Chapter 9. Best of Three (2)

It had been a long time since he'd had such a satisfying meal.

"Man, this is the taste of being glad you're alive. You're approved. You've earned yourself an Epic Weapon."

Jeonghyeon patted his belly and flopped straight onto the floor.

"Th... thank... thank you, sir."

The reasoning was a bit off, but Philip wasn't about ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to complain at the promise of an Epic Weapon. He quickly cleared the table, where Jeonghyeon had polished off five full bowls.

"So, what's the plan for tomorrow, sir?"

With the table cleared, Philip turned to Jeonghyeon.

Jeonghyeon seemed deep in thought, sitting still with his eyes gently closed.

"Um... are you pondering something, sir?"

"......"

Even at Philip's question, Jeonghyeon lay there without a word.

"S... sir? Mr. Jeonghyeon?"

"......"

"Are you... asleep...?"

Just to check, Philip gave him a light poke.

"You little shit, seriously...?"

The moment Philip muttered in disbelief, Jeonghyeon stirred and grumbled.

"I'm not sleeping, bro."

"Sorry! Go sleep in bed!"

The next morning, feeling refreshed, Jeonghyeon finally stepped out after Philip served him a full-course breakfast.

"Damn, nice weather today."

"Right?"

Philip had been worried that Jeonghyeon might renege on the Epic Weapon after the trash talk yesterday, but luckily, he seemed to have forgotten all about it.

"By the way, what rank hunter are you?"

"E-rank, sir!"

"Got it. So you can handle up to D-rank fields?"

"Yes, sir!"

Of course— they'd met in a D-rank field crawling with dracos.

"What about the Tower? You been up it?"

"The Tower? Why would anyone go there?"

Jeonghyeon thought to himself at Philip's response.

'He doesn't know yet.'

He started to explain, but seeing Philip's bright, eager eyes killed his motivation. Jeonghyeon picked at his ear casually.

"Eh, you'll find out eventually."

The Transfer Dungeon Portal—commonly called the Tower—was a gateway to the world beyond dimensions: Afraksas.

Fifty floors tall, and only upon clearing it did Afraksas truly open.

'Afraksas...'

Demon King Malekith's continent, the primary invader of humanity's dimension right now.

Heading to Afraksas was the only way to properly utilize Epic Weapons through Dragon Forging, and to finally tackle a whole range of tasks.

"Anyway, what I can tell you is this: all the fields and dungeons in this dimension—Earth—are just the prologue."

"Ah, yes... sure."

Philip gave a vague reply.

'He's got his own unique worldview.'

Philip shook his head, watching Jeonghyeon's back.

"So, where are we headed now?"

"D-rank field."

"Oh... straight to training?"

"Nah, we'll train when we get there."

"?"

"And customers will show up soon. If you wanna stick with me, suck some honey as a hunter, play it smart and watch the cues."

Leaving the puzzled Philip behind, Jeonghyeon headed for the field safety zone.

The moment he entered, a familiar voice bellowed his name.

"Kim Jeonghyeon!! You fucking bastard!!!"

"Where the hell did you run off to, you dogshit?!"

It was porter supervisor Hwang Dooman and Kang Moojik, the pitiful scapegoat for yesterday's one-time Epic Weapon.

"Those... the customers, sir?"

"Shut it, Hunter."

"?"

Kang Moojik charged at Jeonghyeon with murder in his eyes.

"You little fuck, I'm not letting this slide!!"

Jeonghyeon easily dodged the grab for his collar, then pulled E-rank mana stone chunks from his inventory and chucked them lightly at Moojik's face.

Crack!!

Moojik took one square to the back of the head and faceplanted.

"Ow. Yeah, definitely hard as hell."

Moojik looked up at Jeonghyeon, stone stuck to his forehead, his face a mix of joy at the high-grade stone and rage.

"You... what the...?"

Ignoring him, Jeonghyeon dropped exactly ten stones on the ground.

"Mana stones. Sell 'em. Half the cash is yours, half goes to Dooman. Oh, and Dooman."

Dooman snorted at this former lowly porter suddenly acting all high and mighty, calling him casually.

"...Did I hear that wrong?"

"The guy next to me here agreed to be my dedicated porter. You know the contract terms, right? Dedicated porters are exempt from porter management."

"What? So these stones... this hunter—no, Hunter brought them?"

Moojik, still on the ground, gathered the stones and glanced between Jeonghyeon and Philip.

"Yeah. The goblin stones last time? All him. Good quality this time too, right?"

"They are good, but... so you had backing after all...?"

With a hunter involved, Dooman and Moojik's attitudes flipped completely.

