Level 50

Level 50.

To an ordinary player, it was not a number that meant very much.

Yujun was different.

His inventory was packed with accessories lying dormant, and accessory slots, as a rule, carried steep level requirements—high enough that anything short of 50 was simply out of reach. If he wanted to wear them at all, level 50 was the minimum.

So I hit level 50 less than three days after finishing the tutorial.

Counted in actual hunting time, it had not even been a few hours. Yujun let out a hollow laugh. This fast. All of it thanks to the hidden dungeon. Was there any precedent for someone walking into a hidden dungeon from level 31?

First... I need to get these accessories on.

The chimeras had already thinned out sharply. Yujun held them off just long enough to watch for an opening, then drove a hard kick into the one that had been doggedly going for his throat. In the next instant he turned his back and ran—a movement a beat quicker than theirs.

A beat too late, the chimeras kicked off the ground and tore after him.

Certain they were nearly on him, Yujun flung his inventory open.

There!

Of course they were there. He had gathered the accessories he meant to wear into one place ahead of time, precisely for a moment like this: two rings, a necklace, and a single bracelet. That was everything he could equip at level 50.

He equipped every accessory he had prepared.

Rings that bore the name VIP—pieces he had received as rewards for paying real money. As the windows made plain, their stats and options were excellent. He had no skills yet, so he could not enjoy their effects in full, but it was something.

Vitality surged through his body. His stats had climbed by a wide margin, and his title was doing its part as well.

Thanks to the title, every accessory he wore had its effects amplified by fifteen percent. The status window did not display those adjusted figures, but his body received every bit of them.

"Kiririk!"

"Kiruk! Kirik!"

Right on cue, the chimeras spotted him. The corner of Yujun's mouth curved.

This time won't be like before.

He moved first, thrusting his sword straight at the chimera in the lead. The point met the exact center of its forehead, and with that, one chimera collapsed in a heap. Before the others could even register their shock, his blade moved again.

The speed was nothing like before, and the chimeras could not react in time. Four accessories. A meaningful change had taken hold, and that change rewrote the shape of the fight. Until now he had been staking his life on every razor-thin exchange. From here on, it was fair to call it an ordinary hunt.

Slash! Slice!

Even a glancing pass of his sword sent black blood bursting from the chimeras' bodies like a fountain.

Easy.

Yujun was impressed. A handful of accessories, and he had grown stronger to an almost absurd degree.

War of the Gods didn't pick up the nicknames item war and pay-to-win war for nothing.

Back when it was only a game, he had taken it as a matter of course. Feeling it in his own flesh was something else entirely. Perhaps it was Equanimity, but this brutal fight gave him the sensation of playing a game—and that, if anything, was a relief. Grotesque sights unfolded without pause, and none of it shook him much.

"Kieeeek!"

"Kirik!"

Shhk! Ssk!

His sword sank into the chimeras' tough hide as easily as if he were cutting soft tofu. In a flash, every chimera in sight was down.

When the fight ended, Yujun looked around. Nothing had dropped.

Figures, with chimeras. The drop rate is terrible. Then again, they hand out plenty of experience in exchange.

He had no great complaint. What he needed most right now was not items, but experience.

And I hit the level 50 I was aiming for.

The chimeras were no longer his match. Yujun strode forward without hesitation, and after that last fight, no more of them appeared. He kept walking until he struck a dead end. There was no path left.

As expected... I'll have to turn back.

He had stepped onto a trap route, so he had known it would come to this. He had pressed on anyway, figuring that if more chimeras turned up he could keep raising his level.

Thud. Thud.

Wait.

Yujun stopped short.

This is a hidden dungeon.

He reproached himself. A dead end, and his first thought had been to turn around? In a hidden dungeon, there was no telling what item might be waiting where. He had to keep his nerves taut at all times—not because it was dangerous, but for fear of missing some reward concealed inside. And as a rule, the dead ends of a hidden dungeon held a hidden piece, or a reward.

In the game, anyway.

Even so, he could not simply walk past it.

Yujun's eyes narrowed as he studied the area with care. Nothing looked special, or strange.

I'm not pressed for time. I'll search slowly.

He ran his hands over the wall and the floor. There was nothing you could call a protrusion, and yet a faint sense of wrongness lingered.

Expectation lit his face. He poured mana into his gauntlet and slammed it into the wall.

Boom!

A tremendous crash rolled out, and the wall caved deep. When the thick cloud of dust settled, a wide space lay beyond it—and not only that. A woman lay collapsed inside, bound in rope.

"Ah, what? It's just a person..."

Huh?

What?

Not an item. Some woman of unknown identity, lying in a space hidden inside the wall. Briefly dumbfounded, Yujun shook his head.

She's wearing gear, so she looks like a player. Why is she locked up in here?

It could be a trap. He took a few steps back and opened his inventory. He had just the item this situation called for.

Found it.

A Heroic-grade consumable. A Status Check Scroll.

About five dollars in cash, wasn't it?

An item that could be bought only by paying real money. At present he had more Status Check Scrolls in stock than he knew what to do with. No need to be stingy. He meant to use this one on the unidentified woman, and if she looked like a threat to him, he was perfectly prepared to leave without helping her.

Yujun tore the Status Check Scroll and set a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh?"

Seeing her status window, Yujun's eyes went wide.

Dungeon Search at S-rank?

He rubbed his eyes and looked again. The skill Dungeon Search (S) was still there. The reason for his surprise was simple. Dungeon Search was originally an E-rank skill.

