Chapter 1: Acquired an EX-Level Skill

One day, a massive Sinkhole appeared.

As the survivors who had been sucked into the Sinkhole returned, its true nature was revealed.

-That place is the entrance to the Labyrinth of Bahart.

In addition, there were Artifacts that aided special abilities, Magic Stones containing boundless energy, and even herbs and ores with a variety of uses.

The Labyrinth changed the course of the world.

-All nations organized special investigation teams to secure the new resources discovered in the Labyrinth…….

-Those who hunted the monsters and treasures inside the Labyrinth were called Hunters…….

Hunters began to explore the Labyrinth in earnest, and when they passed the 10th underground floor, a new fact was revealed.

-Starting from the 11th underground floor, a Floor Master is appointed.

-The Floor Master gains ownership of all dungeons generated on that floor.

With dungeon ownership falling into the hands of individuals, another great upheaval began.

Every nation went all out to secure floors.

Just having a single floor meant endless resources.

From a national perspective, they needed to secure as many Floor Masters as possible.

Either recruit outstanding Hunters.

Or train outstanding Hunters.

As the competition between nations grew fiercer, the Great Hunter Era began.

Beep.

Beep.

Yawning at the sound of the alarm, I reached out my hand.

I grabbed the phone by my bedside, turned off the alarm, and sat up.

My body felt stiff and heavy.

I sat blankly for a moment, then turned my head to look out the window.

The street was still dark, the sun not yet risen.

Yawns came naturally as I found myself awake when everyone else was still sleeping.

“…Haaaam.”

Every part of my body signaled me to sleep more, but I resisted the temptation and got up.

If I dawdled, I’d lose my job.

I changed into my work clothes and put on my cap.

After finishing preparations for work, I looked around my tiny room as I put on my shoes.

My dream was to make a lot of money and move to a bigger house.

Lately, it felt like that might be impossible.

“…Should I leave Korea?”

Clicking my tongue, I opened the door and stepped outside.

The chilly dawn air made me shrink back.

I put my hands in my pockets and walked down the stairs.

I went to the convenience store in front of the villa and picked out a light breakfast.

A triangle kimbap, some bread, and a banana milk.

Beep.

Beep.

The Convenience Store Owner scanned the barcodes and asked,

“Heading to work earlier and earlier, huh?”

“These days, if I’m even a little late, there’s no spot left.”

“I saw it on the news. The number of Dungeon Workers is increasing, but with so few dungeons, competition is fierce.”

“Yeah, it was close yesterday. So I woke up even earlier today.”

I handed over my card and finished paying.

“Hang in there.”

“Thank you. You too, sir.”

I grabbed my bag of breakfast and stepped outside.

The street was still dark and gloomy.

I walked along, relying on the light from the street lamps.

The Labor Office was about ten minutes away.

Several tents were set up in front of it, and people were already lined up behind them.

I quickly scanned the crowd.

‘Thirty people…….!’

Yesterday, the cutoff was at the thirtieth person.

That’s probably why everyone came out even earlier today.

I came early for this very reason.

“…Hoo.”

It was an awkward spot in line, but it was too good to give up and go back.

Even if I ended up with nothing, it was better to wait.

I took a spot at the end of the line, sat down, and pulled out my breakfast.

I peeled the plastic off the triangle kimbap and took a big bite.

“Damn it. People are swarming in. It’s a madhouse.”

“Doesn’t matter, there won’t be enough spots anyway.”

“It’s because there are too many like that guy that we have to come out at dawn. I’m dead tired. Damn.”

I turned my head at the grumbling beside me.

In that short time, nearly ten more people had lined up behind me.

‘…This is really getting serious.’

At an hour when there used to be no one, there were already over forty people waiting.

That meant the competition was only getting fiercer.

“Damn. I heard there are more than enough dungeons in the United States of America and China. Why is it only Korea that’s running out?”

“It’s because we have fewer floors.”

“Should’ve been born in the United States of America or China. Damn, born in cramped Korea. Shit.”

That’s why more people were thinking about emigrating these days.

If you could secure a spot abroad—

You could make a killing.

Of course, it’s not easy, so actually leaving is tough.

“Was it always like this? Things used to be better at first.”

“What good is that? All those S-rankers from back then are dead, and now we can’t even hold onto a single floor. It’s been ages since we became losers.”

Someone else snorted at the endless grumbling.

“Idiot. If you’ve got so many complaints, why don’t you conquer the Labyrinth yourself? You don’t even have the guts, just leeching off cleared dungeons and acting entitled.”

“Brat, who are you talking to? Do you know me?”

“Pfft. Weakling. Tsk?”

It was the same every day.

The people in front didn’t even look back, while those in back were probably hoping someone would break a bone in the scuffle.

That way, a spot might open up.

Knowing that, those two never actually came to blows, only fought with words.

Sigh.

I ignored them and focused on the rest of my triangle kimbap.

I quickly finished it off, tore open the bread, and moved on to round two.

As I drank my banana milk, I turned on my phone.

There’s nothing like a mobile game to kill time.

[Would you like to log in to Dragon Lair Tycoon?]

Dragon Lair Tycoon.

It’s what people call an idle game.

You raise Guardians with the resources you get every day, catch intruders in your Dragon Lair, and collect items.

Just a few taps a day, and you’re done.

But I enjoyed that small sense of growth every time I tapped.

It was like I, who was nothing in real life, was getting stronger.

