Levelling Up In An Exclusive Dungeon

Chapter 23

Despite the parties involved and the Titan guild members remaining silent, rumors began circulating that a C-rank hunter had resolved a newly appeared monster in the sky.

The story was so absurd that many people dismissed it as impossible, yet the rumor spread resolutely from mouth to mouth.

News of a murderer targeting only hunters from large guilds was this time overshadowed by the exploits of Kang Jin-hyuk.

Scouts from major guilds, known for their sensitivity to information, began conducting independent investigations as soon as they heard the news.

Though the information lacked credibility, the possibility of a “what if” was enough to justify the effort.

In a time when guilds were competing to expand their influence, a promising hunter was a valuable human resource that couldn’t be overlooked.

Naturally, guilds looking to solidify their standing showed keen interest in the events surrounding this.

The leading guild in South Korea, Altron, was no exception.

“I heard that the guild master of Titan contacted him directly?”

“I heard that too. But I also heard he declined.”

“From what I gather, an S-rank hunter was involved, which implies he’s not an ordinary talent.”

The scouts from Altron, who had commenced their investigations, were caught in contemplation.

Titan was a prestigious guild that ranked among the top five in South Korea.

The failure to recruit talent, even when such an esteemed guild’s leader was involved, clearly implied that the offer didn’t hold enough value.

‘Just how remarkable must this individual be…?’

This sudden emergence of a hunter left them with remarkably insufficient information.

Amidst a flurry of rumors, the scouts confirmed just two facts.

The hunter in question wielded an aluminum bat as his primary weapon and had severely injured an A-rank hunter who had attempted to confront him, leaving the latter hospitalized.

“Have any details come through about the hospitalized A-rank hunter?”

“I’ve heard it’s an Ando-yun from Titan.”

“What? That person was known for their skills. There’s no way they’d be a pushover.”

Despite having a not-so-great personality and causing quite the disturbances, Ando-yun hadn’t been expelled from Titan due to their high combat prowess and accomplishments.

“Exactly. They even reached vice-guild master at one point. For a mere C-rank hunter to take them down—”

The fact that an established figure had suffered defeat indicated that the opponent’s skills were extraordinary.

“Seems we might need to suspect a hidden class here.”

“Isn’t that a bit too far-fetched?”

“No, it’s quite a possibility.”

The Altron scouts held firm beliefs in their instincts.

Among the thousands of hunters, only about 0.1% were said to possess a hidden class.

It wasn’t plausible for a C-rank hunter to defeat Ando-yun unless they possessed some cheat-level abilities.

“If it really is a hidden class…”

“We need to act quickly before another guild snatches them away.”

The Altron scouts began to feel the tension rising in their urgency.

The reason their guild could maintain its top position in the country was largely thanks to the existence of hidden classes.

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With an impressive trio of hidden class members amidst their ranks, they had managed to gain a competitive edge.

Given how they had firsthand experience with the power of hidden classes, Altron felt a growing apprehension over the possibility of rivals recruiting them.

The most favorable strategy was to recruit them into their ranks.

Failing that, they would rather destroy this potential asset than let another guild benefit.

“We need at least a deputy guild master to approach this.”

“Do we really have to go that far?”

“What do you mean? That individual rejected the leader of Titan. There’s little doubt a lower-ranking member like us would just be brushed off.”

“That makes sense.”

They held no intention of underestimating their opponent simply because they were a C-rank hunter.

It was a widely accepted belief that Kang Jin-hyuk must indeed be a hidden class, according to the observations they had made.

Yet contrary to their expectations, Kang Jin-hyuk did not possess any hidden class.

He had merely operated a dungeon located in his attic and was currently sprawled across his floor, utterly worn out from overextending his stamina.

Unaware of the rampant rumors circulating about him, Kang Jin-hyuk drifted through dreams for more than two consecutive days.

His awareness of the situation unfolding due to his involvement only hit him hard once he awoke, remarkably hungry.

* * *

Kang Jin-hyuk got out of bed and reached for his smartphone to check the date.

“What is this?”

Realizing he had slept for a full two days left him in shock.

After strolling into the living room, he was startled yet again at the sight of Lucia rummaging through the refrigerator with a nonchalant demeanor.

Lucia stopped what she was doing to greet him with a wave as soon as their eyes met.

“Looks like you’ve finally awoken! When you passed out suddenly, I thought you must have fallen gravely ill.”

Kang Jin-hyuk paused, attempting to comprehend the situation around him.

Despite their brief interaction, he couldn’t fathom why she was still at his house.

“Why are you still here?”

“Look who’s talking! You’re complaining while I’ve been caring for you during your fainting spell.”

“Care? You’re just standing there dressed the exact same way as when you collapsed.”

Realizing he had been sleeping for two whole days with dust-covered clothes made him feel rather uneasy.

Lucia scoffed in response to his complaints, as if to say he was overreacting.

“Think about it from my perspective: would you want to touch dirty clothing like that to get someone changed?”

“From your perspective? Oh boy.”

Having overheard Kang Jin-hyuk’s exclamation, Lucia blushed as she threw the apple she had picked up out the window.

“Keep your wild imaginations to yourself!”

Kang Jin-hyuk ducked instinctively to avoid the apple that was projectile-launched toward the open window.

“Quit wasting food and just head home.”

