Dungeon Predator

"12,000 gold."

"How much?" Kang Oh asked back.

"Twelve! Thousand! Gold!" Eder said clearly.

Kang Oh gaped.

"Is it really 12,000 gold?"

"Yes."

Grano nodded his head.

"Wow! I've hit the jackpot."

His wide eyes kept blinking. It felt like he'd won the lottery. 

"Some of the treasures had historical significance, which increased the price significantly. One of them sold for 5,000 gold."

Grano smiled.

"It was worth staying in the desert for so long."

Kang Oh smiled as well.

"You get 8,400 gold after subtracting my 3,600 gold portion."

Grano took out 84 gold bars from his subspace.

Kang Oh placed each gold bar into his inventory's gold box one by one.

"Ah, that's right. I sold Monique's set for 950 gold."

Kang Oh was going to give him 30% of the profit, but Grano shook his head.

"I'm fine. Just keep it. I've already made quite the fortune."

"Man, you're generous."

Kang Oh gave him a thumbs up.

"Hoo, hoo. What are you going to do with all that money?" Grano asked.

"I could ask you the same thing, Mr. Grano."

"I'm going to use it to fund my research into the rain-making device, and buy my daughters and wife an amazing present."

Grano sported a heartwarming smile. He supposed it was the smile of a doting father.

"I'm going to use it for my family as well."

'I need to gather more money and switch us to a lease. Once I've procured a house... A building comes next!'

Kang Oh beamed just thinking about procuring a house and his own building. 

"That's a good idea. There's nothing more important than family."

"You're right."

The two spoke a little longer, chatting about trivialities. 

"Then I'll get going now," Grano said.

"Alright, go ahead."

"I'll see you later."

"Yes, I'll see you later."

After they'd parted ways, Kang Oh left the Tower and looked up at the sky.

He stretched both of his hands into the sky and yelled, "I've hit the jackpot!"

* * *

Today was the first day of shooting for the regular program, Dungeon Conquering Man.

Jae Woo waited in the waiting room for the rest of the cast. The waiting room was small, but it was plenty big enough for a single person.

It's not like he had any coordinators or managers, and he didn't need to put makeup or fix up his face either.

Knock. Knock.

He heard someone knock on the waiting room door.

'Who is it?'

The door opened and in came Jin Cheol. He was holding the helmet Jae Woo had used last time on his side.

"Here, Mr. Jae Woo."

Jin Cheol passed him the helmet.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Producer."

Jae Woo accepted the helmet and looked it over. As always, it had a classy design.

"How are you feeling today?" Jin Cheol asked.

"Not bad."

"Today we're going to start with an interview at the studio. Then, after you've picked your dungeons, you'll go into our capsule room and begin your dungeon conquest. And when you're finished, you'll give us your footage, we'll record a closing statement, and then you're on your way."

Jin Cheol explained the order in which events would proceed.

"It's like last time. Is today's shoot 2 episodes worth?"

"Yes. Today's content will be split into episodes 1 and 2."

"I understand."

Jae Woo nodded his head.

"Then I'll see you later."

Jin Cheol left the waiting room.

Jae Woo left the helmet to the side, sat down on a chair, and passed the time with his eyes closed.

How much time had passed?

Knock. Knock.

Someone came looking for him once more.

"Excuse me."

He heard a woman's voice from behind the door. It was a voice he was familiar with.

"Please come in."

The door opened and in came a woman wearing a yellow one-piece dress.

She was the leader of the popular girl group, Triple Lower, and Jae Woo's partner for Dungeon Conquering Man, Soo Ah. 

"Hi."

Jae Woo waved his hand at her.

He and Soo Ah had maintained contact through Arth ever since their Chuseok broadcast of Dungeon Conquering Man.

Their first impressions of each other were so favorable that they'd gotten much closer just by messaging each other.

What was the best way to put this? Jae Woo and Soo Ah were like game friends.

"Oh..."

Soo Ah looked somewhat surprised as she alternated between Jae Woo's face and the helmet.

