Levelling Up In An Exclusive Dungeon

Chapter 23

Even though the person involved and the Titan Guild members kept their mouths shut.

Rumors started to spread that a C-rank Hunter had dealt with the new type of monster that appeared in the sky.

Even though many people didn’t believe it because it was such an absurd story, the rumors definitely spread from mouth to mouth.

Even the news of the murderer who only targeted Hunters from large guilds was buried by Kang Jin-hyuk’s achievements this time.

The scouts of the large guilds, who were sensitive to information, started their own investigations as soon as they heard the news.

It was unreliable information, but it was worth betting on the possibility of ‘what if’.

In this era where guilds are building up their power and competing with each other, a Hunter with high potential was a valuable human resource.

Guilds that wanted to solidify their position naturally took an interest in this matter.

Altron, the #1 ranked guild in Korea, was no exception.

“I heard that the Titan Guild Leader contacted him directly?”

“I heard that too. But he refused?”

“An S-rank Hunter stepped up, so he must be no ordinary talent.”

Altron’s scouts, who were in the midst of investigating, fell into deep thought.

Titan was a prestigious guild that ranked among the top five in Korea.

If they failed to recruit him even after the Guild Leader stepped up, it was clear that he would refuse any half-hearted offers.

‘Just how great is this person…….’

As a Hunter who suddenly rose to prominence, the information currently available was ridiculously insufficient.

Amidst all the rumors, the scouts confirmed only two facts.

That the Hunter used an aluminum bat as his main weapon, and that the A-rank Hunter who challenged him was severely beaten and hospitalized.

“Did you get any information on the hospitalized A-rank Hunter?”

“It’s said to be Ahn Do-yoon Hunter-nim, from Titan.”

“What? That guy’s skills were solid. He’s not the type to get beaten up.”

Despite causing all sorts of trouble due to his bad personality, the reason Ahn Do-yoon wasn’t kicked out of Titan was because of his high combat power and achievements.

“That’s what I’m saying. He even reached the position of Vice Guild Master at one point. To think he got badly beaten by a mere C-rank Hunter…….”

The fact that a proven expert, not some nobody, was defeated meant that the opponent’s skills were that much more outstanding.

“I think we can suspect a Hidden Class.”

“Isn’t that jumping to conclusions?”

“No, it’s entirely possible.”

Altron’s scout was confident in his gut feeling.

A Hidden Class, said to be possessed by only a small minority of 0.1% of all Hunters.

It didn’t make sense that a C-rank Hunter could beat Ahn Do-yoon without that fraudulent ability.

“If it really is a Hidden Class…….”

“We need to hurry before other guilds snatch him up.”

Altron’s scouts started to get anxious.

The reason their guild was able to reach the top in Korea was because of the existence of a Hidden Class.

Thanks to having as many as three Hidden Classes as core members, they were able to gain an edge in the competition.

Having experienced the power of Hidden Classes firsthand, Altron was wary of other guilds recruiting them.

The best way was to bring them over to their side.

If that wasn’t possible, Altron’s way was to destroy them rather than let other guilds have them.

“We need at least the Vice Guild Master or higher to step up.”

“Well, do we really have to go that far?”

“What are you talking about! It’s a guy who refused even when Titan’s Guild Leader stepped up. If the likes of us go, we’ll just get turned away at the door.”

“That makes sense.”

They had no intention of underestimating him just because he was a C-rank Hunter.

They were already almost certain that Kang Jin-hyuk was a Hidden Class.

But contrary to their expectations, Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t have anything like a Hidden Class.

The Hunter who had a dungeon in his attic was sprawled out at home, paying the price for overusing his stamina.

Unaware of the rumors spreading around the world, Kang Jin-hyuk wandered through his dreams for over two days.

He only realized the issue caused by him after waking up with an enormous hunger.

◈◈◈◈◈◈

Kang Jin-hyuk got out of bed and picked up his smartphone to check today’s date.

“What the?”

Kang Jin-hyuk was greatly surprised to realize that he had slept for two whole days.

And he was surprised once again when he went out to the living room and saw Lucia rummaging through the refrigerator as if it was nothing.

When Lucia made eye contact with Kang Jin-hyuk, she stopped taking an apple out of the vegetable compartment and waved her hand in greeting.

“You finally woke up. You collapsed as soon as you came back, I thought you were terminally ill.”

Kang Jin-hyuk racked his brain to understand the situation.

But no matter how much he thought about it, the sight he was seeing made no sense.

“Why are you still here?”

“Look at him…… He doesn’t even know how to be grateful for being taken care of while he was unconscious.”

“Taken care of my ass. You’re still wearing the same clothes you collapsed in.”

Kang Jin-hyuk felt uneasy at the thought of sleeping for two days in clothes covered in dirt.

Lucia scoffed at Kang Jin-hyuk’s complaint, as if it was ridiculous.

“Put yourself in my shoes, would you want to change his clothes even if you had to touch those filthy things?”

“Put myself in your shoes? Oh boy.”

Hearing Kang Jin-hyuk’s exclamation, Lucia blushed and threw the apple she was holding.

“What kind of imagination are you running wild with, you crazy bastard!”

As Kang Jin-hyuk quickly ducked, the apple, thrown like a cannonball, flew out the open window.

“Stop wasting my food and go back home.”

“If I could go, I would have gone already. Why would I stay in this place with its dirty air?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you mean what do I mean? It means I can’t go even if I want to.”

“……?”

It was as simple as going back the same way they came.

