"Cheol-woo. I know this is shameless, but could I use that gate from yesterday just one more time?"
Park Jun-seok, who had been sipping instant coffee from a paper cup, carefully brought up the main subject.
Cheol-woo leaned back on a bench in the neighborhood clearing with an indifferent expression and opened the lid of his canned coffee.
The sharp click of the can opening rang out briefly.
"Has your leg already healed?"
"As if. I need to loosen up for a full week. But this morning, I went to a public F-rank dungeon managed by the Association, and it was an absolute mess."
Park Jun-seok shuddered as he crumpled the empty paper cup.
"There were people everywhere, and the monsters were wiped out. If one happened to appear, another party snatched it first. There was no place for someone like me, still recovering with a half-healed leg. I just stood around watching others and came back without catching a single one."
"That is how low-grade public dungeons usually are. The competition is severe."
"Exactly. But the place you took me to yesterday was incredibly comfortable. There were just enough monsters for me to hunt. More than anything, since you controlled the route so it would not get tangled, there was no better place to regain my sense while minding my leg."
Watching Park Jun-seok look at him with desperate eyes, Cheol-woo took a sip of canned coffee.
It was the reaction he had expected.
A safely controlled hunting ground where he could even keep all the monster byproducts.
For a low-tier hunter anxiously struggling because he could not enter a proper party, there were no conditions sweeter than that.
"I do not mind, but there will be an additional condition."
"A condition?"
"Yesterday, I opened it for free as part of the first test. From today on, I will receive compensation. Hand over thirty percent of the mana stones you obtain from hunting."
At Cheol-woo’s calm words, Park Jun-seok’s expression actually brightened.
"What, only thirty percent? Hey, even if you took fifty percent, I would still go no matter what. It is far better to hunt reliably there and hand over half than to go to a public dungeon, come up empty, and waste the whole day."
"Then I will consider it agreed. You know the confidentiality rule and the ban on leaving the controlled zone still apply, correct?"
"Of course. I will keep my mouth shut and do exactly as I am told, so hurry up and open the door."
Park Jun-seok urged him along while tapping the blunt weapon he had brought to warm up.
Cheol-woo fixed his gaze into the air and quietly opened the management window.
Before opening the gate, there were numbers he had to check.
[Current Dungeon Status]
-Grade: F-rank
-Management Level: 2
-Current Dungeon Mana: 412 / 1000 (Level 3 promotion requirement)
‘The mana has passed 400.’
Cheol-woo took the notebook from his inner pocket and quickly wrote down the number.
It was a structure where mana accumulated little by little each time resources and monsters regenerated.
He needed 1,000 mana to rise to Level 3.
"Are you ready?"
"Yeah, anytime."
When Cheol-woo lightly stirred the air with his fingertips, space rippled and the blue gate appeared.
[One-time temporary entry pass under Park Jun-seok’s name has been issued.]
Along with the notification window, the entry guidance and remaining time appeared in Park Jun-seok’s vision just like the day before.
As if already used to it, he nodded and threw himself into the gate without delay.
Cheol-woo shoved the notebook into his pocket and immediately followed him inside.
Damp air and dim lighting.
It was the interior of Goblin’s Abandoned Mine, unchanged from the day before.
"Where should we start today? That rock area from yesterday?"
Park Jun-seok asked cautiously as he adjusted his shield.
Cheol-woo scanned the dungeon map floating in his vision.
The inner area where the Azure Mana Iron vein and the supervisor were located remained off-limits.
His gaze stopped on the common goblin habitat near the entrance.
"Yesterday, I intervened and drew them out one at a time, but today, I will change the method a little."
"How?"
"Just stand there. I will make them come on their own."
Park Jun-seok looked puzzled, but instead of explaining, Cheol-woo pressed a specific function in the management window.
It was one of the functions that had opened when the dungeon reached Level 2.
[Monster Population Adjustment]
-Target Area: Common Goblin Habitat
-Adjustment Details: Move 1 low-grade goblin to the designated coordinates every 5 minutes.
