The Dark Master of the Abandoned Auto-Hunting Game

Chapter 2

Dungeon Replay.

In the past, aside from study time, I logged into this game almost every day.

Now, while auto hunting has become commonplace,

back then, a game that could hunt and grow on its own even when turned off was revolutionary.

I was truly immersed in Dungeon Replay.

At one point, I even thought it would be great if this game became reality.

“…I never thought it would actually happen now.”

Dreams do come true.

But that was merely a dream from ten years ago.

A game becoming reality.

I’ve grown too much of an adult to still cherish the childish dreams of my youth.

Inside the spider cave, illuminated by the red glowing stones,

Rayzen, a half-dark elf, opened his gray eyes in a daze.

“…What about the company?”

As the situation settled, Rayzen felt a sense of helplessness.

He had started from nothing and lived a life singing praises of humanity.

Even being born into a poor family with debt collectors knocking at the door, he had managed to climb the ranks and secure a position in a large corporation.

‘How hard did I work for this?’

The reality that contained his efforts had vanished.

Instead, the game had suddenly become real.

Naturally, he couldn’t be pleased with this situation.

A sense of despair rose within him, as if everything had turned to bubbles.

Slap!

Rayzen slapped his own cheeks.

With one hit, the sting brought clarity to his mind.

He took a deep breath, exhaling and inhaling deeply.

He shook off the anxiety and all sorts of negative emotions.

Instead, he filled himself with positive feelings and pushed them down into his gut.

“…You’ve just entered the game you know.”

He spoke to himself from a third-person perspective.

Is it bad luck?

No.

One could rather say it’s good luck.

If he had been thrown into a place he knew nothing about, he would have truly died.

On the other hand, this place is not an entirely unfamiliar world.

Rayzen lifted the corners of his mouth with his hand.

Creating a smile, even if forced, has its effects.

The dream of his childhood had become reality.

Could there be a more romantic moment than this?

‘They say blessings come to those who smile.’

Rayzen finished comforting himself.

The murky light in his eyes shone with a clear ash-gray.

From now on, he would set his goals again.

To start anything, one must set a goal.

‘Dungeon Replay is a game with a clear ending.’

Once Rayzen sets his mind to something, he is tenacious until he achieves it.

And that applies to games as well.

If the goal is to clear it, he was someone who memorized all the strategies for clearing.

Though many details had faded over the ten years.

Still, he remembered more than he forgot because he loved the game.

If a little more time had passed, he might not have remembered anything at all.

Ten years was a fortunate span.

“Praise my memory.”

He deliberately spoke out loud to further reassure himself.

Can he return to reality after clearing the game?

It’s still an unknown fact, but he would find out directly.

‘I can go back.’

When setting a goal, he must be even more resolute.

That’s the mindset he had built up over the years.

‘Then, based on my good memory, this place is the land of the landlords, the spider cave.’

When he last logged off from Dungeon Replay,

the auto hunting ground he had set was here.

In the spider cave, fantasy and arthropod creatures spawn at regular cooldowns.

Fantasy creatures.

Monsters that live only within dungeons.

They are categorized into beast types, dragon types, arthropod types, etc.

But collectively, they are referred to as fantasy creatures.

Rayzen hurriedly searched for a path.

His legs were tired from running so much.

Moreover, the pain from the drugs he had taken earlier still lingered.

‘So that’s why the character slows down for a while after using drugs.’

He had never thought such a process existed.

He learned something new.

Even in that state, Rayzen moved tenaciously.

He had an excessively strong survival instinct compared to others.

So much so that he often heard this from friends of the same age.

“Don’t you find it hard to live like that?”

It is hard.

But he learned that if he only complained about the hardships, he wouldn’t survive.

Rayzen walked even more vigorously.

“I found it.”

After a while, Rayzen discovered the exit.

The place with the most red crystals is the exit.

The paths he had memorized for efficient leveling helped him.

Rayzen immediately began to follow the path.

As he did, memories of Dungeon Replay gradually resurfaced.

‘Angel statue.’

The first thing that shone in Rayzen’s eyes was the angel statue.

The angel statue, quietly praying with its wings spread, served as a landmark.

A sign that if he followed this path, he would reach the exit of the spider cave.

Additionally, it randomly removes one negative debuff affecting his body.

‘There’s nothing particularly affecting me right now.’

The most common debuff in the spider cave is poison.

However, Rayzen is immune to poison.

He is a poison necromancer and possesses skills related to poison.

So poison was not a problem.

‘The poison necromancer was a level 65 character, right?’

The reason Rayzen chose the poison necromancer.

It was because auto hunting is the main character class.

As study time increased, the time to play games decreased.

Thus, he chose a class specialized in mob gathering, the poison necromancer.

This was also the reason Rayzen chose to be a half-dark elf.

Dark elves have a high affinity for dark attribute magic.

All necromancer magic belongs to the dark attribute.

Naturally, they are the best match for dark elves.

However, one should not choose a pure dark elf.

‘Due to their high affinity for darkness, they can be afflicted with the debuff of corruption.’

As much as their affinity for dark magic is high.

Dark elves have a unique trait called “evil blood.”

If they fall into this corrupted state, their stats drastically increase.

However, they would fall into a route of war against the world.

So he used a trick here.

By being a half-dark elf, while the affinity for darkness decreases,

he does not receive the debuff.

Moreover, he is faster than humans by nature.

Even when gathering mobs, he has good crisis management skills.

“I get to experience being a different race besides human, what a valuable experience.”

Rayzen chuckled lightly.

