The Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices

Chapter 1

EP.1 Banished from Another World

Luck comes to those who are prepared.

It’s a common saying.

Even if luck comes your way, it’s meaningless if you don’t have the power to make it your own.

It’s like me right now.

“Mr. Lee Kanghyun, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to return to Earth.”

This is a different dimension world from Earth, the El Dorad Continent.

The only and most authoritative church in the El Dorad Continent. The Saintess of the White Order gave me a banishment order.

I was momentarily stunned by her sudden announcement, but I quickly regained my composure.

“Saintess! If you suddenly say something like that…”

Going back to Earth is absolutely not an option.

I still had to stay here.

Fifteen years ago, Earth underwent a major change known as the Great Shift.

Dungeons and creatures that were commonly seen in novels appeared in reality.

They rampaged all over the world, threatening the survival of humanity.

Humanity stood at the brink of extinction.

At that time, when stories of despair spread, people with the power to resist monsters began to appear.

Those who awakened their powers hunted dungeons and monsters, contributing to the rebuilding of civilization.

Their existence gave hope to humanity, and people called them ‘Hunters’.

Of course, I became a Hunter after awakening.

I was called a half-status Hunter, though.

And now, in this other world where I currently exist.

The El Dorad Continent, which only a random few among the Hunters could enter.

This place was filled with opportunities for even the weakest Hunter to become stronger.

I was no exception.

The reason I was called a half-status Hunter was simple.

I didn’t have a status window.

Even after awakening, I was the only one without a status window, while all the other Hunters had one.

This created quite a gap, and I couldn’t grow as a result.

I had no skills or attributes, and learning was impossible.

Even if I killed monsters, I couldn’t gain experience points.

How could I grow under such circumstances?

I was just a bit stronger than an ordinary person.

In the end, I had to use every means possible to grow.

One of them was enrolling in the Hunter Academy.

Fortunately, since I had awakened, there was no difficulty in entering the academy.

But would enrolling alone make a difference?

I still didn’t have a status window, and my fellow students excelled like monsters.

I received F grades in all subjects.

I did my best to avoid expulsion.

My classmates considered me the disgrace of the academy, either because I looked pathetic or because they didn’t want to acknowledge me as a Hunter.

I managed to graduate, albeit at the bottom of the class.

Of course, graduating didn’t give me a status window.

Nothing changed.

Since I couldn’t earn a living as a Hunter, I ended up working as a porter.

And then, there was one last opportunity.

Pure luck, though.

The El Dorad Continent.

A small number of Hunters were randomly selected by an unknown mechanism, and I happened to be one of them.

I was genuinely thrilled when I first set foot on the El Dorad Continent.

Maybe I would get a status window here.

If I just got a status window, I could break free from being a porter.

I could even show up those classmates who had ignored me, and other guilds might scout me.

Until recently, I had imagined classmates looking up to me, and other guilds competing to recruit me.

But now, that dream had crumbled in an instant.

“Please, reconsider. Please, Saintess! I’ve done everything I can up to now. I can’t go back like this!”

I begged, even going so far as to kneel down.

One year since I was summoned.

I had truly groveled.

I knew I had no abilities, so I tried even harder.

I did all the odd jobs in the church, taking care of paladins and priests, and even did chores without expecting any reward.

And the result of all that effort?

I still didn’t get the status window I had hoped for. I couldn’t even get items that could help me.

To tell me to go back to Earth with nothing?

I barely held back my frustration and waited for the Saintess’s response.

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“Ha… Mr. Lee Kanghyun, no.”

The Saintess’s expression crumpled in real-time.

“Hey.”

Her tone, which had always been gentle, changed.

Even I, who had spent a year with her, saw her like this for the first time.

“Why are you being so wishy-washy? Huh?”

Her words became even harsher.

“Right! Who would have expected such a piece of shit like you to come here? What more do you expect? The status window? Is it my fault there’s no status window? Or is it because I didn’t give you items? Trash already came here, and I’m already annoyed, but you’re making me even angrier.”

“……”

I couldn’t say a word.

In my current position, no objection was allowed.

Not only did the saintess’s words leave me silent, but the surrounding holy knights also joined in.

“Menial tasks? You should naturally do them because you’re trash, but you shouldn’t be acting all proud about it.”

“That’s right! Who would have thought such a moron would show up?”

“You never really fit in with our church from the beginning.”

“Even now, you should return to where you came from. The Saintess has shown you mercy.”

Even the righteous swords, known as the Just Blades, criticized me.

“……”

Yes, I was useless.

That’s why I stayed silent.

It was unfair, though.

