths shut.

This was also the reason why Seong Jin-Woo found himself in a hospital room all alone, as well as being looked after by some of the finest medical practitioners in the nation.

Woo Jin-Cheol's chest began beating real fast.

'Could Korea finally have a Hunter on the level of an international powerhouse….?'

There were less than ten people in the entire world that could truly be described as a global powerhouse. But, what if Korea were to possess a powerhouse that were said to rival a nuclear warhead in terms of pure firepower?

Of course, confirming the truth of the Re-Awakening wasn't difficult at all. Didn't the wise elders once say to make hay while the sun still shines?

Woo Jin-Cheol signalled to his lackey.

"Bring it here."

Then, the lackey went to the corner of the room and began rummaging through a briefcase placed there.

"That is…?"

Before Jin-Woo could finish his question, Woo Jin-Cheol explained first.

"It's the device to measure your magic energy."

He added that, although this device had been miniaturised, its efficiency or accuracy did not fall short of the actual full-size measuring device located in the Hunter's Association.

"All you have to do is to place your hand on this magic crystal over here."

On top of a circular plate, there was a fist-sized magic crystal embedded in the middle. Its colour was pitch-black, as if it was a black hole that wanted to suck him in!

It was one of the highest quality magic crystals that cost as much as a billion won, not to mention that could only be found in monsters ranked A or higher. (TL: Almost $900,000)

When Jin-Woo stared at the magic crystal without saying anything, Woo Jin-Cheol formed a dignified, serious expression and spoke up.

"This is a necessary step during our investigation, so please, cooperate with us."

Jin-Woo nodded his head.

If he indeed had undergone a Re-Awakening, then his life would do a 180 in an instant. And they were going to test it out for him for free, so who was he to refuse?

Jin-Woo placed his hand on top of the black crystal and soon enough, warm rays of light oozed out from it.

Cold sweat drops formed on the foreheads of Woo Jin-Cheol and his lackey.

*SFX for a beam of light dissipating*

Not too long after then, the light surrounding the crystal dissipated.

Woo Jin-Cheol hurriedly took off his sunglasses and confirmed the numbers.

Right away, a small earthquake rocked Woo Jin-Cheol's eyes.

"How can this be?!"

He rechecked the numbers, but it remained the same.

'How can….'

How could a person holding a Hunter licence possess the magic energy value of only 10?!

When considering the fact that the lowest average value for rank E – the bottom rank – was around 70 to 100, Seong Jin-Woo was no different from a regular person.

"Is it really a Re-Awakening? If it is, what could be my new rank now?"

Jin-Woo's hands were soaked in the sweat of anticipation.

Seeing the suspicious reactions of the two Monitoring Division agents, the result must've been somewhat beyond their expectations.

Meanwhile, Woo Jin-Cheol was comparing the existing data on Jin-Woo with the new measurement.

'His first measurement returned the value of 12. Four years later, it's 10. It has decreased by 2, but it is within the margin of error.'

In other words, the magic energy measuring device was working fine. Instead, it was Seong Jin-Woo's magic energy that happened to be just illogically, nonsensically low.

It was a miracle that he had survived until now.

Woo Jin-Cheol rapidly realised that being here was a waste of time, so he got up from his seat.

"Let's go."

"Yes, sir."

Woo Jin-Cheol and his lackey quickly packed up to leave.

"Uhm, excuse me. Can you tell me what is…."

Just as Jin-Woo was about to ask, Woo Jin-Cheol bowed his head slightly.

"Thank you for your cooperation. If you remember anything else, please give us a call anytime."

As if their rear ends were on fire, two men-in-black rapidly left the room as soon as they put away the device.

The hospital room that felt rather small suddenly became quiet and lonely.

Jin-Woo scratched the back of his neck.

'I guess that was a no, then.'

Well, if he thought about it, besides him feeling refreshed, there didn't seem to be any change to him at all. Even if he did go through a Re-Awakening, it'd still be difficult for him to kill all those statue b*stards, anyways.

'Maybe, you might have a chance against them if you were either the ultimate weapon, Hunter Choi Jong-In, or the rank SS Hunter Goh Gun-Hui.'

Of course, him speculating like this was meaningless, since he had never seen them in action before. There was always a thick veil of secrecy draped over the Hunters ranked S.

They were more like clouds in the sky to him, actually.

He thought up to here and inadvertently raised his head up. And that's when he saw 'it'.

'Huh?!'

He looked up without thinking, and then, saw 'words' floating in the air.

[You have several unread messages.]

He closed his eyes and opened them again.

[You have several unread messages.]

The words remained floating up there without a single change. He shook his head hard a few times and even rubbed his eyes, but they were still there.

Jin-Woo massaged his aching forehead and lowered his head.

'It hadn't been a long time since I started hearing weird things, but now, I'm even seeing them, too….'

Could something in his head really be broken?

There was a condition called PTSD, after all. People who experienced a huge accident or a traumatic event usually suffered from this condition.

It was only a few days ago since he witnessed the deaths of many of his comrades, not to mention he himself nearly died as well, so it would not be so strange to hear or see weird things as a possible side effect.

'However….'

However, there were a couple of things that prevented him from dismissing this out of hand.

Jin-Woo's sight lowered to his leg – the leg that got cut in half by the shield of the stone statue was now all fine and dandy.

The voice he heard out of the blue inside the underground temple hidden within the depths of the dual dungeon; his completely-cured (?) leg; and now, those words floating in front of his eyes.

Too many weird things were happening all at once.

'What if….?'

There was a chance that all these things were not isolated events but linked to one another. When his thoughts arrived here, his aching head felt just a bit clearer.

'Okay, fine.'

Jin-Woo slowly raised his head.

Once the confusion in his heart died down and he felt calmer, he became quite curious about the contents of those so-called unread messages. There might be answers to his questions found within those messages, after all.

In order to confirm the messages, he reached out towards the words.

And his hand simply went past them.

'It's not touch-operated?'

It seemed that he got way too used to how a smartphone worked. He couldn't think of any other way to access the messages other than tapping on the 'icon', though.

While he was deliberating on the means to access the messages, he recalled the memories from the moments before he blacked out.

"Right. That happened."

Back then, he could only get his intentions across to that unknown voice by 'talking' to it.

'Just like back then, I should either form the words in my head or speak it out loud.'

Thinking that this must be the case, Jin-Woo then began to mutter the potential combination of words one by one.

"Confirm."

"Messages."

"Confirm messages."

"Check messages."

"Reading."

"I want to read."

"I want to look."

"Hey, show me already, will ya?!"

It was then.

"…..Just what is it that you wish to see that bad?"

He felt a cold, probing stare coming from the side, so he turned his head to look. And, spotted his little sister in her school uniform looking at him from the gap of the half-open door.

"Uhm….."

Jin-Woo became speechless.

Her oppa, busy glaring at the ceiling while demanding someone to show something to him – he simply didn't know how to explain this one to her.

Chapter 8 Fin.

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"Maybe, you hurt your head really bad?"

The younger sister stood at a distance away and asked Jin-Woo, prompting him to shake his head vigorously.

"No, that's not it."

Even though he denied it, Jin-Woo's younger sibling, Seong Jin-Ah's eyes remained suspicious.

"Are you really okay?"

"Yes, I'm telling you the truth."

Jin-Ah blankly swept her gaze all over Jin-Woo, before she came closer while her breathing became uneven, angry. And then, as soon as Jin-Woo assumed a defensive posture, she began punching him in all the unguarded parts.

"I told you to stop getting hurt!! You have any idea how worried I was?!"

"…..I'm sorry."

"Other people walk away fine, but how come it's only you who gets hurt all the time?!"

"….Sorry."

The strength behind Jin-Ah's punches gradually seeped away. She soon stopped, and as her head fell, began crying. Jin-Woo slowly patted the back of his sobbing sister.

His own nostrils stung quite a bit then.

'I was thinking of leaving behind this kid alone and dying, wasn't I….'

What a relief that he made it out alive.

When he looked back, there had been way too many brushes with death for comfort back then.

It was as if he had experienced one hell of a terrifying nightmare.

Jin-Woo's gaze shifted ever so slightly towards the words floating in the air.

[You have several unread messages.]

'It still feels like I haven't completely woken up from that nightmare just yet, doesn't it?'

There were so many things he couldn't understand.

But, so what?

The most important thing was that he came back alive, and he got to see his little sister again.

"Sniff."

Thankfully, his strong-willed sister stopped crying after a short while. Unfortunately for him, though, her nagging continued on for over one hour afterwards.

"Do you hear me? If you get hurt one more time, I'm going to give up on studying, find a job, and make sure you don't work as a Hunter ever again."

Jin-Ah's sharp glare didn't really suit her pretty face, but that was a biological trait she had shared with her older brother.

"Okay, okay. I hear you."

Jin-Woo nodded his head as if he'd given up.

Only after she was able to extract his assurance several times more did she display a hint of satisfaction, and stood up from the seat.

"You going somewhere?"

"Yeah. To school. I got permission to leave so I could check up on you. So I gotta go back."

Jin-Woo nodded his head.

"Right, the university entrance exams are next year."

She might never have received a private tutoring nor did she ever attend extra classes, but she always got ranked within the top ten in her school until now.

Jin-Ah dreamed of becoming a doctor.

Only until a few years ago, she just loved to waste time on video games and stuff like that, but then, after their mother fell ill, she swore to become a doctor and never stopped studying since.

Jin-Woo dearly wished to make her dream come true, no matter what.

Hang on a minute…. playing video games?

Suddenly, Jin-Woo's eyes gleamed a bit dangerously.

"Okay, I'm going now."

Just as Jin-Ah was leaving his room, Jin-Woo urgently called out to her.

"Hey, Jin-Ah?"

"Yeah?"

"When you are playing video games…."

Jin-Ah smirked softly.

"I don't play games anymore. The third year of high school is only a few days away, you know."

"I know, I know. There's something I want to ask you, though."

"Oh, really? Like? I didn't know Oppa played video games, though?"

Jin-Ah suddenly displayed an intense interest as a subject she was deeply intimate with once upon a time was brought up.

Jin-Woo sneaked a glance at the still-floating 'message' in the air and asked her.

"When there are unread messages in a game, what should I do access them?"

"You gotta open the mailbox first."

"I gotta 'open' the mailbox?"

Tti-ring!

As soon as Jin-Woo said the word 'open', a clear beep entered his head and the hidden messages revealed themselves.

[There are two unread messages.]

– Congratulations on becoming a [Player] (unread)

– [Daily Quest: Preparations to become strong] is now available. (unread)

Jin-Woo smiled brightly.

'Finally!'

Seeing her older brother's complexion suddenly brighten like that, Jin-Ah felt something was wrong and quickly asked him.

"What's up? What game is it? You need my help?"

Jin-Woo firmly shook his head.

"Nope, no need. I'll do it alone."

How would his younger sibling react if he told her what had been happening to him right now?

'I really don't want to be labelled as a loon by her.'

Jin-Woo swallowed back the things he wanted to say for the time being.

While pretending to see her out, Jin-Woo confirmed her getting on the elevator, and quickly returned to his room.

'I can't repeat the same mistake again.'

Click.

To prevent eyewitnesses intruding on him, he even locked the door. Finishing with his preparations, Jin-Woo sat on the bed and read the titles of the messages available to read.

– Congratulations on becoming a [Player] (unread)

– [Daily Quest: Preparations to become strong] is now available. (unread)

He thought that the first message sounded familiar, as if he heard it before from somewhere.

'Where have I heard it from? I know I have.'

So, the first message, then.

– Congratulations on becoming a [Player] (unread)

'Confirm.'

Tti-ring!

[This System will support the growth of the 'Player.']

[Failing to comply with the System's instructions will result in potential penalties.]

[Your rewards have been delivered.]

"Ahh."

He belatedly remembered this.

He heard those words just before he lost his consciousness.

'Back then, it was talking about a Player this and that, no?'

Of course, back then or even now, he still couldn't really understand what on earth was going here.

The 'System', 'growth', 'penalties', and finally, 'rewards'.

The words with unknown meanings fell on his lap one after the other.

'Just what will it help grow, and what will it reward me with?'

Seeing the words that could only be found in a video game appearing before his eyes without any prior explanations, only served to confound him even further.

He decided to worry about the confusing words later and calmly opened the next message.

– [Daily Quest: Preparations to become strong] is now available. (unread)

Gulp.

Jin-Woo unconsciously swallowed his saliva after reading that rather suggestive title. His heart began to beat faster in anticipation.

'Confirm.'

Tti-ring.

[Daily Quest: Preparations to become stronger]

Press-up, 100 times: Incomplete (0/100)

Sit-up, 100 times: Incomplete (0/100)

Squat, 100 times: Incomplete (0/100)

Running, 10 km: Incomplete (0/10)

※Warning: Incompletion of Daily Quests will result in appropriate levels of punishment.

Jin-Woo reflexively spat out a dumbfounded chuckle after confirming the contents of the message.

"Ha, haha….. Seriously, man."

Should this be the feelings of disappointment?

To think, what the grand-sounding Daily Quest, the one titled 'Preparations to become strong', was nothing more than a list of physical exercises to train his body….

Well, for sure, if he did as the quest said, then his body might get a bit tougher.

Was this what that growth and reward thing the System was talking about?

'Now that I think about it….'

He recalled reading a quote of 'a person with an inner problem should pay attention to the inner voice' from some book in the past.

'In other words, one would see what they wanted to see, eventually….'

Just how desperately did he want to become stronger that he ended up seeing this stupid hallucination?

Although it was funny, he also felt a bit lonely inside.

"If anyone could become stronger by doing these exercises, who would be willing to go through that much hardship, then…?"

Jin-Woo shook his head.

He suddenly thought that he was a fool for searching for answers to his many questions from a d*mn hallucination.

'Urgh. I don't care anymore.'

Jin-Woo lied down spread-eagled on the bed. He wordlessly stared at the ceiling.

He wasn't doing anything important, yet the time continued to tick by.

Just as he began to feel the weight of the stillness filling up his hospital room….

Jin-Woo abruptly raised his torso off the bed.

'But, what if….'

What if something could change?

As his thoughts were filled half with the uncertain expectation and the other half by unconvinced curiosity, he began wondering whether he should at least give 'it' a shot.

'Well, I've got nothing to lose, anyways.'

There would be no reason not to try it out, if he treated as a light workout to stretch his muscles or something, no?

He made up his mind.

'Fine. Let's try it.'

Jin-Woo climbed off the bed and stretched himself for a bit, before leaning against the corner of the bed and slowly performed the 'press-up'.

"One, two, three….."

The count started from 'one' and quickly climbed upwards.

"…..97, 98, 99, 100."

Since he started this thing, he decided to do all 100, but quite different from his expectation, nothing happened when he was finished.

….Other than his arms aching just a little, that was.

"Just what the hell am I doing…."

Jin-Woo smirked helplessly and stood straight up.

– Congratulations on becoming a [Player] (read)

– [Daily Quest: Preparations to become strong] is now available. (read)

The messages were now marked as 'read'.

There were no more words of 'unread messages' popping up in his view, and he also didn't feel like humouring this hallucination anymore, either

He had enough of this, in other words.

Jin-Woo closed the mailbox without regret.

"Yawn…."

Jin-Woo yawned out at length and climbed back up on the bed. He felt sleepy as if he had pushed himself too hard.

The sky outside the window was already dyed in the colours of the sunset.

'It's already this late, huh.'

The Monitoring Division agents said earlier that his hospital fees would be taken care of by the Association.

He figured that it wouldn't be too late to leave after receiving a thorough examination of his body and get the all-clear from the doctors first. Jin-Woo laid down comfortably while thinking as such.

'I'm sure these hallucinations and weird things I hear will eventually go away with time….'

His eyelids slowly closed shut. And Jin-Woo drifted away into a deep slumber.

Tick, tock.

Even when Jin-Woo was softly snoring to himself, the needles of the clock hanging by the wall continued to tick away.

The needles spun and spun around until they indicated 11:59:57 PM.

Tick, tock, tick.

58, 59, 60….

The needles stopped moving precisely as they touched 12:00:00.

Tti-ring.

[You've failed to complete the Daily Quest. You'll be transferred to the 'Penalty Zone' for a set period of time.]

RUMBLE!!!

Jin-Woo's eyes shot right open from the violent tremor that shook his entire body.

"An earthquake?!"

Jin-Woo sat right up and grabbed the edges of the bed. The shaking was so bad that he couldn't maintain his balance.

RUMBLE!!

The shaking got progressively worse as the seconds ticked by. It happened then.

*SFX for things turning into powder and falling to the floor*

One of the steel bars on the bed he held on for dear life suddenly broke. No, it didn't break per se, but simply 'disappeared'. Jin-Woo hurriedly looked at his palm. No steel bar there, just grains of sand.

'Sand?!'

*SFX for things turning into powder and falling to the floor*

The other steel bar also transformed into sand as well.

Meanwhile, the 'earthquake' became even more violent.

RUUUUMBLE!!!

"Uwaaahk!!"

In the end, Jin-Woo was thrown off from the bed. He bounced around all over the hospital room and screamed out. Even when that was happening, items within the room was turning into sand one at the time.

"Uwaaaahhhh!!"

….Plop.

Jin-Woo was flung away and got deposited rather unceremoniously.

He felt something soft against his fingertips. They happened to be ultra-fine grains of sand.

And the accursed earthquake had stopped.

"Ptooi! Ptooi!!"

Jin-Woo spat out the sand in his mouth and hurriedly raised his head up.

His eyes caught the sight on an endless plain of nothing but sand.

Jin-Woo frowned heavily and got up. All the sand that found its way inside his clothes poured out. He dusted the sand caked on his chest while taking a look around him.

Indeed, all he could see was sand. And more sand.

"A desert….?!"

This couldn't be real.

Until a few moments ago, he was sleeping on a bed inside a hospital located in the middle of Seoul. But now, as soon as he opened his eyes, he was in the middle of a massive desert?

Jin-Woo scooped up a handful of sand, and let it slip through his fingers. The fine grains fell straight down to the ground.

'There is not a single breeze here.'

It wasn't just the breeze, though – when he raised his head up to look, the sky didn't have a sun, a moon, or any stars for that matter.

It was an empty sky, as if it was filled up with black ink and nothing else.

However, for some reason, he had no trouble seeing at all.

"Just where is this place?"

Chapter 9 Fin.

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It happened then.

Shururururu…..

Suddenly, the sandy ground next to him caved in and a deep pit formed there.

"Huh? Uh, uh!"

Jin-Woo desperately ran away so he could avoid getting sucked in down there. The sandy pit grew wider and wider, and eventually, Jin-Woo had to crawl on all fours just to pull himself out.

"Pant, pant, pant…."

He plopped down on his butt, panted heavily and stared at the bottom of the pit. Quite bizarrely, he could see that the sand at the bottom was 'boiling'.

Realising that just one misstep would have resulted in him falling in there sent shivers down his spine.

"Hang on a minute…."

Jin-Woo's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"….It's not actually boiling, is it?"

When he took a closer look, he spotted 'something' pretty big wiggling down there.

Jin-Woo instinctively forced himself up. He was getting a really bad premonition right about now.

Sure enough, just as Jin-Woo took a step back, the sand within the pit suddenly exploded upwards.

Phushu-!!

The falling sand emitted the roar of a waterfall.

