Levelling Up In An Exclusive Dungeon

Chapter 5

Lee Jun-chul, who was checking the ledger in the office, sighed.

The number of transactions conducted in the last two months had decreased ridiculously compared to before.

It was a problem caused by large guilds monopolizing monster hunting, and there was nothing he could do about it.

“Damn them.”

Hunters belonging to large guilds only traded through the association or with merchants contracted with the guild.

As a result, organizations that hid and traded in the underworld naturally had no choice but to be eliminated.

To get out of this swamp, they would have to join hands with a guild.

There was no way a guild would want to deal with an organization that made a living through illegal activities.

If things continued like this, they might have to drastically reduce the number of personnel in the office.

“Hyung-nim, I’ll be back after doing some business.”

Hearing his subordinate’s words, Lee Jun-chul’s face brightened a little.

In this recession, a subordinate who consistently brought in results was a very valuable asset.

“Is it the gentleman you said you were going to trade with?”

“Yes. He says he doesn’t trust anyone but me, so he calls me out every day, and I’m so busy.”

“Don’t complain and treat him well. He’s a valuable customer.”

“Yes, sir.”

After the subordinate answered cheerfully and left the office, not long after, another subordinate jumped up from his seat.

“I’m going to do some business too!”

Lee Jun-chul confirmed that the person who said that was his subordinate, ‘Jo Hyeong-il’, whom he had given odd jobs to, and showed blatant disappointment.

“Okay…… Come back.”

“Hyung-nim, isn’t your reaction too different?”

“The guys who contacted your number are all hopeless, so what can I do?”

The number assigned to Jo Hyeong-il was only distributed to low-ranking Hunters who seemed like they would sell their organs for money.

Occasionally, they would luckily trade monster corpses, but such cases were extremely rare.

Even if there were, the scale was very small, amounting to mere pennies at best.

“This time it’s a little different, Hyung-nim.”

“Different? How?”

When Jo Hyeong-il spoke with a bright smile, Lee Jun-chul became a little interested.

“He says he wants to sell monster corpses. A whopping 15 goblins worth.”

“What?”

Lee Jun-chul rose from his seat, raising his voice without realizing it.

“Are you trying to sell something like dried squid that even the guild guys gave up on?”

If it was difficult to tell whether it was originally a goblin or a giant green pancake, it made sense to sell 15 of them at once.

However, Jo Hyeong-il shook his head from side to side, denying Lee Jun-chul’s assumption.

“He says they are intact corpses except for their heads being smashed.”

“Why would he sell that to us?”

“You shouldn’t say that, Hyung-nim……. Are you going to close the business?”

“No, it doesn’t make sense, logically.”

No matter how much he thought about it, it was strange that someone would trade such good corpses with an illegal organization like this instead of the association.

“I think I’ll have to go with you.”

“Huh? Hyung-nim, you said you were leaving early today because you were in a bad mood.”

“Shut up and tell me the meeting place.”

Lee Jun-chul continued, putting on his coat.

“Send the guys who are free to go there and wait in advance.”

“Are you thinking of killing him if he lied?”

“Is that even a question? We have to let him know that he’s screwed if he messes with us.”

◈◈◈◈◈◈

The transaction time set by Jo Hyeong-il and the client was 4:00 PM.

It was currently 2:00 PM, just after lunchtime, so if they prepared from now, they wouldn’t be late.

The subordinates who received Lee Jun-chul’s instructions ran to the transaction location first and hid themselves where they wouldn’t be noticed.

Since the transaction location was an abandoned underground parking lot, there were plenty of places to hide.

While the subordinates held their breath behind cars and pillars, Lee Jun-chul and Jo Hyeong-il arrived at the scene.

And the trading partner who contacted Jo Hyeong-il also appeared at the appointed time.

Lee Jun-chul scoffed inwardly when he saw Kang Jin-hyuk’s face.

‘He looks good, but he’s a complete rookie.’

