Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Cooperate or Clash - 1
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The spot where I set foot was a world blanketed in snow.
Towering jagged rocks dotted the landscape by the dozens, each capped with a hat of mist.
Beneath my feet, crystalline water bubbled through the snow.
"This is Jangga Valley."
It's the nickname we veterans gave it because of the similar terrain.
As long as you watch out for flying monsters, it's not too dangerous.
Ah, the bone-chilling cold is dangerous too.
Compared to the forest where my shelter is, this place is way colder.
Has winter not fully passed yet?
Unable to resist her curiosity, Yeuli's head poked through the dimension gate.
"Whoa... Uncle, where is this?"
"No idea."
Yeuli took a deep breath and shuddered.
"It's so cold... What's here?"
"I told you, I don't know."
I know plenty, but it's not something to spill here.
A cry echoed from the mist.
Kreeee-aaak—
Yeuli's face hardened as she exhaled puffs of breath.
"D-Did you hear that just now?"
"Sounds like there's a flying monster up there."
"I-Isn't that dangerous?"
"It is. You have to overcome it to get the meat."
Not just meat—plenty of other resources too.
I told her,
"I heard from some people before that you can only use this gate once."
"So once you go in and come out, you can't go back?"
"Yeah, until the next dimension gate opens. They say it lasts about three or four days. Ask the kids?"
"Hold on. Oh, can I pull my head out?"
"Since your body's not fully in, it should be fine."
Truth be told, only half my body is in this other world.
Got to pull out if it feels off.
Soon Yeuli poked her head back in.
"They want to try it even if it's risky."
"Knew it. Tell them to come all the way in."
With all the FRP boats around the island collected, no worries about intruders.
Soon the kids came in, each carrying two huge backpacks.
"Ugh, it's cold!"
"This is full-on winter!"
Unlike the shivering trio, Jimani adapted surprisingly well.
Makes sense—it's basically his everyday life.
"This... is the Griffon Dungeon."
"Griffon—you mean the winged monsters?"
"Yeah. Super dangerous. But worth it for the farming."
"First time with flying monsters... not sure how it'll go..."
"They won't just swoop down and carry us off, right?"
That's exactly what they do.
The mist on the peaks makes them hard to spot early.
I gathered the jittery kids.
"Calm down. First thing is to set up a base camp where we can see this dimension gate. Got it?"
"It disappears after three or four days, so we have to get out before then."
Poor Man knows his stuff.
Yeuli tilted her head.
"What if we can't get out and the gate closes?"
"Then we're stuck until the next one opens by luck."
There are ways to fix a farming dungeon in place, so you don't actually stay that long.
At most a month or two...
Some like Rabbit Worker even stayed months on purpose.
But this isn't a game, and none of them were Rabbit Worker, so their faces soured.
"Regretting coming in?"
As I looked around at the three, Yeuli clenched her fist.
"No way. We need to stock up here. We don't have much food left."
Good attitude.
We had enough rations, but everyone craved meat.
We stuck together scouting for a good base camp spot.
The soggy ground made even pitching tents tricky.
A cave would be ideal.
Soon we found a recessed cliff face.
"Looks about seven meters deep. This work?"
"Dry floor—perfect."
Best part: the ceiling blocks griffon dives.
And we can just see the dimension gate.
We pitched tents and laid out thin mattresses.
"Gather some branches nearby. For the fire."
"Yes, sir."
Huddled by the fire, it felt like camping to them.
"Just need meat to roast and it'd be perfect."
"Gotta hunt for that."
"With Jimani hyung, we just find animals, right? Hyung, what's your trait's range?"
"Huh? Haven't checked."
"We'll test it together later."
"What if animals just come begging to be eaten?"
"That'd be awesome."
They kept chattering about hunting plans even as I stayed quiet.
Jimani glanced at me, and I nodded.
You can't always have me backing you up.
The three guys decided to hunt, leaving me and Yeuli to guard base.
Boys and their adventure spirit.
I pulled out potatoes from the shelter and roasted them.
