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Many believe that as long as you’re a hunter, you can easily make money, even at E-rank.
They’re both right and wrong.
From an ordinary person’s perspective, the income may seem decent. However, whether that turns into savings is another matter.
Injuries are commonplace for most hunters, and they usually spend more than half their income on medical expenses and equipment.
One wrong move and meager savings disappear in an instant.
Like Evie now, who is denying reality at the hospital payment screen.
She stood still, blinking her eyes. About $40,000 just disappeared from her account.
Unable to believe her eyes, Evie hazily counted the numbers on the square screen.
Slowly, one by one.
The black numbers remained the same no matter how many times she looked.
Evie James
Account balance: $2000 approx.
Three months of working hard like a dog were gone.
“Goodbye.”
“……”
Evie barely lifted her head to the kind staff, stumbling away from the counter in shock.
Her mind struggled to think positively about $40,000 vanishing into thin air.
‘Get a grip, Evie. That was cheap for a life. You could have lost an arm or leg. For the price of a life…Fuck.’
Evie haphazardly sat on a bench by the hospital entrance, covering her face with both hands.
She bent over, leaning her elbows on her thighs, and stayed like that for a while.
Evie knew.
I shouldn’t complain. Treated by a B-rank healer.
The cost was reasonable. However, what angered her was…
“Sons of bitches. I’ll rip their heads off if I ever see them again.”
It was because of the party [1] members she raided the dungeon with a few hours ago.
-They are such assholes that it wasn’t simply unlucky.
We entered a dungeon, cleared out the normal-level monsters, and things were going well—at least, until about halfway through.
Two E-ranks and four F-ranks.
It wasn’t a bad combo for an F-level dungeon. But the problem arose after encountering the boss monster.
‘Aaaaahh!’
One party member screamed as if he’d taken a good hit of the boss’s acid on his leg, drawing a wide area of aggro [2] .
The E-rank tanker [3] , at least still sane, shouted and stomped the ground to draw aggro back to himself but to no avail.
The spider-type boss monster already ran past the tanker toward that troll party member.
‘Gaarghh…!’
Collapsed on the ground, that member didn’t even think of picking up his weapon, only holding his injured leg. Then the tanker spoke to Evie.
‘Could you help me pull aggro for just a moment?’
‘What? Me?’
Evie asked, pointing to herself in confusion.
Did I hear that right?
For Evie James, a low-rank supporter [4] with pitiful stats who couldn’t even have an attack skill to draw the boss’s aggro?
I thought the tanker must have lost his mind.
‘Just a very short moment.’
‘No, whether short or not, why me…’
No matter how dire the situation, why would he ask the party’s weakest member instead of the capable damage dealers [5] ? Evie was dumbfounded.
When she glanced around the boss room, the so-called F-rank dealers were running around, screaming, and making noise instead of doing their jobs. It was total chaos.
‘……I can’t do it for more than 10 seconds.’
‘That should be enough.’
Reluctantly, Evie rummaged through her inventory. She soon found an item perfect for luring aggro.
Ugly Cuckoo Clock – A clock with a shrieking cuckoo. You can’t help but turn around when you hear its horrifying call.
⏳ 10 seconds
⚠️ Destroy it within 5 seconds may cause the target’s rage to be directed at the item’s owner.
Evie took the small [Ugly Cuckoo Clock] from her inventory and threw it toward the boss monster’s back.
After bouncing off the hard shell and hitting the ground, the clock immediately rose and began circling, making a terrible noise.
‘Keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!’
A strange-eyed cuckoo popped out of the clock, screaming. The boss monster turned its head in an instant.
Several of its eyes turned red. Sharp spider legs slammed down on the small clock that was buzzing around. As soon as it broke into pieces, the giant spider glared at Evie as if it wanted to kill her.
‘Kkieeeeeeee!’
‘Holy shit…it’s only been 3 seconds…!’
There was no time for thought. Evie ran with all her might.
I wanted to slap my idiot past self who’d said I could withstand 10 seconds. Still, Evie trusted the tanker and thought the four dealers would attack soon.
‘Kyaaah!’
Evie screamed involuntarily, rolling to the side.
The spot she’d been running just before falling had a dent. Hiiix. Wispy smoke rose from the impact spot.
‘Kieeeek!’
Evie, frightened by the boss monster’s roar, looked back while moving her body frantically.
10 seconds seemed like an eternity, but there were still no words from that tanker.
