The first dungeon raid went all too smoothly. So smoothly that it made me wonder, 'Is it really okay for it to be this easy?' The Poison-type Monsters, with a physical level of only ‘E’, were no threat to me.
Far from being a threat, some Monsters even showed signs of stealthily retreating from me.
"When it comes to poison, Hae-seon, you're like a king. The day might come when you can command them as your underlings."
Those were Dr. Jin's words. At the time, I thought it was just a joke, but it seemed there were indeed some creatures that recognized the poison I carried. But well, I'd need to be able to talk to them to give orders.
There was only one thing they could do for me right now. Offer up their Cores, the source of Black Ether. I diligently carried out that task.
Ssshhh...
Another stream of Black Ether was absorbed into my body. The number of Monsters I'd taken care of since coming here had already surpassed fifty. Wasn't it tiring?
Not at all. The battles ended in one-sided slaughters, and some of them were such low-level creatures that I didn't even need to use 'Poison Step'. Besides, just absorbing Black Ether restored my condition to normal, so there were no stamina issues.
Haha.
At this rate, reaching around 300 BA today would be a breeze...
"Grrrrrrrr..."
Oh.
This is why one must watch their mouth. After pushing through the forest and venturing deeper inside, a large creature I hadn't seen before appeared. A four-legged beast taller than me, with a sturdy jaw.
I could feel a formidable energy from it at a single glance.
"V1."
As I called my device, information about the creature appeared before my eyes.
"So that's the one...!"
The Polluted Hyena. I had heard of its reputation (?). Was it the year before last?
When a Poison Gate opened in a provincial city, five C-rank Hunters were said to have lost their lives to a single Hyena. They had approached it carelessly after seeing its 'C'-rank physical level, only to get infected by its poison and die before anything could be done.
Although it was said to have happened before a healer arrived, it was dangerous enough that even a civilian like me had heard its name. Not only did it have vicious teeth and claws, but even a mere graze from its sharp mane could cause fatal poisoning.
For a Monster with a 'C'-rank physical level, taking it down without getting so much as grazed was no easy task. The Hunters who died so futilely were likely not overwhelmed in combat power, but rather got poisoned after being grazed by its various attacks. -Grrrrrr...
The creature pawed at the ground with its front leg, as if starting a car engine. It looked ready to leap at any moment. Considering the dungeon's average physical level was 'E', this creature had to be the physically strongest one here, aside from the boss Monster.
I activated the Black Ether throughout my body and lowered my stance slightly.
Tang! Fast...!
No sooner had I confirmed it was leaping than it reached right in front of my nose. I barely managed to turn my body to avoid getting my neck bitten off.
Kwajik!
But the Hyena's claws struck my shoulder, and blood gushed from my left shoulder where my T-shirt was torn.
"Ugh..."
Indeed.
So this is 'C'-rank. My body enhancement level, confirmed through the V1 device, was ‘E’. A simple comparison meant there was a two-rank difference between me and that Hyena.
A throbbing pain spread from my shoulder. A Hunter who had just gone through their Awakening would have panicked from the pain, but that wouldn't happen to me. Having fought the poison inside my body my whole life, I had become immune to most pain. -Grrrr...
After finishing its leap, the Hyena scrutinized me intensely. I couldn't read its expression, but I could guess what it was thinking. 'Why isn't he collapsing?' it must be thinking.
The wound was one thing, but symptoms of poisoning should have appeared by now. But instead of foaming at the mouth and collapsing, I vanished from its sight.
Pabat!
My 'E'-rank body enhancement level was probably based on my entire body. But if limited to just my legs, that level would rise exponentially. That's because my legs contained the Black Ether Kiril had given me, equivalent to a whopping '1,000 BA'.
The technique born from the concentration of Kiril's energy, 'Poison Step'. Its speed was so fast that even a 'C'-rank physical level Hyena couldn't react.
Seogeok.
I used 'Poison Step' to get behind it and lightly scratched its back with Exa. The Hyena bristled its mane and jumped, but the battle was as good as over. The King of Poisons.
Once the strongest poison in the world had infiltrated it, it didn't matter if the Monster was a normal or Poison-type. -Kehreuk... The Hyena, preparing to leap again, suddenly twitched its limbs and collapsed with a thud. Just from being scratched by Exa's blade, the 2-star (★★) Monster had died.
