25
What is a rune stone?
A rune stone refers to a stone imbued with a random skill that very rarely drops from high-rank dungeon bosses or treasure chests in special dungeons.
Of course, just because you pick one up doesn't guarantee that the finder can learn the skill imbued within the rune stone. First, you need to have an appraiser with appraisal skills identify what skill is imbued in the rune stone.
And after the appraisal is complete, you can finally resonate with the rune stone, but if your resonance ability is lacking, you won't be able to learn the skill even if you want to.
But there's no need to be disappointed. An awakener's skills mostly continue from the ones acquired early on through the dream of awakening. For awakeners whose skills are essentially their lifeline, getting a chance to learn a new skill?
Unless it's a truly useless skill, putting a rune stone up for auction usually returns an amount sufficient to compensate for the disappointment of not being able to learn the skill.
That much shows that a rune stone's value, regardless of whether a skill is imbued within it or not, holds tremendous value by its very existence alone.
"So this is what it feels like for fatigue to completely vanish."
The moment he realized the stone fallen on the ground was a rune stone, an enormous burst of dopamine exploded, and his fatigued mind from post-processing and other reasons became completely clear as if it were a lie.
'Not that I'm at a disadvantage.'
Baek Woojin carefully placed the rune stone in his hand into his inner pocket.
In this case, the government's negligence was significant, so unlike with the Living Wood, he was in a situation where he could sufficiently claim ownership.
Of course, he actually intended to do so, but separately from that, he wanted to avoid drawing attention the moment he went outside, so he chose to hide it for now.
"Still, it is quite amazing."
This was his first time seeing a dungeon collapse with his own eyes.
The sight of the sky shattering as if the end of the world had come, large and small cracks forming in the air, and the fragments flowing down like broken glass pieces was hard to call beautiful even as an empty compliment.
Above all, the dungeon itself was making loud rumbling noises and shaking unsteadily as if telling them to leave quickly, making that negative feeling even stronger.
"Hunter Kim Jisoo."
After returning to the village over the heap of goblins split into various forms, Baek Woojin lightly patted the cheek of Kim Jisoo, who was comfortably unconscious, then took out a mana potion from the simple storage case strapped to her thigh and poured it into her mouth.
"Ugh, uuu...?"
Since it was a mass-produced product provided by the association, its effect wasn't outstanding, but it was enough to fill the parched mana core of Kim Jisoo, who had completely run out of mana and fallen into mana exhaustion.
"Are you coming to your senses?"
"My head, feels like it's going to split open..."
"Since I gave you a potion, it'll get better soon. More importantly, we need to get out now, so please get up."
"Get out?"
"Yes."
When Baek Woojin stood up first, Kim Jisoo, who had barely managed to sit up, looked around with her brow deeply furrowed.
"The d-dungeon...?"
"While I temporarily drove them back, I looked around again and found the core hidden in a corner. So I destroyed it."
"Ah! Uugh?!"
Kim Jisoo, who instantly realized she was alive, rejoiced before grabbing both temples with her hands and groaning again.
"Finish suffering outside, but let's get up for now."
"...I know I'm being really shameless."
"It's a relief that you know."
Baek Woojin placed her fallen cane in her hand and lifted Kim Jisoo up like a princess.
"Uh, um, th-this isn't the kind of position I wanted..."
"Time is precious, so just stay quiet."
"Yes sir..."
There were other parties inside the dungeon, but Baek Woojin didn't pay much attention.
While the entrance in the safe zone is difficult to notice unless you get close, the exit that appears where the core was destroyed shoots an intense blue light into the sky as if shouting "I'm here!" to announce its location.
Of course, just because the core was destroyed doesn't mean the already spawned monsters disappear, so whether they can arrive in time depends entirely on their own abilities, but even if they can't escape, it's not a big problem.
While all byproducts obtained inside the dungeon disappear, if the dungeon collapses because they fail to escape in time, they are spat out at the location of the original entrance in the same state as when they entered.
The byproducts obtained from the goblin dungeon wouldn't amount to much anyway, so from the government's perspective, there's no need to unnecessarily escalate things, and they'd probably settle for a reasonable compromise, so the hunters wouldn't really suffer any loss.
