Dungeon Predator (WN)

Akite raised its head, blue fire igniting in its eyes.

"Light."

Bright light illuminated the world.

"Mm!" Man Bok, who'd seen Akite for the first time, widened his eyes. On the other hand, Burkan tightly gripped his gladius, preparing himself for the worst.

"I'm back!" Kang Oh said.

"I've been waiting for you. Do you have the money?"

"That's right." Kang Oh stared at Burkan and Man Bok. 'Please give me the money now!'

"Before that, I have a question for you, Dragon," Burkan said.

"What is it?"

"You're the soul dungeon's guardian, right?"

"That's right. I manage the Saul Graveyard."

"The dungeon's rewards are dragon materials, right?"

"Indeed."

"Understood."

He'd confirmed Kang Oh's collateral. After all, 600,000 gold was no small sum.

"We're good now, right?" Kang Oh extended his hand.

"Yeah." Burkan passed him a golden scroll.

A gold scroll was magic paper that contained a designated amount of gold. Ripping this paper would release the gold that was stored within. Thus, gold scrolls were used when dealing with large sums of money.

Kang Oh opened the gold scroll and examined the sum. 600,000 gold. Nothing wrong here!

"I have it right here." Man Bok pulled out a gold scroll without him asking. It did indeed contain 300,000 gold.

Then, Kang Oh took out a 100,000 gold scroll from his inventory.

In total, 1 million gold!

"H-Here." Kang Oh's voice trembled as he passed Akite the three gold scrolls.

Swish.

The three scrolls floated into the air and flew to Akite.

"It's definitely 1 million gold."

Then, a triangular object flew towards him. There was a dragon's skull engraved on the surface.

'A soul stone!' Kang Oh extended his hand and grabbed the stone.

Bam! The soul stone radiated intense light, as if a flash bang had gone off.

[You have become the master of the soul dungeon, Saul Graveyard.]

[You may now exercise your right as dungeon master.]

[You may change the dungeon's name whenever you wish. However, you can only change it once.]

"Master, what is your name?" Akite's jaw moved.

"Kang Oh."

"Kang Oh. I won't forget that name."

"I'm in your care."

"Me too."

"Congratulations, Mr. Kang Oh."

"Congrats."

Man Bok and Burkan said.

"Thank you." Kang Oh caught his breath. "Hoo. I'm going to look at the dungeon's rewards now. Dungeon Management!"

A rectangular system window popped up.

[Dungeon Management - Saul Graveyard]

Saul Graveyard is the Goddess's Land's first graveyard. Once the Bone Dragon, Akite, began living here, undead monsters began to appear.

It also serves as the secret storehouse where Geskal hid his fortune. (Addendum)

Kang Oh selected the 'Dungeon Reward' tab with his finger.

[Dungeon Reward (Monthly Payment)]

20 Dragon Scales.

10 Dragon Bones.

10 Dragonskin.

5 Dragon Claws.

2 Dragon Blood.

1 Piece of a Dragon's Heart.

"Mm."

It offered more dragon materials than he'd expected. In exchange, it didn't give him any gold.

"How are the rewards?"

"They're better than I expected." Kang Oh then explained exactly how much of each material the dungeon would give him.

"You should be able to craft dragon equipment with that much," Man Bok said.

"I'll receive the rewards in a month, so that's when our work will begin in earnest."

"It'll go well," Man Bok said calmly.

"It has to. Isn't that right, Little Brother?" It was no different from a threat. Burkan was basically saying, 'If it doesn't go well, then prepare yourself.'.

"O-Of course!"

"Ah, that's right. Master, there's something I have to tell you," Akite said.

"What is it?"

"If someone offers me more money than you, then I'll give them the soul stone."

"What?"

'What the hell!?'

"Don't worry. If they don't have any money, then I'll show them no mercy." Akite roared.

"No, that's not the issue here. You'll give the soul stone to just anyone so long as they give you more than 1 million gold?"

"That's right!" Akite said firmly.

"Who the hell does that!?"

"Me."

Kang Oh's face crinkled. 'You money-grubbing dragon!'

"If that happens, will ownership be automatically transferred?" Man Bok asked. His face had gone completely stiff. 'That can't happen.'

"No. If an intruder gets their hands on the soul stone, then the dungeon master or their stand-in will fight in a one-on-one fight. Whoever wins the fight will gain ownership of the soul stone."

"I see." Man Bok nodded his head.

Kang Oh stared at Burkan. "I have some work for you, Brother."

"No thanks." Burkan shook his head. "You want me to become your proxy, right?" He read Kang Oh like a book.

"Exactly."

"I told you, you have to wipe your own ass..."

"If someone steals the soul dungeon, then you lose your collateral. So this is your problem too."

Fortunately, only Kang Oh and his companions had come to the Goddess's Land. However, he couldn't afford to lower his guard; after all, NPCs could own soul dungeons too.

"Hmm."

"I just want you to be my proxy until I'm sufficiently strong enough."

