Goblin Workshop in Me - Chapter 87

Chapter 87

87. Lord is going to a dungeon

“What? As… What?”

“…”

Ko Byeong-gap’s jaw dropped. It was the same place as the picture, but it wasn’t perfectly the same. The picture showed a desolate wasteland, but the view in front of them was quite fertile.

“What? What are you looking at?”

Jeong Seon-kyung approached as she looked at him with suspicion, causing him to hurriedly hide his cell phone.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh… Nothing.”

“Do you think I’m an idiot? You did something just now.”

“Well, it’s not a big deal.”

“I’m about to get a little upset.”

“Come on, what are you upset about? I just took a picture because the view was nice. Oh, the others are here.”

Ko Byeong-gap roughly rubbed off the cigarette that hadn’t been burned in half and turned away while he held Jeong Seon-kyung’s arm. She looked somewhat uncomfortable.

“Hey, did you take a picture of me?”

“… What?”

“Puh-ha! I guess it’s true because you’re flustered.”

She made a wild guess and clapped her hands while she laughed.

“Now that I see you, you’ve got a sneaky side to you. You have a hidden camera. Hey, do you know how much my portrait rights are?”

“What are you saying, unnie?!”

“Hey, hey, did it come out well? Let me see.”

Jeong Seon-kyung clung to him, as he desperately defended his pocket.

“Won’t you let me look? I’m not going to tell you to erase it, so please show me. Just looking at it?”

“What’s wrong with you?!”

“Oh, wow. Look at yourself, you poor bastard.”

Jeong Seon-kyung gave up more easily than expected. She then smirked and whispered to him with strange eyes.

“Instead, no dissemination is allowed. You’re the only one who can see…. Let me know if you need anything else.”

‘She’s crazy.’

It seemed to have caused a serious misunderstanding, but it passed for the meantime. The hunters just looked at the two with a puzzled look on their faces.

“He must be close to Hunter Jeong Seon-kyung.”

“I envy him…”

“I’ll ask his name later.”

“Let’s see. One, two, three, four… All eight of us are here. I didn’t see the list because I was in a hurry. Is there anyone who has experience in dungeons?”

“Oh! I have one.”

A burly young man in his twenties raised his hand and answered. His name was Oh Yeon-woo, and he was the tanker in the attack squad. Jeong Seon-kyung gathered the rest of the group with a stern look.

“Just one personally? Raise your hand if you’ve been a hunter for more than two years.”

“…”

“Over a year.”

“Well, me!”

Only the healer and supporter Kim Hye-in raised her hand.

“Are those who didn’t raise their hands less than a year? How long have you been hunting?”

“It’s been about four months.”

“What about you?”

“Well, I’ve been a little over seven months.”

After that, they answered in Five months, eight months, and nearly a year. The person with the least experience was Jeon Tae-yeol, who said he had completed 100 days that day.

Jeong Seon-kyung sighed and muttered, “Ha… We’re going to sweep everything out of Illumination, so I guess we’ll see how you do.”

The hunters heard her words to herself, which stiffened their backs regardless of their intentions.

“Some people might not know, so I’ll explain briefly.”

Jeong Seon-kyung explained the dungeon. In fact, hunters were already familiar with it, but they listened with admiration as if they had never heard of it before.

“Again, the most important thing when subjugating a dungeon is to find the boss as quickly as possible. There’s no need to deal with the monsters one by one.”

“Yep!”

“Also, don’t make noises in a dungeon. The monsters of dungeons are extremely wary of intruders.”

“Oh, I see.”

“I think that’s enough for the explanation.”

Jeong Seon-kyung pulled out the sword around her waist.

‘She used to use a huge ax during the expedition, but she’s normal today.’

“I’m the guide. All you have to do is fight, but don’t overdo it, and never get hurt. I don’t give nonconformity judgments or such.”

“Oh! Okay, thank you…”

“Go, get started.”

The attack squad ushered them to their respective positions. Two tankers, three close dealers, one long-distance dealer, and two healers. It was just a standard composition.

They carefully moved forward, while Ko Byeong-gap and Jeong Seon-kyung followed at a distance of about ten steps. However, she pointed out another thing that she didn’t like.

