There was no one nearby.
He was alone in the middle of the forest.
For peace of mind, safety, and any unforeseen complications, he decided to choose the most isolated place possible, not knowing what awaited him.
It was 5:44 PM. At this time, no one would be hiking. Just in case, he chose a place far from tourist trails.
He dressed in comfortable tracksuits that did not restrict his movements in any way but were not loose enough to bother him in any way.
It's time to start.
Changing jobs sounds interesting.
He was very curious about what monsters would be waiting for him there.
Finally, this "game" seemed to be starting for real.
It was just that something in the back of his mind and in his heart told him that this would be a stepping stone towards becoming an S-rank hunter.
This will be a breakthrough.
After accepting the mission, a strange black-purple energy engulfed him. It wasn't a portal, but Jin-Woo felt that the power seeping under his skin worked on similar principles to gates.
He was going to be transferred somewhere, as he expected.
He felt excitement and fear mixing together, fueling the thoughts swirling in his head.
Is he strong enough? Isn't it too early for this task?
Isn't he taking a stupid risk?
A while ago, when he was looking for the right place to start the quest, Jin-Woo used his phone to browse various video game wikis.
There was one thing common to various video games: advancing a character's "job/profession" or "class" almost always had a lot to do with benefits and rewards.
Of course, not everything he found was positive. Here and there were posts on various forums complaining:
[I'm worried I chose the wrong class.]
[F**k, if I knew, I would have chosen a different class.]
[I messed up my whole character. I think I'm done with this game.]
[Do I have to delete my character?]
[If I knew this class was so useless, I would never have chosen it.]
[This class completely ruined my joy of the game.]
Well, but these comments are still related to games.
In games, people often experimented, took risks, and played with possibilities. Not always sensibly and to their benefit. Nevertheless, they did it.
Jin-Woo wasn't worried about what job he would choose. Until now, he had only used a dagger, and even his skills were related to the assassin class.
Speed, Camouflage, Advanced Dagger Mastery, Critical Attack.
Additionally, his attributes largely focused on strength and agility. Because of this, Jinwoo couldn't think of getting a class other than Assassin.
He didn't have much mana or health points. A tank or a mage was out of the question.
He could still do well as a warrior. But that wouldn't fully utilize his potential.
So, the assassin was his only and most reasonable choice.
Still thinking about this, Jin-Woo summoned Rasaka's Poison Fang from his inventory.
The dagger fit perfectly in his hand. As always, anyway.
It was a quite banal observation. But he meant that he felt best with close-range weapons.
Anyway, he had a comparison.
He didn't feel so confident fighting with Mr. Kim's sword.
A short weapon(dagger) gave him more opportunities for evasions and varied surprise attacks.
The only drawback was that it was sometimes difficult to block the opponent's blows. A short blade was not suitable for this purpose.
But something for something.
When the energy enveloped him completely, he felt like he was being transported somewhere with its help.
He was worried that if he was transferred in this way, he would not be able to escape. But probably with his luck during such a quest, it wouldn't have been possible at all, even through a regular gate.
He always had the return stone.
[ YOU HAVE ENTERED THE DUNGEON ]
When he stood on solid ground, clenching the dagger in his hand, expecting an attack from the very entrance, the first thing that hit him was the deafening, omnipresent silence.
The place looked like... the inside of some castle.
An unexpected message appeared before his eyes.
[ NOTICE! ]
[ YOU CAN NOT LEAVE THE DUNGEON UNTIL YOU CLEAR IT ]
That was easy to predict.
Only the second message that appeared chilled his blood and increased his level of nervousness.
[ NOTICE! ]
[ YOU DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO POTIONS AND THE SHOP IN THIS AREA. AFTER REACHING THE NEXT LEVEL, YOU DON'T RECOVER STATS AND FATIGUE ]
Jin-Woo put down the dagger after making sure there were no magical beasts nearby.
Oh boy. He didn't expect this for a moment and didn't consider this possibility.
