Chapter 17 – Hidden Dungeon

Despite stopping the dungeon break and saving hundreds of people, Min Do-jun’s face showed no emotion.

‘I wasted too much time because of the dungeon break.’

His mind was filled only with worry about the hidden dungeon.

Fearing that the dungeon might disappear if too much time passed.

‘I need to find it before nightfall. It’ll be harder to find when it gets dark.’

The dungeon’s maintenance time was until midnight, but it would be better to find it while it was still bright, as it would be harder to search in the dark.

‘It should be somewhere around here…’

Min Do-jun pushed through the forest, tracing his past memories.

The reason he knew the location of the hidden dungeon was none other than:

‘Im Hyung-chan, that b*st*rd told me about this place.’

Im Hyung-chan was Min Do-jun’s high school classmate.

‘We were in the same class since freshman year, so we were quite close.’

Im Hyung-chan, who had always envied the enviable life of hunters, had been singing about becoming a hunter since his freshman year.

But being a hunter was a profession determined purely by luck.

There was no way one could become one just because they wanted to.

In the end, even at the age of 20, he failed to awaken and had no choice but to return to his hometown and take a job at the Hunter Management Center, his second choice.

Then, by chance, he discovered a hidden dungeon and informed his friend and awakened one, Min Do-jun, about it.

‘But it wasn’t free.’

Despite being friends, the guy demanded 10 million won in exchange, and Min Do-jun, after much deliberation, bought the information.

He went straight there, but ridiculously, he couldn’t enter due to the level 150 restriction.

Moreover, to add insult to injury, the dungeon disappeared after midnight.

‘Having worked at the Hunter Management Center, he must have known my level was low. He must have known the dungeon would disappear after some time too.’

Yet, why did he hide these facts from Min Do-jun and sell the information?

‘He wanted to screw me over.’

It was just a guess, but there was a high probability that he did it out of jealousy towards Min Do-jun for being an awakened one.

‘After that, I cut ties with that b*st*rd.’

He didn’t bother asking for a refund.

The guy insisted he didn’t know and there would be absolutely no refund, which made Min Do-jun lose any remaining affection for him.

‘That’s when I first learned. That you shouldn’t trust people easily. And that dungeons can disappear.’

As it turned out, that dungeon was a peculiar one among hidden dungeons that disappeared after a certain time.

‘That’s why I still remember it. Thanks to that damn b*st*rd.’

Perhaps because of that experience?

Since then, Min Do-jun didn’t trust people easily.

He always kept his distance and was suspicious.

Then he met Cha Ye-rin, his life partner, and his heart softened, but…

‘To think I’d be backstabbed like this again.’

He never thought he’d be killed by fellow hunters.

‘Now I won’t be fooled like before.’

Backstab before getting backstabbed.

With that mindset, he was heading to the hidden dungeon discovered by Im Hyung-chan.

To monopolize the rewards of the dungeon that guy had found.

‘Here it is.’

As he pushed through the bushes, a small entrance like a fox den appeared.

It was the hidden dungeon he had been searching for so desperately.

‘To think I’d face the dungeon I wanted to conquer before regression like this…’

He had always regretted not being able to conquer it due to his low level, but he never expected to fulfill that desire like this.

[Sangseongri Maze Dungeon (Hidden)]

-Difficulty: D

-Person Limit: 1

-Entry Requirement: Level 150 or higher

-Conquest Goal: None

-Failure Penalty: None

-Time Limit: 3 hours

-Dungeon Break Possibility: None

-Remaining Entries: 1

-Time Until Disappearance: 5 hours 43 minutes 22 seconds

Hidden dungeons have common characteristics.

First, there’s no dungeon break.

And only one person can enter.

Because of this, hidden dungeons aren’t perceived as dangerous.

There was no need for soldiers to guard, and with only one person entering, there was no chance of trouble.

‘That’s why many people think of hidden dungeons as bonus dungeons.’

It’s not wrong.

In fact, most hidden dungeons weren’t dangerous and were full of rewards for hunters.

