Mission: The Bet
Kim Jun stared at the text on his laptop screen.
A title: A Night in the Dungeon.
He skimmed through it quickly and let out a sigh. It wasn't what he was looking for. Just a steamy romance between male and female Raiders from different guilds, their lives and deaths intertwining in the dungeon.
To Kim Jun, who had experienced dungeons firsthand, the story was utter nonsense.
Wandering in the dark and stumbling upon a sleek beauty of a Raider? Falling in love just like that?
It's a novel. A novel.
Kim Jun moved on to the next one.
The title: Catching a Wyvern Saurus Barehanded.
This one was far from the truth as well.
It overflowed with unbearable self-aggrandizement, so tiresome he could barely finish it. Kim Jun couldn't understand why millions flocked to each post.
Maybe because so few Raiders actually wrote about their experiences this way.
Lee Ha-yoon, famous under the pen name Dungeon Striker, was a dealer from Brave Guild. She loved appearing on TV shows to boast about her exploits whenever she got the chance.
What Kim Jun sought were stories about protectors and the protected—patronesses and their clients.
He already knew that to start as a Raider, you needed a recommendation, and the one writing it was your patroness.
The issue was how crucial that relationship was in the Raider world.
Kim Jun wanted to truly understand patronesses.
That way, he could help Yeom Sang-taek. He might get flak for a mere carrier overstepping his bounds.
Didn't matter. If it helped Yeom Sang-taek.
The surest way was to become a Raider himself. Then he'd feel it firsthand.
"That's... got nothing to do with me."
Kim Jun gave a wry smile.
An alarm blared.
Beyond the curtains, dawn was breaking outside.
He hadn't slept a wink. His eyes were dry, shoulders tense, but that was no excuse to skip training. Dungeons sometimes kept you up for a day or two straight.
As usual, Kim Jun washed up, ate, and headed out.
Checking his watch, he started running.
Sitting on the rooftop railing, Jang Geon-ho scanned the passersby below. His eyes lit up.
There he is!
Springing up, he leaped four meters to the next building's roof, then flung himself five meters to a roadside tree.
Grabbing a thick ginkgo branch with both hands, he swung around it one and a half times like a gymnast before standing steady on the swaying limb.
Jang Geon-ho glared down at Kim Jun.
Stable running form. Fast pace. But just an ordinary guy.
He couldn't fathom why the old hag rated him so highly.
She'd even said that if he beat this dawn-pounding road runner, she'd grant any wish—even teach him Ultimation.
Kim Jun ran relentlessly along the early morning road, horns blaring from passing cars. He passed under the tree.
Like a monkey, Jang Geon-ho zigzagged along branches and landed lightly on the asphalt, matching Kim Jun's speed from behind.
Kim Jun glanced back.
A startled look.
But his body didn't waver.
Hm, not bad. For a regular guy.
Jang Geon-ho ran alongside. He'd kept up his basic running training, so his body felt light.
"Remember me?"
Kim Jun just nodded slightly, eyes fixed ahead.
"I'm Jang Geon-ho. Remember that, and good things'll come your way. Anyway, I made a bet with the old hag."
No reaction this time. Kim Jun focused solely on running.
"She said a level 10 awakener like me who got rated at age ten couldn't beat you. Ridiculous, right? Anyway, race to Uramata Guildhouse. If I get there first, she can't complain. Give it everything. Winning too easy would be boring. See ya."
Jang Geon-ho accelerated.
Kim Jun fell behind in seconds.
Wonder if that'll shock him?
Jang Geon-ho cast a spell on himself: Speed Up.
His speed exploded.
Glancing back, he saw 100 meters between them and cackled. By guildhouse, it might be a kilometer.
Old hag, I win today.
His first victory over her in a bet, come to think of it.
Thrill raced up his spine.
That weirdo's speed was overwhelming.
Speed Up.
Kim Jun knew he could never match it, not even if he died trying. The wall between normals and specials stood firm here too.
"I'll just do what I can."
Instead of forcing it, Kim Jun surrendered to the road. He focused on the feel of his soles pushing asphalt back.
Soon, his breath grew ragged. His body craved more oxygen.
Legs heavy. Head drooping. Arms too weak to swing. Vision edges yellowing.
He could slow down, rest. But Kim Jun just kept running silently.
The torment surged like a tide, then ebbed. A cool refresh spread through him.
Hospital was like this. Long treadmill runs, then suddenly the body eased. Runner's high hitting periodically.
Then, a peculiar shift began.
Senses sharpened.
Between buildings, he glimpsed a woman in her mid-40s hanging laundry on an apartment railing. Just a glance, yet he saw her round glasses and green jade necklace clearly.
Like max zoom through a telephoto lens.
He shook his head against the dizziness; the vision faded. The apartment blurred in smog; no one on the railing.
Lately, these spikes hit often. Sometimes hearing sharpened impossibly, voices he shouldn't catch drilling into his ears.
