Dungeon Defense- Magically Upgrade

by Elan Wang

  My gear may look humble but all of it cost me nearly 10,000 dollars. I know. Ridiculous.

  “Hey. It has been a while though so we should at least exchange numbers or something don’t you think?”

  I wanted to stop the small talk and leave but this bastard grabbed my arm. I reluctantly gave him my business card.

  “What is this? Pretty boy porter Jeon Sangmin? Ke ke ke. I guess nothing’s really changed huh?”

  “Is anything different with you?”

  I grabbed and looked at the business card he handed over my way. It had a black background with ‘Ultimate Porter’ written in bold white gothic print.

  “Doesn’t it leave quite an impression? Anyway, you’re on their team right?

  This guy. He put his stupid arm over my shoulder and pointed at Mr. Jung and red hair.

  When I turned my head a bit, I saw Mr. red hair secretly stroking the girl porter’s leg. How is it that he can act exactly like you would expect him to act? Slimeball.

  “Yeh, I guess.”

  “I know that guy…you’ll have your hands full.”

  “Who? Red hair?”

  “Yeh. He’s the youngest son of a rich construction company owner. He has a bit of an anger management issue. So prepare yourself to get hit a few times.”

  “That kind of stuff is a given in this line of work. I got this.”

  I was about to tell him that I had just left another guy with anger management issues and almost had my head crushed in the process…but why bother?

  “That’s not it though. This is all rumor…but I heard that he even raped some porter girl in a dungeon.”

  “What the hell. What kind of a man can do something like that in a dungeon? I call bull.”

  “Hey. I’m serious here. You don’t get why you got picked to do this job?”

  “Why did I get picked. Tell me.”

  “Because that piece of trash is always going around and doing that crap so they require another guy porter.”

  “Yeah right. It’s not as if I’m the only guy porter who’ll take the job. And if he was bold enough to do something like that, would he even care what another porter thinks? Who do you think those guys are?”

  “Well, don’t say I didn’t want you. You be careful. If you make one wrong move. Oh yeh. Should we go get a cup of coffee too? You buy.

  “What are you being so uptight over for just a level 1 dungeon! Let’s just go in there and just do it in one shot! Come on!”

  Red hair, Song Hansol, opened his mouth and made his unnecessarily stupid comment.

  “There is a hunter who is here for the first time so we should try and be considerate of his pace.”

  “YoungChul will be in the back just shooting his bow and arrow so it doesn’t really matter now does it?”

  “One can never be too cautious. But one can be too wreckless.”

  “I guess if Mr. Jung says so. If scaredy cats like you come into the dungeon, what fun is it for any of us?”

  “Ha ha. This is all for the safety of our young master.”

  The torch lights were flickering against the dark cave walls.

  The Ansan dungeons were known for its humanoid monsters. And among those that most frequently appeared were the goblins and cobalts. Both of these monsters stood at about only 1 meter and 50 centimeters tall but they are not to be underestimated. This was because the density of a monster’s muscle fibers were several times stronger than that of a human.

  Squeeze.

  Mr. Jung, who was leading the party at the very front raised his hand and formed a fist. This meant there was a monster. I moved my head a bit to get a better look and spotted them.

  There were three goblins sitting on the floor tearing into some meat in front of a smoking fire.

  “First. I’ll cast a distraction spell. I will point to the monster for the initial attack with a laser pointer, then young master Hansol will distract it while the other two hunters can take care of it at that point.”

  Mr. Jung was a support hunter. So he was the obvious choice in leading the raid.

  “What happens if I kill them all?”

  Song Hansol asked cockily as he took out a sword that was about 50cm long. The blade had a red glow to it that drew the eye. It went by the name, Blood Sword. This was because as it drank more and more of its enemy’s blood, its attack power increased that much more.

  “We will cross that bridge when we get there.”

  “Hey. You can’t have all the fun.”

  Park Jungbeh said. He was one of two hunters I had pegged as beggars in the beginning – this one had short hair and a fairly muscular body. The other one was pretty big too.

  “Keu Keu. Don’t worry. I’ll kill just one. You two can figure out what to do with the other two. Ah. Actually why don’t you give one of them to Youngchul?”

  Song Hansol asked as he looked back at the young master holding his bow.

  “Me? I, I probably won’t be able to shoot at it right.”

  “Hey. Kim Youngchul. We’re here at this lame dungeon because of you. You need to at least get one monster or it’ll be a waste.”

  “Ok. I’ll try my best.”

  “Then everyone get ready.”

  Mr. Jung took out a short cane from within his clothes. It was about arm’s length with a green color at the end tip of one side. This sort of cane was for those who had magic abilities and used t for power amplification.

  Mr. Jung started chanting and muttering incessantly under his breath as he held out his odd little cane and the green end began to glow bigger until it enveloped the goblins.

  Blehhh?

  All three of them seemed to just lose it and began rolling around on the ground.

  “Young master. You just need to kill the one with the red mark on its forehead.”

  Mr. Jung had pointed out the nearest goblin with his laser pointer.”

  “Duh. Any idiot knows how to do that without anyone having to ask him.”

