CHAPTER 30 – Entering my first Dungeon (Part 1)

*CRISTOPHER'S POV*

It was Thursday after class. Right now, I was talking with Kim Hajin, convincing him to let me go with him to hunt.

We also had the Hunting club orientation today, but that shit doesn't matter to me. I only went to the traveling one thanks to the chance of passing by the orphanage.

"So… You want to come with me?"-Kim Hajin asks me.

"Yes. Why? Is it a bother or something?"

"No. Not really. But I first have to go fetch my new weapon. Coming with me?"

"Mmm… It's about that kid playing the adult? Nah I pass. Though, I'll go with you and wait for you outside that place. Then we can go to the hunting grounds."

"The Field. It's called the Field."-He corrects me.

"Yeah, that's what I said, the hunting grounds."

The Field was precisely that... A hunting ground. A place when you could go to kill monsters and then sell their corpses through an agent. The monsters there usually came from multiple dungeons or Towers and were constantly being generated, so people hunting for them and commercializing their bodies was an effective way to keep the monsters' number as low as possible.

Korea also got a lot of taxes from the selling, and even more when it came to foreigners selling bodies here.

"… Whatever, let's go then…"-He says while guiding the way towards Cube's Portal Station.

"Sure. Let's make money today!"-I scream as I raise my fist up.

"You didn't take your medication today or what?"

"My what? I left those long ago. I'm a free man right now."

"…Sure…"-He says.

***

Outside a coffee shop in Seoul. A somewhat popular one called Angel Box. I was waiting for Hajin to come out with his new weapon.

It was almost 5:30, the time someone was supposed to come to bring Hajin his dessert eagle. And I could already see the guy. Yoo Yeonha's personal attendant, Jin Sechan. A guy with a black dress and sunglasses carrying a suitcase.

{Mmm… Rich kids sure have it easy, having personal attendants and everything.}-I think as I keep staring at the guy.

"…"-He stares back at me and nods while walking through the door. Not even waiting for an answer.

"*sigh…* Hopes he hurry."- I murmur while I wait for Hajin and Jin Sechan to finish their chat inside.

A few minutes later, Jin Sechan comes out of the door again. This time without looking at me.

And right there and then he makes a call.

[Did you deliver the item?]-Asked a feminine but kind of childish voice. I assume it's Yoo Yeonha.

"Yes."- Answers Jin Sechan.

[Was there anything special about him?]-She asks.

"*sigh…* She sure is paranoic…"-I say unconsciously.

And that makes Jin Sechan turn around to look at me again. To which I stare back.

"What?"

"Were you talking to me?"-He asks.

[Yes, I'm asking you, who else?]-Yoo Yeonha answers instead of me.

"N-no… I wasn't talking to you right now…"-He answers back flustered.

"Hahahahaha!"-I laugh my ass off

"Y-you!!!"-He suddenly gets all flustered.

[I what? What's happening!]-Yoo Yeonha answers back with an angry voice.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"-I laugh harder this time, clutching my stomach and hunching

"Th-this motherfucker…"-Says Jin Sechan as he leaves the place angry towards a black sedan parked in the street.

[What's happening? Sechan? Sechan!? Answer me!]-An angry Yoo Yeonha keeps screaming from the other side of the call.

"Hahaha… Oh man, that sure was funny as hell… Getting to see a scene like that in real life is always a nice thing…"-I say as I clean the tears from my eyes after he left the place. I laughed too much.

Sometime after that, Kim Hajin comes out of the coffee shop.

"What happened to you?"-He asks after seeing me with red eyes.

"You just happened to lose one of the best scenes to laugh at man… haha, that guy sure was funny."-I say to him.

"Who?"

"The one to give you the weapon."

"Jin Sechan?"

"Whatever he's called man. Look, I'll tell you what you just missed."-I tell him the story as we walked to the Portal Station.

***

"*sigh…* We at least could use the portal for free this time…"- Hajin says after we walk out of Wonju's Portal Station.

"Yeah, who could tell that we would have to pay 170.000 won from Seoul to here huh…"- I say too.

To use the Portal's service from Seoul to Gangwondo Wonju, the price was 170.000 won, which was about 170$ from back home. So, it was kind of costly, considering that we would need to take the portal back too. But well. Thankfully. We came here to make money on the hunting grounds. Or "The Field". Whatever you wanted to called it.

"Well… Should we go?"-I say.

"Sure."-Kim Hajin answers while going forward, this time looking all around the city. He sure should be kind of excited. Being able to see a city he imagined in his novel come to life. It should be pretty exciting from his point of view.

The city was big and crowded. If I don't remember wrong, this should be a global city thanks to The Field here, it attracts a lot of mercenaries and heroes to make some money. Korea has one of the best systems for hunting safely. And that would bring a lot of people here.

