Chapter 5

Fissures or Gates—that's what people called the dungeons that started appearing in the cities a decade ago.

Upon discovering the monsters within the Fissures and the mana stones obtained by capturing them, people seeking to make a fortune scrambled to become Hunters. This marked the beginning of the era of the Great Hunters.

The interior of the F-rank Fissure that appeared in Myeongil-dong, Gangdong-gu, was simple. A vast grassland stretched out, and groups of three to five goblins, one of the F-rank monsters, roamed around in that field.

Do-Jun took out a tablet PC called SpacePad, which he had brought from the office, and launched the Fissure Management System application.

[Welcome to the Fissure Management System.]

A woman’s melodious voice echoed as the app launched.

Do-Jun clicked on the “Register New Fissure Information” tab, and after selecting the area and location, a management number was automatically assigned.

[Fissure in Myeongil-dong - 002, Gangdong-gu, Seoul has been registered.]

[Please select the rank of the Fissure. If you enter the rank of the appearing monster, the Fissure rank will be automatically assigned. If the Fissure is deemed to be ranked higher than what is assessed by the system, please select the Exception option.]

Do-Jun recalled the previous day’s incident when a temporary Fissure suddenly appeared while he was grocery shopping with Yoon-Hee. He also remembered the goblin that had emerged from it.

Yoon-Hee had said that the goblin was an F-rank monster.

Tap, tap.

He roughly entered the necessary information in the app and placed the SpacePad back into his briefcase.

The next task was to check for the presence of a boss monster and mapping, which basically entailed creating a map of the interior of the Fissure.

“Let’s get going,” Do-Jun said after taking a few pictures of the overall appearance of the Fissure. Ye-Ji nodded and followed, gripping the Skeleton Soldier’s Sword tightly.

Her only task was to protect the civil servant conducting the Fissure exploration.

Try your best... no, do your best,

she reminded herself.

An F-rank Hunter was treated almost no differently than a civilian. Being scouted by a guild was out of the question, and it was fortunate if they were even used as porters.

She knew she was lucky to even be employed as a contract Hunter at Seoul City Hall, so she didn’t want to mess up this opportunity.

There were quite a few other people besides Do-Jun and Ye-Ji inside the Fissure. Most of them were Hunters. Although it had only been a few days since the Fissure appeared in Myeongil-dong, rumors that it was an F-rank had already spread, causing the weakest Hunters in the area to flock in for the hunt.

“Status Window.”

Name: Cha Ye-Ji

Level: 4

Title: None

Strength: 6

Agility: 11

Stamina: 8

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Mana: 0

Skill: Scholar’s Swordsmanship (S)

Her stats were abysmal compared to those of the most physically fit civilian men.

Ye-Ji followed Do-Jun closely, blankly staring at the Scholar’s Swordsmanship skill on her Status Window.

She was surprised when she first Awakened, as she had joined the ranks of the select few who had Awakened directly as S-rankers in Korea.

[Skill - Scholar’s Swordsmanship]

Category: Passive

Rank: S

Effect: Allows access to Scholar’s Swordsmanship.

Stage: 1

(You cannot possess Mana until you reach Stage 3.)

She had entered the preparation academy with top-tier grades—especially in written exams. She never missed a perfect score, and no one could beat her in sparring classes.

But when she took the exam at the Hunter’s Bureau, she was rated a mere F-rank. No one acknowledged her.

With a mana level of zero, she could not show anything during the Skill Demonstration stage, and as if things weren’t bad enough already, she couldn't even receive mana injections.

“Ye-Ji,” Do-Jun called.

If I work hard, I’ll succeed someday.

Ye-Ji was immersed in her thoughts and didn’t hear the call.

“Ye-Ji.” It was an urgent call.

I don’t know how to get to Stage 2, but if I keep trying, I will be able to join a guild someday.

She clenched her sword tightly, pouring her determination into her grip.

At that moment, Do-Jun grabbed the back of Ye-Ji’s neck.

Whoosh!