  Tap. Tap. Tap.

  Song Hansol had closed the 20 meter distance to the goblin in just three steps and stabbed at his target’s heart.

  Stab!

  Keuuahhhhk!

  The goblin victim suddenly came to again and began to scream out in pain. Even with the bloodcurdling scream, the other twow goblins were still rolling about in the green light. I guess Mr. Jung’s distraction magic was pretty strong.

  Slice!

  Song Hansol finished the goblin off by slicing at its throat and shutting off the sound. He was covered in a fountain of goblin blood as he headed back in our direction.

  “Now. Who’s next?”

  “Okay. It’s my turn.”

  “Wait for me you bastard.”

  As if just waiting for their turn, the two hunters ran out so suddenly that both me and Youngchul were almost knocked over. As they busied themselves killing the second goblin, it looked as if the young master were about to go and kill the third one. I was glad that he wasn’t as timid as I first pegged him to be.

  I slowly walked up next to him and said a few words.

  This was all sales. Watch and learn. This is how you make tip money.

  “Have you ever gone hunting before?”

  “Me? No. This is my first.”

  “And practice??

  “A few times at home…”

  “And do you know the performance of the bow?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then there is nothing to worry too much over. It could never hurt a person so all you have to do is point and shoot in the goblin’s general direction.”

  “Like, like this?”

  Kim Youngchul pulled on the bow as he looked at me for approval.

  “Do not look at me. Look at your target, that goblin over there. Match your bow. A little more to the right. A little to the left. A little down. Yes. Right there. Relax your shoulders and breathe in deep.”

  “Huhb.”

  “Now on the count of three…one..two..now!”

  P
ing! The arrow flew from the bow.

  Keeeeeekkkk!

  “Nice shot!”

  To think he really made his mark. I made a big deal of it by yelling hurrahs and clapping real loud. Kim Youngchul’s eyes were round saucerplates as he stared at the mark where his arrow had hit the goblin.

  “Oh…I got it.”

  “Congratulations on your first kill.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Ha ha It is nothing. You can speak comfortably with me.”

  “How could I? You are much older than I am.”

  “It is usual for a hunter to speak comfortably or down to a porter. It is easier for me to hear as well.”

  “Is that so sir? I mean…is that right?”

  [TN] This whole time, Youngchul was using honorifics when talking to the MC which is highly unusual and he just switched to regular speech.

  “See. There you go. It suits you just fine. You can just speak like that from now on.”

  “Anyway, thanks. What’s your name again?”

  “Jeon Sangmin, sir. Please call on me if you ever have another need.”

  I said as I passed him my business card. He took it and read it in all seriousness before placing it in his pocket. I could already tell that the probability of him calling me on his next raid would be fairly high.

  Kim Yeongchul spoke.

  “But I hit it in the shoulder. Is that alright?”

  “With that arrow, it’s game over no matter where you hit your target. Do not worry.”

  After I quelled his worries, I turned to look in the direction of the felled goblins. Song Hansol was looking on with scorn while the other two were still prancing around their goblin and brandishing their weapons.

  “Die! Die you bastard!”

  “Ah. Shit. Damn. Shit. Damn. Shit. Why won’t it die?”

  “That’s because you idiots have no skill. Retards.”

  Song Hansol made a small smirk.

  “Go to hell. It’s because we have crappy weapons ok? I guess I have to ask for a new weapon for my birthday.”

  “It’s always the low level ones who blame it on their weapons. Look. Our Youngchul was able to kill his target in one shot.”

  “Hey. Isn’t that weapon expensive as hell though?”

  “But he did it from that distance. I bet you that you couldn’t do the same thing if your life depended on it.”

  “I can too.”

  “Yeah right.”

  Clang!

  While the two were arguing, the goblin had pushed a sword into into Park Jungbeh’s side. Luckily it lazily bounced off his armor. Park Jungbeh’s face turned bright red. He. Was. Furious!

  “This piece of crap. How dare you leave a streak on my armor! Do you know how much this costs?”

  “Can you just finish him off already so we can move on?”

  Song Hansol’s now blood-red sword finished sucking up the blood of its kill as he placed it back on his hip. I couldn’t tell if he used a two sword fighting style, but he had another sword on the opposite hip.

  The female porter hurried over with a handkerchief to clean the sweat off his brow. I guess she was used to doing this because she started cooing over him telling him how brave and strong he was all while making the biggest smile she could muster. Song Hansol laughed aloud as he raised his hand to cup her at the waist.

  The last goblin was finally slain and as they waited for the monster to evaporate, everything appeared at once. What was left behind from the monsters was 1 monazite. It was a poor hunt. To think that only 1 monazite would appear from killing three goblins. It was usual for 1 monazite to appear from killing two monsters…not three.

  They had killed 30 monsters in total. It had taken them about 2 hours. This was a dungeon that didn’t have any boss level monsters so as soon as you killed all the monsters in there, that was the end. The sun’s rays began to filter into the cave and light it up.

  Their total items included 10 monazites and 2 bastnazites. The total price of everything would come out to about 10,200 dollars. It seemed like there was a bit of bad luck on today’s hunt since if they split it all up, it barely amounted to 300 dollars per person.

