Chapter 38: I Want to Do It Inside the Dungeon (1)

Hunters have no set holidays.

To be precise, there are days off and workdays, but the boundary separating holidays and workdays was much more ambiguous in many ways compared to people in other professions.

Even on days when an expedition was originally scheduled, it was common for the schedule to be canceled or changed depending on the person’s physical condition that day or the attendance of party members.

In the case of popular dungeons, they operated on a reservation system to avoid overlapping hunting grounds, so quite a few hunters went to work on weekends or holidays to avoid periods of intense competition.

However, large guilds like corporations were among the hunter guilds that guaranteed quite a few holidays.

Except for the regular workdays when all members of an affiliated party gathered, there were no mandatory workdays, and as long as the minimum expedition criteria of several times a month or several times a year were met, the basic salary was paid, so it didn’t interfere with daily life.

Therefore, most company-affiliated hunters took a rest instead of going to work when they were physically tired or in a bad mood. Because they knew that sufficient rest would be rewarded with good condition on the next expedition.

…This was not the case for Han Min-ah, an A-rank scout affiliated with the company.

“Ahhh…. Haaaaaam….”

Eun & Ok Co., Ltd. Seoul Gangdong District Branch.

Han Min-ah, seeming tired, let out a long yawn from the morning and trudged towards the company guild.

“Hellooooo….”

Han Min-ah swiped her Hunter license, which also served as her attendance record, at the turnstile. As of today, she had set a record of 67 consecutive days of work.

Of course, even this was less than half the number compared to the great record of 150 consecutive workdays she set last year.

Due to the nature of the hunter profession, which involves a lot of physical activity, fatigue inevitably accumulated when working every day like this, which is why Han Min-ah always came to work with a tired expression.

“You look tired again today.”

“Huuuum…. Well, yeah….”

“It says you’ve been working consecutively for almost 10 weeks now. Shouldn’t you be resting soon?”

“I’m okay…. My recovery is pretty fast….”

“You really don’t look like it though….”

After casually waving off the attendant’s concerned words, Han Min-ah asked the attendant the usual question she asked every time she came to work.

“Is anyone from the ‘Sky Blue Shield’ party coming in today?”

“Kang Hye-eun-ssi and Cha Yuri-ssi are off today. Cheon Jihee-ssi is scheduled to come in at 10 AM.”

“Hmm…. So today is only Jihee Unnie’s work day….”

It would have been nice if Kang Hye-eun, her longtime friend and the leader of Sky Blue Shield, had come in, but unfortunately, the leader of her party was rolling around in bed, enjoying her day off.

Unlike Han Min-ah, who basically went to work unless she was on the verge of death, the other members of her party were the type of people who strictly observed their days off.

Kang Hye-eun had a personality that clearly separated work and rest because she was a frontline fighter, Cheon Jihee observed holidays to some extent but also consistently kept up with her training, and Cha Yuri spent her holidays researching magic.

Han Min-ah was the only member of the Sky Blue Shield party who gave up her holidays and went to work every day as if chased by something.

‘When I went out alone with Jihee Unnie, the results were really poor….’

However, Han Min-ah’s role as a scout was closer to a support ability rather than actively hunting monsters. Her awakened ability was the type that, while not at a level where she couldn’t hunt alone, performed much more efficiently when accompanied by others than when going solo.

So, Han Min-ah preferred to act with her existing party members whenever possible, even outside of regular workdays when the whole party gathered, but she felt a bit uncomfortable with Cheon Jihee, the eldest sister and fighter of the party.

‘The last time we went hunting together, she kept asking weird questions the whole time. Why did she keep asking about Hye-eun’s middle school and high school days?’

She would have preferred a party with Cha Yuri, who, despite being quiet and making things awkward, would silently do her part.

However, thinking back to the last expedition where she couldn’t concentrate on the battle due to Cheon Jihee’s questions and naturally achieved no results, Han Min-ah felt dizzy, and in the end, she reached what she considered a rational conclusion.

