In Samseong-dong, an untimely drama unfolded in an office within the 25-story building of the Phoenix Guild headquarters.
'Yong-kyu, he was like my little brother..."
There were two actors.
Park Je-soon and Kim Woo-jin.
"I have told him time and time again that he needs to be careful..."
As one of the actors, Park Je-soon, stroked Jeon Yong-kyu's longsword with red teary eyes, Kim Woo-jin tried to console him.
"You must be heartbroken."
The atmosphere of the conversation felt very awkward.
'I wonder if that's the reason why?'
"I'm sorry, I'm just having weird thoughts in my head. And thank you. For bringing me his will."
Park Je-soon made an effort to change the mood.
"No, not at all."
Kim Woo-jin shook his head as if he did not deserve such gratitude.
It was then that the mood became somewhat relaxed.
"Anyway, by any chance, have you seen the details of the will?"
Then, as if he was waiting for the right moment, Park Je-soon asked this question.
Kim Woo-jin answered the question while maintaining a stiff expression on his face.
"I took a peek at it to see what it was. I'm sorry. I wouldn't have looked at it if I had known it was a will."
For a brief moment, Park Je-soon revealed he felt annoyed and bit his lip.
Of course, it was only for a moment.
"No, no. I'm thankful that you found the will."
Park Je-soon, who had already loosened his face, handed Kim Woo-jin a long sword that was a relic of Jeon Yong-kyu.
"Then please use his sword well."
"Yes."
Kim Woo-jin received the sword right away.
Now, at the moment, the two no longer had a reason to talk.
So Park Je-soon brought up a new topic.
"Do you want to join a party by any chance?"
Upon hearing the question, Kim Woo-jin replied with his head down while revealing shame.
"Ah, about that... I don't know if you know about this, but I don't have a party right now because of some incident. To be honest, I've never actually been offered to join a party."
"What kind of incident?"
"Well..."
Kim Woo-jin, who seemed hesitant continue the conversation, looked extremely miserable.
Park Je-soon immediately gave an offer to Kim Woo-jin without any hesitation.
"Would you like to join my party?"
"Really?"
Kim Woo-jin looked startled, almost as if he had been hit by a surprise punch in the pit of his stomach.
Park Je-soon smiled lightly at the amusing reaction.
"There's an open spot in the party. It was a spot that Yong-kyu was supposed to fill after he cleared the dungeon. Perhaps, this is also fate."
"But my skills are not that good."
"I don't care if your skills are good or not. Who would need to join a party if everybody was good? It's your answer that counts."
"I'm offering you to join my party, and all that matters is your answer."
Faced such a choice, Kim Woo-jin said with determination.
"If you allow me to join the party, I'll do my best. Even if it means putting my life on the line."
"Congratulations on joining our party."
Park Je-soon reached out his hand toward Kim Woo-jin, and Kim Woo-jin grasped it with both hands.
It was a scene reminiscent of a boss and his new employee.
'That's it.'
Finally, Park Je-soon knew that his scenario was complete.
'It's been handled cleanly.'
He also gained some room to breathe in his heart.
"Feel free to ask me if you need anything. I'll do whatever I can to help you."
Park Je-soon, who has never helped anyone in his life, said such a thing due to his mind and heart becoming at ease.
"Is anything alright?"
"Yes, of course. I can even give my life to a party member if necessary."
Kim Woo-jin, with a trace of admiration, requested from Park Je-soon.
"Then, can you lend me some money?"
"Huh?"
It was handled swiftly.
It only took three days for Kim Woo-jin to officially join Park Je-soon's party and have everything settled.
'A 100 million won deposit.'
The amount of money that Kim Woo-jin borrowed from Park Je-soon was 100 million won.
'The dungeon is... 1 floor.'
Then Woo-jin received the Dungeon report.
[Troll Hunt]
Troll hunt.
As soon as Kim Woo-jin saw this, he smiled.
'It's an illegal dungeon.'
The bodies of the monsters hunted in a dungeon were usually useless.
The skin or flesh of an orc or goblin was no different from garbage.
However, the bodies of certain monsters were worth a lot of money.
Trolls were a good example.
Troll's blood was useful in many fields due to its healing properties.
'As for the Lv 20 trolls that appear on the first floor... the price is about 10 million won per liter I think?'
Therefore, even the lowest level of troll's blood cost around 10 million won per liter.
Also, the amount of blood that one could harvest from a troll was more or less 15 liters.
Which meant that each troll could be traded for 150 million won per troll.
The bodies of four trolls alone was worth more than half a billion won.
That was not a paltry amount.
Furthermore, the trolls were not the only source of money. If a decent item drops as well, you can expect tens of millions of won.
In other words, it meant that one could expect at least 500 million won from the dungeon.
That's why Kim Woo-jin was convinced that the dungeon was illegal and was traded for illegally outside the guild.
'There's no way this dungeon was left to the guild.'
In the case of lucrative dungeons, they would disappear as soon as the government published an announcement.
Isn't it a dungeon that doesn't need compensation in the first place?
Therefore, dungeons like this were never reported to the government.
As mentioned earlier, there was a trade between players and brokers.
'There was nothing better than this for creating slush funds.'
In reality, clearing a dungeon then receiving a successful payment from the guild does not give much benefit to the players.
If you clear a dungeon under the control of a guild, the number of monsters the player captured and the items the player retrieve are recorded. It wasn't without reason that the support teams were so desperate to write a report.
Also, under the contract, anything that comes out of a dungeon can only be traded through the guild.
This meant that the income of the player is recorded as well.
No one likes paying taxes no matter how much the government lowers the rate of the players' income tax.
