Chapter 44

044. Dungeon Strategy (3)

Originally, I intended to stay quiet until we reached the heart of the dungeon.

At the entrance of the dungeon, I planned to listen to Jeolwon's orders and observe how he fought.

I thought that directly experiencing the strategy of a D-rank hunter with considerable experience would be worth it.

‘But I didn’t expect the progress to be this slow.’

Unlike Jeolwon, I don’t have much time left.

“Remaining time – 68 hours 38 minutes”

A hologram in the corner of my vision shows the time left until I return to the Tower of Trials.

If this remaining time were ample, it might be, but...

‘It’s not just about clearing the dungeon; I can’t spend all my time here.’

The points I used to return make this remaining time extremely precious.

I could also contact the Hunter Association or a guild to gather information on the current situation.

I even considered reaching out to Lee Hayeon as part of building connections.

Given this, I decided to use the remaining time as efficiently as possible.

‘That’s why I had to move like this.’

If I faltered in just this situation, what would happen next was obvious.

Leading the way, I looked at the heart of the cave and spoke.

“Let’s change the way we hunt the monsters in the dungeon for now.”

“If we change the hunting method, how exactly...”

“I’ll take care of most of the monsters until we reach the wider central area.”

“...Ahem, understood.”

Jeolwon hesitated for a moment but soon agreed with me.

Given how sharp my movements were just now, convincing him wasn’t too difficult.

“I’ll also handle the monster byproducts for now.”

As I finished speaking, I stepped forward and approached the lizardman’s corpse.

This was to extract the monster’s mana stone, something I never thought about in the tower.

Back then, I was barely surviving, and I heard that the monsters in the tower didn’t yield mana stones.

But the monsters in the real dungeon would definitely have them.

‘This is my first time actually doing it...’

I had enough knowledge to move my sword without hesitation.

Crunch!

The skin split, and a purple gem-like mana stone timidly revealed itself near the heart.

Indeed, the consistent study of related videos I did before paid off.

In one swift motion, I reached into the corpse and extracted the mana stone.

‘It was easier than I thought.’

I quickly wiped the blood from my hands on the assassin’s cloak.

If I accidentally got blood on the sword’s handle, it could interfere with future battles.

The assassin’s cloak would get dirty for a while, but I could clean it up later.

For that, I had bought the Stone of Cleanliness.

Next, I wiped the blood off the mana stone and slowly gathered my will.

And.

「Mana Stone (魔石)」

「Rank: D-」

「A mana stone containing murky mana extracted from the heart of a lizardman.」

「It can be very useful in alchemy and metallurgy, depending on its application.」

‘Oh, this works.’

I tried to activate the ‘Eye of Truth’ skill without saying the activation phrase, and it worked better than expected.

Of course, it requires a strong will, so it might be difficult to use in battle.

After all, a high level of proficiency is required to activate skills with willpower.

But I did gain some insight.

‘If I can activate it like a quick acceleration, I should train it.’

Being able to use active skills without saying the activation phrase would be a significant advantage.

I decided to train it when I return to the Tower of Trials and read the information on the mana stone.

Since the mana stone isn’t recognized as an item, I was a bit excited to see its information.

However...

‘Well, there’s nothing particularly special about it.’

The information I gathered with the ‘Eye of Truth’ skill was what I had expected.

There was nothing particularly special, so I quickly lost interest.

I stopped the skill activation and turned off the hologram with the description.

Thud.

I put the mana stone in my bag and spoke.

“I’ll carry this for now. We’ll count the number of mana stones later and settle up.”

“...Ah, yes. But, is this your second time in a dungeon?”

“No, not really...”

“...Hmm, how should I put it, you seem very skilled.”

Jeolwon said this with a dubious expression, but I wasn’t moved.

After all, I had fought to the death in the Tower of Trials and studied hunter-related knowledge for years.

It was strange that I was so proficient in practice, which could lead to misunderstandings.

‘Well, the Tower of Trials was practically a dungeon too.’

But I had no intention of telling him that, so I replied briefly.

“I just tried it, and it turned out well.”

“...”

“Really.”

“Ah, yes...”

Jeolwon looked skeptical but didn’t say anything more.

Since the Hunter Association’s records showed no experience, and it wasn’t important now, that was probably why.

Maybe he was silent for other reasons, but...

‘It doesn’t really matter how he thinks.’

As long as he didn’t persistently ask questions, I didn’t care what he thought.

「You have absorbed the lizardman’s command.」

「Proficiency increased by 0.7%.」

‘It’s getting harder to increase proficiency with D-rank monsters.’

I stood up, having absorbed the lizardman’s command, and frowned.

I came to Earth to prepare for the 8th floor trial, but the growth efficiency was lower than expected.

Of course, I can raise my stats with unique traits, but...

‘I can’t raise skill proficiency or unique trait proficiency that much.’

Even inside the Tower of Trials, increasing proficiency was quite difficult.

It’s natural that fighting in a weaker D-rank dungeon doesn’t significantly increase proficiency.

But.

‘I can make up for it with numbers.’

If I can hunt all the monsters lurking in the dungeon...

I might be able to raise the proficiency of my newly changed unique traits even more.

“Let’s move again.”

I looked at the inside of the cave with determination.

The real monster hunting was about to begin.

***

Thud!

「You have absorbed the lizardman’s command.」

「Proficiency increased by 0.7%.」

“Three.”

Crunch! Thud! Swish!

