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Chapter 21: Chapter 21

< Chapter 21 >

'The exoskeleton looks pretty tough…. Can my dagger even damage it?'

Quite obviously, a dagger would have a shorter reach than a steel longsword Jin-Woo used before. So, if he wanted to cause a deep wound, he needed to strengthen his attacks.

Jin-Woo held the dagger in the reverse grip. He figured that it'd be easier to hurt the monster by holding the blade in this fashion.

"Keuruk."

Finally, the spider stood before Jin-Woo. Then, it raised its two front legs up and bent them at an angle.

'What is it trying to do?'

His curiosity lasted only for a brief moment – Jin-Woo's eyes shot open wide next.

SLAM!!

If he didn't instinctively tilt his body out of the way, the spider's legs would've penetrated his chest just now. The spider's legs stabbed into the ground behind him before rising up in the air, its joints folding back up. And from the ends of its legs, pieces of the rocky ground fell.

Jin-Woo sneaked a glance behind him.

The stone floor now had a pretty substantial hole in it.

'If I got hit by that, it wouldn't have ended with me feeling a bit of ache in my chest, huh.'

Jin-Woo's glare sharpened even more. Now was the time he needed to concentrate even harder.

'It's coming!'

Swish!

The spider's legs that initially resembled bullets being fired could now be captured in his eyes.

Left.

He ducked his head lower to evade the spider's left front leg.

Right.

He tilted his body back and let the spider's right leg brush past him, before he took a step closer.

Right.

He evaded the spider's leg that took aim at his head once more, and took two steps forward this time.

Left, right, right, left, right, right, right, left, left.

Slam! Boom! Kwahng! Kaboom! Slam! Boom! Kwahng! Kaboom!

The spider's legs stabbed and destroyed the ground so loudly that his ears actually felt numb from the pain.

Jin-Woo evaded the spider's attacks one by one and got closer and closer to the monster.

Meanwhile, Yu Jin-Ho couldn't quite believe his own eyes.

"Wha-what the hell is up with this guy?!"

Even though he was watching from afar, those attacks were so ferocious that all the hair on the back of his head was standing up.

However, that man was evading them all while standing right in front of the monster, not to mention he was actually getting closer too.

Seeing that efficient and calm movement, Yu Jin-Woo felt a chill run down his backside.

"And he's supposed to be an E rank?!"

There was no freaking way.

If it was him standing there and not Seong Jin-Woo, then he'd be torn into a rag by now. He didn't have any confidence whatsoever to dodge those attacks even once.

However, Jin-Woo was evading them without making a single mistake.

An E rank doing something that a D rank Hunter such as himself couldn't even dream of doing?

There could only be one explanation for this.

'...He is a fake registrant!!��

Yu Jin-Ho's expression hardened.

Out of those highly talented Hunters, there were a few who could freely control his or her magical energy. If they felt like it, they could easily fake the results and get a lower ranking.

Hunters who got assigned lower ranks than what they should've got in the first place simply by hiding a portion of their magic energy – such people were labelled as 'fake registrants'.

And perhaps more alarmingly, most of those fake registrants carried around rather sinister motives for doing so.

'Such as, that serial killer whose hobby was to enter low ranked dungeons and murder all the other lower ranked Hunters….'

As only those who were present knew what happened inside a dungeon, there was no better place to commit crimes than the world behind the Gates.

Yu Jin-Ho nervously swallowed his saliva. Suddenly, Jin-Woo seemed far scarier than the spider.

'And just why did I have to insist on coming to this place….?'

Yu Jin-Ho felt like he'd break out in sobs at any moment now.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

In the meantime, the spider's attacks poured down without a break.

Jin-Woo dodged all of those attacks and grew confident of his victory. Having decreased the distance between them little by little, the head of the spider was almost within his reach now.

The attack pattern of the spider was rather simple so he could get close to it pretty easily.

'For now, I'll aim for its eyes.'

It was the basics of all basic rules to attack the monster's weak points. So, he decided to attack the eyes of the spider, which looked to be the weakest point in its defences.

'As soon as I stab my dagger in those eyes….!'

Just as Jin-Woo made up his mind….

He suddenly sensed that the spider's attacks had slowed down for some reason.

Swish! Swish!

Was it because his eyes had adjusted fully to the speed of its attacks?

Boom!! Slam!!

No, that wasn't it.

His eyes might've been misled, but his hearing could not be fooled. The loud noises coming from the exploding ground came to him a beat slower than before, since a few seconds ago.

Jin-Woo was already pretty confident of his rather excellent sense of hearing so he could feel this subtle change.

It was then, a certain ominous premonition flickered past in his brain.

When he took a closer look, the muscles around the vicinity of the spider's mouth were trembling quite imperceptibly.

'Why is it trying to open its mouth now?'

Jin-Woo had been getting ready to jump up three metres and reach the head of the spider, but he sensed something ominous was about to happen. Jin-Woo hurriedly changed the direction of his jump from forward to his rear.

And then….

Splash!!

From the mouth of the spider, dirty and turbid liquid spewed out.

Jin-Woo rolled on the floor for a second before regaining his balance. He quickly took a look behind him. The spot on the floor he had been standing only until a second ago was now emitting smoke as it got scorched black.

Sizzle….

Stones on the floor melted away powerlessly.

Jin-Woo swallowed his saliva after seeing that.

'If I had jumped forward just now….'

It wouldn't have been only the floor that was melting right now.

Perhaps sensing that Jin-Woo had been distracted, the spider rushed towards him in no time.

Rustle!!

Jin-Woo raised his head. By then, the spider was already right in front of his eyes.

Swish!

Jin-Woo jumped up to evade the giant spider's legs.

Slam!!

The b*stard's attacks had recommenced.

"D*mn it!!"

After that, Jin-Woo got near the monster's head several times more. Every time he did that, though, he had no choice but to retreat in order to evade that disgusting digestive juice.

When the spider's attack pattern had become two, it became that much harder to deal with it. If he got closer after evading all those snapping legs, the digestive juice spewed out. Its legs attacked again once he had to retreat to a distance because of the juices.

"Sh*t!"

Feeling frustrated now, he decided to attack the legs with his dagger.

Unfortunately, the legs were also covered in that thick exoskeleton and no matter how many times he cut it, he couldn't even nick it once.

Jin-Woo bit his lower lip.

'This isn't going to work.'

The spider only needed its two front legs to attack him, but on the other hand, he needed to use his entire body to evade them. It was obvious who would tire out first here.

'Tiredness.'

[Tiredness: 57]

As he thought, his Tiredness Stat was rapidly rising up.

When this Stat hit 70, his speed would decrease, and when it reaches 90, his breathing would become too heavy and it'd become that much harder to freely move about.

He was running out of time.

'If I want to get closer to it, then…..'

Speed.

His speed was the issue.

Boom!! Boom!! Boom! Boom!!!

'Wait. Speed, is it?'

As Jin-Woo continued to barely evade each of the legs raining down, a thought entered his head.

'Yeah, I had that, didn't I?'

He indeed possessed a single active skill. He had forgotten all about it because there was no need for him to use it, until now.

'Dash!'

[You've activated 'Skill: Dash'.]

[Your movement speed has increased by 30%. One Mana will be spent every minute during its activation.]

Along with those messages, Jin-Woo's body became even faster as if a booster had been activated. Evading the spider's legs had become even easier as a result.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

He swiftly evaded the spider legs slamming down like lightning bolts and in the blink of an eye, arrived before the monster.

Taken by surprise, the spider hurriedly spewed out its digestive juice.

However, thanks to the increase in his speed, his movement had now this certain composure to it. Jin-Woo easily evaded the digestive juice and pounced towards the spider's head.

Slash!

His dagger slashed at the spider's eyes.

['Effect: Paralysis' has been activated.]

[The effect has been cancelled due to the high resistance of the target.]

['Effect: Bleeding' has been activated.]

[The target's stamina will decrease by 1% per second.]

"Yes!"

One of the two special effects the Poison Fang of Kasaka possessed had activated successfully.

Rooooaaaar!!!

The spider roared out and staggered about.

Jin-Woo didn't miss this opening.

The moment his two feet landed back on the ground, he jumped up again and climbed on the spider's body to get to the top of its head.

The spider went crazy and swung its legs all over the place, but Jin-Woo wasn't going to let those blind attacks land on him.

Slam! Boom! Kaboom!

Holes continued to appear on the poor, blameless ground instead.

Now standing on top of the spider's head, Jin-Woo began stabbing the eyes of the spider with his dagger.

Stab! Stab! Staaab!!

ROOOAAARR!!!

Stab! Stab!!

ROOAARR?!!

The spider rampaged around this way and that, but Jin-Woo endured till the end and continued to shove his dagger into the head of the spider.

"Keu, keu-ru-ruk!"

The spider began tottering about dangerously. It was obviously getting damaged now. Seeing this, Jin-Woo's hands picked up speed.

And eventually, the huge body of the spider finally tilted to the side.

THUD!!!

However, Jin-Woo didn't stay his hand. No, he kept going at it, until the spider was dead for sure.

Stab! Stab!! Stab!!!

"Keuruk. Keureureureu…."

Along with the final gasps from the spider, several messages popped up in his view.

[You've killed the owner of this dungeon.]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

"I did it!"

While covered from head to toe in the spider blood, Jin-Woo raised his hands up high. Maybe because it was a boss monster, his level jumped up by three.

"Status Window."

Name: Seong Jin-Woo

Level: 21

Class: None

Title: None

HP: 2,600

MP: 391

Tiredness: 0

[Stat]

Strength: 53

Stamina: 30

Agility: 38

Intelligence: 30

Perception: 32

(Available points to distribute: 0)

[Skills]

Passive skills:

– (Unknown) Lv. Max

– Tenacity Lv. 1

Active skills:

– Dash Lv. 1

From level 18, he had jumped up to reach 21 in one go. And that wasn't even the end. Besides the level up messages, something else also popped up as well.

Tti-ring.

['Store: Buy' function is now available with your level having reached 20.]