Jin-Woo's eyes went extra round in the meantime.

"An… an insect?"

The identity of the thing that exploded out from the sand was a giant centipede.

Kiiiieeehhhk!!

When fully revealed, the d*mn thing's head almost reached the height equaling that of a five-story building.

Jin-Woo anxiously swallowed his saliva.

'This is unreal….'

For sure, the b*stard was unrealistically huge. He had never heard of a centipede this big existing in the world before. But the size of the centipede wasn't the only thing that shocked Jin-Woo.

"Why is there a… name floating on top of that monster?"

Was he dreaming again?

Jin-Woo closed and opened his eyes again, yet nothing had changed. Even now, there were five red words floating on top of the monster's head.

….Just like a monster from a video game might have.

'The Poison-Fanged Giant Desert Centipede.'

Just like its horrendous and bizarre appearance, its name too was something he'd like to avoid at all cost. What drew his attention the most was the two letters "poison" and "fanged".

He spotted a pair of fangs as large as a child jutting out just below the b*stard's jaw. It didn't take a genius to figure out what might happen if he got stabbed by those fangs simply from its name alone.

Seeing those large fangs and its jaw constantly opening and closing, it was as if….

"It's busy licking its lips, right?"

It was then, the sound went off in his head again.

Tti-ring.

[Penalty Quest: Survival]

Goal: Please survive until the end of the time limit.

Time limit: 4 hours

Remaining time: 4 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds

'Are you kidding me….?'

However, as soon as the 'remaining time' changed to 3 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds, the centipede parted sand and rushed towards him as if it couldn't wait any longer.

*SFX for sand parting ways*

"Wha-what the hell?!"

Jin-Woo hurriedly spun around and ran for his life.

There was no time to deliberate on things.

If he wanted to live, then he had to run!

That was the only thought racing in his head.

However, even before he had taken several steps, another pillar of sand exploded upwards not too far from his position.

Boom!!

"Euh-ahhck?!"

Jin-Woo fell on his rear from the powerful shockwave. He rolled on the sandy ground before urgently getting back up. He swiped the sand off his face before his eyes shot open even wider.

This time, it wasn't just one or two of them.

Boom!!

Booooom!!

Before he had even noticed it, there were seven sand centipedes jutting out from the sand and they were all glaring at him.

Kiiieeechhk!!

Kiieeek!!

As the centipedes issued shrill cries, Jin-Woo's complexion changed for the worse. A lot worse.

"God d*mn it…."

Jin-Woo reappeared in the hospital room exactly four hours later.

Plop.

Jin-Woo keeled over on the floor and painfully wheezed out.

"Cough, cough!! Ptooi, ptooi!!"

His mouth felt full with this coarse, grainy taste. His eyes stung badly too, seemingly like sand particles got in there.

Jin-Woo whimpered and groaned for a long time, before powerlessly falling flat on his back. He didn't have any energy left to lift even a finger.

"Pant…. Pant…. Just…. What was that….?"

Jin-Woo continued to pant heavily when a new message appeared before him.

Tti-ring.

[You've completed the 'Penalty Quest.']

Jin-Woo's expression crumpled into something unsightly.

A 'Penalty Quest'?

Did he do something worthy of being punished?

Jin-Woo carefully retreaded his memories until he recalled the [Daily Quest] he abandoned mid-way yesterday.

'Could it be…?'

Now that he thought about it, it definitely said that if the quest was not completed, he'd be hit with a corresponding penalty.

"Pant, pant, that…. That was not a hallucination?!"

Indeed, it was not a hallucination nor was it a dream.

There was no need to pinch his cheeks to confirm whether this was a dream or reality.

When he was running around, the shortness of breath felt so suffocatingly harsh, and the pain he felt when he got grazed by the centipede's leg still felt fresh in his mind.

Everything happened for real.

He nearly died back there.

"This is way too much…. Pant… pant…."

The so-called penalty turned out to be him being throwing into a d*mn execution ground!

At the same time, another ominous premonition rushed into his mind. If this event was indeed caused by the 'Daily Quest' thing, then without a doubt, this would not be the last time.

Sure enough, he got to hear yet another mechanical beep going off in his head.

Tti-ring.

He flinched in surprise, but thankfully, it was not about another quest or anything like that.

[Rewards for completing the Penalty Quest is now available.]

[Would you like to confirm the rewards?] (Y/N)

'Rewards….?'

The word 'rewards' jumped right out. Too bad, the problem was, he currently didn't have any energy left whatsoever to confirm this and that.

His situation simply didn't allow that.

'Never mind giving me rewards or not…. Let me take a break first….'

His sights gradually blurred.

Soon, Jin-Woo fell into a deep slumber akin to a blackout.

"Oh my gosh?! What happened in here?"

Next morning.

A nurse entered Jin-Woo's room, only for her eyes to open up wide in surprise.

The patient was lying sprawled on the floor, while sand was everywhere as far as she could see. Not only that, the patient too was full of sand as well.

She threw the medical chart on the bed and urgently pressed the emergency buzzer.

"Please, someone get over here right away!"

Soon, the doctor in charge rushed into the room.

"What happened? What's the matter with Mister Seong Jin-Woo?"

"I don't know. Everything was fine until last night, yet this morning…."

"For now, let's relocate him back on the bed. One, two!"

Two people lifted Jin-Woo off the floor and placed him back on the bed. During the process, the back of Jin-Woo's hand got scratched by the edge of the medical chart left on the bed and his skin tore just a little, but no one noticed that.

"Let's take a look."

The doctor then carefully examined Jin-Woo's condition. However, he couldn't find anything wrong with the youth.

"What the heck…. Isn't he just in a deep sleep?"

The doctor spat out a sigh of relief.

The Hunter's Association had requested the hospital to pay a special attention to this particular patient. Understandably, the doctor was scared almost out of his wits while thinking that something bad had happened here.

"For now, let's let him be. Looks like he's in a really deep slumber at the moment."

The doctor in charge spoke to the nurse and was about to leave, but then, he took a look around the room and scratched the side of his head.

"By the way, this room… might need a thorough cleaning. Miss Yu-Rah, please take care of tidying this place up."

"Yes. I shall, doctor."

The doctor left the room and the nurse, Choi Yu-Rah, patted her chest down.

What a relief that it turned out to be nothing to worry about.

Sure, they might not be the patient or the relatives of one themselves, but you wouldn't find a doctor or a nurse who wished ill on those they were in charge of.

The Hunter's hospital especially saw many heavily-injured patients every day. At the bare minimum, she'd like to never see another one of patients she was looking after get worse under her care.

"Whew…"

She had calmed down a little now, and began worrying about where should she start tidying this room up, but then, her eyes spotted drops of blood on the floor.

"Oh my?"

The blood droplets were coming from the tip of patient's hand that fell outside the bed.

She got stunned by this and hurriedly searched for the wound on Jin-Woo's hand, before flipping it around.

"What's going on here….?"

There definitely was a trace of flowing blood, but she could not find a single wound. She wiped the blood clean, yet the expected wound was not there.

'Wait…. Could his injury heal in that short time?'

Yu-Rah's heart began beating faster as she cautiously studied Jin-Woo's complexion.

He was still submerged in a deep, deep sleep even now.

Part 7: Daily Quest

Tti-ring.

[Daily Quest is now available.]

Jin-Woo's eyes shot right open.

He quickly raised himself up and the first thing he did was to check the time. The needles of the clock just went past 16:30.

Meaning, there was the leeway of seven hours and thirty minutes before midnight.

'Good.'

Jin-Woo opened the mailbox.

Tti-ring.

[Daily Quest: Preparations to become strong]

Press-up, 100 times: Incomplete (0/100)

Sit-up, 100 times: Incomplete (0/100)

Squat, 100 times: Incomplete (0/100)

Running, 10 km: Incomplete (0/10)

※Warning: Incompletion of Daily Quests will result in appropriate levels of punishment.

"It's the same thing, again?!"

He groaned out almost reflexively.

No, perhaps this was for the better. Rather than a quest with impossible or hard-to-understand goals, this was far more preferable, instead.

Well, as long as he had enough time, he'd be able to complete this quest after all, although his body might suffer for a bit. Jin-Woo got down to the floor this time and began the press-up.

"One."

Obviously, he was not planning on being dragged to yet another suspicious place and get almost killed there.

"Two."

He got lucky the previous night and survived, but there was no guarantee that would happen tonight as well.

"Three."

He raised his head a little and confirmed the contents of the quest, and noticed that every time he performed a press-up, it was being recorded in real time as well.

Tti-ring.

[You've completed one press-up.]

[Press-up 100 times: Incomplete (7/100)]

Tti-ring.

[You've completed one press-up.]

[Press-up 100 times: Incomplete (8/100)]

He wanted to make sure, so he only went down half-way and got back up, but as expected, that didn't count. Now he finally realised why the so-called press-ups of yesterday didn't count. He had to perform the proper press-ups or it wouldn't be counted at all.

'Huh…. Gimme a break.'

Jin-Woo was dumbfounded, but didn't stop the exercise.

He still had 50 more press-ups to go.

After that, sit-ups, squats and running were waiting for him.

….And, three hours later.

Press-up, 100 times: Complete (100/100)

Sit-up, 100 times: Complete (100/100)

Squat, 100 times: Complete (100/100)

Running, 10 km: Incomplete (9/10)

"Pant, pant, pant, pant…"

Jin-Woo lapped the outer perimeter of the hospital once and arrived back in front of his room. He was currently bent over and panting out heavily. His heart felt like it might explode at any second, but he couldn't give up yet.

'I worked so crazy hard until now, so no way I would….'

He somehow managed to open the door and took a step forward.

When he did that….

Tti-ring.

[Total distance ran: 10 km.]

[You've completed Running, 10 km.]

It was finally over.

"Pant…. Pant…"

Jin-Woo fell down to his knees. His breath reeked of something sweet and bitter. His face and back were soaked in sweat.

"Pant…. Pant…."

As Jin-Woo tried to regulate his heavy, rough breathing while thick sweat drops continuously dripped down, a familiar message popped up in front of his eyes.

Tti-ring.

[You've completed 'Daily Quest: Preparations to become strong'.]

[Completion rewards have arrived.]

[Would you like to confirm?] (Y/N)

Jin-Woo momentarily thought about forgetting about everything and simply laying down in defeat, but quickly changed his mind. At least for now, he wanted to confirm what these reward things could actually be with his own eyes first.

"Confirm."

Tti-ring.

[The following rewards are available.]

Reward 1. Full recovery of the current physical condition

Reward 2. Three additional Stat points

Reward 3. One random box

[Would you like to collect them all?]

'Why are there so many of them?'

That was the first thought to enter his dazed mind after he took a gander at the contents of his rewards.

But, when he thought about it a little deeper, one of those rewards seemed rather useful right now, and there was also one that made him curious about what it could actually mean.

For now, he urgently needed the first reward available. He was on the brink of collapsing here.

Since there really was a penalty for failure, the odds of completion rewards being real were pretty d*mn high as well.

Well, trying wouldn't hurt anyways, right?

Seriously, this 'thing' wouldn't throw him back into the penalty zone again after it said it'd give him the rewards, now would it?

Chapter 10 Fin.

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As soon as he muttered that out, a gentle blue aura enveloped him.

'Uh… isn't this sensation…. that?'

Right away, he recalled Yi Ju-Hui's face. When he was getting healed by her, he felt the sensation similar to what he was feeling right now.

If he were to put this feeling into words, then it'd be like a refreshing blast of air entering his lungs before leaving again – something like that?

Shu….

He felt the blue aura slowly dissipating. For some reason, he kinda felt a bit rueful.

Jin-Woo got up from the floor and lightly jumped up and down on the spot and stretched his body this way and that.

"How can this be?!"

His heart that felt like it might explode was beating calmly now, and his rough breathing had stabilised as well. He didn't even feel a speck of fatigue. His body that was on the brink of collapsing, felt refreshed as if he just got up from a night of good rest.

The effect, in other words, was top-notch.

'Isn't this really amazing?'

Jin-Woo's eyes now resembled circles. He wasn't sure whether this was some kind of magic or not, but this phenomenon could change him in the most astonishing way, without a doubt.

In that case, would those 'Stat points' be the same?

When Jin-Woo shifted his gaze around, he spotted a small box resting on top of the bed as well as his own Stat Window floating in the air.

'I guess that thing over there is the random box….'

The important thing was his Stat Window, though. This window displayed simple information about himself.

Name: Seong Jin-Woo

Level: 1

Class: None

Title: None

HP: 100

MP: 10

Tiredness: 0

[Stat]

Strength: 10

Stamina: 10

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 10

Perception: 10

(Available points to distribute: 3)

[Skills]

Passive skills:

– (Unknown) Lv. Max

– Tenacity Lv. 1

Active skills:

– Dash Lv. 1

The stat he saw was quite similar to a starting character from an online game he used to play many moons ago.

'Is this my current Stat value?'

His current level was 1. All of his stats were also at the bottom of the heap, too.

If he thought about the current reality of what he was like, the one where he was ranked as the weakest even among the rank E Hunters, then there was nothing to be surprised about there.

What he paid attention to was the 'Skills' column.

A passive skill called 'Tenacity' and an active one called 'Dash'.

For some reason, he felt rather familiar with them.

"Ah. I remember now. Yesterday…."

Yesterday, or to be more precise, back in the early dawn of this morning, he remembered hearing those words while being chased around by the centipedes in the penalty zone.

It happened probably after three hours of him constantly running for his dear life. He was suddenly greeted by a couple of new messages.

['Skill: Dash Lv. 1' has been learned.]

['Skill: Tenacity Lv. 1' has been learned.]

Back then, he was far too busy running to think about what they could mean, but it was a different story now. Jin-Woo confirmed the explanations available for the skills.

[Skill: Dash Lv. 1]

Active skill.

Mana required to activate: 5

The constant running fortified your legs. When this skill is activated, your movement speed will increase by 30%. During its activation, 1 Mana will be spent every minute.

[Skill: Tenacity Lv. 1]

Passive skill.

Mana required to activate: None.

You possess untiring tenacity. When your stamina drops below 30%, this skill will automatically activate and reduce all damage received by 50%.

'Did I learn 'Dash' and 'Tenacity' because I stubbornly ran around like there's no tomorrow?'

That seemed to be about right.

In other words, if he kept on repeating a certain action over and over again, and happen to meet the requirement conditions, he would be able to learn new skills.

"Holy cow!"

Wasn't this an incredible advantage?

The thing was, the skills individual Hunters used were acquired when they went through the Awakening process, or learnt through the items called 'Rune' Stones that dropped very rarely from monsters ranked A and above.

Understandably, the prices of these Rune Stones would start from the lowest of several hundred thousand Won to dozens of billion Wons at the top end.

At the last auction, the most expensive Rune Stone was sold for around 70,000,000,000. (TL: over $62 million)

Apparently, this Rune Stone contained a skill that could revert many injured people back to their original conditions in one go, and it was snapped up by an anonymous overseas rank S Healer who had reputedly emptied out his entire life savings.

Jin-Woo's heart began beating faster.

A skill that increased his movement speed, as well as another that decreased the amount of damage received.

Sure, they weren't as good as those skills that sold for billions of Won, but they were still amazing to him regardless. And he got to learn those for free, too!

His overall magic energy value was too low, so it'd be hard to use them properly, but still, it was better than not knowing them, wasn't it?

'Besides, the Tenacity skill doesn't even need Mana to activate, too…..'

It seemed that this Mana thing was his magic energy. If that was the case, then even though he didn't have a lot of magic energy, he'd be able to freely use the Tenacity skill. That alone was a huge gain.

"By the way… what could this 'unknown' thing be?"

[Skills]

Passive skills:

– (Unknown) Lv. Max

The 'Unknown' that occupied one whole slot of the passive skills column.

Since it was located in the passive column, that meant it activated automatically, but there was not one explanation or any information on it.

'Not even a single clue, huh.'

The amount of information he could learn was just too limited. Even if he burst his brain trying to figure it out, he knew there wouldn't be any answers. So, Jin-Woo shifted his gaze to elsewhere.

'Stat points, is it….?'

Three additional Stat points he got as a reward remained there, still to be distributed.

[Stat]

Strength: 10

Stamina: 10

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 10

Perception: 10

(Available points to distribute: 3)

'I'm sure this means I can increase any one of my Stats by three points, right?'

There were five categories in the list of Stats. Maybe because he was a mere level 1, the values of each stat were 'simple', to say the least. However, if he considered how reality operated, he couldn't take these stats lightly at all.

If his abilities changed for real with a moment's decision, then who in this world would be able to casually make such choices?

Jin-Woo's expression became serious.

'Strength is no doubt talking about my physical power….'

He could more or less figure out what 'Strength', 'Stamina' and 'Agility' could mean. After all, those were the kind of 'Stats' one would often encounter in video games.

The question was with the last two Stats, 'Intelligence' and 'Perception', then. And just like before, the unfriendly System didn't provide any answers whatsoever.

If he increased 'Intelligence' would he get actually smarter, for instance? And, if he increased 'Perception', then would he become more sensitive?

Whatever the case may have been, he felt that those two Stats didn't really seem all that useful to him right now.

He was a melee-type Hunter, to begin with. What he needed was power, speed, or even stamina.

'If you were to ask me to choose between the three, I'd inevitably go with Strength.'

If he got physically stronger, many things would become that much easier for him.

Also, he wanted to find out what kind of change would take place with his body once the Stat values had been increased. Since he thought that this change would be much more prominent with the increase in the Strength stat, he ended up investing all three points on it.

"All three points to the Strength stat."

Tti-ring.

[Stat]

Strength: 13

Stamina: 10

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 10

Perception: 10

(Available points to distribute: 0)

'Is that…. all?'

Indeed, it looked like it.

The only change he could tell was the Strength stat value floating in front of his eyes like hologram projection changing from 10 to 13. Unlike how it was in cartoons or movies, his body didn't feel like it was overflowing with uncontrollable power or anything like that.

"Did anything actually change or not?"

He decided to use his muscles to find out. Jin-Woo stood next to the bed and lifted it. He felt a bit of weight, but he was able to pick it up easier than he thought. However, he found it impossible to tell whether this was because of the bed being light, or his Strength having been improved.

'I should've lifted the bed first before spending the d*mn points….'

Since he had already spent all the points before confirming, it was hard to tell the difference between 'before' and 'after'.

'Only if I had some more points to spend….'

Jin-Woo licked his lips in regret only for a certain memory to jump out at him.

"The rewards from the Penalty Quest!"

Today wasn't the only time he got to 'complete' the Daily Quests. He might have nearly died, but he sure as hell did complete the Penalty Quest, and he remembered seeing the message about the rewards being available as well.

Jin-Woo hurriedly opened the mailbox.

[Rewards for completing the Penalty Quest is now available.]

[Would you like to confirm the rewards?] (Y/N)

"I knew it!"

Jin-Woo clenched his fists tightly.

Of course, it's a resounding "Yes!"

[The following rewards are available.]

Reward 1. Three additional Stat points

Reward 2. One random box

[Would you like to collect them all?]

Unlike the Daily Quest rewards, the option of the full status recovery was absent, but well, what he needed right now was the additional Stat points anyways.

He was momentarily worried about there being a huge difference in rewards since they were from a Penalty Quest and all, but he was relieved to find three points waiting for him.

