Chapter 1071 - 41 - 47

Chapter 41: Chapter 41

One couldn't find the addresses of Hunters on the Association's website. The only things appearing there were the names of Hunters and their ranks.

A Hunter could provide the relevant information themselves, but Jin-Woo didn't even leave behind his contact number there.

But, not only had this guy known his phone number, he was waiting near Jin-Woo's home, so without a doubt, he must've gathered enough information before showing up here.

'Ah, now that I think about it….'

He abruptly remembered something.

"I sensed a gaze on me earlier today, so I'm guessing that belonged to one of your people?"

Jin-Woo's voice became a level colder.

The guy on the phone apologised with a polite tone of voice.

"Please accept my apologies if you were inconvenienced by that. We just wanted to confirm the situation for ourselves. We wouldn't have called you like this if we were thinking of harming you in some shape or form. If you take some time out and listen to what I have to say, I guarantee that you won't be disappointed."

Jin-Woo pondered for a while, before speaking up.

"…..I'll be there shortly."

"The Hunters, the Reapers, the Knight Order, the Shining Star, and then us, the White Tiger. I'm sure you've heard of these names before."

Ahn Sahng-Min read off the names of the top 5 Guilds in South Korea, one by one.

The number one Guild was the Hunters.

However, the Hunters didn't start its life as the number one from the get-go. No, it was the Reapers who used to be the top dog.

However, after White Tiger separated itself from the Reapers, the number one spot changed hands.

Was this the case of the student becoming the master?

After going independent, the White Tiger leapfrogged the Reapers a long time ago. And they were aiming for the number one spot that, originally, belonged to the Reapers.

Ahn Sahng-Min was completely sure of it now.

He was sure of the fact that the man sitting across him, Seong Jin-Woo, would become an important piece of the puzzle and help the White Tiger 'reclaim' the glory of the past once more.

Ahn Sahng-Min presented his business card.

[Ahn Sahng-Min, Section Chief, Second Division, White Tiger Guild]

"My name is Ahn Sahng-Min, and I'm in charge of the Second Division of the White Tiger Guild, one of the top five in the country. Our role is to scout talented Hunters and manage them."

If Seong Jin-Woo was any other Hunter, he'd have lowered his head 90 degrees before a business card was even brought out, and only then get to the main topic.

Unless one was an S-rank or an A, pretty much all Hunters dreamed of entering the White Tiger.

Honestly, Ahn Sahng-Min was hoping for that kind of reaction as well.

Unfortunately, Jin-Woo was different.

Not showing much reaction at all, he calmly asked what he wanted to ask first.

"Why does an officer of the White Tiger Guild perform background checks on someone like me?"

Ahn Sahng-Min inwardly flinched.

'He's not pressured even after hearing the name of the White Tiger?'

They haven't spoken for long, but for some reason, Ahn Sahng-Min sensed that it'd be rather challenging to scout Seong Jin-Woo.

On the other hand, that only made him even more desperate to bring Seong Jin-Woo into his guild now.

Well, it wouldn't be a bad thing for a newbie to be rather confident about himself, now would it?

'Right, you gotta have at least balls as big as this, so we can start throwing you into whatever assignment that comes our way.'

Ahn Sahng-Min firmed his resolve once more.

"Let me get straight to the point. We wish to scout you, Mister Seong Jin-Woo. We promise to offer you double the amount of terms as offered by the Yujin Construction, no strings attached."

Ahn Sahng-Min smiled deeply.

Yujin Construction was still in the middle of testing Seong Jin-Woo out.

'They are being stupid.'

The speed at which he could clear a rank C dungeon, the publicity value of a Re-Awakened Hunter, and the calmness he was displaying in the current situation, etc….

No matter which side it was, there was no need to test this man out at all.

'There's no way that they have offered anything good, since they wouldn't have figured out what his true worth is.'

That was why Ahn Sahng-Min was confident of doubling whatever terms Yujin offered this man. No, he was confident of offering something even better.

However, Jin-Woo's stare became even colder.

"How did you know?"

"P-pardon me?"

Being on the receiving end of a reaction utterly contrary to his expectations, Ahn Sahng-Min ended up stuttering slightly, which was quite unbecoming of an experienced headhunter working for a large Guild.

"How did you find out about me?"

If Seong Jin-Woo's voice actually had any physical weight, then that sentence would've crushed him to death, thought Ahn Sahng-Min.

'What is this? This incredible pressure….?'

It was almost as if the other party was considering him as an enemy. Well, it was true that he had Jin-Woo followed, and one-sidedly demanded to meet like this.

From Jin-Woo's perspective, it would be perfectly reasonable to consider Ahn Sahng-Min as his enemy.

Ahn Sahng-Min hurriedly explained himself.

"Ah, ah! It wasn't our original intention to pry into your private affairs. We received information that someone was clearing rank C dungeons in our district at an alarming rate so we were investigating that. And that led us to find out about you, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim."

"….."

Jin-Woo retracted his gaze.

'So, that's what happened.'

Contrary to his thoughts, the other side didn't seem to have begun their investigation while knowing that something didn't add up about him. Simply by clearing dungeons far too quickly, he ended up being noticed instead.

'And he doesn't seem to be carrying any hostile intentions, either.'

Jin-Woo's expression softened slightly. And as a result, the taut tension between the two men eased a little.

'Whew-woo….'

Ahn Sahng-Min patted his chest down.

Their conversation still hadn't advanced forward, though. From here onwards, he had to get on Seong Jin-Woo's good books.

'And nothing's better than the sharing of privileged information to get on someone's good books.'

Ahn Sahng-Min was THE specialist when it came to scouting after all!

He quickly wiped the flustered expression off his face and formed a smile instead.

"Although it is a top secret, we know that the Chairman Yu Myung-Hwan is planning to establish a Guild of his own."

"….."

Jin-Woo neither denied it or confirmed it.

So, Ahn Sahng-Min continued on.

"And that's how we were able to figure it out when that person's son, Mister Yu Jin-Ho made contact with you, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim. And that is, they wish to bring you, a Re-Awakened Hunter, into their new Guild."

Indeed, Ahn Sahng-Min thought that Jin-Woo was a Re-Awakened.

'Well, I'm relieved that you think that way.'

Jin-Woo wouldn't need to cook up another story here, in other words.

Ahn Sahng-Min quickly carried on.

"I thought that we need to talk to you before you signed up with Yujin, and that's the only reason for my one-sided attempt to get in touch with you. Allow me to apologise once more if you've been greatly inconvenienced."

"It's fine."

Unless the other party approached him with evil intentions, there was no reason for Jin-Woo to get angry, especially when Ahn Sahng-Min was apologising this earnestly.

'Besides, what's more important here is that….'

Indeed, how should he go about dealing with this now?

While Jin-Woo pondered on what he should do here, Ahn Sahng-Min took the initiative and asked him a question.

"Have you finished negotiating with Yujin Construction already?"

He must've thought like this, because Jin-Woo was hesitating slightly with his replies.

Jin-Woo shook his head.

Ahn Sahng-Min's expression immediately reverted from one that displayed a hint of anxiety, to a blooming smile.

'Yes! That means he's still a free agent!'

This was the perfect chance to catch the talented Hunter who could solo a rank C dungeon in 30 minutes.

To be more specific, a rank D Hunter also accompanied him, but to someone who possessed abilities exceeding a rank B, such a person would no longer provide any help but would only serve as a luggage carrier, instead.

'If Seong Jin-Woo enters the White Tiger, and is ranked A after his re-assignment test, then…!'

An even bigger smile threatened to break out of his face, so Ahn Sahng-Min was having a hard time trying to regulate his expressions.

Meanwhile, Jin-Woo was slowly scratching his chin.

'This guy, why does it feel like he's counting his chickens way before they hatch?'

Well, truthfully speaking, a Guild like White Tiger was not a bad choice. Not only was it one of the top five, but it also possessed enough potential to aim for the number one spot.

However, Jin-Woo wasn't planning to enter a Guild any time soon.

'Because, the higher my level is, the better the treatment I'd get.'

Also, even though it might be a story in the distant future, or maybe even something completely improbable, but….

'Just like how I've been clearing the rank C dungeons, what if I can clear rank B and A dungeons solo?'

The profit earned from high-ranked dungeons exceeded one's imaginations.

They were the sole reason why large Guilds could grow powerful enough to rival many large corporations now.

Expensive magic crystals, corpses of the monsters, rare materials from the dungeons themselves, and even things like Rune stones and other artefacts, too.

An astronomical amount of money changed hands every day.

He could potentially hog them all for himself, so was there a reason for him to share them with a Guild?

'As long as this level up thing doesn't stop, it's not an impossible dream.'

So, at this point in time, entering a Guild was way too premature.

The corners of Jin-Woo's lips slowly arched up.

Ahn Sahng-Min thought that was a sign of an incoming positive answer, and smiled along as well.

"Have you made up your mind?"

"You promised to double the amount offered, yes?"

"Yes, that's correct. If you find my offer not to your liking, then I'm prepared to offer you more."

"In that case, how much is the building the White Tiger calls home?"

Ahn Sahng-Min's face froze for a second there.

'Is he questioning the financial muscle of the White Tiger?'

But, there was no need to get worked up here. Indeed, this was a great opportunity to advertise his Guild. There was nothing to hide, and absolutely no reason why he couldn't talk, either.

This was for the better, he thought.

"The estimated price is around 50 billion Won. Also, although there are different businesses using the building aside from us, it still belongs to the White Tiger Guild." (TL: Around $45 million)

Ahn Sahng-Min proudly spoke.

In the beginning, the Guild was renting some space in that building. But once they stabilised and found their footing, they simply bought it outright.

It took only one year to do so, too.

It was one of the easiest ways to learn just how much large Guilds made in a year.

If the other side wanted, Ahn Sahng-Min was willing to disclose the annual profit and the overall revenue, too. But then, after hearing a single sentence uttered by Jin-Woo, he became completely speechless.

"Can you hand over that building to me, then?"

"I beg your pardon?"

Ahn Sahng-Min's eyes opened up real wide.

He doubted his own hearing, so he asked back.

"C-can you explain what you mean by that?"

Jin-Woo calmly explained himself.

"You see, Yujin has promised to hand over a building worth around 30 billion Won. If the White Tiger's building is indeed around 50 billion, well, it's not exactly the double the price, but I can overlook such things."

"T-thirty billion??"

Ahn Sahng-Min couldn't close his slack jaw.

Seong Jin-Woo's career spanned four years.

However, most of those were spent as a rank E.

And it hadn't been long since he got noticed by someone. In other words, he must've gone through his Re-Awakening process not too long ago.

Yet, just how incredible was his ability that someone like Yu Myung-Hwan, famous for his wily business smarts, promised the huge amount of 30 billion Won?

Not only that, even before Seong Jin-Woo had gone through with the re-assignment test, too?!

'W-wait. Could he be lying here, because I won't be able to confirm if this is true or not?'

Ahn Sahng-Min narrowed his eyes, feeling suspicious.

As if he had read Ahn Sahng-Min's thoughts, Jin-Woo pulled out his phone and quickly dialled a number.

