Chapter 40 – Free Money

“When will he come out…?”

Park Dong-yun was watching the dungeon entrance from inside his car.

He was waiting for Min Do-jun.

“It’s been exactly 3 hours now…”

Considering the 6-hour time limit for the Phoenix dungeon, it wasn’t time for him to come out yet.

In fact, there was still quite a bit of time left.

But Park Dong-yun believed Min Do-jun would come out soon.

It wasn’t an unfounded belief.

Until now, he had cleared all dungeons alone, and in a short time too.

That’s why he wasn’t worried when Min Do-jun said he wanted to make a bet.

‘The ones who should be worried are those tiger-nosed b*st*rds.’

Park Dong-yun’s gaze fell on a group leaning against a sports car, smoking cigarettes.

They were already in high spirits, as if they had won the bet.

“Hey, what will you do with 500 million won if you get it?”

“I’ll buy a new car.”

“Didn’t you just get a new one 3 months ago?”

“You know me. I get bored quickly.”

“Heh, this guy’s still the same, always changing cars.”

The four of them were all from the same guild and had known each other for almost 3 years.

That meant they had been working together for 3 years.

Naturally, they were close.

That’s why they could freely exchange curse words.

“Damn, how much longer do we have to wait?”

“Hey, there’s still 3 more hours left.”

“It’s boring, so boring.”

“But isn’t 500 million for 6 hours a good deal?”

“Absolutely fantastic!”

“It’s boring waiting though, should we just go? The money transfer is scheduled anyway, so it’ll come in when the time’s up.”

“We can’t just leave. What if that b*st*rd comes out alive and cancels the reservation? We should at least see if he’s dead or alive before we go.”

“Ah, right.”

“He’ll either die or come out with a penalty, one of the two.”

They didn’t think for a moment that they would lose the bet.

That’s why they were shocked to see Min Do-jun walking out of the dungeon entrance.

“Wh-what? Is that…?”

“How did he come out?”

“Has, has 6 hours passed already?”

“Idiot, only 3 hours have passed!”

“But how already?”

As if thrown into chaos, they just stared at Min Do-jun walking out with bewildered faces.

The only one who welcomed Min Do-jun was Park Dong-yun.

“Hunter! Are you alright?”

“As you can see.”

“I expected you to come out early!”

“Really?”

Somehow, Park Dong-yun seemed more excited than him.

Min Do-jun glanced at the hunters.

Their frozen expressions, as if they had seen a ghost, looked somewhat stupid.

‘Idiots.’

Min Do-jun approached them with a sneer.

“You waited long? Sorry. I could have come out earlier, but I was taking it easy.”

“H-how did you come out?”

“What do you mean how? Is there more than one way to come out of a dungeon?”

Of course, they knew it was because he had cleared it, but it was hard to believe even seeing it.

“You haven’t forgotten our promise, right?”

“…”

“I’ll cancel the reservation first.”

The hunters watched helplessly as Min Do-jun operated his smartphone.

It was the moment their 500 million won dream disappeared.

“Here’s my account number. 200 million each. Please transfer it right now.”

“…”

“I won the bet, didn’t I?”

They knew.

But the hunters couldn’t readily take action.

Because 200 million won was a lot of money.

Perhaps that’s why.

“…Th-this is fraud!”

There was even a hunter who denied reality.

“Fraud?”

“Yeah, fraud! You lied to us about your level! Saying you were level 500 was a lie, right?”

“Th-that’s right! You’re already a B-rank hunter, aren’t you? You’re probably around level 1,000, right?”

As others started to agree, Min Do-jun let out a chuckle.

“Even if I had lied, weren’t you the ones who hastily accepted, blinded by money?”

“Wh-what?”

“Or should we check right now? My name is Min Do-jun.”

The hunters hurriedly looked at the ranking board.

“Huh? It’s, it’s true?”

“5-503 level…”

“You didn’t use someone else’s name?”

For those who still couldn’t believe, Min Do-jun even showed his hunter registration card.

“…”

There was no more room to nitpick or escape the situation.

