The Dungeon Cleaning Life of a Once Genius Hunter

Seoul Headquarters of the Association.
Operations Team 1 Office, Department of Ability Management.

I opened the door to a place I was very familiar with after my return.

“Hey, hey, he’s back again.”
“What? Today it’s someone different? Last time it was that team leader, what’s his name?”

Immediately, I could hear the faint sounds of whispers.

Just being quietly seated was a relief. At least they didn’t have to go searching for me.

“Uh… How can I help you?”

At that moment, a young man approached me and asked.

From the look on his face, it seemed like he had no idea what was going on and was probably not involved in this matter.

I didn’t answer right away and slowly scanned the inside of the office. Then, I noticed two familiar faces in the corner.

“Excuse me… Could you tell me how you got here…?”

“Where is Team Leader Lee Soo Yong?”

“He’s on a business trip.”

“When will he be back?”

“I’m not sure about that…”

“I see… That’s good.”

Nodding, I locked the office door with a click.

I glared at the two guys as I walked into the office.

The two of them, whose eyes met mine, still seemed to be unaware of the situation.

“Hey, hey. He’s coming over here!”
“He’s almost like he’s gonna hit us…”

Bang! Boom!

A sound like something exploding echoed.

A shock hit the wall.

Then, cracks spread through the wall as debris scattered.

“…W-what the hell?”

The guy next to him stood up in a panic and shouted.

But his friend had already slumped against the broken wall, unconscious, his neck almost twisted around.

“You… Do you know where this is…?”

Smack

I slapped his cheek, and a sharp noise followed.

At the same time, his body swayed, his legs seemingly giving way for a moment.

But that was only for a brief moment.

“N-necromancer!”

[Unique Skill: Necromancer] [Skill Activation…]
Smack

“What the hell are you doing?”

He was using a skill in front of me without any fear.

Perhaps it was a bit much to withstand, but he collapsed to the floor with a thud.

I lowered my body in front of him.

“Didn’t you take Hunter training? You’re using a skill outside of a dungeon. On a regular person, no less.”

The man looked surprised.

It was probably shocking for him to see a janitor aware of Hunter regulations.

“W-who do you think you are, using violence on a Hunter?! You think you’ll just get away with this…” Heeek!

I raised my hand again, and he immediately curled up in fear.

sigh, a guy scared of a few slaps… And calling himself a Hunter…

“Hey.”

“…”

“You think this is funny? You get a kick out of doing stupid shit even middle schoolers wouldn’t do and laughing behind our backs?”

The man remained silent.

There was no need for a subject. He knew what he had done better than anyone.

“I’m not saying don’t ignore the cleanup team, but at least you shouldn’t have disrespected me. You, with a Hunter ID barely dry…”

“Y-you little…! You’re just a janitor, how dare you—!”

“This fucking E-rank punk! You’re cutting me off?”

I widened my eyes in disbelief at the man’s attitude.

In my whole life, the only people who could interrupt me were from the cleanup team, no one else had the guts.

“Pretending to be tough in front of someone weaker than you? Back in the day, you wouldn’t even have dared to look me in the eye.”

The man couldn’t answer.

Even if he did, I wasn’t interested in hearing it.

“Listen carefully.”

I tapped his cheek a few times as I continued.

“We’re not cleaning any dungeon you guys subjugate from now on.”

“…!”

“Everything you did will be posted online. I’ll report it to the reporters I know, too. How does that sound? You think your Hunter life is going to be fun after that?”

“You think the Association will just let this go? The Association always backs up Hunters…”

“Hey, I think you’re seriously mistaken. Do you really think the Association will cover for an E-rank nobody?”

I gave a genuinely pitying expression toward the man who was under a huge misunderstanding.

The man’s pupils shook violently.

“If you don’t want to escalate this, come apologize to Cleaning Team 3. Kneel down one by one.”

“Th, that is…”

“Why? Don’t want to? If you don’t want either of those, then take off your rank and let’s have a fight in the dungeon. I’ll just kill you.”

Of course, I was joking.

Someone as soft-hearted as me getting into a fight? That’s nonsense.

But it seemed like my bluff worked on the man. I could even hear the sound of him swallowing hard.

I stood up.

By now, he should have gotten the message.

As I walked back to the office door, I looked back at the man, who had just been wearing an innocent expression.

“Please keep this a secret that I came here today.”

“Y, yes…”

“And you better not make me come back here.”

After snapping that at the man, I opened the locked door.

“What, what’s going on!!”

Team Leader Lee Soo-yong appeared.

“What’s with the state of this office… huh?”

He shouted loudly while surveying the office, and our eyes met. I let out a sigh.

“Damn… This is bad.”

I had been thinking that as long as I kept my mouth shut, it would be fine, but…

Now that Lee Soo-yong saw it himself, there was no way out.

I had used violence against a Hunter… I’d probably lose my head over this.

Tsk, well, since it’s come to this, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to give this bastard a few hits and let him walk out on his own…

“W, what… what’s going on here…?”

“…?”

Lee Soo-yong suddenly lowered his waist.

Thanks to that, my waist followed suit.

What’s going on? Who is this guy?

His gaze was completely different from the last time I saw him.

“Is this about the budget shortage last time…?”

“Oh, no. It’s not about that…”

As I quickly got flustered by Team Leader Lee Soo-yong’s sudden change in attitude, I glanced at the man who was still curled up in the corner.

“They were playing around while hunting, you see.”

“…Playing around?”

“Yes. They wrote graffiti on the dungeon with monster blood. And they scattered bodies everywhere. I came to talk because they seem to have some issues with the cleaning team.”