A wooden club passed right in front of her eyes, and only then did she snap out of her reverie and open her eyes to the reality before her.

“Enough daydreaming. This is not a drill,” Do-Jun rebuked.

Before Ye-Ji realized it, three goblins had surrounded her and Do-Jun. She was startled at the sight. She was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t even noticed the monsters had gotten so close.

Slash!

Without hesitation, Ye-Ji’s sword cut across, slashing the goblin’s chest, and it fell on the spot.

It wasn’t a deep wound, but it hit a vital spot, making it impossible for the goblin to move.

Suddenly, another goblin swung its club at Do-Jun’s back, and Ye-Ji turned away in shock instead of meeting the attack. Her resolve from just a few seconds ago already felt pathetic.

Huh?

She looked on in surprise as Do-Jun easily dodged the goblin's attack. She was sure the club would hit him without fail.

Although it was an F-rank monster, it was still a monster and should have been difficult for an ordinary person to handle. And here Do-Jun was easily dodging such attacks.

“What are you doing? Please hurry up and finish them,” Do-Jun urged her, snapping her out of her dazed state.

“Ah, right!”

Swish, swish.

Soon, three goblin corpses lay on the ground after Ye-Ji dealt with the remaining two goblins with ease.

After finishing the monsters off, she quickly approached Do-Jun and bowed her head.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Administrator! I wasn’t paying attention...”

“Please do your job properly next time. I nearly died back there.”

“Y-yes!”

But even while apologizing, she felt a sense of doubt.

Do-Jun’s words, “nearly died,” seemed rather absurd, given how easily he dodged the goblin’s attack. Moreover, he stayed calm from start to finish without even a slight change in his complexion.

Do-Jun took a picture of the goblin corpses that Ye-Ji had slain.

The compensation for the corpses of monsters defeated by contracted Hunters and the mana stones extracted from them was settled through a third-party agency after the mission at a later time once the items were evaluated.

“Your payment will be deposited later. If you aren’t tired, shall we continue?” Do-Jun said to Ye-Ji.

***

This is weird,

Ye-Ji thought.

It had been two hours since they entered the Fissure.

While Do-Jun walked around mapping the Fissure, Ye-Ji dealt with the goblins approaching from the surroundings.

She tried not to let the goblins slip through to Do-Jun as much as possible, but considering that there were only two of them dealing with five monsters at a time, one or two were bound to end up running toward him.

But Do-Jun just kept inputting the Fissure information into his SpacePad as he easily dodged the goblins’ attacks without even looking at them. It was as if he had eyes on the back of his head.

Then, when it seemed like all the goblins around him were dealt with, he would turn his head shamelessly and say, “Please take care of these as well. It’s getting dangerous,” in a completely monotonous voice.

There was no urgency or panic in his voice.

At first, Ye-Ji thought it was just a fluke, but the more it continued, the more suspicious she became.

And an hour later...

“Thanks to you, we got through the Fissure exploration safely. It seems there's no boss monster in this Fissure,” Do-Jun thanked her.

A Fissure without a boss monster did not close, but this was not a problem as it also meant that the monsters within it wouldn’t come out into the city.

Do-Jun calculated Ye-Ji’s potential earnings based on the number of goblins she had killed today.

At fifty thousand won per goblin and seventeen goblins killed, Ye-Ji would earn eight hundred and fifty thousand won—a tidy sum for a day’s work.

Surprised by the amount, Do-Jun asked, “Wouldn’t you earn more if you worked independently than for us?”

Ye-Ji’s monthly pay through her contract was about seven million won. After taxes and paying for the expensive Hunter’s insurance, she would end up with only about three and a half million won.

“It’s not just about the money. Even as a porter, I can probably make ten million won, but I just... I just wanted to belong somewhere,” Ye-Ji confessed to Do-Jun.

“I don’t really understand, but if that’s what you want, Ye-Ji, then there’s nothing for me to say. Anyway, you did well today. The chief said earlier that you can leave after the exploration, so I think you can call it a day.”