On top of that—

It didn’t need a high-end computer like other games, didn’t require skillful controls, had no pay-to-win elements, and all you needed was time.

For someone with plenty of time, it was the perfect game.

[Logging in to the game.]

Various characters welcomed me.

-Master. I want to taste new blood!

-I greet my lord.

-What equipment shall I craft this time?

-…D-Don’t think I’m happy just because you’re here!

-Awoooo.

-What is a sword, truly.

My S-rank Guardians.

Vampire Lord, Lich King, Dwarf King, High Elf, Black Werewolf, Grand Master, Dark Moon, and more.

All stats maxed out, exclusive equipment fully upgraded.

With just a tap, these overpowered beings could wipe out a whole Kingdom.

There was nothing left to raise, so growth resources overflowed in my storage.

[Would you like to claim your idle rewards?]

[Yes.]

[100 million Gold Coins, 100 million Magic Stones, Swordmaster’s Enlightenment (SSS), Flame Dragon Heart (SSS), Blood Fiend’s Helm (SS)…….]

[Your Gold Coins are maxed out.]

[Your Magic Stones are maxed out.]

[Your item storage is full.]

I’d piled up resources to the limit, unable to store any more.

Even so, I logged in for one reason.

To complete the one last piece of content I had left.

[Dragon Lord’s Ascension Stone]

[Synthesis chance: 0.01%]

If I could just create that, I’d complete my item collection and promote my dragon to Dragon Lord.

I’d already tried three times, but never succeeded.

[Flame Dragon Heart (SSS), Earth Dragon Heart (SSS), Ice Dragon Heart (SSS), Wind Dragon Heart (SSS), Hero’s Soul (SSS), Shard of Divinity (EX), Transcender’s Rune (EX)]

I prepared the synthesis materials.

[You offer 1,000,000 Normal Items as tribute.]

[You offer 100,000 Magic Items as tribute.] [You offer 10,000 Epic Items as tribute.]

[You offer 1,000 Unique Items as tribute.] [You offer 100 Legend Items as tribute.]

[You offer 10 God Items as tribute.]

I threw in all the required tributes.

[Synthesis will consume 10 billion Gold Coins and 10 billion Magic Stones. Proceed with synthesis?]

I’d often thought how great it would be if all of this were really mine.

But a game is just a game—if I got too absorbed, I’d only make myself miserable.

Let’s just go for it.

I pressed the ‘Yes’ button on the screen.

Wuuuuung!

A brilliant light burst forth, and a golden egg popped out.

It rolled left and right, cracks starting to appear on its surface.

Then—

Shuaaaak!

A rainbow light exploded from within.

It worked!

[Synthesis successful.]

[You have synthesized the Dragon Lord’s Ascension Stone.]

[Would you like to use the Ascension Stone?]

No need to ask twice.

This was what I’d been working toward all along.

“Yes.”

When I pressed the button on the screen—

-I will have my revenge on all dragons who betrayed me.

A majestic voice thundered in my head.

[A new update version has been released.]

[Updating now.]

[You cannot use the game while the update is in progress.]

With those messages, the game shut down.

“Update?”

It was a bit disappointing for it to end like this.

But the update piqued my interest.

What would be added?

I started up another game, running through my daily tasks as I waited, and time flew by.

The dark sky had brightened.

It was almost time for the Manager to arrive.

“You bastards! What are you doing!”

“Hey! No cutting in line! Can’t you see we’re lined up here?”

Startled by the sudden commotion, I looked up to see what was happening.

Three young men and women were swapping places with someone who’d been in line earlier.

“It’s not cutting. This was my spot. These people were holding it for me.”

“As if! You think we waited since dawn for fun…….

“If you don’t like it, do the same. Don’t whine about what you didn’t do.”

Reserving spots, huh.

Competition’s gotten so fierce, all sorts of tricks are popping up.

“Hehe. We’ll be going ahead!”

The people who’d been at the front laughed and left.

‘Did they get a bribe?’

A Dungeon Worker’s daily wage is about 400,000 won, so even if you hand over 100,000, you still walk away with 300,000.

If you’re going to waste a day, might as well make 300,000 won.

Not a bad deal.

“You damn bastards!”

“Hey, want to sell your spot to me?”

“Sell it to me. I’ll buy it. How about 200,000?”

“What the hell are you doing, you crazy idiots? Want to die?”

“Mind your own business, moron.”

As the conflict slowly escalated—

The Manager who ran the Labor Office appeared.

People rushed to complain to him, but he didn’t even pretend to listen, just wore a bored expression.

“Idiots.”

“…What?”

“Didn’t you watch the news? All the jobs are gone today. Get lost. Stop annoying me.”

“What are you talking about!”

Everyone pulled out their phones.

“…Is this for real?”

“Are they crazy? What are we supposed to do now?”

“Shiiiiit!”

It didn’t seem like a joke.

I took out my phone and checked the news, too.

-Breaking news.

-At around 4 a.m. today, the Floor Master of Korea’s 23rd Labyrinth floor has changed.

-The 23rd floor was owned by the country’s top Guild, the Undying Guild, responsible for 30% of domestic dungeon production…….

Losing that meant 30% of the dungeons we could earn money from were gone.

Which meant—

Most Dungeon Workers just lost their jobs.

“…We’re screwed.”

What am I supposed to do now?

Staggering home in a daze, I collapsed onto my bed.

I stared blankly into space.

[Ring!]

[Update complete.]

[You have met the requirements.]

[Awakening Dragon Lair (EX) Skill.]