Chapter 687: Material Dungeon (1)
Raid week began.
As always, we picked one of the D-rank dungeons designated by the academy and went in.
RATATATATAT—
And the boss monster had just gone down after getting hammered by Seo Ye-in’s [Mana Rounds].
When your real level is enough to throw hands with B-rank bosses like the Black Serpent Fang Lord and the Feathered Serpent, something around D-rank can only feel trivial.
Still, we’ll probably move up to C soon.
We’d been stacking points by clearing every raid with top marks so far.
A couple more runs, and we’d probably qualify for the C-rank promotion test.
Meanwhile, as we left the dungeon, a notification message was hanging at the edge of my vision.
It was a sub quest.
And naturally, the challenge modifier had been applied too.
Sub Quest: Week 6–7 Raid
▷Objective: Clear a dungeon with a party capacity of 4 or more
▷Condition 1: Clear it with 2 or fewer party members (2/2)
▷Condition 2: Do not lose more than 10% of your health
▷Condition 3: Clear within 10 minutes
A dungeon meant for four or more people, cleared by just the two of us, in a ten-minute time attack, while barely taking any damage.
For us, it was manageable enough.
Like I said, there was the rank gap, and Seo Ye-in’s control was top-tier.
As a result of clearing the quest,
▷Reward: [Crucible of Materials]
That’s exactly what I needed.
Sub quests were always pretty customized with their rewards, but at this point, wasn’t it basically reading my mind?
I’d check the exact effect of the crucible in a bit.
First, I sent messages to call everyone together.
Seo Ye-in, Dang Gyu-ri, Hong Yeonhwa, Go Hyeonwoo, and Han Somi.
Then I slowly looked around at the group and began explaining.
“I’m going to make a short trip to Hyeseong during the next PvP week.”
Officially, it was to gain experience with outside requests.
In reality, it was to recover the [Golden Minute Hand].
Meeting the Meteor Dragon would just be a bonus.
“......!”
“......!”
Everyone exchanged startled looks.
I’d mentioned it here and there before, but hearing that it would be just two weeks from now was another matter entirely.
Not only were we going to retrieve an incredible item, we were also going to meet the Meteor Dragon, one of the most prominent dragons still in existence.
I, on the other hand, kept talking like it was nothing.
“For now, it’ll just be me and Miss Seo, but if you want to come too, let’s talk about it later.”
I might be the main party behind the trip, but the homeowner was still very much Seo Ye-in.
At that, Go Hyeonwoo and Han Somi glanced at each other, then spoke.
“If Kim Hyung does not absolutely require us, I would prefer to remain behind.”
“This isn’t a fighting trip. You’d be better off focusing on the inheritance.”
I nodded and answered that way.
Meanwhile, Hong Yeonhwa was rolling her eyes around like she was thinking, Should I go too? Should I...?
And while she did, she kept checking both my expression and Seo Ye-in’s.
Dang Gyu-ri, for their part, had their brows drawn together. They clearly weren’t thrilled that I was going alone with Seo Ye-in again.
But it looked like they still hadn’t decided whether they were going to sulk, pout, or bite me.
It had come up suddenly, and it was confusing, so it seemed better to give them some time to think for now.
Next, I took out the time-related materials I’d gathered so far.
The [Golden Gear], the [Golden Second Hand], and the [Hand of Regret].
“Once I get the [Minute Hand], the hands will be done, and for the other parts, I can make do with pieces that are a little lower quality.”
Right now, finishing the pocket watch was the urgent priority.
The small details wouldn’t have a huge impact on the item’s performance, and they could always be upgraded later.
“And I’m getting the most important part, the movement, from this.”
[Greedy Choice(A)]
▷Growth-type item
▷You can raise its experience by consuming material items.
▷Exp: 32.00%
Once I filled just 68% more, it would rise to S-rank, and the moment it did, I could use it to obtain the final component.
And if, by some chance, there was a craftsman in Hyeseong New City, I might even be able to ask them to make it.
At that, Dang Gyu-ri arched an eyebrow and asked,
“Isn’t there more left than it looks?”
“There is a lot left.”
The higher the rank, the more exponentially the required experience shot up.
I’d already seen that during winter break, when I looted the Dang Family’s materials warehouse.
Back then, when I emptied about half the warehouse, it went from 88% at C-rank up to A-rank.
But after emptying the other half too, the result had only been about 30% progress into A-rank.
Which meant that to fill the remaining experience, I’d need materials equal to about 1.1 to 1.2 Dang Family warehouses.
Dang Gyu-ri had watched that whole process happen, so that was why they were questioning it.
I nodded to show that their guess was right.
“And that’s why I’m going to need everyone’s help.”
“Of course we should help. If you finish making that pocket watch thing, doesn’t everyone benefit?”
At Dang Gyu-ri’s words, Han Somi, who had been quietly listening until then, suddenly went wide-eyed like it had just clicked.
“Me too, [Invitation]! [Austerity]? Quest! Red book? Challenge!”
“It’ll become more than possible.”
“At last, finally!”
“So you’ll have to work hard and help, right?”
“Just say the word, Kim Hyung!”
Han Somi clenched a fist.
Out of everyone there, they were the one burning with the fiercest motivation.
I glanced at them and finished the explanation.
“This time, we’re going to focus on material dungeons.”
Among the students, those were also called “mines.”
The format wasn’t much different from other dungeons, but instead of random boxes, the rewards were material items.
Most of the hidden pieces there were materials too.
The [Lord’s Black Chest] was a good example.
