Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: C-Rank Hunter from Earth
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Late afternoon, the sun painting the sky red as it slowly sank below the horizon.
It was nearly evening, but the Adventurer's Guild was still bustling with adventurers.
"Yes, adventurer! Here's the commission sheet."
The moment one adventurer reached for the dungeon commission sheet handed over by the receptionist...
"A greenhorn like you is heading into a dungeon?"
A hand suddenly shot out and snatched the sheet away.
The man skimmed it once before grinning at the receptionist.
"Wasn't this dungeon Bronze-rank just a few days ago? Why the sudden downgrade to Iron?"
The dungeon listed on the commission was indeed one that had dropped from Bronze to Iron rank.
"It's a guild decision. I don't have the authority to explain it to you, adventurer."
Rally replied in a cold tone.
In truth, she had no idea why that dungeon's rank had dropped either.
She'd simply followed the branch chief's orders. But she wasn't clueless enough to blurt that out.
"And please return that commission sheet right away!"
Despite Rally's request, the man tucked the sheet into his pocket.
"I'll take good care of it. There aren't many dungeons we can even enter these days anyway. They've blocked off everything near the Demon Realm, you know."
"That's because you're not a Silver-badge adventurer, Marcel."
The Sail Kingdom was surrounded to the north by a massive mountain range. Crossing those mountains meant entering the Demon Realm proper.
The Demon Realm.
A land of death teeming with monsters and dungeons.
Anything could happen there. Those who dared enter without fear never returned.
To address this, the Adventurer's Guild imposed one restriction:
Dungeon commissions in the Demon Realm required at least Silver-badge adventurers for entry.
Of course, Silver-badge was the minimum requirement.
Having a Silver badge didn't mean you could roam the entire Demon Realm. The fringes were about the limit.
And the Marcel standing before her wasn't a Silver-badge adventurer.
He wasn't even Bronze—he was Iron-rank.
'You're the greenhorn here.'
Rally thought to herself.
It was ridiculous for an Iron-ranker like Marcel to call another adventurer a greenhorn.
Yet Marcel didn't back down.
"Ah, that's why I brought my big bro along."
The moment Marcel finished speaking, a man stepped forward from behind him.
The man wore a robe and held a staff in one hand.
Anyone could tell at a glance that he was a mage.
"Cut it out, Marcel."
"Got it, bro!"
At the man's word, Marcel—who'd been mouthing off—immediately shut up.
Confirming Marcel's silence, the man turned straight to the receptionist.
He pulled a Silver badge from his pocket.
"Got any suitable dungeons?"
A Silver-badge adventurer had arrived.
Rally checked the badge.
"Your name... Ah, Adventurer Kim Min-jun, right?"
"Yeah! My bro here's from another world! And he's an amazing mage too!"
Marcel, who had sidled up again, puffed out his chest proudly.
Rally had guessed as much from the name.
Kim Min-jun wasn't a name you'd hear on the continent.
'Earth, was it?'
When had it started?
People from other worlds began arriving on the Eldorado Continent.
They'd been showing up long enough that even kids in remote villages knew about otherworlders.
Of course, as a receptionist at the Adventurer's Guild, Rally had to stay informed about the world. She wasn't fazed by otherworlders either.
There were already otherworlders among the adventurers, after all.
"If you're looking for dungeons in the Demon Realm..."
The man was a Silver-badge adventurer.
And adventurers of that caliber usually preferred Demon Realm dungeons, risks and all.
This tendency was especially strong among those in the Sail Kingdom, close to the Demon Realm.
Rally began checking the commission sheets.
After rummaging for a while, she bowed her head.
"I'm sorry. There are currently no dungeons left at the edge to the demon realm...."
The timing was bad.
All the dungeons at the edge to the demon realm already had requests placed on them.
The remaining ones were deep in the Demon Realm—off-limits to Silver-badges.
"Don't worry about that! My bro's about to get his Gold badge soon!"
"Marcel."
Marcel mouthed off again but promptly shut up.
But Marcel was right.
Kim Min-jun held a Silver badge now, but he had the power to reach Gold anytime.
His trait was Mana Sensitivity.
The ability to sense and read mana better than others.
It was an A-rank trait.
"So, can we take the commission Marcel grabbed? Looks like no one's claiming it anyway."
"Ah."
The newbie adventurer who was originally meant for it had vanished sometime ago.
But there was another issue.
"That dungeon's Iron-rank, though?"
It was beneath Kim Min-jun's level.
She asked out of courtesy, but he shook his head.
"Doesn't matter."
Rally had no choice but to nod and transfer the rights to Kim Min-jun.
"As expected of bro!"
Marcel bowed in admiration.
But Kim Min-jun said flatly,
"If you're done, look after the party. We'll head out this evening after prepping."
"Evening? Isn't that too late?"
It wasn't the Demon Realm, but the adjacent mountains in the Sail Kingdom were dangerous too.
Wouldn't it be better to leave early tomorrow morning since it was getting late?
"Doesn't matter. Don't argue."
"Got it."
Marcel wondered why Kim Min-jun insisted on evening departure. But he quickly pushed the thought aside.
