Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Episode 2. Easter Egg (2)

I tapped my forehead and thought about which monsters I needed to place on the rest of the floors. I wanted to make it difficult gradually, not radically. It was better for everyone to have gradual progress as if the levels were a staircase. If it became too difficult after a sudden point, the warriors wouldn’t want to come to the dungeon before they become much stronger by hunting monsters or clearing quests. That would take too much time.
Moreover, if the warriors were stronger than my monsters, I wouldn’t get any points, which also meant I wouldn’t get the return of my investment.
‘I should place some Orcs on the second floor; they repopulate quite quickly, so I don’t need to place many of them,’ I thought. ‘For the third floor, I should place a few leaders of kobolds and goblins….’
With a leader, monsters became a systematic pack and more difficult to fight against. The leaders themselves were much stronger than others, which also meant they were quite pricy.
‘I just burned 100,000 pt,’ I reminded myself.
When I shopped for monsters all at once, my points disappeared so quickly it was as if they had evaporated. I still had 240,722pt, and I was planning to save it for later.
‘There will be a Devildom auction in four months with a lot of goods, so I should save my points for that.’
There was an annual auction that Devildom organized under the name of the demon god Death Bringer. There would be rare items there that couldn’t be purchased at the shops.
240,000pt was not enough to buy all that I wanted to have. I really wished I had at least a million points.
‘I must get a demi-dragon.’
I could buy some slaves at the Devildom auction. Unlike in other places, I would be able to bring every purchase back to my dungeon.
Sometimes, people were able to get a guardian to protect the dungeon core. The dungeon core was the center of the dungeon, so naturally, it was the most important thing in a dungeon. Hence, the best thing possible had to protect the core.
Chrisrah, a demi-dragon with dragon blood! One of the guardians of Archduke Ufa. In Chrisrah’s former life, he was famous for his highly-skilled spearmanship and horsemanship. He was one of the top 100 strongest monsters controlled by devils.
I was able to feel his strength with my skin. Chrisrah was particularly cruel when he killed humans. As if he had a deep grudge against humankind, he always showed them hatred. Even the devils had to be terrified by his cruelty against humans.
Countless human warriors were killed by the spear of Chrisrah, and I was about to have a chance to get him during this auction. Although I couldn’t remember the exact figure, I remembered he was quite pricey. 240,000pt would be not enough to buy him.
‘A strong monster is one of the indicators to measure how strong a devil is,’ I thought.
Chrisrah was my first priority among the available monsters. I had to have him even if that meant I had to spend all my points. Chrisrah was extremely violent, but as long as he was branded, he couldn’t disobey his owner. With proper training, he could easily become a floor master or a dungeon core guardian.
‘I wish I could get more points…’
I got points when the monsters in my dungeon killed the warriors, but I was still in the beginning. The points I could earn by killing a few weak warriors were not enough.
If anyone asked me if I could just kill many of them, I would rather smile to mock the person than answer that question. That would be a stupid act, just like killing the golden goose.
‘Is there any achievement I can make?’
When one made an achievement, one could get a considerable amount of points. I’d gotten some points when I combined a unique skill and cleared the training room for the first time.
There was also a way to trade with the devils, but no devil would be willing to trade with me, an enemy of four archdukes.
‘The beginner protection period… hmm… Maybe I will get something if I slay all the random monsters on the ground floor,’ I mused.
I’d never heard of anyone getting anything during their beginner protection period. That was natural because all the devils were busy with adjusting themselves during that time. However, that was the only way to make an achievement.
With my skills, I was sure that I wouldn’t die unless I was unlucky enough to have a Black Warrior or a Dark Knight among the random monsters. I was one of the strongest among the devils. With that title and the result from the training room, I thought I could fight against the dukes. Of course, they would become stronger rapidly, but for now, I was the stronger one.
‘It is troublesome that I might not be the first one.’
I would get some rewards even if it was not the very first time, but the first-time achiever was rewarded more handsomely. The first achievement would give better rewards.
The devils below the duke level wouldn’t even imagine sweeping the whole ground floor, but the dukes or archdukes were different. Their starting point was much higher than others, but even for those lucky few, it was a huge challenge to sweep the random monsters.
Most of the devils weren’t big fans of challenges. Random monsters on the ground floor were things that would disappear after time, so they wouldn’t take such a risk.
‘I’m not sure if I can kill them all in 15 days, but let’s try.’
I was running out of time. There were only 15 days left of the beginner protection period.
I made up my mind, ended inside affair mode, and headed toward the ground floor.
***
Kim Yongwoo. 3
He was the ‘Starter’ that was awakened as soon as the dungeons appeared.
There were five famous Starters, and Kim Yongwoo was one of them.
He had distinguished knowledge that separated him from the other awakened heroes. With that knowledge, he accumulated wealth faster. The value of the Core that he could get by hunting monsters was unimaginable.
He even created a guild called the Guild of Heaven’s Will. The other four Starters started their own guilds, but the Guild of Heaven’s Will was stronger than them. He also had people who could create things using the Core, such as a blacksmith and enchanter.
