The Dungeon Cleaning Life of a Once Genius Hunter

It seemed word had gotten out among the hunters that the operations team’s budget had been diverted.

Where they previously ignored us as if we didn’t exist, now…

“Ugh, get out of the way.”
“Gross! Something got on me—disgusting.”

They were now openly trash-talking the cleanup team.

The first dungeon of today’s schedule.

Just as I arrived for work, the subjugation had apparently just wrapped up, and the hunters were streaming out of the dungeon.

Two young hunters expressed their displeasure without holding back.

“Hey, they’re staring.”
“And what are they gonna do about it? Seriously, these guys have some nerve…”
“Honestly, messing with someone else’s money? If you don’t even know what you’re doing, why bother being employed? Tsk.”

Harsh criticism right to our faces.

Moon Soyeon and Han Sanghyuk stood frozen, looking at them in shock before averting their gazes.

This was the first time they had been so openly ridiculed.

In any case, the two hunters didn’t seem inclined to stop.

They even slowed their pace, sneering and laughing as they passed by.

Thankfully, no one in our group reacted. That was the right move. I had no intention of responding, either. Or at least, I didn’t until—

“Now that’s what you call uneducated trash.”
“Honestly, isn’t working as a cleaner embarrassing? If it were me, I’d rather just get a part-time job.”
“Fate is fate. Some people are just born to clean for eternity.”
“You… those bastards…”

That last remark crossed a line I couldn’t ignore.

I turned to face them, unable to hold back any longer.

“Where are you guys from?”

From behind the two hunters, Kim Minju appeared.

“I’m asking you. Which team are you with?”

“And who the hell are you?”

Kim Minju has a soft, gentle voice.

Perhaps because of this, they didn’t take her seriously.

“Which team? Do you think I’ll know if you say it?”
“…Hey, hey!”
“Let go! And why are you speaking informally?”

“Idiot! She’s a senior—Kim Minju-sunbae from our team!”
“…What?”
“She’s from our team, you moron!”

Fortunately, one of them was quick-witted enough to realize the situation and urgently tried to stop the other.

The two hunters fell silent almost instantly.

Kim Minju nodded and spoke calmly.

“So, you’re with our team.”
“…W-We’re sorry!”
“We apologize, sunbae!”

The two hunters bowed at 90 degrees, but Kim Minju looked confused.

“What are you sorry for?”
“For not recognizing you as our sunbae…”
“Why is that something to apologize for? I didn’t recognize you either.”
“…Excuse me?”

“You’ve got it all backward. Instead of apologizing for not recognizing me, shouldn’t you start by apologizing for acting like subhumans?”

Her voice, once kind and gentle, had turned sharp as a blade. At the same time, her gaze pierced through them.

The two hunters said nothing.

Standing there awkwardly in front of Kim Minju, they eventually began to shift their weight nervously before slipping away.

“I’m sorry.”

Kim Minju apologized to us.

“They’re probably rookies. I didn’t recognize their faces, either.”
“Rookies, huh… Then I guess it makes sense for them to be upset.”

Though it didn’t feel good, I could understand.

After all, the budget that got pulled was irrelevant to the B-rank and higher hunters, but it was a different story for the rookies.

With 200 million won gone, something had to be cut. And you couldn’t very well touch the higher-ranked hunters’ bonuses.

Naturally, the burden would fall on the D- and E-rank hunters.

“They’re just underdeveloped people. The loss can’t have been that significant. And yet… You always get rookies who think they’re a big deal. Especially those who barely scraped together enough skill for an E-rank. Anyway, I’m really sorry. This is my fault for not teaching them better.”

“No, it’s fine. We’re okay. Really, it doesn’t bother us,” Moon Soyeon said, forcing a smile.

Kim Minju said nothing more.

What was said couldn’t be unsaid, but at least we could pretend it didn’t matter.

“Well, well, when did everyone gather here?”

At that moment, Team Leader Park, who had been inspecting equipment elsewhere, joined us.

Unaware of what had just transpired, he greeted us in his usual boisterous tone.

“The hunter has come today as well! Should we start the work right away?”

At Team Leader Park’s words, Kim Minju gave a bitter smile.

It had already been a week since Kim Minju started working.

Whether it was because she learned quickly, she was now beyond just helping and was handling her own workload properly.

At this point, she could even be considered part of the cleanup team, but… today would be the last day.

“No. I came here today to say my goodbyes.”

“…Hmm?”

She bowed toward us without entering the dungeon.

“I’ve learned a lot during my time here.”

The team members seemed a little surprised, but soon they all nodded.

It had been a week.

For a whole week, a hunter had helped the cleanup team with their tasks.

Everyone knew that it was a ridiculous situation from the start.

So, there was no need to ask Kim Minju questions like “Why are you leaving?” or “Aren’t you leaving with regrets?”

“I think I need to start focusing more on my own time from now on.”

“Understood. Thank you for all your help.”

“It’s nothing. I’m just grateful to have met such a great team.”

“Is someone dying? Why does it feel so somber?”

“Hey! That’s just how much she’s gotten attached to us.”

“Unnie…”

Moon Soyeon’s wistful voice made me unconsciously turn my head.

Unnie? When did they become that close?

“Make sure to come visit later.”

“Of course.”

Kim Minju flashed a smile.

Everyone exchanged small goodbyes, but I didn’t really have anything to say.

It seemed Kim Minju didn’t expect any farewells from me either.

And that made sense… The reason Kim Minju was leaving the cleanup team was because of me.

– Don’t come tomorrow.

Last night, I had told Kim Minju those words.

She seemed taken aback by it at first, but she quickly understood the meaning.

Telling her not to come meant I had decided to grant her request.