"Jae Woo Oppa?"

"Yeah, it's me. Now that I think about it, you've never seen my face before."

"Yes."

Soo Ah beamed and approached his side.

"Hehe. So this is what you look like."

Soo Ah looked over his face.

"Stop staring. You'll wear me out."

Jae Woo turned his head.

Then Soo Ah changed the topic.

"Have you been well?" she inquired.

"I have. I moved to a new house just a little while ago," Jae Woo smiled and said.

His family had finished moving two days ago, and they were all very satisfied with their new living arrangements.

"Ah, is that so?"

"Yeah."

Jae Woo pointed at the bags under her eyes. 

"I see bags under your eyes. Are you not sleeping well?"

"That's..."

Soo Ah hesitated.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"N-No, it's nothing. My schedule's just been full lately. I haven't been able to get much sleep."

"Seems like you're really busy."

"Girl groups are usually busy around the end of the year."

"You should still take care of yourself."

"Ok!"

Soo Ah beamed.

"Then I'll get going now. I still need to greet our other cast members."

"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead."

Jae Woo politely gestured to the door of his waiting room.

Knock!

But right when he did, he heard another knock on his door.

He hadn't even replied, but the door suddenly opened.

"Who are you?"

There was a woman he'd never seen before standing in front of his door. She was a beautiful girl with a cat-face.

"You don't know who I am? I'm Fortune's Yoon Se Hwa," Se Hwa said.

"Fortune?"

Jae Woo tilted his head.

Fortune. Yoon Se Hwa. Those were names he'd never heard of before.

Then, Soo Ah intervened.

"U-Unni. Welcome," she stammered and bowed her head.

"It's been a long time. I heard you've been quite successful lately..."

Yoon Se Hwa looked sharply at Soo Ah.

"So you felt that you didn't have to greet me, huh?"

Her voice was incredibly harsh, and her hostility towards Soo Ah was apparent.

"No, that's not true. I went to your waiting room, but you hadn't arrived yet. I was just on my way to greet you!"

"Whatever. From now on, make sure to greet me properly, little junior."

Yoon Se Hwa said her fill and then left.

Jae Woo, who'd seen this entire exchange, was completely speechless.

"That bi..."

He was about to curse, but stopped himself as Soo Ah was right beside him.

"Hmm. Hm. Soo Ah, are you alright?"

"Ah, yes. I'm alright."

Soo Ah forced herself to smile. That just made her look even more pitiable.

"That crazy... Hm. Why was that woman treating you like that?" Jae Woo asked.

"It's nothing. Please don't worry about it. Then, I'll get going now."

Soo Ah quickly stood up and left his waiting room before he could even stop her.

"Hmm."

Jae Woo, who was left alone, took out his phone and searched Yoon Se Hwa.

'A part of the 4 member girl group, Fortune. In charge of the visuals. An idol with a sexy and arrogant image?'

Looking her up on the internet wasn't enough to tell him why that crazy woman treated Soo Ah like that.

Kang Oh put his phone back in his pocket.

"Hmm. This is concerning."

Jae Woo believed that there was some sort of bad blood between Soo Ah and Yoon Se Hwa.

Her going off on Soo Ah about not greeting her and such and such was definitely not the crux of the matter. No one would show that much hostility from someone not greeting them.

"What is it..."

The creases on his forehead didn't recede for quite some time.

* * *

Shooting for Dungeon Conquering Man had begun.

Dungeon Conquering Man was hosted by GBS's MCs, Kang Seol Hee and Jeon Seong Gook.

"Hello viewers. This is the cool Seol Hee speaking!"

Kang Seol Hee, the woman whose face he'd drawn on, propped her face up with both hands and made a cute face.

"This is Jeon Seong Gook."

Jeon Seong Gook smiled and waved simply.

"Mr. Jeon Seong Gook."

"Yes Ms. Seol Hee?"

