Levelling Up In An Exclusive Dungeon

Chapter 35

The dwarf had a dumbfounded look, as if he had just witnessed the most absurd thing in the world.

It wasn’t unreasonable.

The guy he sent out to find a new mine had tossed aside the minerals and brought back some good-for-nothing bum.

The man, his face covered with an envelope, was lying on the floor like a worm, his hands and feet tightly bound.

At first glance, he looked dead because he wasn’t moving, but fortunately, he was still breathing.

“Instead of finding the mine I asked you to find, you’re playing kidnapping games?”

The dwarf couldn’t understand why they were doing this in front of someone else’s workshop.

“I couldn’t think of any other place to hide someone. Haha…….”

“Is that supposed to be an answer?”

As the dwarf was about to swing the hammer he was holding, Kang Jin-hyuk quickly held out a sword.

It was the sword he had taken from the bartender, Choi Seo-hoon.

“First, take a look at this sword.”

“What am I supposed to do by looking at it? I can make more than three of these things a day!”

“No, I mean, look at the materials used in this sword.”

Only then did the dwarf put down his hammer and take the sword that Kang Jin-hyuk offered him.

After grasping all the materials and craftsmanship used in the sword with just a glance, the dwarf snorted.

“The material is decent iron. But who made this and dared to call it a finished product?”

“You think so too, right, Ajusshi? I also thought it was a waste of materials, so I brought it.”

“Oh……”

The dwarf realized Kang Jin-hyuk’s intention in showing him the sword.

“You’re saying you brought this instead of finding a mine?”

It was certainly better to bring iron that had been refined once than to mine the ore from scratch.

However, the amount was ridiculously insufficient to satisfy the dwarf.

“But what are you going to do with just this one sword? You should have brought at least a whole bundle.”

“That’s what I’m about to do.”

This time, Kang Jin-hyuk pointed to Choi Seo-hoon, who was lying face down on the floor.

“What does that guy have to do with it?”

“The organization behind this guy gave him that sword.”

“Organization? You’re saying he’s involved with a criminal group?”

“That’s right. Judging by the fact that they gave valuable items even to their underlings, they seem to be quite large.”

“Well, well. How did you end up getting involved with those guys?”

“They approached Lucia first with the intention of human trafficking.”

After listening to Kang Jin-hyuk’s explanation, the dwarf made a puzzled expression as if he didn’t understand.

“They’re nice kids. How can they be a criminal organization?”

“This damn dwarf is really……!”

Lucia, who had been listening quietly beside them, was genuinely furious.

Seeing her approaching with a dagger drawn from her pocket, the dwarf tightened his grip on his hammer.

“Oh, you wanna fight?”

Kang Jin-hyuk quickly stepped between the two before things got out of hand.

“L-Let’s not do this here. Let’s interrogate him as planned.”

Although he said it to calm Lucia down, it was the dwarf who responded.

“If you’re going to do it, do it somewhere else. I don’t particularly want to see a man scream.”

The dwarf waved his hand in disgust as if he were chasing away a troublesome customer.

“You’re okay with goblin screams but not human screams? You’re so full of yourself.”

“It’s my workshop, so it’s natural for me to do as I please, elf.”

Kang Jin-hyuk thought the dwarf’s claim made sense.

However, Lucia didn’t seem to agree at all, speaking as if she found it ridiculous.

“This dungeon doesn’t even belong to him, and he’s making a fuss over nothing. Is his heart as small as his height?”

“This much height is enough to crack your elf skull. Wanna try it?”

Kang Jin-hyuk put his hand on his forehead, standing between the dwarf and Lucia, who were glaring at each other as if they were trying to start a fire with their eyes.

His sigh seemed powerful enough to pierce the dungeon floor.

As he was wondering what to say to calm them down.

A sound that caught the attention of both the dwarf and Lucia was heard, replacing Kang Jin-hyuk.

“Uuugh! Uugh!!”

