He Who Does Not Work, Neither Shall He Eat (Part 2)

Dungeons are broadly divided into two main categories: Erosion Dungeons and Gate Dungeons.

While they can be broken down into much more diverse subcategories, the most fundamental division lies between Gate Dungeons, which only allow one-way travel, and Erosion Dungeons, which allow two-way travel.

A Gate Dungeon is literally a dungeon that humans can enter through a specific gate or spatial coordinate.

These are formed when specific spatial coordinates warp, creating a dungeon in that area. From the outside, everything looks perfectly normal. Monsters cannot escape from inside, and ordinary civilians who haven't awakened cannot even enter. It is a structure where awakened hunters can open the gate at any time, go in, and take whatever they want.

However, they are strictly classified by danger level. In principle, hunters must report their entry to the Hunter Association or the Management Bureau beforehand to fully claim the dungeon's byproducts as their own.

If a hunter enters a dungeon without reporting it, the dungeon is treated as unoccupied. Even if the hunter successfully hunts monsters, any death inside is officially treated as an "accidental" death.

Of course, the Management Bureau doesn't impose any major penalties for entering a Gate Dungeon without reporting it, but in principle, clearing an unreported dungeon is treated like illegal poaching, and there is a risk that all byproducts will be confiscated.

Because of this, "unfortunate" accidents occasionally happen in these dungeons.

Furthermore, escape is impossible until the Gate Dungeon's boss is defeated. Once the boss is slain, the dungeon collapses over a period ranging from as short as one hour to as long as twenty-four hours.

The dungeon where Yeonhwa and Sia recently grilled and ate Black Minotaur flank meat was a Gate Dungeon. The dungeon where Yeonhwa lost her older sister long ago was also a Gate Dungeon.

Therefore, when an AI support drone sends a distress signal from a Gate Dungeon, rescue-specialized hunters are dispatched to enter, rescue survivors, and defeat the boss.

As a result, high-grade hunters working in rescue units find themselves dispatched most frequently to Gate Dungeons, where escape is not freely possible.

Of course, the moment rescue hunters enter a dungeon, they claim all byproducts and rewards for clearing it. Unless their lives are in immediate danger, hunters are generally reluctant to send distress signals.

Two-way dungeons are also called Erosion Dungeons.

Unlike Gate Dungeons, hunters and monsters can freely enter and exit regardless of whether the boss has been defeated. They completely erode into reality, meaning they do not collapse even after the boss is slain.

Occasionally, a Gate Dungeon that is in the process of collapsing after its boss is defeated will stop collapsing and transform into an Erosion Dungeon that permanently remains in reality.

In such cases, the dungeon is usually recognized as semi-permanent state-owned land, or the hunter who cleared it is granted a certain percentage of the dungeon's territory.

For various reasons, Erosion Dungeons of B-grade or lower are considered literal gold mines of infinite potential from the state's perspective.

A B-grade dungeon can be completely cleared of all monsters and even its boss by a single highly skilled A-grade hunter. Even after all monsters are hunted, an Erosion Dungeon has its own ecosystem, functioning like another world. In cases where intelligent races have established civilizations inside, the government may even lead negotiations or cultural exchanges.

In essence, the mere existence of an Erosion Dungeon expands a nation's territory.

However, just as hunters can freely enter and exit, monsters can do the same. This is the fatal flaw of Erosion Dungeons.

In the past, there was an Erosion Dungeon known as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Goblin Empire.

At the time, Yeon Seo was away from South Korea, clearing an S-grade dungeon overseas. Seizing her absence, the Goblin Empire, led by the Emperor Goblin, launched a massive invasion of the human world, slaughtering countless people and plundering several cities.

Belatedly, the Hunter Association sent an expedition force, including S-grade hunters, to conquer the Goblin Empire. However, many hunters lost their lives, and the Emperor Goblin retreated, heavily wounded, taking the entire dungeon with him.

Although they managed to repel the invasion, they ultimately failed to kill the Emperor Goblin. Consequently, the Hunter Association keeps a vigilant, eagle-eyed watch, constantly monitoring for when the Goblin Empire might invade again.