'Oh, so I can finally spend those Gold things now, eh?'

That was a nice message, for sure. However, now wasn't the right time to relaxedly browse through the Store.

RUMBLE…..

The cave began to shake just a little.

[With the death of the dungeon's owner, the entrance of the dungeon will be destroyed in one hour.]

[Remaining time: 59 minutes 58 seconds.]

Indeed, he had to get out of this place before the Gate closed on him, after all. Browsing through the Store could be done once he was somewhere safe.

Just as Jin-Woo was about to climb down, he spotted something gleaming brightly in the middle of the spider's head.

'Is that an item?'

However, unlike the monsters from the instant dungeon, there was no message about recovered items, nor could he automatically claim them.

What could it be, then?

Jin-Woo pondered briefly before realising what it was.

'Ah, these things have magic crystals, don't they?'

No matter how busy he was, how could he forget something so valuable like that?

Jin-Woo extracted the magic crystal hidden deep inside the head of the dead spider. This was a C-rank magic crystal extracted from the boss monster, so it should at least go for around ten million Won, easy.

As the trophy for his glamorous victory, this would do very nicely.

Jin-Woo lightly jumped down from the dead spider's head.

Tap.

He landed lightly on the ground and turned around, and well, he discovered more gleaming lights, this time coming from the spider's belly.

Not only that, but several of them, even!

Jin-Woo was now feeling rather surprised.

He heard stories of some monsters possessing two, three magic crystals, but there were simply too many lights to say those could all be magic crystals.

'What could they be, then?'

He used the dagger to slice open the belly and continued on to its stomach, which resulted in half-digested remains of the insect-type monsters to pour out to the ground. And the lights were coming from those.

"No way….?!"

Jin-Woo rummaged through the dead insects one at the time.

And just as he suspected, they all possessed their magic crystals. Sure, a few of them had melted down and become smaller than before, but quite a lot of them had survived and remained as good as new.

When he collected the intact ones, he counted over ten.

"I really hit the jackpot this time!"

He came to earn this month's rent, but at this rate, he'd be earning way more than that.

"H-hyung-nim."

When Jin-Woo looked back, he saw Yu Jin-Ho there.

"Please, put them in here."

Yu Jin-Ho then proceeded to carefully tuck in the magic crystals belonging to Jin-Woo inside his equipment bag. Next, he reached inside the corner of the same bag and pulled out a Thermos, before pouring the flask's content on its lid.

"Hyung-nim, you must be feeling thirsty. Please, drink this. It's water."

Indeed, it was a cold, refreshing cup of water, filled right up to the edge.

'Why is this kid doing something no one asked him to?'

Chapter 22: Chapter 22

Since Jin-Woo was feeling thirsty anyway, he took the Thermos lid to drink the water. But, his head never stopped tilting in the meantime.

Gulp, gulp.

The water slid down his throat and refreshed him quite nicely.

"Hyung-nim, did you enjoy it?"

Before he had noticed it, the honorific had changed to 'hyung-nim', too.

"Mm…. Yeah, it's refreshing."

Jin-Woo spoke his earnest opinion and handed the lid over to Yu Jin-Ho.

"And, the things you saw in here…."

Even before Jin-Woo could finish his sentence, Yu Jin-Ho quickly cut in, as if to say that there's nothing to worry about.

"Of course! I won't say anything to anyone and take this secret with me to my grave."

"No, hang on. No need to take it to your grave…."

"But, of course, I will. It'll be a promise between hyung-nim and I, after all."

"Well, in that case….. Okay. If you say so."

"You don't have to worry about a thing, hyung-nim."

It wasn't as if anyone would believe the claim that a rank E solo'ed the boss of a rank C Gate anyway. Still, the kid was saying he'd voluntarily keep his mouth shut, and that would certainly make his life a bit easier.

'I thought he didn't know how to take a hint, but he's pretty quick on the uptake on things like this, eh?'

"Is there anything else you'd like to tell me, hyung-nim?"

"….No, not particularly."

Well, that sounded a bit suspect, there. Jin-Woo studied the overly-polite mannerism of Yu Jin-Ho and inwardly questioned his motives, before coming to a conclusion of his own.

'Well, yeah. From Yu Jin-Ho's perspective, I did save his life and all.'

Wasn't it the most obvious thing in the world that you'd become really courteous and humble towards a person who saved your life?

When looked at that way, his attitude made more sense. The reality of the situation was slightly different from that, though.

Rumble….

The dungeon shook around for a bit again before its tremors stopped. That tremor was the reminder that the Gate would close in a little while.

The tremors would progressively get worse as time went by, and just before the Gate closed, it'd morph into a full-blown earthquake.

"Let's get out of here."

"Yes, hyung-nim."

Jin-Woo began walking towards the entrance.

Before they reached it, though, there was a sudden flash of light, and the rocks blocking up the entrance collapsed.

Boom!

Afterwards, Hwang Dong-Seok and his goons rushed into the boss room. As soon as spotting the dead spider behind Jin-Woo, their expressions became dumbfounded.

"What the hell?! It's really dead?!"

"Did those two hunt it?"

"That spider must've been nothing much, even with that big body and all."

"Well, if a rank D and a rank E managed to kill it, then…."

"Hwang hyung, what should we do now?"

Hwang Dong-Seok scratched his chin while gazing at Jin-Woo and Yu Jin-Ho.

With the spider dead, the Gate would soon close. It'd be too late to start mining the mana stones now. They hadn't even finished getting ready, yet the remaining time was now less than a hour.

It was time for the 'plan b'. So, he loudly called out to Yu Jin-Ho.

"Yu Jin-Ho!!"

Yu Jin-Ho flinched and took a step back. His face was full of nervous tension.

An oily smile floated up on Hwang Dong-Seok's face.

"I thought your gear looked real eye-catching, so we did a background check on ya, and it turns out that you're a son of a real bigshot. The son of the Yujin Construction's owner, Yu Myung-Han, no less."

"S-so what?"

"We'll give you a chance. I've got some stuff to discuss with your old man, you see. However, it'd get real troublesome for us if the matters of this place get out. So, if you wish to live, you better become our accomplice."

"An accomplice?"

Hwang Dong-Seok pointed at Jin-Woo with his chin.

Being on the receiving end of that disgusting stare, Jin-Woo's forehead creased for a second.

"Kill Seong Jin-Woo."

"What?!"

Yu Jin-Ho freaked out. And Hwang Dong-Seok chuckled as if he found that expression rather funny.

The thing was, he used his phone to do an online search and found out that Yu Jin-Ho's father was the owner of the top construction company in the country. Seeing that, a sinister scheme formed in his head.

He'd film the scene of Yu Jin-Ho killing Seong Jin-Woo and then, under the pretext of keeping his mouth shut, blackmail Yu Myung-Han.

'The known wealth of Yu Myung-Han is supposedly around 10 trillion Won, wasn't it? (TL: Almost $9 billion)

He might be able to reel in several times more money than mining these mana stones if he played his cards right.

"That's the only way you'll leave this place alive. As long as you kill Seong Jin-Woo with your own hands, we'll let you live. If not, we kill both of you."

Hwang Dong-Seok's eyes became very hostile right away.

"What are you hesitating for? No one will know what happens inside a dungeon, anyway. Wait, could it be that you're scared of a rank E, even though you're a rank D?"

Yu Jin-Ho turned his head to his side. Jin-Woo shrugged his shoulders as his answer. He was implying that Yu Jin-Ho should do whatever he felt like.

With a determined expression, Yu Jin-Ho unsheathed the sword on his hips.

'Finally, he made up his mind, huh.'

A smile formed on Hwang Dong-Seok's mouth. Unfortunately for him, his expectation was not met. Still holding that sword, Yu Jin-Ho stood alongside Jin-Woo.

"Ho-oh? So, you wanna team up with that guy and fight us, is that right?"

Hwang Dong-Seok muttered softly. A scion of a well-to-do family got lucky and killed a rank C boss, and it looked like his ego had become bloated somewhat as a result.

Joh Gyu-Hwan whispered from the side.

"Hyung, what should we do now?"

Hwang Dong-Seok lowered his voice so both Jin-Woo and Yu Jin-Ho wouldn't be able to hear him.

"For now, take care of Seong Jin-Woo first. We gotta hold onto that potential moneybag. Our losses today are pretty substantial after all."

"Okay, will do."

Joh Guy-Hwan's hands began emitting bright light next.

Seeing this, Jin-Woo's eyes narrowed to a slit.

'In the end, they want to have a go, huh.'

This would be his very first time fighting against other Hunters. However, he wasn't planning to go easy on these b*stards that have aimed for his life several times already.

…But then, this happened.

Tti-ring.

There was that mechanical beep again.

[An Emergency Quest has been generated.]

'An Emergency Quest?!'

Jin-Woo raised his head.

He didn't even say anything about wanting to look at the contents, yet the quest window spread out before his eyes without his consent.

Now that was a first.

[Emergency Quest: Kill all the enemies!]

There are lifeforms holding murderous intentions towards the 'Player'. Kill them all in order to secure your own safety. If you do not follow this instruction, a corresponding penalty will be given.

The number of enemies left to kill: 8

The number of killed enemies: 0

Jin-Woo's eyes opened wider.

'In order to complete the quest, Hwang Dong-Seok and his teammates must all die?!'

It was then, a beam of light flashed right before his eyes. The light beams left Joh Gyu-Hwan's hands and flew straight at Jin-Woo.

Boom!!

Flung away by the explosion, Jin-Woo's figure flew at a frightening speed and slammed into the cave wall.

Slam!!

A portion of the wall collapsed and fell on top of Jin-Woo.

Tumble…

"Hyung-nim!!"

Yu Jin-Ho froze on the spot from surprise.

"Don't sweat over the dead guy and why don't you come over here?"

Hwang Dong-Seok beckoned with his fingers.

Yu Jin-Ho stared at the spot where Jin-Woo was. Just like what Hwang Dong-Seok had implied, Jin-Woo wasn't moving an inch as he remained buried under the debris.

