Chapter 6 – I've Awakened (2)

When we talk about dungeons, we usually picture damp, musty, old prisons.

But among these so-called dungeons, there exists something called a dimensional dungeon.

What does that mean?

You might enter a cave, but after taking a few steps from the entrance, you could suddenly find yourself in a jungle or on a deserted island.

In that case, you’re immediately short on food.

You’re fortunate if you have basic survival knowledge, but if not, you won’t even get to defeat the dungeon boss. You’ll die of hunger and thirst first.

In other words, the larger your storage space, the better.

A typical hunter’s system inventory has about five slots. That’s barely enough to carry their own weapons, let alone food.

A porter-type supporter has more inventory space than an attack team member, usually around 10 to 20 slots.

While non-awakened supporters lug around heavy backpacks, capable supporters use their large inventories to cram in as much as possible.

Being able to carry a lot of items gives you a significant advantage.

‘Inventory.’

Fifty hexa blocks spread out before my eyes.

It was truly magnificent.

Depending on the size and weight of the items, it felt like you could even fit a person in there at times.

-Inventory has been activated.

-You can now carry loads more skillfully.

-The freshness of items in specific hexa blocks can be enhanced.

A strange message appeared. It was clearly an additional explanation of my abilities, but I had a bad feeling about it.

Now that the installation was almost complete, the previously garbled text was starting to become clear.

-Porter Lee Hyunbin LV1

Huh? Porter? Me?

Something was definitely wrong. Why would I, of all people, be a porter?

Once you’ve awakened, you can’t change it. Not unless you discard your current system and switch to another.

The joy I felt from awakening turned to ice.

What I wanted was to awaken as a hunter with the traits of an attack team member.

I’m screwed.

Completely and utterly screwed.

This is bad. This is really bad.

“Alright!”

While I was feeling terrible, someone else was shouting in triumph.

I glanced over, annoyed, and saw that my blondie had taken down another goblin.

It looked like he’d already caught three of them.

The musclehead’s expression was sour. The Tushin Guild rookie he was training also looked displeased.

In fact, before the blondie had started his hunt, Kim In-ho had been the center of attention.

His balance between offense and defense made his combat style incredibly stable.

But the blondie was practically toying with the goblins.

And he showed no obsession or aversion to killing a living creature for the first time. If anything, he was enjoying it.

Even with the system’s emotional regulation, getting splattered with blood could still be traumatic.

No, this isn’t the time for that. I’m the one who’s screwed. Utterly screwed.

Looking at my status window—great stats but the class of a porter—I felt nothing but despair.

-Not yet unlocked.

Then, a strange message appeared. Not yet unlocked?

I noticed another hidden tab at the top of my status window. I tried to click it to see what it was, but it wouldn’t respond.

-Not yet unlocked.

The same message just kept repeating.

Was this a thing? I’d never heard of a menu like this.

“Coach! At this rate, don’t you think I could be called a Goblin Slayer?”

Having caught one more, the blondie spoke with an air of triumph.

“No, to earn a title like that, you need to have a traumatic memory of losing your family to goblins. To the point where if you hear the word ‘goblin’ during a meal, you’d drop everything to go on a sword-dancing rampage. Oh, and didn’t I tell you a sword isn’t an axe? You’re not supposed to just mindlessly chop down. You need to move with the feeling of slicing.”

“Yes, I understand.”

At least he listened when told. Simple, yet effective movements repeated countless times.

He subdued his opponents with simple, basic sword strikes, devoid of any fancy techniques.

The truth was, the blondie could be a bit of a show-off, but he had a great physical foundation and an immense desire to become stronger.

He’d apparently learned a few martial arts here and there before becoming a hunter. Though from my perspective, it was all child’s play.

“You’ve met your quota, haven’t you? Congratulations.”

Before I knew it, the blondie had successfully hunted five goblins.

A splendid achievement, accomplished in a single day, less than an hour after entering.

“Let’s call it a day and head out.”

“But it hasn’t even been an hour yet.”

The blondie said, sounding a bit disappointed.