Thus, to the state and the Hunter Association, Erosion Dungeons are a double-edged sword.

As shown by the Goblin Empire, some intelligent monsters can use Erosion Dungeons as bases to invade the real world, slaughtering humans and threatening nations. Yet, the existence of these dungeons effectively expands national territory, allows for the infinite extraction of new resources, and provides a constant supply of byproducts from infinitely respawning monsters.

But since the dungeons can also invade the human world, they are, from the state's perspective, uncharted territories that must be conquered with the highest priority.

And today, the deceased saintess, Sia, was taking her first steps toward an A-grade Erosion Dungeon: the Wyvern Breeding Ground.

Originally, she was supposed to go with Yeonhwa, but Sia was currently operating under a "temporary hunter license."

To maintain this temporary license, she had to complete missions solo, without a party. Among the special missions available to her, Sia had chosen the Wyvern Breeding Ground.

"Whoa. It's pretty big."

The Wyvern Breeding Ground was an erosion-type dungeon located near Gyeryongsan.

The actual official name of the dungeon was the Curtala Mountain Range. The dungeon gate was managed by the Gyeryongdae Service Support Corps and the 2nd Military Police Group, in cooperation with the Hunter Association.

Sia had taken the maglev high-speed train from Seoul Station to Gyeryong Station, arriving early in the morning. Looking around, she saw quite a few soldiers on leave and officers traveling for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠business.

By the way, looking at the changed landscape of Korea from the train window had been quite entertaining.

"I guess because it's Gyeryongdae, there are a lot of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stars around."

In Sia's vague, distant memories, she had definitely completed her military service, but now she couldn't even properly remember what that life was like.

Wait, even though the world of hunters had arrived, does this country still have mandatory military service?

"I'll have to ask Yeonhwa later."

Walking up the winding mountain path wasn't difficult.

Her smartwatch guided her like a navigation system. Normally, civilians couldn't obtain maps of the military base's interior, but it seemed hunters were an exception.

After walking up the mountain for a while, a checkpoint came into view, carrying a heavy military atmosphere.

Tsk, tsk. Poor kids. Even in 2088, the military police were still wearing bulletproof helmets and holding rifles to guard the checkpoint. To make matters worse, this was Gyeryongdae, where stars literally sparkled.

It was a place where one-star and two-star generals could be spotted like neighborhood uncles. A passing "star" could easily look at you and say, "That soldier's discipline is a bit..." resulting in a physical bolt from the blue at any moment.

"Loyalty! We will now conduct a brief check—"

"Whoa, crazy..."

"...?"

The two military police officers trying to inspect her suddenly froze in place, as if struck by a petrification curse.

Oh dear, they must be exhausted... As expected, the military was a place that could easily turn a perfectly fine person into a wreck.

"Gasp!?"

"Whoa, ah... What, what is this?"

Feeling bad for how tired they looked, she had lightly cast a healing spell on them. Both of their faces stretched in sheer shock.

Still, their fatigue must have completely vanished. Are they awake now?

"You looked so tired... Was I meddling too much?"

"N-No, ma'am! Apologies! I-I am Corporal Yoon Hyo-jun! If I may, could I ask what business brings you here!"

She had never seen a sentry emphasize his own name so intensely before.

"Hunter Lee Sia. I'm here for the Wyvern Breeding Ground subjugation mission. I believe the Hunter Association contacted you in advance?"

"Understood! Please wait a moment. What are you doing, you idiot? Don't just stand there, go check the instructions, quick!"

"Ah, y-yes! Yes, sir! My apologies! I'll be right back!"

It seemed to be a corporal and his subordinate.

The subordinate looked completely dazed, unable to say a word for a while after looking at her... Indeed, no matter how much time passed, the military was still the military.

"Fufu, don't tease him too much."

"Ah, no, of course not!"

"Corporal Yoon Hyo-jun! Identity verified! Hunter Lee Sia has been authorized by the Hunter Association to enter the Curtala Mountain Range!"

"Yes, identity verified. Um, excuse me."

"Yes?"

"Is this your first time here?"

"Yes, it's my first time. I only got my hunter license yesterday."