However, it made some sense when he thought about it more.
Since it was a special dungeon for changing a job, or rather acquiring one, there seemed to be a few conditions. What was particularly disturbing was the fact that he couldn't heal himself with potions or levels. And he has been using the latter quite often lately.
This meant that over time even minor injuries could become a problem when they accumulated.
An injury would mean the end here. Without the possibility of recovery, he would have to watch his every move.
He would really have to make an effort here and not lose vigilance.
He looked around, but didn't see any gates or even regular doors. Nothing like that.
He still had to understand the difficulty of the dungeon.
He tried to relate this place to his current level.
The task appeared when he reached level 40, the one he had now.
What rank could he be now?
Some time ago he defeated a B-rank assassin. And he was quite strong.
So he must have already been A-ranked, he thought.
So, it's possible that this dungeon had that rank.
He didn't think this place had an S-rank.
He sincerely hoped not.
Then his situation, well...
The probability of his death would dramatically increase.
Additionally, he couldn't regain health here.
And, of course, there was no way out.
This time the risk was very high. Even the bravest hunters would hesitate when faced with such a place.
High risk meant high rewards.
He learned so much from his experiences. If all these conditions made the quest difficult, perhaps there was an equally great reward waiting at the end.
Well, there was only one way to find out.
Jin-Woo started walking down the straight, quiet corridor. He couldn't see its end, and yet he couldn't see or sense any magical beasts.
There was one difference in this place compared to the normal dungeon. The walls were decorated with torches, evenly spaced, so the corridor was slightly illuminated.
Although it could not be called bright.
Torches were not an effective source of light. Even if there were a lot of them, it was not enough to completely illuminate the dark corridor. Therefore, the flickering light created many shadows here and there. The combination of shadows and silence created a very gloomy atmosphere compared to the normal dungeon.
He didn't have any vision problems, so the darkness wasn't really a big deal.
What bothered him was the influence it had on the mood of the entire place.
Jin-Woo walked over and grabbed the nearest torch from the wall. The path forward became slightly brighter.
Jin-Woo smiled with satisfaction. He glanced behind him, then moved forward again with the torch in his hand.
After some time, he finally came across a turn. Around the corner, he sensed a few presences.
Finally.
Silence combined with the lack of enemies and those omnipresent shadows flickering in time with the torch fire made goosebumps appear on his skin.
He had probably never felt so unsafe in any dungeon since he woke up after what happened in the temple.
He dropped the torch to the ground.
In the place of the torch now lay the dagger. For a moment, he considered using "Camouflage" to gain an advantage, but he decided to save mana. He had a feeling that the lack of potions would be a significant drawback here.
If he spends his mana carelessly, he may not be able to use the skill at a crucial moment.
Jin-Woo pressed his back against the wall, then waited for the enemies to come around the corner.
As they approached him, a metallic sound rang out. The sound was getting closer.
Listening to the metallic noise, Jin-Woo tried to identify it.
Could their weapons be connected with a chain?
He held the dagger in a reverse grip and held his breath. He didn't want his breathing to be heard.
Finally, their shadows began to appear around the corner.
Being sure that the monsters were close, Jin-Woo tried to strike at the neck.
The sound of metal hitting metal echoed loudly around him. His dagger did not penetrate the target.
Armor?
Jin-Woo was surprised. Confirming the identity of the enemy, he quickly retreated.
Human?
It was a knight equipped with a full set of armor. Even his face was covered by a helmet.
The knight reacted to the failed attack by charging at Jin-Woo.
The Knight vigorously used his arms to try and catch him, but the Hunter easily twisted his body to avoid the attack. The knight couldn't stop his momentum and ran too far before stopping.
Not entirely human.
After expanding his sense a bit, Jin-Woo was sure. The knight's heart was not beating. It was a magical beast, or rather a monster, that he had never seen before. To think there would be a monster covered from head to toe in armor.
But on the other hand...
It was almost like he was fighting another human.
