Chapter 32 – Combination

Slash!

Kieeek!

[Experience +2,640]

Whoosh!

Kiiii!

[Experience +2,640]

[Level up!]

[You have obtained a C-grade magic stone.]

[You have obtained spider venom.]

‘Great!’

Min Do-jun, who was catching tarantulas, cheered at the welcome notification.

It wasn’t because of the magic stone.

It was because of the spider venom.

[Spider Venom]

– Classification: Collectible

– Grade: C

– Feature: Bound item

– Description: Venom extracted from tarantula fangs. Highly toxic, so handle with care.

‘Finally got one.’

This was the item Min Do-jun wanted.

He opened the strategy window this time.

– Strategy completion: 20M left to exit

– Time remaining: 3 minutes 12 seconds

‘Fortunately, I’m not late.’

He had been catching tarantulas non-stop for nearly 4 hours.

He didn’t count them one by one, but he seemed to have caught about 200.

‘Still, I got one after catching 200 when I should’ve caught 1,000 to get it. Am I lucky?’

But he had only obtained one so far.

Min Do-jun needed two spider venoms.

‘I should clear it for now.’

As Min Do-jun stopped hunting and headed to the exit in time, Park Dong-yun approached.

“Good work, Hunter-nim!”

“Please match me to the same dungeon right away.”

“Sure! Let’s go!”

* * *

Chae So-hyun, who confirmed the two people moving, started her car.

And she immediately called her superior.

-Did you check?

“Yes. He came out after almost 4 hours?”

-Really? He came out a bit late?

It seemed he came out later than expected.

-Did he get a penalty by any chance?

“I’m not sure about that either.”

-Or did he come out late on purpose to hunt? Usually, tarantula dungeons end once you find the path…

“Or he might have come out after receiving a penalty.”

-Whatever the case, he didn’t die.

That meant the Hunter-nim named Min Do-jun was still worth watching.

-But I’m not sure if he hunted or just came out.

“Can’t we check if his level went up by looking at the rankings?”

-You must be new not to know, but levels don’t just go up after one dungeon run. Especially for C-rank.

“But he went in alone, so wouldn’t he get a lot of experience?”

-Even so, leveling up is unlikely.

“You never know.”

-Alright. Wait a moment. I’ll check.

The superior, who had been silent for a while as if checking, opened his mouth after a moment.

-Huh?

“What’s wrong, Team Leader?”

-His level increased by 3?

“Is that a lot?”

-Are you kidding? From C-rank, it’s hard to level up even if you run dungeons all day. But Hunter-nim Min Do-jun leveled up 3 times after entering one dungeon? How did this happen?

It was incomprehensible even though he went in alone.

But the doubt soon turned into joy.

After all, it was proven that he was a Hunter-nim with an insane growth rate.

-So-hyun, you can come back now. There’s nothing more to do.

“What are you going to do?”

-We’ve confirmed he’s a top-tier Hunter, and we’ve given him a bribe, so we’ll have to wait for a response.

“What if there’s no response?”

-We’ll have to think about it again when the time comes. How to capture Hunter Min Do-jun’s heart.

“…”

-We must bring him into our guild by any means necessary. There’s no giving up until then.

Chae So-hyun’s expression darkened at her superior’s words.

She felt like a path of hardship had opened before her eyes.

* * *

Min Do-jun headed to the next dungeon with Park Dong-yun.

It was also a tarantula dungeon.

‘I need one more spider venom.’

He needed another one to unseal two rings.

But he could unseal one ring with the one he already had.

‘Combination window.’

When he said the command, a hologram window appeared.

There were two empty slots, and he moved items from his inventory by touching them.

[Fang Venom] + [Spider Venom]

After placing one of each collected material, he pressed the combine button next to it.

Whoosh-

The materials disappeared with a bright effect.

Finally.

[Combination successful!]

[You have obtained Venom That Can Melt Anything.]

The desired item entered the inventory.

[Venom That Can Melt Anything]

– Classification: Collectible

– Grade: B

– Feature: Bound item

– Description: Can melt anything with its magical toxicity.

While the description doesn’t reveal its use, Min Do-jun knew where to use it.

[Sealed Ruby Ring] + [Venom That Can Melt Anything]

‘If I combine this with the ring, the seal will be broken.’

Min Do-jun immediately pressed the combine button.

[Combination successful!]

[The name of Sealed Ruby Ring has been changed to ‘Liberated Ruby Ring’.]

The venom disappeared, leaving only the ring.

