Chapter 34 – Dungeon Reset (2)

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“Can anyone attempt it?”

“What? No way. It is very dangerous to attempt a newly formed Dungeon. Usually the guild takes care of these kinds of jobs….”

“Does the guild have a monopoly over it?”

That wasn’t entirely true. There were autonomous Roused teams, and there were several instances where these teams were able to possess a Dungeon. However, most of the undisclosed Dungeons were taken by the guilds, who possessed Roused teams specialized in raiding Dungeons.

“Will I be able to attempt it or not?”

“…….”

Minchan thought about what he would say several times before he finally spoke.

“You will be able to. However, the opportunity will only be available after the Dungeon Energy is measured.”

“Jeez. Just give me an explanation without holding anything back.”

Minchan had no choice, but to answer him.

“After the Dungeon Energy is measured, there is a restriction by rank on who could attempt the Dungeon. If it is a 4 star then you have to be Rank C. If it is 5 stars then Rank B. Only an A rank had the right to attempt a 6 star.

Woojin had a interested expression on his face.

“Aren’t I a Rank C? Then I’ll have the qualification if the Dungeon turns out to be a 4 star. What’s next?”

“The Roused are given a chance depending on the order they arrive in. If the first challengers fails, only the teams with superior ranked forces are qualified to go next. If there are a lot of competitors, then the order is chosen through lottery.”

“Ho-oh?”

When he heard this, Woojin turned to Sunggoo.

“Let’s go Sunggoo!”

“Yes?”

“It’s first come, first served. Hurry up and run.”

“Yes, sir!”

Woojin cut across the intersection, and Sunggoo quickly followed after him.

“W…wait a moment.”

How could he be so reckless? The Dungeons weren’t a joke. How could he attempt a dungeon with no information…

“Uh? Now that I think about it…”

Didn’t he do that just yesterday? He went into a 4 star Dungeon without any information. The person running in front of his eyes had a clear time comparable to someone with information.

“Huh. Still….”

Woojin looked excited as he ran. He looked like a shopper attacking the food section of a mart during a close out sale.

“I don’t get why he is so excited.”

Jung-minchan shook his head from side to side. Kim-haemin laughed as he walked next to to Jung-minchan.

“Haha. Isn’t it entertaining to look at Mr. Woojin?”

“Yes. It seems he has no fear.”

“Eh. Maybe he has very little knowledge about the high rank Dungeons??”

“That….”

Minchan felt like it was the opposite. However, he decided not to voice his opinion. Didn’t Woojin register as a Roused only couple days ago? It hadn’t even been a week.

Jung-minchan’s intuition was talking to him. It was saying Woojin wasn’t attacking the Dungeons without knowing anything.

‘Where did a guy like that pop out from?’

He really was like a being from an unknown star. For the past couple days, this person was firmly entrenched inside Jung-minchan’s head. Other Roused didn’t even catch his eyes.

He was pouring all of his effort in scouting only Kang-woojin.

*

The Seoul National University station’s 6th exit was very busy from people coming and going. The Dungeon Reset always starts because someone had died.

“Aigo. Junggook hyung-nim.”

In front of the Dungeon, a manager of a team was crying out loud. It seemed his team had been raiding the Dungeon, and they had been wiped out. The sadness seemed to be isolated. The public employees dispatched by the Management Bureau were busily moving around.

A truck with Dungeon Management Bureau mark drove up. After an introduction, the truck was directed towards the Dungeon entrance.

After parking the rear of the truck near the entrance, the truck’s roof opened up. A satellite antenna looking machine was revealed from the inside.

“It is a Dungeon Energy measuring instrument. One can find out the general size of the Dungeon with it.”

He didn’t know when Jung-minchan had caught up, but he gave a polite explanation from next to Woojin.

“You will be able to go in if it is a 4 star.”

“Did you write down your name on the registry?”

“I did.”

Woojin had already written his name in the application registry being held by the Dungeon Management Bureau employee. He wast he first one to do so.

“If it’s 4 star or below then it is mine.”

“Ha ha. It will be yours by regulation, but I would recommend taking a team of Roused…. Our Hammer guild has many capable Roused who will be able to keep pace with you. If you join our guild, we could even make you a leader of a team..”

“Ah, I already have one underling.”

“…?”

Woojin focused his gaze on the monitor attached next to the machine.

812837128

The numbers repeatedly fluctuated up and down, and it made one’s eyes dizzy.

“Bloodstones worth about 50 thousand dollars is used to operate it once.”

“Huh. It uses a filthy amount of it.”

“Yes. There are smaller energy measuring equipment, and it is used to measure the energy of all the high rank Roused.”

Woojin’s head turned towards Minchan.

“They didn’t use it to measure me.”

“The measurement equipment can’t be used on all the Roused. One use expends $2000 worth of Bloodstones.”

“Bloodstone are used everywhere.”

“Please let us gather some of the data on your energy measurement next time. If I have the measured value then Woojin-nim could receive a Rank befitting your ability.”

