"Looking for a porter! Anyone heading to the F-rank Horned Rabbit Colony? The pay will not disappoint!"
"Is there still a healer spot open? My healing output is decent."
"Ah, that one is already full. We are looking for one more tank!"
From early morning, the Hunter Association lobby was no different from a chaotic marketplace.
Voices shouting for party members rang out loudly from every direction.
Oh Cheol-woo stood in front of a public terminal set up in one corner, letting the noise pass in one ear and out the other.
In the past, he would have forced his way into that crowd and struggled desperately to secure even one porter position.
But now, things were different.
"Even if I swarm in with them like that, nothing will fall to me."
Cheol-woo clicked the mouse and scrolled through the raid board.
It was to officially apply for the target he had marked on his rented room’s laptop yesterday.
The conditions were clear.
It had to be a low-grade gate that he could push through to the end with his own combat power.
And above all, it had to be a shithole no other hunter would ever try to interfere with.
Applications from several parties were already plastered all over the notices for F-rank gates that made decent money.
Competition was fierce for places that were easy to reach or had byproducts worth selling.
If he tried to force himself into a place like that alone, he would almost certainly be called a madman. On the other hand, if he joined someone else’s party, he would lose the most important thing.
Raid contribution.
The moment the contribution from monster kills and Core destruction was divided among party members, the condition for obtaining sole ownership would be out of reach.
"It is not as if I am going there for one-time pocket change anyway."
Cheol-woo boldly reversed the filter that had been sorted by reward amount.
Zero applicants. Longest period left uncleared.
At the very bottom of the board, at the end of a list that seemed covered in a thick layer of dust, the name he had checked yesterday stood firmly in place.
[Sleeping Waterway (F-rank)]
The monsters were mostly slimes and small aquatic species, so the combat difficulty itself was rock bottom.
The problem was the terrain.
Most of the passages were submerged in rotten water from knee height to waist height, and there were deep sections here and there where the ground suddenly dropped away.
In other words, one had to walk for hours with one’s body soaked in filthy water while wearing equipment.
On top of that, the only byproducts that dropped there were cheap slime residues.
After subtracting the cost of washing and maintaining equipment that had absorbed the smell after the raid, it was not profitable at all.
That was why the notice had simply floated there for months. Even when people applied, they would see the terrain information, curse, and cancel.
Another hunter using the terminal beside him glanced at Cheol-woo’s screen and clicked his tongue.
"Ugh, you are looking at that cesspit? I heard that if you go in there, the sewer smell does not leave your body for days."
"Ah, is that so?"
"The reward is complete trash too. It is not as if you can cook soup with slime scraps. Just look for somewhere else."
At the meddlesome hunter’s advice, Cheol-woo merely gave him a good-natured smile.
"You are right. It really does look like it is only good for smelling awful."
While casually agreeing with him, Cheol-woo pressed the solo raid application button without hesitation.
Whether others called it a garbage dump or not was none of his concern.
So what if the reward was small? All he had to do was destroy the Core for certain and make the dungeon itself his own.
Rather, because there were no competitors swarming like flies, it could not have been a better place for him to reach the boss room alone.
This was not a cesspit. It was free real estate no one coveted.
After printing the notice, Cheol-woo left the lobby without regret.
Now that he had decided on the raid, it was time to prepare his equipment.
When he opened the door of a shabby equipment shop near the Association and stepped inside, the shop owner, who had been dozing with his head on the counter, lifted his head groggily.
"Welcome. Looking for something?"
"Give me everything that will hold up even if I roll around in water."
The owner’s eyes snapped open.
Cheol-woo took the list he had prepared in advance from his pocket and waved it.
"First, give me a pair of anti-slip boots. A sturdy waterproof bag too. Ah, do you have lightweight armor made of a material that does not absorb water?"
The owner bustled between the display shelves and piled items onto the counter.
Thanks to steadily selling only goblin mana stones while leaving the Azure Mana Iron alone in the abandoned mine, his wallet was fairly comfortable.
Even so, he had no intention of decorating himself with needlessly expensive equipment.
"How about this? It is specially coated leather that does not gain weight even when wet."
"Too expensive. Just give me a synthetic material that is easy to move in and dries quickly."
"Come on, you are risking your life. You should invest a little."
"I have worked as a porter for years. Cost-effectiveness is best."
Cheol-woo checked the items carefully.
He also placed a small breathing aid that could be held in his mouth for deep sections and a tough recovery rope into the basket.
After adding high-calorie consumables to replenish his stamina, hemostatic agents, and waterproofed backup lights, the setup was fairly complete.
"That will be 450,000 won in total."
Cheol-woo’s insides stung slightly when he saw the number on the calculator.
In the past, he would have trembled even over buying a single pair of boots.
But this was a necessary expense for securing his second territory. Considering the value that would return later through dungeon ownership, it was practically a bargain.
Cheol-woo readily held out his card and completed the payment.
His hands were heavy with baggage, but his steps were light.
After returning to the Association lobby, Cheol-woo took a number ticket from the reception counter.
Before long, his number appeared on the electronic display.
"Hunter No. 217, please come this way."
The short-haired employee seated beyond the counter greeted him with a mechanical smile.
Cheol-woo slid over his hunter license, the raid application he had printed earlier, and the itemized list of safety equipment he had just purchased.
"I am here to apply for the Sleeping Waterway raid."
The employee accepted the documents and began entering the information into her monitor, but her fingers abruptly stopped.
She blinked as she looked back and forth between the monitor and Cheol-woo’s face.
"Pardon? Sleeping Waterway? And a solo raid?"
"Yes. Is anything missing from the documents?"
"No, the documents are all correct. But did you check the terrain information for this place? It is F-rank, but the inside is almost entirely mud and flooded areas. If you go alone, your equipment will be ruined, and you will only suffer."
The employee seemed genuinely worried.
It was an F-rank gate that had sat for months like dead stock no one wanted, and he was saying he would enter it alone. It was only natural that she wanted to stop him.
Cheol-woo shrugged and played it off.
"Parties have not been hiring porters much lately. I am about to starve, so I have to do something. If it is a place no one else goes, should I not be able to scrape together at least some slime residue?"
"Even so, the repair costs will probably be higher..."
"I brought all the waterproof equipment I need, so do not worry. I have nothing to lose anyway."
When Cheol-woo smiled good-naturedly and tapped his bulging waterproof bag, the employee could no longer dissuade him and let out a sigh.
It was an F-rank gate that had been neglected for a long time, and there were no other applicants, so there was no procedural basis to stop him.
Tap, tap, tap.
The sound of typing continued, and soon, with the whining sound of the printer, a stamped document came out.
"The confirmation is complete. For the designated time, the solo raid right for Sleeping Waterway has been assigned to Hunter Oh Cheol-woo. Please do not overdo it, and withdraw immediately if you feel it is dangerous."
"Yes, yes. Thank you for your work."
Cheol-woo folded the stiff approval document in half and slipped it into the inner pocket of his waterproof bag.
All the paperwork was finished.
Now, no matter what he did inside that waterway, no one could interfere during the designated time.
After leaving the Association, Cheol-woo headed straight toward the gate waiting area.
The heavy bag on his back swayed pleasantly with every step he took.
He did not need a grand party, nor did he need to mind anyone else’s gaze.
He would reach the end of the waterway using only his own strength.
Without sharing contribution with anyone, he would smash the Core embedded in the heart of that damp cesspit with his own hands.
That was the only objective filling Cheol-woo’s mind now.
Strength gradually entered Cheol-woo’s steps as he headed toward the gate.