Survival Story of a Sword King

Devouring Experience Points (1)

Still feeling lost, Ryu Han-bin went to the Hunter’s Guild.

When Han-bin entered the hall on the first floor, the eyes of some of the hunters inside began to light up.

“Is that guy over there alone?”

“Well, Buckman has retired after all.”

The news about the retirement of Buckman’s team had spread among the hunters.

The same went for the news that Han-bin was now alone.

The first time they saw Ryu Han-bin, they thought he’d just die from the first encounter; hence they decided to just ignore him.

He was only a level 5 Swordsman back then.

However, he had been into multiple battles since then.

It was only natural for his level to have risen.

‘If Buckman was the one that raised him, he must’ve become quite strong now.’

‘With a strong foundation like that, it’s not hard to become even more powerful.’

‘It would be virtually impossible for him to remain the same.’

Just by basing on the difficulty of the quests taken by Buckman’s team, he should’ve been around level 15 or even higher by then. He might’ve even reached a level above 20, which was the requirement to become an Intermediate Hunter.

He wouldn’t have been able to stay alive otherwise.

It was definitely a great opportunity to devour the talent others had nurtured for free.

Ryu Han-bin smiled bitterly as he felt everyone’s gaze on him.

‘I know why they’re acting like that, but still…’

The receptionist, Sezori, greeted him with a big smile.

“Welcome, Mr. Eric. I heard about Mr. Buckman. Are you independent now?”

“Ah, yes.”

Nodding his head, Han-bin asked.

“According to the procedure, I came to renew my Hunter ID.”

As if she knew it, she pointed to the measuring stone.

“The fee is 10X. Please put your hand on the measuring stone.”

After paying the money, Han-bin reached out his hand.

Soon, a letter of light appeared.

[Occupation: Swordsman. Lv. 5]

Sezori looked at the shining letters and Ryu Han-bin alternately with confusion in her eyes.

“Wait… You’re still level 5?”

The other hunters were confused as well.

“What? Level 5?”

“After you followed Buckman around like that?”

It was hard to understand.

The hunters began to murmur.

Someone came up with a plausible hypothesis.

“I heard he was just a porter…”

“If it were Buckman, I would’ve made the porter participate in the battles. That guy’s a good man. He’s not the type to ignore beginners.”

“But still, Level 5?”

“Was he ordered to fight yet got no results?”

“How dull is he?”

“Tsk, tsk. His sword is uselessly big.”

The hunters had made a conclusion about Ryu Han-bin’s state.

They thought that despite having such an amazing body, he was too dull and timid to properly fight against monsters.

The hunters’ interest in him disappeared immediately.

Han-bin shrugged.

‘Well, I knew it was going to happen.’

Sezori said awkwardly.

“I’ve said this before, but it’s difficult to do a quest alone when you’re only level 5.”

Regardless of the difficulty of the quest, he must be at least level 10 to be trusted with it.

“I’ll let you know as soon as we receive a scout request from another team instead.”

She said those words reassuringly, but she didn’t think there would be a hunter team trying to scout Eric Garoon.

Buckman had already verified it.

He didn’t have the qualities of a hunter at all. He only looked the part.

Still, he couldn’t care less.

“I look forward to your kind cooperation, then.”

After politely expressing his gratitude, Ryu Han-bin left the guild.

He shoved his newly renewed Hunter’s License into his pocket harshly.

“This only shows my hunter status.”

He wasn’t looking for a guild to work for as a hunter in the first place.

He was still level 5, though.

There was no way to submit a request.

He renewed his certification only because Buckman broke up with his team.

He simply needed to clear up his identity. He had to live in this world without raising suspicions.

“It’s time to solve my next problem, then.”

* * *

Ryu Han-bin seriously considered his current situation.

There were two problems at hand.

“I don’t have enough money.”

Originally, he planned to learn about the world and raise funds for his plan under Buckman’s team for at least a month or two.

Without money, forget looking for a way back home or looking for a way to a Goddess. He wouldn’t be able to live.

“They disbanded too fast for me to accumulate enough funds.”

Of course, Han-bin alone could kill monsters and sell their drops.

The second problem was holding back.

“My level and my actual skills aren’t quite in sync.”

Level measurement was essential wherever he went in this world.

Even if he tried to apply to the Order of Knights or the Noble Guard, or even if he was conscripted as a general soldier of the army, part of the requirement was checking his level with a measuring stone.

The results of the measuring stones were never wrong in Lantains’ eyes.

From a general point of view, it was hard to understand the reason why hunters ignored Ryu Han-bin.

No matter how low his level was, he never looked weak.

He was a giant that was 190 centimeters tall.

He was not a dull-looking fat guy. He had a solid, muscular physique with no visible fats.

If the owner of such a trained body was measured at only Level 5, it should’ve been normal to think that the measurement stone was broken.

“But in this world, it’s normal not to doubt.”