“Are you crawling or what? When are we getting home at this pace?”

“Oh, I’m sorry!”

“You don’t have to answer every time!”

Jeong Seon-kyung somehow stood firm. No, she wasn’t just firm but was more strict than he thought, and he felt like an assistant at a boot camp. Anyway, the atmosphere was definitely different from usual.

Monsters popped out one after another even though they didn’t move much. This dungeon was like an ant hole since they hid in a small gap between the main roads, and it looked like the entire mountain turned into an ant tunnel. Anyway, it wasn’t a very good environment.

First of all, they weren’t intuitive. Whether it was a dungeon or a crack, Intuition was the best. Also, it was necessary to go through numerous rooms to reach the Boss Monster.

“Sigh!”

“Left! Watch out!”

“Leave it to me!”

Well… The attackers fought well anyway, and most subordinate creatures were D-class monsters. In other words, it was a mismatch from the very beginning.

‘But my kids are much better.’

Was it due to lack of experience? Except for one or two, they moved terribly. Of course, that was what Ko Byeong-gap thought.

‘Their basics of swordsmanship aren’t good. They don’t even know how to move their back, and their footwork… It’s too complicated.’

Those arguments often come and go among men. Who would win if a bodybuilder with ten years of exercise and a lightweight boxer with two years of boxing competed?

Usually, the vote favored the boxer. Being fit would only get you covered in blood in ten seconds. Was it because they were martial arts believers? No, martial arts truly was powerful. Yet, even still, there was no such thing like that here.

If one were a top Awakener, even if they closed their eyes and swung their fist, the low-level monsters would die like a fruit fly, which meant they had an overwhelming presence.

‘That’s why it’s like that.’

Top Awakeners were old-fashioned and didn’t need to learn martial arts. They filled that gap with experience, and surprisingly, it usually worked, just like how lions grew and naturally developed hunting skills.

‘… I don’t think I should look down on them for not learning martial arts because I use textbooks, though.’

It was unbelievable to boast about his achievements that went up just by breathing. He glanced to the side and smirked. Jeong Seon-kyung had a face almost like a Goblin.

“Relax your face. People might think you’re mad.”

“You’re right. I’m angry.”

“Why?”

“Why? Why? Why? Look at the way they cut. Why wouldn’t I be angry?”

“Hey, they’re still new.”

“Phew, Undermoon is over now.”

She acted like she was going crazy, staring at the attack squad with her eyes wide open. She held her position as if she was about to step up a few times. Ko Byeong-gap couldn’t concentrate that much on the battle as she did. To confess, half of his mind was elsewhere.

Seeing Ashvilam in a crack, what did this suggest? He constantly questioned the correlation between Ashvilam and a dungeon.

‘What’s clear is that this isn’t the current Ashvilam.’

The current Ashvilam, or at least the area within a 20-kilometer radius of Valtadren, was a wasteland. There were no other creatures to be found except for Gruggles, so there were many flaws to consider in that dungeon as the current Ashvilam. So, there were only two cases left.

‘If it’s not now… Is it the future or the past?’

Ko Byeong-gap felt the feeling of his head and heart playing separately again this time. Somehow, it felt like the one weird thing in his life was being renewed day by day.

“… Come on. Hey, Ko Byeong-gap!”

“Huh? Uh-huh.”

“What are you thinking about? You didn’t answer me no matter how many times I called you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Why did you call me?”

“Let’s take a break here. Everyone, gather up. We’ll take a break.”

The hunters came after releasing Karma to shake off the dirt from their bodies. They were less nervous than before since they had cut dozens of monsters. They sat on the floor while Jeong Seon-kyung distributed water and energy bars to the hunters.

“What do you say? A dungeon isn’t a big deal, is it?”

She, who had looked like she could eat a ghost a while ago, asked mildly. The attack squad laughed awkwardly.

“It’s still the beginning, so strong monsters don’t seem to come out, heh heh.”

“It doesn’t make any difference even if we go deeper. Some strong guys are C-class, at best. If you don’t let your guard down, there won’t be anything dangerous.”

“Huh, is that so?”

