Growth (4)
Park Jihun staggered as the wooden sword slammed into his head. A sharp, stinging pain radiated through his skull, and the world spun in dizzying circles before his eyes.
“Ughhh...”
Of course, she had held back tremendously. Even with the stiffness and shrinkage effects in play, Shin Jiyeon was a B-rank hunter who specialized in close-quarters combat. If she had swung that sword with real intent, either the wooden blade or Jihun’s skull would have split clean in two. But this was training, after all. And she certainly couldn’t go around cracking open the head of the man she loved. She had deliberately controlled her strength.
“Kgh... That’s dirty. Using an illusionary titty grave on me.”
“Oh come on, Sunbae. What are you even saying?”
Jihun frowned like he’d been wronged and rubbed the top of his head. Watching him, Shin Jiyeon burst into bright, delighted laughter.
“Giving up already?”
“As if.”
Provoked by her taunt, Jihun shot back to his feet. They continued like that for a while—attacking, dodging, clashing.
“Hoo... You really do move well thanks to that martial arts skill,” Shin Jiyeon said, wiping away a light sheen of sweat.
“Huff... Huff... What’s the point... if I still can’t win...”
In contrast, Jihun was drenched in sweat and collapsed on the floor. Even with his stats boosted by 2.1 times, he was still nowhere near B-rank level.
“Still, managing this much without using any mana is genuinely impressive. The shrinkage effect made your body incredibly sluggish too... The stat boost and skill synergy aren’t there for nothing.”
Shin Jiyeon shrugged, recalling the openings she had deliberately given him. Even by stat standards, he was two full ranks below her, and he was a complete beginner with the sword.
Mana... She’s right. I still need to learn how to use mana...
Hearing her words, Jihun realized there was yet another field he hadn’t even touched. Mana. Until he figured out how to wield it, it would remain forever unusable. But once he could, he would be able to reinforce his body, imbue weapons with power for devastating strikes, and more. It was an incredibly versatile stat.
Right now, though, it was nothing more than a number on his status window. There were special monsters that simply ignored physical attacks without mana, and creatures like iron golems with extremely high physical resistance. Learning to use mana was absolutely essential if he wanted to challenge higher-ranked gates.
“This is tough. So damn tough.”
The mountain of things he still needed to learn besides martial arts made Jihun let out a long sigh.
“Shall we call today’s training here?”
“Kgh...”
And the fact that he still couldn’t beat Shin Jiyeon made him sigh even deeper.
Seeing his dejected expression, Shin Jiyeon quietly stepped closer and whispered into his ear.
“You know we have a gate scheduled after training, right?”
Now that she mentioned it, he remembered booking an E-rank gate so she could demonstrate real, practical swordsmanship—the kind you couldn’t show in training. It was a pretty tight schedule, three gates in a row, but from Jihun’s perspective his stamina wasn’t an issue at all. If anything, he was excited to see what kind of pretty girl he might meet this time. He wasn’t worried in the slightest.
Wait, but now that I think about it... going into gates, fighting, then fucking like crazy every day... it’s weird that I still have this much energy left.
Maybe this was another effect of Alpha Male? The thought crossed his mind.
While he was pondering that, Shin Jiyeon whispered into his ear again.
“After you watch me in the gate... maybe I’ll let you do it to me...?”
The moment he met her playful, crescent-moon smile, something in Jihun sprang straight up.
Alpha Male skill has reacted intensely.
#
“Chen Mei from the Black Society has entered the country?”
Lee Jeonghyeon frowned slightly at the report from his secretary.
I knew they’d make a move, but I never expected Chen Mei herself to come.
Park Jihun—the world’s first and only tamer hunter. Jeonghyeon had already predicted that America, China, or some other nation would try to contact him by any means necessary.
I’ve already set my eyes on him. No way I’m letting anyone snatch him away.
He had been monitoring both domestic and international guilds as well as foreign governments. And yet the first to act was China’s Black Society. He never imagined they would move this quickly—or that they would send Chen Mei, an A-rank hunter and one of the core members of the nation’s top guild.
“She’s here to meet Park Jihun, I assume?”
At his question, the secretary shook his head.
