Chapter 11

Seol Yoon-hee’s daily routine begins at 6 AM.

She rubbed her sleepy eyes, got up from her mattress which was in the corner of the living room, and took a shower.

 

Do-jun said that she could sleep in his room, but Seol Yoon-hee adamantly refused, saying she could just sleep in the living room. Since she technically lives off of him, she thought she was in no position to even take his room from him.

Swish.

After taking a shower, Seol Yoon-hee pulled out an envelope stuck in-between the books on the bookshelves.

<National Hunter Academy Admission Guide>

Everything was good up to this point.

“…Sigh.”

Attached between the admission guides, is a certain notice with the word “URGENT” written in big letters at the top of it.

Deposit of ‘tuition fees’ is required by the end of this month, which includes the equipment rental fees, instructor fees, and other facility maintenance costs. There was a national subsidy, so the amount had already decreased. However…

It was still 50 million won.

– If the tuition is not deposited by the end of the stated date, admission may be canceled or postponed.

“How can I tell him this…”

It’s not even a few million won, but 50 million won.

As Seol Yoon-hee knew what Do-jun’s monthly salary was, she couldn’t easily bring it up to him.

She was already greatly indebted to him for letting her live here when she had nowhere else to go.

However, there was only less than a week left now until the deadline.

Beep! Beep!

“Oh, it’s already time.”

7 AM.

If she didn’t prepare breakfast, Do-jun would not even consider eating breakfast.

In a hurry, she left the papers in her seat and walked to the kitchen.

＊ ＊ ＊

7:20 AM.

After getting out of bed, Do-jun came out to the living room. While walking straight to the sink, he found a bunch of papers lying on the floor. He picked up the papers and read them slowly.

“Oh, you’re up, Fa… AHHH!”

Seol Yoon-hee screamed and quickly ran towards him.

Do-jun raised his eyebrows in shock when she snatched the papers that he was reading.

“D-did you see it?”

“Yes. You mean the admission guide? But why are you desperately hiding it like that? Is there something you don’t want me to know?”

Seol Yoon-hee breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that Do-jun might have not seen the urgent notice. She hid the papers behind her back and smiled awkwardly.

“It’s nothing. Oh, I’m done making breakfast so you can eat now.”

“Thanks. I’ll wash up first, then I’ll eat.”

“Hehe. No need, it’s the least I can do.”

A Father-daughter relationship that only exists by contract.

Do-jun nodded as if affirming to that notion and went to the sink.

＊ ＊ ＊

Tap tap.

Do-jun checked the remaining balance in his bank account with his smartphone.

– 818,070 won

In his previous life, Do-jun barely saved any money even though he worked for a year. It’s because he would order delivery food and drink beer almost everyday. And now this is the result of not having something such as emergency savings.

Furthermore, his living expenses increased starting this month with Seol Yoon-hee now living with him.

After deducting the monthly rent, their food, transportation, telecommunications, utilities, and other expenses, nothing was now left on his hands.

‘Paying her tuition fee is not included in our contract anyway.’

Do-jun turned off his smartphone and directed his eyes towards his computer.

He tried to concentrate on his work again.

But, why?

He couldn’t get any work done.

Unknowingly, he typed ‘loan’ in the search engine and hit enter.

And he could tell.

That it was impossible for him to borrow as much as 50 million won.

Of course, it was possible by borrowing from multiple third-tier financial institutions, but he wouldn’t be able to cover the murderous interests he would be accumulating.

Tap tap tap.

Do-jun was surprised to see the total amount after turning in the Mana Stones and corpses of the Goblins they acquired while exploring the F-class Rift. Everything amounted to about 2 million won.

All of the by-products that came from the Rift monsters were given to the contracted hunter, and for Do-jun, who only earns 3 million won a month, it was, without doubt, a hefty sum for him.

‘Let’s see how much an A-class monster’s Mana Stone is…’

Do-jun searched the Mana Stone unit price table by class and was surprised.

