Ch.3232. Cyberpunk and Mercenaries

“I’m thinking of hitting a dungeon soon.”

While eating the chicken salad served for dinner, Amon spoke to Sonia sitting across from him.

Sonia’s reaction was calm.

She knew this was coming eventually.

There are mainly two ways to become stronger in this world.

One is to receive enhancement procedures like magic tattoos, mechanization, or gene modification.

But Amon and Sonia had no intention of getting these.

Each enhancement procedure has fatal weaknesses.

Magic tattoos continuously consume energy just by breathing and have very poor efficiency, making daily life quite inconvenient.

Mechanization procedures are too vulnerable to hacking and EMPs.

Gene modification procedures cause one’s appearance to deviate from human form and create specific allergies.

If Amon and Sonia were ordinary humans, they might accept these procedures despite their weaknesses, but they were Divine Power holders.

They already had high potential, so there was no reason to embrace these disadvantages.

That left only one way to become stronger.

Obtaining essence from dungeons.

Of course, unlike enhancement procedures, this method doesn’t guarantee stable results, and the enhancement effect is much smaller compared to procedures.

Moreover, it had a much higher mortality rate than enhancement procedures.

Therefore, generally speaking, receiving enhancement procedures was the standard approach to obtaining essence.

But Amon was different.

He had already proven his combat ability in the Higgjen Group dungeon.

So she had anticipated that he would eventually venture into dungeons seeking essence.

Since it was a statement she had been expecting anytime, her reaction remained calm.

However, there was one thing she needed to clarify before he left.

“How long will it take? You’re not staying overnight, are you?”

Dungeons in this world aren’t that deep.

After all, they’re just research labs or company buildings that exploded due to failed experiments, so round trips can usually be completed within a day.

However, this only applies when they’re relatively new.

Depending on the type of boss, most dungeons deepen over time.

Would a boss be foolish enough to remain at a depth that could be cleared in a day?

Most bosses, like queen ants, gradually expand their nests, making them more complex and deeper.

“I heard it takes about four days round trip?”

Her golden eyes looked at Amon.

Meeting those eyes filled with disappointment, Amon gave a bitter smile.

“Don’t worry. It’s not that bad. This time I’m just going to sample the entrance and come right back.”

Amon certainly wanted to become stronger.

But at the same time, he wanted to live happily for a long time.

So he had no intention of recklessly charging at a dungeon boss and getting a game over.

There was no rush anyway.

Always play it safe.

That was his motto.

Only after hearing Amon’s answer that he would return within a day did Sonia breathe a sigh of relief.

At the orphanage, she had always slept with her brothers and sisters.

Even after graduating, though they didn’t share a room, she had grown accustomed to living under the same roof as Amon.

But being left alone at home… she wasn’t quite used to it yet.

Perhaps she just didn’t like the fact that Amon would be away overnight.

Either way, she was reassured by his answer.

“Be careful. Don’t get hurt.”

Amon nodded.

Given the mood, they might have kissed, but no matter how close they were as lovers, kissing while eating seemed a bit off.

So instead, the two interlocked their fingers.

Sonia’s silver bracelet and Amon’s gold bracelet gleamed on their respective wrists.

Under the soft lighting, they prayed for each other for a moment.

***

The next day.

Amon headed to the dungeon.

Kathy didn’t come along.

Unlike the mercenary request, this time Amon wouldn’t have the luxury to look after her.

They agreed that Amon would first adapt to the dungeon, and she would join later.

For the time being, she would be operating alone.

Arriving at the street where the dungeon was located, Amon entered a building facing the dungeon.

<Explorers’ Guild>

It was a different place from the mercenary agency he usually visited.

The mercenary agency connects mercenaries with clients, not a place for mercenaries to find party members.

Dungeons aren’t places you enter because someone commissioned you, but because you want to enter yourself.

So to find a party, he needed to look for a space specifically for explorers.

Whoosh

The automatic door opened, and Amon walked in.

People’s gazes turned toward him.

Their eyes scanned him from head to toe.

Whether using mechanical eyes or magical eyes.

In their own ways, they began to assess Amon.

Many explorers quickly lost interest in him.

‘What’s this, just a rookie who hasn’t even had procedures done.’

What good is good equipment?

The user doesn’t seem capable of fully utilizing that equipment.

Assuming he must be some naive young master from a wealthy family, they lost interest.

Unlike these people, there were others who hadn’t given up their interest in Amon.

They focused not on Amon’s body but on his equipment.

Those who believed that equipment represented the user’s skill did so.

They concentrated on the sword at Amon’s waist and the clothes he wore.

‘Is he from a ninja or bodyguard background?’

Top-tier items typically used by corporate combat personnel.

Someone appearing with such gear couldn’t possibly lack skill.

Thus, opinions about Amon were split into two camps.

Amid these polarized assessments, Amon approached the reception desk.

He approached the receptionist who had a kind, motherly impression.