So, he was able to hunt in the dungeon with the weapons created by his team members and sell some of the weapons to other awakened heroes to accumulate an astronomical amount of money.
‘That was a life-changing experience.’
It had been only seven months since he became an awakened hero, but his life was much better than before when he had to do a lot of rough work like delivering newspapers and milk while working at the construction site. He used to have only one cup of instant noodles per day at that time, but after his awakening, he was able to build his own building for his guild in the Gangnam area.
‘Yongwoo, life is one shot. If you make a home run at the bottom of the 9th inning, that changes everything, haha…’
He was enjoying such a luxurious lifestyle that he never would have even dreamed of if he didn’t become an awakened hero.
Kim Yongwoo. He was a chosen one.
Because he named his guild the Guild of Heaven’s Will, he always thought he was the chosen one by heaven. He was an orphan, but that didn’t matter. Middle school was his highest education, but that wasn’t important.
In Korea, all that mattered was money. He didn’t know it before, but he soon realized that Korea was a heaven for the rich. Nothing was impossible with money. People who used to laugh at him and look down on him were now under his power. He spent his mornings in his private swimming pool and spent his nights with the hottest models.
Before his awakening, every day was hell and he wanted to kill himself at least a dozen times a day, but now, every day was a fun party. He couldn’t stop laughing either.
Is this just a matter of perception? Does the position make the person? Just like a little caterpillar that became a butterfly, now he was a completely different person.
He thought he was above the other awakened heroes. He really believed that he was the only one who was chosen by heaven’s will.
In Korea, he was the king on the top of the food chain.
“F***k…”
But now he was standing in the dungeon.
The dungeon was in Korea, but none of the Korean rules applied. Dungeon monsters didn’t care how rich anyone was.
Kim Yongwoo leaned on a wall and frowned. His thigh was pierced by something, and he was bleeding badly. He tore up his shirt and used it to tie up his thigh and stop the bleeding.
He wished for a portion made of the core so badly, but unfortunately, he didn’t have anything with him at the moment. He had to run for his life, abandoning all his weapons and teammates. 1
‘Mother f**ker. F**king idiot.’
He was the only survivor in his team of twelve men. He knew that there would be no survivors because a real monster had attacked them.
There was a rumor among the awakened heroes: there were immeasurable monsters in dungeons, and once you meet those monsters, there was no way of coming back alive.
That rumor made Kim Yongwoo laugh. He’d gone in and out of dungeons a dozen times already. Every time he walked in, he faced some dwarf that looked like a monster.
Kim Yongwoo was quite confident that he was strong enough. He was passionate about his training, and he even slept less to improve his abilities.
‘Come out wherever you are.’ he’d thought.
But today…the guard who was chasing monsters had brought that monster to him, and it had destroyed Kim Yongwoo’s confidence. All of his 12 team members were killed like paper puppets without a chance to fight back.
“Huh, huh…!”
Just thinking about what had happened made him panic. The rumor was not a story. It was real, and people underestimated the monster. It was much stronger than the rumor.
He was in deep shit. He was lucky to be alive, but he had a very slim chance of surviving this. He hadn’t had a moment to look back and just ran, so now he was in the midst of the dungeon. He felt like he had walked into the enemy territory.
‘But, I’m the chosen one. Heaven has chosen me!’
Kim Yongwoo was angry, but also terrified. He was so sure that he was protected because he was the chosen one. Yes. It was just a test from heaven. People said that heaven made people struggle, not to kill them but to make them stronger. Kim Yongwoo was sure that this was a struggle that he could overcome.
Grrr!
His shivering body suddenly stiffened, and Kim Yongwoo turned his head slowly.
There was a drooling monster. It looked like a human but it wasn’t. It was in black armor and looked at Kim Yongwoo while drooling.
‘This is a test, so that must be an illusion Yes, I’m dreaming!’
He was trying to run away from his reality, but it didn’t disappear.
The humanoid monster had a wrinkly body as if it were a mummy, but the monster’s fangs and nails were sharp enough to pierce human skin without any trouble. It was an immeasurable monster, different from the monster that had annihilated his team. Kim Yongwoo didn’t think about the possibility that there would be more of these monsters in the dungeon.
As soon as he made eye contact with the monster, Kim Yongwoo felt his death.
‘Please, please…’
The monster slowly approached him. Kim Yongwoo had to close his eyes.
Grr?
When it was a few steps away from him, the monster stopped.
Kim Yongwoo opened his eyes to check what was going on.
“A Dark Warrior… that is annoying.”
He noticed someone behind the monster. It was a man who was as handsome as a bronze statue. He looked cold as if it was snowing around him, but he also showed savage and brutal energy that was even stronger than the monster.
The guy didn’t even draw his sword because he was so confident. Maybe that was why the monster didn’t try to attack him.
The man glanced Kim Yongwoo nonchalantly. “Are you an early guest?”
“Ah, no… No, I…” Kim Yongwoo started to mumble.
Kim Yongwoo didn’t look like the same person who was swearing until just now. He probably instinctually realized that this was the last chance to save his life. Then, the man silently moved his eyes toward Kim Yongwoo as if there was something behind him and made a throat-clearing sound.
“He is not ripped yet.”