Chapter 7: Random Box
“Ah, you’ve returned safely, Hunter!”
When I returned to the village, the villagers—including Mr. Park—welcomed me with sparkling eyes.
With a dependable expression, I replied,
“You can rest easy now.”
“Ohhh……!”
“What a reliable young man.”
“Huh, young man? What are you saying! He’s a Hunter, a Hunter!”
The small rural village buzzed with excitement.
“It’s getting late, so why not stay here for the night, Hunter? We’ve prepared meat and makgeolli.”
The Village Chief, who had been welcoming me among the crowd, approached and spoke.
It was the typical tone of an NPC from a fantasy game.
“Hmm, shall I?”
I didn’t particularly care for being treated like a hero, but there was no need to rush either.
The elders—old enough to be my uncles—had prepared food and lodging, so refusing outright would be impolite.
“Understood. Then I’ll trouble you for the night.”
“Oh my, trouble? We should be the ones apologizing for not being able to offer a proper reward. Please, head to the Village Hall!”
“Ah, before that, there’s something I’d like to ask. Village Chief.”
The Village Chief, who had been walking excitedly, looked at me curiously.
“Is there perhaps a place in this village where one can receive good energy?”
In rural villages like this, there’s usually a rumored spot where “good energy flows.”
A so-called auspicious site.
“A place with good energy…… you mean?”
“Yes, somewhere where if you make a wish, your luck becomes incredibly good afterward.”
Despite my vague explanation, the Village Chief quickly grinned.
“Ah! You mean the Training Monument. How did you know? Haha.”
“Yes, the Training Monument! That’s exactly it.”
I had no idea what the Training Monument was, but I answered immediately.
With things like this, it’s better to respond before questioning.
“I heard it’s a famous spot in this village. Since I’m staying the night, I’d like to check it out.”
“I see! You even took interest in our humble village before handling the request!”
The Village Chief nodded with a touched expression.
“Then I’ll guide you there. It seems you have some grand undertaking ahead, Hunter.”
I replied with shining eyes,
“You could say that.”
***
The Training Monument was located in the mountains not far from the village.
It was a stone stele about 2 meters tall, densely engraved with characters, though even the Village Chief didn’t know when it had been erected.
I stared at the monument before me.
“Please take care of me.”
Then, with the monument as the backdrop, I opened my Status Window.
[You have an unused free draw ticket!]
A notification popped up immediately.
Even if it didn’t shout at me, I was planning to use it anyway.
When I pressed my earlobe, a familiar interface appeared.
A Mystery Random Box spinning endlessly.
“Hah, I hope something good comes out.”
In MonMonMak, the paid draw boxes were infamous.
About 90% of users quit the game because of them.
Partly because they contained items with absurd balance that could vastly surpass Monster grades.
But the biggest reason was their atrocious draw efficiency.
— I spent 3,000,000 won and got a B-grade Goblin Gloves. Ask me anything.
— lol I spent 5,000,000 won and got an S-grade Orc Axe. Uninstalled this trash game immediately.
— Do Legendary items even exist? Anyone got proof?
— Legendary my ass lol, even pulling an S-grade item is like picking stars from the sky.
— SS-grade and above are basically dummy data according to the community lol
The item grades ranged from D-grade to SSS-grade.
And above that was “Legendary,” but it was practically nonexistent.
If you got even one A-grade item after spending 1,000,000 won, you were considered lucky.
The developers did publish probabilities, but no one believed them.
“Still, I was on the lucky side.”
Of course, I had never seen a Legendary item, and I could count my S-grade pulls on one hand.
Even so, my efficiency compared to investment was above average.
That’s how I became the only veteran streamer of MonMonMak.
“The question is whether I’ll have that same luck here.”
It was a free ticket anyway.
Anything I got would be profit.
After taking a deep breath, I pressed my earlobe.
[1 Premium Draw Ticket will be consumed.]
The box began to glow.
I stared at the rapidly spinning Random Box as if to devour it.
Flaaash!
The wildly spinning box finally stopped and opened, releasing light.
Now then, what color?
Please be gold.
Gold meant A-grade or higher items.
“Hmm?”
But soon, I doubted my eyes.
The light wasn’t gold.
Nor was it silver or bronze, which indicated low-grade items.
It was red.
A deep crimson like a ruby.
A color I had never seen before.
Then, a new message appeared—and I immediately understood.
[Congratulations. You have obtained a Unique-grade item from the Premium Draw!]
No wonder I hadn’t seen it.
In 7 years, I had never once drawn such a grade.
