Chapter 21   – 3 Star Dungeon

TLN: Thank Victor(DMW) and James(Elq) for the donation. I really appreciate it. This chapter will count towards next week regular chapter count. Elqueeness will be out Sunday or Monday. Please turn off the adblockers if you are able to. Thank you~)

“Hyung-nim. I’m over here.”

The next day morning Sunnggoo was waiting in front of Woojin’s house on the appointed time.

“Who’s car is this?”

“It is my mother’s car. She doesn’t use it a lot, so I usually use it.”

Woojin nodded his head as he looked at the white Matiz. I guess it was better than not having a car.

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“Why are the windows open?”

“The AC is broken.”

“…….”

It was almost the end of summer, so the morning was a bit chillly. It didn’t matter if they didn’t have an AC.

Woojin tilted his head in confusion when he saw Sunggoo, who was putting on his seatbelt.

“It’s your first day as a servant, so why are you in such a good mood?”

“Haha. Isn’t there different degrees of being a servant?”

Woojin grinned as he asked a question.

“You said we are going to a 3 star Dungeon today?”

“Yes.”

“What comes out over there?”

“Rakwi comes out.” (TLN: bakwi is cockroach in korean. The author basically switch b with an r)

Rakwis were basically large cockroaches. That’s it. It wasn’t as if the drop rate for the bloodstones were any better, but there was a large population of this monster in this dungeon. This is why this Dungeon contained a lot of bloodstones.

Sunggoo gave a briefing about the Dungeon, while he drove.

“The Maebong Staion’s third exit Dungeon has a maximum limit of 10 party members, and the entrance fee is $300.”

“It’s damn expensive.”

If one person wanted to use the Dungeon, then one would have to pay $3,000 for the entrance fee.

“It can’t be helped. Moreover, there are a lot of them, and the Return Stone doesn’t drop until all of the Rakwis are killed. Normally, it takes around 2 hours to attack this Dungeon. If one is unlucky, it takes 3 hours.”

Woojin nodded his head.

“You found the Dungeon to my exact requirement.”

The Maebong Station’s third exit was chosen as their next target, but it wasn’t Sunggoo’s idea. Woojin ordered him to find a Dungeon that fit a single criteria.

Numerous monsters had to be summoned.

He was told to search for a Dungeon based on the monster regeneration rate instead of profit. He felt doubt, but he had worked hard to find it. Amongst all of the 3 star Dungeons, this place regenerated the most monsters.

There were way less cars on the road compared to Woojin’s memory. It reminded him of the traffic he saw on the holidays. As expected, a parking lot was provided near the vicinity of the subway station. (TLN: Koreans don’t get a lot of vacations, so they all head out to beach/mountain on the holidays. Therefore, you see less traffic in the city during holidays.)

The biggest change that had happened to Seoul in the past 5 years was the subway stations. It used to be a method of travel one used to get to work, but now it became a place of work. Dungeon businesses brought in the biggest revenue for Seoul.

“Even the parking fee is damn expensive.”

Sunggoo laughed lightly when he heard Woojin’s complaint.

“I think you’ll be very surprised once you balance your account after attacking this Dungeon. There is a vast difference between a 2 star and a 3 star Dungeon.

“Well, we’ll know once we get there.”

Money was important to Woojin. He needed a big house, so he could live with his family. At the very least, he wanted to be able to sleep in a different room where he could fall asleep in a defenseless state.

It was a Dungeon where the profit was great, so the entrance fee was expensive, and there were many people in queue. One could only make appointments for 4 star Dungeons or higher.

They also restricted the Roused, who were below Rank D, from even attempting the 4 star Dungeon. A mule like Sunggoo could probably squeeze in, but a Rank D Roused won’t even be able to become a Leader for a party when attempting a 4 star Dungeon.

Until the 3 star Dungeons, there were no restriction. One didn’t need to make an appointment. The order of the Dungeon attempt was basically a first come, first served basis.

This was why the queue time was longer compared to the time it took to complete 1 star or 2 star Dungeons. However, it wasn’t so for this 3 star Dungeon.

They had come early in the morning, so there were only two teams in front of them.

Even if everyone took 2 hours, they would have to wait 4 hours.

“Hyung-nim should go rest in a cafe then return later.”

One of the main duty of a manager was staying in line as a proxy. Woojin looked around the surrounding, and he could see cafes and other convenient facilities. It made him doubt whether the development area around a subway station was really dangerous.

It seemed the resident area moved farther away, but the commercial facilities seemed more developed here.

Moreover, the Dungeon was always open. The Roused converged here 24/7 to attack the Dungeon. Of course, a location where a lot of people gathered would flourish.

“It’s ok. I’ll wait with you.”

“I’m moved, hyung-nim.”

