Chapter 22  

Early the next morning, Yu-Seong headed outside and stopped by the player’s shop in Yeouido to buy some equipment. He purchased a spear to be used as his main weapon as well as a hunter-only suit and a pair of walking shoes for players.

Of course, he picked out the best among mass-produced products. One might consider the equipment too extravagant for him since he was just a beginner player, however, that wasn’t actually the case for Yu-Seong. He was the ninth child of the leader of the Comet Group and he was able to afford the extravagance.

Thus, Yu-Sung paid 3.5 billion won altogether for the equipment which was considered to be some of the best made by Earth standards as well as the Setup Box to contain them. The equipment was designed by French and Italian craftsmen, made with German and American machines, and used the research of the magic engineers. It cost the same as one of the best apartments available in the Gangnam area of Seoul , but Yu-Seong did not find it a waste.

‘After all, all that money is meaningless if I die.’

The price didn’t matter to him. What mattered to him the most was the quality and the efficiency. So why did he need to purchase something expensive simply because it was designed by French and Italian craftsmen, which only served to increase the price? His answer was simple.

'It's because of the effects of Stylish and Star Factor.'

It was better to fight in a flashy way to be more recognizable to others. Dungeon hunting was sometimes carried out by individuals, but hunting in a party was often necessary as well.

There were many stories about the players who wore cameras to film the actions of famous hunters. Paparazzi also followed them using special drones made by Hextech. The fancy and cool designs of his equipment could seem somewhat unnecessary, but it was important to Yu-Seong.

Yu-Seong quickly finished his morning schedule and headed to a dungeon close to him. The dungeon was found in Seoul Gwanak-gu Sillim-dong, located right in the middle of the city, and naturally, its entrance wasn’t exactly conspicuous. A large, square, one-story building was built around the dungeon. Inside the building, soldiers and players from the Association were on standby at all times. Only those with hunter licenses were allowed in the building. The only exceptions were granted to the odd reporter or two who had filming permits.

Yu-Seong glanced at the hunters from the association guarding the entrance of the dungeon. He turned around and said, “I’m heading out” to Jin Yu-Ri.

"Ugh..." Jin Yuri responded with a sigh. In fact, she wanted nothing more than to follow Yu-Seong's first hunt. She couldn’t stop worrying about Yu-Seong, since he had to explore his first dungeon solo.

However, neither Jin Yu-Ri nor Jin Do-Yoon could go with Yu-Seong because a law had been passed about twenty years ago prohibiting high-ranked players from entering low-ranked dungeons.

Monsters and traps weren’t the only threats in dungeons. Because it was an isolated, enclosed space, it was the perfect place to avoid being watched. It was essentially the perfect place for incidents to occur between humans.

In such places, fights between hunters of the same or similar rank and a fight between a high-rank player with overwhelming power and a weaker player would be completely different. At least, there would be enough time to run away if it was a fight between similarly-ranked players. They could escape the situation before suffering any fatal wounds. What if the opponent was an overwhelmingly higher rank? A low-rank player would be no different than a sitting duck just waiting for death.

Before the law was proposed, many villains took advantage of the dungeons. Such incidents were caused by those who entered dungeons significantly below their ranks and attempted to dominate the area. They attempted to control the dungeon by rampaging with their overwhelming power. As a consequence, the law was created to limit which ranks could enter the dungeon.

The law was essential to guarantee a minimum level of safety for everyone.

“I feel like I should go and get a fake license somewhere," said Jin Yu-Ri.

"Then we'll all get caught," Yu-Seong joked with a smile.

There were three players from the Association at the entrance of the dungeon looking at them sternly. They were in full combat gear which even included the combat suits they had on, which were usually worn when entering the dungeon. They would check and verify the hunter’s license of the entrant as soon as they approached the entrance. In fact, if they detected anything suspicious, they would suppress and attempt to arrest the entrant right away.

Even if it was possible for the two to enter with him, Yu-Seong would reject their help. Those who lived inside a bubble eventually stopped making progress. Yu-Seong was certain that he could not survive by taking the easy way. He knew he had certain dangers awaiting him in the future.

Therefore, he rejected Jin Yu-Ri and Jin Do-Yoon’s proposal of hiring a number of similar-ranked players as well.

‘If they are of a similar rank to me, they could end up being a burden instead.’

Yu-Seong had his own plan to level up, and he did not want to be distracted by unnecessary people.

"I believe you will do well, young master," said Jin Do-Yoon with a look of trust.

“Your hands are trembling. Try saying that again once you get a grip on yourself.”

When Yu-Seong pointed at Do-Yoon’s trembling hands, he quickly shoved his hands behind his back. His entire face and his ears turned red.

"Don't worry, both of you. I'll be right back. You two need to worry about getting stronger and stop worrying about me.”

Truly, both Jin siblings were talented enough to be considered S-rank or higher just from their potential to grow. It was obvious that their growth would be explosive once they had more time to spend on proper hunting and training instead of having to look after Yu-Seong.

“Ugh… I don’t know why, but I can’t stop worrying about you. Maybe because it’s my first time seeing you off to the dungeon. “

Jin Yu-Ri spoke like a mother sending her son off to the army. Her words were laced with anxiety.

