Hyeon-su looked at the three men surrounding him and spoke.
"What do you think you're doing?"
As the other party became aggressive, Hyeon-su's tone changed as well.
One of the men glared at him and said,
"Someone's having a hard time here. Can't you at least help?"
"I don't feel like arguing with you. Get out of my way while I'm still asking nicely."
Irritated, Hyeon-su turned away from them once more and tried to continue on his way.
Just then.
"Fireball!"
WHOOSH—!
'Huh?'
A chill ran down Hyeon-su's spine at the sound coming from behind him.
Instinctively, he activated his skill and dodged.
'Design Mode.'
A mysterious energy spread outward, and the fireball hurtling toward Hyeon-su stopped in midair.
"W-W-What the hell is this?!"
"The skill stopped in midair!"
The men were so shocked by the bizarre sight of their skill freezing in midair that they stood rooted to the spot like statues.
"Phew......."
After confirming that the fireball had stopped, Hyeon-su let out a breath of relief.
"Are you seriously out of your minds? Using a skill against another person? And a Fireball, of all things?"
Even inside a Dungeon, directly using skills to harm another person was a violation of the Hunter Special Act.
In particular, the skill they had just used was so dangerous that it was practically attempted murder.
With an angry expression, Hyeon-su walked toward the man who had launched the skill.
"W-What are you doing?! Grab him!"
Apparently frightened by Hyeon-su's approach, the man who seemed to be their leader shouted, prompting the other two men to snap out of their daze and rush at Hyeon-su.
"Bind!"
One of the men appeared to be a mage as well. When he shouted the name of his skill, a shimmering green rope began forming from his staff.
However, since Design Mode was still active, the skill froze before it could take shape.
"I-I'll handle him!"
When the mages' spells failed, the remaining man drew his sword and charged at Hyeon-su.
"Aaaaaagh!"
Hyeon-su quickly checked the 3D hologram.
The approaching man was being displayed in real time.
Hyeon-su immediately used the Move function to send the sword in the man's hand far away.
Then, as the skill's duration expired, Design Mode automatically deactivated.
WHOOSH— BOOM!
The Fireball that had been suspended in midair resumed its flight as though time had started moving again, striking the wall.
FSSSS.
The Bind spell that had been interrupted during casting also slowly dissipated.
CLANG—!
Meanwhile, the man whose sword had suddenly been thrown to the ground far away was so flustered that he swung his fist instead.
However, Hyeon-su turned his head with lightning-fast reflexes, dodged the blow, and grabbed the man's arm before twisting it.
"ARGHHHH!"
A piercing scream rang out as the man collapsed to the ground.
Another man tried to tackle Hyeon-su from behind, but without even looking back, Hyeon-su drove his elbow backward and struck the man's jaw.
"UGH—!!"
The impact sent the man staggering, and Hyeon-su seized his arm and threw him over his shoulder.
The man who appeared to be their leader then got up and charged at him.
"You fucking bastard!!!!"
THUD—!
A single punch from Hyeon-su sent him straight back to the floor.
Having served in the UDT, Hyeon-su had never been one to lose a fight.
In the blink of an eye, two of the men had been knocked unconscious. Hyeon-su dusted off his hands and spoke.
"Wow....... What am I supposed to do with these bastards?"
He would have preferred to simply leave, but now that he had shown them his Design Mode skill, he needed to settle the matter before going.
'Ah, what a waste of time.'
Step. Step.
Hyeon-su approached the unconscious leader and nudged him a few times with his foot.
"Hey, I know you're only knocked out for a moment. Get up."
After a few more nudges with his foot, a groan escaped the man.
"Uuugh."
When the man finally pushed himself upright and sat down, Hyeon-su spoke.
"Hey, do you want to die here, or do you want to pretend you never saw me today, keep your mouth shut, and live?"
"......You bastard!"
The moment he saw Hyeon-su standing before him, the man sprang to his feet and tried to attack again.
"Looks like you still haven't learned your lesson."
THUD—!
Hyeon-su delivered a precise kick to the man's stomach.
"Guh!"
Then he approached and proceeded to beat him thoroughly from head to toe.
THUD! THUD!
THUD!
THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD!
'Bastards like these really do need a good beating first.'