It was her first time, but she wondered what he wanted to say. When she looked at the soldier, his gaze was drifting slightly downward.

Ah, well... right.

He's a guy, after all.

Even Sia knew how beautiful she—the deceased saintess—was.

Aside from her skin being excessively white and pale, her holy power breasts were incredibly plump. As a man, he probably couldn't help but stare.

"I-If it's not too much trouble, would it be alright if I guided you to the Curtala Mountain Range gate?"

"Isn't that deserting your post? You're a sentry, aren't you?"

As far as she knew, sentries were absolutely never supposed to leave their guard posts or checkpoints...

"Ah... cough... It's not that I'm on sentry duty right now. I just came out briefly to hand over duties as my subordinate's supervisor. My shift is ending soon, and I'll be off-duty, so it's perfectly fine."

When my shift ended, I just went straight to the barracks and passed out. He's certainly working hard.

Of course, his intentions were transparent.

Still, she figured having a guide wouldn't be a bad idea.

Looking across, the interior of Gyeryongdae was massive.

With a bit of exaggeration, the inside of Gyeryongdae was practically another city, filled with numerous buildings and complex roads.

She could just use her smartwatch to find the gate, but there was no reason to refuse when he was offering to guide her.

"Then, if it's not too much trouble, I'll leave it to you."

"...! I'll get ready immediately!"

With those words, Corporal Yoon Hyo-jun dashed inside the checkpoint.

There seemed to be some noisy chatter going on inside, but she didn't really care.

As long as she passed the checkpoint and got guided, that was all that mattered.

"Alright, I will guide you now."

"Yes, thank you."

Fundamentally, hunters were not treated as ordinary civilians.

Just holding a hunter license granted treatment equivalent to a Grade 5 civil servant. They had much greater freedom to enter military bases and even had a certain level of access to classified information.

"By the way, did you know that although it's rare, quite a few deer live in Gyeryongdae?"

"Deer?"

Slurp...

"Yes. They say there are a few white deer, which are famous here. I've never seen them myself, but the soldiers from the transportation battalion who drive the base taxis at night see them often. Once, a deer rammed into a stationary base taxi, and the soldier from the transportation battalion actually got disciplined..."

Leaving the soldier to prattle on, Sia fell into deep thought.

I wonder if the deer here are tasty...?

In the other world, whenever she participated in hunting competitions with Menelapie, they would occasionally roast and eat them. The taste was decent.

Because she had hunted and eaten them with the Empress Menelapie, a natural smile formed on her face at the memory rather than the actual taste of the venison.

Venison. Yes, venison...

Maybe she could catch and eat a deer from this mountain...

No, wait!

Today, I came to eat something far more anticipated and delicious than that!

"We have arrived."

After walking for thirty minutes, a restricted area came into view.

Seeing a few people in suits who looked like they were from the Hunter Association, this gate seemed to be managed in coordination with Gyeryongdae.

"Ah, thank you for the guidance."

"U-Um...! If it's not too much trouble, could I get your number..."

Cre-e-e-eak!!

A flower of tentacles blooming from her lower back wrapped around her body.

The soldier fell to the ground in sheer terror at the sudden mutation of her body.

A few soldiers and hunters managing the gate instinctively raised their rifles at the sight of tentacles suddenly sprouting from her waist, but the Association staff quickly verified that she was a hunter, preventing any major commotion.

"Thanks for your hard work. I'm busy, so I'll head in first."

"...Ah, y-yes..."

Well, she understood that a guy might want to get a pretty girl's number... but unfortunately, she wasn't interested.

Waving lightly to the soldier who was staring blankly with his mouth wide open, she walked toward the gate.

Perhaps because it was an Erosion Dungeon, the gate was always open.

The Association staff member managing the gate had apparently been notified of her arrival, as they immediately cleared the path upon confirming her identity.

"Alright, time to eat some soy-braised wyvern eggs..."

Today, either the wyverns would die, or she would eat soy-braised eggs.

One of those two outcomes would be decided.

Whoosh—

"Brr. It's cold."

Entering the gate of the Curtala Mountain Range Erosion Dungeon felt as if it were directly connected to the Gyeryong mountain range. She was teleported right into the middle of a massive, towering mountain range.

