Chapter 6

Food Truck Owner in the Dungeon - Chapter 5 (6/302)

Food Truck Owner in the Dungeon Chapter 5

At Kkamangi's words, Ji-eun took a deep breath, exhaled forcefully, and clenched her fists as if making a decision.

"Set the opening time."

- Skill: [Opening and Closing Time] has been activated.

- Set the time to determine the [Opening and Closing Time].

- Once the [Opening and Closing Time] is set, the skill: [Where the Wheels Take You (Lv.1)] will activate automatically.

Ji-eun bit her lip tightly.

'Please, somewhere safe with about ten people!'

The current time was 13:45.

Initially, Ji-eun tried to set the opening time to 14:00 as an excuse to prepare mentally, but she soon shook her head.

There's a saying that even a stubborn ox can be pulled out with a single effort. It was only 15 minutes later, but if she didn't move now, she might never open her first shop inside the dungeon.

Taking a deep breath, Ji-eun shouted loudly.

"Opening time 13:45, closing time 17:00!"

Ji-eun felt as if her body was floating.

The large food truck disappeared from the quiet Han River Park in an instant.

* * *

And now.

If she could turn back time by 10 minutes, Ji-eun wanted to grab her own collar and shake herself for boldly deciding to enter the dungeon for 3 hours and 15 minutes.

'I don't know where this is...'

Actually, she knew where she had arrived after the skill [Where the Wheels Take You] activated, as she had been given an explanation.

- You have entered [Dungeon 4th Floor: Ariadne's Scales].

- You have entered a dungeon with a significant level difference from Awakeners. Your stamina and mana decrease by 30% per hour due to the monster aura felt from all directions.

A 30% decrease in stamina and mana per hour was an enormous penalty!

Kkamangi explained that if her stamina and mana were completely depleted, passive skills would also become unusable.

Fortunately, she hadn't set the operating hours to 4 hours.

Apparently, her past self from just 10 minutes ago wasn't as bold.

She couldn't feel the decrease in stamina and mana, but she could sense her body becoming weak and listless.

"Ugh... I'm scared!"

In the darkness, red eyes suddenly flashed.

What made Ji-eun even more frightened was that these red eyes were shining from a height much taller than her.

"Those! Are they gathering here? No, tell me no, Kkamangi!"

<Stay calm! What kind of truck is this!>

Feeling too anxious about the red eyes continuously gathering, Ji-eun unconsciously picked up Kkamangi and shook her in the air.

Despite Ji-eun's frightened reaction, Kkamangi remained calm, yawning as if nothing was happening.

"Trust me and trust this truck!"

<Did I say that? >

"What...?!"

Shocked by Kkamangi's betrayal, Ji-eun hesitated for a moment before shaking Kkamangi even more violently.

"Hey! Kkamangi, isn't this too much! Where are we? If this is the 4th floor, we've come really deep, haven't we?? Am I going to die here? You said it was safe, safe, safe!"

<Owner! Owner! I'm going to get dizzy and die first!>

"I don't care! I don't care! I don't care! I don't know! Take responsibility, ahhh!!"

- Passive skill: [This Truck is Bulletproof!] has been activated!

As Kkamangi said, a system window immediately appeared.

Ji-eun, who had been shaking Kkamangi, stopped and opened her eyes to check the content.

- The skill is at its basic level.

- Safety zone secured! No monsters can approach within a 5-meter radius of the truck.

- The safety zone is marked with a red line. Do not leave this area!

A red line appeared in a 5-meter radius around the truck.

Ji-eun's eyes widened as she saw the monsters that had been within 5 meters suddenly bounce away from the newly set safety zone.

"Those... were they that close... and those, are they spiders? Are they really spiders?"

<Stay calm. Now you're really safe. This is the first time the passive skill has activated, but from now on, it will activate immediately upon summoning.>

"Kkamangi, you..."

Ji-eun clenched her fists and glared at Kkamangi.

<Why... Why are you doing this? I just found your reaction so funny and played a little joke...>

"Playing a joke! There are other things to joke about! How could you play such a joke!"

Slap, slap, without mercy, but at the last moment, Ji-eun held back, her relentless hands repeatedly hitting Kkamangi's back.

Despite the increasing intensity of Ji-eun's back-smashing, Kkamangi couldn't say anything.

<I... I'm sorry.>

"Alright, that's enough."

