Reunion in the Desert
Layer 28. Desert Zone. Quite some time had passed since I'd arrived here.
About a month, if I counted the days?
I felt like I'd encountered pretty much every monster that appeared on this layer.
There wasn't even a layer boss or anything like that. Maybe it was time to head down to the next floor.
The deliberation was short, and the decision quick.
I headed straight for layer 29.
Having thoroughly mapped out the geography of layer 28 by now, finding the gate to the next floor was no trouble at all.
The only issue was the group of hunters gathered at the gate I'd chosen.
There were eight of them.
Three of them were C-rank.
I could probably handle two somehow, but three was too much.
Even if I took one out with a first strike, dealing with the remaining pair afterward would be tough.
And that was just the three C-ranks. Taking on the other five as well would mean risking my life.
Sure, to grow stronger, I had to overcome trials now and then—but that didn't mean I wanted to throw my life away needlessly.
This gate was a bust, huh?
Even if it meant going a bit farther, I should move to another one—
Just as I turned to go, a voice rang out suddenly.
"Haha! So anyway—!"
It was the voice of a fairly large man. Nothing particularly distinctive about it—an utterly average tone.
The kind of light voice you'd forget after hearing it once. Yet it stabbed sharply into my ear.
"That moron was rolling around on the ground like an idiot, right?"
"Oh my, oh my. And then? What happened?"
"What do you mean, what? There were people watching, so I hauled him up right away. And get this—he looks up at me all grateful-like…."
I whipped my gaze toward the sound, as if drawn by a spell. In the middle of a circle of seated hunters sat one man, chattering away nonstop.
An impression as ordinary as his voice.
The kind of common face you'd pass on the street without a second glance.
A man whose faint smile actually made him look rather affable.
I knew him.
Lee Min-seong.
He was one of the hunters I'd met back when I was a porter.
In fact, he was the very first hunter I'd run into after becoming a porter—and my first party leader, to boot.
"Kukuku. The guy didn't even know who pushed him! Ahh, what an idiot. Total porter behavior, just like you'd expect from an unawakened loser. He gets all flustered at the tiniest bit of kindness—pathetic!"
"Kyarr—Our party leader really hates porters, doesn't he? How can you be so desperate to torment them? It's hilarious for us listeners, though."
"Ahh, it's not that I hate porters. Quite the opposite—I'm grateful for them. They handle the filthy dismantling work. Carry our gear. Serve us hand and foot. How could I not like that?"
"Hehe. Then what is it? Why are you always so eager to mess with them?"
"Haha. It's all out of affection. Affection. Isn't it just pitiful, seeing those unawakened dimwits struggling to make a buck? I'm just looking out for them—don't want them getting cocky and dying pointlessly."
"Hehe. Yeah right. You just love tormenting them."
"Ahh! Busted!"
Wahaha—they laughed and bantered on.
I watched them quietly.
Lee Min-seong, leading the charge from the center of the group.
He looked exactly the same as in my memories. Utterly unchanged.
Still that average face. Still utterly repulsive.
Truth be told, my first impression of Lee Min-seong hadn't been bad at all.
On the contrary—he was the one who'd taken in a clueless newbie like me, fresh into the labyrinth as a porter. Back then, he might as well have been my benefactor.
Though those feelings hadn't lasted even a week.
Lee Min-seong was the epitome of the hunters who despised porters.
More precisely, he loathed unawakened civilians with a passion.
He couldn't stand the sight of unawakened folks acting above their station, or so he'd said.
He saw the awakened as an evolved superhuman race—and the unawakened as obsolete trash. He carried that disgusting sense of elitism.
He nitpicked over the pettiest nonsense daily, and he didn't hesitate with verbal abuse that crossed the line.
The one silver lining? He never resorted to physical violence.
Not out of any decency, mind you. Just because he didn't want to dirty his own hands on trash.
"Aigoo—tsk. So damn slow, every one of you! Do it right, do it right! I took pity on you unawakened losers and brought you along—can't even do the job properly? Pull it together, Yu Jun-young!"
"Ha! You brain-dead idiot! Can't even handle that one thing? Do the work like this and still expect full pay?! This is why unawakened trash like you—!"
"What? A hunter? Tsk—anyone can be a hunter now? You think a loser like you could ever make it? Jun-young-ah, just stick to portering. That's all trash like you are good for. Don't get any funny ideas…."
"Tsk tsk. Do better, Jun-young-ah. You little shit—if it weren't for me, you'd be done for. Any other party would've fed you to the monsters by now! Lucky I took pity on you."
"You're so repulsive I can't even look! Hey, Yu Jun-young! I picked you 'cause you seemed the smartest of the unawakened trash—and now you're only good as bait?!"
"Hey, Yu Jun-young! You think you can just leave the party?! Who said you could? I've been too soft on you, and now—!"
