I stepped out of the dungeon gate as the sun was rising over District Seven, painting the abandoned warehouses in shades of gold and orange. The contrast between the dark, monster-filled cavern and the peaceful morning was so stark that I had to stop and just breathe for a moment. Real air. Real sunlight. I'd survived.
More than survived I'd conquered.
My backpack was heavy with mana stones and the dungeon core wrapped carefully in my towel. My father's sword, now stained with dried goblin blood, hung at my side. I probably looked like I'd been through hell. Blood mostly not mine splattered across my clothes. Dirt and grime covered my skin. A few cuts that hadn't fully healed yet marked my exposed forearms.
But I was grinning like an idiot.
[Daily Quest Available!]
The notification popped up, reminding me of the training regimen the system had assigned. One hundred push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and a ten-kilometer run. Under normal circumstances, that would be impossible for me. But with my enhanced stats...
I found a relatively clean spot behind an abandoned warehouse and started with push-ups. My arms, which would have given out after maybe twenty before, kept going. Thirty, forty, fifty. My enhanced strength and vitality made what should have been torture feel merely challenging. I counted each rep, watching the quest tracker update in the corner of my vision.
By the time I finished all the exercises, including running loops around the empty warehouse district, I was exhausted but in a good way. The kind of tired that came from pushing your limits, not from grinding yourself down to nothing.
[DING!]
[Daily Quest Complete!]
[Rewards: +3 Stat Points, +100 EXP]
[EXP: 600/700 to Level 7]
Three free stat points every day just for basic exercise. That was insane. Combined with dungeon clearing, I could level up at a pace that would make traditional Hunters' heads spin. They had to rely on expensive training facilities, rare elixirs, and years of cultivation to increase their stats. I just needed to do push-ups and kill monsters.
I checked my phone seven thirty AM. Yuki and Kenji would be getting ready for school now, probably wondering where I was. I needed to get home, clean up, and figure out how to sell these mana stones without raising suspicion. An unregistered civilian walking into a Hunter shop with dungeon loot would raise too many questions.
The subway ride home was surreal. I sat among morning commuters in their business suits and school uniforms, looking like I'd crawled out of a war zone, while my status window floated invisibly in my vision. Nobody could see it but me. Nobody knew that the exhausted kid in the corner seat was carrying five million won worth of dungeon materials in his backpack.
[STATUS WINDOW]
Name: Stefan Hirogi
Level: 6
Title: Solo Player (All stats +2 when fighting alone)
HP: 340/340
MP: 80/80
Strength: 17 (+2)
Agility: 16 (+2)
Vitality: 17 (+2)
Intelligence: 12 (+2)
Sense: 12 (+2)
Available Stat Points: 13
My stats had nearly tripled since entering that dungeon. The Solo Player title added two to everything when I fought alone, which made sense given my circumstances. I'd always be fighting alone I had no party, no guild, no backing. Just me and the system.
But thirteen unallocated stat points sat waiting. I wanted to dump them all into strength and agility, make myself even more powerful, but something held me back. Intelligence and sense felt important too, even if I didn't fully understand their functions yet. And I still had zero skills beyond Power Strike.
The apartment was empty when I arrived Yuki and Kenji had already left for school. Good. I didn't want to explain why I looked like I'd been in a fight. I stripped off my ruined clothes and stood under the shower for twenty minutes, watching goblin blood and dungeon grime swirl down the drain.
When I looked in the mirror afterward, I barely recognized myself. The exhausted, hollow-eyed kid from yesterday was gone. My face looked... healthier. More alive. My shoulders seemed broader, my arms more defined. The changes were subtle but real. Increased vitality was showing physically.
I needed to be careful. If I kept leveling up at this pace, people would notice. Questions would be asked. And I wasn't ready for that attention yet.
After dressing in clean clothes, I counted the mana stones on my bed. Nine E-Rank stones at ten thousand won each ninety thousand won. The dungeon core alone was worth fifty times that, but selling it was the problem. Cores required official documentation, proof of Hunter registration and dungeon clearance authorization.
Unless I went to the black market.
Every Hunter knew about the unofficial shops in District Three, the places where no questions were asked and prices were lower than official channels, but everything was in cash and untraceable. My parents had warned me about those places, said they were fronts for criminal guilds and organizations. But what choice did I have?
My phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number: "Heard you did something crazy this morning. District Seven dungeon? Meet me at Jin's Coffee at noon. - Chen Wei"
My blood ran cold. How did he know? Had someone seen me entering or exiting the gate? The Hunter Association monitored dungeons, but E-Rank gates were considered so low-priority that surveillance was minimal. Still, if Chen Wei knew, who else might?
I showed up at Jin's Coffee fifteen minutes early, my backpack hidden at home under my mattress. Chen Wei was already there, sitting in a corner booth with a cigarette dangling from his lips despite the no-smoking signs. His B-Rank Hunter license hung from his neck a flex that most Hunters did to get preferential treatment.
"Stefan." He gestured to the seat across from him. "You look different. Healthier."
I sat down cautiously. "What do you want?"
"Direct. I like that." He took a drag from his cigarette. "I was driving past District Seven this morning. Saw someone who looked a lot like you coming out of that E-Rank gate I mentioned. Covered in blood, carrying a backpack that looked heavy. That person also looked remarkably intact for someone who should have died in there."
My mouth went dry. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Relax, kid. I'm not going to report you." Chen Wei leaned back, studying me with those sharp Hunter eyes. "Illegal dungeon raids happen all the time. Association knows, they just don't care about E-Rank gates. Not worth the paperwork. But here's what I'm curious about you went in there with no Aura, no training, and no party. Yet you came out alive. How?"
I couldn't tell him about the system. That secret would die with me. "Luck. Lots of luck. And the dungeon was easier than expected."
"Luck doesn't explain the confidence in your eyes right now. The way you're sitting, ready to bolt or fight. That's not the same defeated kid I talked to yesterday." He ashed his cigarette on the floor. "You awakened something in there, didn't you? Gained some kind of power."
When I didn't respond, he laughed. "Your silence is answer enough. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me. Actually, that's why I wanted to meet. I can help you."
"Help me how?"
"Selling whatever you got from that dungeon. I know people who buy from unregistered raiders. They'll give you fair prices, no questions asked. I take a ten percent finder's fee, you get the rest in cash today." He slid a business card across the table. "Think about it. Because trying to sell that stuff yourself will either get you ripped off or arrested."
I looked at the card. It had a single phone number, nothing else. This was dangerous. Getting involved with black market dealers could complicate everything. But Chen Wei was right I had no other options for moving the dungeon core.
"Why help me?" I asked.
"Because I've been where you are. Young, desperate, no backing from established guilds. Someone helped me once. Consider this paying it forward." He stood up, dropping money on the table for his coffee. "Call that number when you're ready. Ask for Lee Min-Ho. Tell him Chen Wei sent you. He'll treat you fairly."
After he left, I sat there nursing a coffee I couldn't afford, thinking about choices and consequences. The safe move was to forget the dungeon core, just sell the mana stones at official shops for their minimal value. Take my ninety thousand won and call it a win.
But safe wouldn't help Yuki and Kenji. Safe wouldn't pay off the debts piling up. Safe wouldn't let me grow stronger fast enough to matter.
I pulled out my phone and dialed the number on the card.
A rough voice answered on the second ring. "Yeah?"
"Is this Lee Min-Ho? Chen Wei sent me. I have materials to sell."
There was a pause. "What kind of materials?"
"E-Rank mana stones. And one E-Rank dungeon core."
The pause was longer this time. "You got documentation?"
"No."
"Then you got balls, kid. Most people don't lead with the illegal stuff." I heard him laugh, a sound like gravel in a blender. "Meet me at the old fish market in District Three. One hour. Come alone, bring the goods. If you're setting me up, you won't leave that district alive. Understand?"
"Understood."
The line went dead.
I sat there, my enhanced sense stat screaming that this was dangerous, that I was walking into something way over my head. But my strength stat reminded me that I wasn't the helpless kid from yesterday anymore. I was level six with stats that rivaled low-rank Hunters.
And I had Power Strike if things went wrong.
One hour until I turned my first dungeon raid into real money. One hour until I crossed another line between the legitimate world and the shadows where real power operated.
I finished my coffee and headed home to get my backpack. The game was getting more complicated, but I was still playing to win.
To Be continued...