Owner of the S-Rank Dungeon Campsite - Chapter 23

“Wow! Master, you got a sub-skill! It seems like a skill to use outside the campsite?”

“I guess so… Oh, this is driving me crazy.”

It seems the system gave me a skill since I showed no signs of going out. Though quite flustered, I examined each skill one by one.

[Invincible Backpacker (S)

When you use this skill, you can receive the ‘Invincible Backpacking Quest’.

Upon completing the ‘Invincible Backpacking Quest’, you receive an invincibility effect as a reward.

While ‘Invincible’, using ‘Pitch a Tent (F)’ will make the tent act as a shelter.

– Effect: Invincibility, Shelter Creation

– If the quest fails, the skill is canceled.

– Cooldown: 3 days] [Wasn’t It a Pack? (B) (ON/OFF)

The campsite owner who packs anything they touch!

When struck with a weapon, you can pack the target into the ground.

– Effect: Restraint

– If the target is of a higher rank than the skill, there’s a high chance the skill will be nullified.]

“A skill with restraint and invincibility effects! It’s optimized for defense, isn’t it?!”

“But the ‘Invincible Backpacker (S)’ skill… we don’t know what kind of invincible backpacking quest will come up, so it’s still risky to go out alone.”

As Teddy said, it was clearly a good skill. However, the conditions were vague, so I couldn’t be wholeheartedly happy about it.

“And ‘Wasn’t It a Pack (B)’ needs to hit the target to activate, but I don’t have any agility stat boost, so I’m not confident I can hit…”

My agility, which should have naturally been boosted upon awakening, was at a normal person’s level since I lacked the agility stat.

‘As always, even when given good skills, they never make it easy to use.’

Moreover, the first skill had a cooldown of 3 days. The risk was too high if I accidentally failed the quest.

Even with the stealth skill, it would be difficult to survive for 3 days in an S-rank dungeon without encountering monsters.

“Then we should go out with a strong hunter who knows about camping well and can protect you from potential dangers!”

“That would be great if such a person would help me. But there’s no way someone like that exists…”

“Mr. Teddy. Where should I put this?”

At that moment, Hunter Chae Dong Hwa entered the management building. He was carrying an armful of luggage, just like when I first saw him.

‘He’s still helping out?’

Suddenly, his sturdy build caught my eye. The veins on his arms bulged as he carried the heavy luggage.

The biceps connecting to his shoulders were quite muscular. He looked healthy and strong at a glance.

And having lived in dungeons for a long time, he must be familiar with camping as well. At that moment, Teddy’s and my gazes intertwined intensely.

‘Rather than using a high-level S-rank personnel as a porter, wouldn’t it be better to use him as a bodyguard…?’

We were thinking the same thing.

* * *

“Are you really okay with this?”

“Yes.”

I asked Hunter Chae Dong Hwa if he could accompany me for a few days when he goes out for reconnaissance.

I planned to get a general idea of what the backpacking quest was like and get used to it while going around with him, then go out alone once I felt comfortable.

However, he asked why I wanted to go out. Feeling it wasn’t something to lie about, I honestly told him about the newly acquired skill and my purpose.

Then he readily offered to help with the plant guidebook quest and monster capture task.

He said a Spring Campsite quest just popped up telling him to help with my quest.

“Are you sure the Spring Campsite quest really appeared? I thought it wouldn’t apply since we’re going outside the campsite…”

“It did appear.”

Is it really true?

Originally, the system would occasionally give quests to guests to help me when I was in trouble, so it wasn’t strange.

‘But how can the timing be so perfect?’

I became suspicious at the too-perfect timing.

“Since one’s system window can’t be shown to others, I can’t prove it to you.”

As I continued to look at him with suspicious eyes, Hunter Chae Dong Hwa added as if making an excuse.

“Are you uncomfortable going out with me?”

“No, it’s just that I feel like I’m causing too much trouble.”

He was clearly staying here because he had business in the dungeon. Yet today again, he set aside his own work and helped with campsite chores all day.

It felt shameless to receive any more help. Even if it was a quest, I felt awkward about him devoting so much time to me.

“It’s not trouble. If I thought it was, I would have refused.”

He said firmly.

“It’s not a difficult task for my abilities, and the reward is worth the effort, so I accepted.”

Ah, right. Quests come with rewards, don’t they?

But what kind of buff could be so good that he’s showing this much interest?

Curiosity naturally arose, but I didn’t ask that far.

As he said, the system window can’t be shown to others, so I couldn’t verify whether it was true or not.

“Then I’ll be in your care, Hunter.”

I decided not to think about it too deeply anymore.

“Alright. Then shall we start by buying a backpack?”

“Yes.”

We went to the second-floor shop together. Now I have to use the counter instead of the vending machine to buy items.

[Backpacking Backpack (100C, 2.25kg)

− Cannot carry more than 10kg.

Only the campsite owner can use it.

Campsite items placed in the backpack can be used outside the campsite.

Food placed in the backpack won’t spoil.]

My eyes widened as soon as I saw it.

‘It says campsite items can be used outside if put in the backpack?’

Previously, when Hwarang Guild was leaving, I packed rice balls for them as provisions, but a warning message appeared saying campsite items couldn’t be taken outside.

This applied not only to food but also to camping equipment.