  “Is this all?”

  Mr. Jung asked with his voice tinged with obvious disappointment. It was understandable. Even at a level 1 dungeon, for there to be such little items, this could be seen as a really bad day.

  Song Hansol glanced at his watch and said.

  “It’s only been about two hours so let’s rest a bit. There’s no reason for us to hurry. You. Porter. Why don’t you take Youngchul and show him around a bit.”

  “I’m fine.”

  Kim Youngchul said.

  “We don’t know when we’ll come again so make some memories. We were hunting this whole time so I’m sure you didn’t get to have a good look at the place right?”

  “Is, is that right?”

  “Yeh. So just listen to what I’m saying. We’ll wait over here.”

  “Alright. Then.”

  Kim Youngchul stared at me with wide excited eyes. It seemed this kid was the type who couldn’t refuse anyone.

  I nodded my head.

  “I have things I need to carry so it is hard for me to leave this place.”

  “You can just leave your things here.”

  “All of these items are my responsibility. If even one item disappears…”

  “This bastard. You’re saying some mighty annoying things! What are you saying? Are you saying that if you leave your things here that someone’s going to steal them? We’re the only ones here so you’re pretty much saying we’ll steal them aren’t you?!”

  Song Hansol began screaming at the top of his lungs.

  “That is not what I meant. I just meant in case…”

  “Then what? Shit. If something disappears then I’ll make sure I take the blame so go. No. Sooah. Why don’t you hold on to everything. We have another porter here so give it to her.”

  “You can give it to me.”

  The girl porter came and stretched out an arm. I couldn’t do anything but nod and hand it all over.”

  Thump. Thump.

  I walked through the dungeon slowly with Kim Youngchul. The stalactites all along the cave walls were sparkling.

  “How do you feel about your first time visiting a dungeon?”

  “Scary. And cruel.”

  “But it is something that is necessary as well.”

  “I know. I know that if we don’t clear the dungeons once in a while, that the monsters would leave it and come to the outside world. How about you? Aren’t you scared? You’re not a hunter so you could die easily. If it were me, I would be too afraid to do it.”

  “I am used to it so it’s alright.”

  “Do you think I’ll be like that too?”

  “Just think of it as preparing yourself early for something you will have to do later on anyway.”

  “You mean military service?”

  “Yes. If you become a hunter higher than a level 3 then by law you are to be drafted to the military.”

  It was normal for hunters higher than level 3 to serve as National Security instead of serving at the military. This was to keep the cost of hiring hunters low while still maintaining the country’s safety. It was a win win situation. While the hunter is placed in a comfortable station, they are asked to hunt once a week to keep the country safe.

  “Well if it’s something I have to do anyway, isn’t it the same if I just put it off for later?”

  “I guess you can think of it that way too.”

  I nodded my head. We walked for a long time without saying a word.

  A negative thought kept niggling at the back of my mind.

  “Is there something you’re worried about?”

  “More than something I’m worried about…there is something that concerns me a bit.”

  “What is it?”

  “Well I heard a bad rumor before coming in here, actually.”

  “Rumor? About Hanso
l?”

  “Well…no. Nevermind.”

  I shook my head. Though I didn’t know exactly what their relationship was, I couldn’t go spewing nonsense I could regret later.

  I couldn’t hang myself over something that wasn’t even confirmed.

  Clang!

  One minute Kim Youngchul was looking at my face carefully and the next he fell atop of me. Anyone could see that this was all a horrible act.

  “Ahh!”

  “…What are you doing?”

  “Ow ow ow. I think I just sprained my leg and can no longer walk.”

  “It looked as if you fell on purpose…”

  “No no. I just twisted it.”

  I calmly stared at him.

  This little kid, was he doing this out of concern for me?”

  “I swear!”

  “Hm..well. I guess now that I look at it more carefully, it does look a bit swollen.”

  “Yeah. So let’s go back alright?”

  I smirked a little and crouched in front of him.

  “Huh? What are you doing?”

  This kid, I couldn’t tell if he was smart or dumb.

  ***

  Taptaptaptap

  I piggybacked Kim Youngchul and ran to the spot everyone was resting. It was already 20 minutes since we had left. If something had happened, it would’ve already been over before I could arrive.

  I could hear a bunch of people screaming at the top of their lungs.

  “You let go right now. I’m going to kill him!”

  “Keu keu keu. Miss Porter. You’re much too strong no?”

  “Shit. Look at her breasts.”

  “Hey! Hold her properly! She keeps moving around!”

  Ah shit. Shit. Shit. I thought it couldn’t be true but it was? Shit.

  What I saw as soon as I arrived was Song Hansol sitting on top of the girl porter who was squirming with all her might on the ground. The two other hunters were on either side of her, holding her arms down while making piggy grunting noises. Mr. Jung was just in the corner observing everything while smoking a cigarette without a care in the world.

  “What are you doing!”

  I let Kim Youngchul on the ground before running toward the girl porter.

  “Move!”

  “Damn. This bastard. Ruining everything.”