Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“...Report.”

The Golden Lion, clad in golden armor emblazoned with the Stars and Stripes, spoke as he stared at his subordinate with trembling eyes.

The man forced the words out in a heavily subdued voice.

“Seventeen members in the raid party total. Seven dead, five critically wounded and unable to fight. The number still capable of combat, including you and me... is only five.”

“What about the wounded?”

“All the healers are dead. We’re pouring potions into them for now, but I doubt...”

“They won’t last long. Even the members still clinging to life are at their limit.”

Yellowstone National Park, United States.

Despite being called a ‘park,’ the place was a vast expanse of sheer cliffs and mountainous terrain, nearly the size of South Chungcheong Province.

And a Gate had opened in this colossal region.

An S-rank Gate, no less—the level of danger said to have appeared only twice in American history.

With no other choice, the U.S. government assembled a raid party led by the nation’s second-ranked Hunter, the ‘Golden Lion.’

It had been an elite dream team made up solely of those hailed as the strongest of their generation.

“Captain, what should we do? Please, give us your orders.”

“Even if we retreat right now... I don’t know if even one of us will make it out alive.”

If anything, they were the ones being raided.

The balance of power was hopelessly skewed.

They hadn’t even dreamed of reaching the boss. They had barely fought their way through half the dungeon, and now they had hit their limit.

Retreating would be no easy task either.

Hadn’t it already been said? This national park was as enormous as South Chungcheong Province.

They could neither advance nor turn back. They were trapped in a perfect deadlock.

‘I can’t abandon my comrades. There are still plenty of Hunters breathing. But taking them with us...’

Of all things, every healer had died. That hurt the most.

In this worst possible situation, the raid leader, the Golden Lion, had to give an order.

At last, he managed to speak, his voice choked with tears.

“We... abandon the wounded. So that at least those who can still move have a chance to live. Somehow, we retreat...”

A decision to leave behind comrades who were still alive.

Just as he thought he had no choice but to commit such a terrible sin.

“Captain! Over there, look! There’s something there. Beyond the steam!”

“What?”

One of the raid members came running over, his face deathly pale.

Sulfurous steam from Yellowstone’s hot springs hung thick in the air, but the Golden Lion narrowed his eyes and stared where his subordinate was pointing.

And there really was something there.

“Am I... seeing things?”

Something stood there.

Amid sulfur springs that could melt flesh on contact and swarms of monsters.

A magnificent building towered above them.

To their astonishment, the brightly lit building even had a sign.

[The HOTEL]

“This should be a dungeon first discovered by the United States. How can there be a building here? N-no, more importantly, a hotel?! You can see it too?”

“Yes. I can clearly read the words ‘The HOTEL.’ That isn’t an illusion, Captain.”

“What in the world...”

A hotel in the middle of this hellish demonic realm.

The sight defied common sense so completely that they could hardly trust their own eyes.

“We’re going there. To The HOTEL.”

There was no other choice anyway.

Under the Golden Lion’s command, the surviving members carried as many of the wounded as they could on their backs and pressed forward through clenched teeth.

As if bewitched, they finally arrived before the hotel.

They opened the grand entrance framed in luxurious glass and stepped inside, only to find the spotless interior of a real hotel spread out before them.

The sight of a beautiful chandelier reflected across the marble floor left their mouths hanging open.

“This is impossible.”

There really was a hotel inside the dungeon.

Before long, a young Asian man in a neat suit suddenly appeared from somewhere.

“Oh my, guests! Welcome. This is The HOTEL, where we always provide the finest service and the most comfortable rest.”

“Y-you are?”

“I’m the owner of this hotel. I know you have a lot you want to ask, but hmm... you’ve got quite a few injured people back there. Goodness, the one with a hole in his stomach is just about to breathe his last.”

Clap clap-!

The man who had introduced himself as the owner lightly clapped his hands.

“Doctors!”

And then people really did begin appearing out of thin air.

A dozen or so doctors in white coats rushed in. They immediately ran to the wounded and began treating them.

Clear green energy flashed from the doctors’ hands.

Wounds healed, bleeding stopped, and faces that had been clenched in agony finally relaxed.

“Is that... Heal? But I’ve never seen a healing skill on that level before...”

“It’s one of the services provided by The HOTEL. Ah, of course, just because it’s a service doesn’t mean it’s free.”

The owner spoke to the Golden Lion with a suggestive smile.

“For reference, emergency treatment for the wounded is rather expensive. Here at The HOTEL, we follow the latest trends in American healthcare pricing.”

“I’ll pay whatever it costs. My men are alive. That’s all I need.”

“Mm! Excellent. Then, my dear customer?”

With complete confidence, he held out a card reader he had produced from somewhere.

“Shall we settle the bill right away?”

“Do you offer installments...?”

“Oh, of course!”

* * *

Gates appeared all across the world, and many people died to the monsters that poured out of them.

But perhaps God truly did exist.

