Chapter 7
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: The Illegal Dungeon Porter
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When Pattern harmony reaches perfection, not only partial activation becomes possible, but you can use a certain level of ability even without activating it at all. In other words, it was akin to the ability being absorbed into the body.
The problem was that it took just over three months for me. Thinking about the events to come, it was an absurdly long time.
A way to shorten Pattern harmony time? There was no official method. All I could do was fight somehow with my fragmented power.
‘Of course, that’s only officially speaking.’
In a certain outskirts of the city center. Late at night, the moon shone brightly in the sky. Looking around, there were tons of trucks parked haphazardly, seemingly unmanaged.
‘Nothing’s changed.’
Passing between the trucks and approaching the rundown building, I pulled up the mask hanging on my chin and put on the glasses from my pocket.
The blurry figure sharpened into clarity, and as I drew closer, the figure’s face came into view.
“Part-timer?”
“Yes. Han Ji-won.”
“Why the mask?”
“Oh…… I’ve got a bit of a cold.”
“A bit of a cold……? Hey! I told you not to take guys like this!”
“What’re you nitpicking for! We just need bodies to fill the spots!”
The rough-looking guys who seemed to be coworkers snarled at each other. Then they whipped their heads around and asked me.
“What rank?”
“C-Rank……”
“You know we won’t take responsibility if you die?”
“Yes. I need money quick.”
The man squinted annoyedly, gave a cursory check, then returned to his spot.
‘Idiots.’
They wouldn’t catch it even if they checked the hunter license properly, thanks to their sloppy management.
Ignoring the guy who turned away, I glanced around. Two people who didn’t seem connected to these guys were in the far corner, trembling anxiously or quietly shaking their legs.
Step. I approached one of the people huddled in their respective corners, the one shaking particularly hard.
“Hello.”
“Yes?”
I greeted with a bright smile, and the visibly flustered person rolled their eyes before finally opening their mouth.
“……Hello.”
Standing beside him with a continued smile, he flinched and trembled, repeatedly glancing at me and down at the floor. After a few minutes like that.
“Hey there! We’re heading in soon, gather up!”
Four burly guys. Probably all B-Rank.
The guy next to me, trembling, barely lifted his feet and stepped forward, and the quiet one hesitated a moment before heading toward the burly men as well. And I took my last steps.
“No dawdling, let’s move quick!”
At those words, the person walking ahead flinched in surprise, then quickly sped up. I caught up with long strides and said.
“I’m really anxious, so how about we introduce ourselves?”
“……Pardon? What are you—”
“I’m Han Ji-won. Twenty-five years old.”
“……Park Woo-yun. Twenty-three……”
“Please take care of me today.”
Park Woo-yun. Currently B-Rank, but in the future, he’d become A-Rank and dominate the top of the A-Ranks. And one of the reasons I came here.
Park Woo-yun, who currently had to pay for his family’s hospital bills, had no steady job and kept getting fired from part-time gigs for mistakes, so in desperation, he volunteered as a porter.
Porter. Literally, carrying the loot from the dungeon. A simple job of just collecting the items that come out of the dungeon.
It was a job often seen in groups of low-rank hunters. Mid-to-high rank hunters usually had inventory items, so they could store all the dungeon loot in their inventories, making porters unnecessary—but that was only for mid-to-high ranks with money to spare.
Hunters without inventory would hire porters like this. But the real reason these guys hired porters was……
I smiled brightly at Park Woo-yun again, and he shot me a sour look, glanced at me briefly, then turned and walked forward. I said nothing more and advanced, stopping squarely in front of the burly group.
“Damn slow. Let’s move quick, quick.”
“S-Sorry—”
“Yes.”
When I just smiled and answered that, the man made a dumbfounded face, then scowled and headed toward the Gate.
Next, the burliest one stood at the front of the Gate, glanced over us briefly, and spoke.
“This Gate is B-Rank. We’ll protect you part-timers as much as we can, but if something unexpected happens, you guard your own life. Any questions……? Just get in quick.”
The man turned annoyedly and entered the Gate. Park Woo-yun, who’d been trembling and refusing to enter, got shoved by the others and slipped inside.
And I too strode into the Gate. White light flickered before my eyes briefly before vanishing, revealing a new landscape.
“Then follow along on your own.”
Even though it was an illegal dungeon raid, the illegal hunters strutted forward arrogantly.
Why was this dungeon raid illegal? Simple.
Normally, when a dungeon appears, you report it to the Association, go through an auction for ownership, and pay the fee and commission. But this dungeon hadn’t been reported to the Association. Unless it was an emergency, you usually reported and raided it. Raiding without reporting made it illegal.
The reason for such illegal acts? Partly to avoid commissions, but mostly because reporting it meant guilds would eye it during the auction process. So they’d rather raid it secretly from the start, as if it never existed.
“Part-timers, guard your own bodies as per the contract. We’re hunting monsters. Just collect the items that drop nicely, and if you pocket any…… you know, right?”
“Yes…… yes.”
The reason they went this far to raid the dungeon? Just one. Money, obviously.
Even low-rank dungeons, if you monopolized all the byproducts, it exceeded a salaryman’s wage. Get a good item, and you’re set for life. Even magic stones alone could last you a week. In the current world, being a hunter was often called the shortcut to a better life.
It wasn’t entirely wrong, but reality was you could die in a blink, or just surviving was a win.
“Piss off to the side, you’re annoying! Fuck, wanna die?”
