Chapter 29

The gate that stood before them was large, even for a C-Rank gate.

And not far from the gate, the rest of the group stood.

Rubbing his eyes, Jin-Woo looked again at the hunters in front of him.

Well, Jin-Ho certainly did a good job selecting a team for raids.

Eight hunters.

A student, a drunkard, an injured person, a guy who looked like a student, a guy too overweight to tie his own shoes while standing, let alone manage in an underground environment.

A Nice group.

- Um, what kind of gathering is this? - Jin-Woo asked quietly, sighing and already guessing the answer.

- What gathering? These are our people.

Jin-Woo refrained from slapping his hand to his face and nodded.

- People with licenses but for various reasons can't participate in raids. I've gathered the cream of the hunters who are not actively involved in the profession for various life reasons. They want to make some quick money.

- So this brat has a license? - Jin-Woo asked with a little doubt.

- As far as I know, there is no age limit. If someone is awakened as a hunter, even as a child, they can participate in raids.

- Brat?! What a jerk you are. I'm a full-fledged hunter. - The girl got angry.

- Sure, kid, no need to get so worked up. You're a high schooler, right? Do you have any experience?

- Nope.

Jin-Woo scratched his chin.

- Well, It doesn't matter anyway. You don't have to go dungeon with us. Only Jin-Ho and I enter.

- They wouldn't let us into the C-Ranked dungeons with just the two of us, so that's why we have you. - He explained Jin-Ho.

Everyone looked at them as if they were crazy.

They want to tackle a C-Ranked dungeon just the two of them?! Are they really that strong?

They must be crazy.

 Machine Translated by Google

- Will we really receive 3 million won (2212 USD) just for being here? - A boy who looked like a student asked after a moment of hesitation.

- Of course. 3 million for each raid you participate in. A pretty good deal considering you don't have to do anything. Just wait here. It's all in the contracts. Breaking it would mean a penalty ten times the amount you've earned. - Jin-Woo explained.

The hunters whispered among themselves. Speculating, what were these two planning to do underground that would make them offer such a contract? They were curious but couldn't ask any questions. This was also part of the confidentiality clause.

Jin-Woo wanted to keep his special skills a secret, while Yoo Jin-Ho wanted to keep his plans to become a Guild Master a secret. As such, they carefully planned to keep their teammates silent.

Everyone was suspicious, but none of them wanted to back down. The reason was obvious. The conditions were very good. Even Jin-Woo had previously accepted similar terms for 2 million. Comparing it to the incident with Hwang Dong-Suk, the duo had decided to add an extra million to the agreement due to the non-disclosure clause.

- You know, I'm wondering... - After a moment of staring at the gate, Jin-Woo began, glancing at his companion out of the corner of his eye. However, he stopped his thought mid-sentence, frowning at what Jin-Ho was wearing.

- What the hell are you wearing?

He asked, looking critically at the black and red armor with numerous decorations.

- It's a full set of armor crafted by an Italian armorer from one of the top guilds there. Since it's just the two of us, I figured it wouldn't hurt to be prepared.

Jin-Woo placed a finger on the chest plate of his armor and gently pushed him back. The huge armor easily pulled Jin-Ho to the ground.

- Don't fool around, take that off. -Jin-Woo advised him.

- Alright. - After a while, when Jin-Ho realized that he couldn't get up, he let out a suffering groan. - Brother, help.

As the pair entered the Gate, the Hunters approached it one by one and looked. One of them said anxiously,

- They don't inspire confidence.

- Yeah

Their words broke the dam of silence from the other Hunters. Everyone had something they wanted to say.

- What will happen to our payment if these two kick the bucket there?

- Well, we already received money for this dungeon.

- Why do they want only the two of them to enter the C-rank dungeon?

- If they're so strong, why don't they join a bigger guild to tackle higher-level dungeons?

- Actually, they didn't look that strong.

- What were their names?

The man with a cast on one leg quickly took out his phone and checked their employers.

- Yoo Jin-Ho and Sung Jin-Woo.

- Are you kidding me? The raid leader has a D-rank?

The hunters groaned at this news. The next piece of information surprised them even more.

- And the other one is an E-rank!

- Isn't it basically suicide for an E-rank hunter to enter a Category C dungeon?

- These two want to clear the dungeon by themselves?

- Hey! Damn it! The raid leader only has one previous raid under his belt! He has no experience.

- Why does someone as young as them go to such dangerous places?!

For the other hunters, Jin-Woo and Jin-Ho's actions were simply a creative way to commit suicide.

There was a reason why the Association imposed a minimum number of people for Category C gates: 10. Additionally, half of the hunters present on a raid had to be at least C-rank.

