Chapter 40: (2): Season 1: Preparation |
Myeong-hoon was satisfied.
Being with Hyun-seok meant earning a lot of achievement rewards. The biggest merit of achievement rewards was the bonus stats. Achievements were difficult to accomplish, so the rewards were sweet, of course.
Myeong-hoon’s current class was ‘Hidden Exploration.’ He was a combat Slayer in Easy Mode, but with the emergence of a new class in Normal Mode, the Hidden Exploration class came into existence. He thought that classes diverged based on stats, but it didn’t seem to be absolute.
However, Myeong-hoon was not the only one with the Exploration class.
Other slayers also started gaining the ‘Exploration’ class. And as they entered Normal Mode, the value of the Exploration class continued to rise. Dungeons usually appeared in deep mountains rather than big cities. They appeared in places with few people. Monsters were the same. Except for rare exceptions like the troll that appeared in Gugok-dong or the Cyclops in Wonju, they mostly appeared in places with few human inhabitants.
And so far, Normal Mode dungeons didn’t boast an extremely difficult level. A team of around 20 high-level slayers could clear it safely if they fought cautiously. Currently, across the country, two to three dungeons were being cleared every day. There was no significant increase in difficulty compared to Easy Mode. The only difference was the appearance of trolls and twin-headed trolls.
Myeong-hoon sat with his legs crossed, biting his index fingernail.
“But this kind of dungeon can’t be the end of Normal Mode.”
It was still closer to the difficulty of Easy Mode than the difficulty of Normal Mode. While trolls and twin-headed trolls appeared, the majority of monsters inside were weaker than the original ones.
If you increase healing a lot, you can gain higher-level skills. Currently, Myeong-hoon’s ‘Exploration’ skill could potentially evolve into a higher-grade Exploration skill if he continued to invest in it. He considered these easy dungeons to be on the limit line that Explorations could find with their abilities.
Traveling with Hyun-seok, they had already achieved four achievements. Even when defeating the same troll, depending on how quickly and how many they defeated, the achievement system would activate. In the case of boss monsters like the Twin-Headed Troll, Hyun-seok would solo it while in a party. In that case, experience and achievement rewards would be shared, but only the person who directly attacked would be recognized, so achievements would be upgraded as if it were solo slaying.
Myeong-hoon called this the ‘Party System Bug,’ but since there were no other guilds capable of this type of slaying besides the Inha Guild, this ‘bug’ remained unknown to the public.
“Party system bug… It must be only applicable to the Inha Guild. That’s good.”
Usually, when the Twin-Headed Troll was defeated in one blow, the dungeon would be cleared, and an easy achievement reward of +3 stats would be given. Myeong-hoon had invested his stats in the ‘Exploration’ skill and eventually obtained the higher-grade Exploration skill, ‘Advanced Exploration.’
And then, he left for the provinces in search of dungeons. He contacted Hyun-seok again five days later.
But before receiving the call from Myeong-hoon, Hyun-seok heard a notification sound.
[Successful detection of a normal dungeon.]
[The achievement for the first successful detection of a normal dungeon is recognized.]
[Recognized as a difficult achievement.]
[+10 bonus stats will be given.]
He hadn’t paid much attention to forming a party inside the dungeon. It wasn’t like the party window was activated as in online games. But it seemed that the party formed inside the dungeon was also applied in the field, and that’s why Myeong-hoon’s achievements were recognized as the achievements of the entire party. This was a new fact he discovered.
[Due to exceeding the standards of Normal Mode, the rewards will be reduced by 50 percent.]
Before all the notification sounds ended, Hyun-seok received a call from Myeong-hoon.
- Giljang, this time I really found it using the Exploration skill.
“I thought I was going to die. It was so difficult.”
From complaining to screaming various death cries, Myeong-hoon accomplished the difficult achievement alone, accumulating bonus stats and achievement points. Just listening to it, Jong-won couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“Alright, you Pinocchio brat! I get it, you’ve worked hard and suffered, so shut up already!”
“Tch!”