This must be when you'd use the phrase 'death by a single touch'. To be defeated by the very same battle tactic it had always used—it was a truly ironic end.
Seogeok-seogeok.
"Oh... This one is definitely a bit bigger."
I cut open its belly and extracted a Black Core the size of my thumb. It couldn't compare to the one Kiril gave me, but it was a pretty big gain compared to the marble-sized ones from the small fry.
Shururu...
Black Ether doesn't require any special neutralization process. The moment it enters my body, it provides me with its full energy.
"Whoa..."
My shoulder, which had been bleeding profusely, healed in an instant. Watching it get perfectly restored without leaving a single scar, I couldn't help but let out a gasp of admiration. It's truly amazing.
It seems I really do have a pretty strong Healing Ability. -Kkuwang! Ppori let out a happy cry and landed on my restored (?) shoulder. It feels like he's using my shoulder as his personal perch.
"Hey, you. You have to pay rent starting now." -Kkureu?
It sounds like a joke, but I'm serious. There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
Extremes connect.
It was a story Kiril and Dr. Jin told me time and time again.
"Hah, hah."
Because of that one sentence, I was, to put it crudely, going through hell.
Shwaaak!
A giant, scythe-like leg flew towards the crown of my head. Paak- A pointed hole over a meter deep formed in the spot where I had been standing just a moment ago. If I had stayed put, I would have been, as they say, split in two and died.
But its attacks were useless before 'Poison Step'. I circled around it like an out-boxer, inspecting every corner of its nest. -Kiaaaak! The creature before me stomped its eight legs, expressing its rage.
Yellow Huge Tarantula. The master of this dungeon seemed pretty angry. Just wait a little longer, you bastard.
I'll send you off peacefully soon enough.
Woong.
The blade that emerged from Exa made a unique resonating sound. It wasn't the jet-black blade from before. A new blade, shining white like jade.
This was one of Exa's non-lethal shifts, White Dream. A technique Dr. Jin was so proud of that he named it himself. It originated from a conversation we had before.
"I need a way to neutralize targets. Without killing them."
"Hmm... Are you afraid of killing people?"
"Not at all. In my eyes, people and Monsters look the same now."
"Haha. You rascal. Then there should be no reason to hesitate."
"I'm not hesitating. I'm just choosing a rational method."
Whether it's a person or a Monster, sometimes it's more convenient not to kill. And this was exactly one of those times. If by some chance this thing died, the dungeon would collapse, and the Hunter Association would immediately launch an investigation in this area.
So, I needed something to subdue it without killing it. If Exa's blade touched another Hunter or a boss Monster, they would almost certainly die. In terms of killing ability, it was said that even most 'S'-rank weapons would have to bow their heads.
Shit.
I had to worry about such things when I was on the verge of being split in two. I wanted to just smash Exa into its head, but I couldn't. According to the information Kiril gave me, if the boss Monster dies, 'that thing' would also lose its light.
'Damn it.
Where is it?' Paat- Maybe it's because I used Poison Step consecutively. A light dizziness washed over me.
If I lose consciousness now, I'll die, and that Tarantula bastard will probably die after eating me. For the sake of both our lives (?), I had to find it quickly. The 'treasure' Kiril mentioned.
Shwaaaak.
Spiderwebs shot towards my head, while its legs attacked from both the left and right. There was no way to escape by jumping up. I slid under its belly like a head-first slide.
Chwaak- I couldn't open my eyes because of the fishy smell and the dust. But if I stayed here any longer, its eight legs would tear my body to shreds. As I shook my head violently and tried to stand up, the 'treasure' I was looking for finally revealed itself.
'Found it...!!'
A single flower, standing forlornly. Its petals were shining with a strange copper color. The name of this flower was the Copper Eternal Flower.
It was a rare species that could only be found in Poison-type dungeons.
"Yes!"
Covered in dust, I clenched my fist. How many attacks had I dodged just to find this thing? Now that I'd found my target, there was no reason to hesitate.
