Chapter 16: 16

Devouring Experience Points (4)

The Alpha dungeon disappeared from Latna. The news itself wasn’t that surprising. New dungeons were being created and being cleared all over the continent, after all. The problem was that the identity of the Dungeon Closer still hadn’t been found out.

“I heard an unknown Dungeon Closer appeared?”

“That’s strange. Why won’t the Dungeon Closer reveal himself?”

The public was perplexed.

No matter how much they thought about it, there was no plausible reason for anyone to refuse one of the highest honors a normal hunter could get. It was clear that there were circumstances at play that prevented the Dungeon Closer from standing up and revealing himself.

The person could be a wanted criminal or worse…

“Was it closed by an Earthling?”

“Ugh! Is there an alien around here?”

If the Dungeon Closer was a Latnain criminal, then there was no reason to sneak into the dungeon. They couldn’t get wealth and honor legally like legal hunters. The only way they could earn from the dungeons was looting Devil’s Spirit Stones and magic tools that they must sell secretly. In that case, it was certainly better to break into a rich house. They were already criminals anyway. There was no reason for them to take such a dangerous path.

On the other hand, dungeons were valuable to Earthlings. They could level up by gaining experience points through killing monsters. Among the aliens, quite a few secretly entered dungeons to hunt monsters for the sake of becoming stronger. The unidentified Dungeon Closer’s actions seemed to be more akin to that of an Earthling’s.

The citizens of Onpros were terrified.

“Is there an alien strong enough to close the Alpha dungeon in Onpros?”

It wasn’t just because they were afraid of Earthlings.

“I heard that the Alien Interrogator and Templars from Kybriel Church are already making a move.”

“Oh my God, there’s going to be a bloodbath.”

A huge bounty had been placed by the six Church on the heads of Earthlings. There was only one condition that must be met to claim the bounty. The aliens must be captured alive. An alien’s body would disappear upon death. If they were killed, there would be no evidence that they’ve actually been hunted down. Witnesses were meaningless since they could part of a con to get the bounty.

The bounty was paid only when the alien was captured and had been confirmed that they were actually from Earth. The problem was that it was never easy to confirm the identity of the captured alien. An Earthling’s identity was only ever clearly revealed when they died.

It was common for people to be killed if they were suspected to be an Earthling. If a body remained, they would be cleared of all suspicions. There were individuals who used that as an excuse to kill and murder.

To prevent confusion and crime, The Churches each had an Alien Interrogator to confirm the truth. Through various interrogations and torturous methods, Alien Interrogators could identify those who originated from Earth and immediately execute them. They were still humans, however. They weren’t always right or accurate.

Up to that day, countless innocent Latnains were tortured to death or unjustly killed. If an Alien Interrogator came to Onpros, people would never be able to sleep soundly at night. Trembling with fear, the citizens cursed the Earthlings who caused this situation.

“Those damned aliens!”

“Why can’t they just live in their own world? Why did they ever have to invade our world?”

* * *

On the outskirts of Onpros City were shabby accommodations. Sitting alone in the backyard of one of the hostels was Ryu Han-bin. He had frustration in his eyes.

“Well, I didn’t know the situation would be like this.”

After he destroyed the Alpha Dungeon, the city of Onpros was enveloped by a ferocious atmosphere. The Church that served the Goddess of Darkness, Kybriel, had stepped in to find the alien responsible for closing the dungeon.

Even as he sat there, Templar Knights continuously inquired all over the city. Han-bin also had an encounter with them. The Kybriel Church’s Templars focused on those who came to the city of Onpros recently, and he was also one of those outsiders.

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It was fortunate that nothing happened.

The moment he put his hand on the measuring stone, they immediately let go of him as they laughed.

-Level 5? Phfft! Pass!

Their reaction was unexpected considering the high-pressured situation they were in where they weren’t certain if an Earthling had appeared or not.

“I kind of understand how it is.”

After the Great Earth’s fall, Earthlings aiming for the Six Churches still appeared every now and then. They were known as Devil Followers: alien beings who were all trying to kill a Goddess in the dark.

The appearance of an Earthling enough reason to create such an intense response from the Churches. They did worship the Goddesses, after all.

Han-bin suddenly came upon a question.

“Devil Followers… Does that mean the summoned Earthlings are following the Devil’s orders?”

He tried to rationalize it. There was a being that kidnapped humans from earth, transported them to an unknown place, made them raise their levels, and forced them to fight under the premise that they would die if they weren’t able to become stronger. Ryu Han-bin had been trapped for a long time due to a guideline error, but even under normal circumstances, he would have had to spend at least several months living in that hell.

They had no other choice but to become stronger even though they didn’t want to or didn’t ask for it. They’ve barely reached level 20 when they were sent to yet another world where new guidelines were handed.

-If you kill the Goddess of this world, I will return you home!

Many crazy men and women would just jump happily at the thought of being able to return home, ‘Ah, thank you. I will train hard, raise my level, and cut off the Goddess’s neck as you desire if that’s what it would take for you to send me back home!’

“Usually, it’s a win-win for both the kidnapper and the Earthling.”

But the reality was different. Regardless, a lot of aliens still aimed for the Goddesses and The Church as ordered by the Devil. They killed a lot of Latnains in the process.

How the hell did the Omphalos Devil unjustly abduct people from Earth and made them follow orders?

“There must be an unknown factor at play.”

Brainwashing? Or some sort of control or penalty? Or mind domination? There was certainly something forcing the Earthlings to do his bidding. In Han-bin’s case, that certain factor must’ve been lost due to the errors in the guidelines.

Ryu Han-bin put on a serious face, “Well, I can’t relax knowing my opponents are Earthlings.”

He needed to be more alert. He didn’t know what the Devil might have done.