When Cheol-woo finished the settings, a system notification appeared.
[The monster population in the area will be adjusted. 30 mana will be consumed.]
Cheol-woo’s eyebrow twitched.
The dungeon mana value had dropped from 412 to 382.
‘Ah, so it was not free.’
It was a new realization.
The functions that allowed him to manipulate the dungeon to his liking were not benefits given for free.
They could only be used by paying operational costs with the mana the dungeon had accumulated on its own.
Moreover, it was not the accumulated mana threshold that was deducted, but the currently stored real-time mana.
For the time being, he would have to avoid carelessly spamming unnecessary functions and use them only after calculating their efficiency.
"SKREE!"
While Cheol-woo was running calculations in his head, footsteps sounded from the darkness.
A goblin came running out exactly along the route Cheol-woo had designated.
Park Jun-seok immediately raised his shield and lowered his stance.
CLANG!
After letting the recklessly flying dagger slide off his shield at an angle, Park Jun-seok immediately brought his blunt weapon down.
With a thud, the goblin’s skull caved in, and the monster collapsed onto the floor.
It was a much cleaner movement than yesterday, with far less wasted motion.
"Oh, my body feels much lighter than yesterday. Where is the next one?"
Park Jun-seok asked triumphantly as he shook off his blunt weapon.
"Catch your breath for a moment. It will come in about four minutes."
"Four minutes? How do you know all their movements?"
"That is a secret. Just control your pace."
At Cheol-woo’s iron defense, Park Jun-seok smacked his lips, but he did not ask any further.
He simply adjusted his shield and lightly jogged in place to check the condition of his leg.
Right around the five-minute mark.
"SKREE!"
Once again, a single goblin appeared through the darkness.
There was no swarm charging in, and no unexpected situation where something suddenly sprang out from the side.
One at a time, at regular intervals, like targets in a well-designed training camp.
Park Jun-seok did not need to suddenly change direction or push himself into a reckless pursuit.
"Wow, this is seriously amazing."
After dropping the third goblin to the floor, Park Jun-seok wiped the sweat from his forehead and exclaimed in admiration.
"In a public dungeon, you always have to stay tense because you never know when or where something will pop out. But here, I can face only what I can handle."
"That is the advantage of a controlled hunting ground. It is good for stamina management too."
"At this rate, I will be able to return to a party in less than a week."
Excited, Park Jun-seok continued hunting goblins according to the intervals Cheol-woo had set.
Cheol-woo stood behind him, watching the management window while preparing for any possible incident.
‘This definitely reduces the need for intervention.’
Yesterday, Cheol-woo had to personally throw stones and draw attention while controlling the goblins’ aggression.
But once he adjusted the population through the system, all he had to do was stand with his arms crossed and observe.
The downside was that it consumed mana, but in return, Cheol-woo’s labor and fatigue were clearly reduced.
After a little over two hours, more than twenty goblin corpses had piled up on the floor.
When Cheol-woo stopped the Monster Population Adjustment function, no more goblins appeared.
"Hoo, hoo. We hunted quite a few. Is that the end?"
"Yes. It could strain your leg, so let us stop here for today."
"Sure. I worked up a good sweat."
Park Jun-seok sat down on the floor and emptied the water bottle he had brought.
Then, with practiced hands, he cut open the goblins’ stomachs and began extracting mana stones.
He also did not miss the small pieces of leather and byproducts, sweeping them into a sack.
Before the time expired, the two walked side by side to the dungeon entrance.
When Cheol-woo directly executed the exit authority, their vision flashed, and the scenery changed to the familiar neighborhood clearing.
A cool breeze brushed across their sweat-soaked cheeks.
"Ah, air outside a dungeon really is the best."
Park Jun-seok stretched and took a deep breath.
Cheol-woo sat on the bench and took out his notebook.
-Second use complete.
-Monster Population Adjustment function used. Mana consumed: 30.
