## Chapter 152 – 152. Dungeon Survival
152. Dungeon Survival
“Ugh.”
Gravity presses down on my body.
It feels like invisible hands are reaching out from the ground, grabbing my entire body and pulling me down.
I grit my teeth and take a step forward. My foot moved slower than I expected.
‘Definitely… enduring Han Harin’s gravity field without using mana is quite difficult.’
Han Harin, about 7 meters away from me, pointed her index finger at me. A small black sphere appeared in front of her finger.
‘Gravity ball.’
It’s called a gravity ball in English.
A famous technique that hunters with gravity manipulation abilities use as a basic skill. That small gravity ball has a mass of at least 30 kg. If it hits you directly at high speed, it won’t end well.
‘My current physical ability is around the upper E-rank. If I get hit head-on, that’s it for me.’
I generate mana to dodge the gravity ball and run towards Han Harin.
Using mana gives me resistance to abilities, so I can move without being greatly affected by the gravity field.
Float.
Han Harin’s body began to rise into the air. She was using gravity to fly. It was quite stable.
‘I heard that flying with gravity manipulation requires very fine control, so it’s extremely difficult… I can see how much Han Harin has practiced.’
Han Harin, who had risen to almost 10 meters, began to shoot gravity balls at me.
I used my footwork to easily dodge all the gravity balls. The gravity balls themselves aren’t particularly fast, so if your body moves properly, dodging them is simple.
‘That’s why Han Harin uses a gravity field to restrict her opponent’s movements before shooting gravity balls.’
If you’re caught in a gravity field, dodging gravity balls becomes many times more difficult. Conversely, if you’re not caught in a gravity field, it’s nothing.
Crackling.
I held blue lightning in my hand and threw it at Han Harin. It was weaker in power and speed than shooting lightning using Man-Rae, but that was my intention.
‘If Han Harin gets hit by Man-Rae, she could die, so it’s dangerous.’
Han Harin created a gravity shield to block my lightning. I kept throwing lightning at her. She seemed overwhelmed just by blocking the attacks, and her body was shaking.
‘The fact that flying requires fine control means that if her concentration wavers, she’ll fall.’
After I threw about 10 lightning bolts, Han Harin finally fell from the air to the ground. I rushed towards her.
The gravity ball created in Han Harin’s palm elongated and took the shape of a sword. Then, she swung the sword at me.
My sword clashed with the gravity sword. It was just like swinging a stick. There was no technique or anything.
‘It’s heavy, but… it’s nothing with mana.’
I knocked the gravity sword aside and pointed the tip of my sword at Han Harin’s neck.
Han Harin clenched her fist and glared at me, then relaxed and said to me.
“…I lost.”
“Don’t be too disappointed. Honestly, if it weren’t for the power of mana, I wouldn’t have won this easily.”
“……”
I brought up mana every chance I got.
The reason I asked her for a sparring match in the first place was because of this. To further fuel Han Harin’s desire for mana awakening.
‘If I fuel her desire for mana awakening like this, she’ll be more proactive in getting massages.’
Han Harin needs to become more desperate. If she feels like she’s grasping at straws, she’ll cling to massages.
“Shall we end it here? Or do it tomorrow?”
“Let’s spar again tomorrow.”
I nodded. As expected, Han Harin has a strong desire to become stronger.
“You look tired, should we just skip the massage today?”
“It’s okay. You said the massage is effective if you do it consistently.”
“That’s true.”
•••
Today is the gathering day for Dungeon Survival Reforged. Han Harin, Eun Sangmin, and I went to a restaurant. The broadcasting station seemed to have rented a pretty decent restaurant for the day.
The schedule was to have lunch at the restaurant and then have a briefing about Dungeon Survival.
“Hmm…”
As soon as we entered the restaurant, we felt pressure coming from all directions. It was an aura filled with mana.
Eun Sangmin and I could handle it without any problems, but not Han Harin. Her face turned pale in an instant.
‘The atmosphere is terrible. Did something happen before we came?’
I deliberately stood in front of Han Harin to block the aura. Han Harin looked a little better, but soon bit her lip. She seemed frustrated that she couldn’t do anything in this situation.
