After collecting the items dropped by the Slime King, Hyeon-su cautiously descended the newly revealed staircase.
After going down for quite some time, he found his path blocked by a membrane resembling a soap bubble shimmering with various rainbow colors.
It seemed to ripple gently, and he had a feeling he'd have to pass through it.
Stepping into an unknown world without any information wasn't easy.
When he'd used his skill earlier, he'd tried to check what lay beneath the staircase, but all he'd seen was an empty space. Nothing beyond that had been rendered.
'The cooldown's over anyway. Let's check one more time.'
"Design Mode."
Hyeon-su activated his skill, hoping he might be able to see what was inside, but once again, he couldn't make out anything.
'Can't be helped. Here goes.'
After taking a deep breath, Hyeon-su reached toward the soap bubble-like membrane.
WOBBLE~!
SWOOSH.
His arm slipped right through, accompanied by a cool sensation.
He slowly moved forward, passing his entire body through the membrane.
What appeared before him was a filthy room littered with all sorts of junk.
The room was so packed with objects that there barely seemed to be anywhere to step.
Rattle, rattle, rattle.
THUD.
Hyeon-su looked down at something that had rolled into his foot.
"What the hell?"
The words escaped his mouth before he even realized it.
Just then.
CRASH—!
CLANG.
RUMBLE, RUMBLE.
A tremendous racket erupted from one side of the room, and something yellow suddenly popped out from among the clutter.
"Oh, dear me. I didn't realize we had a guest."
The creature had an elongated, egg-shaped body and a small horn protruding from its head.
One enormous eye seemed to occupy half its face.
"G-Goblin?"
He didn't know why, but the word 'goblin' naturally came to mind when he saw it.
"Yes, I'm a goblin. You certainly have a keen eye."
THUMP!
CLANG!
Rattle, rattle.
After answering Hyeon-su, the goblin approached, kicking aside the scattered objects with its stubby legs.
Hyeon-su flinched.
The goblin walked straight past him, stuck its tiny hand into the membrane he'd entered through, and pulled it back out.
"Oh! You're the first customer we've had here."
Hyeon-su watched the goblin without lowering his guard.
'Customer?'
"Welcome, sucker…… I mean, valued customer."
The goblin spoke with a sly grin.
"Welcome to the Hidden Dungeon!"
Hyeon-su unconsciously glanced around the messy room, which was still littered with all sorts of junk.
'This looks more like a garbage dump than a Hidden Dungeon.'
Perhaps embarrassed by Hyeon-su's gaze, the goblin laughed awkwardly.
"Ahaha……."
SNAP!
The goblin snapped its fingers, and the room transformed as though by magic.
All the junk vanished, leaving only a large table and chairs in the center.
"……."
Apparently satisfied with Hyeon-su's astonished reaction, the goblin smiled and exclaimed.
"Once again, welcome to the Hidden Dungeon! Now then, valued customer, please take a seat over here."
Hyeon-su sat in the indicated chair, and the goblin moved to the opposite side.
"Here at our Hidden Dungeon, we provide our customers with rare items. But it wouldn't be much fun if you could obtain them too easily, would it?"
Hyeon-su listened intently, determined not to miss a single word.
"You and I will play a game. If you win, you'll receive an item. However, if you lose, I'll take the most valuable thing in your Inventory. Do you agree?"
The most valuable things in his Inventory were his basic weapon and a low-grade Magic Stone.
"Does that include my basic weapon?"
"Unfortunately, a basic weapon is considered an extension of its user's body, so it isn't included."
'My basic weapon is so unusual that it'd be hard to replace if I lost it. Thank goodness.'
Hyeon-su breathed a sigh of relief.
'Then it's between a rare item and a low-grade Magic Stone. There's nothing to think about.'
"Yes, I agree."
"Excellent. Then let's begin the game."
The goblin snapped its fingers again, and ten cups and a small ball appeared on the table.
"The rules are simple."
The goblin placed the ball beneath one of the cups in the middle and explained.
"I'll shuffle these cups around. All you have to do is watch carefully and find the cup containing the ball. It's a very simple game. Are you ready?"
'This is just a shell game.'
The absurdity of playing a street gambling game inside a dungeon left him speechless, but he nodded anyway.
"Well then, let's begin."
At the goblin's words, Hyeon-su's concentration reached its peak.
SNAP!
The goblin snapped its fingers again, and the ten cups began shuffling around at an astonishing speed.
Hyeon-su stared so hard his eyes nearly popped out, but he immediately lost track of the ball.
He shook his head.
'There's no way I can find it.'
Giving up without hesitation, Hyeon-su decided to make a random guess.
The probability was one in ten.
'I'll just have to hope luck is on my side.'
A moment later, the ten cups stopped moving.
The goblin spoke triumphantly, looking as though it had already won.
"Now then, shall we make your selection? Which cup contains the ball?"
Grin, grin.
Hyeon-su wanted to punch the irritatingly smug goblin right in the face.
Then, an idea struck him like lightning.
'Wait, can I use my skill here?'
Hyeon-su silently invoked his skill.
'Design Mode.'
An invisible energy spread outward, and everything came to a halt.
Even the goblin before him froze with its smug expression still plastered across its face.
'No way.'
A thrilling sensation washed over Hyeon-su as he began lifting the cups one by one.
'Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, found it!'
When he lifted the seventh cup, there was the ball.
'YES!!'
After confirming the ball's location, Hyeon-su deactivated his skill.
A moment later, the goblin's voice reached his ears.
"You're taking quite a while to decide. I'll give you ten seconds."
Grin.
The goblin smiled at Hyeon-su.
Smirk.
Hyeon-su smiled right back.
Sparks practically flew as their eyes met.
