Chapter 10: Phantom Thief Hunter

“Did you just say you don’t like her? Dana?”

Dana, who was never particularly good at sports, ran away in a flash after saying those words.

Han Jibin looked surprised by her reaction.

It seemed like everyone had the same thought, except for one person.

“Are you not surprised? You always found Dana pretty annoying.”

Eunbada asked in a bewildered tone, looking at Ban Eunhyeol, who was nonchalantly reacting, despite this being the very thing he had wanted to hear.

“Stop right there!”

Ban Eunhyeol grabbed the back of one of the four boys chasing Dana, his hand firm on his collar.

He watched as Dana’s figure disappeared into the distance.

“Yeah, I knew.”

Starting with the first boy, the rest of the four were quickly caught as well.

“Ban Eunhyeol, are you siding with that girl now? Leaving me behind?”

Han Gureum couldn’t believe what she was seeing, taking long strides toward Ban Eunhyeol.

The culprits, the ones who had caused this mess with talk about dates and whatnot, seemed to have fled the scene, leaving no trace behind.

“And what are you, exactly?”

Ban Eunhyeol spoke irritably, rubbing his temples, then carelessly let go of the boys he had grabbed by the collars.

“Cough, cough!”

Clutching their throats, the boys who had been grabbed hurried to gather around Han Gureum.

They formed a circle around her, clearly trying to shield her.

“What are they doing?”

“Oh, playing princess.”

“Such nonsense…”

Seeing them, Han Jibin, Eunbada, and Jiganhan exchanged remarks, clearly uninterested.

They didn’t even bother to look any longer and began to walk away.

Ban Eunhyeol seemed to have the same thought, as he tossed a final remark at the boys before following the others out the school gate.

“Don’t try to pair me with her again. She doesn’t like me.”

His last words were light, almost carefree, though only his close friends who had been around him long enough could tell the weight behind them.

I must have gotten reincarnated into this world after choosing the wrong path in an S-rank dungeon.

Surely, there must be a way back to my original world through the dungeon.

The system seemed to hint that I should keep going to dungeons.

I had a bad thought cross my mind—what if I got reincarnated because of the S-rank dungeon, and the only way back is through the S-rank dungeon itself?

But for now, I had to keep all possibilities open.

I checked the map again to confirm the location of the gate I had previously marked.

Ideally, I’d send my summons to search through many dungeons at once, but since that wasn’t possible, I planned to visit one dungeon a day.

‘It would be best if I could find an undiscovered gate.’

Once discovered, the gates were quickly auctioned off, with ownership and clearance rights passing to specific guilds.

When a gate opened, no monsters would come out for a week, and anyone could enter, which made the ownership of the gate incredibly important.

The items dropped by boss monsters and the dungeon’s byproducts were very valuable, so only guilds with ownership had the right to enter.

That was the system in place.

But today, I planned to raid all the gates that had been auctioned off to various guilds since early morning.

I desperately hoped that while I was doing this, I would find a way back to my original world, and that the gates in this world would deactivate.

***

At Dawn

The moon was hidden behind the clouds, and the world was plunged into darkness.

Once Dana confirmed that both of her parents were asleep, she changed into a full black outfit, including a black mask, and opened the window.

[Skill “Shadow Walk” activated.]

With a quiet rustle, Dana, who had been standing by the window just moments ago, disappeared completely.

Shadow Walk.

It was an invisibility skill that allowed the user to move undetected by people or monsters by becoming one with the shadows.

Dana’s shadow gradually drew closer to the gate.

As Dana was approaching the gate, she passed a narrow alley with no one in sight.

Behind a utility pole, there was a man crouching.

“Choco, stop pooping.”

It was Do Hyun, the delinquent high school student walking his dog in the dead of night when most people were asleep.

He had a shy personality and preferred places where there were no people, so his late-night walks were the most relaxing part of his day.

Woof, woof!

