TL: Uncle Choi
“We are here”
Park Yong-wan’s item storage was located under his mansion.
A nuclear bomb shelter previously built by a chaebol was renovated into a warehouse by Park Yong wan.
Countless items were displayed in the warehouse.
‘It’s just a storage.’
There were no legendary rank items.
He didn’t expect it in the first place.
The fact that the premises were sound was the clearest proof that there were no legendary items in the warehouse.
‘I can probably only pick something I can wear.’
Kim Woo-jin was limited to choosing items that he could wear.
Park Yong-wan was only giving Kim Woo-jin items so that he could survive in the dungeon. He definitely wasn’t intending to give him free items for to take away like snacks.
‘I guess I’ll just pick the most expensive ones I can find.’
Of course, Kim Woo-jin planned to use the items like snacks, so he chose the most expensive items he could equip.
Weapon, armor, helmet, gloves, and boots; he chose them carefully.
“It looks like you really like expensive stuff.”
At the sight of such a thing, Park Yong-wan spoke in a slightly prickly voice.
Kim Woo-jin replied to the remark.
“They are expensive because they’re good.”
“I guess you have a point.”
Park Yong-wan, who replied back, was faintly frowning.
‘Tsk’
From Park Yong-wan’s perspective, this kind of situation was extremely unpleasant.
I mean, wasn’t it his money that Kim Woo-jin was spending?
Nevertheless, there was one reason why he put up with it.
In order to exploit the Skull Guild’s weakness, there was no bait as effective as Kim Woo-jin.
‘In order to make the Skull Guild give in, this much of an investment is only natural.’
Park Yong-wan, of course, did not intend to wage a war with the Skull Guild.
‘Who’s behind them?
From the beginning, Park Yong-wan was not even sure who was sponsoring the Skull Guild. On the contrary, that was also the reason why Park Yong-wan was investing in Kim Woo-jin. Currently, Park Yong-wan had a very close relationship with the powerful people in Korea.
However, Park Yong-wan could not find who the sponsors of the Skull Guild were.
‘They must backed by foreign powers.’
This meant it was likely that powers outside of Korea has invaded the country.
In order to negotiate with them, he needed to establish a connection.
Well, if I keep stabbing them, they’ll eventually come see me with their heads down.
Naturally, Park Yong-wan did not intend to negotiate on an equal footing.
Park Yong-wan used Kim Woo-jin to provoke the Skull Guild, ultimately leading to the Skull Guild’s surrender and their cooperation.
In other words, the more difficult of a situation of the Skull Guild was put in, the better it was for Park Yong-wan.
That was why he opened his storage to Kim Woo-jin.
‘This is?
And that was also why Kim Woo-jin was given a chance that he would never receive again in his lifetime.
Kim Woo-jin’s footsteps stopped at the corner where the accessories were collected.
His eyes laid on an ugly necklace inlaid with a black stone that was a size of a newborn’s fist. Kim Woo-jin grabbed the item in his hands.
Item option window appeared right away.
However, Kim Woo-jin did not put such options in his eyes.
‘Is it a sealed item?
The important thing for Kim Woo-jin was that the stone necklace may contain a sealed power of some kind.
It was as stated.
This rugged black stone contained the sealed power of some sort.
Kim Woo-jin had no idea as to what sort it was.
‘And it’s even a unique rank sealed item.’
The most important fact was that the item was a unique grade sealed item. This meant one would be able to obtain an item that was more valuable than a unique grade item.
Since the lowest rank one could obtain was that of a unique rating, it mean that one could expect something higher than that as well.
Naturally, Kim Woo-jin took the necklace.
“That one has a bad option.”
Looking at Kim Woo-jin’s choice, Park Yong-wan gave a word of advice.
Kim Woo-jin replied to the advice.
“It’s because I don’t have enough mana. Especially, the Blood Sucking skill you gave me uses up way more mana than I expected.”
It was a flawless answer.
“Well, it’s good if you like it.”
‘At least I saved some money.’
Most of all, from Park Yong-wan’s perspective, he was glad that Kim Woo-jin chose the cheapest accessory.
‘Like I thought, Park Yong-wan doesn’t know it’s sealed.’
Park Yong-wan didn’t know it was sealed.
There was no way he could know.
Not only were there no signs that it was a sealed item, one had to find a suitable method to remove the seal.
‘Well, it’s impossible to melt a unique ranked seal unless it’s something like the fluids of a golden dragon.’
Something like the gastric juice of a golden dragon.
It was after 2025 that Kim Woo-jin discovered the concept of sealed items.
“Are you done picking?”
Of course, Kim Woo-jin didn’t have much to complain about.
“Yes, thank you very much.”
He just had to smile and express his sincere gratitude.
After the appearance of monsters, the businesses that collapsed the quickest was none other than golf courses.
With the possibility of monsters appearing at any time, there was no fool who would leisurely go outside to play golf. The further one was from the city, the worse the situation became.
The golf course in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province faced the same situation.
