Levelling Up In An Exclusive Dungeon - Chapter 14

The truth is, Aura was an ability that needs skillful use of mana, and it takes lifetime devotion to develop it.

That’s why it’s very rare for humans to be able to use Aura.

Because Lucia was a half-elf, and their life span is much longer than that of a human, she was able to learn Aura.

On the other hand, Jinhyuk was just a regular human.

Even if he’s talented, it won’t be until his hair is all white that he’d be able to use Aura.

Though he wants to learn it, there’s no way to go against time with his human body.

Nevertheless, Lucia’s suggestion was thoughtful in its own way.

‘I just told him I’ll teach him how to use it. I never promised that he’ll be able to use it right away.’

Of course, she has to teach it to him with a sincere heart.

It’s purely up to Jinhyuk whether he can make his talents bloom or not.

“Geuuuu.”

While Lucia was deep in her thoughts, the boss monster moved for an ambush.

It was a surprise attack aimed at her, but Jinhyuk was faster than it.

“Holy Shield!”

Because of the natural instinct of his bat, Jinhyuk was able to get there faster than the monster.

Thanks to the level up given by beating the middle boss, Jinhyuk’s defense skill completely blocked the stone statue’s attack.

The rebound made the stone statue collapse on the spot.

Jinhyuk saw the opportunity, so he rushed in as fast as he could towards the statue’s exposed core…

A sound of breaking was heard, but it seems like the core was not completely crushed.

But Jinhyuk expected this, so he swung his bat again with no hesitation.

Jinhyuk hit the stone statue’s core once, twice, three times with no rest.

The core couldn’t withstand the damage and was shattered in the end.

“Geu….”

Leaving a scream-like moan as its last breath, the stone statue stopped moving eventually.

[You have levelled up.]

 Thanks to the tremendous EXP given by the boss monster, Jinhyuk was bombarded with level up messages.

It’s not been that long since he became a C-rank hunter, but his level is now up to 85 already.

If this continues, he’d be a B-rank hunter in no time. 

Jinhyuk searched through the remains of the boss monster, expecting to find some fallen items.

Unfortunately, there were none.

“That skill just now…. Are you a cleric?”

Jinhyuk was taken aback by Lucia’s sudden question.

“Eh? You didn’t know?”

“I thought you were a warrior because you carry a bat. Who knew that a human beating up golems was a cleric.”

Lucia was right.

It’s the first time that Jinhyuk used a cleric’s skill in front of Lucia.

“You’re a cleric… This is unexpected.”

“Is it really?”

“Well, it’s not that surprising but it’s different from what I thought.”

Jinhyuk didn’t understand what Lucia was trying to say.

“What’s different? Is there a disadvantage to being a cleric?”

“It’s the opposite.”

“What?”

“Given that you’re a cleric, it’s going to be easier to teach you how to use Aura.”

Jinhyuk was confused.

How does this specialty, which does not have combat-specialized skills, help him in learning Aura?

Lucia saw Jinhyuk’s expression and knew that the guy knew nothing.

“Have you ever heard of ‘holy aura’?”

“Of course not.”

“… Not knowing it is not something to brag about.”

Lucia sighed quietly before continuing her explanation.

“The shield you just used. That’s also kind of an aura.”

“You’re saying that skill uses aura?”

“Well, it’s a bit different. But the method and the effect are the same.”

The difference is that aura is made from mana gathered from the body.

The thing that clerics use was made of divine power.

“So will I be able to use it right away?”

“Of course not… But if you do well, maybe you’ll learn it in a week or so.”

For cleric’s they don’t have to stack up on aura, they just have to learn how to use it.

Of course, it wouldn’t be easy, but Lucia was confident that she’d be able to teach it with her own capabilities.

But still, just because it’s possible, doesn’t mean that she’ll do it for him right away.

Someone told her that before.

‘Don’t do what you’re good at for free.’

Lucia’s experience as an adventurer proved that to be true.

“In exchange for me teaching you, I have one condition. You remember what it is right?”

“Condition? Ah…!”

Jinhyuk remembered what Lucia said.