Go Hyeonwoo’s eyes lit up as he said,
“If all of those were concentrated into Kim Hyung, the total amount would be considerable.”
“It would. But distributing the rewards gets difficult, which is why I’m calling it help.”
“My share shall remain Kim Hyung’s for as long as needed. Even then, I question whether I could ever repay this debt in full. And as Senior Dang has said, in the end, this benefits all of us, does it not?”
The others also agreed, either with faint smiles or small nods.
So I smiled too and continued.
“Thanks for the full cooperation. Once we gather all the materials, we’ll be putting them in here.”
By “here,” I meant the item I’d gotten from clearing this week’s challenge sub quest:
[Crucible of Mixing]
▷Mixes material items together.
▷There is a certain probability that a rank bonus will be granted or increased.
▷The more materials used, the higher the chance of promotion.
▷Destroyed after one use.
The important point here was that this was called “mixing,” not “synthesis.”
It ignored the types and properties of the items completely and just threw everything together into a kind of garbage stew.
The rank of the completed material might go up a little, but the chances of it retaining its original function were extremely low.
“But we’re not gathering them to use in crafting anyway, are we?”
“They’ll all become nourishment for the choice ticket, after all.”
As long as the quantity stayed the same, even a slight increase in rank was a net gain.
And if I still came up short on experience after that?
Then I’d go collect more.
I was also considering methods like visiting various clubs to trade or secure sponsorship.
Though if possible, it would still be better for us to gather things ourselves.
Anyway, that settled the overall direction.
I handed out the walkthroughs I’d prepared in advance.
The others skimmed through them lightly, then shifted their gazes to the side, apparently puzzled.
Looked like they were trying to compare theirs with everyone else’s.
I nodded and said,
“I gave each of you a different one. We’re going to try clearing several dungeons at the same time.”
“......?”
At our current level, the highest tier we could clear with absolute certainty and safety was large-scale B-rank dungeons like Black Serpent Fang.
But if you considered not just the quality of the rewards but the quantity too, then clearing a larger number of small- and mid-scale B and C dungeons would be more efficient than clearing one large B-rank dungeon.
“We’ll split into pairs and go into three dungeons.”
According to the walkthroughs I’d just handed out, the setup was as follows:
Dang Gyu-ri and Seo Ye-in would handle a small B-rank dungeon.
Hong Yeonhwa and I, and Go Hyeonwoo and Han Somi, would each take on a C+-rank dungeon.
“Any questions?”
“Me!”
Han Somi shot their hand straight up.
When I jerked my chin for them to go ahead, they opened their mouth.
“Couldn’t we do three B-ranks too?”
“We could, but it wouldn’t be 100%.”
Dang Gyu-ri was practically becoming a one-person army at this point, and recently they’d killed the Feathered Serpent and even gotten the flying Gyu shadow undead.
Seo Ye-in, too, had already been excellent in combat, and after gaining [Mirror Image], she’d surged right to the very front of the pack.
So I judged that the two of them together could clear a B-rank for sure.
On the other hand, I couldn’t hand a B-rank dungeon to Go Hyeonwoo and Han Somi without some concern.
Assuming variables came up, their clear probability was somewhere around 95%.
An extremely high chance, but put another way, it also meant there was roughly a 5% chance they could suffer a major injury or die.
And absolutely not because I thought they were idiots who’d absentmindedly forget the walkthrough.
Then I raised another finger.
“And the material dungeons are kind of spread out too.”
“Huh? Why does that matter?”
“Why do you think? Because we’re sneaking down there without the others knowing.”
Floor C was one thing, but the deeper B Floor was guarded several times more heavily.
With Dang Gyu-ri’s stealth ability, slipping into one would be easy enough, sure.
But roaming around B Floor for a long time while entering two or three dungeons at once?
And then getting everyone back out after clearing them without being caught?
“No matter how you look at it, the risk’s too high.”
“I didn’t think of that!”
“If we get caught, it’s automatic disciplinary action.”
Even if Gwak Seungjae had promised to give us a little leeway, that only went as far as the authority of the Discipline Committee president.
It probably wouldn’t cover us getting caught by faculty.
“So rather than that, it’s better to take a little less and go with C+.”
“I see! Understood!”
Since Han Somi had already asked on behalf of everyone, no one else stepped forward after that.
I looked around at the group and wrapped up the meeting.
“Then get ready according to the walkthroughs, and let’s keep in touch whenever we can.”
Soon enough, the others split off in pairs and started talking among themselves.
Hong Yeonhwa also came over toward me.
Her invisible tail kept swishing back and forth.
I said to her,
“You saw it in the walkthrough. It’s a frozen-theme dungeon.”
“Yeah......!”
“Let’s use it this time. The [Orb of Bitter Cold].”
“......!”
The item Hong Yeonhwa had won at auction last year with help from her older sister, Hong Yehwa.
Its effect was to create an environment even more favorable to ice-element users.
If we took it into a related dungeon, the monsters would get stronger too, but that just meant the growth efficiency for [Aqua Flame] and fire-related skills and traits would rise as well.
The clear rewards would also get a modest boost.
It was such a useful item, but she hadn’t actually gotten many chances to use it.
That was because I’d been trying to spread resources around evenly among the other [Bond] members too, so it had been hard to make her turn come around.
That was why I’d decided to go in with her this time.
Hong Yeonhwa’s face turned a little touched.
“I’d almost forgotten about it too... Thanks for remembering.”
It felt like her invisible tail was swishing faster and faster.