Chapter 123 – Swamp Crocodile Dungeon

As soon as he entered the dungeon, Min Do-jun was greeted by a dense jungle.  

‘I have to collect 800 crocodile hides within 18 hours.’  

At first glance, the mission seemed easy—but only for a full party. Hunting alone, time might be tight.  

‘800 crocodile hides…’  

Crocodile hides were dungeon-exclusive loot, dropping at a 50% rate from swamp crocodiles.  

‘To get 800, I’d need to kill at least 1,600.’  

To clear it comfortably, he’d need to hunt 100 per hour.  

Six players working together could barely handle swamp crocodiles, but killing nearly two per minute alone? For an average level 2,000 player, it was impossible.  

But Min Do-jun was far from average. For him, this was just a warm-up.  

‘It’s not just about the hides. I also need the Tough Tree Sap.’  

Tough Tree Sap was a rare drop from the dungeon’s other monster, the Swamp Tree Spirit.  

‘If I have to get both the hides and the sap… 18 hours might not be enough.’  

Giving up one would make things easier, but he didn’t want to abandon either.  

‘Today might be my last solo run this year. I’ll achieve everything I came for.’  

Technically, it wouldn’t be his last solo run—he still had personal dungeons—but higher-tier dungeons would require a party.  

Crunch… crunch…  

As he walked through the swamp, Min Do-jun spotted a crocodile lurking just beneath the water’s surface, its eyes fixed on him.  

The crocodile stepped onto land, glaring at the intruder in its territory.  

Grrrr…  

‘It’s huge.’  

Five times larger than a normal crocodile, its menacing face was even more terrifying.  

At least, to an ordinary person.  

‘To me, it’s just a big reptile.’  

Having hunted countless monsters in his past life, Min Do-jun found crocodiles almost cute.  

Whether it knew that or not, the crocodile kept its threatening glare, waiting for the right moment to strike.  

Then—  

SNAP!  

Despite its size, it lunged with terrifying speed, jaws wide open.  

‘What would happen if those teeth bit me?’  

With his trait reducing physical damage by 50%, it probably wouldn’t hurt too much.  

A pointless thought, really.  

Min Do-jun sidestepped.  

Even if it wouldn’t hurt, he had no intention of getting bitten.  

Chomp!  

The crocodile’s teeth closed on empty air. Immediately, it tried to whip its tail at its prey.  

But—  

Slash! Slash!  

Before it could, Min Do-jun’s Ghost Blade sliced it apart.  

[EXP +24,000]  

[Crocodile Hide acquired.]  

‘Not bad.’  

The satisfying EXP and a good start fueled his hunting spirit.  

‘Hey, Au, remember last time?’  

[Woof!]  

‘Time for a mob hunt.’  

Following his master’s will, the Ghost Wolf used Howling.  

[Awooooo!]  

While Au ran around, drawing aggro with its wide-area taunt, Min Do-jun slaughtered crocodiles and ventured deeper into the jungle.  

‘It should be here.’  

His real goal was the Swamp Tree Spirit and its Tough Tree Sap.  

‘Like the swamp crocodiles, it’s just a weakling…’  

But finding it wasn’t easy.  

Because it disguised itself as an ordinary tree.  

‘It’s somewhere among these hundreds of trees…’  

A jungle filled with trees, and one of them was a monster in hiding.  

‘But honestly, that tree looks suspicious.’  

Outwardly, they were identical. Telling them apart was impossible.  

‘It’s non-aggressive, too, so it won’t attack first.’  

Unlike other monsters, the tree spirit treated humans like rocks—completely indifferent.  

That made it even harder to find.  

‘I could hit each one to check for reactions…’  

But with so many trees, that would take forever.  

Then, a distant rumbling sound reached his ears.  

Thud! Thud! Thud!  

[Awooo!]  

Turning toward the noise, Min Do-jun saw Au being chased by a horde of thirty crocodiles—the result of its Howling gathering aggro.  

‘Ah. That’s one way.’  

An idea struck him.  

‘Au, don’t come to me. Go that way.’  

Min Do-jun pointed toward the dense jungle.  

Au turned mid-air and dashed into the trees.  

The crocodile horde followed without hesitation, ignoring Min Do-jun entirely as they pursued the wolf.  

Thud! Thud! Thud!  

Their short legs moved with surprising speed, making them both terrifying and comical.  

Snap! Snap!  

But their frenzy to tear Au apart was no joke.  

‘They might catch him. Au, full offense!’  

[Woof!]  

Doubling its speed, Au weaved through the jungle, dodging trees.  

The crocodiles, however, plowed straight through, smashing trees aside like dominoes.  

Crash! Crack! Crack!  

Min Do-jun’s job was simple: follow the crocodiles and watch for any fleeing trees.  

‘Found it.’  

Amid the ordinary trees, one moved its roots to escape—the Swamp Tree Spirit.  

‘Oh no, you don’t.’  

Not letting it get away, Min Do-jun fired a Fire Blast.  

Boom!  

Weak to fire, the tree spirit shattered instantly.  

[EXP +20,400]  

Less EXP than the crocodiles, and no sap dropped.  

‘Didn’t expect it in one try.’  

No reason to be disappointed yet—he’d only killed one.  

Min Do-jun turned his gaze elsewhere.  

