Chapter 11
Rrrrrrumble—
An ominous presence could be felt from deep inside the dungeon.
Every member of the raid party immediately tensed up.
“We’re screwed… Isn’t that the boss appearing?”
“Why is it showing up already? It’s not supposed to be time yet!”
“What the hell? Weren’t we told we weren’t going to fight the boss?”
“For a BX-rank boss, you need at least an A-rank Hunter if you want a stable fight. This is insane.”
“If this goes wrong, we could all get wiped out….”
“Let’s just retreat.”
“What do you mean retreat?! How are we supposed to back out now?!”
“Then what the hell are we supposed to do?!”
While everyone nervously gripped their weapons,
F-rank Hunter Hong Mangi casually rubbed the drinking-glass ring on his finger.
[Gulp, gulp.]
As though he had quietly drunk the Last Drink, the alcohol was absorbed into his body.
At that moment—
BOOOOM!
A gigantic shadow appeared.
The BX-rank boss—
Blood-Eyed Minotaur.
A berserker-type monster with a massive body and an enormous bloodstained axe.
Its defining trait was that the longer the battle lasted, the more excited it became, multiplying its attack power.
The raid members froze like corpses.
“Holy shit… Can we even kill that thing?”
“Th-That’s why I told you we should retreat!”
“I already told you, how the hell are we supposed to retreat?!”
The boss’s crimson eyes flashed as it stepped forward.
“D-Don’t… Don’t come any closer!”
As if it couldn’t care less about their desperate pleas, the boss kicked off the ground and charged toward them at terrifying speed.
The Hunters descended into complete chaos.
“Defensive formation!”
“Tank! What are you doing?! Get over there and block it!”
Just as everyone hurried to get into a defensive stance,
Hong Mangi leisurely walked forward and muttered,
“Ah… I’m getting drunk.”
The raid members shouted.
“Hey, F-rank! What the hell are you doing?! Do you want to die?!”
“Get back, you idiot!”
But—
Hong Mangi continued walking calmly.
Almost as though he were performing drunken boxing,
he leisurely moved forward.
And then—
[Drunken Combat (醉中戰鬪) activated.]
The moment the alcohol in his body reached the right level,
all of Hong Mangi’s physical abilities rose dramatically.
His vision suddenly became crystal clear.
The speed of the charging boss.
The trajectory of its swinging axe.
Slow.
Hong Mangi smiled.
Right in front of that smile,
the Minotaur swung its enormous axe.
[GROOOOOOOAR!]
However—
Swish.
Hong Mangi dodged it with ridiculous ease.
“Huh…?”
“What the hell? What did I just see?”
The raid members’ eyes widened.
“Hey, what the hell did that bastard just do?”
“W-What do you mean? He just… dodged it.”
“Is he really F-rank?”
But their shock was only beginning.
Whoosh!
Hong Mangi moved like lightning and slipped behind the boss.
Then—
Shhk.
He drove his Shadow Dagger straight into the Minotaur’s nape.
The Minotaur’s massive body slowly collapsed to the floor.
THUD.
“Huh?”
“Is it dead?”
“Did we win?”
The boss that had terrified everyone only moments ago had fallen in an instant.
The raid members could only blink, doubting their own eyes.
“…???”
“W-What?”
“It’s over?”
A BX-rank boss had been killed in a single strike—
by F-rank Hunter Hong Mangi.
“Is this… a dream or something…?”
“How does that even make sense?”
None of the raid members could close their mouths.
“Is something like this even possible?”
“That’s completely insane.”
Someone muttered as though possessed.
“Hey… Did we really just see that?”
“A BX-rank boss died in one hit?”
“To an F-rank? How does that make any sense?”
“Wait!”
One of them hurriedly opened his status window.
[Boss defeated!]
[The boss was killed by Hunter ‘Hong Mangi’s’ final attack.]
[Experience gained by all raid members.]
“Holy shit, it’s real!”
“He actually killed it!”
Every raid member stood there with their mouths hanging open.
“Isn’t he way stronger than us?”