“S-Sorry, I’ll do it……”
Park Woo-yun yelped in fright at a monster, drawing a swarm, and the illegal hunters barely dealt with them. After clearing the monsters, the illegal hunters scowled and yelled at Park Woo-yun. Fortunately, he was still useful unharmed, so no beating yet—
“This fucker, still pisses me off thinking about it!”
Thwack. The sound of flesh slamming hard echoed. And at the same time, Park Woo-yun rolled limply backward.
‘…Hit him quicker than I thought.’
I could’ve stopped it, but didn’t bother. It was still too soon for me to step in; the situation was ambiguous.
Plus, harmony took so long that I didn’t have much power stockpiled. If a fight broke out here, I’d use it all up dealing with these guys and couldn’t handle the upcoming monsters or the boss we needed to clear. So it was right not to step in yet.
The illegal hunter who finally punched Park Woo-yun once whirled around and said.
“Hey, let’s move on— Ah, fuck, another puzzle?”
With the raid delayed, we were blocked by a stone wall embedded with trees, unable to proceed to the next stage.
To reach the final boss room at the end of the dungeon raid, you needed to clear the stages. Stages were mainly two types: monster clears, and puzzles like riddles, mazes, or finding buttons to the next stage. Most dungeons mixed both. This one too.
“Not a puzzle, maybe needs a key?”
“No drops for that.”
“Other paths?”
“None, idiot.”
“Who’re you calling idiot, you bastard.”
The illegal hunter who clicked his tongue while saying that suddenly glanced at me, then whispered to his buddy like a brilliant idea struck. They soon grinned together and stepped toward me, pointing at the stone wall.
“Solve this.”
“……Pardon?”
Their snickering grated on my ears.
“Isn’t this not in the contract clause?”
“Don’t care, do it quick.”
He grabbed my collar roughly and shoved me against the tree-embedded wall. As I stumbled back weakly, they laughed openly this time.
‘Really, nothing’s changed at all.’
I brushed off the grabbed collar and touched the trees embedded in the wall. A normal wall with nothing but trees—indistinguishable from any other. No wonder they were stuck.
I casually touched the wall here and there, as if clueless. Then jeers came from behind.
“Ah, hurry the fuck—”
But before the words finished, click. The base of a tree not flush with the wall pressed in like a button, hidden in the wall.
“……”
Rumble. The tree-embedded wall slid open like a door, revealing the path to the next stage. As it opened, the guy who’d been about to say something to me stopped, scratched his head, and slipped inside like nothing happened.
“Lucky?”
At another illegal hunter’s words, I just grinned. He looked at me like I was weird, then followed inside.
Glancing back, one guy who’d noticed something off—probably an E-Rank hunter—and Park Woo-yun, who hadn’t noticed a thing, caught my eye. Better for his peace of mind not to notice, but getting hit without realizing why was truly idiotic, drawing a sigh.
Moving to the next stage, a pitch-dark place greeted us this time. One illegal hunter, sensing unease, pointed at Park Woo-yun without discussion.
“Hey! You!”
“Y-Yes?”
“Lure some monsters.”
“Pardon?”
“Why can’t you get it? Move quick?”
“…….”
“Ungated slackers talk too much……”
The pointed-out Park Woo-yun trembled as he activated his Pattern. Small black horns sprouted on his head, and his nails turned long and black.
“Go quick. Oh, don’t forget to bring items back as is.”
Shoved weakly on the back, Park Woo-yun stepped forward but trembled and refused to enter the dark corridor. But at the shouts from behind, he staggered into the dark hallway.
Time passed, minutes unknown. Park Woo-yun didn’t return. Far in the distant darkness, no figure, no sound, nothing existed.
“Guess he’s dead.”
The illegal hunters chuckled among themselves. The other E-Rank hunter, who’d noticed the weirdness early, backed away, activated his Pattern, and bolted.
“Aww, cute.”
Whip! Wire from someone’s hand moved like it was alive, shooting toward the fleeing E-Rank and snaring him.
“Argh!”
The E-Rank crashed loudly and was dragged back. Then grabbed by the collar and flung into the dark corridor.
“Perfect timing, you’re activated. You go this time. Entrance is blocked anyway—better to run forward, right?”
“…….”
The Gate entrance sealed after killing five monsters or advancing stages, no return.
The E-Rank trembled, refusing to move. After a few minutes, as they moved to swing fists in impatience, I spoke up.
“I’ll go.”
“……Huh? Hey, this guy says he’ll go. Lifesaver! Phew, coward bitch.”
He spat on the floor, nodded at me curtly with a rotten expression telling me to scram. Still smiling, I passed the slumped E-Rank and stepped into the dark corridor. Grating laughter and jeers followed from behind.
‘Yeah, whatever. Laugh while you can.’
I walked lightly down the path where nothing was visible.
‘Ten steps, right side.’
The real reason those hunters hired porters.
Bait.
Normally, high-rank hunters should lead against dangers, but they were scared of injury and hated treatment costs, so they used bait. And the simplest way to dispose of porters before exiting the dungeon.
Plenty of people needed money.
Dark corridor. The illegal hunters feared hidden monsters and threw porters as bait, but unfortunately for them, this stage was a maze. An illusion-showing maze. One that showed what the entrant currently feared most.
‘No use on me.’
Having figured out all the tricks, I didn’t fall for the illusions. I had nothing to fear in the first place, so I couldn’t get caught even if I tried.
‘Park Woo-yun should be around here— Ah.’
A faint sobbing reached my ears. Following the sound down the dark corridor, unknown liquids splashed underfoot.