“…What are you staring at?”
Eun Sangmin was frowning and using a wide-area provocation. Some people chuckled, and some glared at Eun Sangmin as if they wanted to kill him.
I understand Eun Sangmin’s feelings. We opened the door and were met with an aura mixed with mana. I was a little annoyed too. This is clearly a hostile act.
‘It seems like they were trying to gauge the participants’ abilities and it turned out like this…’
There’s nothing I can do. I can’t turn those hunters into enemies here.
‘Still, I learned something good. Roughly 50 or more are hunters who can use mana.’
Just because they can use mana doesn’t necessarily mean they are C-rank hunters. There could be hunters who have awakened mana even though they are E-rank like me.
‘The ones I need to be careful of here are… about 8 people, I guess.’
They are the ones who seem stronger than Eun Sangmin.
I walked towards the table that said ‘Gukcheondae Hunter Team’. ‘Gukcheondae Hunter Team’ is our team name. It wasn’t the team name we chose, but it became this name at the school’s request.
“Harin-sunbae. Sangmin-sunbae. Our table is here. Come this way. Especially Sangmin-sunbae. Let’s not waste our energy.”
Harin just walked to the table, and Eun Sangmin glared around once before sitting down at the table.
‘It’s a relief that Eun Sangmin is under control.’
It seems like he acknowledges me as the leader.
After that, we ate a course meal and listened to a briefing from the broadcasting station’s assistant director and writer. Next to them, a staff member from the Hunter Association was watching us with his arms crossed.
“The dungeon where Dungeon Survival will begin is a dungeon provided by the Association, located near Gangneung…”
They didn’t tell us exactly what kind of environment the dungeon was or what kind of monsters would appear.
All we could learn about the dungeon was that dozens of cameras were installed, staff members from the Hunter Association with cameras would be moving around, and they would intervene in case of an emergency.
“For your safety, Dungeon Survival Reforged will provide you with an Energy Protect. The Energy Protect will take damage instead of you and consume energy. If the Energy Protect’s energy is completely depleted, you will be eliminated at that point and must go under the guidance of an Association member. If you move or attack even after the energy is completely depleted, you may be severely punished, so please keep that in mind…”
It was clear that they were paying special attention to safety.
‘It’s for the broadcast, so it can’t be helped.’
I soon felt bored. The explanations they were giving were mostly things that were written on the documents anyway.
‘When is Baek Ji-eun coming? The other celebrities have arrived, but why isn’t Baek Ji-eun here? Surely she’s not not coming just because it’s the gathering day?’
Baek Ji-eun did come. It was when the briefing was nearing its end, after two hours had passed.
“I’m sorry. I was a bit late because of my busy schedule. But please don’t be mad. I even brought rice cakes as a gift.”
With her wavy brown hair and a suit that fit her body perfectly, Baek Ji-eun exuded a sophisticated city woman vibe. As expected of an F-cup chest, her blouse was bursting at the seams.
‘She’s finally here.’
Baek Ji-eun smiled and began to greet the celebrities she knew. Even the Association staff bowed deeply in front of her.
Baek Ji-eun is an A-rank hunter. She’s also affiliated with the Association. There are even rumors that she’s a next-generation executive candidate for the Korean Hunter Association, as she’s evaluated to have the potential to become an S-rank.
‘Even if she doesn’t become an S-rank, she has a lot of influence within the Association, so there’s talk of her becoming an executive.’
My source of information is the internet.
A lot of the information floating around on the internet is rumors. However, if you collect and compare information from various sites, the rumors are filtered out, and you get reasonably good information.
‘It’s true that she’s an executive candidate. According to my research, the Hunter Association gives her quite a lot of favors.’
And my goal is her.
‘I need to make at least one executive of the Hunter Association my ally.’
Since the Hunter Association has a lot of influence, making Baek Ji-eun mine will definitely be a big help.
I fiddled with the ‘Absolute Hypnosis Sticker’ I had in my pocket.
‘I need to stick this on Baek Ji-eun’s skin… How should I approach her? Hmm. It would be better to aim for a time when there are no people around.’
