7.

Sijun's smile froze, but the low voice in his ear forced him to maintain the facade.

"The reporters would love to see what you were up to in there, wouldn't they?" Buja's tone was light, almost friendly.

"You son of a…"

Buja was confident in his ability to make threats, especially when he held all the cards. It was practically his specialty. Sijun bit back his curse as he saw the reporters approaching, forcing his lips into a strained grin.

"What happened in there?"

"Is it true you made a bet over the Special-grade Vitality accessory set?"

"What was the outcome?"

The questions came in a torrent. Sijun couldn't answer. It was unlike him, but he was trapped. 'Did he really record it?' Normally, he would have plastered on a brave face and spun a tale about Buja's underhanded tactics, playing the media like a fiddle. But if Buja actually released a video, it would all be for nothing. The reputation he had carefully built would shatter in an instant.

So instead of answering, he frantically searched his memory. player rarely filmed inside dungeons themselves. You needed all your senses on high alert, and using one of your precious hands to hold a camera was tantamount to fighting one-handed. That's why people used professional camera drones. He had to remember.

'I entered the dungeon first.' If Buja had filmed anything, it wouldn't include their initial conversation. After that, they had talked briefly, and he hadn't seen Buja take out a drone or anything of the sort, even after they headed to the island's interior. He was certain. 'At the very least, he doesn't have our first conversation on tape.'

Even with that realization, he couldn't risk speaking carelessly in front of the press.

"How did you two become so close, even dropping formalities?" a reporter asked, pressing forward. "Mr. Park, you're with the SJ Guild, and the youngest son of the SJ Group. Mr. Kim, we understand you just joined the Jeong Cheol Guild. Aren't you rivals?"

"Yes, we are rivals," Buja answered smoothly before Sijun could even think of a response. "That's how the bet over the Ring and Earring of Vitality started. Sijun here said he'd give them to me if I could prove I could clear a Unique Dungeon solo. I did my best to show him exactly how I do it, and he acknowledged my skill. That's why we were able to leave on good terms."

While Sijun was still trying to figure out how to handle the situation, Buja was freely spinning his own version of events to the reporters.

'I recorded footage too,' Sijun thought desperately. He could, at any moment, declare Buja a liar and release his own video to turn the tables. But even if Buja was bluffing, it was a path to self-destruction. 'I can't release it without editing it first.'

But even with editing, he couldn't show it. The footage contained his own humiliating retreat from the monsters. Furthermore, the few scenes where he spoke with Buja were all disadvantageous to him. There was only one way out.

"From my perspective, I found it hard to believe," Sijun finally said, squeezing his eyes shut as he chose the best of the worst options. "But he actually did it. I cleanly admit my defeat. And I intend to challenge him again in the future."

The reporters' fingers flew across their keyboards. This incident would undoubtedly cost him the title of Korea's rising star, handing it directly to Buja. But what infuriated him more was that nothing—absolutely nothing—had gone according to plan. All he wanted to do was punch the back of Buja's head as he waved cheerfully to a beaming Seora.

It wasn't as if he had no other options. With his social standing, the power of the SJ Group, and the SJ Guild, he could have made the bet disappear as if it never happened. But the fallout would be too difficult to manage.

'I can't ruin the clean image I've built just for that woman.' He decided this was the better path, even for winning her over. No matter how much the world revered Dungeons and player, reporters wouldn't hesitate to tear down a player with a chaebol background for clicks. He could threaten the major newspapers with pulling ad revenue, but there was no stopping the online journalists. Once an article hit the player communities, the resulting image would be impossible to control.

He let out a slow breath.

He couldn't take it back. It was the best choice, he told himself, but a wave of dread washed over him as he thought about what he would tell his older brother. The questions kept coming.

"How did you two become friends?"

"Mr. Park, I believe you're twenty-nine. How old is Mr. Kim?"

It wasn't a malicious question, but it still felt like a slap in the face.

"Me? I'm twenty-three," Buja called out.

Hearing his age made Sijun's blood pressure spike. 'That little brat…'

"What led you to overcome a six-year age gap and become so informal with each other?"

"Sijun here isn't like other chaebols; he's a real force in a dungeon, you know? He's got an open mind," Buja said with a laugh. "He called me his only rival and suggested we become friends. Hahaha!"

"A rival! Can we look forward to more from you two?"

"No, don't get your hopes up. I say rival, but I'm clearly better."

With that final, shameless declaration, Buja left the scrum and headed toward Seora. Sijun wanted to say something, to stop him, but he couldn't.

"Sir, an interview please!"

"Just a few questions!"

He'd need to pull an all-nighter just to clean up the mess from his impulsive bet.

* * *

"You worked hard," Seora said, greeting Buja as he slipped through the crowd of reporters. She handed him a large towel to cover the dried monster blood caked on his body.

