Chapter 30
Sangsoo, who had arrived first at the meeting place, turned his head at the sound of footsteps approaching.
It was Teresa.
"You’re here."
Sangsoo greeted her in a tired voice.
"Yeah."
Teresa responded with an equally weary tone. Though both had taken a full day off in real life, they still looked exhausted. Because they knew exactly what was coming.
As they stared blankly into space for a while, Sangsoo spoke in a dazed voice.
"We’re gonna run like hell again, aren’t we?"
"......"
Teresa didn’t bother answering. As if to say, do you really need me to say it out loud? No, Teresa didn’t even want to waste the energy to open her mouth.
In the heavy silence, Teresa and Sangsoo recalled the day they met Dojin.
The day the hunting began.
[Huff… huff… I’m out of stamina, I can’t go on. Soso hasn’t learned any stamina recovery skills either. At this rate, we’re going to collapse. We need to head to town and rest for a bit.]
Sangsoo, who worked the hardest as the kiter and sub-dealer, was also the first to get exhausted. But Dojin, as if he had expected it, took something out of his inventory and handed it to Sangsoo.
『Stamina Potion』
A stamina-recovery potion so expensive that most people didn’t even bother carrying it. Dojin also gave the same potion to Teresa, saying to use it when she got tired.
At the time, both thought Dojin was a really good person. The kind of guy who generously handed out expensive potions without hesitation. But after nine hours passed, Sangsoo and Teresa realized something was wrong.
[We really need to rest now. Not physically, but mentally. My vision’s getting blurry, and soon I’ll probably...]
[Same here. My HP and stamina are fine, but I’m starting to get dizzy sometimes...]
Before they could even finish speaking—
[Ah, it’s okay. Here, drink this.]
『Stimulant』
In their hands were drugs used even for doping, powerful stimulants that forced your mind to stay awake.
Wasn’t it said that during World War II, soldiers were given drugs?
To forget fear, sleep, fatigue, hunger, so they’d keep functioning as machines of war, even if it broke them.
With a smile that said not to worry because he brought plenty of potions, Dojin's eyes seemed to say:
“We’ve got a mountain of work, where do you think you’re going? Sick? Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty of painkillers. Sleepy? No problem, there’s coffee and energy drinks. Still can’t go on? I’ve brought tons of drugs too. You can clock out when you’re dead.”
As a result, Teresa and Sangsoo were forced to ingest stimulants and hunted for a total of 62 hours over three days.
Out of 72 hours, they only got 10 hours of rest. At the end of the flashback, both of them thought the same thing, they wanted to run away. And yet, the reason they were still here waiting for Dojin…
"Because the EXP is just too good… we can’t even escape."
Teresa finally opened her mouth.
"…That’s the problem. 1.5 levels in three days. If it were just the two of us, that would’ve taken like ten days… no, two weeks. But forget us, Soso, you okay? You’ve been pretty quiet."
Sangsoo turned his head and asked Soso, who had appeared at some point.
"What?"
"I mean, that guy. He’s nice and all, but honestly, he’s brutal. You didn’t even really want to play this game in the first place."
Not understanding at first, Soso finally caught on to what they were talking about and answered like it was no big deal.
"I’m fine? Even when monsters came at me, he just handled everything. After a while, I just sat and healed. And honestly? It was fun. Watching you two get tossed around like that."
"......"
"......"
The two laborers of the party looked at each other pitifully and sighed in self-mockery.
"If it’s that hard, just quit. It’s almost time anyway. When he shows up, just tell him and leave."
“Hooo.”, A deep sigh escaped them both.
Among them, Teresa muttered like an old man who had tasted all the bitterness of life.
"It’s just… too much EXP to walk away from."
"Preach..."
Sangsoo echoed her words. Soso looked at them like they were pathetic.
"Hello."
At that moment, Dojin appeared with light steps.
His face showed no sign of fatigue.
"Let’s go."
He started walking ahead, as if no further words were necessary.
Teresa dragged her hammer behind her and followed.
* * *
As soon as they entered the dungeon, it was like a switch flipped, Dojin’s eyes changed again as he took command of the party without hesitation.
Tight operations that allowed not even the slightest waste. Breathless from kiting and killing mobs, the two slaves-cum-dealers ran, smashed, slashed, and suffered under heavy labor.
Teresa and Sangsoo could barely tell if they were hunting in a game or working construction as slaves sold to a quarry.
And they had no hope of resting. Because before the hunt even began, they’d already been handed their daily dose of ‘drugs’ like rations.
When they saw the devil’s smile handing them their dose while saying “good luck today too”, Teresa and Sangsoo thought:
‘This bastard’s even trying to save time on drug distribution now...!’
1 hour… 2 hours… 4 hours… and then more, more, more. Like miners on drugs, they silently kited, broke, crushed, and slashed on repeat.
EXP rose. Items dropped. A lot of them.
But it was exhausting. Absolutely exhausting. Their mouths went dry, their sweat poured, and their skin, dried and dampened over and over, felt like a sand dune.
