Chapter 12: Dungeon Seeking, Part Three

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I brushed off my pants and grabbed a taxi to head to Bukhan Mountain.

The driver must have heard about what was going on with the world, so how could he continue to work like this? Could he feed his family if he stopped working? I listened to his stories as we made our way to the entrance of the mountain.

I could have given him some advice, but I didn’t know if he would believe me. Besides, if people started coming out, bragging that they had become immortal devas, society would quickly crumble.

There would still be nations and societies that could hold themselves together, but sooner or later there would be others that would fall into chaos. Third world places like Africa would be the first to fall.

Korea seemed to still be standing.

To be exact, the nation of South Korea would end up collapsing. In its place, corporations took over and set up guilds all around to reestablish order.

Seoul ended up being controlled by the Sunbin Group.

Sunbin Group was the largest corporation in South Korea and controlled everything from Seoul to Incheon, including Gyeongi.

Sunbin commanded 37 first response commando teams and used them to herd field monsters to Gyeongi, creating a safe haven for humans to live in.

It was hard to keep the haven completely safe from boss monsters, but it was due to the efforts of Sunbin that normal people like me were able to continue living.

As the group grew stronger, its influence reached all the way to Daejun. During that time, I also worked for Sunbin from time to time, just enough to make a living. They treated us well enough, anyway.

Over at Busan, the YungGong Group, owner of the YungGong guild, didn’t protect non-devas and instead treated them as slaves. Compared to that, I lived like a lord.

Like that, I was lucky to find a Don Gate nearby and after three years, became a deva.

After that, I set out to hunt monsters and went with parties to hunt in dungeons. Soon, I had adapted to my new lifestyle.

“If only if I hadn’t met that ass, Lee Gangchan, everything would have been OK.”

It was like that when I met Lee Gangchan, and how I ended up with this new life now.

“Wait…shouldn’t I be thankful to him? If it weren’t for that bastard, I would never have jumped into the Sea of Reset. No, I’m still pissed! Just you wait, Lee Gangchan! I will destroy you for sure!”

Making sure Lee Gangchan was still my target for revenge; I continued walking up Bukhansan towards the peak.

—

I used this trail from time to time when I still lived at my rooftop apartment. In my past life, I used this trail often to use the dungeon.

“Still, I’m not tired at all.”

Right now, my strength, agility and vitality were all at 1220 points. They were higher than my stats when I was level 576!

Sure, I was a fire mage back then, and had invested more points into my INT and WIL, but I was now level 0 with stats higher than level 576. The fact that my physical prowess was being influenced by the higher STR, AGI, and VIT really encouraged me.

“Should I run a bit?”

I sprinted up the steep peak trail as if I were running on flat terrain.

I ran the hour and a half course in thirty minutes without breaking a sweat.

“Good. This must be why people raise their physical stats!”

The feeling I was getting from my higher physical stats was way different than the feeling I got from raising my INT and WIL as a mage.

It was fun being able to move my body easily and how I wanted it to.

“Now, let’s check out this dungeon.”

The entrance of the dungeon was located at the very peak of the mountain. I had come here to this dungeon so often that I knew exactly where the entrance was.

“Wait, what?”

Unfortunately, there was no sign of an unopened dungeon. There was no opening either, which would have indicated that someone had already found it.

“I’m sure it was here…”

I was dumbfounded that I couldn’t see the dungeon, but I was so sure that it was supposed to be here. The low-grade dungeon that was so helpful for beginners…

The Sunbin Guild made this dungeon freely available to its devas. This area around Bukhansan dungeon was always busy, filled with newbies carrying sacks of items to sell. I was sure it was here.

“Am I remembering wrong? No! I’m positive it’s here. What changed?”

Just to make sure, I searched all over the area of the peak…

—

With my stronger body, I climbed all over the trees and searched around for over two hours, to no avail.

I dropped to the ground, drained.

“I know it was here. There has to be a reason it’s not.”

I took out my notebook from my backpack.

First possibility, the dungeon hadn’t formed yet.

“It’s possible. Monsters took eight months to spawn.”

Second possibility, the dungeon’s spawn location had changed.

“Hmm…that could be possible, too.”

In the past, the Seoul’s Store manager was a giant, three meter tall fat man named Igor. But today, it was a small child named Anton.

“Hah… the first possibility isn’t too bad, but the second one means crap.”

If the dungeons were going to spawn in eight months, I still had other dungeon locations written down, and I still had the chance to be the first to find a dungeon. But if the dungeons’ spawn location had changed, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

I sighed deeply. I wasn’t so bad off that I needed the dungeon bonuses.

I had already become strong enough that I could ignore the dungeons altogether. However, I already had a spare period of eight months and I didn’t need to get all the free bonuses, making it unnecessary to find a dungeon.

I wished I had a scan skill.

If I had a scan skill, I could easily locate a dungeon entrance. But that meant discarding a skill worth 2.4 billion over a skill worth only a few thousand golden rings.

I was not going to find even a crack that indicated an unopened dungeon without completely focusing on it.

I managed to come here because I remembered the exact location, but if you don’t know an unopened dungeon’s location, you might miss it; even if it was right under your nose. Actually, most people did miss it completely.

“Fine. Nothing is set in stone. The dungeon could not have spawned yet, or its location could have changed. Or… I just couldn’t find it. There’s nothing else to do now. Let’s look carefully, one more time. It’s too much of a waste to give up now.”

I had flown through the trees and only glanced over the area, but now, I decided to dig around more carefully, as if I was looking for Waldo.

—————–

“Phew…is this my limit?”

The peak was too large to be able to properly comb through. I barely covered five percent before the sun began to set.

“Let’s turn back for now and come back. I can’t just let it go like this.”

The peak trail was dangerous to trek in the dark, but for the present me, it was nothing. It was actually easier than going up; I practically slid down the trail.

I took a taxi back towards my neighborhood. Before I went back home, I decided to treat myself to some meat and went inside a BBQ restaurant.

I had to be careful about my deva status. The changes were pretty obvious.

“Welcome.”

The numerous stores were operating like normal, and there were still plenty of customers inside.

“How many in your group?”

“Just me.”

“You’ll still have to order for two…”

“I’ll have seven orders of pork belly.”

“Excuse me? I thought you were alone.”

“Yes, it’s just me. Don’t worry about it.”

A good thing about becoming a deva was that no matter how much I ate, I didn’t need to diet. Also, as my body’s condition went up, so did my metabolism, and I could eat so much more and feel full for a long time.

“Yes. I understand.”

As I sat down and waited while the food was being prepped, I looked at the TV and noticed the news was on. It was a live press conference of the President and his Parliament members.

[The state is analyzing the situation scientifically and is discussing various directions in-depth. It is our sincere hope that this situation will be socially perceived as anxiety and misgivings, and that it will stop at its source, and that all of you will be able to lead everyday lives once more. The state will not hesitate to use its public authority to ensure that society continues to operate in an utmost stable manner. If necessary, we will do our utmost to maintain order via martial law. In addition, prices will remain at their current state and those that hoard goods will be punished. Businesses and factories will continue to produce their goods and consumers will be able to quickly purchase the goods they wish from marts and markets. The Diet will also enact legislation as soon as it is needed, if necessary, for social stability. Again, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you for your continued economic activity and everyday life.]

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