Levelling Up In An Exclusive Dungeon

Chapter 8

‘Cleric’ was a rare job that couldn’t be obtained intentionally.

Many Hunters felt the importance of healers and aimed to change their job to Cleric, but pretending to be devout was useless.

Only Hunters who showed genuine faith and sincere altruism could become a ‘Cleric’.

It was so much so that there was a saying that if the job was ‘Cleric’, there was no need for further interviews.

It was like a guaranteed check not only in parties but also in trades.

Clerics were so trusted among Hunters that many people would start trading just by looking at their job.

“I didn’t know you could get this job by smashing Skeleton heads.”

I’d never even heard of such a case.

Perhaps such a large number of Skeletons had never appeared at once outside.

“It’s a good result in the long run, but…….”

Cleric wasn’t a good job for solo activities in dungeons.

With skills focused on support and defense, it might be stable, but fast hunting was impossible.

“I guess I have no choice but to rely on this bat for now.”

Since I couldn’t attack multiple monsters with skills, I had to hunt them down one by one as I had been doing.

Fortunately, the baseball bat’s power was superior to any other item.

It would have been impossible to deal with over a hundred Skeletons like just now with an ordinary weapon.

“Heal.”

Kang Jin-hyuk tried the skill on himself, and he felt his fatigue somewhat relieved.

As I’d heard, the Heal skill had the effect of relieving fatigue in addition to healing.

Kang Jin-hyuk, regaining his energy, stood up and walked further into the labyrinth.

Perhaps because he’d killed all the Skeletons, no more monsters appeared.

Kang Jin-hyuk, exploring the interior with relief, soon discovered a silvery-white mineral emitting a faint blue light.

Judging by the traces of someone having tried to mine it, it was almost certainly Mithril.

“It’s strange to find minerals embedded in a stone wall like this.”

Kang Jin-hyuk took out the pickaxe the Dwarf had given him from his inventory.

“Heave-ho.”

He struck with the pickaxe with all his might, and the broken minerals bounced out.

“Was Mithril a metal that broke so easily?”

Whether the pickaxe was strong or the Mithril was a soft metal, he couldn’t tell at the moment.

After mining enough Mithril to fill his arms, no more similar-looking minerals were visible.

He tried digging around the area with the pickaxe, but only ordinary clumps of dirt came out.

It seemed that the amount the Dwarf had left behind was all there was.

“Well…… This should be enough.”

Kang Jin-hyuk put the mined Mithril into his inventory and headed back the way he had come.

◈◈◈◈◈◈

After passing through the black wall and reaching the first floor through the gate, Kang Jin-hyuk soon arrived at the Dwarf’s smithy.

The Dwarf, who had been resting in a chair, stood up after seeing Kang Jin-hyuk’s face.

“You managed to come back without dying, huh?”

“Is that all you have to say to someone who went through all that trouble?”

“Hey, man, can’t you take a joke?”

The Dwarf chuckled and held out his hand to Kang Jin-hyuk.

“Give it here. Since you brought it, I’ll make you something amazing.”

Kang Jin-hyuk was about to hand over all the Mithril he had mined but stopped for a moment.

Then he took out about two-thirds and handed it to the Dwarf.

“Here you go.”

“Is this all there was?”

“I dug around, but there wasn’t anything else that looked like it.”

“Tsk, that labyrinth is useless now.”

The Dwarf accepted the Mithril without suspicion.

“Alright, then shall we start making your equipment first?”

Before melting the Mithril in the furnace, the Dwarf asked Kang Jin-hyuk a question.

“Do you have any particular functions you want?”

“Um…… if possible, it would be nice if it wasn’t noticeable.”

“That’s easy.”

As the Dwarf started to light the furnace, an intense heat filled the smithy.

Kang Jin-hyuk couldn’t stand the heat, which was hotter than a sauna, and moved further away.

Even though he’d only been standing there for a short time, his entire body was already drenched in sweat.

“How does that old man endure this while working?”

The sight of the Dwarf, with his hairy body, stoking the furnace without even taking off his shirt, was marvelous.

Kang Jin-hyuk figured it would take a considerable amount of time, so he left the labyrinth.

He was thinking of getting some sleep since it was late.

“I should sleep for about six hours.”

Kang Jin-hyuk set the alarm and lay down on the bed, his eyes closing on their own.

He drifted off to sleep before the thought of washing up even crossed his mind.

When he opened his eyes again.

Kang Jin-hyuk’s smartphone was vibrating with a loud ringtone next to his head.

“I slept soundly for a while.”

To think he slept without waking up even once in the middle.

This was the first time since he turned 23.

“Did I overexert myself?”

He’d relieved his physical fatigue with Heal, but his tired mind seemed to remain.

Kang Jin-hyuk quickly washed up, changed his clothes, and immediately went into the attic.

As soon as he entered the labyrinth, he felt the intense heat.

It was because the heat emanating from the smithy had affected the entire labyrinth over time.

“It’s like a steam room in here…….”

The Goblins he encountered in the labyrinth were weakened by the heat.

Kang Jin-hyuk hunted the Goblins, who couldn’t properly resist, and headed to the smithy.

When he arrived, the Dwarf had just finished his work.

The Dwarf, noticing Kang Jin-hyuk, waved his hand.

“Where did you go and what did you do until now?”

“W-Well, I had something to do.”

He couldn’t tell the truth because he thought he’d get another earful if the Dwarf knew he’d been sleeping.

Kang Jin-hyuk, avoiding the Dwarf’s gaze, saw something on the table.

The armor, made of tightly woven chains, emitted a faint blue light like the Mithril he’d picked up in the cave.

“Is this perhaps…….”