And still they moved.
Watching them, Dojin thought, ‘They’re holding up better than I expected.’
Other than casting curses or handling emergencies, Dojin had almost nothing to do. The healer just restored HP as needed and got plenty of rest in between. But those two were in constant combat without any breaks.
To keep up this pace under such conditions, clearly, these players had strong willpower.
‘If they’d collapsed and said they couldn’t go on, I would’ve adjusted things… I didn’t expect them to grit their teeth and keep up like this.’
Honestly, it was more than he had hoped for.
『Dojin』
『Level: 43
Class: Book of Truth
Strength: 22
Agility: 24
Stamina: 102
Intelligence: 237
Skill: ( 1 ) \[Open]
Trait: ( 2 ) \[Open]』
While the two slaves hammered away at cursed golems, Dojin leisurely checked his status window. He’d gained 2 levels in the past four days, and about 1/4 of a level’s worth of EXP just from today.
Considering one day was spent resting, this was growth made in effectively three days, and very fast progress at that.
Though the EXP curve was about to spike sharply, it was still an encouraging pace. And that pace, he could admit, owed a tiny bit to those two persistent dealers.
Grindy hunting like this didn’t require much skill, it required tenacity and grit. And they had it. Once a curse was set, he could just yawn while EXP rolled in.
Check his status, analyze spells through the Book of Truth. Dojin felt a lazy, tedious sort of joy at this comfortable grinding. He took a moment to observe how used to this place they had become.
The swordsman was optimizing his movement to minimize effort during mob pulls. Was her name Terasa? The warrior had clearly mastered the art of hammering efficiently.
It was less like the growth of a warrior and more like a construction worker who, to avoid injury, had learned how to swing smart, still, growth was growth.
‘With that, they should be ready for deeper zones.’
As expected, people learned faster when pushed hard. Thinking that, Dojin turned to the exhausted duo who had just cleared a wave and said:
"Time to change locations."
At his words, Teresa, leaning on her hammer, responded.
"Change… locations? Is that necessary?"
I'm about to die here, can't we please just sit down for a minute? If we move, we have to walk! She said all this with her face, but Dojin didn’t even look at her.
He simply said what he came to say.
"I’m thinking of heading deeper into the dungeon. The deeper we go, the more mobs there are, and the more EXP they give, right?"
With a bit of luck, they might even run into elite mobs, or a boss. Though in an open-type dungeon like this, spotting and killing a boss was wishful thinking…
While Dojin was thinking that, Teresa tilted her head and said, "Uh… there’s not really anything deeper inside though? Right, Sangsoo?"
When Teresa called him, Sangsoo, sitting on the ground, just waved his hand, too drained to speak.
Do what you want, that gesture said. She gave him a glare and continued.
"This room you see when you first take the tunnel into the abandoned iron mine, that’s the biggest hunting ground. We call it the ‘Big Room.’ That smaller clearing down another tunnel, we call that ‘Small Room.’ Since it’s smaller and has fewer mobs, people usually don’t go there unless the Big Room is overcrowded."
This info shows up in all the common guides. You didn’t know?
Dojin’s face turned grim at her question.
‘There are only two rooms?’
That couldn’t be.
The
Tunnels, at least dozens, and so many chambers woven like spiderwebs… ah.
If now there were only two rooms, the reason was clear. No need to ask, think, or debate.
‘They were originally sealed off.’
Chills ran down his spine as realization set in.
"Where’s the Small Room?"
"That… that way, and that way."
Teresa, startled by the change in Dojin’s gaze, pointed nervously.
"Why are you acting weird?"
Even Soso, silent all day, reacted to Dojin’s energized expression.
"I just have a hunch. Let me check something."
"W-Wait! I’m telling you, the other tunnels are all blocked off! No monsters spawn there…!"
Ignoring her, Dojin walked toward one of the clearly dead-end tunnels. Teresa, flustered, hefted her hammer and chased after him. Naturally, Soso got up too, dragging a protesting Sangsoo by the hair.
"W-Wait! I’m telling you, there’s nothing there!"
To the agitated Teresa, Dojin replied, "I’ve got something to confirm."
"Like what?"
"I’ll tell you once I’m sure."
When they reached the blocked section, Soso casually said:
"She’s right. It’s completely sealed off. Not even a cave-in, just solid rock like it was never dug through."
And she was right. The wall looked untouched, never mined at all, but to Dojin’s eyes, that wasn’t it.
‘It was magically sealed.’
The surrounding rock patterns subtly converged toward the wall, as if drawn inward. A wall created by high-level earth-shaping magic. He couldn’t be sure, but the wall was thick and firm, likely created by a powerful mage.
Too thick for Dojin’s current magic to break through.
‘I’d need to be at least a 5-star mage to dissolve this.’
So was it impossible? No way. Old players always had their ways.
Dojin tapped the wall a few times, then turned and said:
"Sorry, but I think you guys will have to hunt without me. I need to take a bit of a break."
Because I’ve got some preparations to make.