LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 7
Chapter 7
When Kang Jin-hyuk asked if the Dwarf could give him the equipment he had right away, the Dwarf scoffed.
“Why would I give you my collection? Selling and collecting are completely different things, you punk.”
It was foolish to ask why he collected things like swords or spears.
Whatever hobby someone has, it’s their personal freedom, and it’s not something others can say anything about.
“Sigh…… Just tell me what Mithril looks like, accurately.”
“There’s nothing to explain. You’ll know when you see it.”
“You’re not lying, are you?”
“You punk, have you only lived your life being deceived?”
“The number of times I’ve been backstabbed is more than most people.”
“Oh my, yes. You’re so great.”
The Dwarf looked at him with disdain and tossed him the pickaxe he was holding.
“Stop talking nonsense and go mine some Mithril.”
“If I just mine it, will you make me equipment?”
“Yes, hurry up and come back before I change my mind.”
Anyone who knew the Dwarf would have been surprised to hear this.
The Dwarf wasn’t the type to work on someone else’s request.
The only time he picked up his hammer was to increase his collection for his own satisfaction.
“I’m only helping you this time because I’m impressed that you brought something that resembles alcohol. Hurry up and come back before I change my mind.”
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Kang Jin-hyuk, pushed by the Dwarf, had no choice but to start looking for a way to the lower floor.
While wandering through the labyrinth without a map, Kang Jin-hyuk suddenly became worried.
“Is Mithril also a common metal like Orihalcon?”
Just like Orihalcon was aluminum in Kang Jin-hyuk’s world, there was a possibility that Mithril was also a common material like copper or iron.
“I wonder if I’m doing something pointless.”
If the Mithril he had worked so hard to obtain was actually a soft metal like copper, it would be useless to make equipment with it.
“Ah, let’s not think unnecessarily from now on.”
Kang Jin-hyuk swung his baseball bat with a vigorous shout to shake off his worries and moved forward.
By the time he reached level 33 by smashing the heads of Goblins, Kang Jin-hyuk found a staircase.
“This is the staircase leading down.”
It was a great stroke of luck to find the stairs faster than expected in the intricately intertwined labyrinth.
Kang Jin-hyuk went down the stairs with a nervous face, thinking that stronger monsters might appear.
While heading down, Kang Jin-hyuk’s eyes widened at the changed surroundings.
As he came down to the lower floor, the color of the labyrinth, which had been covered in brown walls, changed.
What was in front of Kang Jin-hyuk’s eyes now was a green labyrinth, where the sounds of insects chirping could be heard, as if imitating a forest.
“They decorated the labyrinth quite uniquely.”
It felt like the air was cleaner than the upper floor, though it might have been his imagination.
The moment Kang Jin-hyuk stepped off the stairs and onto the ground, a message with unfamiliar content appeared to him.
『You have arrived at the 2nd Layer, ‘Labyrinth of Dogs and Skeletons’.』
『Would you like to record this location as a Warp Point?』
“Wa, Warp Point?”
It was a word Kang Jin-hyuk had never heard before.
To have to choose Yes or No without knowing what it is.
“Oh well, I don’t know.”
After a brief moment of conflict, Kang Jin-hyuk chose Yes.
『The 2nd Layer has been recorded as a Warp Point.』
Immediately after the message appeared, a gate appeared in front of him, looking like a purple vortex.
『From now on, you can use this gate to move between the 1st and 2nd Layers.』
Thanks to the message’s kind explanation, Kang Jin-hyuk was able to understand the purpose of the gate.
“Geez. This feels like playing a game.”
Catching monsters to level up and even entering dungeons was just like a game.
But human lives weren’t like a game.
If he let his guard down and got caught here, there would be no respawn, and it would be the end.
Kang Jin-hyuk took out his radar and checked if there were any monsters around.
The radar showed countless spots waiting right in front of him.
“They’re swarming.”
Kang Jin-hyuk picked up a pebble from the ground and threw it towards the fork in the road.
Then, monsters with dog heads popped out from behind the wall.
Dog-headed monsters that walked on two legs and wielded weapons.
Kang Jin-hyuk recognized them as ‘Kobolds’ at a glance.
“They said it’s the Labyrinth of Dogs and Skeletons…… and real dogs popped out.”
Kobolds were more agile and stronger than Goblins, but they were still just trash mobs.
Kang Jin-hyuk burst into laughter as he saw the Kobolds approaching him.
The fact that there were so many of these weak monsters meant that he could rake in a lot of money.
The thought of his bank account filling up again made him laugh spontaneously.
On the other hand, the Kobolds couldn’t understand Kang Jin-hyuk’s reaction.
A human who came here alone, while they had so many comrades, was giggling and laughing.
A Kobold, whose pride was hurt, growled and stepped forward.
“Woof!”
The Kobold, barking in a loud voice, immediately rushed towards Kang Jin-hyuk.
But before it could even swing the sword in its hand, the Kobold was struck in the face by the bat Kang Jin-hyuk swung.
Since he had been steadily leveling up by hunting Goblins even after catching the Orcs, the Kobold was no match for Kang Jin-hyuk.
“Yelp!”
The Kobold flew straight back like a baseball, its snout crushed.
The Kobold that fell to the ground didn’t move.
While the other Kobolds were unable to grasp the situation and understand what had happened, Kang Jin-hyuk approached at a leisurely pace.
“Get ready to be beaten like dogs today, you guys.”