Hope and worry mingled.
Maybe signs of awakening.
Or aftermath from Nuclataurus radiation.
Mind tangled, but Kim Jun ran on.
Pushing ground with both legs was ingrained deep. The rhythm soothed inner chaos.
Huh?
There—the guy, body swaying side to side. Hitting his limit.
30 meters closed fast.
Soon, Kim Jun ran beside Jang Geon-ho.
Spotting him, Jang Geon-ho nearly tripped. Without Kim Jun's steadying hand, he'd have faceplanted.
"...You?"
His eyes shook wildly.
Kim Jun flashed a grin and surged ahead.
Faster than usual, but no strain.
Seemed he could push harder. Great condition despite no sleep.
Kim Jun ran with pleasure.
Kim Jun swept the guildhouse parking lot with a broom.
Jang Geon-ho arrived panting, hesitating. But a bet was a bet. He'd accept defeat. Against the old hag... total loss record intact.
Never won once. Knew he'd lose, yet took them anyway.
Genetic, probably. Grandma, dad, him—all suckers for bets.
"Hey..."
Jang Geon-ho approached Kim Jun.
Kim Jun glanced up briefly, then back to sweeping.
"I lost."
No eye contact this time.
The indifference stung worse than defeat.
He wanted this over—grant the punk's lame wish and bolt.
Bet the old hag again... I'll climb the castle walls if I have to.
"Name it. Anything. I lost fair."
"Anything?"
Kim Jun turned, broom in hand.
"...As long as it's reasonable."
Jang Geon-ho stepped back. Pointing at a skyscraper and demanding it? Nightmare.
"Mind if I ask a few questions?"
"Shoot."
The carrier's casual tone irked, but Jang Geon-ho played it cool.
"You're a Raider, right?"
"...Obviously."
Irritation flared.
How'd he look to this guy? After seeing Speed Up?
Maybe he knew and dragged it out to savor the win.
"If your patroness said she'd never see you again, how'd that feel?"
"...What?"
Kim Jun waited patiently.
"If that happened... I'd kill myself."
Kim Jun's eyes widened like saucers. Unthinkable answer.
Yeom Sang-taek was timid, shaken by trifles. Knowing his nature, Kim Jun figured he overreacted.
This Raider? Confident, bold, quirky. Wouldn't blink at much.
Yet he'd choose suicide over losing his patroness.
"Dunno why you care, but a patroness is your root. No stem survives severed from its root."
Jang Geon-ho crossed his arms.
This obsessed carrier oddly boosted his ego. Lost the run, but felt victorious.
Just a regular carrier dreaming of our world. Heh.
"Know lots of Raiders?"
"Sure. Yoo Wan-seop, Lee Hwan, Choi Min-su, Mun Hyo-rin, Lee Ha-yoon—you name it, I've met 'em."
"Plenty buffers among them?"
"Duh. Dozens I know. That old hag last time? Famous buffer."
"Would any buffer take a Raider dumped by another patroness as their client?"
"Nope. Never."
"Why?"
"Simple. You wouldn't pick up someone else's half-eaten bread, right?"
That clicked. Kim Jun grasped Yeom Sang-taek's plight.
"Last question. Not one Raider ever ate discarded bread?"
"...Well, there is one."
Jang Geon-ho hated contradicting himself. Shouldn't have said "never." But lies weren't his style.
"Really?"
"Crazy Buffer."
"Who's that?"
"My grandma."
Grinning, Jang Geon-ho turned and dashed off across the lot to the road.
The battered SUV exited the highway, passing through Yusong Interchange.
Go Cheolmin gripped the wheel, mouth parched. He grabbed a water bottle and chugged, but thirst lingered.
Yu Min-jeong's late-night call had set him on edge. Her low tone screamed trouble. Maybe Choi Muhyun drunk and rowdy? Worse.
"Whew."
Couldn't blame Yeom Sang-taek for heading to Daejeon for stronger magic.
If anything, the patroness's distrust of his skills was the issue. Mention it, and she'd blow it up more.
Damage falls all on Sang-taek.
Following nav, buildings shrank, fields appeared.
"You have arrived at your destination."
Go Cheolmin stepped out, stunned. Just a farm auntie straightening up to stare; desolate.
Fuming, he smacked the nav. Distorted voice:
"Des-ti-na-tion... ar-ri-ved."
The nav died.
Ominous.
Calming, Go Cheolmin turned the car around.
Phone-led to MJ Buff Academy, dread grew: today's gonna suck.
Finally arrived.
Students streamed out, jogging roadside in formation.
Elementary kids mixed with burly high schoolers.
All training desperately to become Raiders.
Before exiting, he lit a cigarette.
Without nicotine, he'd lose it inside.
"I'm the master. Adult responsible for those kids. Never forget."
Only then did Go Cheolmin get out.
Crossing, he headed to the academy's first-floor lobby desk.