With complete confidence, Hyeon-su pointed to the seventh cup.
For the briefest moment, the goblin's expression stiffened.
"Are you certain it's under that one? I'll give you one chance to change your mind."
"No, thank you. I'll stick with this one."
Faced with Hyeon-su's confident response, the goblin reluctantly lifted the cup.
Sure enough, the small ball was sitting underneath it.
"……You certainly are a lucky man."
The goblin's face twisted as though it had just bitten into something disgusting.
"Congratulations. Haha. Now, would you mind standing up?"
Hyeon-su rose from his seat, and the goblin snapped its fingers once more.
SNAP!
The table and chairs vanished, and countless cards spread out in the air around Hyeon-su.
Spreading both arms wide, the goblin declared confidently.
"These cards contain every item I possess. As your reward for winning the game, you may select any one card you wish."
Then, with another sly grin, it continued.
"Occasionally, some truly extraordinary items are hidden among them, so choose carefully."
'In other words, if I choose badly, I could end up with something worthless.'
Having grasped the situation, Hyeon-su carefully examined the cards.
'I wonder if I can use my skill again?'
Keeping an eye on the goblin, he discreetly activated his skill.
'Design Mode.'
The cards that had been swaying gently in midair stopped moving.
Just to be sure, he glanced at the goblin.
It had frozen as well.
He had only one minute.
Hyeon-su quickly began flipping the cards over.
On the reverse side of each card was an illustration and the name of an item.
Red Potion.
Delicious Apple.
Worn Shield.
Speed Boots.
And so on.
Some items were decent, while others were so ridiculous that he could hardly believe they were being offered as rewards.
'Come on, just one incredible item.'
Desperately hoping to strike it lucky, Hyeon-su continued examining the cards until he finally discovered something special.
The cards had illustrations and item names surrounded by borders of various colors, including gray, purple, green, and blue.
But none of them had a border that shone like this one.
'A golden border!'
-Ring of Growth
He didn't know what kind of item it was, but his instincts told him something.
This was an incredible find.
He glanced at the upper right corner and saw that only three seconds remained on his skill timer.
Startled, Hyeon-su hurried back to his original position, and the skill deactivated immediately afterward.
'Phew.'
Breathing an inward sigh of relief, Hyeon-su pretended to deliberate over the cards as though nothing had happened.
For a moment, the goblin seemed to sense that something was amiss, but it brushed the feeling aside.
"I'll take this one."
Hyeon-su pointed to the card with the golden border that he'd examined earlier.
"Excellent! Now then, shall we see what item you've chosen?"
The goblin picked up the card Hyeon-su had indicated and checked its reverse side.
Its expression froze.
"This is……."
"What kind of item is it?"
Hyeon-su asked impatiently.
"Are you absolutely certain you want this card? You can still change your selection……."
It seemed to be hoping he'd choose another card.
"No. I'll take that one."
Hyeon-su made his decision perfectly clear.
"Understood."
Looking as though it had made a terrible mistake, the goblin snapped its fingers.
POP!
The cards disappeared, and a ring materialized in the goblin's hand.
"Here it is."
The goblin handed over the ring, and Hyeon-su examined it closely.
An emerald sparkled at its center. The gemstone radiated a mysterious mixture of green and gold, its colors seeming to shift subtly as the light moved across its surface.
"Wow……."
He'd never seen such a beautiful gemstone in his life.
As Hyeon-su gazed at the ring in fascination, the goblin added an explanation.
"That item is called the 'Ring of Growth.' When equipped, it doubles the experience points you earn inside dungeons. You've truly…… chosen an extraordinary item."
'Good heavens. An item like this actually exists?'
His jaw dropped as he considered how valuable it was.
"Are there any special conditions for using it?"
"Yes, yes, you simply need to wear it. However, it won't activate while it's stored in your Inventory. The effect only applies to experience points earned while you're actually wearing it."
The goblin sounded utterly exhausted.
"I believe I've told you everything there is to know about the item. I'm terribly tired today, so would you mind leaving now?"
"Ah, sure."
"Then let's never see each other again."
"What?"
"I don't associate with lucky people. Now then, goodbye."
SNAP!
The goblin snapped its fingers.
Hyeon-su blinked once, and suddenly he found himself standing on the staircase he'd descended to enter the Hidden Dungeon.
When he turned around, the soap bubble-like membrane was gone.
There was nothing but empty space behind him.
'Good grief. I really feel like I've been bewitched by a goblin.'
Hyeon-su placed the jeweled ring in his Inventory and climbed the stairs.
Then he used his skill to move the large boulder he'd shifted to the right back to its original position.
'The dungeon will probably reset after I leave, but just in case.'
The staircase disappeared beneath the boulder, and Hyeon-su exited through the dungeon gate that had appeared in the clearing.
However, Hyeon-su had no idea.
He had no idea that this dungeon would soon throw all of South Korea into an uproar.
Three hours later.
A post appeared on an online community frequented by Hunters.
-Title: Can dungeons actually change?
-I went to the Slime Dungeon today because I needed to get my Hunter license reissued, you know?
But the dungeon had changed in a really weird way.
I've had my license reissued six times already, so I could draw that dungeon with my eyes closed. But the positions of the pond and trees and stuff had changed.
Somehow, the whole place feels a little more luxurious now.
I know it sounds completely ridiculous, but you guys should go check it out.
-How the hell would a dungeon change? Sounds like your memory's the problem.
-I second this.
-How can that place look luxurious? LOL. It's literally just a field.
-Exactly LMAOOOO.
-Not once in the entire world has the interior of a dungeon ever changed.
-It's so ridiculously unbelievable that it almost sounds convincing, though? Haha.
-I live nearby, so I'll go check it out later LOL.
-Oh, post an update afterward!