Chapter 163
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: The Method to Reverse the Dungeon
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"Hey!!! Did you jerk off in my bed????"
Kang Hana flung open the door to my room and started grilling me.
It was easy to misunderstand. After my romp with Im Hyeji, I'd tossed both my blanket and hers into the wash...
"I'm not some savage who blasts his load on the sheets while jerking off. Don't disrespect men's manners."
"Then why'd you wash my blanket too? Wait a sec. Don't tell me..."
"Yeah. Take it up with your friend."
"Ugh, this pisses me off. Why do it in someone else's bed!! You had your perfectly good one!!"
"We're gonna end up sharing a bed and bumping uglies soon enough anyway. No need to be so stingy about it."
I brushed off Kang Hana's sharp retort with a half-hearted reply, and she charged at me, tangling up and being a total nuisance.
"Bullshit. Total bullshit!! In your dreams!! No way in hell!!"
"Hyeji said she'd be fine with you. Guess she's a fake friend after all? Just got close 'cause she's an S-rank hunter, you materialistic bitch."
"Argh, stop trying to drive a wedge between us!! That's not it, you're the one using Hyeji to satisfy your filthy desires!!"
Kang Hana was great in every way, except for one annoying thing: she knew me too damn well.
Her instincts were sharp—too sharp.
"Eek!"
I flattened her as she clung to my back, throttling my neck like a koala, and she ended up sprawled on my soft bed, flailing away.
"Get off!! Get off!!"
"You gonna do it or not?"
"Ugh, if you're gonna do it, do it with Sua sis!! Why drag me into it?? I don't wanna!!"
"It'd be less awkward with friends our age anyway. I'll set something up with Sua later."
".....Why does it always end up like this?"
"Wasn't it 'cause Hyeji's a fake friend and it'd be uncomfortable'?"
"I said no!!!"
After pinning her down like that for about five minutes, I let her go and handed her the remaining mana nectar.
"...What's this?"
"Try it. It's good stuff."
Sniff sniff.
She sniffed it suspiciously, eyed me warily, then figured it wasn't anything weird and gulped it down.
She glanced at the pop-up messages, then looked at me.
"What is this?"
"Didn't your magic power go up or anything?"
"It says 'S-rank hunters have a very low chance of an increase...'?"
"Bummer."
"...Huh?"
"Hyeji hit the jackpot and jumped to SS-rank."
"What?"
Kang Hana stared at me in disbelief.
But she knew it too.
I didn't lie about stuff like this.
"What even is this that it boosts magic power?"
"Something like that exists. Super rare. It's infused with mana from an SS-rank magic stone."
"....Gimme more."
"None left. And it's rationed. You, Hyeji, Sua—we'll rotate it every time it comes up."
"But Hyeji already leveled up."
"You never know. Could go all the way to SSS."
Lately, Kang Hana had been craving a higher magic power rank.
Back when she only had her B-rank scouting skill, low magic power was fine since she didn't use much mana anyway.
But ever since awakening her SS-rank skill and SSS-rank ability, precise, thorough scouting drained her mana fast, leaving her struggling with shortages.
The panacea effect tripling her mana helped on good days, but on off days when it weakened, she couldn't even give a proper briefing.
The higher the scouting precision, the quicker the mana drain, she'd said.
That's why she envied Lee Sua with her S-rank magic power or Im Hyeji—even though Kang Hana's own stamina and magic power were both A-rank, and she had to roam for scouting.
People always wanted more stamina and magic power, after all.
"Oppa..."
"Only sweet-talking me now?"
With desperate eyes, she finally wriggled free from me, only to cling again.
No way could I transfer Im Hyeji's heaven-sent luck to her, even if I tried.
Breast milk laced with SS-rank magic stone power might not last forever, and even if I gave her all of it, if luck wasn't on her side, it wouldn't budge anyway.
Plus, magic power stats could rise through the panacea regardless.
