Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Just Come and We're Go!
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Dungeon.
An otherworldly dimension that appeared after the world changed.
Dungeons came in many forms, the main two being entrance-type and exit-type.
Currently, only entrance-type dungeons were called dungeons, while exit-type dungeons were referred to as gates.
And the first dungeon was a gate that had appeared in mid-air.
Humanity suffered immense damage from the monsters that poured out of the gates.
Fighter jets? Battleships?
They were powerless against the monsters flying in the sky or emerging from the sea.
Missiles or nukes.
They could inflict damage.
However, this only ended up reducing the habitable areas for humans.
In the midst of this, the ‘Awakened’ began to appear one by one.
They were humans who could destroy buildings with their bare hands or heal open wounds.
Using skills powered by the unknown force called mana, humanity, with them at its core, began to reclaim its place.
A long time has passed since then.
The world now calls the Awakened ‘Hunters,’ and they live on, creating systems and institutions amidst the threat of monsters.
And what solidified these systems and institutions was the exclusive community site for hunters created by the Hunter Association, Huntranet.
Click—click-click.
‘Are there any raid parties I can join right now?’
Logged into Huntranet, Do-jae clicked the mouse and navigated to the menu he was looking for.
There were various menus like Hunter News, Guild Information, and 1:1 Trading, but the one Do-jae clicked was the Raid Party Recruitment menu.
‘It would be nice if there was a quest.’
After clearing the first quest, the next one didn't appear.
No matter how many times he called out, ‘Check Quest,’ the only message that appeared was, ‘No quests in progress.’
There was no way of knowing if a specific condition needed to be met.
So, he decided to level up in the meantime.
Whatever the next quest might be, he needed to get stronger if he was going to fight monsters again.
Scroll—.
Do-jae scrolled down, checking the raid party recruitment posts.
- ‘Hope Guild’ is looking for a healer-class hunter. We offer the best treatment regardless of rank.
- Mercenary wanted. For 3 days starting next Tuesday. Please check the post for details.
- [Seongjin Cooperative Guild] Looking for members to join our new guild! Please contact us if you have a bright personality and are hardworking~
...
Dozens, even hundreds, of posts were uploaded to the raid party recruitment page every day.
With the advent of forced awakenings in addition to natural ones, the number of hunters was gradually increasing, but it couldn't keep up with the rate at which dungeons and gates were appearing.
Furthermore, considering the hunters who died in dungeons, the manpower shortage was quite severe.
Ping—.
Ping-ping—.
In the top right corner of the screen, a red light appeared on the bell-shaped icon.
He had applied to raid parties with lenient requirements, and replies had come in.
Do-jae immediately checked the notifications.
- We're sorry. You are not a good fit for us.
- We just finished recruiting. Please contact us next time.
- We're only looking for D-rank and above. An F-rank is a bit... Good luck.
...
Rejection messages arrived from the few raid parties he had applied to.
It was to be expected.
His ID was proudly marked as F-rank, after all.
‘Do I have no choice but to join an Association raid party?’
He could participate in a raid party organized by the Association.
However, the nearest dungeon was the one he had already applied for, and its raid was scheduled for four days later.
And if he looked for one farther away, it was already full, so he would have to wait just the same.
For now, he had no choice but to keep scouring the recruitment page.
Scroll—.
Click—.
Scroll—.
Click—.
Scroll—.
"Hm?"
After turning a few more pages, a title caught his eye.
Click—.
- Just Come and We're Go! Just bring your hunter license.
The extremely informal tone of the title.
Recruitment posts like this were usually for private raid parties.
‘A private raid party.’
A private raid party was, as the name suggested, a raid party organized by an individual.
Dungeons were discovered using special mana detectors, but because the detectors were so expensive and few in number, only mid-sized guilds or larger could afford them.
Occasionally, an individual might discover one, but most would sell the rights to a guild or the Association for a large sum of money.
This was because if the discovered dungeon was beyond the individual's capabilities, they would have to hire powerful hunters.
In such cases, the cost would outweigh the reward, so it was wiser to just sell it.
On the other hand, even if it was a dungeon they could clear, various legal procedures were required.
Various contracts and confirmations had to be completed, along with investigations and reports.
After finishing all that tedious work and recruiting hunters, the freelance hunters would then refuse.
The loot from the dungeon would be monopolized by the individual organizer, and it was obvious that participants would just be tagging along without making any real profit.
The income was not worth the time invested.
Due to these overlapping circumstances, the supply of private raid parties was low, but so was the demand.
Click—.
Do-jae immediately clicked the title.
-
Just Come and We're Go!
Weapons? Armor? Potions? No!
Just need your license! Ok!
Do whatever you want. You can mess around. You can stand still. You can stay out of sight. We'll take care of everything.
We'll leave as soon as everyone is ready!
Location: Near Macheon Station, Songpa-gu, Seoul
Contact: 010-...
-
‘Songpa-gu isn't that far.’
The location was close, and it seemed they would depart as soon as he contacted them.
Plus, the part about doing whatever he wanted.
It was obvious they just needed a warm body to fill the numbers.
However, this point was what attracted Do-jae.
‘I can interpret that as me being allowed to hunt too, right?’
Do-jae called the number listed.
"Hello?"
***
Hunter, Song Deok-hoon.
The Vice Guild Master of Manseong, Korea's 7th-ranked guild, and an A-rank hunter.
Such a man was currently in a very foul mood.