But it seemed they still had something to say, as the hunters spoke as if wronged.

“You knew you would win the bet, right? That’s why you proposed it to us? To extort money!”

“That’s right! Who would believe a level 500 could clear it alone?”

“Yeah! We’ve been unfairly tricked. We fell into a trap!”

Min Do-jun let out a long sigh at their now almost unreasonable outcry.

“Haah… So. What do you want me to do?”

“Th-this bet is invalid…”

“Would you have said it was invalid if I came out late or died? Who accepted the bet?”

“…”

“Stop making excuses and pay up.”

They knew too.

That their claims were unreasonable.

Perhaps that’s why they started to give up and operate their smartphones one by one.

Except for one.

“Why aren’t you doing anything?”

“I still can’t believe it. Did you really clear it alone?”

“You can’t believe it even after seeing it?”

“You don’t look strong at all.”

Seeing through his intention, Min Do-jun let out a snicker.

“You’re being petty till the end. So what do you want to do?”

“Give me your hand. Magic swordsmen are a type of warrior too, right? Let me see how strong your grip is.”

The man who proposed the challenge looked like he could use some strength even at a glance.

On the other hand, Min Do-jun had a slim build like a male idol.

Of course, there was nothing more foolish than judging a hunter by appearance, but the man had a reason to be confident.

‘My pure strength, excluding items, is 400.’

He stepped forward because he was more confident in his strength than anyone else.

And.

‘If I don’t save face like this, I feel like I’ll go crazy with frustration.’

It was also to recover his pride, even if just a little.

It was also somewhat forcing the issue.

Therefore, he didn’t think Min Do-jun would agree to this.

It would have been enough just to see him looking embarrassed or taking a step back.

But.

“Alright. Should we do it without items?”

“Uh…”

The man couldn’t hide his bewilderment and doubt at the unexpected acceptance.

‘What confidence?’

He naturally thought Min Do-jun would back down.

No matter how high his strength was, a level 500 couldn’t match the stats of a level 800.

‘I don’t know what confidence you have, but you’re dead.’

Thud-

As soon as the two clasped hands.

Crunch!

The man exerted all his strength into his grip.

Intending to completely crush it.

‘Wh-what?’

But for some reason, Min Do-jun’s countering strength was beyond imagination.

It felt like grasping a brick.

Of course, that was natural.

[Hunter Hunter characteristic effect increases damage by 2 times.]

The system, recognizing grip strength as damage, amplified his power by 2 times.

This was why Min Do-jun, whose pure strength wasn’t even 300, could match the man.

‘You want to do this properly, huh?’

Watching the man exert all his strength, Min Do-jun slowly applied force to his grip.

Crack-

“Agh!”

“Will you pay up?”

Crunch-

“Aagh! I-I’ll pay! Let go of this!”

The man said urgently, but.

“But why are you speaking informally?”

Crunch crunch-

“Uu-uwaagh!”

He completely shattered the man’s hand bones.

“Uwaah! Uwaaagh!”

“Ah, sorry. I couldn’t control my strength…”

It was clearly an act, but the hunters couldn’t blame Min Do-jun.

‘He-he overpowered Dae-sik with strength…’

‘The one with the highest strength among us…’

Because they realized the difference in power.

“Stop exaggerating and use your remaining hand to transfer the money, can you?”

“Keuheuk…”

“If it’s difficult, let me know. I’ll help you directly.”

“N-no! That’s not necessary…”

Afraid he might break his other hand too, the man hastily shook his head and quickly operated his smartphone.

“It was originally 200 million, but deduct 100,000 won. Use it for medical expenses.”

“…”

“That should be enough, right?”

“…Yes.”

“We’ve agreed on this.”

Shortly after, Min Do-jun confirmed that the money had been transferred from all four people without fail.

He had earned 800 million won for free.

Min Do-jun, with a satisfied smile, turned around as if he had no more business.

“Let’s go, manager.”

“Ah, yes!”

As Min Do-jun left in Park Dong-yun’s car, the hunters belatedly attended to their teammate who was in pain.

“Dae-sik! Are you okay?”

