Chapter 137

Suui Kim was breathing heavily. Everyone watching the situation was silent for a moment. An A-plus and two A-Rank hunters had defeated the boss monster. Of course, Cho-i Hyeon’s tanking was excellent, but after all, isn’t it enough for a damage dealer to just deal damage well?

“We did it!”

Nara Shim cheered. She seemed very excited. Indeed, her contribution was also significant. The stacked buff disappeared as her rank increased, but it became possible to stack it for Suui Kim and Cho-i Hyeon specifically, and the timing of her debuff use just now was also appropriate. Cho-i Hyeon poked the dead eyeballs, then suddenly turned away from the celebrating group and asked ‘the Entity’.

‘Are you going to eat this?’ ‘No.’

As expected, it reacted uncannily to talk of food. Indeed, this monster wasn’t even S-grade, just A+ Rank, so he expected it wouldn’t eat it. This was fortunate for Cho-i. He didn’t want to put those huge eyeballs in his mouth. Ugh. Just then, Cho-i noticed something red glinting among the dead monsters. It was none other than a Red Magic Stone. Hmm, he subtly glanced around and then.

“I’ve collected all the items!”

He collected all the items that had appeared there and stood up. He didn’t intend to mention the existence of the Red Magic Stone. This is mine, mine even if the world turns upside down. Then he spoke to Suui Kim, whose face was still flushed.

“You’ve improved a lot, haven’t you?”

“Don’t say that, it’s embarrassing.”

“What’s embarrassing about it? You’re practically ecstatic.”

Cho-i Hyeon chuckled and nudged his side. Suui Kim also subtly smiled, not entirely disliking it. Cho-i Hyeon quietly watched his face and then turned up the corners of his mouth.

‘I feel a bit more at ease.’

Cho-i Hyeon looked back at Nara Shim. They seemed to work well together, and it wouldn’t be bad to have them work together for a while.

“So, the next dungeons will be done by Hunter Suui Kim and Hunter Nara Shim?”

“Hey, why are you putting it that way?!”

“You should be bigger, why are you like this?”

While Nara Shim was fuming, Cho-i Hyeon smiled and looked at Suui Kim. Suui Kim thought deeply, then confirmed that his stamina had not dropped below a certain level and nodded.

“I’m fine.”

“Hunter Suui!”

“How’s Hunter Nara Shim’s stamina?”

“M-me?”

Nara Shim protested to Suui Kim but was instead questioned back, momentarily pausing. Indeed, her stamina hadn’t been depleted much. The tank and dealer were excellent, and they worked well together. Since the monster’s head wouldn’t turn in the first place, she only needed to provide buffs without support.

“Well, it’s, it’s enough, but…”

The thought, “I don’t want to be the only one working,” was clearly written on her face. Cho-i Hyeon poked Nara Shim’s side and said,

“Hey, honestly, am I slacking off? I’m tanking.”

“That’s true, but you act like you’re slacking off too much.”

“Then an S-Rank should act like they’re playing in an A+ Rank dungeon, why would I be so damn serious?”

“The Entity too…”

Nara Shim easily understood. However, she seemed worried about having to go through two more dungeons alone. Cho-i Hyeon put his arm around Nara Shim’s shoulder and said,

“Hey, what’s there to worry about when you have an S-Rank healer and an S-grade S-rank Dealer supporting you from behind? Do you think we’d just stand by if you two were in danger?”

“That’s true, right?”

“Just do everything you want, we’ll support you. That way, you’ll improve too.”

“R-right?”

You need to improve so I can lead you around. Hohoho. Cho-i Hyeon specifically omitted the last part. The group then exited through the open passage. Outside, the dungeon management team was waiting. They brought water and snacks for the Hunters, then left to speak with the dungeon cleanup crew to re-examine the dungeon they had cleared.

“Then we should rest a bit and go straight to another dungeon, right?”

“We will.”

Cho-i and his party rested there for about an hour, then immediately took Paehyeok’s car to another dungeon. And promptly embarked on a dungeon raid. The A-Rank dungeon felt lighter than an A+ Rank, and with Cho-i Hyeon tanking, one dealer and one buffer were sufficient. However, since only two people were exerting themselves, there were intermittent breaks, which increased the overall clear time, but there were no issues with stamina. After clearing the second and third dungeons, the party let out a sigh.

“Finally, it’s over!”

Cho-i Hyeon stretched out.

“Now, let’s look for a hidden dungeon nearby.”

Everyone nodded at his words. It would take some time until the exit closed, so all they had to do was find a hidden dungeon within that time. Even if the exit closed, if the dungeon’s reconstruction finished while they were inside a hidden dungeon, that was fine in its own way, and even if reconstruction began when they exited the hidden dungeon, Cho-i Hyeon had a method.

“I’ll go west.”

Cho-i Hyeon decided to take the west, Taeyang Kang the east, Suui Kim the south, and the remaining Nara Shim, Myeongok Shin, and Jin Eunbeom the north. The separated group searched for a hidden dungeon for tens of minutes. Unfortunately, nothing was found.