Choi Seo-hoon, who was lying face down on the floor, wriggled with his face covered by the envelope, expressing with his whole body that he had regained consciousness.

It was natural for him to panic since he couldn’t see anything even with his eyes open and his hands and feet were tied.

However, even if the opponent’s reason was valid, Lucia had no intention of showing leniency.

“Shut up.”

As Lucia slammed the envelope-covered head down, Choi Seo-hoon instantly went limp.

No matter how many times Kang Jin-hyuk looked at it, it looked like the moment his head was smashed and he died.

“What are you doing, killing the hostage we brought?”

“Don’t worry. He won’t die from this much.”

She spoke with quite a bit of conviction, but no matter how he thought about it, the scene that had just unfolded was a murder in progress.

Unable to erase his doubts, Kang Jin-hyuk cautiously approached Choi Seo-hoon and checked his breathing.

“….He’s not breathing.”

“Huh?”

Lucia, who had been grinning as if telling him not to joke, broke out in a cold sweat when she saw Kang Jin-hyuk’s serious look.

◈◈◈◈◈◈

Thanks to being force-fed a potion, Choi Seo-hoon, who was on the verge of crossing the Sanzu River, returned to the world of the living and was currently confined in an unknown facility.

Although he couldn’t see his surroundings because something was covering his face.

Judging from the echoing voices, he could tell it was an enclosed space.

‘I think I smell something burning too…….’

Choi Seo-hoon had learned the lesson that he would get hit if he moved again, so this time he kept his mouth shut.

While buying time by pretending to be unconscious, Choi Seo-hoon tried to think of a way to escape from the current situation.

‘Damn it! I need to do something about these ropes first!’

By slightly moving his hands and feet, Choi Seo-hoon could guess that the ropes wouldn’t come loose with ordinary strength.

What kind of material did they use to make ropes that wouldn’t even yield to a Hunter’s grip?

Thinking that it might be an item, Choi Seo-hoon gave up on escaping by force.

“He’s pretending to sleep and scheming, isn’t he?”

Choi Seo-hoon’s shoulders flinched as he heard a familiar voice.

A beautiful voice with a thin and high-pitched tone.

It was a beautiful voice that naturally brought to mind the face of a beautiful woman just by hearing it, but Choi Seo-hoon remembered who it belonged to.

‘It was that woman who brought me here……!’

The woman his colleague had brought, saying they had found a good target.

Recalling what had happened just a few minutes ago, Choi Seo-hoon felt incredibly frustrated.

‘If it wasn’t for that Hunter who came with her, I wouldn’t be in this mess.’

Because he had chosen the wrong opponent, he, who had been making a living through human trafficking, was now being kidnapped.

Life was unpredictable, but this was a far cry from what he had expected.

Why was a person capable of taking on eight C-rank Hunters simultaneously wandering the streets instead of hunting monsters? Choi Seo-hoon couldn’t understand no matter how much he thought about it.

‘Could he have been conducting an undercover investigation?’

As soon as Choi Seo-hoon thought of that, he countered himself and denied the thought.

‘No, the police in this area have joined hands with Tyrant. They wouldn’t be conducting an investigation now.’

After sorting through various possibilities, Choi Seo-hoon slowly opened his mouth.

“It’s those guys from Altron, isn’t it?”

Based on the fact that it was an unusually skilled Hunter and that they had attacked him, who was backed by Tyrant, the answer Choi Seo-hoon came up with was an attack by the Altron Guild.

“I don’t know who told you, but it’s best to stop messing with us.”

“Oh, really? Why?”

“Because the Altron Guild will be crushed soon!”

Choi Seo-hoon’s words were meant to be a threat.

It might have been a threat that would have worked if the opponent was really from the Altron Guild.

If Altron and Tyrant were to clash head-on, it was obvious that Tyrant, with its influence reaching all sorts of black markets and even the political world, would have the upper hand.

However, contrary to his thoughts, the opponent was not a Hunter from Altron.

“Are you planning to start a war?”