After dodging spider legs and rolling a few more times, Evie grasped the situation. She was alone dealing with a giant spider in the boss room. The tanker and damage dealers were nowhere in sight.
In that moment facing the enraged boss monster alone, Evie realized.
‘Those crazy bastards, on purpose to kill me…!’
Sometimes monsters drop better items than usual based on the hunter’s rank who killed them.
Some detection-type skills allow you to see more information about the monster. Somehow, I thought one of the dealers looked strangely at first when he entered the boss room. They must have used a reconnaissance skill!
Evie chewed on her lip as she searched her inventory.
The mana potions she brought to replenish her members’ mana [6] at their request had run out long ago. The small amount of mana she could restore using buff skills and potions moments earlier was almost depleted.
At that moment, the boss monster sprayed a corrosive substance from behind. Evie, who had her mind on her inventory, failed to dodge the boss monster’s attack and had to sacrifice one arm and one leg.
‘Arghh…! Hngh, hic….’
Her skin melted away, bringing excruciating pain. Her vision blurred with tears. Evie kept rummaging through her inventory with one hand though rough pebbles cut her hands and knees as she fell on the ground. She took something out.
When the boss monster raised its poisoned leg to stomp Evie, she aimed and shot something at it.
Jena’s Crossbow – A crossbow favored by Archer Jena. The arrowheads are coated with Jena’s handmade poison. Though worn, it seems usable for once.
Can be used once (5 shots) in dungeons level E or lower.
▫️ Jenna Hates Disgusting Insects
20% Additional Damage to Insect-type monsters.
▫️ Jenna Hates Spiders The Most!
30% chance of a Critical Hit against Spider-type monsters.
▫️ Jena’s Neck Feels Itchy!
Specific users can spread Jena’s special poison into the air.
(Traitors are everywhere…I’ve had enough of them. Are you abandoned too? Spread my poison if they’re still around. It can kill them all within a minute…But I hope you can survive. You don’t have to die with those scum – Jena)
‘Kieeeeeeeek!’
Due to her trembling hands, the arrow aimed at the boss’s head hit its eye instead. As the suffering boss staggered, Evie fired two more arrows consecutively.
With arrows piercing its head and stomach, the boss withdrew in pain before collapsing.
The giant spider wriggling for a moment soon stopped moving. She seemed to pierce the 30% chance and inflicted a critical hit.
Defeated Queen Tarantula
Cleared Spider’s Nest (F)
Distribute items based on contribution
Check your inventory
Gate open
You can now freely enter and exit the dungeon
‘Hah, hah…’
Though her hands trembled, Evie did not put down the crossbow. From beyond the boss, she could hear the party members walking toward her.
Evie rapidly went over her inventory. After defeating a boss, the person with the greatest contribution always gets a Return Scroll. Since she had defeated the boss alone, she definitely had it.
As expected, Evie grabbed a stiff piece of paper.
Evie aimed the crossbow with one hand towards the sound while the other clutching the crumpled paper.
The party members were approaching her, passing the boss’s corpse. Even the member, who had been crawling and holding his injured leg, was now walking perfectly.
‘What? You’ve been hiding that thing all this time?’
‘This can’t happen. You ruined our plan.’
‘If you had done well, we could have gotten a mid-level magic stone, tsk.’
‘Forget it. You just stay here and, kuk···!’
After shooting two venomous arrows at the closest two, Evie immediately used the Return Scroll.
She didn’t have to tear it up, just mentally activated it. Luckily, no one could interfere with her use as the boss killer.
Seeing those bastards distort their faces wielding swords and daggers, Evie raised her middle finger at them and disappeared.
After exiting the dungeon, I had to order the emergency transportation service at the entrance, even though it was overpriced.
I could not crawl to the hospital with my melted arm and leg. While being transported, I reported the party members to the government.
As expected, Junk Irregulars.
The so-called trash who do all sorts of things inside dungeons.
Originally, they were called Black Hunters but it was changed to Junk Irregulars because it wasn’t right to call them such a cool name.
They should be called trash. Why did they call them Black at first?
They weren’t even Hunters in the first place.
‘It’s my fault. If I checked the Junk Irregulars list by the guild and government, this wouldn’t have happened.’
Evie wiped her face and sighed, leaning back on the bench.
Her teeth gritted.
‘If I ever see them again, I’m gonna kill them, that is, if they’re still alive.’
Evie had released the poison into the air shortly after using the Return Scroll.
