Dungeon & Commander

Dungeon & Commander – 14

“Formation left turn!” Yoo Min-jung commanded.

Choi Moo-hyun moved to Yoo Min-jung’s position and turned left, while Yeom Sang-taek shifted to Choi Moo-hyun’s spot and turned his body. Yoo Min-jung moved much faster than the others, aiming to corner carrier Kim Joon.

‘Huh?’

Kim Joon had already moved to Yeom Sang-taek’s previous position. Yoo Min-jung found herself disliking Kim Joon for no particular reason.

“Formation reverse triangle!” she shouted sharply.

Yeom Sang-taek moved to Choi Moo-hyun’s right, and Yoo Min-jung took the rear position. Kim Joon’s position remained unchanged.

Two Viresisauruses charged side by side.

Yeom Sang-taek placed his hand on Choi Moo-hyun’s shoulder and cast ‘Help.’ ‘Help’ was a spell only buffers could use to temporarily enhance a tanker’s abilities.

‘Please, let this work!’

The first attempt at ‘Help’ failed. Quickly, he tried a second time, and fortunately, it succeeded. Choi Moo-hyun’s Diamond Wall became much clearer and its range expanded.

Boom! Boom!

Even though two Viresisauruses collided with it, the Diamond Wall only moved back by 10 centimeters.

As the Viresisauruses stumbled from the impact, Yoo Min-jung fired her fire arrows. Creating four fire arrows in each hand, she aimed them at the fallen Viresisauruses’ bellies. Like arrows shot by a skilled archer, the fire arrows flew straight into the Viresisauruses’ abdomens.

One monster died as the flames spread to its internal organs, while the other limped away into the darkness, moving very slowly.

“Pursue,” Yoo Min-jung decided.

The team left the dead monster behind and began the chase. Soon, Choi Moo-hyun’s breathing became labored. Even with Yeom Sang-taek’s assistance, chasing after deploying the Diamond Wall twice was too much for the tanker. Yeom Sang-taek also started to feel winded.

“Hang in there a bit longer. We can catch it,” Yoo Min-jung encouraged.

Her judgment was correct. They soon found the Viresisaurus lying on the ground, panting heavily.

Choi Moo-hyun killed the monster by stomping on it with his internal energy-infused foot. Kim Joon, who had been trailing behind, stepped forward with a metal rod digger.

It took Kim Joon about seven minutes to extract the core Viresium from the Viresisaurus’s body—a fairly quick job.

“Too long. Keep it under five minutes,” Yoo Min-jung criticized.

“Okay,” Kim Joon replied, placing the Viresium in the store bag.

Yoo Min-jung found Kim Joon’s cheerful demeanor irritating. Should she, as the team leader, also correct the carrier’s tone? For now, she decided to observe.

“Return to diamond formation,” Yoo Min-jung ordered, and the team reformed their positions.

While Kim Joon extracted the core from the dead Viresisaurus, the raiders remained vigilant for any potential attacks. However, there was no movement.

“Cast a Speed Up buff on me,” Yoo Min-jung said.

“Speed Up? Now?”

“Yes, now.”

“…Alright.”

Yeom Sang-taek took a deep breath and attempted the buff, but it took him three tries to successfully cast the speed-enhancing spell.

“Strong too,” Yoo Min-jung ordered.

The ‘Strong’ buff succeeded only after three failed attempts.

“What’s your success rate?” she asked.

“Uh, well…”

“Speak up.”

“42%.”

“What?”

Yoo Min-jung couldn’t believe her ears. A buffer with a success rate below 50% was unacceptable. To be respected as a buffer, one needed at least an 80% success rate, ideally over 90%.

‘In Jushin, he wouldn’t even be allowed to enter a dungeon. Anything below 80% disqualifies you from dungeon entry.’

Yoo Min-jung’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“From today, you’ll train individually for three hours daily. This is an order from your leader. If you don’t like it, you can leave the guild house. There won’t be any guilds in the metropolitan area that would take a 42% buffer. It might be wise to give up being a raider altogether. I’ll check your basic buff success rate every day. If it doesn’t improve after a month… I’ll leave the guild myself. Understood?”

The training session ended.

Under the shower’s cascading water, Yeom Sang-taek cried. Nothing had changed, whether in Daejeon or Seoul.

‘Phew, I’m the same no matter where I go.’

