Chapter 46 - Chapter 46 (1/2)

Gulp.

Jin-Woo's Adam's apple bobbed up and down. Indeed, it was rather scary not knowing what kind of quest would pop up.

However, his anticipation was even greater than his fears.

While he was looking for a suitable location to start the quest, he used his phone to search for topics related to changing one's class online.

- New skills.

- Benefits to one's growth.

- Exclusive weapons reserved for a particular class.

- Connected quests.

….Etc, etc.

They were all from video games, sure; but, the accepted norm was that changing one's class would result in many benefits.

'And level 40 was when I could get my Class.'

Of course, it wasn't all good news, either. He often spotted ominous sounding thread titles as he browsed through online forums.

- I chose the wrong class and now I'm bummed out.

- Only if I knew, I'd have gone with a different class, f*cking hell.

- A moment of bad decisions later, I'm quitting my dearest game and returning to the normal society.

- Should I erase this character and start all over again?

….Well, these were also related to video games, anyways.

He certainly had far less to worry about here since he only used daggers as his main weapon until now. All the skills he had acquired leaned towards the profession of 'assassin'.

'Right, I've got dagger techniques and Stealth as my skills.'

Not only that, he invested mainly in raising the Stats of Strength and Agility, so it was kind of hard to imagine getting another class other than 'Assassin'.

As his thoughts arrived here, Jin-Woo summoned the 'Poison Fang of Kasaka' from his Inventory.

Shush....

This feeling of the hilt falling so perfectly in his hand....

'Yeah, this for me is the most comfortable.'

He nodded his head like a wise old sage.

While gripping the dagger tightly, Jin-Woo shifted his gaze towards the message floating in the air.

'Well, then....'

Now that he was all done with getting ready for any unexpected events, he firmed his resolve and answered the message.

[Will you take on the Class Change Quest now?] (Y/N)

'Yes, I'm taking it on.'

The moment he thought of taking on the quest, another message popped into his view.

Tti-ring.

[You're now partaking in the Class Change Quest.]

[A new dungeon will be generated for this quest.]

'Generating... a new dungeon?'

Before he had the chance to interpret what that message was saying, a change took place before him really fast.

Wuuonnng----

A black 'hole' formed right in front of his eyes. That was merely the beginning, too.

Wuoonng, wuuuonngg.....

The black hole the size of a bean expanded to the size of a coin, then to that of a volleyball, and eventually, it grew large enough for a person to walk through.

'Isn't this....?'

Jin-Woo's eyes grew wider.

He was expecting to see a new message with the contents of the quest pop up in front of his eyes, but this....

What appeared before him was, without a doubt, a Gate.

'To think, a Gate would show up here....'

This one didn't seem any different from the others he was familiar with. Only that, it was a bit smaller than usual.

The System sent him a new message as if to urge him on.

[Please enter the dungeon through the Gate.]

'I need to calm down.'

Jin-Woo quickly collected himself.

Right...

If he thought about it, there wasn't much of a difference whether he used a key or a Gate to enter a dungeon. Indeed, he was simply taken aback just now by the sight of a Gate forming 'artificially' like this.

Also, this would be his first time seeing a Gate form. He always just walked into one that was already there, so...

When the chain of his thoughts stopped there, a new question popped into his mind.

'Hang on... can other Hunters enter this Gate as well?'

Too bad, he had no method to experiment on this one today.

Well, there were no Hunters nearby that he could call for 'assistance', nor did he have anyone who would rush over here because he gave them a call.

He momentarily recalled Yu Jin-Ho's face, but slowly shook his head.

'How will I take care of the aftermath if I called him and something bad happens?'

It was then.

As if to urge him on again, the message blinked.

Tti-ring.

[Please enter the dungeon through the Gate.]

The mechanical beep brought him back to his senses. He slapped his cheeks a couple of times to wake himself up.

'This is no time to daydream.'

If he succeeded, then a new class and all the rewards that followed would be his. And if he failed, then he couldn't even tell what might happen to him.

So, he needed to focus here.

"Fuu-woo...."

After taking a deep breath....

Jin-Woo held the Poison Fang of Kasaka in reverse grip and entered the Gate.

***

[You have entered the dungeon.]

'Eh?'

He entered in a state of taut tension, but to his surprise, there was nothing here.

He was greeted by the sight of an ordinary cave-like dungeon.

"Isn't this exactly the same as the others....?"

He heard that high-ranking dungeons were often linked to 'other worlds' so he was kind of worried about such a thing happening to him, but thankfully, he was spared from that.

Instead, a strange message popped up into his view.

Tti-ring.

[The current location forbids the usage of potions as well as the functions of the Store, and your physical state will not recover even if you level up.]

Jin-Woo confirmed that there was no presence of monsters nearby and put away his dagger. Then, his head began tilting this way and that.

'…..This isn't going to be easy, is it?'

Maybe because his class change was up for grabs, there were quite a few restrictions here to contend with.

The most important one was that he couldn't replenish his spent energy or stamina, and couldn't heal himself using potions or level ups.

'The damage will stack, in other words.'

If he got injured, then that would spell his doom.

Since he couldn't heal himself, he had no choice but to be thorough and cautious with every action he took.

'Meaning, I gotta keep my wits about me.'

Jin-Woo closed the message.

And as he'd do every time when entering a dungeon, he confirmed the presence of the exit.

[You can't leave until the Class Change process has been concluded.]

A message popped up as soon as he touched the surface of the Gate. He put some strength behind his hand, but it didn't even budge.

"...."

Jin-Woo retracted his hand.

'The exit is blocked off.'

An unknown grade, impossible to heal himself, and no exit; this dungeon was a pretty risky proposition. Even a Hunter with balls of steel wouldn't want to tread in a place like this one.

'However, high risk doesn't always equate to bad things, does it?'

Indeed, the higher the risk, the higher the reward. He learned that through experience.

If clearing this place was difficult because of all the restrictions, then didn't that also mean there was an amazing opportunity waiting for him at the end?

There was only one way to find out.

'I'll know once I get there.'

Jin-Woo took his first step forward.

His eyes gazed far forward, and all he could see was the cavern-like passageway with seemingly no end. And there were no monsters nearby.

'Wait, since this is still within the System's influence, should I call them monsters, and not monsters?' (TL: Well, sorry about this line. The author had been using the Hanja word for monsters to describe those found in the regular Gates/dungeons, while using the romanised English word 'monster' to describe those found in instant dungeons. They mean the same thing, obviously, but well, wordplay and all that....)

Even though they both meant the same thing.

In any case, that wasn't the only difference to consider. There were lit torches lining up at a fixed interval along the cavern walls as well.

'Instead of luminous stones, I got torches, huh.'

Unfortunately, the light from the torches was not an effective source of illumination.

No matter how many there were, they were still not enough to light up the entire passageway. So, there were plenty of hidden shadows.

With the deafening silence being accompanied by the gloomy shadows, this place came off far more eerie and ominous than a regular dungeon.

'I can see no problem, but still....'

Should he say it's down to the atmosphere of this place?

Jin-Woo pulled out the nearest torch and held it. His front brightened ever so slightly with the torch in his hand.

'Yeah, this is better.'

Jin-Woo formed a satisfied smile.

He took one last glance behind him and slowly made his way forward, the torch lighting the way.

***

Just how long did he walk?