“Yeah, it’s your armor. You said you didn’t want it to be noticeable, so I made it so you could wear it underneath your clothes.”

As Kang Jin-hyuk picked up the chainmail, a message immediately appeared before his eyes.

『You have picked up a Unique item.』

A Unique item, one rank higher than Rare!

Kang Jin-hyuk barely suppressed his cheer.

『Mithril Chainmail』

Grade: Unique

Description: Chainmail crafted with care by a Dwarf. Light and sturdy.

『Unique Effect』

Reduces physical damage by 50%

Reduces magic damage by 50%

After checking the item’s description, Kang Jin-hyuk realized why it was a Unique grade.

Even with a 20% damage reduction, it would be considered top-tier among Rare grade armor.

But this armor made by the Dwarf had a whopping 50% reduction.

And it had the effect of halving both physical and magical damage.

He’d suspected that Mithril might be a common metal like Orihalcon, but seeing this, that thought completely disappeared.

“Wow…….”

When he tried on the chainmail, it fit perfectly as if it had been tailored to his size.

Moreover, it wasn’t too heavy for armor, and he could completely conceal it by wearing clothes over it.

Kang Jin-hyuk wondered if it was okay for him to obtain such an item so easily.

“Thank you, old man!”

“Forget the thanks and take this.”

What the Dwarf additionally handed him was a large barrel with several strange devices attached.

“What is this?”

“Can’t you tell by looking? It’s a barrel for alcohol.”

“An alcohol barrel? Are you saying you made an alcohol barrel?”

“Yeah, I completed it by combining it with the Mithril you brought.”

“Are you going to make alcohol with this?”

“No, you take it. I quit drinking.”

Hearing the Dwarf’s words, Kang Jin-hyuk tilted his head.

“You were drinking fine yesterday.”

“I just tasted it since you brought it with such effort.”

“Then why did you make this?”

“Why did I make it? I just made it because I wanted to.”

“…….”

Kang Jin-hyuk couldn’t understand, but that was just how Dwarves were.

Creating something.

They were beings who were satisfied with the act itself.

“Even if you give me this, I don’t know how to make alcohol…….”

“I know, kid. How could someone who brings something like that, calling it alcohol, know how to make alcohol?”

The Dwarf grumbled, saying that just thinking about the taste made him want to throw up.

It seemed he really didn’t like it.

“Just put that bug-like alcohol in it. Then the flavor will come alive.”

“Huh? Is that possible?”

“If you don’t believe me, try drinking it.”

The Dwarf poured Kang Jin-hyuk’s soju, which he had put in the barrel beforehand, into a cup.

Kang Jin-hyuk, tasting it with half-belief, was so surprised that he almost dropped the cup.

“W-What is this? Is this really soju?”

It was so delicious that Kang Jin-hyuk understood why the Dwarf had reacted the way he did when he tasted the soju he brought.

If he’d been tasting something like this regularly, it was natural that he’d consider the alcohol sold outside as trash.

“Ha ha ha, do you understand what alcohol tastes like now?”

It was truly astonishing.

It was amazing enough that he could whip up Unique-grade armor, but he could even make a barrel that changed the taste of alcohol.

To Kang Jin-hyuk, the Dwarf seemed like a future robot with a 4-dimensional pocket.

“Does any alcohol change like this if you just put it in?”

“No, only that clear alcohol you brought will work. It has good synergy.”

The moment he heard those words, a plan popped into Kang Jin-hyuk’s head.

◈◈◈◈◈◈

Kang Jin-hyuk, having received the alcohol barrel from the Dwarf, had a strong conviction.

‘This is money!’

While he was reluctant to sell the baseball bat and the armor, this alcohol was different.

As long as he had the barrel, he could make as much alcohol with this taste as he wanted, so he could expect a large profit.

Kang Jin-hyuk, his thoughts reaching that point, immediately contacted Lee Jun-chul after leaving the attic.

“I have something I want to sell, so I contacted you.”

“A Kobold’s corpse and…… alcohol.”

Lee Jun-chul doubted his ears.

Not something related to monsters, but selling alcohol?

“I made it myself.”

Lee Jun-chul covered his forehead with his hand.

He had to cater to his valuable client, but even so, wanting to sell homemade alcohol…

He wondered if this was why people said doing business was difficult.

However, his thoughts changed after Kang Jin-hyuk arrived at the office.

The alcohol Kang Jin-hyuk brought in the bottle looked like ordinary beer at first glance.

But the moment he opened the cap, a rich aroma, unlike anything he’d ever smelled in ordinary beer, stimulated Lee Jun-chul’s sense of smell.

“You…… made this yourself?”

Kang Jin-hyuk nodded instead of answering.

Lee Jun-chul poured the alcohol into a glass and examined it closely.

No matter how he looked at it, the color was like beer, but the aroma was completely different.

After a moment of contemplation, Lee Jun-chul made up his mind and carefully brought the glass to his lips.

And just like when Kang Jin-hyuk first tasted the alcohol, Lee Jun-chul showed a look of great surprise.

“How is it? Do you think it will sell?”

At Kang Jin-hyuk’s question, Lee Jun-chul answered without hesitation.

“It will sell. This will definitely sell.”

Having tasted various kinds of alcohol during his time in the organization, Lee Jun-chul could be certain.

The alcohol Kang Jin-hyuk brought had a deeper flavor and aroma than anything he had ever tasted.

If they used this for entertainment and promoted it as a luxury brand, it would definitely sell like hotcakes.

“How much are you thinking of selling this for?”

“You can set the price. I just want a share of the profits.”

“……Then 70/30?”

Kang Jin-hyuk shook his head and held up eight fingers.

There was no need to ask what that meant.