Jin-Woo hummed joyously to himself.

"Add all three points to the Strength stat."

Tti-ring.

[Stat]

Strength: 16

Stamina: 10

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 10

Perception: 10

(Available points to distribute: 0)

His Strength jumped up from 13 to 16.

Jin-Woo stood next to the bed again and put some strength in his arms. And he was able to lift up the bed a lot easier than before. He could definitely tell the difference now.

"It's for real….!!"

His physical strength had really improved.

If he were to consider the change purely through the Stats alone, then the starting value of 10 had increased by 60% so how could he fail to notice the improvement?

Now feeling completely elated, he went around the room and began picking up not just the bed, but everything he could lay his hands on, and generally made a mess of things inside.

Only after the chief nurse passing by heard the commotion and scolded him did he stop his tomfoolery.

"….I'm very sorry."

As soon as the chief nurse left his room, Jin-Woo spat out a sigh of relief.

"Whew."

However, he couldn't calm down at all. His heart was beating like crazy.

Thud, thud. Thud, thud!

As a matter of fact, his chest actually hurt.

The Daily Quest that would continue to show up every day, and the Stat points as the reward!

As long as this unexplainable phenomenon didn't come to a sudden end, he'd be able to live a completely different life to the one he'd been leading until now.

This was an unbelievable opportunity for him.

Besides that, the Stat Window also showed his 'level'.

'Does this mean I can also increase my level, too?'

Eventually, though – Jin-Woo shook his head.

'Eiii, there's no way.'

Now that would be too good to be true. He wasn't hoping that far, anyway. The rewards from the quests alone were plenty enough for him.

He'd use the Stat points to increase his abilities. Every day he'd grow to be stronger – compared to yesterday, he'd be stronger today; compared to today, he'd be stronger tomorrow.

'Me, getting stronger? The rank E Hunter, and also, always mocked as the weakest weapon?'

He didn't even think about climbing up as far as the rank S or A. Even the notion of getting to rank C or D, like those Hunters he'd been working with, would surely be seen as a laughable one.

Indeed, they'd disparagingly point their fingers at him and guffaw their heads off.

Seong Jin-Woo was getting stronger? That Seong Jin-Woo, the one and only on this planet?

However, he didn't care if they laughed at him. No, he was already used to being the butt of many jokes. He was just happy that an opportunity had fallen on his lap, that was all.

Suddenly, a question mark floated over his head.

'Could this be the process of my Re-Awakening?'

Although extremely rare, the cases of bottom-tier Hunters climbing up to the top through Re-Awakening had happened before, for sure.

If so, then could those Hunters who got stronger through Re-Awakening experience a similar sort of situation as he was in?

'Let's find out.'

Feeling genuinely curious now, Jin-Woo settled down in front of a computer located at the corner of the hospital room.

Since he was staying in a VIP room provided free of charge by the Hunter's Association, this computer wasn't the only item of convenience found here.

Taptaptaptap….

Jin-Woo's fingers typed rapidly on the keyboard.

Searching, searching, and then, more searching…..

He visited countless websites.

He even entered those websites that one couldn't even get anywhere near without a Hunter's licence. He even resorted to paying for information and continued to rummage through every document and article he found.

However, rather than finding similar events as his, he couldn't even find a single mention of a precedence, either.

'It's different….'

His Re-Awakening was completely different from the normal ones, as it turned out.

Most other Hunters who underwent Re-Awakening process gained their new found strength through roughly the similar process as their first Awakening as a Hunter.

Not one of them had experienced hearing weird voices at the brink of death, nor did they get to increase their strength through Stat values and such.

Chapter 11 Fin.

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'Still, I can't be certain, so….'

To be 100% sure, Seong Jin-Woo anonymously opened a thread on the internet forum exclusive to licenced Hunters.

[Title: Something weird has happened to me.]

[Description: I can suddenly see my Stats in numbers like in a video game, and I can even increase their values, too. Is there anyone who has experienced something similar to me?]

Below that OG post, comments figuratively exploded forth.

Anon: LOL Why dontcha stop f*cking around, dude.

Anon: Isn't he just a loon?

Anon: Lost his d*mn mind.

Anon: Maybe you've played too many games…..

Anon: By any chance, are you a cartoonist?

Anon: Go visit the nearest hospital, 'k?

Anon: I'd like to hear the details first.

Anon: Stop accepting all sorts of trash just because they hold the Hunter licence; this forum needs to go through a cleansing, seriously now… (TL: I removed all the pure-Korean internet slangs/emojis from the raw. Learned my lesson from my previous novel….)

Dozens of comments all with roughly the similar contents flooded in.

"Eh-whew…."

Jin-Woo spat out a groan.

He had spent a long time looking around but he had nothing to show for his troubles. He got called a loon in the forum and people disparaged him. He did all this, yet seeing that there was no information to gather….

"I guess that my case is really a unique one."

He was the only one under the heavens.

The most unique Hunter in the whole world!

He still needed some time to figure out how much of a help this strange phenomenon would provide, and just how far he could actually grow through it, but at least, he got a good feeling about this whole thing.

When he took a look outside, the night had deepened quite considerably.

"When did the time get so late….?"

Jin-Woo frowned deeply.

His eyes ached a bit after staring into a computer monitor for so long.

Jin-Woo massaged his forehead and stood up from the chair to loosen his body with a bout of light stretching. He moved his body this way and that for a while. He bent his body 90 degrees and that's when he discovered two small boxes lying forgotten on the floor.

"….Ah."

The 'random boxes'.

Two boxes wrapped in the monotone gift wrappers and topped off with a ribbon – exactly like the ones in video games.

'They must've fallen off from the bed when I was making a mess of the room earlier.'

He had completely forgotten about them after receiving those as his rewards. Jin-Woo picked up the closest box and opened its lid.

"….A band-aid?!"

He dumbfoundedly stared at the 'thing' that looked exactly like the regular band-aid for a while, only for the information about it to float up above in green letters.

[Item: Band-Aid]

A regular band-aid. Useful in patching up small wounds. Can be stored inside your Inventory.

"It IS a band-aid…."

He was hopeful that this thing might possess some kind of a special attribute like the treasures found within the dungeons, but he wasn't so lucky today.

'Of course, I haven't heard of someone finding band-aids inside a dungeon, to begin with….'

With his mind half in disappointment and the other half in anticipation, he opened the remaining box.

And he got himself a brand new ball-point pen.

He studied it from all sorts of angles and even clicked on the tip so the ball-point would come out, but it was still your average pen.

[Item: Ball-point pen]

An average ball-point pen. Can be stored inside your Inventory.

It was quite likely that, as its name implied, all sorts of random junk would come out from the random boxes.

"Hmm….."

Well, it wasn't as if he was left empty-handed anyway.

Sure, he didn't really have any needs for either the band-aid or the pen right now, but thanks to them, he got to learn about the existence of the thing called the 'Inventory'.

Also, seeing that the information on other objects found in the room did not show up, he figured that only the info on the items from the random box could be read.

"Inventory."

As soon as he called out for his Inventory, a graphical representation of a storage unit with dozens of slots appeared in the air.

As fitting the storage unit of a level 1 user, it was…. not as empty as he thought. He thought there would be nothing in there, but inside the first slot, he found a rather familiar object.

"Isn't that….?"

Jin-Woo took that out immediately.

Tti-ring.

[Item: Kim Sang-Sik's steel longsword]

Attack 10

It was precisely Mister Kim's sword that Jin-Woo picked up back in the underground temple. He assumed that it was left behind inside the Gate, though.

"Hey, nice to see you, too."

A smile formed on Jin-Woo's face.

He felt happy seeing this thing again, what with both of them having survived that hellish death trap. Besides, it was too wasteful to just be abandoned in a different dimension, wasn't it?

'Didn't Mister Kim ahjussi say he bought this for around 3,000,000?' (TL: over $2,600)

The weapons of Hunters outwardly looked rather plain, but the truth was anything but.

Monsters couldn't be damaged with weapons that did not carry the wielder's magic energy. So, weapons crafted especially for the purpose of dealing with those b*stards would always be quite pricey.

'Looks like I'll have to rely on this guy for a while.'

He had been fighting with his bare hands until now because he couldn't afford to buy a proper weapon.

Although it was a cheap sword, he was still rather grateful for it.

'You're mine now.'

If Mister Kim saw this sword in his hands in the future, he might start foaming at the mouth and angrily demand its return. Well, he was a selfish man who readily discarded the saviour of his life, so it was rather a good possibility.

However, both this sword and this 'opportunity' were given to him in return for sacrificing his life. So, he wasn't planning to give it back that easily.

Jin-Woo's eyes sharpened considerably.

He had learned two things about reality back in that temple.

Firstly, he needed to become far, far stronger.

He was weak and almost died several times as a result.

That wasn't all.

He knew what the results would be, yet he couldn't stop that choirboy Hunter from stepping forward, and also, he knew Mister Kim was in the wrong, but he could not help Mister Song at all.

Because he wanted to survive, he turned his gaze away even though he knew what was right. If he didn't want to be ashamed of himself again, then he simply had to become stronger.

And finally….

'There is no room for unnecessary kindness.'

What he got after his acts of kindness was the betrayal of his comrades.

Three of them abandoned him, who couldn't even move properly, and ran away. He desperately called out to them but none returned to help him.

None of them could remember just who had saved their lives only a few moments ago.

'….Give and take.'

He swore not to take on any unnecessary risk out of some unconditional act of kindness. The most important thing at the end of the day was his own life, after all.

Those were two important life lessons Jin-Woo got to engrave in his heart after experiencing a near-death event.

To become stronger than before, and to become more selfish than before.

"I can do this."

Jin-Woo was one of those types of people who would never forget what he had been taught.

Inside a certain 'pojangmacha'. (TL: the Korean-style covered street stall)

The nurse Choi Yu-Rah was busy chatting to a friend she hadn't seen in a long time as the night wore on.

"Ahh, I almost forgot."

Yu-Rah belatedly recalled that her friend was an employee of the Hunter's Association. The reason for her finding work in the Hunter's hospital was in no small part due to this friend.

"You know a lot about Hunters, right?"

"Well, more than most people, sure. What's up?"

"Is there a Hunter with an ability to heal their own wounds really quickly?"

"Aren't those Healer-type Hunters? One healing spell later, every wound goes bye-bye~!!"

"No, no, not like magic and stuff. I mean, like, unconsciously."

"Like, unconsciously?"

"For example, when the person has lost consciousness, or when… he's in the middle of sleep."

Yu-Rah's friend shook her head.

"Eii~. There's no way. That'd be something like regeneration, and that's an incredible ability, you know? That's a unique trait only the rarest of all top-tier monsters exceeding the ranks of 'A' possess."

"There's no human who possesses it, though?"

"Ng. I've never heard of a Hunter who has such an ability."

"R-really?"

Could she have made a mistake, then?

Yu-Rah slowly nodded her head.

It was at this point that her friend spoke again.

"But, then again… I don't know. Maybe it's possible if you're talking about S-ranked Hunters."

Hearing her friend's words, Yu-Rah raised her head.

"S ranks?"

"There are plenty of freakish monsters within the S-ranked Hunters, and also, not much is known about them, right? What were they saying? Right, the Hunter Baek Yun-Ho from the White Tiger Guild can apparently morph into a real monster."

However, Seong Jin-Woo was supposedly a Hunter ranked E.

The ranks of the Hunters were publicly viewable on the Association's website, so if anyone were interested, they could take a look. Yu-Rah became curious from the morning's incident and she searched for Seong Jin-Woo's information.

'His rank is too low for him to possess such a unique abi…. Ah!'

The Re-Awakening of a Hunter!

She then remembered hearing hushed whispers of 'Re-Awakening' coming from Jin-Woo's room when she was walking past it yesterday.

'Could it be that he had gone through a Re-Awakening?'

For most regular people, it was truly impossible to befriend an S-ranked Hunter, never mind encountering one. Not only were there too few of them, but they also happened to be crazy busy most of the time as well.

So, just what kind of a situation was this? Someone as amazing as that was a patient she was looking after. A guy who just entered the S rank having moved up from the lowly E.

'If there are only a few people who realise his true value, then….'

If she scored some points with him now, wouldn't it be more likely that she'd be awarded more opportunities later down the line?

A chance to become acquaintances with a rank S Hunter didn't happen every day, after all. They were an existence that people couldn't easily meet even if they were prepared to shell out lots of money.

As her imagination took flight, a bright smile slowly bloomed on Yu-Rah's face.

"Oh my gosh?! You girl, did something nice happen? Why are you suddenly grinning like that out of the blue?"

"Oh, uh, it's nothing, you know. Nothing much."

Yu-Rah continued to shake her head, but the smile on her lips didn't want to go away that easily.

Part 8: Level up!

"Oh my goodness. Look at that guy's physique."

"Was that patient's body that good before?"

Two young female nurses walking in the corridor whispered to each other as soon as they spotted Seong Jin-Woo.

He pretended to have not heard them and quietly returned to his room.

It had been a week since he started taking on the Daily Quests. Several changes took place during this time. One of them happened to be the transformation of his body.

Jin-Woo stood before the mirror mounted on the hospital room's wall by the corner.

"Hmm. Hmm."

He checked out his entire body in front of this full-length mirror.

He got a bit embarrassed by doing something that a female university student would more likely end up doing, and only after clearing his throat twice was he able to stare straight at the mirror.

The thing was, though…. He had definitely changed.

His body was in the middle of a transformation.

'I've got muscles now.'

The most eye-catching change was the drastic increase of his muscles. The normal-looking flabby flesh was gradually disappearing, only to be replaced by hard muscles. Thanks to that, his shoulders had widened more and his overall frame had grown bigger as well.

'Even then, doesn't seem heavy and slow.'

Only the necessary amount of muscles in the necessary places. If he were to describe the overall impression his body gave off, then would it be kinda like 'looking swift and athletic'?

He was a guy and even he found this rather appealing, so it wasn't such a strange thing for young nurses to whisper about him.

'And it's all due to this guy over here.'

Jin-Woo summoned his Stat Window.

Tti-ring.

Name: Seong Jin-Woo

Level: 1

Class: None

Title: None

HP: 100

MP: 10

Tiredness: 0

[Stat]

Strength: 31

Stamina: 10

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 10

Perception: 10

(Available points to distribute: 0)

[Skills]

Passive skills:

– (Unknown) Lv. Max

– Tenacity Lv. 1

Active skills:

– Dash Lv. 1

His Strength stat had gone past 30 already.

Since he thought that it'd be hard to tell the kind of effects the increases in other Stats would bring, he ended up investing all the points he earned on the Strength Stat, which seemed to be the easiest way to feel the change taking place within.

Besides, Strength played a key role when fighting monsters, so that was like killing two birds with one stone.

'My body wouldn't have transformed by this much just because I exercised for a few days.'

In that case, there could be only one explanation.

With his Strength value continuously rising up, the muscles were changing their shapes in order to display the maximum amount of effect, too.

He couldn't think of any other reason besides that one.

He was inwardly worried about investing too many points to the Strength Stat, but after seeing his transformed body, he became rather happy and all the worries in his mind were forgotten for now.

'However, it is way too eye-catching, isn't it?'

The number of times he was mentioned by the nurses was constantly on the rise. It was quite likely that, since their job involved looking after human bodies, their levels of discernment could have been higher than most.

Jin-Woo possessed quite a keen sense of hearing, so whenever his name was mentioned in the vicinity, he took note of it.

'I guess it's time for me to leave this hospital, no?'

Chapter 12 Fin.

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It was not good to be the centre of attention.

Not only would he feel uncomfortable being placed under the spotlight, but he also didn't want to let others know of this strange phenomenon.

Didn't the old saying go something like, scratching unnecessarily results in more flakes to clean up, or something like that?

He wanted to increase his Stat points as quietly as possible.

'And it shouldn't be a problem for me to leave the hospital now, too.'

Thankfully, tests had shown that he was normal and healthy. Meaning, he could leave at any time he wanted. No, hang on a minute, it kinda felt like that both the hospital and the Association wanted him to leave in the first place.

Well, it'd be a waste to spend that much money as hospital fee on a measly rank E like him.

One of the special privileges the S-ranked Hunters enjoyed was the government paying for all of their health-related expenses. Of course, that was a story happening in another cosmos as far as Jin-Woo was concerned.

So, he figured that it wouldn't be such a bad idea to leave this hospital right about now.

And there was something he wanted to confirm as well.

"Now, where did I put it….?"

Jin-Woo rummaged around his pockets and brought something out. It was a key gleaming in a golden hue. It featured such a simple design that it could be passed off as an accessory at a casual glance.

Jin-Woo observed the key for a long time before he secured it back inside his pocket.

While he was in the middle of being discharged, a certain young female nurse hurriedly ran to where he was.

"Pant, pant!! Mister Seong Jin-Woo, are you getting ready to be discharged today?"

"Pardon? Ah, yes, I am."

She was the nurse in charge of his care, Choi Yu-Rah.

Yu-Rah formed a rueful expression when she heard his affirmation.

Jin-Woo didn't know why, so he could only stand there looking rather confused. He wondered if he had made a mistake somewhere, but he couldn't think of anything.

Yu-Rah hesitated slightly, before pulling out a small memo pad.

"Will be okay if you give me your contact numbers?"

"My contact numbers?"

"Yes…. Only if you're okay with it."

Could there be some test results that needed to be sent at a later date or something? Jin-Woo didn't think too much about it and took the memo pad. However, all he got from her was just that, a memo pad and nothing else.

When Jin-Woo stared at her, her face reddened.

"W-what's the matter?"

"Uhm, well…. About a pen…."

"Ah? Ah, please wait."

She must've forgotten in her rush to get here; Yu-Rah became flustered and hurriedly turned around.

'Uh? Hang on a minute. A pen, is it….?'

He didn't have to think for long. Before anyone noticed it, he was already holding a pen. The moment he thought about the pen nestled quietly within his Inventory, it automatically appeared in his hand.

Once an item was placed within the Inventory, he could retrieve it freely with his thoughts alone.

What a convenient feature of the Inventory that was.

Confirming the pen in his hand, Jin-Woo called out to Yu-Rah.

"Wait. I looked and luckily enough, I had a pen on me."

"Oh, really? Whew, what a relief."

Yu-Rah placed a hand on her chest and sighed out in relief.

Jin-Woo smiled at that and he jotted down his phone number.

This happened all the time now – the items that came out of the random box always saw some sort of usage pretty soon after he got them.

When a raincoat came out, rain fell the next day. He got a cup the day before the hospital inexplicably ran out of paper cups. Of course, stuff like a band-aid with no clear uses sometimes popped out, but most of the time, they did come in handy.

"Here it is."

Yu-Rah received the memo pad back from Jin-Woo with an elated expression etched on her face.

She then bowed her head as well.

"Please take care of me from now on."

"Oh, uh, sure thing. Me too."

Yu-Rah spun around and hurriedly disappeared to somewhere. Jin-Woo looked at her departing back and tilted his head this way and that.

'By the way…. how does she expect me to take care of her?'

She was such a cute nurse, to begin with, yet she was even courteous as well. Jin-Woo thought as such and left the hospital with a refreshed, airy mind.

The first place he visited was the HQ of the Hunter's Association, located in the district of Guro in Seoul.

The smartphones used by the Hunters were designed with special components so, in order to get one, he had to apply for it at the Association.

