-What do you see?
He heard Yu-ra’s voice through his earpiece.
As he turned, the drone was flying over his shoulder.
“I am not sure what’s inside. It’s deep.”
-I’ll scout with a drone.
Jin-woo nodded.
Using the drone with a GPS function, they would be able to roughly check the structure of the secret passage.
He stepped aside to let the drone pass. He watched its light disappear inside the darkness.
Thirty minutes passed, then he heard Yu-ra’s embarrassed voice.
-The signal was cut.
Where the hell is this passage leading?
* * *
They paused hunting.
Because of the new variable, it was too risky.
Jin-woo, Han Yu-ra, and Han Ji-joon, the team leader of the support team, attended the meeting.
Han Ji-joon was a high-level plater, at level 307. He is currently ranked at the 101st place in the Taewang Guild.
The reason he is with the support team is entirely because of Han Yu-ra’s request.
She’s his daughter, Jin-woo thought, letting the swordsman hear him.
[Huh? Really?]
Yes…
[Ya! Han Yu-ra surely looks like her mother.]
Han Ji-joon stood 2 meters tall. Prior to being a player, he was a mixed martial artist competing in the heavyweight division.
After his retirement, gates started to occur, and he went out of retirement to be a player.
“Gang Jin-woo,” he boomed, startling Jin-woo.
“Oh, yes?”
“You’re always with my daughter nowadays. A relationship between a man and a woman, well… so long as you don’t have an accident before you get married…”
“Mr. Han?” a cold voice spoke out, cutting him silent.
It was Han Yu-ra.
A skill that instantly shuts down a level 300 player.
I want to learn that skill, Jin-woo thought.
[I agree.]
“Let’s focus on this meeting,” she said. “At this point, Jin-woo has two options… Are you listening?”
Jin-woo was startled out of his thoughts.
“Huh… Yes, of course.”
“The first option is to delegate the rights of the dungeon to the guild. In this case, the guild will clear it later. Of course, before that, we should explore the dangers of the secret passage and give information to the guild.”
Jin-woo nodded.
Dungeon rights.
In the early days, anyone could enter the dungeon. However, only a few people wanted to enter it.
Only a few people wanted to face monsters. So, the government allowed anyone who wants to get in and clear it out.
However, the situation changed when the methods of clearing dungeons became more stable.
As players appeared and got stronger, everyone tried to enter dungeons.
It turned into a competition. The competition was so fierce that it would usually end up in fights.
Fights between superhumans do not end well. It causes a lot of destruction, and result in loss of valuable talents.
Thus, the government stepped in.
The first who did it was the U.S. Government.
The United States announced that the dungeons within their territory belong to the U.S. Government, and it issued laws that require people to seek government approval before entering dungeons.
The backlash was severe, but the U.S. government was a world superpower, and it was impossible to change their mind with force.
Eventually, other governments followed suit, and everyone accepted the changes.
Currently, Jin-woo has the right to Dragon Canyon.
The guild buys the rights from the government and delegates them to players.
The player clears the dungeon and pays the guild a fee for the by-products, consignment sales, etcetera.
It was a way to earn money for both the players and the guild.
“The second option, of course, is that Jin-woo continues to attack the dungeon.”
Once he hands over the rights to the dungeon, he would not be able to hunt in there anymore.
Jin-woo will have the rights related to the products he had obtained so far, but anything else discovered moving forward will be owned by the guild.
It is very rare that a dungeon has a secret passage—a one in a hundred chance.
No one can say for sure what could be found inside secret passages.
Only precedents could be used to make predictions.
A treasure chest, a monster, or an entirely new dungeon that exceeds the current dungeon level… Jin-woo thought.
There were many precedents, so various outcomes are possible.
[Treasure chest? What’s in it?]
Gold and silver. Sometimes, they also contained high-grade items.
[High-grade?]
Rare to legendary grades, yes.
Suddenly, something came to Jin-woo’s mind.
“The Noblesse Guild found the Excalibur out of a treasure chest, right?”
Han Yu-ra nodded. “Yes.”
There are only four legendary-grade items in the world, one of which is the Excalibur.
The legendary sword, now a symbol of England, has been found in a treasure chest inside a secret passage.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Yu-ra continued, “but it’s very unlikely. So far, many treasure chests have been found, but it was only once that a legendary item appeared.”
“But the probability is not zero, right?”
