Chasing the Dungeon Lotto
That question wasn't even worth answering. They'd only been together for a day, but in that time, Shin Jong-su had vented every grievance he had against the world. Jang Geon-ho had never met anyone so full of complaints.
Just then, the buffer Kim Ye-geun approached a reporter preparing for an interview and swiped his wallet.
Jang Geon-ho sighed.
That was the third time he'd seen it today. A buffer who pickpocketed for fun. To think that guy was part of his team...
The dealer didn't speak. Or rather, couldn't. He supposedly had selective mutism, yet his determination to join raids in that state was insanely strong.
If he could, Jang Geon-ho wanted to ditch this sorry excuse for a team and run.
A perpetually complaining tanker, a buffer whose hobby was pickpocketing, a mute dealer. The only normal one was the carrier, right?
But from what he'd heard, even that carrier occasionally went berserk inside dungeons.
According to Min Ki-cheol, who'd raided with him before, he'd even wanted to kill the guy at one point.
I shouldn't have made that bet. To think they'd entrust a team like this to me. Should I turn back now and beg the old lady?
At that moment, sirens blaring, two police cars sped toward the dungeon gate. When Jang Geon-ho saw who got out, he burst out laughing.
It was the Pink Team.
Coming to a raid in police cars, of all things.
The reporters swarmed the Pink Team. Their attention zeroed in on carrier Kim Jun, with the bandage on his cheek, and the Thunder Brain Sword he carried.
"Even after becoming a client of Choi Min-su, one of the top raiders of our time, and the head of the Yeon family, why are you still participating as a carrier?"
"Didn't Choi Min-su object?"
"What was Yeon Un-jae's reaction?"
Yoo Min-jeong stepped forward amid the barrage of questions. Flames erupted from her outstretched hands, swelling as if ready to engulf the reporters.
The reporters recoiled in shock.
The flames died down instantly. She'd only inflated the outer shape for show.
In the meantime, the Pink Team slipped past the reporters and headed to the guild management office. Yoo Min-jeong winked at them before following her team.
The dungeon supervisor emerged—a graying man in a suit.
"Where's the master?"
"I'm Yoo Min-jeong, team leader of Uramata Guild's Pink Team. Talk to me."
The supervisor stared at the young female team leader.
"Follow me. There's a lot of paperwork. The rest of you, head to your positions for dungeon entry."
As the supervisor led Yoo Min-jeong away, the team members moved toward the gate.
Yeom Sang-taek froze at the sight of a man waving. It was Yang Hee-seon's grandson, Jang Geon-ho.
"Why are you so late?"
"There was a traffic accident."
"An accident? Ah, I see."
"But how are you here?"
"To participate in the raid."
"No way—you're the Miracle Guild's Roulette Team?"
"Bingo. I'm the team leader for Roulette."
"......"
Yeom Sang-taek was speechless. Choi Muhyun, Skyla, and Kim Jun wore similar expressions.
"Hahaha, that's exactly the face I wanted! Of course you wouldn't know. Even the Dungeon Association only found out late last night. I only learned I'd be team leader for this dungeon last night too! This damn...!"
Jang Geon-ho's face flushed red then purple as his anger boiled over mid-sentence.
Kim Jun burst out laughing.
The others joined in.
"Anyway, do your best today. We'll collect as many cores as we can too."
Jang Geon-ho waved and headed to his team.
Moments later, Yoo Min-jeong came running back. It was 5:55—five minutes to gate open.
"Finally done. Man... I could never be a guild master."
Yoo Min-jeong let out a deep sigh.
"Look over there."
Choi Muhyun pointed at Jang Geon-ho.
"What the hell happened?"
No one could answer Yoo Min-jeong's question.
The Pink Team slowed after running in formation for nearly ten minutes.
Without a word from Yoo Min-jeong, they naturally shifted to diamond formation.
Choi Muhyun took point, Yoo Min-jeong the right flank, Skyla the left. Kim Jun guarded the rear, while buffer Yeom Sang-taek held the diamond's center.
