The Dark Master of the Abandoned Auto-Hunting Game

Chapter 1

A man in his twenties in South Korea.

Ah, what a busy age it is.

University, military service, building up qualifications, job hunting.

Having gone through all these challenges, after much hardship, today.

“I, Ryu Han-hyuk, am finally joining a large corporation!”

On the rooftop of a building in Seoul, where countless buildings cast their shadows.

There, I shouted out loud after receiving the job acceptance notification.

Born and raised in the countryside, I came to Seoul for university and finally landed a job at a big company.

After enduring a dark period of hopping from one part-time job to another, I had finally achieved an indomitable myth!

The one proclaiming his myth was me, Ryu Han-hyuk.

“Ryu Han-hyuk, be quiet! You’re making noise pollution!”

At that moment, a voice came from the apartment directly below the rooftop.

It was the voice of the landlord’s daughter.

We had known each other as friends since we attended the same university, albeit in different departments.

This joy should be shared together.

I quickly leaned over the rooftop railing.

“Is noise pollution the problem right now? I just got accepted! I finally got accepted as an employee of JC Group!

This is something the whole world should know! Lucky Ryu Han-hyuk!”

“Ugh, don’t shout from right above. Your voice is really loud.”

“Haha, it’s a voice that a jobless person can’t match.”

“Hey, what did you say?”

I hurriedly opened the door to the rooftop room and went inside.

Then I locked the door securely.

Unauthorized entry prevention complete.

My gaze turned to the phone with the acceptance notification.

It felt like all the hard work I had put in was finally being rewarded at once.

Some say that getting into a company is just the beginning, but I couldn’t help but feel joy after such a grueling journey to reach this point.

Then my eyes fell on a computer.

The computer my mother had saved up for and bought for me when I was young.

Our family wasn’t well-off.

That’s why I had taken good care of it from the time I lived in the countryside until I came to Seoul.

But no matter how much I cared for it, it seemed like its lifespan was truly at an end.

It was becoming increasingly unstable when powering on.

“Honestly, I hardly turned it on since I bought a laptop.”

I guess I should dispose of it soon.

But first, I should check if there’s anything important on it.

I quickly connected the computer and turned it on.

A few windows appeared that I hadn’t seen in a long time.

The computer had preserved its old appearance.

It proved that I hadn’t turned it on for a long time after buying the laptop.

“Oh?”

Then something caught my eye.

Dungeon Replay.

It was a game I had played a long time ago.

‘Has it been about 10 years?’

It was a game that allowed for auto hunting even when turned off.

So, during my school days when I was busy studying, it was a game I could play occasionally.

Of course, I eventually got too busy with studying to even touch it.

“I miss it.”

It felt like I was returning to my childhood.

I immediately launched the game.

Vroom—

And the sound of the computer whirring filled the air.

* * *

Knock, knock!

After a while, someone began to knock on Ryu Han-hyuk’s front door.

“Ryu Han-hyuk, Mom is grilling meat to celebrate your acceptance! Come out!”

That voice belonged to the landlord’s daughter, my friend.

But for some reason.

No matter how much she knocked on the front door, there was no response.

The place where the computer was turned on.

It was empty.

* * *

Click, click—

I heard something moving.

A slight headache began to form.

Click, click—

Then I heard something moving again.

Gradually, my mind started to clear up.

Boom!

But just then, I heard a sound as if something was being slammed down.

The man looked up in surprise.

A tall face emerged, illuminated between the robes.

Ash-gray eyes, slightly tanned skin.

With slightly pointed ears, different from an ordinary person.

Finally, one of the characteristics of a dark elf: black hair with a blue undertone.

Half Dark Elf (HALF DARK ELF).

That was his race.

At that moment, something reflected in the man’s eyes.

A dark field of vision, a plaza presumed to be a cave, and in front of him.

A swarm of thousands of spiders filled his view.

One spider was right in front of him.

“Whoa?!”

Six red eyes.

Beast-like, fuzzy legs.

A large body divided into head and abdomen.

A spider the size of a human was approaching him.

Snap!

“Gah?!”

