First Dungeon Raid
Time flowed on once more. My brain performance had finally climbed up to the level of a budget CPU. Hunter activities became possible after my paperwork was approved. The long-awaited beginning of dungeon raids had arrived.
However, due to age restrictions, I couldn't enter every gate. Just as those under twenty-three couldn't enter B-Class or higher dungeons, minors were barred from any dungeon D-Class or above. That meant I had to spend a bit of time with Cheon Mari searching for low-grade gates.
“Oh, this looks good.”
“Hm? You found one?”
After burning through two full days, we finally settled on a single E-Class dungeon gate. To be precise, the raid application had been filed under Nartika Corporation's name. The official raiding party wasn't us—it was one of Nartika's regular strike teams. In other words, Mari and I were just tagging along as extras.
Mari had said that since I still didn't know much about gates, I should stay in the back and observe with my eyes first. Honestly, she was right. Though whether this particular situation was the best way to learn was debatable.
“But why the hell am I stuck as a porter?”
“That’s because I messed up and didn’t read the application details properly when I submitted it on the website.”
Always read the fine print. For her to admit her own screw-up so boldly in front of the victim—how could I not call her a true noble? As expected, the proud heir of Nartika was something else entirely. No wonder her grandfather kept calling to ask about his granddaughter’s mental state.
“Yeah, that sounds exactly like you.”
“People make clumsy mistakes sometimes, don’t they? You’re being too harsh.”
“Dude, clumsy mistakes are one thing. If you do it on a regular basis, that’s just your personality.”
We’d known each other for nine years now, but the more time passed, the more I started to understand why this girl was a regressor. Actually, it wasn’t just starting to make sense—I was now 140% certain. Born without the usual seriousness that came with regression, she simply lived her life as a walking disaster. Then she’d die from some fatal blunder and regress. She must have repeated that cycle countless times. Otherwise, there was no way someone with a regressor’s insane specs could possibly have a personality like this.
When I gave her an utterly pathetic look, Cheon Mari grinned and poked both her cheeks with her fingers. It looked like she was trying to act cute by weaponizing her own face.
“Uuuung, Sian oppa~ The adorably pure and innocent Mari~ doesn’t have that kind of personality at all~!”
“You crazy bitch.”
I immediately turned and smacked her back hard. Mari shrieked like her bones were breaking, and the noise continued all the way until the driver—her attendant—pulled up at the request point.
The location, by the way, was Jangyeon County, about fifty kilometers from Sariwon Gwangyeoksi. Since Sariwon itself sat right in the middle of Hwanghae Province, Jangyeon County was also part of it. It would take quite a while to get there, but this wasn’t like the previous world where North and South had been divided for so long. The entire Korean Peninsula had been developed, so transportation was smooth. We arrived at the dungeon gate in just a little over an hour.
The F-Class and E-Class hunters from Nartika were already there, fully prepared.
“““Good day to you, Miss Mari!”””
“Yeah, sure.”
“““And good day to you too, sir!”””
“Hello—”
Still, for a low-rank hunter raid, their discipline felt excessively strict. None of the hunters I’d seen on TV or the internet were anywhere near this rigid.
“Mari, they must’ve prepped like crazy just to look good in front of you.”
“Seems that way. Tsk.”
Mari muttered that it would be nice if they were always like this, then pulled two masks out of her bag. They weren’t the full-face kind that looked like they’d scream “gasp gasp gasp” and felt uncomfortable. These were half-face masks that only covered the mouth and nose. They had tech built into the design, greatly enhanced functionality, and improved comfort—proper hunter-grade equipment.
“You know the drill, right?”
“That breathing in contaminated air can give you lung disease? Yeah, I know.”
I took two metal wrist guards from my bag and handed them to her. They didn’t look like ordinary watches, but these were the Hunter Watches loaned out by Nartika Corporation. If the one I’d used in the ruins had been an extremely outdated version, these were at least improved models even if they weren’t the absolute latest. They now included functions similar to a status window, analysis features, and user assistance tools.
‘It’s not like they slapped on some graphics card that can’t even tell a card from a club…’
During the improvement process, the original watch-like appearance had become somewhat blurred. The price—which had already been expensive—had skyrocketed to the point that renting was the only realistic option. Still, the equipment was well worth the cost. For hunters who valued their lives, it was practically mandatory.
For that purpose, one side of the Hunter Watch had a slot that looked like it could fit a button battery.
“Where’s the mana battery for the shield?”
“Hold on, here.”
I inserted the mana battery into the slot, fastened the watch on my left wrist, and activated it.
Vitality: 10/10
Shield: 5/5
Every slot glowed blue. It was working perfectly.
After that, I pulled my weapon from my bag while Mari wrapped both her hands in bandages.
“““…….”””
The low-ranking Nartika hunters watched the scene with bitter expressions. Between rental fees and maintenance costs, these were things they could only dream about.
Comfortable masks versus uncomfortable ones.
Expensive Hunter Watches versus regular wristwatches.
Weapons custom-made with a 3D printer versus weapons bought with government subsidies.
In every way, it was a ridiculous sight. Minor porters decked out in top gear while the actual hunters could only suck on their thumbs.
“I’m ready! What about you, Kangshi?”
“Me too.”
“Then let’s all head into the gate!”
“““Yes ma’am!”””
But there was nothing to be done about it. The dungeon raid proceeded as planned, and we stepped through the gate.
The moment we crossed the shimmering gate, a cave-like space appeared. It was the most common type of dungeon—a maze-like structure.
“Vanguard, take point and defend! Mid and rear guard, provide support from behind!”
