Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 11
Chapter 11: Episode 3. Attack Unit (3)
Click!
It was early evening, and only the computer monitor was shining in the dark room. I was sitting in front of the monitor, moving my mouse to use the computer.
“Hmmm.”
I was not used to looking at a mall monitor to control a machine. In my former life, I’d seen this thing called a computer, but never really had a chance to use it. I’d become more used to this thing during the past few days, but it still felt alien to me.
Tick, tick, tock.
I used my index finger to type on the keyboard. I was a typical two-finger typist, but I wasn’t too bad considering it had been only a few days. I was able to type around 300 alphabets per minute, and I also learned the function of all the icons on the desktop page. 10
I was absorbing all the information I could about this thing called a computer. It was an essential thing for living in modern society, so I had no choice but to learn how to use it and get familiar with it.
‘So, there are internet communities where awakened heroes recruit their attack unit or share information.’
After the announcement from the United States, everyone came to know the existence of awakened heroes. People were crazy about the power and supernatural abilities of the awakened heroes and talked about them everywhere on the internet.
The same went for the awakened heroes. As soon as they recognized their existence, the majority of awakened heroes started to gather. Kim Yongwoo had told me the name of the community with the highest number of awakened heroes as members.
On the main page of every portal website, articles about awakened heroes covered the whole page. All I did was tap the keyboard and wrote down ‘awakened hero’, and that was enough to lead me to endless related results in a second. However, the community of awakened heroes was not an easy thing to find.
I picked up a piece of paper from my wallet on the desk. There was a URL, an ID, and a password written on the white paper.
‘This is it.’
When I typed the address on the bar, a black page opened. The only thing on the page was a little blank in the middle to log in.
I put my ID and password in. When I clicked ‘log in’, a message saying ‘Welcome Randalf Bruciel,’ came up, and the background changed to show many message boards. On the top left of the window, my level was marked as a VIP.
Kim Yongwoo didn’t simply create my ID, but also gave me a level that would enable me to check all the message boards It was not a surprise. Maybe regular people would think twice about such an overly-kind gesture, but I didn’t mind. I would take whatever people offered without question.
I hadn’t taken it for free, anyways. I gave him a fist-sized Core for this. It was one of the Cores that I’d collected while hunting random high-level monsters.
Humans were crazy about the Cores and valued them so much. It was clear that the Core was the pure crystallization of Mana. The devils and high-level monsters wouldn’t because the Core worked differently for them, but low-level monsters would absorb enemies’ Cores to become stronger.
Anyways, I was planning to play in the human world, and leaving the Core would let the other monsters absorb them or let the dungeon turn the Core into Mana, so I just kept it with me.
‘It was a good call to take some.’
I don’t really know the real value of the Core, but I’m sure it was more than just a fortune. When I gave him the Core, Kim Yongwoo was sweating profusely. He’d said he couldn’t possibly take it, and gave me his fancy car and a considerable amount of money.
The money he put in my bank was around five billion won, but Kim Yongwoo told me it was not enough to pay me back. Well, I understand why, because current awakened heroes would never able to get such a greatly-sized Core. Since it is rare, it wasn’t that ridiculous.
Thanks to that, I’d easily bought this house.
‘Was it sold at a secret auction in San Francisco?’
I was a bit curious, but not for long. It was not important at all. Money was not a difficult thing to get, and the fiat economy would collapse in about 15 years. So, it didn’t really matter how much I possessed.
“That’s a lot.”
I looked into the monitor again.
There was a lot of posting on the website. A lot of people were uploading their posts simultaneously, so a page would fill up in less than a minute. It seemed like there were a lot of awakened heroes who joined this community.
I realized that I should search on a specific message board if I want to look for something in particular, so my first choice was the basic information board.
There was a list of basic information on awakened heroes, such as their names. Some of the information was locked, and when I clicked one of them, a pop-up window told me I needed to spend 100pt.
I had 100,000pt, so it would not be difficult to open and read most of the information from the website, but I didn’t think it was necessary. The title was ‘Map of Dungeon Entrance’. But I was the dungeon master, and there was no reason for me to buy the map since there was only one fairy, Lyhee, who knew my dungeon better than I did.
I started to read from the very bottom.
‘This is either what I already know or useless information.’
I was disappointed within a few seconds. There was nothing useful…some basic information on awakened heroes, how to call up the command window, information on monsters, how to get the Core, things to know before starting a basic quest, and so on. None of them was useful or meaningful for me.
The least useless was the ‘Urgent Announcement’ on the top.
「Aisle Snakes are appearing. Their venom can cause paralysis; you should be careful. Photos are attached.」
「Recently, a dead body killed by an awakened hero was found. Our investigation showed that it was an inside job. Heroes should be extra careful on organizing your attack unit.」
「A monster wave has started in Shandong, China. Click the link for more information.」
A monster wave meant that the monsters came out from the dungeon. The announcement seemed to be a notice of danger to the awakened heroes.