Ring…. ring….

Click.

"Yes, hyung-nim?"

It was in the evenings and the interior of the cafe was quiet. Still, Jin-Woo put the phone on speaker and raised the volume to the maximum.

"Hey, Jin-Ho. I wanted to ask you about something."

"Please ask anything, hyung-nim."

Jin-Ho? Was this Yu Jin-Ho?

Ahn Sahng-Min nervously swallowed his saliva.

'Could he be thinking of telling Yu Jin-Ho what we've been discussing just now??'

Too bad, Ahn Sahng-Min's expectation was a bit off the mark.

Jin-Woo spoke about something else.

"That building you wanted to give to me, how much did you say it was?"

Chapter 42: Chapter 42

"Well, the appraised value is around 30 billion Won. But, once it's finished and our Guild starts occupying it, the value should rise up even higher, hyung-nim. Ah, right! If you need those signed documents, should I fax them to you?"

"Hold on."

Jin-Woo covered the mouthpiece of the phone with his hand and asked Ahn Sahng-Min.

"If you still can't believe it, why don't you speak to him personally?"

Ahn Sahng-Min wiped the cold sweat forming on his forehead and shook his head.

"Hey, Jin-Ho? It's fine. Thanks. I'm hanging up now."

"Okay, hyung-nim. See you later."

After ending the call, Jin-Woo noticed that the look on Ahn Sahng-Min's face had changed completely now.

Indeed, Ahn Sahng-Min's eyes were trembling non-stop.

'Even before their Guild is established, Yujin has promised 30 billion as the contract signing fee?? And then, the second son of Chairman Yu Myung-Hwan continues to use honorifics, too?'

Ahn Sahng-Min was now deeply mired in uncertainty and confusion.

"That, that, that is… I, I should say that, such a big amount is, well, uh, well beyond my ability to… If you just give me some time, I can speak to the higher-ups in the Guild and then…."

Jin-Woo abruptly cut him off.

"In that case, our discussion ends here."

Ahn Sahng-Min became speechless.

His head drooped slightly, as his head was quickly filled with the reason for this failure.

'In the end, we simply didn't have enough information.'

Being too hasty brought about this failure.

After he picked up on the scent of this huge jackpot, he got too excited and forgot to move in a more cautious and prepared manner.

If he had learned of what Yujin's offer was like, get the full backing of his Guild, and go about his business step by step, then…..

'For now, I need to report this to the Guild Master.'

If he was a Hunter that Chairman Yu Myung-Hwan was willing to put forward 30 billion, then perhaps his value could be over 50 billion, no, 100 billion, instead.

It was not too late.

'If I get the promise of the Guild's full backing, dig out all the information on Seong Jin-Woo, and come out swinging even harder, then…'

It was at this point that Jin-Woo's voice could be heard.

"I want to ask you about something."

Ahn Sahng-Min raised his head.

Jin-Woo was no longer smiling.

The weather had warmed up nicely with the hint of Spring nowadays, yet for some reason, the surrounding air felt chillier than usual.

Gulp.

Just as Ahn Sahng-Min swallowed some dry saliva, Jin-Woo asked him a question with a low, heavy voice.

"How many people know about me?"

"It's… It's only me for the time being. I was too anxious to scout you so I didn't even stop to report to my superiors yet."

Actually, there was one more person. Hyun Ki-Cheol, his subordinate but also his right-hand man.

Ahn Sahng-Min concealed the presence of Hyun Ki-Cheol for the time being. He was worried that Jin-Woo might get real unhappy if he learned that there were two people instead of one.

However, Jin-Woo voice became even colder and threatening than before.

"For the sake of trust, let's not lie to each other, shall we?"

Ahn Sahng-Min began panicking visibly now.

'What is this? Did he obtain some information on us before coming here?'

If that were the case, then things might get worse if he continued to argue that he was the only one. He didn't even want to imagine what would happen next.

'I gotta be honest here.'

The relationship between a Hunter and a Guild was pretty similar to that of an entertainer and the talent agency.

They might not be able to sign a contract right now, but by maintaining a good relationship, anything could happen in the future.

At the bare minimum, he should not cause friction with another Hunter. That was one of the iron-clad rules of the Second Division.

Ahn Sahng-Min quickly opened his mouth.

"Actually, one of my subordinates also knows about this matter. I'm telling you the honest truth."

Jin-Woo nodded his head.

'Indeed….'

It was as he suspected.

All these things, there were too many for one person to handle – investigating him, observing him, and calling him, too.

Most importantly, what made Jin-Woo sure of this fact was the timing of the phone call. As soon as he was near his place, Ahn Sahng-Min called him with such excellent timing.

'Meaning, someone was waiting near my home and called him as soon as I showed up.'

This man wanted to meet Jin-Woo as soon as possible but it'd be bad if Yu Jin-Ho found out in the process, after all.

'Still, it's not the whole White Tiger Guild.'

He could tell from that earlier reaction, back when he was talking about 50 billion Won. Ahn Sahng-Min was so openly flustered when an amount of money he couldn't handle was brought up.

If he was being ordered around by the upper management, then he'd at least try giving them a call after hearing that amount, didn't matter whether that amount was even feasible or not.

That was why Jin-Woo suspected that a small team consisting of two, maybe three, people were involved here, and lo and behold, the person in charge confessed to it being only two.

'What a relief.'

Jin-Woo definitely didn't want to complicate the matter any further than necessary. Two people were within his ability to control.

If he left them alone like this, no doubt they would continue to harass him down the line. That was why there was a definite need to warn the other party, back off him for good.

Jin-Woo opened his mouth.

"Actually, I also refused Yujin's offers."

Jin-Woo's explosive, unexpected revelation!!

Ahn Sahng-Min was even more shocked than before.

"Pardon me?!"

It was right at this moment, Jin-Woo suddenly vanished from the spot.

"What?!"

Ahn Sahng-Min hurriedly stood up from his chair.

He quickly scanned the interior of the cafe, but couldn't spot Jin-Woo anywhere.

'What was that?? Could he have moved faster than the eye can see?!'

Ahn Sahng-Min was too flustered and realised that someone had grabbed his shoulder from the side quite belatedly.

"Heok."

All the hair on his back stood up at once.

"Don't turn around."

A cold voice came from his side.

Jin-Woo, who had been sitting across him until then, had vanished without making a sound and was now standing right next to him, still not visible to the naked eye.

'S-Stealth??'

Cold sweat drops formed on Ahn Sahng-Min's forehead.

'Could…. could he be…. angry at me….?'

Hunters were, in general, monsters.

He knew this well, because he got to observe them from a close vantage point every single day.

That was why he was always super-respectful towards them.

'Did me spying on him and following him around cause an issue here? Should I have requested protection from the Guild before coming here? No, hang on, no one knows what his ranking is, so how can I request protection, then….?'

His thoughts became messy and his heart pounded relentlessly. Even the sound of him swallowing his saliva echoed around too loudly in his ears.

Jin-Woo spoke, almost in a hushed whisper.

"Sit down slowly. I don't want to scare you."

Ahn Sahng-Min slowly nodded his head.

'But, you're plenty scary enough already…'

He then slowly sat back down on his chair. Jin-Woo revealed himself and settled down right next to him.

'Right…'

Jin-Woo's words of not wanting to scare Ahn Sahng-Min sounded about right. His eyes when he said he wanted to ask something, were cold enough to chill the surrounding air.

If Ahn Sahng-Min had to stare into those eyes while listening to Jin-Woo's words, then he might have experienced what his heart falling to the pit of his stomach felt like.

'You're being considerate towards me, is that it?'

Of course, he couldn't get the thoughts of Jin-Woo being a very scary guy out of his head.

In the meantime, Jin-Woo opened his mouth.

"The reason why I refused Yujin's offers is simple. I'm not planning to join any Guilds at the moment."

Two men conversed while staring forward, never locking their eyes once.

"S-so that's how it was."

"Also…."

Jin-Woo took a second before continuing on.

"I don't want to see the number of people who know about me increase."

What he wanted here was rather simple.

He didn't want to join a Guild, and he didn't want anyone talking about him.

Ahn Sahng-Min quickly understood those points.

However, there was one thing he was still curious about.

"T-then, why are you still being accompanied by Mister Yu Jin-Ho?"

"He's helping me out on some personal matters. He's the only one who knows about my Re-Awakening. Also, I believe he's a friend that I can trust. That's why I asked him for a favour. And so…."

Jin-Woo's voice became heavier still.

"So, if I start hearing things about me, can I assume that it came from you, Chief Ahn Sang-Min, or your subordinate?"

It'd been a while since Jin-Woo stopped grabbing his shoulder, yet Ahn Sahng-Min felt like he was being crushed by the younger man's words.

'He's not putting on airs, either.'

Why did he feel this way?

Ahn Sahng-Min was so sure of the fact that Jin-Woo was fully capable of harming him.

'My gut instinct when evaluating people is almost always right.'

Jin-Woo survived several devastating, horrifying incidents.

Wasn't there a saying about burying the matters of the dungeon inside a dungeon? No one knew just what kind of things Jin-Woo did inside those dungeons.

'On top of that, this man possesses the Stealth skill, too…..'

Dealing with the Stealth skill was incredibly tough. If the skill holder decided to commit a crime, he'd be able to off anyone without so much as leaving behind a single clue.

Things like CCTV, security guards and alarm system would all become utterly useless against such a person.

A thick strand of cold sweat rolled down the side of Ahn Sahng-Min's forehead.

'Who knew he could use Stealth….?'

Excellent abilities, and even a rare skill, too.

It was not for nothing that Yujin came up with an offer of 30 billion.

'They aren't ones to start a losing business deal, indeed.'

Thump, thump.

Ahn Sahng-Min's heart continued to beat in excitement even though he was trembling in fear. His lips parted with great difficulty.

"I-I'll never talk about this matter ever again. I'll make sure that Ki-Cheol… No, my subordinate will keep his mouth shut as well."

Keeping everything hush-hush was something Ahn Sahng-Min also wanted, too. Heck, he probably would've requested it himself first!

An excellent Hunter not affiliated with anyone!

There was no reason to increase the competition by spreading the rumour around, nor did Ahn Sahng-Min want to share the glory and recognition by telling other people, either.

'Honestly, though, the biggest reason being I'm too scared of him and don't want him as my enemy….'

"I'll trust you, Chief Ahn."

With those words, the presence beside Ahn Sahng-Min disappeared completely. He quickly took a look around.

It was as if Ahn Sahng-Min fell out of a different dimension, since the atmosphere inside the cafe was rather serene.

"Huh….."

Ahn Sahng-Min remained speechless. He could only pat his pounding chest down.

It was here that Hyun Ki-Cheol ran into the cafe.

He'd been staring at the two men through the window from the outside, and as soon as Jin-Woo completely disappeared from the view, hurriedly entered the cafe to check up on his superior officer.

"Chief!"

Ahn Sahng-Min's complexion was poor. Hyun Ki-Cheol asked, his voice full of worry.

"What happened? Did it not work out with Seong Jin-Woo?"

