Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Quest
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“No matter how high up you are in the Hunter Corps, you can’t just barge in like this!”
Park Chan-byeong, a massive private hunter standing two meters tall.
He was also the head of a small private hunter company and a civilian hunter.
“We officially submitted our paperwork to Hunter Headquarters and got permission to raid the dungeon. We even did our preliminary surveys.”
Park Chan-byeong protested that this was nothing short of tyranny—how could the Hunter Corps pull something like this?
His reaction was perfectly understandable.
Dungeon raids were prioritized for the Hunter Corps.
Nearly 80% of dungeons across the country were cleared by them.
“Us private hunters have to fill out dozens of forms just to get approval for a basic dungeon like this. And it takes three months of reviews before it even gets approved!”
The remaining 20%.
Among those, the relatively low-difficulty dungeons were left to private hunters.
Even with such a rigorous and lengthy approval process, they couldn’t give up on them.
*They must be strapped for cash.*
Money.
If they could just clear one dungeon, they could earn more than a salaryman at a big corporation, no matter how unlucky they got.
With good luck, they might even snag items worth hundreds of millions of won at minimum.
To them, it was a land of opportunity.
*I’m no villain.*
He didn’t make a habit of bullying the weak, after all.
*But that doesn’t mean I’m handing it over.*
Kim Min-jun pulled out his smartphone and flashed a wide smile at the private hunters.
“Wh-what are you doing…?”
“Here. Everyone, take a look. See how much is in there.”
“Eighty million won… give or take. What’s your point?”
“Want to make a bet with me?”
The private hunters looked baffled at the word “bet.”
“You’ve mapped out the dungeon structure, right? It’s a standard dungeon with two paths. The monster types and numbers are pretty much the same on both.”
“What are you getting at?”
Kim Min-jun curled up the corner of his mouth at Park Chan-byeong’s question.
“How about a speed run between you guys and me?”
“A sp-speed run?”
“Yeah. You’re after the monster deep inside anyway, right? So let’s bet on hunting priority.”
“No, even if you are Hunter Corps, come on. We’ve got ten people here. Aren’t you underestimating private hunters a bit too much?”
Park Chan-byeong was dumbfounded.
He’d wondered what nonsense this guy was about to spout, but suggesting a speed run against them?
*It’s true the Hunter Corps is stronger than private hunters.*
They had systematic training and cleared overwhelming numbers of dungeons.
Over time, their stats were bound to rise.
*But we’ve got ten people.*
The Hunter Corps’s strength came not just from individual firepower, but from the sheer power of platoons, companies, or even battalions banding together.
*This jerk, a Hunter Corps officer, thinks we’re a joke.*
But it was a different story with just one person.
The team he’d brought for this raid consisted mostly of veterans with over ten years of experience.
“What do we give you if we lose?”
“Keep it quiet. That’s it.”
If they won, they’d get eighty million won plus the dungeon clear.
If they lost, no penalty.
There was no reason to refuse.
“Let’s do it.”
“Alright. You’re on.”
And so, the speed run bet between the private hunters and Kim Min-jun was on.
The private hunters began prepping their weapons and readying to enter the dungeon.
“But come on, even so—that Hunter Corps guy doesn’t even have a weapon!”
“He’s looking down on us. Whatever. The cockier he is, the better for us. Free money.”
They glanced at Kim Min-jun, who was whistling casually, and scowled uncomfortably.
It was blatant disrespect.
“The money from that hunter gets split evenly ten ways. Dungeon bonuses too, of course.”
“Nice! Eight million won a day plus extras? What’s the occasion?”
“Fired up already.”
Confident in their victory, the private hunters lined up at the dungeon entrance.
“We’ve got more heads, so we’ll give you a five-minute head start. Fair’s fair, right?”
Well, now.
Look at these guys.
Giving *me* five minutes?
Kim Min-jun decided to crush Park Chan-byeong’s smug grin.
“Fine. I’ll go first, then. See you in five.”
He shot them a mocking smile and stepped into the dungeon.
*Beep!*
The stopwatch started, and he vanished.
The private hunters burst out laughing, figuring five minutes wouldn’t cut it against them.
“I’d have given ten. Five minutes? Hilarious!”
“We could take our sweet time entering.”
The dungeon only had low-grade monsters inside.
They were veterans who’d been handling trash like that for nearly ten years.
No way they’d lose.
“It’s all done. Go check.”
“…Pardon?”
“What?”
Not until he reappeared after just one minute.
“Whoa, Hunter Corps officers sure know how to joke. One minute?”
