Market Windfall and the Call to Hunt
The next morning, Park Taemin headed to the Hunter Market to sell the materials and items he'd gathered from the Desert Zone. As soon as he pulled them out, the Restaurant Owner's face broke into a wide grin.
"Looks like you hit the Desert Zone yesterday."
"Yeah. Think I'll be bringing in stuff like this from now on."
The man's smile grew even brighter at Taemin's words. It wasn't that Desert Zone materials were particularly valuable—they didn't leave much margin for profit. But the fact that Taemin had come back here even after switching dungeons meant he'd keep doing business with him going forward.
"Let me take a look. The poison sacs and Rauder claws fetch a good price since they go into gear processing. Market average is sitting at 8 million won right now, but since you're a regular, I'll buy them at 8.5 million each. Silk thread and leather at 400 thousand... wings at 500 thousand apiece. Honestly, Mozelin wings are lower quality than Tinkerbell ones, so they barely sell, but I'll throw in potion value as a service."
"Hmm. So, total?"
"One sec. Yeah, 64.5 million won."
Taemin was inwardly stunned by the figure.
64.5 million in one go... Add the 5 million from Choi Dong-chan, and that's nearly 70 million. Life-changing in a heartbeat.
"Go ahead and process it."
"Transfer to your account?"
"Yeah, that's probably best."
"Hold on. Sending it now."
"No rush—take your time."
With the deposit confirmation popping up on his phone, he thanked the man and left the shop, heading straight for the potion store.
"Gotta stock up properly. Don't want to end up borrowing like yesterday."
Thinking of Song Min-ji, Taemin bought 20 lower potions and 20 mid-grade potions before exiting the market. As he stepped outside and checked his transaction history on his phone, he let out an incredulous smile.
"Earned 70 million, spent 50 million on potions. What even is money anymore..."
Shaking his head, he headed to the parking lot and got in his car. After grabbing lunch at a nearby restaurant, he drove home.
On the way, a familiar sign caught his eye.
[Mibong Mountain 500m]
Mibong Mountain?
It was the first place he'd hunted alone. With nothing pressing at home, he decided to detour for a bit of hunting and turned toward it.
He parked in a suitable spot and gazed at the mountain, lost in nostalgia.
Almost a month since I was last here.
It hadn't even been a full month, but he couldn't forget those late nights grinding away. Taemin climbed while retracing his memories.
Was it around here, turning sideways?
He could've checked the map, but he trusted his instincts. Bypassing the outpost without issue, he reached the portal area in about an hour. Stepping right through, the familiar tropical jungle sprawled before him.
This Beginner Dungeon—where he'd hunted daily except yesterday—still felt fresh.
"Alright, let's see what we've got."
Dashing through the jungle and slicing monsters apart, Taemin's face was full of ease. They'd never been much challenge, but after the Desert Zone, they were laughably weak. Laughable, even.
Clearing trash mobs swiftly, he soon reached the Snake Lake. A Double Snake was lounging by the water, sunbathing.
Guys like you now...
Taemin charged without hesitation, activating Hydeger. An overwhelmingly intense light enveloped his dagger—far beyond before. Its length had more than doubled, too big now to call a dagger.
The blade effortlessly cleaved the Double Snake's neck.
Swish!
He hadn't even put much force into it, yet it sliced clean through like cutting water. Blood fountained from the severed neck.
Looking at the fallen corpse, Taemin felt a rush of satisfaction at his boosted power.
"Used to take all my strength just to barely cut through. Now it just slips right in."
Grinning, he looted the body and pressed on. Six straight hours of nonstop hunting later...
Already this late?
Checking his phone, he realized it was evening. He exited the dungeon, got in his car, and was about to drive off when his phone rang.
He picked up.
"Yeah, Park Taemin speaking."
- Taemin, it's Choi Dong-chan.
"Oh, hey. What's up?"
- Just checking if you can join tomorrow's hunt.
"Tomorrow?"
- Yeah. You free?
"No problem. Where?"
- Hang on... You got a car?
"Yep."
- Cool, I'll send the address. Meet there by 9 AM.
"Got it."
- See you tomorrow.
Hanging up, Taemin checked the text that arrived moments later.
"Gyeonggi-do? Pretty far out. Gotta offload these items first."
Muttering to himself, he drove back to the Hunter Market, sold his haul, restocked potions, and stopped at a nearby big-box mart to buy a navigation unit for tomorrow's hunt.
"Car's great otherwise, but no nav sucks."
Installing it per the manual, he headed home.
"Ah, perfect."
After a hot shower and a proper meal, he booted up his computer and searched the destination Choi Dong-chan had given.
"Gapyeong, Buk-myeon. About two hours. Yawn."
Tiredness hit as he surfed, so he hit the bed early.
Should hit level 20 after tomorrow. Hope something new drops.
The next day, Taemin woke to his alarm, packed a lunchbox, and set out. Inputting the address into his new nav, he arrived in Buk-myeon 30 minutes early—leisurely start paying off.
Parking and stepping out, he marveled at the stunning scenery. Lush green woods everywhere, a stream weaving through, pooling into a pond with a small waterfall off the cliff. The water was so clear that even at decent depth, he could make out the pebbles' shapes and patterns below.
"Did Korea have spots like this?"
As he took it in, an SUV appeared from the road he'd come up—Choi Dong-chan's car. It pulled up in front of him, and the group piled out.
"You're early."
Choi Dong-chan greeted him first.
"Yeah, first time here, so I left early... Just got here myself."
Song Min-ji and Park Seung-mi followed with their hellos.
"Potions stocked up?"
"Good to see you again. Hi."
After quick greetings, Choi Dong-chan pointed up.
"Portal's about 200 meters that way. Let's head up."
They followed his lead. Thirty minutes of climbing later, they reached the portal right by the stream.
"Head out now?"
Song Min-ji asked, gear in hand.
"Yeah, but first, a few reminders. Hunting style same as before: Taemin herds, we kill. Min-ji, spam magic on cooldown, time Haste perfectly—late for us is fine, but hit Taemin instantly. He's the key to herding. Got it?"
"Don't worry. You yapped about it three times on the way."
"Did I? Seung-mi, keep heals and buffs rolling, especially Blade ones since we'll focus those. Heals non-stop."
"Got it, oppa."
As Choi Dong-chan was about to move, something occurred to him, and he turned to Taemin.
"Oh, right. Before meeting us, did you get hit by anything while running from the Scorpion?"
"Hit? Well... Come to think of it, I got splashed with some liquid. Not sure if it was from it, though..."
Choi Dong-chan nodded knowingly.
"That's Scorpion saliva. No direct harm to you, but it draws aggro like crazy from nearby monsters. Gotta be extra careful. Usually means hunt's over if you get hit."
Now it clicked for Taemin why Invisible hadn't worked.
They weren't seeing me—they smelled it and tracked.
Choi Dong-chan continued.
"But for herding hunts, it can actually be a boon. Aggro keeps them from switching targets even if we attack. With our firepower, can't take down 20+ at once. Too many swarming means we're screwed."
"So what should I do? Get hit by saliva?"
"Nah, no need. Herd like normal, but keep more distance from us. You'll probably one-shot most, but... you know how it goes. No pressure, though. Trash mobs we can cover even in groups."
"Got it. I'll watch while herding—signal with words or gestures like last time."
"Right. And if we push past the big wall, we'll pull one by one from there. They're too strong individually—speed secondary. Switch to DPS support then, if you can."
"Understood."
"Alright, think that's it. Let's roll?"