Chapter 13
TL: Uncle Choi
Editor: Bait
In the year 2020, when dungeons and monsters first appeared in the world, people thought the end of the world was near. Then players appeared. At the time, the people viewed the players as hope, rising from the ground.
By the year 2023, the world actually became even more unstable as time went by, rather than getting better.
[The world’s economic growth rate has been negative for four consecutive years.] [The worst economic crisis in history is near!] [Crude oil prices are approaching over $150 per barrel]
In the past few years, the worldwide economic growth rate has stayed negative, price of goods as well as unemployment has soared, and the property damage caused by monsters has s...o...b..lled out of control.
[In Somalia, the disbandment of the country is underway.] [There are large migrations of Eastern European refugees.]
In Africa, South America, and Eastern Europe, where the governments lacked the capacity to function or operate, countries and governments began to disband or collapse.
Even so, what was more frustrating of all was the players’ greed. The only way to get players to attack dungeons and solve the problem was by throwing enough money at them.
As the years went on, the players’ demands for money increased.
[The European Guild Union demands a 30% increase on their dungeon clear rewards and salary!] [USA. Special Players Act pa.s.sed! Players will receive a 10 percent income tax exemption!] [Will governments just continue to accept the demands of the players?]
Now, it has reached the point where players are exercising enormous leveraging power as well as lobbying to pa.s.s laws that benefit them more.
In such a world, there was only one ray of light that people could trust.
[The Messiah Guild is the first to clear a 5 floor dungeon!] [Lee Se-joon, he saves the world again.] [Hansung Group’s stock price soars.]
The Messiah Guild.
They put their lives on the line in order to try to save the world. That’s why they were the only ones praised by the world.
In contrast, the rest of the players were rather quiet when it came to talking about the Messiah Guild.
No player wanted to speak of the n.o.ble achievements of the Messiah Guild.
It was to be expected.
‘The Messiah Guild cleared a 5 floor dungeon.’
‘Guess it’s time for people to curse at us now.’
With the presence of the Messiah Guild making all the other players of the world look like greedy, blood-sucking leeches, for players to talk about the Messiah Guild was like rubbing their s.h.i.+t on their face, bringing shame to their own reputations.
‘f.u.c.king Messiah Guild. I mean, it’s not like we committed a crime, is it?’
‘They should be thankful to chosen beings like us for fighting to protect their lives.’
The Messiah Guild was an especially sensitive topic for the Phoenix Guild.
The greater the public’s affection for the Messiah guild was, the greater the criticism of the players became, and the brunt of the criticism was directed toward the Phoenix Guild, the second ranked Korean guild that happened to be right behind the Messiah Guild.
The mood was violently crushed when the Phoenix Guild heard news that the Messiah Guild cleared a 5 floor dungeon.
Under such circ.u.mstances, there was nothing the players of the Phoenix Guild could do.
“Anyway, did you hear about that story?
“What story?”
“That new recruit who kicked the others in the head.”
An escape from reality.
They began to console themselves by chewing on their easier opponents.
“Ah, that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Kim Woo-jin?”
The sacrificial lamb was Kim Woo-jin.
“He really is an a.s.shole.”
Although the Phoenix Guild has already officially stated that the dungeon clear issues involving Kim Woo-jin were false and that Kim Woo-jin was not guilty, no one paid attention to it.
“Kim Jin-woo, what a son of a b.i.t.c.h.”
“His name is Kim Jin-woo, right? I’ll have to talk to him later when I see him. That you have to be mindful. Don’t you think that b.a.s.t.a.r.ds like him give other players bad reputations?”
No, nevermind Kim Woo-jin’s face, many people who swore at Kim Woo-jin did not even know his name.
It was evident that they had no interest in the truth.
The only thing that was important was that Kim Woo-jin is an easy enough target to chew on freely.
Naturally, they were not interested in Kim Woo-jin’s movements either.
“Mr. Kim Woo-jin has asked for support. It’s an one floor C+ rank dungeon. After the incident where all three parties, a total of 9 people, including Jeon Yong-kyu’s party wiping out was known, no one has applied for this dungeon for a month.”
No player was interested in the fact that Kim Woo-jin is challenging a dungeon, which all players ignored after three failed attempts.
It was clear that they were just not interested.
“Who is Jeon Yong-kyu?”
“He was a rising star in Park Yong-wan’s faction. Don’t you remember sir? He was the one that frantically asked us to sign him up for a B rank dungeon, claiming that he was like a little brother of Park Yong-wan…”
“Oh, that little b.a.s.t.a.r.d? I remember now.”