Kang Jin-hyuk found it absurd that she couldn’t do something so simple.

“You’re saying you couldn’t go even though the door leads to the dungeon?”

“Yeah. It’s a funny story, but I really couldn’t go.”

Judging by Lucia’s expression, it didn’t seem like she was joking.

Kang Jin-hyuk, with a hint of nervousness, walked to the attic door and threw it open.

Contrary to his worries, he found the dungeon perfectly intact and let out a chuckle.

“It’s connected just fine.”

“What? That’s impossible.”

“If you don’t believe me, see for yourself.”

Lucia, who walked towards the attic, confirmed that the labyrinth was visible just as Kang Jin-hyuk said.

Even after seeing it with her own eyes, she tilted her head and muttered that this couldn’t be.

“It really wasn’t there when I opened it…….”

Just in case, Lucia pushed Kang Jin-hyuk aside slightly and closed the attic door.

When Lucia opened the door again, as she expected, the dungeon was gone.

It was just an ordinary attic, as if what they had just seen was a lie.

“See! It’s gone!”

“Huh?”

Kang Jin-hyuk felt like he was at a magic show after witnessing the result.

He couldn’t understand how opening and closing the same door could produce such different results.

“What’s the principle behind this?”

Since the dungeon appeared in the attic, he had never let anyone else open this door, so he had no idea that this would happen.

Lucia, as if she had a rough idea, crossed her arms and fell into deep thought.

While Kang Jin-hyuk, exhausted from hunger, ordered food delivery, Lucia came up with the most likely hypothesis.

“I think you’re included in the dimensional travel coordinates that the magician bastard inscribed.”

“……Could you explain that in a way I can understand?”

“So, this dungeon came here with ‘you’ as its destination.”

Lucia spoke confidently, as if she was more than half certain.

But Kang Jin-hyuk couldn’t quite grasp her explanation.

First of all, the talk of dimensional travel didn’t make sense, and most of all, it was absurd that Kang Jin-hyuk himself was the destination.

“Then why didn’t the dungeon fall on my head and appear in that attic?”

“Because it’s a failed spell.”

If it was a successful spell, Kang Jin-hyuk would have been crushed by the dungeon and turned into a dried squid by now.

Lucia said it jokingly, laughing.

“So in short, I almost died without even knowing why?”

“You’re quick on the uptake. That’s right.”

Kang Jin-hyuk was deeply grateful to the culprit who sent the dungeon here.

But from this moment on, his evaluation of him completely flipped.

He didn’t know where this guy lived, but if he ever got his hands on him, he would punch him in the face.

Kang Jin-hyuk clenched his fist as if making a vow.

Then, as if on cue, a loud rumbling sound came from his stomach.

His stomach, unable to bear the hunger any longer, began to protest.

“Is the delivery still far away?”

He was starving to the point where his stomach was sticking to his back because he had slept for two days.

Fortunately, speak of the devil and he shall appear. Just before it became unbearable, he received a call from the delivery driver.

“My address? It should be the same as the one set in the app…….”

When Kang Jin-hyuk gave his address again, the delivery driver became confused.

“Ah, yes. I understand.”

To be honest, this area wasn’t that complicated, so it was the first time he had received such a request.

It was a bit strange, but what could he do if the delivery driver was having trouble finding his place? He had no choice but to go out and meet him.

Kang Jin-hyuk opened the door himself and went out to find the delivery driver.

Kang Jin-hyuk, who found the delivery driver, was momentarily speechless because of where he was wandering around.

“……What are you doing here?”

The delivery driver was wandering right in front of Kang Jin-hyuk’s house.

It seemed like the delivery driver only realized there was a house there after Kang Jin-hyuk came outside.

“Oh? Are you the one who ordered?”

“Yes, I am.”

“That’s strange? Why couldn’t I find it when it’s so close?”

The delivery driver left, still puzzled even after the payment was completed.

Kang Jin-hyuk was also puzzled.

It was strange no matter how he thought about it, that the driver was wandering around right in front of his house.

Kang Jin-hyuk went back inside with a question mark in his head.

“Who was it?”

Kang Jin-hyuk answered Lucia’s question while taking out the food he received.

“I ordered some food because I was hungry.”

“You managed to find this place? I cast a Perception Reduction spell, so it should have been hard to find.”

Kang Jin-hyuk stopped moving the moment he heard Lucia’s words.

Her words were not something he could just ignore.

“You cast what?”

“A Perception Reduction spell. It’s simple, but effective.”

“Why did you cast something like that?”

“Because strange people kept coming looking for you while you were asleep.”

“Strange people?”

“Yeah. Where did they say they were from…… Guardian? Altron? Anyway, they said they were from some guild.”

The names Lucia mentioned were the names of the guilds that competed for the top two spots in Korea.

It meant that it was no ordinary matter that people from such guilds were looking for him.

Kang Jin-hyuk searched for the latest news on his smartphone to see if something had happened.

Then, he found his name on the real-time search rankings in a community frequently used by Hunters.

“Huh? What’s this?”

Among the posts with Kang Jin-hyuk’s name, there were videos of him helping Titan two days ago.

The quality of the videos wasn’t that great because they were taken amidst the chaos, but it was enough to prove Kang Jin-hyuk’s skills.

And the biggest issue was none other than the new type of monster.

Kang Jin-hyuk had witnessed the proud Titan executives issue a gag order before returning home.

Since he had hunted it with Lucia’s help, Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t really want to spread rumors about it either.

Nevertheless, detailed information was already circulating as a best post in the community.