Levelling Up In An Exclusive Dungeon - Chapter 18

Employees dispatched by the association guided the civilians in evacuating. 

Usually, when such a large-scale invasion takes place, large guilds cooperate with each other to defend against the monsters.

Which is why it’s rare to see monsters entering the city with no guilds around.

However, by this time, monsters were infiltrating the sky and even the grounds everywhere.

“It started earlier than expected. Can I handle this alone?”

As Jinhyuk looked around, he saw that the monsters running around in the city were low-levelled ones that even D-rank hunters could hunt.

Seeing those monsters walking around with no guilds around, Jinhyuk could roughly guess what was going on.

“They only want to hunt the high-level ones. They’re leaving the low-level monsters to other hunters.”

That was technically a good thing for low-level hunters not belonging in a guild.

Jinhyuk would’ve been more than glad enough to take care of this in the past.

However, not that he has an exclusive dungeon, he doesn’t really need these monsters.

Small monsters like these roam around inside the dungeon.

Even if he caught some of these, he would just unnecessarily waste the physical strength he has left.

“I could just go home and sleep.”

Even if Jinhyuk didn’t intervene here, other hunters would gladly deal with these monsters.

This large-scale invasion doesn’t happen very often, but it’s impossible for guilds or even other hunters to defend against this even if it started a bit early.

Jinhyuk yawned so loudly that his eyes teared up as he tried to hurry home.

However, he stopped in his tracks shortly after a loud announcement.

[This is to inform all hunters.]

[The current situation is very urgent, so if you are able to hunt a monster currently attacking the city, we’ll compensate it three fold.]

[The above condition is limited to today. Hunters who want to be compensated should visit the association with their items, and we will confirm if it’s caught within today. Hunters should do so as soon as the current situation settles down.]

Jinhyuk heard cheers bursting from every direction. 

Other hunters exclaimed in joy after hearing that message.

“Three fold you mean…”

Not only is it an opportunity to legally sell monster corpses without going through an illegal organization, but the compensation for it is tripled too.

It was foolish to choose to sleep with such an opportunity right in front of him.

Jinhyuk immediately turned around and dashed back towards the city.

“Aim for the head, you guys!”

* * *

The center of the massive invasion was surrounded by a boundary set up by Titans guild members.

Most guild members jumped into the hunt, and only a small number of people maintained it.

Due to the lack of personnel, not all monsters were blocked by the boundary.

“Don’t waste your strength in fighting these monsters! Focus your energy on maintaining the boundary!”

Guild executives ran around hard and led the members.

They’re usually nothing more than people decorated in dark outfits who only care about profit, but they faithfully played their original role during this crisis.

The executives may be greedy, but that doesn’t mean that they’re incompetent.

It was because of their power that the Titans continue to exist as a large guild.

“There’s a bit of room in the west, so I’ll take 10 people here and head there!”

“Understood!”

The guild members also followed the executives’ instructions amid the crisis.

They were like soldiers operating under a proper command system.

Seo Sangho was able to fight with confidence thanks to the executive leading the other guild members on their own.

“Guild leader! Troops in Yoon Taeyoon’s side are being pushed back!”

“I’ll come to them soon, tell them to hang in there!”

Seo Sangho eliminated the monsters around him with his bare fist and ran to the place that needed help.

The power of the S-rank hunter shone in this difficult situation.

“Ha!”

The monsters couldn’t even get close to him as they were torn apart.

The only thing that could withstand his power were large monsters whose size exceeds 5 meters.

The guild members gained confidence at the sight of Seo Sangho’s incredible skills, but Sangho himself feels like he’s dying.

“Come on! It’s a kill or be killed situation!”

It’s not supposed to be this hard because situations like this is supposed to be dealt with in cooperation with other guilds.

He didn’t know he’d miss the other guilds so much when they weren’t around.

Why did everyone go overseas at the same time?

“This reminds me of that time when I do group assignments on my own…”

Sangho sighed as he dropped his head for a moment, but he had to raise his head again at the cries of his guild members.

“It’s a two-headed cow!”

“Those below B-rank, back off!”

The body of a guild member looks like it’s about to fall off because he was hit by the two-headed cow.

“Ha… Looks like I’ve got no time to rest.”

Seo Sangho approached the two-headed cow and shook his fist before the situation worsened.

“Grrrr…!”

The two-headed cow, that even A-rank hunters find difficult to deal with, received a hole in the middle of its abdomen from Sangho’s fists.

The monster, whose intestines were ripped through, collapsed on the spot.

It was a phenomenal scene, but no one could afford to admire it.

Sangho and the other guild members had to find and eliminate the next monster.

“I think this invasion is a little too tough.”

Sangho smiled bitterly when a guild member next to him said those things half-jokingly.

