Chapter 31

< Found!(1) >

After parting ways with the goblin, I headed to the infirmary where Seok Hayeon was. On the way, I stopped by the convenience store on the first floor and bought a coffee with less sugar. It could be considered a get-well gift or a bribe.

Since this person is going to become a money tree, I have to treat them well.

“Is Seok Hayeon here?”

In response to my question, the nurse in charge pointed to one of the rooms. After signing the visitor’s book, I entered the room and saw Seok Hayeon lying on the bed. She still hadn’t woken up. I pulled a chair over to the window and sat down.

The weather is nice today. It will probably get hotter soon. This year, I can use the air conditioner without worrying about the electricity bill. The company’s generosity is the best.

‘It’s the summer of five years ago.’

Despite all the events, it hasn’t even been a week since I returned to the past. It’s been really busy. It’s all because of Yoo Hyun trying to lock me up... no, it’s because of the title.

‘I should really take it easy after the training ends.’

I came back to enjoy the benefits of having a capable younger brother, but how did it end up like this?

But how can I not swing the fishing rod when a big catch is right in front of me? Especially when the tools are so good that the probability of catching it is about 90%, how can I just watch?

Desire arises from sight. It’s impossible to achieve enlightenment before getting rid of material desires.

Still, I should keep my greed in check.

‘Let’s see, there’s supposed to be a guild internship tomorrow. Will they really use real monsters here?’

The association’s training uses people dressed as monsters. Of course, they don’t give real weapons. But by the time we reach the advanced level, we’ll be using real monsters and real weapons for practice, and we’ll even go into dungeons.

‘This will be my first dungeon raid after the regression.’

Of course, with a powerful guardian attached, it won’t be much of a challenge. It’s probably going to be a low-level dungeon, and I’ll have the A-rank hunter Kim Jiyeon, who is likely to be assigned as my senior.

‘Finally, I can use my skills on Yerim and Myungwoo.’

I’ve been holding off until before entering the dungeon for the highest efficiency. The problem is that the skill lasts for three days.

Yerim will keep leveling up in dungeons with guild support, so it’s not a problem, but what about Myungwoo? It’s a waste to spend two days, and he won’t get enough experience from a single low-level dungeon to learn the skill.

‘I want to make sure they go through at least one more dungeon before the three days are up... Should I find it personally? Maybe Kim Seonghan can help with the strategy.’

It’s a favor for Grandpa’s wish.

While I was thinking about all this, Seok Hayeon woke up.

“Are you feeling better?”

“...Han Yujin?”

Seok Hayeon sat up, squinting at me. Why is she squinting... Oh.

“Here are your glasses.”

She smiled slightly after putting on her glasses.

“Thank you. I’m sorry you got caught up in the goblin’s mischief because of me.”

“No, it was the goblin’s fault.”

“I even prepared a calming potion, but I didn’t expect it to appear so quickly. It was also scarier than I thought.”

Seok Hayeon shuddered slightly. It was quite a shock. I handed her the coffee. Her eyes behind the glasses curved into a smile.

“The goblin is gone.”

Probably. It might still be around here.

Seok Hayeon was surprised at my words.

“Already?”

“Goblins have terrible fashion sense. Blue clothes and a red mask? It looks like a five-year-old’s coloring book.”

“...Excuse me?”

“Since it’s quiet, it must have left.”

If it were still around, it would have said something. At the very least, it would have hit me in the back.

“The words I just said are a secret from the goblin.”

I said seriously, and Seok Hayeon chuckled.

“That’s a shame. I had a lot of questions. Hunters don’t usually reveal their skills, especially special skills. Cases like the goblin are rare.”

That’s true. I’m hiding mine too.

“Can I make another proposal?”

“A proposal?”

She looked hopeful.

“Join my lab? Or collaborate?”

“It sounds more like collaboration. But it’s not just lab-to-lab collaboration. What I can offer is information.”

“Information? About dungeons?”

“Yes.”

Seok Hayeon looked as if she had expected this.

“Of course, you must have special channels to obtain information. You know too much for it to be just personal research.”

“I do have them.”

More accurately, they will appear.

“As we discussed in the training room, the most lacking thing right now is information about dungeons. I will provide that to you.”

“Sounds good. I was considering going abroad.”

“The profit share will be 50-50. Do you need any investment?”

Although I’m poor now.

“No, not yet. Collecting data is the most expensive part. I’m already excited about what to research first.”

She said enthusiastically. What to research first.

“How about starting with the principles of dungeon generation?”

“The principles of dungeon generation?”

“Yes. It’s a field I’ve investigated a bit. It seems there are certain rules to dungeon generation. By understanding the creation time, surrounding environment, and location, you can even predict some of the dungeon’s internal information.”

My words made Seok Hayeon’s eyes more serious than ever.

“If that’s true, it might be possible to predict when and where dungeons will appear.”

“Right, um, probably?”

Even five years later, we couldn’t predict the creation location and time.

Wait, did we really not? Or did we just not do it? Her words made me doubt.

The American dungeon company, Densons, discovered the principles of dungeon generation and earned huge royalties three years from now. The accuracy of the principles increased afterward, but no new research results were produced.

It might be that we couldn’t do it.