The Association employee spoke while looking at the computer monitor.

"Looks like your phone will become available only after two weeks, Hunter-nim."

"Pardon me? Why so long?"

Jin-Woo's eyes opened up wider.

His old phone was smashed to bits when he was getting chased around by the god statue. However, he now had to wait for two weeks for a new phone to arrive?

"If you need a phone right away, we can loan you one on a temporary basis, but the fee for each usage is 50,000." (TL: Just over $44)

50,000 Won…. He wasn't even buying one, just renting it for a little while, yet it cost that much?

If he thought about his current financial status, that was way too big an expense.

'Well, it's not like someone will contact me, anyway.'

If the Association failed to get a hold of someone on his or her smartphone, they'd call the house, instead. So, there was no real reason for him to spend money and get himself a temp phone right now.

Jin-Woo shook his head.

"I'll just wait."

"I understand. As soon as your replacement phone arrives, we will send it straight to your residence."

"Thank you."

Jin-Woo got up to leave. His business was done here.

He had already completed the Daily Quest that never failed to show up every day, and the application for the new phone at the Association also ended faster than he expected.

Jin-Woo exited from the Association building and pulled the golden key out again.

'Is it now time to check this little guy out, then?

The information on the key floated up in green letters.

[Item: Dungeon Key]

Rarity: E (ED: also reflects the difficulty in acquiring the item)

Type: Key

A key that transfers you to an instant dungeon. Can be used at the 3rd exit of the Hapjeong subway station.

He found this key inside one of the random boxes he got as the Daily Quest rewards.

At first, he wondered why a key would come out from there, but once he saw the 'rarity' category, he immediately realised that this was no ordinary item.

This was one of the reasons prompting him to get discharged from the hospital as well.

'An entrance key to the instant dungeon, huh….'

Whether it was called 'instant' or not, a dungeon was a dungeon.

If it was about dungeons, then he had plenty of painful memories regarding those.

This one time, he participated in a raid ranked E and ended up getting wounded so badly that he had to stay in the hospital for over a week.

Back then, he was able to survive because of the comrades that went with him, but….

But, if he used this key to enter a dungeon, then it meant that he had to enter it all alone. He deliberated for a long time, before making up his mind.

'I'm sure there will be no problems as long as I just take a quick peek inside.'

If things looked bad, all he had to do was run away, after all.

He'd been running 10 kilometres every day for a while now, so he was pretty confident of running away, actually.

Annnd, it was his mistake for taking it too lightly.

Slam, slam!

"Is there…. a wall blocking me?"

He pounded on the invisible wall and shouted at the outside, but no one replied back. People continued to carry on with their own lives, that was all.

Sometimes, someone approached the Hapjeong station, but they simply vanished as soon as coming in contact with this invisible 'wall'. It was quite likely that the place he was in and the outside world were two separate dimensions.

Jin-Woo tried his hardest to force his way out of this place, which prompted a new alert message to pop up.

Tti-ring.

[You can not exit the dungeon. Please defeat the boss first or find the return crystal.]

It was the same message as before.

The key in his possession disappeared as soon as he set foot inside the 3rd exit of the subway station and, by the time Jin-Woo realised things had gone rather awry and hurriedly turned around to leave, it was already too late.

He was thinking of finding a hidden Gate or some kind of a doorway within the 3rd exit that would transport him to a dungeon, but his expectation was completely off the mark. And quite different from the regular dungeons, he couldn't even leave as he pleased, too.

"It's different from other dungeons…."

Jin-Woo spat out a long groan and looked behind him. What he could see now was the interior of the subway station that had transformed into a jungle.

Walls were thick with twisting vines, and rancid odour akin to rotting corpses assaulted his senses. Hell, he even heard the cries of what sounded like wild beasts from afar every now and then, too.

It wasn't that there was a hidden entrance somewhere near the entrance of the Hapjeong station, but the entire station had become a dungeon, instead.

Jin-Woo pulled the steel longsword out from his Inventory.

Tti-ring.

[Item: Kim Sang-Sik's steel longsword]

Attack 10

His back was blocked off, and he had no method of contacting outside, so the only option left was to go forward.

Jin-Woo nervously swallowed his saliva and slowly descended the steps. He held his breath and surveyed his surroundings, but he couldn't sense anything particular.

However, it was truly forbidden to underestimate the dangers in a dungeon.

Among the low-ranked monsters, there were quite a few that knew how to mask and hide their presence very well. No, maybe because they were so low ranked that they had no choice but to hide and wait to ambush their prey.

Past the toilets, he entered deeper and encountered the underground shopping centre.

Shops were worn down and in complete disarray, looking more like a ruin than anything else. Seeing the human-less ruined shells of the shops dimly illuminated by the flickering overhead lamps, something felt rather ominously creepy and sinister.

Flicker, flicker….

A few of the lamps continued to flicker as if their life was nearing the end.

Jin-Woo carefully stepped on the overgrown weeds jutting out from between the cracked floor tiles and continued on forward, but he picked up on a general aura of unease and scanned his surroundings.

Everything seemed so quiet and still, but he did sense a gaze of something.

And then, there was this smell, too.

A seriously rotten odour of an animal carcass with flies buzzing around was coming from somewhere. For Jin-Woo, who had frequently entered dungeons, this was a rather familiar smell.

'This smell…. An animal-type monster.'

However, he still couldn't find its whereabouts at all. Just like how a predator would stalk its a prey.

'Oh, so you want to remain hidden and wait for your chance, is that it?'

In that case, he should give it one.

Jin-Woo deliberately turned around and presented his back. And very slowly, retread the path he had taken until now. An animal would try pounce on the prey as soon as its back was shown. An animal-type monster would be no different.

And so, it happened when he took his third step.

Smash!!

The shop window of a clothing store behind him shattered into pieces and something jumped out. And this something, as soon as it landed on the ground, leapt towards Jin-Woo's exposed neck in one go.

"Roar!"

Jin-Woo had been getting ready for a sneak attack like this one, so almost immediately, he swung the sword in the direction of the sound.

It was a perfectly-executed instinctive counter!

Swish!

The sharp edge of the blade sliced open the creature's maw.

The monster spat out a pained cry as it flew away from Jin-Woo and crashed on the ground, rolling around in a heap.

*SFX for a dog-type whimpering, repeated*

It was a huge wolf with a reddish coat of fur.

The wolf with its maw sliced away wiggled around and threw a seizure-like fit as if it was under a great deal of pain. When he took a closer look, its name also appeared on top of its head, just like the centipedes from the penalty zone.

'Iron-Fanged Lycan.'

However, unlike before, its name was in white letters, not red.

'There is no time to waste here!'

This was the perfect opportunity while the monster could not move from its wound. Jin-Woo threw his body forward.

He ran hard and fast, and chopped down with his sword, separating the creature's head from its body.

"Rawr!"

Lycan spat out the final roar and stopped breathing afterwards.

[You've killed an Iron-Fanged Lycan.]

"Good!"

However, the joy of victory was temporary!

Two more Lycans jumped out from their hiding place from behind the shop's darkness.

'D*mn it, it was in a pack?'

Jin-Woo's eyes grew wider.

They bared their big fangs and closed the distance in an instant.

Jin-Woo's expression crumpled dismally.

He must've chopped down too hard from all the excitement, because the sword was lodged on the ground too deep and it stubbornly refused to come out.

'It's stuck somewhere.'

It was at this moment that one of the Lycans aimed for his face and leapt up.

"D*mn it!!"

Jin-Woo ducked low. The Lycan flew over his head and landed face-first on the ground after failing to stop in time.

Stab!!

When its fangs stabbed into the stone floor, cracks instantly formed on the hard surface.

'I guess it's not called Iron-Fanged for nothing, huh.'

Of course, he didn't have the leeway to stay there and admire this scene. One more monster was still running towards his front at the moment, too. His sword showed no signs of coming free from its earthly prison for the time being.

"Screw this!"

Jin-Woo had no choice but to give up on the sword for now and threw a hard punch at the Lycan closing in.

WHOOSH!!

Accompanied by a bone-chilling sound of wind parting ways, his fist flew straight forward.

POW!!

It took just one hit and the head of the Lycan simply exploded.

The corpse of the now-headless Lycan slammed into the ceiling above and then, powerlessly fell down to the ground.

Thud!

Jin-Woo's eyes opened up very wide and he stared dumbfoundedly at his own fist.

What an unexpected destructive power that was.

Chapter 13 Fin.

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Chapter 14: Chapter 14

The sole surviving Lycan, the one that flew over Jin-Woo's head just now, lowered its tail after seeing this scene and began taking faltering steps backwards.

"Huh….?"

Was this the result from him raising his Strength Stat?

The utterly stunned Seong Jin-Woo couldn't close his slack jaw as the headless Lycan's legs shook like a leaf, before its movement stopped for good.

That was when he heard the familiar mechanical beep going off again.

Tti-ring.

[You've killed an Iron-Fanged Lycan.]

[Level up!]

"My level rose up?"

To make sure that he didn't mishear that, Jin-Woo hurriedly accessed his Status Window.

Name: Seong Jin-Woo

Level: 2

Class: None

Title: None

HP: 205

MP: 22

Tiredness: 0

[Stat]

Strength: 32

Stamina: 11

Agility: 11

Intelligence: 11

Perception: 11

(Available points to distribute: 0)

[Skills]

Passive skills:

– (Unknown) Lv. Max

– Tenacity Lv. 1

Active skills:

– Dash Lv. 1

His level really did go up.

And when a level went up, a single point was added to all of his Stats.

As it turned out, it wasn't only the quest rewards that could impact the values of his Stats. It was also possible to improve his Stats through levelling up, too.

'To think, I can actually level up!'

He only carried a vague expectation, but it actually became reality. His heart began to beat faster and faster.

'On top of that, I get more additional points from levelling up.'

The Stat points he got from the quest rewards were 3. Meanwhile, he got 5 from levelling up once.

Although he didn't like the fact that he couldn't freely distribute those points the way he liked to, but still, his growth through levelling up was much greater.

Also, there was the thing about quests only being available once per day, but there was a good chance that levelling up wouldn't suffer from such restrictions.

'I only killed two, but my level rose up.'

This was the same as in video games. When his level was low, he could raise it up by a lot during a short space of time.

And currently, Jin-Woo was only a level 2. It was not an exaggeration to say that he was right at the bottom of the pile. However, he was not what one would call a normal low-level player, either. His Strength stat already exceeded 30.

If the Strength stat rose up by one point every time one levelled up, then the Stat value of Jin-Woo's Strength was equivalent to level 20 or higher.

What if a 'user' possessing level 20's worth of Strength stat hunted in the 'level 1' beginner's hunting area?

'In other words, explosive levelling up….'

As if to prove his guess, the destructive might behind that punch easily exceeded his own expectations.

'The Strength stat might have been multiplied by just over three times, but…. The difference in actual, physical strength was well beyond that.'

Jin-Woo's original Strength value was 10.

There was the difference of three times the value between the Strength stat of 10 and 30, but the difference between the actual forces produced was well beyond that.

'Could it be….?'

What if, as the Stat's value rose up, the weight was also added as well? If that was the case, then such a destructive power output could easily be explained away.

Besides that, his movement speed had increased as well.

If it was in the past, there was no way he'd be able to lightly evade the all-out attack of an animal, nor could his punch move fast enough to produce the sound of the air splitting apart.

"Right, the physical strength in my muscles has increased so, obviously my speed would have increased along the way, too."

Simply by raising his Strength stat higher, both his power and speed had gone up. The battle against the Lycans proved this.

So, what would happen if he increased his Agility, instead?

His curiosity was at its peak, but he didn't have any method to find out at the moment. If he wanted to satisfy his burning curiosity, then he simply had to increase his Stats, ASAP.

'Even still….'

He couldn't help but think that investing points he got as quest rewards in the Agility Stat kinda felt a bit wasteful. If he shored up his Strength Stat, both his power and speed would go up anyway, so what was the point of investing in the Agility Stat?

Since his thoughts were as such, there was only one way to go forward here.

'I gotta level up lots of times, really fast.'

Indeed, he'd raise the Agility Stat through levelling up. Every little cent saved would eventually net him a buck later down the line. If he increased the values one point at a time, he'd feel the difference sooner or later.

Jin-Woo pried loose the sword off the ground.

'In that case, shall I get started for real, then?'

There was one more monster he needed to kill, after all.

"By the way…. Where did it disappear to?"

The Lycan that was definitely somewhere nearby had gone with the wind before he had noticed it. Jin-Woo hurriedly scanned his surroundings, but he couldn't find a single trace of the creature.

Quite likely, it had turned tail and ran away while he was immersed in the Status Windows. Well, he should've known something was up when it lowered its tail and cautiously studied his 'mood'.

"Tsk."

Jin-Woo smacked his lips, realising that a bundle of experience points had just escaped from his grasp.

'Hang on, do these things give away things like magic crystals, too?'

The sudden thought popping up in his head stopped him in his tracks.

Monsters appearing within the Gates all possessed one, or sometimes, several, magic crystals in them. If one got lucky, a Rune stone might drop, too.

Magic crystals could be used for a variety of purposes and they alone exchanged hands for princely sums; no need to even mention the Rune stones, which could be used by Hunters to learn brand new skills.

It was not an exaggeration to say that the reasons why Hunters participated in raids was not just because of the promised payment from the related organisations, but also these magic crystals, as well.

Jin-Woo was also a Hunter.

He was successful in killing these monsters, so not being rewarded for his work kind of felt a bit like he was wronged somehow.

Feeling a little rueful, he sliced open the Lycan's stomach, but it turned out to be a waste of time. It seemed that these creatures were fundamentally different from the regular monsters.

The thing was, he had entered quite a few different dungeons in his career so far, but he had never seen these wolf-like monsters before.

Jin-Woo dusted his hands and was about to stand back up, but then….

"Mm?"

He spotted something glittering within the dead Lycan's mouth. So, he opened the creature's maws. One of the Lycan's fangs was emitting a beam of light. When Jin-Woo reached out, a new message popped up before him.

[You found the 'Item: The Canine of a Lycan'. Take it?]

"Sure thing."

[Item: The Canine of a Lycan]

Rarity: None

Type: Miscellaneous

A large and sharp canine of a Lycan. Can be stored in the Inventory or can be sold at the Store.

Jin-Woo got flustered a bit while staring at the canine tooth.

'There was a Store, too?!'

Where would you find a System less friendly than the one he was saddled with?!

To think, it was designed in such a way that the end user had to personally experience it with his own body before learning about any of its functions….

Hell, he wasn't given much of an explanation during the penalty quest and he almost died as a result back then.

Jin-Woo gnashed his teeth and tried to summon this 'Store' thing.

"Store."

He couldn't help but feel his anticipation build up, wondering if a shop with a signboard declaring 'Store' and manned by an NPC merchant, kinda like from video games, might really appear before him.

However, what appeared instead was a bunch of green letters floating in the air like hologram projections, just like when he accessed his mailbox.

And there were only two words there, too.

'Buy' and 'Sell'.

What a simple-tastic Store this was.

Jin-Woo selected 'Buy'.

He didn't have a single cent in his pockets, but he was still curious about the stuff available within the Store.

Unfortunately for him, the Store turned out to be one cold customer.

[Your level is too low to access the 'Buy' function.]

He was already familiar with the cold-shoulder treatment from the places that required him to pay up, so this was fine.

"Sure, sure."

Jin-Woo didn't think too much about it and shifted his gaze away to 'Sell'.

[Will you sell 'Item: The Canine of a Lycan'?]

"Yup."

With the clinging sounds of coins, his Inventory appeared next. Right at the bottom of the display, in the column saying 'Gold', he could see the number 20 appearing there. That space had been empty yesterday.

'20 Gold, eh,'

He couldn't really use that 'money' in real life, and he couldn't even use the Store properly yet, so he had no idea just how much this 20 Gold was actually worth.

'Oh well. A creature from the rank E dungeon wouldn't have given me any decent loot, to begin with.'

Even if there was a difference between the dungeons found beyond the Gates and this so-called instant dungeon, it would be the same difference at the end of the day.

Still, Jin-Woo wanted to make sure, so he was about to collect the canine from the other dead Lycan, but he ended up doing a facepalm, instead.

"Ah. I blew away its entire head, didn't I…."

Jin-Woo felt bitter as he turned around to go somewhere else.

20 Gold and its unknown worth were calling back to him, but he couldn't waste time searching for a single canine that could've flown to pretty much anywhere under this dim lighting.

However, as soon as he turned around, the feelings of bitterness dissipated in an instant.

"Growl!!"

"Grrr…."

"Growl!!"

"Grrr!!!"

Well now, the Lycan he thought had ran way actually came back with a bunch of its friends!

A wonderfully bright smile bloomed on Jin-Woo's face. Even at a casual glance, there must be over 20 of them here.

"Eureka!!"

Hang on a minute, was that the right word to use in this sort of situation?

Whatever.

It was definitely a word to express one's joy, anyway.

Jin-Woo tightly grasped the sword and spoke up.

"With the exception of your canines, I'm gonna massacre all of you."

When the chilling glare of a man who was obsessed about making money landed on the Lycans, they became intimidated and shuddered slightly.

It was at this point that Jin-Woo pounced on them without mercy.

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

As he expected, his levels rose up quite quickly.

Simply from searching every nook and cranny of the first floor and killing all the Lycans he could find, Jin-Woo's level shot right up to 7.

He had jumped up five flights of stairs, in other words.

"Whimper….."

When he caught up and killed the very last monster running desperately away from him, a strange message popped up into his view.

Tti-ring.

[You have acquired the 'Title: Slaughterer of Wolves'.]

"A Title?"

[Title: Slaughterer of Wolves]

A Title given to a hunter skilled in hunting wolves. When facing animal-type monsters, all of your Stats will increase by 40%. (TL: the 'hunter' is a lower case here, because that's what's in the raw. The 'Hunters' until now had been written in English, actually.)

When he opened his Status Window to take a look, the 'Title' column indeed had been updated.

Name: Seong Jin-Woo

Level: 7

Class: None

Title: Slaughterer of Wolves

HP: 766

MP: 81

Tiredness: 3

[Stat]

Strength: 37

Stamina: 16

Agility: 16

Intelligence: 16

Perception: 16

(Available points to distribute: 0)

[Skills]

Passive skills:

– (Unknown) Lv. Max

– Tenacity Lv. 1

Active skills:

– Dash Lv. 1

A bonus boost to his stats when fighting against animal-type monsters….

Although the effect was a bit restricted, still, having his Stats increase by 40%, now that didn't sound too bad at all.

'There are plenty of animal-type monsters out there, so would this apply to them as well?' (TL: the author had been using the Hanja word for monsters to describe those found in the Gate's dungeons until now, but the creatures found in the instant dungeon are written in the English word, 'monster'. That's why we get this line.)

If that was the case, then he'd be able to easily kill monsters when participating in the future raids.

However, he still earned big time even when disregarding his new Title.

'34 wolf canines, two rusted daggers, a set of traveller's clothes, and one return crystal.'

While killing these wolves, he learned that he could sometimes find loot from their bellies. Of course, none of them was all that useful.

The rusted daggers possessed lower attack power bonus compared to the sword he'd been using until now, and the traveller's clothes were not something he could actually wear, but just some random japtem (ED: 'Vendor Trash', essentially.) that he could hawk off to the Store.

