Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Yeom Myoil.

He was a man who had spent his entire life watching Hunters.

As a child, he had admired the Hunters on TV who rescued people like superheroes.

Even after learning he could never awaken, he didn’t despair. Instead, he turned that disappointment into fuel and climbed all the way to a position where he recruited Hunters himself.

People around him whispered that he was a rigid, cold man, a born civil servant who knew nothing but work. But that was only half true.

Because, at least as Yeom Myoil himself saw it, his job was.

“Deputy Director. I’m confident. The Masked Man. He’s worth betting on.”

“You... know Hunters that well? You have an eye for them?”

“Yes. At the very least, I doubt anyone in Korea’s public sector is more interested in Hunters than I am.”

A job where he could see Hunters up close every single day.

It was, quite literally, the ultimate successful-fan career.

“With the Masked Man’s ability, he should at least be able to protect our stranded Hunters. Perhaps we could even aim beyond that and have him help clear the Dungeon itself.”

Yeom Myoil’s eyes gleamed.

Perhaps overwhelmed by his intensity, the deputy director merely opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish.

“Contact the stranded Hunters. Tell them to find this man—the Masked Man. Tell them that if they want to live, that’s their only option.”

“The compensation...”

“Given the situation.”

“Ugh. Yes, right. Fine, Myoil. If that Masked Man really agrees to cover this mess like you say.”

As though hypnotized, the deputy director quickly nodded.

“I’ll do everything I can to make sure the Hunter Association handles whatever compensation is necessary.”

“Thank you for trusting me, Deputy Director.”

The matter was settled quickly.

Yeom Myoil immediately sent a message through the internal line.

-To the stranded Hunters.

-Your savior is inside the Dungeon.

-Find the masked man. An unidentified Hunter who should be with a camper van.

-And...

* * *

Crackle, crackle.

Inside the dark cave, only the eerie sound of torches burning here and there could be heard.

Have you ever heard the crackling of fire inside a cave?

A cave was an isolated space.

Sound echoed endlessly off the walls, and the crackling that normally symbolized comfort swelled and distorted until it sounded like the footsteps of a ghost.

Crk, crk-crk.

Inside that Dungeon of death.

Hiding barely behind a large boulder, hands clamped over their mouths in fear that even their breathing might leak out.

Several Hunters trembled like puppies drenched in a freezing dawn rain.

“Sniff, waaah...”

“Quiet, Sua. Please. If the Goblins hear us...”

“Both of you shut up.”

“Team Leader. Don’t just sit there either, do something. What are we supposed to do now? Huh?!”

“I’m thinking, so shut up.”

They were government Hunters belonging to the National Hunter Association, dispatched urgently to this Dungeon.

Less than ten minutes after entering, they had been attacked by Red Goblins.

Three died almost instantly. They fled desperately, but even the surviving three suffered severe injuries.

That was why they were reduced to this state.

They had managed to hide, but they had no idea when the Goblins might discover them again.

‘Damn it. Red Goblins. They said this was supposed to be an easy Dungeon! Those bastard researchers threw us in here like lab rats...’

Kim Sangjin, the raid team leader, sighed inwardly.

Of all things, their Healer—the most important member of any Dungeon raid—had died immediately after they entered.

They were out of health potions and mana potions.

Only three remained alive.

Sangjin himself, a Warrior, and Oh Hyeongtae, a Guardian serving as their Tank.

And finally, the most severely wounded of them all, the Mage Lee Sua.

‘In extreme situations like this, the most important role is usually Sua’s. Even basic healing magic would help, or at the very least she could use ‘Silence’ to reduce our footsteps so we can hide. But.’

Sua’s mana had already been completely drained.

She had been forced to spam high-level magic to break through the Goblin encirclement, triggering mana backlash. She kept retching and vomiting yellow stomach bile.

Even Sangjin, as team leader, could see there was no real answer anymore.

A hopeless silence began enveloping the three of them.

At that moment.

Beep-beep-

Beepbeepbeepbeep--

The pager attached to Sangjin’s waist began quietly beeping.

He hurriedly checked it, and his eyes narrowed.

“T-Team Leader. What does it say? Is headquarters coming to rescue us?!”

“That’s... Hmm...”

Sua asked in a trembling voice while lying down from dizziness.

But Sangjin could only repeat what he saw.

“They say rescue will take a while. So if we want to live.”

“If we want to live?”

“They want us to... find a camper van?”

“...What?!”

What kind of insane instruction was that?

They were inside a brand-new unknown Dungeon swarming with Red Goblins, and headquarters wanted them to find a camper van?

But with death staring them in the face, this was the only thing they could believe in.

There was no other choice, so all they could do was accept it.

“Let’s move first.”

“But, Team Leader.”

“I don’t understand it either. But what else can we do? They’re saying this is our only way to survive.”

He didn’t want to die like this.

Thrown into danger without warning, dying a pointless death so pathetic that they might not even recover his body? He’d refuse that even if it killed him.