"You…. you murderers…."

Tears pooled around Yu Jin-Ho's eyes.

Hwang Dong-Seok and his dongsaengs simply giggled at the label of 'murderers' thrown at their way. Well, that was the truth, to begin with, anyway. Just how many died by their hands inside many other dungeons?

While they were looking at Yu Jin-Ho and continued to smile, Jin-Woo was under the pile of rubble, doubting his own eyes at the moment.

The contents of the quest were slowly changing, that was why.

[Emergency Quest: Kill all the enemies!]

There are lifeforms holding murderous intentions towards the '&*@##'. Kill them all in order to secure your own safety. If you do not follow this instruction, #$%^%$#$%^!&*#$%^$.

The number of enemies left to kill: 8

The number of killed enemies: 0

A few words suddenly became illegible, before changing their shapes.

[Emergency Quest: Kill all the enemies!]

There are lifeforms holding murderous intentions towards you. Kill them all in order to secure your own safety. If you do not follow this instruction, your heart will cease functioning.

The number of enemies left to kill: 8

The number of killed enemies: 0

What a clear-cut threat that was.

If he didn't finish the quest as intended, 'it' would kill him, instead.

'Kill if I don't want to be killed, is that it?'

The contents were pretty shocking, but Jin-Woo's fluster didn't remain for long.

No, his flustered mind rapidly morphed into one of relief. Even he found it hard to believe, but that was the truth.

There was this fear that always lingered in his mind, starting from the day these quests popped up in front of his eyes alongside Stat values and such.

'What would happen to me if this mysterious phenomenon suddenly stopped'?

What if all these things only happened as a coincidence, and they could end at any given moment?

Such fear always accompanied him.

However, through this Emergency Quest, the truth became clear.

Things happening to him were not a coincidence nor were they some weird goodwill from someone. If the quest was generated by something holding some form of goodwill, then it should've just said "Overcome this danger", and not threaten him to kill him as a penalty.

The System had a clear purpose.

It was either 'Make Seong Jin-Woo strong' or 'Need a strong Seong Jin-Woo'.

'And, depending on the situation, me who could kill other Hunters at the drop of a hat, even….'

He could glean such intentions from the System now. Jin-Woo felt reassured by that revelation.

'What a relief that….'

….That, it was not a coincidence.

….That, it definitely had a goal.

Whenever he found himself in danger, he yearned to be stronger. He so dearly wished to stop living the life where it was no different from dangling precariously on the edge of a cliff.

But, on that fateful day, during the most dangerous moments of his life, his opportunity came.

The goal of this System and Jin-Woo's wishes lined up perfectly.

'The System is using me, and I'm using the System.'

That was all there was to it.

As long as there was an end goal, a purpose, this phenomenon would never suddenly vanish from his eyes.

Jin-Woo slowly got up from the rubble.

[HP: 1360/2600]

As expected of a magic spell shot by a rank C Hunter; it was only a single hit, yet his HP had almost halved. There was no more room left to take it easy now.

Intense malice filled up Jin-Woo's eyes.

He began walking towards Hwang Dong-Seok.

"What the heck?���

Hwang Dong-Seok and his goons had been surrounding the scared Yu Jin-Ho, so they ended up discovering Jin-Woo rather belatedly.

"What's going on here? He's still alive."

"But, Gyu-Hwan hyung looks like a dead fish, though?"

"What an embarrassment this is. He's a measly rank E, you know."

Hwang Dong-Seok scratched his chin.

"Hey, Gyu-Hwan-ah, why didn't you finish him properly the first time?"

Joh Gyu-Hwan's face reddened somewhat.

"Yeah…. I should've."

But, this wasn't right.

He really did pour his all with that shot.

He had spent over a third of his overall magical energy, yet how could this kid stand back up? Could the attack not connect properly? But then, there wouldn't have been such a loud explosion if that was the case.

Lots of questions formed in his head, but there was no time to ask them.

Because, Jin-Woo opened his mouth first.

"Since you're playing around with people's lives…."

The eyes of Hwang Dong-Seok's group were now fixed to Jin-Woo. He came to a stop in front of them.

Yu Jin-Ho flinched in surprise, but the reactions of other Hunters were rather subdued. Some of them even began smirking in derision.

Jin-Woo spoke with a dry voice.

"…You've all sufficiently resolved yourselves, right?"

Hwang Dong-Seok let off a snort after hearing that.

"What the hell is this fool even saying?"

"Hyung-nim, let me handle this kid."

A Hunter with tiny little eyes approached Jin-Woo and placed his arms around the latter's neck.

"It looks like you Mister hasn't really figured the situation out yet, but the thing is…. Eh?"

The expression of the tiny eyes became weirder and weirder as he strengthened his arms.

'….What the hell? Why can't I pull him down?'

He tried to perform a headlock with his physical strength, but no matter how hard he pulled, Jin-Woo's upper body showed no sign of budging.

Wasn't this b*stard supposed to be only a rank E?!

Cold sweat formed on the forehead of the tiny eyes.

'How could he be this strong…."

It happened then.

Slice.

The head of the tiny eyes fell to the ground.

Thud.

"J-Joon-Tae!!"

Hwang Dong-Seok's eyes trembled like an earthquake.

"Wha-what the hell?!"

"That knife, just when did he?!"

"Where did he get that?!"

Hwang Dong-Seok and his goons quickly took several steps back and yanked their weapons out. Jin-Woo's hand was already holding the 'Poison Fang of Kasaka'.

Blood dripped from the tip of the blade.

Tti-ring.

[The number of enemies left to kill: 7]

[The number of killed enemies: 1]

'Seven left.'

Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Jin-Woo swept his gaze at Hwang Dong-Seok and his group like a predator eyeing his prey.

Hwang Dong-Seok swallowed his saliva. He was already pretty surprised by the dagger appearing in that man's hands, but more importantly, Park Joon-Tae's death shook him to the core rather greatly.

'How did an E-rank Hunter kill a D rank in one hit?!'

He had no idea what kind of a trick the other guy used, but from now on, underestimating his opponent was definitely forbidden. No, he had to be very meticulous here. Hwang Dong-Seok gave a signal with his eyes to his side.

'Gyu-Hwan-ah, hit him one more time.'

Joh Gyu-Hwan lightly nodded his head.

This time, he wouldn't make the same mistake again!

Joh Gyu-Hwan told himself such as lights began gathering in his hands again. But, even before the arrows of light could leave his fingertips, Jin-Woo appeared right in front of Joh Gyu-Hwan first.

"Uh? Huh?!"

Joh Gyu-Hwan's jaw hit the floor.

The light in Jin-Woo's eyes gleamed coldly.

'You first, the magic-type Hunter who possesses strong firepower but a weak body.'

Jin-Woo had finished his calculations already.

The dagger stabbed straight through Joh Gyu-Hwan's neck.

Stab!

"Keo-heok!!"

Joh Gyu-Hwan tried to cover the hole in his neck and collapsed to the floor.

Plop.

"Kill him!!"

"Uwaaahhh!!"

With that as a signal, the Hunters around him rushed towards Jin-Woo at once. Jin-Woo raised all his senses to the maximum and calmly focused on the movements of his enemies.

All sounds disappeared and time slowed down. The Agility Stat and its 38 points had begun displaying its worth. He then blocked or evaded swords, spears and arrows being thrust at him from the very short distance.

The eyes of the Hunters became incredibly large.

'H-how can an E rank move like this?!'

'Too fast!!'

'I can't hit him at all!'

The complexions of the Hunters became ashen.

Indeed, speed was a subjective thing. To their eyes, Jin-Woo's movement was absurdly fast. Meanwhile, Jin-Woo waded in among the Hunters and calmly cut into their vital spots, one at the time.

['Effect: Paralysis' has been activated.]

['Effect: Bleeding' has been activated.]

['Effect: Paralysis' has been activated.]

The special effects of the Poison Fang of Kasaka continued to activate and the Hunters all fell into a quagmire of confusion.

"I-I can't move my body!! Uwaah?!"

"Magic?! Was that magic?!!"

"You son of a b*tch!!"

['Effect: Bleeding' has been activated.]

['Effect: Paralysis' has been activated.]

['Effect: Paralysis' has been activated.]

"Keok!!"

"Wha-what the hell is this guy's real identity?!"

"Uwaaahk!!"

Screams resounded out without a break from here and there. Five Hunters surrounding Jin-Woo all crumpled down to the floor in no time at all.

Plop.

Plop.

Tti-ring.

[The number of enemies left to kill: 1]

[The number of killed enemies: 7]

Jin-Woo shifted his gaze over to the last remaining survivor.

And that was none other the big bearded man, Hwang Dong-Seok. He discarded his shield as an expression of determination formed on his face.

He then loudly roared out.

"Uuuhhhhhhhaaaa!!"

Hwang Dong-Seok the kicked the ground and rushed forward.

Thump, thump, thump, thump!!!

His mind raced as he ran forward. He was a Tanker, and was considered one of the top even within the C rank.

His opponent most likely was a damage dealer.

Although that man seemed to be very agile, judged from his quick movements, there was no way he'd possess enough power to penetrate past Hwang Dong-Seok's 'Reinforcement' skill.

'You can't fatally wound me with a measly little dagger!'

The one to be crushed when they collide would be Seong Jin-Woo, instead!

Their distance closed up in the blink of an eye, and Hwang Dong-Seok tackled with his shoulder.

"Reinforcement!!"

But then, his entire world seemed to spin around, and before he realised how, he was staring at the ceiling of the dungeon.

SLAM!!

His brain shook hard and a strong impact force was transmitted into his entire body.

He wanted to get up, but his body didn't listen to his commands. Hwang Dong-Seok tried very hard, but eventually gave up and lay sprawled on the ground.

"Cough!!"

He coughed out a mouthful of blood.

'Did he… Did he throw me down to the floor?!'

Did Hwang Dong-Seok really lose in the contest of strength?

In a battle of physical strength?!