[Liberated Ruby Ring]

– Classification: Ring

– Grade: B

– Effect: Strength +60, Physical Damage +10%

– Durability: 6,000/6,000

– Usage Restriction: Level 350 or higher (Bound)

– Description: A beautifully designed ruby ring. Its performance has improved after the seal was broken.

‘Finally got it.’

Not only did the grade increase from C to B, but the strength, which was 20, also tripled.

Above all, the amplification rate, which was 5%, jumped to 10%.

‘It’s B-grade but increases physical damage by 10%? That’s overpowered.’

Currently, Min Do-jun was a magic swordsman, so physical damage was more significant than magic.

This was why he unsealed the ruby ring first.

‘Just one more to go.’

If he gets another spider venom, he can also unseal the emerald ring.

“We’ve arrived.”

Min Do-jun, who arrived at another tarantula dungeon, didn’t get out of the car.

He knew there would be a waiting time.

“There are no empty dungeons, so you’ll have to wait. It should take about 30 minutes.”

“Alright.”

“But if someone else applies during that time, you’ll have to form a party unavoidably. You can’t cancel unless it’s an unavoidable circumstance.”

“I guess I’ll have to hope no one else comes.”

Min Do-jun waited patiently.

With just a few minutes left, the sound of an engine was heard outside.

Sure enough, people who looked like a manager and Hunter-nims got out of the car.

“Looks like other Hunters have arrived.”

“…”

It seemed they would have to form a party inevitably.

Min Do-jun and Park Dong-yun, who got out of the car, approached the newcomers.

There were three women, but it was hard to tell who was the manager and who were the Hunters from the outside.

“Hello. I’m Park Dong-yun, deputy from the Ilsan branch.”

“Hello. I’m Ahn Su-yeon, manager of the White Lotus Guild.”

“Ah!”

Park Dong-yun let out an exclamation without realizing it.

The White Lotus Guild was a famous female guild in Korea.

“So it’s the White Lotus Guild! No wonder everyone’s beauty is so…”

It was also famous for being all beautiful.

Even the manager.

“You flatter us. But let’s exchange greetings.”

At the manager’s words, the Hunters beside her stepped forward.

“I’m Kim Hye-ji.”

“I’m Jung Hee-young.”

Min Do-jun nodded indifferently to the female Hunters’ greetings.

“I’m Min Do-jun.”

He was currently in a bad mood.

‘Looks like I’ll have to form a party inevitably.’

He thought he would monopolize the dungeon alone, but troublemakers appeared at the last minute.

‘This way, I can’t see the effect of the Solo Challenger’s Necklace…’

If he forms a party, he can’t expect the 1.5x experience from the necklace.

‘Still, the characteristic experience will increase by 2x, but…’

Anyway, it’s a loss compared to soloing.

From Min Do-jun’s perspective, the female Hunters who appeared at the last minute couldn’t look good.

Knowing his feelings, Park Dong-yun asked the female manager.

“Did you come to run the dungeon?”

“Huh? Of course.”

There was a reason Park Dong-yun asked such an obvious question.

“I heard that the White Lotus Guild doesn’t party with male Hunters… Would it be okay to go in with our Hunter?”

The White Lotus Guild was famous for its high level of misandry as it was composed of women.

But as if it was just a misunderstanding, the manager smiled and said,

“People seem to misunderstand, but our guild is simply composed of only women, there’s no misandry or anything like that.”

‘Tch.’

Park Dong-yun, who secretly hoped they would leave, inwardly sighed.

“Still, just in case, I’ll discuss it with our guild members.”

Saying that, the manager took the female Hunter-nims with her, and Park Dong-yun worriedly said,

“Hunter-nim. This is bad. It looks like we’ll have to party inevitably?”

“If we cancel, how long do we have to wait?”

“The tarantula dungeons are all full now, so you’ll have to wait at least an hour.”

We’ve already waited 30 minutes, and now we have to wait another hour?

‘There’s no guarantee that party members won’t come during that wait time either…’

There was no choice but to go in like this.

“What should we do?”

“You never know. They might refuse because you’re a man.”

“Huh? But you heard it too, didn’t you? They said there’s no misandry.”

“Is that really true?”

Min Do-jun didn’t give up hope.

‘The White Lotus Guild does have misandry.’

Although they say they don’t, it was actually a guild with misandry.

Even before the regression, they tried hard to change their image as a misandrous guild but eventually failed and admitted it.

‘They’re pretending not to be now, but they must have a lot of complaints.’

It was as Min Do-jun said.