“Right.”
Jin-woo felt confident.
Even if a monster or a dungeon beyond the current level comes out, he can handle it.
He made his decision.
“I’ll do it.”
* * *
They formed a team.
“I’ve never seen a dungeon with a secret passage. I’ll come. No need to give me a share of the products.” Han Ji-joon said.
A level 300 player.
Of course, Jin-woo appreciated help.
Suddenly, Kim Dae-sung, a member of the support team, also joined them.
“If the captain goes, I’ll go, too!”
His level was 288.
Finally, Han Yu-ra stepped forward. “I’ll come too.”
It was somewhat surprising.
“Are you sure?” Jin-woo asked.
“What?” Her father was also worried. “It can be dangerous. The base dungeon is already at level 200, so if we find a monster inside the secret passage, it will probably be at a 300-level.”
From the precedents, the probability of finding a monster is high. Because of this, most players delegate the rights of a secret passage to their guilds.
However, Han Yu-ra looked determined.
“I can take care of myself. Don’t worry.”
Jin-woo nodded.
“Then, let’s go.”
* * *
The passage was long.
It was understandable that the drone’s battery died, and it got disconnected.
They have been walking for three hours before they decided to take a break.
[Everyone looks nervous.]
Because secret passages are not easily found. It’s a one in one hundred chance.
If Jin-woo didn’t have the experience of being a guide, he wouldn’t have found it.
I guess my days of being a guide weren’t meaningless.
[Everything happens for a reason.]
Definitely.
When Jin-woo looked up, he saw Kim Dae-sung smiling at him.
“Do you have anything to say?” he asked.
As if waiting for his question, Kim Dae-sung’s eyes twinkled.
“Yes! In fact, I’m your number 1 fan!”
“Are you a fan?”
“Yes! The world’s first legendary skill holder! Yum! It was also cool. The Giant Snake! You’re the best!”
Is he a former rapper? He speaks so fast without breathing, Jin-woo thought.
“Haha! That was really great. A level 300 giant snake is caught by a level 60 player! Now, you’re level 270! How did you do it?”
“Ah… That is a secret.”
“Of course, it’s a secret! I understand! By the way, since you caught a giant snake of level 300 at level 60, can you catch a monster of level 500 now?”
Can I?
“I do not know. I have never thought about it…”
“By simple calculation, you should be able to do it. But so far, level 500 monsters have never been found, so how about dealing with a level 400 Elemental Dragon?”
Han Yu-ra joined their conversation.
“You can’t compare a Giant Snake to an Elemental Dragon,” she said. “A Giant Snake has a high level but low intelligence. On the other hand, you know that Elemental Dragons are very intelligent.”
Elemental Dragon.
It refers to a dragon commonly found in fantasy novels.
So far, only two have been discovered.
The first has been found in a secret passage such as this one.
At that time, the players who encountered it escaped without confrontation. When they returned, the dragon was gone.
The second encounter between humans and an Elemental Dragon was not peaceful.
That time, the players were high-leveled ones and wanted to be the first ones to capture an Elemental Dragon.
However, they were wiped out.
They were all killed in a single dragon’s fire breath.
If there had been no drones, no one would ever know what happened to them.
“I wouldn’t want to meet an Elemental Dragon,” Jin-woo was serious. It would be dangerous.
[I have a question.]
What?
[Is this what they call a ‘foreshadowing’?]
What are you talking about? Did you see that on the internet again?
Han Ji-joon suddenly stood up.
“It’s time! Let’s go.”
The group started to walk again.
* * *
After walking for another hour, Jin-woo noticed a light coming from a distance.
“It’s an exit.”
Everyone saw it, too.
“Jin-woo, what would you do?”
The right of the dungeon belonged to Jin-woo, not the guild.
In that sense, he would be the primary decision-maker.
“First, let’s send a drone to see what’s inside.”
“It’s an excellent choice,” Han Yu-ra nodded.
A drone was sent in, and they watched its footage from a tablet.
“Is it a narrow exit?”
“I don’t think so. It looks spacious.”
“There’s no way up or forward, let’s send it down.”
Kim Dae-sung manipulated the drone as Jin-woo and Yu-ra gave him directions.
“Can you point the camera down, not forward?”
The drone descended for a long time.
Finally…
The swordsman smiled.
[Foreshadowing is right.]
On the tablet’s screen was a dragon’s skeleton.