“W, what the hell! Team Leader! This bastard came at me out of nowhere and started swinging his fists! This damn cleaner…”

The man finally opened his mouth, as if seizing the moment.

“This is insane!!”

Lee Soo-yong’s eyes turned red.

He rushed toward the corner and immediately slapped the man’s cheek.

“Who the hell are you calling a bastard?! Are you crazy?! How long have you been a Hunter and you have no respect?!”

“T, Team Leader…”

“Shut up before I tear your mouth off! You’re an E-rank, how dare you speak so recklessly! Apologize right now! This instant!!”

What is this?

Why did the situation suddenly turn like this?

Still confused, I stared blankly, when Team Leader Lee Soo-yong bowed his head deeply toward me.

“I, I’m so sorry. I apologize on his behalf.”

“Ah, well…”

I didn’t understand the reason, but it wouldn’t be polite not to accept an apology when it was offered like this.

“…Ahem. Alright. Just be more careful next time.”

“Yes! Of course, I’m really sorry!”

Team Leader Lee Soo-yong kept bowing his head.

“Well, since the matter is settled, I’ll take my leave.”

“Yes, please take care!”

I straightened my back and walked out with my head held high.

Just as I was about to leave the office…

“Oh, and one more thing.”

I pointed toward the two men again.

“I don’t want to see them again.”

“Of course! I’ll handle it immediately!”

Team Leader Lee Soo-yong answered loudly.

I tilted my head slightly in confusion and left the office.

Did they eat something weird or what?

***

“Did they apologize?”

The next morning, as soon as I got to work, I asked.

Han Sang-hyuk and Moon So-yeon exchanged awkward looks before speaking up.

“It wasn’t really an apology…”

“It was more like a scream.”

“He was grabbing at his pants, crying like crazy. Saying he committed a grave sin and begging for forgiveness just once.”

Han Sang-hyuk even mimicked the man’s movements while recalling yesterday’s events.

“So, what did you do?”

“What do you mean what did we do? We told him to get lost.”

“Good job.”

I praised Han Sang-hyuk, which was rare.

If they were going to apologize later, they shouldn’t have done it in the first place. Stupid fools.

“But… what exactly did you say to them that made them come back looking like they were about to die?”

“I didn’t say much.”

There was something more effective than words.

Well, actually, I was more curious about what Team Leader Lee Soo-yong said.

Since I told him to keep it under wraps, they likely won’t be assigned to hunting for a while… it’d be great if he could even transfer them somewhere far away.

“Well… anyway.”

My gaze shifted toward Moon So-yeon.

“How about taking a few days off, So-yeon?”

“…What?”

She looked puzzled by the sudden suggestion.

But there was also a hint of relief in her expression.

“I’m not saying we can decide it ourselves, but if Team Leader gives his permission, I think it’d be a good idea for you to take a break.”

“I’m in favor. You’ve been doing a second job lately, and you haven’t had much rest. Why’s a young girl like you so greedy for money?”

“I was planning to bring it up today anyway. I think it’s a good idea.”

“…”

Moon So-yeon lowered her head instead of responding.

Knowing her personality, if she was planning to refuse, she would have waved her hands. The fact that she stayed silent means she probably wanted the rest herself.

But it seemed like she thought taking time off would be an inconvenience to us, since we don’t have many people.

To be honest, it’s obviously better to have four people than three.

But in her current condition, she’d only be a burden, not even contributing one full share of work.

“Many people say that enduring hardship at work is passion.”

I spoke up to her, who seemed hesitant.

“Do you think so, So-yeon?”

“Yes, of course…”

“You’re wrong. If you keep working while exhausted, you’ll just break down and be useless. That’s not passion, that’s stupidity.”

Suddenly, the events with Kim Min-ju from my past flashed through my mind.

A bit of tough love.

But I had to be firm this time.

“So-yeon, it’s obvious that you’re really tired.”

“…”

Moon So-yeon’s large eyes started to get moist.

Why is she suddenly crying…?

Did I say something that could be misunderstood?

“Ah, no, I didn’t mean to say you’re a tool or anything…”

“Thank you.”

Moon So-yeon gave me a bright smile.

The incident ended like that.

But there was still one question that remained unresolved.

What caused Team Leader Lee Soo-yong’s sudden change in attitude?

From what he said about the budget, it seemed like something had happened back then…

“Do you know anything about it?”

“I’m not sure. Nothing comes to mind.”

Kim Min-ju shrugged her shoulders.

“I took a week off myself, so I have no idea what happened with that guy.”

Kim Min-ju was sitting on a bench, sipping from a can of coffee.

Late at night, I made time to meet Kim Min-ju at the park near her house.

Of course, I didn’t contact her because of today’s events.

I just wanted to tell her about the next hunting schedule.

But even before we could talk about the schedule, we had already been chatting for 30 minutes about today’s happenings.

“Anyway, they’re really scumbags. It’s embarrassing that those idiots are calling themselves Hunters and doing crap like that… Well, I guess that’s why they’re E-rank, they can’t even recognize who to mess with.”

“Still, well. They apologized properly, and it seems like they got a good scolding, so I don’t think they’ll do it again.”

“Now they won’t be able to even if they wanted to.”

“Hmm?”

“They got fired.”

Kim Min-ju answered calmly.

“…F-fired?”

“Yes. They were even forcibly dismissed, and their severance pay was confiscated.”

This doesn’t make sense.

Even though I asked them to keep it under wraps, they just went ahead and fired them like this?

And they left the cleaner who suddenly went and threw punches alone?

“Team Leader Lee Soo-yong actually sided with the cleaner…?”

Why?

I couldn’t make sense of what was going on.