Chapter 74

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Translator: 8uhl

Chapter: 74

Chapter Title: Provocation

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Lee Ru-ri slowly opened the file she had received from Yang Jeong-hyun and checked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠its contents.

"This is...?"

"It's the position experiment report on Il-won oppa and I-an unnie. I couldn't find everything, but most of the key info should be here."

Yang Jeong-hyun took the file from Lee Ru-ri, flipped a few pages back, and showed it to her again.

"Stat reset...?"

"Teacher Kim, if this report is accurate..."

"You'll see by the end, but even limiting ourselves to what we've found... Ru-ri, you've had your stats reset about thirty times by Baek I-an."

"Jeong-hyun-ah, check the very last page too."

Yang Jeong-hyun checked the final page of the file together with Lee Ru-ri.

"So that's when Il-won-ssi’s black mana became properly visible to Dae-hee?"

"Seems like it. They didn't know from the start that Il-won hyung could use black mana."

"That's why I-an unnie kept experimenting with resetting my stats."

"The most important part here is that personal ability stats keep rising until they hit a point where they stop, and then everything resets to zero. What happens then? S-rank gate clear time drops to just 1 second."

"Then Ru-ri's growth potential..."

"No one can predict it unless Ru-ri pushes herself to the limit. She's already been reset thirty times, so unlike normal hunters, repeated awakenings seem possible for her."

"So the problem is! If that senile Chairman Han or that thieving bastard Han Gyeol, who's yapping about marriage, finds out about Ru-ri's condition? He'll either come charging with bloodshot eyes to make her his subordinate or desperately try to kill her off."

"That's why Seung-woo oppa rushed off so urgently..."

"Exactly. The fact that we've gathered this much info means they might have a rough idea too."

As she tried to sort through the whirlwind of thoughts, a slight furrow formed between Lee Ru-ri's brows.

Baek Eun-an approached and wrapped her tightly in an embrace.

Yang Jeong-hyun also seemed to be pondering something gravely, but soon her thoughts cleared, and she asked Lee Ru-ri,

"Ru-ri, you haven't soloed an A-rank yet, right?"

"Yeah. I'm only doing low-ranks up to B-rank for now."

"Let's go."

"Huh?"

"We need to confirm if you can clear an A-rank first to properly gauge your position. We're ordinary hunters with no way to measure max growth potential, so we can't even estimate theoretically. If things get dicey, we'll jump in to support, so let's try it."

"Okay."

Yang Jeong-hyun checked the coordinates of the nearest A-rank gate and messaged Han Seung-woo.

Han Seung-woo, busy preparing for the alliance meeting, replied asking her to take good care of Lee ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ru-ri.

"This guy's got nothing in his head but Ru-ri. He's sick."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Let's head out!"

They all headed to the A-rank gate near Yongsan Station.

In the car, Baek Eun-an gripped Lee Ru-ri's hand tightly, repeatedly urging her to call for backup immediately if it felt even a little overwhelming, and they soon arrived at the gate.

"Ru-ri, call for backup right away if you're pushed even a bit, got it? If you push too hard and get hurt, we'll all die at Seung-woo's hands!"

"Yes, don't worry. I'll be back."

Lee Ru-ri entered the gate entrance confidently.

"Afterimage, how's the situation here?"

―Similar to before.

"How many are there?"

―5,000. 7,000. 7,000.

"Oh, quite a few. With you here, Afterimage, it won't take long, but if it ends too quick, everyone will be shocked for real. Since it's your first A-rank, let's take it easy and work through them."

―Understood.

Contrary to her words about taking it easy, the Wy Bomber's favorability—an A-rank monster—filled up in the blink of an eye.

"A-ranks are different, huh. What to do? If I clear it all like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this and pop out, everyone will freak."

―How about some training?

"Should I?"

Lee Ru-ri dashed ahead as she replied, starting to attack the Wy Bombers.

The Wy Bombers, hurling head-sized bombs, didn't have high HP but were incredibly agile.

"Too fast."

―The movement distance isn't long.

"Right?"

Lee Ru-ri blocked the Wy Bomber's bombs with regenerating bones, aiming for reflections, while attempting ranged attacks with petal rain.

She also pushed away any bombs she couldn't dodge in time with bubble bursts.

Once the skill cycle felt natural in her hands, the Wy Bombers' movement patterns became clear to her eyes.

As she methodically took them down,

"Ah, the new skill was definitely called Teleport, right?"

―Yes.

"Afterimage, clean up the rest for me. I want to check the skill info."

