Awakened as a Money-Spending Genius Enhancer - Chapter 43

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 43

Chapter 43. The World is Wide and There Are Many Lunatics

And so they arrived at the Han River.

Kang Hoon quickly boarded the boat heading to the Gate.

The cruise ship was already bustling with crowds.

Each one dressed with strong individuality.

It seemed like all the Hunters living in Seoul had gathered.

The problem was that those numerous Hunters had already started fighting.

“Hey. There’s a 100-person entry limit!”

“So low-grade trash should go to the back. If you fail quickly, we all lose out. Don’t you have any community spirit!?”

They hadn’t even arrived at the dungeon yet.

Kang Hoon was bewildered by the sight of them arguing among themselves.

Leaning against the railing and listening casually, the problem was the personnel limit.

The maximum number of Hunters who could enter this Defense Dungeon was 100.

‘100 people? Can’t everyone on this boat enter?’

Just as Kang Hoon was thinking that,

“100 people? Can’t everyone on this boat enter?”

There was another Hunter who voiced the same thought.

“Stupid talk!”

Criticism immediately flew at him.

“Listen carefully! The sneaky bastards on the boat that left first already entered!”

“It seems like there are only about ten spots left.”

“Whaaaat?!”

Then what do we do!?

Can’t we tell the Hunters who entered to come out?!

It was chaos like a marketplace with everyone murmuring among themselves.

‘Indeed, this is the center of Seoul.’

Kang Hoon was simply amazed.

It was a Gate that opened by surprise, yet 90 people had already entered.

Moreover, the Hunters gathered on the second boat exceeded a hundred as well.

‘I needed a test anyway, so it was fortunate I called Seri. I almost couldn’t get in, right?’

Grateful to Seri who quickly informed him of the dungeon news.

Kang Hoon just waited to arrive at the Gate.

Anyway, since the previous Hunters also quickly went in and entered.

‘It’s first-come-first-served without rules, right?’

He thought it would be enough to just jump in as soon as they arrived.

Before long, the boat came to a stop.

The Gate entrance was pierced open like the navel of the Han River.

Looking down from close up, light was shooting up from a deep hole in the center of the river water.

It meant it was currently in an enterable state!

Step by step.

Kang Hoon approached the edge of the railing.

Just as he was about to dive straight into the Gate entrance.

Thud!

“Hey! What are you supposed to be?”

A Hunter dressed in red armor blocked his way like a gatekeeper.

From the sword at his waist, he seemed to be a swordsman.

A red swordsman.

‘What is this. It’s not even gochujang cosplay.’

While Kang Hoon was observing his conspicuous appearance.

He too, while grabbing Kang Hoon’s shoulder.

Swept his entire body up and down with his eyes.

An incredibly rude attitude with a spiteful expression.

Soon, mockery appeared on that expression.

‘He looks like a complete beginner?’

Though the name ‘Enhancement Specialist Park Kang-hoon’ was known throughout the world, his face was not.

This was thanks to Cheong Jeong-kwon who had figured out Kang Hoon’s personality early on.

He had thoroughly blocked photo and video exposure.

He even rejected all opportunities to promote the Pure Guild and make money.

Thanks to this, Kang Hoon was free even at the convenience store in front of his house.

In appearance, he was no different from a civilian.

Moreover.

…He had been doing nothing but enhancement for three straight days.

His hair was matted and the back of his head was a bird’s nest.

The clothes he hastily threw on while rushing out were clearly low-grade.

In a way, it was natural.

Since Kang Hoon had no need to purchase expensive equipment with his own money.

‘He has no weapons in either hand.’

However, behind his back, there was a spirit dog with the build of a wolf but the face of a dog.

On the other hand.

The red swordsman, with all his equipment fully set.

He became triumphant and pushed Kang Hoon’s shoulder back with his finger.

“Hmph. A summoner? You look like small fry. You know this dungeon has a personnel limit, right? Low-grade Hunters won’t last long even if they enter. Why don’t you yield some experience points to other high-grade Hunters?”

A sudden provocation.

Kang Hoon readily responded.

