Chapter 18

A cold wind swept across his forehead.

The road on the outskirts of the city was completely still, with everyone asleep. On the four-lane road shrouded in thick dawn mist, only the occasional speeding car flashed by. Under the eerie glow of a flickering streetlight, Nam Shin-hoo took a step forward.

“U-um, G-Guild Master…”

Tugging timidly at Shin-hoo’s sleeve, the man pulled his cap down even lower. Thin and haggard, this was Gwan Seung-ya, newly hired by the Saint Guild.

Having suffered one misfortune after another since childhood, Seung-ya believed his life would turn around when he awakened at twenty-one. His rank was B-Rank. While it wouldn’t make him a tycoon, it was more than enough to support his elderly grandparents.

Yet his bad luck persisted: the skills he received upon awakening were terrible. All he got was weak stealth and a touch-based dissolution ability. He was a half-baked hunter who could neither fight, support, nor craft.

Guilds that initially welcomed his rank quickly soured once they checked his skills. He was routinely kicked out of interview rooms before the offered tea could even go cold. Clinging to a last shred of hope, he took a wild gamble and applied to the Saint Guild.

The world was cruel. Other places at least granted him an interview, but Saint rejected him at the resume screening without even letting him see an interviewer’s face.

Overcome by years of pent-up sorrow, Seung-ya caused a scene like a child, begging for just one chance to interview. If he failed here, he had nowhere left to go and no pride left to save.

Certain he would be thrown out, he met his lucky break instead. S-Rank Hunter Nam Shin-hoo had stepped forward with the sun at his back, offering his hand. Though only a few years older, Shin-hoo radiated an aura like someone standing at the top of the world, and Seung-ya took his hand as if entranced.

And so, fresh as a newly sprouted fern, twenty-one-year-old hunter Gwan Seung-ya passed the Saint Guild entrance screening without even knowing why.

After a brief spell of feeling like he was floating in a dream, he resolved to hold tightly onto this stroke of luck with everything he had. What did a strange start matter? He was now a proud member of the Saint Guild.

Even through the grueling daily routine of training, lectures, sweat, and dirt, he was happy just to belong to the nation’s number one guild. That was, until his tiger-like Guild Master broke into his room through the window at dawn.

‘Why did he come looking for me in secret at this hour? Did I… get on his bad side?’

Come to think of it, everything had been strange from the start. Getting hired after causing a scene outside headquarters and kicking a security guard? He only hoped the Guild Master didn’t keep him around just to torment him.

Seung-ya rubbed his goosebump-covered arms and glanced around.

On an isolated road at dawn, he could be shoved into traffic, or worse, buried in the nearby hills…

Trembling with anxiety, Seung-ya hunched his shoulders once more.

“W-why did we come to such an isolated place at this hour? Only cars pass by here, and there’s nothing… around… is there?”

“There’s only one reason a hunter scouts an isolated area. You joined the guild, so now it’s time to run a dungeon.”

“W-well, yes, of course. But why just me… why take someone like me…?”

His voice trailed off into a whisper. Shin-hoo placed both hands on Seung-ya’s shoulders. Contrary to his worries, Shin-hoo looked straight at him with eyes full of trust.

“What do you mean, ‘someone like you’? I genuinely need you for this raid. There’s a job only you can do.”

“Ah…”

Moved to tears, Seung-ya covered his mouth. What ridiculous nonsense was I suspecting such a great person of? Thinking back on his doubts, he wanted to smack himself on the head. From the moment he first reached out, the Guild Master had clearly been the savior of his life.

“Guild Master…”

Seung-ya’s eyes shone through the fog.

“So, Hunter Gwan Seung-ya, are you ready for your first mission?”

“Yes! Absolutely. Order me to do anything!”

Seung-ya pumped his fist. Who cared if it was dawn or in the middle of nowhere? This man alone had told him he was needed, when everyone else called his skills useless. He would carry out whatever task the Guild Master gave him. Steeling his resolve, Seung-ya nodded firmly.

“Great. Now, dissolve this manhole cover. Weaken its internal structure so it looks old and rusted through.”

“Huh? Just a little? I can melt the whole thing…”

“We don’t have time.”

Shin-hoo showed no sign of changing his mind.

Though bewildered by the mundane task compared to the resolve he had built up, Seung-ya placed his hand on the manhole cover. A newly joined B-Rank hunter had no courage to argue with an S-Rank Guild Master.

