Blessing.
Yeah, that’s a wonderful word.
For an Awakener as fragile as a sculpture made of sugar, there could hardly be anything more desperately needed than a god’s blessing.
I’m glad it works the same way on Earth...
I drew the Hydra’s Blade and advanced toward the monsters.
I had spent billions to obtain the [Sacred Tree Seedling]. There was no way an item that expensive wouldn’t produce worthwhile results, right?
That’s right.
Come at me.
Slash!
The moment I moved closer, one of the nearby monsters charged at me viciously.
Its eyes gleamed with the unmistakable confidence of a predator that had discovered weaker prey.
Its six legs pounded rapidly against the ground as it rushed straight toward me.
But that was fine.
After all, this was precisely what bathing in the fluids of the Sacred Tree was supposed to accomplish.
Kyaaaaak!
Boom!
By the time the nameless monster’s foreleg slammed into me, the Hunters across the crosswalk were staring in horror at the cloud of dust exploding into the air.
But as the wind slowly swept the dust away, what emerged was nothing like what they had expected.
Heuk...!
Not a scratch.
Not even a single hair out of place.
Kliek!
Unable to comprehend why its attack had failed, the monster put even more force into its hooves.
I calmly endured the impact.
It was a defense capable of perfectly neutralizing the attack of an intermediate-level monster.
Yes.
This was the true nature of the [Sacred Tree Seedling].
Its hidden power.
That’s it!
The Sacred Tree possessed the ability to place anyone coated in its fluids into a state approaching indestructibility.
If I started explaining the underlying magical theory, things would become needlessly complicated, so for now, it was enough to think of the sap that seeped from the tree’s wounds as a protective barrier.
Though, strictly speaking, what I was doing now had more to do with taking revenge on the creature that had threatened me.
I quickly focused on the situation in front of me.
As expected, considering the amount of money I had invested, the effect was extraordinary.
After receiving the Sacred Tree’s enhancement, I could now shrug off even attacks on the level of an A-rank.
Shiik...!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
I swung the longsword in my hand and carved several shallow wounds across the monster’s body.
With that, the Hydra’s special effect, [Poison That Kills the Immortal], had been applied three times.
Grm...
Swish.
Shiik!
Then...
Why not relieve some stress by experimenting on these guinea pigs?
Kaaak! Keugh, ugh...
The monster wounded by the Hydra began twisting violently, displaying abnormal reactions.
I gripped the longsword and leaped directly into the mass of beasts. ŔÂ₦ȰʙÊＳ
Kliek!
Some of them became wary of me and raised threatening cries.
Others simply turned away, apparently dismissing me as nothing more than an F-class creature.
Either way, their fate was the same.
Whoosh—!
I manipulated the arm of the seized corpse and drew a line.
Swoosh!
Another long gash opened across taut muscle.
This time, the blade came down with the violence of a thunderbolt.
The [Sacred Tree Seedling] was especially remarkable in this respect.
Ordinary armor merely possessed brute durability.
It did nothing to eliminate the kinetic energy of an impact, which meant the wearer could still be sent tumbling across the ground even if the armor itself remained intact.
Clank!
This Epic-grade item was fundamentally different.
The ‘protection’ it provided possessed something close to absolute authority when it came to absorbing shock.
My body didn’t even get pushed backward.
There was one slightly inconvenient drawback, but...
After successfully cutting every monster at least once, I stopped in the middle of the road and took a breath.
Even then, countless creatures continued baring their claws at me.
It was pointless.
Do you think I spent billions for nothing?
A few seconds later.
The six-legged beasts gathered around me abruptly began collapsing one after another, coughing up blood.
They had failed to withstand the Hydra’s venom.
From the first strike to this point, approximately one minute and forty seconds had passed.
As expected, their relatively small bodies meant faster heart rates, and that allowed the poison to circulate quickly enough to kill them in a short period of time.
Interesting data, actually.
Hmm.
If I had to summarize today’s accomplishment in a single sentence...
I had finally obtained ‘S-rank-level defense.’
From now on, no one would be able to call me soft, and I wouldn’t suffer injuries like a block of tofu merely from the wind pressure generated by a drawn weapon.
Still, I couldn’t expect to maintain my deception with this alone.
Strength.
Dynamic vision.
Presence.
And so on.
I had only just begun reproducing one of the many qualities that a true top-tier Awakened should naturally possess.
Oh, right.
Now that my body’s durability had suddenly increased, I should probably tell Jung Haseong about it.