"Don't you have work to do, Ms. Jeong?" Buja asked, wiping his face. "It feels like you're following me around every day." It was a bold question, but he asked it shamelessly. Thankfully, Seora took it in stride.

"You're a jackpot newbie, the first one we've seen in ages. The guild needs someone of my caliber to manage you. My own dungeons aren't important right now."

"I'm honored."

"You should be. It's one-on-one intensive management, after all." She quickly led him away, glancing back to make sure Sijun wasn't following. "Here's the Vitality accessory set from Sijun. I checked; they're both authentic."

On the way to the car, she discreetly passed him a leather pouch containing the ring and earring. He wanted to equip them immediately, but with so many eyes on them, he tucked them away safely. 'I'll check them out later.' Items like these were best savored in a hot bath, during the post-dungeon settlement.

As their car pulled away, Sijun was still swarmed by reporters. It was a strange feeling—he had won, yet it felt like a loss.

"I cleared two Unique Dungeons solo, back-to-back. Shouldn't I be getting a little more attention?" he grumbled.

Seora was quick to soothe his ego. "Most of the reporters here are sponsored by the SJ Group. They have to write favorable articles, so of course they're focused on him. I'm sure there will be more articles about you tomorrow."

'Maybe.' He knew this was a major event; the crowd of reporters before he even entered the dungeon and Sijun's reaction had confirmed that. But it still didn't feel real. To Buja, who saw dungeons and games as one and the same, this hadn't been a particularly difficult adventure. It was like clearing a daily quest he'd run a thousand times, only to find everyone else staring at him in awe.

"I guess we'll see tomorrow," he said.

"For now, just rest. You've earned it."

Soon, they arrived at the Jeong Cheol Hospital—or as Buja had decided to call it, his personal resort—and the settlement began.

8.

He could sum up this Unique Dungeon in a single sentence.

"It was easier than the last one."

Objectively speaking, the difficulty had been higher. Unlike the previous dungeon, where a survival sub-quest had removed the penalty after five days, this time he'd had to clear it under the full penalty, having never found the sub-quest condition. On top of that, Sijun had added the max-capacity penalty. He'd even had to put his hunting on the back burner to focus on winning the ring and earring. There had even been the pressure of knowing he might have to kill another person for the first time.

Yet, it had felt significantly easier for one reason.

"Gold Maker."

The power of a Legendary class. His level and stat distribution were currently locked, but the ability to grow stronger using the special currency of gold had allowed him to achieve remarkable growth.

"I wonder what VIP Level 2 will bring."

For the first time in a long while, Buja felt a flicker of genuine excitement. He had expectations, a new motivation. Only one thing had changed: the Level 2 enhancement effect from spending 180 gold. That alone had allowed him to clear a dungeon that was objectively far more difficult than his first one without breaking a sweat.

Suppressing his excitement, he carefully began to review the notifications that had piled up since the final clear hologram.

[☆ You have met the conditions.]

[The dungeon will now be cleared.]

[You have achieved 'Achievement: Full Party Clear (U)'.]

[You have acquired 20 gold.]

Nothing special. It was just his third Unique achievement in only his second Unique Dungeon. Still, he wasn't disappointed.

▶ Gold Held: 133G

"Nice." His gold, which had dropped to 18, was back in the triple digits. It might seem low compared to the nearly 200 gold he'd earned last time, but considering that haul came from two Unique achievements, this wasn't bad at all.

"Slow and steady. No need to rush."

He had time. He was five years behind everyone else and needed to work harder, but rushing wouldn't accomplish anything faster.

"First, let's level up 'Wait for Free Gold.'"

['Wait for Free Gold' level has increased.]

[Level-up cost is discounted by 2% due to Gold Power (2).]

[30 gold has been used.]

The skill was now level 4. Without hesitation, he raised it two more levels.

[Wait for Free Gold]

▶ Grade: Legendary

▶ Classification: Passive

▶ Level: 6

▷ Generates 6 gold daily at 24:00.

▷ Use 60 gold to level up.

▷ A trait (1) can be unlocked at Level 10.

▷ Level-up cost is discounted by 2% due to Gold Power (2).

Six gold per day. To Buja, who could earn over 100 gold from a single dungeon run, it didn't seem like much, but he would never neglect it.

"Let's get it to level 10 first." It was the very first skill he'd obtained as a Gold Maker; he couldn't just cast it aside as inefficient. "Passive income skills are always the most overpowered things in the world."

He could afford to wait. His earnings were good enough to invest in the future.

As if to affirm his decision, the ring and earring bobbed to the surface of the water.

"Hehe, my pretty little things."

He slipped them onto his finger and ear. A refreshing energy coursed through his body as he immediately checked their stats.

* * *

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.