They eventually returned to their original spot and looked at the exit.

“What should we do? There’s nothing.”

“Ah, it’s a waste to have gone through three dungeons.”

Cho-i Hyeon tilted his head at that.

“Well, there’s no one here who seems to have an affinity with this dungeon.”

“Really? Then why did you come here?”

“Because this is the only place left. So, there’s nothing we can do. Let’s go.”

Suui Kim looked at Eunbeom Jeon.

“Are you sure about this? I thought you put in a request to enter the hidden dungeon.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I pretty much figured it out by watching you guys anyway. It’s a shame, but what can you do? It’d be too much to keep going until it appears, right?”

“That’s true.”

In the end, the group came out without being able to open the hidden dungeon. It was a real waste. If they had brought the troublesome Taehyeok Sa, it might have opened.

“You really just came out for a stroll today.”

“It was a pleasant walk.”

“Mr. Eunbeom Jeon, are you going straight home?”

“Yes, I have a lot to think about.”

While Cho-i and Myeongok Shin were talking, and Suui Kim and Eunbeom Jeon were chatting, Nara Shim awkwardly spoke to Taeyang Kang.

“Would you like to get something to eat?”

“Sure.”

“Huh?”

Nara Shim, who had expected to be refused, asked back. Taeyang Kang replied very brazenly.

“Aren’t you going with Cho-i Hyeon?”

“Ah, that’s right…”

“What? What are you two talking about?”

Cho-i Hyeon interrupted the two of them.

“No, I asked if he wanted to go eat, and he said yes.”

“Really? Then let’s go get some Budae-jjigae. I suddenly have a craving for it.”

Cho-i Hyeon also asked Suui Kim, who was next to him.

“How about you?”

“I’m going back to Paehyeok to train more.”

“Always so diligent, I swear.”

Cho-i Hyeon grumbled as if displeased, but didn’t stop him. One of the reasons he liked him was his diligence. Even though he seemed like a slacker, Suui Kim was quite a model student.

“Then are Suui Kim and Hunter Myeongok Shin returning to the guild?”

“Yes.”

Myeongok Shin said with his hands behind his back. So Eunbeom Jeon returned to his home, the two of them went to the guild, and the remaining three headed to the bustling downtown area for a meal. The three entered a Budae-jjigae restaurant that was empty since lunchtime had passed, and sat down. Cho-i Hyeon immediately turned on Huntred and began inspecting the anonymous board, which he hadn’t looked at in a while.

[Yo, f***; a hidden dungeon really appeared] [What, it didn’t appear, only idiots believe this kind of thing] [Review of going to the hidden dungeon] [What’s the point of a hidden dungeon appearing if the first team all died]

All sorts of titles were mixed in, but everyone was talking about the hidden dungeon. Some teams said they couldn’t challenge it because their guild was small, and guilds that were lucky enough to have similar dungeons said they were rotating people to grind until a hidden dungeon appeared. And someone succeeded in returning alive from a hidden dungeon, while someone else died and couldn’t even post a message.

[Yo, I got an S-Rank item;]
[Seriously, I went in thinking it was a complete scam, but a hidden dungeon really appeared. But everyone except me died. Honestly, I almost lost an arm, but thanks to finding an S-Rank item, I came out with all my limbs intact. I was lucky to survive, but you guys should think carefully. I warned you.]
└ You warned us, my ass
└ If you title it ‘S-Rank item appeared’ and then tell people to think carefully, who’s going to think carefully?
└ I don’t believe it without proof
└ So many hidden dungeon posts lately, this must be aggro
└ But what’s your rank?
└ Someone already wants to steal it, huh? So scary

It’s a complete mess.

Cho-i Hyeon scrolled through the posts on Huntred, chuckling to himself. Taeyang Kang, who was already monitoring, simply gulped down some water. It was water Nara Shim had poured for him. Nara Shim set up the spoons and chopsticks and asked Cho-i Hyeon,

“Why, what kind of post is up?”

“It seems like hidden dungeons are really opening up. Considering all the guys who went in and died, there must be even more opening.”

“Really?”

Having finished setting up, Nara Shim turned on her smartphone and accessed Huntred. Then she searched for posts using the keyword “hidden dungeon.”

“Wow, there are already over twenty thousand new posts.”

“It’s faster than I expected.”

“But why did you release all this high-level information?”

“I’ve already explained it all, I don’t want to explain it again.”

“This jerk.”

Nara Shim furrowed her brow intensely, then soon sighed and said,

“Never mind. It’s obvious without you telling me. Since dungeon ranks are upgrading a lot these days, you’re trying to pick out capable hunters, aren’t you?”

“Uh, you pretty much got it. You’re a genius, aren’t you?”

“You become like this when you’re with me. You abbreviate what you say, or don’t say anything at all, causing all this chaos, so my ability to infer things just grows.”

Cho-i Hyeon clapped his hands. Then he said to Taeyang Kang,

“Learn from her.”

“Alright.”

“Alright, what!”