Chapter 16 - Proposal
While Kim Sun-woo and Han Su-ah were locked in a fierce struggle against hordes of undead, ensnared by the teleportation magic...
Shiiiik!
Kim Jin-cheol was tearing through the dungeon at terrifying speed.
For a C-rank hunter like him, the Annex Temple was no great threat even if he entered bare-handed.
After leaving the rookie hunters outside and requesting backup from the guild, he had set out immediately to search for the two who had vanished.
He cleared the first floor in just three minutes, shattered the second and third in quick succession, and reached the far end of the fourth in under thirty.
"Huff... huff..."
Having run without a moment's rest, his breath burned in his throat.
He took a swig of water, caught his breath briefly, and eyed the stairs leading to the fifth floor.
'I don't know where they were teleported, but they won't last long.'
On his way up to the fourth floor, he had roughly searched the likely spots.
Mostly high-risk areas, unfortunately with no traces found.
Since nothing had turned up yet, it meant they had likely headed straight to the fifth floor, where the boss monster lurked.
"..."
Kim Jin-cheol bit his lip hard.
Even as an E-rank hunter, Han Su-ah had virtually no combat ability.
With no raid experience, she might have panicked in the sudden crisis.
The only one to rely on was Kim Sun-woo, who had thrown himself in to save her.
'Even an F-rank with ten years as a veteran. There's a reason Park Gwan-sik recommended him.'
He had only recently begun martial arts, yet the aura he exuded was no joke.
His words might say "recently," but the training itself had evidently been going on for quite some time.
Whatever hidden strength he possessed, Kim Jin-cheol had no choice but to pin his hopes on it.
Clank.
Stepping onto the fifth floor, Kim Jin-cheol pushed open the firmly shut boss room door and entered.
-Kirik, kiririk.
A lich clutching a massive death scythe glared down at him.
...No traces anywhere around.
It meant he was the first to enter here since the dungeon respawned.
"Not here?"
Frowning, Kim Jin-cheol stared at the lich.
If not somewhere in the Annex Temple, had they gone to the Central Temple instead?
Shiak!
The enormous scythe came crashing down.
Once inside the boss room, he had to settle things one way or another.
Exhaling shortly, Kim Jin-cheol charged at the lich with fierce momentum. After about ten minutes of combat, he claimed victory.
The lich from the Annex Temple was equivalent to those appearing as regular monsters from the third floor of the Central Temple onward.
It wasn't strange for a C-rank hunter like him to take it down with ease.
With no other gains, he descended back to the first floor and began investigations alongside the guild's support team.
"...The coordinates seem to point underground, not the Central Temple?"
"Underground? Does this temple even have a basement?"
"No idea. No descending passages have been found, but everyone speculated there might be one. Who knew there'd be teleportation magic."
"Activation conditions?"
"Unknown. We'll need to request a mage from the Magic Tower."
"Do it."
Kim Jin-cheol immediately put in the request to the guild.
It was about finding the missing pair—and discovering a new path in an already cleared dungeon.
Using that as pretext, he secured budget and summoned the pricey mages from the Magic Tower.
The problem was that research and the search dragged on far longer than expected.
One day, two days... and on the fifth.
"...What the hell is going on."
Park Gwan-sik, finishing his ongoing raid and returning, rushed straight here upon hearing the news.
He collapsed before the teleportation magic circle under investigation, staring at it with a dazed, hollow expression.
"It's been five days today."
"......"
Park Gwan-sik's face twisted at Kim Jin-cheol's quiet words.
Even rationing emergency supplies, they would have run out by now.
Besides, this dungeon's difficulty spiked dramatically outside standard progression.
No word after five days meant...
Plip, plip, drop.
Thick tears fell.
Park Gwan-sik buried his face in the floor, stifling sobs.
"It's... my fault. Because I recommended him..."
He knew Kim Sun-woo's circumstances.
The guy who had quietly raided for years suddenly spilled his family woes over drinks.
A man who rarely showed emotion or shared personal stories—it had genuinely surprised him.
'Has he finally opened up?'
He understood the sentiment.
Talking wouldn't erase the debt; it would just draw pity.
Still, Team 3 had all rooted for Kim Sun-woo.
They even pooled money from their own tight budgets to help, but he steadfastly refused.
Insisting it was his burden alone.
Then came word he had finally paid off all his debts.
Knowing his diligent efforts, they pondered how to help him live his own life now.
That was when news of the guild's expansion and recruitment hit.
With skill to solo an orc warrior, he qualified for team leader.
But that had ruined Kim Sun-woo's life instead.
"It's not your fault."
As Kim Jin-cheol sighed and patted the sobbing Park Gwan-sik's back—
Fwaaah!
The silent teleportation magic circle suddenly blazed red once more.
"...!"
The hunters investigating froze, eyes wide at the sudden phenomenon.
"You damn bastards! How long are you gonna keep coming?!"
Han Su-ah appeared above it, supporting Kim Sun-woo while swinging her blood-dripping staff wildly.
The crude curses—opposite her usual demeanor—pierced their ears, drawing a hollow laugh from Kim Jin-cheol.
