Chapter 130: A Place that Only Takes Private Requests

Episode 130

Karen woke up the next morning. He hadn’t woken up once since falling asleep in the dungeon due to the sleeping powder, even during the trip back to the hotel.

‘He must have been quite tired.’

Kim Jinsung guessed, seeing Karen finally awake. He himself had slept soundly last night.

They had been on the move all day yesterday, encountered numerous incidents, and above all, the uncomfortable sleep on the moving bus seemed to have taken its toll.

“……”

Karen sat up in bed and looked down at his hunter watch with a blank expression.

Name: Karen

Age: 29

Occupation: Hunter

Demon World Dungeon: Level 10 Cleared.

Trial Tower: Not Experienced.

“…I really got carried.”

He had fallen asleep and woken up as a hunter who had cleared a Level 10 Demon World Dungeon.

Karen wasn’t sure if he should be happy or confused about this situation.

While losing consciousness after experiencing a near-death experience wasn’t a pleasant memory, he had nonetheless conquered a Level 10 dungeon. And he hadn’t even lifted a finger.

“How did you defeat that giant Golem alone?”

Karen asked, looking at Kim Jinsung, who was already washed and dressed.

“No, more importantly, how did you manage to defeat everything, including the boss, in just half a day?”

“Secret.”

Kim Jinsung replied without turning his head.

Karen frowned, and Kim Jinsung continued,

“It’s a long story. So just watch with your own eyes when we raid together next time.”

“…Together? Again?”

Kim Jinsung looked at Karen with an expression that said it was obvious.

“We have to stick together until you pay off your life debt. Did you think you could just relax comfortably in the hotel room while I’m out there risking my life in dungeons?”

Kim Jinsung held up three fingers.

“Including yesterday, I’ve saved your life three times already. Don’t forget that.”

“This time, it’s because you ran to where I was hiding!”

Karen retorted, and Kim Jinsung raised an eyebrow and replied,

“Who told you to hide? If you had tried to help by finding some vines in the nearby forest to bind the Golem’s ankles, you wouldn’t have passed out.”

“……”

Karen fell silent, speechless.

Kim Jinsung, fully dressed, said to him,

“Get ready to leave. It’s almost checkout time. Let’s go earn money to pay off your life debt.”

The only way for a hunter to earn money while risking their life was by taking on quests.

In other words, Kim Jinsung was telling Karen to guide him to a mercenary guild.

* * *

After checking out, the two took a taxi and left the B15 district.

The taxi, heading towards the destination Karen had mentioned, entered the B10 district.

Kim Jinsung was looking out the window.

As they got closer to their destination, the surrounding buildings became increasingly shabby.

At some point, there were no people on the streets.

“…This doesn’t seem like a place where mercenaries would frequent.”

Kim Jinsung was subtly pointing out that the place was too remote.

Karen, understanding his meaning, nodded.

“You’re right. There’s no mercenary guild at our destination.”

Kim Jinsung’s eyebrow twitched, and Karen chuckled.

“Let’s get off here. It’s a place that others shouldn’t know about.”

He gestured with his eyes towards the taxi driver.

He meant that they should get off and talk since the taxi driver shouldn’t hear their conversation.

Karen, getting out of the taxi, led Kim Jinsung to a secluded alley.

He looked around and spoke as they walked down the alley.

“The name of the place we’re going to is ‘Adria’. It’s a secret quest board that only those in the know are aware of.”

“Quest board? Is it different from a mercenary guild?”

“Ordinary quest boards aren’t much different from mercenary guilds. They often have overlapping quests.

But secret quest boards are different. They only handle ‘private requests’ that aren’t typically handled elsewhere.”

“Private?”

Karen nodded and continued,

“It literally means requests that can’t be disclosed to others, where confidentiality is essential. And usually, shady requests come with much higher rewards.

You’ll understand better once you see it for yourself.”

Karen stopped in front of a building after finishing his explanation.

The entrance sign of the shabby three-story building read ‘HOTEL’.

‘…This place is worse than a Korean inn.’

“Let’s go in.”

Karen led Kim Jinsung, who was looking at the building, towards the entrance.

There was a small counter in the dark lobby.

As they stood in front of the counter, a middle-aged man with a beard, who was watching TV inside, glanced at them with a sullen expression and spoke.

“Two of you?”

The man didn’t even look at them properly.

His blatant disinterest made it seem like he didn’t care whether they did business with him or not.

Karen said to him,

“Room 311, please.”

The man turned his head and looked at him.

After a moment of silence, he replied,

“We only have rooms up to 310.”

“I’ve stayed in that room before.”

The man stared intently at Karen’s eyes.

He then quickly scanned Karen’s entire body and spoke in a lower voice,

“I’ve never seen your face before.”

“There were circumstances. Are you not doing business?”

The owner continued to stare at him silently for a while, despite Karen’s urging, then finally spoke in a low voice,

“IDs.”

They presented their hunter watches, and the owner scanned the codes on the screens with a measuring device. Their information appeared on a monitor next to the counter.

He checked the monitor and their faces alternately, then handed Karen a card with the number 311 written on it.

“Follow me.”

Karen led Kim Jinsung to the third floor.