When he sold them all off, he earned just over a thousand Gold.

[Current Gold: 1,060]

'….Even then, I can't really celebrate, can I?'

Well, no matter how much he hoarded this Gold thing, he couldn't use them anyways. At least not for now.

The only thing remaining, besides the Gold, was the return crystal. When he was trying desperately to escape from the dungeon back then, the message said he'd need a return crystal if he wanted to leave. And now, if he wanted to, he could escape at any time.

He found himself on a crossroads.

In front, the stairs leading down to the second floor.

And in his hand, a single return crystal grasped tightly.

'Do I continue on, or do I back out….?'

If it was in the past, he'd not hesitate and choose the latter. That was how he managed to survive all those raids with his pathetic Stats. Everyone said that him surviving until now was a miracle, but well, he was trying to be smart about his choices, actually.

However, the story was different now.

He didn't want to retreat here.

He felt that, if he turned away to leave now, then he'd never be able to take another step forward in his life.

"I've retreated enough times already, right?"

Wouldn't it be okay for him to jump in headlong, at least once in his life?

Jin-Woo pocketed the return crystal. His steps climbing down the steps to the 2nd floor was light.

Chapter 14 Fin.

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[Level up!]

[Level up!]

Unlike the dungeons of the Gates, there was a thing called 'respawn' within the instant dungeon. While he was sweeping away every single monster found on the second floor, all the monsters on the first respawned. While he went back upstairs to deal with them, monsters on the second floor respawned. So on and so forth.

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

Jin-Woo hopped between the first and second floor and killed monsters until his level no longer rose up.

'Who knows when I'll ever run into another opportunity like this one?'

Along the way, he got so used to this place that he was able to predict from where and how the monsters would try to attack him.

"A monkey, falling from the ceiling…."

He lightly evaded the claws of the monkey-type monster falling from the ceiling and stabbed it in the chest with his sword. And then….

"Kkiiieeck!!"

"….One cat each from left and right."

…And then, he orderly sliced the necks of the black panther-like creatures jumping at him from his sides.

"Kyahk!"

"Kkahk!!"

[You've killed a 'Blade-Claw Briga'.]

[You've killed a 'Black-Shadow Razan'.]

[You've killed a 'Black-Shadow Razan'.]

And with these three, he had arrived at the end of the second floor.

He had cleared out the second floor once more. However, his level hadn't been moving from 15 for a long time now. It seemed that reaching that high was the limit for the first two floors.

"Stats."

[Stat]

Strength: 45

Stamina: 24

Agility: 24

Intelligence: 24

Perception: 24

(Available points to distribute: 0)

With him being level 15, his Stats had risen up by quite a lot. His Agility was now almost at 25. He finally got to feel the difference between the Agility and the Strength Stat when the former hit the value of 20.

The Agility did not increase his speed, but rather, it was as if the opponent's movement had become far slower in his perception, instead.

'Exactly like watching a slow-motion video.'

The scenes of the monkey falling from the ceiling and panthers pouncing on him played out in slow-motion.

Should he describe it as him being able to manipulate the time flow as he wished? It became easier to evade enemies' attacks, and it also became easier to hit them as well.

As the word implied, he had indeed become more 'agile'.

The so-called speed was wholly dependant on who was looking at it. The higher his Agility Stat, the bigger the difference between him and his enemies would become; from their perspective, he'd look as if he was moving at an unbelievably quick speed.

'If both the Strength and Agility increase concurrently, their synergy should be pretty incredible.'

That was his final assessment of the Agility Stat.

"Besides all that…"

Jin-Woo shifted his gaze away.

"What should I do now….?"

He was looking at the stairs leading down to the third floor.

There was a reason why he continued to hunt in the first two floors even though there was a way to go even lower.

'It's giving me the creeps.'

With his Perception Stat so much higher, he could sense the aura of something ominous lurking down there far better than before. Without a doubt, something really strong was hiding somewhere down below.

He didn't have to see it to know.

Jin-Woo recalled the message he saw back by the entrance of this instant dungeon.

[You can not exit the dungeon. Please defeat the boss first or find the return crystal.]

The existence of the 'Boss'.

Jin-Woo had been roaming the first two floors in order to raise his levels until he couldn't anymore, all for the purpose of fighting this 'Boss'.

He had prepared himself as much as he could but, when the time to actually go down there came, he was getting all sweaty and nervous.

Jin-Woo lightly slapped both of his cheeks.

'I mean, I've entered a dungeon, so I can't just leave without taking a look at what this boss looks like, now can I?'

A certain amount of tension was a must in order to maintain the peak condition. And this amount was just about right for him.

Jin-Woo gripped the sword tightly with both of his hands slowly descended the steps. Could he have been mistaken when the steps felt unusually longer than before?

He swallowed dried saliva down.

The lighting was worse than the first two floors, but there was no problem with seeing where he was going.

'Is it because of my Perception Stat?'

He couldn't help but feel that his eyesight had improved greatly.

He cautiously climbed lower until eventually spotting the railway tunnel used by the subway trains.

No, he saw where the railway used to be.

The tunnel that should've been used by trains was now filled with jet-black liquid, instead.

'What is this?'

Rather than a subway tunnel, it was…. more like a lake or a river now.

Just as Jin-Woo took one more step forward to take a closer look….

A long log-like object shot out from the surface of the black 'water'.

Swish!!

'It's fast!'

The thing that arrived in front of his nose in the blink of an eye was not a log, but a snake with the thickness rivalling one, actually.

"Heop!!"

Taken by surprise, Jin-Woo could only swing the sword and strike the head of the snake away from him.

Clang!!

Jin-Woo's eyes opened wider.

"What the hell?!"

He did succeed in deviating that direction of the lunging snake, but his trusty steel longsword ended up breaking apart from the impact.

Jin-Woo looked back in surprise.

The snake must've been surprised by his counterattack as well because it didn't try to follow up right away, but instead chose to simply glare at him while coiling itself up a distance away.

'The ruler of the swamp, Poison-Fanged Blue Kasaka.'

Jin-Woo could clearly see the orange-coloured name of the monster.

It was a creature incomparably faster and hardier than those with their names written in white.

'Even then, for a sword reinforced with magic energy to break like that….'

Jin-Woo swallowed nervously and cautiously studied the Boss monster called Kasaka.

Blue scales covering its entire body gleamed in an oily manner. As if it had draped itself with thick armour, those scales had no gaps to speak of.

Sword strikes wouldn't have worked in the first place. It'd be the same story for punches, too.

When Jin-Woo's thoughts arrived there, the Kasaka must've finished its own analysis on its prey, because it finally lunged at him once more.

No matter how one looked at it, it was a frightening turn of speed, that's for sure.

Swwwiiiish!!

Jin-Woo narrowed his eyes.

'It's coming!'

When he concentrated hard, he could now clearly see the attack of the Kasaka, which was something he couldn't even properly decipher in the beginning. This was all due to the increased Agility Stat.

Just before the Kasaka opened its maws wide and tried to swallow him, Jin-Woo swiftly sidestepped and let the attack brush past him. At the same time, he wrapped his arms around the creature and caught it in a headlock. He then tightened his grip.

*SFX for bones breaking*

Jin-Woo's Strength Stat was almost at 50.

An unbelievably powerful pressure tightened around the snake's main artery. The snake could not escape from his grip and thrashed around as if it was in pain. Jin-Woo gritted his teeth and strengthened his arms even more.

Slam!! Boom!!

Jin-Woo's body slammed against the walls and on the floor, but he never released his arms.

'If I didn't raise my levels as high as I could before coming here….'

There was literally no end to wondering about 'what-ifs' and 'what could have beens'.

However, all kinds of thoughts still swirled in Jin-Woo's head.

If he didn't raise his level to the limit….

If his Strength Stat wasn't so illogically high….

Then, he'd have gone through incredible hell in order to kill the Kasaka.

No, he might even have died here.

So, his decision not to come down right away proved to be the smart one. His choice was indeed the right one.

Crack!!

Accompanied by a rather awful noise, the skull of Kasaka gave in and cracked apart.

[You have killed the ruler of the swamp, Poison-Fanged Blue Kasaka.]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

As expected of a boss mob.

His level rose up by 2 after killing the Kasaka.

Jin-Woo tightly clenched his fists.

The level that had been stagnating at 15 had jumped up to 17.

In just a single day, he crazily raised his level from 1 all the way up to 17.

'However!'

No one hunted boss mobs for experience points!

Indeed, if it was a boss mob, then it'd be all about the loot drops!

When he started checking out the dead snake, two spots of light began gleaming from somewhere within its limp body.

'Two items, because it was a boss?'

His expression one of elation, Jin-Woo reached out towards the spots of light.

Tti-ring.

[You have discovered 'Item: Poison Fang of Kasaka'. Take it?]

[You have discovered 'Item: Poison Sac of Kasaka'. Take it?]

"Take them all."

As soon as he said those words, a dagger made out of a bone and a small pouch with liquid in it appeared on his palms.

[Item: Poison Fang of Kasaka]

Rarity: C

Type: Dagger

Attack 25

A dagger fashioned from the poison fang of the Kasaka. There are traces of the Kasaka's poison on it, so when attacking, it will cause Paralysis and Bleeding status effects. Can be stored in the Inventory, or can be sold at the Store.

Status effect 'Paralysis': the target will be unable to move. Success rate is fixed.

Status effect 'Bleeding': the target's stamina will be reduced by 1% per second.

Jin-Woo nodded his head.

'A dagger made not out of bone, but from the fang, huh. It's not a bad item with those options, yeah?'

Next up was the pouch.

[Item: Poison Sac of Kasaka]

Rarity: A

Type: Medicine

A pouch containing the refined poison of the Kasaka. Can be found very rarely when hunting Kasakas. Drinking this poison will give you strong skin, but the toxicity will permanently damage your muscles.

Effect 'The Iron Scales of Kasaka': 20% reduction in physical damage.

Side effect 'Damaged Muscles': Strength -35

Jin-Woo's expression alternated between joy and anguish.

The Poison Fang of Kasaka was a good weapon to replace the broken longsword. Not only did it possess over twice the attack power, but he really liked the two status effects of Paralysis and Bleeding, too.

'However, this poison sac is a bit….'

Initially, he was really pleased to find an item with the 'A' Rarity rating, but when reading the description, he realised this was not something he could feel completely chuffed about.

Of course, that effect of reducing all physical damage taken by 20% was a great option befitting an A-rank item. However, it also carried a fatal penalty of decreasing his Strength Stat by 35.

It'd be a really painful loss for him especially when he invested all of his points on increasing his Strength stat.

Was this the famed double-edged sword, then?

No, the expression of 'chicken ribs' suited this item far better, instead. (TL: a Korean idiom. It means something like 'people not giving up on chicken ribs even though there isn't all that much meat around there'.)

Maybe, he might be able to use this thing only when his Strength Stat had risen so high that the loss of 35 points wouldn't affect him in the slightest, which should be in the distant future. It was impossible to drink it right now.

"…..For the time being, I should just hold onto it."

With a rueful expression, he stored both inside his Inventory.

Maybe, if an A rank dagger and a C rank medicine came out, then he might have felt not as bad as he did now. Well, he'd have just gotten rid of the C-rank medicine if it was useless, after all.

It was then, a new message popped up.

[With the death of the Boss, the interior of the dungeon will revert back to its original state.]

Suddenly, his sights blurred for a bit, and then, they were restored back to normal, along with a slight bit of dizziness assaulting his senses. When he took a look around, he found himself inside a normal subway station.

The lights overhead shone brightly, and the black liquid filling up the tunnel was all gone, too.

"….But, where is everyone?"

Not just people, but even trains were strangely absent.

He even checked the time while thinking that the trains had stopped running for the day because it was so late already, but the clock was indicating 10 PM.

He entered the Hapjeong station around the lunch hour, so he had spent over 9 hours inside that dungeon.

'I was in there for a long time, wasn't I?'

If it weren't for his Tiredness Stat being refreshed every time he levelled up, he'd have keeled over from the accumulated fatigue several times by now.

'Anyway. Isn't it still too early for the trains to stop running?'

Jin-Woo tilted his head as not one train showed up, no matter how long he stood there waiting. He decided to leave the station for the time being.

While he was trudging towards the exit, he couldn't spot a single person. But, as he climbed up the steps to get to the surface, someone shouted at Jin-Woo from above.

"Who goes there?"

Who knew that the voice of another person would sound this welcoming?

Jin-Woo quickly raised his head. He saw a soldier wielding a rifle.

"Who are you? Why are you coming out from there? Haven't you heard the broadcasts?"

The expression of the soldier was so serious that even Jin-Woo's own expression hardened in an instant.

"Did something happen?"

"What the? How can you even say that?"

The soldier approached closer, but then, he spotted the broken sword in Jin-Woo's hand.

After it broke, it could no longer be stored in the Inventory, and Jin-Woo didn't feel like leaving it behind, so he just carried it outside like this.

Seeing that, the light within the soldier's eyes changed rapidly. He then carefully studied Jin-Woo's current appearance.

Now that this soldier had taken a closer look, Jin-Woo's clothes displayed various hints of the youth participating in many fierce battles recently.

The crumpled expression of the soldier lightened up in an instant.

"Are you a Hunter by any chance?"

Chapter 15 Fin.

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"Yes, I am one, but…."

"Ahh, please forgive me. This way, please. Let me guide you there."

"Ah…. Sure."

Sensing that his troubles might get more complicated if he said "There's been a misunderstanding here", Seong Jin-Woo decided to quietly follow the soldier's guidance for now.

Jin-Woo then swept his gaze around his vicinity.

'Now that I see, it's….'

The surrounding atmosphere felt rather suspicious.

The streets were totally deserted. The only people he could see were the soldiers and the members of the police.

Also, corpses belonging to monsters, destroyed cars, and buildings with cracks running up their walls….

Jin-Woo realised what had happened here.

'A Gate must've opened up nearby.'

Something like that almost never happened nowadays with the well-established Hunter system in place, but sometimes, a Gate would appear in a remote area, and it'd go unnoticed for a while. As a result, no one would come around to close it in time.

When such an event unfolded, soldiers from the nearby bases were dispatched in order to buy some time until Hunters could arrive on the scene.

Of course, the weapons of soldiers didn't work against the monsters. However, in order to facilitate the evacuation of civilians, someone had to be offered up as sacrifices. In other words, they were to become cannon fodder.

A role someone had no choice but to perform had been saddled on the shoulders of this nation's youths.

"Thank you."

The soldier walking up ahead thanked Jin-Woo out of the blue.

"Pardon me?"

"Well, because Hunters such as yourself fight hard, we are able to go home at the end of the day, you see."

"Oh, uh….."

He said 'thanks'.

That was something Jin-Woo wanted to say to the soldier, instead.

Soldiers to the Hunters, and Hunters to soldiers.

As befitting those fighting to protect someone, or even something, they were expressing their gratitude against each other.

Beep.

The soldier's expression brightened after he received the radio transmission.

"I've received a word that the monsters in the vicinity have been dealt with, and only the biggest one remains."

Jin-Woo nodded his head.

He didn't need to hear the soldier's explanation to know.

He could actually sense the presence of a powerful 'lifeform' nearby. And he could even sense several auras of Hunters surrounding it, too. The enhanced Perception Stat was transmitting crucial information in the form of sensations and feelings.

And that's how Jin-Woo got to figure it out almost immediately.

'That thing is the boss.'

Soon enough, the creature could be seen in the distance. In the empty, open space not too far from him, a dozen or so Hunters were surrounding a giant made out of rock. It was as tall as a telephone pole.

It was a Golem-type monster.

"Heok…."

The soldier spat out a gasp of fear as he took a step backwards.

Perhaps it was his first time seeing one, since the moment he saw it, his entire body had stiffened noticeably. But then again, most people would react in a similar fashion. The difference between seeing a monster for real and seeing it on a TV or a computer monitor was like heaven and earth, after all.

Unlike him, Jin-Woo remained calm and observed the unfolding situation.

"Healers! Concentrate your healing on the Tanker!"

"We're also doing our best!!"

"Why isn't it dying already?!"

"What are the damage dealers doing!! It's not even remotely close enough to dying, is it?!"

"The monster's defences are too strong! And we just don't have enough magic-type Hunters in our group!"

Because they had been summoned out here in haste, none of them seemed to be high ranked Hunters. Both their defences and attacks didn't look that effective at all.

Because of that, Hunters couldn't avoid being embroiled in the protracted battle of attrition.

BOOM!!

When the Golem slammed its massive stone fist downward, the Hunter acting as the Tanker had no choice but to kneel down just for a brief second.

"Keo-heok!!"

The Tanker vomited out a mouthful of blood.

"N-no!!"

"The Tanker might die at this rate!!"

"What do you want me to do?! My magic energy reserve is completely empty, you know!!"

"Hasn't the support from high-ranked Hunters arrive yet?!"

These Hunters looked like they had reached their limit.

Jin-Woo's gaze, as he took all of these in, gleamed quite sharply.

'If it's only that much…. I can do this.'

Jin-Woo slowly took several steps back. This Golem-type boss might possess the high defence, but its rank was probably lower than its scary outer appearance might suggest.

Just from the aura it emitted, it was definitely weaker than the boss of the instant dungeon, the Poison-Fanged Blue whatever.

'So, if I could just render its high defences to nothing….'

What's needed right now was a powerful strike that could penetrate past that dumb rock giant's defences.

Jin-Woo got to enough distance away and took a position of throwing something.

The muscles in the arm holding the broken sword began swelling up quite violently out of the blue. Thick, pulsing veins even popped up on the back of his hand, too.

All of his physical strength was concentrated in his right arm.

A short while after that, the arm pulled back taut like the string of a bow was shot forward at the speed of sound.

"Go!"

The view of the rank D Hunter, Lee Hahn-Soo, was turning dark.

He couldn't continue on anymore. His prized shield had begun developing cracks as well. As if their magic energy had been depleted, the amount of healing magic hitting him from the Healers had decreased quite noticeably.

At this rate, every single one of them would die for sure.

Lee Hahn-Soo had to make a decision, now.

The only feasible plan here was for him to buy enough time so the other Hunters could safely escape from here. And at a later time, Hunters with higher ranks show up to kill this Golem.

'Or, we all die together here.'

Cold sweat drops formed on Lee Hahn-Soo's forehead.

He finally firmed up his resolve. Lee Hahn-Soo shouted out while looking back.

"Leave this to me and you all gotta…!"

It was at this moment that Lee Hahn-Soo saw it.

Something flew towards here as it gleamed coldly in the night air.

Actually, he could only 'sense' that he had seen something, but his eyes couldn't really pick up on anything tangible.

It was that fast.

KWAHANG!!

That 'something' slammed into the Golem's head and it grandly exploded.

"W-what the hell?!"

Lee-Hahn-Soo's eyes opened up super-wide.

The headless Golem began tottering dangerously. The Hunters began roaring out in elation only then. They focused their attacks once more.

"It's working!! Our attacks are working!!"

"It's falling!!"

"A little bit more!! Just a bit more and we'll win!!"

It seemed that none of them had noticed the object flying in from somewhere, because they were too focused on attacking the monster. With the sole exception of Lee Hahn-Soo standing right in front of the Golem, that was!

Roooaaaarrr…..

