In that instant, Sung Jin-Woo felt his stomach drop.
*'When did she get here?'*
He'd been so focused on the boss that he hadn't noticed anyone approaching.
*'I've been caught.'*
Jin-Woo clicked his tongue in disappointment. Smack. But now that there was a witness, there was no way he could keep eyeing the boss. Since the Hunter's guild had purchased the rights to clear this Gate, the Dungeon's boss could be considered their property too. Besides, killing the boss would seal the Gate shut, which would be a massive loss for the Hunter's guild.
*'That could've been a disaster.'*
Blinded by his desire to Level Up, he'd almost laid his hands on someone else's property. While Jin-Woo let out a sigh of relief after finally coming to his senses, the voice's owner approached.
"I asked you what you think you're doing."
Jin-Woo turned around with an embarrassed smile.
"I got lost and ended up here." "Lost?"
A tone of disbelief. Only then was Jin-Woo able to identify the voice's owner.
*'Huh? This woman is...?'*
A face he'd seen before entering the Dungeon. It was the S-rank female Hunter, Cha Hae-In. Cha Hae-In slowly closed the distance while studying both of Jin-Woo's hands.
*'I'm sure I saw him holding weapons.'*
Had she seen wrong? Whatever it was, the weapons had vanished without a trace. Cha Hae-In's gaze swept up and down Jin-Woo's body.
*'A hard hat and work clothes... One of the mining team's Hunters?'*
His claim of getting lost didn't seem to be a lie. She didn't know how it had happened, but the boss room was a dangerous place. Regardless of the reason, Cha Hae-In decided that sending this man back was the priority.
"This is where the boss is."
Cha Hae-In blocked her nose with a handkerchief, just as she always did, and stood in front of Jin-Woo.
"Please leave right away. If you aggro it, everyone in the Dungeon could die." "Ah, I'm sorry."
Her act seemed to have worked. Jin-Woo passed by Cha Hae-In with a satisfied expression. Just then.
*'Huh?'*
Cha Hae-In turned her head toward Jin-Woo. Impossible. Eyes wide, Cha Hae-In instinctively called out to stop him.
"Hey, wait a minute." "Yes?" "Look at me for a second."
What was this woman's deal? A guilty conscience made Jin-Woo uneasy about Cha Hae-In approaching. But before he knew it, she was standing right in front of his face.
"What... are you doing?"
Jin-Woo asked with a puzzled expression, but Cha Hae-In ignored him and took a light sniff near him. She had already removed the handkerchief from her nose.
*'What?'*
Jin-Woo couldn't understand what was going on.
*'Why is she smelling me?'*
Jin-Woo was flustered. But Cha Hae-In's confusion was several times greater than his.
*'There's no stench.'*
This was the first time she'd ever met a Hunter who didn't reek. Cha Hae-In stared at Jin-Woo with stunned eyes. Question marks appeared on Jin-Woo's face.
"Is there a problem?" "You... are you really a Hunter?"
Did he even need to answer? Jin-Woo held up the Hunter license hanging around his neck. Cha Hae-In took the license and alternated glances between Jin-Woo's face and the photo on the card.
'E-rank... Sung Jin-Woo...'
Was it because his rank was so low? Jin-Woo didn't have any smell at all. No—he actually smelled nice. Jin-Woo gently pulled his license back from Cha Hae-In's hand.
"I can go now, right?" "Well..."
Cha Hae-In called out to Jin-Woo but realized she had nothing more to say and no reason to hold him back.
"...No. Get home safe. The Dungeon is big, after all." "Ah, yes."
Jin-Woo nodded and turned back toward the work site. His back disappeared into the far reaches of the cave in no time. But Cha Hae-In's gaze lingered on the path where Jin-Woo had vanished for a long while.
'He smelled nice.'
***
The mining team Hunters were trickling back to the work site one by one after finishing their meal. Team Leader Bae, walking over while picking his teeth, spotted Jin-Woo emerging from deeper inside the Dungeon and nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Uh, uh? Why are you coming from that direction, Sung?" "Ah, well..."
Jin-Woo briefly glanced back toward the boss room.
*'I can't exactly say I went to see what an A-rank Dungeon boss looks like.'*
Jin-Woo's gaze shifted back to Team Leader Bae.