He walked to a door at the end of the hallway with no number on it and opened it with the card.

Surprisingly, instead of a room, there was another elevator door inside.

Karen naturally pressed the down button and opened the door.

After Kim Jinsung entered the elevator, Karen pressed the only button, which was labeled ‘B’.

The elevator descended deep underground for quite some time before the doors finally opened.

A spacious room was visible beyond the doors.

All the walls were lined with bookshelves, filled with thick document files.

In the center of the room was a large wooden desk, behind which a thin, middle-aged man with round glasses was working on a computer.

Karen approached him and spoke,

“Nice to see you, Cesare.”

The middle-aged man, called Cesare, looked up at Karen, then spoke,

“I thought you were dead. You’re surprisingly still alive.”

Karen flinched at his words.

Cesare smiled, seeing Karen’s eyes shaking.

“We don’t get many clients here. So I can tell who it is just by their voice. Have a seat.”

Kim Jinsung and Karen sat across the desk from him.

Cesare looked at their information on the monitor and spoke,

“Karen, and Lee Jinhwan?”

“Jin.”

“Jin… So, you both cleared a Level 10 dungeon. How many of you were there?”

Karen pointed at himself and Kim Jinsung in response to Cesare’s question.

Cesare’s eyes widened.

“Just the two of you?”

He looked at Karen, who nodded, with disbelief.

“As I recall, you wouldn’t be able to clear a Level 10 dungeon alone.”

“That’s right. But it’s true that we cleared the dungeon together.”

Cesare’s gaze naturally shifted to Kim Jinsung.

Karen’s words implied that the black-haired young man named Jin before him was much stronger than Karen.

“…If what you say is true, I can give you a quest one level higher than I initially thought.”

“How high are we talking about?”

“Level 10.”

“Oh…!”

Karen exclaimed in admiration with a satisfied expression.

Cesare stood up from his chair.

“Since you were a regular customer, I won’t bother testing your skills. Let’s see…”

He walked to the left corner and took out a thick document file from the bookshelf.

“Here, take your pick.”

Kim Jinsung received a file titled ‘Average Lv 10’ and opened it.

It was filled with documents listing various quests.

The first page listed two quests.

Quest Details: Assassinate the branch manager of ‘Sselepoh Bank’ in the B31 district.

Precautions: The branch manager’s skill level is that of an ordinary person. However, failure to commit a perfect crime may result in becoming a publicly wanted criminal on the continent.

The bank and his residence are equipped with state-of-the-art security systems.

Quest Level: 9

Reward: 2 billion Blanc upon success.

Quest Details: Annihilate the B6 district branch of the ’69 St. Gangster’ Clan.

Precautions: Usually occupied by at least 15 members. The branch manager, Uber, is known to be a skilled hunter who has cleared Level 10 or higher Demon World Dungeons.

Quest Level: 11

Reward: 500 million Blanc per clan member killed. 3 billion Blanc for killing Uber.

Kim Jinsung turned the page and checked the other quests.

Most of them were similar to the first two. They were all illegal requests, such as assassinations, kidnappings, terrorism, and raids.

‘…So that’s why they’re called private requests.’

Karen’s explanation about the secret quest board was accurate.

He kept turning the pages, but there wasn’t a single decent quest that could be openly disclosed to the public.

“Just in case, try to find a quest related to those ‘pigs’.”

Karen said to Kim Jinsung, who was turning the pages.

He had deliberately avoided saying ‘Nature Animal’ directly, being mindful of Cesare.

Kim Jinsung, understanding his intention, nodded and continued turning the pages.

Karen, who was looking at the quests with Kim Jinsung, suddenly took out his smartphone from his pocket.

“…Oh no, only 5% battery left. Why didn’t I charge it? Ah, I passed out yesterday…”

Karen’s gaze naturally shifted to Kim Jinsung, but Kim Jinsung continued to focus on checking the quests, ignoring him.

Karen glanced at him, tapped his smartphone a few times, and then handed it to Cesare.

“Can I charge this here?”

Cesare’s gaze naturally fell on the smartphone screen.

A notepad app was open on the screen, and the following text was written in the center:

– I would like to make a separate personal request. After leaving this place, please send a text message to the number below.

Cesare glanced at Karen after reading the message.

“……”

He stared at Karen, who was practically begging with his eyes, for a moment, then returned the smartphone and said,

“We don’t have any in this room.”

“Oh no…! How can an office not have a single charger or cable?”

“That’s my business. Buy a portable charger on your way out.”

“I guess I’ll have to…”

Karen muttered, trying his best to act natural.

At that moment, Cesare looked at the monitor and moved his hands towards the keyboard.

Karen glanced at his hands.

He saw Cesare typing in his smartphone number.

‘Yes!’

Karen inwardly cheered.

It was then that,

“Found it.”

Kim Jinsung’s voice reached his ears.

Karen immediately read the quest Kim Jinsung was looking at.

Quest Details: Destroy the secret drug manufacturing facility located on the outskirts of the B16 district.

Precautions: At least four Nature Animal Clan members are always stationed there. Recently, there have been rumors that Nature Animal is supplying drugs to the Triunfo Clan.

Quest Level: 13

Reward: 10 billion Blanc.

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