Chapter 16
Chapter 16
This Is Why You Become an Adventurer
“Uwaaa! Uwaaa!”
It was chaos.
“Fuck! Let go! I saw it first!”
Absolute, unhinged madness.
“You bastard! You didn’t even cover me back there—”
“What are you talking about? You’re the one who—”
They were practically drooling like beasts, scrambling over each other to grab pieces of the loot.
Was this really the limit of so-called rational human beings?
I smiled warmly.
Yes. This is it. This is exactly it.
“Captain, are we taking the eyes too?”
“Take everything! Orcs don’t waste a single part!”
“Hehe, yes sir!”
There are many disgusting parts of being an adventurer.
But the reason you can’t quit this job… is this moment.
The moment you clear a dungeon and collect rewards.
Money.
All of it gold.
All of it feeding my wallet like a loyal servant.
Elise immediately processed the orc bodies like a dismantling machine.
Once her hands touched them, the orcs were reduced to neatly separated organs, skin, and meat.
“Rinsu! Don’t let them take that one! Go get it!”
“Yes, Captain!”
On the other side, adventurers were already fighting over carcasses.
Leaving something like that behind?
Idiots. You process it while it’s still fresh.
Rinsu jumped in on her sword and snatched four or five orc bodies like skewers.
“Hey! That’s cheating!”
“This is the life of an adventurer. All means are permitted.”
In just a short time, she had already become a perfectly ruthless adventurer.
Meanwhile, Moriah was crawling across the ground like a wild dog, stuffing anything left into her bag.
“Ugh… ngh…”
Not everyone was losing their minds though.
“Hey, Rose. Are you okay?”
“I… I’ve never done anything like this before…”
“What do you mean never? Just cut it open and peel the skin.”
“Eeeek! It’s gross!”
That’s Rose for you.
How was she even raised like this?
“Stop acting all delicate and get to work. You’re not going home until this is done.”
“Ughhh…”
She groaned while holding the harvesting knife.
“Haah… this is going to take forever. Rinsu, help her.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Rinsu walked over with a sweet smile.
“Now Rose, let’s start with grip posture—”
“D-don’t come closer you monster!”
Her resistance was meaningless.
“Now, hold it like this and cut in one clean motion—!”
“Kyaaack!! IT MOVED! IT MOVED!!”
“It’s just rigor mortis. The air inside came out.”
“I can’t do this, Rinsu!!”
And so, the Spartan training continued.
After that, we pushed deeper into the dungeon a few more times.
Thankfully, no major issues occurred.
Orcs, unlike goblins, had higher intelligence and lived in organized groups.
Normally, that would make them dangerous.
But with their leader gone, that structure collapsed quickly.
In fact, their tight tribal structure made their downfall even faster.
Which meant—
We were now harvesting them like crops.
Three days passed.
Three days of eating, sleeping, and living inside this damn dungeon.
Sweat, stench, exhaustion.
Even Elise—who once tore enemies apart like pulling weeds—was visibly tired.
Rinsu and Moriah were slowing down too.
“Ugh… I… I hate you, Captain…”
Even Rose had finally adapted somewhat.
Everything has an ending.
Even greed.
I walked over to Dudley.
“Dudley.”
All eyes turned to me.
“Boss… you’re here.”
…Boss?
Since when?
One of his men bowed deeply.
Then Dudley stood up after wiping his hands.
“You here, boss? Time to leave?”
“Yeah… it’s been three days.”
“Understood. I’ll inform the others.”
Before I could even say anything, they all started packing immediately.
In less than ten minutes, everything was ready.
“Boss. We’re ready to move anytime.”
“Uh… o-okay?”
I haven’t even done anything yet.
And yet they were all staring at me like I was the leader.
“Boss, why aren’t we moving?”
“Me? I go first?”
Dudley nodded like it was obvious.
“You are the leader of this raid party, boss.”
…Leader?
Since when?
Before I could even process it, Dudley dropped to one knee.
And the others followed.
“I apologize for my earlier disrespect, boss.”
“We also apologize.”
Even Carlos’s mage, Breeze, bowed his head.
“Back then I judged you wrong. I apologize sincerely, boss.”
Then Dudley declared loudly:
“We’ve decided to recognize you as ‘The Morning Star’!”
“W-what…?”
Morning Star?
Some legendary adventurer title.
I tried to refuse.
I really did.
“I’m just a rookie adventurer…”
Dudley shook his head firmly.
“No. You are not.”
And then he started listing things.
Your observation skills.
Your leadership.
Your courage in battle.
Your calm judgment.
Your ability to see through enemies.
“Boss… you’re basically a hidden master pretending to be weak!”
…What the hell is wrong with this guy?
And then—
“Long live the Morning Star!”
“Lead us, boss!”
Everyone started cheering.
I gave up trying to explain.
“…I’m really just a rookie.”
“Of course you are. A disguised genius.”
Damn it.
That sounded so much like an excuse I couldn’t even argue back.
Then Elise stepped beside me.
“Captain, shall we go?”
Rinsu was on the other side.
Rose and Moriah were staring at me too.
“…Fine. Let’s go.”
Just this once.
Just helping them out.
That’s all.
“We’re glad you’re safe, Siwoo!”
“Kaoli. We made it back safely thanks to your help.”
We exited the dungeon.
Kaoli had literally set up tents waiting for us.
He hugged me tightly the moment he saw me.
Honestly, I’m not a fan of that kind of thing.
But this time… it felt good.
“I heard everything. You did well. Truly.”
“It was thanks to your information.”
“My information? No, I left too many gaps…”
We shared a short laugh.
Then we headed to the guild.
And finally—
“Orc leather, 1200 pieces… total 1700 gold.”
…Damn.
This is why you become an adventurer.