"Eat these and keep watch. If you spot people, come back and report."
"People besides us?"
"It's random... Could be famous Bunny Duo."
"I really want to meet Bunny Duo."
"Cheol-jun hyung said a few days ago they're in Jinju now."
That's all I know.
Wonder what they're doing in Jinju.
They keep saying they're coming but always delay.
Once farming dungeon's done, leave the island to the kids and head to Jinju.
Potatoes done, I set out a bowl of sugar.
Yeuli stared at me.
"Uncle, you're amazing."
"What is?"
"Where do you get potatoes? We were in Masan the whole time and never even saw any."
Because I grew them in the shelter...
I blamed Jimani.
"Found them planted in Jimani's village. This is all there is."
"Hmm."
"No nagging—two each."
"Not nagging."
Then a beastly howl echoed from somewhere.
Wooo-ooo-ooo—
The ambiguous wolf-or-something sound made everyone flinch.
Then they saw Jimani and relaxed.
"With hyung here, we're good, right?"
"Big animals might be out of range. Confirmed up to roe deer size."
Wolves here are way bigger, so problem.
I warned them not to get reckless—explore carefully.
The three devoured their potatoes, bundled up, and left.
Yeuli and I cleaned up and unpacked.
More to do at camp than exploring anyway.
"Yeuli, let's make wooden spears."
"How?"
"Follow me. First, chop straight trees like this."
I used Jimani's stone axe to fell two trees.
Thunk, thunk echoed through the valley.
Trees down, I trimmed branches with my long knife and dragged them to camp.
Handed Yeuli the mithril knife.
"Grip the wood firm and push the blade like peeling. Careful—it's sharp."
Yeuli peeled a few times and got the hang of it.
"This is easy!"
"Mithril knife."
"How much at the shop?"
"150 points."
"Eek. One zombie's only 2 points."
"Was 100 before. They raised it."
"Annoying. Who did?"
"If I knew, I wouldn't be here."
We sharpened the tips and fire-hardened them.
"Don't burn the core—it weakens. Just char the surface."
"Like roasting gim?"
She knows it.
A few wooden spears done.
Next: pickaxes.
For possible glowstone or flint deposits later.
Hauling stones, cutting wood, binding—tough work, but Yeuli didn't complain.
Pitied her tiny hands smashing rocks, but she needed to learn.
I'd taught her—now her turn.
While she grunted away, I finished my pickaxe and scouted.
Damp but flowing water nearby—nice.
Food stocked; now resources and preserved meat.
One wild boar would be perfect.
Are there boars here?
Sudden regret for not scouting.
But guarding base matters too.
Griffons flying over that mist...
Nests have eggs and chicks, but beyond our power.
Climbing those rocks is like free soloing cliffs.
As I turned, a big-horned mountain goat pushed through the brush.
It stopped, staring at me.
"Yeuli, grab the bow?"
The 100-pound hunting bow.
She carefully brought the bow and quiver, handed them over.
Hid behind me, peeking at the goat.
"Whoa... it's huge... And it says 'Big-Horned Mountain Goat'?"
"Shh, whisper. Can't guarantee a hit?"
She nodded against my back.
Tingly.
Nocked an arrow slow so the goat wouldn't bolt.
Head shot's dumb—aim for vitals.
Heart or lungs drop it in a minute, but that's luck.
Bleed it out and track—that's proper.
As I drew, a sudden gust hit.
Whoooosh!
Tornado-like winds whipped around.
I spun, hugged Yeuli, and crouched.
"Uncle!"
"Shh, something's coming!"
A massive shape plummeted through the mist.
Griffon.
Eagle head, quadruped beast body—the monster snatched the goat with front talons.
Body huge; forelegs matched the goat's size.
Goat didn't resist, vanished into the mist.
Only trembling leaves remained in the whirlwind.
"...That was a griffon, right?"
"Seems so."
Back in the day, net and Emeras spear downed griffons easy.
With Tier 1 skills filling my status window.