I quickly pulled the Copper Eternal Flower out by its roots, tucked it into my clothes, and then slashed a long gash across the creature's belly with Exa in its White Dream state. -Gyaaaaak! The house-sized Tarantula shuddered violently. If it falls asleep like this, my body will be crushed along with it.
Paat.
I activated 'Poison Step' and barely managed to get out before it collapsed.
"Phew."
My forehead was drenched in sweat. It was incomparably faster and stronger than the Hyena I had just faced. Well, it was the boss Monster, so I guess that's natural. -Keong...
Keong...
"What the. Are you snoring too?"
A Poison-type Monster that snores and talks in its sleep. There probably aren't many people in the world who've seen such a rare sight. Plus, wasn't this creature's rank 3-star (★★★)?
Once again, I couldn't help but be amazed by Dr. Jin's abilities. Dr. Jin's White Dream was a technique that converted my Black Ether into a sleep-inducing agent. Once White Dream's blade penetrated the body, the target would fall into a deep sleep, as if injected with propofol.
There was probably no better skill for neutralizing a target than 'sleep'. I tapped the giant spider's head a few times, but it remained motionless, deep in slumber. That's Dr. Jin for you.
The performance is guaranteed.
"Alright. I've gotten everything I can get." -Kkuwang!
I started walking towards the dungeon entrance with Ppori.
"What a strange thing..."
To think its petals are copper-colored. The area around the petals shimmered brilliantly, as if it had a special effect applied to it. Like Ppori on my shoulder, it was a rare creature that couldn't be seen in the human world.
The Copper Eternal Flower was a creature that only lived in Poison-type Dungeons and could be found in the lairs of boss Monsters. Usually, the 'grade' of the plant is determined by the dungeon's difficulty, and this one belonged to the lowest grade.
The most prized flower is the Gold Eternal Flower, followed by the Silver Eternal Flower, and then this Copper Eternal Flower. Although the Copper Eternal Flower was the lowest grade, according to Kiril, its value reached tens of millions of won.
"Is it that expensive? A single flower?"
"Of course. It can cure diseases that are hard to treat in this world."
"Wow... Then why don't other Hunters go looking for these flowers?"
"It's not worth it. When there's a boss Monster spewing deadly poison right in front of them, who has the time to leisurely look for herbs while dodging both poison and physical attacks? Most of them would probably succumb to poison symptoms before they even meet the boss Monster."
"True. You did say that unlike us, regular Hunters can't even use the boss Monster's Core."
"Hehe. Right. Entering a Poison Dungeon to search for an herb that might not even be there is basically a suicide mission. Besides, there are plenty of other dungeons where they can make money."
According to Kiril, most people didn't even know such a rare species existed in Poison-type Dungeons, let alone go looking for it. Only three types of people knew the identity of this Copper Eternal Flower. The higher-ups of the Hunter Association.
People close to Kiril. And finally, the underground world that trades this flower. The black market.
"Extremes are connected. To maintain life next to a Monster with terrifying poison, you'd need an incredible Self-Healing Ability, right? Just like your body, Hae-seon."
"I guess... so?"
"The Copper Eternal Flower is fundamentally a poisonous plant. It's quite tricky to handle. And it possesses a healing component just as strong as its poison component. The higher the grade of the herb, the greater the effect it provides."
"It's hard to understand everything at once... but I'm sure of one thing."
"Hm? What is it?"
"That you've been making a fortune off this herb all this time, Kiril."
"What? Kyahahaha. Yeah, you're right, you brat."
A treasure worth tens of millions of won for a single flower. That flower was now in my hands. It was a moment where I felt that risking entry into a 3-star (★★★) dungeon had been worthwhile. -Kkureu...
Ppori closed his eyes next to the Copper Eternal Flower and inhaled the scent of its petals. He had the expression of a commercial actor savoring the aroma of coffee.
"You'll be in trouble if you pluck and eat the petals." -Kkureu...
If I play my cards right, I might be able to cover the cost of the Hunter Qualification Test with this single dungeon raid. Of course, as a rookie, I'd have to keep my wits about me to make a proper deal in the black market.
"Ppori. If you see any suspicious bastards in the black market, go ahead and bite them." -Kkuwang!!
The little guy snorted and roared as if to say, 'Leave it to me.'
Haha.
He's quite reliable, isn't he?