In the end, the Golem toppled over.

Thud!

The heavy body fell down to the ground and kicked up a mighty dust storm.

Waaahhh!!

Hunters all cried out in elation and celebrated their victory.

"We did it!!"

"We killed it!"

Only Lee Hahn-Soo had seen everything unfold, and he slowly shook his head.

'No, our attacks didn't even work on this guy.'

Lee Hahn-Soo hurriedly searched around the vicinity of the fallen Golem.

"Just what did destroy the head of this rock giant?"

Lee Hahn-Soo thought out aloud and searched around. Eventually, he discovered the remnants of a broken sword. Although there were some traces of magic energy within it, it was basically a cheap, plain steel sword.

'What? Someone threw something this worthless and destroyed a boss level Golem capable of brushing off the combined attacks of ten plus Hunters?'

Suddenly, he forgot what he wanted to say. Lee Hahn-Soo silently alternated his gaze between the corpse of the Golem and the broken sword, before he ran past the cheering Hunters and in the direction the sword flew in from.

"Excuse me!!"

He found a dazed soldier standing there.

"Pardon? You talking to me?"

"That's right, you!"

When a Hunter with a hulking physique hurriedly rushed towards him, the soldier couldn't help but swallow nervously with a stiff face. That was how great the pressure a Hunter gave off to regular people.

Lee Hahn-Soo displayed the broken sword and asked.

"Did you throw this?"

"Oh, that. It's actually…."

The soldier looked behind him, only for his eyes to go round in surprise.

"Huh? Uh? But, there was a Hunter standing right behind me, though?"

Of course, there was no one there now.

While the flustered soldier was looking around the vicinity, Lee Hahn-Soo scratched the back of his neck and stared at the broken sword.

'That power, that destructive power…. Could it have been a high rank Hunter?'

He'd never know, since the protagonist had disappeared already.

Around the same time, Jin-Woo was on his way home. He turned around to leave as soon as the Golem began teetering about.

Indeed, he was the one who brought down the Golem. He was well aware of this fact.

Now originally, the loot and the profit arising from a dead monster belonged solely to the Hunter who managed to kill it. If he wanted to, he could contest for the rights to the Golem.

'However, it'd become problematic when trying to prove that I am capable of bringing down a Golem like that.'

Who would believe the notion of a giant Golem crashing down because of an attack from a measly little rank E? He didn't even have a proper evidence to back him up, too.

Jin-Woo figured that neither the broken sword or the soldier standing beside him would be of a great help in that endeavour.

And that would not be all. More importantly, he'd have to reveal the reason how his abilities had increased by so much that he could fell a Golem like that.

The harder he thought about it, he had more to lose than to gain.

The one and only ability in the entire world to level up.

He couldn't afford to slip up and reveal the existence of this unprecedented ability just for the sake of claiming the remains of a single Golem.

'It's a bit of a waste, but can't be helped.'

Still, it wasn't as if he walked away completely empty-handed, anyway.

No, rather than that, he earned pretty big, actually.

The message he heard the moment that giant Golem fell down….

[Level up!]

His level rose up by one because he had killed the Golem.

'Indeed, my levels will rise if I hunt the monsters from the normal dungeons.'

He had learned some valuable information. That alone was worth it.

An old and decrepit apartment located on the outskirts of the city – Jin-Woo's home was on the eighth floor of this building. (TL: I use the Commonwealth way of counting floors, so for all those who don't, it'd be the ninth floor for you.)

He found the key and entered the premises. It was dark inside.

'Jin-Ah's still studying hard, huh.'

It was quite likely that his little sister was still in the library, studying.

He found a bowl of rice and some soup on the dining table. Mom was in the hospital for a number of years now, and these dishes were from his little sister.

The piece of paper, a memo from her, contained a bunch of cutely written words.

– Don't starve yourself. I'mma check later if you ate them all.

She must've prepared them even though she was busy as a bee, after he told her of his plans to leave the hospital earlier today.

Jin-Woo grinned softly and settled down to eat. However, there was something he wanted to confirm first before doing that.

"Status Window."

Name: Seong Jin-Woo

Level: 18

Class: None

Title: Slaughterer of Wolves

HP: 2220

MP: 350

Tiredness: 2

[Stat]

Strength: 48

Stamina: 27

Agility: 27

Intelligence: 27

Perception: 27

(Available points to distribute: 0)

[Skills]

Passive skills:

– (Unknown) Lv. Max

– Tenacity Lv. 1

Active skills:

– Dash Lv. 1

He thought that today had been a long one.

And thanks to this long day, he was now level 18.

His Strength was approaching 50, and other Stats also had increased significantly as well. He even figured out what the Agility and Perception Stats did, too.

'On top of this, add to the fact that I found a very useful dagger with good options and all that Gold that I don't know how to use just yet, then…'

Even if he disregarded the 'special' medicine he got, his conquest of the instant dungeon was a resounding success.

Part 9. Geckos

A person stepping outside the house in the early hours of dawn would inevitably be cautious in their movements. Well, they might end up accidentally waking up their family members, after all.

That was why Seong Jin-Ah was silently closing the front door to her home, so that her brother wouldn't wake up from his sleep, as she was about to leave for school.

But, then….

"You going to school now?"

"Eh?"

She was taken by surprise when a voice came from near her, and she quickly turned around to look. And she saw Jin-Woo jogging towards her.

He was kitted out in tracksuit and sneakers. He had pulled the hood up high and looked as if he'd been on an early morning jog.

Jin-Ah's eyes opened up real wide in shock.

"What the heck? Oppa, you were up already?"

"Yup, been a while since I was up, you know. Hey, have fun today and be careful on the road."

"Uh…. Sure."

Jin-Ah watched her brother's back as he entered the apartment and tilted her head.

'Now that is so strange. Oppa actually woke up before I did….'

One would never call Jin-Woo a lazy type, but Jin-Ah was always the first one to start the day until now simply because she was unusually industrious, which was quite unfitting for her age group.

'Now that I think about it…'

Her older brother's back seemed broader than before, for some reason.

'Eii, no way that's true.'

A human's body wasn't made out of some rubber band, so how could it make any sense for him to expand and contract in a space of a few days?

'I've probably made a mistake.'

Chapter 16 Fin.

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Just as Jin-Ah shook her head, Jin-Woo suddenly pushed forward an umbrella to her.

"Why an umbrella?"

Jin-Ah received it and took a look at the sky. As it was still early dawn, the sky remained dark, but it seemed to be more or less clear and cloudless.

"But, it doesn't look like it's going to rain, though?"

"Take it anyway."

"But, it's heavy, you know?"

"Take it with you regardless. Besides, it's a folding type umbrella so it doesn't even weigh anything. Stop exaggerating, will ya?"

Slam.

Jin-Woo then closed the door.

"Che…. Acting as he feels like."

Jin-Ah lightly kicked the door a couple of times to express her disgruntlement, folded the umbrella and shoved it inside the empty space in her school bag, and turned around to leave.

'Hang on….'

Her steps came to an abrupt halt after she remembered the difference in the eye levels between her and her brother. Something was rather odd.

His eye level had definitely risen up higher compared to before.

"Do guys continue to grow taller even in their twenties?"

Eii, there was no way that could be true….

Jin-Ah shook her head again and hurriedly walked towards her school.

Click.

Jin-Woo locked the door and summoned his Inventory.

"Storage."

Storage, 'inven', Inventory.

He discovered it through various experimentation and learned that the word used didn't matter as long they meant the same thing.

It was the same story when accessing the mailbox.

As long as the word spoken meant 'open', the desired effect took place without fail. (TL: The author wrote 'open' three times in Korean and in English in this sentence. Thus I had to change it somewhat.)

Jin-Woo then shoved the umbrella he just got from the random box inside the 'digital' storage in front of his eyes. (TL: This is the direct translation from the raw. I didn't make a mistake. This is what it really said….)

"It's no good today again, huh."

Four days had passed by since he cleared that instant dungeon.

He always remained hopeful whenever he got to open up a random box, praying for another dungeon key to pop out, but unfortunately, he hadn't been lucky so far. It must've been a pretty rare item if it was this hard to get.

'Well, that's that, but now….'

Jin-Woo entered his room and sat on the edge of his bed. There was a matter he had resolve right away.

"Stats."

[Stat]

Strength: 48

Stamina: 27

Agility: 27

Intelligence: 27

Perception: 27

(Available points to distribute: 12)

He had been saving up the Stat points earned from the quests of the past four days. He made sure to complete the daily quest every day. Of course, he also didn't forget to always check his rewards, too.

However, he hadn't distributed the points until now.

The issue was….

"….This is tough."

Indeed, he found it rather difficult to come to a decision.

The 'Strength' Stat.

It was a wonderful Stat, that's for sure. He hadn't regretted it once, investing all of his points into this one back when he started this thing.

Agility.

This was also a pretty darn good Stat, too. Against weak enemies, it only helped a little, but as the levels of his opponents rose up in the future, no doubt he'd be relying on this Stat more and more.

Well, the 'speed' was a relative thing, after all.

And then, Stamina and Perception.

It'd be great if his Stamina was high, obviously. And this Perception turned out to be very useful as well.

Finally, 'Intelligence'.

…..This was the problem child.

He hadn't been able to figure out this Stat's uses yet.

His level had increased by quite a lot, but he didn't feel any smarter than before. His memories didn't seem to have improved, nor did his ability to calculate quickly, either.

'I think, it has to be related to magic….'

This Stat might be something he didn't really need for the time being. Which left Strength, Stamina, Agility and Perception.

"….Even then, this is really tough."

Although he now had one less Stat to choose from, he was still in a dilemma here.

He didn't feel too confident at all.

At least he understood that the synergy between 'Strength' and 'Agility' was very good. Even if he could deal big damage, it would be meaningless if he couldn't hit his target. On the flip side, even if he could hit accurately all the time, as long he could not deal enough damage, it'd be a waste of time, too.

In that regard, one could say that Strength and Agility formed a 'set'.

'Since my Strength Stat is so high, I should raise Agility up to match it.'

If he decided to raise his Agility Stat, then he had to delay raising Stamina, instead. Well, the synergy between Agility and Stamina wasn't so good, after all.

The thing was, when Agility was raised, the odds of getting struck by the enemy would decrease. But on the other hand, Stamina was a Stat that only displayed its true worth when the opponent actually damaged him.

'Of course, I do need at least the bare minimum of Stamina….'

But, raising both Agility and Stamina at the same time was a rather inefficient method, at least from his perspective.

After a lengthy deliberation, he decided on the order of priority.

The first one was Agility. The second, Perception. Finally, Stamina.

His Strength was plenty high enough so he'd defer it for now. And as he was planning to raise his Agility, Perception took priority over Stamina.

After deciding so, Jin-Woo spent 2 points on Strength.

Tti-ring.

[Stat]

Strength: 50

Stamina: 27

Agility: 27

Intelligence: 27

Perception: 27

(Available points to distribute: 10)

Well, he wanted to raise Strength to the round and even 50 for the time being. That was how normal human beings behaved, no?

Then, he spent 8 points on Agility.

[Stat]

Strength: 50

Stamina: 27

Agility: 35

Intelligence: 27

Perception: 27

(Available points to distribute: 2)

The reason for that was also not that special.

He just wanted the last number to be a '5'.

'It's far more preferable to see the numbers ending in increments of 5….'

Strength 50, and Agility 35.

Seeing them end in the multiples of 5, he suddenly felt rather pleased with himself for no reason whatsoever.

'And as for the last 2 points….'

Jin-Woo invested them on Perception next.

With this, the points distribution had come to an end.

[Stat]

Strength: 50

Stamina: 27

Agility: 35

Intelligence: 27

Perception: 29

(Available points to distribute: 0)

The only sticking point would be the fact that he couldn't quite bring Perception up to 30.

'Well, I don't have any more points left, so it can't be helped, I guess.'

Other than that, everything was okay. He figured that it'd be fine to raise Stamina and Agility through levelling up.

"So then, I guess that's it."

No matter who you were, you would be hard-pressed to feel 100% satisfied with everything. Since he had thought about his choices for a long while, he was more or less happy with them like this.

It was then, he could hear the telephone ringing from the living room.

Riiing, riiiing….

'Is the Association calling me?'

In the past, he didn't want to participate in the raids so he did his best to ignore the calls until the last possible moment, but right now, he was raring to go and test out his raised abilities against various monsters.

Jin-Woo quickly snatched up the receiver.

"This is the Hunter Seong Jin-Woo."

– "Aigoo, you finally picked up the phone."

Too bad, it wasn't a call from the Association.

A rueful sigh leaked out of his mouth.

– "Learner Jin-Woo, why is it so difficult to get in touch with you lately?"

The voice coming from the speaker was a familiar one.

It'd been four years already since he graduated from high school and therefore stopped being a 'learner', but the owner of the building always attached that prefix in front of Jin-Woo's name ever since taking in both the Seong siblings when they were still young kids.

"I'm really sorry about that. I was admitted to the hospital because of an incident a few days ago."

– "Tsk, tsk, so that's what happened. I should've known. Well, there's that and, learner Jin-Woo…. The rent for this month hadn't come in yet, so…. what should I do? If it's a bit too tough for you, should I delay it for a month or two?"

"Oh, no. It's fine. I'll send the money in a bit later."

– "Okay. But, don't force yourself, you hear? Trying to look after your mom and your younger sister, you're going through so much hardship there. I know money is important, but don't forget to take care of your body, too."

"Thank you. I won't forget that."

The call ended there.

Jin-Woo pulled out the bank balance book from one of the drawers. The remaining amount in the account was only around 800,000. (TL: Just over $700.)

"Fuu…."

A groan leaked out from his mouth.

After paying the rent of 500,000, he'd have 300,000 left for the month's living expenses.

And the rent could be that low only because the apartment building was located on the remote outskirts of the city, as well as it being old and decrepit, plus the owner of the building taking into consideration Jin-Woo's troubles and not raising the amount for the last couple of years.

There was no way anyone would be able to find an apartment to rent for 500 grand per month nowadays.

And trying to survive on 300 grand for the whole month was even tougher.

"I gotta make some money first."

Jin-Woo decided to take care of the urgent matters first.

He was no longer the same guy from a few days ago who couldn't even kill a single E-ranked monster and shiver in fear.

How did Hunters make money?

The best way was to kill monsters.

Hunters ranked S or A could get sponsorships, shoot commercials, make appearances in TV shows and the like to hoover up a lot of money, as much as some chaebols made, but their number was exceedingly few. (TL: Chaebols = owners of big corporations basically)

Indeed, there were too few of them.

Excluding those too few ones at the top, the majority of the Hunters had to go to a dungeon in order to make money.

The higher the rank…

The greater the experience….

The earnings would be decided by each individual's own capabilities.

For someone like Jin-Woo, who was ranked E, worked only for the Association, and had no experience in dungeons rated higher than C, such a condition was an incredibly tough one to overcome.

Jin-Woo's expression scrunched up into something unsightly.

'Disregarding the conditions, for now, if I could just enter an assault team, now that would be great….'

He took a look at the job postings on the Hunter websites' bulletin boards and called a few numbers, but all of them turned out to be a waste of time. No one wanted to work with a Hunter ranked E.

Those Hunters seeking outside help via job postings were freelancers almost all of the time, which meant that they were responsible for preserving their own necks, so understandably, they paid close attention when forming a raid team or letting someone into theirs.

These people didn't possess enough abilities to enter big Guilds, but their ranks were too high to work for the Association.

They were all kind of stuck in-between a rock and a hard place, but unable to go either way.

'Even then, these Hunters still earn more than 10,000,000 a month, as far as I know.' (TL: Around $8830)

It was the case of 'High Risk, High Reward'.

Since they put their lives on the line, the profit they earned was just as big at the end of the day. It wasn't for nothing that Hunters were the targets of envy from the general populace.

From Jin-Woo's perspective, he could only get impatient, though.

'Should I just take the rank reassignment test and increase my rank right away?'

Eventually, Jin-Woo shook his head.

He knew that was a stupid thing to do, no matter how hard he thought about it.

A Hunter ranked E suddenly became a high-ranked one!

Whether that was A or B, or maybe even C, it didn't matter.

The Re-Awakening would always become a hot topic of conversation.

The masses loved nothing more than a good gossip, and Hunters just so happened to be a good subject to chew on.

The old saying went that, if there were five mouths, then there would be ten eyes. Meaning, the more people talked about you, the more eyes would be focused on you. His Stats would continue to rise up in the future, so it'd be only a matter of time before his 'special' constitution was discovered by the others.

"A Hunter who can raise his abilities up higher?"

"He becomes stronger as time goes by?"

"Who is this Hunter?"

"How can he do something like that?"

"What should we do to become like him?"

Without a doubt, many people would express their interest. After all, there hadn't been a Hunter like him before. And among those expressing interest, there would be those who try to use him, or reveal their hostile intentions towards him as well.

'If just one of those possesses incredible power, then….'

Just imagining it gave him the chills.

He was far too weak as he was now. Until he possessed enough power to protect himself, he didn't want the world to know of his existence. Meaning, taking the test to reassign his ranks was out of the question.

'But, I still need to make money here….'

However, that didn't mean he could go out and get a part-time job, either. He didn't know when the Association would call him for a raid.

By raiding a dungeon, he'd get to earn both money and experience, so how could he blow that important chance just to scrounge up a few bucks by working in a local store?

While he was seriously deliberating on what he needed to do, he spotted something in the bulletin board that caught his attention.

– Emergency! Searching for a single Hunter, regardless of the rank! Needs to come right away!

Jin-Woo's eyes shot right open. This posting had popped up literally a second ago.

When he hurriedly checked the contents of the posting, it wasn't too far from his home, too.

Jin-Woo quickly picked the phone up. The other side must've been in a hurry as well because he answered the call even before the first ringtone.

– "Hello?"

Jin-Woo stated his reasons for calling as precisely as possible and calmly waited for the answer.

– "Oh, you are an E rank?"

The response from the other side was better than expected.

– "It's fine. We just need someone to show up and fill up the headcount, that is all. However, it's a Gate ranked C so it'd be hard for you to hunt there. So, we'll just spilt the profits among ourselves and we just give you 2,000,000 in cash. How about it? Can you come right away?"

2,000,000 for a day's work! (TL: Around $1765)

It was a lot of money for simply being there to make up the numbers.

A rather tempting offer this was.

It was regrettable that he couldn't get to share the dungeon's loot, but he might end up losing out on making 2 million just by trying to be too greedy.

'For now, let's put out the urgent fires first.'

Such an opportunity wouldn't come around every day, after all.

2 million was enough for him and his sister's monthly living expenses.

Jin-Woo said yes to the offer.

"I'll be there in less than 15 minutes."

Chapter 17 Fin.

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Chapter 18: Chapter 18

Jin-Woo only needed one minute to get ready, quickly grabbed himself a taxi, and headed off to the meeting point. Nine people were already there, waiting for his arrival.

The man who looked like the leader of the group waved his hand at Jin-Woo.

"Heyyy! Over here."

It was a bearded man with a fairly big physique. He smiled softly and walked closer while speaking to Jin-Woo.

"Are you Mister Seong Jin-Woo?"

"That's correct."

"Aigoo, it's a relief that you found the right place so quickly. I guess this is fate, so how about we greet each other before we get started?"

The bearded man briefly introduced the members of his team.

