It did not take long for the A+ class dungeon to become a big event that created a sensation in the Korean Peninsula.
[A+ Rank Dungeon Expedition, 12 Guilds Confirmed to Participate] [Government, "Given Out as Fairly as Possible"] [Messiah Guild 20 Seats Secured!] [Phoenix Guild 20 Seats Secured!]
The government worked incredibly fast, and accordingly, the press fanned the news.
[Waiting for the best prospects in Korea!] [Special! Super Rookie 7 Interview!]
A feature article plastered the portal site and a special broadcast dominated the channel.
[Popular singer Jung Yi-sung and Lee Jung-hyeop, a member of the Phoenix guild, shows off their friendship!]
[Top model Han Yeo-jin, spending sweet time with lover promising star Jung Joo-hyuk from the Haitai Guild!]
The celebrities made the event even hotter, as if they had been waiting for it.
The guilds who had secured spots also took advantage of this opportunity to spread their names.
[Skull Guild, "We will prove our guild's potential!"] [Haitai Guild. "We will show results that exceed everyone's imagination!"]
Naturally, citizens and netizens also threw themselves into the blaze.
As expected, most of the internet activity that the public created were fired at the Messiah Guild.
Anyway, the Republic of Korea was crowded with stories regarding the A+ rank dungeon.
However, there was a separate area that was alienated from such a world.
Foreign Casino, The Oasis City, located in Yeongjong Island, Incheon, did not see a single bit of heat created by the A+class dungeon.
The private room with a table where Kim Woo-jin entered was the same.
"We have arrived."
There were no signs of anxiety or crises in the room that Kim Woo-jin just entered under the surveillance of countless bodyguards.
Everyone looked at their cards with a serene expression on their faces, and the chips moved mechanically.
Among them, a big guy wearing a white suit and biting a cigar looked at Kim Woo-jin.
A short sports haircut, tough look, and ugly looks reminded him of gangsters who were the main characters of this kind of stage.
'It's been a long time.'
Then, the man wearing a white suit moved his jaw and a man with a highly contrasting look approached Kim Woo-jin.
It was a man with a small frame, torn eyes, prominent proboscis, and really unruly teeth like a rat in a ditch.
"He, Hello?"
The man's mouth awkwardly gave out a Korean word.
It was typical of Japanese people who barely learned Korean.
"Have you prepared the goods?"
"Yes."
Kim Woo-jin had to act desperately in front of him.
'Still an unbelievable guy that I can't laugh at.'
The actors were Konsuke Hayashi and Kim Woo-jin who was barely holding back his laughter in front of his face.
It was just as he said.
Konsuke Hayashi, the man who Kim Woo-jin wanted to meet, was the sloppy man in front of him.
The man who offered the plus ring to the King of the Undead and ruled the black market, encompassing all of Asia with his support, trading illegal weapons, drugs, humans, and even countries.
'Perhaps...'
He was also a man with a very cruel spirit.
Even if it wasn't profitable, he would be more than happy to kill a woman when he was in the mood to do so.
He had many talents and methods to turn human bodies into money.
Of course, he also had many enemies.
Nevertheless, he survived. He survived even longer than Kim Woo-jin.
'Maybe the Messiah Guild is behind him.'
That was the only thing that made Kim Woo-jin hesitant.
Before he died, Park Shin-hye had told him.
That she was going to make a deal with the King of the Undead.
It was highly likely that the Messiah Guild put in a lot of effort to find out where Hayashi Konsuke, who was supporting the King of the Undead resided.
Otherwise, there was a high possibility that they already had a contact from the start.
Of course, that wasn't important right now.
"Here are the goods."
Kim Woo-jin handed over the travel carrier that he had brought.
"Ah!"
Konsuke Hayashi received the bag.
After handing over the bag, Kim Woo-jin asked.
"If there was a dungeon you were planning to give to brother Park Je-soon, would you introduce it to me?"
These words made Konsuke Hayashi narrow his eyes to an extent.
His already small eyes made it hard to see it.
However, the look in his tapered eyes was certainly different.
"Bos, I will in, inform the boss."
After speaking, Konsuke Hayashi approached the man playing poker, and the man glanced at Kim Woo-jin.
Kim Woo-jin smiled back at his glare.
'He took the bait.'