In case you were to get in danger, you just need a flare that would summon any agent or hero in less than 3 minutes. Making the job of hunting monsters safer.

"You sure make it big for your home ground huh…"-I murmur as I look around towards all the foreigners walking around this place.

"Well… I'm Korean, what would you expect?"-He answers.

"That's true… But was it really a good idea?"

"What?"

"Put so many dungeons and towers inside Korea."-I whisper so only he can hear me.

"Well… Right now, I don't know. But it sure was a good idea to keep the main plot inside here…"-He whispers back.

"Whatever. Let's go."

"E-excuse me…"-Suddenly a voice comes to us. We turn to see a thin man with round glasses wearing a worn-out suit. He had slouched shoulders even though he was pretty tall. I know this guy. Is this called fate? Well. The only thing that changed was me coming here. We didn't come later or earlier, or at least I think so…

"Yeah?"-I ask, to which Hajin stops me with a hand. "What?"

"Let me do the talking."-So he says…

"Come on. I know how to talk."

"Yeah, if you don't take into account manners. You sure do know how to talk."

"Well, whatever. Suit yourself."-I finally say stepping back.

"Thanks. So… Yes? Do you need anything?"-Kim Hajin asks while smiling.

"Are you both here perhaps to hunt monsters?"-He says while looking at us.

"Yes. We are. Are you an agent?"

"Ah, yes! Here's my business card."-Said the guy while giving Hajin a business card and then turning to give me another one. Just one was enough…

[SH Agent Head Manager, Park Soohyuk]

He sure was Park Soohyuk. An agent that seemed kind of a bad choice but that soon make it big thanks to Kim Hajin's help. Though… If I'm not mistaken. He would make it big even without Hajin, so he had talent.

"…Mr. Park Soohyuk?"-Says Hajin while looking at the card with a somewhat impressed face. It seems like he just remembered him.

"Ah, yes, nice to meet you!"-Park Soohyuk says as he tidies himself.

"Sure man. Nice to meet you too."- I answer.

"Yeah, me too."-Hajin answers too.

"Ah… You may not know of me, right? I'm just starting, so I don't have a name around here…"

"Don't worry man. I know shit about agents. So, it doesn't matter if you're a nobody or a well-known agent to me."-I frankly said.

"*sigh…* That's why I asked you to leave the talking to me… Sorry, Mr. Park Soohyuk… He has a somewhat bad mouth…"-Hajin answers while glaring at me.

"Ah, don't worry! It's not a problem, really."

"In any case… SH Agent… It sure feels like a trustworthy name"-Hajin says while looking back at him.

"Ha, haha thank you…"

"Ah, by the way…"-Hajin says before doing some strange actions, that I assume is looking through his laptop. "My main weapon is a gun. Is that okay?"-He says after storing back his laptop.

{It does look weird as shit. I better don't bring the laptop outside my room. Don't want people looking at me weirdly.}

"I don't think why that would be a problem. Gun or sword, mercenary or hunter, it doesn't matter to me! New customers are always welcome!"-Park Soohyuk says while putting out his hand.

"Perfect. He has a gun. I have the sword. And we're both ready to be new customers."-I said while smiling and shaking his hand back.

"*sigh…* This is already getting tiresome…"-Says Hajin while also shaking Park Soohyuk's hand.

After that. We all went to the hunting ground. Even when agents without a car only waited outside of the Field, Park Soohyuk went all the way with us. Meaning he was either desperate or was a truly committed agent.

***

It all was… boring… I mean. Sure. This hunting ground isn't filled with strong monsters, so hoping to fight something strong was stupid in the first place.

Actually, most of the fight was left to Kim Hajin… I only killed a few of them. In the original story, they stopped after killing two monsters. But this time we went all the way and killed 10. After all, I could carry them around effortlessly.

Kim Hajin's desert eagle had a really great performance. With his Gift "Thousand-mile Eyes" and his knowledge of the monsters. He could easily hunt a lot of monsters. I also only used sword techniques, not wanting to draw too much attention, I barely infused mana in my sword and attacked any vital point I saw.

We only stopped because of time, and that the magical pouch that Park Soohyuk had was actually at max capacity.

Even when he killed most of the monsters. Kim Hajin chose to give me half of the gains. It wasn't bad at all. Well, of course, if it wasn't for me, they would only stop after two monsters. So yeah. I did a big part of the job.

"It was really a nice time hunting with you both."-Said Park Soohyuk after we delivered the monsters.

"Yeah, it sure was. Sadly, we didn't have a bigger pouch… But well, you'll be able to buy better stuff sometime later if we keep hunting like this, right?"-I say to him with a smile.