"Don't worry, it's only a level one dungeon. Even if I come across any unforeseen circumstances, it wouldn’t be any more dangerous than Choi Min-Seok?"

The two siblings frowned deeply.

“I shouldn’t have held back my anger then…”

Jin Do-Yoon recalled the hunters test with a red face and rage-induced trembling. This time the trembling wasn’t due to worry; just thinking about that day greatly agitated him. Although Yu-Ri did have a chance to exact revenge on Choi Min-Seok in her own way, she was no different from Do-Yoon.

‘He won't even dare to think of doing anything else for a while.’

Nevertheless, Yu-Seong smiled while looking at Do-Yoon and Yu-Ri, who was clenching her teeth and trembling.

"That is why I am trying to become stronger so that I won’t have to worry when I come across any more dangerous situations. You two can relax and just cheer for me, okay?“

“We’ll wait here and won’t go far today.”

“Very reassuring.” If Yu-Seong didn’t come out of the dungeon after a long period, or if something unusual happens, they would mobilize. It wasn't bad to have something prepared for unexpected circumstances.

"I'll be back."

"You’ll be careful, right?" said Yu-Ri.

“Don't let your guard down, young master. If anything happens, I will follow you in."

“Be careful not to get arrested!,” responded Yu-Seong with a laugh to the fussing Jin siblings and silently headed into the building.

***

When Yu-Seong entered the building after successfully verifying his hunter certificate, there were several people inside the building who recognized him. However, he ignored the whispers and conversations as he passed, and turned his eyes to the high-reaching tunnel located not far from the entrance.

‘That should be the entrance to the dungeon,’?thought Yu-Seong with a gulp.

The dungeon entrance was covered with dirt and was wide enough for four or five people to go through with their arms spread out. It looked somewhat bizarre to be located in the middle of the downtown of a city. In order to hide the strange object, they would have had to build a building to match the round shape of the dungeon, even if it meant interrupting traffic.

In the original novel, there was an explanation about when the first dungeon was created on Earth. The ground rose up with an earthquake, creating a large and dangerous-looking black cave that surprised the people in the area. There were people who curiously went inside the dungeon, though the majority never returned.

People now knew that the real dungeon appeared after passing through the huge cave. Everyone was shocked after they figured the dungeon was actually completely different in appearance from the dirty cave they imagined it to be.

‘Everyone would have gone crazy if it appeared on the Earth I used to live on.’

Currently, most of the dungeons in the city center were already conquered. The word ‘conquered’ was used depending on whether the final monster, the boss monster, was killed or not.

If the dungeon was created and the boss monster was not eliminated within a month, the large cave would grow and swell up as if it were going to explode, sending countless monsters above ground.

This was the so-called dungeon break.

The most annoying part of it was that, like most of the other monsters inside the dungeon, the boss monster regenerates once a month. In other words, all the boss monsters in the dungeons needed to be hunted once a month. The areas failing to do so every month were already abandoned or devastated and were considered the monsters’ territory now.

Choi Yu-Seong looked at the entrance of the dungeon with rather blank eyes and stretched his shoulders and neck.

‘It’s the real thing inside there.’

Even the reporters who were given special permission to enter the building could not enter the actual dungeon. In some rare cases, players with hunter licenses doubled as paparazzi and followed other players inside, but this was very rare.

Then why was it special for normal journalists to follow players to the inner part of the building? It was special for them because few journalists could handle special drones equipped with mana stones. It was more common compared to when they followed players into the dungeon but was still considered rare.

The special drones were expensive to produce, and they were difficult to create as well. In addition, the power source of the drones was mana stones, so the cost to fuel them was enormously expensive.

Moreover, the environment of the dungeon was very unstable, and the drones were often destroyed inside the dungeon. It was clearly no different from throwing money into a burning fire.

‘That’s why only an extremely few reporters who are trained to control drones can use them...’

Since it was quite arduous and there were many things to pay special attention to, the drone-controlling reporters usually refrained from sending their drones after players unless it was a special event, such as a boss raid. As such, it was safe to say that the world inside the dungeon belonged entirely to the hunters.

‘Once you go inside there, you can't expect things like law, order, and morality like on Earth.’

People could also be as dangerous as monsters. There were many threats he had to face, but it was the direction he had to go in order to grow.

‘Here I go.’

Yu-Seong clenched his fist and took a step. Obviously, he didn't come all the way here to just look at the entrance. However, it was only natural that he couldn't help being nervous when he looked at the black cave, which looked like the mouth of a beast.

If it was the original Choi Yu-Seong from the novel, he would be nothing but monster food.

‘I can’t be the same as him.’

He was actually looking forward to it as much as he was nervous about it.

‘This is the real beginning.’

Dungeons were full of as many rewards as risks. Players could increase their level, collect mana stones, and even obtain hidden treasures that could not be found on Earth. Yu-Seong also knew information about the treasures that were not yet gathered by others yet. If he could find the treasure, his chance of survival would increase even more. If he wants to survive, getting more power is necessary for him.