“Well, maybe later.”

While he was talking with Minchan, the measuring equipment’s number was becoming fixed.

Bbi bbi, beeek.

The cutting edge machine that looked like a monster let out an analog sound as it yielded the result.

Rank 5 star.

Disappointment flashed through Woojin’s eyes. Minchan was relieved.If it was 4 star then the possibility of Woojin soloing the Dungeon would have been high.

Then Woojin’s worth would have been displayed to everyone here. There was a world of difference between the difficulty of clearing an already assaulted Mine, and an undisclosed Dungeon.

“Ooh-wah. It’s team Vermillion.”

“Huh? Where?”

One of the 4 great attack teams of the Hwarang guild showed up. When team Vermillion appeared, everyone’s attention became focused on them. The crowd of reporters in the area started to press their camera shutters to capture their image.

Lee-yunhwee was the leader, and she was a Rank A Roused. The rest of Vermillion team consisted of 10 people, and they were all Rank B Roused.

“Uh-ooh. It seems we will lose the Dungeon to the Hwarang.”

“Chet. We can’t do anything about it.”

The Reset Dungeon was a first come, first served in its order of opportunity given. This was why the Guild headquarters, and their offices were located near the subway stations.

The Hammer guild’s headquarters was only 2 stations down from the Sahdahng station. As it so happens, Team Vermillion was nearby, so the they were the first to arrive.

Even a broadcasting van had suddenly showed up, and they were filming the Vermillion team. There were still a lot of interest in the formation of new Dungeons, and the first attack on a Dungeon.

If the attack fails, the Dungeon would soon become the seed for destruction.

“Yes. I am here at the newly Reset Seoul National University Station’s 6th exit. Hwarang guild’s Vermillon team is getting ready to…”

The announcer spoke a prepared statement towards the camera. Sunggoo was watching them when he felt a chill. He turned his head around.

“Uh? Where did Woojin hyung-nim go?”

Sunggoo started looking around. Minchan became surprised, and he also started to look around his surrounding. Woojin wasn’t too far away. He was snooping around with an curiosity-filled expression on his face.

“Eee-yah. So this is a measurement equipment?”

“Please don’t get close to it.”

“Please get out the way. You will get hurt.”

“Ah. I just want to look at it. Let me look at it.”

The public employee in charge of the Dungeon Energy measurement equipment was irritated by Woojin. During all of this, the security personnel ran in to separate Woojin from the machine.

“Uh uh? Stop pushing me.”

The security personnel’s hands pushed against Woojin, and he didn’t resist against it. He stumbled and he fell. Then he rolled down the stairway of the Dungeon’s entrance.

“Uh uh?”

While the surrounding people was frozen in shock, Woojin kept rolling his body down into the Dungeon entrance, and he slipped through. The speed of the roll was way too fast to say it was a spontaneous accident….

‘D…did he purposefully break into it?’

Even Sunggoo didn’t know what to think. This was a 5 star Dungeon. No matter how much confidence Woojin had, he wouldn’t be reckless enough to solo a 5 star Dungeon.

“This is serious! Someone went in.”

“It’s a scoop!”

The reporters, and the cameras used for broadcasting immediately filmed the entrance of the Dungeon.

“This is terrible. There was an accident where a person fell into the Dungeon by accident. An unprecedented event has happened. Currently, we are trying to ascertain the identity of the Roused, and more information is coming in….”

Sunggoo, Minchan and Haemin were all frozen, and they were looking at the Dungeon entrance with despairing gazes.

“Hul.”

Sunggoo made a sound as if he was dumbfounded. Minchan and Haemin sighed as if they had bee unfrozen from ice.

“Team leader. Isn’t it impossible for Mr Woojin to solo a 5 star Dungeon by himself?”

“Whew. Even a Rank A Roused have a hard time soloing a 5 star Dungeon….”

The highest measured Dungeon to date were 6 star Dungeons.

Those Dungeons didn’t reset often. Even if it did, the guilds and the government pulled all their resources together. They would attempt it after making a team of the best Roused in the country.

At that point, it wasn’t just a Dungeon. It was a life and death battle to prevent a catastrophe. Still, there were numerous instances where the Dungeon Break of the 6 star Dungeons couldn’t be prevented.

Realistically, the 5 star Dungeons were the highest rank Dungeons a guild could monopolized.

Any Dungeons with Artifacts had a different degree of danger when one faced the monsters.

The minimum rank to attempt it was Rank B. Normally an A Rank leader takes a B rank team to attempt this type of a Dungeon. Basically, the elite teams of the guilds attempted it.

There were only two successfully attacked 6 star Mines in Seoul. Moreover, there were only eight 5 star Dungeons.

Even the Vermillion team became nervous before attacking a 5 star Dungeon yet one Roused went into the Dungeon by accident?

He was 100% dead.

The Vermillion’ leader, Lee-yunhwee frowned.

