2023.08.04.
[Cola (10C)
Cider (10C)
Milk (10C)
Sliced Bread (10C)
Eggs (10C)
Sweet Potatoes (10C)
Cooking Pot (10C)
……]
That might be the case, but it wasn’t just beverages—they sold other food ingredients too. These days vending machines dispense snacks and instant meals, so it wasn’t particularly special, but…….
[T-shirts (10C)
Overalls (10C)
……]
“Goodness. They have clothes too. But the prices are downright murderous.”
Everything was standardized at 10 coins. Calculated in our country’s currency, that was 100,000 won for a single can of cola.
“Who’d buy this?”
I scoffed.
“I do.”
Without hesitation, I immediately selected cola. The moment I discovered unexpected outside food, my eyes lit up.
The moment I took a gulp, I felt the thirst throughout my entire body being quenched.
“Teddy, want some cola too?”
When I broke into a happy smile, Teddy looked curious.
“What is it?”
“You know jelly but not cola?”
Since it knew jelly, I’d assumed it knew a lot of other outside foods too.
Well, cola’s carbonation explodes when you shake it, and above all, it tastes best when cold, so I suppose people don’t bring it into dungeons.
“Yes. I’ve never seen this before. The outside looks too hard—is it really something you drink?”
“Yes. If you open it like this, the drink comes out from inside. It’s cool, sweet, and tastes like fireworks exploding in your mouth.”
“If fireworks explode in your mouth, you’d die…….”
“Ah, I mean it feels like that. It’s delicious. Try it.”
As if to show it was safe, I took another sip and handed it to Teddy.
Teddy brought its nose close to the can, then twitched its nose, seemingly hit by the popping bubbles. Soon after taking a sip, its eyes sparkled.
“Oh……! It’s so delicious!”
“Right?”
“I think I did well following you, Master!”
Teddy polished off fifteen cans of cola on the spot. That meant consuming 1.5 million won worth.
*Maybe I shouldn’t have told it…….*
[Check the Campsite Information Window.]
As if it wouldn’t let me catch my breath for a moment, the system gave an order.
“Campsite Information Window.”
I followed the order for now.
[Campsite Name: Spring
Level: 1
Campsite Reputation: Shoddy
Campsite Condition: Messy
Campsite Weather: Clear
Campsite Effect: Stamina Recovery Speed +10%
※Campsite effects are influenced by reputation, condition, and weather.
※Effects gained at the campsite last for 24 hours after leaving the campsite. (Excluding recovery speed buff)]
It seemed I received a buff just by being inside this campsite. Since I hadn’t done anything yet, it was shoddy and messy, but a 10% recovery speed wasn’t a bad figure.
“It might increase if it gets cleaned up. Right, first I should check the shelter time limit.”
Shelters had time limits. Once you entered, a countdown began, and after a certain period, the location changed to a different zone. The changed location was random.
[Shelter Time Limit: Unlimited]
“Huh? Unlimited?”
I nearly fainted from surprise. I’d never heard of a shelter without a time limit.
“The reason this shelter has no time limit is because you established and created this campsite, Master. The owner of this shelter is you, Master.”
“Me?”
[Owner: Yu Bom (F)]
My name was really written there in bold below the time limit.
The value of a shelter increased the higher the dungeon rank. Because it serves as a refuge to escape dangerous monsters. When night fell, hunters would search for shelters.
They’re normally public areas where commerce is prohibited, but since this shelter has an owner, maybe I could do business here.
Moreover, this was a buff zone that even granted buffs. Doing shelter business in an S-rank dungeon—it was an item that could earn hundreds of billions.
“What kind of windfall is this?”
My heart began to beat faster and faster.
I had established the campsite merely intending to survive, but I felt like I’d become rich in an instant.
For a mere 1,000 coins, I even got my own shelter. I thought I’d been ruined by awakening into some unheard-of class, but this was an unexpected harvest.
Campsite Owner was an incredible class!
*Ding!*
Just then, another quest arrived.
[Quest
- A tent is needed to begin campsite business operations.
Use the campsite skill ‘Crafting’ to make a small tent. (0/3)
- Campsite skills can be checked in the ‘Campsite Skill Window’.
