I Obtained A Mythic Item Chapter 2: A Lucky Day (Part 1)

“Are you insane?! You want me to become a meat shield?!” Min Jaehyun shouted, his anger heating the air despite Jung Woomin’s attempts to calm him down. The cafe vibrated with the intensity of Jaehyun’s voice.

Jaehyun glared furiously at Jung Woomin, who stood before him. He thought grimly, ‘I should have known when he mentioned including me in the dungeon raid.’

It was rare for Jung Woomin to contact him. As a Raider—someone who managed freelance Raiders in the Raider Agency and distributed jobs to guildless individuals—Woomin was Jaehyun’s partner in the field.

So, when Woomin reached out, Jaehyun assumed it meant there would be a job. But the reality of the offer was a harsh wake-up call: to serve as a shield-bearer at the front lines in a dungeon crawling with undead monsters. Essentially, they wanted him to be a disposable meat shield in times of peril.

With a sigh, Jaehyun knew Woomin was well aware of his reluctance. But there were no other options. Jaehyun, a mid-to-low D-class Raider and even worse, affiliated with the martial faction, wasn’t bathed in opportunities. With his average experiences and not particularly outstanding skills for his rank, his current situation was, regrettably, somewhat expected.

Trying to contain his frustration, Jaehyun softened his voice. “Why can’t I find any decent jobs? Even those ranked lower than me seem to be getting work quite easily!”

“You know how it is, brother,” Woomin explained. “Even high-ranking Raiders from the martial faction struggle to find work these days.”

“So, are you disregarding me because I’m part of the martial faction? Thanks for nothing,” Jaehyun grumbled.

The term ‘Moochin’ was used contemptuously for Raiders from the martial faction. Generally, Raiders were divided into martial and magical types, and while even lower-ranked magical Raiders managed to find jobs, the martial ones were out of luck.

Woomin took a sip of his coffee and elaborated, “Realistically, the trend is favoring magical Raiders. Martial ones tend to be slower and more prone to injury, which employers naturally shy away from.”

Indeed, it made sense. Martial Raiders who fought at the front lines were more likely to get injured compared to those casting spells from afar. In group battles, magical Raiders’ supremacy was hardly arguable.

Recognizing the reality, Jaehyun gulped down his iced Americano.

Thump!

He slapped the cup down noisily on the table.

He knew it; had he chosen the magic faction 11 years ago during his third year of middle school, after excelling in the Raider aptitude test and enrolling at Milles Academy, things might have been different. His magical aptitude was an incredible 97%, surpassing even Seo Ina, the pinnacle of Korea’s magical Raiders, who only had 92%. In contrast, his martial aptitude was a meager 34%.

But back then, magical Raiders were looked down upon, and Jaehyun, influenced by the prejudice, chose the martial faction—a decision he sorely regretted now.

Would his life have been better had he chosen the magical path?

Jaehyun shook off the thought. Raider growth usually stopped by age twenty and no amount of regret could change that now. Once the envy of many for his talent, Jaehyun was now just a mundane D-class martial Raider.

Breaking the silence, Woomin spoke up, “Brother, opportunities like this don’t come often. I was going to offer it to someone else, but I thought of you first.”

Jaehyun already knew he had no choice. In this industry, you couldn’t afford to be picky if you wanted to survive.

After a moment’s deliberation, Jaehyun finally spoke, “Fine. I’ll do it.”

“You’ve made the right choice, brother,” Woomin said with a smile.

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow at 8 AM at the location I send you. Don’t be late.”

“See me? Forget it. You’ve got your own work to worry about at the agency. Don’t concern yourself with me.”

Despite Jaehyun’s words, Woomin smiled softly and whispered, “No, I have business there myself tomorrow. See you then, brother.”

* * *

The next day, contrary to their arrangement, Woomin was nowhere to be seen at the entrance of the dungeon. It was approaching 9 AM, an hour past their agreed time, and Jaehyun muttered under his breath, cursing Woomin for not showing up despite saying he would. Perhaps it made more sense for Woomin, an A-class magical Raider, to care for more capable individuals than to tend to a mere D-class martial Raider like himself.

Pondering why someone of Woomin’s caliber would waste time in an agency rather than joining any guild he pleased, Jaehyun sighed and surveyed the surroundings. He saw other martial Raiders like him polishing their already gleaming shields, looking deflated. ‘Polish anymore and they’ll wear through,’ thought Jaehyun.

