Welcome to Dungeon Hotel

* * *

After hunting Archeopteryx, I gained a little courage and walked to the plains area.

Thanks to the increase in the follow-up stat with the remaining points, the speed definitely increased and it felt like I didn’t get tired.

Still, I got to the oasis area while checking the time and planning to go back before the Archaeopteryx meat went bad.

E-Class and F-Class animals were gathered near the huge puddle. 

Because of the desire to hunt D-Class meat, they didn’t catch my attention.

However, there was one thing that caught my eye in Oasis, and that was a big apple tree.

The moment I saw the tree with golden fruits, different from the apples I know in general, I wanted to pick a few and go.

I approached the apple tree cautiously, fearing that I would attract the attention of high-ranking monsters. 

Looking closely, the apple tree was much bigger than I expected. So it seemed like there were no apples within my reach that I could pick.

It was when I looked at the apple tree and sighed.

Flapping! 

An Archeopteryx that was drinking water suddenly cried out.

I looked around in surprise.

However, even though Archeopteryx was crying loudly, the animals around it seemed unmoved.

I’m sure I saw D-Class mammoths, just like Archeopteryx, fighting each other.

As if they hadn’t even seen Archeopteryx, the mammoth was drinking only water. 

One hint I can get from this.

I had felt it before, but it became clear. 

It seems that the monsters here are drawn to visual information rather than auditory information. 

I used my dagger to climb the apple tree lightly. Its durability was good, so the dagger didn’t get damaged even if I hit the tree hard.

In high school, I was the last one in the horizontal bar, but now it’s not that hard to climb an apple tree. 

“Good…” 

I climbed onto one of the large branches and reached for the fruit.

When I looked up, the apples hanging from the top looked appetizing.

I plucked one of the apples within my reach.

You’ve obtained the ‘Golden Apple (C)’.

Freshness is best.

Time remaining: 06:00:00)

It is fresh and good to eat as is. The fragrant scent is excellent. 

*Effect: Mana +80%

Oh? What is this?

It’s a great ingredient. Should we make apple jam with Geumdong and serve toast for breakfast?

If I had an oven and a dough, I could make an apple pie.

In the realm of cooking, the only two fields I am confident in are ‘baking’ and ‘making coffee’.

When I have a little more money, I will buy an oven.

Excited to see the hotel gradually being upgraded, I tightened my thighs and started picking apples.

You’ve obtained the ‘Golden Apple (C)’.

You’ve obtained the ‘Golden Apple (C)’.

You’ve obtained the ‘Golden Apple (C)’.

It was the moment when I ignored the message window that kept popping up and picked a handful of apples and put them in my item bag.

My body reached the middle of the branch before I knew it.

And at the end of the branch, the Archeopteryx I saw earlier was sitting and staring at me.

“G, go away! Shoo shoo!” 

Of course, Archeopteryx couldn’t respect my situation.

I lost my balance while reaching out to use a fail-not. 

“Huh? H, huh…!”

I just rolled down. 

Fortunately, it didn’t hurt that much because I landed on my butt, but the problem was that the food items inside the bag fell to the floor as the bag spilled.

I started picking up the golden apples that were rolling around.

“Even if it gets dirty, I can just wipe it off.”

The moment I muttered, I raised my head with the feeling that something was staring at me.

“Grrrrr…” 

A ‘Cave Lion (C)’ has appeared ahead!

Y, you should tell me this quickly! 

I stiffened when I saw the lion about my size.

‘Cave Lion (C)’ recognizes ‘Lee Junghyo (Hidden)’ as its prey.

What do you mean prey! 

I took out the fail-not without hesitation. 

Although my hands were shaking a little, I was sure to aim at the lion properly. The arrowhead hit the cave lion as it was. 

“Kiiing…”

The cave lion fell flat.

You have succeeded in hunting the ‘Cave Lion (C)’. You have earned 1,000p EXP. 

Congratulations!

The level of the hotel goes up. (9→10)

Would you like to receive your level up rewards?

Y/N

I wondered why there was no reward for level-up earlier.

I tried to press Y proudly.

At that moment—

‘Cave Lion (C)’ recognizes ‘Lee Junghyo (Hidden)’ as its prey.

‘Cave Lion (C)’ recognizes ‘Lee Junghyo (Hidden)’ as its prey.

The window popped up twice.

Turning my head very slowly in a creepy atmosphere, I spotted two cave lions in the grass.

I couldn’t help it this time. I quickly took out the invisible helmet from my item bag and put it on.

“Grrrr!” 

The two cave lions that were charging at me at the same time suddenly stopped as if they had lost their way.

The cave lions started circling around me, hissing like cats.

It was a moment when I couldn’t even breathe.

After an eternity of time passed. They soon disappeared as if they had lost interest in this place.

I waited until the two cave lions were far enough away before I pulled an arrow from the body of the lion cub I had just captured while wearing my helmet.

My hands trembled. It was mana exhaustion.

“Whoo… I almost died.”

I took a bite of the apple before another monster popped out of nowhere.

The shaking of my hands stopped with the feeling of energy rising.

The moment I was relieved, I heard a scream from somewhere.

“Ouch! Crazy! Go away! Go away, you monster!” 

…Human. It’s a human voice. 

On the other side of the river, I saw a man being dragged along with his right foot bitten by a ‘One-horned Crocodile (C)’ and another man holding him tight and screaming.

The man whose leg was bitten didn’t seem to be able to even scream.

I took out the fail-not without hesitation.

Since the target was farther away than the monsters I had hit so far, I held my breath as much as possible so as not to be shaken no matter how much the man screamed.

“Please help me! Is anyone there?!”

My hands started to sweat. If I wasn’t careful, I could have hit a man fighting a crocodile.

I fixed my eyes on the target and released the fail-not I had in my hand.

Shoot! 

The arrow that flew in an instant hit its target.

The crocodile’s body drooped.

You have succeeded in hunting the ‘One-Horned Crocodile ©’. You have earned 1,000p EXP. 

Now I can’t level up with this kind of hunting.

What a shame. It seems that since I reached level 10, the amount of EXP required for leveling up has greatly increased.

As expected, it was a good decision to use Han Woohyun’s bus.

Anyway,

As soon as the crocodile’s body stretched out, the healthy side raised the body that was almost eaten by the crocodile.

The man who had been bitten seemed to be in great pain, and his face turned white from a distance.

The moment I saw the white-faced man, I unknowingly approached him a little.

And at that moment, the man who helped the bitten man looked at me and shouted.

“P, Paladin!” 

What?

I froze at the man’s cry.

Then the man called out again.

“The paladin has disappeared!”

Oh, right. I was wearing a helmet, right…? That’s right. I can disappear.

That means I can just ignore those guys…? 

“Damn it… Hey, wake up. Hwang Sungjin! Wake up! Don’t die… Sungjin…” 

The moment the man’s voice started crying, I realized.

If I leave it as it is, the hotel will soon find those men anyway.

I sighed briefly and took off my transparent helmet.

And I fiddled with the BLINK ring.

Now that this has happened, let’s go with the concept like this.

“Hwang Sungjin…and his friend. Will you come into my sanctuary?”

I immediately stood in front of two men and asked earnestly.

So my concept is a Mountain God— no, it’s a Paladin. 

It’s good to push the concept into one.

“H, how did you know this guy’s name?”

The man, with tears dangling from his eyes, asked in bewilderment.

I said, holding back from wanting to answer, “You just called him.”

“Just…the ‘voice’ tells me.” 

I said that and inserted the master key into the air.

‘To the hotel.’

While chanting inwardly.