Perhaps because it was an Erosion Dungeon already heavily merged with reality, there was none of the typical floating sensation of spatial teleportation when passing through the gate. The moment she took a step past the gate, the military base and the Association staff vanished entirely, replaced by a completely different landscape. It was a highly fascinating sensation.

Peeking her head back toward the gate, she could still clearly see the military base and the Association staff on the other side.

"Great. Coming and going won't be an issue..."

She pulled out the new AI support drone given to her by the Association.

Let's see... she was supposed to record video from the moment she entered the dungeon, save it, and submit it to the Hunter Association later, right?

There were various reasons for recording the video.

Most fundamentally, it was a test of her abilities.

Thanks to the testimonies of Yeon Seo and Yeonhwa, the Association was already aware that her combat power far exceeded the average. However, it was difficult to evaluate what they hadn't seen with their own eyes based on testimony alone.

If she possessed B-grade strength, they might have accepted it and easily issued a B-grade hunter license. But with testimonies claiming she could hold her own against Yeon Seo—the strongest hunter—the higher-ups wanted to verify her power directly.

This data would likely be used to measure her future rank and register her official hunter license, though she didn't know the details.

Other than that, they said it would be used as educational or research material for next-generation hunters at the Hunter Academy... but that was none of her business. At any rate, they said they would give her this new support AI drone for free if she recorded this video, so she might as well do it.

"Why isn't this working...?"

They said it was a prototype that hadn't been properly tested yet, and it was already acting up.

Chief Choi Bo-mi had said a red light would turn on on the drone camera if it was working properly...

"Did I press the wrong button?"

She grabbed the drone floating in the air and brought it closer, but she was still clueless.

If she had known, she would have read the drone's user manual thoroughly...

But who actually reads manuals?

Nothing to be done.

She had no choice but to press random buttons until the red light came on.

Click, click, beep, beeeep... click.

"Ugh, seriously, what is wrong with this thing!"

The drone camera was quite large.

When it showed no signs of working no matter how much she pressed, she sat down on a nearby rock, placed the drone camera on her lap, and began fiddling with it.

She had learned how to use the smartwatch in less than a day, but this drone camera—aside from having a few buttons—gave her no clue on how to operate it.

Did it not have a hologram interface like the smartwatch?

At that moment, a hologram from the drone camera popped up in front of her.

It was complex and had so many functions that she didn't know what was what... but pressing the button that said "Start Recording" should do the trick.

"Ah, there we go..."

Fortunately, once she pressed the button, a red light began to blink on the drone camera.

"But why is it blinking?"

She had heard that a solid red light would turn on and then off when recording normally, but this camera's light was continuously flashing.

Is this right? Since her knowledge of technology was stuck in 2024, she couldn't be sure.

"Ah, whatever!"

If this video didn't record properly, she could just come back and record another one.

In the first place, the Hunter Association had told her that out of the numerous missions they offered, she only needed to properly record and send one video.

She honestly didn't care if that stupid video was recorded well or not.

Right now, all she cared about was eating soy-braised wyvern eggs.

Sia had no way of knowing.

She didn't know that this new support ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠AI drone camera was packed with all kinds of diverse features.

Originally, the support drones issued to hunters came equipped with a broadcasting system for streamers who did hunter broadcasts.

Of course, not just anyone could apply for this, nor was it a standard feature on every ordinary drone.

Just adding that function cost tens of thousands of dollars, and because it was expensive, its performance was outstanding. A drone camera for hunter broadcasts would automatically distance itself from the filmer, capturing the best and most optimal angles of the subject like an action movie or an anime.

Some people even said the reason hunter broadcasts were so popular among the public was because of those camera angles.

While the drone camera automatically captured the hunter in the most optimal presentation and angles, the moment a battle broke out, it would move dynamically with the hunter like an action film, capturing every movement and detail.

It wasn't a staged movie; real blood splattered, and the awakened's true abilities decorated the battle spectacularly.

The stronger the hunter's abilities, the more viewers went wild during combat scenes, and the drone camera would present its owner like the protagonist of a movie.