"Tsk, tsk. What an immature brat."
Deok-hoon had successfully completed a raid that lasted late into the night, had a company dinner with his guild members, and only parted ways after the sun had risen.
However, he couldn't even go home and had to return directly to the guild to approve various documents.
He finally managed to get to bed only when lunchtime arrived.
Had he slept for about two hours?
He was woken up by the loud ringing of his phone.
The caller was his nephew.
He considered ignoring it and going back to sleep, but knowing the kid's personality, he would surely keep calling until he picked up.
In the end, he had no choice but to answer the phone, and after listening to his nephew's whining, he scowled, threw on some clothes, and went out.
How could he not be annoyed when, despite the hassle and fatigue, he went out only to find his nephew acting like a spoiled child?
"Isn't my uncle awesome? He'd crush most A-rankers. No, if he fought one-on-one, he might even be able to take on an S-ranker."
Deok-hoon's nephew, the D-rank hunter Shim Young-jin.
And his friends, who were also D-rank.
Shim Young-jin was busy boasting about his uncle in front of his friends.
His friends added a word or two to humor Shim Young-jin.
"Whoa... Your uncle's got a crazy aura. So damn cool."
"Young-jin, after the raid, can you put in a good word for me with your uncle? Ask him to get me into the guild."
Puffed up by his friends' reactions, Shim Young-jin spoke with a thoroughly arrogant expression.
"That's why you need to make a good impression this time. Then I'll have something to say. But don't go acting cocky for no reason. Got it?"
This was the real reason Shim Young-jin had called Deok-hoon.
He said he wanted his uncle to teach him and his friends about dungeon raiding, but in reality, it was to get himself and his friend into Deok-hoon's guild through nepotism.
‘If only I hadn't been drunk then.’
Shim Young-jin always went around boasting about his uncle, but he had to go and promise his friend he'd get him into his uncle's guild while he was drunk.
Once he sobered up, he realized that, nephew or not, Deok-hoon's personality wasn't one to just let someone in through connections. But to admit he'd misspoken would be a loss of face.
So, after much deliberation, he came up with this situation.
"Uncle! The last person said they'll be here soon, so please wait just a little longer."
"Tsk. If it wasn't for my sister's request... All right."
It was almost unheard of for someone of Deok-hoon's stature to form a private raid party to train D-rank hunters, even if one was his nephew.
But how could he refuse when Shim Young-jin's mother—that is, Deok-hoon's older sister—had begged and pleaded with him to help her son?
To Deok-hoon, who had grown up in poverty, his sister was like a mother. That's why he couldn't possibly refuse.
"I'll just go easy on them and get some rest."
For about ten minutes, he quietly watched Shim Young-jin and his friends chatter excitedly.
A man walked toward them.
"Hello. I'm Lee Do-jae, the one who called."
"Ah, the person who called this morning! Hello. I'm Shim Young-jin, the one who took your call."
Shim Young-jin smiled and offered a handshake.
"I look forward to raiding with you."
Do-jae extended his hand and shook it.
"Of course! No need to worry. So, shall we start with introductions? I don't think we talked properly on the phone. Oh, and please give me your license. I need to take a picture and send it in."
At Shim Young-jin's request, Do-jae handed over his hunter license and spoke to the others.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Lee Do-jae. My hunter rank is F, and my position varies. I usually handle cleanup or loot collection."
Do-jae finished his simple introduction.
Shim Young-jin's friends started whispering.
"Did he really just bring anyone? If he was going to get an F-rank, why not just call a civilian?"
"Hey, Young-jin will hear you."
"Okay, okay. Shh."
"Besides, he said no one contacted him for days. It's probably better to just get anyone so we can show off our skills quickly."
"True, a higher-ranked hunter would just take our share anyway."
They thought they were speaking quietly among themselves, but their voices reached Do-jae's ears clearly.
It was the effect of the stats he had invested after leveling up from the quest.
Unaware of this, Shim Young-jin spoke with a bright smile.
"Nice to meet you! I'm a D-rank hunter and my position is a frontline dealer. I haven't been a hunter for long, but I'm pretty skilled. Hahaha."
After introducing himself, Shim Young-jin proceeded to introduce the others one by one.
"This is Kim Jun-soo, a frontline tanker and D-rank hunter. Over here is our backline healer, his name is Sung Min-ho. A C-rank hunter, no less! He can heal minor wounds in an instant. Not that you'll get hurt! They're all my friends, and we've raided together many times, so our teamwork is great."
It was a well-structured combination.
A tanker to draw the monster's attention, a dealer to unleash explosive attacks in the meantime, and finally, a healer to provide support from the back.
The number of healers was especially and overwhelmingly scarce, so just having one made it a good party.
"And this here is... the Vice Guild Master of the Manseong Guild! The A-rank hunter, Mr. Song Deok-hoon! Now you see why I told you not to worry, right? For your information, he's my maternal uncle. Kehehe."
Do-jae greeted Deok-hoon.
"Hello. My name is Lee Do-jae."
Deok-hoon returned Do-jae's greeting.
"Let's have a good day."
Unlike with his worthless nephew and his friends, he was polite to Do-jae, who was a complete stranger.
It was the kind of courtesy expected from the Vice Guild Master of a major guild.
"That's enough with the introductions. It's already three o'clock. Shall we start the raid? I'm so excited!"
Shim Young-jin exclaimed energetically.