No way….

Lucia was willing to teach him such a precious skill in exchange for a chocolate bar.

Life is really unpredictable.

* * *

Seo Sangho was leaving the association’s headquarters with an unpleasant expression.

Even though he was known for his kind personality, the unilateral notification made him offended.

The secretary that followed Seo Sangho felt it too.

“Shall we call the guild officers right away?”

“Yes.”

Seo Sangho nodded as he sighed.

“Does it make sense for our guild to be dealt with like this?”

“I don’t think the timing of these events is very good.”

The appearance of monsters usually happens randomly, but this one was an exception.

An abnormal transmission was found this month.

A powerful monster appeared right at the place where the abnormal transmission was observed.

The phenomenon happened to be here in Seoul when all the other large guilds were commissioned abroad.

Currently, only S-rank hunter Seo Sanghoon and his guild were the only forces that could cope with this phenomenon in Korea.

“I think we’ll have to seek cooperation from other guilds.”

“I think so too. But well, will the other guilds be willing to…”

Public opinion on Titans hasn’t been very good because of the incident by Ahn Doyoon.

Both the secretary and Sangho were aware of it.

“I should’ve stopped him beforehand.”

The work was more serious than he thought as he was wary of the other guilds’ executives.

They didn’t know that the snowball rolled by Ahn Doyoon would get this big.

It was Doyoon who made the mistake, but Sangho had to take responsibility as the guild leader.

“Sigh… If I could, I’d rather die right now.

If he could he would pour out all kinds of curses and just kick that man out.

But at the moment, every single person is a precious resource.

“It’s not a good time to kick out an A-rank hunter.”

“I know.”

Even if he knew it logically, it’s hard to accept the fact still.

The secretary wanted to comfort Sangho’s feelings.

“He’s not a good person, but his skills are important for us.”

“That’s true. But he’s a guy beaten up by a mere cleric.”

Upon hearing Sangho’s words, something suddenly came up in the secretary’s mind.

“Did you succeed in negotiating with the hunter that beat up Ahn Doyoon?”

“No. Not yet.”

“You’ve been waiting for quite a while now.”

“I’m trying to be careful with my actions.”

Kang Jinhyuk, the hunter that Seo Sangho wants to recruit, had a bad perception of the Titans.

Forcing him to join would just backfire on them.

“Do some more research so we can provide him a good offer.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary. He’s not someone who comes up in a lot of internet searches.”

Jinhyuk was a D-rank hunter for a while, but he suddenly boomed as a hunter recently.

There was nothing significant about him before that.

Seo Sangho liked the mystery.

It felt as if he had discovered a gemstone that no one else was interested in.

“Anyway, I’ll take care of that. Just distract the executives for now.”

Unlike Seo Sangho, who is pushing for the recruitment of Kang Jinhyuk, the other Titan executives did not like the guy.

At the moment, they know very little about what the executives are up to, so they have to step up their surveillance.

“We’ve already deployed a lot of people to keep an eye on them.”

“Really? What’s the situation?”

“They’ve been planning on something that you’re not supposed to know, Guild Leader.”

“Hahaha, as expected with those bastards.”

Sangho laughed as if he expected this to happen.

It was the executives who built the Titans from the ground up, not Sangho who couldn’t care less about the guild.

They couldn’t stand it that Ahn Doyoon was still in the guild.

“Contact me right away if they’re plotting something against Kang Jinhyuk. I’ll handle it myself.”

“May I ask why you seem to cherish that hunter a lot? Isn’t he a C-rank hunter at best?”

“Let’s see… I can’t pinpoint it. I just have a good feeling about him.”

If someone else heard it, they’d think that it was a ridiculous answer.

However, the long-running secretary of Seo Sangho did not find it odd.

While working as his secretary, he knew that Seo Sangho’s instinct was very sharp.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Seo Sangho was able to firmly maintain his position as the guild leader against those executives, all thanks to his judgment and sixth sense.

“Now is not the time to focus on that hunter. We need to focus on the request of the association.”

“Understood.”