“What should I do?”
Since there was no reason to doubt Kim Woo-jin, there was no problem.
“What do you mean what should I do? You should give full support to a person who is willing to do the right thing. Did he make any additional requests?”
“Ah, that… there was one particular request.”
“What is it?”
“He asked for some gas money…”
“Gas money? That guy. Didn’t he take a lot of money from a bet? The kids who got their money taken by him went crazy, right?”
“Apparently, he spent it all on buying a skill page.”
Just like that, Kim Woo-jin’s third dungeon was decided.
[Blood Weapon]
- Skill Rank: F
- Skill Effect: You can make weapons using your own blood.
Kim Woo-jin looked at his newly acquired skill.
It was a skill bought using the money he got in exchange for the cars he won in the bet.
‘To think I got this for one billion won’.
The price was one billion won!
It was beyond common sense and imagination.
Since its effects were not impressive, it was even more difficult to understand the price.
‘I got it for a cheap price.’
However, Kim Woo-jin, who looked at the skill, was satisfied with the price.
‘I’m glad I can get it with money.’
On the contrary, he was satisfied with the fact that he was able to acquire a skill that was exclusively for his halo, the Emissary of the Underworld, which is difficult to find at this time.
‘I can use Blood Poisoning more effectively.’
Furthermore, Kim Woo-jin could not wait to see the synergy between the Blood Poisoning skill he already learned and the Blood Weapon skill that he just got.
‘It’s not a problem. I can just earn it all back again, after all.’
Above all, Kim Woo-jin was not too concerned about money issues.
‘If I can catch his tail properly in this time, I might be able to rip him up completely.’
The person Kim Woo-jin was aiming for was a big fish that he had been searching for a while.
‘The traitor Park Yong-wan.’
Park Yong-wan, nicknamed “traitor.”
As his nickname indicates, he literally betrayed his country.
In 2025, when the world began starting wars to secure items for their players, he was among the players that moved to j.a.pan with the items secured by the Korean players.
In addition, he was one of four people who pa.s.sed the 100 items owners.h.i.+p mark in the Phoenix Guild.
‘By this point, this guy must have collected a lot.’
He was also known to have the most funds and items collected of the four core members in the Phoenix Guild.
To begin with, he was committing all sorts of illegal and corrupt activities.
Kim Woo-jin found that he was not only engaged in the trafficking of monster corpses and arms trafficking, but also in the illegal dungeon clearing business as well as drug trafficking.
In a way, he was a man of great capacity.
It wasn’t easy to do his job and perform his duties as a player while committing atrocious crimes behind the scenes.
No one had even suspected it until he sold out his country.
He was a man who built a flawless castle without anybody noticing.
‘At this point in time, he may already have the legendary Sain Sword.’
The biggest mistake he made in the past was owning the legendary Sain Sword.
Otherwise, he would have been targeted by the hunting dog a bit later in his life.
It was also one of Kim Woo-jin’s biggest reason for joining the Phoenix Guild.
The Messiah Guild is for heroes.
If you touch a guild member, there will be a severe retaliation. In contrast, the Phoenix Guild is overwhelmed with trash.
It was full of criminals who could not change the way they live. Kim Woo-jin, a criminal hunter, knew better than anyone how to make use of them.
That’s why he chose this dungeon.
‘Once I find the body of a man named Jeon Yoo-gyu who belonged to the Park Yong-wan faction and read his memory, I can get a clue…’
It will be a good chance to get info on the cartel that Park Yong-wan has built on Korean soil.
In that manner, Kim Woo-jin arrived at the location of his 3rd dungeon, in Chuncheon City.
The biggest change with the arrival of dungeon gates were the property prices.
In the metropolitan area of Seoul and Gangnam in particular, house prices have soared to the point that it was almost impossible to get it with just money.
On the other hand, house prices of areas other than Gyeonggi Province and non-metropolitan cities have practically become worthless.
Even with the increase of players, the emergence of mercenaries, and the deployment
of the military, the areas with lower population densities were relatively susceptible to monsters.
Gangwon Province was not much better either.
Located in the mountains, where it was not easy to hunt monsters, cities in Gangwon Province were basically ghost towns.
The city of Chuncheon, where Kim Woo-jin arrived, was no different.
Chuncheon city was once known for having the highest quality chicken b.r.e.a.s.t.s in the country, attracting countless tourists. However, now, Chuncheon City was left abandoned without any visitors.
The only people who could be sighted were soldiers, policemen, and mercenaries with guns preparing for a monster breakout.