After taking down two Orcs, Kang Jin-hyuk’s confidence was soaring.
Compared to the Orcs, which were intimidating just by looking at them, these puppies were just pathetic.
“Yipe!”
“Whimper!”
One swing, one yelp.
There was no Kobold that could withstand Kang Jin-hyuk’s bat more than twice.
His newly purchased inventory was already filled with the corpses of 25 Kobolds.
Even if he only received 800 per Kobold at the price set by the Association, that would be 200 million!
Since Lee Jun-chul said he would give him 15% more than that, the profit Kang Jin-hyuk could earn was even greater.
“Hehehe……!”
Kang Jin-hyuk, smelling the money, literally tore through the forest like a whirlwind.
The Kobolds, who had lived as hunters, were able to fully realize what it felt like to be the hunted.
Even if they fled deep into the labyrinth, Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t give up and chased after them.
“Where are you running! You guys!”
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Kang Jin-hyuk, who was happily hunting Kobolds without having to worry about the interference of large guilds, eventually reached the center of the labyrinth.
Kang Jin-hyuk stopped running when he found a wall with a different color in the center of the labyrinth.
“I don’t think the color changed for no reason…….”
Kang Jin-hyuk trusted his instincts and followed the black wall.
Even though the labyrinth, where not a single ray of sunlight entered, had black walls, there was no need to take out a separate flashlight.
As if some kind of device had been installed, the torches hanging on the wall automatically lit up one by one, brightly illuminating the deep interior.
“Did the Dwarf Ajusshi install this?”
Kang Jin-hyuk carefully stepped forward, watching his feet.
After walking for a while, a rattling sound started coming from somewhere.
When Kang Jin-hyuk, sensing a presence, looked back, he saw human bones walking towards him without any mechanism.
“Damn it! It’s a Skeleton!”
Kang Jin-hyuk remembered that this layer was the Labyrinth of Dogs and ‘Skeletons’.
Kang Jin-hyuk sighed and smashed the Skeleton’s head with his bat.
Unlike other monsters, the Skeleton didn’t collapse even when its head was blown off.
The Skeleton, with only its body remaining, continued to walk towards Kang Jin-hyuk.
“Of all things, the monsters here are the ones that don’t even give money……!”
The only way to deal with Skeletons was to hire a Hunter with the ‘Cleric’ class or to break the magic stone to immobilize them.
Kang Jin-hyuk, a D-rank Hunter who hadn’t changed his job yet, had no choice but to choose the latter method.
If he could sell them for money, he would gladly accept the hard work, but unfortunately, Skeletons were just mere bones.
Who would pay money for rotten bones that are neither valuable nor particularly strong?
The magic stone, the only element that could be sold for money, had to be broken to kill the Skeletons, so there was no reason for Hunters to welcome them.
“That’s why that Ajusshi said it was a pain to come here.”
Kang Jin-hyuk faced dozens of Skeletons blocking his way.
It wasn’t that difficult to break them one by one, but with this many, it would take forever.
“Alright, let’s give it a try!”
It wasn’t worth it to back down just because it was annoying, especially after coming this far.
Kang Jin-hyuk swung his bat wildly, clearing the path blocked by the Skeletons.
Since they were just bones with no flesh, it was easy to aim for the vital points where the magic stone was located.
However, since there were so many of them, it took a considerable amount of time to get inside the labyrinth.
No matter how much he hit them, the number of walking skeletons showed no signs of decreasing.
“Just die already!”
Occasionally, Skeletons that he failed to kill in one hit would grab his ankles and drag him down, hindering his progress.
Every time that happened, Kang Jin-hyuk would crush the fallen Skeletons with his feet and move forward.
10, 50, 100.
By the time he had caught over 120 Skeletons, Kang Jin-hyuk gave up on counting how many he had defeated.
After nearly half a day of labor, Kang Jin-hyuk was able to break through the bone graveyard and reach the depths of the labyrinth.
“Pant, pant…….”
He was out of breath from swinging the baseball bat non-stop.
After confirming that there were no more Skeletons chasing him or blocking his way, Kang Jin-hyuk sat down for a moment to catch his breath.
“It’s not even an underground tomb, why are there so many skeletons?”
He had moved his body until he was exhausted, but he couldn’t earn a single penny.
But that didn’t mean there was no reward at all.
Thanks to hunting countless Skeletons, Kang Jin-hyuk’s level had reached 50.
It was all thanks to this dungeon that he was able to reach level 50 in just two days, from a mere level 12.
If he had lived the same life as before, reaching level 50 would probably have been something that would happen 2-3 years later.
Or maybe it would have taken even longer due to the increased monopoly of large guilds.
『You have reached level 50 and can now change your job.』
『Your job will be automatically determined based on your recent actions.』
The moment he had been longing for, the job change, had finally arrived.
Kang Jin-hyuk thought that since he had been swinging his baseball bat like crazy for two days, he would probably get a job change in the Warrior class.
But the result was beyond his expectations.
『You have been promoted to ‘Cleric’ after defeating numerous undead.』
『Skill acquired – Slow Heal』
『Skill acquired – Cure』
『Skill acquired – Holy Shield』
“……Huh?”
Kang Jin-hyuk looked dumbfounded after checking the message.
“Cleric? Me?”
He never imagined that he would get a job that only those with deep faith could have by beating up Skeletons.
It was definitely something to celebrate that he had acquired a job that was the number one choice for parties.
But because the process was so different from what he had expected, he was more bewildered than happy.