Chapter 20: 20

Chapter 20 – Raison D’être (4)

Kim Ji-hoon’s mouth opened and he gaped like a fish.

“Please, wait just a second!”

Kim Ji-hoon went back out into the hallway. Through the door, I could hear him talking on the phone as clearly as if he were standing right next to me. After ending the call, he came back in and sat down in his chair.

“We’ll do as you wish.”

Kim Ji-hoon asked to be excused and told me that he’d bring a revised copy of the contract. I put my elbows on top of the desk and propped up my chin with one hand.

‘That went way more smoothly than I thought it would.’ 

Park Si-woo. One of the Aria Guild’s joint representatives and the former representative of the Morning Star Guild.

When I’d said that I was Park Si-woo’s friend, that was definitely a lie. And there was no way that Park Si-woo was unaware of that.

I signed the new contract that Kim Ji-hoon wrote up for me. He seemed to really believe that I was truly an acquaintance of guild representative Park Si-woo, and his tone of voice was much more polite than it had been at the beginning.

“This here is our community address and I.D. All the activity information is explained on the bulletin board. The down payment will be deposited to your account within one week. Is there anything else that you need?”

“You told me earlier that you could put me in contact with a dealer if I needed, right?”

“Ah, yes. Would you like me to do so?”

“Yes, put me in contact. There’s no need for the down payment of 1 billion won, let’s just jump straight to purchasing a 1 billion won sword.

What I needed now wasn’t a down payment, it was a weapon that I could use right away.

Madu Station.

I got off the subway after having boarded almost the first car.

“Damn, I should’ve just bought a car with 1 billion won. Ah, I guess this guy doesn’t even have a license anyways.”

Once I have some money saved up, I should try to get a license. 

After talking to Kim Ji-hoon, I was able to meet right away with the guild’s dealer through him. But once I’d looked at the catalog that the dealer had brought over, I realized that you couldn’t get a decent weapon with a billion won. 

For someone who had looked through Choi Soo-hyun’s collection and grumbled that this should be good enough while picking out a 10 billion won weapon, of course I wouldn’t be satisfied now with a weapon that was only 1 billion won. I didn’t know if I’d be able to find a weapon that met up to my standards.

Maybe it was because it was early morning, but the fog hung thickly in the air. When I arrived at the meeting place, there were already some Hunters and Association staff in suits who had arrived before me. I flashed my guild ID and casually walked over to where the other Hunters were.

Guild-internal dungeon expeditions were usually carried out either by creating a small team with like-minded people or by forming a one-time team through the community. When a guild posted dungeon information obtained from the Association on the bulletin board along with the rank of the dungeon, available Hunters would leave comments and join up on a first come, first serve basis.

Usually, Hunters would work together in teams after somewhat building up their careers, but there were not many cases of Hunters working in a set team early on.

Because it really felt like I was playing a game, I found it a bit interesting.

“Hello.”

“Ah, you’re the guy I saw last time.”

A man in his 30s who seemed to recognize me reacted first.

Since newcomer Hunters tended to work individually, there was a lot of overlap in the faces that you saw. That was how like-minded Hunters sometimes found each other and formed teams. I could understand how it was pretty convenient to join up with peers that entered a guild at the same time as you.

This Hunter was someone who’d entered the Aria guild at around the same time as me, and his name was Kang Hyun-seung. Another man who was standing next to Kang Hyun-seung looked at me and spoke.

“He looks young.”

“But he’s definitely skilled. They said he’ll be a C rank soon.”

“I think it might be next month.”

Listening to their conversation, I lightly shrugged my shoulders.

The man stuck out his hand.

“Min Seong-taek.”

“I’m Kang Han-kyul.”

I gently shook hands with Min Seong-taek. After those light introductions, I checked my status window.

[Kang Han-kyul(Soter)]

You are the master of the dimension ‘Tower of Trials’.