Kim Minju probably wanted to directly learn the skills, but honestly, I didn’t have much to teach her.

Rather than that, I needed to hone my own skills, so I suggested she return to the team.

I also set a subjugation schedule for her.

Exactly the same schedule I had when I first achieved S-rank. Based on all the information and experiences I had, it was a carefully planned itinerary.

I even gave her a full list of items she could acquire—if she could follow the schedule well, she could achieve A-rank within half a year.

Tsk, I’m crazy. I’m giving all this away for free. If I had sold it to a private guild, I could have made at least a few billion…

Well, I said that, but of course, I had no intention of actually selling it.

The current me couldn’t build a career like being the first S-rank in the country or the first SSS-rank in the world.

Obviously, someone else would achieve those things for me.

Rather than handing them over to some stranger, I figured it would be better to pass them on to Kim Minju.

And no, it wasn’t because of some nonsense about her staying in the cleanup team for a thousand years if she helped me.

If Kim Minju’s rank increased, her influence would grow too, and using that influence, it would be much easier to achieve the unlocking conditions for me.

In other words, I planned to shape Kim Minju into the best hunter and use her as a pawn in future negotiations with the association.

In my past life, I called her a tool to be discarded…

Sorry, but in this life, you’re still just a tool.

I have no personal feelings about it.

If you’re to blame, blame your fate of being used by me forever and then discarded.

“Teacher.”

“…Huh? Oh, why?”

“Thank you. Truly.”

“……”

Feeling awkward, I scratched my head for no reason.

“I don’t think it’ll happen, but if there’s ever anything I can help with, don’t hesitate to contact me.”

“Got it, now go already. There’s a subjugation in a bit.”

“…Yes.”

Kim Minju responded with a hint of regret.

But it was only for a moment.

“I’ll come back next time.”

With those words, Kim Minju turned her back and left.

***

It had only been a day since Kim Minju left the cleanup team.

Just one day, and trouble had already arisen.

“This…”

Han Sanghyuk, the first to notice, trailed off.

Even he, who had quite a bit of experience, seemed to be at a loss in this situation.

“What the hell is this mess?”

The dungeon, just entered for cleanup, was in complete disarray.

Monster corpses were scattered everywhere, and the passage was covered in blood and slime.

That wasn’t all.

“Fucking… Is this really written with monster blood?”

It was covered with all kinds of insults written in what looked like monster blood.

There was no need to think twice about it.

“It’s those bastards.”

I clicked my tongue and said.

Kim Minju’s juniors.

They had probably taken their frustration out on us after losing to Kim Minju.

“This is too much…”

“Heh, unbelievable…”

Moon Soyeon and Team Leader Park grumbled in low voices.

Tsk, what dedication.

They must have been busy with subjugation and returning, yet they took the time to do this.

“Should we contact Minju unnie?”

“She’s probably busy.”

“Hey, Kim Junwoo! Let’s go confront them! This is just… no manners!”

Han Sanghyuk shouted, but I didn’t move.

Manners, my ass.

Since when did the cleanup team need to care about such things?

I shook my head and spoke.

“If we confront them, they’ll just deny it was them. If anything, we’ll just get more insults. The situation’s what it is… Let’s just ignore it and move on.”

“What?! After seeing this, you want to just ignore it? Aren’t you angry?”

“If we don’t ignore it, what will you do? If we react, they’ll stop, that’s all. Just leave it be.”

I deliberately spoke in a tired voice.

It was to calm his agitation.

Luckily, it seemed to work. Han Sanghyuk still fumed, but that was all.

It was crucial to avoid turning this into a conflict between the operations team and the cleanup team.

The operations team was the one most closely connected to the cleanup team and had the power to directly affect it.

If we got on their bad side, it could cause issues with unlocking in the future.

Well, they probably thought we had attacked first… But it was nothing more than a childish prank, so ignoring it wouldn’t be that difficult.

Right… As the senior, I should let it go.

…That’s what I thought for a day or two.

But three days had passed.

And, as if to mock my expectations, those bastards didn’t stop.

“Seriously…”

Moon Soyeon was on the verge of tears.

The dungeon was such a mess that we had to work in tight conditions, and it was physically demanding.

But more than that, Moon Soyeon was mentally exhausted from the horrible graffiti and drawings that were almost too obscene to talk about.

“Team Leader, this is just too much! I’ll go to the operations team and make them clean it up!”

“…Forget it.”

“Team Leader!!”

“I already went. I was going to talk to their team leader, but he’s away on a business trip for a few days. They’re denying it was them, just like Junwoo said.”

Team Leader Park shook his head.

But Han Sanghyuk, this time, couldn’t back down.

“Then… at least let’s talk to Minju Hunter…”

“Forget it.”

The moment Han Sanghyuk pulled out his phone, I spoke up.

“What?”

“Forget it. Don’t contact anyone.”

“Seriously, what? Are you going to just ignore this? We came here to work, not to get insulted!”

As Han Sanghyuk turned to me while venting his frustration, our eyes met, and he immediately stopped speaking.

“Don’t contact anyone. I’ll handle it.”

“…”

I turned my back without another word.

No one tried to stop me as I left the dungeon.

“Oh, and…”

Suddenly, I remembered something I had almost forgotten.

“Don’t clean here.”

With those words, I left the dungeon and headed for the main street.

Truly, they were a bunch of passionate and persistent idiots.

The dedication it took to keep doing this for three days straight was impressive, and the fact that they, as hunters, thought of this idea was something else.

But the most impressive thing of all…

[Passive Skill Acquired: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder] [Passive Activated]
Was the fact that they had genuinely pissed me off.

You fucking bastards…

I’m already dying from exhaustion, and you make me work 15 hours a day?

Thanks to you, I missed the last train multiple times, you assholes.