"I was looking for the bathroom and got lost." "Oh my, you have to be careful! The inside of a Dungeon all looks the same, so once you get lost it's hard to find your way back. But you made it back okay?" "I ran into Hunter Cha Hae-In on the way..." "Ah, Hunter Cha? She went to stand guard in case the boss bursts out. That girl worries just as much as you do, Sung."
Team Leader Bae let out a hearty laugh. Jin-Woo's earlier concern about the boss must have made a deep impression. Jin-Woo smiled bitterly.
*'You can laugh because you don't know how terrifying the boss is.'*
That was the difference between the excavation team Hunters and the assault team Hunters. Cha Hae-In knew all too well how fearsome magical beasts could be, so she was taking precautions even in areas others wouldn't think about.
*'Who knew she had that side to her behind that expressionless face.'*
If the boss burst out, it wouldn't be the assault team in danger. It would be the workers toiling away while the assault team was gone. For the sake of those strangers, she had given up her precious rest and gone to guard the boss room entrance.
*'...What a woman.'*
That was Jin-Woo's honest impression of Cha Hae-In. Just then, her peculiar habit flashed through his mind.
*'Why does she always carry a handkerchief around?'*
Come to think of it, except for that one brief moment, she never let go of it.
"Team Leader." "Hmm?"
He had every right to be annoyed, but Team Leader Bae responded warmly and kindly every time Jin-Woo called him.
*'He was pretty responsive during work earlier too.'*
As expected, doing good work opened doors. Thanks to that, Jin-Woo felt comfortable asking all sorts of questions. If anything, Team Leader Bae was the one pressing for conversation.
"Sung, you called me over—why aren't you saying anything?"
Jin-Woo chuckled and spoke.
"It's nothing, really... Do you happen to know why Hunter Cha Hae-In carries a handkerchief?" "Ah, that? Hunter Cha is just eccentric like that." "Eccentric?"
What did he mean? Without Jin-Woo even having to ask, Team Leader Bae kindly explained.
"Hunter Cha can smell the scent that only Hunters give off, and apparently it's really awful to her." "The scent Hunters give off?" "Something about a rare body constitution, or whatever."
A rare constitution. Jin-Woo had something similar himself. Exceptional hearing. His ears had never been bad to begin with, but they'd gotten even sharper after he'd awakened.
*'Cha Hae-In's sense of smell must be along the same lines.'*
That helped him understand to some degree.
"She really is something, huh?"
Perhaps pleased by how attentively Jin-Woo was listening, Team Leader Bae continued his explanation.
"She says it's hard to even breathe when other Hunters are nearby because of that smell." "..."
So that was it.
*'That's why she asked me if I was a Hunter.'*
Because unlike other Hunters, he didn't give off any scent? The White Ghost chief he'd encountered at the Red Gate before had said something similar.
*'A voice constantly echoes in our heads. Telling us to kill humans. But in front of you, that voice goes silent.'*
Was it the same idea as what that creature had said back then? No scent unique to Hunters, and no voice telling him to kill.
*'Because I'm a Player...'*
The only being who received the System's benefits. What exactly was a Player? Jin-Woo, who had briefly questioned his own identity, shook his head.
*'It's not a question with an answer right now anyway.'*
Jin-Woo cleared his mind. Carrying around a problem that couldn't be solved by thinking would only exhaust him. Clang! Clang! The sound of his companions resuming work reached his ears. Jin-Woo picked up his pickaxe once more.
*'An A-rank boss... I wanted to fight it.'*
What would have happened if Cha Hae-In hadn't shown up? He couldn't help but feel that sense of regret.
***
Thanks to Jin-Woo's brilliant performance, the mining team's work finished well before evening. According to the team leader, they were a full two hours ahead of schedule. By that point, even the mining team colleagues' attitudes toward him had changed.
"Good work, Sung!" "You were pretty good!" "I saw mana crystals dropping and thought you'd brought an excavator from somewhere."
The Hunters surrounding Jin-Woo each offered a word of praise. The cold stares he'd gotten before entering the Gate were nowhere to be found. Jin-Woo wasn't wearing an unpleasant expression either. His experience as a Dungeon miner had been interesting, and he'd accomplished his purpose for coming to an A-rank Dungeon.
"Let's head out now." "Yes, sir!" "Let's go!"
Under Team Leader Bae's orders, the mining team moved out in orderly fashion.
"One, two." "Up!"
Leaving behind the collection team Hunters who were still hard at work, the mining team exited the Gate and gathered together again after changing clothes. Unlike the other full-time members, Jin-Woo received his daily wages in cash on the spot.