Even more miserable scenes became visible as they approached the Gongjicheon Sculpture Park, Kim Woo-jin’s destination.
‘The place certainly does give off a strong sense of being a graveyard of players.’
A dungeon where three parties have already died, a dungeon that was practically impossible for a new challenger, was currently a monster factory.
To change this atmosphere, Kim Woo-jin and his colleagues had risked their lives by fighting.
On the other hand, Kim Woo-jin was already used to situations like this.
The pride of bringing a sense of security to the world made Kim Woo-jin feel desperate but n.o.ble.
‘d.a.m.n those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.’
Kim Woo-jin grimaced after recalling those memories.
With a twisted face, Kim Woo-jin got out of the car.
Soon after, a man came towards Kim Woo-jin and asked.
“You’re Mr. Kim Woo-jin, right? I am Cho Min-gi, a member of the support team.”
Cho Min-gi, a member of the support team, looked more like a mercenary than a member of the support team.
He held an automatic rifle, wore a black vest, and a military issue hat.
It was an undeniable proof of what kind of place this was.
The number of players increased as more and more dungeon gates sp.a.w.ned. However, the number of staff for managing and monitoring the dungeons was always limited due to the fact that most players only lingered in one floor dungeons. They tried to live their lives selfishly and luxuriously without any danger.
If there were enough resources and staff, it would be deployed to Gangnam first for sure.
Even the staff of the Phoenix Guild’s support team had to protect themselves.
“By the way, did you really come alone?”
Kim Woo-jin’s presence did not inspire hope in him.
Soon enough, a rumor about Kim Woo-jin surfaced inside Cho Min-gi’s head after re-confirming Kim Woo-jin’s car.
‘I guess the rumor was true. He’s a trash b.a.s.t.a.r.d who backstabbed his team, so no one’s going to party up with him…’
As he recalled the rumor, Cho Min-gi showed disapproval in his face.
It was rude.
Nevertheless, Kim Woo-jin was a player who came to clear the dungeon that everyone else avoided.
Fortunately, Cho Min-gi was never questioned by Kim Woo-jin.
Wiiinnngg!
A number of warning devices began to sound, flas.h.i.+ng their red warning lights.
“Monsters!”
“Monsters came out from the gate!”
Responses to the sound also came from all around him.
Cho Min-gi was also frightened by the uproar.
‘Let’s, in the meantime, let’s…’
Cho Min-gi had not completely forgotten his role.
“Le… let’s move to a safer spot for now.”
The role of the support team was to help the players reach the dungeon safely!
Of course, for the moment, Cho Min-gi needed to take Kim Woo-jin to a safe place.
In response to Cho Min-gi, Kim Woo-jin replied briefly.
“Gun.”
Kim Woo-jin requested the automatic rifle that the staff had.
“Ah, yes!”
Cho Min-gi finally figured out Kim Woo-jin’s intentions.
However, it was too late to think.
Keuaa!
The monsters that made their way out of the gate were four orcs running toward Kim Woo-jin and Cho Min-gi.
“Ugh!”
Cho Min-gi threw the gun at Kim Woo-jin as if he was abandoning him to die, frightened by the orcs.
He was about to run away immediately.
“Euag!”
Unfortunately, his legs got tangled and he fell on the spot.
Cho Min-gi’s face instantly lost all color, turning pale.
Kim Woo-jin, on the other hand, was very relaxed and was checking out the state of the gun he was given.
At first, it looked as if he had no intention of escaping.
There was no reason to actually run away.
Clang!
Kim Woo-jin, who checked the condition of his gun, started to fire the powerful weapon in his hand that was incomparably better than weapons such as a whip, knife, poisons, and his skeleton soldiers.
Tu!
It was a single shot.
Tu!
Kim Woo-jin fired just one shot at a time like in a shooting drill, not a quick fire.
Tu!
Like that, four gunshots echoed.
Thud!
After the sound of four gun fires, the four orcs running toward Kim Woo-jin fell to the ground as if they were narcolepsy patients.
Kim Woo-jin aimed the gun across his visible field, scanned it once, and confirmed that there were no more orcs before handing the gun over to the original owner.
“Can I ask you a favor before entering the dungeon?
“Yes?”
Cho Min-gi, who received the gun, behaved as if his soul was blown in half. Kim Woo-jin told him, taking the car key out of his pocket.
“Please fill up my car with gas all the way. I’d appreciate it if you would also fill my car with some winds.h.i.+eld washer fluid as well.”
Sain Sword or Saingeom is a well-known type of Korean sword.