The only reason he survived the Devil’s Day disaster was because he hadn’t entered the dungeon due to his low success rate. In truth, since becoming an awakened, he had never entered a dungeon. He had only trained with simulators.

The simulator owned by the Yuseong Guild was a generation old, an outdated machine. Yeom Sang-taek blamed his 42% success rate on the frequent errors of the old simulator, even voicing this excuse occasionally.

It was foolish self-justification.

Saying such things only made the other awakened treat him like an idiot, but he couldn’t stay silent.

After showering until his skin wrinkled, Yeom Sang-taek found himself looking for Yoo Min-jung, even though he didn’t want to see her today. Fortunately, she seemed to have left already.

“See you tomorrow,” Choi Moo-hyun said as he left the guild house. The master was also nowhere to be seen.

Yeom Sang-taek wandered around the guild house and found the pitching machine area.

Inside, Kim Joon was practicing dodging baseballs. He avoided the incredibly fast balls with minimal movement, which was impressive.

Yeom Sang-taek’s jaw dropped as he walked around to the side.

“150 kilometers per hour?”

The pitching machine was originally a training device for enhancing a tanker’s defensive skills. Seeing a carrier use it was surprising.

Thwack.

A curveball hit Kim Joon’s thigh.

Kim Joon groaned and staggered but didn’t fall. When the next ball flew toward his face, he deflected it with his elbow, changing its trajectory.

Exhausted, Kim Joon lay down, with baseballs whizzing over his head.

Yeom Sang-taek turned off the pitching machine.

Kim Joon looked up and noticed Yeom Sang-taek.

“Oh? You’re still here?”

“Why are you doing this kind of training?” Yeom Sang-taek asked, holding a baseball and walking toward Kim Joon.

“I want to dodge a monster’s claws, even just once. That’s the only way to make it back alive,” Kim Joon said, groaning as he got up.

“Ah, I want a cold cola,” Yeom Sang-taek said.

“Cola? We don’t have that in the house,” Kim Joon replied.

“Exactly,” Yeom Sang-taek stared intently at Kim Joon.

After a moment of silence, Kim Joon nodded and left the guild house, heading to a nearby convenience store. When he returned, he handed Yeom Sang-taek a can of Coca-Cola.

“I only drink Pepsi,” Yeom Sang-taek said.

“…”

Kim Joon stared at him silently.

“I said Pepsi,” Yeom Sang-taek emphasized.

Kim Joon opened the can of Coca-Cola, took a sip, and then walked back to the convenience store. Watching him leave, Yeom Sang-taek felt a thrill. A shiver of excitement ran up and down his spine.

When Kim Joon returned with a can of Pepsi, Yeom Sang-taek took it without a word and left the guild house. He threw the cola into the trash. He had never intended to drink it. He just needed an outlet for his pent-up stress.

He laughed out loud. Even that seemingly perfect guy was just a carrier who had to bow down to a raider!

Lost in thoughts of how to torment Kim Joon the next day, Yeom Sang-taek didn’t notice the rough-looking man he bumped into. Another man, who seemed to be part of the same group, stood behind him.

“What’s your problem?” the man snarled.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Yeom Sang-taek apologized reflexively.

“Sorry isn’t good enough,” the thug said, picking a fight.

Yeom Sang-taek did something he normally wouldn’t. Casting Speed Up on himself twice in quick succession, he charged at the thugs. Having trained in combat from a young age and now enhanced by speed buffs, the thugs, who were just ordinary people, stood no chance. Soon, they were lying under the dim streetlights, groaning in pain.

The stress from Yoo Min-jung vanished completely. Yeom Sang-taek smiled broadly as he hailed a taxi.

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***

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The next day, Yeom Sang-taek was humiliated again. His buff success rate was below 33%, and Yoo Min-jung’s harsh words cut deep. She said she had never seen such a low-quality buffer, that he wouldn’t even be allowed into Jushin, and that if she were him, she would give up being a raider and live an ordinary life.

After waiting for Yoo Min-jung, Choi Moo-hyun, and the master to leave, Yeom Sang-taek approached Kim Joon again.

“I feel like having a cola again,” he said.

“…Alright,” Kim Joon replied and went to the convenience store, returning with both Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

“Oh, what should I do? Today, I feel like having a calorie-free Coca-Cola,” Yeom Sang-taek said.

“…”

Kim Joon stared at him silently.

Yeom Sang-taek met his gaze, confident that a mere carrier wouldn’t dare defy a raider like him. Kim Joon slowly walked back to the convenience store.