“I know right. It’s hard to see the end of this.”

The bigger problem was the appearance of giant monsters.

If a few smaller monsters show up, the other guild members could handle it.

However, it’s a different story if they’re faced with several two-headed cows. 

Monsters at that level can only be dealt with by at least A-rank hunters.

Sangho was forced to step up because if A-rank hunters were concentrated in one area, it would mess up their formation.

The other guild members take a break every thirty minutes by taking turns with people in the back.

Meanwhile, Sangho has been fighting for more than 2 hours without a break.

In the end, a secretary came to him as he fought to maintain his breath.

The secretary immediately grabbed Sangho by the shoulder.

“Please rest for a bit. If you keep this up, you’ll collapse even before the battle ends.”

“I rested up a bit a while ago.”

“Please don’t lie. You haven’t taken a breather since the invasion began.”

“…If I step back now, this thing would take longer than we want it to be.”

If the battle is prolonged in this situation where there are not enough people, the defense line would surely collapse.

Sango decided to overwork himself because he knows that the other guild members are also giving all that they can.

“Take care of the clerics instead of me. The longer this goes on, the more important their role is.”

“I’ve already placed enough support for them. What you need to pay attention to right now is the condition of the guild if you collapse.”

“I told you, I’m fine.”

Sangho rushed into the battlefield before his secretary could nag further.

Even if Sangho looked fine at the moment, the secretary couldn’t help but be worried about him.

“Is he really okay when he’s been running around like this nonstop…”

The executives who were supposed to assist Sangho are focusing on maintaining the defense line, so there’s no one to fill Sangho’s vacancy on the battlefield.

The secretary thought of Ahn Doyoon for a moment, but she had to shake off that thought.

“We shouldn’t seek help from that kind of person.”

They’d rather die in this field than rely on that person.

“As expected, we need more help from other hunters.”

Executives believed that this is a golden opportunity to raise back up the guild’s reputation, and also minimize their need for mercenaries.

Sangho opposed it, but the executives pushed for it while making excuses about the guild-hunter serial killer.

Considering Titans power and Sangho’s abilities, it’s not really an unreasonable policy.

But no one really knows how things will go now.

If a large number of high-level monsters appears, their current troops wouldn’t be able to cope.

The secretary realized that it’s necessary to hire non-guild members for help before it was too late.

Since the executives aren’t available to give their permission at the moment, the secretary left the area while avoiding their eyes.

* * *

Jinhyuk confirmed that there were no more monsters around him before he sat on a nearby staircase.

He could hunt more hunters if he moves to a different area, but he’s sure that other hunters are already there.

Jinhyuk did not want to take away the opportunity from those who came there first.

It’s the very thing that he despised about large guilds.

He doesn’t want to become the same rotten people like them.

“Let’s see…”

Jinhyuk looked into his inventory to check the number of corpses he hunted today.

“I caught about 30 monsters today.”

If he receives three fold compensation, he would make more than 100 times his current profits.

He doesn’t have any reason to not end his hunting here for today.

“I should head home after this.”

Jinhyuk made eye contact with a familiar face the moment he stood up.

The woman running in a hurry was definitely the same one that he saw standing next to Seo Sangho before.

The woman also recognized her.

Sangho’s secretary stopped running and approached Jinhyuk.

“You’re Kang Jinhyuk-ssi, right? Do you have time right now?”

“No, I was just about to head home…”

“If you don’t have any other plans, please help us out for a second.”

The secretary spoke with urgency.

Jinhyuk felt déjà vu from when that Titans hunter asked him for help.

“Is it the Titans taking care of the monster invasion?”

“Yes.”

“Is it a difficult situation to settle with just the guild members?”

“Did the rumor spread already? How did you know that?”

“…”

Jinhyuk was speechless and almost laughed in vain.

The situation was no different from before.

It seems that Titans specialty is to inconvenience hunters and rush them only after the situation gets out of hand.

‘Do they not learn?’

Jinhyuk had no choice to take out his baseball bat once more.

“How much are you going to pay me?”

“Do you want to be paid by the hour? Or by the results?”

Clerics usually prefer to be paid by the hour.

This is because clerics are specialized in assisting. They don’t really run on the field unlike other hunters

However, Jinhyuk chose the latter with no hesitation.

“Pay me by the results.”

“Eh? Aren’t you a cleric, Kang Jinhyuk-ssi?”

“That’s right.”

“So why…?”

Jinhyuk returned the secretary’s question.

“Do you know what true healing means?”

“Hmm… I don’t know, saving even those who are dead?”

“No, it’s removing the threat to damage itself. That’s the ultimate form of healing.”

The secretary looked blank, wondering what nonsense Jinhyuk was saying.