“War? No! It’s a massacre!”

Choi Seo-hoon started giggling like someone possessed.

In the face of the spectacle of a man losing his mind in real-time, Kang Jin-hyuk quietly put down the menacing tools he was holding.

“It seems like he’ll spill everything without us even needing to torture him.”

Lucia agreed with Kang Jin-hyuk’s opinion.

“I did burn some herbs with hallucinogenic effects to make him confess easily, but……. I didn’t expect it to work this well.”

When they caught him at the bar, he acted like he would never say anything.

Choi Seo-hoon, intoxicated by the cheap herbs that only clouded his mind, was chattering non-stop.

Kang Jin-hyuk adjusted his mask tightly, afraid that he might end up blabbering like that too.

“So, to summarize the important parts, it’s the ‘Tyrant’ Guild that’s backing those guys.”

“Who are they?”

“One of the largest guilds in our country.”

Tyrant was a guild that possessed two S-rank Hunters and wielded strong influence worldwide.

Considering their size, they were definitely not an opponent he could handle with his own power.

“This seems like a much tougher opponent than we expected.”

“Then what do we do? Give up here?”

“That would be a shame.”

Kang Jin-hyuk thought that now, when the Altron Guild and the Tyrant Guild were keeping each other in check, was the perfect time to make a move.

A frontal assault would be reckless, but he thought it would be possible to raid a small branch.

Even if they were to leave traces, they would just assume it was the Altron Guild’s doing.

“How are they planning to carry out a massacre? Their forces should be equal.”

At Kang Jin-hyuk’s question, Choi Seo-hoon’s laughter intensified.

It was evidence that he had lost his mind due to inhaling the smoke from the burning herbs.

Choi Seo-hoon, who had almost completely lost his judgment, revealed a secret that should have been taken to the grave.

“Why wouldn’t I? Because the elixir will be completed soon!”

“Elixir?”

“That’s right. The Alraune’s Elixir! Kikikikik!”

Even though Choi Seo-hoon revealed a shocking truth, Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t fully understand what it was.

Contrary to his expectations, it was Lucia who reacted sensitively.

“Are you guys out of your minds!?”

Lucia grabbed Choi Seo-hoon by the collar, her face pale.

“Do you know what that thing is?!”

“Kikikik! Of course I do! It’s a miracle item that more than doubles your stats when you take it!”

Unable to stand the laughter ringing in her ears, Lucia finally threw a punch.

Choi Seo-hoon, tied to a chair, continued to laugh even after collapsing on the floor.

As Lucia, still unable to calm down, raised her foot, Kang Jin-hyuk intervened in a panic.

“What’s wrong with you all of a sudden!”

“Are you seriously asking that? You heard what these crazy bastards are trying to make, didn’t you!”

He did hear it, but Kang Jin-hyuk couldn’t understand Lucia’s anger at all.

If it was an elixir that doubled your stats just by taking it, it was only natural for anyone to covet it.

There was no reason to be angry, even if you were greedy.

“What about the elixir? Does it have side effects or something?”

“Side effects? I wish it did!”

Because if it was something that would kill you if you ate it, they wouldn’t even think of making it.

Lucia retorted and glared at Kang Jin-hyuk.

“…….”

As time passed and her boiling emotions calmed down somewhat, Lucia opened her mouth with a short sigh.

“To see the effects of the Alraune flower, you need to use dozens of humans as fertilizer.”

“What? Humans?”

“Yes, and Alraune is a picky eater, so it only takes young women as fertilizer.”

The words that virgins were even more effective didn’t reach Kang Jin-hyuk’s ears.

Only the fact that they were making an elixir using humans as fertilizer lingered in his mind.

“You bastards……!”

Kang Jin-hyuk lifted Choi Seo-hoon, who had collapsed, back up.

And this time, he threw a punch, hitting Choi Seo-hoon’s face, which was covered by the envelope, with all his might.

“Are you even human?!”