I had tried my best because I was weak.

I woke up earlier than anyone else every morning and trained harder than anyone.

I compensated with my body since I had no skills or attributes.

I did all the cleaning in the church, as well as cooking, chores, and errands to make others comfortable when dungeon-crawling parties were formed.

“Ha…”

Now that I thought about it again, they had always been like that.

It was frustrating.

I had bent over backward to be the first to compromise, but they took my efforts for granted.

They had even used me as bait to disarm dungeon traps.

At least I wouldn’t have felt so wronged if I had received some compensation.

Now that I thought about it again, it was infuriating.

But I couldn’t just voice my thoughts openly.

Unfortunately, revenge was out of reach for someone like me without power.

Revenge was a privilege reserved for those with power, as someone once said.

For a weakling like me, revenge was just an echo in my mouth.

Maybe it would be better to just go back when someone told me to.

‘Huff.’

Suppressing my anger, I looked at everyone.

“Yes, in that case, I will go back. Thank you for everything.”

Continuing to argue here wouldn’t change their minds.

I briefly considered making a run for it, but I quickly shook my head.

The El Dorad Continent is incredibly vast.

With no abilities or connections, fleeing from the church would leave me with nowhere to go.

The moment the church labels me a heretic, any foothold on the continent would disappear.

That’s how powerful the church is.

At that moment, the Saintess’s expression unexpectedly changed.

“Well, fine. In that case, I’ll send you back to Earth right away.”

Suddenly, she raised her voice again, while returning the belongings I had with me when I was first summoned.

‘At least she returned them.’

My belongings were simple.

Various clothing, a wallet, and miscellaneous items like a smartphone.

The smartphone didn’t turn on, probably because it had been left idle for a year.

“Now, shall we go back to the original world? Let’s not see each other again.”

With those words, the Saintess recited a spell, and a circular transition magic circle appeared under my feet, emitting light.

Was this the spell to return to Earth?

I had heard that when residents went back to Earth, they had farewell parties for the Hunters.

I felt bitter, having gained nothing and suddenly returning.

Oh, there was one thing I gained, a hatred for the church.

I entertained that thought while being engulfed in light, and in an instant, my field of vision flipped.

“Where is this……”

I was back in my own room.

That’s how I was banished from another world.

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***

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Back on Earth after a year.

I immediately connected my smartphone to the charger.

After a while, I turned it on to check if I had received any messages.

“Hmm….”

However, my smartphone remained silent, without a single message.

Why were there no messages when it had been a year?

For sure, it had been a year.

I had been cut off from contact for a whole year, and not a single person was curious about me?

When I was young, my parents left this world due to a monster’s attack, but I somewhat prided myself on having a business relationship with others.

My one-room apartment had monthly rent that drained my wallet, so let’s not even talk about the landlady.

Oh, my academy classmates treated me as if I didn’t exist, and the guild members excluded me too.

But the fact that I don’t even receive a message from the party I worked with as a porter is a bit much, don’t you think?

I immediately contacted the party I had been with until last year, but the call didn’t go through.

“What the heck?”

Well, considering that Hunters often go to dungeon, it was only natural. And unless you had some kind of ability, like me, there was no way you could make a connection.

As I sighed and lamented, my smartphone suddenly rang.

When I checked, I had received a text message.

“Hey, it’s just an advertisement!”

For a moment, I had hoped, but it was just an ad.

It was an ad urging me to install a game I had pre-registered for because it had been released.

“But did I pre-register for this game?”

Maybe I had been through so much that I couldn’t remember.

“Well, whatever.”

I had plenty of time.

After returning after a year, I postponed cleaning my one-room apartment for later.

Honestly, I had worked hard for a while, so I just wanted to relax now.

I immediately clicked on the link provided in the text message and installed the game.

“The game’s name is [El Dorad].”

The word I disliked the most after being banished from El Dorad was now at the top of my head.

But to see it in the game’s name again… I momentarily resisted the serious temptation to delete it and pressed the play button.

[El Dorad]

The title appeared prominently on the screen.

Usually, shouldn’t there be some cool BGM accompanying this? The music felt rather dull.

Maybe it was an indie game.

Well, considering I had spent a year in El Dorad and this game had just been released, it was obvious.

I touched the screen, and the story started flowing.

– In the beginning, there was a goddess. The goddess created the continent of El Dorad… –

I immediately pressed the skip button. The story that I had heard until my ears were tired while at the church was history. Skipping this kind of story was perfectly fine.

The main game started right away.

