Chapter 5
Dungeon.
The dimension from another world that appeared when the world changed.
There are various types of dungeons, but among them, there are “Entrance-type dungeons” and “Exit-type dungeons.”
Currently, only entrance-type dungeons are called “dungeons,” while exit-type dungeons are referred to as “gates.”
The first dungeon was actually a gate that appeared in the void.
Humankind suffered immense damage from the monsters pouring out of the gates.
Fighter jets? Warships?
They were powerless against monsters flying in the sky or erupting from the sea.
Missiles and nuclear weapons?
They could deliver damage, but using them only reduced the areas where humans could live.
Amid this, certain individuals began to awaken—one by one—people called “Awakeners.”
These awakeners, though human, could break buildings with their bare hands or heal open wounds. They wielded mysterious powers known as “mana” to perform incredible feats, and it was through them that humanity began to reclaim its lost territory.
Now, many years have passed.
The world calls these awakened individuals “Hunters,” and even in the midst of the threat posed by monsters, systems and structures have been created for survival.
And one key element that makes those systems and structures more solid is the hunter-exclusive community site created by the Hunter Association, ‘HuntRaNet’.
Click, click click.
“Is there any raid party I can join right now?”
Do-jae clicked the mouse as he navigated the site.
There were various menus, like Hunter News, Guild Information, and 1:1 Trades, but the one he clicked on was the ‘Raid Party Recruitment’ section.
“It would’ve been nice if there was a quest.”
Since clearing the first quest, no further quests had appeared.
No matter how many times he called out, “Check Quest,” all he got was the message, “No active quests available.”
He couldn’t figure out what specific conditions needed to be met.
In the meantime, he thought he might as well level up.
Whatever the next quest might be, he would need to get stronger if he was going to fight more monsters.
Scroll.
Do-jae scrolled down, reviewing the recruitment posts.
- [Ongoing Recruitment]: The So-mang Guild is seeking hunters of the healer class. Excellent treatment offered, regardless of rank.
- Mercenary Wanted: Next Tuesday for three days. Check the post for more details.
- [Seong-jin Cooperative Guild]: Join us, newly formed guilds! Looking for bright and hardworking members. Contact us!
….
Hundreds of posts are uploaded daily in the Raid Party Recruitment section.
Although the number of hunters is gradually increasing due to both natural and forced awakenings, they still can’t keep pace with the creation of dungeons and gates.
And when considering the number of hunters who die in dungeons, the shortage of manpower is severe.
Ding.
Ding ding.
In the upper right corner of the screen, a red light appeared over the bell icon.
Do-jae had applied to several raid parties with less strict conditions, and now he had some replies.
He immediately checked the notifications.
– ‘Sorry, but you’re not a good fit for us.’
– ‘The spots just filled up. Please try again next time.’
– ‘We only accept D-rank and above. F-rank is a bit much. Take care.’
….
Several rejection messages from the raid parties he applied to.
It was to be expected.
After all, his ID clearly showed that he was an F-rank hunter.
“Do I have no choice but to join a raid organized by the Hunter Association?”
He could participate in an association-led raid.
However, the nearest dungeon he had applied for was set to be raided in four days.
If he tried to look for a farther one, the spots were already filled, meaning he’d have to wait regardless.
For now, all he could do was continue scrolling through the recruitment page.
Scroll.
Click.
Scroll.
Click.
Scroll.
“Hmm?”
After scrolling through several more pages, a particular post caught his eye.
Click.
“Just Show Up, and You’re Good! Just bring your Hunter License!”
The casual tone of the title.
These kinds of recruitment posts were usually for personal raid parties.
“A personal raid party, huh.”
A personal raid party was one organized by an individual hunter rather than a guild or association.
Dungeons are typically discovered using special mana detection devices, but those devices are extremely expensive and rare, so only mid-sized or larger guilds can afford to have them.