“Chet. It’s just a delay. We’ll be able to enter soon, so be ready. Don’t relax yet.”

“Yes, team leader.”

There was only one reason why a barrier would re-open again. It happened when the Roused, who entered, died.

Lee-yunhwee thought this would happen after a brief amount of time.

Sunggoo felt the sky turn yellow when he thought about Woojin dying.

“H…hyung-nim….”

Everyone thought the barrier would disintegrate after a brief moment, but the barrier was still being maintained. Lunch passed by, and it was time for dinner. Then the sun descended, and the barrier hadn’t disappeared yet.

*

“Uh? It’s Woojin oppa.”

Soongmi’s eyes turned round as she watched the tv. Suddenly, Woojin oppa’s face was plastered all over the news.

“Heh heh. He’s so handsome. Uh uh?”

Soongmi was fawning over Woojin’s appearance when she finally was aghast at the content of the news. She ran into the kitchen.

“Madam! Something terrible had happened. Woojin oppa fell into a Dungeon.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Eeeeng? Mrs. Lee’s son fell in?”

The kitchen ladies ran as if they were were on fire, and they all directed their gaze towards the tv. The news were replaying a video taken by someone’s hand phone. Woojin was having an argument near the Dungeon entrance. He was pushed by the security personnel, and he rolled down the stairs of the Dungeon. The news kept replaying the video.

[Victim Mr Kang was a Rank C Roused, and he has experienced a Dungeon only 4 times…. However, it has been 8 hours since he first entered the Dungeon. This means 32 hours has passed inside the Dungeon. All the experts agree this is close to a miracle… The Roused Mr Kang will soon reach his limit…]

Lee-soogyong lost the strength in her legs as she watched the news. She plopped down on the floor.

“W…Woojin.”

“Aigo. What are you going to do, Mrs. Lee.”

“Why would he go to such a dangerous place…”

She couldn’t hear her fellow ladies’ comforting words, or Soongmi sobbing. Sadness welled up inside Lee-soogyong, and it felt like she couldn’t breath.

“Woojin’s father. Please look over our Woojin. Please.”

Lee-soogyong let out tears filled with sadness, and the atmosphere inside the restaurant became heavy.

*

*The scene of the accident at the Seoul National University Station’s 6th exit*

The barrier was activated over 9 hr and 12 mins ago. The Vermillion team, several employees from the Hwarang guild, reporters from the news station and several bystanders were still present near the Dungeon.

Minchan, Sunggoo and Haemin were identified as Woojin’s companion, so they were allowed to wait near the Dungeon Entrance. They were monitored as they waited for Woojin.

“Ah. He is surviving for an annoyingly long time. He should just give up now.”

Someone from the Vermillion team spoke up, and Sunggoo got angry.

“He isn’t just surviving! My hyung-nim is in the process of conquering it!”

“Huh. That son of a bitch is Rank C, so how would he conquer it? He is probably hiding as he barely extends his life line.”

Sunggoo was about to stand up, but Minchan held Sunggoo back.

“Endure it, Mr Sunggoo.”

“He is recklessly speaking when he has no idea what he is talking about.”

“We will keep faith as we wait for him.”

“Whew.”

“Mr. Sunggoo should know since you’ve seen him in action? Is it possible for him to do this?”

“Of course.”

Sunggo was filled with conviction. Woojin hadn’t even been pushed hard in the 4 star Dungeon. Woojin was thrown into a Dungeon without any preparation, but he had his sub-dimension.

“Please talk to us a little bit. What is Mr. Woojin’s ability? It says on the file he could only summon a single Skeleton….”

“I can’t tell you anything.”

Sunggoo clamped his mouth shut, and Minchan clicked his tongue inside. This young man was very stubborn. He had stealthily asked Sunggoo some questions, but Sunggoo wouldn’t tell him anything.

“Let’s have dinner.”

It was already late, and they were hungry. The jajangmyun was delivered to them. When Sunggoo received the food, his eyes suddenly misted up.

‘Hyung-nim is having a hard time inside, but I’m here…’

“Mr. Sunggoo. Eat. Let’s eat then wait. The average capture time of a new 5 star Dungeon is 12 hours.”

It would be two days worth of time inside the Dungeon. Moreover, Woojin might take longer than the average time. If he failed, they wouldn’t be able to see him ever again…

He felt guilty, but he couldn’t help being hungry. Sunggoo ripped open the seran wrap on the jajangmyun, then he stirred it around.

It happened when he put the chopstick to his mouth.

Choo-choo-choot.

The barrier disappeared, and Woojin popped out. He was walking up the stairs.

“Ooh-uhng, Uhhng-nim.”

Sunggoo wasn’t chewing the jajangmyung nor was he spitting it out. Woojin grinned when he saw this.

“Did you also order mine ?”

“Ooh-ung ooh-ung.”

Sunggoo forcefully swallowed the jajangmyun, then he ran towards Woojin. All the cameras were focused on Woojin.