“Shit! Why the hell did that psycho throw a fireball…”
The monsters were taken care of, but the close range attackers had also taken serious damages as well. 3 had taken some damage and another 3 were in critical condition. Among those who had taken damage was the party head. Those who had taken critical damage were quickly taken outside the dungeon. Luckily there were emergency personnel outside so they would live.
“You rotten bastard! What the hell was that?”
One of the close range attackers who had taken damage yelled out at the party head.
“If we didn’t use the fireball, we would have been in trouble. If you had done your job probably, none of this would have happened.”
“What…?”
Squeeze!
When the close range attacker took hold of the party head’s collar, the party head just let out a sigh and said.
“Do you just want to stop the raid right here?”
“Euk…”
“If you want to stop then just hit me and leave.”
“Shit!”
He let go of the collar and stepped back. We only had 7 people left now. We lost 3 of our members but decided to keep going. Everyone had paid 1,000 each in admission fees. No one was willing to just throw that away.
Ironically, with the reduced numbers we were able to hunt more efficiently. Even the party head started leading the members better. When I glanced at his face, I saw that his last mistake didn’t concern him in the least.
To think that his mistake had caused 3 people to be hauled off to the emergency ward and he was still just fine about it.
Surely he didn’t do it on purpose.
I turned my head and glanced at the magician. He was talking privately with the party head. Based on their body language, it seemed as if they were acquaintances at the very least. I guess that explains why the magician to follow such a reckless command.
We started our fight with the orks.
The party head and the 4 close range attackers fought against the orks using both offensive and defensive measures. Since I had level 2 armor, I also put in my fair share of attacks whenever the opportunity arose.
“Mr. Jeon Sangmin! Stop shielding and start attacking!”
The party head ordered. I nodded my head and went to attack the ork the party head was fighting. I pushed the longsword I held in my right hand straight into the side of the monster. Since it was only a level 1 weapon, it wasn’t able to pierce the monster’s hide, but it was enough to take it by surprise.
In that moment, the party head pressed on even harder. Overwhelmed by both attacks, I was able to plunge my bloodysword into his neck.
[+200]
Ha. Are you giving me 200 points since it’s a level 2 monster? It’s double the normal amount, but I felt a little bit cheated nonetheless because the effort it took to kill this was more than double.
“Mr. Sangmin. Not bad.”
The party head said.
“Thank you.”
No point in spouting unnecessary modesty here. I couldn’t flex too much, but I could at least show some confidence.
“Let’s take care of the rest.”
***
The raid progressed very slowly. For every fight, we rested over 20 minutes in between. We had injuries at the end of each fight. Ultimately, the party head had to declare that the raid was done after a mere 2 hours since starting.
Clap.
“We are going to stop here because there are so many injuries. I will start the contribution distribution shortly so everyone please stand by.”
After 10 minutes, the party head revealed the rankings. Party head was number 1, magician number 2, and I was number 3. He called out everyone else one by one for a total of 7 people.
“How about the injured?”
I asked.
Since they were injured due to friendly fire, I thought it was only right that they receive some form of compensation from the magician’s distribution.
The party head glanced at me briefly before saying.
“I don’t know if I must give them any distribution for not even being able to evade friendly fire.”
“It’s difficult to dodge that kind of an attack in that situation.”
“But didn’t you dodge? You certainly received no damage.”
“I don’t think that is any reason to exclude the wounded.”
“Then tell me another reason why I should compensate them. I have no inclination on paying people who didn’t deserve it.”
“Isn’t that something you should have brought up at the time of recruiting?”
“Mr. Jeon Sangmin. I’m only saying this being I feel your talent might be wasted otherwise. Mind your own business. If you keep putting your nose in where it doesn’t belong to stick up for someone else instead of watching your own back, you won’t live too long.”
“…understood.”
I knew that if I pushed the issue, it would only prove to hurt me. I guess I could also see where he was coming from. You shouldn’t go into a level 2 dungeon if you don’t have the skills for it. But I also knew that since the level 1 dungeons had disappeared, this was their only option.
***
Even after we had finished the raid, I didn’t feel good about it for a long time after. Under normal circumstances, if the contribution distribution didn’t end well like today, it would become an issue where the same party would not be able to form again. Injury can happen to anyone and if someone were cut out of the distribution because of this reason alone, there would be no one willing to join that party again.
But it was different now. Because now there were people willing to join any party to be able to go to a level 2 dungeon.
“Whew..”
I let out a great big sigh as I went in to check the hunter market job board. I couldn’t stop thinking of what that jerk had said.
Mind your own business.
There was never a point in time that I thought of myself as sympathetic or as a good person. I was as used to lying and pretending as a person could get due to my years as a porter. I didn’t have any issues with using people and I had no problem throwing someone under the bus. But only if the circumstances warranted it.
I didn’t want to take advantage of someone’s misfortune. That was all. I don’t know if it might have been deliberate or not but, at the end of the day, it was a fact that he had retired 3 people and robbed them of their distributions. These were people who probably were not level 2 for a long time. If you took into consideration their hospital bills…they were sure to be debt ridden for a long time.
Maybe that was his plan. To gather desperate people, retire them from the raid early on, and throw them away. Horrible.
Click.
I went to the wanted ad. That asshole party head had already put out an ad. Maybe it was because he had listed that he was open to all applicants that there were so many people applying. I was contemplating whether or not I should post something when I decided not to.
Ring-
While looking at all the replies for his ad, my phone rang. I checked to see if it was maybe Jung Sooah but it said Song Minhan. It was my broker.
Click.
“Yeh. What’s up?”
[Hey. Didn’t you say that you were now a hunter?]
“I can probably say that I told you that several times.”
[Is level 2 ok with you?]
“Now that you mention it, I actually just came back from one just this morning. It wasn’t that hard.”
[Really? You haven’t even been a hunter that long…anyway, that’s good news. You remember Eum Hyunjoon right?]
“Yep.”
[The team he joined creating a clearing party. Why don’t you try applying? Since the level 1 dungeons disappeared, applicants for level 2 dungeons increased like crazy. So it looks like they’re getting together a bunch of level 1 hunters to go into level 2 dungeons. Of course the contribution splits become way smaller because there will be so many people in a party, but it’s better than sitting around.]
“Isn’t it bad to try to move with such a big party? Just the admission alone is 1,000 per person.
[I don’t know the specifics but I hear that their procedure will be changing with this new crisis. From what I hear, they have some connections with the dungeon ops people so they supposedly only pay a max of 10,000 per team. So if they have a team of more than 10 people, the rest can enter a dungeon without paying admission.]
“But if there are so many people, it’ll only cause more problems than help…”
[Nah. They’re going to Baeksapyoung.]
“Ah…if it’s there then…”
Baeksapyoung dungeon wasn’t in the city but in a rural area. It was a 2 level dungeon known for its wide open space that could fit several dozen people with no problem.
[I’ll give you their number so call them and check it out.]
“It’s fine if I bring a couple more people with me right?”
[Sure. They’ll be recruiting based on tests anyway so it’s better to have more people apply.]
“Thanks for the tip. But what’s the referral fee…?”
[This is on the house so shut up.]
“Thank you.”
I held the phone to my ear and bowed. He couldn’t see me, but it was the thought that counts. After hanging up, I hurriedly called all my party members. Time to rock and roll.