Ahn Sahng-Min's trembling hands managed to pull out a cigarette. While sliding it between his lips, he made his reply.

"Hey, Ki-Cheol-ah… I think, we just ran into a far bigger jackpot than our initial estimates."

He definitely had to scout that man.

That was the only line of thought in his head. Thankfully, there was still a chance.

It was then, Hyun Ki-Cheol lightly grasped Ahn Sahng-Min's wrist.

"Uhm…. Pardon me, Chief."

Ahn Sahng-Min raised his head just before he could light the cigarette up.

"Yeah?"

Hyun Ki-Cheol took a look around, then cautiously whispered.

"This is a no smoking zone."

Ahn Sahng-Min slowly crushed the cigarette.

"You dumba*s….."

As soon as he got home, Jin-Woo summoned his Status Window.

Tti-ring!

Name: Seong Jin-Woo

Level: 39

Class: None

Title: Slaughterer of Wolves

HP: 7,220

MP: 683

Tiredness: 0

[Stats]

Strength: 97

Stamina: 59

Agility: 97

Intelligence: 51

Perception: 81

(Available points to distribute: 0)

Reduction in physical damage: 20%

[Skills]

Passive skills:

(Unknown) Lv. Max

Tenacity Lv. 1

High-Grade Dagger Technique Lv. 1

Active skills:

Dash Lv. 2

Intimidation Lv. 1

Vital Points Targetting Lv. 1

Stealth Lv. 1

[Equipped items]

Gatekeeper's Necklace (A)

'Well, no wonder people are beginning to notice me.'

Chapter 43: Chapter 43

From 27 to 39. His level had jumped up by 12.

This would be the first time that his level saw such an explosive rise since he entered the Hapjeong instant dungeon back when he was still a level one. He came out of there as level 17.

Back then, his level was low, so the levelling speed was high. But now, that wasn't strictly true.

This just went to show how many dungeons he cleared in a short space of time.

'It's been four days since I started clearing dungeons with Yu Jin-Ho. And we conquered nine of them in only four days….'

Not only that, they were nine C-ranked dungeons, too.

Rank C dungeons were the highest difficulty a freelancer team could clear on their own.

What a crazy clearing speed this was.

This was the worst possible situation, a catastrophe, for other Hunters found in this area that needed rank C dungeons to make a living.

Yu Jin-Ho, the only witness to the proceedings, was getting more and more astonished by how faster Jin-Woo was clearing each dungeon.

Well, the higher his level was, the easier it got to clear a dungeon, after all.

Nine dungeons cleared and 12 level ups. Clearing one dungeon was almost as good as levelling up more than once.

And he still had 10 more raids to go.

By the time he finished all 19 raids, as he had agreed with Yu Jin-Ho, his level should shoot past 45.

He won against a rank B Hunter back when his level was in the mid-twenties. He couldn't even begin to fathom just how strong he was now.

'My heart… it's beating really fast.'

Jin-Woo placed his hand on his chest, near his heart. He sensed it pounding real fast in excitement.

Thump, thump!

The sensation of getting stronger every day was one heck of an enjoyable ride.

He would've never imagined such a thing happening to him in the past.

….Things like, entering the Gates and clearing the dungeons would be this much fun.

'Well, I can sense myself getting stronger all the time, after all.'

As his level went up…

As his Stat values rose up….

He could directly feel how much he had changed through hunting monsters.

'Hunting monsters, is it…..'

He felt like a real Hunter now. The word 'hunting' no longer sounded like a foreign concept to him.

Wasn't there a certain saying that went something like 'finding the next place to hunt is just as important to a hunter as the moment he hunts?' (TL: Again, 'hunter' with a lower case 'h'. It's the literal hunter, not monster-hunting Hunters.')

His next goal was already set.

'…..The Demonic Castle dungeon.'

He was a level 21 back then, wasn't he?

He had grown by nearly 20 levels since the day he first set foot in that mysterious tower-like dungeon.

He thought that perhaps now, he was ready to tackle that place once more. However, just from recalling that gatekeeper monster, Cerberus, he grew very cautious about taking another step in that place.

'What if some crazy monsters that I can't handle jump out in droves as soon as I enter?'

Goosebumps broke out all over his skin.

If he could get away from there using the 'Stealth' skill, that would be great, but still, he had to consider the possibility of failing to do so.

Even if he got lucky ten times, just a single mistake could cost him his life; that was the life of a Hunter.

So, he needed to be sure.

He needed to be sure of being strong enough to handle a group of monsters as strong as Cerberus.

'Cerberus's name was in red letters, right?'

He now knew that the difficulty of killing a monster was reflected in the colour of its name.

With the exception of the Demonic Castle, he had yet to run into a monster with a red name.

The instant dungeons he'd been to with the random box keys were all populated with low-ranked monsters most of the time.

It was the same story with the Mirae department store, too.

But, what was going on here?

'What is this?'

When he thought that he hadn't encountered a single monster with a red name besides the one in the Demonic Castle, he kind of felt like he overlooked something just now. It was as if he had forgotten something crucial.

'Does this mean I have run into other red-name monsters besides the Cerberus?'

But, how could that be?

He fought the Cerberus when he was level 21 and nearly died. So, if he fought another one before that, then he should've been pushed to the brink of death, too….

"…..Ah!"

A loud gasp leaked out from his mouth.

Indeed, there was one event where he did run into red-name monsters and almost died.

'The penalty quest!'

The centipedes he saw back in that nameless desert all had red names.

[Poison-Fanged Giant Desert Centipede]

It'd been a while ago, and he ran into them rather unexpectedly, so his mind was not really thinking of them as monsters at this point.

That was why it took some time for him to remember.

'If I can kill those centipedes with ease, then….!'

Then, he'd be sure of conquering the Demon's Castle as well.

Since there was more than one centipede there, he should be able to find out whether it was okay for him to fight against many at the same time, too.

The obvious issue was how to go back to that place….

'Is there no other way besides not doing the Daily Quest?'

The amount of Stat points he got as rewards was the same regardless of it being a Penalty Quest or a Daily Quest.

Which meant that he wouldn't lose out too much at the end of the day.

'Let's go to the Penalty Zone tomorrow.'

To think, he'd deliberately not do the Daily Quest just so he could enter the Penalty Zone….

It was a rather funny thing when he thought about how close to death he was the first time he ran into those centipedes.

"I wonder, will they give me experience points and loot when I kill them?"

A smile automatically spread on his lips.

It was then.

Jin-Woo's senses picked up on the presence of a person climbing out from the elevator stopping at the end of the hallway, followed by the light footsteps of a female.

He was well familiar with them.

'It's Jin-Ah.'

Currently, it was 11 PM. About the time his little sister came home.

Jin-Woo got up from his seat and headed to the door before Jin-Ah could rummage through her pockets to find her keys.

Click.

"Oh~~."

Jin-Ah playfully exclaimed out in admiration.

She used to get so surprised every time he opened the door without a warning but now, she didn't even pretend to get shocked anymore.

Well, a human was supposed to be a very adaptable creature, and here was the irrefutable proof.

"I'm home~."

"Welcome back."

Jin-Ah greeted him with a bright smile and trotted to her room. Jin-Woo closed the door and locked it, before turning around to hear….

"…Oppa."

Jin-Ah peeked her head out from the doorway to her room.

"Do you have free time this week?"

"What's up?"

"My homeroom teacher is doing one of those parent-teacher meeting things. If you can't make it, well, it's fine too."

Jin-Ah looked kind of anxious, as if her homeroom teacher had 'asked her nicely' or some such.

'The parent-teacher meeting, huh….'

Jin-Ah was already a high-school senior, meaning that school life should be getting pretty hectic right now. Jin-Woo had half a mind to come up with an excuse and say he didn't have time to go, but what an unfortunate timing this was, there was this one day where he had nothing scheduled.

'D*mn you, Yu Jin-Ho. Utterly useless…..'

Jin-Woo deliberated for a while, before answering her.

"Thursday."

"Really? Thanks, oppa!"

Jin-Ah's expression brightened up in an instant. She looked as if she'd run to him for a bear hug, so Jin-Woo hurriedly waved his hands around.

"Che."

Jin-Ah glared cutely at him and closed the door behind her.

Soon, a soft groan escaped from Jin-Woo's mouth.

"Fuu…."

From going on raids without a break to visiting the penalty zone, and now, a parent-teacher meeting the day after tomorrow, too.

It seemed that the rest of his week would remain quite busy.

Part 8. Class Change Quest

Jin-Woo left home early in the morning.

His schedule for the day was packed, to say the least.

Yu Jin-Ho had booked four Gates for the day, thinking that they should do tomorrow's quota today instead.

'Well, if we consider the speed of clearing a dungeon….'

….It'd not be too hard to clear four or five dungeons in a single day.

Of course, it was pretty rare to see that many rank C Gates opening up at the same time in the same district. So, they were rather fortunate today.

With light, airy steps, he arrived at the entrance of the apartment building. However, he couldn't spot Yu Jin-Ho's van waiting for him in the usual spot, the front of the entrance.

Also, Jin-Woo sensed a suspicious presence as well.

"Tsk."

He might have dismissed it offhand were it not for the events of the night before. So, he wasn't going to overlook this.

'And I clearly warned him, too…..'

Jin-Woo immediately discovered a man in a business suit hiding around the corner of the building. The man was busy looking into his watch and didn't seem to have sensed Jin-Woo's approach.

Jin-Woo addressed the man right in front of his nose.

"Excuse me."

The man flinched grandly and jumped up really high.

"Seo-Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim!!"

He looked like he'd seen a ghost or something.

'Well, I hid my presence for that purpose, anyway.'

Jin-Woo tutted inwardly and spoke up.

"You're from the White Tiger Guild, yes?"

"Pardon me? Ahh, yes, I am. My name is Hyun Ki-Cheol from the Second Division of the White Tiger Guild."

The Chief calling himself Ahn Sahng-Min or some such said last night that he was working with a subordinate and this guy must've been him.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Hunter-nim."

Hyun Ki-Cheol studied Jin-Woo's mood while cautiously extending his right hand.

It seemed like that he wanted a handshake, but obviously, Jin-Woo wasn't interested. When Jin-Woo simply glared at the man without saying anything, Hyun Ki-Cheol withdrew his hand with a slightly reddened face.

"Didn't I clearly say last night that I'm not planning to join any Guild for the time being?"

Hyun Ki-Cheol hurriedly waved his hand around.

"Oh, no. I'm not here because of that."

He then presented a tumbler held in his other hand.

"What's this?"

Jin-Woo asked while studying the colourful liquid contained within the semi-transparent tumbler. Hyun Ki-Cheol pushed his chest forward and proudly spoke.

"It's vegetable juice. I've prepared it personally, so you don't have to worry about its quality!"

"….."

Hyun Ki-Cheol's hand continued to push the tumbler forward. Jin-Woo had no choice but to accept the tumbler and asked again.

"So, like, have you been waiting since the early dawn just to give me this juice?"

"Yes. Well, even if you're a Hunter, you should still look after your health, you know!"

Jin-Woo's puzzlement over why would the White Tiger Guild be worried about his health lasted only for a couple of seconds.