His puppy, Choco, who was still a young dog, barked cutely at something in the distance.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

Do Hyun stood up, tying the poop bag, and followed Choco’s gaze toward the end of the alley near the entrance of the park.

“Nothing there…”

But then, his keen senses picked up on a magical presence quickly approaching the park.

Feeling uneasy, Do Hyun activated his invisibility skill and hid behind the utility pole.

Both Choco, who barked at something first, and Do Hyun, who used his invisibility skill to conceal his presence, were like master and dog—equally alert to danger.

Do Hyun’s eyes narrowed as he saw a figure suddenly appear in front of the gate.

“Ugh, how annoying.”

What was he annoyed about?

The mysterious person, dressed entirely in black with a black mask, didn’t hesitate and stepped into the gate without a second thought.

“That gate…”

Holding Choco in his arms, Do Hyun muttered in a low voice,

“It’s ours.”

For the guild leader who had won the auction for the gate, this response was surprisingly calm.

Even though his guild’s gate was being “stolen” right before his eyes.

Hours later, just as the first light of dawn was breaking, Dana emerged from the gate.

‘Huh? Why is it so bright?…?’

It was definitely dark when I entered, wasn’t it?

As the sky slowly brightened, a bead of cold sweat ran down my spine.

“Shahin! Leave it in front of the spot I mentioned. Don’t let anyone see you.”

[Obeying.]

With a bundle full of dungeon byproducts in his hands, Shahin quietly disappeared.

Seeing this, I hurried home before the sky fully brightened.

Once inside my room, I quickly changed into my pajamas and dived into bed like a bullet.

“Still not up? Idiot! Why is she sleeping in so late today?”

As I hastily pulled the blanket over myself, I heard my mom muttering at the door, and without knocking, she opened it wide.

“Get up! The sun’s already high! Aren’t you going to school?”

“Ugh… yeah, I guess.”

Pretending to just wake up, I rubbed my eyes and stretched, trying to calm my pounding heart as I got out of bed.

[Breaking news. Early this morning, at the entrance to the guild Onsaemiro’s building, a suspicious bundle was found. The bundle contained what is believed to be dungeon byproducts from a recently won gate auction. Upon investigation, it was revealed that the gate had been raided and disappeared.]

“Something’s always happening. They kill the boss monster, and all the byproducts are stolen. Who’s this, Hong Gil-dong?”

“Hong Gil-dong, my foot. This is something completely different.”

“Oh, whatever.”

Sighing, I continued to eat breakfast with my parents, who were chatting away as if it was no big deal, while I feigned disinterest in the news.

‘Well done. You really brought it back, didn’t you?’

I silently praised Shahin in my mind.

The bundle he had been carrying in the dungeon was filled with byproducts he had harvested before we killed the dungeon’s boss monster.

Finding a way back to my world was my priority, but once I was inside, I couldn’t just leave.

Since I felt guilty about the gate opening because of me, I decided to take care of the boss monster while I was at it.

I couldn’t let the guild that won the gate get away with taking all the byproducts, so I collected everything and brought it back.

The news report mentioned that no one was caught on CCTV carrying the bundle, and I left the house with a complicated feeling.

“See you later!”
I hoped that no matter what strange things I’d witness at school today, my mental health would stay intact.

***

“Hey, did you see the news this morning?”

“Ah, the phantom thief hunter?”

Huh?

Phantom thief hunter?

They were calling me the phantom thief hunter, weren’t they?

I listened closely, realizing they were talking about me.

The classroom buzzed with talk about last night’s events.

“I wish the phantom thief hunter would show up here. Right, Kang Han?”

“Well, it would be convenient.”

“But this is our job. We should be the ones doing it.”

Among them, the Four Heavenly Kings who managed the guild seemed especially interested in the events of the early morning.

As I sat at my desk, shaking my legs back and forth while talking to Jin, Kang, and Han, one of the students, Han Ji-bin, suddenly stood up.

