Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Mini Dungeon (2)
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Having watched Lee Hyun-jun's training, the TV Girl spoke up.
"Lee Hyun-jun is certainly something. You can tell he's fully aware that players are beings who transcend ordinary humans, and he's training with that in mind."
The TV Girl spoke with evident satisfaction.
"But even among players, not many train that rigorously. Training alone doesn't raise your stats."
A Supporter muttered.
And he was right—training by itself wouldn't boost stats.
However, it did increase proficiency and adaptability.
Even if you pumped coins into raising your stats, failing to adapt to your enhanced body would just be a waste.
And skills only grew in proficiency through repeated use in varied environments.
So players who quickly boosted their stats with coins couldn't get strong by skimping on training.
In other words, Lee Hyun-jun was actually following the textbook approach.
"Why is that guy so hardcore about it...?"
One of the Supporters muttered.
His tone suggested curiosity about the backstory.
But the TV Girl just scoffed.
"A player's personal motivations are none of our business. We're just here to select those who pass the preliminary round's first phase."
"Hmm..."
"Show me some other players with high chances of passing."
"Yes, ma'am. Please take a look."
They displayed a few more groups next.
- Group 1: Lee Hyun-jun's group with the [Airflow Control] skill.
Even as a one-man group, their estimated combat power was the highest.
- Group 3: Led by Kim Min-kyung with the [Mother of Parasites] skill.
Kim Min-kyung's skill was solid on its own, and with most members infected by parasites, they moved in perfect unison.
- Group 9: Led by the redheaded girl Kang Se-rim with the [Infinite Magazine SMG] skill.
For such an eccentric redhead, her skill was straightforward and overwhelmingly powerful.
But her group members didn't follow her all that well.
- Group 25: Led by Museng-hwa with the [Heart Devoid of Birth] skill.
The leader Museng-hwa went for a monk aesthetic, but his skill hid a secret far more powerful than it appeared.
- Group 26: Led by Han Sung-cheon with the [Grace of the Lord] skill.
A faith-based group centered on a specific religion, but surprisingly unified and strong.
Like Museng-hwa's Group 25, the [Grace of the Lord] skill concealed greater power than met the eye.
These five groups were the strongest, followed by Group 30 and Group 38.
- Group 30: Led by Jang Eun-seok with the [Direction Spirit Summon] skill.
Jang Eun-seok's skill summoned spirits that handled directional information.
Thanks to clever application, they steadily picked the right paths without fanfare.
However, Jang Eun-seok himself had significantly lower combat power compared to other leaders.
- Group 38: Led by Lim Ji-hyun with the [Red Dragon Summon] skill.
True to her powerful familiar-summoning ability, she was strong.
In terms of single summoned entities, Lim Ji-hyun's Red Dragon was the mightiest, though slightly inefficient.
"That's about it."
The Supporter finished his explanation.
But the TV Girl tilted her head.
Someone essential was missing.
"Why was Group 41 omitted?"
"Yes. Allow me to explain."
The Supporter straightened up and spoke.
"Based on our Supporters' monitoring and analysis, Group 41 may be powerful, but their odds of passing the preliminaries are surprisingly low."
"Hmm? Why is that? Dokgo Hyun there has an S-grade skill."
"It's due to his personality traits and the crisis score flagged by our analysis program. At his current stats, there's a high probability he'll clash with Lee Hyun-jun and die in phase 1 or 2 of the preliminaries."
The Supporter stated the projected outcome.
Lee Hyun-jun, the strongest in this zone, had openly declared he would kill Dokgo Hyun and Kim Min-kyung.
Especially targeting Dokgo Hyun.
In other words, Dokgo Hyun was effectively the number two here—which was an honor of sorts.
But according to the Supporters' analysis, that honor would likely cost him his life at Lee Hyun-jun's hands.
"Lee Hyun-jun is dead set on killing Dokgo Hyun, even if it means going all out. Dokgo Hyun could become a major threat if he grows further, so he's moving to eliminate him. More decisively, the stat gap is already huge. Dokgo Hyun has no means or coins to bridge it right now."
He concluded.
"Dokgo Hyun's personal skill is high, but his death probability is even higher. Thus, we excluded Group 41. That's all."
"I see..."
The TV Girl acknowledged that the Supporters' assessment wasn't baseless.
"But Dokgo Hyun would be well aware of everything you just mentioned."
"True. But knowing it won't be enough to close the gap, Supervisor."
"Heh. Maybe. I admit it's a solid, by-the-book analysis... but will it really play out that way?"
"Pardon?"
"Dokgo Hyun's skill is one of the furthest from conventional wisdom."
The TV Girl didn't believe Dokgo Hyun would die.
"Pull up Group 41's feed immediately."
Group 41 was in the middle of a Korean food mukbang.
Nothing unusual stood out.
"They were training with weapons until just now, and now they're eating."
"Hmm, so it seems."
"Um, Supervisor, is there a special reason you're taking an interest in Group 41...?"
As the Supporter spoke, the TV Girl stared down at him impassively.