He was standing tall with his back and shoulders straight, but that made Kang Jin-hyuk look even more naive.

To Lee Jun-chul’s eyes, it looked like a herbivore trying to bluff by making itself look bigger.

‘This guy has 15 goblin corpses?’

At first glance, it didn’t seem like he had earned them himself.

Lee Jun-chul thought that this rookie Hunter couldn’t have hunted a large number of goblins while avoiding the eyes of the large guilds.

So, as soon as he saw Kang Jin-hyuk, he made a blunt demand.

“Can I check the goblin corpses first?”

Kang Jin-hyuk looked bewildered at the words that omitted even a greeting.

‘Is this how they usually trade?’

It was rude, but it wasn’t an unreasonable request.

Kang Jin-hyuk quickly regained his composure and took out the goblin corpses one by one from his inventory as Lee Jun-chul requested.

As the goblin corpses piled up one by one in the center of the parking lot, the expressions of Lee Jun-chul and Jo Hyeong-il changed.

Lee Jun-chul was skeptical, so he couldn’t help but be surprised to see the goblin corpses in such good condition.

“Here, 15, right?”

There was no need to count them with his fingers.

There were exactly 15 goblin corpses lying side by side in the parking lot.

“……What price did you have in mind?”

Since the other party was a real customer and not a joke, Lee Jun-chul had to be serious as well.

When the bargaining began, Kang Jin-hyuk stated the price he had initially thought of.

“How about 5 million won per goblin, including the magic stone?”

“Hmm…… I think 3 million would be enough because the head damage is too severe.”

“Hey, who uses goblin heads? Their faces are so ugly that they can’t even be used as decorations.”

“Chuckle…….”

Jo Hyeong-il, who burst out laughing without realizing it, coughed awkwardly when he felt Lee Jun-chul’s gaze.

“Then let’s make it 3.5 million.”

“4.5 million. I won’t sell it for less than this.”

Even if they cut it by 500,000 won, it would be a whopping 7.5 million won discount for 15 goblins.

Kang Jin-hyuk had no intention of taking any further losses.

It would be foolish to sell at a huge loss when there were more than one or two organizations that did this kind of trade.

Lee Jun-chul noticed Kang Jin-hyuk’s feelings.

Because he wasn’t used to trading, Kang Jin-hyuk’s inner thoughts were expressed through his actions and eyes.

Lee Jun-chul didn’t miss those elements and was able to grasp Kang Jin-hyuk’s mind.

“Alright.”

In fact, the goblin corpses that Kang Jin-hyuk brought were of such high quality that it wouldn’t be a loss to buy them for 6 million won each.

Being able to buy 15 of them for 4.5 million won was a huge gain for the organization.

“I’ll buy them all for the initial 5 million you offered.”

Jo Hyeong-il jumped in surprise at Lee Jun-chul’s words.

He approached Lee Jun-chul with a terrified look and whispered.

“What are you doing, Hyung-nim? Why are you raising the price when he’s lowering it himself?”

“You stay out of it.”

Lee Jun-chul pushed Jo Hyeong-il away with his hand.

He knew it was foolish to raise the price voluntarily.

But he had his own thoughts.

“In exchange for buying them at 5 million, could you tell me where you got these, customer-nim?”

“……I came here because they said I don’t have to say that.”

“Oh, I’m not trying to harm you, customer-nim. I’ll definitely keep your secret. I was just asking for reference.”

Lee Jun-chul wanted to know if he got them by luck or if he searched for the location himself.

If he had obtained this large number of monsters in a place while avoiding the eyes of the large guilds, Kang Jin-hyuk could be considered quite skilled.

Although he didn’t look like a veteran at all from his appearance.

“I don’t really want to tell you.”

Lee Jun-chul nodded when Kang Jin-hyuk flatly refused.

“Then there’s nothing I can do.”

He outwardly looked disappointed.

But Kang Jin-hyuk’s refusal was the answer Lee Jun-chul wanted.

