Chapter 12. Roused Registration (2)
(TLN: Second chapter of the week. I’ll have another Elqueeness out in a day or two to clear the queue. Next week chapters will be Dragon/Legend~ Please turn off the Adblocks if you can. Thank you~)
“Hey, bro. You look to be alone, so why don’t you join our party? We’ve gather exactly 7 people here, so there is one spot left.”
“Ah, it’s ok. I’ll enter alone.”
The man was taken aback by Woojin’s refusal.
“Why would you want to waste your entrance fee by entering by yourself? Since there is a time limit, there is a limit on how many Bloodstones you can mine.”
The man laughed when he saw Woojin’s confused expression.
“I guess you haven’t been a Miner for long.”
The Roused were called by a slang. The people, who specialized in challenging the unconquered Dungeons, were called Rangers. Those, who mined the Bloodstones, in the safe and conquered Dungeons were called Miners. The Roused, who were mobilized to fight the monsters with the military during the Dungeon Break, were called Guardians.
They were called these names based on their occupation. However, a Ranger could become a Miner, and a Miner could become a Guardian.
As if the man thought Woojin was a noob, he started going over the rules for a Miner in broad terms.
There was a cap on how many people could enter the Dungeon.
When Rangers decide to attack a Dungeon, they make their teams based on the headcount. These people were called the Attack Squads. The 3 great Guilds of Korea were famous for having competent Attack Squads.
It was the same for the Miners.
Miners could only be admitted up to the maximum number. The Attack Squads sent in the maximum number of people to send in the best fighting powe, and the Miners did it to increase their efficiency.
The entrance fee was also calculated based on the maximum number of people able to enter the Dungeon.
The maximum number of people able to enter the Shinrim Station’s 7th Exit was 8 people.
“So, if I want to use it alone then I’ll have to pay the fee of 8 people? 800,000 won?”
“Yes. Moreover, it is an hourly fee.”
Even though only the basic monsters were summoned in the Dungeon, it was still dangerous. The information about the Dungeon had already been released to the public, so the danger to a Miner’s life was lessened. However, they were still putting their life on the line.
The Return Stones could only be found in the deepest part of most Dungeons. It was impossible for one person to clear it in one hour. If one went over the time limit, the entrance fee doubled.
‘If I want to use the Dungeon for 2 hours alone, then I need an entrance fee of 1,600,000 won.’
If he took out all the Monsters, then he’ll probably make decent money. However, a Roused with that much ability, wouldn’t even enter a mere 2 star Dungeon.
“What is your rank?”
“It’s rank F.”
“Tsk tsk. You came here without knowing anything, but you are in luck. Join our party as a learning experience. We’ll guarantee your safety.”
“Hmmm. All right.”
Woojin was able to take care of his own safety, but he joined the party without any fuss. It was purely based on the fact that he didn’t have the entrance fee.
‘I’ll have to level up fast, so I can attack a Dungeon in peace.”
There were too many constraints and fees. It seemed Woojin’s temperament was incompatible with Mining. He was disappointed, but he decided to experience Mining for a day with these people.
Groups of eight members were entering the Dungeon, so the waiting line grew shorter pretty fast. They were all Roused, but they all held low ranks. The people gathered here were quite diverse.
The difficulty level wasn’t very high, so the parties in front of them were all able to clear the Dungeon in 40~50 minutes.
The man, who introduced himself as Bae-dohsoo, was a Rank E user. He was a professional professional miner, who traveled with 6 team mates to gain profits from the Mines.
Usually, they only visited 1 star Mines, but they decided to attempt a 2 star mine this time around. Since this will be their first attempt, they wanted to fill the 8 slots.
Eight people were better than six people.
Kang-woojin and a Roused named Hong-sunggoo had come to the Dungeon by themselves, so they joined Bae-dohsoo’s team. Hong-sunggoo was a new Roused and he was Rank F like Woojin.
“Well, everyone except me is Rank F. Therefore, my share will be 2, and everyone else will be 1. We’ll gather all the Bloodstones, then we’ll divide into 9 portion at the end.”
Woojin didn’t have much to say. He agreed to Bae-dohsoo’s words. He was challenging a Mine just to have the experience.
“Whew, I’m shaking. How about you?”
From the start, Hong-sunggoo had a hard time getting along with Bae-dohsoo’s group, so he tried to act friendly towards Woojin, while they waited in line. Woojin replied back in a sufficient manner, so they talked about various topics.
Hong-sunggoo was a rank F noob, but he was very interested in the Dungeons. He possessed a vast array of knowledge. Woojin’s conversation with him was quite beneficial.
Hong-sunggoo was 21 years old, and he had become a Roused only two months ago. He had quit going to school, and he had started his Roused activity in earnest. He had been going to 1 star Mines for the past two month, and he felt he had gotten used to the Mines. This was the first time he was attempting a 2 star mine.
Money wasn’t his ultimate goal. His goal was to strengthen and train his Roused abilities. His dream was to join a Ranger’s team to attempt an unconquered Dungeon. He wanted to join the Attack Squad.
“Even if one is afraid, men aren’t suppose to show it.”
“Haha. Big brother is quite confident.”
The queue time lasted several hours, so they talked a lot. Eventually, they decided to call each other big bro and little bro.
“Ok ok. Let’s start getting ready to enter.”
The barrier around the Dungeon let out a green light, and it started to fade. Woojin tilted head in curiosity as he saw the team in front of him exit.
“Huh? It seems there was an accident.”
As the experienced Bae-dohsoo had predicted, the team in front of them had 4 casualties. The public employees and officials dispatched from the Dungeon Management Agency ran towards them to investigate the situation.
They were waiting right behind them, so Woojin was able to hear their words clearly.
“A Hobgoblin showed up! How is that possible?”
The dispatched public employee showed Entrance Log to the argumentative Roused.
“Didn’t you read this? You even signed here.”
[The basic monsters summoned inside the Dungeon may vary from information given.]
[The burden of responsibility regarding this is placed on the Roused.]
….
The 4 surviving Rosued, who had lost their team, was very animated, but they had no way of receiving a compensation. Being a Miner wasn’t a safe job.
“Tsk tsk. It is useless to argue like that. They are just wasting their energy.”
It seemed they had left their party member’s corpses behind, and they were only able to run away after securing the Return Stone. Since they weren’t able to secure any Bloodstones, they had only incurred losses in this Dungeon.
As expected of a veteran Miner, Bae-dohsoo had experienced a lot of these situations. Bae-dohsoo looked away from the argument, then he spoke to his teammates.
“Hobgoblins are 2 star monsters. If we are well prepared, there is no reason why we wouldn’t be able to fight against it. No, those bastards most definitely drop Bloodstones, so it should be better for us. ”
According to Bae-dohsoo’s words, he had never hunted a Hobgoblin before, but he had the experience of clearing over 200 instances of 1 star Mine.
The eight party members briefly signed their names in the Dungeon Entrance Log then they started heading down the subway station’s stairway.
“Ok ok. Let’s enter.”
After Bae-dohsoo’s encouragement, they descended the stairs and they approached a tunnel. A white barrier started forming when they entered.
[You have enter the Shinrim Station’s 7th Exit.]
[This Dungeon has already been conquered. Basic monsters will be summoned.]