"Wait!"
"What is it."
"I, if I go out now, it feels like something's going to come up..."
"I'll put you down right away then."
"That's not the problem──"
Whether she threw up or not was none of his business, so Baek Woojin lightly ignored the horrified Kim Jisoo and leapt toward the exit.
**
-Uweeeek...!!
Baek Woojin, without any hesitation, dropped Kim Jisoo, who was indeed showing signs of nausea, onto the ground and, leaving behind the sounds she didn't want others to hear, approached the public official who had come running out of the management office and gave him a rough outline of the situation.
"I'll contact Deputy Heo Sangmin myself."
"I'd appreciate that. Then I'll continue controlling the hunters who will be coming out."
The public official, who knew Baek Woojin's identity, left the rear to him and headed toward the entrance of the dungeon, which was shaking uneasily.
-Yes, Hunter-nim.
"A problem has arisen, and I think you need to come."
-A problem?
He explained the situation in a bit more detail than he had to the public official.
-Oh my, I'll head there right away. I happen to be nearby, so it won't take long.
After ending the call and turning around, Baek Woojin met eyes with Kim Jisoo, who was staring intently at him.
"Do you have something to say?"
"I do have something."
Perhaps the potion's effect was starting to kick in, as Kim Jisoo, who had even thrown up but rather had better color, approached Baek Woojin and bowed at the waist.
"Thank you for saving me, and for keeping your promise."
"I also received help from Hunter Kim Jisoo."
"I'm not sure if my help was really needed, but still, thank you for saying that."
Kim Jisoo, lifting her head, glanced at the dungeon entrance where no one had come out yet, then moved her body closer to Baek Woojin.
"Should I state that Hunter Baek Woojin destroyed the dungeon core, but it was truly an unavoidable situation...?"
"I heard that mages don't have much tact, but as expected, words on the internet can't be trusted."
"The actions Hunter Baek Woojin showed were so impressive. Honestly, it would be stranger if I didn't notice?"
Perhaps feeling the reality of being alive, Kim Jisoo smiled faintly with the relaxed demeanor she had shown before entering the dungeon.
"Please also give a detailed statement about your party members fleeing."
"Don't even bring up those damn bastards."
Seeing her erase her smile as if it were a lie and turn serious, that part didn't seem to need any worry.
"Um, Hunter Baek Woojin?"
Baek Woojin, whose mind was full of thoughts of quickly returning to Seoul to have the rune stone appraised, came to his senses at Kim Jisoo's call and turned his head.
"I, it's a bit embarrassing to say this myself but... I'm quite a capable freezing mage, you know?"
"The last thing you showed was certainly quite impressive."
"Right? So, I was thinking..."
At her trailing words, Baek Woojin took out his smartphone and held it out to her.
"Don't get the wrong idea? It's not because I have other intentions, but just in case I need to contact you when looking for a party, yes. That's why I'm exchanging contacts."
"I didn't say anything though."
"Your eyes said it all. Here."
Kim Jisoo, returning the smartphone with her number saved, fanned her face with her hand for no reason and went off to a corner.
"Hunter Baek Woojin."
Deputy Heo Sangmin arrived right when the second party was coming out.
"The public official over there is working hard on taking statements."
"Hunter Baek Woojin, it seems you really need to experience what true hardship is at least once."
At Heo Sangmin's retort meeting his joke with a joke, Baek Woojin couldn't help but chuckle.
'I need to experience what true hardship is at least once, huh.'
Naturally burying the memories from before his return that rose to mind back deep in his memory, Baek Woojin moved into the management office with Heo Sangmin to explain the more detailed scenario he hadn't conveyed over the phone.
"They... deserted?"
"They ran away without even looking back."
"Sigh, I'm truly sorry about this."
It wasn't a connection he had personally recommended, but perhaps because he was the one who had connected them as a party, Heo Sangmin was taking the situation quite seriously even though it wasn't really his fault.
"There are witnesses and more than enough ways to prove it, so I trust you'll handle that part."
