“Hey, bro. You look like you’re alone, so why don’t you join our party? We’ve exactly seven people, so we’re looking for one more.”

Woojin refused, “Ah, it’s okay. I’ll enter alone.”

The man was surprised by Woojin’s calm refusal, “Bro, why would you waste your entrance fee by entering by yourself? There’s a time limit; you can’t mine that many Bloodstones by yourself.”

Woojin looked at him, confused, and the man laughed, “I guess you haven’t been a Miner for long.”

Awakened had coined their own slang among themselves. Those who specialized in challenging unconquered dungeons were called Rangers. Others, who preferred to mine Bloodstones in conquered dungeons, were called Miners. The last group, the Awakened who were mobilized alongside the military to fight Dungeon Breaks, were called Guardians.

These names were just a way to differentiate their occupation as Awakened. It was always possible for a Ranger to be a Miner, or a Miner to become a Guardian.

The man had clearly taken Woojin as a newbie and started to explain the general rules of a Miner.

One of the first things Woojin understood was that there was a limit on how many people could enter the dungeon.

When Rangers decide to attack a dungeon, they designed their teams around that limit. These teams were known as Attack Squads. The Three Great Guilds of Korea were famous for having highly competent Attack Squads.

It was the same for the Miners.

Miners were also subject to that limit on people. So, while Attack Squads prioritized fighting power in the makeup of their teams, Miners prioritized mining efficiency.

The entrance fee was also calculated based on the maximum number of people able to enter the dungeon.

The maximum number of people allowed to enter [Shinrim Station’s 7th Exit] was eight.

“So, if I want to use it alone, I’d have to pay the fee of 8 people? 800,000 won?” Woojin asked. 

The man nodded, “Yes. Moreover, it’s an hourly fee.”

Even though captured dungeons only had basic monsters, it was still a dangerous place. Nevertheless, since the dungeon’s dangers were known and the information had been disseminated to the public, the danger to a Miner’s life was calculable. Nevertheless, Miners were still putting their lives on the line.

Return Stones were usually found in the deepest part of the dungeon. It was impossible for one person to clear a dungeon in an hour. So, if someone went over the time limit, the entrance fee doubled.

If I want to use the dungeon alone for two hours, then I need an entrance fee of 1,600,000 won.

If he could take out all the monsters, then it would probably be worth it. But an Awakened who was that capable wouldn’t look twice at a two star dungeon.

The man poked him, “Bro, what’s your rank?”

Woojin absentmindedly replied, “It’s F Rank.”

The man shook his head, “Tsk tsk. Coming here without knowing anything. But it’s your lucky day. Join our party as a learning experience, we’ll guarantee your safety.”

After thinking it over for a moment, Woojin agreed, “Hmmm. Alright.”

Woojin could take care of his own safety, but joining the party didn’t seem like it had any downsides. Also, he didn’t have enough money to cover the entrance fee if he tried to go alone.

I’ll have to level up fast, so I can attack a dungeon in peace.

There were just too many constraints and fees. From the look of it, it seemed Woojin’s temperament was incompatible with mining. He was disappointed, but he decided to try and experience mining for a day with his new party.

Groups of eight were entering the dungeon, so the line shuffled forward quickly. Everyone in the queue were Awakened, but they were all low ranked. Looking over the crowd, Woojin saw that the people gathered in line were quite diverse.

Luckily, the difficulty level of the Mine wasn’t that high, so all the parties ahead of them were able to clear the Mine in forty to fifty minutes.

The man who'd been happily chatting with Woojin introduced himself as Bae Dohsoo, an E Rank Awakened. He was a professional Miner, with a dedicated party of six teammates who worked together to profit from the Mines.

Usually, they stuck around one star Mines, but they’d decided to try their luck on a two star Mine this time around. Since it was their first attempt, they’d wanted to fill all eight slots.

After all, eight people were safer than six people.