The woman who seemed to be the raid leader shouted. The rest of the hunters moved according to her orders. They weren’t perfectly coordinated, but they still managed to form a formation.
Once it looked decent enough, the leader—her old plate armor glinting—ordered them to advance.
“Grrrr—”
Not long after, several of the ‘Red-Eyed Wolves’ I often saw in games emerged from the darkness. Mari, who had somehow produced a bag of popcorn from nowhere, walked over to me while munching.
“Watch carefully. This is what a megacorp’s power looks like.”
“Ooh.”
The leader raised her mace high and ordered the hunters at the front to use their shields. Wooden and metal shields were thrust forward.
“Ooh……”
Then she commanded the archers and mages in the back to launch ranged attacks. The archers poked their bows and crossbows between the shields. The mages glanced forward, waved their magic staves, and chanted spells that sounded more like self-suggestion than actual incantations.
Meanwhile, the wolves kept moving. By the time they reached a distance where their attacks could land, the leader swung her mace down and gave the order to attack.
Indifferently and chaotically, arrows and magic icicles shot forward. Every time they pierced fur and struck skin, blue particles scattered.
The reason conventional weapons didn’t work properly on monsters.
The reason monsters didn’t die easily from a single hit.
I’d heard it so many times that it came out reflexively now.
It was all because of the shields that monsters basically came equipped with. F-Class monsters often lacked them, but starting from E-Class, most had protective shields. The only quick way to deal with them was to use attacks infused with mana.
Thankfully, the Nartika hunters seemed to know how to do that. At some point, the attacks landing on the wolves finally became lethal. The barrage of arrows and icicles turned the beasts into porcupines. The wolves let out pathetic yelps and began collapsing one by one.
“Phew……”
The moment every wolf had fallen, the leader let out a sigh of relief and ordered everyone to rest.
“Huh? Rest? We’re not moving on?”
“F-Class and E-Class hunters need to rest after every fight. Otherwise they’ll get torn apart by the next monsters.”
I see. So the hunters I often saw on Wietube, the ones who slaughtered monsters for fun, must be on a completely different level.
And so the cycle continued—rest, fight, rest, fight, rest, fight.
Just like Mari, I chewed popcorn in boredom and walked slowly. At one point I even thought the popcorn had more nutritional value than this spectacle.
“Eh?”
“Grrrr! Grrrrrr!”
Wolves much larger than before appeared. These were the ones that showed up in Gray Zone as ‘Matured Red-Eyed Wolves.’ Since they were basically big doggos, they were only slightly stronger than regular ones, so there didn’t seem to be much to worry about.
The leader’s hands trembled as she gave the same orders as before. The wolves slowly approached, only to get hit. But this time it wasn’t exactly the same.
“Huh? Wha—?!”
Even after being struck by countless arrows and magic icicles, the wolves’ shields remained completely intact. They hurriedly launched another volley, but the only thing that changed was the distance between them and the wolves.
“Everyone prepare for close combat!”
The vanguard hunters grit their teeth and received the wolves’ attacks. Heavy thuds rang out alongside faint battle cries. A fierce melee broke out at the front while the mid and rear guards continued their endless support fire. It was hard to believe this was all because of just a few wolves.
Then several more matured red-eyed wolves appeared, and the situation began to change. The vanguard, unable to withstand the constant assault, started to collapse.
“Aaaagh! Somebody kill this bastard!”
“Gaaah! My arm! My bow!”
“M-my mana’s all gone! P-potion…!”
“My leg!!! My leg got bitten off!!!!!”
“H-huh? I still have mana, so why isn’t my magic working?”
“Everyone stay calm and—ugh! Aaaagh!”
This… was a megacorp’s… hunters?
With the owner’s granddaughter watching, they couldn’t even run away. They were rooted in place, falling like leaves in autumn.
When I glanced sideways, a massive earthquake was happening in Cheon Mari’s eyes.
“Is this really okay?”
“Ahem. Kangshi, it seems the dungeon difficulty—”
“““GYAAAAAAAAAH!”””
The screams rang out cheerfully. The vanguard had collapsed so thoroughly they’d been reduced to the big doggos’ toys. The mid and rear guards couldn’t even attack anymore—they were completely useless.
“Oh for fuck’s sake. What the hell is wrong with this company?”
I’d already heard that Nartika’s hunters were trash, but… I never imagined it would be this horrific. No wonder Mari kept habitually offering me a job. No wonder she kept casually saying she wanted to steal her drug-addict parents’ company.
“I specifically told the HR department to filter and select only elite new recruits because this was extremely important!”
“Looks like the person in charge heard ‘elite new recruits’ as ‘future retards’……”
That felt about right. It was also the most realistic explanation.
“Teeeeeeng—!!!”
“Kieeeeeeeeeeeek!!!”
“Mooooooom—!!!”
Anyway, we couldn’t just let them get wiped out like this. We had to drive back the wolves and make everyone retreat. The one person who actually had the power to do that—Mari—was simply staring with cloudy eyes.
“Aren’t you going to order a retreat?”
“Ah, let them get chewed on for three more minutes. We have plenty of elixirs anyway, and even if they go into cardiac arrest, we have ways to bring them back.”
“I don’t think we’ll gain anything from that.”
“No, no. Extreme pain can sometimes trigger re-awakening. This is their chance to be reborn as new people and contribute freshly to the company!”
“Excuse me?”
“Plus, there’s that saying—No pains, no gays! You don’t get anything without suffering!”
“Have you lost your damn mind with this employee gacha?”
This girl had completely detached from reality. I smacked the top of Mari’s head once, then immediately drew my sword.