Overkill
Wondering whether a dungeon raid was really supposed to be like this, Jeong-Hoon carefully shouldered his rifle and put a round through an orc's head.
A gunshot cracked. The orc crumpled.
And behind Jeong-Hoon—
"Excellent shooting, sir."
"Bullseye again."
"I'll go fetch the next one shortly."
Three vassals were clapping in crisp, perfect unison, praising Jeong-Hoon's marksmanship.
"……This is a dungeon raid, right?"
"One could say so. Is there a problem?"
"No. It just feels less like a dungeon raid and more like we've come out for a round of golf."
He had never actually played golf, but the scene reminded him of those moments so common in dramas and movies — people calling out "Nice shot, Chairman!" from behind the tee. This was the dungeon version of that. Jeong-Hoon gave a wry smile.
"If you wish to play golf, I shall arrange a schedule next time."
"No, I have no desire to play golf."
It was simply that the situation felt that way.
Dungeons formed more readily in sparsely populated places, which was exactly why golf had become a genuine upper-class hobby.
As such, he had always felt it did not suit him.
"Ah. They say golf is risky because you never know when a dungeon might open — so if rich people made a hobby of shooting monsters inside dungeons, it'd be safer and popular."
The wealthy could enjoy themselves, killing monsters carried no moral aversion, and every monster that died was a gain for humanity.
In other words, a hobby with nothing but upsides.
"Shall we develop it into a business, then?"
"……I'm joking."
He had only made a frivolous joke because the atmosphere was so utterly devoid of tension — yet when the Chief Butler answered in complete seriousness, Jeong-Hoon shook his head.
"If we ran that business and a Great Overflow erupted inside? The escort forces would have to risk their lives to get the rich people out safely — and if there are casualties of any kind, the business goes under."
It could easily become the hobby with the highest injury and fatality rates in existence.
And to turn such a hobby into a business and spread it, you would need to negotiate with the government; Lumen's reputation — already a force of considerable social influence — would take a hit as well.
On top of that, the tragedies caused by dungeons left unconquered for long periods had already been demonstrated by other countries.
The prime example was North Korea on The Frontline.
"You've grasped the pros and cons not merely from a humanitarian standpoint, but as a businessman. Excellent."
"I don't think it's particularly excellent. Just watching the morning news is enough to see how many absurd businesses get launched — and how many victims they produce."
Emphasizing that this had been a joke only people like them could afford to make, Jeong-Hoon glanced around.
"Come to think of it, why is the Head Maid taking so long? She said she'd lure monsters over."
It was past the time she should have returned, and when she didn't, worry crept in.
He might feel no tension at all, but that was only because the three vassals were excessively strong — not because this dungeon was easy.
As such, the delayed return of Jeong I-Yeong, the lowest-ranked of the three, was a genuine cause for concern from Jeong-Hoon's perspective.
There was always the chance something had gone wrong deeper in, and a monster too powerful for her to handle had appeared.
The place where Jeong-Hoon currently stood was still the entrance area of the dungeon.
There was no way of knowing what dangers lurked further inside.
"You need not worry."
"I know I'm in no position to be worrying about anyone, but still……"
"The 12 Vassals are not weak."
Certainly, an S-class could not be called weak — but it was the Chief Butler himself who had judged that safely clearing this dungeon would require mobilizing three of the Ten Great Guilds to which those S-classes belonged.
In other words, even for an S-class, this was a dungeon where crisis could strike.
Yet the Chief Butler showed not the slightest concern for Jeong I-Yeong.
"There were no orcs in the vicinity, so I was slightly delayed."
The sudden voice reporting from right behind him startled Jeong-Hoon even as it brought a rush of relief.
Just as the Chief Butler had said — she was unharmed.
"Is that so? Then shall we head a little deeper?"
Accepting a magazine from Yeo Tae-Hyeon and seating it into his rifle, Jeong-Hoon readied his stance again and focused on the orc charging in from the distance.
The middle of the dungeon. Jeong-Hoon, who knew little about such places, could not tell whether this was still the entrance, the middle, or the later stages — but since the Chief Butler and the other two said it was the middle, he took it as such.
Even so, doubt kept tugging at him, and he found himself tilting his head again and again.
"Is this really the middle?"
"If one senses the reaction emanating from the dungeon's core, then yes — this is the middle."
"……Then why are the monsters coming out weaker?"
Unable to sense the reaction of the dungeon's core that Awakened supposedly felt by instinct, Jeong-Hoon wore a blank look.
The orcs that had been so plentiful near the entrance were nowhere to be seen. Most of what appeared now were kobolds and goblins.
But there were quite a few of them, and with the three providing support he was accumulating real combat experience — tossing grenades, among other things.
"Ugh. The edge dulled again."
Having finished off a single kobold the three had deliberately let through toward him, Jeong-Hoon clicked his tongue at the blunted blade of his dagger.
A blood-soaked suit, a dulled dagger in hand — Jeong-Hoon cut a rather grotesque figure.
But no one paid it any mind.
Not a single drop of the blood on that suit was Jeong-Hoon's. Every bit of it belonged to the monsters he had taken down in close combat.
And the dulled dagger had already drunk the blood of more than a dozen monsters.
If anything, it was remarkable that a novice Non-Awakened like Jeong-Hoon could fight so cleanly.
"Thirteen. Your skill keeps improving."
Thus Yeo Tae-Hyeon handed him a fresh dagger and voiced pure admiration for Jeong-Hoon's ability.
With the first dagger, the edge had only given out after five kills.
"Well, comparing myself to all of you is weird, but this is already the fifth dagger. It just feels like a waste."
