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After about an hour of discussion to establish the rough framework of his compensation, Se-hyeon left the Association and headed straight for a nearby E-rank dungeon. The official name of the dungeon was the Goblin Logistics Base.
“Haha, Hunter Jang Se-hyeon! You’re here. I rushed over the moment I got your message!”
As he entered the dungeon interior, Park Sang-soo approached and greeted him warmly, having already set up position.
“Ah, yes. I contacted you because you asked, but weren’t you already at another dungeon?”
“It’s fine. Most of the hunters over there work with other companies, so there was no room for me to squeeze in anyway. I was just there for sales purposes, so it doesn’t really matter.”
Most hunters who farmed dungeons worked with specific established companies. Since those companies tended to take better care of their regulars, once a relationship was formed, it was rarely broken. On the other hand, Taekwang was a latecomer to the industry and was struggling in many ways to secure monster carcasses.
“I see. Then I’ll head in to start hunting now. I’ll contact you once I’ve cleared a spot.”
“Yes! Have a safe hunt!”
After exchanging greetings with Park Sang-soo, Se-hyeon scanned his surroundings and quickly cast his skill.
‘Vitality Absorption!’
As he cast the skill, the vitality of the carcasses piled up near the entrance began to be rapidly absorbed.
Swoooooooosh!
As expected, because the rank was higher than Kobolds, the experience points provided by each individual creature were higher.
‘Just as I thought! The higher the monster’s rank, the more experience it gives. At this rate, the next step has to be a D-rank dungeon.’
The primary monsters in D-rank dungeons were Orcs. He would have to test it to be sure, but thanks to the options on his gloves, he might be able to one-shot an Orc if things went well. Se-hyeon decided then that his next dungeon would be D-rank. Regardless, after finishing absorbing all the vitality from the carcasses at the entrance, he headed straight for the hunting grounds.
When Se-hyeon entered, the dungeon’s clear rate was 32%. Since it hadn’t been open long, the clear rate wasn’t high, which meant there were plenty of Goblins to hunt.
Passing the entrance and entering the main hunting grounds, he saw various parties engaged in combat. They were all D-rank hunters like Se-hyeon, and they certainly looked much stronger than the E-rank hunters he had seen before.
‘It’s definitely wider than the Kobold Nest. More monsters, too. It would be great if a wave triggered like last time, but even if it doesn’t, I can level up quite a bit here.’
In any case, Vitality Absorption could be used on any carcass, not just the ones Se-hyeon killed himself. Given that an E-rank dungeon held a much larger population than an F-rank one, he judged that he could achieve significantly more growth than last time.
‘Based on the current progress, it seems they’ve pushed this far. That means beyond this point, the number of hunters will be extremely low. Shall I go deeper?’
From Se-hyeon’s perspective, Kobolds were one-shot, and Goblins were one-shot. There was no reason to hang around the edges for “safety” just to peck at one or two monsters. Thus, leaving the hunting parties behind, Se-hyeon moved toward the inner sections.
As he attempted to go in alone, someone called out to stop him.
“Hey! You there! Are you trying to go inside by yourself? That area hasn’t been cleared yet. It’s dangerous, so just hunt around here!”
Someone was warning him against the danger of the interior.
“Ah, yes. Thank you for your concern. But I think I’ll be fine. Good luck with your work.”
Se-hyeon gave a light nod and continued walking.
“Hah! That… that’s dangerous.” “What is he relying on to act like that? Alone, without even a party?” “Ah, just leave him! He’ll come running back once things get tough. Let’s just focus on our own hunt!”
The parties hunting nearby clicked their tongues as they watched Se-hyeon disappear into the depths. In the dungeons, there were always people who didn’t know their place and acted out.
Ignoring them, Se-hyeon moved forward and finally encountered his first prey.
‘Five Goblins. Not bad.’
The monsters that appeared were five Goblin Soldiers.
“Kieeeeeek!”