Since they seemed close to each other, they probably tried to heal injured ones. But all got poisoned.
Even if E-ranks and F-rank tried to fly or crawl, it would take about three minutes from the boss room to the gate.
It could be faster, but it was unknown if escape was possible with poison spreading in their bodies.
All five of them were probably dead by now.
She had killed them, albeit indirectly, but Evie didn’t feel particularly guilty.
They’d tried to hurt her in the first place. And all Junk Irregulars deserved to die anyway.
I wondered how many people they had killed in similar attempts as they had done to me.
Evie shook her head to dispel the unpleasant thoughts.
‘Let’s check the items. Inventory.’
A screen appeared before Evie’s eyes. Inside a square box, the rewards were neatly arranged. Evie pressed them one by one.
Inferior Pure Magic Stone
A stone imbued with a small amount of pure magical power.
Queen Tarantula’s Thread
The thread used by Queen Tarantula to make hunting nets. Very tough and sturdy.
Queen Tarantula’s Venom Sac
The venom gland of Queen Tarantula. Extremely lethal, even in small doses.
Skill Acquisition Scroll x2
Scrolls that grant you random skills.
Obtainable skill grades: F-S
Untradeable
“Huh…!”
Evie widened her eyes and held out her hands.
‘Thank you, thank you.’
Passersby gave Evie weird looks as she shook her hands in the air, but she paid them no mind.
Queen Tarantula’s Thread and Venom Sac.
They weren’t exceedingly rare but could fetch a decent profit if sold.
While the Thread could fetch a few hundred dollars at best, the Venom Sac, depending on the market demand, could reach up to $6,000.
If properly processed, it could even be used as an antidote.
And on top of that, Pure Magic Stone.
Even among the inferior grade, Magic Stone and Pure Magic Stone differed in color. Evie reached into her inventory and held it with both hands.
It was only half the size of my palm.
As the sunlight shone down on the transparent, blue-hued stone, it sparkled dazzlingly.
Evie kissed the cute and pretty stone, rubbed her cheek against it, and stroked it like a pet rock.
‘I can get $15,000.’
Evie choked up as she remembered her struggles in the spider’s nest. I wouldn’t have joined such a suspicious party if I didn’t desperately need money.
I should have seen it coming from the moment they enthusiastically greeted me, an E-rank Hunter with no attack skills.
Putting the precious stone back into her inventory, Evie took out her phone and accessed the Hunter Market.
There was a reason Evie urgently needed money.
Mikewood’s Bracelet (sold out) – Mikewood’s early work. It has a rough appearance, but its abilities are quite usable.
▫️ Mana +5 when equipped
▫️ Self-repairs some damage
▫️ Can be memorized (once)
“Ah…all sold out.”
Mikewood’s Bracelet.
It was a $20,000 item.
While higher-ranked hunters might see these as worthless junk items, it was essential for Evie.
Evie always struggled with a shortage of mana. And for lower-ranked hunters, every stat point was precious.
For an item that increased precious mana stat by 5, $20,000 was quite reasonable.
The money spent on mana recovery potions every time I entered the dungeon was a burden.
Even if I invested $20,000 in a bracelet, it would likely pay off in six months and generate profit afterward.
Evie would have purchased it immediately if her account had been a little more generous.
Always keep at least $40,000 in the account. If nothing else, Evie was determined to stick to this rule.
Until today.
-
1.
Party
A group with each member having distinct abilities, roles, or classes that complement each other to overcome challenges and achieve shared objectives. -
2.
Aggro (short for aggression)
Enemies’ attention and hostility towards a specific character. -
3.
Tanker/Tank
Possess high health, defense, and abilities to generate a lot of aggro. Tanks initiate combat, absorb damage, and maintain enemies’ attention. -
4.
Buff/Supporter
Assist teammates through abilities that heal, shield, or temporarily enhance teammates’ offensive and defensive capabilities. -
5.
Attacker/Dealer/Damage Dealer
Inflict damage on enemies through weapons and abilities. Possess high offensive capabilities. Vulnerable with low defense and health. -
6.
Mana
A character’s magical energy reserves. Characters spend mana to cast spells and abilities. Regenerates through resting, mana potions, or certain abilities.
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Comments (2)
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This is better than I expected. Can’t wait to get to the smut part!
Oh dear, our MC is an unintentional murderer, she desperately needed money for a relic that cost half thank heredical fees, and nearly got melted by a spider.
I like it!