The eight of them including himself were regular teammates that worked together all the time, while the remaining guy was someone who also came here to make up the numbers, just like Jin-Woo.

Jin-Woo greeted other team members and studied their countenance carefully. Thanks to his enhanced Perception Stat, he was able to more or less sense everyone's capabilities.

'Five with a similar rank. Four with a slightly lower rank than them. Five rank Cs and around four with D or lower.'

There was a regulation when attempting to clear a Gate rated C. The minimum number of a party had to be ten Hunters, and more than half had to be at least ranked C or higher. Only then did the Association issued a permit.

It seemed that them claiming to do all the hunting and he only needed to be there to make up the numbers didn't sound like an empty boasting after all.

"Now we're done with introductions, let me briefly explain the important points to remember."

The bearded man introduced himself as Hwang Dong-Seok, a Tanker rated C. He displayed a relaxed atmosphere as if he possessed plenty of experience raiding dungeons.

As he began describing the situations one had to keep an eye out for in the middle of a raid, someone came closer to Jin-Woo.

"Excuse me. Looks like we're both pieces of fluff in this party, huh?"

He was none other than the other Hunter Hwang Dong-Seok had brought along in order to fill up the numbers. He was a young man with a bright expression. However, unlike Jin-Woo, he was actually going to participate in battles. He was ranked D, so he had the right to do so.

His name was Yu Jin-Ho, aged 22.

Jin-Woo lightly nodded his head as Yu Jin-Ho greeted him, before shifting his gaze away. Yu Jin-Ho seemingly wanted to carry on with the conversation, but ended up scratching the back of his head awkwardly. He soon returned to his spot.

"Hyung-nim, let's stop here and go in already." (TL: Hyung-nim = big brother, or a male addressing an older male. Used more as an honorific by gangsters to address someone higher up in the hierarchy. Most of the time, anyways.)

"We'll be the ones to kill them all, so what's the point of explaining it in detail like that?"

"Right, my ears might get blocked up with wax at this rate."

When the original team members all raised their voices, Hwang Dong-Seok laughed jovially and clapped his hands.

"Alright, then. Enough with the explanations, let's get going."

Everyone got ready to enter the Gate.

"Ah, before we enter, you two, take a look at these."

Hwang Dong-Seok pushed forward a page of a document to Jin-Woo and Yu Jin-Ho each. It turned out to be a simple contract.

"Write your names on the bottom and sign it, and we're good to go."

The contents said, he'd not participate in any hunting, he'd not participate in sharing of the loot, and when the raid was over, he'd be paid 2 million won right away.

The terms were the same as what he heard over the phone. However, they were not the ones to catch his attention.

'I have to promise not to question them regardless of whatever incident happens inside the dungeon….?'

Unlike the raids organised by the Association, one would not be able to claim for compensation if something happened during a raid organised by the freelancers. One of the reasons why Hunters couldn't get a life insurance, either.

One had to look after one's own neck, in other words.

Only now did it feel real that Jin-Woo had entered an assault team.

While confirming the clauses, Jin-Woo sneaked a glance at Yu Jin-Ho's contract. As expected, his was different; besides the promised 2 million, he was also going to share in the loot, as well.

Before signing the document, Jin-Woo asked Hwang Dong-Seok.

"What am I supposed to do when we're inside?"

"Nothing too particular. Just follow us and help us carry the luggage, that's all."

"Your luggage….?"

Hwang Dong-Seok pointed at the huge backpack one of his 'dongsaengs' pulled out from the minivan. (TL: A "dongsaeng" is a gender-neutral term to denote a younger sibling. Can also be used as an honorific to denote a younger person.)

"You'll be carrying around lunch boxes to eat when inside, several sets of clothing and equipment, first-aid kits and some other stuff."

'Wait, first-aid kits when entering a dungeon?'

Jin-Woo couldn't help but question this.

"You are not entering with a Healer?"

"I'm sure you already know that it's not easy to hire a Healer if you're running your own assault party. Well, we've been doing things this way until now, so it'll be fine."

Hwang Dong-Seok smiled awkwardly.

To think, this team just barely met the required minimum number of Hunters, one of the additional members mistook a raid as a blind date or something, and the composition of the assault team only happened to feature a Tanker and damage dealers, and not one Healer…

Even after hearing that there was no Healer present, that oblivious additional member didn't seem too bothered by the revelation. It was the sure proof that he was a newbie.

Jin-Woo smirked inwardly.

'They are a bunch of wannabes.'

However, he still signed on the contract. Not because he needed that 2 million, but because he knew very well that he could protect himself now.

"Here it is."

"I'm done, too!"

Hwang Dong-Seok confirmed the signatures of both men and shouted out in a loud voice as if he was feeling really pleased today.

"Okay!! Let's get going, everyone!"

The party headed straight to the location of the Gate.

It was in the middle of the halted construction site for an apartment complex.

"The economy nowadays isn't so good, but still…."

Hwang Dong-Seok clicked his tongue.

Like large tombstones, unfinished apartment buildings stood still sporadically, imparting a certain sense of foreboding to all who looked at them. Could a cemetery of giants feel this way to observers?

"Did you know?"

Yu Jin-Ho had walked closer to Jin-Woo and whispered softly.

"…. That, while the employees and the investors are going through hell at the moment, the CEO of the project ran off to overseas two months ago along with 900,000,000,000?"

Jin-Woo gave the other guy plenty of hints, But it seemed like Yu Jin-Ho didn't want to leave his side at all.

Well, with the exception of Jin-Woo here, all eight of them originally belonged to one team so it'd be hard to get along with them that easily.

"Hyung, are you always this quiet?" (TL: "Hyung" here is slightly different from "Hyung-nim" from earlier on. Still means older brother, but without the tough-guy connotation.)

Before anyone had noticed it, the honorific had become 'hyung'. Jin-Woo couldn't ignore this kid anymore.

"…..Don't you know how to take the hint?"

"Well, I've never lived while worrying about taking hints, so… Ehehe."

Was this guy simply a good-natured, or just brainless? Jin-Woo wordlessly scratched the side of his head as he stared at Yu Jin-Ho and that bright smile of his.

'However, I….'

It was indeed true that Jin-Woo would get unusually nervous when he got nearer a Gate. But, it was par for the course, really.

To other Hunters, raids might come across as a legitimate source of income, but to Jin-Woo, each and every one he participated so far had been a desperate, bitter struggle to make ends meet.

He'd get tense because of all the painful memories stuck forever in his head.

"It's over here."

Hwang Dong-Seok's steps came to an end.

"Oh…."

The Hunters all let out a surprised gasp.

"Hwang hyung, is this really a Gate rated C? But, isn't it too big?"

"You think the Association was lying to us? They said that investigators came around here twice already."

A hole in the air, floating like a black hole. People took to calling it a Gate.

Its rank was assigned according to the waves of magical energy emission coming from inside. Folks from the Association would stop by first to assign a rank to each one.

After that, individuals or Guilds wanting to clear the Gate could follow the procedure and apply for a permit.

Gates ranked A or B were, most of the time, left to the big Guilds. Well, they were too difficult for freelancers to clear, after all.

So, assault parties formed by freelancers took care of the Gates ranked lower than that. Which meant that a Gate ranked C was effectively the hardest one for Hunters not affiliated with anyone to clear.

Hwang Dong-Seok stood in front of the Gate and looked back at his team.

"I'll be entering first. Do your best to keep up, everyone."

The Tanker entered first, and the other Hunters began entering one by one.

'You never know, so….'

Jin-Woo lightly stretched himself just in case.

Next to him, Yu Jin-Ho began pulling out his own equipment from his bag. The sword and the shield coming out from his bag gleamed attractively under the light.

Even a casual glance could tell that they were very expensive. They were definitely not something a newbie Hunter could organise on his own.

'Hang on, he said that he never had to take hints before, so does that mean he's from a well-to-do family?'

Jin-Woo formed a surprised expression.

Perhaps sensing Jin-Woo's gaze on him, Yu Jin-Woo confidently and bravely stood in front.

"Hyung, you said that you're ranked E, right? Don't worry, I'll protect you. Just stick close by me."

Jin-Woo scratched the back of his head.

Just who would protect who?

"…Okay. Thanks for the sentiment."

"Let's go in as well."

Regardless of how Jin-Woo felt, they still followed in afterwards and safely entered the Gate.

The interior of the dungeon was eerily quiet.

Not only that, but it was also completely dark, too.

Hwang Dong-Seok issued his first order.

"Hey, Gyu-Hwan? I need a light."

"Alright."

The magic-related Hunter Joh Gyu-Hwan created a ball of a light in mid-air. The surroundings became bright immediately.

Hwang Song-Seok lowered his shield and tilted his head slightly.

"What the hell? Where are all the monsters?"

"I wonder. There is no light in here, either."

Now normally, there should have been luminous stones found here and there inside cave-like dungeons and emitted some light to illuminate the way forward. However, this dungeon didn't have those.

Yu Jin-Ho whispered to Jin-Woo from the side.

"Hyung, could there be a dungeon without monsters in it?"

"Shush."

Jin-Woo gestured the younger man to keep quiet. Because, Jin-Woo's ears were twitching. He could hear lots of footsteps coming from the distance.

Jin-Woo spoke up.

"It's not that there aren't any, they just haven't arrived yet."

Yu Jin-Ho swallowed nervously after hearing that.

Rumble….

Soon, the party could hear what Jin-Woo had heard earlier on.

Only then did Hwang Dong-Seok realise something was amiss here.

A dungeon with no luminous stones could mean…..?

"What moves around in groups, lives in darkness, and rushes towards a source of light?"

"Oh, crap!!"

The complexions of Hwang Dong-Seok and his dongsaengs became ashen all at the same time.

"It's bugs!!"

"Bugs are coming!!"

"F*ck it, man!! Why the hell did it have to be god d*mn bugs!!"

Hwang Dong-Seok cried out.

"Get into your positions!! They are coming! In front!!"

From the other side of this lone passage, 'somethings' were madly rushing towards them in a large group.

"Wait, could this be an ant hill?"

"Don't say something that might jinx us, okay?"

Out of all the monster types, insects were the most troublesome to deal with. Their shells were quite hardy, they always moved around in large groups, and each individual possessed pretty high combat potential, as well.

And the worst of that lot just so happened to be the ant-types. Countless Hunters made a mistake and entered the 'ant hills' only to lose their lives very quickly.

Rumble, rumble!!

The sounds of the insect legs rustling on the ground noisily reverberated throughout the cave. It meant that they had come pretty close now.

Hwang Dong-Seok raised his shield right up below his chin. However, they couldn't see any insects even then. His dongsaengs began raising a fuss from behind him.

"What's going on here? Why can't I see them?"

"But, they are close by, though?"

"Dong-Seok hyung, can you see anything out in front?"

It was at this time that Jin-Woo shouted out.

"Above you!"

'What?!'

Hwang Dong-Seok reflexively looked up.

Rumble…..!

Huge insects were running towards them on the ceiling.

If they were discovered late even for a single second, those things would've jumped down on top of their heads.

When fighting against monsters such as these insect-types that formed large groups, the breaking down of the team's formation would mean death for everyone involved.

'If those were discovered too late, then….'

Hwang Dong-Seok felt a chill run down his spine.

The silver lining here was that he couldn't spot a single ant-like creature among the various insects.

He raised his voice and shouted out.

"Fire!! Fire and bring them down!! Once they are on the ground, I'll attract the aggro!"

Swish, pow!!

Boom!!

Kiiieeehhk!!

Kiieehh…

When a few monsters fell down after getting struck by the attacks of the Hunters, the rest of them followed suit and landed back on the ground. Without a doubt, they were planning to engage the Hunters.

From here onwards, the capability of the Tanker would prove to be crucial. Hwang Dong-Seok activated his provocation skill to attract the gazes of all the monsters to himself.

And as if they had a prior agreement, monsters all turned their heads to glare at Hwang Dong-Seok at the same time.

"I'm over here, you d*mn bugs!!"

Kiieeehhh!!

Dozens upon dozens of monsters rushed towards Hwang Dong-Seok's position.

Slam!! Clang!!

Clllannng!!

Cling!! Clang!

His shield managed to defend against the attacks of the bugs without fail. The strong jaws and claws couldn't tear the shield in half. The Tanker Hwang Dong-Seok defended commendably well from the front, all stable and unmoving.

"Standby, get in position, and get ready!!"

Hwang Dong-Seok waited for the right timing.

Chapter 18 Fin.

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Chapter 19: Chapter 19

Even when the bugs chomped and bit at him with terrifying intensity, Hwang Dong-Seok remained steadfast and waited for the chance to counter-attack.

….To make sure that the aggro wouldn't deviate from him even if the damage dealers landed a crippling blow to the enemies.

'This should be enough!'

With that thought, the real hunt had finally begun. To hunt, the real reason why the Hunters were called Hunters in the first place!

Hwang Dong-Seok roared out.

"Attack!"

Along with that short but manly shout, all the accumulated firepower of the team poured out on the marauding insect horde.

Kiiieehhhk…

Kiieehhkk!!

The pained screams of the monsters rose up from here, there, and everywhere.

Jin-Woo stood at the back and observed this situation as it unfolded. That was the contractual obligation he had to adhere to for this raid.

He inwardly simulated how he'd fight alone as his eyes continued to take in the battle happening in front.

'How frustrating.'

Jin-Woo had to suppress his urges to rush out there several times already. He could see so many open gaps within the ranks of the monsters. And he also spotted the Hunters missing those gaps and continue to commit simple errors.

So, how could he not feel frustrated when he was not allowed to do anything and simply had to stand around?

Even then, the damage to Hwang Dong-Seok's team proved to be surprisingly non-existent. It was all because their teamwork was rather excellent.

It seemed that the relaxed demeanour of Hwang Dong-Seok before the raid began was not just for a show, after all.

"Jin-Seok-ah! 11 o'clock!"

"Hyung, they are coming from your right, too!"

"Joon-Tae, Seok-Min, Gyu-Hwan!! Take care of the right!"

"Okay!"

"Cheol-Jin, your wrist's swollen up. Retreat to the rear."

"Hwang hyung, this ain't much to fret about."

"You wanna go back only after sweeping clean the entrance? We don't know how long this raid will take, so stop being hasty from the get-go. Control your pace, got that?"

"Roger that."

Perhaps because they've been working together for so long, they were able to communicate quite smoothly. Being able to communicate quickly like this would inevitably result in an excellent teamwork as well.

It was a world apart from the ragtag bunch of Hunters brought together by the Association.

'What's more surprising is that this kid turns out to be pretty handy, too.'

Jin-Woo's gaze shifted over to Yu Jin-Ho next.

When a monster bit into his shield, he kicked it away and swung his sword quickly at it. The expensive sword easily separated the monster's head from its body.

For a newbie rank D Hunter, he was defending himself admirably well.

'His kick-a*s gear is filling up the hole left behind by his lack of skills and experience, huh.'

Indeed, it was not for nothing that pretty much all Hunters struggled hard to get themselves good equipment.

When their gazes briefly met, Yu Jin-Ho quickly raised his thumb up.

Because of his expressions that looked as if he was desperately pleading for a positive response, Jin-Woo was left with no choice but to reciprocate the same gesture as well.

Looking rather satisfied now, Yu Jin-Woo turned around.

Kiiiehhhk….!

Whatever the case may have been, the end of the battle was drawing nearer. Once the coast was more or less clear, Hwang Dong-Seok issued another order to his dongsaengs.

"Don't forget the magic crystals! We split them exactly nine ways!"

"Yep."

"This is my favourite part of the raid."

"Me too."

Hwang Dong-Seok confirmed his giggling dongsaengs collecting the loot, and walked closer to Jin-Woo.

"Aigoo, we survived all thanks to you."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, you were the first one to alert us about them monsters coming up from above, weren't you? How did you know, though?"

"It was…. a gut feeling."

Jin-Woo came up with a half-cooked story on the spot.

Quite obviously, he couldn't come out and say that his Perception Stat was high, now could he?

"Oh, really? A gut feeling, huh…. Well, we got lucky today. I don't even want to imagine what might have happened if we didn't discover them in time… whew-woo."

Hwang Dong-Seok patted his chest while speaking up.

It was then.

One of the Hunters rummaging through the carcass of the insect gestured at Hwang Dong-Seok to come closer.

"Hwang hyung, please come over here for a sec."

The dongsaengs had all gathered in one spot. So, Hwang Dong-Seok went there to join them as well.

"Mm?"

"Something's a bit off about these crawlies."

The Hunters parted ways when Hwang Dong-Seok arrived, allowing the bearded man to squat down and take a look at the surroundings. He couldn't spot anything out of the ordinary, though. No matter where he looked, all he could see was the dead insects.

"What's off about these?"

Hwang Dong-Seok tilted his head.

One of the dongsaengs pointed at the leg of the insect monster closest to him.

"I'm pretty sure that wound didn't come from us."

Hwang Dong-Seok's expression crumpled slightly. He took a closer look before raising his voice.

"Looks like…. something took a big bite out of it, doesn't it?"

"Right? That's not the only one with wounds like that, you see. Looky here. This one, that one over there, and over there, too. Looks like that one's missing a pair of wings as well. Could these creepy crawlies have been beaten down already before fighting us?"

Hwang Dong-Seok's expression hardened even more.

Now he realised why the battle went off so smoothly when compared to the number of the monsters they had to fight.

"Could it be that…. these things were fighting against something else?"

It was then.

Although it had been for the briefest of all brief moments, Jin-Woo still sensed the gazes of the several members of this team landing on him.

Their eyes shifted away as soon as Jin-Woo displayed a hint of sensing them. With this, he was certain now.

'As I thought….'

His initial suspicions proved to be correct.

Seeing that their teamwork was so good, they must've been fighting together for a long, long time already. And without anyone dying, too.

However, would such a thing be possible without a Healer backing them up?

No matter how good Hunters were, they were still humans at the end of the day. Inevitably, they would slip up sooner or later. Well, only a short while ago, didn't their formation nearly break apart from the attacks of the bugs?

A bigger picture finally formed inside Jin-Woo's head and a subtle smile formed on his lips.

'Maybe…. I can use them to my advantage.'

As long as they acted within his calculations, that was.

Hwang Dong-Seok smiled and stood back up.

"Well, now. Why don't we go in a little bit deeper? We might be able to clear this dungeon rather quickly if this keeps up."

Hwang Dong-Seok deliberately spoke up with a loud voice.

He didn't do that for the sake of his dongsaengs. Well, the original members of the team were already surrounding him, to begin with.

In the meantime, Yu Jin-Ho smiled brightly and approached closer to Jin-Woo.

"Hyung, did you see it? You saw it, right? With this, I kicked some serious monster a*s today, didn't I?"

Yu Jin-Ho swung the sword around in the air. Seeing this, Jin-Woo quietly asked him.

"Hey, that sword and the shield, they are really expensive, right?"

"Pardon? Ahh, when I told my dad that I'd be participating in my first raid, he got them for me."

"Well, in that case, I think you should keep your wits about you, too."

Jin-Woo lightly patted Yu Jin-Ho on his shoulder and followed after the other Hunters walking deeper inside the dungeon.

"What is he talking about now, out of the blue?"

Yu Jin-Ho tilted his head in confusion before chasing after the departing group.

The cave seemed to go on forever. However, bizarrely enough. they hadn't come across a single monster as of yet.