From now on, Konsuke Hayashi will conduct a more aggressive investigation of Kim Woo-jin. Naturally, he will see how fucked-up Kim Woo-jin was before the world turned into a game. Based on that, he will conclude that Kim Woo-jin is not an ordinary guy, and that he is a man with a hidden skill set.
'Now he'll deliver the bait to Park Yong-wan.'
All that information will go to Park Yong-wan.
'And to Park Yong-wan, there's no better candidate than me to be his eyes.'
Then Kim Woo-jin will achieve what he wanted.
Konsuke Hayashi approached him and handed him a chip.
"Here's the chip. Take the chip and go outside and the dealer will exchange it. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
Kim Woo-jin replied to the question.
"I actually didn't bring a car. Could you call me a taxi? You only have to give me some taxi fee."
Hannam-dong, Yongsan District, Seoul.
In one of Korea's most famous courtyards was a stage where even most wealthy people couldn't get close to.
There was a place where the heads of Korean conglomerates lived.
It was a castle.
A place where one had to be granted permission from the nobles of the castle to even be allowed to be their neighbors.
There was a man whom the owners of the castle had invited.
"Kim Woo-jin? I think I heard of this name before."
The protagonist was a handsome 29 year old man with a model-like body, who received a report from a beautiful secretary in a private mansion once owned by the head of the nation's No. 2 conglomerate.
"You've probably heard of it during the transforming slime incident."
Park Yong-wan.
Affiliated with the Phoenix Guild, he was the eighth player in Korea to reach level 100.
That was enough to make him their neighbor, as one of the absolute authorities in the Republic of Korea.
More than anything else, was there a better neighbor than someone who can tear a monster's body with his bare hands in a world full of monsters?
"The guy that got the boss monster by stabbing his helpers in the back."
"Oh, him. The guy who's commonly referred to as a 'son of a bitch'?"
He was now talking about Kim Woo-jin.
"At that time, I was told he was definitely not normal."
Moreover, Park Yong-wan knew that Kim Woo-jin was not a son of a bitch who, as everyone claimed, lacked actual abilities.
It was natural for him to know.
"Yes, that's how Baek Woo-suk testified."
Park Yong-wan was one of the people who initially spread the bad rumors about Kim Woo-jin. "After that, we worked on it so that there wouldn't be any noise."
To be precise, Park Yong-wan's faction did the job.
"But now, Hayashi sent you a profile of him?"
Now the name of Kim Woo-jin has been mentioned once again.
"He went into a dungeon with Park Je-soon's party but he was the only one who came back alive?"
Following his name came the news of death of Park Je-soon's death, a subordinate that Park Yong-wan cared a bit about.
"Well, Park Je-soon was too greedy considering his level of ability, so it wouldn't be strange for him to go to hell at anytime."
Of course, he didn't feel even a drop of sadness about Park Je-soon's death.
To Park Yong-wan, he was nothing more than a useful horse.
"It's a shame though. I was going to use him as much as I could and get rid of him at the end."
Instead, Park Yong-wan was planning to eliminate him quietly after he had fulfilled his use.
"So, what do you think?"
"It's possible that Park Je-soon knew Kim Woo-jin in the past. As you know, Park Se-joon was acquainted with gangsters that were active in Gangnam before becoming a player. It's not unusual for him to know Kim Woo-jin. He might have hired him after Kim Woo-jin become a player. Actually, it was Park Je-soon who first contacted Kim Woo-jin. I heard that Park Je-soon called Kim Woo-jin to his office."
"What is the possibility that Kim Woo-jin handled Park Je-soon?"
"Even if Park Je-soon's abilities fall short when it comes to killing monsters, he's not the type of person to get stabbed in the back by a player. Above all, Kim Woo-jin's contact with Konsuke Hayashi via Park Je-soon's communication network indicates that they at least had a partner-level relationship."
Park Yong-wan nodded.
"So, Kim Woo-jin is someone who hid his abilities, and now he's a free agent after Park Je-soon's death, right?"
"Yes."
"Your opinion?"
"He's certainly has something in mind. I'm sure there is room for negotiations. Above all, his background is clean. There are no signs of it being touched. His ability to survive has already been confirmed, so he doesn't seem to lack the skill to be a watchdog."
Watchdog.
That was why Park Yong-wan and his secretary took an interest in the little guy named Kim Woo-jin.
"I always knew, but there isn't a single player that I can trust even after I bought them items, paid them, and gave them all the support they needed."
Park Yong-won formed a six-member party to attack the A+ rank dungeon. He also equipped them with the best unique items he could find.