“That’s right. Between you and me, whichever one has the lower grade should go home.”

“Ha!”

Good, he took the bait!

With that thought, the swordsman quickly pulled out his license and waved it while saying.

“Why don’t you scram home now, summoner? I’m A-grade, you see.”

With an indifferent face, Kang Hoon rummaged through his pocket.

And held out his license in front of the swordsman’s eyes.

“Here. Now go home.”

S-rank.

The clear alphabet filled the swordsman’s entire field of vision.

“Wh… What!?”

The flustered swordsman jumped in place.

“That can’t be! There shouldn’t be any S-rank summoners? No, this is a level 10 or below dungeon in the first place, so why is an S-rank here!”

At the swordsman’s outcry, the surrounding people also began to murmur.

An S-rank Hunter at level 10 or below meant he had recently awakened.

There was one piece of news that simultaneously came to everyone’s mind.

“Then that person is that ‘Enhancement Specialist’?!”

“Where, where!?”

Not only did dismay appear on the swordsman’s face.

The Hunters who had been watching rushed out through the crowd.

A new S-rank Hunter, the world’s only Enhancement Specialist!

Doesn’t it evolve anything into magic items?

Building a friendship would surely be helpful.

However, in that brief moment, Kang Hoon was already gone.

He had swiftly dived through the Gate entrance.

“E-Enhancement Specialist, please wait…!”

The swordsman tried to chase after him, albeit belatedly.

Countless Hunters blocked his shoulders.

“Hey. Didn’t you just lose the bet?”

“Get lost and go home!”

And so.

While a new fight broke out on the deck.

Kang Hoon, who had dived with his faithful Spirit Dog Lucky, was already inside the Dungeon.

* * *

He had jumped into the Han River.

But what touched his feet was ground.

The moment he passed through the cluster of light, he stood tall in the center of the Dungeon.

‘Ji-seong and Seri were quite decent. They’re the same A-rank, but their attitudes are worlds apart!’

With such thoughts, he entered the ‘Defense Dungeon’.

Since this was his first time entering an event dungeon.

He quickly surveyed the surrounding environment.

Murmur murmur, chatter chatter.

The area was bustling with Hunters who had arrived earlier, clustered together in groups.

They gathered in small groups, showing off weapons or shaking hands.

It looked like they were promising to watch each other’s backs and form teams.

There was only one building inside the dungeon.

It was a tall tower.

‘Is it about 10 stories high?’

Using his palm as a shade, Kang Hoon looked up at the top of the tower.

At the pointed top of the tower, a round orb-shaped ‘light’ was sparkling.

“It looks just like ‘Sauron’s Eye’.”

Kang Hoon immediately thought of 【Lord of the Rings】.

While the villain’s tower ‘Sauron’s Eye’ that appeared in that movie was red.

The orb before his eyes was blue.

Kang Hoon’s otaku instincts kicked in as he looked up at that light with curiosity.

“Usually in maps like this, blue means it’s on our side. Or something we need to protect.”

Sure enough,

The message in the Status Window he briefly opened.

【 Blue Orb : The core of the Defense Dungeon. When the tower is destroyed and the Blue Orb collapses, the dungeon will end. 】

As expected.

That tower and orb seemed to be what they needed to ‘defend’.

The rest of the surroundings were completely enclosed by something resembling castle walls.

Since all sides were blocked off, the outside beyond them wasn’t visible.

Was it about 5 meters high?

The reason he called this quite high and quite wide structure ‘something resembling castle walls’ was none other than.

“It looks really shabby.”

Because it was made of wood.

“Rather than castle walls… it looks like a wooden palisade.”

A wooden palisade made by weaving timber and fixing it with stakes.

The wooden palisade, which you’d only see in historical dramas with ancient settings, looked ridiculously weak to ‘defend’ the tower.

It looked like it would come crashing down if monsters hit it a few times.

“Well, it’s a ‘Defense’ dungeon because it’s hard to block, right?”

After spinning around once in place to survey the area.

“Hmm.”

The inside of the wooden palisade was about the size of a sports field.