He was heading toward…

I was sitting at the desk right in front of the teacher’s podium, as usual, solving problems, next to Yeon Ha-yeon, who was engrossed in her own studies.

“Ha-yeon.”

“I’m studying.”

“Uh-huh, I know, but just one thing!”

Apparently stressed by the interruption to her study session, a yogurt bottle popped out of Yeon Ha-yeon’s bag.

It was the same 30-pack bundle from last time.

I was surprised when I saw it, but today, it was just a single one.

‘Does the number depend on how stressed she is?’

I could guess there were five more in the bag.

Leaning my chin on my hand, I listened carefully, but then Han Ji-bin suddenly pointed at Yeon Ha-yeon and shouted.

“Is that you?!”

Me???

“Look, the incident happened early this morning, and all the dungeons were looted. But it doesn’t seem like it was a coordinated effort. That means it was done alone. How many people could clear a dungeon and bring back a bundle of byproducts in such a short time?”

Despite the unbelievable deduction, I kept my composure.

I had already expected to be caught. But I had to take this risk. What else could I do?

‘I have no choice if I want to get back home.’

“But it wasn’t us, so the only person left is you!”

Han Ji-bin stood up, looking as if he’d just made an amazing discovery, placing his hands on his hips and grinning brightly.

“Are you stupid?”

Yeon Ha-yeon, who had been doodling with her pen, glanced at Han Ji-bin and the rest of the Four Heavenly Kings behind him. Ah, Ban Heol wasn’t here because he was late.

“There are only 12 people in our chat room, you know?”

“Oh, right.”

“Anyone in the top 10 ranks could definitely pull that off.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

Han Ji-bin nodded and scratched his cheek awkwardly, returning to his seat.

“Did you see him scratch his cheek just now? That’s like next-level cute!”

I slapped my own shoulder and gave a blank stare at my friend, who was now consumed by Han Ji-bin’s cuteness.

‘Even if they find out it was me, no one will know who I am. For now, I just need to find a way to get back.’

I steeled myself for the numerous dungeons I would continue to raid.

“Did you just say you don’t like her? Dana?”

Dana, who was never particularly good at sports, ran away in a flash after saying those words.

Han Jibin looked surprised by her reaction.

It seemed like everyone had the same thought, except for one person.

“Are you not surprised? You always found Dana pretty annoying.”

Eunbada asked in a bewildered tone, looking at Ban Eunhyeol, who was nonchalantly reacting, despite this being the very thing he had wanted to hear.

“Stop right there!”

Ban Eunhyeol grabbed the back of one of the four boys chasing Dana, his hand firm on his collar.

He watched as Dana’s figure disappeared into the distance.

“Yeah, I knew.”

Starting with the first boy, the rest of the four were quickly caught as well.

“Ban Eunhyeol, are you siding with that girl now? Leaving me behind?”

Han Gureum couldn’t believe what she was seeing, taking long strides toward Ban Eunhyeol.

The culprits, the ones who had caused this mess with talk about dates and whatnot, seemed to have fled the scene, leaving no trace behind.

“And what are you, exactly?”

Ban Eunhyeol spoke irritably, rubbing his temples, then carelessly let go of the boys he had grabbed by the collars.

“Cough, cough!”

Clutching their throats, the boys who had been grabbed hurried to gather around Han Gureum.

They formed a circle around her, clearly trying to shield her.

“What are they doing?”

“Oh, playing princess.”

“Such nonsense…”

Seeing them, Han Jibin, Eunbada, and Jiganhan exchanged remarks, clearly uninterested.

They didn’t even bother to look any longer and began to walk away.

Ban Eunhyeol seemed to have the same thought, as he tossed a final remark at the boys before following the others out the school gate.

“Don’t try to pair me with her again. She doesn’t like me.”

His last words were light, almost carefree, though only his close friends who had been around him long enough could tell the weight behind them.

I must have gotten reincarnated into this world after choosing the wrong path in an S-rank dungeon.

Surely, there must be a way back to my original world through the dungeon.