It was natural that they had to deal with the fire first.

While they were talking…

They unexpectedly saw Jinhyuk coming out of a bakery nearby.

Seo Sangho wanted to focus on other things for the time being.

However, now that Jinhyuk was right in front of his eyes, he couldn’t just pass the opportunity.

“I can’t be a gentleman now.”

Seo Sangho informed his secretary with a meaningful smile.

“I have something else to do, so go ahead and inform the executives of what happened at the association.”

“Understood.”

As soon as the secretary left, Seo Sangho approached Jinhyuk.

Jinhyuk seemed quite surprised to see him walking towards him.

“What brings you here?”

“That’s what I wanted to ask you. Why are you buying all those stuff at this hour? And at the bakery?”

Seo Sangho’s attention was towards the large paper bag held by Jinhyuk.

It seems to be too much food to eat for a single person.

“I also don’t know what I’m doing right now.”

Jinhyuk smiled bitterly as if this wasn’t something that he wanted to do on his own.

Seo Sangho was curious about it, but he has something else to prioritize at this moment.

“Have you thought about my suggestion?”

“If you’re talking about me joining the guild, I already told you. I have no intention of joining one for the time being.”

Jinhyuk’s answer was very clear that it seemed like he had no room for reconsideration.

He was very grateful that an S-rank hunter pursues him to join the guild, but he doesn’t want to join the Titans at all.

Not only the Titans, but all the large guilds.

Jinhyuk did not want to join hands with those people who monopolize monsters, with no regard to the non-guild hunters.

“I think I’ve offered you enough favorable conditions… I don’t understand why you’re not accepting them.”

‘I just don’t like it.’

Jinhyuk wanted to say that directly to the S-rank hunter, but he couldn’t so he had to think of another excuse.

“The crazy serial killer hasn’t been caught yet, isn’t he? I don’t want to worry every night, thinking that I’d be stabbed in the back.”

“… Is it really for that reason?”

Jinhyuk nodded calmly.

“I heard there were 12 victims just this month. No one would dare enter any guild at such a heinous time.”

Seo Sangho couldn’t refute that fact.

A hunter dies every three days, yet the association and even the large guilds are not taking any plausible measures.

‘He’ll get caught someday if he aims for A-rank hunters.’

Such ridiculous excuses were the reason why the association and the guilds left the matter unattended.

Even though the killer was skilled in that he leaves no trace, it’s still irresponsible for the association to not even think about pursuing the killer.

After a short sigh, Seo Sangho opened his mouth.

“Well then, how about coming in as a mercenary?”

“A mercenary?”

“Yes. We’ll give you enough compensation.

Well, if that meant that they’d simply hunt together instead of him joining the guild, Jinhyuk doesn’t see any reason to refuse.

If it’s a guild like the Titans, it would mean that Jinhyuk wouldn’t have any difficulty in hunting monsters anymore. And on top of that, the monsters he’d deal with would likely be valuable.

However, he sensed something suspicious.

“Titans already have so many talented people. Do you really need me to be a mercenary?”

Kang Jinhyuk’s known specification was only a C-rank hunter.

The only advantageous, well-known fact about him was that he was a cleric.

It was hard to say why the Titan guild leader would think that a hunter such as him would be worth bringing as a mercenary.

“Haha, you’re too humble for a guy who beat up an A-rank hunter.”

“What I did on him worked better than I thought it would.”

“You wielded your bat quite confidently for that.”

“I was so angry so I did put a lot of energy into that swing.”

Seo Sangho could not erase the feeling that Jinhyuk was hiding something. 

But as long as Jinhyuk presented himself like this, there’s no way for him to dig deeper.

Seo Sangho decided to set aside his curiosity and take a step back,

“Even if it was just luck, clerics who have combat skills are very valuable. If you have the time, please contact me.”

The situation at hand doesn’t really require a cleric.

Seo Sangho hoped that Jinhyuk would get used to what guilds do on his own.

“…I’ll think about it.”

Seo Sangho was internally satisfied when Jinhyuk gave a somewhat positive answer than what he gave before.