Chapter 3. The Dungeon Team. (1)
The pre-dawn air had grown bone-chilling, and every breath he exhaled burst out in white puffs of steam. Seven in the morning. In summer, the sun would have been blazing overhead by now, but this late autumn, the world was still wrapped in darkness. Cutting through that dim, cold morning air, Kang-jun ran with his hood pulled down, his breath coming in ragged gasps until his mouth tasted of iron.
Just ten thousand more vitality.
With only one condition left to unlock, he ran himself to the brink, pushing for that final point of vitality. Once his ten-kilometer dawn run was done, he went straight into martial arts practice. He ran through the Asura Palm Method and Tai Chi Fist Method like warm-ups, then dove into the real work — the first form of Thunder God Sword, an S-rank technique. He had no proper weapon, so he grabbed a suitable tree branch and swung it.
A first form wasn't just about going through the prescribed poses. The degree of completion shifted dramatically depending on how much qi he channeled into his limbs with each swing. At his current level, he couldn't even finish the second form. After that point, he was just a thug — nothing more, nothing less.
Especially with Thunder God Sword, as the name suggested, speed — lightning-fast swordplay — was paramount, and precision was everything. If his fine control slipped, his movements grew sloppy, and sloppy movements created openings. Conversely, the faster and smoother his combos flowed, the deadlier they became. The legends said the ultimate expression of Thunder God Sword was to become lightning itself — the very essence of thunder. Unfortunately, Kang-jun hadn't reached that realm yet.
He finished the first form of Thunder God Sword and immediately moved into the second. But his mana was running dangerously low, his stamina was depleted, and the tip of the branch was already trembling in his grip.
No, just a little more.
Kang-jun gritted his teeth. His entire body was drenched in sweat. His limbs were screaming in agony. But he swallowed every cry, swinging one more time, and one more.
Vitality increased by 1. 1st Awakening condition unlocked. (3 / 3)
The notification chimed right as he was about to collapse. Kang-jun threw the branch aside and sprawled flat on the ground. Rough breaths rattled through his throat. He didn't even have the energy to open the chat window — he focused entirely on breathing. The sky was slowly brightening. The crimson clouds reflected in the dawn light looked almost beautiful. No — everything in the world felt like pure happiness. It was a bit ridiculous to go through all this hell for just a first awakening, but what could he do? He felt good.
Once he'd caught his breath, he pushed himself up and opened the chat window. As expected, it was already chaos.
Then Yebi finally showed up, after a long absence.
"Thank you for the 100 coupons, Yebi-nim! I'll use them well! And thanks for the 1 coupon too, Mas-nim."
Kang-jun pushed himself up from his stiff body and shook the dirt off his backside. The sunrise was already beginning in the sky. The empty streets were filling with diligent office workers. Every now and then, the scent of perfume wafted by and lifted his spirits.
Oh-geonam had already left for work — the room was cold and empty. Kang-jun threw all his sweat-soaked clothes into the washing machine and immediately took a cold shower in the bathroom. Hoo, hoo— It reminded him of those exhilarating cold showers back at the guerrilla training camp.
His roommate was at work and wouldn't be back until late afternoon, so no one would be coming to this basement apartment until then. Kang-jun locked the window shutters tight and turned off all the lights. Morning light filtered through the windows, but the basement never got bright. It felt just right.
He cleared a space in the center of the room, stripped completely naked, and sat cross-legged. Hup— hoo— He took a deep breath and opened his status window. A new button had appeared beside the stats section.
Kang-jun swallowed hard and pressed it. The awakening began. It was a process accompanied by some pain — of course, since his stat capacity was about to double from its current state, there was no way it would be painless.
The most significant change was the widening of the pathways through which mana circulated. To describe it precisely, it felt like going from being able to fit one finger in his nostril to fitting two. The pain was followed by a sudden, clear openness that struck the back of his skull. Going from a single lane to a double lane, the flow of mana had completely transformed.
His body was carved, opened, and reassembled, over and over. It dragged on stubbornly for hours. When the awakening was finally complete and he opened his eyes again, it was already midday.
He clutched his ravenous stomach and immediately opened the small refrigerator. There was some leftover food. He took it all out without picking and stuffed it into his mouth right there. A naked man squatting in front of a fridge to eat wasn't exactly a pretty sight.
Please…
After a first awakening, one trait was generated at random — literally random. It could be C-rank, it could be S-rank. What came out was purely luck. Of course, there were rumors that luck stat had some influence.
Kang-jun stuffed his cheeks full of food, chewed thoughtfully, and quietly opened his status window. He didn't need to check anything else — stats and traits were enough.
◈ I Don't Feel a Thing (B / S): Weak resistance to all physical and magical attacks. Resistance increases the more you're exposed to attacks.
◈ Eventually I'll Get There (C / C): During intercourse, if the partner has a stat higher than yours, there's a very low chance that stat will increase by 1.
◈ Wow I Don't Die in One Hit (B / B): Buff effects increased by 50%. Debuff effects reduced by 50%.
An ah of disappointment escaped him. The effect-increase trait was decent, but without a buffer, it was as good as a painting of a cake. Fortunately, the debuff reduction was a bonus, so it would at least help somewhat with labyrinth exploration. It wasn't the trait he'd wanted, but it wasn't terrible either.
Kang-jun filled his stomach, took another cold shower, and left the room. The air was still chilly.
A dealer and a healer. If I just get those two, will it be enough?
He pushed a cart through the mart, tossing things in as he thought. It would be nice to have a guard too, but there was no one suitable right now. Of course, there were plenty of capable guards among the locals, but they'd never join a ragtag labyrinth team like this.