"How can a measly rank E…."

He was now so sure that something had gone terribly awry somewhere.

Five rank Cs and three rank Ds were knocked down in the blink of an eye. There was no way this b*stard was a rank E.

Jin-Woo stood next to Hwang Dong-Seok.

The bearded man couldn't even properly move his body. His fate was quite obvious now.

If this was a sports match or a spar, then this battle would've ended right here. Too bad for the bearded man, though, Jin-Woo wasn't planning to stop there.

"W-wait a minute."

Hwang Dong-Seok raised his hand first.

"Le-let me go! If you, you want m-money, I'll give it to ya. As long as you spare me…."

"Three times."

Jin-Woo's voice remained cold.

"Aren't you a bit shameless, asking to be spared by someone you tried to kill three times already?"

First, by blocking the exit of the boss room.

Second, ordering Yu Jin-Ho to kill him.

And finally, Joh Gyu-Hwan's magic.

Hwang Dong-Seok tried to kill Jin-Woo these three times – even after excluding the battle just now.

'Give and take'.

When he returned alive from the underground temple, Jin-Woo resolved himself to return as much as he had received.

….Whether it was kindness or hostility.

He'd repay the acts of ill intents with an equal amount of malice. There would be no room for negotiation.

Realising that begging for his life wouldn't work, Hwang Dong-Seok's eyes shot wide open and foam bubbled around his mouth.

"You, you!! You think you'll be okay after you laid your hands on me like this?! Do you have any idea who my younger brother is….."

Shatter!

Hwang Dong-Seok could no longer continue with his words after his neck was broken.

"Keok."

The whites of the bearded man's eyes were showing now.

Tti-ring.

[The number of enemies left to kill: 0]

[The number of killed enemies: 8]

Finally, this quest had come to an end.

"Whew-woo…."

Jin-Woo spat out a long sigh containing a myriad of emotions and lifted his hand away from Hwang Dong-Seok's head.

His gaze then stopped on his hands.

He might have one-sidedly bulldozed past his opponents, but for someone who had fought to the death against eight other people, his hands remained remarkably steady.

'Is it okay to be like this?'

Jin-Woo placed his hand on his chest and felt for his beating heart.

Thump, thump, thump….

His heart was beating as calmly as if he had been taking a stroll.

'What if…..'

For the first time ever, he began to think that, seeing the System wasn't the only change taking place within him after he returned alive from the underground temple.

However, his musings had to be kept brief. Soon, the familiar beep entered his head.

Tti-ring.

[You have completed 'Emergency Quest: Kill all the enemies'.]

[Completion rewards are now available.]

[Would you like to confirm the rewards?] (Y/N)

He was half-expecting this to happen, and sure enough, he now had received rewards. Jin-Woo didn't even hesitate and chose 'yes'.

'Confirm.'

Tti-ring.

[The following rewards are available.]

Reward 1. Full recovery of the current physical condition

Reward 2. Ten additional Stat points

Reward 3. Skill: 'Intimidation'

'Not only ten points, but even a skill, too?'

Jin-Woo's eyes widened from the huge amount of available rewards. All those Stat points were one thing, but this new skill stole away almost all of his attention.

'If I didn't possess the Dash skill when fighting that spider…..'

The only reason why he managed to hunt the boss down was because of 'Dash'. There was no need to mention how important a skill was during a battle. It was not for nothing that a Rune stone, with which a person could learn a brand new skill, cost several hundreds of millions of Won.

Jin-Woo immediately checked this skill called 'Intimidation' out.

'Show me the third reward.'

Tti-ring.

[Skill: Intimidation Lv. 1]

Active skill.

Mana required to activate: 100.

Can render a designated target in a state of fear for one minute by using your powerful aura. Multiple targets can be selected.

Effect 'Fear': All Stats -50%

Although it was only active for a short time, it was still a rare skill that could decrease the opponent's Stats by a substantial amount.

Of course, exactly like other effects, if the opponent's resistance was high enough it would fail to activate. But, if it did work, then Jin-Woo thought that taking care of his enemies, regardless of who it was, would become as easy as pie.

And since it could be used against multiple opponents, the scope of this skill's usefulness seemed limitless, too.

'It's really good, isn't it?'

The rewards were just as good as the potential penalty was as bad.

'Hang on a sec…. Now that I think about it, it's not like that, is it?'

After all, his life was at stake here. And, was that all?

Jin-Woo took a look around him.

He frowned deeply after taking in the gruesome sight.

He had witnessed enough deaths of other Hunters, but even then, he'd never really get used to looking at the corpses of other people.

This was what this quest asked of him, though. But, for a quest that asked for many lives as its completion requirement, the rewards handed out felt rather cheap and not quite enough.

Well, even if it weren't for the quest, he'd still have to fight against Hwang Dong-Seok and his crew in the end, but still.

'And they say, a man's greed knows no bounds….'

Jin-Woo shook his head wryly.

It was then, the cave shook around once more.

RUMBLE…..

The tremor had become stronger than before. It was now the time to get out of the dungeon. But, before he could do that, there was something else he needed to take care of first.

And that happened to be Yu Jin-Ho. Jin-Woo's gaze drifted toward him.

Yu Jin-Ho had been pitifully frozen solid in his spot until then, and flinched rather grandly before hurriedly lowering his gaze to the ground.

'Now, what should I do with this kid….?'

Of course, he wasn't thinking of harming Yu Jin-Ho. There was no need to, nor was there a reason to do so, either.

However, if the events of this place got leaked out to the rest of the world, then there was a good chance that his life would become inconvenienced in a variety of ways.

'So, I guess I should make sure he doesn't talk, huh.'

Just as he thought that course of action would be for the best, Yu Jin-Ho rapidly ran towards him, knelt down, and bowed his head.

"Hyung-nim, please spare me!!"

"…."

Suddenly, Jin-Woo felt that the following conversation should unfold a lot more smoothly than his initial expectation.

***

Yu Jin-Ho was shaking like a wet dog. His complexion was pale, as well. Well, eight people died in the blink of an eye right in front of his face, so that was par for the course, really.

One of the most important tools in dealing with people was this – the 'fear'. So, Jin-Woo decided to use this situation to his advantage.

"Why should I?"

"Hiiick!!"

Jin-Woo thought that he heard the sound of Yu Jin-Ho's heart falling to the floor just now.

His guilty conscience that asked, "Was that too much?" only lasted for a second, though.

"If, if you want money, I can speak to my father, and…."

"Who do you think I am?!"

Jin-Woo's expression crumpled unpleasantly.

Sure, he did grow up impoverished, but that didn't mean he was corrupt enough to hold a person's life hostage and extort money that way.

Wouldn't he be no different from Hwang Dong-Seok if he did that?

"I-I'm truly sorry."

If it weren't for Yu Jin-Ho's current state being absolutely terrified, Jin-Woo would have smacked the back of the kid's head or something by now. He was holding back only because it looked like Yu Jin-Ho might keel over from a heart attack if he really did that.

Confirming how displeased Jin-Woo's expression was, Yu Jin-Ho nervously swallowed some dried saliva.

'Now that I think about it, even back when Hwang Dong-Seok offered him money….. Could he have abandoned all material desires and now only walks the path of bloodshed and murder?!'

Jin-Woo's image inside Yu Jin-Ho's head was being solidified in an even weirder direction.

However, it was too early to draw a conclusion yet.

'If that was the case, then why did hyung-nim extract those magic crystals?'

Not too long ago, Jin-Woo personally went and extracted all those magic stones, even going so far to dig through the spider's entrails.

Sure, it was used in a variety of ways, such as a source of high-density energy, as a raw material in manufacturing magic tools, etc. – but, to a Hunter, a magic crystal was simply another word for 'money'.

Yu Jin-Ho's mind spun at a quicker pace.

'So, that's how it was!'

Those crystals were the 'prize of blood'.

They were the deserved prize he earned through staining his hands with blood, and that was why he didn't mind digging through the stomach of a dead monster.

He'd not show a hint of mercy to those enemies who tried to harm him, but he was also the practitioner of the way of the blood. Meaning, he did not want anything to do with the monetary gain that he hadn't earned with his own hands.

'And I tried to buy his benevolence with money, so of course, he'd get p*ssed off at me….'

In that case, what Yu Jin-Ho needed here wasn't 'father's money', but the 'deserved profit' that could be earned if he managed to walk out of here alive.

When he sneaked a glance, Jin-Woo's expression was still distorted somewhat. Yu Jin-Ho quickly continued on with his words.

"Hyung-nim, if you spare me, then I'll hand over all the profit earned in this dungeon to you."

"Mm?"

As expected, Jin-Woo immediately displayed his interest.

"Please, think about it, hyung-nim. If you monopolise the profit meant for ten people after nine others are killed, others would definitely start questioning you."

From Yu Jin-Ho's perspective, Jin-Woo was, without a doubt, a fake registrant. Not only that, a highly-skilled fake registrant who enjoyed murdering people!

Obviously, he'd not want the attention of other folks landing on him.

"So what?"

"On the flip side, if we both walk out of here alive, then according to the contract, all the magic crystals from this dungeon belongs to me. Even if all the other teammates had died, since you don't get a share in the first place, no one would suspect you."

Of course, there's was no way that Yu Jin-Ho would be suspected of foul play here. Well, his father owned one of the country's top-ranked companies, after all.

The potential profit he'd earn from selling off the magic crystals would be like a pocket change to him.

"This money is something hyung-nim totally deserves. I mean, this is your deserved reward for saving me and getting rid of Hwang Dong-Seok and his lackeys, wouldn't you agree?"

Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Yu Jin-Ho empathised the words 'deserved reward' for some reason.

'Yeah, for sure…..'

Certainly, that method was the safest way to dispose of the magic crystals.

These crystals no longer had any owners. No matter how avaricious Hwang Dong-Seok was, he still couldn't take them to his grave. That left just one person, Yu Jin-Ho, as the sole claimant to the rights of these crystals.

However, such a guy was saying that he'd voluntarily offer them up.

