Mana Level MAX?
"Leveled up?"
Choi Jae-jun opened his status window.
The fused soul already knew how to use the The Gamer ability.
Level: 3 | HP: 150 | MP: MAX (Unmeasurable) | Fatigue: 10
Available Stat Points: 2
Skills: Passive - None | Active - Fire (F-Grade)
This was the status window Jae-jun had seen countless times over the past year.
But the numbers were drastically different now.
First off.
His level had gone up.
And with the level-up, his stats had each increased by 1 per level.
But even more absurd was his magic stat.
999,999,999
Nine hundred ninety-nine million, nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine.
This was a glitch in the The Gamer ability caused by the demon's mana settling into Jae-jun's body.
His MP was now listed as unmeasurable.
No matter what spell he cast from now on, he'd never run out of mana and collapse.
But what surprised Jae-jun even more were the stat points.
He'd gained them just from killing Choi Sung-woo.
In other words, endless growth through hunting alone.
Just like in a game.
So that's why the ability was called The Gamer.
The stats had only risen by 2 points, so he didn't feel a huge difference yet.
But.
From now on, with every hunt, things would change dramatically.
Jae-jun shivered at the potential hidden within The Gamer.
He wanted to level up as fast as possible.
Oh yeah, he'd almost forgotten about the sword Choi Sung-woo had dropped.
He picked it up and examined it, and a system window appeared.
◈ Strength +51
◈ Special: None
◈ A sword made by grinding scales from ice drakes that inhabit only glaciers. Frost forms around the blade when wielded.
As expected of an A-grade weapon.
With Jae-jun's strength at a measly 12,
the Frost Blade added a whopping 51 to it.
'Choi Sung-woo gave me a better gift than I expected.'
Maybe because he was reading the description,
but gripping the Frost Blade made him feel the power surging into his hand differently.
'Let's test it.'
He looked around and gripped the metal frame at the end of the bed tightly.
Screeech—
The metal bent like melted taffy, all too easily.
Jae-jun's eyes lit up.
This was with just a tiny strength boost.
If all his stats grew endlessly through level-ups later?
Could a human stronger than a Demon King be born?
Jae-jun chuckled at his own ridiculous hypothesis.
'No way.
That couldn't happen.'
But there was no more thrilling fantasy.
Jae-jun tucked the Frost Blade into his coat and slipped out of the hospital room.
Fortunately, all his medical bills had been covered by the Another Guild.
Back home, Jae-jun turned on his computer first thing.
He logged into the Hunter Association site with his ID.
He was only F-grade, but he had a hunter license and clearance to enter gates.
He searched for gates first.
A list of currently accessible gates across the nation scrolled up.
Excluding distant ones, six remained.
F-Grade Gremlin Sewer
E-Grade Slime Cave
E-Grade Ant Nest
D-Grade Skeleton Tomb
C-Grade Harpy Nest
C-Grade Troll Hills
He wanted to tackle the stronger ones, but as an F-grade, Jae-jun could only apply up to E-grade.
Excluding the bottom three left just three options.
F-Grade Gremlin Sewer
E-Grade Slime Cave
E-Grade Ant Nest
F-grade dungeons allowed solo entry since the monsters couldn't deal fatal blows.
Even so, hunters avoided F-grade dungeons.
No magical cores dropped from F-grade monsters.
Purely in terms of money, portering gates was more profitable for Jae-jun.
But hunting came before cash, so he applied to all three, including the F-grade.
Now he just had to wait.
Even after applying, Jae-jun browsed the Association site.
The old him would've checked job postings in the porter category, but not anymore.
Now he was looking at the mercenary category.
Groups that had formed raid parties but lost a member last-minute posted urgent hires here.
He contacted a few.
"F-grade?"
"You're joking, right?"
"No experience at all?"
"You some kinda fainting hunter?"
Most shot him down like that.
'Hunting's tougher than I thought.'
Jae-jun gave up on mercenary work and shut down the computer.
Then his phone buzzed.
Bzzz—bzzz—
'Who's this?'
Unknown number.
Maybe the Association?
Jae-jun answered quickly.
"Hello. Jae-jun speaking."
"Hello. This is the Hunter Association Dungeon Management Division calling for Hunter Choi Jae-jun, correct?"
It was the Association, as expected.
A stiff, bureaucratic voice came through the receiver.
Jae-jun's voice trembled with anticipation.
"Yes, that's me."