There would’ve been no reason for the hunters or Sezori to openly ignore him otherwise.

They believed in levels to the point where they were blindsided by the measuring stone.

He was a level 5 hunter who killed multiple monsters whose levels were higher than him.

That was something that had never happened to Latnains.

That would’ve naturally led to doubts.

-That’s just not humanly possible. Maybe he’s an alien?

Unlike Latnains, aliens often used abilities that didn’t fit their level.

He had those abilities.

Even at that moment, Ryu Han-bin himself was using abilities that didn’t fit his level.

Like the Guideline’s Search function, for example.

The search function originated from Latna’s measuring magic, which identified the opponent’s level.

Measuring magic could only be used by senior wizards of level 50 or higher.

To Han-bin, however, it was as easy as breathing to measure an opponent’s level. He wasn’t even high in level or a mage.

A level 5 hunter was constantly using level 50 magic.

Just like the guidelines, the aliens also used bizarre powers that weren’t appropriate for their levels.

Holding his chin, Han-bin muttered his thoughts quietly.

“As expected, solving the problem about my level should be my top priority.”

Until it was solved, he couldn’t go on a monster hunt.

If he brought back a huge amount of high-level Devil Spirit Stones that weren’t normally easily looted by a level 5 hunter, people would begin to doubt him.

“After I solve this, my financial problem will consequently be solved eventually as well.”

It was just a matter of finding a solution to fix it.

“If I look at it from a simple perspective, I can just eagerly devour experience to raise my level.”

However, it was never that simple.

He wasn’t going to level up, essentially speaking.

Back then, his stats would continue to rise, but his level would remain the same due to the system error.

‘Has the system error even been fixed yet?’

Even though his stats continued to rise in the past, he only gained the Stab, Horizontal Cut, Vertical Cut, and Language Communication skills since his level kept resetting.

He had to find out what would happen if he steadily gathered experience and reached a new level.

“Will it level me up to 6, or will it reset me back to my true level?”

It made him curious about how high his true level would be.

“I doubt it’ll be low considering how long I’ve been fighting by now.”

His situation definitely wasn’t normal. He almost didn’t get any skills due to the error in his level, but he also thought he wouldn’t be that far behind since his body was already powerful enough to execute advanced skills.

“Regardless, I don’t have any guarantee that my level will increase by gathering experience points.”

If he returned to his true level, everything would be solved, but…

“There’s also the probability of resetting back to level 1. Honestly, it is the most likely outcome.”

He thought about multiple factors and probabilities before reaching a conclusion.

“I’ll have to defeat monsters that are strong enough to give me experience.”

He could only encounter such monsters within a dungeon.

Fortunately, he knew about the location of a dungeon that could potentially hold powerful monsters.

He heard a lot about it from Buckman since all the monsters they had slain all crawled out from that dungeon.

He headed towards the dungeon’s entrance.

“Alpha Dungeon. There must be strong monsters in there.”

* * *

Dungeons.

Dungeons were two-dimensional spaces that Omphalos, a demon from another world that targeted the Latna Continent, created.

The demon couldn’t directly intervene with this world. Instead, he would crop parts of his world and send them to Latna with his own power, making it a forward base for invasion.

Since the first dungeon’s appearance 450 years ago, the Great Labyrinth Kaltan, all kinds of dungeons had appeared all over the continent.

Considering how the monsters that came out of the dungeons could potentially cause massive damage, dungeons became synonymous with death and fear for the Latna people.

However, the dungeons were also places of opportunity.

The Devil Spirit Stone possessed by the dungeon monsters became the Latnains’ source of income since it could be used as a material for various magical tools and magic reagents.

The monsters’ bones and skin were also popular because they could be used as materials for various weapons and armors.

Additionally, while raiding dungeons, hunters could get several powerful magic tools, which could also be sold for a lot of money.

An era had also begun where it wasn’t impossible to form a party with only individual forces.

Many had attempted reckless challenges aiming to gain riches and honor that came with dungeon raids.

It had been hundreds of years since then.

Presently, many hunters from all over the world still attacked the growing number of dungeons. Sometimes, they’d gain riches, fame, and honor. Sometimes, they would never come back.

The Alpha Dungeon that appeared near the city of Onpros was also one of the countless dungeons.

* * *

Taking advantage of the darkness, Ryu Han-bin left Onpros City.

He then moved to the Efen Plains, avoiding the eyes of others.

After 5-6 hours, he finally reached his destination.

“Is that it?”

The entrance to the Alpha Dungeon looked like some form of ancient ruins.

There was a stone building halfway down the mountain’s ridge, which had a passage to the basement in the middle that served as the dungeon entrance.

Before going right in, Han-bin looked around first.

‘Is anyone around?’

If someone saw him entering, it would cause him a lot of trouble.

He simply wasn’t in a position to meet other people.

Fortunately, it looked like no one was there.

During that moment of relief, he grabbed his black greatsword.

‘Time to go in!’