At that moment, the half dark elf felt a tearing pain in his leg.

The spider had torn through the skin on his leg, inflicting a wound.

Hot blood flowed.

At the same time, a burning sensation was felt.

The pain struck his head fiercely, waking him up.

The fine hairs on the spider’s legs were not ordinary.

Each one had sharp blades.

It was a mistake to let my guard down for even a moment.

Click, click!

At the same time, he realized the identity of the sound he had just heard.

The sound of the spiders’ feet tapping against the cave floor.

At that moment, the spider in front of him raised its front legs.

The half dark elf instinctively dove to the ground.

It was a survival instinct manifested from his body.

He felt light.

Thanks to the elasticity and flexibility characteristic of dark elves, even as a half.

Boom!

Then the spider slammed down onto the ground.

The half dark elf rolled on the floor.

He barely managed to evade the attack.

Click, click!

But still, the swarm of spiders pursued him.

They were the size of humans.

If he got caught by those legs even once, he would be torn apart and die.

Suddenly!

He swallowed his curses and pushed off the ground to stand up.

The pain that started in his leg shot up to his head in an instant.

But he gritted his teeth and endured it.

In sudden situations, humans often panic and make foolish mistakes.

He had learned this from the harsh experiences of his childhood.

He had no intention of being foolish.

For now, he would run.

Humans can think while running.

Tap!

His legs stretched out.

Blood seeped through his pants, but he gritted his teeth and endured it.

Think positively.

If it had pierced through his body instead of just his leg, he would have died instantly.

‘This much is lucky.’

Positive thinking is a ray of light that breaks through the situation.

He comforted himself positively.

At the same time, his mind raced to grasp the situation.

His gray eyes scanned the surroundings.

Visual information flooded into his eyes.

Thanks to the red glowing stones embedded in the cave, visibility was secured.

The cave was quite spacious.

It was no wonder that thousands of spiders could move without issue.

‘Where’s the exit?’

He spotted a few.

But it didn’t seem easy to get through because of the spiders blocking the way.

‘For now, escaping is on hold. If that path is a dead end, I would die instead.’

Then he sought another solution.

While running, he realized one thing.

The spiders did not act ahead of him.

They were strangely only chasing after him from behind.

‘What’s going on? They’re just following my tail.’

Before long, he discovered a common trait among the spiders.

For some reason, green smoke was continuously emanating from their shells.

Sssssss!

That smoke was corroding the spiders’ shells.

Click, click—

The more green smoke seeped out, the slower the spiders moved compared to the others.

There were not just one or two spiders emitting smoke.

‘All of them.’

Every spider was releasing green smoke.

Moreover, as time passed, the spiders’ movements began to slow down little by little.

‘Is it poison? Are these spiders in a state of poisoning?’

He didn’t know the exact reason.

But one thing was certain.

These spiders were currently poisoned.

All of them, thousands of them.

If that’s the case, the spiders would eventually dissolve and come to a stop.

He instinctively realized that.

The corners of the half dark elf’s mouth lifted.

Even in this situation, he smiled.

A breakthrough point was in sight.

Once he realized that, there was only one thing to do.

‘Run for your life!’

He ran for his life.

* * *

He stepped forward with his left foot.

He stepped forward with his right foot.

A simple action, but.

At this moment, it was an action that absolutely must not be mistaken.

With breath rising to his chin, he kept running.

He continued to run in circles around the entire plaza.

How long had he been running?

‘I used to get frustrated watching movies where characters would run until they collapsed in emergencies.’

But now that he was in this situation, he realized.

Running is truly an incredibly difficult task.

Thanks to this, he learned that if he ever got another chance, he needed to build up his basic stamina.

Stamina is national power.

Crack!

At that moment, he heard something collapsing behind him.

It was a new sound, but there was no time to turn his head.

He just kept repeating the act of running.

Crack, crack, crack!

Soon after, the sound echoed repeatedly.

Only then did he realize the identity of the sound.

The green smoke that was corroding the spiders.

It had completely dissolved the spiders.

He turned his tired face back.

Then he saw the spiders collapsing one after another.