- Completion Reward: Campsite Market C-Rank Item Selection Ticket (1 time)]
Now that I thought about it, when establishing the campsite, a window had popped up saying I’d learned ‘Crafting’.
It seemed I could craft tents…….
“Campsite Skill Window.”
[Crafting
▶Wood – Branches ×10 or Wood Pieces ×3, 100C
Cloth – Weeds ×5, 100C
Axe – Wood ×5, 100C
Fishing Rod – Wood ×5, Cloth ×5, 100C
Shovel – Stone ×5, Wood ×5, 100C
Pickaxe – Stone ×5, Wood ×5, 100C
Hammer – Stone ×5, Wood ×5, 100C
Small Tent – Wood ×10, Cloth ×10, Stone ×10, 250C
Medium Tent – Wood ×50, Cloth ×50, Stone ×50, 500C
Large Tent – Wood ×100, Cloth ×100, Stone ×100, 1,000C]
The crafting list was diverse. From minor materials to tools needed for camping, even tents could be made.
And there was a reason the quest had showered me with coins.
“It takes 250 coins to craft a small tent…….”
To craft, not just materials but coins were required too. And I had to craft three small tents now.
If I made three, after using some to buy cola earlier, only 100 coins would remain.
“Maybe I just shouldn’t do it.”
My motivation drained away on its own.
This shelter had no time limit anyway.
I could wait for rescue here and then go outside to exchange coins for cash at Daehan Bank. I’d be able to receive about 8.5 million won in cash.
Besides, I could use the Hunter Market, which only hunters could access, to invest in effect items.
“Um, Master…….”
“Yes, what is it?”
“I don’t know what you were thinking just now, but the system shared some new information with me?”
“What is it?”
Was it going to give me more coins?
At that time, I still thought the system had handed me everything on a silver platter, so I thought there would be another reward.
“You can’t use the Hunter Market because your class is Campsite Owner.”
“What……? I’m a hunter, so what does that mean!”
“And they say that once you establish a campsite, you can’t leave the dungeon you established it in…….”
“……Huh?”
“They say the restriction is lifted when the campsite reaches level 10.”
Fine. Let’s say the Hunter Market is whatever.
The final level for hunters is 30. Level 10 is one-third of that…….
Damn it. My mind went hazy.
“When can I reach level 10?”
“It varies by person, but probably…….”
Teddy fell silent for a moment as if communicating with the system.
“They say it takes an average of about five years.”
“I’m ruined.”
“If you work hard, three years! No, even two years is possible!”
“I’m ruined, Teddy. I’m screwed.”
I despaired greatly.
* * *
At that same time, outside the dungeon, the incident of a woman in her 20s who had despaired of life and thrown herself into the Han River was the talk of the town day after day.
[Woman in her mid-20s jumps from Han River Bridge…… Maritime Rescue dispatched immediately but ultimately unable to find body……]
[Police who engaged with woman received reports of standing on Han River Bridge for several hours…… We deeply regret this incident.]
[Yu Myeonghyeon, Center Chief of Dungeon Research Center, shows deep interest in civilian accident. Association’s support entirely due to Center Chief Yu Myeonghyeon’s will……]
[How far do Center Chief Yu Myeonghyeon’s good deeds go? Hidden good deeds pour out……]
“Ha…….”
Myeonghyeon felt a complex mix of emotions as he looked at the headlines plastered all over the portal sites.
This matter was not a good deed. He had merely done what was right as a father.
But the world didn’t know that the woman who jumped into the Han River was Myeonghyeon’s daughter.
The Yu family had hidden their family relationship to avoid causing harm to Bom, an ordinary citizen.
If they had revealed Bom was my daughter, wouldn’t they have gone to rescue her faster?
No, if I had told Inyeong to quit being a hunter from the start, wouldn’t Bom have gone missing?
If I had stopped Taelim when she said she would enter the dungeon to find Inyeong. If I had held onto Bom when she stormed out of the restaurant.
Wouldn’t they all have stayed by my side?
Wasn’t this my fault?
“Why…… am I…… always……”
Once-dug self-reproach bit its tail, making him look back on his entire life. Every choice was filled with regret.