Thus, hunter broadcasts were one of the most popular types of broadcasts in this era.

And what Sia didn't know was that the drone camera's hologram didn't just detect touch from fingers.

It recognized touches from toes, tongues, pens, or sticks. The state-of-the-art drone camera's hologram recognized the contact with her massive holy power breasts before it even recognized Sia's hand.

Before Sia's finger could press the [Start Recording] button, her massive holy power breasts—which easily surpassed a size 100 at a glance—had already pressed the [Start Broadcast] button first. It was an accident born of sheer, overlapping coincidences.

Sia currently had no idea that the continuously flashing red light was a signal that a live broadcast had started, not a video recording.

And Sia's drone automatically connected to the internet network, beginning to stream a tiny, unwatched broadcast on the largest internet streaming platform, Switch.

There was no need to create an account.

As long as there was a registered hunter name on the support drone, everything was automatically registered on Switch. Thanks to this, Sia's first broadcast began to be exposed to the public without any proper stream title, showing only the streamer name: Hunter Lee Sia.

At first, nothing was captured on the screen.

For several minutes after the broadcast started, Sia's first stream screen was obscured by something resembling a curtain shadow, showing absolutely nothing.

Though faint noises could be heard, it was just the sound of someone grunting as if trying to manipulate the drone camera. Viewers who happened to stumble upon this deep-sea stream assumed this streamer didn't even know the basics of broadcasting and hadn't mastered how to operate the equipment—a true nobody among nobodies.

Consequently, the internet ghosts and small-stream explorers quickly lost interest in a stream with no greeting and vanished.

However, a very small number of people decided to spare a bit of time, curious to see what this was about.

After all, this wasn't prime time when major streamers were live; it was early morning.

The people watching streams at this hour were either viewers with too much time on their hands or employees on leave with nothing better to do.

"She doesn't even know how to start a stream."

An office worker living in Yeouido, Seoul, was also watching the stream titled Hunter Lee Sia while casually eating breakfast to pass the time.

He hadn't even tuned in because he wanted to.

He was originally scheduled for a business trip, but it had suddenly been canceled, allowing him to enjoy an unexpected day off.

Since he had woken up early, rather than going back to sleep, he was simply flipping through streams randomly while having breakfast.

Hunter streams were the most popular broadcasts in the current generation.

The stream title Hunter Lee Sia alone was enough to draw interest, even if only from a very small number of people.

"There's nothing good to watch in the morning. Maybe I should just turn on the regular TV..."

"Ah, there we go..."

"Pfft!?"

And at that moment, he couldn't help but spit out what he was chewing.

Because the mysterious black shadow he thought was blocking the screen was...

"Breasts...?"

It was an incredibly massive, voluptuous pair of holy power breasts.

Was this a cam stream?

"Whoa, crazy, they're freaking huge... No, wait, what kind of stream is this in the morning... Let me watch just a little bit..."

The man, who had been holding the remote control to change the channel, stared at the screen as if time had stopped, captivated by the colossal holy power breasts and the streamer's overwhelming beauty.

"But why is it blinking?"

The streamer tilted her head, seemingly completely unaware that the screen was broadcasting live.

'Is it a concept?'

Very rarely, there were streamers with unique concepts who pretended, "Oh, I didn't know I was live!"

Of course, in most cases, it was obvious.

Unless they possessed fantastic acting skills, if this nobody was pulling such a concept, her acting skills were remarkably outstanding.

And while his initial gaze had been stolen by the overwhelming chest size that completely blocked the drone camera, the streamer's facial features were also incredible.

She was prettier than most celebrities, but her excessively pale skin and neatly arranged silver hair were also highly striking.

"Ah, whatever!"

Eventually, the streamer let out an annoyed huff and pushed the drone camera away.

The drone floated in the air, capturing the perfect angle and automatically filming and broadcasting her.

Fortunately, the drone camera was of high quality, so the captured screen was as clean as watching a movie.

"..........I've got plenty of time anyway. Might as well watch."

The man had no idea.

He didn't know that in the near future, he would become a major donor of Hunter Lee Sia's stream under the nickname CuteHornedBeast.