-Mana is deducted from the real-time remaining amount, not from the accumulated total. Mana management is required for promotion.
After finishing the simple notes, Cheol-woo lifted his head.
Park Jun-seok had spread the sack on the ground and was counting the mana stones he had mined that day.
"Twenty-two in total. Thirty percent, as promised, is roughly seven. Right?"
He separated seven mana stones and handed them to Cheol-woo.
"I will take the rest?"
"Yes. Good work."
Cheol-woo accepted the mana stones and put them in his pocket.
Although they were only a few low-grade mana stones, their meaning was significant.
Even without swinging his sword himself, he had generated profit simply by controlling the number and interval of monsters.
‘Not a bad business.’
He could adjust things to the level each user could handle and receive a portion of the byproducts in return.
It was far more efficient than Cheol-woo spending all day inside the dungeon and killing every monster himself.
Since the dungeon’s resources continued to respawn according to mana and time, carefully selecting trustworthy users would turn it into a stable source of additional income.
He was not yet at the stage of openly recruiting an unspecified public or creating an official rate table, but the outline of a customized hunting ground rental business had become clear.
After finishing the settlement, Park Jun-seok tied the sack, slung it over his shoulder, and hesitated.
He scratched the back of his head while watching Cheol-woo’s expression.
"Hey, Cheol-woo."
"What is it?"
"Well. This is a really cautious request."
Park Jun-seok lowered his voice and glanced around once.
The clearing was empty, but he was clearly being careful in case anyone heard.
"I have two low-rank colleagues in a similar situation to mine. They are steady guys I have known since my old porter days, and they have never caused trouble."
"..."
"They are also loitering around the entrances of public dungeons right now because they cannot find proper parties. Would it be all right if I quietly let them know about this place? Of course, if you say no, I will keep my mouth completely shut."
Park Jun-seok’s cautious expression held both apology and desperation.
Cheol-woo crossed his arms and silently looked at Park Jun-seok.
He had no intention of recklessly increasing the number of outsiders right away.
However, if they were low-tier hunters vouched for by Park Jun-seok and desperate because they could not find parties, that was a different story.
They would be desperate, just like Park Jun-seok was now, and desperate people tended to follow rules well.
Moreover, slowly increasing the number of rule-abiding users would help with long-term management more than running the dungeon alone.
"What kind of people are they?"
At Cheol-woo’s calm question, Park Jun-seok’s face brightened.
"One is defense-type, and the other has a bit of crafting-type skill. Both can keep their mouths shut, and if they owe a debt, they pay it back no matter what. I will vouch for them."
"Your guarantee, hyung."
Cheol-woo rubbed his chin and briefly fell into thought.
Park Jun-seok was one of the few decent people he had known since his time rolling around at the bottom.
If he went that far, they were worth trusting to some extent.
"Good. But I cannot bring them in immediately. I have preparations to make on my end too."
"Really? Hey, thanks! I will drill the rules into them beforehand. If they do not listen, I will personally beat them up and kick them out."
"Do not spread this sloppily. Give a hint only to those two. The conditions will be the same as yours."
"Understood. You know I can keep my mouth shut."
Park Jun-seok nodded repeatedly and smiled brightly.
It must have been relief not only from finding a way for himself to survive, but also from being able to rescue his colleagues.
"Then shall we meet at this time tomorrow too?"
"Let us do that."
After saying goodbye, Park Jun-seok left the clearing first with lighter steps.
Left alone, Cheol-woo took out his notebook again.
-2 colleagues recommended by Park Jun-seok waiting.
The scratching sound of the ballpoint pen was pleasant.
For now, it was only an old F-rank abandoned mine, but the boundless possibilities this small cave would offer were slowly taking shape.
Cheol-woo lightly gripped the seven low-grade mana stones in his pocket.
They were small, rough stones, but the sensation in his hand felt quite weighty.
"Well, I can take it slowly."
Cheol-woo slipped the notebook into his pocket and rose from his seat.