Yeo Tae-Hyeon wanted to say that using only five so far was the more surprising part — but since it was the Gaju speaking, he offered no rebuttal.
Besides, though the edge was dulled, compared to the first dagger it was merely so soaked in blood that it no longer cut cleanly.
A good cleaning and a single re-sharpening would fix it. It could not even be compared to the first one, which had been reduced to unusable scrap.
"Gaju, I run Shine Mall, so I know this well — even among hunters, cases of using a dagger this skillfully are rare."
There was a reason the supply corps followed along loaded with bullets and daggers.
Moreover, daggers were treated as disposable consumables, if not quite to the same degree as bullets.
An item that could be considered spent after taking down a single monster.
The fact that Jeong-Hoon had taken down thirteen with one was the strange part.
"Gaju, did you really only work at a dungeon logistics center like a regular guy?"
"No. I did other jobs besides the dungeon logistics center. It's just that eighty percent of it was the dungeon logistics center."
Since this was praise for his skill delivered in roundabout form, Jeong-Hoon gave a wry smile.
Jeong-Hoon's self-defense instructor was the Chief Butler — an SSS-class Awakened said to receive treatment on par with a head of state.
Someone who would have been more than enough relying on his ability alone, yet an SSS-class who had not been satisfied with that and had honed his technique relentlessly.
Learning under such a man, Jeong-Hoon's technique could not help but be refined.
"It's all thanks to the Chief Butler. Though he is a bit strict."
"……Gaju, the Chief Butler is the merciful type."
Seeing Yeo Tae-Hyeon's face go ashen as if some trauma had been touched, Jeong-Hoon said nothing and simply looked toward the monsters the Chief Butler was luring in the distance.
Past the middle of the dungeon and into the later stages — the area also called the core — Jeong-Hoon still looked around in that same leisurely atmosphere.
Then, spotting orcs in the distance, his face lit up with welcome.
"Ah, once we hit the later stages, the orcs are showing up again."
"So it seems."
"Isn't this dangerous?"
Unlike Jeong-Hoon, who felt no tension after having killed countless orcs already, the Chief Butler and Yeo Tae-Hyeon wore hard expressions.
And the figure of Jeong I-Yeong, who had been standing quietly behind them, simply vanished.
"Huh? What's going on?"
"The Head Maid has merely gone on reconnaissance. Let us wait a moment."
At the Chief Butler's reassuring words, Jeong-Hoon nodded and watched the Chief Butler and Yeo Tae-Hyeon clean up the surrounding orcs in an instant.
The combat of the Chief Butler — an SSS-class with physical enhancement powers — was simpler than expected.
He smashed the orcs with overwhelming physical ability.
It was not mere reliance on strength. He swung with genuine technique.
Yeo Tae-Hyeon, a subspace ability user, approached the orcs and bisected them with his power.
Watching him take down orcs by opening and closing his subspace with control that could be called the pinnacle of logistics-corps capability, Jeong-Hoon scratched his head.
"I heard that only works in theory, but it actually does?"
At middling ranks, attempting it would not sever with subspace but shove you out of it — yet seeing true severance happen drove home not only the control, but just how tremendous the output of an SS-class truly was.
"Ah. One got through."
Figuring the Chief Butler and Yeo Tae-Hyeon could not have missed it and must have let it through on purpose, Jeong-Hoon faced the charging orc and put a pistol round into its leg.
"Kuooh!"
A pistol hit did not punch through the leg.
Against a monster of orc caliber, it was more like a scratch.
But exploiting the opening that scratch created, Jeong-Hoon quickly unslung the rifle from his back, shouldered it, and fired.
Penetration still could not be expected — but aiming for vital points was enough to inflict a fatal wound.
Then, charging the orc that was gasping from its mortal injury, Jeong-Hoon drew his dagger and drove it straight into the creature's unprotected neck.
"Ueeek."
Killing an orc with a dagger for the first time, Jeong-Hoon grimaced at the enormous spray of blood.
"Suit's ruined."
He wanted to strip it off that instant from how sticky and foul it felt — but this was no ordinary suit. It incorporated incredible unpublished technology.
It was also precious armor that protected Jeong-Hoon's life.
"We shall dispose of it immediately upon return."
"……We're throwing away this expensive thing? Not washing it and reusing it?"
Even without considering the functions, a custom suit was expensive to begin with — and the fabric itself was extraordinary.
It was an item that should not even have disposal as an option, yet the Chief Butler treated it like a disposable. Jeong-Hoon shook his head.
"It is a transitional item still under development, so there is no need to feel so attached."
And at the words that washing might compromise the functions, Jeong-Hoon reluctantly nodded.
"Chief Butler, how much is this?"
"A little under a hundred million won."
Thanks to the straightforward answer, Jeong-Hoon felt his head spin.
He had come in to check something off his bucket list — and as a result, a hundred million was gone.
And that hundred million was purely the price of the suit alone.
Including the cost of the weapons used after entry and the labor of three vassals of S-class and above, it would climb several times higher.
"Dungeon raiding really isn't something you do for fun."
"This is getting off cheap. The labor cost alone for mobilizing three guilds was roughly 1.2 billion won."
Considering the enormous capital Lumen possessed, that amount of money was a firefly before the sun — but to Jeong-Hoon, who felt no sense of reality at all, he could only stick out his tongue.
"Gaju, Chief Butler — a problem has arisen."
In the midst of that, Jeong I-Yeong — the telekinetic Awakened — returned from reconnaissance with a grave expression.
That an S-class Awakened would wear such a look meant something thoroughly out of the ordinary had occurred, and Jeong-Hoon's expression hardened in an instant.