Especially Bom, who had been the youngest child raised like a precious jewel since young. A child so timid that she would burst into tears at the smallest scratch.
To the family, she was always a lovely existence that needed to be protected. Yet to think she had fallen into that cold, deep river water. Myeonghyeon couldn’t breathe.
Then, knock knock. Someone rapped on the door.
“It’s me.”
“Come in.”
A tall, slender woman entered. It was Hunter Mun Gayeong of Reconnaissance Team 7.
The Korean Awakening Association had reconnaissance teams that worked on the front lines.
Myeonghyeon held positions as both Center Chief of the Dungeon Research Center and Team Leader of Reconnaissance Team 7.
This team was an organization created solely to find Hunter Jo Inyeong, but somehow it had ended up staffed with far more capable hunters than necessary.
Rumors circulated that Reconnaissance Team 7 was practically the number one guild. Gayeong was also an A-rank combat hunter.
“I requested a hunter who can see the souls of the dead, and they said there is no one named Yu Bom among the recently deceased.”
Gayeong’s father and Myeonghyeon were close senior-junior colleagues. So Gayeong had played frequently with the Yu siblings since childhood. She was the only hunter in the association besides the association president who knew that Bom was Myeonghyeon’s daughter.
“Ha…… thank goodness.”
Though Myeonghyeon hadn’t yet found any clues, he felt relieved. Bom was not dead. That single fact opened up his blocked airways.
“Then where on earth did she go?”
The media reported that the woman had died, but strictly speaking, it was closer to a disappearance. They searched beneath the river but found nothing.
Suspecting she might have been sucked into a gate, they even investigated gate generation waves, but nothing was found.
“If she wasn’t caught in a gate and didn’t drown… where did my Bom go?”
Myeonghyeon was discouraged once again.
“Uncle. Don’t worry too much. It’s only been a day, and she might have awakened?”
“Awakened?”
“Yes.”
Myeonghyeon had been so shocked by Bom’s accident that his vision had narrowed. Hearing those words, he immediately thought it made sense.
No matter how dire the moment, the probability of awakening was slim, but Bom’s case was somewhat different.
“Yes. If anything, it would be a blessing if she had awakened……”
Her entire family were hunters. Myeonghyeon was D-rank, Taelim was S-rank, and Inyeong was even SSS-rank. Since awakening had genetic factors too, there was plenty of possibility.
“By the way, do you know where Hunter Chae Donghwa is right now?”
Hunter Chae Donghwa. He was an S-rank hunter of a young age, and after Taelim went missing, he had even seized the number one ranking.
While most hunters in Reconnaissance Team 7 were high-rank hunters, the reason it had become so famous was largely due to Hunter Chae Donghwa’s influence.
“I know he hasn’t returned from the S-rank dungeon yet.”
“That’s a relief. You must never tell Donghwa that Bom is Taelim’s younger sister. Or that she disappeared, of course.”
“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Donghwa was the one who had witnessed Taelim going missing inside the dungeon right beside him. The two had been moving in the same party when Taelim alone was sucked into a guerrilla gate.
The dungeon they had been scouting at the time was the S-rank ‘Valley of Blue Starlight.’
Another gate had formed inside the dungeon. This phenomenon was unprecedented since dungeons first appeared.
Inyeong, the first to go missing, had acted alone, so the circumstances of her disappearance were unknown. But through Donghwa’s testimony regarding Taelim’s disappearance, it was inferred that she too had been swept away in the same manner.
*That guerrilla gate is only taking high-rank hunters. And you’re saying you’ll get sucked in there too?*
After Taelim went missing, Donghwa said he would scout the Valley of Blue Starlight alone. Myeonghyeon had strongly opposed it.
Afterward, hunters who went on expeditions also encountered guerrilla gates but were not sucked in. The only difference between them and those who had disappeared was rank. They were all B-rank or lower hunters.
The meaning was that for some unknown reason, higher-ranked hunters had a higher probability of being sucked in. Therefore, for S-rank Donghwa, it was tantamount to suicide.
*That’s fine. If the previous two still haven’t managed to clear it, couldn’t I be of some help?*