Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Staircase Dungeon - 1
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The generals are paying attention to a mere sergeant?
That was something that could never happen under normal circumstances.
“The battalion commander of the division you’re serving in, Lieutenant Colonel Lee Jun-beom, right? He’s been confirmed for promotion to colonel. Who do you think that’s thanks to?”
Specific mentions followed one after another.
All of them were things Kim Min-jun had overwhelmingly influenced or handled almost single-handedly.
“…Hearing it laid out like this, it’s really ridiculous. He did all that in just half a year?”
Son Eun-seo looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.
A string of achievements listed out in a row.
And yet, he’d only just gotten his sergeant stripes after all that.
It was a moment when the difficulty of promotions in the Hunter Army truly hit home.
‘With someone like me around, what can they do? No way I’m giving up the rune stone.’
Kim Min-jun made a grateful gesture toward her.
“We’re not asking you to do anything right now just because we’ve got our eye on you.”
Son Tae-ho spoke, his hands clasped together.
“I just want you to keep looking favorably on me. Of course, it’d be even better if you took extra good care of my daughter.”
“No, Dad! Why bring that up?!”
“I only treat Son Eun-seo as a friend. I’m not getting close to her to use her.”
He answered with a firm expression.
If you looked closely, it almost seemed like he was angry at the question.
He showed no intimidation whatsoever in front of a Hunter Army division commander.
“Hahaha! This guy. The more I see him, the more I like him.”
Son Tae-ho nodded with a pleased face.
Son Eun-seo eyed Kim Min-jun suspiciously for some reason.
“Got time? It’s almost dinner. Let me treat you.”
“Thank you. But I want to do some personal training. I need to master mana weapons as quickly as possible.”
“Even on leave, you’re training… Well, that kind of dedication is why you’re promoting so fast.”
“Then I’ll take my leave. Thank you for the precious item! Loyalty!”
He gave a loud salute and left the house.
He couldn’t wait even a moment longer to swallow the rune stone.
**
“Ugh, it’s huge. How am I supposed to fit this in my mouth?”
As soon as Kim Min-jun stepped outside, he popped the rune stone into his mouth.
It had the drawback of needing to be dissolved like candy, but he could endure that much.
After all, it had the massive effect of raising stamina stats from 1 up to a maximum of 10.
“It’s tasteless. Like a pebble.”
The rune stone that filled his mouth gradually melted and absorbed into his body over time.
Ding.
[You have completely absorbed the rune stone.]
After cleanly consuming the rune stone, a message appeared before his eyes.
[A beneficial effect has been applied. Stamina stat has increased by 1.]
[Stamina stat has increased by 1.]
[Stamina stat has increased by 1.]
The consecutive rise notifications popped up exactly seven times.
Just from consuming one item, his stamina stat had gone up by 7.
[Stamina Reinforcement (D) has been created.]
And on top of that, an unexpected skill.
“Luck… is on my side.”
His stamina stat had been a bit lacking, but to think one item would solve it.
[Kim Min-jun]
Founder of the ‘Seria noona is my favorite character’ doctrine.
Strength: 78 Agility: 70 Stamina: 75 Mana: 45
Opening his status window to check, his stamina had noticeably skyrocketed.
“Whew. Rune stone gave me +7 stamina, and the stamina reinforcement skill adds another +5.”
In a short time, his stamina stat had risen by 12.
At 75 stamina, he could easily last three days in a dungeon bare-handed.
Even without sleep.
“With this stamina stat, I could set up house in a dungeon.”
Of course, that was by the standards of regular hunters.
With his mana reserves, he could probably hold out for 10 days comfortably.
“Most soldiers can’t even last two days in a dungeon.”
Even officers with good stamina could only manage about 50 hours at best.
Dungeons drained stamina that severely.
And from now on, with mana weapons in play, hunters needed to prioritize raising their stamina stats.
“With strength to spare, I can wrap my mana weapons in aura to the brim without issue.”
Ah.
His fingers were itching to smash a dungeon already.
**
“Attention, everyone!”
“Attention!”
Three days after Kim Min-jun returned from leave.
The hunters assembled in front of the training field for a dungeon raid.
“The dungeon our company will tackle this time is a staircase dungeon with a three-layer structure!”
Lieutenant Kim Cheol-min briefed them on the dungeon while ordering them to check their gear.
Small-scale dungeons were usually cleared by platoons.
Clearing one as a company meant it was large-scale, and it would take a lot of time.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had a staircase dungeon.”
“We’re gonna burn through the combat rations…”
Lee Dong-jin and Kim Kwang-sik shook their heads in dismay.
Staircase dungeons were tackled layer by layer with set time intervals.
“We’re 2nd Company, 2nd Platoon, hitting the first floor today… We might push to the second if it goes quick.”
Staircase dungeons were larger than average.
