Chapter 1
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Lee Ru-ri
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"This should do it. Time to wrap things up."
The woman, lounging lazily in midair inside the gate while gazing ahead, slowly extended one hand.
Her hand reached toward the gate floor, teeming with swarms of something.
She let out a low, heavy sound from between her parted lips.
"Extinction."
⟨ Extinction ⟩
As her voice faded, a chill light flickered at her fingertips.
The moment the light dimmed, a massive fireball erupted in the air and plummeted violently toward the floor.
The writhing masses turned to ash in an instant, without even a chance to scream.
"Boring."
She hopped lightly down to the gate floor.
Every time she picked up something shiny amid the ashes, an alarm blared, and brief loot info flashed relentlessly below her HP gauge before vanishing.
The confirmed items took on their proper forms one by one. Among them, a single dagger caught her eye.
"A dagger... Even the lowest grade should fetch a Wound Regeneration Potion at least."
She paused to tally her earnings from this gate, staring blankly into space.
"There's nothing left to gain in F-grade gates anymore. What now?"
Suddenly, she realized no completion alarm for the gate conquest had sounded.
"Still more? No way."
Just as she leaped into the air to check, her right calf burned like fire.
Pain hit along with a foreign sensation. In a blink, dark red blood gushed out, and her leg went limp.
"Ugh."
She crumpled to the ground, scanning her surroundings.
The blade that had attacked her was already gone. Then, a sudden ringing in her ears.
―Hide. Hide and survive. You must never let the world know about you!
The gate floor trembled, blurring her vision.
"Ah, of all times... Hoo, get it together. This much shaking means... it's close."
She gritted her teeth hard enough to grind them and leaped into the air.
By a hair's breadth, a sharp, massive blade sliced into where she'd been sitting.
Up close, it was a double-edged axe bigger than her entire body.
Blood dripping from her calf splattered onto the axe blade in midair.
―Grrr.
The monster hiding nearby lurched out, excited by the scent of blood.
It resembled an ogre from the bestiary.
But it definitely wasn't one.
Ogres wielded clubs as big as themselves with their massive frames.
Yet this one gripped a large double-edged axe with a menacingly gleaming blade.
"Ah, right. That's the Ogre Chief for sure."
[D ― Ogre Chief: Current Favor <0>]
"Why's a D-grade in an F-grade gate?"
The D-grade Ogre Chief charged at terrifying speed toward the deeply embedded blade.
Its pace confirmed it wasn't something an F-grade gate should spawn.
"Too nimble and fast for that bulk."
She focused on its movements to predict attack patterns.
But another piercing ring assaulted her ears.
―Hide, you have to hide! You at least, you have to live. That's all I want!
"Please, ugh!"
The voice stabbed sharper into her mind, shaking her focus.
―Grrr, kraak!
The monster licked her blood off the axe blade.
Its eyes bulged grotesquely, flushed red with the taste, as it hurled the axe with all its might and vanished completely.
The axe hurtled toward her heart, blinking out of sight before flashing back into view.
It seemed to have the ability to conceal both itself and its weapon.
Decision made, she urgently leaped higher than the axe's trajectory.
Even as the persistent tinnitus induced a headache, furrowing her brow, she pondered how to subdue the monster before her.
"On the ground, I could track it by vibrations, but I've lost too much blood... No choice."
She reached back into her bag and pulled out several Highest Mana Potions.
Honestly, extravagant.
Using no-cooldown top-grade potions just to fill her meager max mana was pure luxury.
"Still, if this investment yields something worthwhile from that thing..."
She narrowed her eyes, extended one hand, and quietly felt her mana ripple.
Downing a potion, her face grew colder as she murmured lowly.
"Extinction."
⟨ Extinction ⟩
Fireballs of moderate size rained chaotically across the gate interior.
Boom, booom, kabooom!
Collisions revealed the hiding monster with groans here and there.
Her fireballs set its body ablaze.
―Kraaaah!
The monster screamed as it burned fiercely.
"What to do? Kill it, or drag it out a bit more..."
She checked her HP gauge. She had three Highest HP Potions left.
But without healing the wound, it'd be pouring water into a sieve.
"Well, knowing it's from an F-grade gate gives me reason enough to stick around longer."
She swiftly chugged another mana potion and bellowed forcefully.
"Extinction!"
⟨ Extinction ⟩
The dwindled number of fireballs surged back dramatically.
The monster was being brutally pulverized, yet it stubbornly kept its gaze locked on her.
It thrashed for a while longer after that but ultimately turned to ash beneath the overwhelming fireballs.
Clinging to her fading consciousness, she descended slowly to the floor and collapsed with a thud.
Blood still gushed wildly from her torn calf.
She gingerly gripped her shin and poured mana slowly into it.
Her mana plummeted sharply, but the wound showed no sign of closing.
"This filthy sensation lingers."
Suddenly, memories of starting her crew activities surfaced.
"Wonder how An Young-hoon's doing. Probably ranked up by now."
Right after her initial hunter assessment, the first few gate conquests went smoothly.
