Chapter 20 : Heroic Achievement

Seong Jeokpyo, the 48th descendant of the Seong family.

The name ‘Red Leopard’ (Jeokpyo) means exactly that—a red leopard—and it was a name he had personally changed to.

With his distinctive red glare, he strode purposefully toward the place where the Achievement Monument of the 3rd floor stood.

“No, big brother! You really don’t have to check this yourself.”

“You bastard again!”

Smack.

Go Byeong Jae finally got punched in the jaw.

It was because he absolutely hated being called “big brother.”

“I told you, don’t call me big brother! Call me ‘Representative’ instead!”

“Ugh! Sorry, big—Representative!”

“Big representative? What the hell is that, you brat!”

Their quarrel on the wide-open street attracted some curious glances.

Only then did Seong Jeokpyo stop beating Go Byeong Jae and straighten his collar.

He ran his hand through his trademark all-white, slicked-back pomade hair once more, and eventually even reached down to scratch his scalp.

“Baek Yuseong…”

That morning, his subordinate had reported that Baek Yuseong’s Achievement Monument had been updated.

After hearing the news, Seong Jeokpyo could no longer contain himself and went to check it out personally.

“Ugh.”

Go Byeong Jae, his face swollen, leaned against Seong Jeokpyo’s side.

He was trembling with anxiety.

When they first met Baek Yuseong, their Guild Master had reacted far more intensely than expected.

It was clear he was completely infatuated with that Baek Yuseong fellow.

Seong Jeokpyo had immediately ordered to recruit Yuseong the moment he emerged.

Since Yuseong had ventured alone into the Abyss, it was obvious he would resurface within a day, or at most three days—

whether to dispose of Masok or to replenish his Energy Bar.

But Yuseong showed no sign of returning.

He had been holed up in the Abyss for two weeks straight, continuously clearing floors.

Meanwhile, the Achievement Monument was being updated constantly.

Seong Jeokpyo, burning with impatience, had tasked Go Byeong Jae to monitor the Achievement Monument.

There was only one reason why Go Byeong Jae was given this annoying task.

“Damn it… I was just trying to be friendly.”

Apparently, Go Byeong Jae had been rude in front of Baek Yuseong.

Jo Jang Cheonyeonghun had reported this, so Go Byeong Jae had no choice but to endure Seong Jeokpyo’s wrath.

At first, it was just irritation, but as the time passed without Yuseong emerging, his anger only deepened.

Today, it had even escalated to a beating.

“Huh…”

Seong Jeokpyo sighed deeply as he looked at Yuseong’s Achievement Monument.

Over the past week, Yuseong’s achievements had become quite impressive.

[Baek Yuseong].

ㅡ General Achievement: ‘Explorer Rookie’ attained.

ㅡ General Achievement: ‘Cleared 5th Floor’ attained.

ㅡ General Achievement: ‘Cleared 6th Floor’ attained.

ㅡ Extraordinary Achievement: ‘Monster God’ attained.

ㅡ Extraordinary Achievement: ‘Kill Donkey Slayer’ attained.

ㅡ Extraordinary Achievement: ‘Steel Buffalo Slayer’ attained.

ㅡ Heroic Achievement: ‘Conqueror of the 4th Floor’ attained.

This was not the achievement record of someone just starting exploration.

However, the achievement that drove Seong Jeokpyo to rush here was another.

ㅡ Heroic Achievement: ‘Black Temple Priest’ attained.

“What the hell is this?”

“Well, I don’t really—”

That was the problem.

For someone as experienced and seasoned as Seong Jeokpyo, a Guild Master and veteran explorer, the achievements alone were enough to dream about.

But the ‘Black Temple Priest’ achievement was completely unfamiliar.

Moreover, it was a Heroic Achievement.

It was clear that Yuseong had acquired this achievement in a hidden temple somewhere on one of the floors.

“What’s in the temple?!”

“Guardian…”

“I’m not asking about guardians, you bastard! What else is there to get such an achievement?”

Seong Jeokpyo yelled in frustration.

He didn’t even need to see what the ‘Black Temple Priest’ achievement was to know that, as a Heroic Achievement, the rewards would be substantial.

And if there was a Black Temple Priest, then naturally, there should also be Snake Temple Priests and priests of other temples.

There had been explorers who had invaded temples and eliminated their guardians.

But none had managed to obtain this achievement.

Only Yuseong had.

“Looks like there will be more reasons to recruit now.”

Some achievements can be earned by anyone, but others are limited to only certain people.