Unlike F-class Mana Stones, which only cost 50,000 won per unit, the unit price of Mana Stones exponentially increased as its class went up.

Right now, the Mana Stone of a B-class monster is about 30 million won.

‘So this is why they all try to become Hunters. Let’s see… A-class… 200 million?!”

If he just hunts one.

Seol Yoon-hee’s tuition fee would then be paid all at once.

But Do-jun couldn’t easily do that.

‘Once I enter a Rift, it’ll be on the record.’

Entering the Rift in itself was not difficult.

It was stipulated that official staff of the Rift Management Department could freely enter any Rift.

Whether it’s an A-class or B-class. Even if it’s an S-class. They are legally allowed to do so as a government agency.

They are technically allowed, but there has never been a government staff who dared enter these high-ranked Rifts.

B-class Rifts or any other high-ranked Rifts are implied to be the Hunter Management Agency’s territory.

‘Besides…’

Entering a Rift and catching the monster.

Everything was good up to that point. It wasn’t that hard for him to catch a single monster.

But if a rumor starts to go around right now, that he’s someone capable of fighting such a strong monster.

His ‘ordinary’ life would then be over.

‘…I’m already sick of it.’

Constantly getting attention from the people around you is very tiring.

There was no need for a person who has retired from that kind of life to emerge again.

Do-jun had lived more fiercely than anyone else in Murim.

And when he ascended into godhood, all eyes were on him.

That by itself exhausted him greatly.

– It’s nothing.

Do-jun suddenly remembered what Seol Yoon-hee said this morning.

The lie that she had said because she didn’t want to become a burden to him.

It would have been much better if she had asked him for money directly.

“…This is why I didn’t want to live with her.”

Do-jun clicked his tongue and opened the drawer.

He took out a Hunter ID with an F-class rating.

Dust piled up on the temporary pass card which was no longer used.

In the past, when the Rift Management Department was first established, the Hunter Management Agency distributed these temporary pass cards to the members of the department upon discussion so that they would be able to enter the Rifts in the meantime.

Tap tap tap. 

Do-jun accessed the Seoul Administrative System and clicked the ‘Hunter Management’ tab.

‘Just this once.’

In order to not get caught,

He added an F-class Hunter under the Rift Management Department.

A non-existent character whom he managed to create will enter the Rift on his behalf.

＊ ＊ ＊

Saturday morning.

Do-jun got up at 6 AM.

After preparing himself, he went towards Seol Yoon-hee who was sleeping in the corner of the living room, and covered her up with a blanket that had slid down.

– I’ll be back after work.

Afterwards, he left a note and attached it to the handle of the refrigerator so it can easily be seen.

Do-jun was wearing slim jeans, stretched gray hoodie, wearing the hood over his head, and covered his face with a white mask.

He then opened his smartphone and searched the location of the A-class Rift, <The Dark Ogre’s Swamp> on the map. It was located at the entrance of Guryong Mountain in Yeomgok-dong, Seocho-gu.

It was possible to arrive in an instant using ‘Light Steps’, but he opted not to do it knowing that a strong qi would be detected by the Hunter Management Agency if the Heavenly Demon Sword was activated.

‘I’ll have to take a taxi then.’

Estimating the distance from his home to Guryong Mountain, the fare would cost at least 20,000 won.

But considering the amount he would earn from catching a Dark Ogre, the fare was just like the price of gum.

Creak.

Thud.

The door closed.

Shortly after he left, Seol Yoon-hee woke up.

After getting up from the mattress, she found the note Do-jun left behind on the refrigerator and read it.

“…Today’s weekend, though.”

Looking at the tightly closed door,

She felt guilty without even realizing it.

And once again, she vowed to never ever talk about her tuition to him.

＊ ＊ ＊

Vroom.

The taxi ran along the road after dropping Do-jun off at the entrance of Guryong Mountain.

He checked the map again on his phone to confirm his location.

Then, he began to walk towards the area where the <Great Rift> was.

– Restricted Area.

There was a sign placed in the entrance along with barbed wires surrounding the area.

