Chapter 3 – Swordmaster’s Legacy 1
After the reexamination was finished, Sung Joon went to the Appraisal Center and sold his items and magic stones. He was paid $18,000. Since he had soloed the dungeon, all the money was his.
‘With this money, I can send my father to a better hospital,’ he cried happily.
He might’ve become more cold-hearted due to the memories of his past life, but the loving heart towards his family stayed the same.
‘I don’t need anything else. I have to move my father to a different hospital.’
If anyone else had suddenly gotten a large sum of money, they might’ve wasted the money but Sung Joon was different. He couldn’t afford to waste money because he needed it for his father’s treatment.
If he could have, he would have cured his father’s illness himself but unfortunately, a Healer’s ‘Heal’ couldn’t cure diseases.
‘I’ll move him to the Korean Central Hospital,’ Sung Joon decided.
Compared to the Korean Central Hospital, the hospital his father was currently hospitalized in had fewer facilities. More importantly, the Korean Central Hospital was famous for having skilled hemato-oncology specialists lined up.
Sung Joon, without hesitation, went to the hospital where his father was receiving treatment. He had previously always used public transportation but the faster he arrived, the better, so this time he took a taxi.
“Dad.”
Sung Joon opened the door to the four-person hospital room. Sung Joon’s father, Kang Soo Hyuk sat on his bed by the window. He turned his head at the sound of his son’s voice.
“Son, you came to visit?”
His voice had no strength in it. Soo Hyuk had become more and more haggard whenever Sung Joon saw him. His heart hurt at the sight.
“Has everything been all right?
Soo Hyuk faintly smiled and nodded. “Are you feeling alright?” he asked Sung Joon.
“Same as ever.” smiled Sung Joon.
Then he explained the situation.
“..So it would be best if you moved to the Korean Central Hospital.”
“Aren’t you pushing yourself too much?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve become a B-rank Hunter,” Sung Joon said confidently.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t received his B-rank license yet, so he couldn’t show it to his father.
“That’s great,” Soo Hyuk said happily.
As a parent, Soo Hyuk was proud to see his son succeed. Sung Joon’s promotion was enough to convince his father that the move was the correct choice.
With the hospital’s help, his father was transferred to the Korean Central Hospital.
“How should I set up the hospital room?” the hospital employee asked.
Sung Joon looked back at his father, who was waiting in a wheelchair, and gazed thoughtfully at him for some time. Then he remembered that there had been times when his father had been uncomfortable in his four-person hospital room.
“Give me a single room, please.”
“Our single rooms are more expensive than other hospitals.. is that alright with you?”
The worker looked at how Sung Joon was attired and checked with him again. Sung Joon furrowed his eyebrows.
“He’ll move immediately, so please prepare a single room,” Sung Joon replied.
“I understand.”
After his father was admitted, Sung Joon laid his father on his bed and left. As he left, Sung Joon examined his clothes. Just one look told him that they were old and worn out.
He needed to get new clothes, though not necessarily the really expensive kind.
‘I need to get some armor, too,’ Sung Joon sighed. He had a lot of this and that to buy.
He was issued his B-rank License. It usually took a few days for the license to be sent. It could be received either by mail or direct pick up at the Bureau but the Hunter Bureau had sent him a message. They would send one of their workers, so he had nothing to worry about.
‘I should go through a few more D-rank dungeons.’ he thought.
Once a Hunter became B-rank, they were then qualified to solo C-rank dungeons. However, Sung Joon decided that he would solo the D-rank dungeons a few more times.
“I would like to apply for a D-rank dungeon solo run,” Sung Joon said.
He went through the related procedures at the Dungeon Bureau.
For one week, he soloed D-rank dungeons tirelessly. As a result, his bank balance grew to $50,000.
He’d been able to amass that much money in just D-rank level dungeons due to his solo play. Although many Hunters wanted to solo the dungeons, most didn’t have the ability to do so and gave up.
‘I’ll rest for a little bit and then try the C-rank dungeons,’ Sung Joon decided.
Dungeon assaults were exhausting, especially when solo played. However, Sung Joon hadn’t rested for a week. This was because, starting from C-rank dungeons, the difficulty would ramp up, so he had to go at his best.
He rested for one week.
On July 1st, Sung Joon went to the Dungeon Bureau.
“I would like to apply for a C-rank Dungeon solo play.”
“The risk of soloing a C-rank dungeon is much higher than soloing a D-rank dungeon. Are you sure you’ll be alright?” the clerk asked carefully. Until the past, the worker didn’t openly disregard him.
Although he didn’t know about the hunter side, the workers had clearly changed their attitude around him after breaking the record for D-rank dungeon runs.
“There won’t be a problem. Please go ahead.”
“We’ll contact you separately once we schedule it.”