The hunters were at a loss for words. Feeling like they had assisted in someone's suicide, they didn't feel good about the situation at all, even if they were complete strangers. Nobody wanted to see or know that someone had died in the gate before them.

Furthermore, they were disappointed at the thought of not getting paid for the remaining 18 raids. It was regrettable, but there was no way these two men would return alive.

- Should we inform the Association?

- What if we are held responsible? For not stopping them or forging the list or something?!

At this time, the Gate wavered, and Jin-Woo and Jin-Ho emerged from the dungeon.

Although the two hunters' faces were full of exhaustion, especially Jin-Ho who was desperately gasping for air, both of them were practically intact in terms of their physical condition.

- Did they manage to escape?

- They were damn lucky.

The hunters greeted the pair with relief. Due to the short time they spent in the dungeon, the hunters assumed that the duo had been wandering aimlessly at the entrance and managed to escape when they encountered the first monster. But suddenly, the expressions on the hunters' faces began to change. Someone shouted,

- The gate is closing!

- What?!

- Did they manage to kill the boss?

- The two of them?!

- Where is the next gate? - Jin-Woo asked, ignoring the hunters talking around them. He wasn't surprised that everyone expected them to escape instead of clearing the dungeon. After all, they had certain ranks. At least on paper.

- Um? About an hour's journey from here. - Jin-Ho admitted after a while, then raised his voice and shouted cheerfully to the rest of the group.

- We still have two more dungeons to clear today. Let's not waste time. I assume everyone is coming with us, as no one would give up on such an easy 9 million won. (6636 USD)

The hunters' mouths opened even wider than just a moment ago when they heard that these two wanted to conquer two more C-rank dungeons on their own today.

As if cleaning one C-rank gate with two people with such ranks was not enough for them.

***

- I have information about Sung Jin-Woo's upcoming raids. - The agent announced as he entered his boss's office.

Woo Jin-Chul set aside his work and looked at the agent, who had a clearly worried expression. The agent handed him a list that contained the planned upcoming raids, along with the days on which the hunters had scheduled these raids for each gate.

As the Association measured gate strength and issued raid permits, it was obvious that they had access to the list of raids, the planned days, and even the list of hunters participating in them.

The list showed 11 confirmed raids, which was not unusual. However, what caught Jin-Chul's attention was the fact that three gates were reserved for today.

Jin-Chul only got this list because Sung Jin-Woo was supposed to take part in these raids.

It turned out that the young man wanted to participate in three raids today. All of them are C-rank gates.

Such action was unheard of. Hunters usually did not clean several dungeons a day because it was simply too dangerous. Each raid was tiring, and a tired hunter was weaker and slower, making mistakes. And these factors could very easily lead to tragedy.

Sometimes it happened that hunters cleaned gates of high categories, such as A, B, or C, two or even three days in a row. But even these were sporadic cases and only affected the largest and strongest guilds.

Each raid was tiring, and a tired hunter could die much more easily.

Therefore, it is generally accepted that guilds usually rest for two or even three days after a raid, depending on the wounds suffered in battle.

Unless, of course, the guild had enough strong members to afford having two raiding groups. In such cases, like with the Hunters or the White Tiger Guild, the groups operated alternately, reaping substantial profits and not slowing down for rest because one group was underground, earning money, while the other was recuperating.

But for a single non-guild hunter to participate in three raids in a row in one day.

- At the very bottom, there are the names of people taking part in the raids... The same group wants to clear all these dungeons?! - Woo Jin-Chul asked in disbelief.

- Yes, sir, but... But that's not the strangest thing. - The agent admitted.

Agent Ha Su-Woon was the deputy head of the Department of Monitoring Hunters and Woo Jin-Chul's right hand. He had been with Jin-Chul in the hospital, so he knew that the measurement had shown nothing.

- I checked these hunters. None of them are suitable for the duties of a hunter.

- What do you mean? - Jin-Chul asked interested, reading each name. The only name he recognized was Yoo Jin-Ho, the kid involved in Hwang's death. Had their paths not diverged after that incident? Intriguing.

- A high schooler, E-rank; an alcoholic, D-rank; a student, C-rank; an injured C-rank hunter; an obese C-rank hunter. Each of them either has no experience or is incapable in some way of fighting. However, they have already reported clearing two out of the three dungeons.

Woo Jin-Chul really couldn't figure out why Sung Jin-Woo was doing all this.

Assembling such a team is pure stupidity. Cleaning C-rank dungeons with them is even greater.

- Have they reported any accidents?

- No, sir. Raid boss Yoo Jin-Ho only reported successful clearing of the dungeons.

And he thought everyone would believe he still had an E-rank? Somewhat naively if all this had been discovered by someone other than Woo Jin-Chul, they could have immediately revealed it and forced him to re-measure.

Hiding things like this from the Association is much harder than this boy thinks.