I can’t just suddenly stick a sticker on Baek Ji-eun’s skin. If the hypnosis is successfully activated after suddenly sticking the sticker, Baek Ji-eun’s attitude will change, which will naturally arouse suspicion.
‘I can approach her naturally by pretending to be a fan. However, there’s a possibility that the Absolute Hypnosis Sticker might fail.’
The success or failure of the Absolute Hypnosis Sticker depends on the target’s mental strength. If their mental strength is high, there’s a possibility that it won’t work.
‘The problem is that I don’t know the criteria.’
People’s mental strength varies.
‘What’s certain is that hunters have higher mental strength than ordinary people. The higher the rank, the higher the mental strength.’
There are research results on this. In magic related to the mind, the higher the rank of the hunter, the more solid their mental strength, making mental magic less effective.
‘It’s obvious that S-rank is impossible.’
Even if I could shake their mental strength through torture, approaching an S-rank is dangerous in itself.
‘It hasn’t even been half a year since Baek Ji-eun became an A-rank. She can be considered a lower-tier A-rank. There’s a possibility.’
I chewed on the rice cake that Baek Ji-eun gave to people and waited for an opportunity.
If an opportunity doesn’t come up, I plan to pretend to stumble while passing by her and stick the sticker on her body.
“Let’s take a 10-minute break. There’s not much left now, so don’t worry.”
The hunters began to leave with a sigh. The briefing was just about delivering precautions. It was bound to be boring.
‘Where’s Baek Ji-eun?’
Baek Ji-eun also left her seat. She wasn’t heading towards the bathroom.
‘Is this an opportunity!’
I got up from the table.
“Oh. Are you going to the bathroom?”
Eun Sangmin, who was fiddling with his smartphone, asked me. I shook my head.
“I have an important phone call. I’ll be back after going outside for a bit.”
I said that and headed in the direction Baek Ji-eun had gone.
I won’t do the stupid thing of trying to move secretly while suppressing my presence. Baek Ji-eun is an A-rank hunter. No matter how clumsily I try to hide my presence, she’ll find me right away. It would only make her suspicious.
I confirmed that Baek Ji-eun got into a black van. It seems like she was going to rest in the car for a bit or that she had something she forgot to bring.
‘Should I approach the car? No. I’ll wait for her to come out and then pretend to bump into her.’
I took out the Absolute Hypnosis Sticker from my pocket. It was slightly larger than my thumb. The surface of the sticker was covered with densely packed writing.
‘I even practiced writing small letters to fit everything in this small space.’
The letters written on the sticker are as follows:
-You think of me as your childhood friend, whom you’ve been close with since we were young, and also as a sex friend.
-You will follow my orders, no matter what they are.
-You feel the greatest joy in sucking my dick.
-When my dick is inside your pussy, you feel 10 times the sexual pleasure.
-Our relationship is a secret.
‘I wrote ‘me’ instead of writing my name. After all, I’m the one sticking the sticker.’
I don’t think it’s possible that it won’t have that much flexibility.
What I’m curious about is what would happen if I stuck this sticker on myself… But it’s too precious to use the sticker for such an experiment.
Click.
The car door opened, and Baek Ji-eun came out. She was holding a tumbler I hadn’t seen before. It seems like she came to the car to get the tumbler.
Baek Ji-eun is coming this way. I took a deep breath and naturally stepped away from the wall. Then, I looked at Baek Ji-eun and made a surprised expression as if we had bumped into each other by chance.
“B-Baek Ji-eun-ssi?!”
“Ah, yes.”
“I’m a fan! Baek Ji-eun-ssi! Could you please give me an autograph? No. Just a handshake! Please!”
“A handshake is nothing.”
Baek Ji-eun held out her right hand. I also held out my right hand. In my right hand, there was a sticker with the backing removed. If we shook hands, it would naturally stick to Baek Ji-eun’s palm.
‘If it doesn’t work, I’ll have to peel off the sticker and run.’
Clasp.
We shook hands. The sticker stuck to her palm. I looked at Baek Ji-eun with a nervous heart.
Baek Ji-eun was frowning as she looked at me.
“What, you.”