Rookies weren't expected to do much, so even as a lowest-grade hunter, she joined monster subjugations without issue at first.
But repeated mistakes. Or rather, hard to call them mistakes.
Just her pathetically low skills.
She pushed on with crew activities, hoping to improve, but always stayed stuck.
Gate conquests involved life-or-death tension often, which weighed heavily.
Then, by chance, she spotted a cleanup crew recruitment and applied out of curiosity.
Pay was meager, but handling two or three a day suited her well enough.
One day while scraping by on cleanups, she met An Young-hoon.
He invited her to a gate cleanup near Seoul Station.
That day, someone lost a leg in that gate, and someone gained a secret ability.
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.
"Ah, gotta hurry."
She rummaged in her bag and gulped down a Highest HP Potion.
Confirming her noticeably rising HP gauge, she dashed to the monster's remains.
"This one's a different color."
[Acquired Ogre Chief's Axe Blade.]
Picking up the differently colored shine updated the info below her HP gauge.
"Higher grade than the rest, so different color."
She pulled a dark gray hood and black mask from her bag.
Mask over her face and hood zipped to her chin, she dug out a Strength Potion and swallowed it down.
She stuffed the loot into her bag hurriedly and bolted from the gate.
After clearing the sign outside, she walked a bit, hailed a visible taxi, and headed home.
Dumping her bag at the entrance, tossing hood and mask aside carelessly, she sprawled long on the sofa and reached into the air to open her status window.
She tapped the exchange button and searched her new loot.
"Ogre Chief's Axe Blade, search."
Ding.
[! New registered items: 9,999,999+]
[Search: Ogre Chief's Axe Blade]
[Search results 20,000]
[(Sell) Ogre Chief's Axe Blade: 3,000,000 won]
[(Buy) Ogre Chief's Axe Blade: 2,000,000 won]
[(Sell) Ogre Chief's Axe Blade: 3,200,000 won]
...
"Not insanely pricey. Still, better to sell through back channels. Gotta call the boss."
The woman tapped the contacts button in her status window and dialed someone.
―Yes, A-Market.
"Boss. Busy?"
―Oh, if it isn't my pretty girl. Haven't called in ages. You must be swamped yourself?
"Same as always. Boss, got any Wound Regeneration Potions or Troll's Blood for sale?"
―Hurt again? Troll's Blood... Got one left. Bad injury? Want me to bring it?
"No, no. I'll head over now."
―Eaten yet?
"Nope."
―Alright, come carefully.
Finishing the call, A-Market owner Jin Mi-seon hurried out the side door to grab the remaining Troll's Blood from storage.
Back inside, she called out loudly.
"Young-man! Get a deluxe abalone porridge!"
Kim Young-man, sorting goods, popped his head up at Jin Mi-seon's voice.
"Abalone porridge out of nowhere?"
"Pretty girl's coming."
"Ah, that friend?"
"Looks like she's hurt again."
"She's a healer, so why can't she regenerate yet?"
"If I knew, would I be buying pricey stuff like this? Frustrating, isn't it?"
"Still, among ghost crew leaders operating in hiding, she's top in F-grade, right? Honestly, the reason a healer can solo conquer is she can't heal but can beat monsters barehanded... Isn't that hilarious?"
"Enough nonsense. Just get the porridge."
"No, really, it's weird. They say the Association bugs you endlessly about her when you're not around."
"She has her reasons, so watch your mouth. If any loose talk gets out, you're first on my list."
"Wait, that friend... Is she some secret daughter you're hiding?"
"You little...?"
Jin Mi-seon hurled the rag in her hand at Kim Young-man.
He grinned shamelessly and headed out to buy the porridge.
Watching his back, Jin Mi-seon gazed at the woman in the small frame on the counter, lost in thought for a moment.
'Started looking out for her pitiful situation five years ago already.'
Jin Mi-seon carefully lifted the frame, blew dust from the crevice, and set it back.
Finishing cleanup and about to turn off the sign, someone entered cautiously.
"Boss."
"Came, kid? All wrapped up dark again."
"You know my situation."
"It's your age I'm worried about. Prime of youth, why hide like this? But your complexion..."
"Lost a lot of blood. HP potion helped, but the wound's still there..."
"Sigh, drink this first."
Jin Mi-seon handed over the Troll's Blood.
The woman popped the Troll's Blood into her mouth and chewed.
'Ugh, bitter.'
She scrunched her brow.
As the Troll's Blood absorbed, the stinging pain vanished, and fresh flesh sprouted in seconds.
Her pale complexion gradually returned.
Catching her breath, the woman handed the Ogre Chief's Axe Blade to Jin Mi-seon.
"Got your hunter ID?"
"Ah, here."
Jin Mi-seon stamped the hunter ID into the verifier.
Beep.
[Lee Ru-ri (F/27/Seoul): Supporter (Healer)]
"Tomorrow the Association will swarm again looking for you. Making ghost crew activities illegal was pointless with you hiding and rampaging like this. Must drive them nuts?"
Lee Ru-ri smiled brightly at Jin Mi-seon's words.