The system seemed to hint that I should keep going to dungeons.

I had a bad thought cross my mind—what if I got reincarnated because of the S-rank dungeon, and the only way back is through the S-rank dungeon itself?

But for now, I had to keep all possibilities open.

I checked the map again to confirm the location of the gate I had previously marked.

Ideally, I’d send my summons to search through many dungeons at once, but since that wasn’t possible, I planned to visit one dungeon a day.

‘It would be best if I could find an undiscovered gate.’

Once discovered, the gates were quickly auctioned off, with ownership and clearance rights passing to specific guilds.

When a gate opened, no monsters would come out for a week, and anyone could enter, which made the ownership of the gate incredibly important.

The items dropped by boss monsters and the dungeon’s byproducts were very valuable, so only guilds with ownership had the right to enter.

That was the system in place.

But today, I planned to raid all the gates that had been auctioned off to various guilds since early morning.

I desperately hoped that while I was doing this, I would find a way back to my original world, and that the gates in this world would deactivate.

***

At Dawn

The moon was hidden behind the clouds, and the world was plunged into darkness.

Once Dana confirmed that both of her parents were asleep, she changed into a full black outfit, including a black mask, and opened the window.

[Skill “Shadow Walk” activated.]

With a quiet rustle, Dana, who had been standing by the window just moments ago, disappeared completely.

Shadow Walk.

It was an invisibility skill that allowed the user to move undetected by people or monsters by becoming one with the shadows.

Dana’s shadow gradually drew closer to the gate.

As Dana was approaching the gate, she passed a narrow alley with no one in sight.

Behind a utility pole, there was a man crouching.

“Choco, stop pooping.”

It was Do Hyun, the delinquent high school student walking his dog in the dead of night when most people were asleep.

He had a shy personality and preferred places where there were no people, so his late-night walks were the most relaxing part of his day.

Woof, woof!

His puppy, Choco, who was still a young dog, barked cutely at something in the distance.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

Do Hyun stood up, tying the poop bag, and followed Choco’s gaze toward the end of the alley near the entrance of the park.

“Nothing there…”

But then, his keen senses picked up on a magical presence quickly approaching the park.

Feeling uneasy, Do Hyun activated his invisibility skill and hid behind the utility pole.

Both Choco, who barked at something first, and Do Hyun, who used his invisibility skill to conceal his presence, were like master and dog—equally alert to danger.

Do Hyun’s eyes narrowed as he saw a figure suddenly appear in front of the gate.

“Ugh, how annoying.”

What was he annoyed about?

The mysterious person, dressed entirely in black with a black mask, didn’t hesitate and stepped into the gate without a second thought.

“That gate…”

Holding Choco in his arms, Do Hyun muttered in a low voice,

“It’s ours.”

For the guild leader who had won the auction for the gate, this response was surprisingly calm.

Even though his guild’s gate was being “stolen” right before his eyes.

Hours later, just as the first light of dawn was breaking, Dana emerged from the gate.

‘Huh? Why is it so bright?…?’

It was definitely dark when I entered, wasn’t it?

As the sky slowly brightened, a bead of cold sweat ran down my spine.

“Shahin! Leave it in front of the spot I mentioned. Don’t let anyone see you.”

[Obeying.]

With a bundle full of dungeon byproducts in his hands, Shahin quietly disappeared.

Seeing this, I hurried home before the sky fully brightened.

Once inside my room, I quickly changed into my pajamas and dived into bed like a bullet.

“Still not up? Idiot! Why is she sleeping in so late today?”

As I hastily pulled the blanket over myself, I heard my mom muttering at the door, and without knocking, she opened it wide.

“Get up! The sun’s already high! Aren’t you going to school?”

“Ugh… yeah, I guess.”

Pretending to just wake up, I rubbed my eyes and stretched, trying to calm my pounding heart as I got out of bed.

