44 Chapter 43 (1/2)

From 27 to 39. His level had jumped up by 12.

This would be the first time that his level saw such an explosive rise since he entered the Hapjeong instant dungeon back when he was still a level one. He came out of there as level 17.

Back then, his level was low, so the levelling speed was high. But now, that wasn't strictly true.

This just went to show how many dungeons he cleared in a short space of time.

'It's been four days since I started clearing dungeons with Yu Jin-Ho. And we conquered nine of them in only four days….'

Not only that, they were nine C-ranked dungeons, too.

Rank C dungeons were the highest difficulty a freelancer team could clear on their own.

What a crazy clearing speed this was.

This was the worst possible situation, a catastrophe, for other Hunters found in this area that needed rank C dungeons to make a living.

Yu Jin-Ho, the only witness to the proceedings, was getting more and more astonished by how faster Jin-Woo was clearing each dungeon.

Well, the higher his level was, the easier it got to clear a dungeon, after all.

Nine dungeons cleared and 12 level ups. Clearing one dungeon was almost as good as levelling up more than once.

And he still had 10 more raids to go.

By the time he finished all 19 raids, as he had agreed with Yu Jin-Ho, his level should shoot past 45.

He won against a rank B Hunter back when his level was in the mid-twenties. He couldn't even begin to fathom just how strong he was now.

'My heart… it's beating really fast.'

Jin-Woo placed his hand on his chest, near his heart. He sensed it pounding real fast in excitement.

Thump, thump!

The sensation of getting stronger every day was one heck of an enjoyable ride.

He would've never imagined such a thing happening to him in the past.

….Things like, entering the Gates and clearing the dungeons would be this much fun.

'Well, I can sense myself getting stronger all the time, after all.'

As his level went up…

As his Stat values rose up….

He could directly feel how much he had changed through hunting monsters.

'Hunting monsters, is it…..'

He felt like a real Hunter now. The word 'hunting' no longer sounded like a foreign concept to him.

Wasn't there a certain saying that went something like 'finding the next place to hunt is just as important to a hunter as the moment he hunts?' (TL: Again, 'hunter' with a lower case 'h'. It's the literal hunter, not monster-hunting Hunters.')

His next goal was already set.

'…..The Demonic Castle dungeon.'

He was a level 21 back then, wasn't he?

He had grown by nearly 20 levels since the day he first set foot in that mysterious tower-like dungeon.

He thought that perhaps now, he was ready to tackle that place once more. However, just from recalling that gatekeeper monster, Cerberus, he grew very cautious about taking another step in that place.

'What if some crazy monsters that I can't handle jump out in droves as soon as I enter?'

Goosebumps broke out all over his skin.

If he could get away from there using the 'Stealth' skill, that would be great, but still, he had to consider the possibility of failing to do so.

Even if he got lucky ten times, just a single mistake could cost him his life; that was the life of a Hunter.

So, he needed to be sure.

He needed to be sure of being strong enough to handle a group of monsters as strong as Cerberus.

'Cerberus's name was in red letters, right?'

He now knew that the difficulty of killing a monster was reflected in the colour of its name.

With the exception of the Demonic Castle, he had yet to run into a monster with a red name.

The instant dungeons he'd been to with the random box keys were all populated with low-ranked monsters most of the time.

It was the same story with the Mirae department store, too.

But, what was going on here?

'What is this?'

When he thought that he hadn't encountered a single monster with a red name besides the one in the Demonic Castle, he kind of felt like he overlooked something just now. It was as if he had forgotten something crucial.

'Does this mean I have run into other red-name monsters besides the Cerberus?'

But, how could that be?

He fought the Cerberus when he was level 21 and nearly died. So, if he fought another one before that, then he should've been pushed to the brink of death, too….

”…..Ah!”

A loud gasp leaked out from his mouth.

Indeed, there was one event where he did run into red-name monsters and almost died.

'The penalty quest!'

The centipedes he saw back in that nameless desert all had red names.

[Poison-Fanged Giant Desert Centipede]

It'd been a while ago, and he ran into them rather unexpectedly, so his mind was not really thinking of them as monsters at this point.

That was why it took some time for him to remember.

'If I can kill those centipedes with ease, then….!'

Then, he'd be sure of conquering the Demon's Castle as well.

Since there was more than one centipede there, he should be able to find out whether it was okay for him to fight against many at the same time, too.

The obvious issue was how to go back to that place….

'Is there no other way besides not doing the Daily Quest?'

The amount of Stat points he got as rewards was the same regardless of it being a Penalty Quest or a Daily Quest.

Which meant that he wouldn't lose out too much at the end of the day.

'Let's go to the Penalty Zone tomorrow.'

To think, he'd deliberately not do the Daily Quest just so he could enter the Penalty Zone….

It was a rather funny thing when he thought about how close to death he was the first time he ran into those centipedes.

”I wonder, will they give me experience points and loot when I kill them?”

A smile automatically spread on his lips.

It was then.

Jin-Woo's senses picked up on the presence of a person climbing out from the elevator stopping at the end of the hallway, followed by the light footsteps of a female.

He was well familiar with them.

'It's Jin-Ah.'

Currently, it was 11 PM. About the time his little sister came home.

Jin-Woo got up from his seat and headed to the door before Jin-Ah could rummage through her pockets to find her keys.

Click.

”Oh~~.”

Jin-Ah playfully exclaimed out in admiration.

She used to get so surprised every time he opened the door without a warning but now, she didn't even pretend to get shocked anymore.

Well, a human was supposed to be a very adaptable creature, and here was the irrefutable proof.

”I'm home~.”

”Welcome back.”

Jin-Ah greeted him with a bright smile and trotted to her room. Jin-Woo closed the door and locked it, before turning around to hear….

”…Oppa.”

Jin-Ah peeked her head out from the doorway to her room.

”Do you have free time this week?”

”What's up?”

”My homeroom teacher is doing one of those parent-teacher meeting things. If you can't make it, well, it's fine too.”

Jin-Ah looked kind of anxious, as if her homeroom teacher had 'asked her nicely' or some such.

'The parent-teacher meeting, huh….'

Jin-Ah was already a high-school senior, meaning that school life should be getting pretty hectic right now. Jin-Woo had half a mind to come up with an excuse and say he didn't have time to go, but what an unfortunate timing this was, there was this one day where he had nothing scheduled.

'D*mn you, Yu Jin-Ho. Utterly useless…..'

Jin-Woo deliberated for a while, before answering her.

”Thursday.”

”Really? Thanks, oppa!”