“The good news is I’m not at a level where I’m going to be defeated.”

Those who fell normally into the Latna Continent would be around level 20. Ryu Han-bin guessed that he would still be stronger than them for as long as he wasn’t against a veteran who had already explored that world.

“Isn’t that also weird?”

Why send people down to Latna at level 20? If he sent them at level 100, the mission to kill the Goddesses would’ve had a much higher success rate.

“Is the level you can raise in Selha Latna limited to only 20?”

It couldn’t be. Just looking at Ryu Han-bin alone had a much higher actual level. It was only due to an error that his level was capped at 5.

Of course, he had been trapped in there for more than 20 years, but the point was that the Devil Omphalos had the ability to make the Earthlings as strong as he wanted to.

Why was it necessary to send them to this world at level 20? They would still be too weak to kill the Goddess right away.

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“Maybe the real objective isn’t to kill the goddesses…”

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Perhaps sending a lot of aliens was the purpose itself. As the existence of the aliens eroded Latna, the power of the Goddesses decreased, causing the Devil’s influence to increase.

“No, this doesn’t make any sense.”

If the purpose was simply to increase the number of Earthlings in Latna, there was no need to give a mission to kill the Goddesses. If they played with Latnains for nothing, they would only lose count of aliens. In fact, hadn’t there been a massive purging after the failure of the Great Earth?

Since then, the number of aliens in Latna decreased considerably.

“What is the real purpose of killing the Goddesses?”

Then why did he drop them to Latna in a weak state? After a long session of thinking, Ryu Han-bin could only sigh.

“I won’t know until I meet other Earthlings.”

* * *

Onpros City was devasted day by day due to the tyranny of the Alien Interrogator. The hunters were particularly affected. All aliens must be level 20 or higher. This was Latna’s common understanding which at least protected civilians from being hurt.

Only the hunters over level 20 gained the suspicions of the Alien Interrogator. Of course, it had nothing to do with Ryu Han-bin. No one ever doubted him.

His level gave him an almost invisible effect. It hid his identity perfectly.

“I can’t work properly as a hunter, though.”

His savings decreased as the days passed by. He couldn’t make any money. If he sold the Devil’s Spirit Stones and magical tools that he obtained from the Alpha Dungeon, he would be able to earn thousands of X, but…

“I can’t sell those right now.”

If he tried to sell items that were tiers above his level, the source would be questioned. He had no intention of endangering himself, considering he wasn’t even in a predicament yet.

“I’m in a predicament, to be sure, but it’s not impossible to get myself out of it through other means.”

Ryu Han-bin laughed as he looked down on his thick forearm.

He was in a situation where he couldn’t show his real strength because he was measured at level 5.

That just meant he had to find another path.

“I can just work hard to earn money. Not everyone is a dungeon-crawling hunter, anyway.”

* * *

On the south side of Onpros City, a wall-reinforcement project was in full swing. Many young men carried stones and wood with their sweat and blood. These were daily laborers, temporarily hired by the Civil Engineering Guild.

Among them, there was a particularly noticeable one.

His body was huge and thick. He had the immense strength needed to lift and move the loads that were ten times heavier than the others. He never showed any sign of hardships or even broke a sweat.

“Huh! That’s incredible!”

“Why aren’t you tired after carrying so many loads?”

The workers admired and envied him as he showcased a bit of his strength.

“He might just be the god of manual labor!”

The amazing talent who emerged as a giraffe in the civil engineering world, of course, was Ryu Han-bin. He grinned as he moved the materials he carried with ease.

‘It’s simple.’

Level measurement was essential to live in this world through force. A job that didn’t involve force needed no level measurements! He utilized his strength with ease. While others cut down trees, he carried stones by himself, and when others were carrying stones, he was carrying boulders.

He was like a human crane, causing the productivity of the group to rise continuously. He was able to earn ten-days’ worth of earnings in half a day. Honestly, Ryu Han-bin was also surprised.

“This is more than what I earned when I was working with Mr. Buckman.”

If he could keep on working as a construction worker, he would be able to reach his target amount within a month.

“I’ll be able to find a way back to Earth.”

Onpros City was a small developed area. Both the Mage Guild and the Hunter Guild were also relatively small, making it near-impossible for Han-bin to find any information which he could make use of. He needed to move to larger cities.

“I need to find a way to trick the measuring stone about my level.”

His hypothesis of returning to his actual level after filling the experience bar was impossible to prove at the time. The experience required for the next level up was 5.58 billion at least. Regardless of how many monsters he slew within the area, it wouldn’t even amount to a single drop in a huge bucket. He had to aim for monsters that were at least level 70 or 80.

However, high-level dungeons weren’t easy to enter secretly. Since there were so many aliens who secretly entered the dungeons, the Church began to closely monitor the entry and exit points of all the major dungeons.

He decided to find a way to trick the measuring stone for the time being. People in this world blindly believed the measuring stones. To Han-bin, it didn’t matter how accurate it was. It was still made by humans.

“Man-made objects will always have flaws.”

As it was a magical item, the information he needed might be available in the Mage Guild. He just needed to sneak it out. He didn’t have to worry about getting caught because he was hiding his identity anyway.

In the middle of his thoughts, their break ended.

“Let’s finish loading up the rocks.”

Just as he was about to get up, he heard a voice calling out to him.

Following the sound, he found a woman waving at him from the bottom of the wall.

“Mr. Eric!”

Her face looked familiar.

“Miss Sezori?”

She was the receptionist of the Onpros’s Hunter Guild.

“Well, it’s been a while since I went to Hunter Guild.”

Han-bin descended and asked in a friendly but concerned voice, “What brings you here?”

“Come to the Guild House with me for a moment!”

“What? Why?”

Sezori answered back with joy.

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“There’s someone who wants to scout you!”

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