But Ye-Ji didn’t move and instead fiddled with her fingers, looking at Do-Jun as if she had something to say.

Then, after taking a deep breath, she spoke, “Are you... hiding your powers, Mr. Administrator?”

There was a tremble in Ye-Ji’s eyes. She expected Do-Jun to be shaken, but he just shrugged and laughed.

“I will see you tomorrow.”

***

7:00 PM

Back at the office, Do-Jun was writing the official report on the Fissure exploration.

Hyuk-Soo logged into the Fissure Management System and reviewed the information Do-Jun had uploaded about the Myeongil-dong-002 Fissure. Though it was a Fissure of the lowest rank, he was genuinely amazed at what he saw.

The details that had been uploaded were as thorough as if the Fissure had been open for several months. Compiling such detailed information from a single exploration was not easy, even for himself.

“Did you really do all this in one day?” he asked the working Do-Jun.

“Is there a problem?”

“N-no, there isn’t.”

Even though he said that there surely was one problem—it was too perfect.

Do-Jun suddenly sighed deeply and looked to the side. Ye-Ji was sitting on a makeshift chair and staring at him intently.

“Why aren’t you leaving?” he asked her.

“Huh? Oh! I-I have some work!”

Ye-Ji opened a blank notebook and grabbed a pencil, but it was obvious to anyone that it was a lie. There was no need for her to do any office work.

Seeing this, Hyuk-Soo chuckled in amusement. He said, “You two seem to have gotten really close in just one day. Perhaps...”

“N-no! It’s not like that!” Ye-Ji’s face turned red as she waved her hands in denial.

She glanced furtively at Do-Jun to see his reaction, only to find him entirely focused on the computer screen as if nothing had happened.

Hyuk-Soo simply smiled at the scene unfolding before him.

“Let’s call it a day. Everyone else has already left,” he suggested.

“No, it’s alright. I’ll leave once I finish this,” Do-Jun said.

“Okay, then I’ll head out first. See you tomorrow, Do-Jun.”

After Hyuk-Soo left, only Do-Jun and Ye-Ji remained in the Fissure Exploration Unit’s office.

Ye-Ji doodled in her notebook, occasionally stealing glances at Do-Jun.

[Would you like to submit for approval?]

Do-Jun clicked the confirmation button, shut down the computer, and stood up, quickly followed by Ye-Ji.

Seeing this, Do-Jun sighed, cleaned the office, and left Seoul City Hall.

***

Do-Jun stopped in front of his house. He turned and spoke to Ye-Ji, who was hiding behind a utility pole.

“If you come out in five seconds, I won’t be mad. Five, four, three...”

Ye-Ji dashed out from behind the utility pole and stood before Do-Jun.

He pretended not to notice that their paths had coincided since leaving Seoul City Hall, thinking that maybe their houses were just coincidentally in the same direction.

But by this point, there was no room for doubt as suspicion had turned into certainty.

“Why are you following me?” he asked.

“I haven’t gotten an answer yet.”

“What answer?”

“Whether you’re hiding your powers,” Ye-Ji said.

Do-Jun clicked his tongue at her words.

As if on cue, Ye-Ji’s stomach growled loudly. She blushed and held her stomach.

“You can come in for dinner,” Do-Jun said.

“R-really? Are you sure that’s okay?”

Do-Jun nodded in response, got on the elevator, and pressed the button for the eleventh floor. As the elevator ascended, a brief silence fell, though not for too long.

Do-Jun suddenly said, “Oh, by the way, I live with my daughter. And please don’t talk about my job. She thinks I’m just a regular civil servant.”

“Your daughter...?” Ye-Ji responded in shock.

Do-Jun appeared to be in his mid-to-late twenties, and Ye-Ji naturally assumed he was unmarried.

The elevator soon reached the eleventh floor, and Do-Jun stopped in front of his apartment door and rang the doorbell.

Soon after, there was the sound of someone running, and the door swung open.

“Welcome back, Fath...”

Yoon-Hee froze in shock.