Owner of the S-Rank Dungeon Campsite (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 7

Donghwa woke up early in the morning.

After living in the dungeon for so long, his eyes naturally opened at a fixed time without needing an alarm.

Yet today felt somehow different from usual. If asked exactly what was different, he couldn’t say for sure—but his body felt light.

His mind was clear, and his eyelids—normally heavy as if weighted down—felt unusually light. It felt as though his body brimmed with vitality and energy.

Snap, crack!

Just then, a distracting noise reached his ears—sounding like something colliding or shattering.

Opening the left-side zipper, he saw beyond the urethane window the monster from yesterday and a short-haired girl wearing overalls.

“Master, is cutting it to this size okay?”

“Yes, Teddy. You’re doing incredibly well! How can you cut it so evenly without even exerting much strength?”

“Hehe, I’ll chop all the firewood today! Just leave it to me!”

The monster was chopping firewood, and the girl, after cheering it on, returned to her spot. There, she vigorously rubbed a twig against a wooden plank, working hard at something.

“Why isn’t this working…? They said friction heat would do it.”

They were remarkably diligent right from the morning.

Compared to the monster’s size, the girl looked tiny—so much so that it resembled children playing pretend.

Like kids at a playground rolling mud into rice balls or calling the space under a slide their ‘house.’

‘They’re probably trying to start a fire—but why bother when they could just use a big central flame? And how on earth did they capture the Blue Starlight Bear?’

The Blue Starlight Bear was a notorious monster that disrupted hunts in the Blue Starlight Valley.

Countless hunters had attempted to deal with it. The rumors even reached the Hunters’ Association, prompting them to intervene.

Yet neither killing it, taming it, nor using binding or sealing skills had any effect whatsoever.

So why was this invincible monster now acting as a camping assistant?

‘And that girl doesn’t seem like a student. How did she end up this deep inside?’

Donghwa, a veteran who’d traveled this area many times, usually came alone—but the Blue Starlight Valley was a place even A-rank hunters traversed in groups.

Yet this girl was by herself.

‘If she were high-ranked, I’d have crossed paths with her at least once before. She’s definitely suspicious.’

Though her name was written as the shelter’s owner, Donghwa didn’t fully trust her words—he’d seen far too many criminals trying to trade shelters through various schemes.

He suspected she’d deceived him using some trick he didn’t know.

‘Come to think of it, yesterday she mentioned the tent had a special effect.’

Donghwa belatedly touched the tent to check its information.

[Small Tent

– Usable by 1 person

– Increases HP recovery rate by 10% per hour

– Used for 6 hours]

‘What…? A 10% HP recovery boost per hour?’

Donghwa doubted his own eyes and immediately checked his status window.

[Name: Chae Donghwa

Class: Shadow Swordsman

Level: 30

Exclusive Skill: Shadow Hide (S)

Stats: HP 99 STR 99 AGI 99 INT 99 LUK 99

(Buff: HP Recovery +60%, ATK +20, DEF +5)]

Having stayed for six hours, his recovery rate was boosted by 60%. He also noticed an unexplained additional buff.

Donghwa clicked on the buff’s source to verify.

[Small Tent Effect – HP Recovery +60%

Spring Campground Area Effect – ATK +20

Spring Campground Quest Effect – DEF +5]

Additionally, a quest had arrived while he slept.

[☀ Spring Campground Quest (Success)

– Stay in the tent for over 5 hours.

– Completion Reward: DEF +5] [☀ Spring Campground Quest

– Stare blankly into the fire.

– Completion Reward: INT +5] [☀ Spring Campground Quest

– Greet the campground owner cheerfully with a good morning.

– Completion Reward: LUK +5]

“What in the world…?”

Unbelievable events had unfolded overnight. Multiple camping-related quests had appeared, all offering stat buffs as rewards.

“Guest, are you awake by any chance?”

As Donghwa pondered what on earth was happening, a tapping sound came from outside the tent.

“Yes.”

Donghwa unzipped the entrance.

A long streak of soot marked the girl’s philtrum—likely from her recent attempt to start a fire.

“G-good morning!”

“…….”

She abruptly offered a morning greeting, her voice louder than typical for casual conversation.

When Donghwa just stared silently, she awkwardly wiped her nose, seemingly embarrassed.

“Here, please take this. It’s breakfast service.”

On the plate she brought were milk and toast.

No matter how he looked at it, this wasn’t dungeon-sourced food—it was familiar food from the outside world.

While food could be brought into the dungeon, it spoiled quickly within two or three days. This location was at least five days’ travel from the dungeon entrance, even at top speed.

