Chapter 93 – Namhansanseong

“Thank you for your work. This is for moving expenses.”

The moving company worker was startled by the envelope from Min Do-jun.

It was thicker than expected.

“I added a bit extra for your hard work.”

“Oh my, thank you!”

From the thickness, it wasn’t just a bit extra.

The worker bowed deeply, sensing it was nearly double the usual amount.

“Please call us again if you need to move.”

“Alright.”

“Then be happy and healthy!”

After the worker left, Min Do-jun headed to the living room.

A stunning night view spread before his eyes.

‘The Han River view is quite nice indeed.’

His new place was a luxury apartment on the 50th floor overlooking the Han River.

Though the 4 billion won price tag put it out of reach for most people, Min Do-jun bought it without hesitation.

Because he knew property values would keep rising.

‘With no dungeons nearby, prices will keep going up. It’s not even a location where an S-rank dungeon will appear.’

Meanwhile, the land his uncles invested in…

‘Was ruined.’

It became worthless when an S-rank dungeon appeared as predicted.

He could still clearly picture their excited faces from months ago, talking about investing their life savings.

‘Nothing could be done about it.’

It wasn’t something he could have prevented anyway.

Even if he’d warned them about falling land values, they wouldn’t have believed him.

‘And I didn’t want to either.’

Anyway, moving to the new apartment felt refreshing.

‘I’ll hold onto my parents’ apartment for now.’

He planned to keep his parents’ inheritance for the time being.

It wouldn’t sell for much anyway, just a few hundred million won.

Done admiring the view, he lay down in bed.

He needed to conserve energy since he’d be heading to a new dungeon tomorrow.

* * *

As soon as day broke, Min Do-jun headed to Namhansanseong with Park Dong-yun.

Despite the early hour, the place was already crowded upon arrival.

Not because it was a tourist attraction.

“Oppa!”

“Look over here!”

“Hunter oppa!”

It was because of fans coming to see the A-rank hunters.

‘It’s unbearably noisy.’

This place had particularly many fans even among A-rank dungeons.

It was already a popular tourist spot, and the government heavily promoted it as the first A-rank dungeon.

‘What nonsense about being the first A-rank dungeon. Technically, the Rock Lizard dungeon was first.’

Dungeons are generated according to awakened ones’ growth rates.

Like how game restrictions are lifted one by one after reaching max level.

Therefore, the “first” title should rightfully go to the Rock Lizard dungeon, the lowest difficulty A-rank dungeon.

It was actually the first A-rank dungeon to appear.

Yet the government promoted Namhansanseong as the first A-rank dungeon.

When questioned about this, the government always made the same excuse.

That it was the first dungeon created after hunters reached A-rank.

‘If that’s the case, they should have introduced it as the first level 1,600 dungeon.’

But the government kept promoting Namhansanseong, and as intended, it became South Korea’s most popular tourist attraction.

‘And now we get this unwanted attention because of it.’

Min Do-jun walked under people’s gazes after getting out of the car.

“Is he a hunter too?”

“Hm? His face looks familiar.”

“Isn’t he that guy? The one who stopped the dungeon break on YouTube.”

“Ah! That magic swordsman?”

“But why is he here?”

“He couldn’t have reached level 1,600 already, right?”

Ignoring the whispers, Min Do-jun approached the hunters.

“Ah, our last member has arrived. You’re the hunter?”

“Yes.”

“Nice to meet you. Now that all six are here, let’s introduce ourselves. I’m Jeon Jin-sik from Black Flame Guild. Level 1,850, assassin and damage dealer position.”

“I’m Jo Tae-ung from Nice Guild. Level 1,720 mage and ranged damage dealer.”

“Kim Han-seop from Flame Guild. Level 1,775 axe warrior…”

Everyone took turns stating their levels and classes.

They would subtly smile when someone mentioned a lower level or less prestigious guild than their own.

Showing their superiority complex by looking down on others.

‘Why would they act like this with teammates? Tsk.’

Min Do-jun clicked his tongue internally.

While hunters comparing themselves wasn’t anything new, wasn’t it a waste of emotion to act this way with team members?

When his turn came, Min Do-jun spoke with an indifferent expression.

“I’m Min Do-jun. Level 1,600 magic swordsman, melee damage dealer.”

“Magic swordsman?”

The hunters frowned at the unfamiliar class.

“Your affiliation?”

“Ilsan branch.”

“Branch…? So the Hunter Management Center…”

Some members subtly smiled at hearing he had no guild.

Followed by looks of disdain.

‘This is why I hate partying with strangers.’

In this aspect, joining a guild would actually be more comfortable.

There’d be no such looks from guild members you’ve worked with.

‘I’d prefer to solo, but without priority rights…’

Without the Solo Raider’s Necklace, there was no reason to insist on soloing, but.

‘Better to hunt alone than be tied to a party receiving such looks.’

Parties inevitably had various restrictions when hunting.

The hunters’ mocking gazes shifted to the last remaining person.

“I’m Kim Ji-hoon from Emperor Guild. Level 2,001, one-handed sword warrior. Position is melee DPS.”

The hunters’ eyes widened at hearing he was over level 2,000.

His level was overwhelmingly higher than the other five.

“E-Emperor Guild…”

“Heh…”

It wasn’t just the level that surprised them.

Emperor Guild was Korea’s largest and most famous guild.

‘They’d be ranked first.’

Envy poured from the party members’ eyes.

It was a guild everyone desired.

