21
Before long, our train arrives at its final destination...
"Slurp."
Baek Woo-jin, who had boarded an early morning train heading to Busan, wiped the drool trickling from his mouth and opened his eyes at the kind announcement voice ringing in his ears.
'Fell asleep without realizing.'
Confirming the seat next to him was empty, Baek Woo-jin stretched lightly to loosen his stiff body.
It was true that his stamina had become absurdly good after becoming an Awakened, but the fact that such an Awakened was still human remained unchanged. In other words, it meant he couldn't resist fundamental desires like sleep and appetite.
"Ugh, must be because I slept half-heartedly."
There's a saying that if you're going to do something half-heartedly, don't even attempt it. And Baek Woo-jin, who had woken up from a half-hearted nap, was experiencing firsthand why such a saying existed.
'I didn't expect to come back this quickly.'
Gathering his belongings and stepping off the train, Baek Woo-jin headed straight to the hotel he had used before by taking a taxi lined up in front of the station.
'A honey dungeon, huh...'
Staring blankly at the scenery that had grown familiar after seeing it several times, he chewed over the conversation he had with Heo Sang-min two days ago.
-A honey dungeon?
-Yes. It's a D-rank dungeon where the monsters that appear are Goblins and Silence Monkeys.
-Both are E-rank monsters.
-That's correct. It's a D-rank dungeon, but the monster level is E-rank.
-Instead, the boss must be tough.
-That's also correct. The boss is a Goblin Warrior.
Despite being a goblin, it had a physique about twice the size of an average adult male, and its state of armament was also quite excellent. On top of that, it possessed brute strength matching its size and agility that was completely at odds with its build.
Making the name "goblin" meaningless, the creature had the highest danger level among D-rank bosses—dangerous enough that a raid permit would only be issued when at least three parties of five or more members gathered.
-Thanks to a report from a citizen with an exemplary sense of civic duty, we were able to secure the dungeon quickly. The boss has naturally already been defeated, and until it respawns, it's D-rank in name but practically no different from an E-rank Goblin dungeon.
-Instead, even though they're the same Goblins, they'll give more experience.
-Exactly.
Among the hypotheses regarding stats, there was one that heated up the public as soon as it was announced. It was the claim that by defeating monsters in a dungeon of a higher rank than one's own, it was possible to increase stats that had hit a wall and stagnated, even without clearing the Tower.
The Tower's opening cycle was half a year.
At the time, countless Hunters who were waiting only for the Tower to open in order to advance to the next rank challenged dungeons of higher ranks than themselves, risking their lives. And indeed, there appeared those who broke through the wall of their rank and increased their stats without having cleared the Tower.
Of course, compared to the number of those who challenged, it was a number that might barely amount to a handful, but this became the spark that allowed the debate over whether the hypothesis was still correct or not to continue to this day.
-It's well worth trying.
-As expected from the Hunter I invested my coins in! Then, may I set the schedule on this end?
-That would be appreciated.
-I actually anticipated you'd say that and set the schedule in advance. I'll send you the details via message, so please check it and reply if it works for you.
The schedule he received like that was today, two days later, in the afternoon.
His growth was at a standstill, and magic stones weren't dropping as well as before, so the contact came just as he was about to revise his plans. He had no scheduled commitments and was already thinking about making changes, so Heo Sang-min's proposal was one with absolutely no reason to refuse from the start.
'Be that as it may, a porter, huh.'
Goblins they may be, but they were still Goblins born in a D-rank dungeon. Even so, they were still just Goblins, but it had already been proven through various evidence that the higher the mana density of a dungeon, the stronger the stats of the same species would be.
Baek Woo-jin's stats, with their nonsensical mana value, were at a level that could practically be considered D-rank, but Heo Sang-min was a safety-first person, so he placed him in a D-rank party as a porter for the first day to assess whether he could hunt alone.
Having slit the bellies of over a thousand monsters in the past few weeks to find magic stones, he was already a seasoned hand at butchering. Moreover, as a porter, it was a convenient position to discreetly absorb any magic stones that appeared along the way into his ring.
'Should I have gotten some potions from Na-hee?'
According to Heo Sang-min, a government-affiliated high-rank Hunter had already subjugated the boss, so an unexpected situation like the Elder Tree incident wouldn't occur, but—
No one could predict what kind of situation they might face at any given moment—that was life.
Furthermore, as someone who had personally experienced regression, something no one else in the world could have predicted, he had decided to prepare as much as possible for any dangers within the range of what he could think of.
"Welcome."
"I'm Baek Woo-jin."
Arriving at the hotel, Baek Woo-jin picked up his card at the front desk and went straight to his reserved room to unpack.
With still plenty of time left, Baek Woo-jin lay face down on the bed fully clothed and briefly closed his eyes.
Bzzzt.
Woken by the small vibration that started in his pocket, Baek Woo-jin stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment before slipping his hand into his pocket and taking out his smartphone.
"This is Baek Woo-jin."
-It's me, Hunter-nim.
At Heo Sang-min's voice coming through the speaker, Baek Woo-jin started to sit up but lay back down and let out a small yawn.
-Are you at your accommodation?
-Yes. The hotel I stayed at before.
-I've interrupted your rest when you were taking a well-deserved break.
-Not at all. Looking at the time, it's about when I should be getting up anyway.
-There are still 3 hours left, though?
