Chapter 177
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 177
Chapter Title: Catching Hidden Cockroaches (2)
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【Kim Gapsu (Hunter Association User Management Team Leader)】:
Mr. Kang Jik, are you busy?
【Kang Jik】:
Yes.
【Kim Gapsu】:
Yes?
【Kang Jik】:
Yes.
【Kim Gapsu】:
...I know that after the S-rank dungeon schedule, there are no personal schedules or requests for the next 10 days... Since you weren't picking up, I contacted you via DM.
【Kang Jik】:
Yes.
【Kim Gapsu】:
Currently, five Chinese hunters suspected of illegal entry have gone into a dungeon. We need Hunter Kang Hana's cooperation.
【Kang Jik】:
No.
My phone rang.
【Kang Jik】:
Just Hana?
【Kim Gapsu】:
As I said before, SSS-rank hunters are national assets. Risky missions will be minimized, and any info linking to media exposure or incidents will be strictly controlled. No need to worry about safety.
【Kang Jik】:
Hmm... So we get 5 B-rank magic stones for catching those 5, right?
【Kim Gapsu】:
As I mentioned before...
【Kang Jik】:
Might be good to leave it in writing.
【Kim Gapsu】:
Didn't you sign the contract...? ^^
【Kang Jik】:
Send me the time and place. Really just one, right?
【Kim Gapsu】:
If you're worried, you can come too, Mr. Kang Jik.
【Kang Jik】:
Then it's two, not one...
【Kim Gapsu】:
^^
"Puhuhuup."
Seeing Kim Gapsu's reaction to my killer joke made a smile creep across my face.
"Sigh. Guess I have to go in to work?"
Deep down, I wanted to just trade for those tasty B-rank magic stones and bail, but skipping out from the start like this would probably push the Hunter Association past their limit, so I figured I'd better show up.
Surprisingly, Kang Hana was gung-ho about it.
"Sounds fun. One B-rank magic stone per guy? So five means one’s mine?"
Turns out she wanted to upgrade her gear.
"My mana’s kinda lacking. Boosting my mana rank is way too pricey, so I’m thinking of grabbing an artifact that ups my mana pool. That way, I can use detection more comfortably. See things in more detail, too."
Truth be told, Kang Hana, Im Hyeji, Lee Sua, and Han Semi weren’t really feeling mana strain from skill use right now.
Han Semi came closest—without an SSS-rank ability, she lacked mana reduction options, and without my B-rank magic stone mana, it’d be tough going.
The other women had SSS-rank abilities with built-in mana efficiency, and could fall back on B-rank stone mana if needed. In most fights, they wouldn’t run dry.
Especially since B-rank stones hit me with double volume at 30% efficiency thanks to my ability... and ballooned another three times when passed via semen. If I wanted, I could forget mana worries entirely.
But we all knew that was just a band-aid.
Eventually, you have to fix the root issue—you can’t rely on B-rank stone mana forever.
Gear artifacts weren’t truly permanent, but unless lost or broken, they offered near-endless spec boosts.
Even scheming to self-sustain in dungeons with my own plots, who knew when that’d pan out—or if the drops would even be useful like that A-rank gear I snagged. So yeah, time to save up and buy some.
Her enthusiasm was a relief, at least.
We hopped in the car waiting out front and headed to Kim Gapsu’s location.
A quiet gate on the outskirts of Incheon.
Over 50 hunters had gathered at what looked like an A-rank dungeon gate.
And there was Kim Gapsu, geared up and waiting in full armor.
Heavy plate, massive shield, big sword.
"Whoa, Team Leader, you’re a hunter?"
"...What kinda question is that, oppa? The Hunter Management Team Leader has to be a hunter, obviously."
"Huh, really?"
"Probably pretty high up, too. I think A-rank?"
Kang Hana set me straight on my dumb question.
"Correct. A-rank tanker. Today, I’ll be going in to protect you hunters... Hunter Kang Hana."
"Whoa, A-rank. That’s huge."
"...Saying that in front of an SSS-rank doesn’t sound all that sincere."
"Doesn’t it?"
He actually looked the part, though.
Tall guy, over 180 cm, ripped with muscle.