Unlike Kobolds, Goblins were divided into melee and ranged types. Goblin Soldiers were the lowest tier of the melee types. Upon spotting Se-hyeon, the soldiers rushed him. Se-hyeon immediately cast his Shadow Orbs.
“Shadow Orb!”
Wooooooooong!
Se-hyeon quickly manifested five orbs.
Ssssssssh!
Without waiting, he fired all five as soon as they appeared.
“Kiii…?” Boom! Kaboom! Bang! Bang!
The five orbs struck the Goblins accurately, and all five expired instantly.
“Simple as expected.”
Other hunters would have had to engage in a fierce struggle as a party, but Se-hyeon had taken down five Goblins in a heartbeat with just five orbs.
“Should I make the call now?”
Having finished the hunt, Se-hyeon immediately pulled out his phone and called Park Sang-soo.
Thinking it was a hassle to call every time he needed a collection, Se-hyeon intended to have Park Sang-soo and the porters follow him directly.
Porters were in a position just as dangerous as hunters, and they were always sensitive about safety.
“Yes. I may not be sure about other things, but I will definitely take responsibility for your safety.”
Even though it was called a logistics base, the layout was cave-like. This meant that if Se-hyeon swept everything in front of them, there was no way the porters following behind would be in danger.
Park Sang-soo hadn’t known at the time, but he had later seen the video of Se-hyeon’s performance in the F-rank Kobold Nest. Because of that, he decided to head into the dangerous hunting ground based solely on that one promise of safety.
The hunting proceeded rapidly. There was no need to use the Boots of Wind; Se-hyeon simply walked at a steady pace, always maintaining five Shadow Orbs and launching them the moment a monster appeared.
Bang! Kaboom! Crack!
He would take down four or five in an instant and then keep walking. Watching him, Park Sang-soo clicked his tongue.
“Hah! This is insane.” “But Manager Park, is this even possible? You said he’s D-rank. Were Mages always this strong?”
In response to the porter’s question, Park Sang-soo shook his head.
“No. If it were a normal Mage, they would have run out of mana a long time ago, regardless of how strong the magic was. But that man isn’t a normal Mage. You saw it too, didn’t you? That video.” “Yes, I saw it. But that was an F-rank dungeon, and this is E-rank, isn’t it?”
The reason the porters had followed Park Sang-soo into the danger zone was because they had also seen the video. Knowing the person promising their safety was the protagonist of that video made them willing followers. Even so, seeing him run through an E-rank dungeon as if it were F-rank was a sight to behold.
“He’s likely an Irregular. Ordinary Mages are never like that. So, don’t do anything to bother him. Just staying close to his heels will significantly raise our standing within Taekwang.”
Since Taekwang was a latecomer, they struggled with supply. Having formed a connection with Se-hyeon and securing a massive volume of goods meant they didn’t have to worry about their performance reviews as long as they held onto him.
“Do you think I don’t know that? Anyway, he’s just sweeping through. Does that man not need to recover mana? Just how much mana does he have that he doesn’t even think about resting?”
They had already hunted over thirty Goblins on the way here. Because he was obliterating everything on sight with Shadow Orbs, the hunting speed was enormous, but the more shocking thing was that he hadn’t stopped once to recover mana. Any normal party would have had several “mana-breaks” by now, but Se-hyeon was hunting directly without a single pause.
“It’s better for us if he doesn’t rest. Stop chatting and keep up.”
Park Sang-soo urged the porters and followed closely behind Se-hyeon. As the hunt—which was closer to a massacre—continued, they reached a peculiar space that didn’t fit a cave-type dungeon.
“Hmm, this is strange. It’s a space that doesn’t match the cave.”
As Se-hyeon examined the area with a curious expression, Park Sang-soo approached his side.
“It certainly is a space that doesn’t match the cave. By the way, is your mana alright? There are no Goblins in sight, so how about we take a break here? The entrance is narrow, so it seems like a good spot to rest and prepare for any emergencies.”
