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chapter 32




“The level 1 dungeons had all disappeared from our nation in one fell swoop…does this make any sense?”
Jung Sooah asked incredulously after staring at the computer screen from beside me. It didn’t make sense to me at all. Why would it disappear so suddenly after 50 years of staying right where it was?
“It is coming from left field but since it happened, it’s not like we can do anything to change it just because it doesn’t make sense to us. Do you think that’s the natural order? First irregulars appear. Then all the dungeons disappear?”
“SunbehOppa. Are you saying that the two have something to do with one another?”
“I mean, doesn’t it seem like too much of a coincidence? Irregulars suddenly popping up one after the other and level 0 skillbooks that no one has ever seen before appearing. Then out of nowhere the dungeons disappearing. There’s no other way to explain all of this except that they have something to do with eachother.”
“What in the world do you think is going on?”
“Who knows. It’s not as if someone actually created the dungeons and is doing things according to their whim. This is all supposed to be a natural phenomenon.”
After saying this, he felt as if he said something important. Natural phenomenon? Could he really say that the raid system was a natural order of things? It’s true that it has been 50 years since the monsters and dungeons appeared so it all seemed natural. But it didn’t mean this was normal…did it?
Dungeons, monsters, items, and skillbooks. Their origin and makeup were all still mysteries.
“Then what do we do now?”
“You. Why do you keep grouping me with you into a we?”
“Surely you’re not going to say we don’t have anything to do with eachother!”
“We weren’t a thing to begin with.”
“Then we can start being a thing now.”
“I’m amazed you can turn the conversation completely around to suit you.”
“Is it so weird that I would want us to establish that we’re friends?”
“Oh. That.”
“What were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t thinking anything.”
“Hm…not true. I think you were thinking something perverteddd.”
“Stop it.”
****
All the level 1 dungeons have vanished. I had wanted to keep racking up the reward points and raise up all of my abilities but looks like all my plans are out the window. I only had two choices left, I guess.
Field hunting was when you hunt outside of the city – kill monsters in the more rural places. These monsters drop items and ores just like monsters in dungeons do. You’re probably thinking, “Then why don’t people do this all the time instead of paying admission to hunt in a dungeon?” Right? Well, it’s true you don’t pay the high admission fees…but this method of hunting is also highly inefficient.
In a dungeon, monsters have a set skill level, are located in a set area, and appear in a set number. You could count on maybe 3-6 monsters appearing in one place. There are times when a high number of monsters, like the time 10 appeared while I hunted with Lim Hyunjoon’s party, can appear but this was rare. This means raids in dungeons are on the safe side because of its predictability.
Field hunting is unpredictable. Not only are the monsters spread out instead of being in one central area, if you’re unlucky, you could even run into a high-level monster. For this reason, only a group of massive raids are done by pros or armies perform field hunting.
There are also issues with hunting monsters running around near the city by themselves. Once in awhile, monsters appear that look weak on the outside but are actually super high-level. There have been a lot of cases where less experienced parties have messed with these type of monsters and were instantly annihilated.
So basically, dungeons are the safest option.
“Do we have to resort to going into a level 2 dungeon…”
“Can we do it with the party members we have now?”
“Hm..I guess everyone else could work out but glasses girl…Bae Yeongyoung is the problem. Up to Cho Yeongoo and Han Joonseok should be ok.”
“And manager Kim?”
“If that old man just focused then he should be able to do just fine.”
“I don’t think we have to worry about Yeongyoung either.”
“Where is this confidence coming from?”
“She’s been really practicing a hell of a lot recently. She said that after meeting a certain someone and raising her ability a bit, even practice has become a lot more fun.”
“Yah? I don’t know who this person she might be referring to but he seems like a great guy.”
“Are you low key complimenting yourself right now?”
“Oh that person was me?”
Duh I knew it was me.
“Wow. You’re great at feigning ignorance. Bravo.”
“Hm hm. Anyway. At our current level, Level 2 dungeons would be a bit much. We need at least one more person who has level 2 dungeon experience…do you know anybody?”
“There is someone. He’s someone who was part of the leisure groups so I don’t think he’d want to join your party though.”
“Well, such is the life of a porter.”
“How about you? Do you know anyone?”
“Zero.”
“Wow. Wasn’t your answer to quick?”
I’m not a friendly person to start with. Even talking with Jung Sooah like this and being a party head is something that is still hard for me to believe.
“Let’s start with putting up a want ad at the market.”
We posted up an ad at the hunter market. Wanted: Level 2 hunter. Dungeon clearing experience preferred. Magician preferred. That should be enough.
Responses started flowing in.
Tap tap tap!
= Not true! We cleared a level 1 dungeon in 2 hours and then decided to go to a level 2 dungeon ok? We can definitely clear it so if you don’t know anything just shut up and sit down.
Jung Sooah started typing out of anger. I quickly calmed her down but this was only after she had already pressed the enter key.
“You. Why the hell would you post that up under my id?”
“Ah. Sorry. But I was just so annoyed…can’t we report these trolls or something?”
“We. Cant. Move. I’ll fix it.”
All those people were just typing all that because they were worried. They know just how dangerous a hunter lifestyle is so they were just trying to make sure no one was ill-informed. I think.
I deleted the last note and waited for a response. I don’t know if level 2 hunters became even more valuable with the recent events, but we didn’t get even one note of interest.
***
I waited the entire day for a response after sending Sooah home but nothing. After thinking about it for some time, I decided to join a level 2 party by myself. My party members might feel a little betrayed but safety came first. I couldn’t take beginners like them into a dungeon that could very well cost them their lives.
It was fairly easy for me to find a level 2 party to join since level 2 hunters were in high demand right now. They didn’t even properly check my skill level.
The decided location was Gwanak Hills. It was a 10 person party but, looking at all the people who gathered, I couldn’t really put my trust in any of them. Just from one glance I could tell that they were either people who just graduated from level 1 dungeons or people who had the lowest proficiency in their level 2 skill.
“Let’s embark now that everyone is here.”
The party head was in his mid thirties. Not only did he look like a weasel, but he he had a constant sneer on his face that killed my first impression of him instantly. And as expected, an issue arose from the very start.
“What are you doing! You guys are close range attackers! So go on and attack at close range!”
The party head yelled out. The close range attackers were barely keeping themselves within striking distance and acting like they were attacking. This only happens when attackers do not have any confidence in the amount of damage they can cause. What was worse was that there were way too many close range attackers. Among the 10 members, including tankers, there were about 7 close range attackers. They were tangled up together and had zero coordination in attacking. Some were just standing by to see if the person next to them would attack.
“Jesus! Are you guys retarded! This is pissing me off!”
This was partially his fault though. All of this should have been anticipated or in the very least resolved properly by the party head but all he was doing was yelling instead of doing his duties. No, it seemed as if he didn’t even know how to properly perform his duties as a party head. I started wondering if he’s ever even been a party head before.
“FIreball!”
What?
Slam!
At the party head’s command, the magician threw a fireball right into the middle of the chaos. A plume of dust erupted after the huge explosion that ensued.
“Keuk. This crazy…”
I spit out the dust in my mouth as I hurriedly got up after barely evading the attack. When I looked around, I saw that all the close range attackers were rolling on the ground.
This was the worst.
Fireball was a level 2 magic. It had a wide range and caused pretty high damage so it was a spell that needed to be used with caution. But this damn party head ordered the attack right where all of his party members were fighting. We’re screwed.