Jin-Woo didn't want anything to do with them if they were to be taken away forcibly, but…..

'But, there's no reason for me to refuse things that are willingly entering my pockets, no?'

Without his help, Yu Jin-Ho would either have been killed by now, or get dragged around as a hostage, instead. When looked at that way, the claims of them being 'deserved reward' made some sense.

Seeing that Jin-Woo's expression lighten up, Yu Jin-Ho was now sure of his guesses being on the money.

'As I thought, the magic crystals are the deserved reward of blood for hunting down Hwang Dong-Seok and his gang, so he's not going to say no here.'

The meaning of the word 'deserved' as imagined by these two men had what you'd call a significant difference, but they had no way of knowing that.

"Okay."

As soon as Jin-Woo agreed, Yu Jin-Ho's face brightened up in an instant. Hell, Yu Jin-Ho was even feeling a bit awestruck by how steadfast Jin-Woo was with his personal beliefs.

However, Jin-Woo's face became emotionless next.

"However, how do I trust you?"

Jin-Woo had recalled his initial goal once more.

He wasn't trying to scare the kid so he could line his pockets in the first place. No, he started this intimidation antics so he could avoid being inconvenienced later down the line.

"How can I betray you, hyung-nim, who saved my neck multiple times already?"

"You could ignore our promise and just yap on to anyone you meet, no?"

Actually, it wouldn't be too big of a hassle if the kid did that. Killing Hwang Dong-Seok and his goons were 100% acts of self-defence, after all.

There were eight of them, not to mention they were fully armed as well. Heck, they even attacked first with a powerful magic spell, too.

Laws had changed ever since the emergence of the Hunters, so Jin-Woo knew that he'd walk away scot-free only with that much justification.

Jin-Woo wanted to let things die down quietly in this manner. And Yu Jin-Ho's help would be needed to facilitate that. There might be a slight 'problem' with how he went about asking for that help, but as far as the end result was concerned, this was the best method available.

"So? Speak up."

Jin-Woo stared at the other guy with eyes that demanded answers.

Yu Jin-Ho formed a determined, dignified expression.

"I will never do something so cowardly, hyung-nim. Especially for someone who has saved my life."

'Hang on a minute….'

Jin-Woo thought that he had seen those determined eyes from somewhere, before realising that they were rather similar to back when Yu Jin-Ho refused the 'suggestion' of Hwang Dong-Seok to become their accomplice not too long ago.

'This kid…. He's being serious.'

The 'Give and Take'.

When his life was hanging in the balance, Yu Jin-Ho chose to stand with Jin-Woo. He trusted Jin-Woo and tried to go up against eight other Hunters.

That was why Jin-Woo decided to trust Yu Jin-Ho, at least once.

Of course, not right away, and not quite like this…. Maybe, after planting the fear of god into the kid first.

Jin-Woo reached down and picked up Hwang Dong-Seok's discarded shield.

"Hmm. The back of my head is still aching from Hwang Dong-Seok's sneak hit, you know."

Jin-Woo pretended to study the shield from this way and that, before powerfully flinging it towards the wall of the cave.

Kaboom!!!

More than half of the shield got buried deep inside that wall.

Cold sweat drops dripped down Yu Jin-Ho's face as he nervously swallowed his saliva.

"I hope that 'my dongsaeng' isn't going to disappoint me, too."

"B-b-but, of course, hyung-nim."

It happened then; the dungeon began shaking much harder this time.

RUMMMMBBBLLLEEE….

Their time was clearly running out. Jin-Woo never held any thoughts of harming Yu Jin-Ho from the get-go, so he figured that this much would be enough.

So, he ordered Yu Jin-Ho.

"Collect all the magic crystals. We're leaving."

"Thank you very much, hyung-nim!!"

Yu Jin-Ho stood back up and bowed his waist 90 degrees. A smile found its way back onto his face, too. While Yu Jin-Ho went around to fill up the bag, Jin-Woo began rummaging through Hwang Dong-Seok's pockets.

'I gotta get paid what's mine, too.'

He was promised 2 million Won for the day's work. And he couldn't afford to let a single cent slip by.

Hwang Dong-Seok's wallet was filled with lots of fifty thousand Won bills. When he counted, there were 45 of them. Just over two million, in other words.

The bearded man promised to pay in cash as soon as the raid was over, so he must've had them ready, just in case. Because, well, he wouldn't have been able to cut the tail all the time.

"Thanks for the pay."

Jin-Woo said the words of thanks to no one in particular and left the boss room first.

Yu Jin-Ho was almost finished packing up the magic crystals, but then, belatedly noticed that Jin-Woo had disappeared, and hurriedly began searching for him.

"H-hyung-nim?"

All he found were the rapidly-cooling corpses of the Hunters that lost their lives to Jin-Woo.

"Hiiick!!"

Yu Jin-Ho and his deathly-pale complexion hurriedly chased after Jin-Woo as if he was scared of being alone.

***

The agent from the Association's Investigation Department swiftly arrived at the location of the Gate.

The procedure to follow when there were casualties during a raid was rather simple. The remaining survivors only had to report the matter to the Association and let the investigators do their job. That was all.

The investigator for today was a strict-looking aunty.

"And your names are?"

"It's Seong Jin-Woo."

"My name is Yu Jin-Ho, ma'am."

Hunters dying inside dungeons happened pretty much every single day so this procedure was more like a formality at this point. To be more precise, it was now more to do with record keeping, actually.

That was, if there were nothing to be suspicious about.

"…So, every rank C Hunter in the raid team was killed, yet how did one rank D and one rank E manage to escape unhurt?"

The investigator questioned the duo while adjusting her glasses. Her glaring eyes narrowed to a slit.

'Now normally, it'd be the weakest Hunter in the team to die first, most of the time. Yet….'

She intensely scrutinised the two men before discovering something particular and raised her voice.

"Oh my gosh!!"

Her eyes began sparkling as she approached closer.

"Isn't this the longsword 'Kalion' that's been launched recently by the Maya Company? Oh my gosh, isn't this one of the Royal Series shields crafted by the one and only master craftsman Gredos?"

Yu Jin-Ho's face brightened immediately.

"You seemed to be well versed in weapons, ma'am!"

"Eii, it's nothing to feel proud about, really. No, it's only on the level of browsing through the catalogues every now and then. Ohohohohoho!"

The price of the longsword was around ₩700,000,000, while the shield was around ₩500,000,000. (TL: $620,000 and $443,000, respectively.)

These powerful armaments were crafted with magic crystals costing well over hundreds of millions of Won, as well as other expensive materials, and they were capable of boosting the abilities of a rank D Hunter past that of a rank C.

With this revelation, the agent began imagining the events that had taken place inside the dungeon.

'With these types of armaments….'

A lone rank D Hunter managing to hunt down the boss monster seemed rather feasible now, even when considering that all the rank C Hunters had been annihilated along the way.

'And that rank E probably hid in a corner somewhere and barely saved his life.'

Of course, the reality was opposite of that, but….

In any case, she came to a conclusion.

The odds of a man with enough financial wherewithal to purchase such armaments stabbing his comrades in the back for a handful of magic crystals were low at best.

On top of that, it was also impossible for a rank E to do anything to several rank C Hunters too, so the deaths of Hwang Dong-Seok and seven others could only be chalked up to an unfortunate accident.

"I understand what happened now."

The investigator closed the case file with a satisfied face.

"The investigation will conclude with this, so you may go home now. I'm sure it had been a difficult day so far, so thank you for taking the time out to aid us with the investigation."

"Thank you for your hard work."

Jin-Woo said goodbyes on behalf of both men.

The investigator and her car left just as quickly as they had arrived.

"You also worked hard, hyung-nim."

Yu Jin-Ho bent his waist 90 degrees once more. Even after they had exited the Gate, Yu Jin-Ho's overly polite attitude didn't change.

He must've been pretty darn scared, even now.

Jin-Woo inwardly clicked his tongue.

"Yeah, you too."

"Well, I haven't done much anyway. You did most of the work, hyung-nim. Oh, here are your magic crystals."

Yu Jin-Ho very courteously handed the bag over to Jin-Woo with two hands. And indeed, the bag was filled to the brim with magic crystals.

The highest price a magic crystal from a rank C Gate could fetch was around ten million Won. Even the smallest ones fetched several millions.

Jin-Woo's eyes scanned the number of crystals and he inwardly cried out in elation.

'Just how much will these….?'

He tried so hard to suppress a grin from breaking out on his face.

It was then, a drop of water suddenly fell inside the bag.

Splash, splosh.

Jin-Woo raised his head.

They were raindrops falling from the sky that had been gradually getting darker as the afternoon rolled by.

'It was a good thing… sending her off with an umbrella.'

Jin-Woo formed a subtle smile while thinking about his little sister.

***

Later in the evening.

Jin-Woo summoned his Status Window as soon as he arrived back home.

"Stats!!"

[Stats]

Strength: 53

Stamina: 30

Agility: 38

Intelligence: 30

Perception: 32

(Available points to distribute: 10)

The ten points he got as a reward from the emergency quest still remained, waiting. His entire body was itching from the desire to spend them.

If he wanted to earn them through Daily Quests, then he'd have to spend the next three days and still had to find one more point from somewhere, and if he wanted to earn them through levelling up, then he had to raise it by two.

'The priority is with Agility, then Perception next.'

He spent 7 points on Agility, and the rest 3 on Perception.

[Stats]

Strength: 53

Stamina: 30

Agility: 45

Intelligence: 30

Perception: 35

(Available points to distribute: 0)

"Okay."

His Stat values looked more even now.

Agility had almost caught up with Strength, and Perception was already at 35. Once Agility's values got closer to Strength, he was planning to increase Stamina next.

Leaving alone the Stat of Intelligence and its unknown uses, for the time being, he wanted to raise all of his other Stats as uniformly as possible.

"Should I check out today's results?"

