Chapter 43: A Bustling Encampment

By the final day of Spec-1’s raid, the lounge chairs were reserved for the same two. The team grumbled, lips pursed.

“I thought I did pretty well this time. Shouldn’t those two be excluded?”

“Me too.”

“Same.”

“Me too…”

As team members boasted about their contributions, one spoke up.

“Am I the only one? I know it sounds ridiculous, but doesn’t this A-rank dungeon feel… easy?”

“What? Me too!”

“You too? Same…”

“Me too!”

A chorus of “me too” erupted, stirring the group.

“What’s up? If we all feel it’s easy, is this actually a C-rank? Did Moshi mess up?”

“Another hallucinatory dungeon or something?”

Despite their stellar performance, they doubted their own strength.

Ion knew why.

In the Monity dungeon, the system shifted to Level 4, granting Level 4 EXP.

Since Hunters couldn’t choose how EXP was spent, some gained expanded inventories, others enhanced skills. It seemed many in Spec-1 had powered-up skills.

At Level 1, skill boosts were gradual, barely noticeable. But the sudden Level 4 EXP surge made the difference stark.

“Hyungs, noonas, I know the exact reason!” Hong Insu shouted, drawing all eyes.

“It’s because we got Level 4 EXP!”

Beaming with pride, he spilled that EXP boosted skill power.

It didn’t matter. If it was sensitive info, Ion wouldn’t have told him.

Keen S-rank Hunters like Jin Seongha and Elliet likely already knew EXP enhanced skills.

“Hmm… makes sense. At Level 4, return stones were unusable, so EXP went to inventory expansion or skill boosts. The odds jumped from 33% to 50%,” someone said.

“We thought we were done for, but it turned out great. Hong, you must’ve gotten a ton of EXP. You were a beast—like you had special training. If there was a third chair, you’d have it,” another added.

“Heh, I did get special training,” Hong Insu bragged.

“For real?”

“Yup, noona. My teacher was—”

Ion shot him a glare from the crowd.

Hong Insu froze, then shouted to the air, “Family! My duty to protect them made me grow!”

“Tch, knew it. But seriously, can’t we hit Level 4 again? That EXP was delicious,” Shin Minji said.

Half the team laughed; the other half recoiled.

“Kid, two people died. Don’t talk lightly,” someone scolded.

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

“No need to apologize to me.”

A Byproduct Collection Team 3 member, absent during the Monity dungeon, chimed in.

“Maybe after seeing Giants, Level 1 A-rank monsters feel like small fry. Like seeing a cockroach the size of your arm, then a tiny one feels like nothing. I saw Giant graphics—creepy stuff.”

“True. They were massive. A finger bigger than a person. Facing one, you feel like an ant’s struggle is all you’ve got. When return stones failed, I thought we were dead.”

“Honestly, I’m a Hunter because return stones are a lifeline. If they don’t work at Level 4, I’m finding another job.”

Several Collection Team members nodded.

Spec-1, however, felt differently. Ohana, an A-rank guild member, spoke up.

“We were shocked at first, but it wasn’t all bad. The status window was friendlier—mana gauges were precise.”

“Mana potions showed exact mana amounts. My cap’s 980, and I was chugging 50-point potions. No wonder potion costs were high!”

“Skill windows listed cooldowns down to the second.”

“There was a ‘private chat’ function, like a game’s whisper. No time to try it.”

“A ‘shared inventory’ too, but I didn’t use it.”

“I saw a ‘skill workshop’ and ‘skill shop.’ We should’ve tested them before killing the boss.”

As Spec-1 shared, Collection Team members’ eyes gleamed. This was unreported info.

“Fascinating. I want to experience it.”

“If this dungeon turns Level 4, you might. With Ion here, what’s to fear?” Shin Minji declared boldly.

Ion furrowed his brow. The team, however, gazed at him with admiration.

“…”

Feeling the weight of their stares, Ion hugged his Sansevieria and fled to his tent.

In this dungeon, Ion got a private tent—a privilege previously reserved for the two team leaders and Jin Seongha during the Monity raid. He was getting special treatment.

Good, no one followed…

Ion sighed, but then looked outside. A visitor hesitated, then knocked verbally, “Knock, knock, knock.”