Even with his nose broken and teeth shattered, Choi Seo-hoon didn’t stop laughing.

Deeply intoxicated by the hallucinogen, he no longer felt any pain.

“Why are you so angry? Wouldn’t you be desperate to get it if you had such an item?”

“Don’t bullshit me! Do you think I’m the same as you?!”

Even though it was every Hunter’s desire to become stronger, there was a line that had to be drawn.

The Alraune’s Elixir that Choi Seo-hoon was talking about was an atrocious means that crossed that line without hesitation.

“If you’re a large guild, you must have plenty of hunting grounds! Why would you even touch something like that?!”

“Leveling up is time-consuming and tedious, you know? A C-rank Hunter like you wouldn’t know how much slower growth becomes after becoming an A-rank Hunter.”

It was common knowledge that the amount of experience points required for leveling up increased as the level went up.

Moreover, if it was an S-rank Hunter, of which there were only a few in the world.

It would be difficult to grow just by hunting monsters.

“With the Alraune’s Elixir, the Tyrant Guild Master will surpass S-rank!”

Becoming the one and only strongest person in the world.

Choi Seo-hoon answered with maniacal laughter, saying that was the Tyrant Guild Master’s goal.

“Do you think we’ll let that happen?”

“You’re going to try and stop it? The elixir will be completed in a week, so it might be possible if you attack now.”

Choi Seo-hoon openly mocked Kang Jin-hyuk.

How could a mere C-rank Hunter possibly take on Korea’s largest guild with two S-rank Hunters?

The reason he revealed the completion time was to make him feel the pathetic situation of being unable to do anything even though he knew.

“……Are you cultivating the Alraune flower directly within the guild?”

“Of course not. If we get caught, we’ll have to cut our losses, so we’re naturally growing it in secret where there are no people.”

Choi Seo-hoon didn’t realize that he was revealing disadvantageous information himself.

He was still under the delusion that he was mocking Kang Jin-hyuk.

So he willingly blabbed about things he didn’t even need to be asked.

“If you attack after midnight, two-thirds of the guards will be reduced, so it might be easier.”

He even kindly explained the situation of the guards.

“But the A-rank Hunters are on duty in shifts, so trying to break through is suicide!”

He even listed the precautions Kang Jin-hyuk should take so he wouldn’t be reckless.

Thinking that he had obtained all the necessary information, Kang Jin-hyuk closed the notebook he was writing in.

And to think about how to dispose of the now useless Choi Seo-hoon.

He asked him one question.

“How many women have you kidnapped so far?”

“Well? About twenty?”

Even though he had used people as fertilizer, Choi Seo-hoon spoke as if it was nothing.

Then he started laughing like a madman again.

He didn’t stop laughing for the entire time it took to have a cup of tea and come back, and he even started talking about things he hadn’t been asked about.

“Ehehehe! It’s such a waste. The woman I brought today was a really good one.”

“…….”

“It’s less effective if she’s not a virgin, but it’s a waste to just bury a woman like that!”

As the smoke grew thicker in the enclosed space, Choi Seo-hoon’s laughter only grew louder.

And with every laugh he heard, Kang Jin-hyuk’s expression gradually hardened.

“Some women thought we’d let them live if they stayed quiet, you know? No way! Hahahaha!!”

Choi Seo-hoon laughed so hard that he shook, thinking he had just told a witty joke.

The moment Kang Jin-hyuk picked up the tool he had put down, unable to stand it any longer.

Lucia, who had moved a step ahead of him, struck Choi Seo-hoon’s head with a hammer.

Even though it was a much smaller hammer than the one the dwarf used, it was enough to smash a human’s head.

After a dull thud like a watermelon splitting open, the laughter in the room disappeared completely.

The envelope covering Choi Seo-hoon’s head was instantly stained red.

Lucia, seeing Kang Jin-hyuk’s stunned expression, shrugged.

“Was there anything else you needed to hear?”

At her question, Kang Jin-hyuk shook his head from side to side in response.