Daybreak
Dawn broke. Yoo Taejeong, who had scoured every corner of the community forums until the early hours, rubbed his sleepy eyes and got out of bed. He splashed cold water on his face to shake off the drowsiness, then headed to Bukhansan Rock Mountains just as he had planned the day before, driving his car.
'This might take a while, so I should grab some kimbap to eat.' He picked up some kimbap and bottled water from a nearby snack bar, arrived at the mountain, parked in a quiet spot, and followed the closed hiking trail upward.
It wasn't even a few minutes before he spotted it—a gate shimmering with pure white light. Staring at it, another wave of awe washed over him.
"Whoa. It's so ethereal."
He had hunted in fields plenty of times, but this was his first gate. Places like this were restricted to awakeners only, after all.
But he couldn't just stand there marveling forever. It was his very first time, so he needed to calm his excitement. After mentally rehearsing how to hunt, Taejeong stepped into the gate.
In an instant, the scenery shifted, revealing an exotic landscape. It was hard to describe exactly, but it felt like staring at some foreign highland plateau.
Lost in the view, he let out an impressed whistle. "This is straight-up magic. So this is the kind of world hunters live in."
Honestly, it was so unbelievable even seeing it with his own eyes. He'd seen monsters, awakened himself, even used skills—but compared to this, those were nothing. The entire background changing in a split second? That was pure unreal.
But this was just the kind of thing he'd experience like eating breakfast from now on. The awe ended there.
Dual Summon - Beretta Sting
Minigun Vulcan Summon
Gripping a pistol in each hand with his skills, Taejeong equipped the minigun on his left arm and began moving. The dungeon's atmosphere was far different from what he'd imagined—refreshing air, birds chirping in the distance, a brilliant blue sky with fluffy clouds billowing up. It was so peaceful, it was hard to believe this was a fearsome dungeon.
A world completely unlike the dingy, gloomy fields. Somehow, it lifted his spirits even more.
How long had he walked? Finally, a new type of monster appeared before him—a green creature with a hunched back, pointed ears, and skinny arms.
If it matched what he'd seen on the community forums yesterday, this was a goblin.
"Kinda cute, actually? How many are there?"
Taejeong scanned around, counting them carefully. No matter how weak they looked, it was his first time—he had to be thorough.
Eleven goblins in total entered his sights. He immediately aimed and opened fire.
Bang! Bang!
His preemptive shots pierced the hearts of two dazed, standing-still goblins.
You have defeated a Goblin.
You have gained 200 EXP.
You have acquired a Goblin Ear.
'Goblin Ear? Already?'
If the forums were right, that was a 100,000-won item. Not expensive, but one already? Feeling good, his pistols flashed again.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The rapid small-caliber shots dropped three more goblins, spewing blood as they collapsed.
The rest started hopping in place, screeching weird noises.
But that was it. No attacks, no approaches—they just kept screaming.
When another goblin dropped dead instantly, the survivors bolted in panic.
Taejeong was dumbfounded for a second, but he quickly aimed again—too late; they were gone.
"What the hell? These guys are total wimps?"
Nothing in his info mentioned this. Goblins were weak but aggressive, attacking humans on sight.
Yet here they were, just yelling and fleeing.
'Am I too strong for them to even try?'
He didn't chase. No point now, and summoning the exoskeleton legs would waste mana—not worth it for three stragglers. That skill was for life-or-death only.
As he started walking again, hulking figures burst from the left bushes. That's when he understood why the goblins fled.
'Orcs.'
Much bigger than the goblins, armed green monsters. If he was right, 100% orcs—the mid-tier threat in this dungeon. Two of them.
"Just two. Piece of cake."
Like before, his guns lit up. Two shots each for orcs.
Bang bang! Bang bang!
The crisp shots slammed into their heads and chests. Both crumpled as notifications rang.
You have defeated an Orc.
You have gained 600 EXP.
'Only one notification?'
Before he could question it, one "dead" orc sprang up and charged.
Taejeong didn't panic, lining up his second burst.
Bang bang! Bang!
You have defeated an Orc.
You have gained 600 EXP.
You have leveled up.
Taejeong eyed the sprawled orc. One chest shot, two to the shoulder, one to the head. The chest didn't penetrate; shoulder bled but wasn't serious. The kill shot pierced an eye. The other was similar.
To test, he fired at its forehead.
Bang!
No penetration. A few more shots.
Bang! Bang!
Three hits to the same spot caved it in. No one-shots.
"Tougher than I thought. Barely any damage to the chest."
Worlds apart from the riddled goblins. His assumption of one-shots shattered.
But not unkillable.
"Just aim for the face, then."
With their durability gauged, he pressed on.
How much time passed? A pack of over a dozen orcs appeared. Daunting number—he summoned the robot legs for mobility and opened fire.
Bang! Bang bang! Bang!
Hiss!?
He targeted heads, but with them swarming, precision suffered.
"Whoops."
An orc's club swung at his head. But he wasn't hit by such a telegraphed attack—not after brawling wolves.
Using the legs' power, he dodged back, guns blazing again.
Bang bang! Bang!
He fired furiously, but too many closing in. Time to run—or activate Vulcan, saved for later.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
Deafening roar as energy rounds sprayed everywhere. Incoming orcs shredded like honeycomb.
Low power per shot, but the barrage overwhelmed even their tough muscles.
Spinning Vulcan left-handed, he pistol-whipped two outliers.
Rat-a-tat! Bang!
You have defeated an Orc.
You have gained 600 EXP.
You have defeated an Orc.
You have leveled up.
You have defeated an Orc...
A flurry of notifications in seconds. Orc corpses littered the ground—pack obliterated in under a minute.
"Whoa. This is basically a cheat code."
He knew Vulcan's specs, but it exceeded expectations. Penetration like pistols, but fire rate insane. Corpses proved it: heads vaporized, guts spilled from shredded bellies. Absurd.
"And I burned three potions in that time? For real?"
1.5 million won gone. Overpowered, but costly.
"Can't make money here, I'd go bankrupt."
He vowed to save it for big groups and moved on.
Hunting smoothed out after. Goblins picked off pistol-only to save mana; orcs in twos or threes controlled and shot. Vulcan for packs, but briefer now.
Silently grinding, he hit level 29.
"Feels like I barely hunted, but nine levels? Insane."
Resting on an open hill, he checked inventory.
Goblin Ear ×62
Orc Claw ×25
Orc Tender Leather ×8
"Nice haul. Goblin ears at 6.2 million won, claws 2.5 million, tender leather 3.2 million at 400k each. Total... 11.9 million?"
Decent compared to Ground White Area. But factoring potions, not as profitable as hoped.
Seven left. Minus return potions, only four usable. Break even at best.
Mana shortage.
"Fix that, I could hunt all night. How?"
Futile worry for now. Rising to hunt again, something caught his eye below the hill.
"Hm? What? People?"
His gaze fixed on the valley. Not too far—a group of about a dozen had appeared from nowhere.
Encircling a massive figure. Squinting: monster several times a man's size.
'Ogre.'
Matched the community pic. Too distant for details, but that battle-ready head screamed ogre.
"Three generations of good karma to see one. Lucky bastards. One horn's 5 million—500k each at least."
But they just watched.
'Why aren't they fighting? Is it that dangerous?'
No movement from the group. Ten people should've diced it by now. Meant they were in trouble.
"No choice. Guess I'll save 'em."
Resolved, he pulled the TRG-9 from inventory. The motion looked perfectly natural, like it was planned.