“Corps Leader Ion, got a question,” said Won Yeoncheol, an A-rank guild member.

“Come in.”

Won Yeoncheol entered, cheeks flushed with shyness. Ion felt a bad omen.

“I have a favor… It’s embarrassing, but I trust you… Can you look at this?”

Twisting nervously, he revealed a personal reward from the Monity dungeon.

A personal reward.

To Ion, it was like baring an inner thigh.

“I’m embarrassed, but I’m dying to know what it is,” Won Yeoncheol said.

His forty-six-year-old face burned like a sixteen-year-old confessing a crush.

He’d likely be less shy showing his actual thigh.

Personal rewards were deeply private for Hunters. Not just a novel trope—some rewards touched intimate aspects of a Hunter’s life.

A Hunter with a burn scar on half their face once claimed it wasn’t a complex, tying their hair back to display it. Then, a personal reward granted an item to erase the scar—revealing their hidden desire to be rid of it.

Not all rewards were so personal; some were weapons or armor. But about three in ten were “embarrassing,” fostering a culture of not discussing them.

“Don’t tell anyone… Can you check what this is?” Won Yeoncheol handed over a perfume-like bottle, the size of two fingers, filled with clear liquid that sloshed when shaken. Not viscous enough to be ether.

Ion recalled Won Yeoncheol’s profile: 46, no kids, strained marriage.

Private details.

“The item description should pop up,” Ion said.

“Ahem, you haven’t heard? The window’s weird, like an error…”

According to Won Yeoncheol, the reward’s system window read:

[■■’s ■ (A) To you, troubled by ■■■. Open the cap and ■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■■. Grants the desired ■■ ■■■ ■■■■.]

“It’s been glitched from the start. Others got the same.”

“Even inside the dungeon?”

“Same black boxes.”

The novel mentioned system errors, often in hallucinatory dungeons to confuse Hunters or when facing something beyond their level.

Even if the dungeon briefly hit Level 4, are Hunters treated as Level 1?

But then return stones being unusable made no sense. If the field was Level 4 and return stones were Level 1 items, Level 4 item descriptions should display correctly.

This was a setting contradiction, even for a loosely written novel.

“So, ahem, any idea what it is?” Won Yeoncheol asked.

“Hold on.”

Combining Won Yeoncheol’s personal life and known items of this type, Ion concluded, “It’s a vitality enhancer. One drop, and you’ll get more than enough of what you want.”

“…! W-What? I don’t need this at all! Ha, I’d give it to someone who does, but it’s bound! Ugh, really. Ha, well. Ahem.”

“Congratulations.”

“Congrats for what?! Ahem, thanks anyway. I’m off!”

Won Yeoncheol left, his face a mix of joy and shame.

Alone, Ion tried recalling other system error cases in the novel.

But…

“Ahem, Corps Leader Ion? Can I come in?”

Another visitor. Another A-rank guild member, face as red as Won Yeoncheol’s.

Ion “interpreted” her item too. She left with a mix of relief, shame, joy, and embarrassment.

Then…

“Hey… Ion.”

“Corps Leader Ion.”

“Yo, kid.”

Ion’s tent became a fortune-teller’s stall, so crowded someone started managing the line.

“Hey, hey, line up! You, hyung, why cut? Back of the line!”

“Hong Insu, I was here first. Stepped away for a sec, and that jerk cut in.”

“Who told you to step away? That hyung over there held it in for an hour. Fairness—back of the line!”

“Tch, fine. So strict.”

Nearby, Shin Minji held a basket, shouting, “Jerky for sale! Walnut cookies for sale!”

“Minji, gimme a walnut cookie.”

“Fifty thousand won.”

“What? That’s a ripoff!”

“Then don’t buy.”

As Shin Minji haggled, Bae Younghoe emerged, refreshed yet flushed. The next in line asked, “How was it?”

“Ahem, spot on. Worth the wait.”

“Satisfied with the item?”

“Ahem, got exactly what I wanted, it’s…”

“Ugh, I just asked if you’re satisfied, not what it is!”

The guild member darted into the tent.

No one wanted to know others’ deeply personal details.

Except Ion, who’d learned far too many today, got no such consideration…