Even after receiving an apology, Ji-eun glared at Kkamangi, still feeling angry.

Sensing cold sweat on her fur despite not sweating, Kkamangi jumped to the passenger seat as soon as Ji-eun let go and said,

<4th floor, huh. We've come too far.>

"Where the Wheels Take You... I need to level up this skill first..."

<Since you can only set a place you've been to, it's better to go to as many random places as possible to level up.>

"Right."

As Kkamangi explained, although she didn't know where the food truck would go, by visiting many random places, she could later choose where to start her business after leveling up the skill.

<And since we've already cleared up to the 4th floor, there's no need to worry too much.>

"Then, what skill should I level up first?"

<Your passive skill level automatically increases when you level up. Besides that, completing quests will give you experience and skill points, but you need to decide which skill is most important for you now.>

According to Kkamangi, since passive skills would naturally grow with leveling up, it wasn't a priority for point allocation.

Checking her skills as Kkamangi suggested, Ji-eun fell into deep thought again.

"There are too many passive skills..."

<Having many passive skills is a good thing. They activate automatically anyway.>

Of course, Ji-eun could vaguely feel that passive skills that activate automatically without her direct use were better. Still, her skill window was saturated with passive skills.

From Ji-eun's perspective as a level 1, the best place to invest skill points now was in active skills. Since she would receive experience points for completing quests, her passive skill level would gradually increase.

Therefore, the only skill she needed to prioritize and level up now was [Enhanced Large Vehicle License (Lv.1)].

"What are the benefits of leveling up the [Enhanced Large Vehicle License] skill?"

<The higher the level, the more freely and easily you can drive in the dungeon, regardless of the terrain, and you can ignore traps.>

"Will I choose to drive in this scary place?"

<You can set the driving mode to automatic or manual. And since moving through any floor will eventually make it a place you've been to, leveling up the [Where the Wheels Take You] skill will be easier.>

"Oh... right?"

<Of course, the terrain must be drivable even if you level up the skill. And...>

"Huh? Why did you stop talking?"

A noise-like sound came from Kkamangi's mouth.

Kkamangi, frowning, grumbled in response.

<It's a trade secret, so I can't tell you.>

"Is there such a thing!"

Despite Ji-eun's protest, Kkamangi suddenly closed her mouth and said nothing more. Glaring at Kkamangi, Ji-eun abruptly opened the driver's door.

<Are you going out?>

"I need to prepare for customers. And I haven't eaten the sandwiches I made earlier."

<There's no need to be afraid. Even a dungeon boss can't enter within a 5-meter radius.>

"Right, so you should come out too."

<I said not to enter the kitchen, didn't I?>

"I'll put this next to the cash register. And the sandwich."

Holding the pink cushion from the passenger seat, Ji-eun got out of the driver's seat and continued.

"I don't want to eat alone, either."

<...>

"So, you should eat with me from now on."

<Hmm... If the owner asks so nicely, I'll eat it for you.>

"What?"

Even as she said this, Kkamangi followed Ji-eun out, hopping along. Seeing this, Ji-eun smiled for the first time since entering the dungeon.

* * *

"But, Kkamangi."

<What is it?>

"Isn't our first business a failure?"

While making sandwiches, which had already reached 10, there was no sign of any customers around the truck.

The only thing she could feel was the unpleasant sound of giant spiders more than 3 meters tall.

According to Kkamangi, they were in a central area of the 4th floor, a dungeon that only high-level hunters could handle.

Unless a large exploration team was formed, it was unlikely that a small group would come this far.

Time had already passed quickly while making 10 sandwiches and listening to Kkamangi's explanations, and it was now past 15:20.

There was only about 1 hour and 40 minutes left until the closing time at 17:00.

<We have 3 days, so we'll go to the 1st or 2nd floor, where there are more people, at least once in those 3 days.>

Ji-eun chuckled at the sight of Kkamangi, who was sitting on a cushion, holding the sandwich with both hands and eating it like a child.

"What kind of cat sits and eats with its hands like a human?"

<I may look like a cat, but I'm a hidden spirit. I'm such a high-level spirit, I wouldn't eat with my head on the ground like a real cat.>

"Okay, okay, then what should I do with the remaining time...?"

Sighing deeply while looking at the 10 sandwiches in square paper boxes with plastic lids for takeout, Ji-eun was suddenly startled.

Bang!

A huge sound came from somewhere at that moment.