Dong Hwa opened his eyes early in the morning.

After spending a long time in dungeons, his eyes naturally opened at a certain time without needing to set an alarm.

However, today felt somewhat different from usual. If asked what was different, he couldn’t say exactly, but his body felt light.

His head was clear and his eyelids, which usually felt heavy as if weights were attached, felt light. He felt full of vitality and energy surging through his body.

Crack, snap!

Just then, he heard a distracting noise. It sounded like something colliding or breaking.

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

“Master, is this size good enough for cutting?”

“Yes, Teddy. You’re doing great! How can you cut them so evenly without using much strength?”

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

The monster was chopping firewood, and the woman, after cheering, returned to her position. Then she seemed to be rubbing something vigorously on a wooden board.

“Why isn’t this working… They said it could be done with friction heat.”

The two were quite busy from early morning.

Compared to the monster’s size, the woman looked very small. Perhaps that’s why it looked like they were playing house.

Like children’s play in a playground, rolling dirt with their hands and calling it rice balls, or declaring the space under the slide as their house.

‘Looks like they’re trying to start a fire, but why not use the big fire in the center instead of trying to make one? And how did they capture the Blue Starlight Bear?’

The Blue Starlight Bear was a famous monster known for interfering with hunting in the Blue Starlight Valley.

Countless hunters had tried to deal with this bear. Rumors even reached the association, prompting them to take action.

But nothing worked – neither killing it, taming it, nor using binding or sealing skills.

Why on earth was this invincible monster now acting as a camping assistant?

‘And that woman doesn’t seem to be a student. How did she end up in such a deep area?’

Dong Hwa was a veteran who had been here many times, so he could travel alone, but Blue Starlight Valley was a place where even A-rank hunters moved in groups.

Yet this woman was alone.

‘If she were high-ranked, I would have met her at least once. It’s certainly suspicious.’

Though her name was written as the shelter’s owner, Dong Hwa didn’t fully believe her words. He had seen countless criminals trying to trade shelters through various methods.

He assumed she was deceiving him through some unknown trick.

‘Come to think of it, that woman said yesterday that the tent had a special effect.’

Dong Hwa 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…? HP recovery rate increased by 10% per hour?’

Dong Hwa doubted his eyes. He immediately checked his status window.

[Name: Chae Dong Hwa

Class: Shadow Swordsman

Level: 30

Exclusive Skill: Shadow Hiding (S)

Stats: HP 99 Strength 99 Agility 99 Intelligence 99 Luck 99

(Buff: HP Recovery Rate +60%, Attack Power +20, Defense +5]

Having stayed for 6 hours, his recovery rate had increased by 60%. He also discovered some unexplained buffs.

Dong Hwa clicked to check the source of the buffs.

[Small Tent Effect − HP Recovery Rate +60%

Spring Camping Area Effect – Attack Power +20

Spring Camping Quest Effect – Defense +5]

And while he was sleeping, quests had arrived.

[☀Spring Camping Quest (Completed)

− Stay in the tent for more than 5 hours.

− Completion Reward: Defense +5] [☀Spring Camping Quest

− Try staring at a campfire.

− Completion Reward: Intelligence +5] [☀Spring Camping Quest

− Greet the campsite owner cheerfully in the morning.

− Completion Reward: Luck +5]

“What in the world…”

Something unbelievable had happened overnight. Several camping-related quests had arrived, and all rewards were stat buffs.

“Guest, are you awake?”

As Dong Hwa was deep in thought trying to figure out what was going on, he heard a sound of someone tapping on the tent from outside.

“Yes.”

Dong Hwa unzipped the entrance.

There was a long smudge of soot on the woman’s philtrum. It seemed to have gotten there while trying to start a fire just now.

“G-Good morning!”

“……”

The woman suddenly greeted him with a morning salutation. It sounded a bit too loud for casual conversation.

As Dong Hwa just stared silently, the woman, seeming embarrassed, quickly wiped her nose.

“Please have this. It’s our breakfast service.”

On the plate the woman brought were milk and bread.

No matter how he looked at it, this wasn’t food obtained from the dungeon. It was familiar food from outside.

You can bring food into dungeons, but it spoils quickly after 2-3 days. This location was at least a 5-day journey from the dungeon entrance, even traveling as fast as possible.

‘Then where did this come from? Am I caught in a monster’s illusion? Can there really be a campsite in a dungeon?’

It was such an unbelievable series of events that he couldn’t distinguish if this was an illusion or reality.

‘Anyone can set up anywhere and insist it’s a campsite, but…’

The monster chopping wood, the campsite owner trying to start a fire, even the outside food brought as breakfast service.