‘But this maze dungeon is different.’

Among hidden dungeons, maze dungeons are ones that hunters avoid.

‘If you take the wrong path, all sorts of traps await, and it’s hard to find your way.’

That’s why most people would just wander around for the entire time limit and come out without any gains.

Moreover, maze dungeons were one-time dungeons, so you couldn’t enter again.

If you don’t find the right path at once, you’d just trigger traps and have to leave.

‘Of course, that’s the story when you don’t know the conquest method.’

Min Do-jun knew the method to conquer maze dungeons.

Later, when similar dungeons appeared all over the country, the conquest method spread.

‘Maze dungeons have a specific method to find the path. If you know that, conquering isn’t difficult.’

Knowing the method now, it was more than enough to wash away past regrets.

Tssss-

Just as Min Do-jun was about to enter the dungeon after equipping his gear.

Woong-woong-

A phone call came in.

It was Im Hyung-chan.

‘Come to think of it, it was around this time. When that guy sold me the information.’

Min Do-jun immediately answered the phone.

“Hello.”

-Do-jun, it’s me. Hyung-chan.

“Oh, what’s up?”

-Hey! When a friend calls after a long time, shouldn’t you ask how I’ve been first? That hurts.

“If someone calls after a year of no contact, wouldn’t you naturally think they have some business?”

-Hey… Do friends need a reason to call?

“Cut to the chase, what do you want?”

-Ha! Forget it. I heard you awakened and brought some good information, but I’m upset now, so I won’t tell you.

“Is that so? Alright, I’m hanging up.”

-W-wait! Aren’t you curious about what information it is?

“Nope, not at all. I’m hanging up now.”

-Hey! Min Do-jun! Min Do-j…!

Min Do-jun’s face showed no sign of curiosity as he hung up the phone.

‘It’s probably about this place.’

The information his friend brought was most likely about the location of this maze dungeon.

Because he received a call like this before his regression too.

Woong- Woong-

As his phone rang, he saw Im Hyung-chan’s name on the screen.

‘He seems quite eager to sell the information.’

Min Do-jun immediately blocked the number and headed into the dungeon.

‘Since I refused, he’ll probably sell it to another awakened one.’

But by then, he would have already cleared the dungeon.

Considering it was a one-time dungeon, the information his friend had would become useless.

‘I hope he doesn’t get beaten up by that awakened one.’

In any case, it was none of Min Do-jun’s business.

That guy couldn’t even be considered a friend anymore.

“Shall we go?”

Min Do-jun entered through the narrow entrance and disappeared with a flash of light moments later.

* * *

“Why isn’t that b*st*rd Min Do-jun answering his phone!”

Im Hyung-chan, who had been calling, put down his phone irritably.

“Damn, I was just trying to make some money by selling a hidden dungeon.”

As Min Do-jun had predicted, Im Hyung-chan intended to sell the hidden dungeon.

The very maze dungeon Min Do-jun had entered.

‘But how did this guy already reach level 150?’

Im Hyung-chan had only recently confirmed Min Do-jun’s awakening.

Until then, he had been busy taking care of hunters after getting a job at the Hunter Management Center.

‘I checked the rankings just in case, and to think his name would really be there…’

There was no way it could be someone with the same name.

The date of birth and address in the database matched his classmate Min Do-jun’s.

‘Sigh, some people awaken and live well, while I, who wanted it so badly, am just driving hunters around… Damn, the world is so unfair.’

As he complained, Im Hyung-chan felt endless jealousy towards Min Do-jun.

‘That b*st*rd. I hung out with him in school because I felt sorry for him having no parents, and now he’s looking down on me because he’s a hunter?’

He was well aware of hunters’ rudeness, but he never thought Min Do-jun would disrespect him too.

‘I really brought good information, and he rejects me like this?’

Of course, he had no intention of giving it for free.

He was planning to sell the information for at least 10 million won.

Whether the entry requirement of level 150 was met or not.