‘Four years from now, the White House and major facilities were relocated.’

As the number and level of dungeons increased, the speed of saturation and the damage also increased. It was around that time.

Of course, it’s not strange to move to a safer place at that time.

However, if my memory is correct, the major facilities in the U.S. were never damaged by dungeon breaks even five years later.

‘It’s not that we couldn’t do it or didn’t do it... but did we hide it?’

No way. No matter what, no way.

But if we really did hide it. If the governments, especially the U.S.’s main rival, announced they could predict dungeon generation only after being in a pinch.

They could gain much more benefit than if they announced it during peaceful times.

‘...I don’t think they would do such a crazy thing, but... taking advantage of war or pretending not to know about dungeon damage, it’s all the same.’

If it had been a year, or even half a year later, China could have been devastated. Russia’s situation wasn’t good either. They could have played the world police role again by offering protection from dungeons.

“Seok Hayeon.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll do my best to help you succeed in your research in the country.”

“If I can, I’d be happy to.”

Is she alone enough? I need to catch more researchers. Who are famous in dungeon studies? They should have a strong sense of justice or morality, or be content with just doing research.

“I’ll contact you next week. We can talk in more detail then. Can you give me your contact information?”

“Yes, you too.”

After exchanging contact information, I went outside.

My mind became a bit more complicated with the unexpected speculation, but it hasn’t happened yet. It can be changed.

With Seok Hayeon and the goblin, the preparations are almost complete, so there’s not much else to do.

‘Maybe I should give up on the royalties.’

I don’t really need the money, and it would be nice to do something good for people. I’ll just release it and let the arrogant Americans get upset.

...No, I’ll only take royalties from advanced countries. Especially Japan. I can take double without feeling guilty.

The second day of the new hunter training.

After additional theoretical training under a different instructor, we were given practical training with real monsters in Haeryeon. The opponent was a tooth mole from an F-rank dungeon. Yerim took care of it instantly, while Myungwoo, looking scared, finally stabbed it after an hour.

I pretended to be weak, and Yerim broke through the partition and froze the tooth mole. The problem was that it was frozen so solid that it was harder to kill. Cutting through the ice with a knife was really difficult.

On the third day.

The goblin still hadn’t shown up, but we finally entered the dungeon. We headed to the strategy and maintenance room early in the morning.

“The equipment you rent must be returned after the dungeon raid, and you must compensate for any loss or damage. However, Hunter Park Yerim is exempt from compensation.”

The maintenance room staff said. Myungwoo, who was touching the displayed weapons, quickly pulled his hand back at the mention of compensation. He really needs to change his timid personality. Once he gets an SS-rank skill, he’ll probably become more confident, like how driving a sports car makes you feel more powerful.

‘Should I use my skill on my kid now?’

I used Single Skill Growth Focus on Yerim, who was swinging a battle axe from a special display for S-rank users. A message window appeared... appeared... why isn’t it showing?

‘...Did the system have an error?’

What’s going on? I tried again, and finally, the window appeared.

[My kid is the best (L) Single Skill Growth Focus is applied to Park Yerim!

Unlearned Optimized Skills

Pale Rain (S)

Frozen Ground (S)

Cold Resistance (A)

Mana Boost (B)

Other Recommended Skills

Ice Attribute Enhancement (A)

Fire Resistance (A)

Mana Boost (A)

Agility Boost (A)

Effective Cold Compress (B)

...and more

Other random skill selection possible]

...Excuse me, system developer? There’s a typo here. It should be ‘random’ not ‘self-pleasure’. Plus, it’s redundant with ‘random’.

‘Is this a real-time skill description window?’

If so, the lack of explanation makes sense, but I doubt it. Still, it’s strange that it took time to appear and had a typo. Is it really a god? Or something else?

Even if I knew, it wouldn’t change anything. For five years, many people have studied and researched what the system is, but the results have been minimal. It’s a terrifying existence that has completely changed the world, so it’s not surprising that human ability can’t even find a single hair.

Still, the typo suggests it’s not omnipotent. I want to tell the cults that claim dungeons and Awakeners are sent by their gods.

‘Let’s finish using the skill.’

There were four optimized skills. I don’t know what the difference is from the initial optimized skills, but with two S-ranks, there’s no need to hesitate.

Pale Rain. This seems better. I have a hunch that Frozen Ground is better to learn after getting Cold Resistance. Since I can’t see the description, I’ll play it safe.

After choosing Pale Rain, another message window appeared.

[Conditions for Park Yerim to learn Pale Rain (S)

Reach Level 10 (Progress: 1/10)]

It seems possible to learn once the conditions are met. The conditions are quite easy.

Usually, you get a new skill every 10 levels, so this is just the basic condition.

I then used the skill on Myungwoo. Various skills appeared, but there was only one SS, so there was no need to hesitate.

I immediately chose the Master of the Golden Forge skill, and a message window with conditions appeared.

[Conditions for Yu Myungwoo to learn Master of the Golden Forge (SS)

Reach Level 10 (Progress: 1/10)

Sharpen 10,000 blades (Progress: 17/10,000)]

...May the light be at the end of the grind. Fighting, Myungwoo.

< Found!(1) > End

ⓒ Geunseo

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