But I didn't tell her that.
This was my moment—her begging like this.
"You, me, and Hyeji together?"
"...Argh, why does it always go there? How the hell would that even work!!"
"With numbers growing, we gotta be efficient. Two at a time. Better if you take it together, right?"
".....What are we, pigs? Hoard 'em up and feed 'em all at once?"
"Heh. Sows. That's kinda hot."
"Hey!!"
Anyway, I didn't push too hard here.
Im Hyeji probably hadn't meant it seriously either.
It was just some half-baked answer I'd wrung out of her mid-sex, when no real thinking happens.
I didn't expect fully sober Kang Hana to agree right away.
This was just planting the seed.
Way easier than scheming and executing a first-time hookup.
"Hurry up and get ready, oppa. We gotta head out soon."
"Already?"
Kang Hana had been busy lately.
Big jobs like A- or S-rank dungeons went only to true SS-rank guilds with safety guarantees. Lower C- or B-rank clears? She took requests from B- to S-rank guilds too.
Those guilds couldn't afford Im Hyeji's rates anyway, and resurrection was too valuable to waste there, so they mostly sought Kang Hana.
A real dungeon-clearing asset.
Same SSS-rank, but not double SSS, so her fees were lower than ours.
Not cheap by any means, but apparently worth it—requests poured in.
Im Hyeji and Lee Sua got some too, but not as many.
Today's was a B-rank dungeon from a B-rank guild.
They had solid S-rank specs across the board but weak scouting, so they wanted help conquering it.
We headed to the dungeon by car.
"...Is it right for the porter to ride shotgun while the SSS-rank hunter drives?"
"Jealous? Then you be guild master."
I lightly ignored Kang Hana's grumbling and entered the dungeon.
Hunter Association apps barely register guilds below SS-rank as "guilds."
Low rank doesn't mean low skill, but top guilds have way more high-rank hunters from the start.
Can we even survive going in with these guys?
That thought crossed my mind, but on-site, the vibe was different.
Not every hunter lives in top guilds.
Mid-tier ones hustle too, living their lives, giving their all to break through walls.
This B-rank guild had an S-rank hunter treated like SSS here, pouring full effort into his role. Passion radiated.
"Scouting can't have any margin for error. Half-assed scans can spawn surprise monsters, leading to way bigger losses."
Kang Hana, having been B-rank herself once, shared tips eagerly alongside the requested scouting.
Would it actually improve their scouts? Hard to say.
Newbies might absorb field tips and grow fast.
Veterans with years in? They had their own methods, basics down pat.
Most of Kang Hana's SSS-rank advice stemmed from her SS-rank skill and SSS-rank ability.
Like playing with map hacks—her scouting looked god-tier.
Of course, briefing with that intel drew on her experience too.
Even she, back in low ranks, shone only in pre-scouting. Reminder: in this world, ability is everything.
"Thank you, hunter."
"Cleared it easy thanks to you."
"Didn't know scouts mattered this much."
Everyone happy? Good enough.
The 1-night, 2-day dungeon run stuck with me for one thing: late-night tent sex outside, me hesitating if we should sneak out, totally spooked and pissing myself in excitement.
I tag along on these personal requests sometimes, just in case, but nothing special ever happens.
"Day pay's enough for chicken."
Pocketing 7 million won, happy ending for me too.
We left the guild to clean up and exited the dungeon.
Even after sloppy sex, deep sleep till late morning left me un-tired. Just roll around home a bit.
"Huh?"
"...Isn't that the Hunter Association team leader?"
A familiar burly guy spotted us and lumbered over.
Kim Gap-su.
Hunter Association's hunter management team leader.
"Kang Jik. Got a moment?"
"....Do I have a choice?"
Waiting out front and asking if I'm free? What could I say?
I swallowed "Nah... tired, tomorrow?" and made time.
"We're chasing hunters who snuck in from China. Need your help."
Sounded pretty important.