If they could find a way to manipulate Yuseong to achieve the Priest’s achievement…

“Then our Jeok Anpa will grow even stronger…”

“Yeah, you brat! But it’s all because of you—”

“Ugh, sorry!”

Go Byeong Jae begged desperately for forgiveness after getting another blow.

He finally understood why Seong Jeokpyo had rushed out in such excitement.

Some floors have useless temples here and there.

If Jeok Anpa could monopolize Heroic Achievements from all those temples, the benefits would be immense.

“I’ll be going on a business trip; in the meantime, if Yuseong comes out, send recruitment offers faster than any other guild.”

He wasn’t highly noticed now, but soon, other managers would recognize Baek Yuseong.

Before that happened, they had to recruit him somehow.

“Then… should we propose a 70-30 Masok distribution?”

“You’re really hopeless. Just do whatever I say.”

Seong Jeokpyo snapped, turning his body and striding off.

Go Byeong Jae quickly bowed his waist and greeted him.

“P-please, big bro… Representative!”

“Hey, you bastard!”

Until the very end, Go Byeong Jae was scolded.

Only after Seong Jeokpyo had completely left did he wipe his face.

“Sigh, what a damn mess.”

He hadn’t expected that trying to look into Baek Yuseong would lead to such trouble.

“I hope he dies in there and never comes out.”

At this point, the best scenario was that Baek Yuseong would die somewhere in the Abyss.

Yet, Go Byeong Jae’s wish did not come true.

The very next day—

A lackey assigned to monitor the gate reported Yuseong’s return.

***

“Whoa, that scared me! I thought there was a vagrant or something!”

Yuseong’s party, along with his father and the Hinnur military, pinched their noses and let out such screams.

“When we get home, you’re washing up immediately.”

Yuseong scolded Jang Dojin.

“You too, bro.”

For two weeks, Yuseong and Jang Dojin had endured extreme exploration.

Thanks to Yuseong, the food was luxurious, but they had stayed too long.

Blood and dust covered them; their conditions were a complete mess.

“Just stick close to me; I’ll handle the cash conversion.”

“Okay…”

Yuseong took the burden off the sullen Jang Dojin’s shoulders.

Inside were countless Masok collected from clearing the 4th to 6th floors.

Yuseong carried the heavy Masok on his back without trouble.

His abilities had considerably increased through this recent exploration.

Yuseong opened the door to the Cheonghwa Support Center and entered.

Before he could proceed, the staff member who had greeted Yuseong before was sitting at the window.

Yuseong waved cheerfully and greeted him.

“Oh, hello.”

“Who are you? How did you get in here?”

“Huh?”

“You can’t enter without authorization. Please leave.”

The staff member, not recognizing Yuseong and trying to chase him away, was met with a calm reply.

“I’m Baek Yuseong.”

“Don’t lie!”

Though Yuseong revealed his identity, the staff threatened to call security.

“See? It’s mine.”

“Uh…”

Yuseong showed his Rose Knife and Wok.

Because he managed his cooking utensils strictly, both the Wok and Rose Knife gleamed as if brand new.

Only then did the staff stop calling security.

“What on earth happened?”

“I just looked a little rough from too much exploring.”

“Look at yourself in the mirror.”

The staff member brought a mirror to Yuseong with a baffled expression.

“Uh, yeah, I admit it.”

Yuseong’s appearance wasn’t just shabby—it was extreme.

“Did you get facial tattoos?”

“No, not tattoos.”

Only then did Yuseong realize the Blessing of the Black Priest was still active.

When he wiped his face, the diamond-shaped tattoos under his eyes vanished.

“Oh, I feel something different from a moment ago.”

The staff member’s suspicious expression finally relaxed.

“This is the new perk you earned, right?”

“The heroic achievement—the Black Temple Priest?”

Yuseong had attained the heroic achievement ‘Black Temple Priest’ at the Black Temple.

The perk he received was the ‘Blessing of the Black Priest.’

For a set time each day, it allowed him to hide his presence and conceal his identity.

“I was lucky. Regression really helps.”

The true purpose of temples would only be revealed later.

Before reaching the 20th floor, human exploration hadn’t faced major hurdles.

Explorers focused their combat power and firepower to kill all monsters they encountered.

As long as they killed only monsters that appeared together, clearing was relatively easy.

But after the 20th floor, simple methods no longer worked.

Intelligent monsters, traps, and mazes began to appear.

The era of brute strength ended, and exploration became more complicated.

That was when a certain guild proposed a new paradigm for exploration.

“Was that White Star?”

The Exploration Era.

Realizing that just smashing and killing monsters wouldn’t progress exploration, they began to thoroughly investigate the factors on each floor.