Name: Seong Jin-Woo

Level: 21

Class: None

Title: Slaughterer of Wolves

HP: 2600

MP: 390

Tiredness: 0

[Stat]

Strength: 53

Stamina: 30

Agility: 45

Intelligence: 30

Perception: 35

(Available points to distribute: 0)

[Skills]

Passive skills:

– (Unknown) Lv. Max

– Tenacity Lv. 1

Active skills:

– Dash Lv. 1

– Intimidation Lv. 1

The level that had risen up by three and the new skill 'Intimidation' caught his attention the most. And his Stats also had received a healthy boost from the ten extra points.

These alone would qualify today's earning as quite spectacular, but there were more, weren't there?

'Two million Won I got for today's work, and….'

And, all those magic crystals filling up the bag, as well.

Jin-Woo counted the number of the crystals once more.

'11 from the spider, and 38 from Hwang Dong-Seok and his lackeys.'

In total, 49 of them!

If he asked five million for each, he'd still earn well over 200 million Won.

"200 mil from a single day's hunt!!"

The profit that should've been shared by ten people – no, nine, had been swallowed up by him, so the amount had no choice but to balloon up. This was the same thing as the unexpected kiss of lady luck landing squarely on his cheeks.

'All I have to do now is to sell these things.'

Selling magic crystals wasn't difficult. Since the demand was so high, when he put them up for sale, they would all sell out pretty quickly.

The question was, though, where he should sell these.

There were several cases of a direct trading between individuals, and Guilds and corporations also bought them in large quantities, as well.

For his case, since there were so many of them, he figured that it'd be for the better to seek out the help of professionals, rather than try his hands on dealing with individuals or sell them online.

'Can't I just sell them to a store or something?'

It'd be so much more convenient for him if the Store bought his crystals at their retail value, as it would with the japtem.

While thinking this and that, Jin-Woo pushed the bag full of magic crystals to the corner of the room.

And then, he abruptly recalled one last fruit of today's labour.

'Right, the System said that I can start buying stuff from the Store.'

Jin-Woo immediately summoned the Store.

Although it wasn't much, all the Gold he had saved up from the Hapjeong Station's instant dungeon still waited for their turn inside his Inventory until now.

"Buy."

Tti-ring.

Accompanied by the familiar beep, the list of purchasable items popped up in his view, and they continued to do so quite literally without an end.

Everything from cheap potions and trinkets, all the way up to absurdly expensive defensive items and eye-catching weapons could be found here. There were so, so many items that could be bought with Gold.

It was pretty obvious, but the more expensive an item was, the better its 'options' got. One of the best items available even cost as much as 10 billion Gold.

"Whoa….. 10 billion, is it?"

His current Gold was just over 112 thousand. It was way too short to buy anything truly useful. But, there was no need for him to fret here.

Why? Because, he had plenty of time on hand.

'I can buy any of these, as long as I have enough Gold, right?'

Jin-Woo hummed to himself and continued to browse through the list of really expensive items.

There was one more reason to seek out instant dungeons now.

Already, he couldn't wait to receive the prize of the Daily Quest for tomorrow, the random box.

Chapter 25: Chapter 25

Part 11. Arrangement

Three days passed by since the incident of the C-ranked Gate.

Jin-Ah came home early from school as it was Saturday today. As soon as entering the apartment, she began sniffing the air and hurriedly removed her shoes.

"Oppa? What's going on here? Did you order fried chicken?"

"Yeah, I ordered some takeaway to make sure it'd get here just in time for you."

"Wow, really?!"

Jin-Woo beckoned her while sitting by the dining table, causing Jin-Ah's eyes to open wider. She immediately ran towards him.

"Hiya~, what's going on here? And you're a serial Scrooge, too. Did something good happen lately?"

"Hey now. Put down your schoolbag first, will you? Why is a girl so hot-headed?

"It's fine. This bag ain't that heavy, you know."

And she was complaining not too long ago about her bag being too heavy and that she didn't want to carry an umbrella around…. Jin-Woo tsk, tsked, but couldn't really hide the smile creeping up on his face.

'Asking me if there was anything good happening lately?'

Of course, there was.

The family's bank balance had swelled up from 800 thousand Won all the way to ₩180,300,000 earlier today. (TL: Just under $160,000)

180 million was from the sale of the magic crystals, and 500 grand was used for the month's rent.

Still, 180 million!

Just one raid and he was able to get his hands on an absurd amount of money, totalling 180 million.

He had been one for a while now, but this was the first time he felt like a real Hunter. Well, this was the era where a casual mention of Hunters instantly brought up the images of wealth, so that couldn't be helped.

Also, the face of the employee at the magic crystal exchange when Jin-Woo went there with his stash was still so vivid in his memories, too.

"D-did you hunt all these monsters?!"

"Things happened, and so, it's something like that."

"Holy moly…. How incredible."

49 C-rank magic crystals.

The initial estimated price for the whole lot was just over 300 million Won.

But who knew that taxation would be so heartless?

"I gotta pay 40% as tax?!"

"Yes. When an individual is selling the crystals, 40% is taken as tax. However, when a Guild is selling them, it's only 10%."

"Is there a reason why there's a reduction in tax for the Guilds?"

"Well, unlike freelancers and their teams, Guilds must cooperate without question when they are ordered to mobilise, you see."

Indeed, when he searched through his memories, he remembered hearing about both the agents from the Monitoring Division of the Association and the White Tiger Guild coming to the location of the dual dungeon incident.

Because they were receiving special treatments, Guilds had to cooperate with the government and the Association when they asked for help.

The high tax rates caused Jin-Woo to ponder his choices for a little bit.

'Should I just hold onto the crystals and sell them off after I enter a Guild?'

But, he made up his mind soon afterwards. By the time he entered a Guild and started working for them, the main objects of conquest would be Gates rated A and B. The magic crystals coming out from those Gates would incomparably be more valuable than those from a Gate ranked C.

And right now, he needed every cent he could get his hands.

'Besides, I can't just sign on with any ol' Guild out there just to decrease tax, now can I?'

"Okay, fine. I will sell them."

*

That's how he got his hands on 180 million.

Just as Jin-Ah had implied with her question, the chicken-and-beer meal was to celebrate the big earnings sitting pretty in the family bank account right at this moment.

"Thank you for this meal."

Jin-Ah sneakily reached towards the beer can, but then, Jin-Woo's finger powerfully flicked her forehead.

"Ouch!!"

"For you, this."

He then placed a can of cola in front of her.

"Hiiing…. I was only joking, you know….."

Not minding Jin-Ah and her hands busy rubbing her reddened forehead, Jin-Woo popped the lid open on the refreshingly cold can of beer and poured the contents down his throat.

But then, this happened.

Tti-ring.

Jin-Woo couldn't help but react nervously when he heard the familiar beep.

'Why a System message, all of a sudden?'

[Harmful substances have been detected.]

[Effects of 'Buff: Detox' will now commence.]

[3, 2, 1…. Detoxification has been completed.]

'You detoxed harmful substances? Are you talking about alcohol?'

Jin-Woo drank up the remaining beer in the can, and popped open another just to make sure.

Gulp, gulp.

[Harmful substances have been detected.]

[Effects of 'Buff: Detox' will now commence.]

[3, 2, 1…. Detoxification has been completed.]

And the exact same messages appeared again.

He had drank up two cans of beer in one go, but he couldn't feel one hint of drunkenness come over.

Whatever this 'Buff' thing was, it was definitely working as intended.

'What's this?'

Jin-Woo tilted his head.

He had yet to meet a single Hunter capable of throwing Buffs around. Most of the Hunters possessing such specialised skill sets all worked for large Guilds.

As he was affiliated with the Association, there hadn't been a single opportunity for him to meet one so far.

'Even if someone sneaked a Buff on me, surely the System would've notified me of it.'

In that case, there could only be two possibilities.

Either he received the Buff while he was unconscious, or got it before the System was active.

Personally, he was more inclined towards the latter.

"Oppa? What's wrong? Is it indigestion? You should've been more careful, you know."

When Jin-Woo's expression became serious, Jin-Ah asked him with a worried voice.

"Nah, it's just that I remembered something pretty urgent, that's all. Eat without me while I take care of this, okay?"

Jin-Woo headed back into his room. He then began rummaging through every nook and cranny of his memories, trying to figure out if he had missed anything, even if it was small.

'Ah.'

Suddenly, he recalled something.

'Every quest has rewards, even penalty quests. But, there was one quest that I never got around to confirming the rewards, no?'

Jin-Woo hurriedly opened the mailbox.

At the time, he had no clue what the System was nor what rewards could mean, so glossed over them, but he definitely remembered reading the message that said he had met the conditions to clear the quest.

His heart began beating faster and faster.

Jin-Woo eventually discovered the messages sitting right at the bottom of the mailbox.

[Congratulations on becoming a 'Player'.] (read)

Jin-Woo's voice trembled as he spoke softly.

"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.]

As he thought.

There was the mention of rewards.

The voice he heard back inside the underground temple clearly said these words.

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

A secret quest or not, it was still a quest, wasn't it?

However, he hadn't checked what kind of rewards he had received until now. Back then, he thought that it was all a hallucination, didn't he?

[….will result in potential penalties.]

[Your rewards have been delivered.]

[Would you like to confirm your rewards?] (Y/N)

'Yes.'

Tti-ring.

[Rewards for the 'Secret Quest: the Courage of the Powerless']

The blessings from the Grand Sorcerer, Kandiaru

The Grand Sorcerer Kandiaru has been deeply moved by your courage, and has gifted you with a special spell. When accompanied by the blessings of Kandiaru, you'll get to enjoy a healthy and fulfilling life every day.

["Let there be a bright future laying in wait for the challenger."]

– One-time effect 'Will to Recover': All your damaged body parts will be recovered to their original state.

– Continuous effect 'Good Health and Long Life': You'll be immune to all types of diseases, poisonous substances, as well as all forms of status debuffs. During sleep, your recovery rate will increase exponentially.

Only now puzzle pieces fell to their places.

'That's why my leg was….'

