Levelling Up In An Exclusive Dungeon

Chapter 18

Staff dispatched from the Association were waving glow sticks, guiding the citizens to safety.

Usually, when a large-scale invasion like this occurred, the large guilds cooperated with each other to carry out a defense.

Therefore, it was a rare sight to see monsters entering the city.

But now, monsters were being sighted everywhere, in the sky and on the ground.

“Could it be that the countermeasures weren’t in place because it started earlier than expected?”

Looking around, most of the monsters rampaging in the city were small fry that even a D-rank Hunter could hunt.

Seeing only these kinds of monsters roaming around despite the large-scale invasion, one could roughly guess how the situation was unfolding.

“They’re planning to take care of the valuable monsters at the defense line and leave these guys to the mediocre Hunters.”

Even that was a blessing for the lower-ranked Hunters who weren’t affiliated with a guild.

Kang Jin-hyuk himself would have been sweating profusely hunting small fry if it were like the old days.

But now that he had found the dungeon, there was no need for that.

There were plenty of trivial monsters like these rotting away in the dungeon.

It would only be a waste of energy to hunt them now.

“I should go home and get some sleep.”

It was something other Hunters would take care of even if Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t step up.

It’s not like this large-scale invasion was the first or second time it had happened, so there was no way they would fail to defend just because it started a little early.

Kang Jin-hyuk, yawning so widely that tears welled up, tried to hurry on his way home.

However, he stopped in his tracks due to a message that arrived with a loud notification sound.

『Attention all Hunters.』

『As the current situation is very urgent, we will reward you three times the usual amount for hunting monsters that have invaded the city.』

『The above applies only for today. Hunters who wish to receive the reward, please collect items that can serve as evidence and visit the Association after the current situation is over.』

Kang Jin-hyuk heard cheers erupting from everywhere.

It was clear that these were the exclamations of other Hunters upon seeing this message.

“Three times…….”

Not only was it an opportunity to legally sell monster corpses without going through an organization, but the reward had also tripled.

It would be foolish to head to bed with such an offer in front of him.

Kang Jin-hyuk immediately turned around and ran towards the city.

“Stick your necks out, you bastards!”

◈◈◈◈◈◈

The epicenter of the large-scale invasion was being surrounded by Titan Guild members who had deployed a barrier.

Most of the guild members had jumped into the hunt, with only the minimum number of people maintaining the encirclement.

Due to the lack of personnel, it was impossible to block all the monsters.

“Don’t waste your energy on low-level monsters! If you waste your stamina, it will be difficult to maintain the formation!”

The executives were running around busily, commanding the guild members.

They were the ones who usually schemed for profit, but in times of crisis, they were faithfully carrying out their original roles.

Greedy, but not incompetent executives.

That was the power that allowed Titan to continue the legacy of a large guild.

“There’s some leeway on the west side, so pull out about 10 people to support the front!”

“Understood!”

The guild members also faithfully followed the instructions they received amidst the chaos.

The way they moved quickly under a proper command system was no different from soldiers.

Thanks to the executives and guild members managing the war situation on their own, Seo Sang-ho could focus on the fight with peace of mind.

“Guild Leader-nim! Yoon Tae-yoon’s side is being pushed back!”

“Tell them to hold on a little longer, I’ll be right there!”

Seo Sang-ho swept away the monsters that had gathered around him with a single punch and quickly ran to the place where they were short on manpower.

The power of an S-rank Hunter shined even brighter in difficult situations like this.

“Haaap!!”

Most monsters couldn’t even get close and were torn apart by the force of his punches as he darted across the battlefield.

The only ones who could withstand that power were the large monsters with a size of at least 5 meters.

Seo Sang-ho’s appearance, sweeping away monsters with a single punch, was like the protagonist of a martial arts novel.

The guild members were thrilled by the sight and their morale was boosted, but Seo Sang-ho himself was dying.

“Damn it! I can’t seem to kill them all.”

It wasn’t usually this tiring because it was originally a task done in cooperation with other guilds.

Even though they were rivals who growled at each other like enemies usually.

He never knew he would miss them so much when they were not around.

Why did they all have to go abroad at a time like this, saying they had missions to take care of?

“It reminds me of the time I had to do a group project all by myself…….”

Seo Sang-ho, sighing deeply as if the ground would cave in, raised his head again at the shout of a guild member.

“It’s a Twin Head Ogre!”

“Those below B-rank, fall back!”

The right flank was about to collapse because of a monster that was more than twice the size of a normal Ogre rampaging.

“Are they planning not to give me a moment’s rest?”

Seo Sang-ho approached the Twin Head Ogre before the situation could worsen and swung his fist.

“Groooowl……!”

The Twin Head Ogre, which A-rank Hunters were barely managing to hold back, had a hole punched right through the middle of its abdomen with a single blow.

The Twin Head Ogre, with more than half of its internal organs gone, had no choice but to collapse on the spot.

It was a marvelous sight, but there was no time to admire it.

Seo Sang-ho and the guild members had to immediately move on to find their next prey.

“This invasion seems a bit tough.”

When one of the guild members next to him spoke half-jokingly, Seo Sang-ho gave a wry smile.

“You can say that again. I can’t see the end of it.”

The bigger problem than the number of monsters was the appearance of big shots like the Twin Head Ogre.