"We're calling about your dungeon applications. Since you have no prior raiding experience, the E-Grade Slime Cave and Ant Nest might be too tough."
"I see."
"However, the F-Grade Gremlin Sewer is solo-clearable for F-grades. Can you come now?"
"Yes. Of course."
"Then head to the gate location I'm sending you. How long will it take?"
He'd already checked the location on the Association homepage.
"About 15 minutes."
"I'll wait there."
The clerk, sounding busy, hung up.
Jae-jun geared up and headed out.
Just in case, he took a taxi to the meetup spot.
As Jae-jun approached the gate, a woman who looked like Association staff came over.
"Choi Jae-jun?"
"Yes."
She matched the stiff image from the call—glasses perched high, scanning him up and down before reciting like from a script.
"Monsters in F-grade dungeons aren't very strong, so there's no party limit. But their cores are worthless, so don't expect to make money."
She handed him a document.
"To offset that, the Association gives special bonuses to F-grade clearers. Not much, about 500,000 won."
The paper spelled out exactly what she'd said.
At the bottom, in bold: 'The Association assumes no responsibility for any incidents inside the gate.'
It was terrifying in a way.
Guild hunters got insurance from their guilds, but the Association couldn't cover everything financially.
That's why most joined guilds for raids.
Jae-jun signed and handed it back.
"Paperwork's done... You're not going in right now, are you?"
"Right now."
"Hey."
She looked at him pitifully, face screaming F-grades are hopeless.
"Even F-grades need basic meds and food. You know that, right? You're not S-rank or anything."
Pfft.
Jae-jun chuckled lightly and walked past her.
The flustered woman called after him.
"H-Hey, Choi Jae-jun!"
He stopped right at the gate entrance.
Glanced back casually.
"I'll be out soon."
Without waiting for her reply, Jae-jun stepped into the gate.
The woman stared blankly at the gate, speechless.
"What's with that confidence?"
Passing through the gate, the scenery shifted instantly.
Cement walls and a dark sewer with flowing water filled his view.
Ankle-deep filthy water reeked of rot, with dead rats floating by.
Faint beastly cries echoed from deep within.
'Fire.'
Fire cast.
Mana consumption varies with flame size.
100 mana per second.
He cast the fire spell, his only registered skill.
Whoosh!
His hand erupted in flames, lighting up the surroundings.
Mana consumption meant nothing to Jae-jun.
His mana was MAX.
An F-grade skill couldn't even dent 1% of it.
Whoosh!
500 mana per second.
He tripled the flame's size.
Roiling fire licked from his hand to the ceiling.
A thick iron grate blocked the rear; only forward passage lay ahead.
Splash, splash.
A familiar chime rang as he advanced.
Gremlin Hunt
📍 Progress:0/200
📜 Description: The gremlins lurking in the sewer's darkness are a plague. Exterminate them all without mercy!
🎁 Reward: Shop Gold x10
⚠️ Failure: Cannot exit dungeon
'Quest?'
Jae-jun paused to check the window.
Kill every gremlin in the sewer?
He'd planned to anyway, quest or not.
'Shop gold?'
There was a shop too?
The The Gamer system hadn't fully revealed itself yet.
It felt like peeling an onion, layer by layer over time.
'I'll find out after completing the quest.'
Jae-jun crept forward, holding his breath.
No gremlins in sight.
'All hiding?'
He recalled the Association site info.
'Wary of people, hate light?'
Maybe hiding from his Fire.
Too vast to hunt one by one.
Leaving the passage opened up forks.
Whiiist.
Wind whistled sharply off the walls.
Splash, splash.
Deeper in, a weird feeling hit; Jae-jun scanned around.
Gazes from the unlit depths.
Dozens of faint red orbs blinked, circling him.
Grrr.
Grrrowl.
Gremlin cries from all sides.
They'd already surrounded him.
Dozens of red eyes glared from the dark.
'Overwhelm with numbers?'
Jae-jun deliberately shrank the flames, slowly heading to the widest area.
As the light dimmed, gremlins swarmed closer.
Grrrowl.
Grrr.
'One-shot them.'
Gremlins were cowards.
They hid if allies died or foes seemed strong.
His fire now barely lit his feet.
Grrrow.
Grrrowl.
One stepped within a foot.
Below dozens of reflected red eyes gleamed needle-sharp fangs.
Chiiiik.
Flames vanished; darkness fell.
Kyaak!
Kyaak!
Dozens of gremlins bared fangs, closing in instantly.
But in the dark, Jae-jun smiled.