Chapter 9 · 9 min

Chapter 9

[Episode 02] Unique (4)

A bull’s head, a human body.

Muscles rising like mountains wriggled under leather that seemed scorched black.

The master of the labyrinth, the Minotaur.

Thud—

The massive body kneels.

A complete wreck.

One horn rising on the forehead was miserably broken, and half of the upper body from the left collarbone to the waist had been cut off.

The red eyes that had been gleaming with the beast’s unique madness until the end lost their light.

A moment later.

Slice—

The neck of the Minotaur that had lost its fighting spirit fell.

Puff—

Gray powder scattering powerlessly in all directions.

[You have defeated the Minotaur.]

Rumble—

The appearance of the altar announcing the dungeon clear.

In front of it, those who had completed the dungeon clear stood loftily.

Two knights wearing full plate.

Three archers holding bows.

One mage holding a staff.

However, ‘those’ were not Explorers.

One blue thread connected to them.

One person controlling that.

The Republic of Korea’s [Unique] grade Explorer.

Necromancer, Han Gyeoul.

“...End.”

The six corpses became particles of light and returned to her fingers.

8 rings.

Han Gyeoul, who had become alone, climbed the altar with leisurely steps.

A platinum box emitting presence.

However, she didn’t even glance at it and headed toward the vending machine.

Confirming one of the buttons, Han Gyeoul’s expression brightened very slightly.

“...It appeared.”

An item that appeared with an extremely vicious probability had come up on the vending machine.

“...Luck is good.”

[Skill Point Candy]

(Salvation Points: 1,000,000p)

1 million points.

Han Gyeoul pressed the button without hesitation.

Click—

[Salvation Points (1,000,000p) have been consumed.]

The vending machine that sucked up points that could save 1 million people in an instant spat out one bright blue candy.

Han Gyeoul picked it up and immediately put it in her mouth.

Crunch—

[You have acquired Skill Points.]

Having finished investing the Skill Points by opening the Status Window, Han Gyeoul returned to reality through the exit as she was.

At the same time, a strong stench stabbed her nose.

“······.”

A dark room.

Faint sunlight illuminated the interior through the gap of the blackout curtains covering the entire window.

A small one-room.

That place was creating a serious stench with all sorts of trash tangled and rotting.

An environment that could not be thought of as a place where a person lived.

Han Gyeoul, without caring, cleared the trash and searched for something.

Surprisingly, a smartphone connected to a charger popped out from the bed and blanket that appeared under the trash pile.

“...Found it.”

Originally, according to the schedule, she would have completed the clear around tomorrow.

The reason she advanced that schedule quickly was because of one system message.

[{Notice} A new Unique-grade Awakened has appeared in Korea.]

The appearance of a new Unique grade.

Because she was curious about the reaction of the Explorer community right away, she finished the clear as quickly as possible and came out.

Han Gyeoul’s only joy.

Because the community was the only reason she was still attached to reality.

As she dug into the blanket full of trash and lurked the community, her eyes widened a little.

“...[Unique] grade died?”

Kang Hyuk.

She remembered.

There was a memory of encountering him a few times in passing.

A martial arts series that used bare hands.

“...The corpse of a Level 50 Explorer...”

It was tempting.

She rarely raised her body, parted the trash pile, and opened the door.

Beep—

A red Ferrari that did not suit the one-room village at all.

Unlike the one-room that was like a garbage dump, it was in a management state without a single speck of dust.

Vroom—

Soon after, she left the one-room village at high speed.

***

Clatter—

A spoon fell on the dining table.

Mom’s face filled with shock.

“What... did you say?”

Dad next to her was the same.

He was blankly looking at me with his mouth open.

“Can you say it once more...?”

I nodded once and said it again.

“I received a complete recovery judgment. The teacher said to see me in six months. With the feeling of a health checkup.”

“Jaehyun...!”

Mom who stood up from her seat hugged me.

“Is it true? It’s not a lie?”

“Yes, it’s true.”

“But how did it suddenly become like this...”

Flinch—

To properly explain this, there was no choice but to say that I had become an Explorer.

However, if I informed that I had become an Explorer, it would become complete chaos.

It was then.

Dad said.

“Jaehyun. Did you by any chance become an Explorer?”

To the question that hit the mark, I froze like a stone.

‘Did I rush too much.’

It seemed wanting to say right away that the body had gotten better was the root of the problem.

“Ahem. Anyway, since I’ve become healthy, please don’t worry too much. I need the bathroom.”

No sharp solution coming to mind, I roughly mumbled and fled to the bathroom.

While closing the bathroom door and worrying about what to say, suddenly my appearance reflected in the mirror entered my eyes.

A clear jawline.

Distinct facial features.

My appearance in the mirror with lost weight was somehow familiar yet unfamiliar.

‘Is this... me?’

Not just the face.

The forearms had become noticeably thicker, and when I put strength, muscles bulged.

The shoulders had also widened, and the frame itself seemed to have changed.

Except for the belly, it was to the point where it was hard to find fat now.

‘...The stat effect is enormous.’

So this is why there are many handsome men and beautiful women among Explorers.

Yesterday, right after Shim Kang left, I immediately started the dungeon clear.

The newly challenged 6th Floor was a structure similar to the 1st Floor where catching only one wolf cleared it, so I was able to clear it without difficulty.

As a result, only the additionally obtained bonus points were 45 points.