‘Then where did this come from? Could I be under the monster’s illusion? Is there really a campground inside the dungeon?’

The sequence of absurd events left him unable to distinguish illusion from reality.

‘Anyone could claim any spot as a campground, but still…’

A monster chopping firewood, a campground owner trying to start a fire, and outside-world food delivered as “breakfast service.”

It felt too elaborate to be mere playacting—yet too dubious to accept at face value.

“Yes, good morning. I’ll enjoy this.”

Donghwa took the plate anyway.

After all, he’d already paid a considerable amount of coins. If breakfast service was part of this campground’s offerings, he had no reason to refuse.

Just then, a system notification chimed.

[Quest completed.] [Quest reward ‘LUK +5’ acquired.]

He then recalled the Spring Campground Quest requiring a cheerful morning greeting.

He hadn’t sounded particularly cheerful—yet the system’s judgment was unusually lenient.

“Yes, good morn—ah, why isn’t this working again?”

She repeated the same phrase from earlier, pointing at the air. Only then did Donghwa realize what she’d been doing since morning.

“Did you receive a quest too?”

“Huh…? How did you know?”

“It seems I got a similar quest. Were you told to greet someone good morning?”

“Yes!”

Donghwa explained his own quest. Though not identical, it matched hers in key aspects.

“It seems my class might’ve caused the quest to extend to you too…”

A class that assigned quests to other hunters? He’d never heard of such a thing.

“Um… never mind.”

Donghwa almost asked her class but held back—it was considered impolite to inquire about another hunter’s class.

“By the way, what’s this campground area effect? I woke up to an unfamiliar buff.”

He asked the question that truly puzzled him.

“The campground area effect is probably a buff automatically granted while inside the campground grounds. I believe it’s tied to the campground’s weather and condition. Yesterday it was an HP buff, but today it seems to have changed to ATK.”

It could grant both HP and ATK buffs—was she perhaps a buffer…?

“But Hunter, your morning greeting quest completed while mine didn’t—even though I said the exact same thing.”

“You probably missed the word ‘cheerfully.’ The system can be surprisingly strict about details.”

“Hehe, that can’t be. I was waiting just for you to wake up—I was so happy! Strange, so strange…”

She chuckled sheepishly and repeated her morning greeting several more times.

All attempts failed. Apparently, despite her words, Donghwa didn’t seem cheerful enough to the system.

“I apologize for yesterday. I was wrong to doubt you unnecessarily.”

The campground’s area effect, camping-related quests, and their rewards—

Though he couldn’t precisely define this campground’s nature, he recognized these extraordinary phenomena stemmed from her abilities.

Especially the tent’s effect—that required the skill of at least an S-rank healer. Perhaps she was S-rank or even higher.

He’d nearly made a grave mistake by suspecting her of being a criminal trading shelters.

“No, it was perfectly understandable to be suspicious. I was flustered yesterday and didn’t explain properly.”

Her expression brightened slightly.

“Um, but…”

She hesitated, as if wanting to say something else.

“…You’re Hunter Chae Donghwa, right? From Recon Team 7.”

“Yes.”

“I have a request…”

Anyone in Korea would know him—so it wasn’t surprising she knew his name and team.

Outside the dungeon, people usually approached him for autographs, photos, or his contact number.

He’d never granted any of those requests—he was a hunter, not a celebrity.

Thus, he intended to refuse whatever she asked.

“Could you deliver a message to Center Chief Yoo Myunghyun for me?”

“Do you know our Center Chief personally?”

“Yes… a little.”

Her request was entirely unexpected.

“The truth is, I can’t leave the dungeon due to personal circumstances. But if enough time passes, I’ll eventually be able to exit—so could you just tell him ‘Bom is alive in the dungeon’?”

“Can I verify your hunter license?”

Though his suspicions had lessened, he still didn’t fully trust her. She was a stranger he’d only met yesterday, with unclear identity.

“I don’t… have a hunter license…”

She answered in an uncertain tone.

New hunters could register within six months of awakening, so it was plausible—but no rookie hunter could possibly reach this deep into an S-rank dungeon.

“Then do you have anything proving your connection to the Center Chief?”

“That too…”

Her voice grew quieter as she fidgeted with her hands. Suddenly, she raised her voice again.

“Can’t you just tell him ‘Bom is alive in the dungeon’?”

“…….”

He had no obligation to fulfill a request from someone he barely knew.

Moreover, despite her apparent power, she remained suspicious—so he was certain he’d refuse.

But then—

“Please, Hunter…”

“…….”

Seeing her earnest, pleading eyes, the words of refusal stuck in his throat.