Naturally, more monsters appeared.
Plus, clearing one layer generated stairs leading up.
You couldn’t call it cleared until those stairs appeared and no more monsters spawned.
“Don’t get complacent just because it’s a low-difficulty staircase dungeon! Understood?!”
“Yes!”
“Stay in formation, no straying! No using mana weapons unless it’s an emergency!”
“Got it!”
After each platoon leader relayed the warnings.
The company entered the variable dungeon together.
[1]
Numbers appeared before the hunters’ eyes.
It was a phenomenon that occurred upon entering a staircase dungeon.
“First floor’s giant rabbits. Second’s red-headed monkeys. Right?”
“Yes, sir.”
As they moved while maintaining formation.
Kim Min-jun scanned the surroundings and asked the soldiers.
Giant rabbits.
Red-headed monkeys.
Both mid-to-low-tier monsters.
Not too hard to handle.
‘But there sure are a lot of them.’
Even so, the reason the hunters were on high alert was the sheer numbers.
Staircase dungeons featured hordes of monsters compared to others.
‘Dungeons are such a mystery.’
Hunters cleared them daily, yet new ones popped up the next day.
‘Not cockroaches or anything.’
Thinking about it, they were persistent.
Instead of vanishing over time, new forms kept emerging.
“Monsters at 60 meters ahead! Contact!”
“Monster rabbits!”
While Kim Min-jun was lost in thought.
Monster rabbits began appearing one or two at a time from the front.
“Damn! Over a hundred easy!”
“First row! Mana shields out and equip! Second and third rows, load mana rounds!”
“Yes, sir!”
The company commander swiftly issued orders as the monster count swelled like a snowdrift.
A single monster rabbit was tiger-sized.
It only looked like a rabbit; it packed brute strength.
If there were over a hundred…
Giving up distance would spell disaster.
“Commence firing!”
Kuwang! Kuwaang!
At the company commander’s order, the hunters in firing stance pulled their triggers in unison.
“Kiiik!”
“Giiik!”
The monster rabbits couldn’t withstand the mana rounds and dropped quickly.
It wasn’t a platoon—it was company-level volley fire.
The power was overwhelming.
However.
Even after reloading mana rounds three times, the rabbits showed no sign of thinning.
“Whole company! Fall back! Hurry!”
Sensing trouble, the company commander ordered a retreat.
Normally, first floors with giant rabbits topped out at around 50.
They’d taken down over a hundred, yet nearly 50 remained.
‘Our luck sucks. Of all staircase dungeons, we get the nasty variant!’
They needed to regroup here.
Just as he thought that.
“Company commander! Leave this to me!”
Sergeant Kim Min-jun broke from formation.
“Kim Min-jun! Can’t you see how many there are?! Even you’ll—”
The company commander trailed off, blinking.
Slash! Slash!
Each swing of his aura-wrapped mana sword felled three monster rabbits.
“As expected of the new weapon, the mana sword. Solid performance.”
Kim Min-jun smiled satisfactorily at the monster rabbits’ heads slicing off smoothly.
“This is it. This is item power.”
“Kiiik!”
He struck with aura cloaking the mana sword.
The blade wouldn’t wear down.
He could swing freely without holding back.
“Triple kill!”
Kim Min-jun rampaged through the dungeon like a kid with a fun new toy.
“Slice and slice, and they keep coming.”
Even after dropping nearly 30 in short order, more monster rabbits appeared.
“Thanks. Keep coming.”
He welcomed it.
Stamina and strength to spare.
The more that came, the more achievement points and stat XP he’d rack up.
“Fun times. And tons of achievement points.”
This.
This was dungeon raiding.
‘Power of the rune stone? I’m not tired at all.’
Stamina at 75 felt better than expected.
He was dumping aura heavily into the mana sword and soloing monsters in the dungeon.
He should’ve been winded by now.
‘The extra stamina skill too?’
He was a warlock, yet felt like a warrior.
The rune stone’s effect was that potent.
“No way… This doesn’t make sense.”
“How long’s he been at it?”
“Over ten minutes, easy…”
Meanwhile.
The hunters watching from behind gaped.
Monster numbers far beyond projections.
And he was taking them down with a calm face.
No, an enjoying face.
“They look pitiful…”
“Dying the second they show up?”
It evoked a slaughterhouse.
The hunters swallowed dryly.
The horde of rabbits was down to under ten.
“No sweat at all?”
“Check that aura on the mana sword. Max output.”
Normal hunters would be spent after three minutes with a mana sword.
Unable to even walk.
Yet Kim Min-jun finished the rest with aura still blazing.
Cleanly.
[You have cleared the 1st floor.]
As he felled the last one, the same message appeared for all hunters.
“Looks like that’s all of them.”
He shook the blood off his mana sword and returned to formation.
With a very satisfied expression.