Chapter 21

These Achievements for Players who were the 'first' to do something were usually considered major accomplishments, to the point where the reward itself would often change based solely on the fact that it was the first time something was done.

'Wait, so even a Dungeon this easy has a 'first' Achievement?'

Not only that, but a Field in which a 'first' Achievement was achieved could very well change completely.

That meant that the next time someone came in, they might not be able to get their hands on the Enhanced Revival and Enhanced Human Traits.

Of course, Jin-Hyeok, like everyone else, liked 'first' Achievements. After all, he was the type who naturally enjoyed collecting Achievements like badges and discovering hidden Dungeon pieces.

But not today—today was different.

'I've got a bad feeling about this.'

Enhanced Revival and Enhanced Human were only really easy to get here, and the same didn't hold true for elsewhere.

Jin-Hyeok dearly hoped those rewards didn't just inadvertently get replaced with something "better" that wasn't what he wanted.

That was when he was hit with more notifications.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Cha Jin-Hyeok did not receive any notifications indicating that the First Floor Field of the Dungeon would change or that the reward would be automatically upgraded. It seemed that they would still be able to claim the Enhanced Human and Enhanced Revival abilities as a reward. That was a huge relief.

What was different instead was that a hidden third floor had opened.

'Wait, there was a third floor in the Sareoga Mart Dungeon?'

No one, as far as Jin-Hyeok knew, was aware of this. He figured that this was because the Third Floor Field of the Dungeon was programmed to disappear once whoever fulfilled the set of special conditions to open it had visited it.

If a Dungeon floor was completely unknown to him, and thus to most everyone else, it meant one of two things: either the floor was so difficult that no one had survived... or whatever treasures lay within was so rare and valuable that its Players had all kept their mouths shut about it.

'I've already come this far, so please be the first.'

As the intrusive thought flashed through Jin-Hyeok's mind, he wanted to butt his head against a wall. His heart fluttered instinctively at the thought of an exciting fight that was about to come. He felt he should be dealing with these irrational urges right away, but this was a tough nut to crack. 

'Let's just ignore the third floor.'

That's what Jin-Hyeok thought to himself, at least, but it was at this moment that he received a new notification:

[You have received a Surprise Mission.]

[Creator of the Surprise Mission: Wind Wanderer.]

Why does this guy always propose Surprise Missions to a newbie like himself? Jin-Hyeok had no idea, but he did know one thing for sure: offering these missions even once required tens of thousands of Dias. Whatever reason the Wind Wanderer gave him the missions, Jin-Hyeok couldn't help but itch with curiosity. Just a bit.

[Mission Title: The king fist.]

The king fist.

The mission title and description couldn't have been any shorter, or blunter for that matter.

'Well, the second floor had a Big Fist Monkey, so I guess the third floor would have a King Fist Monkey.'

Fighting a King Fist Monkey should be fun, right?

But if Jin-Hyeok ended up getting himself into more than he bargained for, he could very well die.

'Decline.'

The King Fist Monkeys' Level was usually in the upper thirties. At Jin-Hyeok's current strength, there was no doubt about the outcome of a fight. The old Jin-Hyeok would have gladly accepted the mission, but this was the new Jin-Hyeok, the one who had come to his senses, and that meant no. It was unfortunate, but he had already made his decision.

[Wind Wanderer proposes a monetary reward for completion of the Mission.]

[Monetary reward for Mission completion: 10,000,000 Dias.]

'Decline.'

[Wind Wanderer proposes a monetary reward for completion of the Mission for the second time.]

[Monetary reward for Mission completion: 20,000,000 Dias.]

'Decline!'

[Wind Wanderer proposes a monetary reward for completion of the Mission for the final time.]

[Monetary reward for Mission completion: 100,000,000 Dias.]

'Accept.'

[You have accepted the Mission.]

Jin-Hyeok didn't accept the mission because it looked fun. No, of course not.

He absolutely did not want to fight the King Fist Monkey. No, sir.

"Wind Wanderer, I'll do your mission in a few days."

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

For the time being, Jin-Hyeok returned to the first floor with Mok Jae-Hyeon and Cha Jin-Sol.

"N-next time, I'll show you I can do better than this," Mok Jae-Hyeon said, apologizing for some odd reason. Jin-Hyeok was starting to sense a trend here.

"You did well. You did a good job of protecting Jin-Sol when we were on the first floor, didn't you?"

"Uh… I don't think… she even needed much protection at that point…"

Huh. Yes, now that Jae-Hyeon has mentioned it, it does appear that way.

That was weird. Jin-Hyeok wasn't even a tank, but he was the only one who draw so much aggro[1] from the Dungeon mobs.

If Jin-Hyeok had to guess, it was probably because of his 'Almighty Jack of All Trades' Trait. The tanking aspects of the trait appeared to have a fairly significant effect in these low-Level Fields.

Meanwhile, Cha Jin-Sol declined the "gift" offered by Jin-Hyeok.

"You want me to put that on? No way."

Jin-Hyeok became exasperated when she refused to put on the Champion Belt simply because it was funny to look at. She needed to put it on if she wanted to see the special Traits hidden inside the mart's fruit stand.

"What's the harm? It looks cool," Jin-Hyeok attempted to persuade her.

"If it's so cool, you put it on!"

"I heard if you put it on, you can find a hidden item on the first floor."

"I guess I'm not gonna be needing that item then."

"Nope, I reckon you do need it, actually," Jin-Hyeok insisted.

"And why do I need it?" Jin-Sol asked.

"I just have a feeling it'll be something really good."

"Yeah, yeah… if it's so good, feel free to go right ahead and look for it yourself, oppa."

