Solo Resurrection

Chapter 37 – Dungeon Terror (2)

-In response to the recent series of dungeon terror incidents, the government…

A polished announcer’s voice flowed from An Yu-seong’s smartphone.

“What’s that?”

Kang Hyeon’s curiosity was piqued as he listened to the news.

“Kang Hyeon, don’t you know about this? Lately, someone’s been deliberately destroying dungeons and letting monsters escape.”

“Ah, that.”

The internet had been so noisy about it that Kang Hyeon remembered looking into it with interest.

“In a way, we might have been the first to experience it.”

On the last day of the Ability User Cultivation School.

Kang Hyeon had experienced such an incident in the dungeon where ‘Keika’ appeared.

“As if things weren’t unsettling enough, what kind of nonsense is this?”

“I know. There’s no need to do that when we’re living in a world where we don’t know when we’ll die anyway. Heh.”

Chatting about this and that, they traveled for a while, and finally, Bentley No. 2 stopped at their destination.

A building owned by the Dangun Guild, located near Seoul.

It’s not that large compared to the headquarters of other major corporations.

However, the Dangun Guild is like a startup company that hasn’t even been established for half a year.

Considering that, it certainly had an unreasonable amount of financial power.

“You seem familiar with this place?”

An Yu-seong, who had come along with permission, walked through the building interior quite comfortably.

“Well, I’ve been here a few times.”

“You? Why?”

“Han Se-yeon. I met her at social gatherings even before the dungeon incident.”

Hearing the words ‘social gathering’, Kang Hyeon openly made an uncomfortable expression.

“I guess Han Se-yeon was from a rich family too. Birds of a feather flock together, huh.”

Momentarily recalling the destitute times before the dungeons, Kang Hyeon felt a bit spiteful.

“Kang Hyeon!”

Just then, Kim Tae-soo, who spotted Kang Hyeon, greeted him.

“You came earlier than expected?”

“Yeah, somehow. Thanks for last time.”

“No need for thanks. That’s what friends do. Let’s go quickly. The Guild Master is waiting.”

Following Kim Tae-soo, they took the elevator, and soon arrived at the top floor of the building.

“Welcome.”

As the doors opened, a somewhat familiar face appeared.

“Kim Yi-hyeon?”

“Yes. It’s been a while, Kang Hyeon.”

“What? You were with Dangun Guild?”

“That’s right. Let’s save the details for later and go inside. The Guild Master is waiting.”

Kang Hyeon nodded at Kim Yi-hyeon’s words.

After passing through a corridor that felt a bit long, a spacious office with a good view appeared.

There, the Guild Master of Dangun Guild.

Han Se-yeon was there.

“Nice to meet you.”

Han Se-yeon extended her hand in greeting.

Kang Hyeon grasped her hand firmly.

“Yes. I’m Kang Hyeon.”

“Older Sister. It’s been a while.”

An Yu-seong also greeted Han Se-yeon quite familiarly, proving that it wasn’t a lie that they were acquainted.

“Yes, An Yu-seong. It’s been a while.”

After exchanging greetings, Kang Hyeon sat down on a luxurious sofa.

Then, a handsome man approached and elegantly served an unfamiliar tea.

“First, thank you for your help last time. I should have visited earlier.”

Kang Hyeon expressed his gratitude for Dangun protecting Kang A-hyun.

“It wasn’t such a difficult task.”

“No. I will definitely repay this debt.”

“You’re more righteous than I expected.”

“I’m far from being righteous… I just don’t like living in debt.”

Han Se-yeon smiled lightly at Kang Hyeon’s straightforward words.

“If it’s alright with you, shall we get to the main point now? I don’t like dragging things out.”

“…”

“What’s the reason you wanted to see me?”

At Kang Hyeon’s words, Han Se-yeon leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand.

“How long do you think the current peace will last, Kang Hyeon?”

“Peace…”

Lost in thought at Han Se-yeon’s sudden question, Kang Hyeon pondered.

The current peace.

Kang Hyeon also knew that there would be a large-scale monster invasion within at least 5 years.

‘Certainly, what I saw at the 8th stage was shocking. Han Se-yeon must have seen it too.’

After contemplating, Kang Hyeon opened his mouth.

“Well, I’m not sure. It’s not a problem that can be solved by worrying anyway.”

“…”

“Just getting stronger myself. For now, that’s the only preparation I can make. Still, we have 5 years left, right?”

Han Se-yeon shook her head at Kang Hyeon’s words.

“I’m not talking about 5 years from now. At most 3 years. Within that time, some countries will find their existence threatened.”

At these words, somewhat different from what he expected, Kang Hyeon made a puzzled expression.

“Is there a reason you think that?”

“I can’t go into details, but there is a divine being who knows about all of this. And on our side, we have an ability user who can communicate with them.”