Since the dungeon was shaped like a long cavern, there was no way that they'd miss each other, too.

"Could it be that the crawlies at the entrance were everything?"

"Eii, no way."

"Now that would be really strange."

"Still, there should be a boss at the end, right?"

"Without one, why would a Gate remain open, then?"

The opinions of the Hunters were shared among themselves as they roam the expansive but empty interior of this big dungeon.

"Hold it."

Hwang Dong-Seok in the lead suddenly stopped walking. He stopped so abruptly that people behind him ran into his back.

The Hunter whose nose had slammed into the head of the guy in front asked with a sullen expression.

"Ouch, what the heck…. Hwang hyung, what is it?"

"Gyu-Hwan-ah. I need a light over there."

Joh Gyu-Hwan controlled the ball of light floating up in the air and redirected it further up ahead, exactly where Hwang Dong-Seok had been pointing at.

"Holy sh*t."

"All these….?"

All the Hunters spat out low groans.

The torn wings, legs, torsos, and even heads of the bugs – remains of the various dead bugs were strewn about everywhere as far as the light shone. The further into the cave the light got to, the greater the amount of the remains they could see. And also, a huge chamber located at the end of it all.

"That's the boss's room."

Someone muttered out softly. Hwang Dong-Seok nodded his head.

"Everyone, get your equipment ready."

The Hunters quickly armed themselves. Nervousness was evident on the expressions of everyone present.

With Hwang Dong-Seok leading them in, the rest of the Hunters cautiously and silently entered the boss's 'room'. However, their silence only lasted for a few seconds afterwards.

"J-Jackpot!!"

The Hunter with a red nose cried out. He was none other than the guy whose nose slammed into someone's back of the head.

Originally, it was forbidden to shout out too loudly inside a dungeon. Because there was a possibility that a monster they didn't have to fight might hear the noise and run towards where the Hunters were.

However, none of the others scolded the red-nose for his mistake.

"Wowsers."

"How much could all of these be?"

"It is a real jackpot, innit?"

Everyone was way too busy gasping out in admiration and happiness, that was why.

"Wait a second."

When Joh Gyu-Hwan fixed the beam of light high up in the middle of the air, the situation within the room became clear for all to see – as well as the jewel-like stones jutting out from one of the walls of the cave.

"They are mana stones!"

"The entire wall is made up of them!"

These mana stones reflected the light attractively and caused the eyes of the Hunters to sparkle brightly in greed as well.

Mana stones!

They were one of the treasures that could be found inside dungeons.

Although each stone possessed a lower amount of magic energy compared to a magic crystal extracted from a monster, they almost always were found in large quantity, so if one were able to mine them, one could earn a substantial profit.

Besides, the mana stone deposit they had discovered was incredibly large. The entire wall of the huge cave was actually filled up with these stones.

"Let's do a quick calculation."

A Hunter with a mathematical brain began moving his fingers in a hurry.

"If we can mine them all, we could be earning as much as 1,000,000,000. Even if we split nine ways, we're looking at a payout of over 100,000,000 per head."

"Ohh, ohh!"

Smiles formed on the faces of the Hunters.

Yu Jin-Ho had been staying at the back until then, and when he heard those words, he began poking Jin-Woo's side with his elbow.

"Hyung, show me your copy of the contract."

"Why?"

"Just trust me on this one. I'm pretty knowledgeable when it comes to law, you see."

Jin-Woo shrugged his shoulders once and handed over the contract as requested. Yu Jin-Ho walked over to Hwang Dong-Seok while carrying that.

"Excuse me, seniors? I wanna ask you about something."

The eyes of the celebrating Hunters immediately focused on Yu Jin-Ho next. Yu Jin-Ho flapped open Jin-Woo's contract and showed it to them.

"Mister leader, this is Jin-Woo hyung's contract. As you can see, there is no clause about splitting the treasure beside the magic crystals earned from the hunting itself."

Everyone there caught on to what Yu Jin-Ho was trying to say.

– It's customary to share the treasures or other rare items found in a dungeon equally among all the participants of the raid. The splitting of the profit, in this case, is different from monopolising the magic crystals of the monsters one hunted themselves.

In other words, the mana stones had to be split ten ways, not nine.

The light within the Hunters' eyes changed greatly, but Hwang Dong-Seok simply smiled and took a step forward.

"Of course, we'll be sharing them equally. I know the rules well. We still have some things to take care of before that, though."

Hwang Dong-Seok raised his index finger and pointed to his front.

Yu Jin-Ho grandly flinched from that. He thought that he was the one being pointed at, actually.

He shuddered slightly and turned his head around to take a look, and finally spotted a spider as huge as a house quietly squatting way over there.

"Heok….!"

Yu Jin-Ho began taking hurried steps backwards and covered his mouth after seeing the spider's appearance. As if it was fast asleep, the huge spider didn't even budge an inch from the spot.

Around the creature, there were empty shells of the dead insects piled up as high as a mountain.

A fair few of them were 'half-eaten', and there were bodily fluids mixed in among them as well, basically resembling a trash pit full of food waste.

"That's the boss, huh."

"Did that thing eat the bugs inside the dungeon?"

"Well, it sure did eat a lot, didn't it?"

Hunters glared at the spider and passed their opinions one at the time.

Hwang Dong-Seok called the others to gather around. Jin-Woo and Yu Jin-Ho, too, stood in front of Hwang Dong-Seok as well.

"As you all know very well, as soon as the boss is killed, the Gate will start closing up. So, before we kill the spider, let's mine the mana stones first."

Everyone nodded their heads.

"Cheol-Jin-ah, did you bring along the equipment for the job?"

The man named Lee Cheol-Jin shook his head.

"No. Who knew we'd find mana stones inside a C-ranked dungeon? All the mining equipment is back in the van."

"Oh, come on now, dude…. Didn't this hyung always tell you to keep it around just in case?"

"My bad, my bad. I'm really sorry about this."

Lee Cheol-Jin grinned brightly and began apologising to Hwang Dong-Seok, the rest of his teammates, and even to Jin-Woo.

Hwang Dong-Seok spoke up while scratching the back of his head.

"Aigoo. What a bother this has become. In that case, why don't you two stay here and wait? We'll go outside and fetch the equipment in the meantime."

Chapter 19 Fin.

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Chapter 20: Chapter 20

When the Hunters tried to leave all at the same time, Yu Jin-Ho formed a confused expression and quickly asked them.

"Are you telling me and Jin-Woo hyung to remain in the boss room?"

Hwang Dong-Seok smiled with his eyes and replied.

"The b*stard is yet to wake up even though we've been talking loudly for a while now. So, I'm sure nothing's going to happen here. Well, there are some things I wanna speak to my boys, too, so we'll take a short smoke break as well. But, don't worry, it won't take long."

Jin-Woo listened to Hwang Dong-Seok's rather detailed explanations and smirked inwardly.

'You've finally revealed your true colours, huh. But all of you are leaving at the same time? Aren't you fools taking us way too lightly?'

They were looking down on him because of his low rank, of course.

As Jin-Woo expected him to, Hwang Dong-Seok finally began to move. It was slightly different from the youth's expectation, though.

It had been four years since he became a Hunter. During that time, he had met many Hunters. One of them was an ahjussi named Mister Oh.

He had retired from the life of a freelancer, but still showed up now and then to help out with the Association's work.

"Be careful of geckos."

Mister Oh used to say that rather often.

When one participated in raids, one would inevitably encounter a dangerous situation.

When such an event happened, some crooked, immoral Hunters would try to sacrifice someone who had been fighting alongside them until then, with some flimsy pretext of them not being in the same team, to begin with, or that the other party was simply weaker than they were.

All just to buy themselves some time for their safe escape.

It was exactly like a gecko cutting off its own tail and running away.

'Cutting its tail off….'

Mister Oh took to calling those types of Hunters 'geckos', and such actions as cutting off one's tail.

The regulation stated that in order to enter a Gate ranked C, the minimum number of participants had to be ten. Yet, Hwang Dong-Seok's team only had eight members.

"I'm sure you already know that it's not easy to hire a Healer if you're running your own assault party. Well, we've been doing things this way until now, so it'll be fine."

Indeed, he stuck to only eight members, even though his team had entered countless Gates ranked C – so much so that he could say 'this way until now'.

'They obviously have no reason to fill the last two spots.'

They needed a tail that they could cut off at any given moment, after all. There was a reason why they were willing to accept anyone whether it was a Hunter ranked E or a newbie.

And now….

Hwang Dong-Seok had decided to abandon both Seong Jin-Woo and Yu Jin-Ho for a slightly different reason than usual.

'But, it's a good thing for me.'

Jin-Woo had figured out Hwang Dong-Seok's intentions pretty early on, but chose to say nothing. This was what he wanted, actually.

However, unlike Jin-Woo who was full of confidence, Yu Jin-Ho was quite different as he only started his work as a Hunter today.

Yu Jin-Ho spoke with a voice full of worries.

"No, wait a minute. That is just…. Why don't we leave together?"

It was then, Jin-Woo spotted one of the Hunters at the back raise his hand towards his hips. So, he placed his hand on Yu Jin-Ho's shoulder and spoke.

"It'll be fine. We'll guard this place."

The Hunter's hand heading towards his waist stopped.

"Hyung….?"

Yu Jin-Ho was quite surprised and confused, but Jin-Woo simply kept his mouth shut and lightly shook his head. Sure, the kid was noisy and got on his nerves just a tad, but Jin-Woo wasn't planning to let him die here.

After all, didn't he try to get the fair share for Jin-Woo just now, although that would have ultimately put him in a disadvantageous position?

Hwang Dong-Seok formed a smile as he looked at the two youths.

"Our van isn't parked too far, so it shouldn't take long. Well, then."

Hwang Dong-Seok and his lackeys quickly escaped from the boss room. And their footsteps rapidly got further and further away.

Yu Jin-Ho turned around and demanded answers from Jin-Woo.

"How could you say those things, hyung? What if that thing wakes up?"

Without a doubt, he was quite scared of that spider.

'Looks like this kid hasn't grasped the situation quite yet.'

Jin-Woo inwardly clicked his tongue. It was too much of a bother to explain everything, too. Instead of an answer, he began loosening his body once more.

Around the same time, Hwang Dong-Seok turned around towards the boss room. The Hunters following him also came to a stop. They had arrived at a far-enough spot from the boss room now. At this sort of distance, there was no danger of being overheard.

Hwang Dong-Seok smiled deeply and signalled to Joh Gyu-Hwan next to him with his chin.

"Hey, Gyu-Hwan-ah? Block up the entrance to the boss room."

"Should I blow it up?"

"That's right. But, don't block it up completely, okay? We gotta go in there a bit later, too.

Lee Cheol-Jin then asked him.

"Hwang hyung, is there a reason to beat around the bush like this? Why don't we just kill them now and get started right away?"

Hwang Dong-Seok's expression crumpled and glared at the other guy. There was no need for him to maintain the fake smile now. At least that was one less thing to worry about.

"M-my bad."

Lee Cheol-Jin averted his gaze in fear. Hwang Dong-Seok tsk, tsked.

"What if we start fighting there and the spider wakes up? How will you mine those mana stones and carry them out then?"

"I'm sorry."

Joh Gyu-Hwan butted in.

"Hwang hyung, since we are on that subject…. Wouldn't that thing wake up while we try to mine the mana stones? If so, we might end up losing big, you know."

That creature was strong enough to prey on those already-scary insect-type monsters. If the team got sneak attacked in the middle of the mining operation, the losses they incur would be enormous.

"That is why…."

Hwang Dong-Seok smirked deeply.

"We're trying to offer those two up as food, aren't we?"

"Ahh….."

Joh Gyu-Hwan nodded his head as if he had finally understood the plan.

Right now, no one knew just when the spider would wake up. It could be 10 hours from now, maybe one hour, or it could be a minute later. That was why they had to wake the spider up now and feed it.

No matter how dull that monster happened to be, it'd still wake up from the impact strong enough to cause the entrance to cave in.

Hwang Dong-Seok continued on.

"We mine the mana stones when the spider goes back to sleep with a full belly."

The permit they got from the Association would last for five days. They still had over four and a half days of leeway, in other words.

They would wait and if the spider didn't go back to sleep, they would simply dispose of it and mine as much as they could before the Gate closed shut.

They wouldn't be able to mine everything within the hour, but with Seong Jin-Woo and Yu Jin-Ho no longer in the picture, they should be able to avoid losing out too much.

Wouldn't that be far more preferable than working under the constant fear? Their safety was the number one priority, after all.

'Of course, that's the worst possible scenario….'

If they were lucky, the profit would be divided eight ways, they mine all the mana stones, and even monopolise the spider, too. As an added bonus, those expensive-looking equipment on Yu Jin-Ho's body would become theirs, too!

'That sword and the shield, they have to be worth at least a few hundred million Won.'

They had nothing to lose from this transaction at all.

The corners of Hwang Dong-Seok's lips arched up.

"Block up the entrance, so we can go and take a smoke break. Quick."

"Yes, hyung."

Joh Gyu-Hwan replied as a blinding light began to gather on the tip of his fingers.

Yu Jin-Ho's gaze was fixed on the sleeping spider. Even his breathing was cautious. He then asked, his expression rigid with fear.

"That spider b*stard, it's not gonna suddenly wake up on us, right?"

"Who knows."

Jin-Woo remained economical with his words. He had more or less figured out what would happen next, but if he said out aloud his thoughts in full, then Yu Jin-Ho might faint from fear.

'Now that I think about it….'

Those words were the first to come out from Yu Jin-Ho's mouth in the past five minutes or so. It seemed that he was really scared right now. And he used to be so talkative, too.

Then, 'it' happened.

Kabooom!!!

With a loud explosion, the entrance of the boss room suddenly caved in.

"Uh, uh?! Huh!! Ahhh!!"

Yu Jin-Ho hurriedly ran towards the entrance.

Unfortunately for him, the entrance was completely blocked up by the fallen rocks. He pushed on with all his might, but not a single stone budged.

Jin-Woo slowly walked over there in the meantime.

"Groan~! Hyung, help me push this!"

Yu Jin-Ho was still giving his all to push the blockade of stones away.

'He said his name was Joh Gyu-Hwan, huh.'

Before the explosion, there was a flash of light. A Sorcerer ranked C that controlled 'light'. This was no doubt that b*stard's handiwork.

Jin-Woo placed his hand on the fallen rocks.

'If I want to, I can get out of here at any time.'

He could sense the weight of the stones through his hands. They weren't as heavy as they looked. When he very slightly pushed, he felt the wall tremble gently. Of course, he wasn't thinking of leaving at all, anyways.

"Ah!"

Yu Jin-Ho stopped pushing at the stones and cried out as if he had finally figured out the truth. His face now reddened in fury, Yu Jin-Ho shifted his gaze over to Jin-Woo.

"Those sons of b*tches are trying to kill us!! They don't want to share the mana stones, so they blocked the exit and let the spider devour us!"

'Wow, you figured that out so quickly, Sherlock.'

Jin-Woo was rolling his eyes in his head, but still played along for the time being.

"Looks that way. This is troublesome."

"Heok!"

Suddenly, Yu Jin-Ho's reddened complexion paled in an instant. Would that be the look of someone whose blood had gone cold?

No need to ask him what happened, there – the silhouette of the giant monster was oh-so-clearly reflected in Yu Jin-Ho's eyes.

Jin-Woo turned around.

"Keurruuuk. Keururuk."

The spider's sleep had been interrupted by that loud explosion and it was slowly raising its massive body up.

The body the size of a house.

Dozens upon dozens of eyes.

That horrifying mouth.

Eight long, long legs.

Now that it had begun moving for real, it looked far more terrifying than when it was actually in a deep slumber.

"Euh…."

Yu Jin-Ho leaked out a fearful gasp. His body had frozen stiff like a statue.

On the other hand, Jin-Woo kept his sight firmly locked on the spider as he calmly summoned the 'Poison Fang of Kasaka' from his Inventory.

'You're mine.'

This was the perfect opportunity to test out his enhanced stats.

The Poison Fang of Kasaka appeared in his right hand….

Swiish.

….As if it had always been there.

Jin-Woo gripped the dagger's hilt tightly. The reason why a Hunter was called a Hunter! From this moment on was when the true hunt would begin.

"H-hang on a second, hyung!!"

However, Yu Jin-Ho swiftly snatched up Jin-Woo's sleeve just as the latter took a couple of steps towards the spider.

"Wha, what are you trying to do?!"

Yu Jin-Ho's hands were shaking pretty bad. Jin-Woo used his left thumb to point over his shoulder.

"Obviously, I'm going to hunt that."

Jin-Woo had been following around Hwang Dong-Seok's group until now for that purpose.

….In order to monopolise the remaining monsters in the dungeon as soon as Hwang Dong-Seok cut the tail and ran away. This was a splendid opportunity to swallow whole all the experience points and magic crystals.

'Well, only if the boss hadn't devoured every monster in this dungeon, that is.'

If that hadn't been the case, then he would've profited a lot more, though. What a missed opportunity that was.

However, Yu Jin-Ho's facial expression clearly displayed his disbelief, as he had no idea about Jin-Woo's special constitution.

'What is this hyung rambling on about?!'

There was something he'd heard from someone somewhere before.

A person would stop thinking rationally the moment he or she received a mental shock beyond their capability to deal with.

The Hunter ranked E standing right in front said that he'd hunt the boss of a C-rank dungeon. If this was not an act of irrationality, that what else could it be?

Yu Jin-Ho asked again, this time looking rather dumbfounded.

"Hyung, you want to hunt that thing? For real?"

Jin-Woo scratched the top of his head, looking somewhat troubled, before replying back with a question of his own.

"What, you want to hunt it, then?"

Part 10. 'Give and Take'

Jin-Woo turned around even before Yu Jin-Ho had the chance to respond. There was no need to listen to his reply, anyway.

Even now, Yu Jin-Ho was barely managing to stand up straight as his legs continued to shudder.

From the get-go, he didn't expect anything from Yu Jin-Ho. Rather, he was relieved that the kid didn't follow after him while saying he'd lend his aid or some such.

'He'll just get in my way, anyway.'

Jin-Woo slowly approached the spider.

The spider must've discovered the humans' presence as well, as it was changing its direction towards them while shuffling on its eight legs.

It was coming closer.

As if it found the never-before-seen prey rather strange, the spider didn't immediately rush out. Using its thick and long legs to push down on the ground, it inched closer and closer.

"Fuu-woo."

As that giant monster slowly filled up his entire view, Jin-Woo's breathing became heavy. His heart began thumping faster and faster, too.

Thump-thump, thump-thump.

Jin-Woo controlled his wayward breathing and did his absolute best to calm himself down. He had to remain focused and steady here.

He recalled the exact feelings he felt when he stood at the end of the second floor of the Hapjeong station's instant dungeon.

He then recalled seeing the Poison-Fanged Blue Kasaka for the first time.

However, this giant spider in front of him didn't emit as much pressure as that snake did. Meaning, he could definitely do this.

From the get-go, if he thought that this boss was impossible to clear alone, he wouldn't even have stayed here.

"Keurururuk."

They had gotten close enough that his face was now reflecting rather clearly on those smooth, jet-black eyes of the spider.

Jin-Woo's own eyes narrowed to a slit.

Chapter 20 Fin.

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