‘I was originally going to sell it even if his level was low, but I called out of kindness, and this is how he reacts? You missed a good opportunity, you b*st*rd.’

Saying he’d make him regret it, Im Hyung-chan called someone else.

“Hunter Park Han-sik? Hello. This is Im Hyung-chan, the manager from the Gongju branch. Yes, we met before, right? I heard you reached level 150 recently? Congratulations! What? Ah, actually, I have some good information…”

He decided to sell the information to another hunter instead of Min Do-jun.

If Min Do-jun knew this, he would probably regret it for a long time.

“You say 10 million won is too expensive? Then I’ll specially discount it by 500,000… You, you don’t like that either? Then how about nine million…”

As he negotiated, Im Hyung-chan finally agreed on 8 million won.

“I can’t tell you the location in advance, and it’s prepaid. What? Come on, what power do I have to run off with the money? If you go there and there’s no dungeon, you can beat me up as much as you want.”

He spoke confidently, but Im Hyung-chan didn’t know.

That the dungeon he found was already being conquered by Min Do-jun.

“The dungeon will disappear at midnight today, so you need to go before then. Yes! I’ll let you know the location as soon as I confirm the deposit!”

Im Hyung-chan frowned as he hung up the phone.

‘8 million won, damn it!’

It was less than the 10 million he expected, but it was still a significant amount for a salaried worker like him.

A moment later, when the money entered his account, his face brightened.

‘Hehehe, what a windfall.’

Im Hyung-chan was delighted at the unexpected money he got thanks to the hidden dungeon he found by chance.

‘I should tell him the location as promised.’

He sent the location via text message, but he didn’t know.

That with Min Do-jun already inside, the dungeon was as good as gone.

* * *

Inside a cave flickering with torchlight.

That’s where Min Do-jun appeared.

[You have entered a hidden dungeon!]

[You have achieved an achievement!]

As soon as he entered the dungeon, an achievement notification popped up.

[Achievement – There Was Such a Place?]

-Condition: Enter a hidden dungeon for the first time in your life

-Reward: Stat Point +1

‘Let’s start by claiming the achievement first.’

Min Do-jun, who put the free stat point into magic power, walked through the cave.

Perhaps because it was a different dimension, unlike when he entered, the cave was wide.

It wasn’t very dark either, with lights lit here and there.

After walking for a while like that.

‘Here it is.’

A three-way fork appeared.

‘Only one of these is correct.’

The rest were traps.

Set up with devices like monsters suddenly jumping out or arrows flying from the walls.

‘Not only that, but it also guides you to strange paths and wastes time. Moreover, once you enter, you can’t go back because of a magical wall.’

Therefore, choosing the right path was most important.

‘Well, if you know the conquest method, maze dungeons are nothing.’

If you know the way, there’s no easier dungeon than this.

Thinking so, Min Do-jun carefully examined the three paths.

‘Let’s see. There should be one that looks different among these…’

The conquest method for maze dungeons was simple.

Finding the one different path among seemingly identical forks.

‘That’s the correct path.’

It was no different from a kind of spot-the-difference game.

It was an easy method, but it took quite a long time to be discovered.

Indeed, it’s hard to find the different part just by looking.

‘In the case of caves, there’s usually a mark in places like this.’

Min Do-jun rubbed the cave wall with his hand.

Then, a mark appeared in only one place.

‘Bingo.’

Min Do-jun entered that path without hesitation.

As expected, his choice was not wrong, and even after walking quite a distance, no traps appeared.

As he walked like that, another fork appeared.

Min Do-jun’s eyes lit up as he examined the path.

‘This is it.’

There was no hesitation in his choice.

He immediately walked on the correct path.

As he walked, sure enough, new forks appeared.

Each time, he made choice after choice, and finally, Min Do-jun was able to reach the end.

‘Is this it? The reward room?’

Min Do-jun, who had reached a dead end, looked at the chest in front of him.

It was a luxurious-looking chest, as if blatantly announcing it was a reward.

As he reached out his hand, a message popped up.