Because, Hyun Ki-Cheol bowed his head deeply and with a bright smile, quickly walked away.

"See you again another time, Hunter-nim!"

Jin-Woo slowly shook the tumbler at Hyun Ki-Cheol as the latter waved his hand.

"…..What a funny guy."

After Hyun Ki-Cheol had disappeared from the view, Jin-Woo looked at the tumbler.

He once heard stories about a certain 'Insurance King' who gave out bottles of yoghurt to his customers and bought their goodwill that way, but well, that man Hyun Ki-Cheol should be the very first Guild employee ever to personally make veggie juice and deliver it.

'Well, I did accept it so I can't even throw it away now, can I?'

That man wouldn't have been stupid enough to try it, but if he did pour some kind of poison in the juice, Jin-Woo's detox buff should take care of that, so no worries there.

Should he at least give it a go and have a taste, then?

Slurp.

He used a straw stuck in the tumbler and took a long sip, before his eyes opened wider.

'Hey, it's tasty.'

It was here that he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

"Hyung-nim!"

He turned around to see Yu Jin-Ho walking towards him.

Yu Jin-Ho still had that bright face as usual, but he was also pointing in the direction where Hyun Ki-Cheol disappeared to with his chin.

"Hyung-nim, who was that just now? He'd been standing here for a while, you know?"

Jin-Woo's reply was pretty simple.

"An insurance salesman."

"Aha."

Being a positive-minded guy, Yu Jin-Ho accepted that explanation right away. Jin-Woo looked around the vicinity and asked.

"Where's your van?"

If he saw Hyun Ki-Cheol standing here, that meant Yu Jin-Ho had arrived quite a while ago, too. But strangely enough, the kid's favourite van was nowhere to be seen.

"I parked it way over there, hyung-nim."

"But, why?"

"Well, you know there's been a series of unsolved homicides taking place around these parts, yes? I'm not from around here and people were beginning to suspect me and stuff, so…."

Jin-Woo nodded his head.

Those murders were brought up frequently on the local news lately.

The victims were mostly young women. There had been two murders this month already.

And then, there was an unknown black van parked right out in front of the apartment building. Of course, the residents would become fearful and anxious.

Slurp, slurp….

It was here that the veggie juice was finally finished. Jin-Woo lightly shook around the empty tumbler before walking towards where the van was supposedly parked.

"Let's go."

"Okay, hyung-nim!"

Lizardmen came out in this dungeon.

As their 'name' indicated, they were literally bipedal lizards. They walked on two legs, wielded weapons, and even resorted to flinging around magic attacks, too.

The number of Lizardman Mages was low, though. However, they were rather cumbersome to deal with in return.

For instance…

Two balls of flames erupted near the tips of the Lizardman Mage's hands.

'Magic?'

When Jin-Woo tried to get closer, the two Lizardmen protecting the Mage stabbed their spears at him.

Indeed, what quick reflexes befitting reptiles.

Jin-Woo jumped rearward and barely missed the speartips.

Right away, the balls of flame flew at him.

Swish-!

Swooosh!!

"Hyung-nim, watch out!!"

Yu Jin-Ho cried out from his position a lot of distance away.

Kwaboom!!!

Along with a huge explosion, the narrow cavern-like dungeon shook around noticeably.

Chapter 44: Chapter 44

The choking smoke filled up the interior of the dungeon.

"Cough, cough."

Yu Jin-Ho covered his nose with the back of his wrist and loudly coughed out. However, he was far more worried about Jin-Woo at the moment. The firepower of the Lizardman Mage was that strong.

Fortunately, Jin-Woo rapidly emerged from the smoke completely unscathed, meaning there was no need to worry in the first place.

Yu Jin-Ho inwardly exclaimed out in admiration.

'As expected of hyung-nim!'

Jin-Woo was able to evade the attacks of the Lizardmen, reputedly the hardest monsters to deal with in dungeons ranked C, without getting a single hair disturbed. Not only that, from a Mage, too!

From Yu Jin-Ho's perspective, it was as if Jin-Woo was getting faster every day.

'…..I must be imagining things, right?'

Meanwhile, Jin-Woo spat out pieces of rubble that somehow found their way inside his mouth.

"Ptooi."

The colour of his saliva landing on the ground was black.

'These b*stards….'

He became really p*ssed off by the fact that he had to breathe in unhealthy smoke because of a lone lizard and its cheap tricks. And his dissatisfaction could be seen clearly in his expression.

Jin-Woo was frowning deeply now.

[You've used 'Skill: Intimidation'.]

His angrily glaring eyes 'shot' out powerful murderous intent.

['Effect: Fear' has been activated.]

[All Stats of the targets will be reduced by 50% for one minute.]

The Lizardmen began panicking grandly after being exposed to his powerful murderous intent.

"Kuehh??"

"Kurururuka??"

Jin-Woo didn't miss this chance and threw the Poison Fang of Kasaka with everything he had. The dagger flew in a dead-straight line and splendidly pierced the forehead of one of the Lizard spearmen.

Stab!!

The speed of Jin-Woo's flying dagger was too fast for a weakened monster to evade.

"Tsururuka!!"

The remaining spearman roared out in anger after witnessing the death of its comrade. However, Jin-Woo was no longer standing where the creature's spear was pointing at.

"Tsurukahnaka!"

The Lizardman Mage cried out nervously.

"Tsurukahnaka!"

When the Mage repeated the same 'words' as before, the spearman turned around to face the Mage and roared out.

"Tsuruka!!"

The spearman bared its fangs and approached the Mage in a threatening manner. However, the Mage didn't back down, either.

"Tsuruaeek!"

It happened then.

"Kak!!"

Suddenly, the spearman's chest burst open.

The Mage's face was now covered in blood; it cried out in alarm and hurriedly took several steps back.

"Tsuruakk??"

The 'Stealth' slowly came undone and the spear stabbing through the chest of the Lizard spearman revealed itself.

The man holding that spear was, of course, Jin-Woo.

When he let go of the shaft, both the spear and the Lizardman that got skewered by it crashed to the ground simultaneously.

Thud!

In the meantime, Jin-Woo rapidly recovered his Poison Fang of Kasaka from the head of the other Lizard spearman.

"Tsuruaaarik!!"

Red beams of light appeared again in the hands of the Lizardman Mage. However, Jin-Woo didn't give it time to complete its actions.

'Dash!'

The distance between Jin-Woo and the Mage disappeared in an instant. The Mage's repulsive-looking reptilian eyes grew really wide.

Pushuheee-

Jin-Woo ducked and avoided the flames erupting out from the Mage, slid to the monster's rear, and stabbed his dagger near the target's spinal area.

'Vital Points Targetting!'

Stab!

The Mage cried out in pain.

"Kiiaahhahk!!"

But, when Jin-Woo stabbed again, the following scream wasn't as lengthy as the previous one.

Stab!

"Kak!"

The Lizardman Mage spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed forward.

Plop.

Jin-Woo inwardly punched the air. No matter who judged it, that was an excellent victory for sure.

'Veeeery nice!'

And as if to congratulate him on his victory, he could hear the System's crisp mechanical beep ring inside his head.

Tt-ring.

[Level up!']

['Player' has reached the required level.]

A strange message followed right after the familiar one.

'Required level?'

Having only heard this simple message, he couldn't figure out what was going on here.

But by the time the following mechanical beep rang, Jin-Woo ended up expending a huge amount of willpower just to calm his heart that beat so hard to the point of causing him pain.

Tti-ring.

[Class Change Quest is now available.]

[Will you take on the Class Change Quest now?] (Y/N)

'C…Class Change Quest..??'

He was so focused on raising his levels and his Stats that he had been forgetting all about a certain column in his Status Window.

[Name: Seong Jin-Woo]

[Level: 40]

[Class: None]

Indeed, that would the third column in his Status Window, the 'Class'. And now, he was given an opportunity to replace that 'None' with another word.

He'd be given a Class.

In most video games, a character would receive many benefits after getting a Class. It'd be no different with the System, since it operated almost the same as a game.

Thump, thump.

His heart was beating harder and faster now.

When he realised that he'd be one step closer to the goal of being strong after going through with this quest, he simply could not calm himself down anymore.

[Will you take on the Class Change Quest now?] (Y/N)

'Yes' and 'No' continued to flicker in front of his eyes.

'Of course, I would….'

What kind of an idiot would refuse such an opportunity??

Jin-Woo was about to choose yes and take on the quest to change his Class. However, he stopped almost instinctively.

'No. Hang on a sec.'

Who knew just what kind of a quest might show up here?

Following right after the notice from his instincts, the warning bells from his brain rang true and clear inside his head.

'I'm inside a dungeon.'

A dungeon was one of the most dangerous places in the world. Even though he was fully accustomed to the rank C dungeons by now, a dungeon was still a dungeon after all. There was no reason for him to increase the risk even more.

Besides, Yu Jin-Ho was standing next to him as well.

It wasn't as if he didn't trust the kid, no. Still, he didn't have any particular reason to let the kid in on the existence of the System, or explain the weird phenomenon that might occur when he changed his Class.

Things would get too complicated in this way.

'And also, the content of the quest might end up hurting Yu Jin-Ho, too.'

What if strong monsters suddenly appeared out of thin air?

'Well, that would be more preferable, actually.'

Because, he'd only have to kill those monsters and that would be the end. But, a quest asking for something more than that could show up. For instance, something similar to those two emergency quests he had to complete in the past.

'Yeah, the goal of the quest could be to eliminate the nearest Hunters.'

It was a distinct possibility. Sure, it was nothing but speculation at this point in time, but still.

Still possessing an excellent sense of timing, Yu Jin-Ho walked over and called out to him.

"Hyung-nim!"

The magic the Lizardman Mage flung about must've landed pretty close to him, because he was covered from top to bottom in dust.

"Just how did you do that? Disappearing and reappearing again?? Did you have a skill like that before?"

Yu Jin-Ho's eyes sparkled brightly as he spoke. He looked really pumped up, too. He must've found the rare skill 'Stealth' really mystifying or some such.

'Well, I find your appearance far more mystifying, kid.'

Instead of a reply, Jin-Woo pulled out a handkerchief from his Inventory. He got this as a reward from the Daily Quest.

"H-hyung-nim?"

Jin-Woo used that cloth to mercilessly rub Yu Jin-Ho's face.

"Wooeuph!! Phu-heuph!!"

The previously-white handkerchief was now dyed jet black. Yu Jin-Ho took a look at the fabric and only then realised what the state of his face was like.

He embarrassedly retreated to a corner and carefully wiped his face clean.

"Hey, Jin-Ho?"

"Yes, hyung-nim?"

"Something urgent just came up."

Yu Jin-Ho quickly raised his head.

"Are you planning to leave now?"

"After we finish up here."

"Okay, understood. Then, I'll cancel our bookings for the remaining Gates."

Yu Jin-Ho couldn't show it in front of Jin-Woo, but he was feeling rather pained about the three Gates that had been booked by him.

'My funds are running out quickly, too.'