No matter how powerful they seemed, that only applied to porters. Hunters—elite few—weren't for petty managers to mess with.

Of course, it didn't apply to an E-rank like Philip, but from Moojik's view, hauling dozens of stones in days meant no ordinary scrub.

"So you sweet-talked some slick hunter and now you're cocky... Fine, I take all the profit like I said? You said it'd be mine if I sell 'em?"

As Moojik scooped up a handful and sneered, the hitherto quiet Philip suddenly stepped forward and knocked the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stones from both his arms.

A hunter's base strength outmatched normals, and Philip's build sent Moojik staggering to the dirt again.

"But isn't that tone a bit rude to my dedicated porter?"

His sudden entrance, massive frame, and dark skin made him even more intimidating.

'Kid's got instincts.'

Good instincts for a porter class, always around hunters. Over-catering looked suspicious, but ignoring Jeonghyeon was bad too—this timely intervention was valuable.

"Ah...! Sorry! My mistake!"

Moojik, street-smart from years of schmoozing, bowed quick.

Dooman sighed, nodding.

"...That's how it is, huh. I'll handle the porter paperwork. Glad to have a capable hunter on board."

"All thanks to good porters. I owe you guys so much, so handing over these stones feels right. Just this once."

Perfectly polite to the non-hostile Dooman. Not just brute force—decent at handling people.

'Damn, I like him. Not as much as kimchi stew, but.'

"Shall I escort you to the field then?"

Dooman asked politely. Philip sneaked a glance at Jeonghyeon.

Jeonghyeon answered flat.

"Nah... our hunter here's got ambitions, wants somewhere tougher this time."

"Tougher?"

"Where else but the strongest spot in this goblin-shit field."

"You mean... the dungeon? Just you two?"

"Why not?"

Jeonghyeon smirked faintly.

Dooman chuckled, figuring the backing was real, and stepped aside.

"Fine, won't stop you. Come back in one piece. Porters can be replaced—hunters can't."

'Still salty to the end, huh.'

Jeonghyeon didn't even smile at the petty gripe, turning to Philip.

"Let's go. Oh, wait."

He eyed Moojik, frozen awkwardly—not grabbing stones, not leaving.

"Our hunter provided quite a few stones, and he wants a quality mace. Can you snag one while we do entry?"

"What? You nuts?! Where the hell do I get a weapon like that?!"

Philip frowned at Moojik's outburst.

"What'd you just say?"

Moojik flipped instantly.

"But that's my job, right?! I'll get it! You bet!"

The tense vibe and scattered high-grade stones drew onlookers. Fearing theft, Moojik bowed and bolted.

"...Did I handle the customers right, sir?"

Philip finally relaxed, speaking freely.

"Good. Real good. We'll do field entry. That punk Moojik'll fetch something decent quick. Get your gear sharpened too."

"I'd be grateful, but... couldn't you just sell them yourself, sir?"

Jeonghyeon narrowed his eyes, reasons clear.

"Nah, gotta reel in bigger fish. Word'll spread fast that a porter dumped high-grade stones."

"Who?!"

"You'll see soon. Don't whine. Let's hit the field."

"Yes, sir!"

The D-rank field felt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠desolate from the entrance.

Past the safety zone and E-rank gnome field—skipping needless fights—to reach its depths.

"Air feels different already."

'D-rank and he notices...?'

Jeonghyeon bit back that it was a measly 0.01% mana density shift—too know-it-all. He fixed his gaze ahead.

"Monsters soon. Lemme see the weapon."

"Here."

Philip handed over the mace.

'This! Real premium! Our managers got it at premium from the high-end market!'

Moojik's shrill voice still echoed.

"Attribute."

'Smashing ogre skulls...? What kinda description is this?'

Still, a C-rank weapon. Scarce even after more dungeons—no bad start with D-rank barely viable.

"Moojik's got some pull after all. Nice grub."

"That sounded scary just now, sir?"

Jeonghyeon chuckled, swinging the mace.

Perfect balance spread through his grip and body—solid weight.

Thinking back, he'd climbed to Tower floor 20 with C-rank gear under Solgaleh's power. Weapons amplified users more than stats.

"Alright, let's fight for real."

Speak of the devil.

"Grrr...!"

A tiger appeared.

"Whoa, a Guiho."

Huge, folklore beast-like body. Spikes on four legs, horns along black stripes on its back.

"D-rank field, huh? Familiar faces now."

Jeonghyeon smirked, battle-ready.

"GRRAAH!"

Guiho roared, leaping at him. Jeonghyeon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠aimed for the weak underjaw, charging straight.

Then, an alert rang.

A notice that Jeonghyeon's future wouldn't be smooth.