Divine being.

It was clearly a story about the Administrator.

Kang Hyeon was inwardly surprised to hear that he could converse with him, but he maintained a neutral expression as much as possible to avoid revealing his inner thoughts.

There was no need to reveal here that he was a tutorial graduate.

“Hmm…”

“You may think this is a ridiculous story. But just looking at the current increase in dungeon difficulty, we can anticipate the crisis ahead.”

“Certainly, the difficulty has increased a lot from D-rank onwards.”

“Yes. And unlike the rapidly strengthening dungeons, the growth of abilities will soon stagnate.”

The growth of ability users stagnates.

Han Se-yeon seemed to be confirming this.

‘Well… I’ve been finding it harder to level up lately too.’

While Kang Hyeon was lost in thought, Han Se-yeon continued speaking.

“Leveling up. The increase in strength is not simply achieved by killing many monsters.”

“I’ve felt that for a long time.”

“That’s why to become stronger, we need to be even bolder in the future.”

Suddenly, Han Se-yeon’s gaze changed.

“It doesn’t matter how many people Kang Hyeon has killed. Besides, they were just trash. Beings who were not at all necessary for human survival. We need one strong person like Kang Hyeon more than hundreds of such individuals.”

Kang Hyeon made a troubled expression at Han Se-yeon’s sudden words.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m still more comfortable going alone. My fighting style is a bit rough too.”

“We will absolutely never hold you back, Kang Hyeon. Only the best elites will move together.”

Despite Kang Hyeon’s polite refusal, Han Se-yeon’s persuasion was persistent.

“I appreciate that you think highly of me, but I’ll think about it a bit more.”

Honestly, joining the Dangun Guild would have more advantages than disadvantages.

‘Still, the Dangun Guild just doesn’t fit me.’

The hindrance to his growth was a secondary reason.

There was a bigger reason.

‘No matter how I think about it, I’m not the hero type.’

The Dangun Guild’s creed of becoming the savior to save the world just didn’t match him at all.

“If that’s how you feel, Kang Hyeon, there’s nothing we can do.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

“Still, I hope we can maintain a good relationship in the future.”

Kang Hyeon smiled at Han Se-yeon’s words.

“I’d welcome that.”

***

Ippotranslation

***

After Kang Hyeon left, only Kim Yi-hyeon and Han Se-yeon remained in the office.

“What did you think after meeting him in person?”

“He exceeded my expectations.”

Han Se-yeon smiled at Kim Yi-hyeon’s question.

“When I talked about the Administrator, his eyes definitely wavered. It means he reached the end of the tutorial.”

“But Guild Master, he’s not simply a good person.”

“…”

“We can see that just from the recent Bait Guild incident, can’t we?”

Han Se-yeon stared intently at Kim Yi-hyeon, who was discussing good and evil.

“Kim Yi-hyeon.”

“Yes, Guild Master.”

“What we need to survive in the future is not good people. It’s stronger people.”

“…”

“Remember this. Nothing can be accomplished by gathering only good people.”

“I’ll keep that in mind…”

An indescribable madness glinted in Han Se-yeon’s eyes as she spoke.

***

Ippotranslation

***

E-rank dungeons and D-rank dungeons.

It’s just one level up, but there’s a huge difference.

It’s the diversity of monsters that appear.

“Keurk, keurk!”

Up to E-rank, mostly single entity monsters appear.

But from D-rank, it’s different.

Various types of monsters appear in one dungeon.

The D-rank dungeon ‘Daience’s Laboratory’ was one of the dungeons where this monster diversity was maximized.

“Kieeek!”

Chimeras, monsters patched together from all kinds of creatures. These hideous-looking creatures screamed.

Due to the unpredictable patterns of various monsters, ‘Daience’s Laboratory’ was ranked as one of the top-tier dungeons even among D-rank.

-Screech

Kang Hyeon plunged alone into this top-difficulty dungeon again today.

“It’s certainly tricky.”

Kang Hyeon said as he cut an incoming monster in half.

“Is this really the entrance of the dungeon?”

It hadn’t even been a few hours since he entered the dungeon, but he had already encountered more than ten types of monsters.

Essentially, he met a new monster with every battle.

“Kuooo…”

“What’s this now?”

Kang Hyeon suppressed a laugh as he looked at the huge monster in front of him.

[Chimera Goblin]

“This is really ridiculous.”

The head was clearly a goblin’s.

But the body was using the 3m-sized flesh of an Ogre.

“…”

Seeing such a creature, Kang Hyeon was quite confused.

“If you’re going to attach an Ogre’s body as is, why combine the head? Couldn’t you just leave the Ogre as it was?”

“Kuaaaa!”

As if responding to Kang Hyeon’s words, the creature let out a tremendous roar.