It was originally the carrier's spot, but knowing Kim Jun's strength all too well, Yeom Sang-taek happily yielded it.
"Buffer."
It was Yoo Min-jeong.
"Nothing within 40 meters all around."
Yeom Sang-taek reported immediately after scanning with his detection skill.
Yoo Min-jeong pulled the Legio from the small leather pouch on her belt. Its needle pointed precisely at the pillar of light shooting up from the gate into the void above.
The Legio's working fine. Now we can head straight for that pillar of light, even where we can't see it.
She slipped the Legio back into its pouch, feeling her team's eyes on her.
"Borrowed it. Forward march!"
At Yoo Min-jeong's command, the Pink Team advanced in diamond formation.
"1 o'clock, 45 meters, two—no, three small monsters approaching."
Yeom Sang-taek called out.
"Tanker, barrier."
At Yoo Min-jeong's order, Choi Muhyun channeled his inner energy, enveloping the team in a golden barrier.
The monsters soon appeared.
Wolf-like monsters—Ulpen sauruses.
"7 o'clock, 40 meters, four small monsters approaching!"
Yeom Sang-taek again.
Yoo Min-jeong realized the Ulpen saurus pack had split, approaching from front and rear. They'd mistaken the team for prey, but they'd picked the wrong opponents.
"You take the front."
Yoo Min-jeong said to Skyla.
Skyla nodded, and Yoo Min-jeong signaled Choi Muhyun.
Yeom Sang-taek began the count.
"Attack time, ten, nine..."
The two dealers aligned their mana, flames blooming on one side... silver ice on the other.
"One!"
As Yeom Sang-taek shouted, Choi Muhyun dropped the barrier.
Fire arrows and icicle bolts streaked toward the Ulpen sauruses.
The four scattered instantly, but the blazing arrows homed in like guided missiles, piercing between ribs. Screams echoed as fire consumed their fur.
The silver icicle arrows pierced two of the three's hearts deeply. One got lucky, taking an arrow in the shoulder blade and fleeing into the darkness.
Skyla fired another icicle bolt, but no sound followed.
Six Ulpen sauruses down in one go—a solid start.
Kim Jun swiftly finished off the suffering ones with his belt dagger, then extracted the cores.
No need for the digger mounted on his storeback.
He just sensed the core's position, plunged his hand in, and pulled it out like harvesting potatoes.
Skyla was stunned.
She'd seen countless Dungeon Association videos as a reporter, but nothing like this.
"No digger?"
"Small guys."
This time too, exactly five seconds after shoving his hand inside, the core emerged.
"Incredible."
Skyla followed Kim Jun closely, observing the core extraction up close.
Kim Jun glanced at Skyla.
"Ever seen a Magic Creeper?"
"Of course. I'm a reporter. Haven't seen a live one, but seeds a few times."
Magic Creepers traded as seeds. Supply mana and water, they sprout and grow rapidly. But so dangerous, trading them was illegal. Used only for killing people.
"Where can you get one?"
"Why? Someone you wanna kill?"
"Just curious."
Kim Jun stowed the last core in his storeback. Six cores—30 million won earned.
"Black market. They got everything."
Skyla didn't mention seeing one while fetching the Ellipsis. But she didn't let Kim Jun's sudden question slide.
Something's up.
Skyla stared at Kim Jun's back as he walked toward the team.
A thick wall of darkness loomed ahead.
Behind, the light pillar was faintly visible. That pillar, unique to F-rank dungeons, marked the gate—head there anytime to exit.
The Pink Team stood at the boundary.
Yoo Min-jeong eyed each member, confirming their resolve, then glared into the dark.
"Buffer."
At her word, Yeom Sang-taek launched a sphere of light into the air.
"Let's go."
Led by Yoo Min-jeong, the Pink Team strode into the darkness.
Skyla advanced step by step.
Even just moving forward slowly and cautiously took more effort than snake formation at full sprint.
