Ju-min’s pockets felt heavy as he walked away from the bank counter.
“Your bankbook has been updated. Please check the deposited amount.”
The bank employee’s friendly voice still lingered in his ears.
For the past several days, he had visited dungeon exchanges and private buyers on the outskirts of Seoul to sell the mana stones.
There were 1,800 low-grade mana stones produced through 100× Quantity. Selling all of them in one place would have been the perfect way to attract someone’s unnecessary suspicion.
That was why Ju-min had put in the legwork. He visited two or three places each day and quietly converted the mana stones into cash.
The result had been a success.
His account now held an amount that he would have struggled to save even after working himself to the bone in E-rank dungeons for an entire year, as he had before.
“First, I’ll set aside plenty for my parents’ living expenses.”
Ju-min turned on his smartphone and completed the transfer.
He paid off a large portion of the loan on their aging house and purchased plenty of potions and consumables for his next dungeon raid.
Notification after notification sounded as large sums left his account, but it felt as though the heavy burden pressing down on one corner of his heart had been completely washed away.
He spread both hands wide, then lightly clenched his fists.
The dark-steel gauntlets—the Giant’s Mining Hands—remained firmly wrapped around them.
Thanks to the intense recalibration test he had completed in the D-rank dungeon, the gauntlets no longer felt foreign. They felt like his own skin, and the timing for applying and releasing strength had become completely ingrained in his body.
Capital and equipment.
The basic preparations were complete.
It was time to begin moving in earnest toward higher-tier rewards.
Without hesitation, Ju-min opened an app on his smartphone and browsed the real-time party recruitment board.
[D-rank Red Underground Waterway raid party recruiting. Leader is a former D-rank Ranker. Looking for one Tank and one Mage. Damage Dealers especially welcome.]
The Red Underground Waterway.
It was a shunned dungeon that people avoided because of its unpleasant odor and unusually high difficulty for a D-rank dungeon.
However, the mana stones dropped after defeating the boss were of good quality, and those who were fortunate could also obtain a worthwhile amount of special materials.
The more others avoided a place, the easier it was for Ju-min to quietly claim his 100× Rewards.
Ju-min immediately contacted the number listed in the post.
A reply confirming that he met the requirements arrived shortly afterward.
***
“Is this C-rank Hunter Registration Card really yours? The Skills section is completely blank. You didn’t steal someone else’s identity, did you?”
In a vacant lot on the outskirts of Seoul, before the rippling Gate to the Red Underground Waterway, Jo Won-seok scoffed as he looked at the screen of his tablet.
Jo Won-seok.
He was the temporary leader of this party and a D-rank Hunter belonging to a fairly well-known mid-sized guild.
“There’s no problem with it.”
Ju-min answered briefly and dryly.
Jo Won-seok openly looked him up and down.
Ju-min wore worn leather armor that still looked old despite being properly maintained, and an equally shabby one-handed sword hung at his side. The only remotely noticeable pieces of equipment were the dark gauntlets covering both hands.
“Well, since you’re a C-rank, your basic physical abilities should at least be better than mine as a D-rank. We didn’t hire a separate Porter for this party, so since you’re already here, guard the rear and collect the monster scraps for us. The others and I will handle all the hard fighting at the front.”
Rear guard duty was merely a pleasant way of saying that he intended to force the Porter’s work onto Ju-min.
The Mage and the shield-bearing party member standing nearby exchanged uneasy looks and slowly edged away.
Even if his Skills section was empty, openly assigning Porter duty to a C-rank Hunter was blatant disrespect.
Ju-min, however, neither lost his temper nor raised his voice.
There was no reason to waste his emotions on a pointless battle of pride.
He took a crumpled sheet of paper from inside his clothes and unfolded it. It was a printed copy of the Party Raid Contract he had electronically signed through the app moments earlier.
“Article Three, Clause Two. It clearly states that my position is front-line and flank defense, and that loot will be distributed according to Combat Contribution.”
Ju-min pointed to the clause with his finger.
“No, that was only written in the app as a formality. Since we don’t actually have a Porter, I’m asking you to show some flexibility—”
“If you need a Porter, hire a professional right now. I’ll perform only the combat duties specified in my contract.”
Ju-min cut him off before he could finish.
His voice was calm and without intonation.
The firmness of his response caused Jo Won-seok’s face to flush bright red.
Jo Won-seok belonged to a respectable guild, while Ju-min was an unaffiliated, low-ranked Freelance Hunter. He had assumed Ju-min would be easy to push around and had not expected him to draw such a firm line.
“Ha. Unbelievable. You’re really inflexible. Fine. Let’s see how impressively you fight. Just don’t regret not putting on an apron and staying in the rear. Let’s move!”
Jo Won-seok irritably put away his tablet and marched toward the Gate.
Ju-min silently adjusted his grip on his sword and followed him.
***
Just as its name suggested, the interior of the dungeon was an enormous underground waterway covered in red moss.