Exploration began advancing again, revealing how temples were structured.

“It’s a shame I didn’t get to eat the ox-head soup…”

How to become a priest of the Black Temple and receive the blessing.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t that difficult.

First, defeat the guardian protecting the temple, then kill the boss-level monster of that floor and take its head.

Place the monster’s head on the altar inside the Black Temple and perform a burning ritual.

Yuseong’s party offered the Steel Buffalo’s head and completed the ritual.

Since it was the first time performing the ritual, they received the Heroic Achievement and obtained the Blessing of the Black Priest.

Thanks to that, clearing the 5th and 6th floors became much easier.

“Anyway, I came to dispose of the Masok.”

“Ah, I see. Will you be handing it over to me?”

Yuseong had come to the support center to dispose of the Masok he had gathered so far.

Though he could dispose of it personally, entrusting it to Cheonghwa Support Center made it much easier.

“All of it.”

“Yes…”

“All the Masok in this Preservation Backpack.”

Yuseong handed over the backpack, and the staff member was taken aback.

“Then…”

The staff spread a white cloth on the center’s floor.

They emptied all the Masok from the backpack.

Clatter.

This was the Masok collected over two weeks.

Hand-sized Masok were stacked on the white cloth.

“Wow…”

The staff marveled.

It wasn’t that they had never seen higher quality Masok, but Yuseong had only explored the lower floors.

The sheer volume of such high-quality Masok was unbelievable for someone who had just ventured into the lower floors.

The staff, realizing this was too much to handle alone, called their colleagues.

“Wait a moment. We’ll appraise these.”

Three staff members began appraising the Masok, trembling slightly.

Yuseong and Jang Dojin stepped back for a while.

“So, now that exploration is over, what will you do?”

Yuseong asked Jang Dojin.

Jang Dojin was caught off guard by the unexpected question.

“Uh, um, what do you mean?”

“I mean, what are you going to do? Keep living as an explorer? Join some guild? After clearing once, you know it’s not easy. It’s not stable either.”

Jang Dojin bit his lip.

Indeed, that was true.

Though he had explored with Yuseong for several months, it had not been easy.

It was hard, dirty, and exhausting work.

Especially just before meeting Yuseong, Jang Dojin had faced a near-death crisis.

Though his gift and physical abilities were outstanding, he was still only nineteen years old.

Even if he became an adult soon, he was still young.

His heart might have been reluctant.

Yuseong understood that fully and wanted to respect Jang Dojin’s wishes.

No matter how talented Jang Dojin might become later, if he said he disliked this, Yuseong would give him his share of Masok and send him back.

No matter how strong an explorer, many died resting in the deep floors.

Even the strong Jang Dojin eventually died before fighting the Great Evil Dragon ‘Time’.

“I want to keep being an explorer.”

“Alright then.”

“Yeah, I hope I can stay with you. But if you don’t want that… I can’t help it.”

“Wow, am I really that hard to put up with?”

Yuseong didn’t go easy on Jang Dojin.

He fed him well, but he also demanded his due.

Originally, Jang Dojin carried all the luggage, and Yuseong often jumped on his back to fight.

“It’s tough. Honestly, I’m not confident on my own. Joining another guild scares me… and…”

“And what?”

“I want to eat bulgogi again.”

“Bulgogi, of course.”

At any rate, Jang Dojin’s thoughts were clearly conveyed.

Yuseong drifted off, lost in thought.

“I thought this life would be solo too.”

He didn’t know how long this would last, but he had a companion now.

Not bad at all.

Meals are better shared with others than eaten alone.

“Appraisal complete.”

“Oh, okay.”

The staff had perfectly sorted the Masok by size and type.

“There’s a good mix from grade 1 to grade 7. Looks like you also killed some floor bosses.”

The staff handed the appraisal certificate to Yuseong.

From behind, Jang Dojin muttered hesitantly.

“Still, it would be nice to cover equipment costs at least.”

Yuseong and the staff laughed at his gloomy remark.

Jang Dojin was confused, not understanding why they were laughing.

Then Yuseong looked at the appraisal certificate in shock.

“Ugh! This much?!”

The certificate showed a huge sum.

24 million won.

“This is after commission fees. Good job on the exploration.”

The staff said with a smile.

“Send half to my account, half to this friend’s account.”

Yuseong said, tapping Jang Dojin’s back, who was still in a daze.

“Don’t get too happy, it’s only about 1.5kg of pork belly per person.”

“W-what?”

“Next time, I’ll try to afford 3kg per person.”

Jang Dojin didn’t understand and hurriedly followed Yuseong out.