If he wanted to reveal that he was becoming stronger with every monster he killed...
He would be the loudest hunter among them all.
Even among the top five.
Then, people might appear who, out of jealousy, envy, or some other foolish reason, would want to get rid of him.
Currently, he believed his rank was around D.
So the danger would be great.
And pretending that he had a second awakening like any other hunter with his current strength would be really stupid.
Showing that he only went up one rank would be a waste.
What would he do next then?
Already being as strong as, for example, a B-rank hunter, would he go to the Association a second time?
They would immediately realize that something was wrong.
There was no hunter who experienced twice the second awakening. And this within a few... weeks. Months. At most.
NO.
Revealing himself now was a terrible idea.
Perhaps, at some point, when he reached rank A or even S.
For now, he needed to focus on paying the rent.
He had enough money for the rent, but after paying it, he wouldn't have much left for living expenses.
There were 800,000 Won in his account. (~592 USD)
After paying 500,000 Won for rent, he will only have 300,000 Won left to live on. (370 USD and 222 USD).
It was really not much considering the fact that it's not even halfway through the month. Of course, he was lucky that the rent was so low.
The 500,000 rent was due to him living in a rundown apartment on the outskirts of town, and what's more, the landlord, who had a soft heart for Jin-Woo's situation, hadn't raised the rent in the last few years, even though he should have, considering apartment prices had gone up...
And no matter how you look at it, they also lived in the capital.
But now that he had the opportunity to earn more...
Maybe he would buy something extra, some extra food, and give Jin-Ah some money. What he gave her for the whole month were some blackheads "just in case".
She couldn't go shopping or wander around pubs with her friends most of the time. At least not as often as she wanted.
His sister devoted a lot of time to studying, but she was still a young girl, a high school student.
This fact often hurt him. But now that might have changed.
Eventually, he found one interesting entry in the bulletin board section of the Website run by the Hunters Association.
It stated that a group of hunters was looking for someone to join their ranks, regardless of rank.
As it was written at the end of the post: "First come, first served."
It was...unheard of.
But it didn't cost him anything to check it out.
This was a newly created post. Quickly checking the details, he realized that the location was not far from his house. Jin-Woo quickly called the number provided in the ad.
- Hello, is this...?
Jin-Woo gave a short introduction and asked about the job offer.
- Oh, you're an E-rank hunter?
The response was better than he expected.
- Alright. Just come over and help us fill in the numbers. However, since this is a C-rank gate, you probably won't be very useful in combat. So, we'll have to exclude you from sharing the spoils. Instead, we'll give you a set amount of two million Won. Does that work for you?
As much as two million?! (~1481 USD)
The conditions were great. Most people would accept this offer with a kiss. Getting two million for doing nothing is quite a bargain.
He regretted that he would be deprived of the spoils and potential experience, but money was money.
This amount of money would be enough for him for the whole month.
- I'll be there in fifteen minutes.
***
Having finished preparing within three minutes, Jin-Woo hailed a taxi and arrived at the designated location.
Nine people were waiting for him. The man who seemed to be their leader waved at Jin-Woo.
He was a muscular man with short black hair and a short beard.
He smiled broadly and friendlyly at the approaching Jin-Woo.
- I'm Hwang Dong-Suk. Remind me of your name?
- Sung Jin-Woo.
The men shook hands in greeting.
The man briefly introduced his team members. The eight hunters, including himself, were a group that had been working together for some time. The ninth hunter, like Jin-Woo, had come upon seeing this proposal to fill the necessary number for the raid.
As he greeted his teammates, Jin-Woo looked at their faces. Thanks to his enhanced sense stat, he was able to perceive the approximate strength of the gathered hunters.
Five of them were more or less at the same level. Four were decidedly below. Five were C-Rank, and four were D.
The C-rank gate raid had its rules. It required a minimum of 10 people and half of the team had to be at least C-Rank. Only then would the Association issue a permit for the rally.
Hence the need to select two people. Such practices were not unusual.
Then, after Hwang Dong Suk briefly outlined the rules, Jin-Woo signed two copies of the contract, keeping one for himself and giving the other to the group leader.