Yu Jin-Ho didn't have any method to earn money, so the allowances he got were basically everything he had. He was doing this without his father's knowledge, so the amount of cash he could shift around was limited.

If he had to cancel the bookings, then he wouldn't get refunds on the booking fees he paid in advance. It was the same as him throwing money away.

So, how could he not feel pained about this?

Also, because of this 'unusual' method of clearing Gates, he ended up spending more than usual for today's raids.

But now, he had to throw away his investment, just like that. Yu Jin-Ho's shoulders couldn't help but droop real low, almost instinctively.

However, Jin-Woo replied with an unmoved expression.

"Why are you cancelling our bookings and wasting money like that?"

Yu Jin-Ho tilted his head.

"Pardon? If we don't enter a Gate within two days of booking it, our permit will be automatically rescinded, hyung-nim."

Of course, Jin-Woo already knew something like that.

"Leave them to me. I'll sort them out."

Did Jin-Woo think of a good way to resolve this?

Yu Jin-Ho was curious, but at the same time, he felt relieved as well.

Inside the headquarters of the White Tiger Guild.

"Chief Ahn!! Just what on earth were you thinking?!"

A loud roar reverberated within the offices of the Second Division.

The owner of that roar was Baek Yun-Ho.

He was none other than the Master of the White Tiger Guild, and its CEO as well. It could never be a good thing if a CEO-level character made his way down to the lower floors to make his ire known to his staff members.

"What the, how can any of this make sense?? How can there be no Gates to train our new recruits?? Don't you realise that you've delayed the training schedule by four days already?!"

All the employees within the Second Division lowered their heads. They all looked anxious, wondering if they would also end up in the crosshair.

Chief Ahn Sahng-Min too lowered his head as Baek Yun-Ho continued to point and shout at him.

"…."

Ahn Sahng-Min wasn't dumb or inexperienced enough to p*ss off his superior officer even further by replying to every little thing being said, in the way Hyun Ki-Cheol would have done.

In cases like this, keeping his mouth shut was for the best.

Whether the boss man knew Ahn Sahng-Min's thoughts or not….

Baek Yun-Ho angrily shook around the report from the Second Division that showed up on his desk this morning.

"You're using this as an excuse?! The other team paid far higher bids so we can't book a single Gate? Are you saying our Guild lacks enough funds? Or is the other party being supported by a bloody billionaire or something?!"

Ahn Sahng-Min's lips twitched real hard just then, but he endured like a champ and didn't say anything.

He made a promise to Jin-Woo, after all.

'If I open my mouth now, I'd end up blabbering about Yu Jin-Ho and Seong Jin-Woo.'

Not knowing the pained inner thoughts of Ahn Sahng-Min, Baek Yun-Ho continued to roar at the top of his lungs, loud enough to shake the entire office.

"I don't care whether it's a hundred million, two hundred – just book the d*mn Gates! Do you understand me?!"

It happened, then.

Suddenly, Ahn Sahng-Min's phone began ringing loudly.

[Ah! I'm sorry I couldn't answer you earlier, I was meeting a friend, shy, shy, shy ~♪]

When he sneaked a glance at his phone to confirm who the caller was, Ahn Sahng-Min's eyes grew real wide.

"Sir, I need to answer this call."

"….."

The Second Division's main role was to recruit new talents, and nothing was more important to them than good timing!

And, Ahn Sahng-Min was the Chief of that Second Division.

Even if Ahn Sahng-Min had made a big blunder, no matter how angry Baek Yun-Ho got, stopping him from answering that call was not a smart thing to do.

"What are you doing, Chief Ahn? Answer it quickly."

Bake Yun-Ho consented to it with an unhappy voice.

Ahn Sahng-Min bowed his head slightly, asking Baek Yun-Ho for his understanding, and he quickly answered the call.

"Hello, Ahn Sahng-Min from the White Tiger Guild speaking."

While Ahn Sahng-Min was answering the call, Baek Yun-Ho crossed his arms and waited for it to end.

"Yes, yes. I understand. If you're waiting for us by the ground floor cafe, I shall go there right away. Yes, see you then."

Ahn Sahng-Min ended the call and quickly spoke up.

"Sir, looks like I'll have to go downstairs for a moment."

Ahn Sahng-Min was the ace of the Second Division. If such a man was getting ready to rush downstairs with only one phone call, even when he was facing his boss's fury…

"By any chance, was that call related to scouting someone?"

"Yes, sir."

Seeing that confident, assured face of Ahn Sahng-Min, Baek Yun-Ho realised that something major was going on here.

'Chief Ahn is personally trying to scout this person?'

Which could only mean that the other guy was someone extraordinary, right?

Baek Yun-Ho's angrily-crumpled visage reverted back to a smiling one in an instant.

"How can I stand in the way of our scouting specialist trying to do his job? Don't worry about the matters up here and do your best downstairs."

Chapter 45: Chapter 45

Ahn Sahng-Min lowered his head again. And then, he hurriedly issued an order to Hyun Ki-Cheol.

"Vice Chief Hyun, get the contract documents ready."

"Yes, Chief!"

Their preparation was done in the blink of an eye.

After the duo hurriedly left the offices, Baek Yun-Ho sneaked in a question to a male employee next to him.

"What's going on here? Just what kind of an assignment could make Chief Ahn roll his sleeves up and jump in personally like this?"

The male employee sent a pleading look to a female colleague next to him, asking silently for any form of assistance. Unfortunately, even she shook her head.

'I also don't know,' said her eyes.

'Dang it….'

The male employee hesitated for a bit before he finally gave in and answered with great difficulty while scratching the back of his head.

"Well, sir… The thing is, none of us…."

He expected the boss to throw an almighty hissy fit, but then….

Quite unexpectedly, the boss didn't say anything else.

'So, he's involved in something so secretive that he can't even tell his own people, is that it?'

Baek Yun-Ho slowly rubbed his chin.

The person who had contributed a great deal in building up the White Tiger Guild to its current size and power was none other than Chief Ahn Sahng-Min.

If someone like that was throwing all his focus on this matter, then….

'Will our Chief Ahn once more reel in a huge fish?'

A huge smile slowly bloomed on Baek Yun-Ho's face.

'Why the hell is this coffee so bitter?!'

Jin-Woo frowned deeply.

He was thinking of the vending machine coffee's taste when ordering a cup of Espresso at the cafe. But hell, rather than calling this coffee, it was much more fitting to label it as a really bitter traditional medicine, instead.

And it cost way too much for what it was.

'Man, ₩6,000 can buy me several canned coffee, you know….'

He began wondering just how many sticks of sugar he needed to pour into this bitter b*stard in order to make it taste about the same as the canned coffee. But then…

Cling.

The door to the cafe opened, and the duo of Ahn Sahng-Min and Hyun Ki-Cheol rushed inside.

"Over here."

Jin-Woo raised his hand.

Ahn Sahng-Min and Hyun Ki-Cheol quickly took a sweeping look around the cafe, and when they discovered Jin-Woo, their complexions brightened in an instant. Their expressions resembled that of 'Heungbu' sawing the gourd brought by the swallow. (TL: 'Heungbu' is the main character of an old Korean novel 'Heungbu and Nolbu'. There is a dedicated page in Wikipedia for this folk tale if you're interested.)

"We honestly didn't expect to see you again so soon."

Ahn Sahng-Min greeted like so and sat opposite to Jin-Woo, while Hyun Ki-Cheol made a quick greeting with a nod and settled down next to his superior officer.

Jin-Woo also nodded his head lightly as his greeting.

The old saying went 'make hay while the sun still shines'. So, Ahn Sahng-Min pulled out the contract as soon as settling down.

"For the terms we can offer you, we can negotiate….."

His ardent desire to get the contract signed quickly was quite easy to see.

Unfortunately for him, Jin-Woo cut him off rather decisively.

"I didn't come here today to talk about signing with you folks."

Ahn Sahng-Min's hands froze in mid-action of pulling out the contract. Hyun Ki-Cheol also looked quite confused as well.

Ahn Sahng-Min asked in the frozen position as if someone had pressed the pause the button.

"Well then, what brings you to our White Tiger Guild….?"

His expectation had been great, and so was the ensuing disappointment.

The biggest find of the year walked into the Guild with his own two feet, but he refused to sign the contract the moment he clapped his eyes on it.

Could he have changed his mind in the meantime?

As the duo's confusion grew, Jin-Woo calmly spoke to them.

"I came here to help you two."

"Pardon me?"

"Excuse me?"

The reactions of Ahn Sahng-Min and Hyun Ki-Cheol were roughly the same. Two men exchanged glances, before shifting their gaze over to Jin-Woo. In a complete contrast to their flustered state, Jin-Woo remained utterly calm.

"I remember you mentioning your troubles regarding the training of your new recruits, because my raid team swept away all the available rank C dungeons in the area."

"T-that's correct. Well, we can't really take the newbies to a high ranked dungeon just because we couldn't book a rank C Gate, after all."

"That's why I'm here today."

Ahn Sahng-Min tilted his head slightly.

"Forgive me, but I can't seem to…."

Jin-Woo thought this was enough of him beating around the bush, so he got to the main topic.

"I want to sell the raid permits for three of the rank C gates my raid team acquired."

"Ah."

Hyun Ki-Cheol let off a short gasp.

The two men from the White Tiger Guild finally figured out what Jin-Woo really wanted from them.

"If you really wanted to help us out, then wouldn't it be simpler just to not book Gates anymore?"

Jin-Woo shook his head.

"Unfortunately, I have some matters that require the continued clearing of rank C Gates for the time being."

"Well then, why today….?"

Jin-Woo smiled refreshingly.

"I'm here because I wanted to help you out of your troubles."

Should the duo believe those words at their face value?

Just before the calculator inside Ahn Sahng-Min's head could start crunching some numbers, Jin-Woo continued on with his explanations.

"Of course, I'm being considerate only for today. We also can't delay our operations as well, you see. If you miss this chance, I'm pretty sure that it'll only get harder to book rank C Gates for the foreseeable future."

For some reason, he came across as a host of a home shopping channel alerting his viewers to the looming end of the discount period.

'Hmm…..'

Ahn Sahng-Min fell into a dilemma.

Gates didn't just appear in and around the capital city only.

If they couldn't book one around here, there was an option of going to the countryside and training the rookies there. However, there was a good chance of earning the ire of the local Guilds and the raid teams by doing that.

That wasn't all, either.

Doing that would be like giving ammunition to large Guilds located in the countryside, like the Shining Star located in Honam, or the Knight Order in Youngnam, to ridicule the White Tiger.

In other words, his Guild could be saddled with the ignoble reputation of a poorly-run organisation that couldn't even train their rookies in their own backyard.

'Hmm…. Can we claim that it's an undeserved reputation, even?'

Because, it was clearly true, after all.

Whatever the case may be, which rookie would want to join a Guild that was being roundly ridiculed by other famous Guilds?

This was one of the reasons why the Guild's public image was really important.

"Okay."

After a lengthy deliberation, Ahn Sahng-Min came to a conclusion.

"Please sell us the permits. Three rank C Gates should be enough for our needs. How much are you thinking of for all three of them?"