A golf course whose membership cost was once over 100 million won and was filled with luxurious foreign cars whether it was on a weekend or a weekday, was now unmanaged and overgrown with weeds.
Visitors came to the golf course once again.
The parking lot was once again crowded with expensive foreign cars.
If you paid attention to the surroundings, you would have noticed that this place became a stage for players. Then a car appeared among the group of expensive foreign cars.
It was a light car with a dented bumper.
The owner of the car was obviously Kim Woo-jin.
Kim Woo-jin appeared, charged in, and ignored the expensive foreign cars that surrounded the area.
But then Kim Woo-jin stopped in front of a car he remembered.
Of course, it wasn’t because the car he stopped next to was more expensive or rare than the cars he saw before.
‘Lexus?’
Five cars, which were parked in a row, were Lexus brands.
Even if all five of them were combined, it couldn’t be compared to the Bugatti that Kim Woo-jin almost smacked with his car door.
There was some other reason for him to stop.
‘Really amazing patriots have showed up.’
He only stopped due to the fact that he had a very good idea of who the owners of those vehicles were.
His steps quickened right away.
As soon as he entered the clubhouse, the guests who already arrived were gathered in a few places.
“A new member.”
Then one person raised his voice and approached Kim Woo-jin soon.
He was a friendly-looking man in his early 40s.
“Nice to meet you, I am Jung Hoon-young. Let’s finish the dungeon well.”
Kim Woo-jin smiled and shook his hand as Jung Hoon-young extended his hand.
“Yes, I look forward to working with you.”
It was not unusual.
It was rather common for guild members to greet each other ahead of the dungeon.
Such was the case. Preparing for a 2 floor dungeon was vastly different from preparing for a 1 floor dungeon.
Those with groundless confidence were already filtered out at this point. The people who survived such a filtering process were the only ones eligible to attack a 2 floor dungeon.
Those who were targeting a 2 floor dungeon had to have some common sense.
Just running around with one’s pride wouldn’t help extend one’s life.
Of course, the atmosphere was calm.
There were no instances of open hostility or aggression.
Rather, players gathered together to chat and familiarize themselves with one another.
“Have we met before?
“No, I think this is our first time meeting each other.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“No, no. I hear that often.”
For the first time, everyone started to familiarize themselves with one another and learn each other’s faces.
Kim Woo-jin held back while observing their interactions.
‘They must be dying inside trying to act like they don’t know each other.’
Kim Woo-jin barely managed to hold back his laughter in front of such a ridiculous performance.
There was no one here that they did not know.
Everyone was in leagues with one another, and what they were after was simple.
Eliminating Kim Woo-jin.
The Skull Guild drew their best cards for dealing with him.
Of course, Kim Woo-jin knew the reason why.
‘That’s the price of touching a pupil of the God Archer.’
Park Yi-yeon and her death, a student of the God Archer, had definitely shaken not only the Skull Guild but also the Yamato Federation.
Furthermore, the Skull Guild must have deduced that there’s a strong individual behind Kim Woo-jin.
It was not just an issue of just killing Kim Woo-jin.
The reason they want to take me into a dungeon is so that they can torture me and get information.
It was more important for the Skull Guild to find out the details through Kim Woo-jin’s mouth. That was why this stage was set up.
This was the reason why the Skull Guild was willing to show their cards in order to hunt Kim Woo-jin.
‘When this is over, it will practically be a war against the Skull Guild. Then I guess I should try to make this as heated as possible.’
“Which way is the restroom?”
At that moment, Kim Woo-jin asked Jung Hoon-young where the restroom was.
“That way.”
“Thank you.”
As soon as he heard the directions, Kim Woo-jin left his seat and headed for the restroom.
Although the water was already cut off, it was better to urinate in there than on the street.
Behind him was Jung Hoon-young. He was following him.
“Let’s go together.”
Kim Woo-jin nodded and the two of them went into the restroom together.
However, neither of them took care of their business.
“Kim Woo-jin, right?”
“Yes, you’re my escort, aren’t you?”
“We should be called assassins rather than escorts.”
Jung Hoon-young’s eyes were indescribably sharp.
“We will speak in detail once we are in the dungeon, so let’s keep it brief. Your role is being the bait. Move by yourself. Then we’ll take care of everything and watch over you. If something really urgent happens, blow this whistle.”
With those words, Jung Hoon-young handed Kim Woo-jin a whistle that seemed to be made of some creature’s bones.
“Unless they are stupid, it is likely that the attack will take place on the second floor. So on the first floor, let’s just focus on clearing the dungeon. You should avoid contacting with us as much as possible. If they find out that we’re on the same team, they’ll confront us directly in an all-out fight.”
Kim Woo-jin was handed a whistle. He tapped on his glabella while tightly holding onto the whistle.
Jung Hoon-young spoke with a stiff expression on his face.
“Are you worried?”
“Umm… can I give up on this operation now?”
Kim Woo-jin spoke pitifully.
