Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: 3. The Runner
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Of course, once you obtain these fateful encounters, they disappear. That's why it's impossible for multiple people to claim the same one. Sung A-yeon scanned Yoo Sung-hoon up and down, finally nodding as if she understood something. His stats were on par with a ranker's, but his gear looked quite poor. Of course, it wasn't to the point of squinting in disdain. For a normal, that was a decent setup.
This was only in comparison to rankers.
"Your name is Yoo Sung-hoon, right? Nice to meet you! I'm Sung A-yeon."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Yoo Sung-hoon."
"With your skills, Sung-hoon, you should do great on the Moonlit Cave Investigation mission. Can you head out right now?"
"Yes."
"Great. Follow me, then."
Following her led them to a mission office on the opposite side from the one Sung-hoon usually frequented. It was packed with people inside, but as if she'd already found her teammate, she led him straight to a corner of the office.
"Dong-cheol! I brought a warrior!"
"What? He looks scrawny. You didn't just grab anyone again, did you?"
'Nice way with words.'
As he vowed silently to stab the guy later, A-yeon was already defending Sung-hoon vigorously.
"No, his Strength is over 50, and Agility over 80."
At her words, eyes from all around focused in instantly. Stats like that were enough to qualify as a ranker.
"What? H-Hey, are you a ranker?"
"No, he got strong from a fateful encounter."
"Whatever. Weird you'd do something helpful for once. Hey, nice to meet you. Name's Park Dong-cheol."
'Do I look familiar to you? Talking all casual like that? Wonder if cutting off a finger would loosen that tongue?'
"Nice to meet you. I'm Yoo Sung-hoon."
Of course, outwardly, he remained the picture of a polite young man. Sung-hoon had already mastered the art of wearing two faces perfectly.
"You look older than me at first glance, so I'll call you hyung."
Judging purely by appearances, it was hard to tell who was older between Park Dong-cheol and Yoo Sung-hoon. In other words, this was a roundabout insult saying Dong-cheol looked pretty old, but he just laughed heartily and clapped Sung-hoon on the back, thrilled to be called hyung.
"Alright, Sung-hoon, my little bro. Let me introduce you. As you can see, I'm a warrior. What do you think of this axe?"
"Whoa! Looks super heavy. You swing this thing? You must be as strong as you look!"
"You know it! I'm pretty strong! Kahahahaha. And that girl who brought you is an archer."
Sung A-yeon was lightly waving a longbow.
"Next, that guy in the mask over there is Il-woo. As you can see, he's a thief. And that woman there is the mage—and a famous ranker!"
"She's a foreigner?"
Sung-hoon asked in surprise. He wasn't sure if it was intentional, but First City was mostly populated by Koreans. Not entirely, of course—there were people from other countries—but spotting a foreigner was extremely rare. Her beauty was magazine-cover worthy, with stunning golden hair, but her dull robe covered her body without a gap, giving an unbalanced vibe.
"Nice to meet you. Call me Ellie."
"Nice to meet you. Just call me Sung-hoon."
Rankers were rare, but mages among them were even rarer.
It came down to the exorbitant price of magic skill books. Warriors could go out bare-handed and earn money, but mages had no choice but to hunt bare-handed before learning spells, making their early growth even slower than warriors'. A ranker mage had to be precious even among rankers.
"With me added, that's two frontliners, one sub, and two backliners. Isn't that a bit risky?"
This was a fairly stable setup, but The Mission emphasized safety above all. That's why one-person missions were done by two, and two-person ones by four. Rewards got split, sure, but the safety was appealing. Especially for a C-grade like Moonlit Cave Investigation, they'd want even more safety.
But Park Dong-cheol shook his head.
"You don't know Moonlit Cave Investigation? It's super easy!"
"I've never done a C-grade before... Is it really that easy?"
"Yeah. Among C-grades, it's one of the easiest. Pure difficulty-wise, it's like D-grade. But the rewards are juicy, so adding more people would just cut into profits."
'I know, buddy.'
Sung-hoon was the one who'd spread the rumor that Moonlit Cave was easy. He'd even sold maps of the interior and popularized the standard攻略 methods. Sure, his guild needed it, but he had other motives for making Moonlit Cave clears trendy among the masses.