Small fry monsters could be handled by the guild members, no matter how many more appeared.

But it was a different story with the Twin Head Ogre.

That level of monster could only be dealt with by multiple A-rank Hunters joining forces.

Since the A-rank guild members would inevitably be concentrated in one place, Seo Sang-ho had no choice but to step up.

Perhaps that’s why, while the guild members took turns resting every 30 minutes with those in the rear.

Seo Sang-ho had been fighting for over two hours without a break.

Seeing him take on the arduous task without even taking a breath, his secretary finally stepped up, unable to stand by any longer.

The secretary, who had jumped into the battlefield, headed straight for Seo Sang-ho and grabbed his shoulder.

“Please take a break. If you continue like this, you’ll collapse before the battle is over.”

“I just took a break.”

“Don’t lie. You haven’t rested once since the invasion started.”

“…….”

“If I retreat now, the fight will only get longer.”

There was a high possibility that the defense line would collapse if the battle dragged on in a situation where there weren’t enough personnel.

Seo Sang-ho decided to push himself since he couldn’t rush the guild members who were already doing their best.

Entrusting the command to the executives was also a strategy to focus on the battle.

“Take care of the Clerics more than me. Their importance increases the longer the battle goes on.”

“I’ve already assigned enough escorts to them. What you need to worry about now is your condition, Guild Leader-nim.”

“I’m fine, I told you.”

Seo Sang-ho hurriedly jumped back into the battlefield before the secretary could nag him further.

Even though there seemed to be no problem for now, the secretary felt that his back looked very precarious.

“There’s no way he’s okay, running around like that…….”

The executives who should be assisting Seo Sang-ho were focused on maintaining the defense line, so there was no one to fill his shoes on the battlefield.

For a moment, the secretary thought of Ahn Do-yoon, but immediately shook her head.

“To think I would even consider asking that man for help, even for a moment. I must be crazy.”

It would be better to entrust a cat with a fish than to rely on that man.

“I guess I’ll have to ask other Hunters for cooperation after all.”

The executives considered this a golden opportunity to raise Titan’s reputation and minimized the hiring of mercenaries.

Seo Sang-ho opposed that policy, but the executives pushed their way through with their usual tired excuse about the murderer.

Considering Titan’s power and Seo Sang-ho’s abilities, it wasn’t a very unreasonable policy.

But no one knows how things will turn out, do they?

If a large number of high-level monsters appeared, the current personnel wouldn’t be able to handle it.

The secretary thought that they should hire external personnel before it was too late, for safety’s sake.

Since the executives wouldn’t give permission now, the secretary slipped out of the defense line on her own, avoiding their eyes.

◈◈◈◈◈◈

Kang Jin-hyuk confirmed that there were no more monsters in the surrounding area and sat down on a nearby staircase.

He could hunt more monsters if he went to another area, but other Hunters had already settled there.

Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t want to steal the share of those who had arrived first.

That was something he had been subjected to by the large guilds until just a few weeks ago.

Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t want to do the same thing as those guys.

“Let’s see…….”

Kang Jin-hyuk looked inside his inventory to check the number he had hunted today.

“I guess I caught about thirty.”

Considering that he would receive three times the reward, it was as if he had made a profit close to 100.

It wasn’t an amount that would leave him dissatisfied even if he ended it here.

“I should go home now.”

As Kang Jin-hyuk got up with an “oomph” and turned towards home, he made eye contact with a familiar-looking woman.

The woman who was running in a hurry was definitely the one who was next to Seo Sang-ho when he met him before.

She also recognized Kang Jin-hyuk.

Seo Sang-ho’s secretary stopped running and approached him.

“You’re Kang Jin-hyuk-ssi, right? Do you have some time now?”

“No, I was just about to go home…….”

“If you don’t have any other appointments, please help us for a moment.”

Urgency was evident in the secretary’s tone.

Kang Jin-hyuk felt a sense of deja vu as he recalled the time when a Hunter from Titan had asked for help.

“Is it Titan who’s trying to stop the monster invasion?”

“Yes.”

“And the situation is difficult with just Titan’s personnel?”

“Has the rumor already spread? How do you know so well?”

“…….”

Kang Jin-hyuk was so dumbfounded that he almost laughed out loud.

How come the situation hadn’t changed one bit from back then?

It seems like scrambling to clean up after things have gone wrong is Titan’s specialty.

‘Do they not have the ability to learn?’

Even though he was somewhat annoyed, he felt that if he ignored a request for help from someone in trouble, his sleep wouldn’t be peaceful.

Kang Jin-hyuk reluctantly took out the baseball bat he had put in his inventory.

“How much will you pay me?”

“Should I pay you by the hour? Or based on your performance?”

Usually, Clerics preferred to be paid by the hour.

This was because Clerics were a class specialized in support and didn’t run around directly like other Hunters.

But Kang Jin-hyuk chose the latter without hesitation.

“Pay me by the number of kills.”

“Huh? Weren’t you a Cleric, Kang Jin-hyuk-ssi?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then why…?”

In response to the secretary’s question, Kang Jin-hyuk asked back.

“Do you know what true healing is?”

“Well…… bringing the dead back to life?”

“No, it’s eliminating the source of the harm itself. That is the ultimate healing.”

The secretary looked dazed, wondering what nonsense this was.