– Welcome. As a player, you must become the owner of a dungeon and manage it. –

– Please use all means possible in the El Dorad continent to spread the dungeon’s fame. –

– Please enter the name of the dungeon you wish to spread fame to. –

I hadn’t properly seen the story because I skipped it, but it seemed like this game’s concept was dungeon management.

It was quite novel.

What were dungeons in El Dorad, anyway? They constantly emitted monsters and turned the surrounding villages into wastelands.

That wasn’t all.

Dungeons were often the most guarded places because high-ranking demons and monsters resided in them.

As a result, countries, mercenaries, and even the churchs came forward to periodically subdue the dungeons.

For me right now, this kind of game was more than welcome.

Since I had a desire to make a mess of El Dorad, I wanted to at least satisfy my urge to do so in the game.

Perhaps the game’s creator was also dissatisfied with El Dorad, just like me.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have made a game so blatantly like this.

I suddenly had a favorable impression of the game creator.

‘But then again, the name…’

The most challenging part when starting a game was choosing the name.

My dilemma didn’t last long.

Dungeon Name: Church Nemesis

Hmm. That’s just right.

Personally, I think names should be simple yet encapsulate a goal.

So, from now on, my game objective is to harass the Saintess and the church.

– Would you like to proceed with this name? –

[Yes] [No]

I immediately pressed “Yes.”

– The dungeon name will be adjusted automatically. –

Dungeon Name: Nest of the Evil God

– The name cannot be changed. –

“What is this?”

Suddenly, the name changed on its own.

Can the game just change the name that the user decided on?

A game with no freedom, not even in naming?

The favorable impression I had built up towards the creator just a moment ago suddenly dropped.

Well, anyway, I’ll give it a try, and if it’s not fun, I can just quit.

I examined the name that the game had arbitrarily changed to.

“Evil God?”

Looking at it again, it wasn’t too far off from my intention.

“Well, my final goal is the church anyway.”

I could feel the power opposing the goddess.

It was quite alright.

I touched the screen again.

– Oh no! The Saintess of the White Order, who worships the goddess of the El Dorad continent, has detected your dungeon. –

– Attention! If no action is taken, the White Order may try to subdue the dungeon. –

– We recommend using items to protect the dungeon. –

– Recommended item: <Beginner Protection Package!> (1,200 won) –

[Dungeon Concealment]

Effect 1: Permanently blocks anyone from sensing the dungeon’s energy.

Effect 2: Conceals the dungeon’s location for 7 days.

“What is this now?”

Not only could you change the name on a whim, but there was also a subtle push for microtransactions.

“They’re crossing the line.”

This time, I seriously thought about whether to just uninstall the game, but I endured and clicked the screen again.

Even in a game, I didn’t want to lose to the Saintess after having heard insults from her, not to mention being banished.

Besides, it was only 1,200 won, so it wasn’t much of a burden.

“Alright, let’s purchase it.”

I wasn’t going to stress out over a game from the very beginning.

– Item purchase completed. –

– Permanently blocks the dungeon’s energy. –

– The dungeon’s location is concealed for 7 days. –

– The White Order’s Saintess has failed to detect your dungeon. –

The item I bought with real money seemed to be applied correctly.

“I don’t care what it is, let’s think of it as a good thing.”

And to see the next screen, I touched it again.

– Synchronization will proceed before the dungeon’s location is generated. –

– 1%… 2%…. 4%… –

Suddenly, the screen froze, and an alarm indicated that it was synchronizing something.

What is this? Could it be? Downloading additional update data? For now, let’s wait and see.

=====

***

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“…”

The Saintess, Helisa, slowly opened her eyes.

Her face was full of confusion.

“Saintess, your expression doesn’t look good.”

A Holy Knight guarding her approached.

“It’s okay. Thank you for your concern.”

However, her mind was currently in turmoil.

‘It was an incredible power… but…’

While praying, she had felt an immense power.

The problem was that the power didn’t feel good, which troubled her.

With an ominous thought, she immediately tried to trace the source of the power, but it suddenly disappeared.

It was as if it had never existed in the first place.

‘Maybe I used too much energy.’

Helisa had expended a great deal of energy before her prayer.

It was to return Lee Kanghyun to Earth.

I would probably need rest for a few days.

‘If it weren’t for the will of the church…’

If it wasn’t an order from the church’s higher-ups, there was no need to use her power to send him back to Earth.

But it was already in the past.

Helisa had already erased Lee Kanghyun from her mind and composed herself.

The power she had felt a moment ago.

She tried to sense it once again, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t feel it.

‘I must have been mistaken.’

Thinking that, Saintess Helisa erased her anxious feelings.

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