“I’ll take the Grave of the Ancient Tree, Sector C.”

Rather than spending an uncomfortable time with Cheon Jihee in a B-rank dungeon, she decided to spend her personal time hunting leisurely alone in a C-rank dungeon.

Although catching C-rank monsters wouldn’t significantly impact her performance as an A-rank hunter, it was much better than failing to achieve anything for the day by attempting a poorly chosen difficult challenge.

The most important thing, however, was that she didn’t want to be stressed by a barrage of questions on an expedition alone with an awkward companion.

“Grave of the Ancient Tree, Sector C, correct?”

“Yes~.”

With the dungeon attendant’s mechanical operation, the portable warp device placed beneath Han Min-ah activated, and she was transported directly into the shared dungeon, the Grave of the Ancient Tree.

At this point, she had no idea that what Han Min-ah would be hunting that day would not be mere C-rank or B-rank monsters.

「C-rank dungeon, Grave of the Ancient Tree. Sector A.」

The Grave of the Ancient Tree, visited again after a few days, welcomed me with its familiar scent of wood and moss as soon as I stepped inside.

Perhaps it was because of the memory of having sex with Cha Yuri in this place last time.

Normally, entering this dark and damp place should evoke a feeling of unease, but the moment I recalled Cha Yuri’s face moaning inside the dungeon that day, instead of discomfort, the thing below my waist started to twitch and stir.

A man who gets hard just by smelling a dungeon. It felt like a strange fetish had been born here.

Having entered through the warp gate, I put the mysterious mask I was wearing back into my subspace pocket and immediately activated the Hunter Libido Management System to track Cha Yuri’s current location in real-time.

“Ah, she’s already here.”

Just like last time, a red arrow appeared in the air, guiding me to her current location, so I quickly moved deeper into the Grave of the Ancient Tree, following the direction indicated.

It was convenient to operate without the hassle of taking out my smartphone. Of course, I didn’t think the 50 points were worth it, but considering its future utility, it would at least provide value exceeding the points spent.

Carefully stepping over old roots and moss, I ventured deep into the dungeon. About 10 minutes later, as I was nearing the meeting spot, I spotted the familiar back of a mage behind the shadow of an ancient tree.

“……”

Cha Yuri, wearing a navy blue hat and cloak, wasn’t waiting at the meeting spot but was inexplicably hiding behind the trunk of a large tree, looking towards the place where we had our encounter last time.

Seeing her like that, a mischievous impulse struck me. I silently moved behind Cha Yuri and firmly grabbed her unsuspecting buttock with my right hand.

-Malkaaang!

“Euhh-eek…?!”

As I savored her soft buttock, felt even through her clothes and cloak, Cha Yuri, startled, turned her head back, her face flushed.

“It, it was you…. You startled me….”

“Then who did you think it was?”

“I thought it might be you. …I just needed confirmation.”

The red magic surrounding the staff she held was immediately withdrawn. If it hadn’t been me, but a monster or a stranger, that magic would have directly turned into a spell.

“What are you doing here? The meeting spot where we had sex last time is over that plain, isn’t it?”

“…To surprise you.”

“What?”

“I came early and hid to surprise you. But you ruined it.”

“……”

You shouldn’t blame the person who was trying to surprise you.

After reaching inside Cha Yuri’s cloak as she pouted slightly and spoke cheekily the moment we met, I gently patted her buttock as if to soothe her.

-Pat pat.

“Hee-ik, hee-ik.”

Although her voice was calm, she flinched slightly again, perhaps surprised, and Cha Yuri, blushing, felt quite cute.

“Wh-what is it.”

“Cha Yuri-ssi, this might be rude to say suddenly, but…”

“Wh-what is it? Are, are you angry because I said you were trying to surprise me?”

“You’re much better suited to being teased than surprising others, Cha Yuri-ssi.”

“……”

Hearing my words, Cha Yuri’s expression relaxed into one of disbelief.