But now, not only can items be taken out, but food won’t spoil if put in the backpack. With this backpack, it seemed I could take ingredients out and cook food outside.

“It says if we put campsite items in this backpack, we can take them outside. And food won’t spoil if put in the backpack, so we can pack and take it out.”

“That’s a good effect.”

“But the weight limit is 10kg.”

Oddly, there was a set weight limit. Even though my rank was low, I was still a hunter and could easily carry about 10kg.

“In backpacking, weight reduction is the top priority. It seems the system is trying to maintain that setting.”

“…”

At this point, hasn’t the system gone crazy about camping?

Is it perhaps getting vicarious satisfaction through me?

Does it know how hard it is to chop firewood, start fires, and pull weeds from dawn?!

[‘Yu Bom (F)’ has purchased ‘Backpacking Backpack’.]

I sighed and bought the backpack. Whatever the system’s purpose was, I wasn’t in a position to rebel.

As soon as I bought it, I took it out of my inventory. The backpacking backpack was a bit different from what I had imagined.

It was divided into various sections to separate items, and there was a quilted back panel that looked like a car seat.

The back panel was connected to shoulder straps and a waist belt.

“For a backpacking backpack, you need to adjust the length to fit it as close to your body as possible for stability and ease of movement. The backpack should move like it’s part of your body to reduce strain on your waist.”

So that’s why it has this cushioned back panel.

“And when backpacking, there are three basic things you need to pack besides the backpack.”

“What are they?”

“A tent, sleeping bag, and mat. The mat isn’t essential, but it’s good to have in dungeons where the ground is often uneven.”

“All three of those fit in one backpack?”

“Yes. You’ll need to pack other tools as well. There are separate backpacking versions here.”

[− Backpacking Lightweight Tent (100C, 2.3kg)

− Backpacking Four-Season Sleeping Bag (100C, 510g)

− Backpacking Goose Down Sleeping Bag (100C, 890g)

− Backpacking Foam Mat (100C, 418g)

− Backpacking Air Mat (100C, 305g)

…]

There really were separate backpacking versions at the counter. The weight was kindly written for easy calculation.

The lightweight tent weighed as much as 2.3kg. I couldn’t know exactly how much the small tent currently used in the campsite weighed, but this seemed much lighter.

The rest of the camping gear didn’t even reach 1kg.

“When buying backpacking equipment, you need to consider not only weight but also volume and portability.”

“I see.”

There was only one choice for the tent, so there was nothing to decide there, and since it’s summer, I chose the four-season sleeping bag. For the mat, I bought the foam mat that I was already using.

When I took them out of my inventory, the sleeping bag and mat were much lighter and smaller than the campsite ones. They were compressed into bags small enough to hold in one hand.

“This is amazing. At this rate, they’ll all fit in the backpack with room to spare.”

“Other tools used for backpacking are also made of lightweight materials. New materials mixed with dungeon by-products are popular, but they’re expensive for ordinary people to use, so titanium is the most common.”

[− Backpacking Aluminum Mess Kit

− Backpacking Titanium Mess Kit

− Multi-tool

− Backpacking Table

− Backpacking Chair

− Headlamp

− Backpacking Machete

…]

The titanium mess kit was light, but it was twice as expensive as the aluminum one.

“It’s good to buy a mess kit, mug, raincoat, lantern, gloves, and water bottle. It’s also good to bring a fire starter, but we can take that if there’s space left. There are various types of knives too…”

His explanation seemed endless. He was really knowledgeable about backpacking.

Going out with him already made me feel reassured that he would be of great help with the backpacking quest.

‘But don’t hunters have inventories, so they don’t need to carry backpacks?’

Indeed, I had never seen Hunter Chae Dong Hwa carrying anything other than the large sword on his back, without any small luggage.

“By the way, how do you know all this, Hunter?”

“When my inventory is full and there are dungeon by-products I must take, I wear a backpack. Now I’ve given up on that because it seems endless, though.”

“Ah, I see.”

It made sense for long-term dungeon stays.

“Also, when going on expeditions to lower-level dungeons, we sometimes go with non-awakened porters. They carry backpacks.”

It seems Hunter Chae Dong Hwa, like my brother, is high-ranked and received expedition support requests.

As we continued talking, he packed the purchased items into the backpack. He stored frequently used items like water bottles and handkerchiefs where they were easily accessible.

Saying that putting only heavy and hard items at the bottom might cause the backpack to sag, he put the sleeping bag, which was light and soft, at the very bottom.

“It’s standard to put heavy and hard equipment on top of that. At the very top, it’s best to put emergency food or things you use often.”

“I should put wet wipes and biscuits to give to monsters when capturing them.”

“Yes. Now, shall we try putting on the backpack? I’ll show you how much it should fit your body.”

“Okay.”

He naturally slipped the backpack’s shoulder straps onto my arms one by one. Then he tightened the length-adjusting buckles to fit my upper body.

My arms went up awkwardly as he tightened the sides. It felt like preparing for kindergarten with how thoroughly he was taking care of everything.

‘But isn’t this too close…’

Soon, his face leaned towards my waist where the belt was. The area where his firm fingers touched felt somehow ticklish.

I got a bit tense and naturally tensed my stomach muscles.

“You can relax. It’s best to adjust in a comfortable body state.”

“Hmm, I’m not tensing up.”

“…Is that so.”