For now, he'd focus on those two. If it didn't work out, he could always double as guard and dealer himself.
Kang-jun felt it was time to start laying the groundwork. He could probably patch over the team's shortcomings somehow. As long as he got through the early stages, there wouldn't be major problems.
After finishing his shopping, Kang-jun cooked a proper meal for the first time in a while. He grilled beef and ham. When Oh-geonam came back from work, he was already starving and stumbling around.
"Hey, don't touch anything. Go wash up first. You stink."
The guy quickly showered and squatted down at the table. While Oh-geonam chewed through the meat, Kang-jun quietly checked the envelope of daily wages he'd received. Working all day for 130,000 won — who was he supposed to stick this to?!
"I'll be busy starting tomorrow, so get your own dinner."
"Can I go to a meat place then?"
"Don't spend too much."
"Got it, boss."
Heheh. The guy was already happy just thinking about eating meat. Still, Oh-geonam had adapted fairly well to society over the past few months and knew how to act like a person. His violent nature still occasionally surfaced, but compared to before, he was a gentleman.
Anyway, Kang-jun rested thoroughly that day and left the room late the next morning. The subway was already empty of office workers, filled with a leisurely atmosphere.
He watched the passing scenery for a while and got off at District 31. This area had lots of hills, so the city itself had a greenish tint. He turned on his phone and habitually checked the date and time. Friday, October 19th, 10:22 AM.
Kang-jun already had a destination in mind. He walked straight there as soon as he exited the station. The wind blew, and brown fallen leaves drifted down one by one, rolling across the street. Stepping on them made a satisfying crunch.
He turned the first corner, the second, the third, and swung right — a large café came into view. A reasonable number of people were already settled in various spots.
Kang-jun strode inside. Women's eyes instinctively flickered toward him. He walked straight to the counter and scanned the menu. He picked one item and turned his gaze to the part-timer.
"Would you like to order?"
The woman asking him was Kim Hye-mi.
Of course, she had no idea who he really was. She'd seen him plenty of times, of course — he'd come to the café and ordered coffee like this before. But she only knew him as a very handsome male customer, not at all aware they were in the same organization.
Inside, she was probably thinking, He's here again, and just enjoying the view of his good looks. Kang-jun ordered an iced café latte and found a suitable seat. The women nearby stiffened slightly. Even if they pretended not to notice, they were aware of him.
One iced café latte is ready.
Kang-jun went back to the pickup counter, grabbed his coffee, and returned to his seat. Flipping open a book he'd brought along was just the cherry on top.
Before falling into this damn world, he'd been a web novelist with a fairly thick fanbase. His reading volume was incomparable to ordinary people. Reading wasn't just a means to look good in front of others.
Of course, it had been a long time since he'd actually read like this. Reading those rigid rows of characters suddenly felt like being in a different world. But it wasn't a bad feeling — it reminded him of his writer days, scraping by for pennies. He felt a floating sense of nostalgia, caught in hazy memories.
Kang-jun sat there completely absorbed in his book for a solid two hours. A major chapter of the novel ended. His mind briefly returned to reality. He checked the time. It was almost 1 PM. Kim Hye-mi's shift change was coming up.
Shortly after, the replacement arrived at the café. Once she changed into her clothes and came out, Kim Hye-mi went into the staff room. She soon emerged with a bag over her shoulder, said goodbye to the shift workers, and left the café. Kang-jun cleared his seat and immediately followed after her.
Not too close, not too far. He maintained his distance well. She seemed to be heading to a private training facility run by the organization. She still hadn't noticed the tail following her. In fact, Kang-jun was suppressing even his breathing and following her in secret — it was genuinely stealthy. It wasn't strange that she, who hadn't even reached awakening, wouldn't notice.
She soon entered a place called PX 24-Hour Training Facility. Kang-jun followed her in. He bought a daily pass and changed into training clothes. The female trainers were desperate to say something to him — their eyes fluttered with pink fantasies.
Kim Hye-mi was good-looking in her own right, so plenty of wolfish, lecherous gazes were directed at her. The male trainers were just as eager to make a move as the female ones. Kang-jun just watched from a distance for a while.
Basically, since her strength, agility, and vitality were all low, the male trainers found it very easy to butt in. Oh, you shouldn't do it like that, they'd interject at the slightest opportunity. But innocent Kim Hye-mi, who knew nothing, just smiled prettily and said thank you.
Of course, being in the same space, Kim Hye-mi's eyes couldn't avoid landing on Kang-jun. Naturally, they didn't acknowledge each other.
Since he'd already come to the training facility and spent money, Kang-jun also trained hard, sweating profusely. And he didn't forget to observe Kim Hye-mi's training in between. …She had no talent for this side of things — every single movement was terribly inefficient. There was no need to force her useless strength and agility up.
Anyway, she filled four hours and went into the locker room. Kang-jun followed her in, quickly showered, and came out. A little while later, Kim Hye-mi emerged from the locker room with a full face of makeup. A male trainer who seemed to have made up his mind approached her.
Some conversation passed between them. She looked a bit flustered, but eventually handed over her phone. They seemed to have exchanged numbers. Kang-jun smirked and watched the whole scene. He'd received several business cards from female trainers as well.
She came out of the training facility. He, who had been waiting outside, called out to Kim Hye-mi.
"Is something the matter…?"
"I'd like to have a conversation."
"A conversation?"
Kang-jun smiled and leaned his upper body slightly forward.
"As a fellow member of the same organization."