Having had a chance to warm up and bask in the envious gazes of those around him, he likely wanted to stay a bit longer.

Of course, I understood.

Being the object of others’ envy feels surprisingly good.

Like you’re truly alive? Like the fruits of your labor are being acknowledged by someone?

Anyway, the blondie was probably feeling something like that right now.

Normally, I would have let him hunt a little longer.

But the status window in my field of vision was getting on my nerves.

-Porter Lee Hyunbin LV1

I didn’t want to accept it.

Me, a porter. Me!

The only silver lining was the possibility of an undiscovered ability.

To get a proper appraisal, I needed to visit the Dungeon Control Center.

To gain an awakening only to have it be this futile…

The reason I hadn’t given up all hope was that phenomena like Dual Awakenings existed.

In fact, Seol Ji-hoon, the most recently designated S-Rank hunter, had awakened as a Knight. But then he had an additional awakening as a Healer, becoming the first person in the country with a Dual Awakening.

The prevailing theory was that granting two types of mana to a single core would weaken one’s abilities.

After all, the dual-awakened individuals in other countries had never surpassed B-Rank.

But Seol Ji-hoon was different.

He quickly became Korea’s 3rd-ranked hunter and the best tanker. I heard his world ranking was coming out soon, too. I expected him to be quite high up.

I looked around. He should be around here somewhere.

Ah, there he is.

There was one other trainer at our center today.

I gave my colleague a brief explanation of the situation.

I told him the blondie’s test was already over, and all he needed was a bit more hunting experience. I also revealed that I had awakened.

“It’s Kim Tae-yang. You trained him, so what’s there to worry about? I saw him earlier, he was doing great.”

“That’s the basics.”

“You finally awakened too. Congratulations. Shouldn’t you call the Center Director? He’ll be thrilled.”

“My awakening hasn’t been properly confirmed yet, so I want to get it checked out.”

“Right. After you awaken, you get antsy and can’t sit still because you want to get it confirmed. I know that feeling well. Go on, hurry. I’ll keep a good eye on Mr. Kim Tae-yang.”

There was no way the blondie would fall to something like a Lesser Goblin anyway. And it wouldn’t take long for me to go and come back.

“Hunter Tae-yang, if you don’t know something, please ask your senior here. And don’t do anything stupid.”

“Yes, Coach. I won’t do that stuff anymore. If I did, you’d just put me through the wringer. Heh heh.”

“Anyone would think I’m a wicked trainer. Well then, I’ll be back within thirty minutes.”

“Yeah, take your time. I’ll just take it easy here.”

Since he paid to get in, he might as well get his money’s worth.

Even if this was a beginner zone, Lesser Goblins still dropped mana stones. Of course, they were only worth a quarter of what a normal goblin’s would fetch.

Still, a mana stone was a mana stone, and you could sell it for money. About 50,000 won?

So, our Hunter Kim Tae-yang had already earned 250,000 won. If he worked for ten days, that would be 2.5 million won.

Of course, successfully hunting a monster didn’t guarantee a mana stone drop. Some had them, some didn’t.

I walked briskly out of the dungeon and headed for the Control Center.

Then, I heard an unfamiliar voice.

“You’re quite lucky.”

What was that about?

As I was rushing, someone spoke to me.

I looked at the person and saw a man with neatly styled pomade hair, a tidy suit, and a tie.

He adjusted his horn-rimmed glasses and offered a faint smile.

“You should buy a lottery ticket today. Ah, but you’ve already used up all your luck, so would it even matter?”

His appearance and attire were as proper as a company man’s, but his words were strange.

Was he not all there?

“Ah, I see.”

I gave a noncommittal answer and continued on my way.

As I walked, I glanced back and saw the man in the suit heading toward the dungeon entrance.

He wasn’t dressed like a hunter out on a hunt. Was he some kind of salesman?

I entered the Dungeon Control Center and walked straight toward the receptionist.

“I’ve awakened.”

The staff member looked surprised that I was coming out saying I’d awakened so soon after entering the dungeon.