He didn't know the details, but the two had returned here.
Battered from brutal combat, but no immediately life-threatening wounds.
Han Su-ah, lost in a frenzy swinging her staff, finally noticed the changed surroundings.
"Ah."
Spotting the dozens staring at her, she froze solid.
***
After exiting the dungeon.
Hospitalized, Kim Sun-woo slept solidly for two full days after treatment.
Trapped in the treasure vault for four days, he had trained relentlessly without rest, followed by an all-out battle with the black knight.
Even then, escape wasn't immediate.
They found a passage in the great hall wall leading to a magic circle, but its activation aftermath drew swarms of monsters.
Exhausted, when Kim Sun-woo dropped his spear, he truly thought it was over.
But that's when Han Su-ah's mad rampage began.
Fwaaah!
As if reawakened in extremis.
Each swing of her brilliantly glowing staff burst undead bodies with wet thuds.
"Stop! Already! Let! Us! Go!"
Her zombie-head-smashing fury would linger in memory for a while.
Like a Jangpanpa warrior, Han Su-ah held the passage alone, smashing three-digit undead hordes.
Her movements, fueled by infinite heal-and-buff loops, knew no fatigue.
Thanks to her, they held until the magic reactivated, returning to the original spot.
'She was mortified right after returning.'
Han Su-ah seemed from a well-bred family.
Easy to tell from her speech and behavior over those days together.
So baring that cursing frenzy must have been deeply shameful.
Still, both safe— all's well that ends well.
"Sleep well?"
A bit after waking, Kim Jin-cheol visited the room.
His welcoming face drew a nod and smile from Kim Sun-woo.
"Slept like the dead. Still a bit drained."
Having scraped his internal energy to the dregs, fatigue lingered deep.
He itched for meditation recovery, but doctors insisted on observation and rest.
"Good. You'll recover in time. Now, good news and bad—which first?"
"Bad first."
"The black knight you fought underground is one of the Broken Pilgrim's elite guards on Central Temple Floor 4. No clue why it was below, but it's an elite monster from the Cradle of the Broken Pilgrim."
Kim Jin-cheol eyed him with wonder.
The guard death knights were tough even for a C-rank like him to solo.
Each rivaled a lesser dungeon boss.
That was why conquering the Central Temple was so hard.
'We approached cautiously, yet he took one down alone.'
He had noted the F-rank's sharp aura, but it was beyond that?
"No wonder it was a beast. Couldn't do it again."
"No whining. Heard you trained in the treasure vault before fighting. Prepared there?"
"Yes. Tons of elixirs—I devoured them all to boost my internal energy. Ah, don't tell me the bad news is..."
Kim Jin-cheol chuckled at his wary look.
"Guild's not that stingy. Items and loot from inside are registered and distributed by rule, but given the circumstances, we'll overlook it. Should reward you more."
Han Su-ah mentioned seven elixirs—a true windfall.
But elixirs didn't grant massive energy instantly; digestion and conversion via one's heart method were needed.
Absorbing seven fully in that time?
'Insane growth curve, and utterly unique all around.'
No hunter Kim Jin-cheol knew matched this type.
"Guild will thank you with rewards. Hunter Association will log the new route discovery as merit too."
"Music to my ears."
"As for the gems and gold from the vault..."
Kim Sun-woo tensed slightly.
That was his biggest worry, honestly.
After downing the knight, he grabbed everything portable on the way out.
Sure enough, the magic wouldn't reactivate after they left.
So what they took was all there was...
"No need to tense. Guild handled it fairly."
"Fairly?"
"Not a standard raid—just rookie training. We discussed leniency. Deducting mage and investigation costs, plus taxes..."
Kim Jin-cheol mentally calculated, whistling in awe.
"Congratulations. Roughly 2 billion won."
"Two... billion!"
Kim Sun-woo's hair ends tingled.
He had cherry-picked valuables—didn't expect that much.
Kim Jin-cheol burst into hearty laughter at his reaction.
"Han Su-ah refused her share, so it's all yours."
"Su-ah did?"
"Saved by you, so she yielded. Her family wants to thank you too. Ah, they want that staff you brought."
"It's Su-ah's."
Kim Sun-woo nodded readily.
Her beaming face finding it in the vault was vivid.
How could he take it?
'Two billion.'
Mulling the sum inwardly, goosebumps prickled his neck.
Matched the debt repaid over ten years.
Late reward for his sufferings?
'Anyway, perfect timing. Need new gear, more elixirs.'
After the first elixir in the vault opened his eyes.
Better ones would rocket growth far beyond plain meditation.
Two billion was a godsend.
"Now, the guild's proposal."
Screeech.
Pulling a chair bedside, Kim Jin-cheol sat with a grave expression.
"After discharge, you'll retest your rank, right?"
"Yes."
"Whatever the result, we'll make you team leader. Vastly different from before—pay, terms, salary, treatment inside and out."
"......"
Team leader.
He had joined this raid aiming for that.
As Kim Sun-woo opened his mouth—
Kim Jin-cheol drove the nail home.
"Not some middling team—the Main Assault Team under Mugung Guild. You're qualified."