“Quit yapping and go verify.”
“Touchy, touchy. Fine.”
The private hunters entered the dungeon briefly.
“…No… no way.”
“They’re all dead…”
They emerged one by one, faces pale with shock.
Every monster along his path was rotting away, dead.
He hadn’t even had a weapon—how?
“Did you use some chemical weapon?”
“Nope. Bare hands. See for yourself.”
In truth, he’d wiped them out in one shot with Decay.
*Nice. Decay hitting C-rank makes it way more usable. Back in the day, it was just stomachache-level stuff.*
Kim Min-jun spread his arms wide, inviting inspection.
“…Mind if we check?”
They patted him down thoroughly, finding only a smartphone and wallet.
“…We confirmed monsters swarming inside before entry.”
“What the hell happened?”
“You talk too much. I’m out in one minute, so you’ve got one minute too. If you can’t, just leave.”
“Urk…”
One minute.
Impossible, obviously.
*Damn it. No proof, no proof!*
They could’ve argued, but it’d just make them look pathetic.
*No point pissing off the Hunter Corps. They review our entry permits.*
Park Chan-byeong decided to back off cleanly.
“But this doesn’t make sense! Even a special forces team couldn’t do it!”
“How’d you make the monsters rot like that?”
“Quiet down and let’s go.”
“Take care.”
Kim Min-jun waved goodbye to the private hunters.
*Did a good deed today.*
Saved their lives, after all.
“Alright. Time to clear that quest.”
He headed to where the irregular monster lurked.
Of the two paths, one was a dead end; the other housed the irregular.
“Kept you waiting? Sorry I’m late. Those private hunters were blocking your fan meet.”
“Shaaaah!”
The irregular monster, a basilisk, spotted the intruder and bared its fangs in threat.
It looked like a mix of snake and lizard, with a body over thirty meters long.
Its color was off from normal specimens too.
“Damn. How’d a tank like you end up in a standard dungeon? What do you eat?”
“Shaaaah!”
The basilisk inflated its mouth like a balloon and spat pitch-black liquid at Kim Min-jun.
“Listen when someone’s talking.”
*Sizzle—*
The venom hit elsewhere and melted rapidly.
Acidic poison.
“Whoa. Normal basilisks just constrict with their bodies, but you’re irregular alright.”
“Shaaaah!”
It didn’t stop there.
It whipped its tail, launching sharp spines from the tip.
Another irregular pattern.
“Ahh, refreshing. Poison on these too? No need for acupuncture then.”
Kim Min-jun took the spines without flinching and closed in.
“Sh-shaaaah!”
Panicking, it tried to crush him with its massive body.
“That’s enough. Think I’m easy just ‘cause I played around?”
*Shhh.*
Black mist formed in Kim Min-jun’s palm.
“Rain of Decay.”
The cloud swelled instantly and floated over the basilisk’s head.
*Drip drip drip.*
Black rain of decay poured down.
It melted like ice cream before it could scream.
[Strength stat increases by 1.]
“Stats going up is great, but items… none again.”
Come on, throw an item or two.
He’d cleared how many irregulars already? Not one drop?
“Back in my day, every boss kill in Isgardt just rained expensive loot… Huh?”
Mid-complaint, he spotted the quest completion message and blinked.
*Ding.*
[You have completed the Oath Stained Black.]
[Rewards granted.]
[Magi stat increases by 5.]
[Moderate amount of magi acquired.]
[The monster felt fear.]
[Additional rewards granted.]
“Fear? Extra rewards? Wasn’t there before.”
Make monsters feel fear for bonuses.
He’d do that next time a quest popped.
“Whew. Wild. All that magi I absorbed beating monsters, unlocked by one message.”
He felt his magi stat rise with the message.
Something shiny dropped before him too.
“Whoa. Feels like a game. Keep it coming like this.”
[Absorbed sufficient magi. Savage Charge unlocked.]
“Oh? Quicker than expected.”
[Savage Charge (D): While active, defense and health decrease. In exchange, movement speed and damage to enemies increase.]
Savage Charge.
A skill suited for reckless warriors.
Basically, a body-slam toward the target.
“Pretty damn powerful, though.”
High damage, but dismissed as trash by most black mages due to their frail bodies.
The defense and health debuff was poison to them.
But Kim Min-jun had no trash skills.
“I’m built sturdy. Anyway, what’s this reward?”
He grinned at the message window, then picked up the dropped item.
“Oh? This is?”
His eyes lit up at the reward.
*They give something like this for a quest?*