Base stats cap at 17, but boosts and skills push near 30.
Superhuman moves like in movies.
Even barehand monster kills backed by that.
Bunny Duo and Duck Down Quack more acrobatic.
Anyway, Yeuli hid in the tent, spooked by the griffon.
The three explorers came panting back.
Thought griffon scared them—nope.
"Hyung, zombies here."
"Zombies?"
Wrong place for zombies.
Unlike other monsters, zombies respawn from human bases.
Humans lived here before us?
"Tons of them. Didn't attack us, weirdly."
Jimani noted the zombies' clothes were neat for zombies.
Well-dressed zombies...
Rings a bell.
"Jimani and Dohyung stay. Junho, lead."
"Got it. Slow pace."
"Run moderate."
"You can't keep up, hyung. You know my trait."
"Shut up and run."
He bolted like whatever.
I chased.
No terrain trait, but specs high—easy.
Junho glanced back, muttering impossibly.
"Wow, for real. How do you run like that?"
"Lost a lot of weight."
"Looks perfect to me. Broad shoulders."
"Was a pig before."
"For real? Epic."
Not full pig, but pre-apocalypse me? No way slim.
We reached the zombie spot.
Huge fallen tree by the lake—big enough for two tents inside.
Junho excitedly pointed.
"There. Zombies surrounding a woman."
Oh boy.
Zombies were Dajeong's minions.
She sat on a zombie chair, glaring at the lake.
Tents in the tree—gym folks?
Sharing a farming dungeon—weird.
I patted Junho's shoulder and approached Dajeong.
Zombies stirred but parted on her command.
"What? Strutting right up? Huh? Who might this be."
"Who else? Me."
Dajeong jumped up and ran over.
Suddenly want to bolt.
.
.
.
"Welcome."
"Haha, good to see you. I'm Jang Won-taek."
People flocked to the government base camp.
Scouts reported dozens in the valley.
Veteran players shocked—first time farming dungeons this crowded.
"Farming dungeons are small teams in, farm, out. Not herd-like rushes."
"True... No zombies is nice, though."
"President's popular."
"First meeting since apocalypse? TV speech worked wonders."
"President fulfilling duty to the end... Cool."
"Yeah, that's why I joined at first..."
People chatted around President Bae, seated on a plastic chair.
Somehow they all knew the government camp was here and piled in.
Special ability holders—rumors spread fast.
Government camp: biggest faction in this farming dungeon.
'Not thrilled.'
Bae slouched sullenly.
Not the plan.
Goal: bring reluctant ability users here, build ties.
But this?
First farming dungeon: massive griffon habitat.
Dozens in; Bae guessed over 100 total.
Thirty here already.
"Duck Down Quack entered too!"
Shout drew eyes.
All hunting her location.
"Near the lake."
"With a few people."
"Riffraff. Step up, they'll follow."
"Talk big."
"Zombies block outsiders—doubt it."
"Why not check?"
"Busy meeting people now..."
Ridiculous.
Bae sneered inwardly.
Some here probably cursed each other at auction.
Greetings awkward.
Jang Won-taek eyed veterans like Duck Down Quack.
"Lake, huh... Gotta visit. Seen Kimbap Lover? Who you looking for?"
No one had.
"No one knows that guy."
"Hiding per rankings."
"That bastard."
Joke got no laughs.
This wasn't anonymous auction—real life.
Showing face risky.
Who says Kimbap Lover isn't here?
"If Kimbap Lover's here, uncle's first in line to die."
"I-I'm not making it up. He wrote it himself."
"People ragged on him, so he pinned it in rage."
"We all trashed Kimbap Lover at auction, right? Who didn't?"
"Not me."
"Me neither."
"Everyone claims innocence? Then trashers elsewhere?"
Bae sighed, stood.
"Enough. No conclusion."
Eyes on him.
Plan derailed, but opportunity.
Prove leadership, gain followers.
Bae spoke confidently.
"Anyone for griffon hunt? First nine."
[Cooperate or Clash - 1] End