The Dungeon Bid
Kang Jin-myung had started as an A-class hunter and, in just five years, climbed all the way to the uppermost rank of S-class, becoming the third-strongest combatant among Korea’s Six Guardians. In particular, the special ability he awakened upon reaching S-class, Complete Stealth, had never been seen through by anyone. Even Jo Seong-jun, an upper-echelon S-class hunter in the mage category, could not find Jin-myung once he made up his mind to vanish.
No hunter in South Korea can see through my Complete Stealth.
That was what he had believed. Until Han Jin-woo appeared.
This feeling... is familiar.
Jin-myung tried to hide the tension in his face. It felt much the same as the time that Jin-woo, who had appeared like a comet one day, had seen through his Complete Stealth.
The difference was that Jin-woo had only managed to expose his concealment after becoming an SS-class hunter, while the man standing before him now, Kang Hyun-jun, was nothing more than a novice who had just reached S-class.
They say he’s a second-awakener, but this is ridiculous... Where the hell did a monster like this come from?
He had asked himself the question, so there was no answer to come back.
Should I kill him? If I do it now, I might manage it.
He was confident that if he threw the dagger hidden in his sleeve, he could kill Hyun-jun in a single strike. It was the very moment the blade peeked out by a hair that a chilling killing intent surged toward him.
"If you draw that, you die."
Jiokchammado was already in Hyun-jun’s hand. Jin-myung was stunned when he saw it. Before even he, an upper-echelon S-class hunter and a master at sensing presence, had realized anything, Hyun-jun had already taken a combat stance.
If you’re thinking of fighting back, I won’t stop you, but master can’t beat that bastard yet.
Jiokchammado’s whisper reached him. The sword was right. Hyun-jun had plenty of real combat experience thanks to his training in the chamber of past lives, but his opponent was an upper-echelon S-class hunter with the third-strongest fighting power in South Korea. He would not be easy to defeat.
Still.
I won’t lose.
He was certain of that much.
It’s been a while since I felt tension like this.
In the stifling standoff, Jin-myung’s lips curled faintly, and Hyun-jun subtly gathered mana, drawing on Romanov’s blessing.
[Kang Jin-myung: One Who Looks from the Abyss.]
It was a True Name befitting an assassin who possessed Complete Stealth.
"Aren’t you coming?"
In situations like this, he had learned in the chamber of past lives, striking first was a disadvantage. So he tried to tempt Jin-myung into making the opening move with a light provocation, but it had no effect. Jin-myung only shook his head and did not draw his weapon.
"Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t come here to fight."
Jin-myung changed course. He knew that once an assassin revealed himself, his combat power dropped sharply. He did not think he would lose, but making a scene was unnecessary.
"Then what did you come here for?"
"To warn you."
At Hyun-jun’s question, Jin-myung replied in a dry voice. The unpleasant word warning made Hyun-jun’s brow furrow.
"A warning?"
He asked with a look of utter disbelief, and Jin-myung gave a calm nod.
"Yes. A warning."
"Then let’s hear it. Go on."
"You’ve been making a lot of noise lately. If you want to live long, you’d do well to know your place."
The killing intent in his voice was unmistakable. It was an invisible pressure, a suggestion that if the warning were ignored, he might take action.
"Then I’ll warn you too. If you want to die in peace, stop meddling where you’re not wanted and get lost. I’ll handle my own business."
Despite the sharp threat, Hyun-jun did not flinch. On the contrary, the sight of him meeting the warning with something even harsher made Jin-myung’s lips curve into a cold smile.
"You’re an interesting one. Fine. Keep stirring things up, then."
Was there nothing else to say? Or had he decided that continuing the conversation was pointless? Either way, Jin-myung slowly faded back into the shadows.
He’s hiding in the shadows now? I don’t like that bastard. Heh.
"He’s going to die anyway. No need to worry about him."
You say that as if you can win.
"You know nothing about me, Jiokchammado."
Hyun-jun spat the words coldly and slid Jiokchammado back into its sheath. Then he turned once more toward the shore.
After his vacation ended, Hyun-jun returned to work. So-jin had also planned to come back to the office, but Hyun-jun forcibly granted her more leave.
"Come back fully recharged."
"Wow, fully recharged...? What’s that supposed to mean?"
"It means get some proper rest and come back."
So-jin ended up with three more days off, and Hyun-jun returned to the guild office. During her leave, Tae-min took over her duties. His workload rose sharply because of it, but he said nothing and kept working in silence.
"Guild Leader. Assemblyman Hong Sang-gyun has sent a request to meet with you."
Tae-min reported. The biggest change since before the vacation was that rumors about Hyun-jun’s promotion to a lower-rank S-class hunter had begun spreading in earnest, and a flood of people had started trying to get close to him. They were all near the centers of power that moved South Korea, but to Hyun-jun they were nothing more than gnats.
"How many is this now?"
"If we count only assemblymen, this makes eleven."
It meant eleven different members of the National Assembly had approached him over the past two days.
"Is it through unofficial channels?"
"Yes. If you refuse, there shouldn’t be any fallout."
Trying to build a connection with hunters was common. So even if they were turned away, most people did not care much. To be honest, many of them thought it would be nice if the attempt succeeded and fine if it didn’t.
For now, my value is only that much.
South Korea had a little over thirty S-class hunters. Considering the population, that was by no means a small number. It was enough that an assemblyman might move to secure a connection, but not enough that anyone would abase himself just to cling on.
