Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: How the Rank 1 Hero Protects the World
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Cheon Tae-ho was in a great mood.
Even though it was still early for lunch, he'd already reeled in two suckers and pocketed 600,000 won in easy cash.
'Man, making money has gotten so damn easy.'
He whistled cheerfully without even realizing it.
Five years ago, after the Dungeon Break occurred, he'd gotten caught up in a nearby dungeon without knowing any better.
Luckily for him, though, there had been several hunters who were now famous in Korea even among those swept up in the same dungeon.
He hadn't exactly built any friendships with them, which was a shame, but thanks to that, he'd awakened by some stroke of luck and survived. He'd even scored pretty decent clear rewards, which let him level up easily.
After becoming a hunter who knew his way around things to some extent, the ways to make money were endless.
Back in the early days when people were still hesitant about hunter awakenings, he'd just run a few low-rank dungeons, sell off the items, and rake in a tidy sum.
But that only lasted for the beginning. Once people realized dungeon clears could make bank, they all flocked to the low-rank ones, and it stopped being profitable.
So Cheon Tae-ho turned his eyes to a business area that was still a blue ocean.
Namely, awakening ordinary people who hadn't awakened yet.
As dungeon items fetched high prices in the real world, the general public's thirst for awakening only grew hotter by the day.
But there weren't many fixed, so-called "honey" dungeons out there.
That's why Cheon Tae-ho started traveling the country, hunting for unregistered dungeons that the government hadn't gotten to yet.
Once he found one, it was a goldmine, a total lottery ticket.
Low-rank dungeon, easy to awaken in, telling you this as a special favor, it'll fill up with people once it's registered. He'd leak the info in open chat rooms or online, and people would come swarming like flies.
Then, when the suckers gathered, he'd stand guard at the entrance and collect "admission fees."
Of course, he never actually checked if it was really a low-rank dungeon.
Even if they cleared it and came back complaining, it didn't matter.
Most ordinary people, even if they awakened, would just show basic civilian stats, no match for someone like him who'd been awakened for a while.
Honestly, from Cheon Tae-ho's perspective, the higher-rank dungeons were preferable. Dealing with complaints was a hassle, so it was better if they just died in a dangerous one.
What happened inside a dungeon couldn't be seen from outside, so he'd never get in trouble.
Today, too, he'd just been chilling watching YouTube and 600,000 won rolled right in.
However, while he was engrossed in his videos, Cheon Tae-ho completely missed the brilliant system messages floating in midair. He had no idea the world was buzzing over a sudden ranking announcement.
He laughed along with the videos for hours until, as expected in the mountains where night fell quickly, it started getting dark.
Only then did Cheon Tae-ho turn off the video and look around. He'd been watching with Bluetooth earbuds in, so he hadn't noticed, but the mountain was dead silent.
Looked like no one else was coming today.
"Already run out of suckers?"
There was no way Cheon Tae-ho was the only one who'd thought up this lucrative scam.
The government had issued warnings ages ago about this kind of fraud being widespread. It was only natural that crowds weren't as big as before.
"Guess no clears today either."
It had been about two weeks since Cheon Tae-ho discovered this dungeon. Around fifty people had gone in during that time.
Kids without money got sent back for 300,000 won, desperate ones who looked loaded paid up to a million, so the profits were nice.
But not a single one had come back out.
Even though you’d expect one or two to luck out, awaken, and clear it.
'It’s not actually an S-Rank Dungeon, is it?'
The thought made Cheon Tae-ho suddenly feel a chill of fear.
If he left it like this and the saturation level rose, triggering a Dungeon Break, that’d be a disaster.
No matter how much of a scammer Cheon Tae-ho was, he hadn’t forgotten the nightmare from five years ago. With all the famous hunters clustered in Seoul, suppression would take forever.
Of course, he had zero intention of risking his life to fight in a situation like that.
Maybe he’d made enough to just report it to the government like a good citizen?
"How much’s the reward for reporting a dungeon again?"
You got a bounty for discovering and reporting an unregistered dungeon.
Cheon Tae-ho figured he’d cash in appropriately and bounce. The star hunters could handle clearing it.
"Let’s see, the Dungeon Discovery Report Center number… Huh?"
Just as he pulled out his phone to make the call, Cheon Tae-ho blinked in surprise.
The diamond-shaped pattern at the dungeon entrance was flashing brightly.
Did someone clear it? After fifty challengers went in and never came out?
Cheon Tae-ho recalled the guy and girl who’d entered a few hours ago.
The guy looked like a total newbie at a glance, and the girl seemed young too. She had this oddly calm vibe, but… Nah, screw it. She gonna nitpick and complain? What a pain.
They didn’t seem particularly dangerous, but just in case, Cheon Tae-ho gripped tighter the knuckle with viper fangs he’d luckily snagged early in his hunter days.
Soon, a dazzling light spread around the pattern, and two shadows appeared.
Cheon Tae-ho was genuinely impressed.
"Wow, they actually cleared it!"
It had taken less than three or four hours for the clear. That was fast compared to any rank dungeon.
As the light faded, the girl from a few hours ago appeared. She spotted Cheon Tae-ho, her eyes widening before narrowing into slits.
Cheon Tae-ho flashed her a bright smile.
"Looked like you awakened? Congrats."
The girl didn’t look great. Bloodstains here and there suggested injuries, and the guy was unconscious, being supported by her.
Hm, but if these two cleared it, maybe it wasn’t a high-rank after all? He’d gotten scared since fifty went in and didn’t come out, but this meant he could milk a few more rounds.
