Chapter 82
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Father of Steel (1)
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The next day, I arrived at the meeting point sooner than expected.
‘Nice weather.’
The sky was clear, but the wind brushing against my cheeks was as cold as ice.
Beyond the vast stretch of sand, a wintry blast blew in from the open sea.
This place had once been an unremarkable beach.
Until three years ago, when a massive floating ship had abruptly appeared over the ocean.
[The Sage announces its soaring interest in the floating ship.]
I stroked the Sage beside me as I gazed at the iron hulk floating in the distance.
The floating ship, hovering at an altitude of 1,000 meters, looked exactly like an aircraft carrier.
The dark iron hulk obscured about half of the sun hanging over the great sea.
[The Sage estimates the floating ship’s length to be 400 meters and its height 85 meters.]
‘That’s about right, judging by its appearance.’
Of course, like other dungeons, it was just a sort of miniature, indicating the dungeon’s form.
Hunters didn't actually carry out their missions on that thing.
‘Though they do carry out missions in a field that looks exactly like it.’
A massive floating ship hovering over the open sea.
As I was admiring the sight, which seemed straight out of a sci-fi movie or anime…
“Hello, sir.”
A voice suddenly came from behind me.
When I turned, a hunter was standing there awkwardly, looking at me.
A face that had just shed its boyishness.
A suit and equipment that looked as good as new.
[The Sage informs you that the hunter before you is clearly a pathetic greenhorn! (*ﾟ∀ﾟ*)]
‘You shouldn’t say such mean things, Sage.’
[...( •́ ̯•｡̀ )]
Although I scolded the Sage, it was obvious he was a rookie hunter.
And that thought was confirmed by the yellow border around the guild emblem on one side of his suit.
‘A Yellow Button on top of that… A complete newbie.’
The Yellow Button.
Nicknamed the ‘yellow armband.’
It was a kind of insignia given to rookie hunters with absolutely no expedition experience.
It was a moment that truly brought home the fact that this was a tutorial dungeon.
“Are you a hunter here for the expedition, by any chance?”
“I am.”
At my answer, the hunter let out a sigh of relief.
“Ah, what a relief. This is actually my first expedition, so I have no idea what to do… Should I just wait here?”
“Yes, but… did you come alone? Or did your mentor step away for a moment?”
Usually, for a first expedition, a mentor from their guild would accompany them for safety.
“Ah, the guild I joined is a really small one… They said they couldn't afford to provide a guide for a tutorial dungeon.”
The hunter ran a hand through his short-cropped hair and smiled awkwardly.
Then, as if he had just remembered, he quickly extended his hand and spoke.
“Oh, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Yoon Jeonghwan from the Afro Guild.”
“Yes, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
As we shook hands, I felt a distinct tremor.
He was already incredibly nervous.
‘I can understand that.’
It was natural for an ordinary hunter to react this way.
Especially for a lower-ranked hunter, barely straddling the line between D-class and C-class, who received little attention.
So, I smiled and said.
“There’s no need to be so tense. The Steel Floating Ship is one of the easiest dungeons. Just think of it as playing a game, and you’ll be fine.”
“Thank you! But, um, my mentor said something odd before I came here…”
“Something odd?”
“Yes. He said there’s only been one accident in the Steel Floating Ship’s history. And when that accident happened, there were no survivors…”
“Could you tell me what kind of accident it was?”
Yoon Jeonghwan nodded and recounted the story he had heard from his mentor.
Hmm, that was the first I’d heard of it.
Neither Shin Seonghun nor Asha had mentioned anything of the sort.
But it was enough to pique my interest.
I filed the information away in my mind and spoke with a low smile.
“It will be fine. Nothing will happen, so just follow the mission faithfully.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you!”
Yoon Jeonghwan bowed deeply before sitting down on the sand behind him.
He still looked extremely nervous, but he seemed to have calmed down a bit.
“Hello, senior! Is this the meeting point?!”
“…Ah, hello. Should we wait here?”
“Can I sit here, senior!”
After that, three more hunters joined.