It was a dungeon with a very clear circular field area and purpose.

While Kang Hoon was observing the surrounding objects.

Other Hunters were observing people.

Protecting the Blue Orb was important, but.

Preserving one’s life was naturally important too.

Due to the nature of event dungeons, there was no actual risk of death.

However, the moment you took damage severe enough to reach ‘death’.

You’d be immediately ejected from the dungeon!

In other words.

While defeating monsters rushing toward the tower,

You had to survive as long as possible.

For that, who you joined hands with would also be very important.

Everyone was busy looking around, searching for strong individuals who would help them preserve their lives.

【 The Defense Event will begin soon! Current participants ( 96 / 100 ) 】

Flash!

Every time a new Hunter appeared with a flash of light.

All eyes focused on them at once.

While there was no particular interest in the ordinary-looking Kang Hoon.

When a Hunter equipped with flashy gear and carrying a great sword appeared, several people rushed over.

“Excuse me! Please team up with me!”

“No, team up with us! We have a tank and healer. You’re a warrior, right? Tank-DPS-Healer is the truth!”

But no Hunter approached Kang Hoon to talk.

There had been a slight commotion just before entering the Gate, but that was all.

There were already over 90 people who had entered before Kang Hoon.

These people had no way of knowing Kang Hoon’s rank, who had entered additionally.

They could only judge by appearance.

‘Just a newbie without even a weapon.’

‘Looks the weakest.’

‘That guy will die first.’

B-rank and C-rank Hunters who failed to recognize the S-rank Enhancement Specialist before their eyes.

They set Kang Hoon aside first and looked around for A-ranks.

Several Hunters who had already been recognized for their combat power had set up camp.

Everyone seemed to be paying attention to that side.

Among them was also a peculiar person.

Like Kang Hoon, he was a Hunter standing alone and isolated, but suspiciously, he was an extremely talkative young man.

Even though no one was near him, wasn’t he chattering away non-stop?

“Greetings! Brothers! I’m Harullara, giving my fucking respects in this Defense Dungeon! Uhahahat! Level 10 and below event dungeon! How fucking sweet is this! I’m gonna suck it dry! Slurp slurp!!”

“?”

After observing for just a moment, Kang Hoon figured out their identity.

A somehow familiar attitude,

familiar energy,

familiar commentary.

It was definitely a streamer broadcasting live!

‘Wow. There really are Hunters who broadcast from dungeons?’

Kang Hoon found it fascinating.

Also called by derogatory names like ‘moths to flame’ and ‘dungeon flies’ – these are ‘Hunter streamers’.

Also known as ‘Huntreamers’.

As you can tell from the derogatory names, ‘Huntreamers’ don’t receive very good reviews.

Turning on broadcasts in dungeons where life and death hang in the balance.

The general opinion among Hunters is that they’re not in their right minds.

Whenever this comes up, ‘Huntreamers’ say this:

‘What’s wrong with using a skill that exists for broadcasting?’

That’s right.

The ‘Streaming’ skill is one of the common skills given to Hunters.

When using this skill.

It becomes possible to transmit streaming data from inside dungeons where radio waves don’t work to external internet networks!

The selection window for the ‘Streaming’ skill.

Using ‘1st person view’ and ‘3rd person view’ eliminates the need for cameras.

Turning on ‘1st person view’ broadcasts the Hunter’s own field of vision as is.

Turning on ‘3rd person view’ enables broadcasting from an angle looking down at the Hunter from the Status Window’s perspective.

Most Hunters rarely have occasion to use this skill.

If they do use it, it’s during emergencies.

Sometimes it’s used to send SOS signals to their affiliated guild in urgent situations.

Sometimes it’s used to leave final words in last moments.

Since being a Hunter is a profession with high mortality rates.

The ‘Streaming’ skill was a ‘signal flare’ only occasionally used in desperate moments.

That was the case until professional ‘Huntreamers’ appeared.

…The world is wide and there are many lunatics.

One of those lunatics, unfortunately.

Had ended up entering the same dungeon as Kang Hoon.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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