Kim Min-jun was a Silver-badge adventurer, after all.
No matter how treacherous the mountains, it shouldn't be an issue.
And the dungeon itself was just Iron-rank.
The entry time hardly mattered, so Marcel rubbed his hands and flattered,
"Bro really is amazing!"
Then he headed off to his party.
For Marcel and his crew, there was no reason to refuse a Silver-badge joining them in the dungeon.
'Including Marcel, that's four in total.'
Marcel's party numbered four: two men, two women.
Truth be told, any dungeon suited Kim Min-jun fine.
He actually preferred this Iron-rank one over Demon Realm dungeons.
'Gotta kill 'em all anyway. The easier the better.'
From the start, Kim Min-jun planned not just to clear the dungeon, but to kill Marcel and his entire party too.
That was his goal in approaching them.
It had been just two months since he arrived on the Eldorado Continent.
Before being summoned here, he'd been a hunter on Earth.
Normal hunters entered dungeons to hunt monsters, but not him.
Kim Min-jun hunted hunters as a villain.
His hunter rank was C-grade.
Even that was because he'd hidden his power.
With his A-rank Mana Sensitivity trait, he could manipulate mana freely—including during mana inspections.
He could've gotten at least B-grade, but chose C on purpose.
There was a reason for it.
C-grade hunters were middling—not too high, not too low.
Thanks to that, even after killing hunters left and right, he stayed off the suspect list.
Among his serial victims were a few B-grades.
No one would've suspected a C-grader as the killer.
But long tails get stepped on eventually.
Once his crimes came to light, he became a fugitive from the government and guilds.
'Lucky timing, though. Got summoned right as the net tightened.'
The moment the encirclement closed in...
He was summoned to the Eldorado Continent.
If caught then, he wouldn't have gone quietly. Perfect escape.
Plus, the continent's mana density dwarfed Earth's.
For someone with Mana Sensitivity, growth potential here was off the charts.
Grow strong here, return to Earth—none could stop him.
That was Kim Min-jun's plan.
Of course, growth aside, he didn't stop killing here either.
With less oversight, he rampaged even more than on Earth.
Why harm others?
No reason.
Pure entertainment.
On Earth, and now on the Eldorado Continent, he prioritized his own fun above all.
Kim Min-jun used his Silver badge to cozy up to newbie adventurers, then killed them the moment they entered a dungeon together.
Perfect crime.
Sure, doing this forever would eventually trip him up.
But by then, no one could touch him.
He was confident he'd be far stronger.
"Two women in the party, right?"
Kim Min-jun smiled at the faces of the women in the group.
He was already looking forward to it.
Even a murder enthusiast like him was still a man.
'Time to relieve some built-up stress.'
Evening was approaching.
As darkness fell outside, he'd lead them to the dungeon.
Then his world would unfold.
"Heh."
He had no doubts.
The dungeon had completely transformed just moments ago.
Its layout shifted, and the monsters' types and numbers surged.
All thanks to the miracle wrought by the great existence.
As lieutenant, Celia was thrilled by the changes, yet felt a bittersweet pang.
"I ended up relying on Master again..."
Master himself had used his power.
Until then, Celia had managed expansions through merchant deals and repelled invaders on her own.
She thought she'd done well, but apparently not.
"If only I'd done better..."
Celia even blamed herself.
But soon she raised her head and clenched her fist.
"Of course, My master did it out of care for us."
Her master was a merciful person..
Perhaps he didn't even know that he used his power for the people in the dungeon..
Otherwise, how could one explain giving a house for goblins to live in, creating a space for herself, and even paying attention to the space for the captured human adventurers?
How else to explain it but his mercy?
"Ah, thank you."
A skeleton soldier handed Celia a warm cup of tea.
Another monster placed by the merciful Master as her limb.
"Right. No need for me to mope.
Just keep doing my best from now on."
Clack clack.
The skeleton beside her nodded in agreement.
Celia smiled at the sight.
Yeah, what good was sulking?
Time to buck up.
"Still, we don't even have a decent offering for Master..."
A small altar sat at the dungeon's end.
The only place to offer sacrifices to Master.
Master used his power for us, yet she couldn't even offer him one sacrifice.
Originally, the adventurers who invaded a few days ago, especially the woman, had intended to offer an artifact.
But would Master be pleased if such an artifact were offered?
Absolutely not.
Master is a great person.
This kind of artifact would not even come close to satisfying him.
"Indeed, offering humans as sacrifices would be better."
Living humans might please him more than artifacts.
But this batch was a bust.
One died instantly, and the other turned into a ghoul.
The female adventurer was exerting herself for the dungeon. Of course, it was involuntary, but it didn't matter from Celia's perspective.
"I hope someone comes soon."
The next opponent will definitely be a sacrifice offered to Master.
There is no greater honor than being offered to the great being.
"It should be of the highest quality, if possible."
Even among humans, there was a clear difference between a commoner and a mage who could manipulate mana.
If one had to choose between the two, it was obvious who would be offered as a sacrifice.
Master will probably be satisfied as well.
Celia eagerly awaited someone to enter the dungeon with a proud heart.