48th Zone Dungeon Exploration (Part 3)
The chat window was, as always, filled with trash talk, so Kang-jun scrolled through it without much interest. Since the cafe owner lady had come up, he threw in a line just in case — though he didn't expect much.
As expected, the guys couldn't stand seeing Kang-jun succeed, so they didn't even bother mentioning missions. They weren't satisfied with women who couldn't even count as supporting characters, that much was clear.
Kang-jun figured he'd have to put aside any hopes of getting missions for a while. All he could do was scrape together whatever small amounts of coupons people threw his way like charity.
He closed the chat window and refocused on the exploration. Of course, they were still at the entrance, so there weren't even any monsters to be seen, let alone their remains. Day-trippers always flocked to any dungeon, so it was better not to expect to see monsters within a day's distance.
The extra-large premium lamp they'd rented was definitely three or four times brighter than the one he'd used before. Thanks to that, his field of view had roughly doubled. Naturally, the safe distance had widened accordingly, so the tension was somewhat reduced compared to last time.
The team members, having accumulated multiple exploration experiences, showed noticeably more confidence than before. Still, compared to other A-class dungeons, this place was a bit higher level, so complacency was absolutely forbidden. If the average monster level in an A-class dungeon was around 140, this one was about 20 levels higher. A 10-level difference was already noticeable, so 20 levels meant a whole tier above.
Each breath produced a faint, colorful cloud of vapor. The weather had warmed up a bit, and thanks to the well-insulated clothing they'd brought, it wasn't as cold as before — no blue lips this time. On top of that, Hye-mi and Zixu's stamina stats had grown considerably, making them more resilient to temperature changes.
"There's so much stuff here..."
Hye-mi muttered a small complaint, brushing aside things that kept catching her feet. There was quite a bit of trash inside the dungeon — leftover food, plastic, cans... nothing was missing. Somewhere there were probably corpses too. If there had been a Grim nearby, she would have cheered in celebration.
Step, step. It was so quiet that the sound of footsteps struck sharply against their ears. Occasionally, something like an unidentified scream could be heard from far away. It was impossible to tell whether it was a human's scream or a monster's roar.
Kang-jun frequently turned on his phone screen to check the electronic map. Zone 1 wasn't very wide. Beyond it, passages branched out like an octopus's tentacles, and they had to choose one. Of course, he had a pre-planned route, so he found that direction and moved toward it.
Whenever a foul smell drifted by, Hye-mi wrinkled her entire face and waved her hand around her nose like a fan. It was faint from this distance, but if she'd smelled it up close, she probably would have vomited everything out.
Anyway, the team broke through Zone 1 in an hour. There were four passages ahead, and Kang-jun chose the fourth one, which led to Zone 5.
This area had a slightly lower average level than the others. Since this was their first time in this dungeon, Kang-jun judged it better to start with something mild.
The Kang-jun team passed through a large passage and arrived at Zone 5. They took a brief 10-minute rest at the desolate entrance before moving on. There were quite a few stalactites here.
"I guess other teams don't come here much?"
The trash was noticeably reduced compared to earlier. With fewer monsters and lower levels, it was naturally less trafficked. That didn't mean no teams came at all, just that fewer came compared to other areas.
They kept walking. Kang-jun checked the time — 9:37 AM. Zone 5 was quite large, so they'd probably pass through it late in the afternoon. If they encountered a few monsters, it could take even longer.
There are some, but...
He'd spread his mana quite widely, and still only detected a handful. The population was definitely sparse. Still, it would be fine for a warm-up. Expecting too much on the first day would be greedy.
The Kang-jun team soon encountered a monster. The team members dropped their backpacks and took formation. It was an arthropod-type monster. It was obviously inedible, but since it was charging at them, avoiding the fight was difficult.
Its appearance, like a mix of an ant and a centipede, immediately provoked disgust. Hye-mi, who was already terrified of anything that crawled, gasped in shock at the sight of it.
"Just do it like we practiced!"
Kang-jun spat out those words before the battle and gripped his sword tightly.
Everyone except Hye-mi burned with fighting spirit. Zixu quickly chanted a spell and cast fire magic. Ogeunam slammed his large shield onto the ground to draw the monster's attention. Hye-mi grit her teeth and prepared to cast a heal.
Shriik. The monster moved hundreds of legs, wrapping around the stalactites as it moved. Its raised body was the size of a brown bear. With its long body included, it was much larger than that.
It lowered its raised body and suddenly lunged at Ogeunam. The rough attack pushed Ogeunam backward, unable to hold his ground. Then, with a sloshing wave, the monster slammed its hard body down onto Ogeunam.
!
He quickly raised his shield to block it, but the impact was tremendous, and Ogeunam ultimately dropped to one knee.
Thanks to the time he'd bought, Zixu had successfully completed her fire magic. She slammed her staff into the ground. A fireball flew at high speed and exploded against the monster's body. It would have dodged if it hadn't been distracted by Ogeunam, but Zixu cleverly aimed for the opening.
Hye-mi quickly poured healing magic into Ogeunam. Recovered, he took advantage of the monster's staggered retreat to rise again and raise his shield.
The monster shot forward again. This time, Zixu was the target. Ogeunam shoved the monster's body aside with his shield, deflecting its trajectory. The monster's head was pushed back, but it forced its way toward Zixu.