He looked elsewhere and saw the stark contrast—the jovial group of mages belonging to the up-and-coming Yu Sung Guild, exuding an air of confidence.

Returning to reality, Jaehyun reflected on his situation. He had no desire to partake in this raid but needed the money for rent and living expenses. At 27, he could still depend on his parents, but his father, the revered A-grade Raider Min Seongo, never cared for him, nor did his deceased mother.

Determined to escape his father’s shadow, Jaehyun had left home penniless as soon as he became an adult. Now, however, his independence only left him impoverished.

But he’d tried other jobs without success and always returned to being a Raider—it was all he knew. Even if that meant becoming a meat shield.

As thoughts filled his mind, a familiar voice pulled him back.

“Hey, Jaehyun! Fancy meeting you here again?”

It was Lee Myungho, another martial Raider like Jaehyun, whom he’d come to know through several dungeon raids.

“Are you doing this job too, Myungho hyung?”

“Yes. Times are tough… Dangerous as it is, it does pay.”

“Do what you have to do, hyung. Especially since…”

“That’s right. Martial Raiders have nowhere else to go. Am I right? These kids these days have no respect for the sword—just thrilled to throw fireballs from the back.”

Jaehyun sighed inwardly, ‘Romanticizing the sword while we’re starving to death,’ but he nodded in agreement nonetheless.

Without paying much mind, Myungho went on, patting Jaehyun’s shoulder, “Anyway, let’s get through this together. And maybe a drink afterward?”

Jaehyun hesitated, “I’m short on cash right now…”

“No way. I paid last time.”

Myungho’s firm refusal led to Jaehyun shrugging helplessly.

Seeing Jaehyun’s pitiful expression, Myungho relented, “Alright, alright! I’ll cover it this one last time!”

Jaehyun secretly smiled to himself—this would be the eighth time he’d manage to get a free drink.

Suddenly, a guild official’s voice rang out, “Everyone to the dungeon entrance! We’re going in 30 minutes.”

Jaehyun and Myungho quickly moved toward the sound. But Jaehyun paused, pulling out his smartphone. Myungho turned and grinned, “Still looking at that smartphone? You always do that before entering a dungeon. Are you checking pictures of your girlfriend?”

“It’s nothing. Let’s go.”

The voice fell as Jaehyun’s tightened expression softened. On the small screen of his old-fashioned phone was a photo of a young Jaehyun with his mother.

‘I’ll be back soon,’ Jaehyun thought, switching his phone to dungeon mode and catching up to Myungho. Smiling still, the two of them were swallowed by the dungeon’s maw.

* * *

“Hey, frontline! Keep your shields up and hold the line!”

“God damn it, can’t you follow simple orders? Stay in your place even if it kills you!”

Behind Jaehyun, the mages from the Yu Sung Guild constantly berated the martial Raiders. The pressure of dungeon exploration was getting to everyone, especially the mages who relied on their frontliners to survive.

Jaehyun and the other martial Raiders had a clear role: to protect the mages during their spellcasting from the attacking monsters on the frontline.

As the mages recited their incantations, they would unleash their spells, reducing the approaching monsters to ash.

After four intense hours of battling the undead monsters—creatures that could resurrect if not killed with sanctified weapons or divine magic—the Guild seemed to have the upper hand.

‘There shouldn’t be any deaths at this rate,’ Jaehyun concluded, thinking back on his worry from the day before.

The raid leader signaled a break. “Looks like we’ve cleared this area. Let’s take a short rest!”

“Did you all hear that? We’re taking a break. Frontliners, return!”

Walking back from the front, Myungho commented on the vastness of the dungeon. Jaehyun chuckled in agreement, taking a moment to stretch on a makeshift chair at the edge of the dungeon.

Suddenly, Jaehyun felt all strength leave his body. A mechanical voice rang in his head.

―The Aesir System has shut down.

―Temporarily severing connection with user.

―System rebooting.

“What’s happening…?”

Jaehyun was stunned by the unexpected message, his brain foggy as the announcement of an unknown interloper in the Aesir System reverberated in his mind.

―Reboot failed due to an unknown error.

Faced with a series of bewildering situations he had never encountered or even heard of before, Jaehyun felt utterly lost. Then, a mysterious voice began to echo silently in his mind, guiding him to follow a light. But before he could react, the system’s safety measures failed, and an unfamiliar presence infiltrated the Aesir System.

What could this mean for Jaehyun, alone and vulnerable in a perilous A-grade dungeon?