“Hello, Explorer. Do you need assistance?”

Jackpot.

A rare kindness in the cyberpunk world.

“I need a party.”

“May I ask what your main position is?”

Her gaze moved to Amon’s waist.

A sword and a shotgun.

Obviously a vanguard, but she asked just to be sure.

“Vanguard, swordsman.”

She nodded and entered Amon’s personal information.

The matching didn’t take long.

“There are two parties looking for a vanguard attacker. One plans to go only to the entrance of the dungeon, while the other plans to go as far as possible. Which would you prefer?”

“The entrance party, please.”

“Table 21. Have a safe exploration.”

Amon tipped the receptionist in gratitude for her kindness and headed to table 21.

Arriving at the table, he was greeted by men with somewhat rough faces.

Most had at least 30% of their upper bodies covered with machinery.

“Hello, I’m Amon.”

“…”

The party members looked Amon up and down.

They exchanged glances with each other and nodded.

“Welcome, I’m Paul. I’m the leader of this party. Nice to meet you, vanguard.”

For someone covered in machinery up to his neck, his voice was surprisingly normal.

Paul promptly introduced his party members.

Even. A man with yellow bushy hair. He’s a rear guard and a rifleman.

Hale. A huge man with blue cropped hair. He’s in charge of firepower and uses a machine gun.

Tori. A vanguard with long black hair. Thought to be male but is transgender and female, and Paul’s woman. She’s the only vanguard in this party.

“And finally, I’m a mage. Despite how I look, I’m college-educated.”

“Pleased to meet you all.”

Amon bowed his head slightly.

The party had no healer.

Divine Power holders who could heal were only found in high-level parties.

There was no chance of seeing one in a party planning to return from just the entrance.

There was also no hacker.

The dungeon they were heading to was created due to a failed technomagic experiment.

A hacker would be useless.

With Amon’s joining, the completed party immediately headed toward the dungeon.

The area in front of the dungeon was packed with people.

“Whew~ Are there more explorers than monsters?”

The yellow-haired Even said, fidgeting with his rifle.

The blue-haired Hale moved his heavy body and disagreed.

“Do you know how many monsters are in this dungeon? This dungeon is over 20 years old, and the dungeon boss is a lich. On the outside it’s just a building, but if you include the subspace underground, it’s probably the size of an entire city.”

“Yes, yes. Just take a joke as a joke.”

“Sorry. I turned off my humor circuit because it interferes with ballistic calculations.”

“Who asked you?”

“Sorry about that too—”

The two bickered.

Yet they were smiling, appearing quite close.

Meanwhile, Paul was cuddling with his lover.

Watching the slender mage and the muscular transgender woman cuddling made Amon feel like he was truly in a cyberpunk world.

Amon briefly turned his gaze from his party members to look at the endless line of people.

At the end of the line was the entrance to what was once a world-leading technomagic company.

To maintain leadership, they couldn’t just follow others.

They always had to pioneer new paths.

Despite knowing they could become a dungeon.

The <Howling Darkness> dungeon was such a place.

When they failed, none of the citizens showed sympathy, and the government made no rescue attempts.

As usual, when news spread that it had become a dungeon, mercenaries flocked to it, and an explorers’ guild was established around the dungeon.

They just managed the entrance and collected tolls.

A place that was once someone’s grave was merely a new workplace in this world.

Amon offered a moment of silent prayer for the victims.

Paul, the party leader, noticed Amon praying and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey. You’re a devout friend, aren’t you?”

He said, pointing to the cross hanging around Amon’s neck.

Amon confirmed with a slight smile.

“Don’t worry. I don’t force my faith on others.”

“Haha. Still, if we need to find God inside the dungeon, I’ll count on you.”

“Leave it to me.”

“Next group!”

While they were talking, it quickly became their turn.

The party entered the dungeon.

Near the entrance, due to the line of people, it felt like they were on a cave tour.

But as they went deeper into what was hard to believe was once a building, they came to a fork in the path.

“Did the lich create this too?”

“Yes. Probably to disperse explorers as much as possible.”

Go up, go down, or take the elevator.

Unlike fantasy dungeons, it wasn’t a one-way path, which made it confusing.

The boss must have planned for this too.

But Amon and the party’s objective was clear.

“We’re going underground. Let’s try to find some magic recipes there.”

Even though many people had passed through this place, it was still a major corporation.

They could expect decent findings even at the entrance.

There was no need to worry that everything had been taken by others.

Somehow, recipes continued to be discovered whether by defeating monsters or through exploration.

There were various hypotheses, but the most plausible one was that the lich deliberately set it up this way to delay dungeon exploration.

Regardless, what Paul’s party wanted was magic recipes.

“We’ll quickly make our way to the previous checkpoint.”

“Oh!!”

With an energetic shout, the party moved toward their goal.

“…Oh.”

Amon’s quiet cheer, unable to match their enthusiasm, was just a bonus.