Sometimes, individuals discover dungeons on their own. In most cases, they sell the location to a guild or the association for a hefty sum.
Why? Because if the discovered dungeon is beyond the individual’s capabilities, they need to hire stronger hunters.
In such cases, the situation ends up costing more than it’s worth, so selling the dungeon is the smarter option.
Even if the dungeon is within their abilities, there are still numerous legal procedures to go through.
Various contracts, confirmation documents, investigations, and reporting must all be completed.
Once all these tedious steps are done, the hunter must then recruit others—only to face rejection from freelance hunters.
Why? Because the spoils from the dungeon are usually monopolized by the individual who discovered it. Most freelance hunters know they’ll end up following the leader around and earning little, so they turn down the offer.
The time-to-profit ratio simply doesn’t match up.
With such complications, personal raid parties are rare, and demand is equally low.
Click.
Do-jae immediately clicked on the post.
[“Just Show Up, and You’re Good!”
Weapons? Armor? Potions? No!
As long as you have your license, you’re OK!
Do whatever you want. You can play. You can stand still. You can disappear, if you want. We’ll take care of everything.
Depart as soon as we align schedules!
Location: Near Ma-cheon Station, Songpa-gu, Seoul.
Contact: 010-….]
………….
“Songpa-gu, huh? Not too far.”
The location was close, and it seemed like they would depart as soon as he made contact.
Also, the part where it said “Do whatever you want” was interesting.
Clearly, they just needed someone to fill the numbers.
But this part actually made Do-jae more interested.
“Should I take it to mean I can hunt too?”
Do-jae decided to call the number provided.
“Hello?”
*******
Hunter Song Deok-hoon.
The Vice Guild Master of Korea’s 7th ranked guild, “Manseong,” and an A-rank hunter.
At the moment, Deok-hoon was in quite an irritated mood.
“Tsk, tsk. Naïve brat.”
Deok-hoon had spent last night finishing a raid with his guild members, and after a celebratory gathering that lasted until dawn, they had finally parted ways.
However, instead of heading home to rest, he had to return to the guild immediately to handle a mountain of paperwork.
It wasn’t until close to lunchtime that he was finally able to lie down to sleep.
Barely two hours had passed before he was rudely awakened by the sound of his phone ringing incessantly.
The caller? His nephew.
He considered ignoring it and going back to sleep, but knowing his nephew’s stubbornness, he would undoubtedly keep calling until he answered.
In the end, he had no choice but to pick up, and after a few minutes of his nephew whining on the other end, Deok-hoon, annoyed, threw on some clothes and stepped out.
And now, to top it all off, here he was, standing outside, only to find his nephew acting like a spoiled brat. How could he not be irritated?
“Isn’t my uncle amazing? He can totally crush most A-ranks, and if they were to go one-on-one, he might even be able to take on an S-rank!”
His nephew, Shim Young-jin, a D-rank hunter.
And his friends, who were also D-rank hunters.
Young-jin was busy bragging about his uncle to his friends, who were clearly eager to flatter him.
“Whoa, dude… Your uncle’s got serious presence. He’s so damn cool.”
“Hey, Young-jin, could you maybe put in a good word with your uncle for me after the raid? I’d love to get into his guild.”
Encouraged by his friends’ responses, Young-jin puffed up with pride and said smugly,
“Yeah, you guys better make a good impression. That way, I’ll have something to say. But don’t act cocky. Got it?”
This was the real reason Young-jin had called Deok-hoon here.
He had claimed he wanted his uncle’s guidance in clearing a dungeon, but in truth, he wanted his uncle to pull strings and get him and his friends into Deok-hoon’s guild.
‘If only I hadn’t been drunk that time.’
Young-jin always bragged about his uncle, but it was when he was drunk that he had foolishly promised one of his friends that he’d get them into the guild.
After sobering up, he realized that there was no way his uncle would accept them just like that, even if they were family. But admitting that he’d misspoken? That would be too humiliating.