They melted entirely, falling to the ground in a green liquid state.

A few remained chasing after him, but.

Even they soon fell down.

He finally stopped running.

Then, he leaned on his knees and took deep breaths.

His legs were trembling.

The pain he had tried to ignore gradually made its presence known.

It felt like it had been a long time since he had run like this.

He clenched his fist on his knee tightly.

Then he broke into a light-hearted smile, drenched in sweat.

“Phew, I won.”

The spiders were already poisoned.

In the midst of confusion, he had been lucky enough to only injure his leg.

If either of those had gone wrong, he would have died.

“As long as I’m alive, I’m lucky.”

After catching his breath, he looked up.

The plaza was quiet.

Thanks to the spiders that had filled the plaza being dead.

The half dark elf recalled the current situation once more.

‘Why am I suddenly here?’

Just a moment ago, he had been celebrating his acceptance and turned on the computer.

The identity of the half dark elf being chased by spiders.

That was none other than Ryu Han-hyuk.

‘Can a person suddenly wake up in another place without any premonition?’

Speculation is meaningless.

It had happened in reality.

The pain in his leg and the acrid smell of the spiders were proof of reality.

Then he pondered whether there had been anything that could have influenced this situation.

‘Dungeon Replay.’

The only thing that came to mind was that.

Dungeon Replay.

A game he had enjoyed ten years ago.

He looked around again.

And soon realized one fact.

‘It’s a memory from ten years ago.’

He had an exceptionally good memory.

So much so that he had even won awards in competitions related to memory.

There was definitely a place like this in Dungeon Replay.

‘If this really is Dungeon Replay.’

That would mean he was trapped inside the game.

The speculation ended.

So now, he recalled the situation again.

‘I was being chased by spiders the moment I opened my eyes.’

The spiders seemed to be in a poisoned state.

‘Who did this?’

There was no need to look further.

‘It must be me, right?’

He looked down at his hands.

Then he took off his gloves.

Revealing a hand with scars on slightly dark skin.

It looked like burn marks.

He also examined his clothing.

A robe in black.

The robe was light, but underneath it was leather armor.

He had realized this while running.

While running, it had felt heavy, and he had wanted to throw it off several times.

But if it hadn’t been for this, the leg wound wouldn’t have been this minor.

It was a lucky item that had saved his life.

He should commend it.

He also checked the belt fastened around his waist.

The tightly secured belt had a socket.

When he opened it slightly, he saw what appeared to be some daily necessities.

Among the daily necessities was a small vial.

He immediately took out the vial.

A dark red vial that looked like blood.

As he opened the lid, a fishy smell wafted out.

He quietly stared at the vial.

‘If this is really what I think it is.’

He felt he could be certain of where he was.

In the position he was sitting, he poured the contents of the vial onto his leg.

Sssssss!

At that moment, he felt a burning sensation in the wound, and he barely swallowed a scream.

“Gahhhhh!”

It felt like he was setting fire to his wound.

But the effect of the medicine was remarkable.

Though it left a scar, the wound healed.

Cold sweat dripped down his face.

The pain was stronger than he had expected.

‘Good thing I didn’t use it while running.’

If he had used it while running.

He would have surely been crushed and killed by the spider right there.

‘There wouldn’t have even been a chance to use it, but my judgment was good.’

He carefully put the vial away.

He would need to take it out and use it again if the need arose.

Then he rummaged through the bag.

There was a dagger that looked like a knife and some food.

And there was a plain white mask without any patterns and something that looked like an ID card.

The ID card.

The moment he saw it, his eyes widened.

[Rayzen]

A three-letter name was written there.

He knows this name.

When creating a character in the dungeon replay.

It is the automatically generated name of his character.

‘I’m sure.’

The outfit and the staff connected to the belt around his thigh.

And the swarm of spiders that just died from poison.

The medicine that rapidly heals wounds.

As a finishing touch.

Even the half dark elf race.

“I am.”

As a result of combining all this information.

He has possessed a character in an auto hunting game that has been neglected for 10 years.

,

The player ‘Ryu Han-hyuk’ has logged in.