Underground Farming

The Steel Fanged Lycan arrived beside Sung Jinwoo, its teeth bared as it aimed for his left shoulder.

Unfortunately, Sung Jinwoo was ready, crouching below the airborne enemy as it clawed for its target. Whilst crouched, Sung Jinwoo clenched his fist before punching the Steel Fanged Lycan in its chest. As his fist connected, he could feel a small cracking feeling as the beasts body lifted up slightly before unceremoniously crashing to the ground.

Howls of pain escaped its mouth as it unsteadily got to its feet. Blood dripped from between its teeth showing the extent of damage it had already taken.

"As expected, you guys are much easier to handle when playing alone"

The Steel Fanged Lycan was strong, stronger than Jinwoo in all honesty. Luckily, its battle intelligence when fighting alone was not too high. It allowed Sung Jinwoo to even the playing field slightly.

Slowly walking towards the unsteady beast, Sung Jinwoo reached into his inventory and dragged out his final weapon. A simplistic dagger like before, no better than the weapons he had used so far, however this one was in a bad condition.

"Well even if it is pristine condition, one chomp from that jaw and it's useless"

He had seen first hand how dangerous the jaw of these beasts was.

The beast tried to stand firm, its growl sounding more like a gurgle from the blood gathering in its throat. Sung Jinwoo ignored the frail attempts to attack him before lifting his dagger high and bringing it down, signalling the end of another beasts life.

His sigh of relief was quickly interrupted by the sound of low growls. A growl with much more depth and reverberation than the beasts he had faced before.

Sung Jinwoo quickly turned to the direction of the growl as sweat lined his forehead.

Yet, what he saw was something he wished he could ignore.

An army was before him.

The growl belonged not to a single beast, rather to a group of bloodthirsty monsters.

At the forefront of the army was the injured Steel Fanged Lycan, its face completely mangled from Sung Jinwoos connecting punch.

"Backup huh?"

The pack of beasts before him all sported orange names with a slight tinge of red to it.

'They're strong... well I knew that'

His mind dare not wander at this time.

The beasts stared at Sung Jinwoo as he moved away from his latest kill.

Knowing democracy would not save him here, Jinwoo bit his lip slightly before assuming his battle stance. His body slightly lowered with his dagger in front of his left shoulder.

Taking that as the signal, the pack of beasts howled as they charged towards Sung Jinwoo.

Fortunately, the terrain had given his some slightly reprieve. It naturally limited the number of beasts which could charge at him all at once.

Jinwoo dodged the jaws of the incoming beasts, delivering strikes to those who hung around too long.

Steel Fanged Lycans flew to the side as Sung Jinwoo delivered punch after punch, as he let his dagger in hand slash those that got too close. 

Despite his attacks though, a new Lycan soon filled the gap which he made.

His dodges were sharp, narrowly avoiding the beasts, however he was still only one man.

The beasts claws slashed small gashes into his skin as he moved, a necessary sacrifice in Sung Jinwoos mind.

Each beast that was hit, staggered, struggling to move and with every beast he clashed with, the fiercer Sung Jinwoo grew.

'A group this big... wishes to kill me?'

His eyes were sharp as he watched the volatile attacks before him.

'You wish to take my future?'

The arrogance of his mind stunned even himself, however, he soon noticed why. If Sung Jinwoo died here, everything he knew and loved would be left behind.

The weak Sung Jinwoo of before was no longer here, his second chance was now.

And he would not waste it.

His dagger stabbed and slashed, tearing through the skin and fur of his foes.

Ignoring the cuts, Sung Jinwoo delivered punches followed by kicks, tearing off the jaws of his enemies, as the blood stained his skin.

'NOTICE: LEVEL UP'

'NOTICE: LEVEL UP'

His dagger punctured the howling beasts, their bodies growing limp as others clawed over them to attack Jinwoo.

'NOTICE: LEVEL UP'

His heart was calm as he slashed, his mind focused only on returning to the ones he cared for.

'NOTICE: LEVEL UP'

Pain shot through his legs as he delivered a roundhouse kick to the jaw of a beast. Three large gashes were left in his thigh as the Steel Fanged Lycan crashed into the wall. 

Stepping over the corpses of the army, Sung Jinwoo chased. Pouncing on his prey from their blind spots, tearing through their necks with his shoddy dagger. With each kill his blood thirst grew as did his strength.

'NOTICE: LEVEL UP'

It wasn't long before all he could see was red.

'NOTICE: NEW TITLE ACQUIRED'

His body was sore all over as he looked at the bloody pile of corpses before him. Each corpse spoke a different death, some with battered jaws whilst others with torn limbs.

"I don't know if I used my knife or fists more there..."

Sung Jinwoo murmured between his breaths.

Despite the hellish battle he had just gone through, Sung Jinwoo was completely unharmed. His constant level ups had kept him healthy as he tore through his enemies.

Along with this, his dagger was still fully functional. Despite the fight it had just had, he didn't look much different than before.

"I guess the stronger I get, the less of a burden I am for my weapon."

"Well that or I used my fists a bit too much"

Declaring his rest time over, Sung Jinwoo started to attend to the corpses, grabbing any sort of drops he could find.

Unlike a normal gate, the Instance Dungeons loots seemed to immediately transfer into his inventory when he touched the corpse of the bested beast.

As a result, it wasn't long before he had lined the corpses along the side of the walkway to keep track and ensure he got everything.

Looking over his spoils, he smiled fondly as he noticed the large amount of claws in his inventory as well as two other new items he had grabbed.

'ITEM: Steel Fanged Lycan Fang'

'RANK: E'

'A fang from the ferocious Steel Fanged Lycan, its sharpness is similar to that of a steel knife, able to tear through bones with ease.'

He hand finally gotten the drop he had expected to receive originally.

Sung Jinwoos body knew full well how effective those fangs were.

'ITEM: Steel Fanged Lycan Pelt'

'RANK: E'

'A pelt from the ferocious Steel Fanged Lycan, its dirty red colour makes for a unique fur amour which is effective against weaker metal weapons.'

Contemplating the usefulness of the items, Sung Jinwoo switched his system panel to the shop screen.

'For now, I will sell everything, except 10 of each item.'

Due to the disappearance of his father and his mother proceeding illness, Sung Jinwoo did not have a lot of time for any video games. However, from the small amount he had played, he had developed a basic hoarding personality. This meant that he was very reluctant to get rid of every material he had until he was completely aware of all of the uses it has.

"Maybe I should try taking the pelt or fang to a craftsman to see if they can make something useful"

While rare, there were craftsmen among the awakened hunters. They were usually hunters who had retired due to trauma, but still had enough mana to contribute to gate excavations.

Only awakened people could infuse mana into items or use materials that contain mana, an ordinary craftsmen wouldn't even be able to get started.

As he looked at the large influx of gold he had just received, Sung Jinwoo decided on his next step.

"If my phone is correct, its still daylight out of the same day. Then again, I shouldn't leave it too long otherwise it'll be hard to explain."

One of his continuing worries was the fact that the flow of time could be different between the two realities. Unfortunately, this was something he could not test until he exited the dungeon.

With the time in mind, Sung Jinwoo decided he had enough time to make the most of the dungeon he had all to himself.

Jinwoo had no intentions to waste the opportunity he had right now.

He need to level up. He needed to get stronger. He needed to keep fighting.

Dusting off his clothes, Sung Jinwoo grabbed his dagger tightly before heading off down the corridor.

In every direction he went, the sounds of a massacre followed, as did the red carpet below his feet.