“I’m counting on you,” Sung Joon said, and left.
At dinnertime, the Dungeon Bureau called to tell him about his scheduled dungeon run.
It was scheduled for 2 o’clock tomorrow afternoon. Before he slept, he called his father and told him the news. After he finished his call, he went on Hunter.com and looked at the bulletin board messages.
[Starting from the B-rank dungeons, it seems like the difficulty increases too much. (4)] [They say it’s difficult for even an A-rank to solo a B-rank dungeons. (2)]
When he had broken the record, there had been a lot of talk about Sung Joon. There had been a lot of spectators around the dungeon as well.
However, as time passed, with the appearance of fresh news, the interest in Sung Joon slowly disappeared.
‘I’m glad it ended so smoothly,’ thought Sung Joon.
Excessive interest didn’t help him. It was faint but that’s what his previous life’s memories were telling him.
After ten minutes, Sung Joon closed Hunter.com and went to bed.
The next day, he woke up early and bought necessities from the Hunter Mart. After he procured supplies, he ate lunch and went towards the entrance of the dungeon.
“Hello. Are you the Hunter, Kang Sung Joon?”
“Yes, I am.”
“It might be inconvenient for you but may I see your Hunter’s license, please?” the worker politely asked.
Sung Joon took out his Hunter’s license and after a short check, the worker was done.
“I’ll open the entrance to the dungeon now.”
The shut gates opened and an underground passageway appeared. Sung Joon activated the Light Drone and calmly went down the stairs.
At the end of the stairway, there was a large clearing.
‘It’s huge.’
Sung Joon pulled out another Light Drone and activated it. He had gotten an extra one at the Hunter Mart.
‘Monsters? There are four of them..’ Sung Joon said to himself and took out his sword.
He sensed them in the darkness. Then he slowly raised his sword and the monsters revealed themselves.
Since it was a C-rank dungeon, from the beginning, four Orcs appeared. Sung Joon took a defensive stance and closed in.
The Orcs shrieked and ran towards him. It was a moment where he could’ve been paralyzed by fear. But was it because of his past life’s influence? Or was it due to his solo runs?
He was surprisingly calm.
“Ha!”
When the Orcs got close, he let out a controlled battle cry and nimbly moved. He swung his sword at the surrounding Orcs and damaged them. Two of their heads were cut in half.
Trying to avenge its two fallen comrades, the sole Orc armed with a spear raised its spear.
“You’re slow,” Sung Joon taunted.
The Orc’s movements were slow and there were many gaps in its defense. Sung Joon stuck his sword deeply into the Orc, fatally penetrating its heart.
The last surviving Orc was killed in the same way.
“Did I push myself too hard?”
He felt as if he had slightly surpassed his limit but he didn’t feel any pain.
‘Is my body getting stronger? It feels like my limit has gotten higher.’
Sung Joon cleared his thoughts and proceeded forward. He faced only Orcs until he reached the Boss Room and didn’t see any other types of monsters.
“I’m feeling kind of uneasy since I haven’t seen any Trolls.”
There were eight Orcs guarding the Boss Room and he dealt with them. Sung Joon felt uneasy. He had heard that C-ranked Trolls often appeared in C-ranked dungeons.
‘Will it appear as a dungeon Boss? If it’s a C-rank Boss, then there’s a high chance it’ll be a Troll Berserker.’
Trolls had a high regeneration rate and even had a Madness Enhancement effect so they were difficult Bosses.
“Let’s be careful.” Sung Joon encouraged himself and opened the doors.
At the same time, a something flew past and grazed his side.
“Ugh!”
Sung Joon groaned in pain and pressed down on his wound.
‘The bleeding is much worse than I thought.’
Unlike in a game, there weren’t any convenient potions. He needed to find his styptics and apply them to his wound but they were in his bag.
In the darkness, red eyes gazed at Sung Joon. The Light Drone brightened and he could see the Troll Berserker he had been worried about.
His memories and his instincts warned him.
‘When I reach for my bag, I’ll die.’
Cold sweat trailed down his skin.
‘Is the C-rank dungeon too much for me?’
He laughed at the futility. If he died, what was his father going to do?
The Troll Berserker immediately started running towards him.
He couldn’t move due to the severity of his wound. What should he do? He realized he was a Healer but because he had a low healing power, he had received the nickname the Legend and so he shook his head.
‘Damn it! Let’s risk it once!’
The Troll Berserker closed in. There was no time. Sung Joon decided to risk it all.
“Heal!”
The part of the injury that was wrapped in his hands, flashed and exploded in light. He didn’t feel any pain. When he withdrew his hand, there was no ‘injury’ to speak of.
“I didn’t think it would be this effective..”
He had thought that the last time was a fluke. However, this was the second time and this time there was no luck involved.