Every one of them had a Yellow Button, belonged to a small guild, and had come alone without the support of a mentor.
And then.
“Alright, it seems everyone is here. We will now begin the roll call. Yoon Jeonghwan of Afro Guild, Choi Cheolwon of Jeonryeok Guild, Kim Yuna of Baekui Guild…”
As the civil servant from the Management Bureau was checking the roster, he spoke in an overwhelmed voice.
“And lastly… Ah, it is a true honor to meet you. You’re Hunter Kim Hanul, the one who cleared the Garden of Profundity alone, aren’t you?”
“…?!”
The sparkling gazes of the baby chicks turned toward me.
* * *
Since it was a tutorial dungeon, we entered right after a simple roll call.
[Steel Floating Ship]
Grade: D
Personnel Limit: 10
Type: Specific Condition Clear Dungeon, Breakthrough
Of course, I was the first to step into the rift.
[So this is the Steel Floating Ship.]
The dot-matrix window didn’t disappear just because it was a tutorial.
As always, the Dream Lord’s Castle offered a new hint.
[To think a ship can float in the air! There must be some secret hidden deep within it. A secret that might be very useful in many ways.]
The dot-matrix window distorted and vanished, and the strange floating sensation of crossing dimensions faded.
I had passed through the rift and set foot inside the dungeon.
‘Looking at it like this, it’s no different from an aircraft carrier.’
The scenery before my eyes was indeed like the deck of an aircraft carrier, specifically the flight deck.
The rift had opened at the end of the deck, on the bow.
A slight turn of my head revealed the vast, open sea stretching out far below.
The strange altitude made me realize this wasn't reality, but a dungeon.
“Ugh!”
And suddenly, four hunters shot out of the rift and tumbled to the floor.
“Ugh… Aagh… So this is dimensional travel.”
“I feel sick…”
The chicks pushed themselves up, their faces pale.
I watched them quietly and asked.
“Are you alright?”
“Ah, yes! We’re fine, Hunter Kim Hanul!”
“We have no problem at all!”
The moment they heard my voice, the hunters snapped to attention and answered in unison.
They looked exactly like they were addressing a high-ranking guild official, so I smiled and waved my hand.
“There’s no need to be so stiff. I’m not your superior. I’m just a colleague who came on this expedition with you.”
The Sage beside me glared at me, displeased.
[The Sage informs you that it enjoyed their snappy attitude!]
‘What’s the point of enforcing discipline here?’
There was no reason to be so rigid.
Just a few months ago, I had been in the same boat as them.
‘No, to be precise, I was below them.’
I was an E-class civilian.
And what about them?
Though they were from small guilds, they were recognized as hunters.
Moreover, they were rookies who had taken the initiative to improve themselves despite their poor support.
In other words, they were people who knew how to work hard.
In that case, there was no need to be sharp and keep my distance.
“Ah, thank you, Hunter Kim Hanul.”
Only then did the rookie hunters’ faces relax a little.
On behalf of the chicks, Yoon Jeonghwan of the Afro Guild spoke.
“Although, um, this is our first time, we will do our best not to get in the way! We’ll really do our best!”
Nod, nod!
The other chicks nodded their heads enthusiastically.
But Yoon Jeonghwan wasn’t finished.
He suddenly looked at me with eyes full of admiration and continued.
“I was so surprised, by the way. To think you’re *the* Kim Hanul…”
Nod, nod!
“I heard the big three guilds are desperately focused on you. If it were me… I think I’d be walking on air every day!”
Nod, nod!
Whenever Yoon Jeonghwan spoke, the other chicks would nod vigorously, their eyes sparkling.
It seemed that among rookie hunters like them, my name had become known to a level that rivaled Yoon Sua’s fame.
Probably something like ‘the legendary rookie hunter who blew off the big three guilds.’
An unconventional dream, yet one that felt attainable if they worked hard enough.
‘I’ve come this far already.’
I gave a noncommittal smile.
There was no need to boast or offer some hypocritical line like, ‘You can do it too.’
Instead, I pointed to the bridge jutting out in the distance.
