Chapter 63: Loot
Chapter 63: Loot
Ji-woo smirked. The method he taught to Dong-hyun was simple and easy. But sadly, when Dong-hyun tried for the second time later, he would have a hard time doing that again.
Dong-hyun started to use his Mana Presence again. The Mana Presence he had was not very strong as he was only a low-rank hunter. So the surroundings were not get damaged at all. There were only small cracks under his feet.
This time, Ji-woo struck up a conversation because it didn’t disturb Dong-hyun’s concentration to waste the Mana.
“Ah, right. I remember that hunters can grow stronger and increase their rank when consuming Magic Crystals or Magic Stones. Why isn’t there any change at all even though you always use those items?”
Dong-hyun doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry at those words. He sometimes got confused with Ji-woo. In his eyes, Ji-woo occasionally seemed like an expert but other times like an ignorant fool as well.
There was also a time when Ji-woo looked really strong and then looked weak at the same time. It was really troublesome to guess what kind of person Ji-woo was.
To Dong-hyun, Ji-woo’s existence was like a puzzle that would never get solved.
“Hyung. You only use these things when you’re not exhausting your Mana. Also, when absorbing Mana directly from Magic Crystals or Magic Stones, you can’t stop halfway until you reach the threshold. If that happened because we couldn’t deal with the heavy burden of mind and body that felt due to the Mana surge, we would have to start all over again.
“Hyung, Magic Crystals, and Magic Stones are expensive. If you do it carelessly and fail, how much capital is needed to cover the loss?
“A Magic Crystal costs around 1-2 Million won in any other place. To improved from E-rank to D-rank, it takes hundreds of those things. So, the estimate should be about 50 Million won for the reserve fund.
“That’s if you fail only once,” said Dong-hyun with a sedate face like a teacher talking to a student.
Haha–
Ji-woo laughed lightly. He didn’t expect the hunters was poor despite being paid quite a lot. It turned out that their consumption was so high. Not to mention other artifact items and weapons for hunting in the dungeon.
“Then, you definitely don’t have much money, do you?” Ji-woo threw bait at Dong-hyun.
“Ey, Hyung! You can’t underestimate me that much! I have 25 Million won in my savings. That is quite a lot for an E-rank hunter like me.”
“Good.”
“Eh!?” Dong-hyun was bewildered by Ji-woo’s strange reaction.
“Give it to me.”
Ji-woo shamelessly asked. He doesn’t need to be polite with Dong-hyun anymore in exchange for him teaching Dong-hyun a little about Mana.
“WHAT THE…
“Ouch!”
Dong-hyun exclaimed while holding his head that had got hit by Ji-woo’s light smack.
“Don’t swear arbitrarily.”
“Hyung, please don’t exploit me!? My Red Crimson set is still being detained by the guild. And I need new armor to enter the dungeon until it returns. How could you do this to me!?”
“What nonsense are you talking about it. I will return the money in 3 days. Stop being so dramatic.”
Dong-hyun intently gawked while sulking. He acted like a kid who was angry with an adult. In reality, he didn’t dare to refuse and just wired the money to Ji-woo. He wanted to focus on his training first instead of thinking about his current savings.
A moment later, Dong-hyun began to meditate again like earlier, after his Mana got depleted. He tried to recover within 2 hours. However, this time Dong-hyun had a hard time doing it. He complained to Ji-woo. About why he still couldn’t draw Mana from the Magic Crystal despite half an hour of meditation.
“Give me the remaining Magic Crystals. I explain while putting these things down.”
Ji-woo then placed another 5 Magic Crystals on the ground, in the same way as the first. Its position encircled Dong-hyun as the center.
“You always recover Mana by resting or from these Magic Crystals. So you never feel the need to acquire Mana without the help of items or let it retrieve on its own. It is why your body is still unable and unaccustomed to this, even though you have experienced it once.
“You’ve never done this before. It’s a fresh feeling for you. That’s why you can do it in 2 hours. But, because you’ve got a little used to it, subconsciously, the focus becomes on this thing. Not on your surroundings. It also makes you impatient as a result of previous successes. And eventually, you start making a fuss when you can’t absorb even a tiny bit of Mana in just half an hour.”
Dong-hyun reflected on himself. He admitted to being impatient since it was pretty fast in the beginning. He wanted to be strong like Ji-woo, causing his head to get filled with greed.
“This is not something you can master in one go. You are not a genius. You can get through this only with a heart of steel and hard work. Don’t be quick to whine just because something isn’t going the way you hoped it would.
“This is when you have to make Mana truly a part of you. You are the one who controls Mana. Not the other way around.”
Dong-hyun nodded solemnly. This time with 6 Magic Crystals in practice. He could replenish his Mana within 5 hours. Even though it was quite a long time, it helped him become proficient at Mana mastery a little bit.
It was getting dark, and Ji-woo parted ways with Dong-hyun. He thanked Dong-hyun for the money and told Dong-hyun to train by himself until the deadline.
There was nothing Ji-woo could teach Dong-hyun as long as he hadn’t controlled the Mana in his body very well. Tomorrow, he also had to go to the Portal Gate that he bought from the broker.
The next day, Ji-woo told his mother that he was going to the city of Gongju. Elijah agreed with a bit of trepidation. She could only pray for the safety of her son.
Ji-woo then got on a bus with an inter-city route. Last night, he already transferred the money to the Broker, Jee Seok-jin.
Seok-jin, the Broker, sent the Portal Gate location after getting his money from Ji-woo. He also said he would not meet at the venue because this kind of business was better to proceed without face to face. He also warned that low-tier Portal Gates without Gatekeepers were prone to get hijacked by the hunters not affiliated with the guild. Ji-woo would get robbed if he did not quickly take care of the Portal Gate.
Actually, as a Broker, whether or not a client loses was none of Seok-jin’s concern. But since Ji-woo was an acquaintance of Mister Lee, he was kind enough to share a bit of caution.
Arriving in the city of Gongju, Ji-woo immediately activated the GPS and headed straight to the Portal Gate. The low-tier Portal Gate was small in size. Round with a radius of 2 meters. So, if it appeared in an area away from crowds or cities, it would be hard to find.
When Ji-woo arrived at the place, he was pretty surprised because the atmosphere was very peaceful. There were no people at all. He thought that there might be hunters who would try to enter the unguarded Portal Gate.
However, come to think of it, no hunters would dare to intrude. The percentage rate for closing the Portal Gate was lower if their numbers were insufficient. It made sense since independent hunters were in the minority. On top of that, there was also a Mana restriction, so high-rank hunters wouldn’t be interested in Portal Gates they couldn’t enter.
“Tier-2 Portal Gate. It should have any items that can sell, and the result should probably exceed the money I borrowed from yesterday.
“Well, let’s check it first.”
Zap, Zap–
Ji-woo entered the Portal Gate and emerged in the dungeon.
Zip, Zip–
The environment this time was a bit strange. A vast dense forest, and uniquely there was only one mountain in the middle. The hill was very arid and barren in contrast to the fresh forest below it.
Ji-woo looked around and decided not to rush it. He wanted to extort all the items available in the dungeon. He had no problem walking around and spending a few days there. As long as he can maximize his revenues, why not?
Meanwhile, outside the dungeon,
There were three D-rank hunters and four C-rank hunters standing in front of the tier-2 Portal Gate.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course, I’m sure. My friend from that guild gave information that this Portal Gate is already in the hands of a Broker. So, we won’t have any conflict with them if we go in there.”
“Good! Time to loot!”
The eyes of these seven hunters brightly shone like they were in front of a treasure.
Sometimes opportunity would cloud people’s judgment which would lead to their own demise.