Job Title: Representative (5%)

Strength: C+ (71%)

Stamina: C+ (21%)

Mana: C (10%)

Healing: D+ (5%)

Merit Points: 13,250

Skills:

Talents:

Thankfully, my stats had increased overall since last time.

After becoming the ruler of the 1st and 2nd Floors, I’d challenged the 2nd Floor again a couple more times. And in order to get stronger, I had raised the level of difficulty as high as I possibly could.

‘Honestly, it was kind of stressful.’

I didn’t think that I would pass out as soon as I cleared the 2nd Floor. When I admitted to myself that this was unreasonable, I realized it would be better to defer training in the tower for a while, even if it would end up taking more time.

Inside the Tower, I couldn’t earn the Merit Points that you would usually get after clearing a dungeon as well.

‘But I guess I’ll have to go try the 3rd Floor soon.’

I was a bit worried about that guy too. If I gave him a 10 billion won weapon and he went and died anyways, then I guess it would’ve been futile from the beginning.

“Is everyone here?”

The Association staff came over towards us.

“No, there’s still one more person who hasn’t arrived yet.”

Our scheduled meeting time was 7 o’clock. Right now, it was 6:59. 

Exactly 1 minute later, a man came running towards us from the direction of the park entrance.

“There he is now.”

“I’m sorry. It looks like I’m a bit late.”

At the sight of him, my jaw dropped open along with the other Hunters.

“And what is your name, please?”

“I’m Kim Yoo-han.”

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While we were busy gaping, the Association staff diligently did their job. 

Min Seong-taek, who’d taken on the role of the tank for this mission, finally spoke out.

“Can this guy really hold onto our bags properly?”

While Min Seong-taek and the other members were questioning Kim Yoo-han’s qualifications, I had a completely different thought in my head upon seeing him.

‘Wow, isn’t he hot in that?’

The weather was getting a little chilly these days, but his outfit was definitely not the norm. He had thick pants, a padded jacket, a strange earflap hat, and on top of that, he had round glasses with thick black frames and even a black mask so that his facial features were obscured.

‘Where did he get that hat, anyways?’

Kim Yoo-han’s outfit was so strange that it wouldn’t be out of place to see it at a ski resort. To put it bluntly, Kim Yoo-han was a fashion terrorist. I’d be kind of impressed if he got on public transportation looking like that.

If the rest of his face really was as pale as the strip of skin I could see through his hair at his neckline, I doubted whether this guy could actually fight. I understood why Min Seong-taek would say something like that.

At Min Seong-taek’s questioning, Kim Yoo-han looked around at his surroundings. He saw the large backpack that had been left at the entrance to the dungeon and picked it up with one hand and slung it onto his shoulder.

‘He’s pretty strong. Guess, we shouldn’t judge people based on appearance alone.’

After seeing Kim Yoo-han quickly pick up and carry two backpacks, the rest of the party didn’t doubt him anymore. We each went around and introduced ourselves.

Me, the front-line hunter, Kang Hyun-seung, the scout, Ahn Joo-hye, the support, and Min Seong-taek, the tank and the one who was put in charge this time as the leader of the expedition team. Including Kim Yoo-han, who was in charge of carrying luggage and backing up the rear guard, we were five people in total.

“We’ll depart in 10 minutes. I’ll go talk to the Association staff for a bit, so please make yourself comfortable while you wait.”

Min Seong-taek approached an Association official who was standing by with a phone in his hands. Right then, Kim Yoo-han and I made eye contact.

“If you have something to say, say it. Stop staring at me.”

I’d seen him stealing glances at me while pretending to look at the ground. It was at the level where I’d say he was pretty good at getting a sneak peek at people while pretending to look elsewhere. 

Ahn Joo-hye and Kang Hyun-seung were both taking care of their own business somewhere else.

At my interrogation, Kim Yoo-han raised his head.

“It’s just that you look like someone I know.”

It was a response that I hadn’t anticipated.

“A celebrity, maybe? No one’s ever told me anything like that. I don’t know who you’re talking about, but to be clear, it’s gotta be that he looks like me, rather than me looking like him.”

