"Looks like he came as a porter."
At Seong-ho's words, they all burst into quiet laughter.
"Pfft......!"
"A porter? Your rank's...... don't tell me, F?"
"Say something. What, were you mute?"
Kang-hyeok let out a small sigh.
To think he'd run into the school bullies again.
The Hunters in front of him were the group that had always revolved around Lee Seong-ho.
"I'm E-rank."
"Pfahaha......!"
"This bastard says he's E-rank!"
"Can you even manage porter work at that level?"
Kang-hyeok immediately summoned his skeleton.
"This guy handles all the odd jobs. I just do the light work."
Seong-ho's group looked mildly surprised at the skeleton.
Summoning skills were fairly rare.
But the rank of Kang-hyeok's summoning skill was F.
Even as the skill level rose, only the number would increase.
A lowest-grade skeleton had been summoned.
"Hoh...... in a fight, though, this thing......"
BAM!
When Kim Jun-su, a blond young man standing beside Seong-ho, threw a light punch, the skeleton shattered as if it had exploded.
"What the—!?"
Kang-hyeok stared at Jun-su, flustered.
"Why'd it break so easily?"
"Is it made of straw? The skeletons we fought last time weren't this weak."
"Right? And look how crappy the skeleton's gear is......"
"You're a born porter, aren't you."
At the group's taunts, Kang-hyeok gritted his teeth.
"What the hell are you doing!"
"Why are you throwing such a fit? We were just checking if it's any use."
"Yeah. Making a scene over one broken summon?"
"Wait, do you have to wait for your mana to recover after summoning just this one?"
"What, you've got that little mana?"
"Bwahahaha! You were that much of a small fry?"
Kang-hyeok's shoulders trembled.
Summoning a skeleton required 10 mana.
Kang-hyeok's mana was currently 13.
And that was only because he'd hit status level 4 and spent AP to raise it.
Each time his level rose by one, he gained 1 AP.
'It takes time to recover mana......!'
For reference, today's high-ranking Hunters had possessed thousands, even tens of thousands, of mana from the moment they Awakened.
Some were even found with physical stats in the dozens right after Awakening, and there were cases of skill levels of 2 or higher.
Which was why they could be assigned high ranks the instant they Awakened.
Building on that starting mana and physique, they grew quickly and cemented themselves as high-ranking Hunters.
The group in front of him could be counted among the same.
Kang-hyeok, by contrast, had started with a mere 10 mana, and his physique was little different from before he Awakened.
'Fuck.'
Kang-hyeok glared at the group with fierce eyes.
At that, Seong-ho let out a small, incredulous laugh.
"Fuck, a guy can slip up now and then...... and you're glaring like you want to kill me over one broken summon?"
Seong-ho rose with killing intent and stepped right up into Kang-hyeok's face.
"Cocky bastard...... you want to die?"
At the mana Seong-ho unleashed, Kang-hyeok's body shook.
"Lower your eyes."
His gaze slowly dropped.
It wasn't a matter of pride.
Under the aura Seong-ho gave off, Kang-hyeok felt his whole body being crushed.
"Everyone gather up! I'll go over the operation one more time!"
At the voice from behind, Seong-ho let out a small scoff.
"Son of a bitch...... doesn't know his place, throwing a fit. Let's go."
"Yeah."
"Moron."
"The nerve on a porter......"
Kang-hyeok clenched his fists and squeezed his eyes shut.
He was the weak one.
And as the weak one, he had no choice but to submit to them.
Barely recovering his mana, Kang-hyeok took the tents and provisions the Teinen Guild staff handed him.
The skeleton carried the heavy loads.
"Wow, that ability of yours is seriously enviable."
A young porter beside him marveled at the skeleton.
"In exchange, my own physique as the summoner is pretty low, so......"
"Mine isn't that high either. I barely leveled up enough to boost my vitality and strength. Even then, I'm only a little stronger than an ordinary person......"
It was a level too embarrassing to even be called a Hunter.
"We're moving out!"
At the shout of Yu Chan-seok, an S2-rank Hunter of Teinen Guild's first team, the Hunters and porters slowly began to move.
A blue aura shimmered before them.
People stepped slowly into the aura.
Kang-hyeok, too, strode in as though used to it.
'A cave, just like they said.'
It was fairly familiar terrain.
"The interior is connected like a maze! We've handed out maps already, so check them at every break! If you happen to get lost, head straight for the exit! All right — moving out!"
At the voice of Yu Chan-seok, who was serving as leader, the Hunters and porters all nodded together.
Thirty Hunters and fifteen porters formed a column and advanced slowly.
Walking up front, Seong-ho glanced back toward the rear.
Kang-hyeok, trailing along as a porter with his summoned skeleton.
'Cocky bastard......'
Seong-ho didn't like Kang-hyeok.
Back in college, Kang-hyeok had always kept to himself like a loner.
He'd never once seen him with anyone.
His grades had been decent, sure, but in the end he was nothing more than an E-rank Hunter.
Meaning he was on a wholly different level from Seong-ho, who had become an S-rank Hunter — one of Korea's elite.
Seong-ho looked ahead and let his irritation settle.
'If I fuss over every piece of trash like that, I'll go mad with headaches.'
Until now, most of his old schoolmates had bowed their heads and catered to him of their own accord.
So Kang-hyeok's defiance, slight as it was, grated on him.