The White Tiger Guild had a really deep pocket.

However, nothing good would come out of trying to compare their financial muscle with Yujin Construction's, and just as importantly, he feared souring the relationship with Jin-Woo the most, so he'd not even try to compete at the end of the day.

But now, Jin-Woo was actually volunteering to hand over the Gates, so shouldn't this be something to be grateful about?

Unfortunately, he couldn't be grateful for the proposed prices, though.

"300 million Won per gate, so 900 million for all three."

"Keok!!"

Both Ahn Sahng-Min and Hyun Ki-Cheol spat out pained, shocked gasps at the same time.

"That's too much."

Hyun Ki-Cheol tried to interject, but Ahn Sahng-Min quickly stopped him.

Something like this also happened the last time they met.

Jin-Woo ended the talks without an ounce of hesitation once his price couldn't be met.

In a way, this was a great opportunity that rolled on to their laps.

If they failed to grasp this chance, then either they only get to book a rank C Gate a really long time from now or, in the worst case scenario, go to the countryside to train their rookies.

'Well, at least I should try negotiating properly today.'

Ending the talks this quickly would only leave the bitter taste in his mouth.

Still, a Gate priced 300 million each was just too expensive.

Yu Jin-Ho's bid for the raid permits averaged around 100 million Won lately. Asking three times that amount was just being too unreasonable.

Surely, Jin-Woo would know this, too.

'I'm sure he's thinking of starting at a high enough number and gradually come down.'

Now that he thought about it, he recalled the words Baek Yun-Ho had said before they left the office.

["I don't care whether it's a hundred million, two hundred – just book the d*mn Gates! Do you understand me?!"]

This was the same thing as the CEO giving his consent.

Plus, every employee working in the Second Division heard those words, so Baek Yun-Ho wouldn't be able to pretend his way out of this one, either.

Ahn Sahng-Min swallowed his saliva and put up his counteroffer.

"300 million is too large an amount even for us, so how about 200 million ins…."

"I accept."

Even before Ahn Sahng-Min could finish his sentence, Jin-Woo reached out with his right hand. With a slightly dazed face, Ahn Sahng-Min reached out as well and shook the offered hand.

"This….. Are you okay with this?"

"Yes. 200 million Won for each rank C Gate. Please deposit the money into this bank account."

It kind of felt like the situation got resolved way too fast, but well, from Ahn Sahng-Min's perspective, this should count as a fortunate thing indeed.

Ahn Sahng-Min lightly shook Jin-Woo's hand and bowed his head as well.

"I'm grateful for this. Thank you."

"You're being too kind."

Jin-Woo also formed a bright smile.

Ahn Sahng-Min inwardly thought that he'd be able to breathe a little bit easier now. For the time being, he was able to resolve the situation with training the new recruits, and his relationship with Jin-Woo had improved, ever so slightly, as well.

'Trust is the foundation of all negotiations and dealings, after all.'

Indeed.

Just like this, their relationship would evolve for the better bit by bit. Sooner or later, he'd be able to reel in his catch.

No one would spit at a smiling face, and no one would pretend to not notice when someone gave you a present.

Ahn Sahng-Min inwardly clenched his fist.

Meanwhile, Jin-Woo stood up from his seat first.

"Now that's been sorted, I should get going. I'll see you around. Oh, and here."

Jin-Woo handed over a shopping bag containing an empty tumbler to its original owner.

"Thanks for the drink. I really enjoyed it."

"I'm happy to hear that you liked it, Mister Seong."

With a slightly reddened face, Hyun Ki-Cheol accepted the shopping bag.

With that, Jin-Woo exited from the cafe.

After he got to a far enough distance away from Ahn Sahng-Min and Hyun Ki-Cheol, Jin-Woo gave Yu Jin-Ho a call.

A short bout of poppy music ringtone later….

Yu Jin-Ho's clearly excited voice came out from the speaker.

"Hyung-nim, the money came through. It's really 600 million Won!"

"…."

Jin-Woo quietly smiled in satisfaction.

This transaction was a resounding success.

He managed to sell off raid permits at double the price of what they paid for, before they became useless junk. This was a huge profit for them.

Yu Jin-Ho asked him in a mystified voice.

"Hyung-nim, just what did you do? Where did you manage to sell the rank C Gate permits?"

"That's my trade secret."

"Eh?"

"Enjoy your break, and see you in two days' time."

While Yu Jin-Ho was getting flustered on the other side, Jin-Woo simply ended the call.

Click.

Later, on the same day.

The Second Division's office.

Hyun Ki-Cheol was urgently seeking out Ahn Sahng-Min.

"Chief! Chief!!"

"What's wrong?"

Ahn Sahng-Min tore his eyes away from his computer monitor. Hyun Ki-Cheol pointed to his phone's screen with an urgent expression on his face.

"You gotta take a look at this, Chief!"

"What's going on now?"

Ahn Sahng-Min looked at the screen and his eyes narrowed to a slit.

'Isn't this…..?'

The screen showed the section of the Hunter Association's website that only the Hunters had access to.

To be more precise, the screen showed the page which notified everyone of where the reported Gates were located at, as well as allowing anyone to buy the raid permits for those Gates.

"What's this?! Why are there so many rank C dungeons in our district?!"

"Not only that, each one is going for less than 10 million Won at the moment, as well!"

"No way….."

Ahn Sahng-Min realised that something was terribly awry here.

"….Yu Jin-Ho's team hasn't booked a single Gate for tomorrow."

Hearing Hyun Ki-Cheol's words, Ahn Sahng-Min immediately recalled what Seong Jin-Woo told him over the phone.

["I have some free time on Thursday."]

And tomorrow was Thursday. Yu Jin-Ho's team had no plans to go on a raid tomorrow. He didn't even know that and bought those permits at a huge premium.

"Huh…"

An amused chuckle leaked out from Ahn Sahng-Min's mouth.

There were enough hints, but it was too late by the time he had pieced them together. This was his mistake. Well, he did succeed in cooling the anger of the CEO in the end, so it wasn't all bad.

"Looks like we've been had, Chief."

It was then, a text message arrived in Ahn Sahng-Min's phone.

Ding-dong.

It was from Seong Jin-Woo.

[With this, we're even now. I will consider your people spying on me as something that never happened.]

'I can't take this fellow lightly, can I?'

Ahn Sahng-Min inwardly chuckled.

If the sole sticking point between Jin-Woo and the White Tiger could be resolved in this manner, as implied by the youth, then this wouldn't necessarily be a bad trade for the Guild at the end of the day.

Their final aim was to scout Jin-Woo, after all.

Besides, the amount they spent today wasn't all that much, anyway.

"Let's think of it as us investing in Seong Jin-Woo."

It'd be nice if they were able to earn back as much as they have invested, though.

Ahn Sahng-Min stopped looking at his phone and with a smile on his face, closed the mailbox.

After sending the text, Jin-Woo took one more look around his vicinity.

There was absolutely no one here.

Only the dense forest greeted his searching eyes.

In order to make sure he'd get to 'enjoy' a relatively-safe quest, he searched for a mountainside with almost no human presence and found the most suitable candidate.

The current time was 17:44.

There shouldn't be any hikers in this in-between hour, plus his current location was an empty spot of land far, far removed from any hiking trails.

'Time to get started.'

Jin-Woo accessed his mailbox.

[Will you take on the Class Change Quest now?] (Y/N)

The message popped up in his view as if it'd been patiently waiting for him.

Chapter 46: Chapter 46

Gulp.

Jin-Woo's Adam's apple bobbed up and down. Indeed, it was rather scary not knowing what kind of quest would pop up.

However, his anticipation was even greater than his fears.

While he was looking for a suitable location to start the quest, he used his phone to search for topics related to changing one's class online.

New skills.

Benefits to one's growth.

Exclusive weapons reserved for a particular class.

Connected quests.

….Etc, etc.

They were all from video games, sure; but, the accepted norm was that changing one's class would result in many benefits.

'And level 40 was when I could get my Class.'

Of course, it wasn't all good news, either. He often spotted ominous sounding thread titles as he browsed through online forums.

I chose the wrong class and now I'm bummed out.

Only if I knew, I'd have gone with a different class, f*cking hell.

A moment of bad decisions later, I'm quitting my dearest game and returning to the normal society.

Should I erase this character and start all over again?

….Well, these were also related to video games, anyways.

He certainly had far less to worry about here since he only used daggers as his main weapon until now. All the skills he had acquired leaned towards the profession of 'assassin'.

'Right, I've got dagger techniques and Stealth as my skills.'

Not only that, he invested mainly in raising the Stats of Strength and Agility, so it was kind of hard to imagine getting another class other than 'Assassin'.

As his thoughts arrived here, Jin-Woo summoned the 'Poison Fang of Kasaka' from his Inventory.

Shush….

This feeling of the hilt falling so perfectly in his hand….

'Yeah, this for me is the most comfortable.'

He nodded his head like a wise old sage.

While gripping the dagger tightly, Jin-Woo shifted his gaze towards the message floating in the air.

'Well, then….'

Now that he was all done with getting ready for any unexpected events, he firmed his resolve and answered the message.

[Will you take on the Class Change Quest now?] (Y/N)

'Yes, I'm taking it on.'

The moment he thought of taking on the quest, another message popped into his view.

Tti-ring.

[You're now partaking in the Class Change Quest.]

[A new dungeon will be generated for this quest.]

'Generating… a new dungeon?'

Before he had the chance to interpret what that message was saying, a change took place before him really fast.

Wuuonnng—-

A black 'hole' formed right in front of his eyes. That was merely the beginning, too.

Wuoonng, wuuuonngg…..

The black hole the size of a bean expanded to the size of a coin, then to that of a volleyball, and eventually, it grew large enough for a person to walk through.

'Isn't this….?'

Jin-Woo's eyes grew wider.

He was expecting to see a new message with the contents of the quest pop up in front of his eyes, but this….

What appeared before him was, without a doubt, a Gate.

'To think, a Gate would show up here….'

This one didn't seem any different from the others he was familiar with. Only that, it was a bit smaller than usual.

The System sent him a new message as if to urge him on.

[Please enter the dungeon through the Gate.]

'I need to calm down.'

Jin-Woo quickly collected himself.

Right…

If he thought about it, there wasn't much of a difference whether he used a key or a Gate to enter a dungeon. Indeed, he was simply taken aback just now by the sight of a Gate forming 'artificially' like this.

Also, this would be his first time seeing a Gate form. He always just walked into one that was already there, so…

When the chain of his thoughts stopped there, a new question popped into his mind.

'Hang on… can other Hunters enter this Gate as well?'

Too bad, he had no method to experiment on this one today.

Well, there were no Hunters nearby that he could call for 'assistance', nor did he have anyone who would rush over here because he gave them a call.

He momentarily recalled Yu Jin-Ho's face, but slowly shook his head.

'How will I take care of the aftermath if I called him and something bad happens?'

It was then.

As if to urge him on again, the message blinked.

Tti-ring.

[Please enter the dungeon through the Gate.]

The mechanical beep brought him back to his senses. He slapped his cheeks a couple of times to wake himself up.