It's pitch black.
The light orb illuminated a 20-meter radius.
Beyond: utter blackness.
No time to dispel the white ice in her right hand. The buffer watched constantly, but 40 meters was nothing to fast monsters.
She had to stay ready to respond.
"11 o'clock, 40 meters, one small monster approaching."
The team halted at Yeom Sang-taek's call.
"Tanker."
The barrier enveloped them.
The monster didn't close in. Yeom Sang-taek reported.
"Circling us."
Then, something burst from the dark into the light.
The pink wild boar-like creature didn't charge the barrier like normal monsters—instead, it brushed past Skyla.
Skyla's eyes widened as she yelled.
"Killita! It's a Killita!"
Yoo Min-jeong realized it too and barked orders.
"Pursue! Snake formation!"
The Pink Team surged like a serpent. Charging into darkness, but the buffer's precise directions narrowed the gap.
"One Killita and we're done."
Skyla said.
Killita saurus—Killita for short—the famous pink monster dubbed the dungeon's lotto. Docile and weak, easy to catch, worth tens of billions.
Not scientific or economic value like other cores. Its eyes were mesmerizing blue diamonds; its heart, a heart-pounding red diamond.
Easy prey, but exceedingly rare.
Lifetime of raiding, you might never encounter one. Someone called it the "dungeon lotto," and the name stuck.
Last year, one worldwide—its eyes and heart auctioned for 9.2 billion.
"Ahead, 35 meters!"
Yeom Sang-taek shouted, already calculating his cut. After fees, guild share, team split—still around 800 million incoming.
Yoo Min-jeong upped the pace.
Catch the Killita, and this F-rank is over. Next, E-rank. Shatter the record, and the review board can't ignore Pink Team anymore!
"Ahead, 27 meters!"
Yeom Sang-taek bellowed.
Pink Team accelerated.
"Ahead, 25 meters!"
Nothing else mattered. Eyes locked on the fleeing pink lotto in the dark ahead. A 9 billion—no, potentially 10 billion monster slipping away.
"Stop!"
Kim Jun halted, and the Pink Team surged past as he vanished into the rear darkness.
Yoo Min-jeong was baffled.
They needed that Killita. Success solved most problems—guild finances too.
Review board couldn't keep them in F-rank.
But she couldn't ignore Kim Jun's proven instincts.
"You three, check on Kim Jun. I'll chase solo. Link up after."
Yoo Min-jeong sped up; the rest turned back for Kim Jun.
Yeom Sang-taek found him easily.
Kim Jun gripped the Thunder Brain Sword, standing still.
"What happened?"
Choi Muhyun asked.
"Team leader?"
"Chasing the Killita."
Skyla answered.
"Damn."
Kim Jun bit his lip.
"What is it?"
At his friend's urging, Kim Jun explained.
"No footprints."
"What?"
"We're chasing it, but no Killita tracks."
"Ground's hard, not much dirt."
Skyla said.
"We're much lighter, and our prints are there."
Kim Jun pointed behind. Messy, but Pink Team's footprints clear.
Skyla had no rebuttal to the evidence.
"Also, we've been circling wide. Those ahead? Ours."
Kim Jun indicated prints 10 meters off.
Choi Muhyun paled upon checking.
"If I'm right, Killita's coming from back there."
Kim Jun pointed rearward. All looked. Yeom Sang-taek's eyes widened.
"It's coming."
Skyla assumed attack stance, forming icicle bolts between cupped hands.
"30 meters."
Yeom Sang-taek said.
Choi Muhyun threw up a barrier for contingencies. But Kim Jun eyed the ground prints, ignoring the approaching Killita.
"25 meters."
Yeom Sang-taek continued. Three icicles formed between Skyla's hands.
"20 meters."
As Yeom Sang-taek spoke, the pink Killita entered the light.
"10 meters!"
Kim Jun shouted then.
"Don't!"
Too late. Skyla fired the icicle bolts.