Truthfully, they saw people awaken all the time, so it wasn’t that surprising.

The reason for this reaction was because it was me, of all people.

For the past six months, I had been practically living at the dungeon in my capacity as a trainer, hoping to awaken.

* * *

“Congratulations. It’s a Supporter Awakening.”

“Ah, yes.”

I didn’t want to believe it, but it was indeed a Supporter Awakening. A porter, that is.

People who carry luggage for other attack teams.

A trainer was also a role that supported hunters in becoming stronger, but I hadn’t wanted to do the same even after awakening as a hunter.

“Normally, when you awaken, your body is enhanced. Like a character in a game. But perhaps because you’re a trainer, your physical balance is exceptionally ideal.”

I thought I saw a notification about being able to carry loads more skillfully. My body hadn’t been enhanced to carry more luggage, had it?

No, in the first place, I hadn’t slacked on my training even after returning to the modern world.

Just because you awaken and gain abilities doesn’t mean your body automatically gets stronger.

You have to constantly train your body to raise your proficiency.

“You said you were a trainer, right? And you just awakened today.”

“Yes, well. That’s right.”

“Which guild are you thinking of joining in the future?”

“A guild?”

Porter or not, now that I’d awakened, I met the minimum requirement to join a guild.

Some people get in through interviews, while others are scouted on the spot after awakening.

But porters were never scouted. You could easily find a porter anywhere.

“Since you’re a supporter, your income will be greater if your main party’s earnings are good. If you haven’t thought of a guild yet, how about our Tushin Guild?”

The Control Center employee suddenly asked nonchalantly. He seemed like a veteran.

Tushin Guild. The place that had rejected me in a flash during my interview and made me want to die of shame. I seemed to be hearing that name a lot.

No, really, I’d join any other guild, but not Tushin. That interviewer gave me trauma about interviews.

“You know Mr. Seol Ji-hoon, who was recently designated as the third S-Rank, right?”

The dual-awakened Knight and Healer, nicknamed the Holy Knight.

I, too, had come to the Control Center, clinging to the hope that my case might be similar to his.

“Mr. Seol Ji-hoon was also impressed with the Tushin Guild’s care and future-oriented industry. He signed the contract just yesterday.”

I hadn’t known, but it seemed the Control Center had employees who also worked as recruiters.

Conducting an examination and a sales pitch at the same time. Isn’t that illegal?

More importantly, his intention in offering a spot to a simple porter was strange.

Even if I wasn’t fond of the Tushin Guild, it was still the number two guild in South Korea.

I’d heard they were attempting some very aggressive marketing to shed their perennial second-place label.

There were even jokes that their global, octopus-like expansion was all just to go all-in on the hunter business.

“Did you notice anything unusual during the examination?”

“Unusual?”

Right now, I could see two types of status windows. One was the green status window with the information I already knew.

And then there was a blue status window whose information I couldn’t read.

When I tried to click it, all I got was a message saying it couldn’t be unlocked.

In other words, I also had hope for a Dual Awakening. No, it had to be a Dual Awakening.

There was no way I was just a measly porter.

“I happen to handle both awakened testing and recruitment. And from what I see, Mr. Lee Hyunbin, you seem to be an indispensable talent for our guild.”

The fact that a place like the Tushin Guild kept making scouting offers was suspicious. Could there be something on the status window that I couldn’t see?

The Tushin Guild was by no means a sloppy organization.

They were a place that would never operate at a loss. If they wanted to recruit me, there had to be a reason.

“You are the only supporter to have over 50 inventory slots upon initial awakening, Mr. Lee Hyunbin.”

“The only one?”

“The best supporter in Korea, Lee Sang-gu of the Shinhwa Guild, has 45 inventory slots.”

To be honest, I didn’t know much about supporters.

It had only been half a year since my return, after all. I couldn’t know everything.

But I knew of the Shinhwa Guild.

Korea’s undisputed number one guild. And the place that Myeongga and Tushin, both competing for second place, desperately wanted to overtake.

“We’ll offer you a signing bonus of 2.5 billion won. What do you say?”