'This is no time to daydream.'

If he succeeded, then a new class and all the rewards that followed would be his. And if he failed, then he couldn't even tell what might happen to him.

So, he needed to focus here.

"Fuu-woo…."

After taking a deep breath….

Jin-Woo held the Poison Fang of Kasaka in reverse grip and entered the Gate.

[You have entered the dungeon.]

'Eh?'

He entered in a state of taut tension, but to his surprise, there was nothing here.

He was greeted by the sight of an ordinary cave-like dungeon.

"Isn't this exactly the same as the others….?"

He heard that high-ranking dungeons were often linked to 'other worlds' so he was kind of worried about such a thing happening to him, but thankfully, he was spared from that.

Instead, a strange message popped up into his view.

Tti-ring.

[The current location forbids the usage of potions as well as the functions of the Store, and your physical state will not recover even if you level up.]

Jin-Woo confirmed that there was no presence of monsters nearby and put away his dagger. Then, his head began tilting this way and that.

'…..This isn't going to be easy, is it?'

Maybe because his class change was up for grabs, there were quite a few restrictions here to contend with.

The most important one was that he couldn't replenish his spent energy or stamina, and couldn't heal himself using potions or level ups.

'The damage will stack, in other words.'

If he got injured, then that would spell his doom.

Since he couldn't heal himself, he had no choice but to be thorough and cautious with every action he took.

'Meaning, I gotta keep my wits about me.'

Jin-Woo closed the message.

And as he'd do every time when entering a dungeon, he confirmed the presence of the exit.

[You can't leave until the Class Change process has been concluded.]

A message popped up as soon as he touched the surface of the Gate. He put some strength behind his hand, but it didn't even budge.

"…."

Jin-Woo retracted his hand.

'The exit is blocked off.'

An unknown grade, impossible to heal himself, and no exit; this dungeon was a pretty risky proposition. Even a Hunter with balls of steel wouldn't want to tread in a place like this one.

'However, high risk doesn't always equate to bad things, does it?'

Indeed, the higher the risk, the higher the reward. He learned that through experience.

If clearing this place was difficult because of all the restrictions, then didn't that also mean there was an amazing opportunity waiting for him at the end?

There was only one way to find out.

'I'll know once I get there.'

Jin-Woo took his first step forward.

His eyes gazed far forward, and all he could see was the cavern-like passageway with seemingly no end. And there were no monsters nearby.

'Wait, since this is still within the System's influence, should I call them monsters, and not monsters?' (TL: Well, sorry about this line. The author had been using the Hanja word for monsters to describe those found in the regular Gates/dungeons, while using the romanised English word 'monster' to describe those found in instant dungeons. They mean the same thing, obviously, but well, wordplay and all that….)

Even though they both meant the same thing.

In any case, that wasn't the only difference to consider. There were lit torches lining up at a fixed interval along the cavern walls as well.

'Instead of luminous stones, I got torches, huh.'

Unfortunately, the light from the torches was not an effective source of illumination.

No matter how many there were, they were still not enough to light up the entire passageway. So, there were plenty of hidden shadows.

With the deafening silence being accompanied by the gloomy shadows, this place came off far more eerie and ominous than a regular dungeon.

'I can see no problem, but still….'

Should he say it's down to the atmosphere of this place?

Jin-Woo pulled out the nearest torch and held it. His front brightened ever so slightly with the torch in his hand.

'Yeah, this is better.'

Jin-Woo formed a satisfied smile.

He took one last glance behind him and slowly made his way forward, the torch lighting the way.

Just how long did he walk?

When he walked for a long, long time, he finally got to a bend in the passageway. And just beyond it, he sensed multiple presences.

'Are they finally here?'

Jin-Woo carefully placed the torch on the ground and stood back up.

Shurururu…

His right hand was now holding his favourite dagger instead.

He briefly entertained the idea of using 'Stealth' to quickly deal with his enemies, but gave up on that after remembering the crazy expenditure of his Mana. Well, he wouldn't be able to use potions to replenish the spent Mana in this place, after all.

If he carelessly spent Mana here, then he might be unable to use the necessary Skills when he really needed to.

'….It's coming this way.'

Jin-Woo pressed tightly against the wall and waited for the enemy to show up around the bend.

Clank, clank….

Whenever this thing took a step, the metallic clang reverberated loudly in the passageway.

The noises were getting closer.

Clank, clank….

Hearing that strange noise, Jin-Woo tilted his head.

'Could it be carrying some kind of chained weapons?'

He was curious, but there was no need to get anxious. He'd get his answers soon enough.

'5, 4, 3.'

Jin-Woo tightly held the dagger in the reverse grip and stopped breathing. It was to prevent the opponent from hearing the sound of his breathes.

'2, 1.'

Clank, clank.

Finally, the enemy's shadow could be seen.

'...0.'

When his countdown hit 0, the enemy revealed itself.

Jin-Woo aimed for the side of its neck.

Clang!!

But, he got to hear metal hitting metal instead.

The blade didn't go in.

'Metal armour?!'

Jin-Woo's eyes widened.

Finally confirming the identity of his opponent, Jin-Woo quickly took several steps back.

"It's a human?!"

He was now facing a knight decked out fully in a suit of armour. Its face was hidden behind the helmet and he couldn't see what they looked like.

Jin-Woo called out to it while thinking to himself, 'Could it be….?'

"Oii!"

However, the knight didn't even utter a word and simply lunged in Jin-Woo's direction.

Thud, thud, thud!!

The knight rushed forward like a raging bull and tried to shoulder tackle him, but Jin-Woo lightly tilted out of the way and evaded the attack.

The knight couldn't win against the momentum and continued to run forward for a bit longer, before somehow bringing itself to a stop.

'Maybe, it's not a human?'

He was able to take a quick peek at a close distance and he could tell something was off. He couldn't sense the beating heart that a normal person should possess.

So, most likely, it was not a human.

He was now facing off against a type of monster he'd never even heard of before.

….A monster that armed itself from head to toe, no less.

'It's like….'

Wasn't this like he was actually fighting against another person?

Swururung!

The knight turned around and unsheathed the sword mounted on its hips. Just as Jin-Woo had done, this 'knight' probably didn't plan on letting him go alive.

After sensing its intense hostility, Jin-Woo's glare became a level sharper.

'Dash!'

[Your movement speed has increased by 40%.]

The first one to strike, wins!

Before the enemy made its move, Jin-Woo dashed in first.

Swish!

Jin-Woo evaded the hurried swing of the knight's longsword and stabbed his dagger at various points in its amour.

Clang! Clangg!!

Unfortunately, he couldn't damage it.

'The armour's too thick.'

Not only was it thick, the surface was smooth as well, so when he landed a straight blow, the blade didn't go in but simply slid off to the side.

It was at this point that the knight swung its sword in a huge arc.

SWISH!!!

Jin-Woo ducked lower and evaded it. The blade swung past Jin-Woo's head by a hair's breadth. A big move like this would inevitably expose a big opening.

Another chance had come by!

Jin-Woo lunged in closer to the knight and gathered his strength in his dagger-holding arm.

'Vital Points Targetting!'

Crack!

The tip of the dagger penetrated past the armour.

'Did it work?'

However, it must've not suffered any damage, since it swung its sword down vertically with great force, not caring at all about the dagger stuck to its side.

Swish!

Jin-Woo rapidly threw himself back.

Clang!

The blade slammed into the ground and sparks flew everywhere.

"…"

Jin-Woo took several steps back and corrected his posture. His dagger remained stuck to the knight's side.

'Tsk.'

Jin-Woo clicked his tongue.

'It's not really that strong, is it?'

That was his earnest assessment.

Probably because of all that heavy armour, its movement was dull, and its attack pattern was also rather simple, too. Only that, its defence against bladed weapons was truly exceptional.

Jin-Woo rolled up his sleeves.

'Well, I've already fought against an enemy with thick armour that blades can't penetrate.'

His relaxed demeanour came from previous experience.

The boss monster, 'Poison-Fanged Blue Kasaka' that broke a steel sword infused with magical energy in one hit – he had experienced killing such a snake before.

'Compared to the Kasaka, that thing is nothing….'

A thin smile slowly formed on Jin-Woo's lips, since that was a pretty good memory to recall.

Thud, thud, thud!

The knight stupidly charged in again, perhaps trusting the protection provided by its armour.

'I knew it. It's a really simple creature.'

Jin-Woo easily evaded the knight's attack aimed at his shoulder, slid to its back, and caught it in a headlock.

Craaack!

Since its neck area was also protected by armour, it'd not choke to death, but….

Crack, crumple!

Jin-Woo's arm muscles expanded and veins bulged. Jin-Woo wasn't planning to choke the knight, to begin with.

He gritted his teeth, his eyes shooting up wide open.

And when that happened…

CRACK!

Along with a pretty sickening noise, the helmet was ripped off.

This was the moment when his Strength Stat exceeding 100 points had begun shining ever so brightly.

'I did it!'

The knight lifelessly knelt down on the ground once its head was separated from the body.

Thud!

[You defeated the knight.]

A simple but concise message announcing the end of the battle popped up.

A flickering light indicating the presence of loot came from somewhere on the armour, but Jin-Woo's attention was elsewhere.

'What the heck? There's nothing inside?'

The helmet he held in his hands was totally empty.

He quickly checked inside the armour to make sure, but it was the same story: empty.

'Does that mean I was fighting against a suit of armour that was moving by itself?'

Just as he arrived at his conclusion, two more knights rushed into view from around the bend. It seemed that they had belatedly sensed the unfolding battle.

Clank, clank!

The knights discovered Jin-Woo, and as if they had made a prior arrangement, they unsheathed their longswords in unison.

Jin-Woo tossed the empty helmet away and loosened the muscles on his neck and shoulders.

He now knew how to fight these things.

'So, this is the real beginning, huh.'

Thud, thud, thud, thud!!

Jin-Woo's lips formed a slight grin as he stared at the knights rushing towards him.

His first step in clearing this dungeon proved to be on the right track.

Chapter 47: Chapter 47

Was it because of all the restrictions?

The loot drop rate turned out to be rather excellent.

Jin-Woo only defeated three knights, yet two of them dropped an item each. As far as percentages go, that was 66.6%.

It was an unimaginably high drop rate compared to other instant dungeons.

Especially considering the fact that, when all he got after clearing a floor of an instant dungeon several times in a row would be a few japtem and stuff he had no use for other than to sell them off at the Store.

['Item: Superior Knight's Breastplate' has been found. Take it?]

'Of course I'm taking it.'

Just a thought, and the breastplate of the now-headless knight kneeling and unmoving on the ground disappeared and reappeared right before his feet. And its information popped up in his view.

[Item: Superior Knight's Breastplate]

Rarity: B

Type: Armour

Reduction in physical damage: +7%

(Your movement will slow down if your Strength is below 80.)

7% increase in physical damage reduction!

When added to what he had already, the physical damage reduction would be 27%!

'If this number reaches 100%, does that mean I become completely impervious to all physical damage?'

He briefly wondered about that, before realising that a defensive item ranked 'B' in rarity only added 7% to the overall value, and his thoughts rapidly changed.