Hyun-seok chuckled. They weren’t yet close enough for him to just go along with it, so he listened while pretending to be asleep. But it seemed different for Jong-won. According to Jong-won, Myeong-hoon’s nickname was Pinocchio. Even though he clearly wasn’t tired, Myeong-hoon would complain as if he were about to die, which earned him the nickname Pinocchio. He told more lies about his whining than anything else.
The peculiar thing was that even though he complained about being tired to death, unable to move anymore, and on the verge of death, once something happened, he would quickly recover and handle the situation. So his cries of suffering proved that his whining was undoubtedly exaggerated.
Up until now, dungeons revealed themselves. It was the same in Easy Mode and Normal Mode. Even the dungeon Myeong-hoon found before—where the Pyeongchang Guild fought—later turned out to be a dungeon that revealed itself rather than being found through the Exploration skill.
So it could be said that Myeong-hoon had exaggerated when he claimed to have found that dungeon using the Exploration skill. It seemed he had done so intentionally to prevent the Pyeongchang Guild members from entering and to assert ownership.
But this time, it wasn’t the case. This dungeon was actually found through Myeong-hoon’s skill. And it was acknowledged as an achievement to prove that it wasn’t a coincidence. The notification even stated it was the first normal dungeon.
Hyun-seok pondered.
‘Should we go in together or not?’
He received the call but couldn’t decide whether to enter or not. It was the first dungeon found in this way, and he didn’t know what might be inside. Although he might be fine with his stats surpassing the standards of Normal Mode, it was uncertain for others. It was a matter of their safety.
Things had definitely changed from before. In the past, he wouldn’t have hesitated to decide whether to enter or not because there was no information at all. Naturally, he wouldn’t have entered. But now, he was not just hesitating but actually considering entering. He placed weight on going in and was in the process of deciding.
Hyun-seok said, “This time, I’ll go in alone. It’s to gather information.”
Understanding Hyun-seok’s intentions, Jong-won made a grimace.
“What’s this? You’re not being yourself. If you’re not going in at all, then don’t go in. What’s with you going in alone?”
“We’re the first ones to find a dungeon like this through Trapping. We don’t know what’s inside, so it’s better for me to go in alone and gather information.”
This wasn’t a game dungeon. Death here meant real death. It was better to prioritize safety no matter what. Even if it seemed overly cautious and obsessed with safety, it was okay.
There’s a saying that two heads are better than one, but it wasn’t always true. He thought that during the Cyclops slaying as well. But when he actually faced it, it was better for him to be alone. If Hyun-seok had soloed the Cyclops, it would have been much easier to defeat it. It wasn’t necessary to block all its attacks; it was enough to avoid them. Even if he didn’t know about the stun effect, if he had dodged and attacked, the strategy would have been much easier. But at that time, if Hyun-seok had given up defense, other slayers would have been in danger, so Hyun-seok had no choice but to fulfill his frontline role.
“While fighting the Cyclops, I realized… It’s uncomfortable to carry the burden of others. When there’s a significant difference in strength, it’s much better to be alone.”
Excessive self-confidence was better left unspoken. But this case was different.
“It seems like this is the real… Normal Mode dungeon.”
No wonder the Normal Mode dungeons were too easy. When he had stats that exceeded the standards of Normal Mode, he easily cleared the dungeons of Easy Mode. But this time, it was a Normal Mode dungeon, and Hyun-seok had stats that exceeded the standards of Normal Mode.
“But this dungeon… Myeong-hoon discovered it.”
However, Myeong-hoon discovered this dungeon. Although Myeong-hoon was also a top-tier slayer, he wasn’t a slayer who exceeded the standards of Normal Mode. The fact that such a slayer could discover it meant that it was a dungeon suitable for the level of Normal Mode. Hyun-seok realized that.
He received a different notification sound from before, which had clearly changed since last time.
Last time, when he entered a dungeon, it said:
[Would you like to enter the dungeon? Y/N]
[You are entering the dungeon for the first time in Normal Mode.]
But this time, a slightly different word was added.
[Would you like to enter the Normal dungeon? Y/N]
It wasn’t just a dungeon, but a ‘Normal dungeon.’ It felt like the true meaning of a Normal Mode dungeon. Hyun-seok chose Y.
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