Food Truck Owner Inside the Dungeon

“Ugh…”

Juhyuk thought to himself as he watched Ji-eun frozen stiffly as if she had broken down at his words.

‘This is interesting.’

Even when they first met, he thought it was quite amusing to see Ji-eun’s thoughts expressed on her face.

She was bustling about, bragging about how great the sandwich ingredients were and how many ingredients she put it in, but when it came down to a discount and asking for 6,000 won instead of just knocking off 500 won, it was clear how much she regretted it—even though she probably didn’t realize it herself.

As I watched Ji-eun looking flustered, holding a chicken leg, and glancing at me, I couldn’t help but smile warmly.

“Sorry! Let’s eat first, okay?”

Since it seemed she liked chicken legs, he playfully offered her another one as a trade-off for the previous joke he made.

Only then did Joo-hyuk awkwardly nod his head and take a bite. When he saw Ji-eun, he couldn’t help but laugh, so he had to turn his head away and try to control his expression.

Jieun was trying her best to think things through. Despite that, the chicken she hadn’t had in a while was delicious, making her ponder, ‘Should I try selling chicken next time?’ which distracted her concentration.

‘The fact that this man brought up the gatestone means…’

If her speculation was correct, it meant he had some understanding of her skills. Was it true that heavenly realm hunters were indeed different?

After devouring not only the two chicken legs Juhyuk had offered but also two chicken wings, Jieun wiped her mouth with a tissue, looking satisfied.

“I really like wings too.”

“Too bad, the first one to eat gets it. What would the number one in the rankings do if they were so slow?”

“Excuse me? Hahaha.”

Seeing Seongjin’s face, Jieun seemed like a coward who might faint, yet she suddenly showed a carefree attitude, causing Juhyuk to nod and laugh heartily.

“Right. This is also a battle; I was just too slow.”

“The important thing is that I want it first.”

*Tap.*

Wiping the grease off from her hands, Jieun looked straight at Juhyuk and said.

The change in Jieun’s atmosphere just a moment ago was fascinating to Juhyuk.

‘Now the mood has shifted again.’

She had come to him knowing he was the number one ranked hunter. Juhyuk was curious about what kind of words someone who seemed to have her own thoughts would say, so he gazed at her and finally spoke.

“I’m quite curious about what’s important.”

“Please tell me why you gave me the gatestone.”

“Hmm… I was hoping to get a bit of help from your skills.”

“My skills?”

Jieun clasped her trembling hands together to hide her nervousness and looked at Juhyuk as if nothing was wrong.

“A level 1 awakener going through the tutorial.”

“…”

“In the very heart of the dungeon’s fourth floor.”

“Hmm…”

“Selling food along with a truck set in a safe zone, isn’t that an incredible skill?”

Even if they gathered a party to raid the fourth floor of the dungeon, it would take at least five days, no matter how direct the route was.

They had to constantly deal with the threats of monsters appearing in between, and, being humans, they needed to sleep.

Preparing to camp inside the dungeon was extremely difficult. There weren’t many suitable places to set up camp, and strict vigilance was necessary to avoid being swept away by large waves of monsters.

After going through all that, for a level 1 non-combat awakener to end up on the fourth floor was absurd.

“It took me four days just to move alone. When I checked the dungeon entry list, I didn’t see your name.”

“Is… is that a thing?”

“Yes, because crimes targeting beginners have been rampant inside the dungeon.”

Jieun had seen countless posts on the incident board about crimes targeting beginners or non-combat awakeners, leading to a recent policy initiated by the guild alliance for prevention.

Hunters forming parties were now required to write a member list at the dungeon entrance, regardless of rank, before entering.

The dungeons that beginners entered were usually only the shallow parts of the second floor at most.

Typically, if a mid-level hunter accepted a request from a beginner or a non-combat awakener willing to pay, it was unlikely for accidents to occur because the dungeons were not that dangerous.

In gaming terms, unless the booster decided to change their mind, situations, where a mid-level hunter couldn’t protect a requester in a low-level dungeon, were almost nonexistent.

Understanding this, large guilds took turns investigating accidents that occurred after the member list was created.

This transparency, where any guild member would be investigated by a guild other than their own, had reportedly reduced unpleasant incidents significantly.

While it was a good policy, it was also a policy that constrained Jieun.

She wasn’t entering the dungeon directly; instead, she was using her skills to sneak in and out several times a day without the government knowing.

“Wow, that’s amazing!”

“It seems to break down often…”

“Excuse me? What did you say?”

“Nothing. So, Jieun, let me be direct. Do you have a skill that allows you to enter any dungeon freely?”

This was an important question.

