Ch.48The Large Dungeon Is Dangerous (1)

[Victory]

“It’s done, it worked.”

Helena checked the report sent by her subordinate and looked at the city through the window.

‘Should I call her Master after all?’

She’d heard that Baek Eunha hadn’t even reached level 30 yet, but according to the report, she had managed to kill Jackson, an A-rank hunter, and turn him into her undead.

It was certainly an impressive feat.

‘Now she’s involved too.’

Baek Eunha, having killed Jackson, would likely have become a potential target for Hades.

For Helena, who needed someone to divert attention, Baek Eunha’s actions were an unexpected stroke of good fortune.

‘His death will serve as a signal flare of sorts.’

Hades—a small, elite organization with unclear objectives.

Helena had been entangled with them by chance and had maintained an adversarial relationship ever since.

Since they rarely engaged in visible activities, she didn’t know much detailed information, but what was certain was that their forces were more substantial than expected, and they were plotting something unusual.

‘I wonder how they’ll respond now.’

Until now, Hades had preferred covert operations, but with Jackson, one of their members, being killed, there was a high possibility they would change their approach.

Thud.

Thud.

“You seem to be enjoying yourself.”

Yulia, the high-ranking undead that Helena had first created, a banshee lord, muttered.

“…Because I actually am enjoying it.”

The mysterious necromancer who had handed Helena her first defeat when she had just been promoted to A-rank hunter quite some time ago.

That person must also belong to Hades.

Looking forward to the day they would meet again, Helena smiled with a mixture of delight.

#

A week had already passed since returning from Yeongdeok.

“It seems Hayeon doesn’t know either. Do you have any idea, oppa?”

“W-well…”

Seoha, who had been concerned about Jackson all along, expressed doubts about his disappearance, but Song Hayeon and I consistently feigned ignorance.

Since the American side didn’t even know that Jackson had sneaked into Korea, there was no way we could be connected to the matter.

‘…I can finally breathe now.’

I had been bedridden due to the side effects of excessive power consumption, and only recently had I barely recovered my health.

The symptoms were so severe this time that Seoha, unable to bear it any longer, forcibly took me to the hospital.

However, despite the considerable time that had passed, my game account still hadn’t been restored. It was truly a lamentable situation.

Ding.

[It’s still not working…]

[The recovery? I heard they said they would do it, so please wait a bit. How can someone who commanded tens of thousands of troops so well be so impatient?]

[It’s taking too long.]

[That’s how these things usually are. They’ll handle it properly.]

With Song Hayeon’s help, I had successfully obtained cooperation from the relevant parties, but just like other games, perhaps because the headquarters was overseas, the processing was terribly slow.

With no connections or influence in the industry, all I could do was summon Jackson, the cause of this mess, and berate him whenever I felt bored.

Whack.

“Don’t you see this dust? Can’t you even clean this properly?”

[Groooo.]

Whack.

“And you call yourself an A-rank hunter, tsk.”

Each time I hit him on the head with a duster, Jackson, now a doom warrior, let out a low, pitiful groan.

After several more days that felt like years, I was finally able to reunite with my beloved account.

【Access restriction has been lifted.】

“It, it worked.”

What happened next needs no explanation.

I sat in front of the computer all day, immersed in the game, determined to make up for all the lost time. I minimized meals and other activities, focusing all my attention on raising my score.

One week passed, then two, but my routine showed no signs of changing.

After observing this spectacle for a while, Seoha would now peek into my room on his way to work and sigh deeply.

“Oppa, even if you’re an awakened, staying cooped up in your room and eating only delivery food will make you gain weight.”

“I’ll, I’ll go out for a run later.”

“…I heard that last week too, you know?”

Seoha shook his head and left the room, heading outside. It felt like he had given up on me.

Feeling somewhat guilty, I resolved to at least go for a walk today, but after achieving a three-win streak, such thoughts naturally vanished from my mind.