As soon as the two Hunters moved away from Min Do-jun’s group, they expressed their dissatisfaction.

“Unnie, do we really have to party?”

“I feel uneasy partying with a man.”

As the Hunters complained, the manager, Ahn Su-yeon, frowned.

“We have no choice. There are no guild members available to party with now, and it’s dangerous for just the two of you to go in…”

“Can’t we just cancel and go somewhere else?”

“That’s right. Introduce us to a place with female party members.”

“No. We already canceled before coming here saying we had an urgent matter. If we cancel consecutively for any reason, we’ll be banned from entering for two days.”

“But I’m anxious…”

“Men can’t be trusted…”

The manager shook her head looking at the Hunters.

‘How are we supposed to improve our image like this…’

The start of the White Lotus Guild was simply to create a guild composed of women.

But the majority of women who joined did so because they disliked guilds with men, and eventually, contrary to its intention, it became a misandrous guild.

‘The higher-ups tell us to party with male Hunters to improve our image, but can we even hunt properly like this…’

But somehow, they had to be persuaded to form a party.

That was the directive from above.

“Don’t be so scared. You’re Hunters too. Men aren’t necessarily stronger.”

“But men are much more violent.”

“That’s right. Men commit more crimes too.”

“Haah…”

The manager let out a long sigh.

“Don’t you know that’s also a prejudice? You’re proper Hunters too. Why are you acting weak? Aren’t you the ones discriminating based on gender?”

“Unnie, why are you like this even though you’re a woman?”

“That’s right. Why do you keep taking the men’s side?”

“No, that’s not the point of what I’m saying.”

The manager sighed again and said firmly.

“Then decide right now. Will you cancel and go without income for two days, or will you close your eyes and go in with that person?”

“…”

The female Hunters fell into contemplation.

“What’s so scary about going in with a man? You even outnumber him.”

“But unnie. You know our past.”

“Yes, I know. You were sexually harassed by a boy in your class, right? But that was his fault, not a reason to turn your back on all men, in my opinion.”

“Haah… Whose side are you on, unnie?”

“Enough, decide quickly.”

The persuasion seemed to work as the Hunters’ deliberation wasn’t long.

“Okay. We’ll do it.”

“See, that wasn’t so hard.”

Although they decided reluctantly, this was not good news for Min Do-jun either.

At that moment, as if the strategy time was up, Hunters came out of the dungeon entrance.

But all of their expressions were not good.

“Haah, f**k!”

“Ah, my precious stats!”

“Of all things, my strength was reduced?”

It seems they received stat penalties for not finding the exit within the time limit.

Leaving the grumbling Hunters behind, Min Do-jun prepared to enter.

“Um…”

As the White Lotus Guild Hunters and manager returned, Park Dong-yun asked.

“Have you decided?”

“Yes. We’ll go in together.”

At those words, Min Do-jun’s face darkened.

‘Tch.’

He couldn’t refuse saying he didn’t want to when they said they would party together.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

Min Do-jun finally decided to enter the dungeon with the women.

Tseueuut-

Min Do-jun, who was putting on his equipment in front of the entrance, asked after seeing the Hunters’ outfits.

“Are you both mages?”

“Yes.”

“What level?”

“500.”

“I’m 501.”

As Min Do-jun nodded, one of the Hunters asked.

“What about your level…?”

“353.”

“What?”

The Hunters were all surprised.

Because it was much lower than they thought.

“I heard you need to be over 500 here…”

“But the entry level is 350, right?”

Min Do-jun’s expression showed there was no problem at all.

“Are you a warrior?”

“I’m a magic swordsman.”

“…What?”

“There’s such a job?”

They seemed to have never heard of it.

“There is.”

This was a passage that showed how narrow the standing of the magic swordsman job was.

“Unnie…”

The two looked at the manager intently.

As if asking if it was okay to go in like this.

The manager also looked clearly flustered after hearing the level and job.

“I-It’ll be fine. Just be careful.”

A moment later, as the three people who finished preparing disappeared into the dungeon, Ahn Su-yeon asked anxiously.

“Manager, will our kids be okay?”

Then Park Dong-yun sniffed and asked back.

“Haven’t you heard such rumors, Manager?”

“Huh? What rumors?”

“The rumor about a hero who stopped a dungeon break and defeated an Armored Mantis alone.”

“W-Well… But what does that have to do with…”

“That’s our Hunter-nim.”

“What?”

“So don’t worry. Our Hunter-nim is incredibly strong despite his level.”