Army Blues and the Donut-Loving Bat
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Rookie: Baek Jaesung 5
The army.
That suddenly dropped topic was more than enough to scramble my brain. Up until I'd become a hunter, the military had felt about a hundred million light-years away from me. Korea's a volunteer country, after all.
But come to think of it—with a whole class of people getting forcibly dragged off against their will to serve mandatory time—is Korea really a volunteer nation? Selective conscription sounds more accurate. And the number of folks affected by this draft? Around a million, or about 1% of the population.
A million.
That's the number of hunters in Korea. Give or take a hundred thousand or so, but the media usually rounds it to a million.
Out of those, dungeon hunters number around 12,000. Just Koreans, mind you—add in foreigners and it tops 20,000. Damn, foreigners make up a hefty chunk.
Out of 100 million people, roughly 10,000.
That's where the line "dungeon hunters are the chosen 0.01%" comes from. Fun fact: about 1,200 dungeon hunters enlist each year. Meaning there are a thousand more guys like me agonizing over this in Korea.
"When you're feeling this glum, nothing beats donuts, right?"
Perfect timing—a jelly donut shop caught my eye. I ducked in and ordered a Tropical Variety box. 9,900 won for twelve tropical fruit-flavored jelly donuts. On a day like today, something fresh and sweet like banana donut hits the spot.
"Huh?"
The donut prices had gone up. Not a huge deal for a hunter like me, but it kinda pissed me off. Like seeing that innocent childhood friend you used to know show up as a bleach-blonde tanned beach gal.
Wait a sec... holy shit, that sounds hot as fuck.
Beach-gal donuts. I'm gonna devour every last one of you bitches.
I bought the donuts and headed to a nearby park. Some kindergarten kids were playing in the dirt. I plopped down on a pavilion bench and cracked open the box. The colorful donuts looked mouthwatering.
"Heh heh. Which one first? Yellow? White? Or pink?"
I grabbed the banana one I'd been craving. Its light, refreshing sweetness without any heaviness was perfection. One bite, and thick banana jelly filled my mouth.
I'd traveled countless worlds and sampled every delicacy under the sun, but nothing moved me quite like this jelly donut—the one I'd shared with novelist Baek Jaesung through joys and sorrows.
Crunch!
As I went for another bite, a vigorous wing-flap sounded from the side.
"Huh?"
I turned toward the noise, and there it was: a bizarre creature with black bat wings staring at me with huge eyes. Like a black baseball with wings attached. And it was a cyclops—one giant eyeball.
Not in my mental database of animals. A monster? Here? Should I report it?
Flap flap!
The thing zigzagged straight at me. I braced for attack, but no—it seemed like it was trying to tell me something.
Then I noticed its massive eye locked on the donut in my hand. Hungry?
I held out the donut tentatively, and it started blinking its eye cutely. Then it whipped out a tiny paw, snatched the banana donut, and chomped it down greedily with its little mouth. Huh, it has a mouth.
It demolished half the donut in seconds. Still not full, it blinked pleadingly at me. Begging for more.
Is this... really a monster?
'What if it's some bird I don't know about?'
No way, I thought, but its adorable antics made it hard to see it as a monster. The freakish bat-thing even dive-bombed my cheek and rubbed against it with its big body.
"Hey! Hey! You're gonna spread germs!"
I shoved off the overly clingy pest. It responded with sad eyes and more zigzag flying. Begging again.
"Jeez, what a weirdo."
Curious, I handed over the whole box. It grabbed a coconut donut with its big paw and tore into it. Eating more than its body weight, easy.
After scarfing one and a half, it finally seemed satisfied. It looped happily in front of me, flapping away, then shot into the sky.
"What the hell was that?"
Who knows. Thought about reporting it to the Association, but too much hassle. Not sure it's even a monster, and it didn't seem dangerous anyway.
A law-abiding citizen would report even minor stuff like this, but I'm just a poor slave owned by the state. Why be loyal to a country that treats me like shit?
Back home, I told the girls about what Master Kim Minyoung had said today. They perked up at the Level House mention, but the army talk chilled the mood. Figured as much.
Sujin looked plainly troubled, Yeonji scratched her short bob roughly and spat a curt "Fuck," Rina coiled her tiny body with a long sigh, and Jisu just giggled.
Jueun looked the most miserable.
"Waaah...! I'm not even combat-class—can I really get in?"
Jueun has the Multitasking ability, so she handles analysis for our party. She's a certified hunter, so she has to enlist too.
"They take desk jobs too."
"But all the top-tier people will apply! What if I'm the only one who fails? Oppa~!"
Jueun shook her purple hair and clung to me. If she flunks the exam, she'd spend a year apart from us.
"Then we prep properly starting now so that doesn't happen."
The others griped but weren't worried about the exam. With their skills, they'd ace it easy.
Sujin with Water Control, Yeonji with Material Conversion, Rina with Chain Disaster, Jisu with Sword Mastery.
All top-tier talents crushing same-rank rivals. Thanks to my Power of Sex.
"Anyway, screw that shitty army talk for now—focus on Level House. If the Association's struggling, it's no ordinary dungeon."
I unrolled the dungeon map Master had given me. Trying to shift the bad vibe, but everyone's faces soured again at the sight. A hopelessly tangled mess no one could parse at a glance.
Level House was nastier than a standard labyrinth. Not just complex layout—the passages shifted constantly, forcing remapping every raid. No wonder the Association hadn't found the core yet.
"It's not just the paths. Monster difficulty varies wildly by room."
Can't relax for a second. Raiders have to assume worst-case every step.
"Twisty paths and random difficulty spikes? We good soloing this?"
Yeonji grumbled.
"Don't sweat it. Our party's gonna smash it."
Key to conquering Level House: scout fast, find the core quick. Paths change constantly—lingering for intel is pointless.
"First up: map the paths. Blitz through, pinpoint the core."
I trust our party. No issues at our level. Plus, I've got backup.
'I've got Inventory.'
Inventory's my best utility ability. Endless versatility. No supply worries anywhere. Lost? Extended raid? We can survive indefinitely inside.
"Association sent tons of data—use it to plan first. Everyone, down to the lab."
Raids start with research. Thorough analysis makes perfect conquests.
"Ah! I'll brew coffee!"
Analyst Jueun handles meeting prep. We headed to the lab together.
Ring ring ring!
The office phone rang. Kim Minyoung, tapping away at her computer, checked the caller. Dungeon Research Division.
"Got it."
-Director Kim. Kim Hoseok here.
Her entry同期, Director Kim Hoseok. A regular human who'd snagged the Dungeon Research directorship in his early forties—an elite among elites. Research side had more normals, sure, but the Association still discriminated between hunters and civilians.
"Director Kim. What's up?"
Funny—they shared rank and surname, so they called each other Director Kim.
-You're handling Level House dungeon management, right?
"Yeah. Ops is swamped with the Panama Canal sea dungeon, so I'm covering domestic ones. Level House included."
-Our research team's spotting anomalies there. Sending a report soon, but wanted to flag it verbally first.
"Anomalies?"
-Yes. Slight mana density spike around the dungeon. And it lines up exactly with the missing dungeon hunter's timestamp.
"Is that a problem?"
-The change was to one decimal place. Rare. Might link to the disappearance. Plus...
Hoseok paused, then continued.
-Papers link dungeon mana shifts to mutations. Could be trouble—keep an eye on management.