Jin-Woo's contract specified that he would not participate in combat or receive a share of the loot. Instead, he would receive 2 million Won at the end of the raid. It was similar to his phone conversation. However, the last line caught his attention.
"No matter what accident happens inside the dungeon, the group will not take any responsibility..."
Reading that line, Jin-Woo felt a burning sense of unease.
He had never participated in such a raid because he had never come close to C-rank gates.
It would be suicidal for him.
So, he didn't know if such a clause in this kind of situation was normal, or if he should start to worry.
- Looks like we're both in this together. - While Jin-Woo was reading the contract, he was approached by a young D-rank boy who, like Jin-Woo, he came here to fulfill the requirements.
- I'm Yoo Jin-Hoo, I'm twenty-two years old and I'm a D-Rank.
- Uh. Cool. Nice to meet you. Sung Jin Woo. I'm twenty-four years old.
Jin-Woo really tried not to stare.
But the equipment this guy had...
What D-rank hunter could afford such expensive armor?!
The guy had this rank and was 22 years old.
Was he the son of some millionaire?!
Nodding to Jin-Ho, Jin-Woo looked at Hwang Dong-Suk.
- What should I do?
- Not much. Take care of our things.
Hwang Dong Suk pointed to a large backpack with many compartments that was lying nearby.
- Inside there is equipment, food, first aid kits... Just the basic things for the raid.
A first aid kit for the dungeon?
It's like putting out a fire with a glass of milk.
- Are we going in without a healer? - Jin-Woo asked surprised while feeling concerned again.
- You know, it's hard to find people willing to take part in such a small raid. We always manage without a Healer.
In these circumstances, the clause about not taking responsibility was even less amusing.
But now Jin-Woo understood why he was in the deal. And why the stakes for doing nothing were so high.
It is possible that it was difficult for them to find willing people without tempting them with high earnings.
But even when he explained everything rationally, he still had a very bad feeling.
If his skills were still as poor as before, he would probably never have agreed to this rally.
But now he was stronger. Therefore, he followed the group towards the gate, putting his backpack on his back. But despite this, he promised himself that he would never agree to such unorganized crap again.
The gate opened on an abandoned construction site of some residential building.
Jin-Ho walked up to Jin-Woo and spoke in a low voice.
- I heard that investors and employees who worked here lost everything and are fighting for their lives. However, the company's CEO fled the country with 900 billion from the contract.
Jin-Woo muttered noncommittally under his breath.
How the hell did this kid know that?!
***
Waves of magical power leaked from the gate, and the amount of magical power in these waves would determine the Rank of the Gate.
After the discovery, the Association sent special teams to measure magical power using the device. The information obtained was then made public, and individuals or guilds demanded raiding rights from the Association.
Most of the B and A Rank gates were taken over by large guilds. They were too dangerous for private groups. Such groups most often claimed rights to gates of rank C and lower.
This particular gate was very large, but it was not the size that determined its rank, but rather its power.
It was surprisingly quiet in this dungeon space.
And very dark.
Hwang Dong-Suk, who was at the head of the group, gave an order to the magician next to him.
- Too dark. Gyu-Hwan, shed some light.
The magician created a small ball of light on his open hand, which dispelled the darkness around them, showing them the interior of the dungeon.
Hwang Dong-Suk lowered his shield and tilted his head, scanning their small illuminated area.
Typically, there were glowing Stones sprouting here and there in underground spaces, providing decent lighting. However, they were absent here, and there were no monsters in sight.
Usually, right from the entrance, you could spot two or three monsters. But here, they not only saw none, but it was also eerily silent.
Too silent.
- Are there any dungeons without monsters? - Jin-Ho asked worried.
Jin-Woo put his finger to his lips, telling him to be quiet.
The lack of lighting and the emptiness around them were clues to any hunter who had been in this profession for some time.
If there was no lighting here, there must have been a reason for it. This could mean that the monsters here like the dark.
And this led to further clues.
It's usually hard for monsters to survive underground without any light. However, if they were intelligent enough, it meant that they did not have to rely on sight.
It is possible that their eyesight was poorly developed, or they lacked it at all.
But this didn't necessarily mean that blind monsters were less dangerous.
Jin-Woo heard something, barely.
The sound of very light footsteps.
A lot of footsteps.