Job Change 3

"Huk. Huk."

Rough breaths laced with the metallic tang of blood escaped Kang Jeonghun's lips. Sweat drenched his face, and his armor bore scratches in multiple spots. Particularly on his side, there was a noticeable dent—if it hadn't been Kim Suho's armor, that strike would have been fatal.

Beyond that, Jeonghun had endured dozens of near-death scrapes, pushing through the grueling fight with sheer grit.

'Of all the bosses, why'd it have to be this guy at the end? Damn it.'

This dungeon's boss was a golem, randomly manifesting with one of three attributes: Fire Golem, Ice Golem, or Iron Golem. And the one that appeared was the Iron Golem—the absolute worst matchup for Jeonghun.

As its name implied, the Iron Golem boasted immense physical defense. In trade-off, its mana defense was weak, making it easy prey for magic classes. For Jeonghun, though, it was the nightmare pick among the three, turning the battle from fierce to downright desperate.

"Damn it. Where the hell is the core?"

His voice dripped with frustration. No wonder—after clashing with the Iron Golem, Jeonghun was already in rough shape. His armor was dented in dozens of places. He could repair it with the auto-restoration magic pattern, but mana was too precious to waste on that, so he'd left it battered.

Even while taking hits, Jeonghun had fixated on locating the golem's core. To probe the 5-meter-tall behemoth's body for the hidden nucleus, he'd smashed and shattered it relentlessly. Each blow had to land with full force, and the golem sure as hell wasn't standing still for it.

In the end, he'd confirmed spots half by tanking hits with his body. Yet despite all the destruction, no core emerged—reason enough for his irritation.

In this dungeon, Jeonghun had faced every worst-case scenario he hadn't seen in six months. If it weren't his final attempt, he'd have bailed without hesitation. And the nightmare extended to this boss: not just the Iron Golem, but its core hidden in some impossible spot.

He'd checked every location Kang Taehoon had mentioned, but nothing. A thought flashed through his mind.

'Yeah. Everything's been the worst so far—maybe the core's in the worst possible place too?'

Jeonghun stopped targeting likely spots and shifted to improbable ones. After hammering away like that for a while, he struck gold unexpectedly.

His original mark was the wing-like latissimus dorsi—what you'd call the "wing muscles" on a human. But the Iron Golem twisted suddenly, exposing its armpit instead.

And there, Jeonghun saw it: the core revealed as metal plating peeled away from the armpit's depths.

The price was steep. Like a dragon struck on its reverse scale, the golem's speed doubled in an instant, slamming into the airborne Jeonghun.

Kwang!

Before he could even summon Earth's Barrier, the golem's fist plunged down. Jeonghun whipped his sword around, flat-blading the block.

'Ugh...!'

The moment the fist met his blade, he felt not just the speed but the raw power had changed. Suspended midair, he couldn't deflect it properly. Slammed straight into the ground.

Thud. Thud.

Bouncing and cratering, Jeonghun rolled several times before stopping.

Cough.

Blood sprayed with his cough, his body shuddering. He'd poured mana into the armor just in time—otherwise, one hit would've ended him.

He wanted to collapse and rest, but the Iron Golem loomed closer. Jeonghun chugged an upper-grade healing potion, activated a heal magic pattern, and sprang up.

Kwang!

As he rose, another strike hammered down—barely dodged, or it'd have been lights out.

The golem went berserk, unleashing a barrage. The destructive force and speed were on another level now. Its previous attacks weren't weak, of course—a moment's lapse could've been fatal, like the last one.

But this? No room for distraction. Even full focus barely let him evade; a split-second lapse meant instant death.

Kang!

He dodged a flying fist, but the golem was faster. His pinky grazed his left arm—a glancing blow that snapped the bone. He triggered another heal pattern on reflex.

'Can't keep this up. The longer it drags, the worse it gets.'

Over ten days conquering the dungeon had piled invisible fatigue. Potions forced stamina recovery, but mental exhaustion from endless fights was brutal. Even at peak condition entering, this golem was iffy—now? No contest.

This dodge too—he thought he had it. But his body lagged. Not much, just 0.1-0.2 seconds. Enough to turn a clean miss into a broken arm and emergency heal.

And that gap would only widen with time.

'Core's exposed anyway. Dragging it out's suicide. Time to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠go all-in.'