Sunggoo’s flattery came out almost automatically. He had also studied on his own, so he could talk continuously about what he knew about the Roused, their society, and the different types of Dungeons. He didn’t want Woojin to get bored.

Pew, Pew, Pangya!

Woojin found out why the Crazy Red was a popular smart phone amongst the Roused. The sturdiness of its build didn’t even need to be explained. It was also able to run for half a month without one needing to charge it. The insane battery allowed one not to be bored during the down times.

Woojin waited 5 hours to enter the Dungeon.

Woojin paid $12,000. He paid the cost for using the Dungeon for 4 hours.

Sunggoo looked at Woojin, and he energetically gave a fighting pose. A stocky guy like him was doing all he can to act cute, and it made him look at Sunggoo with pity now.

“Hyung-nim. Fighting!”

“You have to go too, you dork.”

“I, I have to?”

“Who’s going to excavate the bloodstones?”

“I’m moved, hyung-nim.”

Sunggoo let out a soulless exclamation, then he quickly followed behind Woojin.

“I thought you purposely suggested to become my servant, so you could follow me around. ”

“…….”

When there was no answer, Woojin turned to look at him. Sunggoo had an expression of guilt.

“You…you are quite perceptive.”

It seemed flattery came naturally to him now. Woojin smirked.

“Dude. Do it in moderation. Moreover, just call me hyung.”

“Yes, hyung.”

Life was a battle field.

Sunggoo was at fault for overreacting and adding the extra zeros to the $4,000. Woojin didn’t feel the need to take back what he had offered.

He wasn’t Sunggoo’s parent or guardian.

Free money was free money.

However, if he still insisted on becoming his underling, he would repay him back the money he lost. As a Necromancer who had reached the pinnacle, Woojin had at least that much generosity.

“Be a good guide. Do my biddings well. I’m not going to work you without giving any compensations. After we finish this Dungeon, you can have 10% of the profit.”

It was a 9:1 ratio. It was a unreasonable number, but Sunggoo’s face was filled with joy. For him, the very act of attempting a 3 star Dungeon was difficult. Even if it was only 10%, it would still be more than he could make from attacking 1 Star Dungeons several times. He would be able to get his hand on a large sum of money.

“Thank you very much, hyung.”

Sunggoo really felt thankful towards him.

Woojin seemed to prefer solo play, but it seemed he would be able to enter with him. He would be able to be carried by Woojin as his manager. He’ll be able to experience a 3 star Dungeon and use his ability in relative safety.

He probably be able to train and practice his ability. It might even evolve. Sunggoo was aiming to become a high ranked Roused, so this was a opportunity of a lifetime.

Woojin knew all about this yet he acted like he had been fooled, so Sunggoo felt thankful towards him.

“Let’s go. Time is gold.”

“Yes, sir!”

Woojin was thankful towards Sunggoo, who had become a servant for just $4,000.

*

Level up!

The moment Woojin gained another level he shook his head in a fierce manner

“There are frighteningly a lot of them.”

The floor was jam-packed with Rakwi corpses. These bastards barreled towards any life form in their vicinity. They had the tendency of using their number as an advantage.

One could build a solid defense against them or one could kill them faster than they could gather. These were the only methods of dealing with them.

Woojin’s method was to use both.

“You dare use your number against me?”

“Kekeke.”

He fought number with number.

Woojin was surrounded by 19 Skeleton Soldiers. This was possible, because every time he leveled up he put all his Stat Points into Control.

Woojin used his Search magic. When he felt magic within the Rakwi’s corpses, he sprayed red paint on them. There were so many of them that it took a lot of time to tag them with paint.

While he was doing this, Sunggoo came down the stairs.

“Hyung-him! I’ve excavated them all.”

Sunggoo was hauling a bag as he descended, and he was soaked in sweat. He hadn’t even used a single fireball since he had entered the Dungeon. The only thing he did was to excavate the bloodstones from the field of corpses left behind by Woojin.

Woojin picked out which monsters had bloodstones, so he didn’t have to open up an empty corpse. However, there were still too many of them.

Woojin’s hunting speed was so fast that Sunggoo fell behind even though he only had to extract the bloodstones.

“Uh. You’ve done well. Now keep up the good work.”

“Huk.”

Sunggo saw the terrible spectacle created by Woojin on the last floor. He sucked in a sharp breath. At a glance, he could see couple hundred corpses. Amongst all of them, there were over 60 corpses tagged with spray paint.

‘How…how much money is this?’

The drop rate couldn’t be compared to the 2 star Dungeons. Sunggoo put down the full bag, then he took out a new bag.

“Aigo. I guess I’ll take a little break.”

Woojin freed himself from the field of corpses, then he sat on a bench.