So, after much consideration, he had come up with this plan.
“Uncle! The last guy said he’ll be here soon, so please wait a bit longer.”
“Tsk. If it weren’t for my sister… Fine.”
For someone of Deok-hoon’s rank, it was practically unheard of to form a personal raid party just to train a few D-rank hunters—even if one of them was his nephew.
But Young-jin’s mother, Deok-hoon’s sister, had pleaded with him to help out her son. So how could he refuse?
When Deok-hoon was young and their family was struggling, his sister had been like a mother to him. There was no way he could turn her down now.
“I’ll just go easy on them and get this over with so I can finally rest.”
Deok-hoon watched quietly as Young-jin and his friends continued to chatter excitedly.
About ten minutes later, a man approached the group.
“Hello. My name is Lee Do-jae, the one who contacted you earlier.”
“Oh, you’re the guy who called this morning! Nice to meet you. I’m Shim Young-jin.”
Young-jin greeted him with a smile and extended his hand for a handshake.
“Thanks in advance for your help with the raid.”
Do-jae shook his hand and replied,
“Of course. I’m counting on you as well.”
“Shall we start with introductions, then? I don’t think we really got to know each other over the phone. Also, I’ll need your Hunter license. I have to send a picture of it.”
Young-jin asked, holding out his hand, and Do-jae handed over his license while addressing the others.
“It’s nice to meet you all. I’m Lee Do-jae, an F-rank hunter. My role changes depending on the situation, but I usually handle clean-up and collecting loot.”
After his brief introduction, Young-jin’s friends started murmuring amongst themselves.
“Did he really bring just anyone? If they were going to bring an F-rank, they might as well have brought a civilian.”
“Dude, Young-jin’s going to hear you.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll keep it down.”
“Anyway, no one else responded to their recruitment posts for days. Might as well just bring him along so we can show off our skills.”
“True. If we had a higher-ranked hunter, they’d probably just steal all the loot.”
Though they were trying to speak quietly amongst themselves, their voices were crystal clear to Do-jae, thanks to the increased stats he had gained through leveling up from quests.
Whether they were aware of this or not, Young-jin kept up his cheerful demeanor as he said,
“Great to meet you! I’m a D-rank hunter, and my role is a front-line damage dealer. I haven’t been a hunter for long, but I’m pretty good at it. Haha.”
After Young-jin finished his introduction, his friends followed suit.
“This is Kim Joon-soo. He’s a D-rank front-line tank. And this guy is Seong Min-ho, a rear-line healer and a C-rank hunter! He can heal minor wounds in no time, though hopefully, you won’t need it! Anyway, we’re all friends, and we’ve done plenty of raids together, so we’ve got great synergy.”
It was a well-balanced party.
A tank hunter to draw the monsters’ attention, a damage dealer to take them down, and a healer to provide support from the back.
Especially since healers were in short supply, the mere presence of one meant they had a solid party.
“And this here is… the Vice Guild Master of Manseong Guild! An A-rank hunter, Song Deok-hoon! Now you know why I said not to worry, right? And he’s my uncle! Hehe.”
Do-jae greeted Deok-hoon with a polite bow.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Do-jae.”
Deok-hoon returned the greeting.
“Let’s work well together today.”
Though he had no real connection to Do-jae, unlike his troublesome nephew and his nephew’s friends, Deok-hoon showed proper manners as expected of a guild’s vice master.
“Alright, introductions are over. It’s already 3 PM, so how about we get started with the raid? I’m feeling pumped!”
Young-jin shouted energetically.
Read More at – GENZNOVEL.COM!!
-> MAKE ACCOUNT AND GET [50] COINS FREE!!
PLEASE JOIN OUR DISCORD AND SUBSCRIBE THE ROLE TO RECEIVE LATEST NOTOFICATIONS!!
https://discord.gg/S8c2kGVr2g
Comment