Levelling Up In An Exclusive Dungeon

Chapter 4

“But how do you plan on proving it in a place like this?”

At Kang Jin-hyuk’s question, the Dwarf packed his things and spoke in a rough voice.

“Follow me.”

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see when we get there, you punk!”

The Dwarf, deeply imbued with the spirit of craftsmanship, was furious to the point of bursting, as the precious Orihalcon, known as the dream metal, had been dismissed as cheap.

Kang Jin-hyuk felt reluctant, but he started to walk behind the Dwarf with no other choice.

While following the Dwarf through the labyrinth, they encountered a few Goblins, but they weren’t an obstacle at all.

“Get lost, you bastards.”

The Goblins, struck by the hammer lightly swung by the Dwarf, shattered like bursting balloons.

Kang Jin-hyuk learned for the first time today that monsters could die in such a way.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have messed with him…….”

“Huh? What did you just say?”

“Oh, uh, nothing. Just talking to myself.”

Walking behind the Dwarf, Kang Jin-hyuk soon discovered an unusual place.

A huge furnace, anvil, and numerous hammers and equipment that didn’t fit in with the maze-like labyrinth.

It was a stereotypical scene, as if saying, ‘This is what a blacksmith’s workshop is like.’

“What are you staring at like that? Are you smitten by my house?”

“Y-your house? In a place like this?”

“It’s a pretty good place to live, although the monsters that occasionally visit are a bit annoying. Good quality ore comes out here.”

“……Your standards for a ‘good place to live’ are quite unique.”

It was a way of saying ‘Are you crazy?’ in the most polite way possible, but the Dwarf took it as a compliment.

“Right? I think it was a pretty creative idea myself.”

The Dwarf, who had been laughing heartily, realized they were in the middle of a bet and cleared his throat, trying to put on a serious face belatedly.

The Dwarf placed his luggage on what looked like a desk and held out his hand to Kang Jin-hyuk.

“Give me that bat.”

“What are you going to do with it?”

“Oh, come on! Stop asking so many questions and just give it to me when I ask!”

Kang Jin-hyuk swallowed the words “What a shitty personality” and handed over the bat he was holding.

“Don’t try anything weird and ruin it.”

“You idiot! Do you think I’d mess with Orihalcon without knowing how precious it is?”

The Dwarf took the bat and went straight into a room near the furnace.

Kang Jin-hyuk couldn’t follow him in because he slammed the door shut.

“I thought he was going to melt it down right away because he went to the furnace…….”

Judging by the fact that he went into the room, it seemed he wasn’t planning to melt the bat and make something strange out of it.

But it was too early to relax.

It didn’t seem likely that the reckless Dwarf would use the aluminum bat for its intended purpose.

Sure enough, dazzling lights started to leak out from under the door crack.

“What the hell are you doing with a 250,000 won bat?”

The stronger the leaking light became, the more anxious he felt.

Unable to bear it any longer, Kang Jin-hyuk walked to the door and knocked with his fist.

“What are you doing?!”

“Just shut up and wait! I’m almost done!”

“No, you have to explain what you’re doing! Are you switching it out with something else?!”

No matter how loudly he shouted, there was no more sound from inside the room.

As the silence continued, Kang Jin-hyuk pounded on the door.

Bang, bang, bang.

Just as the protesting knocks filled the blacksmith’s workshop.

The door burst open, and a thrown glove flew out and struck Kang Jin-hyuk in the face.

“Ouch!”

Kang Jin-hyuk, slapped hard, clutched his face.

“You impatient bastard! You couldn’t wait for that short amount of time and had to make a fuss, didn’t you?!”

“Ugh…… If you had explained it before going in, this wouldn’t have happened!”

“Bullshiiit! Wouldn’t it be better if you just trusted that I’d do a good job?!”

The Dwarf yelled at the top of his lungs and roughly thrust the bat out.

“Just look at this, you punk!”

Kang Jin-hyuk took the bat and tilted his head.

“Is this really my bat? It’s turned crimson.”

“That’s a characteristic of Orihalcon, you punk! It’s a soft and weak metal when used as is, but the more you enchant it, the redder and stronger it gets.”

“E-enchant?”

Kang Jin-hyuk doubted his ears.

As far as he knew, when an item had a special effect attached to it, it was said to be ‘enchanted.’

Enchanted items were extremely rare, only dropped by high-level monsters of A-rank or higher.

Even if it was a normal item, if it was enchanted, it would sell for several times the price of a rare item.

To think there was someone who could do it artificially.

Kang Jin-hyuk’s view of the Dwarf changed.

He thought he was mentally unstable, but it turned out he was a person with incredible abilities!

Kang Jin-hyuk, with an excited face, appraised the bat.

『Legendary Baseball Bat』

Rank: Legendary

Description: It was an ordinary baseball bat made of aluminum, but through repeated enchantments, it has reached a legendary level.

『Added Effects』

Durability S

Presence Detection

Automatic Retrieval

Kang Jin-hyuk was startled as he checked the information.

While the other effects were surprising, what caught his attention the most was ‘Durability.’

The durability ability, which would increase the price by tens of millions of won even if it was just B-rank, was attached to a single baseball bat at S-rank.

“At this point, it’s worth whatever you ask for……!”

A weapon with B-rank durability

If he sold just this one, he could live comfortably for at least three generations without lifting a finger.

It was truly a lottery ticket to a life turnaround!

The Dwarf proudly spoke to Kang Jin-hyuk, who was ecstatic.