Kang Oh was confident in his strength. He wouldn't lose to another player. But what if he fought a Master like Valan or Burkan? That would be a completely different story. He couldn't beat a Master yet.

"Please!" Kang Oh bowed deeply.

"I got it." Ultimately, Burkan accepted his request.

"Thank you."

"What a relief." Man Bok could relax now. After all, their last bastion was the Invincible Gladiator, Burkan.

"Akite, this man will be my proxy for the sacred duel." Kang Oh respectfully pointed at Burkan.

"Understood."

The soul stone expelled an orb of light, which spun around Burkan, and then returned to the soul stone.

"He's been registered as your proxy."

"Thanks. Ah, and please activate the magic circle."

"No problem."

A dim purple magic circle appeared in the corner.

"Keep this safe too." Kang Oh shook the soul stone.

"Got it."

The soul stone floated into the air and then flew to Akite. Akite opened its jaw, devouring it, and the soul stone completely vanished.

"Are we done now?"

With this, Kang Oh had acquired his third soul dungeon.

It wasn't all good news though. After all, he had to pay Burkan 800,000 gold back.

* * *

A man opened the door and entered the cafe. He looked like he was in his mid-thirties; he was good-looking and had great style too. However, he looked tired, evidenced by the dark bags underneath his eyes.

"Over here." Jae Woo, who'd been waiting for him, waved his hand.

"Mr. Jae Woo! It's been a while." Park Jin Cheol smiled. He was one of GBS's producers.

"Yes, it has."

The two greeted each other and then ordered some refreshments.

"Why did you ask to see me? I don't recall you sending me any clips..." Jin Cheol asked.

"I didn't call you to sell footage. I wanted to talk to you about First Kill," Jae Woo said.

Jin Cheol had asked Jae Woo to star in First Kill. It was a program that focused on defeating monsters that were considered 'unbeatable'.

When Jin Cheol had first given him the offer, Kang Oh had been so busy exploring Despia that he'd refused.

However, the situation had changed. Eder had regained his body, and he'd made a lot of progress on the exploring front, so he couldn't afford to let go of an opportunity to make so much money.

Moreover, he had a ton of debt, so he needed to make money whenever he could!

"First Kill?"

"Yes."

"Mm." Jin Cheol looked troubled.

"What's the matter?"

"We got someone else to do it because you weren't available. Plus, the concept of the program was changed a bit."

"Tch. Is that so?" Jae Woo disappointedly clicked his tongue. "Understood. Then I guess it can't be helped."

"I have a new offer if you're interested."

"A new offer?"

"Yes. Please take this." Jin Cheol pulled out a tablet from his briefcase, touched it a few times, and then passed it to Kang Oh.

"First Hunter?" The tablet showed the project proposal. The program's prospective name was First Hunter.

Jae Woo touched the tablet and carefully examined the plan.

"This is..."

First Hunter's main concept was similar to First Kill's original concept: conquering unconquerable monsters!

However, it was changed to three teams taking on these unconquerable monsters. Whichever team killed the boss first would receive a significant reward from GBS.

"The three teams have already been decided. They've already signed their contracts too. But if you sign on, then we'll change it to four teams," Jin Cheol said.

"There's no appearance fee."

"Yes. In exchange, the reward for killing the monster is huge."

"So the winner takes all. The losers get nothing."

"We offer rewards for five monsters. Which means there are five chances to get that huge reward."

"How much is the reward?"

"The reward for each monster is a secret."

"How much is it in total?"

"Here's a hint: 100 million ($100,000 USD)!" Jin Cheol said.

'So it's more than 100 million won.'

Jin Cheol said '100 million' for a reason. He'd chosen a roundabout way of telling him that the total reward was more than 100 million.

"The teams are a secret too, I assume?"

"We'll let you know on the first show."

"Are there any Numbers?"

"Maybe."

"Hmm." Kang Oh was locked in thought. 'Should I do it or not?'

"It's a chance to make a lot of money," Jin Cheol whispered.

'He knows me too well. I'm incapable of turning down money.'

"I'll do it."

"You made the right decision. However, we're under a tight schedule. The first shoot will be next Monday. Is that ok with you?"

Next Monday. Today was Monday, so it'd be in exactly one week.

"I'm fine with that."

"Please sign here." Jin Cheol touched the tablet a few times, and the contract appeared on the screen. Jae Woo's name was already in the contract.

"You knew this would happen when I called," Kang Oh said. The contract had already been prepared for him.

"I prepared it just in case. And it was a good thing I did." Jin Cheol beamed.

Jae Woo carefully read through the contract, and then signed next to his name.

"Please take care of me."

"Let's do our best together. Ah, do you need something to conceal your face this time?" Jin Cheol asked.

In the past, Kang Oh had worn a helmet on Dungeon Conquering Man (He Who Conquers Dungeons) because he didn't want his face shown to the public.

"Please prepare a good one for me."

People knew what Jae Woo's in-game character, Kang Oh, looked like, but they didn't know that he'd scanned himself to create his character.

That's what kept him from getting bothered in real life. Jae Woo didn't want to lose this freedom.