Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Civil Servant Hunter’s S-class Resignation Log – Chapter 25
In truth, she'd made up all those excuses just to enter the dungeon with Yoon Se-ra so she could properly gauge her skills away from prying eyes.
What he'd wanted to see was her combat prowess, and nothing morenot her swinging a pickaxe...
"Flashy."
Boom! Boom! Boom! Having tossed aside her suit jacket and rolled up her shirt sleeves, Se-ra swung the pickaxe relentlessly, her face lit up with joy. The crashes were so thunderous that the monsters who'd approached scattered in panic.
Se-jun had no desire to chase them down and kill them, so he simply waited for her to finish mining the magistones. Before long, a hefty pile had formed beside her.
"Heh heh, heh heh heh! These money bags!"
"...Scary."
The eerie cackles slipping out between the booming crashes were bizarre even to him, a man living his sixth life.
Her physical abilities seem top-notch.
He still couldn't quite pin down her true strength. To be precise, despite her impressive physical feats, the power she displayed outwardly was barely F-rankan extreme imbalance.
For it to look that way even to his eyes, it had to be the work of her contracted entity. If it was a top-tier one, she had high potential to reach L-rank.
She was skilled enough to one-shot a skewer snake magical beast, so she'd be a huge asset in conquering the labyrinth dungeon.
Which meant he had to win her favor and recruit her, no matter what. Skill trumped any quirks.
Kang Se-jun had a goal: he had to conquer that labyrinth dungeon.
This time, he would absolutely kill that monstrous bird lurking in the final labyrinth.
Grit! Se-jun ground his teeth. Crimson rage boiled up over his pitch-black eyes.
That monstrous bird that had ruined his life time and again.
This time, he would kill it for sure.
* * *
"Ha. Who knew manual labor could feel this rewarding when money's on the line."
Se-ra wiped her forehead with a clear, refreshed expression.
The mined magistones filled one side of the cave. Her heart swelled with fulfillment; suddenly, the world looked beautiful, and she felt generous enough to share kindness with everyone.
"Huh? What's this? Regressor dude, you didn't hunt a single monster? Here I am working my butt off, and you're just lounging around?"
Stowing her pickaxe in her inventory, Se-ra belatedly noticed Se-jun sitting idly nearby and furrowed her brow. Se-jun looked incredulous.
"Doesn't the work I did for your money count as labor?"
"It was manual labor. Anyway, why didn't you hunt any monsters? You said you could control your power. If we take too long, the section chief will get suspicious."
He might even come into the dungeon. Se-ra hurriedly shoved the magistones into her inventory.
"Your pickaxe racket scared all the monsters off. Now that the magistones are gone and it's all clear, time to hunt."
"Come to think of it, what monsters were in here anyway? I was too focused on the magistones to notice."
Se-jun's expression turned peculiar. Well, her muttering "whatever" earlier had seemed a bit off.
"Why?"
"No way you'd stay this calm if you'd seen them. You know magistone caves are typically home to monsters that feed on magistones, right?"
"Oh, right. Yeah..."
Se-ra's movements froze mid-sentence. Wait, hold on.
"Monsters that eat magistones have minerals sprouting from their bodies...?"
"They do."
"And since those grow from the monsters themselves, they're worth more than regular magistones...?"
"Way more."
A brilliant flower bloomed on Se-ra's face, brighter than when they'd first entered the cave.
She swiftly transferred the remaining magistones to her inventory, then pulled out her Jacket of Revival and slipped it on, grabbing her weapon Heat in a flash. Battle-ready in an instant.
"What're you waiting for? You coming or not? If not, I'll take all the monsters myself."
Se-jun eyed herradiating intent to strip the cave bare, soul and allwith utter bewilderment.
"Who'd leave someone like you behind? They'd call you a monster born of capitalism."
"Basic survival skill for modern life in this harsh world. If you don't wanna go, stay put. I'll handle them all."
Se-ra marched ahead with a gleeful grin. Se-jun shook her head and followed. Recruiting Yoon Se-ra might not be so hard after all.
Byproducts from labyrinth dungeons are worth as much as massive meteorites.
Of course, they came from places just as deadly, so he'd use her as bait first.
"They're swarming over there. Mage, no fire magic. We can't risk damaging the magistones embedded in their bodies."
"I said I can control my firepower. I've lived enough regressions that it's plenty of time to hone my abilities."
"Not just one or two loops, huh."
She'd already peeked at his info and seen five regressions, but played dumb and asked anyway.
"If it was just one or two, it wouldn't be weird even if you'd been absent before."
Hm, fair point.
"So, what's your entity anyway? To fool eyes this perfectly, it can't be ordinary power. Come to think of it, even the S-rank forums said your name didn't pop up."
"I have one. A certain... god who's been spoiling me rotten."
Not exactly an entity, but with godlike powers, god would do for now.
Fortunately, it didn't seem upset.
"But why do you keep asking about mine? What's yours?"
"An hourglass."
"...Huh?"
"An hourglass governing fate and time. It's thanks to my entity's power that I can regress."
His secretly glimpsed info had indeed listed 'Hourglass of Fate.' But who knew it was literally an hourglass.
"So, is the regression because of your entity, or some other reason?"
Se-ra fired a sharp question. Se-jun looked caught off guard. He hesitated, then sighed and nodded.
"You're right, I wanted the first regression. I had to die pathetically without achieving my goal."
"Uh, um... Sorry."
Unprepared for talk of death, Se-ra apologized awkwardly.
I see. Regressions happen after death. Meaning he'd died five whole times.
Even if he's arrogant, cut him some slack... Dying five times would wear down anyone's personality.
Suddenly, he seemed pitiful.
"Monsters, that way."
But the sympathy was fleeting. Se-jun nodded toward the depths, and Se-ra shook it off to focus.
"Ore rhinos!"
The swarming monsters had sturdy ore horns jutting from their snoutsformed from nutrients of the magistones they ate. They were pricey, used in high-grade healing potions.
"This place is a goldmine. Feels like I walked into a diamond quarry."
Drunk on joy, Se-ra mumbled dreamily.
"Horn ore. Suhorang Guild will go nuts for it."
Suhorang Guild boasted the most healers and mages in the country. They preferred collaborating with other guilds or focusing on potion crafting over solo raids, sweeping up every crafting material in sight.
Horn ore was no exception.
"Yoon Se-ra, how about a deal?"
"Huh?"
"You're planning to sell those at the shop, right? Hiding your S-rank means you can't deal directly with Suhorang Guild."
"Yeah."
"Hand them to me. I'll negotiate with Suhorang Guild and sell them for you."
The unexpected offer made Se-ra's eyes widen.
"You?"
"Item shops take fees on trades. If I do a direct deal, no feesyou save money. Not a bad proposition."
"Meaning..."
"Yeah, no commission from me. Totally free."
Se-ra blinked. Going through Se-jun meant Suhorang Guild couldn't lowball or scam her. A flawless deal.
"Why? Why go that far for me?"
"In exchange, can I ask one favor later?"
"I'm a poor civil servant. Got nothing to give."
"Not material. Just... if I ask for help someday, think it over seriously. You can say no."
"An L-rank needing my help?"
"Even I can't solve everything."
For some reason, Se-jun's smile felt bittersweet. Yet it also burned with hidden fury.
Reminded of some past moment, now a memory only he held.