That's when Kang-jun stepped in and swung his sword. In one clean strike, he split the monster's head right down the middle. Ah. Zixu couldn't help but marvel at his martial prowess every time she saw it. It wasn't magic — just a plain iron sword producing that kind of power was truly amazing.
Kang-jun finished it by driving his sword deep into the writhing monster's head. The creature, which had been clicking its teeth by moving its jaw, soon went limp. Its legs, which had been clicking slowly like a wound-down clockwork, gradually stopped moving.
Whoosh. Kang-jun wiped the fluid off his sword with a cloth and sheathed it. He checked Ogeunam's condition first. Thanks to Hye-mi's healing, he seemed fine.
"Everyone did well this time. And, Kumba, missing that last one was a bit dangerous."
"Sorry, Captain."
"Don't make that kind of mistake next time. Monsters can suddenly switch targets like that, so always keep that in mind."
Since the guard had been broken, he could have pushed harder, but this time it was an unavoidable situation caused by a speed difference. That was exactly why stat values were so important. No matter how good your technique was, if your stats lagged behind, you'd fall short.
After the battle ended, they put their backpacks back on, walked a bit further, and took a rest. Since there was no need to dismantle the monster, there was no reason to rest in a smelly place.
...By the time they finished passing through Zone 5, there had been two more battles. By then, Hye-mi had nearly exhausted her mana, and her face had grown pale.
Kang-jun set up camp at the edge of Zone 5. Everyone finished their allotted rations in a flash. Ogeunam and the troll girl seemed to find it insufficient, sucking on their fingers as if they were going to eat them. However, exceeding the rationed food consumption had to be restrained. Anything could happen in the dungeon, so a certain amount of emergency rations was essential.
After setting up watch rotations, they each went into their tents. These were rental items too, and they were definitely much better than the cheap tents they usually used. ...Money really was the best thing.
Kang-jun checked the electronic map one last time to confirm tomorrow's schedule, then closed his eyes. He finally understood the saying that even if scholars memorized the Three Classics for a hundred or a thousand days, the character for "lie down" () was the greatest.
The exploration of the 48th Zone Dungeon proceeded smoothly. On the third day, the Kang-jun team finally arrived at Zone 17, which they had designated as their target point. It was a kind of branching point, so quite a few teams had gathered there.
Kang-jun planned the day-trip course for tomorrow. Small teams had limits on how much equipment they could carry, so exploring further was difficult. Medium-sized teams with more than 10 members would stay here for another four or five days, and large teams could go even deeper.
"There's a hero over there, I think."
Hye-mi and Zixu, who had gone to check the surroundings, said they thought there was a hero team not far away.
"Curious?"
"A little."
Hye-mi said that, making a tiny space between her thumb and index finger. Kang-jun chuckled and patted her, saying not to worry — they'd get to watch their fill later.
Just then, a couple of men and women came over. Kang-jun immediately knew what they wanted.
"Want to combine camps?"
"There's only five of us, is that okay?"
"It's fine."
Kang-jun didn't decline. It was always better to sleep more if possible, and it would also provide more security.
They packed up their camp and went over. In total, three teams gathered — a 10-person C-class hero team, an 8-person D-class hero team, and the 5-person Kang-jun team.
The two hero teams had met for the first time today, yet they were laughing and joking like senior and junior colleagues, acting quite close. Anyone could see that was just networking.
"D-class? I've never heard of that."
Hye-mi whispered to Kang-jun, asking what a D-class hero was.
"It's like trainees. In corporate terms, it's like contract workers. When C-class positions open up, some D-class members get promoted."
"Positions open up?"
"There's a contribution metric you have to meet every month. If you don't, your score drops. There are plenty of cases where C-class members get demoted back to D-class."
"Oh, I see..."
Hye-mi, who had thought becoming a hero meant it was all over, learned that even among heroes, there was their own league.
If Kang-jun passed the hero exam, he'd have to start from D-class. Becoming B-class would take quite a while, let alone A-class.
"Captain, they're saying we should set the watch rotation over there."
Zixu ignored the man who kept trying to flirt with her and called out to Kang-jun. The man was momentarily flustered. Zixu had a temper — she wasn't called the cold beauty for nothing.
Kang-jun said he'd be right back, stood up, and took the man over to where the other teams had gathered. The heroes weren't team leaders, but they had influence equivalent to that, so they were standing next to each team leader.
He looked at the two heroes' faces. The D-class was a man, the C-class was a woman. He had no idea who they were. To Kang-jun, that meant they were nobodies. The C-class seemed to think she was quite famous, with her nose held high. ...Well, it wasn't exactly wrong. A C-class hero was considered very successful. Their fashion even set trends, so there was no need to say more.
The team leaders set the watch rotation and dispersed again. On the way back, Kang-jun noticed someone calling out to him. When he turned around, it was a young man who looked like he was about to cry. The boyish-looking guy handed Kang-jun a business card.
"My sister asked me to give you this."
The business card, reflecting the dim light, was obviously elaborately decorated. Looking at it, it was from the C-class hero from earlier.
"She said to contact her sometime."
The man whispered that subtly and turned away. Kang-jun chuckled. Well, if he wanted to deal with it himself, that was fine...
He put the business card in his pocket and kept it. He might need to contact her later.