After the Day of the Great Upheaval.
Anyone on Earth—any human being—could become an Awakened.
The method was simple.
Anytime, anywhere, all they had to do was say “Enter Dungeon” aloud.
Unless they specified a destination, they would be placed in a random dungeon and assigned a Class.
Their awakening would then be complete.
Joo Do-gyeom was no different.
『First dungeon entry confirmed for user Joo Do-gyeom.』
『Class assignment complete.』
『Please check the Status Window for details.』
Separately, Cannibal’s Mansion, the dungeon Joo Do-gyeom had chosen, was not somewhere a newbie should enter.
To be a little more precise, it proudly occupied a spot among the Hunter community’s Fifty Worst Dungeons.
Cannibal’s Mansion was a troublesome dungeon that even veterans with years of experience avoided.
He had chosen Cannibal’s Mansion as his first dungeon because it was the exact place where the Heavenly Killer could be obtained.
Even a regressor was not invincible, so naturally, he had something he was counting on.
The dungeon’s Tutorial Mode.
Sure enough.
Just as Joo Do-gyeom opened his eyes, System messages appeared one after another in his mind.
『Protection under System Authority: Tutorial activated.』
『Enemy level adjusted to match the user.』
『For ten minutes after the start, the Cannibal cannot see the user.』
A special privilege for newbies.
The first dungeon entered would be converted into a Tutorial.
This was already well known in the present, not merely in the future.
Thanks to it, the dungeon’s difficulty, which should have been overwhelmingly high, would have been greatly reduced.
It would now be at a level even a newbie who had just entered a dungeon could clear.
Of course, as one of the Fifty Worst Dungeons, it still would not be easy.
But for Joo Do-gyeom, a regressor?
‘Simply clearing it won’t be a problem.’
After confirming that, Joo Do-gyeom’s eyes gleamed, and he first examined his condition.
He was naked.
Considering that he had definitely been wearing clothes when he said “Enter Dungeon” at home, it was a bewildering situation, but it was only natural under the basic rules of dungeons.
The third of the Eight Dungeon Commandments.
‘No item from reality can be brought into a dungeon.’
For reference, the fourth stated the opposite.
‘Items from a dungeon can be brought into reality. If an item originated in a dungeon, it can be brought back into a dungeon.’
In brief, Hunters playing through a dungeon could use only items from dungeons.
One fortunate point was that a basic supply chest would be located somewhere near the starting point.
This was also part of the Tutorial’s beginner-assistance system.
“.......”
Joo Do-gyeom silently searched for it.
He spotted a small wooden chest that looked somewhat out of place in one corner of the mansion’s central hall.
When he approached and opened it.
Inside were a dull gray short-sleeved shirt and a pair of shorts.
Joo Do-gyeom immediately put them on.
They likely offered no special Stats or defensive effects, but they were better than walking around naked.
After that, he checked his Status Window.
『Name: Joo Do-gyeom
Age: 26
Class: Chef of All Things
Stats
Strength: E- Stamina: E Agility: F+』
Joo Do-gyeom’s eyebrow twitched as he looked at it.
There were only three basic Stats.
Compared to before his regression, his abilities had been evaluated at a miserable level.
None of that was a problem.
But his Class was.......
‘Chef of All Things?’
He was slightly bewildered.
When Joo Do-gyeom first entered a dungeon before his regression, the Class he received was Martial Artist.
He had later developed its abilities and evolved it all the way into God of War.
Naturally, he had expected things to be no different after his regression.
Although Classes were assigned randomly, future Hunter researchers had concluded that an individual’s personality and capabilities influenced them to some degree.
Yet his Martial Artist Class had abruptly changed into a chef.
It was enough to make a faint laugh escape him, but he soon nodded.
Had he not already experienced this with Oh Jin-seok?
Even a small action could cause an unexpected change.
This time, he had become a Hunter five years earlier than before his regression.
It would not be strange for his Class to change.
More importantly.
‘Even so, it doesn’t interfere with my plans.’
And although this was also based on experience, a Hunter’s Class was not something that could be judged solely by its name.
‘It might be a surprisingly useful Class.’
Or it might contain a Hidden Piece of its own.
He would proceed as planned.
The moment he reached that conclusion, another System message appeared.
『Nine minutes remain until the Cannibal can detect the user.』
A countdown.
After checking it, Joo Do-gyeom began moving quickly.
First, he left the mansion’s central hall, with its excessively high ceiling, and searched for a kitchen.
There were many kitchens inside the mansion.
Joo Do-gyeom chose the largest one.
『Six minutes remain until the Cannibal can detect the user.』
Its ceiling was similarly high, but not so high that he could not climb it.
Joo Do-gyeom swept his gaze across the kitchen once.
After spotting something, his eyes gleamed.
He approached it and climbed the wall using both his hands and feet.
『Three minutes remain until the Cannibal can detect the user.』
When he reached the ceiling and lifted part of it.
SCRAPE—!
A concealed empty space above the ceiling was revealed.
Joo Do-gyeom entered without hesitation, then replaced the ceiling panel.
With the light cut off, it became pitch-dark, but perhaps because the mansion itself was so tall and vast, the space inside the ceiling was also quite large.
Joo Do-gyeom found a place inside and sat down.
More precisely, he assumed the lotus position.
By then.
『Sixty seconds remain until the Cannibal can detect the user.』
His protection period was nearing its end.
