Hunter Yoo Chan-seok could defeat Kang Hoon, the leader of Jannabi Team 1, if he were to secure a similar level of mana.
It was a firm assessment—so firm that it almost felt like an overestimation. No wonder the aide sitting in the passenger seat unconsciously turned his head toward Lee Se-eun.
— That good?
"Yeah. That's why I recommended the freelancer route and handed him a job on my way back."
After hearing that, Kang Hoon let out a laugh.
— You really think he'll reach that level. Makes it feel even more regrettable that we let him slip.
"It's one of two things. Either he grows strong enough to be a partner, or it ends here."
Even if Yoo Chan-seok joined as a junior right now, there really wasn't anything he could learn.
"Well, Yoon Seong-hyeon seems eager to recruit him as a junior on his team."
— Oh dear. Shouldn't we keep an eye on that, then?
No matter how much of a sapling someone might be destined to become a towering tree in the future, for now, a sapling was still just a sapling.
And when things didn't go his way, Yoon Seong-hyeon was the kind of man who wouldn't hesitate to trample a sapling underfoot.
"Taebaek's corporate philosophy is survival of the fittest."
— They don't exactly advertise it outright, though.
If Yoo Chan-seok didn't come under his command, he'd likely make sure the boy never got the chance to take off.
"So I thought about it for a bit, and it seems he wants about a month of training. That worked out nicely, so I handed over one of the training rooms the Association has allocated under my name."
No matter how powerful Taebaek was, they couldn't pull anything inside the Association's building. Of course, a company like Taebaek could pressure the Association if they really wanted to—but it would still be a burden.
— And after a month?
"There's a request from Incheon City Hall. I sent him off to Gyodong Island."
It was a request from the Korean government. Just like before, it wasn't an environment where Taebaek could easily pull any tricks.
With private or individual commissions, unexpected problems rarely triggered any serious follow-up investigations. But with government requests, any unforeseen incident would lead to all kinds of post-mission scrutiny.
"No matter how ruthless Yoon Seong-hyeon is, he won't make a move until Yoo Chan-seok comes back from Gyodong Island."
Though they spoke of survival of the fittest, beneath that ideology lay a fear of what would happen if they became the prey.
Taebaek was a place where you got eaten the moment your footing weakened.
— That makes sense.
If she handed him a few more similar requests after he returned from Gyodong Island, no one would be able to crush the sapling before it had time to grow.
"And if we establish some rapport like this, wouldn't it be possible to work together on joint commissions once Yoo Chan-seok becomes big later on?"
— I trust your judgment. Strategizing is your role at Jannabi, after all.
Lee Se-eun laughed and twirled a lock of hair around her finger as she replied,
"It's hard to be smart and kind, but I manage to pull off that difficult feat."
— Bullshit. You're heading back to Cheorwon, right? Good work.
After ending the call with Kang Hoon, Lee Se-eun crossed her legs, whistled softly, and gazed out the car window.
"A month, huh."
It was probably too short a time for any drastic change.
A month was more than enough.
The first thing I did was browse various medicinal ingredients through an app installed on my smartphone.
So-called elixirs.
"I don't need anything ridiculously powerful."
I didn't need some thousand-year-old ginseng rotted away on a snowy mountain, or a he shou wu that had lain underground like a corpse for ten thousand years.
Honestly, I couldn't afford those anyway—but more importantly, I didn't need them.
"This looks just right."
Scrolling through the app, I found several items hunters used almost like emergency medicine.
They came in small glass vials, like ampoules. The proportion of actual elixir inside was barely better than a piece of red ginseng candy.
And the price was five million won.
"Why is even the cheapest stuff more expensive than a studio apartment deposit?"
First of all, once you obtain a hunter's license, the Association provides an initial subsidy of 7.5 million won.
On top of that, thanks to Hunter Lee Se-eun's help, I received 5 million won for participating in Incheon City Hall's request. That made a total of 12.5 million won.
"At the very least, I won't have to worry about living expenses for this month."
The vacant room Lee Se-eun handed over comes with three meals a day provided by the Association to the hunter using it. Of course, the rent and other fixed costs for the studio apartment I normally live in would still have to be paid.
With this money, I could buy one reasonably sturdy spear, purchase that ampoule with what remained, and set aside the rest for later.
[Your purchased item is scheduled to arrive today at 4:30 PM.]
It was overwhelmingly faster than regular delivery. It seemed there was some sort of agreement to deliver items requested by hunters as quickly as possible.
"This is modern times. This is civilization."
After completing the purchase, I casually tossed my smartphone onto the bed and stretched.
In the other world, if you wanted to get anything, you had no choice but to run around yourself.
Buying a single spear would have taken at least two or three hours. If you wanted something resembling an elixir, you'd be waiting days, no question.
"Even if Earth is falling apart, I'm glad I came back."
The moment I moved, a groan escaped my lips.
"Until the items arrive, I'll focus on recovery."
Lee Se-eun had utterly wrecked my body, like smashing down soft tofu and sitting on it. If she was going to go easy on me, she could've gone a little easier.
Limping, I made my way to the bed and collapsed onto it.
I could still walk—albeit awkwardly—because I was continuously absorbing ambient mana to recover. Otherwise, I wouldn't even have had the strength to push the wheels of a wheelchair.
As I waited while recovering my injured body, the items I'd ordered arrived.
"This spear should be more than enough."
There was nothing particularly special about it, but it was solid. There was no chance it would snap under my current, pitiful level of strength.
"And this."
I opened the small box. Inside was a single ampoule. I inspected it, then twisted the cap open and took a sniff.
The scent was faint, but unmistakably refreshing.
And within that refreshing aroma, I could sense a slight trace of mana.
"This is just right."