The knight turned and drew his sword. As Jin-Woo thought, he had no intention of letting him go. Confirming their mutual hostility, Jin-Woo's eyes became sharper.
Before the knight could reach him, Jin-Woo ran up and slashed sharply with his dagger, observing the opponent's reaction and the damage he would be able to inflict on him.
The hunter easily dodged the attacks, which were surprisingly slow.
However, he was unable to cause any harm this way.
The armor was simply too thick.
Not only that, it could almost be described as slippery. His dagger slipped helplessly and was deflected every time it struck the armor. The knight swung his sword in a horizontal line.
Jinwoo lowered his head to dodge. The sword blade passed just a few centimeters above his head. Since his attack was powerful, the hole in the wall created after missing was equally huge. Jin-Woo didn't miss the opportunity. Still, in close combat range, Jin-Woo focused all his strength and stabbed at the armor.
The dagger pierced the armor.
Did it work?
However, as if he had not dealt any damage, the knight ignored the dagger protruding from his side and lowered his sword in a vertical line.
Jin-Woo jumped back in surprise.
Sparks flew from the ground where the sword struck.
The hunter straightened up after taking a few steps back. Rasaka's Poison Fang was still stuck to the knight's side.
The opposite was not very strong.
Because of his armor, the knight was slow. Not only that, his attack pattern was quite simple.
The main obstacle was the high defense he had.
Jin-Woo rolled up his sleeves.
If it was hard armor that the blade couldn't penetrate, then he had to use his bare hands.
He stayed calm. He remembered the snake's hard scales and the way he killed it.
Rasaka was probably stronger than that bastard anyway.
Thinking about the first boss he ever beat, Jin-Woo smiled nostalgically.
The knight, confident in his defense, attacked again.
Additionally, as it turns out, the armor is not very smart.
Jin-Woo easily dodged the attack by maneuvering behind his back and wrapping his hands around his head. Gritting his teeth, Jin-Woo tensed his muscles.
With a sickening sound, the helmet was crushed. After losing his head, the knight fell to his knees and then completely fell to the ground.
[ NOTICE! ]
[ YOU HAVE DEFEATED THE KNIGHT ]
Ignoring the system window, Jin-Woo focused on the body at his feet.
There was no head in the helmet he was holding. He also looked inside the lying armor, but found that it was also empty inside.
He fought with... animated armor?
As he came to this conclusion, two more knights appeared around the corner. It looked like that they finally realized there was a fight going on.
Discovering Jin-Woo, both knights drew their swords simultaneously.
The Hunter discarded the helmet and stretched out his neck and arms. He now knew how to defeat them.
Jin-Woo smiled at the approaching knights.
[ NOTICE! ]
[ YOU HAVE DEFEATED THE KNIGHT! ]
[ YOU HAVE DEFEATED THE KNIGHT! ]
As the next ones lay lifeless on the ground, Jin-Woo collected rewards from their bodies.
[ ITEM: LEATHER POUCH ]
[ TYPE: CONTAINER ]
[ A POUCH DESIGNED FOR STORING MONEY. ]
[ ITEM: KNIGHT'S BREASTPLATE ]
[ ITEM CLASS: B ]
[ TYPE: ARMOR ]
[ 7% PHYSICAL DAMAGE REDUCTION ]
(DECREASES MOVEMENT SPEED IF YOUR STRENGTH IS BELOW 80 POINTS)
The money wasn't bad. But first, he became interested in the breastplate.
Another damage reduction was a very nice gift. Even if only by 7%.
Additionally, the armor allowed you to choose whether it was visible or not.
If anyone saw him wearing something like that, he would be a laughing stock.
And even when the armor was visible, it resembled a semi-transparent hologram adapted to the body rather than a real breastplate.
Jin-Woo chose it to be invisible, also enjoying the fact that he had enough strength points so that his movement speed wouldn't be reduced.
And it didn't restrict his movements, just like in the case of the Guardian's Necklace, it couldn't be felt that he was wearing anything at all.