So an S-rank Dungeon Search existed.

Information even he had not known.

If it's S-rank Dungeon Search, does it find hidden dungeons more easily, too?

Hidden dungeons were rare.

A skill's rank doesn't lie. An S-rank Dungeon Search ought to be... decent enough.

Even E-rank Dungeon Search was a useful skill. S-rank went without saying.

I'm jealous. With that one skill, she could probably find high-rank hidden dungeons without much trouble.

On top of that, she had no combat skills or traits of any kind. She was not, at least, a threat to him. Yujun's eyes gleamed as he studied Kim Heeyeon's status window.

And of all moments, that was when Kim Heeyeon opened her eyes.

"W-who...!"

"Quiet. Don't scream."

Great. Now I sound like a complete villain.

"P-please spare me. I was wrong."

"Wrong about what?"

"What? You weren't... trying to kill me?"

"No. I just happened to find you while I was passing through."

"Oh..."

Relief washed over Kim Heeyeon at his words, and then her face hardened again.

"But how did you see this place just by passing through? As you can see, I was locked in here..."

It was a suspicious situation, no question. Yujun changed the subject.

"Anyway, that isn't what's important."

"...Then what is?"

He did not answer her. His eyes roamed, sweeping every inch of the ruined wall's interior.

"If you could untie me first..."

"Quiet."

"..."

After a long while of it, Yujun let out a heavy sigh.

"Nothing."

To think there would be nothing but a single person dumped here, and no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hidden item to go with her. He turned away, disappointment written across his face. Kim Heeyeon, who had been watching him carefully, spoke up.

"What were you looking for?"

"A hidden piece. There wasn't one in here to begin with?"

"No... there was nothing like that. And this space was made by one of the people who locked me up. It isn't a dungeon mechanism."

"How?"

"By commanding an earth spirit."

"So there's a spirit user. It could be earth magic, too."

"..."

"And why did they lock you in here?"

"To monopolize the dungeon rewards, I'd guess. And there were three of them. All men."

"Hm."

He had a rough grasp of the situation. The Tower of Infinity had no laws of its own, not unless you belonged to some country, and because of that no small number of players went around committing evil. Kim Heeyeon had probably fallen victim to players of that sort.

"Just from the fact that they left me alive... I'm certain they meant to sell me as a slave, or do something vile to me themselves..."

Kim Heeyeon trailed off, her expression complicated.

Yujun sank into thought for a moment. He coveted the S-rank Dungeon Search she possessed, badly. But taking someone else's skill by force was impossible.

If I can't take it... I'll use it.

He put on the most artificial smile he could manage.

"To think you were locked up in a place like this. It pains me terribly. It must have been so hard, wasn't it? I'll help you."

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"A-all of a sudden?"

Kim Heeyeon's reaction was lukewarm. Yujun leaned in close.

"I'll help you."

"...Y-yes! Please help me."

"You're grateful, aren't you?"

"Yes, yes! Thank you! Truly!"

The whole exchange had taken on the air of someone being groveled to, but that was not what mattered. A hidden dungeon—and the Dungeon Search skill that found them—was precious beyond measure. This was not even an ordinary E-rank. It was S-rank. If he could take hidden dungeons from Kim Heeyeon as repayment, nothing could be better.

Yujun struggled to hide the desire boiling up inside him. Even so, he could not stop one line from slipping out.

"You can pay me back."

"...Yes! Of course!"

"Though I doubt you have many points."

"...That's right."

"Then what should we do?"

"I really don't have any points... but I do have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one skill..."

"Dungeon Search?"

"Yes, that's— how did you—"

"Forget the points."

"What?"

"Later, if you tell me the locations of dungeons you find, that would do nicely. Hidden dungeons like this one would be even better."

"Yes. Ah, but how did you find out about my skill..."

"That isn't what's important right now, is it? I want to help you. We're both Korean. I can't simply walk on by."

"Yes, yes!"

He was saving her life. Agreeing to that much was hardly difficult.

"A verbal promise does leave me uneasy, but I suppose I'll have to trust you?"

Yujun asked it with a frightening face.

"I understand..."

Kim Heeyeon nodded over and over.

"So what happened?"

"It's a bit long if I explain everything."

"Then summarize it."

"These ropes..."

"The story first."

"Right. First, my name is Kim Heeyeon. I felt like the introduction was overdue..."

He already knew her name, but if he let on that he knew it here, things would only get troublesome.

"I... have the Dungeon Search skill. You already know, so there's no need for me to explain it, is there?"

"Right."

"I got to thinking about how to make use of the ability, and it occurred to me I could find dungeons and get paid for telling people the information and the location. I actually sold a few. They weren't hidden dungeons, but the money was pretty decent."

"Hm... I get the gist."

"What?"

"You were selling dungeons and ran into the wrong sort of players, didn't you?"

"Th-that's right."

Kim Heeyeon answered with a startled face. It was remarkable that he had pieced it together at once from only a few words.

"They were meticulous people... no, bastards. They must have heard the rumors about me and gone around digging into my background. I was on my guard, but I got taken completely. I'm no good at fighting."

"I can tell."

"...Anyway. I was trying to sell this dungeon, and it went wrong. Of all times, they ambushed me the moment I found it."

"I see."

The affair did not seem tangled into anything complicated. The situation was simple. So was the way to resolve it. Yujun's expression turned serious.

"Where are those three now?"