"Here's yours, Sung." "Thank you."
Team Leader Bae handed over the envelope of wages and casually asked.
"We're going out for drinks after this. You want to come along, Sung?"
His tone was casual, but Team Leader Bae's eyes were serious.
*'He looks like he has something to say...'*
Jin-Woo could sense an earnestness there. But he politely declined.
"I'm sorry." "Hmm... really?"
Team Leader Bae scratched his chin.
*'This is the kind of conversation you'd normally have after a few drinks, but...'*
He quickly changed tactics.
"I've been doing this work for years and met all kinds of people, you know." "Yes." "But someone like you—this is really the first. You've got a real natural talent for mining."
Team Leader Bae seemed to be thoroughly impressed with Jin-Woo.
*'Ha ha... well now.'*
Unable to either agree or disagree, Jin-Woo let out an awkward laugh. Taking that smile as a good sign, Team Leader Bae confidently got to the point.
"I don't usually say things like this, but... ever think about working under me? I'll take good care of you—make it worth your while."
Sung Jin-Woo, this young man. From his very first day on the job, he'd been completing three or four times the workload of most veteran miners. If he let a treasure like this slip away, wouldn't that disqualify him as a team leader? Even if he had to persuade management to pay a separate bonus, he wanted to keep Sung Jin-Woo on. But. Jin-Woo was firm.
"I appreciate the offer, but... I have things I'm preparing for."
With that one sentence, Team Leader Bae's face fell as though he'd lost his country.
"I... see?"
Jin-Woo suppressed a laugh inwardly.
*'What a character.'*
For his emotions to show so openly on his face. Team Leader Bae probably thought he'd discovered a gem hidden inside an E-rank Hunter. After agonizing for a moment, Team Leader Bae carefully asked.
"Then what about tomorrow? Can you come in tomorrow?" "Tomorrow, hmm..."
Truthfully, he was free through tomorrow. The day after tomorrow was the re-measurement. But did he really need to sign up as a miner again? He'd gotten a rough sense of the clearing process, and he'd gotten to see the A-rank boss. But just then.
*'Wait a minute.'*
A question flashed quickly through Jin-Woo's mind as he opened his mouth to refuse.
"So the Hunter's guild has a raid tomorrow as well?" "They do. Another A-rank Gate." "Is that even possible? Today's raid just finished."
It was standard practice for an assault team to rest for about a week after a raid.
*'They said this raid started yesterday afternoon.'*
If that was the case, the Hunter's guild's elite had raided on two consecutive days—yesterday and today. After the collection work, they'd probably finish off the boss around dawn. A raid tomorrow didn't immediately make sense. But as Jin-Woo showed interest, Team Leader Bae got animated too.
"Tomorrow, Team B will be taking the field instead of Team A."
Team B? Did they really intend to clear an A-rank Dungeon with their second-string?
"That's the power of the Hunter's guild. We're the only guild in Korea that can split two teams to tackle A-rank Gates simultaneously."
Team Leader Bae spoke with pride.
"Has the Hunter's guild always conducted raids this way?" "No, no. Normally there's never a reason to split the teams. But this time, the schedules just happened to overlap."
It turned out that A-rank Gates had appeared simultaneously in the areas under the Hunter's guild's jurisdiction, and CEO Choi Jong-In had struggled to secure clearance for both at the same time.
*'Ah, so when I met CEO Choi at the Hunter's Association yesterday...'*
A man as busy as Choi Jong-In wouldn't have visited the Association without a reason. Jin-Woo nodded.
"So this will be the first time you're attempting a raid with only the second-string?" "That's right. But the Hunter's guild's second-string isn't really second-string. They're superior to most large guilds' first-strings." "But it's still much more dangerous than today, isn't it?"
Team Leader Bae fell silent. It was an obvious statement. Today's raid had included two S-rank Hunters. Tomorrow, on the other hand, would be conducted entirely with A-rank and below. He'd heard that tomorrow's Gate was smaller in scale than today's, but losing two S-ranks was still a major blow. This was from the same Sung who'd been worrying about a boss-class magical beast even with an S-rank assault team nearby.
*'But I can't exactly lie to him.'*
Team Leader Bae had been hoping to win him over by working together again tomorrow, but now that plan was completely shot. He wore a disappointed expression.
"It's considerably more dangerous. If things go wrong, the raid itself could fail."
At those words, the look in Jin-Woo's eyes changed.