Return To Level Up

Chapter 29

Ha-jin Kang was in the dungeon with Ji-hye Kim and others.

This dungeon was also an abandoned dungeon.

Jihye Kim asked to enter this dungeon through her black market. But Kang Ha-jin didn’t do that.

In order to enter the original dungeon, each Awakened person who enters must report.

The black market was able to take the process on their own. So, even if it was a dungeon not managed by the black market, it was possible to attack the dungeon without leaving a trace by spending some money.

Especially in the case of an unpopular dungeon like here, it was much easier.

So, Kim Ji-hye didn’t quite understand.

“In fact, wouldn’t it be more dangerous to do it the way it is now? The black market is really good as long as you use it well.”

Hajin Kang shook her head.

“Still, I prefer this one.”

Kim Ji-hye, who had tilted her head while listening to Ha-jin Kang, asked in amazement.

“Wait, have you never officially entered a dungeon before?”

When Ha-jin Kang nodded her head insignificantly, she looked at Ji-hye Kim as well as the women with her with a surprised expression.

“How is that possible?”

As Kim Ji-hye asked a question, she convinced herself. She didn’t see how it was possible with her own eyes.

“Really… you are amazing.”

“Everyone will be doing this sooner or later.”

When Ha-jin Kang said that as if it was natural, she laughed that it couldn’t be the case, but her expectations crept into the corner of her heart.

“Come on, let’s finish the useless talk and start attacking the dungeon. There is no time.”

At Ha-jin Kang’s words, she focused on her eyes with bright eyes.

“First, let’s find the monster.”

Hajin Kang found a monster roaming in a group not far away.

Looking at those monsters, Hajin Kang tilted his head.

‘Somehow, I think there are too many of them?’

This dungeon was one of the first dungeons to explode during the first disaster.

So it was only natural that there were some monsters piled up. However, for some reason, there were more monsters than Ha-jin Kang thought.

‘If that’s the case, don’t you think you can survive without bursting for two years?’

It seemed like it would explode in about 6 months at the most, or 3 months at the shortest.

There were so many monsters.

“Wait here. I’m going to do some reconnaissance.”

Hajin Kang decided to scout the dungeon a little wider in order to make a more certain decision.

After a while, Ha-jin Kang, who returned from a rough reconnaissance, had a slightly stiff expression.

Looking back, he had more monsters than he sees here.

At this rate, it would be unreasonable to hold out for up to six months.

‘I don’t think I can survive even three months?’

If you think about it, the mosquito dungeon and the mud monster dungeon also had quite a number of monsters.

I didn’t feel a sense of incongruity as strongly as in this dungeon right now, though.

‘The situation is different from before the regression.’

There was no other way to explain it. The time of the first calamity has been advanced.

He was a little flustered, but Kang Ha-jin soon calmed his mind and organized his thoughts.

‘Nothing will change. I just need to hurry up a bit.’

It didn’t change anything other than the lack of spare time. Because that’s what I was going to do anyway.

However, it might not be easy to attack dungeons in countries other than Korea in advance.

‘Let’s deal with the urgency first. Step by step.’

Ha-jin Kang stopped thinking and looked at Ji-hye Kim and the others.

Ji-hye Kim was looking at Ha-jin Kang with her bewildered expression, not knowing what was going on.

“why? What’s wrong?”

Hajin Kang shook his head.

“no. First, let’s talk about the monster’s weakness.”

[Water Cactus][Level: 102][Health: 3462, Magic Power: 124][Thorn Gun (A)]

Hajin Kang confirmed the monster’s information through his peeping skill. He wasn’t much different from what he knew.

It looked like a cactus had limbs, but it was a bit bizarre because the eyes, nose and mouth were not visible.

“First of all, he is strong against fire, so fire-type attacks are not allowed. It shoots thorns on its body, but it is difficult to get hit because it contains weak poison.”

Everyone’s expression hardened. It seemed to be a very difficult monster for some reason.