「You have absorbed the lizardman’s command.」

「Proficiency increased by 0.7%.」

“Six.”

Squish! Bang! Squeal!

「You have absorbed the lizardman’s command.」

「Proficiency increased by 0.7%.」

“Nine.”

Swish!

Han Sungyun’s calm muttering echoed through the cave, as if he were performing a simple task.

And...

‘What is this?’

Jeolwon, watching him, felt as if he were in a dream.

He was clearly a novice hunter with no experience, according to the Hunter Association’s official site...

‘How can his fighting level be like this...!’

Han Sungyun fought so well that it was almost unbelievable.

With each movement, a lizardman died.

Jeolwon could only watch the battle from behind, dumbfounded.

There was no cautious fighting or a harmonious blend of various skills.

Yet, Han Sungyun killed his opponents decisively.

With a mechanical swing of his sword, the enemy’s head would already be on the ground.

Jeolwon watched in awe.

‘Completely... different levels.’

The way lower-rank hunters fought was on a completely different level.

Monsters with no skills are usually handled cautiously by lower-rank hunters.

Since the lack of skills can raise the stakes, a hunter could die if they make a mistake.

But Han Sungyun dealt with the lizardmen as if it didn’t matter.

The speed of his strategy was so fast that it seemed like a repetitive task.

“Wow...”

Jeolwon had no intention of clearing the entire dungeon.

Or, more accurately, he thought it was impossible to clear it perfectly.

Even though he was a D-rank hunter, he was closer to a lower-rank hunter.

With a few more people, it might be possible, but as a duo, he only planned to make a brief appearance in the central area.

He didn’t expect any special rewards.

That’s why he decided to give most of the special items to Han Sungyun.

But Han Sungyun’s fighting changed his mind.

‘With this, it might be possible...!’

With Han Sungyun’s battle sense, which could be called a massacre, it was different.

Perhaps they could kill the dungeon boss and gain the gate’s control.

Of course, if that happened, he would have to give the gate’s control to Han Sungyun, but that was fine.

The rewards from reaching the end of the dungeon would be enormous.

With this expectation, he shivered, but also felt a sense of awe.

He wondered how much stronger Han Sungyun would become in the future, given his current level.

‘Maybe I’m witnessing the battle of a talent who will shake the hunter industry...?’

Jeolwon’s intuition, honed from years of navigating various dungeons, told him that a new star had been born in the hunter industry.

***

“Phew...”

Drip, drip.

The blood on the sword dripped to the ground as I cut down the lizardmen.

“...”

Looking back slowly, I felt a sense of accomplishment.

The bodies of the lizardmen were scattered on the ground, forming pools of blood.

‘There were more enemies than I expected, but... it’s pretty good.’

I was satisfied because I could raise the proficiency of my unique traits.

However, the problem was that I couldn’t test my newly acquired abilities much.

‘The space was too narrow to test the ability to summon the dead.’

Jeolwon, who was behind me, couldn’t swing his spear freely either, so it was unavoidable.

If I raised the dead here, it might be inconvenient, so I postponed the test.

The ‘Forced Break’ skill I obtained by synthesizing skills was similar.

There was no opponent using binding skills, so I couldn’t test it.

The monsters that appeared were all close-combat lizardmen, so it was impossible.

But from now on, it might be different.

“Boss room gate...!”

Jeolwon, who was behind me, trembled as he looked at the red portal.

Boss room.

The core of the dungeon, which maintains and forms it, appeared.

“...I didn’t expect it to be a D-rank dungeon suitable for solo play.”

That’s right.

Despite killing many monsters, Jeolwon didn’t join the hunt...

Because this dungeon was designed for solo play.

‘I didn’t expect the space to not expand even after passing the central area.’

As a result, I had to handle all the monsters, but...

I didn’t have much to complain about.

I could kill them all and use necromancy to command them.

However, Jeolwon looked at me with a mix of admiration and guilt.

“Ahem, I’m sorry. I didn’t expect the space to not expand. If you want to adjust the settlement ratio and cut it more, I have no objections.”

Jeolwon smiled bitterly, as if he found it absurd.

“No, it’s fine. A 50-50 split is acceptable.”

“Actually, that would make me uncomfortable...”

“Of course, if I can take all the rewards from the boss room, I’ll give you a 50-50 split.”

In fact, Jeolwon had the permission to enter the emergency gate.

Even though he couldn’t participate in the battle due to the narrow space, he deserved a share of the rewards.

Ironically, not participating in the battle allowed me to grow more.

I felt a slight twinge of conscience about monopolizing everything.

If it weren’t for the gate entry permission, I might have monopolized it and moved on.

“Then I’ll give you all the rewards from the boss room.”

Jeolwon thought for a moment and cautiously replied.

“Alright. Are you ready to enter the boss room now?”

“Of course, I don’t need a break.”

“...I see.”

Jeolwon narrowed his eyes as if he were looking at a rare species, but...

Even if he looked at me with that expression, I wasn’t actually tired, so I couldn’t rest.

I didn’t face them all at once; I only dealt with two at most in a straight line, so it was hard to get tired.

‘If they had attacked in a group like orcs, it would have been more challenging.’

Without such coordinated attacks, the stamina consumption was quite low.

Moreover.

‘Even if I’m tired, I can’t afford to waste time.’

I needed to get all the benefits I could as soon as possible.

So.

“Let’s enter the boss room now.”

It’s time to wrap up the dungeon strategy.