'For now, focus on hunting the monsters.'
Gripping his weapon, Seong-ho followed behind Chan-seok.
"Over four days we'll clear the dungeon and hunt its boss, the Dullahan! Even if your opponent is a low-rank monster, never drop your guard!"
A moment later, in a vast clearing, Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Shamans appeared.
The warriors easily numbered over a hundred.
And there were about five Skeleton Shamans.
"Hraaah!"
SHWAAAA—!
When Seong-ho unleashed a beam of flame, the Skeleton Warriors and Shamans evaporated in an instant.
Chan-seok nodded once, as if it were the expected outcome.
Next, Kim Jun-su, Seong Su-hyeon, Yu A-yeon, Kang Ji-hye, and Kim Yu-jin — the five men and women of Seong-ho's party who had spent their college years alongside Kang-hyeok — cut down the skeletons with ease.
Watching them fight, Kang-hyeok gritted his teeth.
'Wealthy families, and Awakened powers on top of it......'
The ones who had it really did have it all.
As a porter, Kang-hyeok trailed dutifully after the Hunters, then pitched the tents in the clearing and prepared the meal.
While the skeleton hauled the loads, he handed out ready-made meals to the Hunters.
Fortunately, he didn't cross paths with Seong-ho's group.
Seong-ho's group received their meals from a different porter.
They frowned slightly at the ready-made food.
Meals you could eat with minimal prep, like military combat rations.
They'd all surely done their military service.
But as high-rank Hunters, the army had probably given them plenty of leeway.
'They'll have seen real combat in the service too, so a dungeon like this is nothing to them.'
A B-grade dungeon with two whole S-rank Hunters.
Plus ten A-rank Hunters and nineteen B-rank Hunters.
It was a bit much of a force to clear a B-grade dungeon.
He could earn high pay with his safety guaranteed.
Kang-hyeok gave a small smile and belatedly started his own meal.
Just then, Hunter Yu Chan-seok approached him.
"You're...... Park Kang-hyeok, right?"
Kang-hyeok scrambled to his feet.
"Ah, yes...... that's me."
"While everyone sleeps, could you have your skeleton keep watch? Just order it to ring this bell the moment a monster appears. In return, I'll pay an extra 10,000 won per hour. Sleep is eight hours, so...... over three nights, that's an additional 240,000 won."
"Ah......!"
Kang-hyeok nodded at once.
"Yes, I'll do that."
"If any of the other porters would like a night watch as well, raise your hand. Each of you only needs to stand watch for about an hour."
Every porter raised a hand, wanting the watch.
Stand watch for one hour, get 10,000 won.
There was no special task to it.
Just stand still and watch for approaching monsters.
It would be a little dull, but that much boredom was easily borne.
"Station your skeleton by the eastern entrance. One Hunter will keep watch at the western entrance. Porters, guard the perimeter of the camp. Be sure to keep watch on your feet."
Sit down on watch and doze off, and it could end in disaster.
At Chan-seok's caution, the porters nodded.
One person each would stand watch at the east and west of the camp.
Thanks to the porters volunteering, most of the Hunters could sleep without taking a watch.
Of course, Kang-hyeok too simply left his orders with the skeleton and drifted comfortably into sleep.
Rrrumble.
"Mmh......"
At the faint tremor in the ground, Kang-hyeok stirred.
'......What was that?'
An earthquake?
Could there even be earthquakes in a dungeon?
Kang-hyeok quickly brushed the question aside and fell back asleep.
He'd walked for six hours with a pack on his back.
He'd carried a lighter load than the others and rested for two hours, but even so it had been grueling.
Unable to shake his exhaustion, Kang-hyeok sank into sleep.
The porters lying around him didn't open their eyes either.
The bell hadn't rung, so why bother getting up?
Time passed, and then the alarms on their smartphones rang out.
Not just Kang-hyeok's.
The phones of porters and Hunters alike blared their alarms, filling the clearing with noise.
"Ngh......"
The young porter groaned about his aching muscles.
A middle-aged man beside him gave a wry smile and patted the young porter's shoulder.
"Hang in there. We've still got three days and two nights to go."
"Ugh...... that just drains me more."
Kang-hyeok let out a small laugh at the older man's words too.
"It's a job that pays 1.2 million won. Of course it's hard. But bear it three more days and you can rest easy for a while after."
A full 1.2 million won was coming in.
No — with the bonus pay added, he could earn 1.44 million won.
Even after taxes, he could rest comfortably at home for a few days.
Kang-hyeok clenched his fist and got to his feet.
"Let's get the tents packed up, quick!"
"Hand out the Hunters' meals first!"
Kang-hyeok called his skeleton over and struck the tents.
"We'll go pass out the Hunters' meals!"
"Go ahead."
The porters moved in perfect order, so the Hunters could eat in comfort.
As the campsite was being cleared, Seong-ho's group looked at Kang-hyeok and sneered.
Unlike the leisurely Hunters, the porters had no choice but to bustle about.
"Later, I'll have a word with the higher-ups so that bastard never gets hired by Teinen Guild again."
At Seong-ho's words, his girlfriend Kang Ji-hye smirked.
"Wouldn't it be better to keep hiring him? Once we're really active in the guild, we can work him however we please."
Jun-su nodded.
"Good point. Playing with him could be fun."
The rest of the group snickered as they looked at Kang-hyeok.