“Instead, he has low stamina and dies quickly. However, normal physical attacks cannot inflict damage.”

“That’s right?”

“You have to put magic into your attacks. Can everyone do it?”

Kang Ha-jin asked that question and looked around the party. Everyone nodded their heads with a confident expression on their faces.

Other Awakeneds would have said what that means, but they were Awakeners influenced by Hajin Kang.

He was constantly training to deal with magic.

“If you get too close, you don’t shoot thorns, so just do melee combat. If you get stabbed by a thorn, you must quickly apply that bastard’s fluid. Otherwise, the body becomes dull.”

“Then it would be nice to have some body fluids on the first hunt.”

Hajin Kang nodded his head.

“It’s a good idea. That’s all I’m going to tell you. It is important to experience various situations firsthand and gain a lot of experience.”

“Yeah. By the way······.”

Kim Ji-hye asked carefully.

“Ha-jin Kang, aren’t you hunting together? I think that’s what you’re talking about…”

“Yes. I’m going to another dungeon. So, hurry up and get out of here. And the dungeon must be eliminated.”

Jihye Kim was a little nervous, but she nodded her head with a determined expression.

“I see. Don’t worry and go quickly. Because we can do it too.”

Hajin Kang nodded her head and left the dungeon as it was.

Ji-hye Kim and her companions looked at him blankly.

“It’s really gone.”

“Cool.”

Everyone’s eyes were focused on Kim Ji-hye at once. Kim Ji-hye was startled and flinched behind her.

“Why, why?”

Lee Ji-young, who was about to become her representative, sighed and shook her head.

“Sigh. No. Let’s start hunting. Sister, put a shield on me.”

Kim Ji-hye pouted her lips and used a shield skill. It was a skill that surrounded a shield made of her magical power.

It was a skill that had a strong defense compared to her invested magic. Her weakness was that she couldn’t write to herself.

Lee Ji-young, who even wore her shield, took the lead and ran towards her water cactus.

“Level up!”

The Awoken, made up of a total of five women, ran towards the water cactus group.

* * *

Hajin Kang hurriedly headed for the dungeon she was going to go to.

It was necessary to check whether there were more monsters than expected in this dungeon as well.

If so, she should investigate what else has changed since she returned.

That way she can come up with a more detailed plan.

‘Is the tutorial ending too soon? Can the Awoken survive this?’

The first disaster was the starting line for a full-fledged dungeon era.

Awoken before the return, they said together that the dungeons before the disaster were tutorials.

The dungeons that appear after the disaster do not take care of the situation of the awakened as they do now.

Awkward dungeons that don’t match the average level of the Awakener often appear.

When that dungeon exploded, it was literally another disaster.

So, it’s a war against dungeons.

Hajin Kang, who moved quickly, arrived at the dungeon. This time, she was still an neglected dungeon, so she blocked the surveillance camera as she did and used [Hide and Seek] to avoid the staff’s gaze and enter the dungeon.

Hajin Kang, who entered the dungeon, opened his eyes wide in surprise.

There was a monster about 10 meters away.

it wasn’t one Dozens of them swarmed.

[Ice Ant][Level: 187][Health: 68921, Magic Power: 472][Ice Breath (A)]

Ha-jin Kang, who reflexively checked the monster’s level and abilities with his peeping skill, looked at the ice ants with a serious expression.

The fact that the ice ants have come all the way here means that there is not much time left until they explode.

Perhaps this dungeon will explode faster than the water cactus dungeon we went to earlier.

‘It seems that the prediction is correct.’

The progress is much faster than before the return. It seemed like it was going to be a disaster if I didn’t hurry.

‘Hold on, then what will happen?’

Around the time of the first disaster, the number of people awakening rapidly increased.

There were also many Awoken who grew up greatly during the first calamity.

Most of the Awoken, who later made a name for themselves, have grown significantly from the first calamity.

Will they be able to survive the disaster that comes two years earlier?

Hajin Kang shook his head.

