Episode 18.
Seoul branch of the Hunter Management Bureau, under the Ministry of Public Administration and Security.
The Hunter Management Bureau, also known as the Hunter Association, was managing the dungeons created in South Korea along with the hunters.
Therefore, the Seoul branch of the Hunter Management Bureau could be said to be a place that manages the dungeons created in Seoul along with the hunters residing in Seoul.
And although it was called dungeon management, in reality it wasn’t much different.
When a dungeon is created, its level is measured.
All it did was publish information about dungeons and introduce dungeons to hunters.
Sometimes, when competition got fierce, the Hunter Management Bureau’s job was to just host the auctions.
In the past, there were no auctions or anything like that.
An invasion from a dimension called the Demon World.
The beings called the Demons were massacring people, and at the time, Earth was in a time when survival was not guaranteed.
However, due to the efforts of numerous Awakened beings, the demons of the Demon World were eventually banished from Earth.
Finally, the Demon King was finally defeated by the 13 heroes.
In addition, the 5th industrial revolution has brought about innovation in Earth’s civilization.
Being a hunter could be considered a profession in this day and age.
Can’t you tell just by looking at the millions of dollars in revenue that YouTube channels are generating right now?
Anyway, if you wanted to raid a dungeon, you had to go through the Hunter Management Bureau.
And that was also the job of Juminseong, an employee of the Dungeon Management Team under the Hunter Management Bureau.
“If it’s an E-rank dungeon… There’s an E-rank ghoul dungeon and an E-rank Owlbear that you can go to right now. Which one would you like?”
“Um… I don’t really have a grill. Please make it Owlbear.”
“Yes. I will check your Hunter rank and process it right away.”
Before Minseong could speak, Hunter held out his ID card.
The confirmed grade is E+.
It was enough qualification to conquer an E-rank dungeon alone.
“I confirmed. The dungeon is located at 34-da-gil, Eunpyeong-gu, so you can go there right away.”
“thank you.”
The hunter returned his rank and left.
Hunter, who was the last person on standby for today’s work.
“Manager. There’s a team dinner happening right now. Let’s go together.”
“Oh, yes. I’ll just take care of what came in and then follow you.”
“Okay. Hurry up and come.”
Leaving Manager Kim behind, Minseong entered the information about the raid that had just come in into the computer.
At that moment, while I was entering the computer information.
A piece of information that had been recorded a little while ago caught Minseong’s eye.
[Maeng Si-woo] – F-rank goblin dungeon.
“Maeng Si-woo Heon… .”
Minseong couldn’t finish his words.
That’s because I wondered if it was okay to call him a hunter.
Awakened individual without personality.
What more needs to be said about this?
However, even if they are ignorant, they are awakened beings.
Legally, he fell into the category of hunters who could conquer dungeons.
“……”
But it was true that I felt uneasy.
No matter how much hunters are recognized as a profession in this day and age, it is still a dangerous profession.
The monsters inside the dungeon are still ferocious.
Hunters were those who risked their lives fighting such monsters.
People tend to make fun of videos on YouTube and other platforms.
However, as a member of the dungeon management team, Minseong knew how scary monsters were.
Even though it was an F-rank, it was a monster that ordinary people could never deal with.
“I wonder if I’m doing this for nothing.”
That’s why Minseong felt very uncomfortable.
Shouldn’t it have been torn apart somehow?
Wasn’t it a waste of time to grant permission to enter the dungeon and cause one person to die?
“Okay, that’s enough.”
But Minseong quickly shook off the thought.
Minseong didn’t threaten me with a knife, he just said he would go.
Minseong simply did the job he was given.
Minseong continued to input information into the computer.
And just as I was about to enter the final information.
“excuse me….”
I heard someone calling Minseong.
Minseong frowned slightly without realizing it.
That makes sense, I was just about to finish work for today.
But, what can I do?
Minseong raised his head without showing it.
and.
“Hunter Maeng Si-woo?”
I was able to encounter some pretty familiar faces.
Of course, Minseong didn’t remember the faces of all the hunters he encountered.
But Siwoo had his own unique characteristics and that time didn’t last long.
“What brings us here again?”
“Oh, that’s….”
Siwoo looked embarrassed at Minseong’s words.
And Minseong could guess why Siwoo had come back.
‘You gave up on the dungeon.’
There were a lot of cases like this.
When you are drunk on your own skills and raid dungeons beyond your capabilities.