Built like he could punch faces in, perfect for tanking with a shield.
Felt solid enough to trust him up front.
"But isn’t this overkill for catching five guys? You didn’t just grab randos... right?"
Well, thinking back to the hwaseong incident, better safe than sorry.
Li Heiyan was a necromancer-type using monsters, but she’d juiced a dungeon with magic stones and caused a backflow. No reason these guys couldn’t do the same.
"Worst case, we’re treating this like assaulting an S-rank dungeon. That’s how the party’s built."
The hunters plunged into the dungeon first.
Clear the perimeter, then SS-ranks and up follow.
Inside was dark and foreboding.
The kind of vibe where ghosts popping out wouldn’t surprise you.
Graveyard-themed dungeons like this usually spawned undead monsters.
"...No human-like signatures within 2 km for now."
"Can you pick a base location?"
"One sec..."
Standard procedure in a dungeon: scout surroundings, hunt monsters, clear threats, find a spot monsters won’t swarm as a base.
This Hunter Association party would do the same, naturally.
But with Kang Hana, no need to waste time.
"About 150 meters southwest. Good spot for base."
She’d checked it and the area around, so no need to clear some random nowhere—straight there.
Gate area as entry/exit needed clearing anyway.
These hunters were no slouches.
"Where’re these hunters from?"
"Courtesy of Sky Guild. The three SS-ranks came from elsewhere."
"Whoa, not just randos after all..."
Almost committed a huge faux pas there.
Pretty sure I already did by saying it out loud.
Definitely coordinated—mostly one guild, so their monster hunts synced perfectly.
They built the base, cleared around it, and hunkered down for the day.
The real goal wasn’t conquering an A-rank—it was nabbing those hidden hunters.
That’s why the base was close to the entrance, not venturing far.
Guards at the gate kept watch via comms for escapees.
"Full sweep tomorrow and out?"
Dungeon sizes varied wildly.
Some spanned tens of km; others so small Kang Hana’s full precise scan covered it all.
This one had a graveyard map with mountains mixed in, so likely huge. Plan was camp tonight, sweep tomorrow, snag the Chinese cockroaches.
"Sigh. This is straight-up cockroach hunting."
"...Can you not with the gross talk? It’ll pop in my head every scan."
"From now on, any humans on the map are cockroaches to you."
"Agh, you jerk."
By nightfall, Kang Hana didn’t look great.
She could tap B-rank stone mana when hers ran dry, but it wasn’t infinite—couldn’t run scans 24/7.
Still, with Chinese hunters possibly moving into radar range anytime, periodic sweeps were a must.
Mana kept bottoming out with no recovery time, and depletion hit hunters harder than you’d think—major condition drop.
No helping it, though.
"Go crash for a bit."
"Yeah..."
To bag those cockroaches—one B-rank stone each—we needed round-the-clock scans. Nights fell to my precise detection.
The starry sky over the eerie vibe was stunning.
Munching cup ramen by the campfire in front of the tent, I felt kinda romantic. Not bad.
Kicked back in a camping chair, cool breeze blowing, pad out for a movie—scanning precise at intervals.
500m, 1km, 2km.
Sweeping wide with stone mana, checking for pricey loot.
"...Huh?"
At 2km, two groups split northbound.
Far off, so fuzzy, but why straight-lining here?
Watching closer, at 1km I was sure.
"Oh ho? Check this out?"
No signs at 2km, but bedtime hits and they bee-line right to us?
Super sus—dodging monsters en route? No, herding 12 their way, including an A-rank.
I bolted to Kim Gapsu’s tent.
"Team Leader! Team Leader! Alert! Alert."
"...What’s up?"
"1km out—700m now. Humans: 2 and 3, split groups. The three have 12 monsters. One A-rank, rest misc..."
"...!"
"No assassin-types in the sky?"
He shot me a suspicious look as he geared up fast.
"Why assassins...?"
"They might be scoping us. How else do they know this spot? Not real-time, but still. Act natural—no panic. Wake just the backstab crew quietly."
My voice was buzzing with excitement.
"Tasty cockroaches incoming—no letting ‘em slip."
The mana stone map showed dazzling artifacts moving right with the humans.