"…Fine. Go, get out. Who else would pick up trash like you? Tsk—no gratitude, just stabbing me in the back. This is why you don't deal with unawakened losers."
Memories flooded back in fragments.
Lee Min-seong had been trash right up to the bitter end.
In that short time—less than a month—he'd shown me just how porters were treated like dirt by hunters.
Whatever else, thanks to him, I'd endured all the humiliations that came later as a porter.
Compared to what Lee Min-seong had dished out, the other hunters' antics felt like harmless pranks.
I hadn't even thought of him until now.
Shii——
The memories were so filthy that I'd unconsciously buried them.
Even recalling him felt like a waste of brain cells.
Seeing him again soured my mood terribly—but at the same time, it sparked a strange delight.
Unlike back then, I had power now.
I wasn't the helpless porter Yu Jun-young anymore.
I did think, when I left, that I'd pay him back someday.
This was unintended, but perfect timing.
I wasn't planning anything grandiose like revenge.
As I said before, he wasn't worth even a shred of my interest.
Whether affection or grudge, wasting emotions on him was too much.
So this isn't revenge.
Just business as usual.
I'm hungry, so I'll hunt some prey like always.
That the prey happens to be an old grudge from my past? Pure coincidence.
I'll chew you up nice and slow, Lee Min-seong.
Shii——
One snake slithered silently into motion.
My Stealth, now evolved to Concealment, was A-rank.
An excessively high-level skill for my own rank. Unless they had detection skills, I could confidently say no opponent on my level would spot me.
Srururu—even right up close, Lee Min-seong and his crew hadn't noticed me at all.
They were still chattering away, haha-ho-ho.
I watched Lee Min-seong, buzzing with excitement in the group's center, for a moment.
That utterly repulsive grin of his—still the same.
Seeing it up close reignited my killing intent.
That's the last time you'll smile like that.
After observing him briefly, I quietly waited for an opening.
"Haha—this time when we head out, we'll need to recruit another one. Hope this one's actually useful."
"Hehe—Is there ever a porter the leader likes? Why not pay a bit more and hire an awakened F- or G-rank hunter?"
"Nah, can't do that. Even low-rank, a hunter's a hunter. With that money, I could hire a bunch of useless trash. Better to grab some bait for emergencies."
"Kukuku… Leader, you look like a real bastard when you talk like this, you know?"
"Ahh, bastard? That's harsh. I just can't stand repulsive things! Know your place and don't get cocky! If you couldn't awaken, stay home like a good little failure! What do you think you're getting out of dungeon crawling?"
"Whoa, you're such trash! Hehe!"
"Kuku… The trash is them, not knowing their place. Anyway, when we get out, gotta snag a decent one. It's getting rough running short-handed… Even if they're filthy, a big-hearted guy like me can endure."
That was when Lee Min-seong smirked and shrugged.
Seizing the moment, I launched myself forward.
My target wasn't Lee Min-seong.
A C-rank hunter sitting quietly at the edge of the group.
I charged without hesitation, aiming to end it in one blow.
Body Reinforcement B
Ambush B
Charge B
The hunter flinched at the sudden ambush, eyes locking onto mine.
I met his bewildered gaze coolly, then tore into his throat in an instant.
Kwajik—the thick scent of blood flooded my mouth.
"Gaaak—!"
"Ungh!"
"Tch! Ambush!"
The moment the C-rank went down, the others scrambled into combat formation.
They backed away swiftly, creating distance—Lee Min-seong at the center.
Back then he was definitely D-rank… He's climbed to C-rank now.
Unlike his rotten personality, the man had always had skill.
Which only made him look down on porters even more.
"A snake? What monster is that? Never seen one in the Desert Zone."
"It took out Park Woong in one hit. At least C-rank."
"The aura feels almost B-rank? Could it be a layer boss? It's been a while since the last one on 28."
"At least three months, yeah. About time for another."
"…Can we handle it with just us? Shouldn't we run?"
"No. This is our chance. Even if it looks like a layer boss, it's still C-rank. As long as it's not B, we can take it easy."
Lee Min-seong spoke calmly, flashing a smirk.
The same smirk from my memories.
He probably thought it oozed confident bravado. To anyone watching, it just looked sleazy and off-putting.
Kwaduk—ptui!
I finally spat out the hunter's corpse I'd been holding.
The neck-snapped body tumbled limply across the sand.
Lee Min-seong's gaze flicked coldly to his fallen comrade.
Anger crept across his face.
Yeah. Whatever else, he was always kind to his fellow hunters.
If only he'd extended that 'kindness' to porters.
I silently glared at him, mulling over the now-pointless past.
He whispered a few words to his hunters.
Planning to strike first?
Too bad—I had no intention of waiting.
"Shaaaah—!!!"
With a roar, I lunged first at the hunters readying their attack.