In surprise, Jung Hoon-young asked.
“You want to give up?”
Jung Hoon-young asked loudly, reflexively moving his hands to block his mouth. “Whoo…”
Instead of answering him, Kim Woo-jin let out a long sigh.
It was not difficult to guess what that meant.
It would be weird for someone to be calm when asked to play the role of a bait in their first 2 floor dungeon with those who wanted to kill them.
‘I’m screwed if this happens, huh?’
On the contrary, it was a headache for Jung Hoon-young.
He had to get Kim Woo-jin into the dungeon gate no matter what.
‘Damn, I already spent all the money I got from the Skull Guild on a building…”
Otherwise, he would have to cough up the money he had already spent.
“You said you name was Kim Woo-jin?”
“Yes.”
“It’s not as difficult as you think. It’s a 2 floor dungeon but it’s only a D+ rank dungeon. Honestly, although it’s a 2 floor dungeon, it’s laughable compared to the A- dungeon you have cleared. So there’s no reason to be scared.”
That’s why Jung Hoon-young persuaded Kim Woo-jin.
“Most importantly, what about the next time if you give up now? We have to take the first step at some point anyway.”
“But…”
“Are there any other problems?”
“I can’t die like this. At least not until I pay back my debts to those who have helped me.”
Debt.
The word flashed in Jung Hoon-young’s mind.
“I see that you are a very responsible friend.”
Jung Hoon-young continued.
“Then let’s do this. I’ll pay off your debts for you.”
“What?”
Kim Woo Jin acted surprised.
Jung Hoon-young spoke while smiling at him.
“Instead, you will owe me a debt.”
“Then…”
“You will be going in the dungeon for my sake. Of course I will not force you. So how much is the debt?”
Kim Woo-jin carefully stretched out three fingers
“30 million won?”
“No, it’s 300 million won.”
“300 million?”
It was an amount that was bigger than he had expected.
It was an extravagant amount.
‘Gathering that much amount together right now is…’
A normal person wouldn’t be able to collect such an amount of money right away, but for a player whose level was over 20, it was not too difficult to do if necessary.
‘It’s not an unaffordable amount compared to the pay we’ve received for this. No, if we handle his items as stolen goods… there won’t be a loss.’
That’s why Jung Hoon-young was able to make a decision right away.
“Good, I can help out if it’s that much.”
“Tha, thank you.”
“Now then, is your problem gone?”
After being asked again, Kim Woo-jin replied while looking impressed.
“Yes.”
“Excuse me, it looks like 300 million won was deposited into Kim Woo-jin’s private account.” Oh Se-chan frowned after hearing his subordinate.
“300 million won? Damn, we shouldn’t have bought him that beef short rib soup. Next time he asks you to buy him a meal, buy him only udon. Just the basic one as well! Not even a single yubu or fishcakes! Also tell him to chug cold water if he’s thirsty!”
“Um but…”
“But what?”
“But the deposit was from someone else’s account.”
Oh Se-chan tilted his head.
“Someone else?”
“It’s from Jung Hoon-young’s credit account.”
“Jung Hoon-young? The PK specialist? Are you sure?”
“Yes, it’s the account we made for him.”
“What the heck is Jung Hoon-young doing putting money from his credit account into Kim Woo-jin’s private account?”
Oh Se-chan asked as if he had something in mind.
“Jung Hoon-yong recently did money laundering through us, right?”
“Yes.”
“Where was that money coming from?”
“I was only from the Skull Guild. It’s been laundered multiple times, so I’m not sure about the details…”
“So you’re saying that the person who got the money from the Skull Guild to kill Kim Woo-jin spent that money for Kim Woo-jin’s sake, right?”
Only then did his subordinate seem to have realized something.
“Kim Woo-jin is in a trap.”
There was no specific context, but it was clear that he was not Kim Woo-jin’s ally.
“Kim Woo-jin is in danger.”
Oh Se-chan frowned after hearing his subordinate’s warning.
“What are you talking about?”
“Isn’t it dangerous? Kim Woo-jin is trapped right now, isn’t he?”
“How many people like Jung Hoon-young will it take to clear the 2 floor A- rank dungeon that Kim Woo-jin cleared in a week?”
“I don’t know. Around thirty I suppose?”
“The side who’s in danger is Jung Hoon-young’s side.”
Oh Se-chan closed his eyes.
‘Kim Woo-jin has been attacked twice by the Skull Guild and has blocked both attempts.”
He figured out the relationship between Kim Woo-jin and the Skull Guild to a certain extent.
‘In such a situation, if the third attack is completely blocked as well, then it will be like declaring war against the Skull Guild.’
He knew what would happen if Kim Woo-jin was able to stop the Skull Guild’s plans once again. And now, Oh Se-chan could also see what kind of signal Kim Woo-jin was sending him.
‘The enemy of my enemy can be a friend.’
Oh Se-chan smiled.
“After checking Kim Woo-jin’s location, send someone there. Send a bottle of champagne.”
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