Jeonghun figured if he didn't end it now, quest failure was the least of his worries—survival itself hung by a thread. Decision made, he acted.

"Haste! Frenzy!"

Pouring everything in once more. With Haste and Frenzy active, the golem's blows whiffed.

Dodging a few more, opportunity struck: fist incoming head-on. Jeonghun vaulted over it.

"Mad Slash!"

Landing on the shoulder, he cleaved it off. Through the gap, a diagonal thrust for the kill.

"Wrath Strike!"

His greatsword pierced the exposed shoulder at an angle, stabbing the core. The golem shuddered.

Jeonghun leaped back far.

Brurur.

Tremors intensified, then a deafening boom—shrapnel exploded outward viciously.

Maximizing distance, Jeonghun stacked Earth's Barrier three times, weathering the debris.

Then, a notification popped before his eyes.

Jeonghun stared at the nonstop alerts like a madman himself.

He'd expected growth from the job change—stats would rise, naturally. But he'd kept goals modest: just enough Strength and Mana (1,000) to equip raid gear. Around +300 Strength, +400 Mana.

From the first Strength surge, his mind blanked. Current Strength: 713, plus 700. Past Vitality and Intellect, Mana hit +1,000—he rubbed his eyes. Max Madness jumped 500 outright; he toppled backward.

Lying there, more alerts piled on like they were mocking him: 'The real fun's just starting—don't pass out now.'

All skills powered up: 2x minimum, up to 3-4x.

While Jeonghun gawked blankly, a single line pinged outside the dungeon—for me, signaling his quest success.

Tension melted away at the sight; I staggered briefly.

"Guild Master."

Worried voices rose at my wobble.

"Guild Master, you okay?"

Bang Taegeuk steadied my arm, concern thick in his tone. But I replied brightly, no trace of unsteadiness.

"I'm fine. No worries. More importantly—Jeonghun did it."

The original guild members lit up, grasping the meaning. We hadn't spilled on the job change quest amid the crowd, but joy filled their faces.

"What? Jeonghun cleared an S-rank solo? How'd you know?"

Choi Taesu, at the gate entrance, shot a puzzled look.

Shit—too late to take it back. I skirted vaguely.

"Yeah, just... know things sometimes. Dungeon's cleared, but I don't have current status. Take care of Jeonghun for me, will you?"

"Got it. Heading in now."

Choi Taesu dove in with Kang Taehoon and Park Hyungsoo, emerging later with Jeonghun.

Jeonghun emerged unscathed; everyone congratulated him. Kang Taehoon clapped his shoulder with praise. Choi Taesu went full tsundere.

"Now you're finally worth something."

Knowing the drill, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Jeonghun bowed.

"Thank you."

As Taesu turned: "Good work."

Jeonghun smiled softly.

With Jeonghun safe, the crowd dispersed. We originals headed back to HQ.

Jeonghun shared his rewards with the others.

"S-Seven hundred?"

"M-Mana by a thousand?"

"Skills three-to-four times stronger?"

Even I was stunned. Job change quests naturally rewarded big—especially NPC-issued ones with penalties. Still, I'd capped expectations at 2x stats max. That alone would've put Jeonghun top-ten nationally.

Reality shattered it: non-Mana stats near 2x, Mana over 2.5x, skills 3-4x. Total power? Way beyond. From top-ten to top-five fingers instantly. In the raid team, third behind Taesu and himself.

Gazing at Jeonghun's stats, I was awestruck. He'd blitzed past mine effortlessly. I'd grown like a storm via dungeon books, yet he'd caught up in one go.

No jealousy—just pure amazement. Made me briefly consider another Switzerland trip for more books.

Then a voice snapped me back.

"Guild Master, can I get ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a job change quest too?"

Bang Taegeuk asked dead serious, others chiming in.

"Me too, Guild Master? But for production classes, what kind of quest...?"

Seo Taehee's bold push surprised me; Taeju and Ha Geonmin jumped in.

"Think it'll be 'gather herbs from every dungeon worldwide'?"

"Leatherworking? Piece of cake anytime. But what if it's clear-a-dungeon for us too?"

Ha Yeji stood, hand raised, silently demanding her turn—like shouting 'Me next!'

To be continued in the next chapter...

The Hunter Who Awakened as an NPC