Levelling Up In An Exclusive Dungeon

Chapter 33

Unlike what they had worried about, none of the men woke up even as time passed.

Their appearance, sprawled out like earthworms trampled underfoot, didn’t seem like they were acting.

Kang Jin-hyuk, figuring that the situation had been roughly sorted out, strode towards the blue （Bar）.

Then, he grabbed the shoulders of the brown-haired man who had collapsed there.

“Hey, I have some questions, so wake up.”

The man, who had been bleeding from his broken nose, groaned and opened his eyes as Kang Jin-hyuk roughly shook him back and forth.

“Uh… uh?!”

As soon as he regained consciousness, the man saw Kang Jin-hyuk’s face.

Having seen the human who had beaten him up, it was a natural reaction to thrash about like a fish out of water.

The brown-haired man tried to back away to create some distance, but he couldn’t move as he intended because Kang Jin-hyuk had a firm grip on his shoulders.

As a reward for his futile resistance, he received a body blow packed with weight.

“Ugh!”

Kang Jin-hyuk let go of his grip, mindful that the brown-haired man might vomit up what he had eaten.

Fortunately, the man quietly knelt down without dirtying the floor with vomit.

The sight of him clutching his stomach and struggling to overcome the pain was deeply pitiful.

While the brown-haired man was suffering the consequences of his own actions, Kang Jin-hyuk squatted in front of him.

Meeting his gaze, Kang Jin-hyuk glared at the man with wide eyes.

“Judging by your actions, it seems like you’ve done this once or twice before.”

Even though the approach was clumsy, he had positioned his colleagues around.

He had even gone so far as to prepare this place and drug them to carry out his plan.

Each and every action was planned.

‘This son of a b*tch!’

The bartender, who had been hiding behind the bar, cursed inwardly.

He was pretending to be frightened like a victim, but at this rate, it seemed like his involvement would be exposed.

‘I need to take him down before he says anything unnecessary.’

The bartender secretly opened his inventory and took out a weapon while Kang Jin-hyuk’s back was turned.

Now was the perfect opportunity, as Kang Jin-hyuk was distracted by the brown-haired man.

The bartender swung his sword, believing that Kang Jin-hyuk was unaware of his presence and was off guard.

But that was just the bartender’s delusion.

Kang Jin-hyuk had seen his Karma score and knew from the beginning that he was in cahoots with them.

“As expected, a human with a score over 400 couldn’t be just an ordinary person.”

Kang Jin-hyuk, who had been pretending to look elsewhere, dodged the sword just before it hit him, and the bartender’s face turned pale.

If even a surprise attack wouldn’t work, how could he possibly defeat the man who had single-handedly taken down all his colleagues?

The bartender thought that a fist would fly towards his face or body, just like what had happened to his other colleagues.

Terrified, the bartender squeezed his eyes shut.

However, contrary to his expectations, the fist didn’t come even as time passed.

Kang Jin-hyuk kicked the sword out of the bartender’s hand and grabbed him by the collar.

“You were the one I was aiming for from the start.”

The reason he had deliberately made the brown-haired man stand up and hit him was to lure the bartender out.

The reason he had chosen such a troublesome method was to obtain definite evidence rather than simply interrogating him based on his Karma score.

While it was true that most people with high Karma scores were criminals, it was still just speculation.

There was a slim possibility that he might be an unrelated individual, so he needed evidence to be certain.

The bartender coughed as Kang Jin-hyuk pushed him against the wall, cutting off his air supply.

“Talk honestly.”

“Wh, what should I say?”

“Tell me who’s backing you guys.”

“Th, th, there’s no such thing.”

What the bartender spat out was a meaningless excuse that wouldn’t work.

“You’ve been doing this repeatedly without getting caught, and you’re saying you don’t have any backing?”

The bartender, despite being grabbed by the collar, nodded his head vigorously, claiming his innocence.

But as Kang Jin-hyuk watched his Karma score rise every time he nodded,

There was no way such an act would work.

“Don’t lie.”

“I, I’m not lying! It’s true!”

Kang Jin-hyuk was enraged by the bartender’s shamelessness, as if he had a thick skin on his face.

He swung his hand holding the bartender’s collar and slammed him to the floor, shattering the glasses on the counter as they fell to the ground.

“Ugh!”

The bartender nearly fainted from the shock that felt like his internal organs were being tossed around.

Kang Jin-hyuk asked him once again as he barely managed to hold onto his consciousness.

“If you don’t want to get hurt any further, tell me who’s backing you guys.”

“There really isn’t anyone…!”

The bartender remained adamant that he didn’t know.

He was a coward who even closed his eyes in fear of being hit, yet he was desperate.

His firm refusal to talk meant that he either had immense loyalty or that his backers were more terrifying than being beaten up.

It seemed unlikely that he would open his mouth easily.

“Tsk.”

Due to the delay, the sound of police sirens started to be heard from outside.

“It couldn’t have been those guys who called… Did someone who ran away report it?”

Although he was innocent, Kang Jin-hyuk wanted to avoid encountering the police right now.

It was rather unpleasant to be investigated by the police again so soon after being involved in a murder.

“Kekeke, if you don’t want to get into trouble, it would be best to let go of my hand.”

Even though the police had arrived, the bartender didn’t seem afraid and instead warned Kang Jin-hyuk.

Kang Jin-hyuk could easily guess why the bartender was showing such a 180-degree change in attitude.

“I guess there’s someone on the police force who’s in cahoots with you.”

“Well, who knows?”

The bartender sneered as if the situation had been reversed.