Without paying much attention to the message, Joo Do-gyeom focused his mind and repeatedly inhaled and exhaled.
He was circulating an Inner Cultivation Method.
How much time had passed?
Long after the protection period had completely ended.
The internal energy that had entered Joo Do-gyeom’s body through his breathing completed a full circuit and settled in his dantian below his navel.
After clearly sensing it.
Joo Do-gyeom opened his eyes.
System messages greeted him.
『The Mana Stat has been added to the user’s Stats. Current Rank: F-』
『Skill acquired: Heaven Formula Qigong (1st Stage).』
‘It worked.’
After confirming it, Joo Do-gyeom smiled and nodded.
***
After Hunters received a Class, they acquired Skills.
But if someone asked whether those Skills could be used effortlessly with a simple click, as they often were in webtoons and novels, the answer was no.
In this world, acquiring a Skill.
More precisely, meant that the knowledge of the Skill entered the user’s mind.
That was why they had to personally master how to use it.
And if they became proficient with it?
The Skill’s level rose.
Ah, for reference, Skills could also be passed on to others.
The person teaching had to draw out the knowledge in their mind and explain it personally, one step at a time, and the talent of the person receiving it was also important.
Before his regression, Joo Do-gyeom had taught martial arts to quite a few people around him.
He had also learned magic from Vivienne.
Unfortunately, he had only managed to reach the 1st Class at best.
‘I had no talent whatsoever in that field.’
Even so, he remembered being quite satisfied that he had learned enough to light a fire or create water to drink in an emergency.
In any case.
A Skill’s minimum level was 1, and its maximum was 10.
Upon reaching Level 10, it was also called a Master Skill.
Martial-arts Skills sometimes expressed their proficiency in Stages rather than levels, but the distinction held little practical meaning.
Naturally, before his regression, Joo Do-gyeom had mastered numerous martial-arts Skills to their maximum level.
That was why he had been called the God of War.
The explanation had grown long, but to put it briefly.
‘Even though my Class is Chef of All Things, as long as I have the knowledge in my head, there’s nothing stopping me from learning martial arts.’
That was why he first learned Heaven Formula Qigong, the most important Inner Cultivation Method.
For reference, this was impossible on Earth.
In the distant future.
Once it became impossible to tell whether Earth was a dungeon or the dungeons were Earth, it no longer mattered.
But at this point in time, Skills could still be acquired only inside dungeons.
***
Heaven Formula Qigong was the first Inner Cultivation Method obtained by the regressor Joo Do-gyeom.
It was one of the two foundational arts required to complete the supreme divine art, the Boundless Heaven and Earth Divine Art, which he had continued using until he killed the Demon King of Annihilation before his regression.
Its defining features were that it increased the amount of internal energy extremely quickly and was effective at controlling true qi.
Its stability was also among the best of all the martial-arts Hunters he had ever seen.
And the other foundational art, Earth Formula Qigong?
It offered no benefits in terms of internal energy.
Instead, it made the body exceptionally sturdy.
Wounds regenerated more quickly, and enhanced recovery from fatigue came as an additional effect.
That was important.
To wield powerful internal energy, one also needed a body capable of enduring its immense output.
Otherwise, the body would eventually fail to withstand it, break down, and die.
Thus, by combining the two martial arts, one obtained the Boundless Heaven and Earth Divine Art.
It was a supreme divine art with a high floor and an extraordinarily high ceiling.
Therefore, after first obtaining Heaven Formula Qigong.
Joo Do-gyeom immediately acquired Earth Formula Qigong as well.
『Skill acquired: Earth Formula Qigong (1st Stage).』
He could not combine them into one yet.
To do so, both martial arts needed to reach at least the 5th Stage.
Of the two, Joo Do-gyeom decided to focus on Heaven Formula Qigong first.
He had already trained his body to a certain degree on Earth, and he could continue doing so in the future.
More importantly, as always, the most essential thing to a Hunter was mana.
‘From a Martial Artist’s perspective, that means internal energy.’
So for now, he would remain hidden here, focus on Heaven Formula Qigong, increase his internal energy, and wait for the right moment.
He could not be hasty.
‘Even after being converted into a Tutorial, that Cannibal bastard won’t be easy to deal with.’
Had anyone known what Joo Do-gyeom was thinking at that moment, they would have been horrified.
That was because detailed dungeon information was provided only for certain dungeons.
According to the information available for Cannibal’s Mansion, its clearing method was as follows.
〖Dungeon: Cannibal’s Mansion
A mansion inhabited by a powerful Cannibal.
Hide and wait for the right moment, then move quietly and escape.
Detailed information follows.
Obtain the front-door key hidden somewhere in the mansion’s study.
Avoid the Cannibal’s gaze and return to the mansion’s central hall.
Use the key to open the front door and unlock the exit.
Rewards will be issued immediately upon escape.
※Warning: Never......, never, never fight the Cannibal. You will inevitably be eaten.※〗
In brief.
The method for clearing the dungeon was to find the key and escape.
Confronting the Cannibal was explicitly forbidden from the beginning.
Yet Joo Do-gyeom intended to fight it.
To be more precise.
He planned to trample the bastard in a completely one-sided fight.
If asked why, there was only one reason.
Because this was.
‘The only way to obtain the Heavenly Killer.’
There was no other choice.
It was just as he thought that.
BANG—!
He heard someone violently throw open the door to the kitchen where he was hiding.