In the game, he had chosen based solely on performance.

But now that it has become reality,

he would likely face discrimination based on his race.

‘I’ll think about that later.’

Rayzen looked up at the angel statue.

The area near the angel statue is a safe zone.

So he wanted to check his current status here.

‘The settings I had when I last logged off.’

He intended to confirm that.

“Status window! Stats window! Skills window!”

Rayzen shouted earnestly.

Naturally, there were no windows appearing before his eyes.

Before it was a game, this place was reality.

Rayzen was told that such a convenient system did not exist here.

‘Alright. I’ll give up on relying on that.’

He took this opportunity to check and thoroughly cleared his mind.

Rayzen reflected on why he had come this way until now.

‘The path leading out through the angel statue is a shortcut to escape the land of the landlords.’

However, there is one blind spot in the shortcut.

That is, just before the exit.

An arthropod creature randomly spawns in the spider cave.

Usually, low-grade arthropods appear.

But there’s a slim chance that a high-grade arthropod could show up.

Rayzen had some faith in this.

The Rayzen who had possessed this body was a character who had set auto hunting in the land of the landlords.

Even if a high-grade fantasy creature appeared, he wouldn’t be unable to handle it.

‘The only thing I regret right now is.’

Dungeon Replay is an auto hunting game.

Usually, with auto hunting, you can see the results upon logging in.

‘But Dungeon Replay is not a typical leveling system.’

Dungeon Replay is a system that strengthens characters by unlocking conditions.

‘Ascension system.’

After filling experience points, the character must meet conditions to grow.

‘So even if auto hunting has been running all this time.’

Rayzen had only accumulated experience points.

He was still the same as he was ten years ago.

But there’s no need to be disappointed.

This setup is optimized for advancing through the land of the landlords.

‘So first, let’s check the equipment.’

Naturally, there was no equipment description window.

Rayzen followed his memory.

The equipped weapon is a staff, [Venomous Fang].

The armor is [Pelrox’s Web].

Lastly.

‘Absolute of the Collective.’

,,,,,,

Absolute of the Collective

[World Exclusive][Unique Craft][Epic]

Creator: Mage Araria

[Special Effect]

―When facing over 100 enemies, ‘Absolute’ activates.

[Absolute]

―The opponent falls into an unknown fear and cannot meet your gaze.

A unique special ability.

This is optimized equipment for mob gathering.

The reason the spiders couldn’t rush forward was all thanks to this.

‘What remains is.’

Skills.

Rayzen took out the ID card he had checked earlier.

And he discovered the six skill sockets inscribed on it.

‘This must be the explorer’s license.’

Those who traverse dungeons.

Explorers.

A paper that contains their ID and personal information.

That’s the explorer’s license.

In the game, the explorer’s license is displayed on the screen.

But now that it has become reality,

it seems to be something he carries with him.

Rayzen hurriedly checked the skills.

,,,

[Automatic Growth Undead Creation (EX)]

[Poison Provocation (C)][Venomous Release (C)]

[Bone Broom (D)][Venomous Explosion (B)]

[Toxic Physique (C)]

After checking the skills, Rayzen rejoiced.

‘Automatic Growth Undead Creation.’

An absurd skill that is the only EX grade.

This is a skill Rayzen obtained as a special reward for being level 65.

Surprisingly, it allows him to create unique undead with intelligence.

Of course, this skill has a clear downside.

‘The first undead created is weaker than regular undead.’

Undead are fragile and need protection.

Newly born undead are incredibly weak.

So, undead must be created early on and nurtured over time.

‘How many did I create again?’

He vaguely remembered it being around five.

The problem is, there are no undead around him now.

‘Were they all destroyed?’

In the first place, they couldn’t keep up with the auto hunting level.

So it’s hard to expect anything from this side.

As auto hunting has been running, there should be some resources accumulated.

Let’s create some later with that.

Still, thanks to being a half-dark elf, his lifespan is long.

If nurtured well, something decent should come out.

Rayzen decided to put this aside for now.

‘The remaining five skills.’

The most important thing is the direction of this five-skill setup.

The five skills are for large-scale mob gathering.

‘When running auto hunting, I always set it up this way.’

Seeing it directly, he finally remembered.

‘The problem is.’

It’s not a setup effective for one-on-one battles.

The fantasy creature Rayzen has to face is just one.

And it’s a fantasy creature whose grade is still unknown.

Rayzen gripped the Venomous Fang tightly.

‘Just staying still.’

Nothing will change.

Both the equipment and skills are sufficient.

Rayzen stepped forward with determination.

“Let’s go.”

Rayzen began to advance deeper into the cave.

The dark cave, which he hadn’t noticed in the game,

created a psychological pressure beyond imagination.

‘The field of vision is quite narrow.’

If there hadn’t been red crystals here and there, he might have experienced claustrophobia.

Fortunately, there were plenty of red crystals.

Rayzen proceeded as cautiously as possible.

Thud!

At that moment, Rayzen heard something fall ahead.

This signified that an event in the land of the landlords’ spider cave shortcut had been triggered.

In the narrow cave path, he encountered an arthropod creature.

Rayzen lifted his head.

Then, he swallowed hard, aiming the Venomous Fang.

At that moment, beneath the red crystal,

a single entity revealed itself.

Golden fur shining brightly.

Eight long legs.

Large, human-like teeth on its face.

“……”

Rayzen closed his mouth.

A junior-grade arthropod.

A golden spider.

The stage of fantasy creatures is represented in rainbow colors.

Tip.