*
“Team, wait here. We’ll finish the clear and come back, so don’t move.”
Lee Sanghyeok said, having settled the customers behind a large boulder.
This was a shelter made by the Management Bureau for beginner Hunters, a space protected by a fixed shield.
“Especially beyond that door over there are the dungeon core and the boss mob, so absolutely do not go in. Understood?”
After leaving a few warnings with the customers huddled together, Lee Sanghyeok moved again.
As the penguin dolls flew along after Lee Sanghyeok, little bursts of laughter broke out here and there.
“Aren’t those seriously freaking cute?”
“I thought I’d come into KidZania, not a dungeon.”
They were prospective Hunters who had come in with their own firm resolve.
Having imagined the dungeon ecology they had only seen in videos, they had been tense, but their nerves were dulled by round slimes, teddy bears, and penguin toys.
Once laughter broke out, the atmosphere among the prospective Hunters quickly became warm and friendly.
“I was actually really nervous. Even if it’s F-rank, it’s still a dungeon.”
“Is there anyone who wasn’t? We’re all the same.”
“I was too. I thought if I came to a dungeon, there’d only be big, burly men here, so I’m really glad everyone’s a woman, hehe.”
“Not all male Hunters are big and burly, though. Like On Jurim or Gidan.”
At the familiar names, Geuru’s ears perked up.
“Oh, come on, those people are completely in another realm. I used to work at a convenience store next to a C-rank dungeon, and all the people who came in were burly guys thiiis big. They’d act all high and mighty because they were Hunters, too. Showing off their strength, breaking this and that.”
“Ugh, gross.”
“Seriously gross. They smell like sweat so much… On Jurim and Gidan aren’t common in the real world, really.”
“Ahh, since I became a Hunter, I want to see On Jurim in person at least once. I heard he’s incredible in real life.”
“There’s one good way, isn’t there? Join Hyeonak.”
“Hmm… If I reawaken about five more times, maybe I’ll be able to get into Hyeonak.”
“It’d be faster to be born again.”
The prospective Hunters burst into giggles together.
‘Hmm…….’
Geuru wiggled her fingers as she thought of On Jurim and Gidan.
The people she had been with just that morning were famous after all, and it made her mouth and chest feel all ticklish.
Proud.
Hehe, Geuru grinned broadly.
The topic of conversation soon shifted to guilds and employment.
They exchanged information, saying that even a small or medium-sized guild that took subcontracted work from a large guild was fine, and that if you were in the support line, moving into an insurance company meant a secure job. Then a woman who had introduced herself as Yejin spoke cautiously.
“Um… aren’t you hungry? My mother is a bit overzealous, so she was the one who applied for the bus for me… and she packed these for me to share when I got here.”
As she said that, she blushed and took a bag of muffins out of her bag.
“Wow, they look delicious.”
“Thank you, I’ll enjoy it.”
“My mother baked these muffins herself. They’re really good.”
She handed out the bread one by one, then stopped abruptly in front of the Unfinished Bear.
Why did she stop? Geuru, who had been full of anticipation, blinked.
‘Don’t tell me she’s not giving one to Geuru……!’
Just as she was about to feel a little dejected, the woman, after some hesitation, gently held one out.
“You can’t eat this here, can you…? You can take it home and eat it. It was baked this morning, so it should be fine until tomorrow.”
So she had hesitated because she was worried Geuru wouldn’t be able to eat it.
Nod, nod.
After receiving the bread, Geuru nodded her head vigorously.
- Thanks.
Then she opened the mouth of the mascot head wide and swiftly stuffed the muffin inside.
“……!”
Yejin, shocked, blinked, then gave an awkward smile and went back to her seat.
Inside the teddy bear costume head, Geuru put the muffin into her mouth and chewed.
‘Soft and sweet! It’s tasty!’
Geuru finished the muffin in an instant and smacked her lips.
‘A good person who gives bread…….’
Her chest felt warm from the small kindness a stranger had shown her.
Next time, Geuru would bring bread and share it too.
Just as she made that resolution and was savoring her happiness—
Thud.
For an instant, a sensation like her heart being cut by a blade flashed through her.
Rustle, rustle.
The slimes gathered at a distance let out cries and shrank back.
At a glance, they looked as though something had frightened them.