I checked other tiny issues and then clicked on the board called ‘attack unit recruitment’.
‘So this is where they recruit their team?’
Sometimes I used to wonder because the same number of people always walked into my dungeon. Now I thought it was possible because they could get their attack unit whenever they wanted to.
‘This internet thing is quite good.’ 1
It was easy to use. If I used it well, I would be able to understand what is going on in the world. This was the machine civilization; imbalanced as hell.
It was strange that humans didn’t know anything about nature or mana, but they were extraordinary at using tools. I was a bit impressed by that and started to look at the postings.
Guarder with a strength of 35. Looking for one Warrior.
Magician, looking for two archers. Experienced only.
Anyone who can detect the scent of magical power?
Apart from a few postings, most of them had a ‘recruited’ tag on them. It seemed like the recruitments were usually completed within ten minutes.
‘The competition is quite fierce,’ I mused.
That was probably why there were a lot of very specific criteria on the postings. Minimum __ experiences in attack units, special skill level ___ required, a hero with such and such skills wanted…and most of them said ‘experienced only’.
Beginner meant a person who had never joined the attack unit to explore the dungeon. I was one of the beginners in a way.
“Well, I still need to give a shot,” I murmured and sent direct messages to a few people.
My two-finger typing was now quite good, and I tried to seem sincere to join them.
―Take me. I’m strong. Kobolds or Goblins are not even a problem for me.
I was subjective but also objective. All I had to tell them was that I was very strong, but in case they couldn’t understand the real meaning, I added a few more words to help them. Even so, nobody answered.
“Hmmm…they don’t know what they’re missing,” I scoffed.
New postings were coming up continuously, so I kept sending messages.
―Sorry.
―Try to join another attack unit.
―Are you a king?
I sent 29 direct messages in an hour and only got three answers, all of them negative.
Well, it wasn’t too difficult to understand the problem.
‘It must be nuance.’
There was etiquette on the internet. People met here without meeting face-to-face, so they praised each other to build up their relationships. I’d never talked in a formal manner to the dukes, archdukes, or even the Demon God. I grew up on the battlefield where politeness was the last thing to learn and expect, so respect toward others was an alien concept for me.
I always admitted when someone was strong, but I never used formal terms. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. It was way too awkward when I tried to use formal terms. I was born like this and stayed like this for more than 300 years. It was impossible to change my nature and habits.
Maybe one day I would be able to fix this problem, but now was not the time.
‘Maybe I should have joined the attack unit of The Guild of Heaven’s Will,’ I thought, but soon I shook my head. ‘Nope. I can’t give up like this. I am Randalf Bruciel. I stepped on everyone to be here. I can’t stop now because of this small inconvenience.’
I wanted to see how they started raids. I wanted to evaluate my dungeon from the beginner’s point of view. I also wanted to find a talent that I could use.
Heroes who were famous in the life before were not the only strong ones. I’m sure some of them had great potential but were killed too early. Those were who I wanted to find and recruit.
At that time, a new posting came up.
Guarder with Strength of 33. Looking for six members for my attack unit. Message me.
It was a attack unit of eight people. He was recruiting six people, which meant that apart from the leader himself, he had only one person in his team. I sent a message to him.
After three minutes, I got an answer.
―Mr. Randalf? Do you have any experience in an attack unit?
If the question was simply about the dungeon, yes, of course, so many times. However, I’ve never joined an attack unit. I tasted something bitter and kept typing on my keyboard.
―First time in attack unit.
―Hmm, What is your occupation?
I hesitated for a second and answered vaguely.
―Something related to close combat.
―Okay. We tend to not accept the beginners but all the messages are from the beginners so we don’t have much choice. We need to go on a raid anyways…let’s meet up tomorrow at Gil Cafe near Suyou station exit no. 3.
―Okay.
―Leaving my number. Text me or call me when you get there.
That was easier than I expected.
I leaned on my chair and sighed. ‘Fighting against a high-level monster would be mentally easier,’ I thought.
Sending direct messages felt like a war. I couldn’t lose my concentration for a second because as soon as I did, the recruitment was completed. I thought fighting against monsters would be better for my mental health.
Tick tock, tick tock.
The sound from the clock on the wall was so loud for no reason.
I’d spent 40 billion won from the 50 billion that I’d received from Kim Yongwoo to move into a luxury villa in the Chungdam area. All the furniture and equipment was already there, so all I had to do was move in.
Four hundred square meters. Five rooms, three bathrooms. It wasn’t a castle, but it had everything I needed.
I looked up and stared at the ceiling. Now everything was different from before.
I wish I had a friend to talk to, but Lyhee was a spiritual creature of the dungeon, so she couldn’t leave there.
Of course, I could use the Returning Stone to go back to my dungeon. But if I did so, it would be difficult for me to get used to this. If I went back, it would have to be after I adjusted to this life.
I’d get used to it; it was simply a matter of will.
I closed my eyes, thinking about how it was going to be a long night.