The Alpha Male's First Expedition

The instant I laid my hand upon the mana stone, the staff members' pupils began to tremble as if an earthquake had ripped through the room.

"Huh?"

"This mana reaction is completely insane?!"

"The readings keep climbing!"

The blue light of the mana stone flared brighter and brighter until it flooded the chamber with a searing brilliance.

One of the staff cried out in panic.

"Wait—this is way too high!"

"Is the measuring device broken?"

"No! It's still rising!"

Amid the chaos I alone remained calm, quietly closing my eyes.

In that moment, something long buried deep within my body was stirring awake.

Forgotten memories of blood. The war cries of the battlefield. The weight of the axes that once filled both my hands. Even the heart that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had dreamed of Valhalla, the land of true alpha males—all of it surged together and began to burn as one.

And at last the status window announcing my Awakening rose before my eyes.

Staring at the status window, I let out a quiet snort of laughter.

Well now…… it's been a long time.

At that very instant the mana stone erupted with light as though it meant to explode.

KRAAAAAAAAAASH!

A massive shockwave rolled through the room. Staff members screamed and tumbled backward. Alarm klaxons blared in my ears while red emergency lights strobed across the walls.

Yet my heart remained perfectly still.

A man who had kept his composure even on battlefields reeking of blood could hardly be rattled by a mere ruckus like this.

And finally…… the explanation of the skill itself unfurled before my eyes.

That last effect seemed a little odd, but I decided it wasn't something that needed my attention right now.

More importantly—where exactly were these points supposed to be spent?

Questions piled up one after another, yet none of them mattered compared to the truth burning inside me: the soul inhabiting this newly awakened body was blazing with battle-lust.

And not just any awakening—an EX-rank Hunter, a rank spoken of only in legends, had just been born!

In that moment my entire body roared the same message.

I was ready to smash the monsters of the Tower.

Then the examination-room door burst open and Association staff and security personnel flooded in.

"What in the world is going on here?!"

"Mana-stone overload reaction!"

"Status of the subject?!"

Every gaze locked onto me.

I stood there completely unscathed and offered them a proud, triumphant smile. The light of the mana stone still refused to die.

One staff member asked in a trembling voice,

"K-Kang Taegun-nim. What rank does your status window display?"

With the spirit of a true alpha male I declared it boldly.

"EX."

Every face in the room went deathly pale.

"……Pardon?"

I repeated myself.

"I awakened an EX-rank unique skill. Clear enough?"

Earthquakes erupted in the pupils of the staff.

"Th-that's impossible."

EX-rank.

A grade protected by the nation, managed by the Association, and watched by the entire world.

And now, for the first time in history, that rank had appeared—in this very body.

In Eirik Wolfson…… no, in Kang Taegun.

I lifted one corner of my mouth and looked up toward the heavens.

Odin. Now I finally understand why you did not take me to Valhalla.

A new battlefield in a new world.

If this place was not my Valhalla, then what else could it possibly be?

Battle-lust surging hotter than ever, my entire body itched to start pulverizing monsters that very second.

Before the flustered staff could even collect themselves, I bolted out of the examination room.

"Kang Taegun-nim! Wait!"

"Grab him, now!"

"If we let an EX-rank Awakener just walk out, we're all finished!"

Desperate shouts chased me from behind.

But it was already too late.

My feet, having left the examination room, were already sprinting full tilt toward Gangnam Central Tower.

A taxi? Such unmanly behavior was unworthy of an alpha male.

BOOM!

The moment I "opened" the Association's massive steel gate, the entire iron door tore free of its hinges and went tumbling across the ground.

The staff guarding the entrance screamed.

"The door! The door!"

I never looked back.

Doors were irrelevant now.

What mattered was reaching the battlefield—the one true place where I could feel alive.

Gangnam Central Tower.

The most alpha-male place in this world, where modern warriors climbed staking honor, wealth, and death itself.

For a newly awakened man like me to race there first was only natural.

Passersby all turned to stare and scrambled to film me.

"What the hell is with that guy?"

"Is he…… faster than a car?"

Still not enough.

I drove my body harder and launched myself into the air. The enormous thrust shot me forward like a rocket.

The wind hammered my face without mercy—yet that very exhilaration felt exactly like charging across the battlefield in my previous life.

A status window flickered into view.

"Giving points for something this trivial? Aren't you being a little too generous?"

"……."

How many minutes did I run after that?

At last an enormous shadow filled my vision.

A black tower soaring as if to pierce the heavens.

Its height…… stretched beyond the limits of sight.

Around the Tower stood fortifications managed by the Hunter Association and the military. The plaza before the entrance already swarmed with Hunters.

Mana stones extracted from the Tower, monster by-products, rare minerals, skill books, equipment—everything traded for fortunes. Hunters of A-rank and higher especially raked in astronomical sums.

Risking one's life to seize wealth was not a bad thing.

But money held no interest for me.

I lifted my gaze once more to the Tower.

It was vast.

More majestic than any fortress wall I had ever seen in my previous life.

Inside it waited monsters.

Trials, death, and glory—all of them waited for me.

The blood unique to an alpha male began to boil.

The moment I stepped into the plaza, the crowd stirred.

I pushed through the throng and headed straight for the central entrance.

There the waiting areas were divided by difficulty.

EASY.

Where low-rank Hunters gathered.

NORMAL.

Mid-rank Hunters wearing reasonably solid armor and weapons.

HARD.

Upper-rank Hunters of some renown waited there—most of them looking like A-rank or S-rank.

But my eyes went to the section beside them.

NIGHTMARE.

That zone stood empty.

A black signboard bore a warning written in blood-red letters.

The instant I read those words, understanding struck me.

There.

That place—that alone—was the true Valhalla Odin had prepared for me!

Without a moment's hesitation I strode toward it.

"Huh? Where's that guy going?"

"Th-that's the suicide zone!"

"No way…?"

The murmuring of the crowd swelled.

I stopped before the panel at the empty Tower entrance.

A blue screen flickered to life.

Of course!

I raised my finger to tap the final confirmation—exactly then a voice stopped me.

"Don't tell me…… you're planning to solo Nightmare?"

A sexy woman's voice. I turned my head without thinking.

A woman stood there.

Black suit, deep brown hair cascading to her waist. Sharp yet beautiful eyes. And a gaze that burned hot as it fixed on me.

She was no mere bystander.

Known by the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠moniker Sword Blossom, she was the S-rank Hunter adored by tens of millions of men across South Korea—Han Yujin.

I too had long known of her renown.

Looking straight at her, I answered.

"I am."

Han Yujin stared at me for a moment, then her lips parted.

"Are you…… crazy?"

"I hear that often."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I know."

She let out a disbelieving little laugh.

"You…… just awakened a little while ago, didn't you?"

"I did."

"No official registration either?"

"Probably not."

"Tower-clearing education?"

"Never received it."

"A party?"

"None."

"Then what about equipment?"

I simply raised my fist for her to see.

A fine start.

Meanwhile the woman's eyes trembled even more violently.

And was that a flush of red on her face, or was it just my imagination?