Her smooth, flat TV-screen face reflected the Supporter's own.
"Ah, no, I'm not questioning your orders...!"
"It's fine. If you're curious, I'll tell you."
The TV Girl said.
"Dokgo Hyun is one of the 'candidates' designated by the Total Administrator."
"Gasp...!"
Candidate.
What for? Local Supporters like them had no way to know.
Only that the Total Administrator had selected these players based on his own criteria for demonstrating some unparalleled 'something.'
'For reference, even the player called the Prophet knows about these candidates.'
The TV Girl didn't mention that part.
In any case, Dokgo Hyun was one of the Total Administrator's expected candidates for something.
"I-I see. I had no idea...!"
The Supporter flustered.
The TV Girl stretched languidly—or pretended to.
"I'll rest up a bit. Alert me if anything suspicious pops up."
"Yes, ma'am!"
After finishing their meal, Group 41 did some light stretches and prepared to challenge the dungeon.
"Ready?"
"Of course!"
"..."
"What?"
"Nothing."
Dokgo Hyun gave the waiting room one final scan before speaking.
'The hint said to find the hidden door.'
Dokgo Hyun had checked every corner during their break.
But no hidden white door anywhere.
'Definitely not in the waiting room. Must be somewhere in the dungeon.'
"Let's head out then!"
Clank!
The door leading from the waiting room down to the dungeon swung open.
Beyond it lay stairs.
"Scouting formation."
Dokgo Hyun at the vanguard, the other three behind.
With [Time Distortion], Dokgo Hyun's time sense had sharpened tremendously.
If a fast-moving object appeared from ahead, his reaction time was a notch quicker than most.
Step... step...
At the bottom of the stairs appeared a cave straight out of a game.
"Ugh, a stinking cave."
"Not pitch black, at least."
A cave without light sources should be utterly dark, but game logic made it merely dim, not vision-blocking.
"Ah, traps."
A few small bear-trap-style ankle snares caught his eye.
Dokgo Hyun disarmed them easily with the Venom Knife.
The moment he did...
"Kyaaak!!"
Goblins charged.
Small monsters with dark green skin.
Daggers and short spears in hand.
"Going with the chaos tactic!"
He'd only explained it verbally, no practice.
'I'll dive into their ranks and sow chaos. Finish off the panicked ones.'
Gripping his greatsword, Dokgo Hyun [Instant Acceleration]-dashed into their midst.
"Hup!"
Whoosh!!
A spinning slash right in the heart of the enemy.
Unlike a normal spin slash, this was under [Instant Acceleration].
Splatters!!
Three goblins dead instantly, five more wounded.
"10 coins per goblin!"
Dokgo Hyun shouted, and the team moved in to finish them.
Stab!
Stab! Stab! Stab!
The first goblin pack cleared in a flash.
"Onward."
Doors, traps, forks appeared intermittently, with goblins ambushing.
Group 41 handled it all calmly.
'They're all fighting well.'
He'd worried a bit since they came from normal-difficulty tutorials.
But they exceeded expectations.
"Yaap!"
Eun Jua stabbed only as deep as needed with her spear, then snagged a fleeing goblin's ankle with [Silver Snake Creation] for the kill. Precise work.
"Hrah!"
Choi Han-pung enlarged and reinforced his left hand with [Palm Reinforcement].
Using the giant palm as a shield, he thrust with the spear in his right.
Growing more adept, he even widened gaps between his enlarged fingers to stab, then clenched to block.
"Heh, turns out I barely get to shine? Hup!"
Kang O-su supported from the rear with dagger throws, but ironically had the lowest contributions.
Dokgo Hyun's overwhelming power, plus Eun Jua and Choi Han-pung's solid performance, left few openings for him.
"Kya kyaak!"
"Kieeeek!"
The goblins tried fleeing again, but Group 41 coldly eliminated every last one.
"Whew, starting to feel the strain."
Dokgo Hyun wiped sweat from his brow.
"Everyone holding up?"
No one was heavily fatigued.
"Looks like we've explored about half."
"How can you tell?"
Kang O-su asked, and Dokgo Hyun pointed ahead, as if to say "see for yourself."
Kang O-su smirked.
"No kidding."
"Uh, we're going right... right?"
Eun Jua glanced at Dokgo Hyun nervously.
Boss monsters seemed dangerous to her.
But Choi Han-pung disagreed.
"Ahem, I'd rather take on the boss."
"Why?"
"Listen, Jua. Treasure spots always have traps. Or monsters swarm the path back after you grab it."
"Well, sure, treasure isn't just left lying around..."
"Exactly. Better to smash the boss outright. What do you think, O-su?"
Kang O-su replied.
"Guess it's my time to shine. Send clones to scout."
Slither.
Having conserved energy in the rear, Kang O-su summoned two clones effortlessly.
"Oh! Good call!"
"Perfect. Send one down each path to scout."
Choi Han-pung and Eun Jua cheered.
But Dokgo Hyun scratched his head, looking like he had something to say.