How to put it, it was too elaborate to be a prank. Yet there were too many suspicious aspects to take it seriously.

“Yes, good morning. Thank you for the meal.”

Dong Hwa accepted the plate for now.

After all, he had paid a considerable amount of coins. If breakfast service was originally included at this campsite, there was no reason to refuse.

Just then, a ding sound of a system notification was heard.

[You have completed a quest.] [You have gained ‘Luck +5’ as a quest reward.]

Come to think of it, there was a quest instruction to give a morning greeting in the Spring Camping Quest.

Though he didn’t think he had greeted particularly cheerfully. It was quite a lenient judgment, unlike the usual system.

“Yes, good morning… Ah, why isn’t this working either.”

The woman repeated the words she had said when entering while pointing at the air. Dong Hwa finally realized what she had been doing since morning.

“Did you perhaps receive a quest?”

“Uh… How did you know?”

“It seems you received a similar quest to mine. Did it ask you to give a morning greeting?”

“Yes!”

Dong Hwa explained the quests he had received. Not all, but some matched the quests the woman had received.

“It seems quests were given to you because of my class…”

A class that could give quests to other hunters. He had never heard of such a class before.

“What… Never mind.”

Dong Hwa was about to ask about her class but stopped himself. Asking a hunter about their class was considered impolite.

“What’s the camping area effect? When I woke up, I found an unknown buff applied.”

Instead, he asked about something he was curious about.

“The camping area effect is probably a buff you automatically receive when you’re within the campsite grounds. I believe it’s related to the weather and condition of the campsite. Yesterday it was an HP buff, but it seems to have changed to an attack power buff today.”

To be able to grant not just HP buff but attack power as well. Is she a buffer…?

“But hunter, your morning greeting quest was completed, so why didn’t mine work? I said the same thing.”

“You seem to have missed the ‘cheerfully’ part. The system can be quite picky sometimes.”

“Haha, that can’t be. I was just waiting for you to wake up. I was so glad. Strange, strange…”

The woman laughed awkwardly and repeated the morning greeting several times after that.

But they all failed. Despite her words, it seemed Dong Hwa wasn’t very glad to see her.

“I was rude yesterday. It seems I had unnecessary suspicions. I apologize.”

The camping area effect, camping-related quests and rewards.

While he couldn’t exactly define the identity of this campsite, he could tell that all these extraordinary things were due to the woman’s ability.

Especially the effect attached to the tent was beyond the ability of an S-rank healing hunter. Perhaps the woman was S-rank, or even above that.

To think he was about to report her as a criminal buying and selling shelters, he almost made a big mistake.

“It’s okay. It was a situation where you could easily misunderstand. I was also flustered yesterday and couldn’t explain properly.”

The woman’s expression brightened slightly compared to before.

“Um, by the way…”

The woman seemed to have something else to say.

“…You’re Hunter Chae Dong Hwa, right? From the 7th Reconnaissance Team.”

“Yes.”

“I have a favor to ask…”

There wasn’t a person in South Korea who didn’t know him. So it wasn’t surprising that the woman knew his name and team affiliation.

Usually, when approached like this outside the dungeon, people ask for autographs, photos, or phone numbers.

Of course, he had never granted any of the three. He was a hunter, not a celebrity.

So this time too, he was prepared to refuse if it was such a request.

“Could you pass a message to Center Director Yu Myung Hyun?”

“Do you know our Center Director personally?”

“Yes… a little.”

But the words that came out of the woman’s mouth were completely unexpected.

“Actually, I can’t leave the dungeon due to certain circumstances. I’ll be able to leave on my own as time passes, so could you just tell him that ‘Bom is alive in the dungeon’?”

“May I see your hunter license?”

Even if his suspicions were cleared, he didn’t completely trust her. She was someone he had met just yesterday, and her identity was unclear.

“Hunter license… I don’t have one…”

The woman spoke in an unsure voice.

It was possible for a new hunter, as one only needs to register as a hunter within 6 months of awakening.

However, it didn’t make sense for a new hunter to come this deep into an S-rank dungeon.

“Then do you have anything to prove your relationship with the Center Director?”

“That too…”

The woman’s voice became increasingly timid as she fidgeted with her hands. Then suddenly, she raised her voice again.

“Can’t you just pass on the message that Bom is alive in the dungeon?”

“……”

There was no obligation to fulfill the request of someone he barely knew.

Above all, this woman was suspicious, despite being extraordinary. So he was clearly going to refuse.

But.

“Please, hunter…”

“……”

Looking at those seemingly desperate eyes, he found it hard to speak.