The amount of money he spent was considerable.
Instead of counting, it was easier to calculate how much he spent by the unit of commercial buildings in Garosu road.
Naturally, the only reason for such an investment was the possibility of securing a legendary item.
"But here I am trying to recruit a watchdog because I'm afraid of them betraying me. What the fuck? Right?"
But the problem was that there was no guarantee that the invested would be willing to hand over the legendary item once they had secured it.
Actually, there was nothing he could do if they tried to hide it.
"It's better to trust a congressman than a player."
First of all, Park Yong-wan knew better than anyone that the most treacherous people in the world were players.
"There's probably only one player in the world, Lee Se-joon, that could be trusted.
"Yeah, I can probably only trust that little bastard."
If one had to choose, one could only trust Messiah's Lee Se-joon.
Anyway, Park Yong-wan needed to send a watchdog to monitor his investment.
Kim Woo-jin now was being referred to as a possible to candidate.
"Well, then let's put him up as a possible candidate as well."
"Yes."
Of course, It didn't mean that he would be all-in on Kim Woo-jin.
From the beginning, even if he wanted to add Kim Woo-jin, it did not mean that he would be selected.
All Park Yong-wan could do was throw several balls.
"Throw the candidates, and the rest is up to the guild. Since the support team has a great influence in the selection, send a gift to team leader Jeong."
"Yes."
Now, all that was left was to wait to see which balls to be selected.
Busan.
Although it was still a chilly spring, things were beginning to heat up.
[April 15th, Dungeon Clear Begins!] [Stars are Gathering in Busan!] [Will a Legendary Item Make an Appearance?]
It was the heat created by an A+ rank dungeon, the second one to appear in Korea.
The parking lot of Bugyeong University, where the A+ rank dungeon was constructed by remodeling the university playground.
"Oh-my-God. Is there a motor show going on here?"
"It looks like all the best cars in the world have gathered here."
It was built for players and was packed with expensive cars that could be, most of the time, only seen through the use of a search engine.
"Bu, Bugatti! It's a Bugatti!"
"He, Here is a Koenigsegg!"
There were even multi-billion won hypercars, which were hard to see on the Korean soil.
They could hardly look at it due to how much they shined.
"Players are really well off."
"The players this time are on different levels. They are the most popular players, right?"
"Hell, some people even struggle to get a part-time job to pay off their college tuition..."
What's more, this group was the prospects of top guilds, who showed the brightest talents and skills. They were like stars in the eyes of the public.
Royal Order. In order words, they simply only accepted the best.
If someone were to tell them to ride a light car, they were type of people to flatten the car right there at that moment.
"Hmm?"
"Uh?"
A worn-out light car appeared where the only the best of the best were gathered.
"Hey, what's that?"
"What is it? Is that person crazy?"
"No. How did that person get in there with that car in the first place? I thought only players could park there, right?"
"Huh, you're right?"
Everyone, with a look of dismay on their faces, stared vacantly at the car looking for a parking space.
As if he had found a parking space, he entered between two cars that took up two parking spaces. "Oh, my fucking god!"
"Huk!"
Koenigsegg Agera and a Bugatti.
It was the moment when a light car stood proudly among the vehicles whose price exceeded 2 billion won per unit.
Soon, the door of the light car abruptly opened as if it was going to hit the Bugatti, and within, a man came out.
Kim Woo-jin. He appeared.
Upon arrival, he immediately looked at the car next to him.
A car that costed more than 3 billion won, and even more when options were added.
A type of car that people, who love cars, would deeply admire.
It left a deep impression even on Kim Woo-jin as he stood in front of the car and looked at it. 'Sigh. Parked correctly at least.'
That was all the appreciation he had for the car.
Kim Woo-jin did not have any more impressions of the car.
He didn't think about how to take the car key off the owner or how much he could make if he sold it secondhand.
'I'm glad things went as planned, though. And I didn't even have to reveal my ability."
At this moment, there was only one thing Kim Woo-jin was after in his mind.
'I'm the one who will get the Orc Lord's Fang.'
The item that this dungeon's boss monster, the Orc Champion had in his possession, Orc Lord's Fang.
That was Kim Woo-jin's target this hunt.
Konsuke Hayashi appears to be loosely inspired by Miura Goro, a Japanese diplomat/assassin, one of the most reviled figures in Korean history." (Explanation for such racist description)