It had been almost a year since he entered this world. It was a challenging year for Cale in many ways. Like everyone else, Cale had read a lot of web novels in his time.
Especially about the stories of souls who had passed into another world, but Cale had not had the luck they had.
For one thing, this world was not a place adjusted to his comfort. He didn't have the power to get adjustments to help the hero grow. Nor did he have people who could be his companions.
Most importantly, he did not know enough to survive in such a world. He knew very little about this world. He had to work hard. Many things happened to him that he did not know. Even though he survived each time, he became more and more curious.
Cale knew that someone or something had helped him when he was facing death. Maybe it was the shadow man he had seen before he entered this world. Or maybe it was when he was at home when he should have died in the forest, he didn't know how.
Cale could no longer be afraid of things and hold himself back like when he first came here. He had to take risks to survive. He wanted to change his life, which in the eyes of others was nothing more than a bug that could easily be crushed.
He wanted to survive.
So he could not wait for success to come to him. He was in no position to be arrogant. He could not forget what happened to him when he was using powers he could not even control.
He had to learn to live in a world where the slightest mistake could lead to death.
Entering a dungeon with a high mortality rate and believing that everything will be fine, that they will not be in danger, is not a show of confidence, but of stupidity.
If you are a hunter, you must be prepared for any situation and never let your guard down.
"Guest 6087458 please come in."
When Cale heard his number, he stood up and went to the person who had called him. They arrived in front of a metal door, led by a man in a black suit.
When he put his hand on the window in the door, the screen scanned his hand. Then the door opened and they entered.
Cale was so impressed by what he saw that he could not help looking around in awe.
On either side of the long and wide corridor were rows of large stone alcoves that looked like fireplaces. Cale could see people disappearing in a green flame after entering the alcove.
Near the doors he could see hunters with ghostly masks covering their faces. After walking for about fifteen minutes they came to the designated door.
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"From now on it's up to you," the man in the suit said as he turned away and the other man in the ghost mask led Cale to the door.
Once they were both in the alcove, the other man in the ghost mask directed the mana in his hand to the door they were in. When the door received enough mana, a green flame appeared around them.
Cale closed his eyes as the warm flame enveloped him and when he opened them, he found himself in another place.
Cale was only dizzy this time, whether it was because he had been teleported somewhere else through the portal before or not. Otherwise he felt fine.
He looked around and found himself in a forest. As Cale's body tensed, he couldn't help remembering the moment he had met death in such a forest.
"Are you nervous?" the man in the ghost mask asked, and Cale looked at him startled when he spoke for the first time. He had not expected him to speak to him.
"I'd be lying if I said no," he said, then looked ahead at the five guards guarding a portal door.
"They are guarding the location of the dungeon you are going to."
"I have to go through another portal?"
"Well it's a necessary security measure for dungeons."
When their short conversation was over, they passed through the portal guarded by the guards and entered a cave-like place. As soon as Cale stepped into the cave, he felt a chill down his spine from the energy.
"You felt it, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"It's the accumulated energy of the monsters in the dungeon. You don't have to worry too much, but you'll get used to it, no matter how new you are," he said hesitantly, looking at Cale. "Well, good luck," Cale nodded and entered the dungeon, which was like a red curtain.
As Cale's vision cleared, he felt the chill that enveloped his body. The first thing Cale did was to put on the black inflatable jacket he took out of his spatial pocket. He kept his body heat with the black leather gloves he wore on his hands.
When Cale looked at the deep cracks in the ground, he realized that there were signs of conflict.
The snow-covered area was completely deserted. There was not a trace of any animal or living creature in sight.
Cale checked his equipment in his spatial pocket to get used to the harsh environment. He had enough food and water for twenty days, not knowing how long he would be there.
"Let's get to work," he muttered to himself and started walking.
***
Cale looked at his opponent, who was staring at him from a tree in the snow-covered forest. The hunchbacked creature looked like a monkey, with long white fur and large crystalline blue eyes.
Its long claws and the speed with which it had just jumped from branch to branch were its most dangerous features. Cale prepared himself for this small but dangerous creature.
He didn't have to wait long. The glacier monkey opened its mouth and made strange noises, then jumped out of the tree to attack Cale.
As it approached Cale with its long, sharp claws, Cale was surprised by its speed and quickly backed away. There was a huge explosion where he had just been and the snow flew up.
When the ice monkey attacked a second time, Cale used his ability. The flying ice monkey hovered in the air for a moment and then, with a flick of Cale's hand, slammed hard into the trunk of the tree next to it.
Of course, this was not enough to kill the ice monkey, because the ice monkey was also stunned, but it was back on its feet. And even angrier.
This time the ice monkey started to attack more aggressively and quickly. Each time Cale avoided potentially fatal blows and the damage he inflicted on the ice monkey increased.