―Understood.

Afterimage began eliminating the Wy Bombers as ordered.

Lee Ru-ri hurriedly opened her skill window to check the new skill's details.

"Coordinates... I should memorize the coordinates of places I want to go. That means converting locations to coordinates and committing them to memory. Shall I try it? Afterimage, can you tell me your position in human coordinates?"

―This position is...

Afterimage paused for a moment.

―787,221.

"Teleport."

The moment she activated the skill, she instantly moved to Afterimage's side, who was finishing off the last monster.

"Whoa, thanks to Afterimage's attack power? The distance is pretty far."

―You can go even farther.

"We'll check more tonight."

―Understood.

While briefly chatting with Afterimage, the gate clear emergency alarm sounded.

Lee Ru-ri gathered the loot and magic stones before exiting the gate.

"Ru-ri! Are you hurt anywhere?"

Baek Eun-an, spotting Lee Ru-ri first, rushed over and checked her body.

"I'm fine!"

"Let me see, the time. 25 minutes for an A-rank clear..."

"If a hunter at this level takes 25 minutes on an A-rank, what the hell was Il-won hyung's condition?"

Watching Ham Dae-hee and Yang Jeong-hyun discuss gravely, Lee Ru-ri felt unnecessarily sorry.

'Dad must've been in a similar state... But it's not the right time to reveal everything about my condition yet.'

Lee Ru-ri handed the loot from the gate to Yang Jeong-hyun.

"Have Si-jin dispose of this for me. By the way, once Ru-ri starts handling A-ranks, the accelerated gate generation from the Inex Gate might stabilize a bit."

"Will Seung-woo oppa... allow it?"

"Han Seung-woo, that guy. He won't say it, but he's probably super grateful inside that Ru-ri clears them so cleanly."

"If so, that's a relief."

Lee Ru-ri's group returned to guild headquarters.

"Teacher Kim and Dae-hee starting re-awakenings right away?"

"Yeah, from tomorrow."

"How many applicants?"

"Thirty."

"Everyone's really grinding hard."

"Gotta run high-rank gates to make money."

"Teacher Kim, you'll be busy."

"Me? I just grab their hands, and it happens on its own. Dae-hee doing my errands is the real hassle."

"Good you know."

"Hey!"

Kim Tae-woong and Ham Dae-hee bickered playfully as they moved to prepare for re-awakenings.

"What about you, Ru-ri? You've slept and woken up refreshed, so you won't sleep more even if I tell you to."

"I'll go back to my room with unnie and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠look over more of Dad and Mom's experiment reports."

"Alright. Wherever you go, make sure to say so. You know the situation, right?"

"Yes, don't worry."

With that, Yang Jeong-hyun returned to the guild lab.

Lee Ru-ri and Baek Eun-an went back to Lee Ru-ri's room, sat on the sofa, and examined Yoo Il-won and Baek I-an's experiment reports in detail.

"Unnie had no idea?"

"Nope. Oppa-in-law and unni were always busy. Never imagined they'd do something like this."

"Resetting stats... that's something only a Hider can do, right?"

"Probably."

Knock knock.

"Come in!"

Choi Si-jin cautiously entered Ru-ri's room.

"Si-jin-ssi?"

"Ru-ri, I think you need to come to the conference room for a bit..."

"What's going on?"

"Well... you'll see when you get there."

"I'll come too."

Choi Si-jin guided the two to the conference room, where the alliance meeting was in full swing.

He showed them seats and left the room.

"Unnie, what's this about?"

"Hope it's nothing serious."

Noticing Lee Ru-ri's tension, Baek Eun-an wrapped her shoulders firmly.

The conference room atmosphere was heavy.

For quite a while, discussions went back and forth on each country's gate clear statuses and gate phenomena.

Reports on hunter awakeners from various countries followed.

Then Han Seung-woo took the podium.

Han Seung-woo glanced at the video participants and those in the room before speaking.

"Finally, as Vice Chairman of the International Hunter Association, I'd like to bring an important matter to public discussion."

Han Seung-woo displayed materials on the screen.

The documents recorded evidence of Han Gyeol murdering over 20 hunters.

The room instantly filled with murmurs.

"This is a report on former Vice Chairman Han Gyeol's unethical actions."

"He's already stepped down as vice chairman. Why bring this up now?"

Jo An, a key Han faction member, asked Han Seung-woo sharply.

"The reason is simple. Chairman Han ordered it."

At Han Seung-woo's words, the conference room erupted into chaos.