Of course, the association had some restrictions.
If the gap between the dungeon you want to raid and your hunter level is too large, permission will not be granted.
Simply put, only dungeons that can be raided are permitted.
However, there were many cases where the dungeon was abandoned.
Because reality wasn’t a game that was simply determined by a number called a rank.
Even if the hunter’s level is higher than that of the dungeon, it is ultimately something that involves risking one’s life.
Even a S-class hunter who is known for being tough will die if a sword is stuck in his stomach.
Of course, it’s just difficult to stick that knife in.
The gap in grades did not mean that the iron plate was placed around the belly.
So now Siwoo has come back again.
The situation was obvious even without asking.
‘That’s fortunate.’
Minseong thought to himself,
Even though the time I leave work is later, can’t I still shake off my uneasy feelings?
Minseong went through the dungeon abandonment process with a relieved mind.
No, it was just as I was about to proceed.
“I just wanted to see if I could find out about another dungeon.”
“…… yes?”
Minseong’s body stopped for a moment and hesitated.
Just now… what did you say?
“Are you looking for another dungeon?”
“yes.”
“……?”
Minseong tilted his head at Siwoo’s nodding response.
So what I mean is,
“Are you saying that you cleared the Goblin Dungeon?”
“yes.”
Minseong wondered what the hell that was.
That’s understandable, since it takes about an hour for an F-rank Awakener to raid an F-rank dungeon.
Being an F-class hunter meant being a complete beginner among beginners.
I could never raid fast enough.
But now the time is… .
‘It’s only been 10 minutes?’
It was only 10 minutes ago that I met Siwoo.
Considering the time it took to get from the Goblin Dungeon to the Administration Office here, this meant that the actual dungeon raid time was less than 3 minutes.
“What is that…?”
Are you talking nonsense?
Wouldn’t that be possible if you were at least a B-class hunter?
That’s why it seemed like it could only be a lie.
But why on earth is that?
The dungeon’s magic core is suddenly placed above Minseong’s blank gaze.
“Mr. Ha, I can’t control my strength so everything is exploding. I need to farm the materials quickly…”
And then I hear Siwoo mumbling.
Minseong couldn’t understand what that meant at all.
* * *
“ha….”
Siwoo let out a deep sigh without realizing it.
“Who knew that goblins would explode like that?”
It is usually used figuratively, but not this time.
The goblins burst out, just as the word implies.
“Who would have thought this would happen even with a proficiency of 0.52%?”
Actually, if you think about it, even at 0.5%, it was the power to fight against the boss black troll.
It was a power that could almost crush an ogre’s strength.
“Of course, at that time, it was a force that caused an overload.”
So, it is a power that can never be achieved with 0.5% proficiency.
In return, didn’t Siwoo also almost lose his life?
anyway.
“What happens if you hit 100%?”
Couldn’t it just lift the entire Earth?
No kidding, I think it could hold up the sky.
“……That really happened.”
It was just something I blurted out, but when I thought about it carefully, I realized it was true.
One of the twelve labors of Hercules, bringing the golden apples.
In the process, Hercules once held up the sky in place of Atlas.
“It wasn’t something to be ignored just because of low skill level.”
There is no reason why it is called SS grade.
There was no doubt that even with such a miserable skill level, it was a monstrous power.
So what this means is this.
It meant that it was not a power that even F-rank monsters could handle.
“Crack! Crack!”
The sound of a rat croaking can be heard for a moment.
Siwoo reflexively threw his fist in the direction from which the sound came.
And then kkaaaang─!!
Something exploded with a loud bang.
As expected, it was there when I checked.
“As expected, even Kobold can’t hold out.”
What was presumed to be a cobalt was lying around.
Even though it was an F-rank monster, one level higher than a goblin.
As expected, it couldn’t withstand Siwoo’s strength and burst into pieces.
“ha….”
Siwoo let out a deep sigh.
What the hell is material farming?
If this happens, we won’t even be able to receive proper value for the body.
“I think I need to catch a higher level monster.”
To do that, I had to level up my Hunter rank.
And in order to move up the ranks, you had to build up your performance.
In short, this means that for the time being, you will have to deal with monsters from F-rank dungeons.
Kwaaaaang─!!
“Ah, okay!”
Just hold out for one more!
For Siwoo, controlling his strength was more difficult than dealing with monsters.
* * *
Seo Pal-gwang, the owner of Seo’s workshop.