Murky water rose above their ankles and sloshed around their feet. A foul stench composed of rotten slime and animal excrement assaulted their noses.
“Stay close behind me! Once I clear the way, make sure you provide proper covering fire, Mage.”
Jo Won-seok raised the sword in one hand and shouted loudly.
Red mana gathered in a long line along his blade.
SKREEEE!
Rat-shaped Mutant Monsters burst from a pile of refuse in one corner of the waterway.
The rats, each as large as an adult man, bared their sharp teeth and charged.
Jo Won-seok scoffed and unleashed his sword aura without hesitation.
THUD! BOOM!
Murky water sprayed in every direction amid a series of thunderous impacts.
Three or four monsters charging from the front were struck by the sword aura and swept away at once.
Jo Won-seok straightened his shoulders triumphantly and looked behind him.
“What do you think? I clear the path quickly, don’t I? Since you won’t work as a Porter, read the situation and at least pick up the mana stones. You can’t expect to stand around doing nothing.”
It was a taunt directed at Ju-min.
Instead of responding to Jo Won-seok’s provocation, however, Ju-min focused on the vibrations traveling through the narrow passage beneath his feet.
'He’s using far too much firepower for no reason.'
This was not an open forest or vacant lot.
It was an enclosed waterway where sound became trapped.
Recklessly unleashing Skills with thunderous noise inside such a confined space was idiotic. The sound and vibrations would travel far along the walls, inevitably provoking monsters sleeping in other sections.
Ju-min’s prediction proved correct.
Unpleasant cries began echoing over one another from deep within the waterway.
SKREEEE!
SHRIEEEEK!
The sound was fundamentally different from the cries of the first three or four monsters.
Dozens—no, even more—were charging through the muddy water at once.
The shield-bearing party member’s expression stiffened.
“W-Wait. Aren’t there too many of them?”
“You think they’ll all come here at once? I’ll cut them all down, so don’t panic.”
Jo Won-seok scoffed, but his shallow confidence did not last even a minute.
Dozens of pairs of red eyes flashed simultaneously in the darkness.
The horde did not consist solely of Mutant Rats. Giant Centipede Monsters were mixed among them, crawling along the walls and ceiling.
Jo Won-seok’s noisy barrage of Skills had drawn every monster in that section of the waterway to them.
“F-F*ck! Why are so many of them suddenly rushing us?!”
Startled, Jo Won-seok hurriedly drew up his mana and launched another wave of sword aura.
The sword aura collided with the red carapace of the Centipede Monster leading the charge, sending sparks flying. However, it only left a scratch on the creature’s exterior and failed to stop it.
The smell of blood and the deafening noise only agitated the horde further, causing it to accelerate like a pack of frenzied beasts.
“Aaaah!”
“B-Back up! We can’t hold them!”
The party was utterly incapable of handling the monsters pouring in from every direction.
The front line collapsed in an instant.
The dark horde filled the narrow waterway and surged toward them like a tsunami.
The party members screamed and instinctively began fleeing.
Even Jo Won-seok staggered backward, his face deathly pale.
The leader who had promised to clear the way was now retreating in terror, and the formation collapsed without a trace.
A Mutant Rat at the front of the horde kicked off the murky water and leaped toward the Mage’s throat.
At that critical moment, Ju-min, who had been walking silently behind them, kicked off the ground.
SPLASH!
Before the spray could even rise, Ju-min slid in front of the Mage.
Rather than dodging or lowering his stance, he thrust out the right hand holding his sword and drove its tip directly into the charging Mutant Rat’s mouth.
SQUELCH!
The monster’s throat was pierced with a sickening rupture.
Unable even to scream, it tumbled from the air.
Ju-min twisted his sword free and lightly pushed the Mage back by the shoulder.
“Move.”
After sending the Mage to safety, Ju-min stepped directly into the center of the narrow passage at the front.
The choke point was so narrow that three or four people standing shoulder to shoulder would have completely blocked it.
Ju-min firmly planted both feet there.
SHRIEEEK!
Dozens of monsters surged toward him in a tangled mass.
A gigantic Centipede Monster crawled down from the ceiling and viciously swung its scythe-like foreleg.
Ju-min did not dodge.
He raised his left arm and received the attack head-on.
CLANG—!
The gauntlet collided with the centipede’s foreleg, producing a sharp metallic ring.
It was a brute-force charge backed by several hundred kilograms of mass, yet Ju-min’s body did not move back even an inch.
The Strength Enhancement and Impact Absorption effects produced by the Giant’s Mining Hands repelled the enemy’s kinetic energy in full.
Ju-min did not miss the opening.
His sword slipped into a gap in the centipede’s carapace beneath its jaw.
CRACK!
With nothing more than a flick of his wrist, the sturdy segment snapped clean off.
Before the centipede could collapse while thrashing in pain, the next monsters attacked.
Ju-min’s gaze turned cold.
His motion-tracking vision broke down every trajectory of the monsters charging from all directions.