Most would probably switch guilds even with penalty fees if Emperor Guild made them an offer.

Of course, Min Do-jun remained expressionless.

He’d already confirmed this information through Weakness Analysis.

‘Since I can see their weaknesses, none of them are stronger than me.’

Perhaps that’s why the 2,000+ level didn’t excite him.

After all, Min Do-jun had raided with party members over level 4,000 in the past.

Level 2,000 seemed relatively low in comparison.

‘With that level, he could move to the next dungeon, so why hunt here?’

He felt more curious than impressed.

“Haha, I thought I’d be the highest level here… but our leader is decided.”

Jeon Jin-sik, who’d said he was level 1,850, sheepishly scratched his head while yielding the leader position.

It was an unwritten rule in the hunter industry that the highest level person becomes leader.

Kim Ji-hoon nodded and didn’t decline.

As if expecting it naturally, he took on the leader role.

“Since we’re a DPS composition without tank or support, we should carefully take them one at a time. Let’s equip our gear before entering.”

The hunters equipped their gear without argument at Kim Ji-hoon’s words.

Being A-rank hunters, their equipment was dazzling.

“Oppa, you’re so cool!”

“Go kill those dirty monsters!”

The six hunters entered the entrance amid fans’ cheers.

* * *

[Namhansanseong Giant Centipede Dungeon]

-Difficulty: A

-Party limit: 6 people

-Entry requirement: Level 1,600+

-Clear objective: Obtain 1 each of Giant Centipede’s Blue Shell and Red Shell

-Failure penalty: 5% damage reduction debuff (Duration: 1 year)

-Time limit: 12 hours

-Time until dungeon break: 115 hours 16 minutes 51 seconds

Inside a cave covered entirely in dirt.

The party members held their weapons tensely in the moisture-filled space.

“As you know, our objective here is item collection. We need to gather two types of centipede shells.”

The raid ends when anyone obtains both shells.

In other words, they just need one each of the blue and red shells.

“However, obtaining shells is no easy task. You need to kill hundreds of centipedes for them to possibly drop.”

The party members nodded in agreement.

None of them were inexperienced with the centipede dungeon.

“Our goal is to kill as many centipedes as possible within the time limit to obtain shells. Being careless and getting the penalty would be the worst loss.”

The 5% damage reduction penalty was especially painful for DPS players.

“For combat strategy, our two ranged DPS will initiate, then four melee DPS will rush in for the quick kill. Let’s move out.”

As Kim Ji-hoon took the lead, the party members followed.

The mage floated fire magic to light the darkness as they advanced slowly.

While leading, Kim Ji-hoon occasionally looked back to check if anyone had fallen behind.

‘Everyone’s following well.’

Though he explained various things as leader, he wasn’t too worried.

Given their high levels, they must all have experience clearing the centipede dungeon.

‘Except one.’

Kim Ji-hoon turned to look at one person following behind.

The hunter with the flickering sword and lowest level in the party.

‘Min Do-jun, was it?’

Not only was his magic swordsman class unique, but his weapon was something never seen before.

‘Is this really the person ranked first on Emperor Guild’s recruitment list?’

Almost everyone in Korea knows about Emperor Guild.

Other major guilds like Wanted and Blue Dragon couldn’t compare to Emperor Guild.

They dominated in every aspect – recognition, revenue, company growth, hunter levels, benefits.

While many hunters wanted to join, Emperor Guild wasn’t easy enough to accept just anyone.

Befitting their reputation as the best guild, they only recruited the best talent.

But they didn’t immediately make offers even to rumored exceptional talents.

They verified rumors through their own methods, employing Emperor Guild hunters.

Having hunters remember names on the recruitment list and verify skills directly when meeting in dungeons.

This was the most suitable method for skill verification, as hunters’ eyes were more accurate than civilian recruiters.

‘It’s certain. Given the name Min Do-jun and magic swordsman class, he matches our top recruitment priority.’

Kim Ji-hoon quickly turned away when his eyes met Min Do-jun’s while pretending to count team members.

‘Does this hunter really have skills worthy of top priority?’

Though pretending otherwise, Kim Ji-hoon’s attention was focused solely on Min Do-jun.

He planned to verify Min Do-jun’s skills and report back to Emperor Guild.

Of course, he wasn’t doing this just for fun.

‘They said there’s a 2% signing bonus incentive for successful recruitment?’

It was a chance to earn extra money.

But for that, Min Do-jun needed to demonstrate talent-worthy skills.

‘I’ll know soon enough.’

Moments later, a centipede crawled out of the darkness.

A giant centipede 15 meters long with a glowing blue carapace.

“It’s a blue giant centipede!”

“Everyone prepare for battle!”

The party members moved in unison to prepare for the approaching centipede.

“Mages, initiate!”

Magic flew before he finished speaking, as if they were already planning to.

*BOOM BOOM!*

*CRASH!*

The writhing centipede, seemingly angered by pain, crawled forward rapidly.

Simultaneously, the DPS rushed in and unleashed skills from all directions.

The mages continued launching spells.

Lacking a tank was a flaw, but the firepower of six DPS was enough to instantly butcher one centipede.

*Hisssss*

The centipede, cut into several pieces, vanished into smoke.

“Everyone’s coordination is good.”

“That was easier than expected?””

While party members celebrated their first battle, Kim Ji-hoon stared at Min Do-jun with surprised eyes.

‘W-what is this…’

Though others might not have seen it, he had witnessed it.

Min Do-jun’s skill.