The more Cale fought, the more control he had over his skill. That's why he preferred to prolong his attacks rather than end them with a decisive blow. However, his training ended with the monkey with a hole in its chest from his last punch.
"Hah, what a pity," he muttered and went to the dying ice monkey. When he touched his wristband, the corpse had disappeared.
"Alright, let's move on," he said and went deeper into the forest.
***
"Huh...huh...huh...huh"
Cale was gasping for breath when he got down on one knee. Blood poured from the cuts on his cheeks. Cale grabbed the lower right corner of his abdomen with a groan as he killed the monkey with a single punch that swung its claw at the last moment.
He had been here for about ten days and the only monsters he had encountered were ice monkeys. But it was the way they traveled in packs that challenged him.
Before Cale killed the first ice monkey, he guessed that the strange noises the monkey made were meant to summon its herd.
The ice monkeys were too much of a challenge in a herd for one to be a problem. He took a deep breath and crouched on the floor of the cave he had found.
He was deep in the cave next to a hot spring.
As Cale groaned in pain, he cursed the money he didn't have. If he had bought even one of those expensive healing potions, he would be doing very well.
But he had to spend all his money on dungeon fees because he didn't know how much it would cost. He worked like a slave in the factory, but the money he earned was not enough to sustain him for even one day.
Cale looked at the black mark on his right arm. It was his hand, formed by chaos energy after his arm was severed. Even without anyone telling him, Cale knew that his arm was healed by this energy.
Cale grimaced at the blood flowing from the hole in his stomach. He took off his clothes and pressed his sweater to the wound. Cale wasn't sure about this method, but there seemed to be no other choice.
His face was pale. His lips were dry and bruised. There were dark circles under his eyes and he was sweating cold sweat.
He took a deep breath and removed the purple earring from his left ear. As soon as the earring was out of his ear, black veins appeared on his right hand.
With the intense dark energy surrounding his body, Cale gritted his teeth and tried to endure the pain that hurt worse than the wound in his stomach.
"Huh...huh...huh...huh"
He took a deep breath and forced the chaos energy to move towards the mana meridians. But the chaos energy was powerful and ferocious. It attacked Cale's body against his will.
Yet Cale did not give up. If he gave up, he could not use this power. His body somehow contained the chaos energy and Cale wanted to use it to his advantage.
He thought he would go mad from the pain. The veins on his forehead appeared and his breathing became heavy. When the sweat dripped from his forehead onto the floor of the cave, after a long time Cale's will had overcome the chaos energy.
Chaos began to circulate in the mana meridians, opening the blocked veins. As the blocked vessels opened, black slime-like fluids came out of Cale's body and fell to the cave floor.
The inverted black crescent glowing on his forehead acted as a mana pool, storing the chaos energy that circulated and purified in the meridians.
As the black energy circulated through the meridians, it became purer and purer, taking on a color reminiscent of the darkness of night. The black veins that had appeared on his body disappeared.
The wounds on Cale's body were closed without leaving black marks like the first time. Meanwhile, Cale had also undergone a body transformation. His facial features sharpened and his muscles strengthened. His lean body had gotten a little bigger and his muscles had built up as if he had been working out for months.
His physique was not overly muscular, but he now had a fit body to match his handsome face. When Cale opened his unconscious eyes, his red eyes flashed for a moment and then turned gray again.
After resting on the cave floor panting for a while, he decided to bathe in the hot water source he was standing next to because it smelled bad.
'I should be able to use chaos energy easily now'
'I have been here for about fifteen days and I am running low on food and water. I should go back after exploring this place a bit more'
Looking at the watch on his wrist, he saw that five days had already passed while he was purifying the chaos energy. He hadn't realized it at the time because he had lost his sense of time, but he no longer had enough equipment to stay here. Besides, he had already killed enough ice monkeys.
Since Cale hadn't settled into a house after washing, he took out clothes from the things he had with him and put them on. After putting the sweatshirt's hat on his head, he put on his coat and packed his things.
After he had eaten, he looked around the cave for a while, but then he left the cave, which had nothing special except a water source.
He continued to walk in the deserted area because of the ice monkeys that no longer appeared in the snow.
Three days later, when he found the exit of the dungeon, he checked his equipment with the guard waiting there. He then handed over the ice monkeys he had captured, paid the necessary commission fee, received 50,000 H and converted it into 50,000 C used in the outside world.
With the money Cale received, he left the black market through a different exit. The first thing he did after leaving the black market was to find a house where he would stay for six months.
He bought groceries and clothes for his one-room apartment. The only benefit he had gotten from this dungeon was selling ice monkeys, but Cale hoped to find useful items in the dungeons he entered in the future.
Especially monster cores. Since he couldn't use mana, they were useless for getting stronger, but he could sell them and make money.
Relaxing for the first time in months, he threw himself on his bed, closed his eyes and fell asleep.