“What the hell is that guy? Isn’t that ridiculously broken?”
“No, seriously, is he even actually F-rank?!”
“Is this one of those misunderstanding stories or what?”
Hong Mangi casually flicked the blood from his dagger.
Then he spoke in an indifferent voice.
“Looks like it’s over. You should all collect your rewards.”
The raid members were too shocked to even care about rewards.
Meanwhile, after defeating the boss, Hong Mangi picked up the enormous sword it had dropped.
[Blood-Eyed Greatsword (血眼大劍)]
— BX-rank boss weapon.
— Every time the sword strikes an enemy, it absorbs their blood and restores a certain amount of health.
The raid members were shocked yet again.
“Hey! A BX-rank boss weapon dropped!”
“That thing alone would sell for hundreds of millions of won!”
“Why the hell is something like that ending up in the hands of an F-rank Hunter?!”
And then—
[BX-rank Mana Stone acquired!]
The raid members’ faces twisted.
“No… fucking way… Even a BX-rank Mana Stone….”
“That F-rank bastard just earned our annual salary in one day.”
“I’m seriously jealous as hell.”
Hong Mangi looked between his Shadow Dagger and his newly acquired Blood-Eyed Greatsword before deciding to make the Blood-Eyed Greatsword his main weapon.
I’m getting tired of the Shadow Dagger anyway….
The raid members couldn’t close their mouths.
“Did he just ditch the Shadow Dagger?”
“H-He’s even cool about it?”
Even though the battle was already over, the raid members still hadn’t recovered from the shock.
Some secretly searched Hong Mangi’s name, doubting that someone like him could really exist.
Others whispered that they should contact the Hunter Association and confirm whether he was truly F-rank.
But one thing was certain.
This man was only an F-rank Hunter in name.
Hong Mangi casually stored away the BX-rank Mana Stone and muttered,
“…Once I sell this, I’ll be able to run the business a little better.”
Then he spoke.
“Then, can I head out now? I have something I need to do.”
“O-Of course! Hunter-nim!”
The Hunters practically rolled out a red carpet as they escorted Hong Mangi all the way to the dungeon entrance.
Holding the Mana Stone he had obtained from the BX-rank dungeon,
Hong Mangi headed straight for the Hunter Association’s Mana Stone Exchange Center.
What he currently held was a BX-rank Mana Stone.
A high-grade Mana Stone that normally only elite Hunters of B-rank or higher could obtain.
“I’m going to sell it anyway… I wonder how much I’ll get for it.”
Even among B-rank materials, BX-rank Mana Stones were especially unique.
And being unique meant they were worth more than ordinary materials of the same rank.
Exactly how much one was worth in cash wasn’t widely known.
Still, with that money, Hong Mangi would have more than enough to cover the ingredient costs for his street stall and continue running his business comfortably.
But there was one problem.
Hong Mangi.
He was an F-rank Hunter.
Hong Mangi entered the exchange center without caring about that fact.
“Excuse me.”
The B-rank-and-above Mana Stone Exchange Center on the third floor, which he had visited once before, still had a neat front desk and dozens of exchange counters.
Hunters ranging from A-rank to C-rank stood in line at the various counters.
That one’s empty.
When Hong Mangi stepped up to a counter for exchanging B-rank and higher Mana Stones, the employee glanced at him.
“Excuse me, sir. This counter is for B-rank and higher Mana Stones.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Aren’t you F-rank? As I said, this counter is for Mana Stones of B-rank or above—”
The employee had been speaking indifferently after seeing the F-rank patch on Hong Mangi’s clothes.
Then he saw the BX-rank Mana Stone Hong Mangi placed in front of him.
He froze.
“Uh…?”
His eyes widened.
“W-Wait a moment. Is that really…?”
Flustered, the employee called over a senior employee.
That senior employee then called the manager.
In less than thirty seconds, every employee in the exchange center was staring at Hong Mangi.
“Excuse me, sir?”
“Where did you get this Mana Stone…?”
“Did you perhaps defeat the boss of a BX-rank dungeon?”