And then it suddenly spat saliva from its mouth.

“Ptui!”

A bluish color.

It looked dangerous at a glance, so Kang Hyeon quickly dodged.

-Hisssss…

The floor touched by the creature’s saliva rapidly corroded.

“Shit. It’s not even funny”

“Kuaaaa!”

Kang Hyeon hated goblins.

He really hated them.

And a goblin with a massive Ogre’s body that spat acidic saliva was even more detestable.

“I can’t just let you go.”

“Kuaaa!”

Kang Hyeon activated both ‘Wayne’s Secret Technique’ and ‘Giant’s Strength’.

Suddenly, he felt a surge of power that seemed capable of shattering rocks in an instant.

Kang Hyeon grinned at the sensation of his body feeling like it might burst.

-Bang!

The goblin’s swung fist slammed into the ground.

The impact sent dirt flying.

“Magic Explosion!”

In that moment, Kang Hyeon launched a magic sphere towards the creature’s face.

-Boom!

“Kuaaa!”

The impact shook its entire skull.

The goblin screamed as the magic sphere hit its jaw.

Seeing this, Kang Hyeon took out Ogre’s hammer from his inventory.

“Sssup… This is perfect.”

A giant iron hammer that looked incredibly sturdy at a glance.

Kang Hyeon smiled maliciously as he gripped it.

“Here I come!”

And he swung the iron hammer with all his might towards the creature’s genitals.

-Thwack!

The iron hammer collided with the massive flesh, and a grotesque sound echoed.

The giant body of the creature, hit in its weak spot, lifted slightly into the air.

“Kuaaaaaaaa-!”

The creature’s scream was undoubtedly the most pitiful monster cry Kang Hyeon had heard so far.

That was its last.

“What? Is it dead?”

Kang Hyeon nudged the creature’s face with his foot.

There was no response.

“It really died.”

Kang Hyeon took out his dagger to extract the magic stone.

“…”

But he quickly put the dagger back in his inventory.

“This feels really unpleasant…”

Seeing the leather covering its private parts getting soaked with blood, he just couldn’t bring himself to use the knife.

Kang Hyeon briefly clasped his hands together to pray for the creature’s soul.

***

Ippotranslation

***

Inside dungeons, it’s impossible to crack down on any illegal activities.

Even if serious crimes like assault, rape, or murder occur, all evidence disappears the moment the dungeon is cleared.

“Aaagh!”

Today too, such vile criminal acts were rampant in the peaceful dungeon.

“Why are you doing this?”

A woman with a stern expression said through gritted teeth.

“Why are we doing this? Hehe.”

But the men just mocked her, imitating her words amusingly.

“You’re asking because you don’t know why we’re doing this?”

“I don’t know.”

“Of course we’re trying to do something good.”

“If it wasn’t for that, why would we have brought a bitch like you? Use your head if you have one, you fool.”

The woman, Shin Seong-a, who was glaring at the men surrounding her, quickly drew a dagger and swung it.

“Argh!”

A man screamed as a long cut appeared on his cheek.

“If you come any closer, I won’t stay still.”

“You damn bitch!”

As an enraged man approached, Shin Seong-a swung her dagger again.

But that attack was easily caught by the man’s hand.

“Say that again. What? You won’t stay still?”

-Slap!

The man who grabbed Shin Seong-a’s arm roughly slapped her cheek.

“That’s what you get. What were you trying to do with a toothpick, you archer bitch?”

“Won’t stay still? hehehe! What are you going to do if you don’t stay still?”

As if responding to him, his companions smiled disgustingly and licked their lips.

“We’re not bad people, you know? We just want to have fun together.”

“My thing will make you go ‘pop’ in one go! hehe!”

The men no longer hesitated to reveal their eyes glinting with madness.

“Shit. I really can’t stand listening to this.”

It was then.

The men hurriedly turned around at the unfamiliar voice coming from behind.

“hehehe? What kind of lame laugh is that?”

The men frowned at the sight of Kang Hyeon, who suddenly appeared.

“Who are you?”

“Don’t mind me and leave. If you don’t want to get hurt.”

“Hehe. Well…”

A line that only third-rate villains in ancient movies would say.

Kang Hyeon chuckled, dumbfounded.

“Mister. If you leave now, we’ll let it slide, so just go.”

A man with a massive build pushed through the gathered men and walked out.

The man was unusually large, rarely seen in society, easily over 120kg at a glance.

Kang Hyeon wondered how someone with such a build could have made it to a D-rank dungeon.

“Hey, mister. Can’t you hear me? I said scram.”

Kang Hyeon twisted one corner of his mouth at the pig’s words.

“Did they set up a slaughterhouse nearby?”

“…?”

“Why do I keep hearing the sound of a pig squealing?”