I’ll just say my skill has improved and that we’re moving on to the next stage of training.
I stood there absentmindedly organizing the rest of my schedule for the day.
Then one side of the street suddenly became noisy.
“Huh? What? The Dungeon Break...?”
“Wow, it’s Hunter Kim Giryeo!”
“What? It’s already over?”
Reinforcements had arrived one step too late.
***
At four o’clock that afternoon, a single line of eyewitness testimony appeared on a certain Hunter’s social media account.
#############
#Hunters
He’s a God...
#############
The post itself was short.
Yet from that sentence alone, many people immediately understood who ‘he’ referred to.
Attached to it was a photograph of the scene, with the bodies of monsters scattered across the ground.
[Is this skill for real? Look at those corpses. Our party has to set traps and do all kinds of things just to bring those monsters down, and even then their hides end up completely shredded. :-]
[Wow, I was wondering how close the elementary school really was, and it’s literally right beside it.]
[I’m on the news!♡♡]
The Dungeon Break that had occurred in front of an elementary school in Seoul soon made its way onto national news broadcasts.
[Eyewitness Account of Hunter Kim Giryeo:
(Preview) Wow, you can really feel how different an S-rank is just from the way he walks. And the reason I thought that was...]
The protagonist of the incident had expected Earthlings to marvel at his newly acquired defensive ability.
Reality, however, was somewhat different.
To ordinary people, an S-rank Hunter being extraordinarily durable was simply taken for granted.
None of the witnesses showed the slightest interest in the fact that Kim Giryeo had escaped the battle completely unharmed.
But that was actually a good thing.
It meant that, at least in that moment, Kim Giryeo had looked completely natural as an S-rank Hunter.
[As a father raising a child, this incident made me feel grateful to Hunters all over again. I sincerely thank the Hunters who risked themselves to hold the monsters back at the scene, and Hunter Kim Giryeo as well.]
The archmage had merely chosen a convenient target because he wanted to test his newly acquired power.
The people watching had no way of knowing that.
Instead, praise poured toward the blond Awakened.
A man who remained utterly composed even while monsters attacked him with terrifying force.
A man who eliminated the threat with movements so subtle they almost seemed effortless.
And then the beasts collapsed one after another, like magnolia petals wilting beneath the summer heat.
Who could possibly resist being drawn into such a satisfying display of overwhelming superiority?
Admiration.
Gratitude.
Awe.
Praise for Korea’s fourth S-rank Hunter continued to spread.
With this incident, Giryeo had firmly cemented his position.
***
[Sacred Tree Seedling].
[Hydra].
[Surprise Box].
And the title of an S-rank Hunter.
By now, I had gathered quite a few useful pieces.
But I knew.
It still wasn’t enough.
At the moment, I had only managed to imitate the outward characteristics of someone powerful.
Against a genuine S-class opponent, I still wouldn’t be able to do much.
I wish I had more magical tools.
The quickest way to build strength was obviously to accumulate more Epic-grade magical items.
But if I was being realistic, purchasing equipment with money had very clear limitations.
The [Sacred Tree Seedling] had been an exceptional case, an item whose true value had never been recognized.
Most Epic-grade items, on the other hand, were priced on the level of newly manufactured fighter jets.
At this point, it was obvious that relying solely on earned income was no longer an efficient solution.
Hmm.
So I arrived at a conclusion.
A thought suddenly occurred to me.
Maybe trying an EX-rank gate this time wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
The EX designation was used for special maze-type dungeons.
Rather than demanding overwhelming combat power, these places generally required explorers to rely more heavily on problem-solving ability.
In exchange, their rewards also tended to be more generous than those of ordinary dungeons.
Sometimes, extraordinary treasures like the [Twin Guardian Angels] appeared inside them.
EX-rank gates were effectively opportunities for even bottom-tier Hunters to strike it rich, provided they had enough intelligence and luck.
Because of that, there were even teams that specialized exclusively in EX-rank gates.
Of course, the key word was that EX-rank gates were ‘almost’ free of monsters.
Not ‘completely.’
If you ran into something like the Labyrinth of the 13th Month, for example, every treasure hunter inside could end up dead...
Heh.
But if I thought about it carefully, I could handle even that variable.
With my current combination of items, I had already reached a level that was difficult to describe as belonging to a low-tier Hunter.
And I especially liked this guy.
Sssk.
I gently ran my fingers along the sheath of the Hydra’s Blade.
With this sword alone, I could send even a C-rank monster to its grave in very little time.
