Levelling Up In An Exclusive Dungeon - Chapter 17

Corpses of several monsters scattered all over the floor of the temple’s basement.

Goblins, Kobolds, and even golems.

Jinhyuk faced all these monsters.

He wanted to put them all in his inventory, but that’s not possible now.

Lying face down on the cold stone floor, Jinhyuk was breathing as if he was fighting for his life.

“I-I can’t do this anymore. Even dying is better…”

“You’re really. If anyone sees you, they’d think you’re being tortured.”

“Is this not torture? What kind of person makes a human swing his bat for three days straight?”

“It’s all for your good.”

“Bullshxx…”

Although Jinhyuk cursed unintentionally, he knew that Lucia’s words were true.

His list of skills was the proof of the achievements of this harsh training.

[Divine Power – Level 3]

[Precise blow]

[Persistence]

He gained two new passive skills, and the previous one he gained levelled up.

After three days of nonstop effort, Jinhyuk was able to get his hands on it.

An active skill that enables him to use aura.

[Holy Aura]

Materializing the power of faith through aura

Current skill level: F

<Skill Effect>

Strengthens the body or weapon once given aura

Damage caused by aura cannot be offset other than by another aura.

As his body was aching in pain, it became tolerable after he read the skill description.

The effect of the new skill was stronger than what Jinhyuk expected.

The fact that others can’t defend against the damage of the aura unless they have aura themselves is a great thing.

Although the skill level is still low, the effect of the skill was enough.

Jinhyuk was satisfied with his achievement.

But it doesn’t seem like Lucia is.

Now that he has acquired Aura, Lucia never stopped whipping him and saying that he should develop this new power.

Jinhyuk, who could no longer take it, lied on the floor to protest.

“Whatever. I can’t move my body anymore so I’d rather you just kill me.”

“Ohoo, you’re going to do this?”

Lucia loaded an arrow on her bow with a meaningful smile.

Jinhyuk thought that she was threatening him at first, but looking closely at the direction she was pointing at, it doesn’t seem to be the case.

Lucia fired an arrow at the end of the hallway, where nothing seems to be visible.

Shortly after the sound of the arrow cutting through the wind, a cry of a monster was heard. 

It wasn’t a scream of pain, rather of surprise or anger.

“I missed it by a narrow margin on purpose. It’s going to come over here soon.”

“Are you the devil….”

What Lucia actually meant was, if Jinhyuk wanted to live, he should get up from the floor soon.

How can a person be so wicked?

As Jinhyuk was admiring the wickedness of the elf, a group of orcs came closer with their clubs up high in the air.

“What the heck is this place even? There are orcs here too?”

“We caught the boss monster and broke the boundary. That’s why monsters gathered from different places.”

“There’s nothing to gain here though…”

Jinhyuk had no idea that the monsters were being dragged by the magic of the temple.

In his perspective, the monsters were nothing more than an inconvenience for him.

“F**k.”

Jinhyuk picked up his body with a deeply annoyed voice.

That woman seriously left him alone to die.

* * *

Lee Juncheol was satisfied with the trend of the business these days.

Jinhyuk gave the saving rope to his organization right when they were suffering from a decline.

The monster corpses that he regularly supplies was of better quality than any other hunters sell.

He doesn’t know why such high-quality corpses were being sold to him and not to the association.

Honestly, there are some aspects about their business relationship that makes him uncomfortable, but considering the amount of their transaction and the profits he earned, it was something that he could endure.

“It only matters to me that he brings in profits.”

Morality was not needed to build credit in this world.

As long as the contract is kept and money is made, that’s enough.

Lee Juncheol waited for Jinhyuk to come into the conference room. The separate one that serves VIPs only.

He checked the agenda for today’s meeting when he heard the door open.

“Welcome and come— what’s the matter?”

“It’s nothing.”

Jinhyuk’s complexion wasn’t very good, and he didn’t speak much.

His eyes looked very tired, and his hair seemed flaky.

He looked like someone who just returned from remote areas after suffering for a long time.

Jinhyuk leaned on the sofa as if he was about to collapse.

“If you’re exhausted, we can hold the meeting some other time.”

“I’m here to collect my money so I won’t be doing that.”

Jinhyuk sighed loudly put a pouch-type inventory on the table.

“I brought in the monster corpses separately, so go check its quality.”

“If it’s something that Mr. Jinhyuk brought, then I think won’t need to do that.”

Juncheol said that as if he had absolute trust in Jinhyuk, but he in fact doesn’t.

He will be checking thoroughly for the quantity and quality of the corpses after Jinhyuk leaves.

It was merely lip service to please Jinhyuk.