[Breaking news. Early this morning, at the entrance to the guild Onsaemiro’s building, a suspicious bundle was found. The bundle contained what is believed to be dungeon byproducts from a recently won gate auction. Upon investigation, it was revealed that the gate had been raided and disappeared.]

“Something’s always happening. They kill the boss monster, and all the byproducts are stolen. Who’s this, Hong Gil-dong?”

“Hong Gil-dong, my foot. This is something completely different.”

“Oh, whatever.”

Sighing, I continued to eat breakfast with my parents, who were chatting away as if it was no big deal, while I feigned disinterest in the news.

‘Well done. You really brought it back, didn’t you?’

I silently praised Shahin in my mind.

The bundle he had been carrying in the dungeon was filled with byproducts he had harvested before we killed the dungeon’s boss monster.

Finding a way back to my world was my priority, but once I was inside, I couldn’t just leave.

Since I felt guilty about the gate opening because of me, I decided to take care of the boss monster while I was at it.

I couldn’t let the guild that won the gate get away with taking all the byproducts, so I collected everything and brought it back.

The news report mentioned that no one was caught on CCTV carrying the bundle, and I left the house with a complicated feeling.

“See you later!”
I hoped that no matter what strange things I’d witness at school today, my mental health would stay intact.

***

“Hey, did you see the news this morning?”

“Ah, the phantom thief hunter?”

Huh?

Phantom thief hunter?

They were calling me the phantom thief hunter, weren’t they?

I listened closely, realizing they were talking about me.

The classroom buzzed with talk about last night’s events.

“I wish the phantom thief hunter would show up here. Right, Kang Han?”

“Well, it would be convenient.”

“But this is our job. We should be the ones doing it.”

Among them, the Four Heavenly Kings who managed the guild seemed especially interested in the events of the early morning.

As I sat at my desk, shaking my legs back and forth while talking to Jin, Kang, and Han, one of the students, Han Ji-bin, suddenly stood up.

He was heading toward…

I was sitting at the desk right in front of the teacher’s podium, as usual, solving problems, next to Yeon Ha-yeon, who was engrossed in her own studies.

“Ha-yeon.”

“I’m studying.”

“Uh-huh, I know, but just one thing!”

Apparently stressed by the interruption to her study session, a yogurt bottle popped out of Yeon Ha-yeon’s bag.

It was the same 30-pack bundle from last time.

I was surprised when I saw it, but today, it was just a single one.

‘Does the number depend on how stressed she is?’

I could guess there were five more in the bag.

Leaning my chin on my hand, I listened carefully, but then Han Ji-bin suddenly pointed at Yeon Ha-yeon and shouted.

“Is that you?!”

Me???

“Look, the incident happened early this morning, and all the dungeons were looted. But it doesn’t seem like it was a coordinated effort. That means it was done alone. How many people could clear a dungeon and bring back a bundle of byproducts in such a short time?”

Despite the unbelievable deduction, I kept my composure.

I had already expected to be caught. But I had to take this risk. What else could I do?

‘I have no choice if I want to get back home.’

“But it wasn’t us, so the only person left is you!”

Han Ji-bin stood up, looking as if he’d just made an amazing discovery, placing his hands on his hips and grinning brightly.

“Are you stupid?”

Yeon Ha-yeon, who had been doodling with her pen, glanced at Han Ji-bin and the rest of the Four Heavenly Kings behind him. Ah, Ban Heol wasn’t here because he was late.

“There are only 12 people in our chat room, you know?”

“Oh, right.”

“Anyone in the top 10 ranks could definitely pull that off.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

Han Ji-bin nodded and scratched his cheek awkwardly, returning to his seat.

“Did you see him scratch his cheek just now? That’s like next-level cute!”

I slapped my own shoulder and gave a blank stare at my friend, who was now consumed by Han Ji-bin’s cuteness.

‘Even if they find out it was me, no one will know who I am. For now, I just need to find a way to get back.’

I steeled myself for the numerous dungeons I would continue to raid.