Seung-ya melted the cover just enough to make it look naturally worn. Once it was weak enough to crumble under the slightest impact, he called out to Shin-hoo.

“It’s done. Um… what should I do now?”

“Looks like it turned out well.”

Examining the cover closely, Shin-hoo said:

“Now jump on it.”

“Pardon?”

“Jump down into the manhole.”

Seung-ya, who had sworn to do anything, felt his heart skip a beat. Were my suspicions right after all? Is this that workplace bullying people talk about…?

‘Telling me to weaken the cover and then jump on it? Fall straight down? You really can’t trust anyone in this world.’

He remembered his grandparents telling him that the world was a cold place. He really shouldn’t have taken an unearned opportunity.

He had no idea how deep or filthy the sewer might be. There could be rats or bugs. If he scraped himself, it would hurt terribly…

“What are you doing? Jump already.”

“Ugh…”

Tears welled up in Seung-ya’s eyes.

“H-here I go.”

Still, the man before him was an S-Rank Hunter and his boss. Praying his worker’s comp would be handled properly, Seung-ya leaped onto the manhole cover.

Crunch. Stepping on the scattered fragments of the manhole cover, Shin-hoo stood up.

A dry wind blew past, without a trace of dawn air. It seemed they had properly entered the dungeon.

Shin-hoo grabbed Seung-ya by the scruff of his neck and pulled him upright from where he lay splayed like a frog. Terrified, Seung-ya was curled up tightly, face buried in his arms, in a daze.

“Ugh… n-no. I was wrong! I won’t ever act up again… I’ll live quietly!”

“Get a grip.”

The first reason Shin-hoo brought Seung-ya along was the dungeon’s location.

It was an entrance hidden deep inside a water pipe beside a four-lane road—a spot that would never be found unless someone accidentally stepped on a rusted manhole cover and fell through. He needed Seung-ya’s dissolution skill to stage a natural entry.

He also needed a plausible discoverer for the dungeon.

Registering a dungeon required reporting it to the Hunter Association, and he couldn’t very well report, “I was walking by the road, accidentally fell into a rusted manhole, and stumbled upon a dungeon entrance.” If Nam Shin-hoo claimed that, not a single person would believe him.

So, having someone with dissolution abilities who was clumsy enough to fall into a manhole while daydreaming was the perfect fit. Seung-ya was exactly the talent needed for this raid.

Shin-hoo nudged the still-shaken, crouching Seung-ya with the tip of his foot.

“Get up.”

“Ugggh… Stop… workplace bullying… Protect employee human rights…”

I can guess what he’s thinking. Shin-hoo clicked his tongue.

“Since you’re the first person to enter this dungeon, you’ll be registered as its discoverer. The discovery reward is paid out to individuals, so you’ll receive a pretty solid sum.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s a valuable dungeon, so the auction fee alone should be evaluated at over one billion won.”

“…!”

Seung-ya shot straight up.

“W-what should I do next, Guild Master?!”

“I like how fast you grasp the situation.”

People with clear motivation were great because their actions were simple. And Seung-ya’s motivation was money—enough to comfortably support the grandparents who had raised him through hardship.

Looking toward the distant sandcastle, Shin-hoo tossed the gear he brought to Seung-ya.

“We need to head over there now. I brought heat-resistance gear, so put it on.”

“Yes, sir! Thank you! Uh, but there’s only one set here.”

“I don’t need attribute-resistance gear.”

Dressed in just a light shirt, Shin-hoo walked out into the sandstorm. Belatedly strapping on the gear, Seung-ya hurried after him.

The path forward was far from easy. Dungeon environments were always harsh, built for monsters rather than humans. But that posed no problem at all.

—Boom!

Covering his ears at the blast that rang out for the thirty-fifth time, Seung-ya clapped his hands.

“Whoa…”

All sorts of monsters burst out from the vast desert: Wind-Winged Birds swooping from the sky, Sand Centipedes erupting from the ground, and Fire Moles suddenly grabbing at their feet.

Every bizarre monster he had only ever seen in illustrated guidebooks turned into a corpse the moment it appeared, crashing straight to the ground.

“You really are incredible! Ah, another magic stone fragment here…!”

Stuck behind Shin-hoo like a shadow, Seung-ya gathered up every single scrap of dungeon byproduct without missing a speck. He had been stuttering and unable to make eye contact at first, but his eyes lit up the moment he saw loot. He was truly a born thief from his past life.

Misinterpreting Shin-hoo’s stare, Seung-ya widened his eyes and shook his head frantically.