I invested some of them into Strength, Agility, and Stamina to make all of Strength, Agility, and Stamina 20.

That seemed to have been the root of the problem.

When I woke up, the body had changed.

And.

‘Not noticing would be more strange now.’

If it was like this.

‘...I have no choice but to say the truth.’

It was a coming out much earlier than I expected, but life doesn’t originally flow according to plans.

Even just a month ago, I couldn’t even imagine my current appearance.

“Huu.”

Taking a deep breath, I went out of the bathroom.

“Mom, Dad. I have something to say.”

“...Yes, speak.”

Continuing the words while tense.

“I, Awakened. The fact that I received a complete recovery judgment this time is also actually thanks to Awakening. And Explorer work seems to suit me quite well. So I want to continue this work.”

A bomb declaration.

I thought.

But looking at the parents’ reaction, it seemed that was not the case.

“Congratulations, our son. Awakening was about a week ago, right?”

“Yes?”

“I will allow continuing Explorer work, but first is safety, second is safety, third is safety. Don’t do reckless challenges.”

“······?”

I had not expected this picture at all.

I thought a scolding would fall and extreme opposition would follow.

I had imagined the appearance of hearing words like absolutely no, don’t think lightly of work where life is at stake, and persuading hard...

“...How did you know?”

“Where is a parent who wouldn’t notice their child’s body changing day by day. And your room. You know Mom cleans it, right?”

“Ah...”

“How could I not know. I knew right on the day of Awakening. Because that day your complexion was particularly good.”

From the beginning, it was inside the Buddha’s palm.

“...Is it really okay? Me continuing Explorer work.”

Even so, it was work where life was in danger, so I hadn’t thought I would receive permission this easily.

“Actually, Mom is also anxious. If it were up to my heart, I want to stop you right away and say quit.”

“Then why...?”

“This past week. You were so happy, how could we stop that.”

“······.”

“Congratulations, our son. For becoming an Explorer, and for recovering completely.”

“...Thank you.”

***

I received the parents’ permission.

This bestowed much more freedom than I thought.

Because there was no need to watch eyes.

“Jaehyun, where are you going at this time?”

“Carrot trade!”

“Carrot?”

“I’ll earn 1 million won!”

“Wait! Why are you dragging the carrier!”

I left the house as is.

‘I’m late.’

Inside the rattling carrier was the sword and shield obtained yesterday.

The post that had been uploaded on the Explorer community.

[Buying.] Buying all Tutorial items.

Sword and Shield set – 1 million won

Bow and Arrows set – 500,000 won

Wand – 100,000 won

When I sent a note, a reply came immediately.

I had made an appointment for 8 PM, but it was already 5 minutes past.

‘Damn community!’

It was because I didn’t notice the passage of time while sightseeing the community that was heated up due to the appearance of a [Unique] grade after a long time.

Since most of the posts were filled with my story, interest naturally went there.

Thanks to that, I only now saw the notification that he had arrived 10 minutes before the appointment time.

[It’s the 2nd basement floor.]

As soon as I arrived at the underground parking lot and looked around, a muscular bald uncle opened the door of a rugged truck and got out.

“Are you Kim Jaehyun-nim?”

“Yes yes, that’s right.”

I immediately lowered my head and apologized.

“I’m really sorry. You came all the way to the front of the house, but I was late checking the message.”

“Haha, no. Anyway, I was resting in the cool car with the air conditioner on. More than that, the items...?”

Indeed.

Is this the level needed to achieve a transaction review rating of 9.9.

The person himself was hearty and too kind.

Also always a smiling face.

“Here they are.”

When I opened the carrier and showed them, he nodded with a satisfied expression.

“One set of sword and shield and 5 wands. Confirmed. I’ll deposit right away.”

“Yes.”

A moment later, along with a notification, I could confirm that 1.5 million won had been deposited into the Explorer-exclusive account.

Since the Explorer-exclusive app and account were linked, it was also used for transactions like this.

Currently, 1.6 million won was stamped on my account.

‘I really earned 1.5 million won.’

To think I could earn this large sum by selling the trivial items obtained almost for free every day.

“Then thank you. Have a good night.”

“Wait a moment!”

I caught him who was trying to leave coolly and asked.

“By any chance, do you also purchase things like [Goblin Warrior’s Greatsword]?”

“[Goblin Warrior’s Greatsword]?”

He scratched his head as if troubled and said.

“I do purchase them, but I tend to purchase only those with high options...”

“It’s Physical Attack Power 3 upper and Strength 1 upper.”

“Really?”

There were differences in options for items dropped by monsters.

The [Goblin Warrior’s Greatsword] I obtained was Physical Attack Power +18 and Strength +2.

Compared to the correct option, attack power was +3 higher, Strength +1 higher.

Among the options that could come out from [Goblin Warrior’s Greatsword], the highest grade.

“Can I see it directly?”

“Please wait a moment.”

I quickly returned home and brought the [Goblin Warrior’s Greatsword] that had been shoved in one corner of the closet.

“It really is.”

“How much will you buy it for?”

“The condition is also good. With this much...”

I had already grasped the market price.

A normal correct option [Goblin Warrior’s Greatsword] is as much as 20 million won.

From here, the higher the options, the price rises exponentially.

Looking up past records, there was a history of the highest grade option being sold for 50 million won.

‘If he tries to lowball even a little, I shouldn’t sell.’

He said.

“I’ll give 100 million.”