Most people who handle mana absorb ambient mana, circulate it through their blood vessels and meridians, and bring it under their control.
Once they succeed, they store that mana in a vessel they've formed in places like the dantian or the heart.
If mana were water, blood vessels would be the pipes, meridians the filtration system, and the dantian or heart the reservoir that stores the filtered water.
The typical method of mana use is like drawing drinking water from a purifier.
"But me…"
I only use the pipes.
I take ambient mana into my body, use it immediately without filtering or storing it, then release it back out.
Because I don't stockpile it, I can't mobilize massive amounts of mana at once—but no matter how long a fight drags on, I'll never run out of mana.
Along with Paradox Flame, this is one of the sources of my endurance. Even after fighting Lee Se-eun for over four hours, mana was never what held me back.
"Honestly, if I had enough time, I wouldn't need to pull this kind of stunt."
Like flowing water widening a river, the ambient mana I continuously take in and release expands and strengthens my blood vessels little by little, twenty-four hours a day.
I grow stronger just by breathing.
"But I don't have time to wait right now."
I tipped the ampoule and swallowed its contents in one gulp.
I once saved another world by growing stronger like this.
This time, the result would be the same.
I would make it so.
I closed my eyes.
***
One month later, after leaving the training room I'd borrowed from Lee Se-eun, I prepared the necessary documents and headed to the assembly point in Ganghwa.
My physical condition was at its peak. I'd done everything I could within that month.
"Hello."
"Are you a hunter?"
After verifying my credentials through my smartphone and confirming my identity with the documents I'd brought, the man—who appeared to be a government official—nodded.
"Hunter Yoo Chan-seok, identity confirmed."
Once I filled out a brief additional contract, the advance payment was transferred to me.
"We depart at 9:30 a.m. Hunter Yoo Chan-seok, you are… Team 8."
The patrol areas were Eumnaeri and Gyodong-myeon.
"The confirmed location of the Alpha Corrosion Source is the church at the northern end of Insari. Please refrain from approaching the area. Be advised that the government cannot compensate for any damage incurred after entering the restricted zone."
Going where you're told not to inevitably raises the chance of getting into trouble. The very concept of an Alpha Corrosion Source implies danger, so caution was only natural.
"Understood."
I headed toward the seats arranged in the auditorium.
"This kind of feels like going to reserve forces training."
The thought left a bad taste in my mouth.
"I don't recognize you. Looking forward to working with you."
Several people were already seated. When they noticed me, their expressions turned ambiguous. One of them gave me a once-over, then frowned as if something didn't add up.
"Hey. You really a hunter?"
"Otherwise, how do you think I got in here?"
At my reply, he rubbed his chin.
"I mean, yeah, I can feel some mana… but why's it so faint? Even if we're short on people, you're telling me they stuck this in our team? Damn it, what a way to start the morning."
This?
I've got eyes, a nose, and a mouth just like everyone else. The least he could do was treat me like a human being.
So, putting my heartfelt wish into words—
"If teaming up with me disgusts you so much, go complain to Incheon City Hall. You chopstick-sized woodpecker bastard."
I delivered my polite, elegant words to him.
"What the hell?! You little—"
I reached out and pressed my hand down firmly on his head. As he tried to stand up, the force pinned him in place, preventing him from rising.
"Ggh!"
He tried again to stand. This time, I pulled my hand away in rhythm and grabbed him by the collar, yanking him upward.
The force of him standing combined with the force of me lifting him, and his body floated slightly off the ground.
Then came the throw.
Thud. With a dull sound, he hit the floor and lay there.
"Sleepy? Go home and take a nap. Don't go picking fights with people who didn't do anything to you."
It was only a brief disturbance. Since not many people had gathered yet, there weren't many eyes turning our way.
"You…"
But one of them spoke to me. I turned toward the voice and saw a woman standing there, a sword hanging at her waist.
"Oh. Quick-draw."
I remembered her. The one I'd fought last during the sparring match for the hunter license exam. She'd laid down a magnetic rail and used iaijutsu.
"I'm Han Sang-ah."
"Yoo Chan-seok."
I brushed off my hands and held one out to her. Han Sang-ah looked at it for a moment, then took it and shook it.
"Sang-ah, don't you know that guy?"
Huh? Were they acquaintances? The guy who'd been sprawled on the floor got back up and spoke.
"Yes, senior. But this man isn't the kind of hunter who deserves to be called 'that bastard.'"
What's with her siding with me? Judging by the way she called him senior, they must've come from the same academy.
"What? Who the hell is he?"
"He's the one who beat me like a dog during the license exam."
I mean, that was an entirely accurate statement—but I didn't expect her to admit she got beaten like a dog so bluntly. Usually people soften it a bit after getting their ass kicked, don't they?
"Doesn't beating a dog cause an uproar these days?"
"Oh. Right."
Han Sang-ah muttered that, then corrected herself while looking at her fallen senior.
"He beat me."
I hadn't been asking her to correct herself. Come to think of it, when I'd told her to raise her left hand if she was hurt, she'd actually raised her left hand. She was rigidly honest to a ridiculous degree.
"Han Sang-ah. He beat you?"
"Yes. And I shat blood for a week."
Based on the conversation so far, that statement probably wasn't exaggerated even a little.
"Sorry. I didn't think your poop would come out mixed with gochujang for a whole week."
"It wasn't gochujang. It was blood. And eating gochujang might make your anus burn, but it doesn't change the color of your stool."
I fell silent.
Was I the weird one, or was she? I genuinely didn't know how I was supposed to respond to that.
"No way. I can barely feel any mana from him. Wasn't it just luck?"
That's only because I don't store mana in my body.
"Even if I fight five seniors at once, I won't lose because of bad luck."