“Unique…?”
With trembling hands, I checked the message before me.
Wooooong.
A low resonance came from behind me.
Before I knew it, a fist-sized Gate had opened behind my head.
Like before when it spat out an orb, it tossed out an item and vanished.
The difference was that this item was wrapped in red light.
“Phew.”
Holding the glowing item, I swallowed.
A Unique-grade item.
In MonMonMak, item grades were determined not only by stats,
but also by how efficiently set effects were applied.
Sometimes, a single A-grade item couldn’t match a set of C-grade items.
However, items that could outperform full sets on their own were S-grade or higher.
“And Unique feels different from those.”
A special item that exists as only “one” in the entire game.
That’s what defines the Unique grade.
An item that only one person in the world can obtain.
I stared at the item before me.
“Glasses?”
Round glasses with silver frames.
Neither flashy nor outdated.
Rather, they looked refined—but not particularly impressive.
However, my disappointment melted away the moment I checked the information.
[Beholder’s Glasses - Unique]
[Glasses developed by a Beholder Sage who suffered from both astigmatism and myopia. Put them on your Beholder immediately. It will be the perfect gift for this many-eyed child!]
[All stats +5. You can use the “Eye of the Sage” Skill twice per day.]
[When equipped by a Beholder, a new special Skill is generated.]
“Eye of the Sage?”
Stats aside, what mattered was that it granted a new Skill—something usually tied to set effects.
And what surprised me even more was the performance of this Skill.
[Eye of the Sage - Allows you to view the target’s stats and possessed Skills. If the target is C-grade or lower, it does not consume a count.]
Simple.
Yet extremely meaningful.
In warfare, reconnaissance and intelligence are everything.
This Skill allowed me to obtain that information instantly.
And most importantly—
“There’s no restriction.”
Nowhere did it say the “target” was limited to Monsters.
Which meant I could also view the stats and Skills of Awakened individuals.
If the target was C-grade or lower, it wouldn’t even consume usage.
This was a massive advantage.
Information control was useful everywhere, not just on the battlefield.
But it was too early to celebrate.
“Let’s check the most important part.”
Carefully, I put on the glasses.
Since I hadn’t activated the Skill, they felt like normal glasses.
But soon, I felt a new vitality flow through my body.
“Status Window.”
Rather than relying on feeling, I opened it.
Name: Kim Han-ul
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Only then did I nod.
A Monster-exclusive item was perfectly applied to me as well.
“Haha.”
A laugh escaped me.
With a grin, I muttered,
“RNG-god game at its finest.”
***
The next day.
After returning to Seoul, I visited the Gate Management Bureau to report the completed request.
“You came back sooner than expected?”
The employee who had registered my request 2 days ago widened her eyes.
She must’ve expected it to take a week to kill 3 Goblins.
Or for me to return as a corpse.
“It was easy. Ah, here’s the proof of subjugation.”
Thud.
I placed 3 Goblin hearts wrapped in a plastic bag on the counter.
The foul smell of Monster blood filled the air.
The employee grimaced.
“There are vacuum packs specifically for Monster corpses……”
“Oh, I see. It’s my first request as an E-grade Hunter, so I didn’t know.”
I scratched my head with an awkward smile.
Of course, it was a lie.
A small “gift” in return for treating me like a pitiful E-grade Hunter and a sales target.
The employee, unable to respond, began typing.
“……Next time, please bring them vacuum-sealed. Or hire a Guild or Private Disposal Service—they’ll handle even the payment request for you.”
“I’ll do that.”
“Yes. After deducting a 10% fee from 300,000 won, 270,000 won will be deposited into your account.”
“Ah, there’s something I’d like to ask.”
She looked up.
“How many E-grade requests do I need to complete to rank up?”
“No need to overthink it.”
“You need 100 points. Each E-grade request gives about 20 points, so at least 4 more.”
4 times.
That was manageable.
“Ah, there’s one more condition.”
She continued,
“If you get caught in a Gate outbreak or an unexpected high-level Gate and defeat a higher-tier Monster, lower Hunters can be promoted by 2 ranks immediately.”
“……”
“Of course, only if it’s entirely your achievement, or if higher-ranked Hunters don’t claim ownership.”
She spoke confidently.
As if it would never happen.
“Is that really possible?”
“Yes, but only if the conditions are met.”
“Then I’ll come again tomorrow.”
“Understood. Fighting! Just 4 more requests to reach D-grade!”
She made a cheering gesture.
Instead of replying, I simply smiled.