It was all due to the quest reward that his sliced-off leg had reverted back to how it was before. Same thing for why he couldn't get drunk from a couple of cans of beer.

'Hang on. I'm immune to all types of poison, too?'

Jin-Woo's eyes abruptly shot open real wide.

If that was the case, then could it be….?

Jin-Woo hurriedly extracted a certain item out from his Inventory.

[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

'My muscles are supposed to get damaged because of the toxin, but wouldn't this detox buff resist that?'

There was only one way to find out. Jin-Woo squeezed his eyes shut and drank the liquid contained within the pouch.

Gulp, gulp.

Sticky, yucky liquid slid down his throat.

The taste was oily and terrible, but he endured it.

'And they say what's good for you usually tastes bitter….'

When he finished drinking all of the poisoned liquid, messages popped up in his view.

[Harmful substances have been detected.]

[Effects of 'Buff: Detox' will now commence.]

[3, 2, 1…. Detoxification has been completed.]

[Side effect 'Damaged Muscles' has been nullified.]

"Yes!!"

Jin-Woo clenched his fists real tightly.

Still, he couldn't celebrate just yet so he quickly summoned his Status Window.

[Stats]

Strength: 53

Stamina: 30

Agility: 53

Intelligence: 30

Perception: 36

(Available points to distribute: 0)

Reduction in physical damage: 20%

As he expected, there was no decrease in his Strength Stat.

It still remained as 53 points, and then, he saw the new Stat called 'Reduction in physical damage', too

Sure, it might be limited in the category, but it still was a marvellous Stat that reduced all physical damage by 20%.

"Nice!!"

Just as Jin-Woo began celebrating the emergence of this new Stat, Jin-Ah called out to him from the living room.

"Oppa? You know a guy called Yu Jin-Ho? He's looking for you."

"No way, he can't be the same Yu Jin-Ho…."

Jin-Woo quickly went to the living room and snatched the phone's receiver off his little sister.

"Hello?"

– "Hyung-nim, it's me. Yu Jin-Ho."

Really now?

The voice coming from the other side sounded way too familiar.

"….How did you get this number?"

– "There was a person I know working for the Association, you see. You didn't want to answer your smartphone, so I had no choice but to call you at home like this."

"Details only."

– "Ahh! Oops, my bad, hyung-nim. But, it's not something we can discuss over the phone… May we meet up somewhere so I can tell you in person?"

Jin-Woo tilted his head slightly.

'He still wants to meet me after going through such an ordeal?'

– "Hyung-nim, I really, really gotta ask you for this favour. Please."

What a weird kid this guy was.

***

Jin-Woo eventually agreed to spare one hour after Yu Jin-Ho earnestly pleaded with him.

The meeting place was a franchise cafe located not too far from Jin-Woo's home.

Even though it was a weekday, there were quite a few people inside the cafe, perhaps because they chose to meet right after the lunch hour.

"Hyung-nim, over here!"

Yu Jin-Ho greeted him rather enthusiastically.

Before entering the cafe, Jin-Woo focused his Perception to the max but he couldn't sense any other Hunters inside the shop.

At the bare minimum, this meeting wasn't for the purpose of revenge, it seemed. Although Jin-Woo couldn't really remember doing anything that warranted such an ill will towards him and requiring a swift retribution.

Jin-Woo sat down on the other side of the table.

"Didn't think we'd meet again."

There was a half-eaten ice cream on top of the table belonging to Yu Jin-Ho.

Yu Jin-Ho spoke as he stood up.

"What would you like to order? Should I go and get you some coffee?"

"No, it's fine."

Yu Jin-Ho looked a bit crestfallen for some reason as he sat back down.

Jin-Woo opened his mouth first.

"So, what do you want?"

It was then.

"I'm telling you, this guy did it for real back then! It was so crazy, really!!"

Jin-Woo shifted his gaze over to his side.

The table next to his was occupied by three burly students with rather thuggish faces hailing from some local athletic club or the other, and they were busy chatting to three girls.

Jin-Woo tried to get back to his own conversation.

"As I was saying, what do you….."

"And when did I ever do that?! Will you listen to this b*stard, busy inventing rubbish because we're in front of girls?!"

"…Want from me…."

"But, you said it, didn't you?! Wow, should I show you the pics, man? Should I like, release the evidence to the rest of the world or something?!"

The voices of the male students got louder and louder, and the laughter of the girls was just as loud as well.

"….."

When the noise became too loud to carry on his own conversation, Jin-Woo was left with no choice but to stand up and silently walk over to the table next to his.

The eyes of the male students all focused on Jin-Woo.

"Will you please keep it down? There are other people in here, too."

One of the male students scratched the back of his head and pretended to apologise a couple of times.

"Yes, yes. We'll keep it down. Very sorry about this."

Girls began giggling hoarsely from that sight.

"….."

Jin-Woo quietly stared at them for a while, before turning around. But when he did, something flew in and tapped him in the back of his head. A rolled-up paper serviette fell to the floor.

"Puhahahahaha!"

"Kekeke!!"

"Hey, you shouldn't do that."

Male students began guffawing real hard, while girls pretended to scold the boys, even though mocking grins formed on their faces.

Witnessing this scene, Yu Jin-Ho's expression gradually froze up.

"Hyu…. Hyung-nim…."

Jin-Woo picked up one of the unused spoons next to Yu Jin-Woo's ice cream and walked over to the counter.

"Ohh, look, look. He's going to tell on his mommy."

"Mommy, they are making noise. Stop them ple~ase. Fuhut!"

In the meantime, those kids kept running their mouths off.

Jin-Woo asked the nervous-looking female employee behind the counter with a deadpan face.

"How much for this spoon?"

"M-my apologies, dear customer. We don't sell spoons separately, you see…."

"It's not more than ten thousand Won, yes?"

"Pardon? Ah, uh, uhm, I guess so…..?"

Jin-Woo placed a ten thousand Won bill on the counter and turned around.

"Dear customer? E, excuse me, customer?"

Jin-Woo ignored the calls of the female employee and headed straight to the table where the male students from some athletic club were.

When they noticed that Jin-Woo was displaying a suspicious behaviour, the three students slowly stood up from their seats.

"What you want now? What?"

The attention of everyone inside the cafe was now focused on this table.

Jin-Woo showed the students his spoon.

'...?'

'...??'

Just as question marks floated on the expressions of these hapless kids, Jin-Woo began squashing the spoon in his hand. And the poor thing easily lost its shape right in front of their eyes.

The complexions of the male students grew paler and paler.

Jin-Woo then placed the 'spoon' on their table.

But, what was left there could no longer be called a spoon anymore.

No, it was just a piece of folded metal, roughly shaped like a ball.

"Heok!"

The male students nervously swallowed their saliva.

'That, that's not a human's strength.'

'This guy, he's a H-Hunter.'

The male students signalled to each other before the kid who threw the serviette at him bowed and apologised for real.

"I-I'm really sorry."

The rest of his friends then started apologising as well.

"I'm sorry."

"It was our fault. Forgive us."

The male students bowed several times with pale complexions, before making their hasty retreat from the cafe while dragging the girls out as well.

"Hooray-!!"

The customers surrounding that noisy table sent gazes filled with appreciation towards Jin-Woo.

Meanwhile, Jin-Woo returned to his seat and settled back down.

Yu Jin-Ho's eyes sparkled as he spoke up.

"As expected of you, hyung-nim!"

"Enough."

Jin-Woo got back on topic at hand.

"Why did you ask me for a meeting?"

"Well, that…. Hyung-nim. I gave this matter a lot of thought. I mean, lots and lots of thought, you know? But, I think I really, seriously, must ask you."

Jin-Woo tilted his head.

"What are you talking about now?"

"Hyung-nim, actually…."

Yu Jin-Ho's face reddened as if he was embarrassed about something, before he summoned up his courage and spoke up.

"Actually, I was thinking of forming my own tea….."

Jin-Woo didn't even hesitate one second and replied.

"I'm not interested."

Chapter 26: Chapter 26

Part 1. Transaction

Yu Jin-Ho's expression became dumbfounded.

"Already, hyung-nim?!"

"I don't need to hear the rest to figure it out."

Jin-Woo was quite decisive in saying no.

This wasn't because he didn't like Yu Jin-Ho or something like that.

Although he seemed a bit off in the head, his attitude remained courteous and he came across as someone who'd always keep his word. He was quite different from other scions of 'chaebols' often seen in mass media. (TL: 'chaebols': Wealthy owners/families of corporations)

However, Jin-Woo was not interested in becoming a playmate of the son of a wealthy family during the boy's 'Hunter' phase.

"If there's nothing else, I'm leaving."

"Hyu, hyung-nim!!"

Just as Jin-Woo got up to leave, Yu Jin-Ho hurriedly reached out and held onto him.

"Hyung-nim, only for 20! No, wait, please partner up with me for the next 19 times!!"

"For what? To clear dungeons?"

"Yes!! I'll definitely compensate you properly!!"

Yu Jin-Ho's voice sounded rather desperate.

Jin-Woo tilted his head slightly.

There were two reasons why people became Hunters. Either it was for money, or for their sense of duty.

But, Yu Jin-Ho didn't belong to either camp. Maybe, it was possible that he thought of being a Hunter was a slightly more dangerous form of extreme sports or some such.

That was what Jin-Woo had been believing until now.

True, he was taken aback slightly when the kid declared that he wanted to form his own private raid team, even after going through that ordeal the last time.

'There are all sorts of people in this world, that's for sure.'

It wouldn't be too strange to find a scion of a wealthy family who had become numb to the safe environment he had grown up in. However, Yu Jin-Ho's expression seemed far too serious and determined at the moment for that kind of an explanation.

'Could there be a different reason?'

Rather than the promise of 'proper compensation', Jin-Woo's curiosity was being tugged by the idea of raiding dungeons '19' more times.

Jin-Woo's brain quickly kicked into gear.

'Hang on…. Let's say that last time was his first raid. And when he completes 19 more raids, then….'

Could this kid be aiming for…..?

