Before Eun Sung had reached the entrance of the building, three black-clad men stepped in his path. Their stern faces and the slight bulges in their jackets told him all he needed to know.
"Well, well. So we're up bright and early today." The central one, the one with the scar running along his left eyebrow to his jaw, came forward. "Ready to receive your payment, Eun Sung?"
Eun Sung instinctively tensed his muscles. In his former life, he had mastered the skill of quickly assessing opponents—a skill which had served him in his countless battles. They were not monsters, but threatening.
"Mr. Hwang," said Eun Sung calmly. "The payment isn't due until Friday."
There wasn't any smile in Hwang's eyes. "Boss Han rearranged the schedule. We must get the money today."
"50 million won, the whole amount?" Eun Sung repeated, keeping his cool despite the alarm bells ringing in his head.
"True," the other man responded, cracking his knuckles. "They all came out on top."
In his past life, Eun Sung cowered in the face of these men, begging for extensions and working multiple jobs in hopes of making the minimum payments. But that was before the time the world ended. Before the moment in which he died and returned.
"I don't have it," Eun Sung said bluntly.
The atmosphere shifted in a split second. The three men subtly changed position, standing in a triangular pattern facing him. Classic intimidation tactics.
"That is unfortunate," Hwang said, grabbing his jacket. "Boss Han doesn't take kindly to delays."
Eun Sung made a quick assessment of his options. With his wretched stats, fighting was out of the question. Running wouldn't solve the underlying issue. And he had to get to the dungeon.
"I can have it by this evening," Eun Sung said, a plan forming in his mind. "Doubled, too."
It made them stop.
"Double?" Hwang raised his eyebrows. "What can a F-rank good-for-nothing do?"
"My business," Eun Sung said. "Tell Boss Han I'll get him his 100 million by tonight at 8 o'clock. And if I fail, I'll add another 50 million to my debt."
The men looked at each other in astonishment at this surprising audacity in someone who normally quailed in their presence.
"Brave words for the son of a dead man," taunted Hwang. "OK. 8 o'clock. But if you fall short by a single won."
"I will not," Eun Sung said firmly.
The men parted after a brief moment of tension, allowing him to pass. Eun Sung felt the eyes piercing his back as he walked away.
Stepping out of view, he exhaled a long sigh. "That was close."
System Message
New Quest Created: Debt Collection
Objective: Acquire 100 million won by today at 8 PM.
Reward: Debt reduced, All stats increased by 2, Shadow mastery up by 1%
Failure: Debt increased by 50 million won, HP decreased to 1
He read the message. The system made his real-life problem into a quest, with rewards and penalties. "At least the rewards are good," he complained.
As he walked towards the dungeon location, his mind went back to how the whole fiasco started.
---
Ten years ago, when Eun Sung was eight years old, his father had borrowed money from Han's group in order to start up a business. The loan was at first acceptable—20 million won with manageable interest. But when his dad suddenly died in a traffic accident, Han called in the loan at once.
Lacking the money with which to repay it, Eun Sung's mom had been driven to take out still more loans just to cover the interest. The loan ballooned, growing with usurious interest fees and phony "fees" until it reached the stifling 700 million won hanging over Eun Sung.
She struggled until she passed away working to erode the seemingly impossible amount. She fainted at her third job one day, and when Eun Sung reached the hospital, she was dead.
He was fourteen at the time, alone, with a debt which he could never repay. The orphanage had provided for him until the age of eighteen, but Han's people never forgot the debt.
When the awakening happened throughout the world and Eun Sung had created his shadow element, for a moment, he dared to dream his life could be different. Instead, his F-rank ranking and useless Sacrifice skill only confirmed everyone's view of him—he was the cursed child, of no use.
---
The memory disappeared when Eun Sung made a turn and caught sight of a narrow alleyway which brought him to the entrance of the dungeon. The E-rank shadow dungeon, as indicated by his system map, was located behind a ruined convenience store in this sordid part of Seoul.
"100 million in an E-rank dungeon?" he grumbled. "Is it really possible?"
He pulled out his phone and checked the real-time market price for monster crystals. Shadow element crystals found in E-rank dungeons were selling for between 500,000 to 1 million won each, depending on the size and quality. A minimum of 100 of the smaller crystals or 50 of the medium crystals were required by him.
In his previous life, he never once cleared a dungeon alone. An E-rank dungeon was too dangerous for F-rank awakened people. Most did it in groups of at least three.
"But I have knowledge which they don't," reminded Eun Sung. Although his stats were low, he knew the weaknesses of the monsters, weak points, and strategies through his years of experience in his previous life.
As he approached the vacant shop, he noticed the subtle shine in the atmosphere marking the open dungeon gate. Invisible to ordinary humans, it was visible as a distortion in the area for the awakeners.
System Message
E-Rank Dungeon Discovered: Shadow Pit
Recommended Rank: E or higher Estimated Monsters: 30-50
Time left: 12 hours until dungeon restart
Warning: Below recommended statistical levels. Use with caution.
Eun Sung gripped his kitchen knife in his hand. This wasn't ideal, but it was the only choice he had. He needed money, and he needed to increase his shadow mastery. This dungeon would do both.
He took a deep breath and stepped through the gate.
The world spun around him, daylight replaced by an unearthly darkness. The broken-up inside of the convenience store became a vast underground cavern with stalactites hanging from the ceiling. The air was cool and wet, with the unmistakable scent of shadow creatures—like ozone mixed with rotting greenery.
He hunched over, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. Far off in the distance, he saw the glowing red eyes of shadow rats—the weakest of the E-rank shadow dungeon dwellers, still potentially dangerous to an inexperienced F-rank awakener.
[System Message] Quest "First Step" location reached. Defeat 5 shadow element monsters to begin unlocking your potential.
Ten years ago, in his previous life, he was terrified of dungeons. Now, they were the gateway to his rise to power.
"Time to hunt," he whispered, sneaking up to the first monster.