"I don't need all that extra power because I'm a Streamer."

"..."

Cha Jin-Sol glared at Jin-Hyeok, speechless.

"You don't need the power?" Jin-Sol asked.

"Yep. All I need to do is to be good at broadcasting," Jin-Hyeok explained.

"...all you have to do is to be good at broadcasting?"

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"...Nothing." Jin-Sol opened her mouth, then clenched it shut with that single word. She certainly didn't appear to have "nothing" to say.

"Anyway, I'm not going to put that on. You mentioned having a large number of viewers on your stream."

"There aren't many," Jin-Hyeok replied.

His current viewer count was under ten thousand. Egan Paul's public viewer count was already around a hundred thousand, so his viewer count wasn't that big... right?

"Why are you trying to convince me to put that thing on?"

"It's equipping it, not putting it on. Get it right."

"No matter what you say, the point is I don't want to!"

"You really hate the idea of it that much?" Jin-Hyeok asked.

"A hundred and ten percent," Jin-Sol insisted.

"I'll give you a hundred thousand won," Jin-Hyeok offered.

Cha Jin-Sol took the belt from Jin-Hyeok's hands slowly.

"...I mean… looking at it closely, I guess it does look pretty fashionable."

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Cha Jin-Sol walked around the first floor of Sareoga Mart Dungeon, wearing the Champion Belt, while Jin-Hyeok continued his stream.

"It seems some other Players have entered the Sareoga Mart Dungeon."

A quick glance at them with Broadcaster's Truesight revealed that this was far too dangerous a place for their strength. Jin-Hyeok walked up to them.

"Hello, I'd recommend you leave at your Level. It is possible that you could die."

"...Th-thank you for the warning."

Some people took Jin-Hyeok's advice and lived...

"Don't give me that horsesh!t."

And while some ignored his advice and died, a lucky few were able to flee with the help of Mok Jae-Hyeon.

Jin-Hyeok perplexedly tilted his head to one side.

"Viewers, why do you think they keep ignoring my warnings?"

It was a pointless question because Jin-Hyeok had long turned off his stream chat with his viewers and couldn't hear their voices. Jae-Hyeon answered in their stead.

"Could it be because you appear so calm when you say it, hyung?"

There was an enormous rise in the number of likes on the stream at that time. Jae-Hyeon appeared to have given the viewers a voice.

"You think so?"

"You don't appear to be a dangerous dude at all. The way I see it, if a non-combatant class Player tries to warn combatant class Players in this manner, their reaction will be... w-wait, my apologies if it sounds like I'm talking down at you..."

A single Fist Monkey charged at Jin-Hyeok at that moment. Whatever goodwill the monsters had for him had vanished. Jin-Hyeok enveloped Broadcaster's Barrier around his fist then fired a sluggish swing.

POW!

It was a rather absent-minded swing, but it turned out to be a critical shot. Jin-Hyeok had struck gold and hit the monkey straight in the solar plexus[2].

[You have slain a Fist Monkey.]

'D@mn it, my body keeps moving on its own.'

Feigning desperation was harder than he thought.

'I mean, this kind of beatdown's only possible in the lower Levels… maybe I should give up acting and enjoy this while I can.'

Wouldn't it be deceiving the viewers if he pretended to be weak when he wasn't? Yes, this was a problem he needed to think about further.

Around that time, Cha Jin-Sol seemed to notice something strange near the mart's fruit stand. She had been able to freely roam around the mart while wearing the Champion Belt without being attacked by Fist Monkeys. Jin-Hyeok had a realization as he observed Jin-Sol rummaging around.

"Ah, fellow viewers, I think I've got it. It wasn't my fault that people were getting a false sense of security. Without a doubt, she is comforting people into thinking this is a safe place. Seeing her walk around like that, who would think this place is dangerous?"

The likes, which had been steadily flowing in throughout the stream, abruptly came to a halt. Mok Jae-Hyeon spoke for the people once more.

"...no, hyung… between you and her, it will always be your faul-"

"Oppa! I notice something green and shiny among the fruits!" Cha Jin-Sol suddenly exclaimed. She fished out two pieces of paper. 

[Enhanced Human]

[Enhanced Revival]

It was two Traits in the form of Scrolls.

"That looks like what we're looking for," Jin-Hyeok said.

"It says to rip it."

"Yeah, do it."

"Wait—huh? This Scroll's being absorbed into me! This feels weird!" Cha Jin-Sol exclaimed.

Jin-Hyeok chuckled while no one was looking.

With that, Cha Jin-Sol learned the 'Enhanced Human' and 'Enhanced Revival' abilities. These two components were the start of any good Blood Priest.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Jin-Hyeok already welcomed a useful tank into his party: a Player with the Wood King Job. In fact, a Wood King was already far too much for what Jin-Hyeok was aiming for, but thankfully(?) the Player's personality was not built to be a top-tier ranker. He'd make a fantastic tank until Jin-Hyeok fulfilled his dream of becoming a real estate investor in Yeonhui-dong.

'And I got a healer now, too.'

If he wanted to fight the King Fist Monkey, he was going to need at least two more damage dealers to join him.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Agro[1]: A video game term that refers to when an enemy becomes aggressive towards a player.

Solar plexus[2]: Also known as the celiac plexus, is a network of nerves in the upper abdomen, behind the stomach and in front of the aorta. It contains ganglia that send nerve impulses to the abdominal organs. The solar plexus is part of the sympathetic nervous system.

Author's Note: Sorry for the upload guys. Got busy with my job and forgot to upload another chapter. Got tired after getting home.