Chapter 18
The master key really did connect exactly to the place it was intended.
The tutorial dungeon appeared again, this time with a slightly more diverse set of monsters than before.
It still consisted of green plains under a gray sky — probably the default setting for a tutorial dungeon.
“Shall we get started?”
Monsters appeared.
Slime (F)
Slime (F)
Goblin (F)
Goblin (F)
Fire Mole (E)
“Huh. Slimes are a piece of cake, and the goblins are F-rank too, so this shouldn’t be too hard, right?”
But the Fire Mole caught her attention.
“I haven’t seen that one before. E-rank?”
Besides, the fact that “fire” was in its name felt ominous.
“Let’s try it. Freeze it in one go.”
Slime (F) defeated!
Gained 50 exp!
Obtained Frozen Slime (F) x1!
Sori started systematically taking out slimes and goblins, just like before.
Gained 50 exp!
Gained 50 exp!
Goblins were just as weak as slimes, but slightly more threatening because they had a strong instinct to bite at legs with their sharp teeth.
It was a bit scary.
So Sori had to focus more and use her skills carefully than with slimes.
“If I keep going, the boss should show up too.”
This time, she didn’t intend to roast anything. She shouted “Freeze” again, and one by one, the slimes and goblins were frozen.
Obtained Frozen Slime (F) x1!
Obtained Frozen Goblin (F) x1!
Sometimes she got extra items too.
Obtained Goblin Food “Golden Oak Leaf” x1!
“Goblin food?”
Interesting — monsters had their own food.
“Well, I guess they need to eat something to survive. Slimes probably just nibble on grass.”
She left the Fire Mole for later, unsure how strong it might be, planning to deal with it after clearing the slimes and goblins.
“How many are left? But I feel a bit dizzy.”
She touched her forehead. A cold, maybe? But there was no fever.
As she tried to shake off the dizziness, a new message popped up.
Inventory is full!
—You cannot collect any more extra items.
If you want to collect more, increase your inventory or discard existing items!
“Huh?”
Her inventory was full. She had never run into this problem before.
“Wasn’t everything supposed to be automatically stored?”
Sori, still a complete rookie Awakener, naturally didn’t know that money also took up inventory space.
She opened the inventory.
Inventory (Lv.1)
—7 sets of storage, each holding 10 slots.
—Different types cannot be stacked in the same set.
“Inventory has levels too?”
This meant she could only store 70 items total. No wonder it filled up quickly, especially with recipes and special utensils taking up slots.
“How do I level it up?”
Inventory (Lv.1) → Inventory (Lv.2): Upgrade cost 2,000 gold.
“2,000 gold?”
Sori was dumbfounded. Was the unit of currency changing? No, it had to be real.
“Upgrade inventory for 2,000 gold?”
The system remained silent — it had told her everything it needed to.
“Then there’s only one option.”
Discard some items.
Discard Frozen Goblin (F) x10?
Discard Frozen Slime (F) x10?
She made room in her inventory.
“I’ll put these in the fridge later and pick them up again.”
All Slime (F) in this dungeon have been defeated!
A message appeared that all slimes were gone. She was still finishing off the remaining goblins when she obtained a new item.
Obtained “Mithril Knife (C)” x1!
“What’s a Mithril Knife?”
She knew it was a blade.
Mithril Knife (C)
—A knife made of mithril, a metal as strong as titanium, extremely sharp. Handle with care.
“Anyway, it’s a knife. Wonder how sharp it really is.”
She put it in her inventory, thinking it might come in handy someday.
All Goblin (F) in this dungeon have been defeated!
With the goblins gone, only the Fire Mole remained.
E-rank monsters were new to her, and she hesitated a bit. But normally, E-rank monsters were treated as just “fodder” by hunters.
Maybe she could handle it.
“Freeze in one go!”
With determination, she cast the skill. It hit the Fire Mole, which had just surfaced from underground.
But what happened next was unexpected.
Instead of freezing, the water just spread around the Fire Mole, and it melted immediately.
“Whoa.”
This wasn’t part of the plan.
Sori panicked. If freezing didn’t work, what could she do? Its name “Fire Mole” clearly wasn’t a joke.
“Then maybe I should try fire too? Roast in one go!”
Roasting had a short effective time and couldn’t be stored, but she had no choice.
Even Roast in One Go (C) didn’t work. The Fire Mole seemed to feel merely “warm” rather than hot.
Its expression after the skill was oddly relaxed.
“Whoa.”
Should she retreat? Sori started to struggle with the decision. After all, this was the tutorial dungeon — she could leave anytime.
“Maybe I’ll come back later?”
She thought she would study a bit first…
Unfortunately, the Fire Mole looked extremely hot just to the sight, making it impossible for her to take it down directly.