"Turn him down."
"I’ll say the guild work is keeping you busy."
"That would be best."
Blaming it on guild business was the cleaner route. Assemblyman Hong Sang-gyun’s side would understand as well.
"How did the reservation for the S-class dungeon go?"
Securing an S-class dungeon schedule had been one of Hyun-jun’s immediate orders after his promotion. He had some expectations, but the result was poor, and Tae-min’s expression was anything but bright.
"We lost it yesterday because Asura Guild kept coming in with higher bids... I’m sorry."
At Tae-min’s report, Hyun-jun frowned. It wasn’t because the outcome was bad. It was because he did not like Asura’s behavior.
"How much did Asura bid?"
At Hyun-jun’s question, Tae-min gave him the amount of the final deposit. In the case of an S-class dungeon, repeated failures in the raid could lead to a Dungeon Out, and if that happened, at least several thousand people might die, so an enormous deposit was placed on it.
The deposit was used to assemble military personnel and hunter response teams if the raid failed. The amount Asura had bid was four times the norm. It was malicious enough to feel like a deliberate provocation.
These bastards are trying to die, bidding like this?
He was angry, but there was nothing he could do right away.
"How long until we can try again?"
"It’s hard to predict. I’m sorry."
Hyun-jun asked. Tae-min lowered his head and bit his lip slightly. S-class dungeons were not something that spawned often. There was no telling how long they would have to wait now. That was why Tae-min felt miserable over the fact that he had not brought back a result Hyun-jun could be satisfied with.
"It’s fine, Director of Operations. Waiting isn’t hard. It’s not urgent anyway."
He had expected, at worst, a wait of half a year, but the chance came much sooner than expected.
"We’ve confirmed the appearance of an S-class dungeon in Busan. The detailed difficulty is the lowest tier."
Late in the afternoon, right after he finished a dungeon raid alone and returned to the guild leader’s office, the door flew open and Tae-min rushed in with the report.
"When does the auction start?"
"In thirty minutes."
"That’s fast."
Hyun-jun frowned. It was true that if a dungeon went uncleared for a certain period, a Dungeon Out would begin, but this was too fast.
"They say there are faint signs of a Dungeon Out. That’s probably why the Dungeon Management Bureau is moving up the auction."
"Get ready. I’m going too this time."
"I’ll escort you."
They got into a prepared vehicle and headed for the Dungeon Management Bureau. The deposit auction was held in the auction hall of the bureau building. If the distance was too great, it was possible to participate remotely from a branch office. Thanks to Tae-min speeding, they reached the Suwon branch far earlier than scheduled.
He’s got the spirit of a speed racer...
Just like when he had driven So-jin to the hospital the other time, Tae-min seemed to have the soul of a racer.
"This way, please."
Following the clerk’s guidance, he entered the auction hall. Since this was a remote participation from another branch in an auction being held in the Seoul branch, there were not many people. Hyun-jun sat down and opened his laptop. The Seoul branch auction hall appeared on the screen.
There are fewer than I expected.
He did not know why, but the number was small. That meant fewer competitors, and a smile spread across Hyun-jun’s lips.
We will now proceed with the auction for the S-class dungeon, Hideout of the Magician.
It had begun.
First come, first served!
Hyun-jun’s hand moved like a streak of light. He started by pressing the bid button first, and the auction proper began.
Participant No. 23 has placed a higher bid.
As the auction went on, the price rose rapidly. One by one, bidders dropped out, and before long only three remained.
Both were participating directly from the Seoul branch, visible within the laptop camera’s field of view. One was a woman, the other a man, and neither stopped hammering the bid button.
If they’re going to keep doing this, I’ve got no choice.
At that point, it became a battle of money. Hyun-jun kept pressing the bid button as well. When the deposit bid reached three times the usual amount, the man stopped clicking the higher-bid button.
Although the deposit would be returned, there was still a fee, and more importantly, if the raid failed, there was a chance they would lose everything. He had no intention of shouldering that risk.
He could see the woman’s profile as she continued to hold out, and her expression was turning grim. The funds she could actually maneuver seemed to be reaching their limit. Even if the money was eventually returned, it still had to be tied up as a deposit, so she could not bid beyond her operational capital.
That side is reaching its limit.
But Hyun-jun was not. Thanks to the monopoly raid and Choi Na-young’s slush funds, he had plenty of liquid cash on hand. The woman kept pressing the bid button with a pained look on her face, but Hyun-jun still had room to spare, so he did not hesitate.
Sold.
In the end, he won. At four times the usual price. But he had no regrets. He would definitely succeed in the raid.
Hyun-jun lifted the corners of his mouth and closed the laptop. As he and Tae-min were about to stand from their seats, a clerk from the Dungeon Management Bureau, who had been standing nearby, approached carefully.
"The contract will arrive shortly. Please wait in the reception room."
He followed the clerk.
"The fax has arrived."
After waiting about ten minutes, another employee brought over the contract. Judging from the name tag, he was a section chief. He stamped each of the two copies and handed them to Hyun-jun.
"Once you sign and complete the transfer, the temporary ownership of the S-class dungeon, Hideout of the Magician, will take effect."
The moment he signed, it meant nearly one hundred billion won would vanish if he failed to clear the dungeon. But he did not hesitate.
Hyun-jun finished signing without the slightest pause and split the contract copies with the employee.