"This party's more than enough to clear it, right?"
"You can tell?"
"Of course. I'm a pro. This'll be my third time on Moonlit Cave Investigation."
Having cleared a C-grade Moonlit Cave three times definitely warranted that confidence. After joining Dong-cheol's party and finishing brief prep, his vision began to turn white.
Moonlit Cave Investigation
Grade: C
Located in the heart of an unnamed wild mountain, the Moonlit Cave. Recently, werewolves have begun gathering in this beautiful cave. Slay the werewolves and investigate the cause of their congregation.
Achievement Conditions
1. Adventurer: Slay 20 werewolves (0/20)
2. Hunter: Slay 50 werewolves (0/50)
3. Slaughterer: Slay 100 werewolves and uncover why they gathered in the Moonlit Cave (0/100)
Basic Reward: 100,000 guild, Werewolf Hide x5
Slaughterer Clear Bonus: 300,000 guild, Low Enhancement Stone x3
Regrettably, Sung-hoon hadn't snagged the first-clear bonus for Moonlit Cave Investigation's Slaughterer difficulty. Demon Sword Mirinae had taken that. She'd sold the first-clear reward, the Moonlight Spear, to Spear King Kang Mu-han.
'If I'd mastered Mid Poison Technique just a bit sooner, I could've gotten that first bonus.'
Thinking of how Hae Tae Faction's leader Kang Mu-han had shelled out two million guild for the Moonlight Spear, Sung-hoon quickly drew his sword and scanned the surroundings warily.
He'd been to Moonlit Cave over ten times already. He knew there was nothing to worry about at the start, but acting too casual wasn't smart either.
"Relax. No monsters at first. Werewolves start swarming once you're deeper in, so take it easy till then."
"Got it."
Shing.
Sung-hoon sheathed his sword and eased up, scratching his head sheepishly. The others seemed experienced with Moonlit Cave too, all relaxed—except Ellie, who gripped her staff tightly with both hands, tension unbroken.
"Ellie, if you're scared, you can hold my arm... Ack!"
"Hmph! Everyone, into the Moonlit Cave. Oppa, what are you doing? Hurry up!"
"O-Okay. Just stop pinching my side, arghhh!"
Park Dong-cheol and Sung A-yeon seemed like a couple. And the guy was clearly whipped. Il-woo adjusted his mask and silently followed. Sung-hoon glanced at Ellie for a moment, then extended his hand to her.
"I-I'm fine."
"No, the slope's pretty steep. Better to go safe. Plus, as a mage, you're probably not sturdy."
"S-Still."
"Come on, grab it. We'll leave you behind."
"...Okay."
Ellie, seemingly unused to this, blushed faintly and began following Sung-hoon.
'A ranker—and a mage, no less. Rare gem. No harm in making a good impression.'
Of course, her stunning beauty played a part too.
Moonlit Cave was impressively vast. And unbelievably bright for a cave. Its walls contained special ores that glowed vividly in the dark.
They shone like stars, as if you'd stepped into a night sky. As Dong-cheol said, no werewolves yet. Ellie, who seemed new to the mission and had been tense, now looked relaxed.
"Hold up. Trap ahead."
Il-woo raised a hand, and everyone stopped. Thieves' essential skill, Trap Detection, had spotted it. Of course, with Sung-hoon's own Mid Trap Detection, he could see the trap glowing brighter than the rest.
Watching Il-woo's familiar movements disarm it, Sung-hoon compared their skills mentally.
Click!
Il-woo poured a special solution into the cleverly hidden mechanical device between rocks, solidifying it, then nodded.
"Trap disarmed. We can proceed."
'Trap Disarm is Mid-level. Can't have Disarm at Mid without Detection there too, so Detection's Mid as well. Impressive.'
Basic jobs had key skills to gauge prowess. Like Swordsmanship for swordsmen, Thieves prized Trap Detection and Disarm. With most normals stuck at Low-level, Il-woo's Mid-level was remarkable.
The others might not notice, but Sung-hoon could gauge Il-woo's skill from that alone.
'A strong one. Gotta watch him.'