It didn't take long for Jin-Woo to realise the truth. His expression became dumbfounded, instead.

"You, are you perhaps thinking of getting the Guild Master licence?"

"That's correct, hyung-nim!!"

What a smart decision it was not to order coffee.

Otherwise, he might have sprayed the bitter liquid all over the table by now while trying to drink it.

"You wanna become a Guild Master?!"

"Well, uh, the story's a bit complicated there, hyung-nim."

Yu Jin-Ho's face reddened considerably compared to before as he spoke.

"Hyung-nim. Please listen to my story."

"…."

Jin-Woo was in a slight dilemma, wondering what he should do now, but in the end, he was defeated by his curiosity, so he sat back down.

"Fine, I'll listen."

Well, the promised hour had not ended yet, so there was that, too. It wouldn't be a problem to listen to the kid's story anyways.

Yu Jin-Ho hurriedly parked his butt back down as well.

"As you've correctly guessed, I want to acquire the Guild Master licence."

Acquiring that licence was not that difficult, actually. You had to be a Hunter who participated in at least 20 raids. As long as you met this base requirement, all you had to do was to pass a written test and you'd get the licence.

Of course, nobody would join the Guild created by a rubbish Hunter, and if a Guild failed to maintain the minimum number of members, it'd be disbanded as well.

Yu Jin-Ho continued on.

"It's not public knowledge yet, but actually, my father is trying to establish a Guild of his own."

"A Guild created by Yujin Construction?"

"Yes."

Yujin Construction was one of the biggest corporations in South Korea.

It had expanded its business well beyond the fields of construction and into other sectors and had been making a killing there. Jin-Woo had heard that recently, they reaped huge profit after jumping into the Hunter-related businesses as well.

'And they want to form a Guild of their own?'

When Jin-Woo displayed a hint of interest, Yu Jin-Ho became excited and added more explanations.

"He'd scout strong Hunters and build a massive Guild, and place all our Hunter-related business interests under it. That's his plan."

If a corporation wished to partake in Hunter-related businesses, then it was a necessity to work together with a Guild. Well, you'd need the strength of a large Guild if you ever wanted to get your hands on magic crystals and remains of the monsters, or treasures such as mana stones found in Gates ranked A or B.

"And so, you wish to become a self-sustaining entity. Is that it?"

"That is absolutely correct, hyung-nim!"

With the financial wherewithal of Yujin Construction, creating a Guild wouldn't even pose a problem. No, the real issue would be with just who gets to run it.

"My father is thinking of hiring an S-ranked Hunter as the Guild Master and placing my older brother as the Vice-Master, and run the Guild that way, but…."

Jin-Woo immediately caught onto what Yu Jin-Woo was implying here. If things were done that way, then a source of worry would be created along the way.

The power of authority the Guild Master wielded was simply far too great. Even if it was the Vice-Master who had hired the Master, in case of a conflict arising between the two, there was a very good chance that the latter would end up completely overtaking the entire Guild.

In order to prevent that, there was only one way. All you had to do was to hire a Master who'd never ever betray the one who hired him or her.

For instance, brothers – or, even a son.

And the chairman of Yujin Construction, Yu Myung-Hwan, had a son called Yu Jin-Ho.

"However, my older brother's business experience is far too good for me to simply take over the position of the Guild Master. It was his idea to enter the field of Hunter-related business, you see. We gained huge profit in that sector because of him."

His older brother had become a successful entrepreneur by the age of 31. Compared to him, Yu Jin-Ho was only a 22-year old university student, even if he possessed a unique plus point of being a rank D Hunter.

Naturally, the chairman was thinking of entrusting the Guild over to the eldest son.

The eldest couldn't become a Master since he was not a Hunter, but he still knew a lot about the Hunter-related businesses, and also managed to achieve great success in the sector, too.

Meaning, even if there was an element of a risk, the chairman would still take the chance.

"And you wish to change your father's mind by acquiring the Master licence, yeah?"

"That's right, hyung-nim."

And so, Jin-Woo figured out why Yu Jin-Ho was here, trying desperately to reel him in.

Even if the kid hired a high-ranked Hunter and acquired the licence that way, it'd be no different from buying it with cash. However, what if the kid succeeded in 20 raids with low-ranked Hunters, such as Jin-Woo, and acquired the licence that way?

Yu Jin-Ho would be able to persuade his father.

Simply him being able to lead a group of Hunters would be enough to get his approval. That was what Yu Jin-Ho was counting on.

If Yu Jin-Ho became the Guild Master, they would get an S rank as the Vice-Master and scout all the talented Hunters.

Well, others would only feel secure and join them if one or both Master and Vice-Master spots were filled by someone with powerful abilities.

If this plan were to come to fruition, then completing those 20 raids was an absolute must.

"Hyung-nim, please help me! I have no one but you, hyung-nim!"

Yu Jin-Ho bowed his head.

If it weren't for Jin-Woo, the kid would've died during his very first raid. By the giant spider, or at the hands of Hwang Dong-Seok. Two times.

Yu Jin-Ho needed a trustworthy ally here.

'I can definitely trust hyung-nim.'

He might be a cold-hearted person who would not bat an eyelid when killing his enemies, but he also happened to be a righteous man who'd not treat lightly the lives of those weaker than him, and just as important, he didn't care about getting his hands on ill-gotten gains, as well.

Jin-Woo was the perfect candidate.

However, Jin-Woo didn't need Yu Jin-Ho. That was why he asked the kid.

"What would I get in return, then?"

Yu Jin-Ho raised his head, his expression one of joy, as he quickly produced an envelope he had prepared earlier on. And a blueprint of a building came out from there. Jin-Woo took a look at it.

"This is the Guild office building we're constructing at the moment. The expected retail price of the building is around ₩30 billion, but it'll definitely rise up in the future."

Although the Association was doing their best to manage them, there would always be that fear of monsters escaping from the dungeons. That was why the land price near the Association headquarters or around large Guilds always rose up higher as time went by.

Well, there would be no more precious wealth than one's own life, after all.

Even if it was a small Guild, being near one almost guaranteed your safety. However, if it was a building occupied by a large Guild?

There was no need to mention it.

"If I become the Master, then for exactly one year, I'll use it until the Guild has been stabilised. And then, hand over the deeds to you, hyung-nim. Of course, I'll make sure all the paperwork are in order so there wouldn't be any unnecessary complications later down the line."

A 30 billion building, for raiding rank C Gates 19 more times….

Jin-Woo smirked slightly.

"As long as you become the Master, it'll all be worth it, is that right?"

"That's correct, hyung-nim."

On that fateful day, Yu Jin-Ho got to learn the valuable lesson of "Anything goes inside a dungeon."

Hiring any ol' Hunters could lead to him getting killed.

On the flip side, hiring famous Hunters would mean Yu Jin-Ho would lose the ability to persuade his father.

However, Jin-Woo was different.

He was nominally a rank E Hunter, yet he was strong enough to solo a C-ranked boss, as well as eight C-ranked Hunters without getting hurt.

'Hyung-nim could be at least a B-ranked…. Or, someone far stronger than that.'

With Jin-Woo was around, raiding 19 C-rank Gates would not pose any problems at all.

So, yes – if he could become the Guild Master, 30 billion sounded rather cheap in comparison.

The only thing remaining was Jin-Woo agreeing to do so.

'He wouldn't say no with this sort of terms on offer, right?'

Yu Jin-Ho nervously studied Jin-Woo's reactions.

'What should I do?'

In the meantime, Jin-Woo was in a serious dilemma.

30 billion Won.

That was a huge amount of money.

If one considered the fact that the winning prize of the local lottery was 1.5 billion Won, he'd have to get lucky 20 times in a row to earn that amount.

Not only that, the value of the building would only continue to rise up.

If it were any other normal Hunter, they would jump in with both feet and sign up right away – that's how tempting this offer was.

However, Jin-Woo was as far removed from being normal as anyone could ever hope to get.

The one and only under the heavens; he was the only Hunter who could grow stronger.

If he continued on with quests and levelled up over and over again, he'd reach the S rank sooner or later, or even something surpassing that.

'If I can surpass the S rank, then 30 billion would be nothing.'

The contract fee for S rank Hunters went for several dozen billions already.

No matter how famous a celebrity or a sports star was, they would never even come close to the worth of an S-ranked Hunter.

This was the era where the number of high-ranked Hunters signified the strength of a nation. As a result, the treatment S ranks received exceeded one's imaginations.

Considering that, what Jin-Woo needed to prioritise here was not money, but his growth.

And in order to grow, it'd be more convenient to be alone.

'Yeah, it'd be better to minimise the risks of unexpected events.'

If he hunted along with other people, the experience points received could decrease too, and because of all those eyes watching him, making a move would become rather cumbersome as well.

Not to forget, in order to avoid anything troublesome happening down the line, he had to threaten Yu Jin-Ho back then, something he didn't want to do in the first place.

And finally, he'd have to match his schedule to that of the assault team from now on. The efficiency of his growth would only decrease, one way or the other.

'I can always make money later on.'

Although it was unfortunate, he had to decline this offer. Just as he thought like this….

'Hang on a sec.'

Suddenly, he came up with a pretty good way to catch two birds called money and growth with a single stone.

'If it's in this manner….'

When he finally raised his head, he spotted Yu Jin-Ho and his nervous face. Jin-Woo slowly opened his mouth.

"I only have one condition."

Yu Jin-Ho's expression brightened up instantly.

"Whatever it is, please tell me, hyung-nim!!

'I wonder, would you be able to smile even after I told you what it is?'

Jin-Woo smiled inwardly and spoke up.

"You and I. Only two of us will enter the dungeons."

"Pardon?!"

Yu Jin-Ho gasped out in pure shock.

"Hyu-hyung-nim…. If I didn't make a mistake here, then…. Are you saying that hyung-nim and I, just us two, will clear C-ranked Gates? Only us two?"

"You didn't make a mistake, then."

Yu Jin-Ho's face was drained of all colour, just then.