Sipping the cola Kim Joon brought back, Yeom Sang-taek found another reason to complain.

“The cleaning is a mess,” he said.

Yeom Sang-taek rubbed his fingers along the handle inside the simulator seat. Kim Joon fetched a rag and began cleaning. For over an hour, Yeom Sang-taek dragged Kim Joon around, making him clean various spots, all the while wearing a satisfied smile as he finally left the guild house.

Before he even exited the parking lot, Yeom Sang-taek burst into laughter. He didn’t bother to suppress it. If Kim Joon heard it, it would only make him angrier.

As he walked towards the taxi stand, he noticed a group of men smoking in a narrow alley. They looked rough and delinquent.

Deliberately, Yeom Sang-taek approached them.

“You, bastard!” One of the men recognized Yeom Sang-taek and stubbed out his cigarette with his shoe.

Yeom Sang-taek cast Speed Up twice and Strong once. He was lucky—all three spells succeeded cleanly.

Kicking off the wall, he leaped into the air and struck the thug’s face with his foot, then began fighting with a battle cry.

The result was another overwhelming victory. Four thugs were taken down by Yeom Sang-taek alone.

Looking down at the groaning thugs, Yeom Sang-taek said, “If I see you again, you’ll be dead.”

As he walked away, an indescribable thrill spread through his body.

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***

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The team slid down a dusty slope, having crossed a sand dune in diamond formation.

“Light turn!” Yoo Min-jung commanded.

Even dungeons had sloped areas. The purpose of this training was to maintain optimal combat effectiveness in any terrain. To quickly change formation on a hillside, maintaining balance was crucial.

As Kim Joon moved to his new position, Yeom Sang-taek cast a Strong buff on him. Suddenly, Kim Joon’s left leg felt heavy, causing him to lose balance. He managed not to fall thanks to his quick reflexes.

‘Oh, he’s holding up pretty well,’ Yeom Sang-taek thought, casting Strong once more.

Kim Joon’s leg sank, and he tumbled down the slope. He grabbed at some weeds, but they were uprooted easily.

Kim Joon rolled about 30 meters down.

Yoo Min-jung sighed as she watched him.

“What’s wrong with him now?”

“It’s slippery here,” Choi Moo-hyun replied.

Yoo Min-jung glared at the tanker, who shrugged and said no more. Provoking an angry snake would only get him bitten.

Yoo Min-jung slid down the sand dune as if riding a board. Kim Joon, who had just gotten up, glanced at Yeom Sang-taek approaching slowly behind Yoo Min-jung but said nothing.

“Get your head straight,” Yoo Min-jung snapped.

Training resumed. That day, Kim Joon made several mistakes. Yeom Sang-taek had been playing pranks on him at critical moments. He cast Speed Up when they needed to approach a monster cautiously, overused Anti-Fire on wet ground causing Kim Joon’s boots to freeze and stick, and even cast Help to interfere while Kim Joon was extracting a core from a dead monster.

Yeom Sang-taek felt a thrill when Yoo Min-jung berated Kim Joon, but was slightly disappointed that Kim Joon didn’t complain. If Kim Joon had blamed the buffer, Yeom Sang-taek would have denied it outright.

For the first time in a while, training was enjoyable. Yeom Sang-taek hummed a tune in the shower.

When he stepped out of the shower and into the locker room, he saw Choi Moo-hyun getting dressed. His well-built chest, rippling muscles, and defined abs were impressive even to another man.

‘I wanted to be a tanker too,’ Yeom Sang-taek thought.

Choi Moo-hyun, now dressed in his training clothes, approached. He looked even more imposing than when he was shirtless.

“If you go too far with your pranks, you might get hurt too,” Choi Moo-hyun warned.

“What are you talking about?” Yeom Sang-taek asked.

“Kim Joon,” Choi Moo-hyun replied, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

Yeom Sang-taek remained silent.

Choi Moo-hyun walked to the locker room entrance, leaned against the door, and looked back at Yeom Sang-taek.

“Don’t think what you see now is all there is to him. He used to be an unstoppable fighter.”

“Who? Kim Joon?” Yeom Sang-taek asked incredulously.

“Just be careful,” Choi Moo-hyun said before leaving the locker room.

Ten seconds of silence followed.

Then, Yeom Sang-taek burst into laughter, still half-dressed. The idea that the obedient carrier was once a formidable fighter was the funniest thing he had heard all year. Kim Joon was just a carrier who could run fast!