More trees were fleeing.  

‘You’re all mine.’  

With a wicked grin, he gave chase.  

—  

Dungeon time limits were set based on the difficulty of the objectives.  

For a party of six, collecting 800 crocodile hides in 18 hours wasn’t too hard.  

But solo? Tight.  

He’d have to do the work of six people alone.  

Unless he was capable of far more than that.  

‘Gust Blade, Enchant Sword.’  

Summoning wind blades and buffing his Ghost Blade, Min Do-jun added wind属性 to his attacks.  

‘Swamp crocodiles are weak to wind.’  

Charging into the horde, he swung downward.  

‘Magnum Burst.’  

A fan-shaped blast of wind tore through the crocodiles.  

The skill’s effect changed based on weapon属性, making it far deadlier than before.  

Boom!  

Ten crocodiles were shredded instantly.  

[EXP +24,000]  

[EXP +24,000]  

[EXP +24,000]  

[Crocodile Hide acquired.]  

[Crocodile Hide acquired.]  

[Crocodile Hide acquired.]  

The skill’s range was limited, so some crocodiles survived.  

Whoosh!  

Closing the distance in a flash, Min Do-jun cut them down with swift strikes.  

Slash! Slash! Slash!  

With the buff from Battle God’s Wrath, nothing could stand in his way.  

Crocodiles fell helplessly, yielding EXP and hides.  

“Phew.”  

After the battle, the area was cleared.  

‘Status window.’  

– Objective Progress: Crocodile Hides (787/800)  

– Remaining Time: 12:11:15  

Not even six hours had passed, and he was almost done.  

‘Mob hunting really is the best.’  

The method was simple:  

1. Min Do-jun hunted solo while Au gathered crocodiles.  

2. Once enough were gathered, he wiped them out with Magnum Burst.  

3. Au went to gather more while he resumed hunting.  

Repeating this dozens of times had nearly completed the objective.  

Doing it one by one would’ve taken far longer.  

‘I even leveled up five times.’  

High-level dungeons gave better EXP than hunting tigers.  

He’d also picked up some decent A-grade gear and magic stones.  

‘Just a few more hides, but I can’t leave yet.’  

He could clear the dungeon now, but he wouldn’t.  

‘Still need the Tough Tree Sap.’  

He’d hunted plenty of crocodiles but not enough tree spirits.  

Not that he was impatient.  

‘There’s plenty of time.’  

With 12 hours left, he’d get the sap eventually.  

‘Finding them isn’t a problem anymore.’  

[Multiple targets detected.]  

[Nearest target: 22m away.]  

Now that he’d memorized their scent, identifying tree spirits was easy.  

And killing them—stationary as mannequins—was even easier.  

Creak…  

Transforming his Ghost Blade into an axe, Min Do-jun stood before a tree.  

Outwardly, it looked normal.  

But—  

Thunk!  

Screeeech!  

The moment his axe struck, it screamed and writhed.  

[EXP +20,400]  

‘Good. Now I can focus on the tree spirits.’  

Smiling in satisfaction, Min Do-jun began chopping his way through the forest.  

—  

Park Dong-yun couldn’t enjoy his rare free time.  

An unwelcome guest had ruined it.  

“How long do you plan to wait?”  

“Until the hunter comes out.”  

“Let me say it again: our hunter has no intention of giving an inter—”  

“I’ll ask and find out.”  

Arms crossed, Go Du-sik showed no sign of leaving.  

Park Dong-yun sighed.  

“Do what you want. Don’t blame me if something happens.”  

As Park Dong-yun walked away, Go Du-sik smirked.  

‘This is definitely an exclusive.’  

A reporter’s instinct told him:  

Whoever was inside didn’t want this situation exposed.  

The manager’s resistance only confirmed it.  

‘Unwanted attention makes for great headlines.’  

He didn’t know why an S-rank-level hunter was soloing a level 2,000 dungeon, but an interview would reveal everything.  

‘Even if they refuse, it’s fine. I know most top-rankers’ faces—just identifying them is enough.’  

A top-ranked hunter soloing a dungeon?  

Add some personal speculation, a few lies, and it’d be clickbait gold.  

‘If they agree to an interview, even better…’  

For now, he was content with the scoop.  

Checking the time:  

‘Still six hours left.’  

He’d been waiting for twelve, but the hunter showed no signs of emerging.  

‘Well, solo runs take longer—’  

Then, the portal’s color shifted.  

Someone stepped out.  

Min Do-jun.  

‘Who’s this? I don’t recognize him.’  

Go Du-sik only memorized top-rankers’ faces, and Min Do-jun wasn’t one of them.  

‘No matter. Soloing a 6-player dungeon—and clearing it six hours early—is news enough!’  

Now, he just needed to identify the hunter.  

‘I thought it might be Shin Kyung-min or Kang Hyuk-su, but no.’  

Given the unfamiliar face, he guessed it was someone around rank 30.  

“Hunter-nim!”  

Park Dong-yun rushed over and started explaining.  

“This guy wouldn’t leave! He insisted on interviewing you—!”  

Go Du-sik approached nervously.  

“Hello! I’m Go Du-sik, a reporter for DaeMun Daily’s Hunter Division—”  

“Get lost.”  

Min Do-jun’s eyes radiated killing intent.  

“Unless you want to die.”