‘It is not easy. There are others who have not yet awakened.’

So what to do?

‘Start with what you can do, step by step.’

Hajin Kang calmed his mind. She shouldn’t be excited. Excitement makes you rush, and that leads to mistakes.

For now, we have to deal with the dungeon first.

Hajin Kang ran towards the group of ice ants. He is well aware of his weaknesses, so there is no danger.

Lightning flashed from Hajin Kang’s hands.

* * *

The Awakened Management Office has an emergency.

This is because quite a few dungeons have suddenly disappeared recently.

An important dungeon hasn’t disappeared yet, so the problem hasn’t spread to the outside.

But that didn’t stop me from letting go and just watching until things got bigger.

The main figures gathered in the conference room of the administration office and all sat down with serious expressions on their faces.

However, among them, there were only two people belonging to the management office, the chief and the deputy chief.

The rest were the heads of large corporations or large guilds that had been closely related to the Awakening Administration.

“Please refer to the report that has been distributed for more details.”

The person in charge of the meeting was the deputy director of the management office.

“Once the number of dungeons disappeared is 12.”(Read more @ wuxiax.com)

“It’s not as many as you think.”

Currently, the total number of dungeons in Korea was 178. Of course, the number of dungeons recorded in the management office is the same, but there are actually more dungeons.

So, if you look at the number 12, you could think of it that way.

But the head coach firmly shook his head.

“It happened in just two weeks. It is a dungeon that has been neglected because of its low importance, but if it is left as it is, it is impossible to guarantee when a problem will arise in an important dungeon.”

“Well, that’s right.”

So everyone gathered like this. I don’t know what kind of problem it will turn into.

“Once the camera was monitoring the disappearing dungeon, traces of external manipulation were found.”

“So… you are saying that you manipulated the camera to destroy the evidence and went into the dungeon to get rid of it… Then what happened to the staff who managed it? Have you ever had an accident?”

The conductor was speechless for a moment and bit his mouth for a moment. But he soon replied, shaking his head.

“They are being disciplined.”

At those words, the expressions of those who attended the meeting changed subtly. It was decided that the problem would be solved by correcting the working discipline of the employees.

The conductor also read the atmosphere. So he quickly poured out the prepared words.

“The problem is the manager of the dungeon that disappeared at the end. He said he said something strange. The dungeon just disappeared right in front of my eyes.”

“So… you mean that you suffered even though you worked faithfully?”

“That’s the employee’s claim.”

The conductor looked around for a moment and looked at the atmosphere before continuing.

“If you believe that claim at face value, it means that even though the dungeon has disappeared before your eyes, you have not found the awakened people who conquered the dungeon. Or really, the dungeon just disappeared.”

But no one thought it was the latter. Rather, it was much more reasonable to regard it as the work of an awakener equipped with a special skill.

“Actually, the management office is understaffed right now.”

Everyone nodded. There are so many dungeons, dispatching staff to each dungeon has never been an easy task.

Besides, it was not a problem that could be solved by sending one person because it had to be monitored 24 hours a day.

“To solve this on our own, we need to increase our workforce at least three times. We also need to invest a lot more in facilities and equipment.”

The people in the conference room looked at the conductor with the gaze of what they wanted.

“So I try to choose and focus.”

“Are you going to throw away dungeons of relatively low importance? Are you going to talk a lot?”

“First, we are going to open a dungeon to a small guild.”

Everyone looked displeased.

Even if it’s a dungeon with less importance, you don’t know what will happen later.

Even though it is a virtual interest, sharing it will never be tolerated by the organization to which those gathered here belong.

“And I plan to hand over the amount to the black market in moderation.”

The opposite came at once.

“no! As the number of dungeons covered by the black market increases, the market becomes dizzy! It’s going to be a mess!”

The conductor said quietly.

“Then you can take care of that part. Is it possible?”

The meeting was getting overheated and lengthy. But anyway, I’ve come to a conclusion.