As Cheon Tae-ho mentally tapped at his calculator,
The girl glanced at him, then unceremoniously dropped the guy she’d been supporting onto the ground.
"Want me to call an ambulance?"
He tried being nice, but she didn’t respond. Maybe the dungeon horrors had left her in shock.
In the darkening mountains, the glowing diamond pattern beside the girl cast an ominous light.
Only then could Cheon Tae-ho properly see her face.
He thought she might be a bit older than he’d assumed.
Her face itself looked youthful. Like a college student. Soft and pretty, the kind who’d never touch something scary like hunter work.
So why were her eyes that terrifying?
Wait, she kinda looks like someone… But Cheon Tae-ho’s thoughts didn’t continue.
The girl cracked her knuckles with a pop.
"What was it? Fire first, then hedgehog… Oh, and getting chomped by that two-meter rabbit."
"What?"
"What else? The punishment I’m dishing out to you."
Cheon Tae-ho laughed in disbelief.
"Yeah, sure. Newbie hunters always get cocky right after awakening. It’s tradition. And it’s senior hunter tradition to knock that out of ’em."
"What’s ‘tradition’?"
"You look young—don’t you browse the internet?"
"Oh, I did a lot ten years ago. Been out of touch with trends since."
Now she was cracking her neck side to side.
She really planning to fight me? How arrogant. He’d been willing to go easy because she looked young, but that thought vanished.
Cheon Tae-ho menacingly displayed the knuckles on his hand. The black fangs gleamed dully.
"This is some good gear, y’know? Boosts strength and stamina, and even a graze poisons you with D-rank toxin. This is the mountains—no quick hospital trip, and you’re done for."
"Oh yeah? So?"
Explaining the item to a newbie, and she still didn’t get its value?
No helping it then. Self-defense. Cheon Tae-ho grinned.
"Don’t blame me. You brought this on yourself. I was really gonna let you go."
"Yeah? I wasn’t planning to let you go."
The girl grinned back. Still looking down on him with that cocky stance to the end.
Cheon Tae-ho snapped.
"Chatting up a storm before eating a punch? Annoying as hell?"
"This crazy bitch…"
He’d even shown goodwill, and she acts like this? No point talking. He wasn’t planning murder, but she needed a taste of pain.
Cheon Tae-ho raised his fist toward the girl.
"You’ll snap out of it after a hit!"
No way a fresh newbie could dodge this.
Even if he hadn’t raided dungeons lately, his level was 15. Beyond most low-rank hunters.
But the next moment, a fierce impact hit Cheon Tae-ho’s gut.
His feet left the ground.
Huh?
Even as he flew, Cheon Tae-ho’s eyes widened in confusion. He’d charged at the girl, so why was his body flying backward?
In his receding view, he saw the girl kick off and leap.
"Snapping out of it after a hit?"
Whoosh—her face closed in. Shadow fell over his face. A fist clad in black half-gloves approached.
The girl grinned.
"Fine, let’s beat some sense into you!"
Bam!
With those words, the fist smashed his face. Unable to withstand the force, Cheon Tae-ho crashed to the ground. Bones cracked, teeth flew.
A massive pain ripped a scream from Cheon Tae-ho’s mouth.
"Uwaaaah, aaaagh! M-my teeth!"
But his agony didn’t end there. Before his body even hit the ground from the air, her fists kept hammering his jaw.
"This one’s for the bull!"
Crack!
Each hit brought the sound of breaking bones.
Cheon Tae-ho’s blood splattered on the girl’s face. She looked almost demonic.
"This one’s for the rabbit!"
Pfft!
This time, her fist hit his mouth.
A broken tooth nearly lodged in his throat. Cheon Tae-ho barely stopped it by biting his tongue, his mind reeling.
Whatever trick she’d pulled, this girl was insanely strong. Cheon Tae-ho struggled to focus.
Still, if my fist just grazes her once!
Just one graze with these fanged knuckles!
But before Cheon Tae-ho’s fist could connect, her punch slammed his cheek.
"This one’s for the hedgehog!"
Boom!
No, what kind of animal names are these?
Cheon Tae-ho was smashed into the ground by that punch.
The girl pressed her booted foot firmly on the completely downed Cheon Tae-ho’s stomach. His ribs compressed, inner organs feeling like they’d burst.
He couldn’t breathe.
Impossible.
How could a fresh hunter have this power? Did she get some item?
Cheon Tae-ho looked up at her in confusion, but she just pressed harder with her foot.
"If you tried to kill someone, you should’ve been prepared to die yourself."
"I-I didn’t mean to kill…! I’ll return the money, so get this foot off…!"
"You took money luring people in, calling it a low-rank dungeon without even knowing the clear conditions. That’s murder."
"Th-there’s no such law! Got proof?"
"Burp? Proof?"
The girl pressed harder with her foot, crushing Cheon Tae-ho’s stomach more. A involuntary yelp escaped him.
"Don’t need that shit, asshole!"
Thwack—along with a blow to the head, his vision went black.
Cheon Tae-ho passed out just like that.
* * *
"Hey, wake up. Hey!"
I grabbed the collar of the unconscious man and lifted him up.
"Fainting from just this?"
I hadn’t even done the fire thing, or the hedgehog, or tossed him to the gluttonous rabbit!
Damn, maybe it wasn’t real strength from me, but item and strength enhancer potion stats, so I couldn’t control it right even though I tried not to hit too hard.
Regretfully, I clicked my tongue.
Damn it, should’ve hit him more.