THWACK!
"W-Wait!"
THWACK! THWACK—!
As Hyeon-su continued striking the man's most painful spots while carefully keeping him conscious, his attitude finally changed.
"I-I'm shorry. I-I'll neber do it ag-gain."
Even though his mouth was so swollen that he could barely pronounce the words, the man desperately struggled to speak.
"Yeah. I don't care whether you do it again or not. I've just got one thing to say."
Hyeon-su stared directly into the man's eyes.
"You'd better not tell anyone anything about the skill I used today. Or anything about me."
"Y-Yes, sir!"
"And all three of you, hand over your Hunter IDs."
"Pardon?"
"Hey, I know you're awake too. Bring me your Hunter ID."
When Hyeon-su addressed another of the men who had been unconscious, he hesitantly got to his feet.
Seeing that none of the three made any move to take out their Hunter IDs, Hyeon-su immediately spoke.
"You're moving pretty slowly. Maybe all three of you need another beating."
"J-Just a moment! Here it is!"
Startled by his words, the three hurriedly produced their Hunter IDs and held them out to Hyeon-su.
"But...... why do you need our Hunter IDs......?"
"If word gets out about what happened here, that means you three are the culprits, doesn't it? I'll have to track you down and kill you. After all, nobody knows what happens inside a Dungeon, right?"
Flinch.
The three men froze in shock at Hyeon-su's cold words.
"It's easy enough to track your movements if I look up your Hunter IDs. Right?"
Understanding the meaning behind his words, the men trembled slightly.
Although Hunter ID records weren't easy to access, it was possible to obtain them through unofficial channels.
There was every possibility that Hyeon-su could follow them into whatever Dungeon they entered and quietly dispose of them.
"We'll n-never tell anyone."
Hyeon-su looked at the three men, who had huddled together, and smiled.
"Good. If you talk, you'll just have to see me one more time."
After checking their Hunter IDs, Hyeon-su addressed the three men.
"Well, that's everything I needed. I'm leaving. You'd better behave yourselves."
With that, Hyeon-su leisurely continued on his way.
"But the more I think about it, the more pissed off I get."
It was fortunate that he was capable of fighting back. If that first Fireball had struck him, he would have suffered burns all over his body.
In truth, killing those three men would have been the easiest solution.
He didn't have any particular aversion to killing Hunters.
And it would have been self-defense.
The world of Hunters was like a battlefield, a place where life and death could be decided in an instant.
Now that he had come to this world, there was no need to be kind.
If circumstances demanded that he get blood on his hands, he had no intention of hesitating.
'If they'd kept coming at me, I wouldn't have shown them any mercy.'
Hyeon-su brushed the incident from his mind and changed direction, walking until the men were no longer in sight.
'Still, I had no idea skills would stop in midair. And just as I expected, people don't freeze.'
Hyeon-su had inadvertently learned yet another fact about his skill.
When he had activated it earlier, he had managed to grasp the layout of the surrounding area to some extent.
So, after walking a little farther, he took out his Mouse and activated his skill to Cut through the wall on his left.
Just then.
-Living organism detected.
-Skill cannot be used.
"Huh?"
'The wall is a living organism?'
The unexpected message left him dumbfounded.
'In that case.'
"Design Mode."
Hyeon-su quickly activated Design Mode and sliced the wall—or rather, the living organism—in two.
Then he deactivated the skill.
RUMBLE.
A low groan came from a section of the gray wall covered in vines.
CRUMBLE, CRUMBLE.
A moment later, it turned brown and crumbled away.
Then a message appeared before his eyes.
-You have gained 2 EXP.
-You have gained 2 EXP.
"Wow....... What the hell is this?"
He had read countless reviews of this Dungeon, but nothing like this had ever been mentioned in any of them.
Hyeon-su headed toward the gaping opening left behind by the wall monster.
Step. Step.
He had expected to find something new on the other side of the wall, but all he saw was more of the same maze.
Nevertheless, a broad smile spread across Hyeon-su's face.
'If my theory is right......!'
With his Mouse in hand, he began discreetly testing every wall he could see by attempting to cut small sections from them.
Just then.
-Living organisms detected.
-Skill cannot be used.
"This is it."