Even if he found himself an item with a rarity of 'A', the reduction may not go above 30-40%.

So, maybe it was impossible to add up to 100%?

'Still, every little bit helps, so…..'

He was sure of benefiting greatly if he continued to increase that Stat bit by bit.

He already had witnessed the power of good items through Yu Jin-Ho, after all.

'So, I do it like this, right?'

Jin-Woo picked up the breastplate. As expected, a message regarding equipping the armour popped up in his view.

[Will you equip 'Item: Superior Knight's Breastplate'?]

No matter who looked at it, this breastplate's design was rather clunky and embarrassing, and he'd never wear it in public.

If he didn't have prior experience with the 'Gatekeeper's Necklace', he might've hesitated a great deal before reluctantly agreeing to put it on, but now…

It was a different story now.

'Yes.'

Tti-ring.

['Item: Superior Knight's Breastplate' has been equipped.]

….The breastplate disappeared from the view.

Jin-Woo summoned the Status Window and confirmed his Stats.

[Reduction in physical damage: 27%]

'So, it really went up.'

Jin-Woo felt around his chest area. He couldn't feel anything weird. He moved his body around this way and that, but didn't feel anything strange or out of place.

It was exactly the same as when he equipped the Gatekeeper's necklace for the first time.

'Nice.'

Next, Jin-Woo shifted his gaze over to the unmoving knight stuck in the distant corner.

It was bent and crumpled so badly that nothing looked salvageable, but still, the flickering light indicating the loot's presence could be seen on it quite clearly.

['Item: Leather Pouch' has been found. Take it?]

Of course, he was the one responsible for that, but even he had to concede that he had gone a bit overboard there. He fought barehanded and well, it was really hard to control his strength, that was why….

'...'

With a solemn expression on his face, Jin-Woo walked closer and reached out to take the loot away.

'Acquire it.'

['Item: Leather Pouch' has been opened.]

[30,000 Gold is inside.]

[30,000 Gold has been acquired.]

'Huh?!'

Nothing entered his hands yet he got a message declaring that he acquired some Gold, instead.

Was it a bit different from regular items?

Jin-Woo remained somewhat mystified as he accessed his Inventory, and sure enough, his Gold amount had really increased by 30,000.

[Current Gold: 863,400]

'I got 30,000 Gold in one go?'

Was it because knights were supposed to be wealthy or some such?

He abruptly remembered that most humanoid-type monsters usually gave out more loot than any other types in video games.

Now that he thought about it some more, not finding a greater number of useful items on a human being, when compared to an animal or an insect, didn't make a whole lot of sense, now did it?

He couldn't be sure if this dungeon followed that principal or not, though.

In any case, it could only be good news to him.

He was planning to save up more Gold and buy a few items from the Store, and if Gold kept showing up as loot in this fashion, then his planned shopping day would arrive much sooner than his initial estimation.

'Is there anything else that I can take with me?'

Well, human greed supposedly knew no limits, so….

Jin-Woo momentarily forgot about his true goal of wandering in this dungeon and greedily searched around his vicinity.

The armour worn by the knights were all pretty much mangled beyond recover from the fight just now so, it was a no….

Eventually, Jin-Woo's eyes found the knights' swords.

'They kinda look useful, don't they?'

Those longswords must've been brand new, looking all shiny and slick like that.

Although he couldn't use them properly since they weren't daggers, he could either sell them in the Store or if he couldn't, he could try hawking them off to other Hunters at a later date.

Jin-Woo picked up a sword.

However, as soon as he did, the sword rapidly rusted up and dissolved into a pile of dust, before scattering away.

"What the hell….?"

This process happened in only a couple of seconds.

'Is it because I'm not supposed to touch them?'

What a regrettable thing this was, but naught he could do about it now.

Jin-Woo dusted his hands off and picked up the torch he left on the ground.

When he walked around the bend where the knights showed up from, yet another passage with no end in sight greeted him.

"…"

It looked like there was still a long way to go.

These battles felt like he was revisiting school work.

The notion sounded funny, but that's what Jin-Woo ended up thinking, totally out of the blue.

During the past two hours of hunting inside the dungeon, he met four different types of monsters.

Knights, Mages, Assassins, and Archers.

"Is it Stealth this time?"

An assassin-type suddenly vanished from his senses.

Jin-Woo didn't panic and extended his Perception to its fullest. And soon enough, picked up on the presence sneaking up on him from behind.

Swish!

Jin-Woo powerfully smacked away the assassin's dagger with his trusty Poison Fang of Kasaka, and seizing the opening created as the monster was pushed back, stabbed forward in a deadly and accurate attack of his own.

The Poison Fang accurately landed in the middle of the target's chest.

Stab!

[You defeated the assassin.]

[Level up!]

The assassin received a fatal wound and turned into a wisp of black smoke before disappearing from his view with nary a scream.

Plop.

And where it once stood, only the leather clothes it used to wear remained.

'Why are they all humanoid-type monsters, anyway?'

Every time he 'killed' them, he felt as if….

Jin-Woo slowly shook his head.

One nice thing here was that he couldn't see the monsters' faces; knights wore helmets, assassins and archers used deep hoods, and mages used hats attached to their robes to hide most of their faces.

Jin-Woo turned around to continue on his journey.

But then!

A flash of blinding light exploded right in front of his eyes. A mage had hidden itself and quietly completed a light magic spell.

Kaboom!!

An ear-splitting explosion occurred next.

However, Jin-Woo was already well behind the mage by the time that happened.

"…..!!"

The mage sensed his presence behind it and flinched grandly as he hurriedly recited another chant. Too bad, Jin-Woo didn't miss this opening and swung his dagger diagonally.

The mage, too, turned into a wisp of smoke and disappeared.

Plop.

Jin-Woo glared down at the ownerless robe on the ground and stored the dagger back in the Inventory.

'I got hit by one of those, way back when I got too careless.'

The thing was, he was already ready to react as soon as he began sensing Mana gathering around in a single point.

Joh Gyu-Hwan's Light magic – Jin-Woo wasn't dumb enough to get hit by a similar magic to that dead guy's.

This was one of the reasons why he thought that all these battles were like him studying and revisiting his past fights.

'That's not all, is it?'

In order to defeat different types of monsters, he needed different Stats.

For knights, it was Strength. For assassins, Perception. Archers, Agility. And finally, for mages, it was Stamina.

The whole thing was set up in a way that if any of the corresponding Stats weren't high enough, he'd have a real hard time trying to deal with the individual monsters.

If his Strength was lacking, then he wouldn't have been able to cause enough damage to the knights, and if his Perception was too low, he'd have gone through hell in order to locate the assassins.

'Me raising Stats evenly has really paid off dividends here.'

His Intelligence Stat was still on the low side, but all he had to do there was to economise his MP usage. That was all.

['Item: Leather Pouch' has been opened.]

['20,000 Gold', and 'Canteen Containing Lukewarm Water' are inside.]

['20,000 Gold', and 'Canteen Containing Lukewarm Water' have been acquired.]

Jin-Woo summoned that canteen as soon as it showed up in his Inventory and took several gulps.

"Fuu…."

His fatigue was piling up noticeably now.

'Just how far am I supposed to go here?'

Could there be no end to this place?

Jin-Woo put the empty canteen down on the ground and placed his hands on his hips. It had been over three hours already since he entered this dungeon. Both his body and mind were getting fatigued now.

'….Should I take a short break?'

Jin-Woo sat down and leaned against the cave wall.

'Status Window.'

Tti-ring.

[Tiredness: 66]

The 'Tiredness' Stat had sneaked up to a dangerous level; above 70, his body and mind would start to get negatively affected.

He needed to take a short nap and decrease that Stat right away.

Jin-Woo leaned his head against the wall.

Sleepiness came over him almost instantly.

He was so tired that, even when in an environment as dangerous as this place, he didn't need a lot of effort to fall asleep.

However…

Swish-!

He heard the sharp whistle of air parting ways!

Time slowed down, and Jin-Woo accurately snatched the flying arrow with his hand.

Grab!

Jin-Woo's eyes opened up.

He saw an archer nocking another arrow from some distance away.

'So, it's still too early to fall asleep, is it?'

Jin-Woo summoned the Poison Fang of Kasaka once more and stood back up.

Crunch!

One single punch caused the knight's breastplate to crack and cave in; the lifeless monster slowly slid to the ground in between Jin-Woo's stretched fist and the wall.

It didn't move again as it lay sprawled on the ground.

Tti-ring.

[You defeated the knight.]

[Level up!]

Although it was quite unfortunate that his condition didn't recover, his levels continued to rise up steadily as he fought more and more battles.

Jin-Woo looked down on his slightly-skinned fist and clicked his tongue.

Only a short break would've taken care of such a small wound by now.

However, these abominable monsters didn't give him a moment to rest.

Still, he earned quite a lot in the meantime.

[Equipped items]

Gatekeeper's Necklace (A)

Superior Knight's Breastplate (B)

Intermediate Assassin's Shoes (B)

Inferior archer's Gloves (C)

Superior Mage's Ring (B)

Other useful things he found along the way were now all safely tucked away in his Inventory.

'It'd been nicer if I found a weapon, though….'

What an unfortunate thing it was – the daggers used by the assassins featured similar levels of attack damage bonus as the Poison Fang of Kasaka, but none of them possessed additional effects, so they were deemed not as good compared to his current weapon.

'What would this guy give me now?'

Jin-Woo reached out towards the fallen knight and the flickering light coming off from it.

Tti-ring.

[Item: Superior Knight's Gauntlet]

Rarity: B

Type: Armour

Reduction in physical damage: +3%

Additional effects: Prevents injuries to wearer's hands.

(Your movement will slow down if your Strength is below 80.)

'Ohhh….'

With a bright smile, Jin-Woo quickly 'acquired' the Superior Knight's Gauntlet and equipped it immediately.

Just like with all the other items, these metallic gloves didn't affect him in the slightest and he could freely move his fingers.

'Nice.'

Jin-Woo moved his fingers around for a bit, before raising his head to look at the far side of the passageway.

Finally.

The torchlight revealed the end of the road.

And that end was blocked off by a huge castle gate.

It was quite rare to see the boss room with a door like that. Naturally, he recalled the dual dungeon. No one was adequately prepared back then, and because of that, the losses incurred were great.

However, it was different now.

Jin-Woo took a look behind him, at the passage he had been walking on to get here.

'It took me six hours to get here, too….'

His level was now 45, and he was kitted out in some good armour as well.

He was ready.

He wouldn't have minded taking a small break and recover some of his spent stamina, but whenever he tried to do that, monsters always managed to appear with the perfect sense of timing to disrupt his sleep.

He couldn't afford to summon more monsters and waste his energy that way.

[HP: 4511/8330]

[MP: 660/790]

[Tiredness: 43]

'I gotta win with this.'

Finishing up with confirming his condition for the last time, Jin-Woo reached out and grasped the handles of the doors.

Creak, creaaaakkk-!

The heavy-looking doors slid open rather smoothly, as if there was some sort of an unseen mechanism.