Especially such a heavy piece of metal.
Then he took the bag and opened it, wondering how much gold he would find in it.
[ ITEM: LEATHER POUCH, HAS BEEN OPENED ]
[ YOU RECEIVED 30,000 GOLD COINS ]
Quite a sum.
Curious, he looked at his gold status.
[ TOTAL GOLD: 863,400 ]
As he looked at his budget, he felt a presence approaching him.
Reacting instinctively, he thrust his dagger into the air where he sensed a presence.
As it turned out, at the last moment he managed to defeat another enemy.
Another armor, one with the fucking "Camouflage" skill.
Were there even such bastards here?!
Then he had to dodge the attack again at the last moment.
A fireball shot in his direction.
The two attacks instantly triggered memories in his mind.
First, "Camouflage" as used by Kang Tae-Shik, and then a fire attack, the same as the mage from Hwang Dong- Suk's team, Guy-Hwan, used.
What the hell was going on here?
It was as if he was repeating the last fights...
Although, this place was created especially for him, so was it really strange that the system used the skills of his former opponents?
It's obviously going to be harder than he initially thought.
There were different types of monsters here, so he had to use a different strategy for each type.
Strength for knights, senses for assassins, dexterity for mages, and vitality for archers.
If his strength decreases, he will not be able to defeat the knights. If his senses weaken, he will not be able to avoid the assassins' attacks.
And all of his stats will eventually fade away as his fatigue increases dangerously high.
[ FATIGUE: 66 ]
He needed a moment to catch his breath and reduce fatigue, at least half of it.
Fighting his way through various enemies, he finally managed to find a quieter part of the corridor and leaned against the wall, panting.
However, his peace did not last long, because after a dozen or so seconds, from the depths of the corridor, subsequent armored men started shooting arrows at him from their bows.
***
So far, it had been challenging, but he managed to avoid any injuries or serious wounds. The only issue was constant fatigue, which he could reduce every dozen points or so and then had to face the incoming enemies again.
The consolation was the fact that he managed to gain some levels and get more armor pieces. Very incompatible, but still.
[ GUARDIAN'S NECKLACE (A) ]
[ KNIGHT'S BREASTPLATE (B) ]
[ KNIGHT'S GAUNTLET (B) ]
[ ARCHER'S GLOVE (C) ]
[ MAGE'S RING (B) ]
[ ASSASSIN'S BOOTS (B) ]
Finally, he stood in front of the door leading to the boss's room.
The door was large, black with gold accents.
The interior was completely shrouded in darkness.
Even with Jin-Woo's eyesight, greatly enhanced by his Perception Stat, he had a hard time
seeing an inch in front of him.
All he could see clearly was the ground beneath his feet.
The floor is tiled with stone tiles.
Gray tiles, laid without visible gaps, gave a feeling of heaviness and barren coldness.
As soon as he set foot on that floor...
Countless torches placed on the walls lit up simultaneously and illuminated the interior.
Jin-Woo remained alert. He scanned his surroundings and carefully took a step forward.
On his left and right rose several gigantic stone pillars; at the far end of this "room," he could see a high throne.
This place reminded him of the king's audience hall from fantasy movies. Of course, the scale of the room was noticeably larger.
After he took a few more steps into the room, the door made a loud bang and closed behind him.
Jin-Woo looked back, but didn't panic. He had already expected something like this to happen. Jin-Woo resumed his cautious march forward.
He felt a powerful presence, but he couldn't see anyone yet.
He had a really strong feeling that to complete his task, he had to stand before this throne.
During his march, a tall, slender figure emerged from behind one of the columns, blocking his path, as if not wanting him to approach the throne.
"That thing" stopped and turned its face toward him.
Jin-Woo clenched his teeth, observing the opponent.
It only took one look at the creature's red name floating just above his head to know that the boss had finally entered.
[ KNIGHT COMMANDER - IGRIS THE RED ]