"Did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That our Chuseok program, He Who Conquers Dungeons, or Dungeon Conquering Man has become a regular program!" Seol Hee said exaggeratingly.

"I know. After all, I'm one of the MCs hosting Dungeon Conquering Man."

Jeon Seong Gook made a heart symbol with his thumb and index finger and placed it on his chin.

"Yes, yes. But apparently, Dungeon Conquering Man has come back stronger than ever. Shall we see what's changed?"

"Sounds good."

"Then... here you go."

Jeon Seong Gook and Kang Seol Hee simultaneously pointed at a giant monitor set up beforehand.

Bum-ba-bum.

Music played and a previously prepared video began to play on the monitor.

As expected, the biggest change was that they'd be clearing dungeons level by level.

There were levels that went from 1 to 5, and if one succeeded in clearing a dungeon, then they'd receive a prize.

They would attempt to conquer the dungeons, but the teams were pre-determined this time!

The video ended.

"Now!" Jeon Seong Gook began.

"Let's begin with the introductions. These are the Dungeon Conquering Men who will be joining us today, and these are the dungeons!"

The studio's cameras focused on the participants' faces.

Of course, Jae Woo was the sole exception because of his helmet.

"Please go down the line one by one, and introduce yourself."

Kang Seol Hee approached the player at the far right, the streamer Park Bae Shik.

"Hello. I'm a streamer and my ID is Wild Warrior. My name is Park Bae Shik."

"Ah, you were in our Chuseok program, right?" Seol Hee asked.

"Yes, I was."

"I can still remember that time when you spat out that salty drink."

Kang Seol Hee smiled impishly.

"I think that's why I was allowed to participate again."

"As I thought... Do you think you can succeed this time and clear all 5 levels?"

"Of course."

"A trustworthy answer that fits your ID. Then next..."

The participants continued their self-introductions and their short interviews. 

"...I'll do my best so that I don't slow Oppa down."

Soo Ah clenched her fists and finished her interview.

"Alright. Then let's go to Mr. Oga next. Please introduce yourself."

"Hello. My name is Oga," he introduced himself simply.

"Hoo, hoo. They say that you meet your enemy at the worst place and time. We finally meet again, Mr. Oga."

"Enemy?"

Jae Woo tilted his head.

"You're my face's enemy!"

Kang Seol Hee acted exaggeratingly.

"Then do you want to make a bet with me again? If I lose, I take off this helmet and reveal my face, but if you lose, then I draw..."

"Hmph. I'm not interested in your face anymore, Mr. Oga. It's probably just an ugly face."

Kang Seol Hee acted like she was sulking.

Jae Woo grinned and let it go.

She then moved on to the next interview.

"Hello, I'm in charge of Fortune's visuals. My name is Yoon Se Hwa," she said bright-eyed.

"Ah, Ms. Se Hwa. I heard that you accepted our request all of a sudden... Is that right?"

"Yes. Originally, someone else was slated to appear on this show. However, they had some circumstances they had to deal with that didn't allow them to come, but... Because of that, I was able to appear on such an amazing show!"

Yoon Se Hwa acted coquettishly with every reply.

'She's playing around.'

Kang Oh had already seen her 'true' personality, so he found her interview contemptible.

"I see. Oh, by the way. I heard you and Ms. Soo Ah were trainees together at one point in time. Would you like to tell her something like 'Let's do our best!'?" Kang Seol Hee asked.

"Yes. Soo Ah has always been a good, kind junior, even back when we were trainees. She can sing well too. I really care for her," Yoon Se Hwa smiled and said.

'What, you care for her?'

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. She was definitely psychotic.

"Alright. Next up is..."

Once Kang Seol Hee moved onto the next interviewee, Kang Oh saw Yoon Se Hwa stare at Soo Ah.

Soo Ah was forcing herself to smile, but her shoulders were drooping.

Jae Woo patted her shoulder.

"You ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Stay strong."

"Ok."

Jae Woo began his first shooting of Dungeon Conquering Man feeling awkward.