If he had gotten them by luck, there was no way he wouldn’t tell the location.

Because he would know best that there’s no guarantee he would get this lucky again.

Hiding the information meant that there was still a possibility of obtaining this kind of thing again.

Kang Jin-hyuk, unaware of Lee Jun-chul’s inner thoughts, asked.

“Then, since I couldn’t answer, you can’t buy them for 5 million?”

“That’s right. Even if I give you a high price, it would be difficult to go over 4 million.”

Lee Jun-chul was smiling faintly.

There was no reason to give up on bargaining just because he got the information he wanted.

Get information and lower the price.

Why would he be benevolent when he could catch two rabbits?

If he was going to work with a kind heart, he wouldn’t have chosen this profession in the first place.

“Hmm…….”

“You don’t have to think too hard. Even if you go somewhere else, you probably won’t be able to get a higher price than what we offered.”

Lee Jun-chul spoke confidently, but it was something he wouldn’t know without checking.

It was better than taking a loss of millions of won and making a deal, even if it was bothersome.

“I’ll think about it one more time.”

Kang Jin-hyuk turned him down and collected the goblin corpses.

As the goblin corpses scattered in the parking lot returned to the inventory one by one, Lee Jun-chul’s conflict deepened.

‘Should I just give him what he wants?’

It was a shame to miss out here because of the quality and scale of the goods.

But if he changed his words here, he would lose the initiative in future transactions.

Whether to take a loss looking ahead to the future, or to give up a big profit for the present.

Lee Jun-chul hesitated, unable to move forward between the two options.

‘Okay. If we lose this to another organization, we’ll be in a bigger crisis.’

Just as Lee Jun-chul, who had made up his mind, was about to offer the price Kang Jin-hyuk wanted.

One of his subordinates ran from the entrance of the parking lot with a pale face and shouted.

“M, Monsters have appeared, Hyung-nim!!”

“What?! Is that possible?”

It was unbelievable that monsters, which countless Hunters were desperately searching for, would appear in a place like this at this very moment.

Looking at the scattered goblin corpses, Lee Jun-chul realized that he had overlooked one fact.

‘These corpses attracted the monsters!’

Using a large number of monster corpses to lure other monsters was one of the methods that large guilds had tried.

It was a method they gave up on because the success rate was less than 10% and it wasn’t cost-effective, but it was definitely effective.

“What bad luck.”

He never imagined they would be the ones to hit that 10%.

Since it was an unexpected event, it was already too late when they realized it.

Lee Jun-chul and his subordinates panicked as they saw monsters entering through the entrance and exit of the parking lot one by one.

“O, Orc!?”

“Quickly contact the association! We’re all going to die!”

“I already did, damn it!”

How long could ordinary people last against an Orc until the association sent Hunters?

There were two Orcs, each of which required at least two B-rank Hunters to take down.

If they were unlucky, their limbs might be torn off faster than it took to cook cup noodles.

“You’re a Hunter, right? Do something!”

Kang Jin-hyuk was startled by Lee Jun-chul’s shout.

“What do you want me to do?”

He had leveled up a bit in the labyrinth, but Kang Jin-hyuk’s level was still 15.

He hadn’t even escaped the D-rank Hunter status, let alone become a B-rank, so there was no way he could handle an Orc.

But the Orcs had no intention of showing mercy to such circumstances.

The two Orcs roared and charged towards the person closest to the goblin corpses, Kang Jin-hyuk.

“Uwaaaaah?!”

The Orc, charging like a tank, swung the club it was holding with the explosive power that came from its heavy body.

If he got hit by a club swung with all its might like that, he would be closer to a lump of meat than a corpse.

But contrary to everyone’s expectations, Kang Jin-hyuk was safe.

Clang!

A red baseball bat, which popped out of the inventory on its own, bounced off the Orc’s club and flew into Kang Jin-hyuk’s hand.

It was as if it was telling him to use it if he wanted to live.