"Sure! Sure! I'll make sure to buy the best I can."

"That would be great, Mr. Park Soohyuk. Well, we'll be going. We're also short on time."-Says Hajin while saying goodbye to Park Soohyuk.

"Yeah, see you, man! I hope to work again with you soon."-I also say bye while putting up my hand for a shake.

"Ah, yes! Me too!"-He says while shaking my hand.

After that. We both went back to Cube.

***

"Okay man, I'll go to my room and change clothes. After this. We're going to train. So, I'll wait for you in the training center at 23:30. Same as usual."-I said to Hajin while getting inside the dorms of Cube.

"*sigh…* Fine… Can't you at least be a little more lenient tonight? Today we went hunting! And I'm already tired from today's class and yesterday's training…"-He answered while looking at me with a wistful face.

"No can't do. I told you already. Next week we'll start morning training. So, you have to adjust to this training regime as fast as you can. That way you won't be bitching too much about the morning training later."

"… Fine… I just hope I won't die from overworking…"

"Don't worry. I already explained to you that you won't."

"By the way."-He said, suddenly stopping and looking at me seriously. "You already have the list. When are you starting?"

"Oh, dungeon hunting? This Saturday and Sunday."

"What? So soon?"-He asked, surprised.

"Yes. Those two days are your days off from training. So, I don't have anything to worry about. I'll go and check some dungeons. You also have the shitty commemoration on Sunday, right?"-I ask him

It seems that he's going to receive some award for helping stop the Djinn at the museum during the monster attack.

"Ah… you're right… I'll have to go there… I was hoping you would take me you know?"-He says with a sad face.

"Are you crazy? You're too weak right now. Train a little more, and we'll see. After all, we still have a lot of time to go dungeon hunting. Don't worry too much. I'll just test the waters this weekend."

"…You're right. Let's go to our rooms already…"-He says while going inside the elevator.

"Sure. Also, give me some pointers with the stock market. I wish to make a lot of money. I also need it."

"Hmm? Well… Sure, there's no problem. I was also thinking about investing in some stocks. I'll tell you tomorrow which ones you should put your money into."-He says.

I already knew a few of them from my memories, but it wouldn't be bad at all to confirm.

"Well… See you later in the training center."-He says as he goes out of the elevator.

"Sure. See you."-I answer him back.

***

Waking up on Friday I stare at the ceiling… Looking at it, I start thinking about tomorrow. As I said to Kim Hajin yesterday, I plan to go dungeon hunting tomorrow. Most of the Dungeons Hajin told me are undiscovered, so it won't be any problem in case I just conquer them.

And among them, there was one that was really perfect for me. It hasn't any reward described, but it has an outline, and it is that it's an Ice Dungeon. So, most monsters inside should be weak to fire, and that made it perfect for me to test the Dungeons of this world for the first time, I'll just have to burn everything through it, though I don't know what rank the Dungeon is.

{Well, I better go to classes… Today was test day in Phenomenon Realm Analysis…}-I thought as I stand up to go to the bathroom.

Right then I look at my smartwatch to put some music and see that there are some messages that I haven't read.

"Oh? Would you look at that? Easy money haha…"

[350.000 won has been deposited]

[600.500 won has been deposited]

[564.000 won has been deposited]

[325.000 won has been deposited]

[785.000 won has been deposited]

[Here's the money for yesterday's monsters that we agreed upon with Kim Hajin. As we said, half of the monsters are for you. Hope we can work again soon. SH Agency Head Manager, Park Soohyuk]

"Mmmm… In total there is 2.624.500 won… That's what? Around 2.600$? Mmm… Not bad… It really is profitable, just to hunt a little bit."-I said before putting music and going inside the shower.

***

"Sit down."-Said the teacher as he entered the classroom. "There is a written exam today like I mentioned last time."

Right then, at least half of the cadets all groaned. Even the one sitting in front of Hajin and me.

"Really!? I didn't study at all!"-Screamed Chae Nayun. And Kim Suho just showed her his notes.

"*kuhum…*"-She cleared her throat in embarrassment.

"Hahaha! Oh man, this never gets old…"-I said while chuckling. Only to be glared at by Chae Nayun.

"What?"-I stare back at her.

"tch…Want to fight!?"-She says.

"With a petty spoiled child like you? Nope. Not interested."

"Wh-what!? Y-you!-"-She says trying to stand up. Just to be grabbed by Kim Suho and sat down again.

"Come on. Calm down, we have a written exam right now…"-He says to her before giving a glance at me, but just for a second.

"You too man… Why do you have to keep picking up fights here and there…"-Says Hajin to me in a whisper…

"Whatever. I was just chuckling to myself…"-I whisper back to him. "Or is that a crime?"