“Did you really hunt it yourself?”
Hong Mangi answered with an indifferent expression.
“Yes. I’m here to exchange it.”
The employees looked at one another with expressions of disbelief.
An F-rank brought in a BX-rank Mana Stone?
Did he steal it from someone? Maybe he stole another Hunter’s loot.
Do you think the other Hunters are idiots? How would an F-rank even steal something like that from them?
This is crazy….
The senior appraiser is going to inspect it properly, so let’s wait. It might be fake.
If it’s fake, we’re reporting him immediately.
Whispers spread among the employees.
However—
the moment the senior appraiser examined the Mana Stone,
“It’s genuine. Definitely BX-rank. And it’s a special unique variant.”
“Ah!”
“Gasp!”
From that moment on, the atmosphere changed completely.
“Customer Hong Mangi! Please come this way!”
The employee who had treated him coldly suddenly jumped out of his seat and guided him toward the VIP consultation room.
Hong Mangi tilted his head in confusion as he followed.
What the hell is this…?
The moment he entered the VIP room, he was immediately served warm tea and given first-class treatment.
“Customer Hong Mangi! Thank you very much for doing business with us!”
“Do you exchange Mana Stones often?”
“It appears your most recent transaction was for a normal A-rank Mana Stone as well….”
“If you register as one of our VIP customers, you’ll also receive discounted transaction fees!”
The employees were being so excessively polite that Hong Mangi couldn’t help but laugh.
Back when I brought in F-rank Mana Stones, they wouldn’t even look at me.
Still, he didn’t care that much.
“Just deduct whatever taxes and fees are necessary and deposit the rest.”
“Ah! Very straightforward. Understood.”
[BX-rank Mana Stone exchange completed!]
[Amount deposited after taxes and fees: 120,000,000 won.]
Just like that, 120 million won entered his bank account.
The employee in the VIP room bowed politely.
“We hope you’ll continue using our services in the future, Customer Hong Mangi!”
Hong Mangi lightly waved his hand and left the exchange center.
The moment he came out of the exchange center,
the nearby C-rank and D-rank Hunters who had overheard everything immediately gathered around him.
“Hey, did you see that just now?”
“He really exchanged a BX-rank Mana Stone, right?”
“That F-rank Hunter… Something’s definitely strange about him.”
Soon, two Hunters approached him with friendly smiles.
One was a C-rank Hunter, while the other was D-rank.
“Hyung-nim! Hello!”
“Good to meet you!”
Hong Mangi asked with a puzzled expression,
“What is it?”
The C-rank Hunter grinned shamelessly.
“Hyung-nim, I heard you’re F-rank, but you still managed to get your hands on a BX-rank Mana Stone?”
“It’s obvious you’ve got some secret we don’t know about. Did you get some hidden skill or a special opportunity? Give us a tip.”
The D-rank Hunter quickly joined in.
“If you’re planning another dungeon run, would you consider going together with us?”
At those words,
several C-rank Hunters who had been watching from the side immediately began speaking to Hong Mangi as well.
“That’s right, Hyung-nim! If we clear a BX-rank dungeon together, we’d make a killing!”
“It looks like we could take down the boss easily too!”
“Hyung-nim, when are you going to the next dungeon?”
But Hong Mangi waved them away as though he had no interest whatsoever.
“I’m not going.”
The C-rank Hunters flinched at his firm reply.
“Huh? Why not?”
“But it’s such a good chance to make money!”
“Hyung-nim, you won’t lose anything by coming with us!”
Hong Mangi calmly replied,
“I have something I need to do.”
Then he walked past them and headed home.
The C-rank Hunters stared at his back in confusion.
“Wow, what the hell is with that guy?”
“Is that the confidence of a man who cleared a BX-rank dungeon and had 150 million won deposited into his account?”
“What does that hyung even do?”
Hong Mangi had suddenly become the owner of hundreds of millions of won in cash.
But what mattered to him wasn’t clearing more dungeons.
It was his street stall.
And cooking.
Because another new customer will probably come today too.