Thump! Thump!

Outside, the police started slamming their bodies against the door with all their might, trying to break it down.

When the door didn’t break despite their continuous attempts, the police shouted and threatened.

“We know you’re in there!”

“Open this door quickly!”

Even though the police were shouting like that, the bartender remained calm and composed.

“Even though that door is sturdily built, it’ll break down soon, won’t it?”

“So?”

“This is your only chance to escape.”

The bartender was so arrogant that he even spoke in a brazen manner.

His attitude was completely different from when he was being beaten up by Kang Jin-hyuk.

It was as if he was openly showing that he had someone he could rely on.

Unable to stand his arrogance any longer, Kang Jin-hyuk finally threw a punch.

“Crack!”

The fist that landed in his abdomen delivered a shock that felt like his insides were being turned upside down.

Unable to withstand the pain, the bartender fainted on the spot with his eyes rolled back.

Kang Jin-hyuk slung the unconscious bartender over his shoulder like a sack of rice.

Lucia didn’t understand why Kang Jin-hyuk was doing that.

“You’re taking that guy with you?”

“I’m going to try to get his story at least.”

“Why bother?”

From Lucia’s perspective, what Kang Jin-hyuk was trying to do was a pointless act that deviated from their original purpose.

“Our plan was to see what a person with a high Karma score would do. So we can just end it here, why take that guy with us?”

Considering the situation, Lucia’s words were correct.

They already knew enough about the purpose behind the approach of the people with Karma scores over 300.

There was no point in continuing an experiment that was already over.

However, Kang Jin-hyuk thought differently.

“There’s still a fishy smell. I can’t end it like this, it’s unsettling.”

Kang Jin-hyuk picked up the sword the bartender had dropped and continued.

“And there’s also a strong smell of money.”

Kang Jin-hyuk held out the sword he had picked up to Lucia, who still didn’t understand what he was saying.

“When I appraised it, it turned out to be at least Rare grade.”

“Rare grade?”

“It means it’s a very valuable item. According to the item description, it’s a sword made of rare metal.”

Lucia examined the blade of the sword to confirm.

Although she wasn’t a craftsman like a dwarf, she could tell that it was at least superior to the junk that was commonly found in the market.

The bluish glint on the blade was at a level that ordinary iron couldn’t achieve.

“Judging by how easily they were defeated by me, they’re clearly Hunters of a low grade. It’s strange that they have such an item.”

Kang Jin-hyuk recalled the Hunters who had picked a fight with him and became certain.

The people who had collapsed in this bar were, at most, C-rank or lower Hunters.

They were the kind of people who couldn’t even properly hunt monsters without relying on the strength of a guild.

It didn’t make sense for such people to possess Rare weapons.

If they were C-rank Hunters who were struggling to make ends meet, they would have immediately exchanged any Rare item they had luckily obtained for cash.

“There must be someone supporting these guys.”

Moreover, it was a powerful force with a lot of money and influence, enough to plant people within the police.

If he tried to investigate them with mediocre skills, he might end up being targeted instead, but Kang Jin-hyuk thought it was worth taking that risk.

“Usually, stealing items from other Hunters is a serious crime. But it’s not a crime to take down a criminal organization.”

“Aha, so that’s how you’re going to play it?”

Lucia finally understood Kang Jin-hyuk’s objective.

Raiding bandit hideouts was something she had done whenever she was short on money while working as an adventurer.

“It’s a pretty profitable and good method, but… if you mess with the wrong people, it could get very troublesome, you know?”

Lucia offered advice based on her experience.

Thinking they were just ordinary bandits and trying to take them down, only to find out that they were actually connected to the local lord and ending up making an enemy of a noble, and so on.

It hadn’t always ended smoothly.

“I have someone I can rely on on this side, so it’ll be fine.”

“Someone you can rely on?”

Lucia noticed that Kang Jin-hyuk’s gaze was fixed on her.

She could roughly guess what it meant.

“Surely you’re not talking about me as that someone you can rely on, are you?”

“Hahaha, since we’re in the same boat, it wouldn’t be bad to stick together until the end.”

“What do you mean it wouldn’t be bad? Just how much trouble are you trying to drag me into?”

“You don’t have to worry too much. As far as I know, there’s no Hunter stronger than you.”

“Does that seem to be the problem right now?”

Lucia let out a deep sigh as if to express her frustration.

Even if she wanted to scold him, the door that was blocking the police was starting to break down in earnest.

There was no time to leisurely chat like this.

“Let’s get out of here first. We can’t get caught by those guys, right?”

As Lucia said, getting caught by the police now would be a disaster in many ways.

Judging by the bartender’s attitude, even if they were innocent, there was a high chance that they would be falsely accused as the perpetrators of this incident.

“Let’s escape through the back door.”

Lucia quickly ran towards the door Kang Jin-hyuk pointed at.

And she kicked the door open with her left foot.

Despite her seemingly slender legs, she succeeded in opening the tightly locked door with a single kick.

Instead, a loud noise echoed, loud enough for the police outside to hear.

“What are you doing in there!?”

“Open the door quickly!”

With clicking sounds, the door lock gradually came undone as if they had brought a professional lock-picking tool.

Sensing that there was no more time to delay, Kang Jin-hyuk hurriedly slipped out through the back door.

While Kang Jin-hyuk was coming out, Lucia was using her developed senses to search for an escape route with no presence beforehand.

“This way.”

Kang Jin-hyuk adjusted the bartender hanging on his shoulder and ran after Lucia, climbing over the wall.