“Ah, whatever. Forget the boss.”
Just as she yawned, ready to leave, the Fire Mole, now enraged from taking two skill hits, leapt at her with its mouth open.
“Huh…?”
It was sudden. The Fire Mole reached out its hands to grab her head. For a mole, its hands were surprisingly big.
If it grabbed her, she might lose her hair, so she quickly stepped back.
“Mithril Knife!”
She swiftly drew the Mithril Knife from her inventory and cut the Fire Mole’s neck in one clean strike. It had warned to handle with care — and indeed, it was effortless yet precise.
Fire Mole (E) defeated!
Gained 60 exp!
Obtained Fire Mole’s Belly Fat x1!
“That was close.”
Then suddenly…
Congratulations!
Acquired Cooking Skill: Slice in One Go (C)!
Unexpectedly, she obtained a cooking skill.
“Now it’s Slice in One Go?”
Sori’s heart raced with excitement over her new cooking skill. A bright smile spread across her face.
“Then chopping vegetables won’t be a problem anymore!”
Her confidence in the path of a chef was growing. With that confidence, she soon defeated all the Fire Moles.
All Fire Mole (E) in this dungeon have been defeated!
Once all monsters were defeated, another message appeared.
You are now Restaurant Owner (Lv.5)!
Level-up rewards available.
“Level-up? Well, I did defeat a lot.”
But she would check rewards later. After clearing all normal monsters, she just had to find the boss.
Finally… the boss monster…!
Nervous but not too worried — it was a tutorial dungeon, after all. She could leave anytime if things went wrong.
But…
Whiiiiiish.
No matter how much she walked, not even an ant was in sight.
“Where the heck do I find the boss?”
After a while, a system message popped up.
“Is this the boss appearance message?”
There are no bosses in the tutorial dungeon.
—Tutorial Dungeon Rule #2
Unbelievable.
“Why didn’t you say this sooner!”
To fight a boss, she had no choice but to enter a “real” dungeon.
Her head had throbbed the entire time she was clearing monsters, but she assumed it was just an ordinary headache.
Strangely, after seeing the “no boss” message, her memory went blank. When she came to, she was in the restaurant.
“…Hmph.”
Sori was covered with a blanket, and John was standing guard nearby.
“John?”
“You’re awake.”
“What happened?”
She sat up, her head throbbing again.
“Move slowly. You haven’t fully recovered yet.”
“From what?”
“What were you thinking, killing everything recklessly? Don’t you know skills aren’t unlimited?”
John clicked his tongue in disbelief.
“You mean I can’t just use them freely?”
“Skills consume the magic within your body. Magic isn’t infinite, so naturally there’s a limit.”
“…You could’ve told me earlier.”
“Who could’ve predicted a new Awakener would use skills excessively after only experiencing the tutorial dungeon?”
“…I wanted to fight the boss.”
“Did you even listen when they said there’s no boss in the tutorial dungeon? Even if there were, you couldn’t handle it in your current state!”
“I assumed dungeons must have bosses.”
Sori’s voice sank in defeat.
“But… thanks.”
She muttered her gratitude gloomily.
Her tone wasn’t exactly suitable for thanks, but John’s face immediately turned red.
“Wh-what are you thanking me for?”
“I was unconscious, right? In the dungeon? I don’t remember.”
“Y-yeah. You weren’t coming back, so I went and found you lying there flat out!”
John was surprisingly strong. When he first dragged Sori into the tutorial dungeon by her ears, she had been effortlessly moved.
“But where did the blanket come from? I didn’t see it.”
“You’ve never properly checked the storage, have you?”
“Really? It was in storage?”
“Yes. Probably left by the previous owner.”
“Hmm?”
Now she recalled seeing the previous owner sometimes appear as if they had just woken up.
“So that’s why you covered me?”
“I-I just thought you were cold, that’s all!”
John’s face turned bright red again.
‘He’s so embarrassed.’
“So if I feel dizzy, should I stop using skills?”
The most important question. What should she do if dizziness hits inside a dungeon?
John stroked his chin and replied.
“Of course, you use a potion to recover.”
“Oh, really?”
Suddenly, memories of Lee Gijun surfaced.
After becoming a hunter, Sori had many questions about him — what happens in a dungeon, how to manage potions, and so on. She asked, but he never told her even the simple things.
‘Knowing wouldn’t help anyway.’
He would always dismiss questions with a kiss, ignoring context.
“Haa.”
Why did that pointless memory appear again?
It must have been because of the unexpected reunion.
“Potions… are sold at the Hunter Market, right?”
Anyway, Sori realized that potions were essential for surviving as an Awakener.