With a few buffs, Yeom Sang-taek could turn Kim Joon into a bloody mess. He could easily take down real thugs, so crushing Kim Joon would be a piece of cake.

‘Hehe, this will be fun,’ Yeom Sang-taek thought with a grin.

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***

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After finishing his solo training, Kim Joon emerged from the simulator and noticed Yeom Sang-taek sitting on a bench near the guild house entrance, waving cheerfully.

Kim Joon headed to the locker room.

After showering, he saw that Yeom Sang-taek was still sitting on the bench.

As Kim Joon walked out, Yeom Sang-taek approached him. The moment he set his bag down, Yeom Sang-taek threw a punch.

Caught off guard, Kim Joon moved a step too late and took a hit to his left cheek. The force of the punch sent him sprawling. Looking up at the circling Yeom Sang-taek, Kim Joon chuckled.

“…What are you doing?” Kim Joon asked.

“I never liked you from the start,” Yeom Sang-taek replied.

“……”

“Carrier scum,” Yeom Sang-taek sneered, aiming a kick at Kim Joon’s side. But Kim Joon rolled away and quickly got to his feet.

Yeom Sang-taek was incredibly fast, moving so quickly that it was hard for an ordinary person to follow. One moment he seemed to be approaching from the left, and the next he was behind.

Although Kim Joon took a few hits, he soon figured out Yeom Sang-taek’s pattern. He wouldn’t get hit again.

Yeom Sang-taek panted for breath.

Kim Joon slid towards Yeom Sang-taek, targeting his ankle. Tripped by Kim Joon’s foot, Yeom Sang-taek struggled to get up, only to see Kim Joon airborne.

Using the momentum of bending backward, Kim Joon headbutted Yeom Sang-taek. Their foreheads collided with a thud.

Boom.

The pain was excruciating. Yeom Sang-taek dropped to his knees, too dizzy to stand.

Kim Joon grabbed Yeom Sang-taek’s head with both hands and headbutted him again.

Boom!

Yeom Sang-taek passed out on the spot.

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***

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When Yeom Sang-taek opened his eyes, he saw the locker room ceiling. He groaned from a terrible headache.

Kim Joon was there.

“Are you okay?” Kim Joon asked.

“Why am I here…?” Yeom Sang-taek mumbled.

As soon as he saw the bandage on Kim Joon’s forehead, the memories came flooding back. He had charged at Kim Joon with buffs like Strong and Speed Up cast on himself, only to be knocked out by two headbutts.

He raised his hand to feel his forehead, which was now wrapped in bandages.

Tears welled up in his eyes.

It was humiliating. Losing to a carrier of all people. Even if he tried again, he doubted he could win.

Barely managing to stand, Yeom Sang-taek ran out of the locker room without saying a word. He didn’t notice the glass door was closed and slammed into it, quickly getting up and stumbling away.

Kim Joon watched him leave through the glass door.

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***

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As he ran through the early morning air, the tears he saw last night kept replaying in his mind.

In school, fights happened for various reasons, even if you didn’t go looking for trouble.

If you win, you have to keep fighting until you lose.

If you keep winning, the fights never stop.

Kim Joon had never started a fight. He just didn’t avoid those who came at him.

Every opponent who confidently charged at him ended up on the ground. Some swore revenge, others lowered themselves and started acting like his lackeys. Each had a different reaction.

But none of them cried like Yeom Sang-taek. Maybe that’s why those tears kept lingering in his mind.

‘Why do I feel like I’m the one who bullied him?’

The guild house came into view.

After a quick shower, Kim Joon filled the fridge with various types of cola. He took extra care cleaning Yeom Sang-taek’s locker and simulator. After changing clothes in the locker room, he looked at himself in the mirror, then took a bandage from the first aid kit and wrapped it around his head.

Kim Joon checked the time.

‘He’s late today.’

Someone entered the guild house. Sensing the presence, Kim Joon quickly turned around.

It was Choi Moo-hyun.

“What’s that on your forehead?” Choi Moo-hyun asked, throwing his bag down and rushing over.

“I bumped into something,” Kim Joon replied.

“No way. You headbutted him, didn’t you? If you’re in this state, Sang-taek must be in the hospital. You should’ve gone easier on him.”

Kim Joon realized why Yeom Sang-taek had suddenly picked a fight. This big guy must have provoked him in some way.