"…"-He just stares at me blankly… "*sigh…*"

"Now, now. The written exam will start. So be quiet."-Says the teacher, as he starts giving the test's sheets.

I start looking at mine while activating Observation and Reading.

{Really. The perfect cheat for tests.}-I thought while I start answering.

Just as I'm on it, I see that Hajin is also answering fast. Man… This is going to be fucked up… Wait… What if we just happen to have the same answers? Or what if we both score perfect marks?

{… Shit… Should I keep with my original plan and just be the third or fourth place? Or should I try to see what happens if I answer completely?}-I start thinking as I go answering my questions. Changing the wording here and there, in case Hajin starts writing exactly what it says with the gift… I don't want to be caught cheating after all…

…

Right when I was just finishing my test, I saw that Hajin suddenly stops writing with a surprised face.

Maybe it is that? The laptop updating? I would ask… But in this silent classroom, even the little bit of noise would be heard… So, I better don't do anything.

{Well… It'll be good for him, anyway.}-I think as I stand up to deliver my text answer.

By the way, I just answered almost perfectly. Leaving a pair of questions unattended. They were boring, so I choose to leave them blank. It was something about what would happen if you over-exceed the mana amount in a Dungeon and what would be the consequences to you of a mana density exceeding the intended of the place while you used spells, Gift or the slightest bit of mana.

I really didn't care about any of that.

***

After class. Hajin and I went to a coffee shop to be able to talk about where to invest the money we just earned. Our first choice was one of the popular ones. But we had to leave. It was reserved, and we also saw Shin Jonghak and Yoo Yeonha inside.

We then went to the coffee shop of last time, it was quieter, and there weren't too many people. It was nice, at least for me.

"So… You're worried?"-I ask him while sitting down after asking for our drinks.

"Yeah… It just turned off. Saying something about some update or shit…"

"Well, an update is never a bad thing you know?"-I say to him. "It would probably better up the specs of your laptop, right? And that would help you with the Setting Intervention."

"Sure… It's just that… It's the first time it has happened. So, what if I have to wait a lot of time?"

"Don't worry too much. It shouldn't be too long you know? Sudden, sure, but how long would it take? A day at most?"

"Here! A chocolate milkshake with extra chocolate and chocolate chips, and a latte coffee."-The waitress says while she puts our drinks on the table.

"Thank you miss."-Says Hajin.

"Thanks, cutie."- I said. Really. Everyone in this place was either beautiful or crazy. As expected, should I say?

"…"-She stares at me somewhat bashfully for a bit before leaving. What? I expected a snort or something of the like.

"…"-Kim Hajin just stares at me.

"What?"

"Thanks… cutie? Why would you say that?"

"Why wouldn't I? She's cute. Anyway, take it as something from Latin America."- I say before sipping from my drink. "So. Should we start planning which guilds or business we'll start investing first?"

"Yeah, sure. Start with Packhorse Master. It's already public and soon will make it big with a dungeon conquering. Also, you could start buying stocks for Creator's Sacred Grace… They would try a tower in the future and the guild's stocks would skyrocket. Though, they would fail, so you better sell them right when I tell you to."

"Mmm… Okay, I'm taking notes. Anything else?"

"Well… Some of the best ones aren't even in public. But in a year or so from now, maybe even less, you should start investing in anything related to Essence of the Strait."

"Yoo Yeonha's family's guild?"-I asked, acting oblivious.

"Yes. You should know that she makes it big, right?"

"Yeah, but it isn't to that point, right?"

"It will only get bigger with time, so it's a great choice. I also plan on giving a helping hand. Well… It depends on how everything goes. But I'll at least try. Also… SH Agency should be a good choice to invest too. But more of a direct investment, we better do that while we have the connection with Park Soohyuk, right?"

"Sure…"-I said while sipping my chocolate milkshake.

"Also… Are you ready?"

"For what?"

"The dungeons."

"Oh, that? Sure. I already chose one to try. It will be easy, I think."

"Mmm… I hope so… Either way. If anything, at least try to contact me after you conquer it. I'm kind of curious about the rewards…"

"Sure."

We finished our drinks and went to the dorms.

"Oh, we'll still be training tonight you know? And remember. This Monday you start your morning training. Don't worry. They won't be that hard. Just a basic warm-up."-I said while smiling.

"… You really want to kill me…"

"Why would I choose such a long way?"

"To torture me before?"

"…"-I avert my eyes.

"SO YOU ARE INDEED TORTURING ME!!!"

"Look… It's for your own good man… Trust me. You'll be seeing results anytime soon…"

"I'm already seeing them… every night… That natural energy? That shit's miraculous… Or I don't know if it is because of my luck… *sigh…*"-So he says as we go inside the elevator.