-That was just something I said. I was afraid you'd feel awkward.
-Haha.
Baek Woo-jin switched the call to speakerphone and continued speaking while searching for nearby restaurants on his smartphone.
"So what's the matter this time?"
-Nothing else, but I contacted you to tell you that if you experience any unfair treatment during the party, don't endure it and contact me immediately.
-I'm pretty good at distinguishing between situations I should endure and situations I shouldn't.
-You did seem that way.
-Agent-nim.
-Yes, Hunter-nim.
Briefly covering the microphone part with his hand and stretching refreshingly, Baek Woo-jin abruptly got up and stepped down from the bed.
"If you know any good restaurants nearby, please send them to me via text."
-Now that you mention it, it's almost lunchtime, isn't it? In that case, I'll personally——
"Via text, please. Goodbye."
Where do you think you're going to slack off?
**
"Thank you for the meal."
"Please come again~"
Having visited a nearby Western-style pork cutlet restaurant recommended by Heo Sang-min, Baek Woo-jin left the restaurant after completely emptying his bowl without leaving a single drop of sauce behind.
'As expected, restaurants recommended by locals really are on a different level.'
Incredibly satisfied with his filled stomach, Baek Woo-jin's mood improved immensely as he slung a large bag containing only two hand axes and walked toward the promised location in front of the dungeon.
"I think it's that person."
"Looking at the bag size, it's definitely them."
As he stepped into the isolated coastal area, three men and women standing near a hastily constructed temporary management office whispered among themselves.
Unlike the three who only knew minimal information like rank and name, Baek Woo-jin had received everything from faces to somewhat personal information through Heo Sang-min, so he approached the three men and women who were looking at him uncertainly.
"I'm Baek Woo-jin."
"Ah, as I thought."
Baek Woo-jin shook hands with the two men and exchanged greetings with the sole woman, taking some time for brief introductions.
A leader and tank who used a one-handed shield.
A melee DPS who used an Eastern-style sword.
The sole woman, a mage who wielded ice magic.
And me, assigned the position of porter and, in case of emergency, rear guard protecting the mage.
To be honest, it wasn't a particularly well-balanced composition.
The tank and melee DPS weren't a problem, but unlike other ranged DPS who could nimbly pull themselves out, a mage required casting to cast spells, and during casting, a high degree of concentration was demanded, so the moment of casting a spell was essentially no different from being defenseless.
'I guess there's always a reason when the ratio is kept equal.'
"Then let's head in."
"Let's do that."
The party members who had become his companions for the day entered the dungeon first, and Baek Woo-jin, left alone, headed to the management office.
"This is the sword Agent Heo Sang-min told me to hand over to you."
"I'll use it well and return it."
Receiving a sword of much better quality than the standard-issue from the public official who had been informed in advance, Baek Woo-jin took out the hand axes from his bag and attached them to his waist, then securely tied the received sword so it wouldn't come loose before entering the dungeon.
"Ah, you're here."
"You were late getting your weapons out."
The tank and the male DPS nodded as they looked at the single sword and hand axes hanging at Baek Woo-jin's waist.
"Hehe, as expected, there aren't many parties inside."
"Five including us? If we do well, we could make a killing today."
"Connections are the best after all."
From the data Heo Sang-min had sent, he already knew that the leader, the male tank, had an acquaintance in the Association and had applied quickly after hearing the news.
'But they're saying it so openly.'
Even if they were just people he'd be with for a day and never see again, it still wasn't the kind of conversation that should be casually thrown out in front of others.
"Woo-jin-ssi?"
"Yes."
Baek Woo-jin took out a handkerchief and tied it in the empty direction.
"Then let's depart."
Unlike their light chatter, once they left the safe zone, the party began to move with quite a composed demeanor, as expected of D-rank Hunters.
About 5 minutes after leaving the safe zone like that—
'......!!'
Baek Woo-jin, who had fully adapted to the senses expanded by eating the Elder Tree's leaves, wrapped his arm around the waist of the mage walking right in front of him and pulled her toward him.
"Kyah!!"
"What the—?!"
When the mage screamed in surprise at Baek Woo-jin's sudden hug, the tank and male DPS who had been walking ahead quickly turned around and looked at the two.
"...Woo-jin-ssi?"
"It's not what you think. Look over there."
At the two's gazes filled with quite unpleasant misunderstandings, Baek Woo-jin pointed to the spot where the mage had been standing just a moment ago.
"A, a rock?"
The one who opened her mouth was the mage who had been pulled into Baek Woo-jin's embrace.
Of course she'd be surprised, since a rock larger than a fist was embedded in the spot where she had been standing.
"Where did this fly from?"
"I didn't hear any sound at all."
"Why are you two so calm? I almost died just now!"
"Hey. Even if she's a mage, would she really die from just getting hit by a rock? It'd just leave a bump."
"Right. If it had that much power, there's no way we wouldn't have heard it."
"I, is that so...?"
While the three men and women were making a commotion, Baek Woo-jin, who had been able to precisely perceive the direction the rock had flown from through his circularly expanded senses, turned his head toward where the rock came from.
Ukki.
A single monkey sitting on a branch of a large tree.
Ukkikiki~!!
The monkey, which had two tails with ends shaped like bells, was not at all flustered by Baek Woo-jin's gaze that had found it precisely. Instead, it silently cackled with what seemed like a mocking expression before fleeing.