A tiny handful of people awakened special abilities, and those who became Hunters raided and closed the Gates, somehow allowing humanity to survive.

Ten years after the first Dungeon Break.

In the Republic of Korea, now quite different from before but gradually returning to stability.

“Okay, that’s it for business today. Let’s see the earnings... Oh! I made 800 gold?”

Lee Haejin smiled contentedly as he looked over the profits he had earned from his land and buildings.

He owned dozens of plots of land all over the world, and when the rent and profits from the buildings constructed on them were added together, the total was staggering.

He was beyond being able to live in luxury for the rest of his life—even when he spent money, it accumulated faster than he could use it.

Ah, of course.

‘I didn’t expect much because it was so cheap. But at this point, isn’t this game god-tier?’

This was all inside a game, not reality.

A game he had bought for 2,000 won during a summer sale at an 80% discount.

It was a real-estate tycoon game, and it had turned out to be more entertaining than expected. His playtime had already passed a hundred hours.

And even then, he was still nowhere near the ending.

‘Now that’s value for money.’

Unlike his in-game character, who lived like a king, Haejin was stuck in a tiny semi-basement room.

Naturally, he had no money.

A future, marriage, owning a home... he couldn’t even dream of things like that.

‘Man... I want to become a God-Tier Landlord like this too. Put up a nice building on my own land. Run my own business, collect rent like clockwork.’

Then he could spend the rest of his life lazing around without having to work.

Becoming a Hunter who saved humanity, or the richest man in the world.

He didn’t want anything like that.

‘Ugh, I don’t want to work. I don’t want to go to my part-time job. I don’t even want to breathe. I just want to laze around for the rest of my life... God, I’m begging you. Please let me coast through life without lifting a finger...’

An extreme devotion to self-preservation, utterly devoid of shame.

No grand explanation was needed to understand the kind of person Lee Haejin was.

‘I want to spend my whole life gaming and lazing around at home. If I get hungry, I want to order delivery. If I get sleepy, I want to lie down and sleep right there... If possible, I’d also like that home to be a place of about 1,140 square feet that I actually own...’

The moment he offered up that heartfelt, solemn prayer to God.

-A selfish prayer utterly devoid of even the tiniest shred of guilt!

-The power of the universe is sincerely impressed by your greed and laziness!

Perhaps God really did exist.

Haejin’s wish came true.

“...What?”

A fanfare suddenly rang in his ears.

Translucent screens and messages appeared before his eyes.

It was exactly the same phenomenon said to occur when someone awakened as a Hunter.

‘Wait, was I really so lazy that the universe itself was impressed? Doesn’t everyone want to become a landlord and live an easy life?!’

His pride stung for a moment at the blatantly mocking message.

[Congratulations, Lee Haejin! You have awakened as the ‘God-Tier Landlord’ class!]

“My class is—wait. I’m actually a landlord?!”

And not just any landlord, but a ‘God-Tier Landlord.’

He had never once heard of a God-Tier Landlord class among Hunter professions.

The absurdity of it drew a disbelieving laugh from him.

* * *

He searched the internet for a while.

He had never paid much attention to awakenings before, but it really did seem like he had awakened.

Yet nowhere could he find any information about a class called ‘God-Tier Landlord.’

‘I mean, the messages were weird from the start.’

Normally, people received positive praise—something about the universe admiring their strength, being moved by their compassion for others, or at the very least, You’re special somehow!

But Haejin had apparently awakened because he was lazy enough to impress the universe.

‘Does this still count as a compliment?’

For now, he decided to accept reality.

Since it was such an unusual class, the first thing to do was figure out how to use it.

‘Still, it’s not just Landlord, it’s God-Tier Landlord. Maybe I have a skill that makes a building pop out of nowhere. Or maybe I can buy land freely or something?’

Heart pounding, he imagined a skill window in his mind.

A screen really did appear before him.

[Class: God-Tier Landlord]

[Skill List]

[Safe Property]

-Safely protects real estate owned by the user.

-Prevents monsters from invading and keeps unauthorized individuals from entering.

-In addition, the user becomes invincible while inside property they own.

[Go Home]

-Allows the user to move to any property they own at any time.

-Only the skill user and items in their possession can be transported.

-Traveling with other people is impossible.

[Landlord]

-Rent another person’s property and temporarily make it your own.

-Requires a mutual contract.

[Fully Operational Property]

-Electricity, gas, water, and other living infrastructure function normally without limit in property owned by the user.

-However, energy charges and utility bills must still be paid separately.

He slowly read through the skills and their descriptions one by one.

Haejin’s face, which had been brimming with anticipation, gradually twisted until it was completely crumpled by the end.

“Are you kidding me? What the hell am I supposed to do with this?”

I’m supposed to be a landlord.

A God-Tier Landlord, above even the Creator.

Then shouldn’t they at least give me a building? Or some land?

‘This is too much. Seriously.’

It was like a steamed bun with no filling.

Just like that, he had become a God-Tier Landlord without a single building to his name.