The Return Stone would come out from the body of the last Rakwi he killed. While Sunggoo excavated the bloodstones, he sat on one side as he opened his character window. He put all the bonus points he earned from the level-ups to Control.

The number reached 24. He could summon 5 additional Skeleton Soldiers.

‘I’m level 6 now.’

Woojin looked through all the skills he could learn at lvl 6. He was able to learn low ranked attack spells like making a small flame or a fist made out of water. Everything else had a class restriction.

Woojin purchased all the important magics under the low ranked magic. The cost was between 10 to 30 Achievement Points each. These weak magics were progressively unusable against the monsters he would face, but these magics weren’t only used in hunting monsters.

They had many practical uses in real life, so he purchased and learned them.

‘This cost 200 points.’

<Skeleton Magician Summon>

[Restriction : Level 10, Magic 20]

Corpses or bones are used as sacrifice to summon a [Strength 5 Agility 5 Health 5 Magic 5] Skeleton Magician. Range is increased when strength increases. Shooting Rate is increased when Agility increases. Attack power is increased as Magic is increased.

Magic Consumption : 1, Required Control : 1

Every Rakwi gave him 3 Achievement Points. There were too many Rakwis, so he had a lot of Achievement Points to spare. He was able to buy Skill Books, but he couldn’t learn it since they had level restrictions.

From level 1 to level 9, one didn’t have a class. The low ranked skills learned during this period didn’t have any class restrictions, and most of them could be purchased with relatively low Achievement Points. However, once one reaches level 10, one would develop a class, and most of the Skills became expensive.

‘Now that I think about it I should work on my Stats a little bit.’

There were couple ways to raise one’s Stat. When one level up, one gets bonus stats, and as the name indicates it was a bonus.

There were two other methods if one excluded the level up.

First method was to train repeatedly to increase one’s stat. However, this method wasn’t used often since the increase was minimal compared to the time spent. If one did it without having much expectation, then one could increase one stat at a time.

The second method was to use drugs.

There were reinforcement drugs that were able to give a temporary stat boost, but there were also magic medicines that could permanently increase certain stats.

Woojin frowned as he searched through the Achievement Point Store. There were reinforcement drugs that gave +1 stat points, but they cost 2000 points.

It was too expensive for him to purchase it for consumption. However, it wasn’t as if he didn’t gain anything.

<Recipe – Orc Tendon Soup>

Ingredient : Orc Tendon 3, Drabbit Tail 5, Rat fang 2

Effect : Strength + 2

He thought he did pretty well by using 150 of his Achievement points to purchase this recipe. The composition method was simple. He just had to used his advanced skill, Combination Box.

“It is all done, hyung-nim. I also found the Return Stone.”

Woojin grinned as he looked at the fat bags filled with bloodstones. At the very least, there were about 5 times more bloodstones compared to the previous 2 star Dungeon. Also, didn’t Sunggoo say the bloodstones became denser and more expensive as the Dungeon’s rank increased?

“How many minutes had passed?”

“It’s been 27 minutes.”

Woojin stood up as he laughed.

“We’ll run it 7 more times. Hurry up, and gather everything.”

“Huk. I understand.”

The Skeleton Soldiers approached them, and they picked up the bags. Woojin and Sunggoo wanted to save time, so they practically ran towards the entrance.

The public employee assigned to this place by the Dungeon Management Bureau was surprised when they came out much earlier than expected.

When two Rank F Roused attempted the 3 star Dungeon that had a maximum capacity of 10 party members, he thought their actions were ill advised. However, it seemed he was wrong.

“Even if you…you cleared it before the time ran out, we won’t refund the entrance fee.”

Woojin smirked at the public employee’s words.

“I’m going to keep attempting the Dungeon within the time limit, so don’t worry about it.”

“What?”

“I don’t have time, so don’t ask me any questions.”

Woojin and Sunggoo grabbed the bags then they ran towards the Bloodstone exchange store. They converted it all to cash.

$54,300.

He used simple calculations to determine he could earn almost $400,000 in a day. Sunggoo would receive 10% of that figure, so he had an expression of disbelief on his face.

‘$5,430.’

This was the money he had earned in 30 minutes. If one joined a full normal party attacking a 3 star Dungeon, 1 share of the profit would be equivalent to this.

However, Sunggoo wasn’t skill enough to attempt a 3 star or even a 2 star Dungeon.

“J…jackpot, hyung-nim.”

“You are calling me hyung-nim again?”

“Hyung-nim is too great. I wouldn’t dare call you hyung.”

Woojin smirked at his silly words.

“We still have 7 runs left.”

If they went in 7 more times, then his share would be around $40,000. He had diligently went around 1 star Dungeons for 2 whole month yet he only made $30,000. Now he would make $40,000 in a day.

“Run.”

“Yes, sir!”

Sunggoo and Woojin quickly ran towards the Dungeon.