Along with Kang Woojin, another Awakened, Hong Sunggoo, had come to the dungeon by himself. Hong Sunggoo was a new Awakened like Woojin, also F Rank. He’d joined Bae Dohsoo’s team a few minutes before Bae Dohsoo had approached Woojin.

When everyone had been introduced to each other, Bae Dohsoo spoke, “Well, everyone except me is F Rank. Therefore, my share will be two, and everyone else’s will be one. We’ll gather all the Bloodstones and divide it into nine portions at the end.”

Woojin kept quiet. He didn’t have a problem with Bae Dohsoo’s arrangements. After all, he was only challenging this Mine for the experience.

Hong Sunggoo sidled up to him, “Whew, I’m shaking. How about you?”

Sunggoo’d had a hard time getting along with Bae Dohsoo’s group, so he tried to approach Woojin while they waited in line. Woojin didn’t have any issues talking to him, so they ended up striking up a lively conversation.

Sunggoo was an F Rank newbie, but he’d been interested in dungeons for a while and knew a lot about them. Woojin learned a lot just from his casual conversation with him.

Sunggoo was twenty-one years old, and he’d only been an Awakened for two months. He’d known from the beginning that he wanted a career as an Awakened, so he’d quit school and focused on his Awakened activities. He’d started off by attacking one star Mines, and he’d finally made the jump to try two star Mines today.

But money wasn’t his ultimate goal. He wanted to train and strengthen his Awakened abilities until he could join a Ranger’s team. Ultimately, he wanted to join an Attack Squad.

Woojin chuckled, “Even when one’s afraid, men aren’t supposed to show it.”

“Haha. Big bro is quite confident.” Sunggoo joked. 

Since they’d been stuck in line for hours, they’d spent quite some time talking. Eventually, they decided to call each other big bro and little bro.

Woojin said, “Okay okay. Let’s start getting ready to enter.”

The barrier around the dungeon started to dissipate, scattering white flecks around the entrance. Woojin cocked his head curiously when he saw the party exit.

Bae Dohsoo observed, “Huh? It seems there was an accident.”

As the experienced Bae Dohsoo had thought, the team in front of them had experienced four casualties. The Bureau employees and officials dispatched from the Dungeon Management Agency ran towards them to investigate the situation.

Since Woojin’s new party was right behind them, they heard everything clearly.

The Awakened member was furious, “A Hobgoblin showed up! How is that possible?!”

The government official showed the Awakened the Entrance Log, "Didn’t you read this? You even signed it.”

[The basic monsters summoned inside the dungeon may vary from information given.]

[The burden of responsibility regarding this is placed on the Awakened.]

….

The four surviving Awakened were furious and grieving, but they had no legal way of receiving compensation. In the end, being a Miner wasn’t a career that promised safety.

Bae Dohsoo sighed, “Tsk. It’s useless to argue. They’re just wasting their energy.”

It seemed they had left their party members’ corpses behind and had run back immediately after securing the Return Stone. Since they’d forgotten to grab the Bloodstones, they’d only incurred losses in this expedition.

As expected of a veteran Miner, Bae Dohsoo had experienced these situations before. He looked away from the arguing Awakened and addressed his teammates, "Hobgoblins are two star monsters. If we’re well prepared, there’s no reason to fear them. Actually, those bastards will definitely drop Bloodstones, so running into them would be better for us.”

Bae Dohsoo had never hunted a Hobgoblin before, but he spoke with the confidence born of clearing one star Mines over two hundred times.

The eight party members briefly signed their names in the Dungeon Entrance Log and started heading down the subway station’s stairway.

At the entrance, Bae Dohsoo encouraged them one last time, “Time to enter. Let’s go.”

The party descended the last stretch of stairs and started walking down the tunnel. At a certain point, a white barrier formed behind them and a notification popped up in front of Woojin’s eyes.

[You have entered Shinrim Station’s 7th Exit.]

[This dungeon has already been conquered. Basic monsters will be summoned.]