The parties that had made it out through the mountain of goblin corpses piled up in front of the escape route would have all witnessed it, so their testimony would be enough to prove the slightly embellished falsehood.
"Of course. Above all, thank you so much for saving our face."
"We have a symbiotic relationship, and it would be troublesome if the government's position narrows further here before I even grow."
"Haha..."
It was quite direct, but Heo Sangmin seemed to rather like that aspect, as even though he smiled awkwardly, he didn't look particularly displeased.
"And this."
"It really is a rune stone."
When Baek Woojin took out the rune stone from his chest and showed it, Heo Sangmin briefly examined the stone engraved with runic letters with rather surprised eyes before lifting his head.
"I'm the only one who knows anyway, so just keep it, Hunter Baek Woojin."
"Even if others knew, I would have kept it."
"Haha! Yes. You're fully qualified. Especially in our case, we're in a position where we should actually add more on top, so even if it becomes known to the higher-ups, they won't make an issue of it."
"Since it came up, can I bill you for the appraisal cost later?"
"Go ahead. No, please do. That would actually be cleaner."
He had been slightly displeased about not bringing back the byproducts from defeating the goblins, but at Heo Sangmin's willing offer to pay the appraisal cost instead, Baek Woojin's mood, which was already on an upward trend, instantly shot up vertically.
-You son of a bitch!!
While having minor conversations with Heo Sangmin, at Kim Jisoo's roar that pierced through the tightly closed door of the management office, the two men shrugged their shoulders and went outside.
"You trash bastard!"
"......"
"If that thing on your face is a mouth, then at least say something!!"
Baek Woojin briefly watched Kim Jisoo furiously raging at the tank guy whose condition was a complete mess, then lightly tapped Heo Sangmin's shoulder.
"Ahem, excuse me for a moment."
"Get out of the way!!"
"Whoa, whoa, calm down. I'm sorry, but official duty comes first."
"Grrr!!"
When Heo Sangmin held out his ID card, Kim Jisoo forcibly swallowed her anger and stepped back.
At Heo Sangmin's attire, which clearly looked like the person in charge of this incident, even the gazes of other parties who had come out earlier to give statements and were resting naturally gathered.
"Hunter Han Byungsoo?"
"...Yes."
When his name was called, the tank guy, Han Byungsoo, lifted his head and looked at Heo Sangmin.
"According to testimony, despite being the party's tank and the leader who should hold the center, Hunter Han Byungsoo abandoned his party members and fled."
"That's...!!"
"That's what, you son of a bitch!!"
"Kuh..."
Honestly, he was a bit curious what bullshit excuse he would make, but when Kim Jisoo shouted, Han Byungsoo bit his lip and hung his head.
-Wow, they deserted?
-Crazy bastard.
-If it were a dealer I'd understand. But fuck. The tank deserted? They've lost their conscience.
-You idiot. Deserters are all conscienceless bastards to begin with.
-Ah.
As the resting parties quickly grasped the truth and started openly cursing Han Byungsoo, his already somewhat reddened face began to turn as red as a bomb that could explode at any moment.
"From the looks of it, there seems to be no need to go through a verification process. As of this time, Hunter Han Byungsoo's Awakener ID will be suspended, and detailed punishment will be notified after an internal meeting. If you do not comply..."
The inside of a dungeon is lawless, but if that fact becomes exposed to the outside, one must endure quite heavy punishment. That's because from the perspective of ordinary citizens, hunters are both those who protect them from monsters and walking weapons of murder.
"I, I survived!!"
And our dealer guy, who couldn't read the atmosphere and popped out of the entrance.
"Die, you son of a bitch!!"
"Guh?!"
Was smacked in the head by the cane swung by Kim Jisoo who happened to be standing next to him, and slammed his head into a cobblestone stuck in the ground, losing consciousness.
"What? You'll formally propose later? You son of a bitch!!"
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
How strong could a cane swung by a mage be?
"......"
Not only Baek Woojin and Heo Sangmin, but also the hunters from other parties who were watching took a moment to appreciate the unusually clear sky today until the succession of impact sounds completely stopped.