“Just as you called for in advance; 21 goblin corpses, 21 kobold corpses, and 6 orc corpses. Is that right?”

“Yes, and I want you to check this one out.”

Jinhyuk put a lump of metal with a subtle blue color.

It was the Mithril that he secretly didn’t hand over to the dwarf.

“T-this is something I’ve never seen before.”

“Can you check how much it’s worth?”

“I will do that right away. I’ll call in an expert.”

Lee Joonseok recognized in one glance that the metal brought by Jinhyuk wasn’t ordinary. 

A strange magical energy was leaking from where the Mithril was placed.

He’s not sure about the details of the mana flowing, but he knew that it had outstanding power.

“I’d like to trade for that metal after it is priced.”

“Alright. I’ll contact you as soon as I can.”

Lee Juncheol carefully picked up the mithril and placed it in a separate case.

He handed over the documents on the table towards Jinhyuk.

The document was organized into one or two sheets of paper, and it contained simple personal information of the company’s contacts.

“What is this?”

This is a list of people who wants the alcohol that you gave me last time. They want to promote it.”

“Why are you showing it to me?”

“Since you’re the person who supplies the product, shouldn’t you know about its production process?”

Juncheol explained that he promoted the alcohol as a high-end brand to high-ranking officials.

The image that he tried to build was of a ‘traditional soju enhanced by an outstanding craftsman using traditional methods’.

“…How was their reaction?”

“It was very positive. It’s safe to say that this business is bound to succeed.”

The soju brought by Jinhyuk was both excellent in taste and rich in mana which restores energy.

“There are many people who want to pay for it right away.”

“If there are too many orders, it’s not going to be easy to meet the demand.”

“There’s no need to worry about that. I established that it’s a liquor made by an individual craftsman, so they know that the supply is going to be low.”

“You’re very smart.”

“Hahaha, yes I hear that a lot.”

But the truth was, Juncheol didn’t do it for Jinhyuk.

Even if the supply could meet the demand, Juncheol would have done the same thing. It would be more beneficial for the organization to sell it at a high price by increasing its rarity.

“How much do you think we should sell this?”

When asked by Jinhyuk, Lee Joonseok realized that the time had come.

Deceiving him here by lowballing Jinhyuk would benefit them greatly.

He wants to do that right now.

However, he realized that greed will always bite back.

Lee Joonseok considered it foolish to do such a thing.

Lee Junseok suppressed his greed and spoke honestly in order to secure future transactions.

“I think 150,000 Won per bottle is enough.”

“Isn’t that too expensive?”

The price was too high compared to regular soju.

However, Lee Joonseok was confident that sales would go well even at that price.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure it will sell.”

“How are you so sure of that?”

“I am confident because of how well it went when I promoted it. If the sales don’t go well, I will still compensate you at the same price.”

Lee Joonseok made such a proposal, so Jinhyuk has nothing to lose.

‘Soju costs less than 2,000 Won at the convenience store. We’re selling it at 150,000 a bottle just because I put it in a bottle.’

It was a product that left a more terrifying margin the more he thought about it.

Even if he quit hunter work now, he could live in abundance just by selling alcohol.

“Alright. Then I’ll trust you and leave it to your hands.”

After Jinhyuk agreed, Lee Joonseok bowed his head deeply.

“Thank you.”

* * *

After settling the contract with Lee Joonseok, Jinhyuk went outside with a brighter face.

It’s funny how his mind becomes lighter the heavier his wallet became.

He feels like he’ll collapse right away because of the training given by Lucia for the week.

He felt energized when he thought of the money that would accumulate in his account.

“I should head home and get some sleep…”

Jinhyuk yawned and stretched out his arms and legs.

He sold the monster corpses and even the mithril alcohol, so all that’s left for him is to rest his tired body.

However, things doesn’t always go the way he wanted.

<Current Situation! Current Situation! Civilians on the street, please evacuate immediately!>

The sleepiness completely left Jinhyuk’s body as he heard the evacuation broadcast along with a loud siren sound.

For a moment he thought that a war broke out, but the moment he saw a ‘Wyvern’ crossing the sky, he realized what was going on.

“What the… Why is this going on right here on the streets?”

Wouldn’t one or two guilds at least know of this?

There were more than 10 of them at least.

“How did this happen?”

It was never normal for so many monsters to run around in the open.

Feeling the situation getting serious, Jinhyuk took out his bat from his inventory.

“Don’t tell me today is…”

Jinhyuk took out his phone and checked the alert message. He found out that his guess was right.

He’s not sure whether he’s lucky or not.

Of all days, today was the day of the monthly massive monster invasion.

“Why did this happen today?”