“If I can say just one thing, a dungeon is not a place for idle chatter.”
At my words, the chicks’ sparkling eyes turned toward the bridge.
Instantly, a tense strain filled their eyes.
There, what is commonly called the dungeon’s ‘voice’ was displayed on a large holographic window.
[Welcome to the Steel Floating Ship.]
Vwoom.
The rift that had been open behind us completely vanished, and a new window appeared.
[We will now provide you with the mission.]
[From this moment, 「Guards」 will patrol the exterior of the Steel Floating Ship. Defeat the Guards, collect their cores, and insert them into the ‘deposit slot’ in the center of the ship’s deck. The mission will be considered a success upon the deposit of twenty cores, and successful challengers will be transported outside the dungeon.]
It was identical to the mission for the Steel Floating Ship announced by the Association Headquarters and known to the public.
“You’ve all familiarized yourselves with the dungeon information, right?”
Again, Yoon Jeonghwan answered on behalf of the group.
“Yes. The Guards are downgraded Stone Golems, and the power cores are supposed to drop automatically when the golems are neutralized… I heard the clear reward is three free distribution stat points.”
He had memorized it perfectly.
That’s right. This was the publicly known strategy for the ‘Steel Floating Ship.’ The difficulty was such that it wasn’t very dangerous, whether you cooperated or played solo.
[The mission will now begin.]
Suddenly, the holographic window on the bridge changed.
Simultaneously.
Rumble.
With a loud clang of metal on metal, the central part of the deck…
The section connected to the hangar—what they call an elevator or lift—tilted downward.
Soon, 2-meter-tall golems began to rise from the dark hangar below.
[The Sage informs you that those golems are significantly weakened, average 1.5-star grade!]
Their appearance wasn’t much different from Im Juntae’s golem that I had fought before.
A humanoid form made of several large stones joined together.
But as the Sage said, their joints were flimsy, and their durability looked far worse.
Easy.
“…That’s a, a golem.”
But the chicks behind me were frozen stiff, swallowing hard.
Can we really do this? What if something goes wrong? The typical worries of a complete beginner.
Waking them up is actually simple.
It’s what the mentors who were supposed to accompany them should have done.
I drew the Remnant Sword from the High Priest's Pocket.
[Crow’s Wingbeat]
And while no one else dared to move…
I slotted in a purple sphere and shot forward.
“Huh? H-Hunter Kim Hanul?!”
Only Yoon Jeonghwan, who had good kinetic vision, cried out belatedly.
His voice faded with distance.
The salty scent of the sea breeze and the cold air brushed past my cheek once.
And a massive golem was already in front of me.
It was the first one to emerge from the hangar onto the deck.
I didn’t swing my sword.
Whoosh!
The golem, having spotted me, raised its giant fist high.
But before the boulder-sized fist could fall, my left fist swung sideways and dug into the small joint connecting its waist.
The massive stone fist missed me and slammed into the deck.
Thud!
Dust and stone powder flew, obscuring my vision.
And so, its heavy attack missed, but my fist did not.
Like throwing a dagger, I targeted the stone wedged between the golem’s upper and lower body.
I swung my arm toward that point.
Craaack!
An explosive sound, unimaginable for a bare fist striking stone, erupted.
Crack-crack!
The stone wedged between its waist and lower body fractured with a web of cracks, emitting light.
Rattle!
Its lower half having crumbled, the golem's body staggered and fell.
But before its massive body could hit the deck, the neutralized golem turned to dust, leaving behind a power core.
Thus, there was no sound of dismantled stone chunks clattering to the ground.
[Crow’s Wingbeat]
I picked up the egg-sized power core that resembled a magic stone and backed away.
Then I showed the power core to the still-dazed chicks and smiled.
“It’s easy. Just fight them moderately like I did and take the power core.”
“…”
But the hunters just stared at me with expressions that were hard to read.
[…]
Even the Sage was looking at me as if it had a lot to say but was holding back.
Did I do something wrong?
Isn’t showing them an overwhelming display of power the best way to ease a rookie's tension?