And that was not all.
‘This feels strange.’
It was only for a moment, but she felt the air change.
‘Queasy.’
It felt as though she had suddenly become carsick.
People said it felt like this when you were overwhelmed by the miasma emitted by a monster, but it was not something one should feel from mere slimes in an F-rank dungeon.
Thinking just in case, she looked around, but it seemed Geuru was the only one who had sensed the anomaly.
The gathered prospective Hunters were too busy chatting away.
‘The Guildmaster said you never know what might happen inside a dungeon.’
He had said there should be nothing to worry about if it was a well-managed dungeon owned by the Management Bureau, but still.
And now that they were separated from the bus driver, if something were to happen…
Everyone huddled together like baby birds in a nest was F-rank. It was obvious it would turn into something terrible.
‘Geuru has to protect them.’
Whatever the case, Geuru was the strongest one here, an S-rank.
The eyebrows of Unfinished Bear Mk. 1 rose with determination. She was gripping her duck tongs tightly and staying on guard when, all of a sudden, a diagonal line appeared across the door leading to the boss room.
‘What is that!’
Soon, the diagonal line spread sideways, and the view beyond the door began to show faintly.
‘A zipper?’
Geuru thought it looked as if a zipper had opened on the door, and pedaled her bicycle toward it.
‘I’ll zip it right back up.’
The moment Geuru approached the door like that—
‘Eh!’
As if something had sucked her in, Geuru and her bicycle were pulled beyond the door.
*
She hurriedly looked back, but—
‘The door… disappeared…….’
Geuru stood in front of the door that had vanished like a mirage, her mouth hanging open with a blank expression.
‘Scroll!’
Remembering that she had been told to tear the scroll when she was in danger, Geuru took the scroll out of her hip bag.
However, far from tearing, the scroll only displayed a warning message before her eyes.
[Cannot be used in the boss’s domain.]
Boom—!
It felt as though lightning had struck above her head.
Geuru, turning deathly pale, turned her head toward the inside of the room.
‘Eek!’
Four slimes about three times the size of ordinary slimes were surrounding the core and glaring at Geuru.
‘W-what do I dooo!’
Geuru held the duck tongs in both hands and backed away.
‘It’s okay. The Guildmaster said slimes aren’t monsters that attack first…….’
As long as she did not touch them, they probably would not attack first.
If she waited quietly, the bus driver might notice the absence of Unfinished Bear Mk. 1 and come to get her.
‘Good. I can hold out. Geuru is S-rank!’
Just in case, she gripped the duck tongs tightly and stood proudly.
Even in the face of Geuru’s challenging attitude, the giant slimes did not try to attack.
‘Geuru is brave.’
Geuru blew out a huff through her nose. Once she confirmed that the other side would not attack, quite a bit of confidence welled up in her.
‘Is that the core?’
Geuru passed between the giant slimes and toddled toward the core.
[Core of the Frost Bloodline Cradle]
[???]
‘It’s so prettyyy!’
The core was spherical, radiating a brilliant light like crystal.
And if one looked closely, it resembled a snow globe with a blizzard raging inside.
After thinking for a moment, Geuru opened her status window.
[Mana consumption reduced by 50%]
[Skill accuracy increased by 100%]
Perhaps because it was a beginner dungeon, buffs were displayed.
‘Hmm.’
If she took this, the giant slimes would get angry.
‘Then Geuru’s in big trouble.’
She would be sent flying with a single body slam.
But what if she used the skill “Pluck It Out” to extract the core? Wouldn’t she be able to take it without the giant slimes noticing at all?
‘Geuru is smart.’
Geuru, the top elite of the Chick Class, praised herself and cast the skill.
[Activating skill “Pluck It Out!”]
[Acquired “Mephisto’s Fragment”]
[Mephisto’s Fragment (Bound)]
In the domain of the Frost Bloodline, a specific target’s defense decreases by 50%.
In the domain of the Frost Bloodline, the owner’s attack power increases by 100%.
100%?
At the tremendous number, Geuru’s mouth fell open.
And if it was attack power, then it was an option that seemed good to attach to a weapon.
‘Geuru’s duck tongs… might become a powerful weapon.’
Geuru looked down at the duck tongs and repeatedly snapped them open and shut.