The instinct to survive. And hope as tiny as one of the torches lining the cave walls.

Right now, that was enough to squeeze the last strength from their ruined bodies and gamble their lives.

* * *

At the same time.

Haejin, the savior of both the Hunter Association and its three surviving Hunters, was sprawled across his living-room sofa watching the news blankly.

“This Dungeon incident really is bigger than I thought.”

The sudden emergence of a new Dungeon had put the country on emergency footing.

Every TV channel had interrupted regular programming to report breaking news about the incident.

‘I already confirmed my Skills work properly inside the Dungeon. And the Association is taking action too, right?’

Breaking news reported that Korea’s fourth-ranked Hunter.

‘Radiance’ had been urgently dispatched.

Even if this was an intermediate Dungeon filled with Red Goblins, once Radiance arrived, it would surely be cleared before long.

‘So that means the boss will probably be dead and the Dungeon cleared within forty-eight hours at the latest. Hmm...’

He had escaped the Dungeon perfectly fine, and quite openly at that.

But Haejin still had one enormous problem.

‘How do I get my camper van back?’

How much had that thing cost?

He had splurged on it and taken it out for its very first run, only for it to get trapped inside a Dungeon.

Of course, once the Dungeon was cleared, it would eventually be spat back outside.

But even then, Haejin still had to show up and declare, ‘That camper van is mine!’

‘Would anyone believe that an F-rank Hunter, the lowest of the low, survived in there perfectly fine?’

But he couldn’t abandon the camper van.

The most realistic option seemed to be returning to the Dungeon, pretending to be an ordinary lucky survivor, waiting until the raid was finished.

Then quietly driving the camper van away afterward.

And there was one more reason he needed to go back inside.

‘Red Goblins. Those things are worth money too, right?’

The strength of a monster naturally correlated with its price.

The stronger the monster, the more powerful the mana and effects contained within its materials.

That made them expensive.

At least ten million won per body!

‘They’re basically extinct outside because they’re worth that much, but in a Dungeon where they spawn in large numbers like this? It’s basically a gold mine, isn’t it?’

Since this was a brand-new Dungeon, the population was still plentiful.

If he could hunt enough of them now, he could secure enough money to spend several months lazing around with Pasu.

And if he earned enough to buy another building?

‘Super-rich landlord.’

He might finally be able to live off actual rent.

‘Good. I can’t let the Hunter Association gobble up all this gold.’

Recover the camper van and hunt Red Goblins.

Keeping those two objectives in mind, Haejin moved quickly.

Vroooom--!

He started the truck and stepped on the accelerator toward the Hunting City.

He raced from shop to shop, buying supplies like a madman.

Ammunition, potions, and even expensive magic scrolls.

Huge amounts of money vanished, but he swallowed his tears and shoved bundles of cash across counters anyway.

‘It’s all an investment. Seed money to make even more money. Damn, it hurts, though. Ugh...’

The truck rapidly filled with supplies.

Afterward, he used ‘Go Home’ to return to the camper van inside the Dungeon.

Quietly stepping out and looking around, nothing seemed to have changed.

‘Still quiet.’

A dark, eerie cavern stretching beyond sight.

But right now, the fact that nobody else was around was actually convenient.

‘About five hours until Radiance arrives.’

This was his only chance to hunt while keeping his identity hidden.

Time literally was money.

Before the Dungeon was cleared, he needed to kill even one more Goblin.

And to do that, he had to draw as many Red Goblins toward him as possible.

As for how to pull monster aggro, Haejin was already practically a master.

HOOOOONK-!

HOOONK- HOOOOOOOOONK---!!!

Nothing announced your presence quite like a car horn.

He hammered the camper van horn like the drummer of a hardcore rock band, and before long.

“There!”

A Red Goblin appeared from beyond the cave wall.

The creature snarled keruk-keruk, looking visibly furious.

But unlike before, it didn’t recklessly charge. Instead, it maintained its distance and watched him.

‘So this is what an intermediate monster is like? It looks pretty intelligent.’

It was probably the same Goblin that had attacked Haejin earlier.

It remembered that he had a gun, so now it was cautious.

As expected of a monster that was both intelligent, strong, and fast.

But as always, Haejin had a plan this time too.

“Pasu, go!”

“Woof!”

Nothing beat a dog for driving prey.

Pasu left the safe zone and approached the Goblin, drawing its attention while slowly leading it forward.

‘Don’t fight. Safety first, Pasu. I’m not telling you to kill it. Just lure it forward.’

Like the perfect pet he was, Pasu understood Haejin’s command completely.

He skillfully drew aggro and provoked the Red Goblin.

Before long, the impatient creature charged forward with its dagger raised.

“Now!”

BAAANG---!

Haejin, who had been waiting with the muzzle hidden and his sights trained on the target, pulled the trigger.

The anti-materiel rifle powerful enough to bring down a Basilisk roared.