There was no dazzling magic or thunderous sword aura.
He simply tracked each incoming trajectory with his eyes, moved half a step to evade, then stabbed and slashed at his enemies’ vital points.
SLASH! SQUELCH!
The rats’ throats burst, and the centipedes’ heads split in two.
He kicked the oncoming monsters away and used them as shields, then used the recoil to recover his sword and cut down the next creature.
Every strike empowered by Strength Enhancement transformed his ordinary one-handed sword into a weapon of exceptional lethality.
“…….”
Jo Won-seok and the party members pressed themselves against the wall, unable even to breathe.
It was a dry, efficient battle without a single Skill effect erupting.
Yet beneath the feet of the C-rank Hunter blocking the passage, the monsters’ corpses were piling up at an exponential rate.
He looked more like a machine than a man.
Without emotion or agitation, he simply took the life of every creature that entered his reach.
The last charging Mutant Rat rolled across the ground and coughed up blood.
Ju-min lightly flicked the sticky bodily fluid from his blade.
Not even ragged breathing remained in the silent waterway.
Only the dozens of monster corpses staining the floor red bore testament to the horror that had unfolded moments earlier.
Ju-min slowly turned his head toward the party members.
His breathing remained as even as usual. Not a single bead of sweat had formed on his forehead.
Shock and relief mingled in the party members’ eyes.
The Hunter they had watched being belittled moments ago had single-handedly saved the entire party.
Jo Won-seok was the one who broke the silence.
As though attempting to hide his flushed face, he cleared his throat and forcibly raised his voice.
“Ahem! Honestly, if you intended to fight at the front, you should’ve stepped up sooner. You joined us so late that the entire formation nearly collapsed. I dealt all the damage, and you only landed the finishing blows.”
It was a pathetic attempt to find fault and conceal his humiliation.
It was also a cowardly ploy to cover up the fact that his own reckless attacks had drawn the monsters toward them.
The response, however, was cold.
The Mage, who had nearly lost their life, directed a contemptuous gaze at Jo Won-seok.
“You were the first one to run away. What are you talking about?”
The shield-bearing Hunter also frowned and turned away from Jo Won-seok.
No one supported his excuse.
Ju-min exhaled briefly and slowly began walking.
With the sound of splashing water, he approached until he stood directly before Jo Won-seok.
“You’re saying I joined the fight too late?”
Ju-min’s voice was as low and dry as it had been when they first met.
However, it now contained a sharp edge that sent a chill down the listener’s spine.
“How do you intend to explain the fact that the leader recklessly unleashed Skills in a confined space without controlling the noise and drew an entire section’s monsters toward the party?”
“Th-That happened because the monsters were sensitive and swarmed us….”
“You boasted that you would take the lead and clear the way, yet the moment the monster horde appeared, you were the first to run. Was that also because the monsters were sensitive?”
Jo Won-seok opened and closed his mouth, but no excuse emerged.
Ju-min stared directly into his eyes and continued.
“If the leader cannot even follow the basic rules of a raid, I’ll withdraw here and now in accordance with the contract. You can use those impressive Skills of yours to clear the rest on your own.”
The moment those words left his mouth, the party members behind him stepped forward in alarm.
“N-No! If you leave, Hunter Im, we’ll all die in here!”
“Leader, what happened just now was entirely your fault. Apologize immediately. Otherwise, we’re leaving too.”
Jo Won-seok’s face turned ashen under the resentful criticism pouring in from behind him.
The difference in their abilities had become undeniable, and the party members’ attitudes had turned hostile.
He painfully realized that the situation he had intended to control had been completely overturned.
“……I-I apologize. I panicked for a moment and stepped back.”
Jo Won-seok finally lowered his head and bit his lip in humiliation.
His authority as leader and his petty pride had both been crushed into the ground in an instant.
Ju-min showed no particular change in expression even after hearing Jo Won-seok’s forced apology.
He walked past Jo Won-seok and turned toward the party members.
“Mage, remain two meters behind me. You with the shield, stay against the left wall and deal only with the monsters emerging from the flank. Do not use Skills unnecessarily. We’ll proceed while keeping all unnecessary noise to a minimum.”
His instructions were concise and clear.
As though entranced, the party members nodded and quickly reorganized their formation according to Ju-min’s directions.
Jo Won-seok watched their reactions and quietly retreated to the very back of the group.
No one openly told him to take over the Porter’s duties, but given the atmosphere, it appeared that he would be the one collecting the monster byproducts scattered across the ground.
Ju-min lightly shook the blood from his sword and stared into the narrow, dark depths of the waterway.
“Then we’ll continue.”
At his calm declaration, the party began moving again.
This time, no one looked down on Ju-min or regarded him with contempt from behind.
Both the shield-bearing Hunter and the Mage silenced their breathing and matched Ju-min’s pace.
Amid the sloshing water, only their quiet, steady footsteps echoed through the waterway.
Ju-min simply walked into the darkness, determined to fulfill his assigned role.