Kim Yoo-han frowned and furrowed his brow at my brazen remarks. Truthfully, when I’d heard Kim Yoo-han’s voice, I’d felt that it wasn’t really out of place.

“Never mind.”

Kim Yoo-han gave up on whatever he was going to say and turned away from me. A few moments later, Min Seong-taek came back from talking to the Association staff member and waved his head towards the gate.

“It looks like we can start now.”

We went inside of the dungeon.

[Now entering the dungeon.]

[Giant Ant Den]

Grade: C-

Terrain: Cave

Party Limit: 5-6 people

Goal: After killing the queen ant, retrieve one of the queen ant’s eggs.

Rewards:

Upon all clearing (All) [Merit Points 400]

Upon killing all ants (All) [Merit Points 100]

For dealing the killing blow on the queen ant [Merit Points 600]

For taking one of the queen ant’s eggs [Merit Points 300]

Upon destroying the queen ant’s eggs (All) [Merit Points -1000]

Starting at the C-grade level, the mission rewards included the possibility of getting points deducted. Once you got to S-grade dungeons, it’s said that the rewards lists were long enough to fill three or four sheets of A4 paper.

The inside of the cave was pretty plain. The only downside was that it was a little bit narrow. The five of us Hunters lined up and went into the cave.

Shortly after entering the cave, Min Seong-taek, who’d taken the lead, stopped walking. I could hear the sound of the ants crawling around inside of the cave.

“They’re coming.”

Min Seong-taek raised his shield and sword. 

Ahn Joo-hye took something out of her pocket. It was a disposable glow stick.

Using it was simple. All you had to do was bend it slightly and throw it to the ground.

In cave dungeons or in dark places, throwing glow sticks down like this served as guideposts. It was also possible to use it to temporarily blind any monsters.

They wouldn’t be much use when face-to-face with a boss monster, but they’d be effective enough for the fire ant soldiers right in front of us. When the glow stick landed, the surrounding area lit up.

At the sudden light, the ants that were over 1m in size froze for a moment and then ran towards us. The legs of a fire ant soldier were hot enough that they would cause second degree burns in an instant if you touched them with your bare skin.

“Get ready for battle!”

At the words of the team leader, Min Seong-taek, everyone raised their weapons and started to fight with the soldier ants. I also drew my sword and cut off the legs of an approaching fire ant soldier.

Fire ant soldiers are divided by their hot legs and abdomens, and a hard shell surrounded their entire body. Contrary to how it looked, the shell was actually pretty strong. Because of this, you usually had to stab them in the chest area where they weren’t covered by the shell. That was the fire ant soldiers’ weak point.

The standard method was to cut off all the legs of the fire ant soldier, then stab them straight in the chest. The problem was that this was a time-consuming and annoying task, and the number of ants that were crawling towards us weren’t just one or two.

‘Even so, the tunnel is narrow.’

A fire ant soldier came down from the ceiling. Its legs just barely grazed past my cheek as it fell. A scorching heat rose up as if a soldering iron had passed by me.

I turned around and thrust out my sword in the direction of the fire ant soldier’s body. A clear tone rang out as if I’d struck my sword against a piece of steel, and there was now a scratch in the fire ant’s shell.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing!”

As if he thought that what I’d just done was useless, Min Seong-taek spat out an annoyed remark as he stuck a knife into the chest of a crippled fire ant. But I didn’t stop after that.

After dodging another attack, this time I infused magical power into my sword. The sharp edge of the sword was dyed black. In that state, I swung my sword in an arc as I turned my body around in a complete rotation. The body along with the legs of the approaching fire ant soldier were cleanly cut off.

As the body split into two, dark red blood spewed out in all directions. With a thunk, the dead soldier ant’s leg fell lightly on top of my shoe.

“Ah, hot!”

Startled, I kicked the leg away with my foot and took a step back. At the same time, the eyes of the Hunters behind me turned in my direction. 

I got back into position and smiled.

“It’s just that I hate such inconvenient things.”

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