‘I’ll keep going forward and forward.?‘

To be honest, he didn’t even need to become the chairman of the Comet Group. He just wanted to enjoy his life as a rich loafer.

The path he chose was difficult, but he needed to encourage himself and move forward. After taking a deep breath, Yu-Seong stepped out into the darkness of the dungeon. His whole body disappeared inside the cave, and the darkness swallowed everything. His whole body felt heavy as if he were submerged in deep water. It was at this moment that Yu-Seong took a big step from being an ordinary game company employee to a hunter fighting for his life. ***

Dungeon.

This word -dungeon- was a word that referred to an unknown world where there were many unspeakable threats, such as violent monsters, hidden traps, and dead ends that led to enclosed spaces.

However, almost all players wanted to enter dungeons, even though they needed to put in the effort to earn a hunter's license. The public admired and envied such hunters. Some would say that adventures and romance waited inside the dungeons. Of course, this was total nonsense. The reason why people paid attention to the dungeons was that they were full of sweet rewards.

Hunters with strong abilities could not only take up more of the rewards but also build their reputation and wealth on Earth, which many people would naturally envy. When they gained even more power, not even the government could disrespect them. Especially in the capitalist society of today, hunters had an opportunity to enjoy the life that everyone dreamed of. Thus, those who were not satisfied with their life, or those who were filled with a desire for money and honor, wanted to become hunters.

However, Yu-Seong’s case was different. He didn’t need or desire great wealth and honor. He just wanted to survive. Yu-Seong threw himself inside the dungeon with a single desire - survival.

A kobold, a small monster with a height reaching Yu-Seong’s knees, attacked him. Kobolds were monsters that lived in dungeons and could be considered weak enough for an F-ranked, level-one player to hunt two or three by themself. There was only one thing difficult about hunting Kobolds.

‘Like all the other monsters, they don’t know fear.’?

When he saw a group of kobolds rushing in recklessly without a trace of fear of death, he felt nervous and could not help but gulp.

It could be seen as a threat in that case, but in the end, it was just a monster inside a level one dungeon. Yu-Seong did not have to invoke his insight skills to catch a monster like a kobold.

‘Vision-reinforcement F.’

It was a common and low-grade skill, but this was the most helpful skill that Yu-Seong currently possessed.

Keeek-

Yu-Seong moved only three steps to avoid the attack of the jumping kobolds, stabbed, pushed, and struck five kobolds with his own sharpened spear. He swept them away in a blink of an eye, then cheered inwardly when he saw the silver light swirl up from his toes to his head before dissipating.

‘Level up!’

It took only an hour after Yu-Seong entered the dungeon. He was enjoying leveling up more quickly than he imagined.

‘What do you mean there’s no romance in the dungeon? That’s nonsense!’

His voice was filled with emotion, “The dungeon is full of romance.”

In fact, the ‘romance’ here was because of the rewards it offered.

‘Oh, my God. I did expect this, but the?efficiency?in leveling up is totally different!’

Yu-Seong had no choice but to open his mouth after he checked the system window.

『Name: Choi Yu-Seong

Age: 20

Type: All-Rounder

Rank: E

Level: 15

Retention History:1

Special Skills: Star Factor Quality E, Fusion E

General Skills: Stylish E, Eye of Replication E, Spark E, Insight E, Vision-reinforcement F, Physical-reinforcement F, Dodge Roll F

Current Disabled Skill Space: No space left. If necessary, you can delete and overwrite normal skills except for the initial skills.

※ Hunting experience boost potion is being applied. 200% increase in hunting experience acquisition. The remaining duration is 300 minutes.』

Yu-Seong was E-rank and level nine when he entered the dungeon. He felt a mixture of tension and expectation of becoming even stronger. When he trained intensely for a month to prepare for the hunter test, his level only rose by eight, but after hunting kobolds, the weakest monster, for only an hour, he leveled up six more times. As he grew in level rapidly, he felt his physical ability and mana gradually grow as well. This feeling was like a reward for him.

‘If I keep leveling up at this rate, I might be able to reach the highest level of E rank. in a month.’

This was fast enough to beat even Kim Do-Jin, who had a fraudulent special skill called “Genius” that allowed him to grow several times faster than any other player. Naturally, leveling up at this rate wasn’t something that could be achieved with hunting normally.

‘I love my Star Factor skill, and I love this hunting experience boost potion.’

Yu-Seong thought to himself as he thought back to when he drank a yellow potion from a flask as he entered the dungeon.

This potion was a secret weapon he made from the things he purchased from Ping Pong, the dimensional merchant who appeared after he spent 100 Karma points yesterday.

Thanks to this, Yu-Seong's system window showed the effect of increasing the experience he gained from hunting. This portion was made with the cloudy blood of trolls, Kalash's body fluid, and Halenew's petal mixed all together with a bit of water in the alchemist's empty flasks. After that, he obtained the hunting experience boost potion after waiting twelve hours. This secret manufacturing method of creating the potion was originally first found by Oh Ji-Hoon, who was known as the ‘Midas touch’ in the field of Alchemy, and who would soon become a colleague of Kim Do-Jin.

. Basically Beverly Hills of Korea.

. the posture of standing with one's feet apart and hands behind the waist.