“If I could, I would’ve left ages ago! Why would I stick around in this filthy place?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you mean, what? I meant that I can’t leave for some reason.”

“……?”

It was incredibly easy to return to the original location from which she had come, and yet claiming she couldn’t made no sense to Kang Jin-hyuk.

“You mean to say you couldn’t just walk back through the door to the dungeon?”

“Of course, that’s the case! It’s ridiculous, but it’s the truth.”

Lucia’s expression suggested she wasn’t joking.

Feeling uncertain, Kang Jin-hyuk approached the attic door hesitantly and opened it.

Much to his surprise, the dungeon appeared perfectly intact, just as it always had.

“Heh, so it’s still connected nicely.”

“What? No way!”

“If you don’t believe me, come take a look yourself.”

Lucia, after walking over, saw the intact maze within at Kang Jin-hyuk’s beckoning and muttered once more in disbelief.

“There’s no way this was here earlier….”

Pushing Kang Jin-hyuk aside, she closed the door to the attic.

When she tried to open it again, just as expected, the dungeon was no longer accessible.

“See! It’s gone!”

“Really? How could it just disappear?”

Having never opened the door for anyone else since the dungeon manifested, Kang Jin-hyuk had no clue how this unexpected turn of events had occurred.

Lucia, sensing his confusion, crossed her arms as if pondering something carefully.

While a starving Kang Jin-hyuk ordered meals for delivery, Lucia soon settled on a particular hypothesis.

“It feels like that wizard carved in some sort of dimension shift coordinates, and you ended up being the destination.”

“Could you explain that in simpler terms?”

“In other words, this dungeon is so designed to arrive at ‘you’ as its endpoint.”

Lucia spoke confidently, exuding more than half conviction in her tone.

Yet, Kang Jin-hyuk had difficulty grasping her explanation.

Firstly, the mention of dimensional shifts was quite flawed in common sense. Secondly, the very notion of him being the destination struck him as absurd.

“So why didn’t this dungeon drop down on me instead, forming right above my head?”

“Since it was a failed magic, it didn’t.”

Had it succeeded, he’d likely have been crushed to death by the dungeon’s collapse.

Lucia said that jokingly.

“In simpler terms, you narrowly escaped death by the bias of an unintentional failure of the spell.”

“You mean to say I almost met my end for no reason?”

“Indeed, you caught on swiftly—spot on.”

Kang Jin-hyuk felt deep gratitude towards whoever miscast the spell that led to the dungeon materializing here instead.

However, right from that precise moment, he vowed to seize revenge upon the true identity of the wizard who had done such a thing.

Kang Jin-hyuk clenched his fist tightly as he swore under his breath.

Then, an embarrassing rumble echoed from his stomach, piercing through the tension.

His empty stomach had finally begun protesting from the prolonged hunger.

“Is the delivery taking forever?”

After sleeping the better part of two days, he felt his stomach almost glued to his back.

Fortunately, just as he could hardly hold back any longer, a call came in from the delivery person.

“Uh, excuse me, could you repeat your address again?”

“Huh? I thought it was just entered on the app without error…”

As he repeated his address to the delivery person, they sounded conflicted.

“I can’t seem to locate your place, even though I’m at the address you provided. Could you step outside?”

“Oh, alright. I’ll head out.”

This vicinity wasn’t particularly complicated, making such a request rather strange.

Kang Jin-hyuk could only follow through, bewildered by the mistaken confusion surrounding his house’s whereabouts.

Walking out, he located the delivery person who appeared troubled in front of his house.

“What are you doing here?”

The delivery person seemed to realize there was actually a house in its intended location the moment Kang Jin-hyuk stepped outside.

“Ah, are you the one who ordered delivery?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Why didn’t I see it nearby even though I’ve made it here? That’s strange.”

The delivery person left in confusion, still wrapping their head around the strangeness surrounding their delivery.

Kang Jin-hyuk found it odd, seeing the delivery person dawdling in front of his place without any straightforward answers, ultimately retreating empty-handed.

Once he entered back inside, Lucia inquired, “Did someone come by?”

“Yep, I ordered food due to my rumbling stomach.”

“Well, it’s quite surprising that they were able to find this place. I’ve cast a recognition-lowering magic that renders it hard to identify.”

Kang Jin-hyuk abruptly halted at her statement.

Such a declaration was too heavy to be ignored.

“What did you cast?”

“Recognition-lowering magic. It’s simple but effective.”

“Why would you go and do that?”

“Strange individuals kept showing up while you were asleep.”

“Strange individuals?”

“Yup. Was it the Guardian? Altron? At any rate, they were from some guild.”

The guilds Lucia mentioned were those that vied for the top ranks in South Korea.

To have people from such a guild seeking him out was hardly a common occurrence.

Intrigued about the incident, Kang Jin-hyuk took his smartphone to check the latest news.

Upon searching through a community primarily used by hunters, he stumbled upon threads ranking his name in real-time.

“Huh? What’s this all about?”

Among the posts featuring his name were videos from just two days prior when he had helped Titan take down a new type of monster.

The low quality of footage didn’t hinder the establishment of his prowess.

Most notably, discussions surrounding the new type of monster were the hot topic at hand.

Before returning home, Kang Jin-hyuk had observed Titan officials enforce a gag order regarding the events that transpired, leaving him astonished.

Despite feeling no urge to share the rumors stemming from his actions, detailed accounts had already circulated throughout the community.