Past the barbed wires, a locked door could be seen at a distance.

Do-jun walked towards that door and put his Hunter ID card on the scanner.

– Hunter Kim Hyun-woo. Confirmed.

After which, the door opened and Do-jun went inside the door.

It was early in the morning, an hour after daybreak.

Tak. Tak. Tak.

He had walked for about 20 minutes.

In the sky, dozens of meters of space were torn up.

In the case of C-class Rifts or below, there would always be a Hunter Management Agency staff and military stationed, but not for Great Rifts. That’s why he could easily enter the Great Rift by just showing his Hunter ID card to the scanner.

Finally, he was at the entrance of the Rift and placed his Hunter ID card on the scanner.

– Hunter Kim Hyun-woo. Confirmed.

– Warning! The difficulty of the Rift is too high compared to your Hunter Rank. If you still wish to proceed, please place your card again.

Beep.

＊ ＊ ＊

A damp, murky swamp.

A waterside full of dried, twisted trees and algae.

Only the moonlight lit the floor in the dark canopy.

Caw! Caw!

Several birds flew past Do-jun as it soared the sky.

Do-jun closed his eyes and heightened his senses.

What seemed to be the monster’s energy could be felt everywhere.

F-class Hunter Kim Hyun-woo.

‘Kim Hyun-woo just absent-mindedly entered Guryong Mountain and also entered the A-class Rift without realizing it. He immediately came back out of fear.’

‘Okay, that would be the scenario. Hopefully hunting one of them would not be noticeable’

Do-jun, who drew the scenario in his head, walked forward again.

But suddenly…

The entrance of the Rift opened up,

And three people suddenly appeared.

Whirr.

Do-jun instantly looked back.

＊ ＊ ＊

“…Who’s there?”

Han Dong-hyun frowned as looked at the hooded person.

It was difficult to identify him since he wore a mask, and the surrounding area was also dark. But one thing’s certain…

“Is this guy insane?!”

They were inside a Great Rift.

But he wasn’t even wearing a suit.

He doesn’t also seem to have brought any weapons with him.

To go as far as entering an A-class Rift on his own will, he surely must be a Hunter.

But wearing jeans, a hoodie, and a mask only.

It was unseen and unheard of.

“I’m Han Dong-hyun from the Magi guild. You are?”

“……”

“You don’t want to tell us? Did you come here knowing where this is?”

Do-jun sighed.

With the situation at hand, it won’t work if he just says that he came in without knowing anything and left immediately.

He already thought of leaving the Rift as it is, but it would’ve been a waste of time to do so.

“Yes, I know.”

“Are you really a Hunter? Don’t you know that coming in with that outfit is tantamount to committing suicide?”

“Thank you for your concern. But don’t worry, I’ll just hunt one and then go.”

It was then.

[The Rift is distorting.]

[The Ogre Leader is making his appearance.]

[Access of the Rift can only be regained after the Ogre Leader is defeated.]

[If the ‘challengers’ inside the Rift die, the Rift will be opened to the outside world.]

Rumble.

The earth shook.

“…Shit.”

The faces of Han Dong-hyun and the three others hardened.

Rift Distortion, a phenomenon that only occurs in Great Rifts.

Why did it have to happen now?

“Turn on the emergency cam.”

Emergency Cam.

It is an ultra-miniature camera with a screen recording function provided by the Hunter Management Agency in case a Rift Distortion happens. This is only given to Hunters ranked B-class and above who are entering a Great Rift.

When a Hunter turns on the Emergency Cam, the scene is then transmitted to the Hunter Management Agency in real-time.

At this time, the Hunter Management Agency had already grasped the situation inside the Rift through the transmitted screen.

And now they are preparing to deploy S-class Hunters.

When all the ‘challengers’ inside the Rift dies, all the monsters inside the Rift would then escape to Earth.

“It seems I may have to worry about you again. You can’t easily go out now after hunting one monster.”

Han Dong-hyun, whose face turned pale, said with a bleak smile.