As the most crucial question among the many he had thought about before joining the Cheongmyeong Guild came up, Jieun clenched her neatly arranged hands tightly.

And her premeditated answer to that question was simple.

“Of course not.”

She was just denying it for now.

And Jieun was absolutely not lying at that moment.

It was indeed true that she currently did not have a skill that allowed her to enter any dungeon freely.

Since she needed to level up to 2 for her passive level to increase, it was correct to say that she did not have the skill to enter ‘any dungeon’ right now.

“Hmmm, I see. So it was random then.”

“How could I specify the fourth floor? I was just as surprised!”

“Then, have you sold many sandwiches inside the dungeon since then?”

“No, interestingly, I kept entering only the unexplored areas of the third floor, so I barely had one customer yesterday.”

“Oh, so there were other customers besides me.”

“Yes, I went to the second floor for the first time yesterday. I had been so exhausted for a month that I was seriously thinking about taking a break for a while, and then bam!”

As Jieun continued, mentioning that yesterday’s menu was pork cutlet and how delicious it must have been, she rambled on about how a customer quickly finished a pork cutlet rice bowl and placed an additional order, but they had to close soon, so it couldn’t be fulfilled.

Jieun’s reaction as she talked about cooking was refreshing in a new way.

When she spoke about food, her eyes sparkled, making Juhyuk wonder how such a variety of expressions could come from one person.

“So, I’ll return this to you.”

Saying that Jieun pulled out the gatestone that Juhyuk had handed her from her inventory.

Juhyuk, nodding silently, wore a puzzled expression as he accepted the gatestone she offered.

“Jieun, do you realize how miraculous it is to eat food inside a dungeon?”

“Um… I’m the only one selling food here.”

“In other words, you are doing something that no one else can do right now.”

“Really?”

“Because I’ve never thought about being able to taste food that has both flavor and smell inside a dungeon. It’s an incredible thing.”

Juhyuk’s words were true.

While combat-type hunters level up and receive support from stamina, mana, and stats, they still have to eat to move as humans.

The mental thirst for food that couldn’t be quenched by potions or recovery skills.

Hunters had countless experiences of suffering from having to fill their hunger with tasteless potions, dried jerky, and water inside dungeons.

This was an even more critical issue for high-level hunters who traversed the third and fourth floors than for low-level awakeners.

“So, Jieun…”

“Yes?”

“About that skill of yours to enter dungeons.”

“…”

“Is it a growth-type passive skill?”

“What do you… mean by that?”

“Oh, to put it simply,”

She smiled, but it didn’t seem genuine.

Jieun thought she had managed to deceive him, but she realized that the man in front of her was actually the number one ranked celestial hunter, a being that was beyond the humans.

“I’m asking if it’s a skill that changes in scope or content as you level up.”

“…”

“There are many types of skills. I have skills that increase in scope based on the awakener’s level as well.”

“That’s…”

It was over. Completely over.

Jieun had miscalculated, thinking she could deceive him. The man before her was analyzing her much more coldly than she had anticipated.

“And about returning the gatestone.”

“Yes?”

“What do you think I gave you this gatestone for?”

Juhyuk spoke with a smile that Jieun couldn’t bear to meet. But if she looked away now, it would be like admitting, “You’re right,” so she desperately managed her expression and looked directly at him.

“I’m not sure.”

“Fifth floor.”

“Excuse me?”

“Have you ever been to the unexplored dungeon on the fifth floor?”

“What do you mean… haha.”

An alarm blared in Jieun’s mind.

How much had he investigated? From the very beginning, how much did he know when he gave her this gate stone?

The implication that he had already predicted everything when he first met her food truck in the heart of the fourth floor was chilling.

The gate stone was an item that was difficult for ordinary people to sell or dispose of. Juhyuk had waited for Jieun to come to him, believing she wouldn’t think of holding onto the gate stone. Or perhaps he wanted to create an excuse to approach her if she didn’t come first.

And as Juhyuk had said, Jieun had indeed visited the unexplored dungeon on the fifth floor.

[The Resting Place of the Corrupted Fire Spirit King]

A dungeon where flames surged, making it hard to see even a step ahead.

Fire spirits roamed the fifth floor, igniting massive flames with every movement, burning everything in their path.

Jieun hadn’t expected him to know this much, so she became flustered at his sudden words, unable to stop her hiccups.

As she repeatedly denied Juhyuk’s words, shaking her hands, he smiled slyly and stood up, speaking in a lower voice than before.

“You’ve been to the fifth floor.”

The atmosphere shifted. Under the pressure emanating from the number one ranked hunter, Jieun felt like she was suffocating.

“So what I want to say is…”

“P-please spare me.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ve only been there once. So, could you spare me? Haha.”