And when he activated Design Mode.
-You have gained 1 EXP.
-You have gained 1 EXP.
"I knew it!"
His suspicions had been correct.
It wasn't that this Dungeon had no monsters.
Some of the monsters had actually become the walls that formed the maze.
Who in their right mind would think to use a skill on a Dungeon structure instead of a monster?
Nobody would have even considered it.
After all, it was an unwritten rule that Dungeon structures couldn't be tampered with.
Even if someone had happened to try using a skill on a wall, unfortunately, that particular wall probably wouldn't have been a monster.
'Of course, someone might have discovered this already, but considering it still isn't widely known, that's unlikely.'
Hyeon-su placed his hand on the pile of crumbled stones and shouted.
"Collect."
-You have acquired 1 Broken Stone Fragment.
-You have acquired 1 Magic Dust.
'Let's keep going.'
Hyeon-su had instinctively figured out how to clear this Dungeon.
'All I have to do is find these wall monsters and follow the path they reveal.'
Using his Mouse to locate the monsters and Design Mode to eliminate them, Hyeon-su steadily made his way through the maze.
After repeating the process several times, finding monsters and passing through the openings they left behind, he eventually emerged onto a slightly wider path.
"Huh?"
Right in the middle of the floor sat a chest that practically screamed treasure chest to anyone who looked at it.
'Don't tell me......!'
The closer he approached, the more certain he became.
This was the very chest mentioned in the Dungeon-clearing guide.
There should be a Recovery Elixir inside.
His heart filled with anticipation, Hyeon-su approached the chest and opened its lid.
CLICK.
Inside lay a single bright blue potion bottle.
The finger-sized bottle seemed to glow with a brilliant halo, filling him with exhilaration.
"Yes!"
He clenched his fist and shouted in triumph.
Obtaining this item was practically the entire reason he had entered this Dungeon.
After calming himself, Hyeon-su carefully picked up the bottle.
A message appeared.
-You have acquired a Recovery Elixir.
'Ahhh~!'
Overcome with delight once more, he admired the blue liquid gently sloshing inside the bottle.
Just then.
-Store in Inventory?
He nodded at the message floating before his eyes.
The item resting in his palm slowly disappeared.
Hyeon-su opened his Inventory and selected the item.
<Recovery Elixir>
-Grade: E
-A recovery item imbued with nature's healing power.
-Can rapidly heal minor wounds or fatigue.
Even from the description alone, he could tell that it was a valuable item.
Depending on the circumstances, it could even save someone's life.
Despite its low Grade, most Hunters made sure to carry at least one, just like an essential emergency medicine.
Grin.
The corners of Hyeon-su's mouth kept curling upward.
He would have to enter the Dungeon once more to confirm it, but if this really was the correct clearing method, it meant he could keep obtaining Recovery Elixirs.
'Ten million won every time I enter this Dungeon.......'
Heh.
As though his mind had started calculating all the possibilities of his newfound fortune, the corners of his mouth kept rising.
"Phew......."
He steadied his breathing, trying to calm his heart, which was pounding like crazy.
Although he had already accomplished his objective in coming to this Dungeon, Hyeon-su had absolutely no intention of leaving just yet.
'If things go well, I might actually be able to clear it completely.'
Over time, everyone had come to regard obtaining this item as the objective, and people generally considered reaching this chest to be the condition for clearing the Dungeon.
However, everyone knew one thing.
This wasn't the true end of the Dungeon.
After all, the Dungeon Gate that signaled the end had never appeared.
'I'm going all the way.'
If he could continue obtaining Recovery Elixirs, he would have to keep returning to this Dungeon.
But wouldn't it be even better if he could clear it properly and save himself the cost of scrolls?
Once again, Hyeon-su began searching for monsters by using his Mouse to Cut small sections from every wall.
-You have gained 2 EXP.
-You have gained 2 EXP.
-You have gained 3 EXP.
-You have gained 3 EXP.
-You have gained 2 EXP.
-You have gained 2 EXP.
-You have gained 4 EXP.
-You have gained 4 EXP.
-You have gained 1 EXP. EXP......
After finding and eliminating several more monsters, he continued making his way through the maze.
Finally, an entirely new space revealed itself.
"What is this......?"