“Do-does this look okay to you? Keuheuk!”

“Let’s go to the hospital quickly! Get in my car!”

“He said his name was Min Do-jun, right?”

“Huh?”

“Never mind, let’s go.”

Bang Dae-sik glared in the direction Min Do-jun had disappeared for a while with burning eyes.

* * *

A month passed since earning the free money.

During that time, Min Do-jun consistently ran the Phoenix dungeon.

Screech!

Slash!

[Experience +5,400]

[You have achieved an achievement!]

“Phew.”

Wiping off flowing sweat, he opened the achievement window.

[Achievement – Dominator of B-rank Monsters!]

-Condition: Hunt 10,000 B-rank monsters

-Reward: 10% additional damage when hunting B-rank monsters

‘I’ve already hunted 10,000?’

It had been a month of hunting only Phoenixes.

As a result, he gained an advantage against B-rank monsters.

‘10% is quite a useful figure.’

Of course, it wasn’t a special privilege as most B-rank hunters achieved this achievement.

‘It’ll take about two more weeks of hunting to become B-rank.’

Despite hunting 10,000, Min Do-jun’s level was still only 666.

It was a level that was hard to raise, but to others, it was a bizarrely fast growth rate.

For a normal hunter, it would take over 8 months to go from 500 to 666.

‘I raised it quickly. I’ve caught up to my summon’s level too.’

The summon’s level was 665.

Now it was high enough to be utilized in battle.

‘I’ve hunted 10,000, but the durability hasn’t decreased much.’

Min Do-jun checked the durability of the Ancient Armor.

-Durability: 6,987/7,500

It had only decreased by about 500.

This meant he rarely allowed the Phoenix’s attacks to hit.

At this rate, it should be usable up to the targeted level 1,000 without issues.

‘I should try using this too…’

Min Do-jun took out a weapon from his inventory.

It was the Cursed Dagger that dropped from defeating the Tarantula King.

‘I couldn’t use it because of the level requirement of 666.’

But now he can use it.

‘But it’s not for hunting.’

The attack power is random from 1 to 666.

Considering that same-grade weapons have a minimum attack power of 600, it lacks merit.

Moreover, with durability of 666/666, it can’t be used for long.

‘But I’m curious about the random curse it inflicts.’

When attacking an enemy with the Cursed Dagger, it inflicts a random curse.

Even Min Do-jun doesn’t know what kind of curse it is.

He’s only heard the name, never used it.

‘I think I heard it was some kind of physical curse…’

Anyway, now that he has it, he can’t help but be curious.

‘I should use it once when taking revenge.’

Promising to use it next time, he finished his daily routine early.

Because today was a very important day.

“Hunter, you ended hunting early today. Do you have an appointment?”

“It’s my parents’ death anniversary today.”

“Ah…”

Park Dong-yun, surprised by the unexpected answer, soon showed a sympathetic expression.

‘He’s still in his early 20s…’

He never imagined he had already lost his parents.

“Hunter. Cheer up! Fighting!”

“I’m fine. It’s already been 5 years.”

If counting from before the regression, it had been 15 years since they passed away.

‘I still can’t forget.’

The image of his parents being eaten by monsters was vivid in his mind.

“Manager. I’m sorry, but could you drive me to the columbarium? It’s not far from here.”

“Of course.”

After arriving at the columbarium, Min Do-jun parted ways with Park Dong-yun.

He bought flowers nearby and faced his parents’ urn.

‘I’ll exterminate the monsters’ seeds, so don’t worry.’

After standing there for a long time, Min Do-jun came out only when evening fell.

As he was passing through a dark alley to get to the taxi stand.

Thud thud-

Some men blocked his way.

Looking closely, they were familiar faces.

They were clearly the hunters who lost the bet a month ago.

Shing-

Seeing them draw their swords with ominous looks, Min Do-jun could easily grasp the situation.

‘They’re trying to get revenge for last time.’

Grin-

Min Do-jun didn’t panic, but rather smiled.

‘I was wondering when I’d get to use it, this is perfect timing.’

It was an opportunity to use the Cursed Dagger.