Seo Pal-gwang spent most of his youth learning metallurgy.
And now, 20 years later, I’m in my 40s.
Seopalgwang could have become the owner of a proper workshop.
Seo Pal-gwang spent most of his youth with metallurgy.
Seo Pal-gwang had as much talent as his passion.
Awakened one of dexterity (A).
Considering that this was a production job that was measured two levels lower, it was an extremely outstanding talent.
Of course, it was no match for Master Aurelian.
In the first place, does it make sense to compare it with the best in the world?
However, Seo Pal-gwang was a person who could be considered a genius.
With his passion added to his talent, there were countless guilds that wanted Seopalgwang.
But Seo Pal-gwang rejected all of those offers.
Because I didn’t want to be just a guy who takes pictures of equipment.
It wasn’t quite the spirit of craftsmanship that is commonly referred to.
If I had to say, I would say it is a craftsman’s spirit that has compromised with reality to some extent.
In any case, Seo Pal-gwang had considerable pride in metallurgy.
‘Tsk.’
So, Seo Pal-gwang wasn’t in a very good mood at the moment.
Over there right now.
There’s some kind of silly looking guy holding a hammer on one side of the workshop.
‘I think you said Maeng Si-woo.’
I don’t know if it’s because of his name, but he had a really… fierce look.
Anyway, that tough looking guy came to me out of the blue and asked if he could use the workshop facilities.
Those who came to Seopalgwang were broadly divided into three groups.
Hunters who request equipment manufacturing.
Those bastards who ask to be accepted as disciples.
And the stiff-necked guys who ask you to come to their guild.
That’s why it was the first time.
He was the first bastard to ask me to borrow the workshop facilities in exchange for a rental fee.
Seo Pal-gwang was curious and told him to do so.
And Seo Pal-gwang couldn’t help but regret it soon.
‘Hey, hey!’
Look at that hammer grip.
It was so clumsy that it almost made me mad.
And the materials they brought were a sight to behold.
No, is that the material or the crumbs?
Selecting good materials was a basic skill for a blacksmith.
‘What kind of metallurgy does that guy do?’
Seo Pal-gwang was really upset.
For some reason, it seemed like metallurgy was being ignored.
Metallurgy was not to be regarded simply as a blacksmithing skill.
A noble technology that has led to human civilization.
When classifying the stages of development in human history, methods such as the Bronze Age and the Iron Age are often used.
To that extent, metallurgy can be said to be a core technology that has led the development of human civilization.
It is no exaggeration to say that, with each advancement in metallurgy, human civilization also advanced one step further.
The fifth industry, also known as the hunter industry.
This was also closely related to the development of metallurgy.
Anyway, metallurgy wasn’t just about hammering away!
It’s not like you can just get A-grade or S-grade equipment just by having good materials.
These days, people think of metallurgy as an easy skill because of games and such.
It was seriously driving me nuts.
Especially that guy over there, tilting his head while looking at his smartphone.
‘I see you’re learning by watching YouTube videos.’
Seriously, I couldn’t even laugh.
It took Seopalgwang 20 years to get to this position.
I devoted my entire youth, 20s and 30s, to metallurgy.
But you want to learn that by watching a few YouTube videos?
This was no different from ignoring the West Palgwang beyond metallurgy.
So I wanted to kick him out right away, but I ended up receiving a rental fee.
Seo Pal-gwang had no choice but to suppress his displeasure.
After a while, Siwoo picked up the hammer.
And then he started to hesitate for a while.
Seo Pal-gwang was so frustrated by the sight that he almost died.
Kyaaaaang─!!
A clean and refreshing sound echoed throughout the workshop.
“……uh?”
Seo Pal-gwang’s eyes opened wide.
This sound just now.
No, I can see Siwoo’s hammering with my own two eyes right now.
“Uh, how….”
It was perfect. It was truly perfect.
To an ordinary person, it would appear to be nothing more than a simple hammering.
But, as they say, you see as much as you know.
Kyaaaaang─!!
The power of the grip. The point of impact.
And the reason why you have to hit it there.
That was truly a perfect hammering.
I wonder if Seo Pal-gwang can really follow suit.
Kaaaang─!! Kaaaang─!!
Siwoo’s hammering continued.
And every time Shiwoo’s hammering continued like that.
“…..!!!”
Seo Pal-gwang, who was watching, opened his mouth wide.
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fantasy,