“I have a question for you, Hunter Jeong Seon-kyung!”

Healer Kim Ha-sun spoke like a student. Jeong Seon-kyung, who was drinking bottled water, blinked as if to tell her to speak.

“Jeong Seon-kyung, have you ever entered an S-rank crack?”

“Why would you ask me that? Of course, I have.”

“An S-rank crack… Uh, what do you think of it?”

“How is it?”

Jeong Seon-kyung laughed bitterly.

“If you’re in this state, you’ll be dead in less than five minutes… No, I’m sure you’re going to die right away.”

The people’s expressions hardened. Was it because they thought they were ignored or was it because they were alarmed? Jeong Seon-kyung continued immediately.

“But you don’t have to go into an S-rank crack anyway. The guild won’t let you go even if you wanted to. Power below S-class doesn’t mean much.”

“Oh… Is that so?”

“Well, if you’re planning to kill yourself, that’s a good choice, but everyone has to live long and make a lot of money. Isn’t that why you’re doing this?”

“That’s right, huh.”

Tanker Choi Jong-chan smiled kindly. Jeong Seon-kyung added, flicking her fingers as if she suddenly remembered something.

“Oh, and this is my personal wish, don’t go on TV and do anything else. Is there anyone here who wants to be in the entertainment business? You don’t want to, do you?”

When she asked, Jeon Tae-yeol, who rested quietly in the corner, reacted. He was an impeccably handsome man like a top Awakener, especially when women chased good-looking boys.

“Ha, ha… I was filming a web drama until yesterday. Seon-kyung, don’t you know The Tears of the Sun?”

“I don’t watch things like that.” Jeong Seon-kyung said plainly and clicked her tongue in front of his face.

“I don’t understand at all. If you’re going to do it, just do it. If you’re going to be a hunter, just be a hunter. Why do two together?”

“Haha…”

“No, tell me. Why are you doing both?”

Jeon Tae-yeol just scratched the back of his head as if he was embarrassed, and then, they heard an answer from somewhere else.

“They say it’s because of image-making. Celebrities who work as hunters are more popular.”

“Hey, hey!”

“Who cares? It’s true.”

Kang Byung-chan, who had a straightforward impression, answered with ease. On the contrary, embarrassment spread over Jeon Tae-yeol’s face. The two seemed to be acquainted, and Jeong Seon-kyung just looked displeased.

“By the way, is Mr. Hunter also a member of Undermoon?”

“Ko Byeong-gap? Ah, not him.”

Jeong Seon-kyung answered like that and put her arm around Ko Byeong-gap’s shoulder, and he just looked annoyed.

“You all know the North Korean expedition, right?”

“Oh! I know. It’s still going on.”

“Byeong-gap and I were on the first expedition there. That’s where I found him. We were on the same team.”

“Wow! It was the first expedition!”

“I got a lot of help from Byeong-gap then. I’m still alive thanks to him.”

“Hey, what are you overreacting about?”

“Why? It’s true.”

She said it to lift Ko Byeong-gap. The hunters who were listening were amazed, but on the other hand, they looked confused because of the separation between what they felt in their skin and what they heard with their ears.

‘I feel his Karma is below average.’

Everyone seemed to think so.

“Hm?”

At that time, Ko Byeong-gap’s head glanced deep into the cave.

‘Quite a lot of presence. They’re approaching this way.’

“Here comes the monsters. Let’s get ready.”

“What? Monsters are coming?”

“Really? I don’t feel anything.”

The hunters immediately rose, but at the same time, they tilted their heads. For them, it was difficult to identify some of the huge gaps in the dungeon. Jeong Seon-kyung, who was staring there with a frown, sympathized at least.

“Oh, you’re right.”

“Didn’t you know?”

“It’s not that I don’t know. They’re too far, aren’t they? Aren’t you a bit uptight?”

“Oh, that’s a little too much.”

He got into the strange habit due to fighting with the Gruggles that had no presence. In combat situations, he responded to even a single movement.

“Well, it’s time to move. Get ready, everyone.”

“Yep!”

Jeong Seon-kyung led the people. The attack squad was ready to fight again.