“How is it? Amazing, right? Plus, Orihalcon enhances enchantment abilities by over 300%!”

“Is that true?”

“Why would I lie?”

Kang Jin-hyuk couldn’t close his gaping mouth.

He thought the Dwarf was talking nonsense about aluminum, but he had actually created something incredible.

Seeing something like this, he couldn’t help but acknowledge it.

“I lost.”

The question ‘Did you switch it with something else?’ was pointless.

After checking the item’s information, it was undoubtedly the baseball bat that Kang Jin-hyuk had brought.

When Kang Jin-hyuk cleanly admitted defeat, the Dwarf let out a hearty laugh.

“Ehahahahahaha! This little punk finally believes me!”

Kang Jin-hyuk expected the Dwarf to immediately demand something since he had won.

But the Dwarf’s words were completely different from what he had expected.

“Don’t act like you know something when you don’t, and take good care of that bat.”

“Huh?”

Kang Jin-hyuk looked at the Dwarf with a surprised expression.

“You’re telling me to take this?”

“Of course, why are you asking? Did you think I was going to take it away from you?”

“W-well…….”

As the Dwarf had said, Kang Jin-hyuk assumed he would take his bat as payment for the bet.

After all, he had treated it as such a precious thing, calling it Orihalcon.

But the Dwarf had no intention of doing that at all.

“I’m not a thief, why would I take someone else’s equipment?”

“Then why did you enchant it like this……?”

“Because you asked for proof.”

Dwarves were a greedy race, but there were two things they never touched.

Those were the works of other blacksmiths and equipment that wasn’t theirs.

“I would accept it if you gave it to me, but judging by your appearance, you don’t seem to have anything else to use.”

Actually, he did covet the Orihalcon, but that was precisely why the Dwarf didn’t take the bat.

‘Since it’s the metal of the gods, there must be a reason why it chose that guy as its owner.’

The Dwarf believed that and buried his personal greed in his heart.

“Since I’ve enchanted it for you, try to get rid of that beggarly look, you punk.”

Kang Jin-hyuk was touched by the Dwarf’s words.

“Thank you, Ajusshi.”

The memory of being annoyed by his constant cursing and shouting had already vanished.

What’s a little bit of cursing when he turned a 250,000 won bat into something worth hundreds of millions?

Kang Jin-hyuk checked the bat’s information once again to make sure this wasn’t a dream.

The two functions attached in addition to Durability S.

Presence Detection was the ability to detect enemies within a 5-meter radius, and Automatic Retrieval was the ability to return to the owner within 1 minute, no matter where it fell.

“Is it impossible to change the target of this Automatic Retrieval?”

The Dwarf nodded immediately upon hearing Kang Jin-hyuk’s question.

“I bound it to you so you wouldn’t get it stolen.”

Hearing that answer, Kang Jin-hyuk made a complicated expression.

He was grateful for the kindness, but that meant he could never give or sell the bat to anyone else.

‘It’s a shame that I can’t sell it even though it has great performance.’

Kang Jin-hyuk, feeling disappointed, suddenly remembered something.

“Then, if I bring you another Orihalcon, can you enchant it like this?”

“That’s easy. But not now.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Because I don’t have any more materials for enchanting.”

It was a very disappointing answer.

If only he could enchant more, he could bring as much aluminum as he wanted since it was overflowing outside.

“Then, can’t we get more materials?”

“Hmm…… You could get some if you search this dungeon.”

“Really?”

Kang Jin-hyuk showed an intense reaction, his eyes widening.

“You can make something like this again if you have the materials, right?”

“Y-yeah. It’s possible if you bring the materials.”

The Dwarf couldn’t understand why Kang Jin-hyuk was so excited.

Orihalcon wasn’t a common item, so what difference would it make if he brought enchantment materials?

The Dwarf thought Kang Jin-hyuk was having a pipe dream, but the reality was different.

Kang Jin-hyuk was burning with motivation, having found another reason to explore the dungeon.

◈◈◈◈◈◈

Kang Jin-hyuk made an excuse that he had something to do, parted ways with the Dwarf, and slipped out of the attic.

Just because he was motivated didn’t mean he could rush in recklessly.

With the current lack of information about the dungeon, he had to prepare even more thoroughly.

“First, let’s sell this Goblin corpse and buy a new inventory.”

If he was going to stay in the labyrinth for a long time, he needed an inventory that could hold dozens of monsters without a problem.

“But how do I sell this?”

Selling through the exchange was impossible without revealing the source.

The Association’s unreasonable policy to prevent stealing other Hunters’ loot became a huge obstacle for Kang Jin-hyuk.

“Should I try the black market…….”

There’s a black market for every transaction.

To dispose of the Goblin’s corpse without revealing the secret of the labyrinth, he had no choice but to visit a place he thought he’d never have anything to do with.

“Let’s see…… I definitely received a business card back then.”

Kang Jin-hyuk took out his wallet and found the business card he had received before.

Looking at the business card with only a phone number and name written on a white paper without any promotional text, Kang Jin-hyuk recalled what the other person had said at the time.

‘A kidney or two is just pocket money from God. Call me when you’re in need of cash.’

It was a remarkable blessing even in retrospect.

To think they’re even trading monster corpses with the skills they’ve built up through organ trafficking.

Just imagining it gave him goosebumps.

“It’s not like I’m selling my body, so let’s not be scared.”

Kang Jin-hyuk took a deep breath and regained his composure.

Then he took out his smartphone and entered the number on the business card.