And so, a month passed in the blink of an eye.

“Sigh. I really can’t live like this. Is there even a person in there?”

“……”

Song Hayeon came to visit, unable to bear it any longer, but I didn’t even respond and remained focused on the game.

Click.

Click click.

Song Hayeon, with the instincts of a game streamer, stopped talking when she saw my state.

And then.

Boom.

【Victory】

With trembling hands, I moved the mouse to press the confirm button.

Then, brilliant light flowed from the monitor accompanied by fancy sound effects.

【Challenger: 892P】

Seeing that, Song Hayeon looked at me with astonished eyes and said incredulously.

“…Wait, you were in the 400s when your account was restored. How much have you been playing?”

But I wasn’t in a state to give a proper answer.

After savoring the moment and its afterglow, I walked dazedly to the bed, collapsed, and said to Song Hayeon.

“…Going to sleep.”

“Master? I just got here…”

“Come, come back later.”

And so, having achieved a life-long goal, I fell into dreamland, almost passing out.

#

When I regained consciousness, a day had already passed.

And now, I was finally free from my obsession with scores and properly assessing reality.

‘……’

I certainly felt great. However, I also felt an inexplicable sense of crisis. The reason became clear after just a brief web search.

【Hunter Kim Seungmin, First to Achieve B-rank Promotion Among Hunters in Q3 of Year 21!】

【Kim Seungmin Shares Thoughts on Reaching Level 30 in Personal Broadcast with 800,000 Viewers. Promises to Continue Striving for Citizens.】

【Necromancer Song Hayeon Participates in Cheongbaek Guild’s Attack Team, Clears First A-rank Dungeon. Promotion Not Far Off.】

In truth, after the conditional dungeon incident, I had been living what could be called a lazy lifestyle.

Long rest to recover energy after using the Book of Death, long rest due to burnout after dungeon runs, then more dungeon runs followed by long rest due to getting hooked on games.

As a result, I had fallen significantly behind the leading figures of my cohort in terms of growth.

‘K-Kim Seungmin is B-rank?’

That news came as quite a shock to me. We had played games together and chatted, but how had he already achieved B-rank promotion?

Moreover, Song Hayeon had cleared an A-rank dungeon, even if she just tagged along. I sent a message in panic.

Ding.

[Link.]

[What’s this?]

[What do you mean?]

[You ran a dungeon with Seoha’s guild?]

[I told you about it before, but you didn’t listen because you were gaming. That was a week ago. Yesterday you just collapsed and kicked me out. I’m going to focus on raising my level now.]

Was that so?

I ignored Song Hayeon’s irritation and fell into deep thought.

‘I need to level up quickly too…’

But unlike the firm resolve I had after the battle with Jackson, I strangely lacked motivation now.

Come to think of it, it’s not like I had to fight someone right away, so wouldn’t it be fine to grow at my own pace, resting as much as needed?

With such thoughts, I habitually started the game again.

“…I guess going once a week should be enough.”

And so another month passed in an instant.

【C-rank Hunter Baek Eunha Excluded from World Organization’s 500 Promising Talents List.】

【Government-Sponsored Education Peer Kim Seungmin: “She Just Needs Time.”】

【Promising Talents Disappearing Every Year, Unable to Withstand the Pressure of Dungeons?】

Seeing journalists who had begun to inquire about my situation, I made a sincere resolution this time.

“G-going twice a week should be enough to catch up.”

And so another month passed.

【What Happened to the Special Rookie with Record-Breaking Growth? Concerns Growing.】

【Association Management Director Lee Yongtae: “No Issues with Personal Safety. Difficult to Disclose Detailed Personal Circumstances.”】

【Expert Jo Wanjae: “80% of Hunters Who Enter Dormant Periods Never Return. Regrettable, but Expectations Should Be Abandoned.”】

‘……’

Looking at the computer calendar that had changed numbers many times and the cold reactions of people, I finally felt a genuine sense of crisis.