So what exactly was I supposed to be afraid of?
With that settled, I chose a maze-type dungeon as my next source of magical items.
Since I had a little free time, I was already considering challenging an EX-level gate.
Fortunately, there happened to be one nearby.
[[Breaking News] Mysterious Gate Appears in Southern Seoul. Seven Days Later, It Still Has Not Disappeared, Causing Growing Concern...]
***
A few minutes later, I found myself standing in front of a bus terminal.
More precisely, I had come to inspect the strange gate that had appeared there.
Oh.
Upon reaching the scene, I immediately saw the portal mentioned in the news.
It was a circular entrance embedded directly into the asphalt.
It’s brighter than normal.
Is that a characteristic of EX-class gates?
The light spilling from the opening reminded me of a cheap incandescent bulb.
I narrowed my eyes against the glare.
Almost immediately, startled voices erupted around me.
“Huh? Hunter Kim Giryeo?”
“Hunter-nim!”
The staff members were visibly flustered by the sudden appearance of an S-rank Hunter.
Ignoring their reactions, I casually stepped beyond the control line.
Now it was time to assess the situation.
So...
Using my status as an Appraiser, I obtained a summary of the information the Association had gathered.
The advance team that entered hasn’t made contact for seven days?
And unlike ordinary gates, this passage only works one way, so no one who enters can come back out?
Which means the internal structure is still completely unknown.
Since the passage itself hasn’t collapsed even after seven days, there’s a decent chance some of them are still alive.
Hmm.
I skimmed through the documents an Association employee handed me.
The names of the Hunters who had entered the passage were handwritten across several A4 sheets.
[25 years old | Class B | Seonwoo Yeon]
There were names I recognized.
...
Including her, eleven people had disappeared inside.
Eleven Hunters.
Why are there so many missing?
According to the explanation, when the first expedition failed to return, the Association organized a second investigation team and sent them in after the first.
Even taking that into account, however, the number of missing personnel seemed unusually high.
Especially when Korean Hunter teams usually consisted of only four members.
It’s practically three full teams.
Tuk.
Just as I placed my hand against the edge of the light to examine the passage more closely, an Association employee who had been restoring the disturbed perimeter happened to turn toward me.
“Oh, right. Unlike normal gates, this one pulls people inside even if they barely touch it. From what I understand, the casualty count increased because even the analysis team that came to investigate ended up being dragged in...”
At that exact moment, our eyes met.
Huh.
Uh.
Cold sweat ran down my back.
Haha.
No, I mean...
You should’ve mentioned that sooner...
I was so flustered that I instinctively tried to blame the other person.
But I never finished the sentence.
The white light surging from the ground swallowed me whole.
.
.
.
When I opened my eyes again, an utterly bizarre landscape greeted me.
It looked as though I had been dropped into another world.
.
Yeah.
Up.
Down.
Left.
Right.
White.
Nothing but white.
The emptiness was so overwhelming that I almost felt like pinching the bridge of my nose.
There was no excuse for this.
It was one hundred percent my fault.
Things had been going too smoothly lately, and I had gotten careless.
A bait box that kidnaps you the instant you touch it.
Seriously, those damn Gismche really know how to piss people off in every possible way...
Hmm.
It was then.
Tak, tat.
From somewhere within the seemingly empty space came the faint crackling of a campfire.
Well, since I’m already here, I might as well find out what kind of dungeon this is.
Amber.
Sky blue.
Pale pink.
Before long, a field overflowing with flowers in full bloom spread out before me.
At the center of the field burned a blue campfire.
Around it danced strange little creatures.
They possessed translucent wings and charming faces, resembling what people on Earth would probably call fairies.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
Then I noticed the humans gathered around the campfire, clapping along.
But the closer I looked, the stranger the scene became.
Each person wore a beautiful flower crown.
Fresh fruit, still covered in drops of dew, had been placed beside them.
At first glance, it looked like the scene of a joyous festival.
And yet...
For some reason, every human there looked absolutely miserable.
Their bodies trembled.
Their faces hovered on the verge of tears, as though they might break down at any moment.
Heup!
Well.
Enough analyzing from a distance.
I had taken perhaps three steps toward them when the human sitting at the twelve-o’clock position around the campfire finally noticed me.
“H-Hunter Kim Giryeo...?!”
The person who cried out in a trembling, tearful voice was Seonwoo Yeon.
An Association employee who had gone missing inside the gate.
“You came to save us!”