Se-hyeon wasn’t low on mana, but he decided it wouldn’t be bad to take a break and investigate this area.
“Shall we do that then?”
At Se-hyeon’s agreement, the porters parked their trailers against one wall. While Park Sang-soo and the porters rested, Se-hyeon walked around slowly, examining the surroundings.
‘Hmm, this is a completely different form from the other storage rooms. It’s as if this spot is a different space entirely. It looks like there’s something here… Is it just an empty room like the others? Or is there really something?’
Since it was a logistics base, there were storage rooms where military supplies were kept, but most were already empty. Occasionally, things that looked like Goblin food were found, but from a human perspective, they were just food waste and held no value. The important thing was that the other storage rooms were exactly what you’d expect from a cave. However, this place didn’t match the cave at all; it looked like an artificial space created by human hands.
As Se-hyeon paced slowly, Park Sang-soo asked curiously, “Is something wrong?”
Se-hyeon replied nonchalantly, “It’s nothing. I’m just looking around because it seems different from the other storage rooms.”
Park Sang-soo stood up. “Do you think it’s not a simple storage room?” “Who knows? Maybe there’s a Hidden Piece here. Haha, just kidding. It’s just personal curiosity. I’m just going to look around, so keep resting.”
At the mention of a “Hidden Piece,” the resting porters’ eyes lit up, and they stood up one by one.
“Oh! A Hidden Piece! That might actually be true!” “Should we look around too?”
The monster carcasses were moved on auto-trailers powered by magic stones, so the porters didn’t have much physical labor. Furthermore, even if they were F-rank, they were still Awakened. They were resting to relieve the continuous tension, not because their bodies were exhausted. Perhaps because of that, they all began to scan the area with twinkling eyes, like children on a treasure hunt.
Se-hyeon chuckled at the sight and resumed his search.
‘Based on the atmosphere, it doesn’t seem like a simple storage room… was it a space used for a different purpose?’
It was different from the other rooms, but there didn’t seem to be anything particularly strange. He considered that it might just be a room used for a different function. But then—
“Huh? This is a bit weird.”
One of the porters seemed to have found something.
“What? Is there something?” “What is it?”
As the other porters and Park Sang-soo headed over curiously, Se-hyeon also walked over with an intrigued expression.
“Right here. Unlike the other walls, this part looks separated.”
The walls of this space weren’t rough cave walls like the other storage rooms; they looked like marble engraved with a repeating pattern. Because of that, at a glance, it just looked like a part of the pattern, but on closer inspection, that specific section was minutely detached.
“Ho, it really is. We might have missed it if we didn’t look closely.”
As Se-hyeon approached to examine the spot, the porters quickly moved out of his way.
“Right? Why don’t you take a proper look?”
Se-hyeon stepped forward and began to scrutinize the wall.
“It’s definitely separated from the other patterns, but there doesn’t seem to be anything else. Shall I try pressing it?”
Saying so, he pushed the separated part of the pattern with his hand.
Clack!
The section sank inward, and then a specific part of the wall began to move.
Rumbleeeee!
A central portion of the wall seemed to push back and then slide to the side. After a few moments, an entrance large enough for one person to pass through appeared.
“Oh! Is this a hidden space?” “It couldn’t be a treasure hoard or something, could it?”
The porters made a fuss, amazed that a hidden space had actually appeared.
“Since we don’t know what might happen, I’ll go in first. You can follow right behind, or if you’re nervous, you can wait here.”
With those words, Se-hyeon took the lead and stepped through the entrance, followed closely by Park Sang-soo and the porters.
The excitement doesn't stop here! If you enjoyed this, you’ll adore The Struggles of the Shut-in Boss. Start reading now!
Read : The Struggles of the Shut-in Boss
If You Notice any translation issues or inconsistency in names, genders, or POV etc? Let us know here in the comments or on our Discord server, and we’ll fix it in current and future chapters. Thanks for helping us to improve! 🙂