It was a situation where a black market would be created no matter what.
'Also, the government doesn't intervene.'
The government tolerated the black market.
Nevertheless, the government's profit from clearing the dungeons was enough, and it would be a shame to give up all the bribes to close each other's eyes.
'But to see that they are attempting to clear this kind of dungeon right after I joined...'
In this sense, Kim Woo-jin was impressed by Park Je-soon's ability to secure the dungeon.
'It looks like there's a strong line behind him.'
To be exact, Kim Woo-jin was impressed by Park Je-soon's connections that allowed him to acquire such a dungeon.
'Caught a decent prey by the tail.'
Kim Woo-jin, who put down the dungeon report, thought about what's going to happen momentarily.
The situation was clear.
'All that's left is...'
The only thing that was left was for Park Je-soon to contact Kim Woo-jin soon, explaining the dungeon, and advising him not to tell the guild of the dungeon because it is illegal and to not leave any traces.
He will also add how he acquired the particularly lucrative dungeon just for a urgent need.
Then was only one thing Kim Woo-jin had to do.
Nodding and looking at him as if he were his savior.
'The last act.'
To Kim Woo-jin, it was the type of skit that he was best at.
Cheongwon-gu, Chungcheongbuk-do.
This place used to be a driving academy a long time ago, but only a scrap heap and broken used cars were left around.
A Damas appeared in a place where no one would notice even if a man died while screaming.
TurTurTur, the appearance of the cars and their breathtaking noise reminded one of beasts unknowingly entering their graves.
Soon, people started getting out of the car, one by one.
The people who appeared were specially equipped.
There wasn't anyone in a normal attire.
Everyone wore armor made of leather or metal and wore medieval weapons such as knives or sticks, axes, and bows on their backs and sides.
What was even more unusual was that the weapons they were holding were automatic rifles or guns.
"Clear."
"Clear."
Soon, wary men holding their gun scanned the area with their eyes and all focused on one place.
They noticed a distorted space between the parking spaces.
It was a dungeon gate.
"Hyung-nim, there it is."
"Yeah."
The last one to get out of the car, Park Je-soon, also checked the gate and nodded.
Then a man with his head down asked Park Je-soon a question in a careful manner.
"Excuse me, but isn't it more beneficial to just hang around here and catch a troll?"
Hearing the question, Park Je-soon chuckled lightly.
"Don't be so greedy. We would lose a lot if even one troll escapes outside."
"Ah."
"Oh, and trolls are hard to catch with a gun. There's nothing we can do if we miss it even once. So be sure to handle it when you can. Also... you know what to do, right?"
"Of course."
Park Je-soon, who was speaking, secretly turned his head.
The man, who was speaking with him, looked as well.
They looked at the nervous young man like hyenas who found a wounded deer. 'By all means, I have to make sure everything goes accordingly.'
Park Je-soon, who was looking at Kim Woo-jin, clenched his teeth.
'My fucking 100 million won.'
It was none other than the 100 million won he lent Kim Woo-jin.
He couldn't help but lend him the money.
To resolve Kim Woo-jin's suspicions and to take him to the next world with certainty, an irresistible bait was needed.
However, no matter how well a player makes money, 100 million won was not a small amount. Even if he were to hunt trolls.
Although trolls were a good source of money, it was also a monster that was too strong for a gun to handle.
Physical damage was ineffective, but they could be killed with close-range flame magic from a mage.
In other words, the danger for those who had to distract, fight, and lure them would increase substantially. If Park Je-soon was not a mage and didn't have to draw the trolls' attention while fighting, he would have never come to this dungeon.
'Damn it.'
At the fact that he lent 100 million won to someone he was going to kill agonized Park Je-soon.
'Let's just say it's the price for his life.'
Park Je-soon tried hard to console himself.
Kim Woo-jin came before him.
Kim Woo-jin first bowed.
"Thank you. To think that you would go this far just for me..."
At the sight, Park Je-soon pounded Kim Woo-jin's shoulder.
"A party member is the same as family. Don't bow over a small matter like this."
"Still, you got an illegal dungeon just for me. Furthermore, you lent me a lot of money as well."
Once again, when the money was mentioned, Park Je-soon Could barely keep his face calm.
"Do a good job this time and pay it back. If this dungeon is cleared properly, at least 50 million won will fall to every member."
"Thank you. I will work hard and pay you back."
The way Kim Woo-jin looked at Park Je-soon was like a believer looking at a savior from heaven.
That level of respect made Park Je-soon want to ridicule him.
'I will be able to collect about 100 million won from all the items he will drop after killing him anyway,'
Kim Woo-jin asked Park Je-soon a question.
"By the way, did anyone have any complaints? For going this far for my sake..."
In response, Park Je-soon shook his head.
"No such thing would ever happen. On the contrary, everyone listened to your story and readily agreed. Wasn't that what happened, Ilsu?"
In response, a big man who called Park Je-soon "hyung-nim" a little while ago, nodded his head. "By all means. It's just helping a new member of the family, we can at least do this much. Everyone feels the same way."
Immediately, there were words of agreement.
"I'd have to agree with you. As soon as I heard the story, I knew I had to help."
"Just buy me a drink later."
"Yes, the youngest will buy our celebration drink if he comes out alive!"
All the people who spoke glared at Kim Woo-jin.
It was the glare of a snake looking at a mouse in a corner.
'So everyone agreed, aight.'
Despite noticing the glares, Kim Woo-jin replied with a smile.
"Please take good care of me, I look forward to working with you all."
Kim Woo-jin's fourth dungeon hunt just got started.