“No. We’ve been keeping watch, but she hasn’t moved at all since entering the Utopia Hotel.”
“...Is that so?”
It was strange. Among the Black Society, Chen Mei was known for her extreme emphasis on efficiency. She avoided creating unnecessary problems or complications and was famous for handling tasks cleanly and effectively. The Black Society had most likely sent her precisely because she could bring Jihun back to China without causing major international incidents.
Yet she arrives and then just sits still instead of heading straight for Park Jihun.
While he was thinking something felt off, a piece of domestic guild information suddenly resurfaced in his mind.
...Yongmun Guild. Gu Mansik suddenly started moving, didn’t he?
The problem child of the Korean guild scene—Yongmun Guild. Its guild master, Gu Mansik. The man had shown zero interest in Jihun before. When Jihun had sent recruitment texts to all the major guilds, Gu Mansik had completely ignored the messages and never extended an offer.
Yet today, out of nowhere, he had ordered his staff to bring Jihun in, spouting some crude and bizarre excuse. Since the entire office had heard it, the information had been ridiculously easy to obtain.
It was already suspicious that Gu Mansik suddenly got involved... and now it overlaps with Chen Mei’s arrival.
Lee Jeonghyeon spun his thoughts with an amused grin, then recalled one more old piece of information about Gu Mansik.
“Gu Mansik... he always loved swimming in big waters, didn’t he?”
Back when he had first awakened as an A-rank, the man had obsessively researched foreign guilds, claiming a man should play in the biggest ponds possible.
“I can see the picture now.”
The puzzle pieces clicked together perfectly in Jeonghyeon’s head. He now understood exactly how the current situation was unfolding.
“Those fucking bastards. How dare they touch something I already marked?”
Muttering those words, Lee Jeonghyeon began dialing a number. The murderous aura radiating from him made every single person in the secretary’s office tremble in fear.
#
E-rank Gate — ‘Giant Bat Cave.’
The monsters that appeared were exactly as the name suggested: giant bats. Swarms of bats nearly one meter long would rush at intruders, and because the cave was pitch black, equipment like headlamps was essential.
“...And that concludes the simple briefing on the gate.”
After finishing the briefing, Jihun and his three familiars—Briana, Kar, and Shin Jiyeon—stood before the gate.
Bats, huh. Does that mean bat beastwomen will appear? Maybe something a bit vampiric? A vampire that sucks semen instead of blood... Oh yeah. Oh hell yeah.
Of course, Jihun wasn’t nervous at all. His mind was entirely occupied with fantasies about what kind of beautiful otherworldly girl might show up this time.
“U-um, may I have your autograph please?”
“Sure.”
The association employee on gate duty this time was a woman. She stared at Kar and Briana standing behind Jihun with open fascination.
Kar was wearing the battle dress she had first appeared in (she had made sure to grab it before leaving). Briana wore reinforced plastic armor rented from the guild and carried a whip. While their outfits and weapons were certainly unusual, the same could be said for Shin Jiyeon and Jihun. For hunters, that was only natural.
What truly drew attention were the fluffy ears and tail, along with Briana’s green skin.
“Well, I had you guys fully gear up just in case, but today you two probably won’t need to step in much,” Jihun told the two familiars who stood proudly in their full equipment.
“Kiihik...”
“Grrrng...”
Both of them drooped their shoulders with disappointed expressions. They looked exactly like puppies who had just had their snacks taken away—so adorable that Jihun almost felt bad. But he shook his head firmly.
“I already let you run wild in the training room instead. Today, Jiyeon will demonstrate swordsmanship, and I’ll try to copy her as best I can. Only step in if it looks genuinely dangerous.”
“Kiik.”
“Kyaang.”
When Jihun spoke decisively, the two familiars nodded obediently. They really were well-trained; they listened well.
“Sunbae~ We’re heading in now!”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
And so Jihun and his three female familiars stepped into the gate once again.
“Hoo... It’s rare to have such a brutal schedule of back-to-back gates for two days straight.”
“This is my third one in a row.”
“Whoa, really?! After this, let’s look at houses and then rest properly.”
“Yeah. We’ve earned a ton of money. Let’s spend some and actually relax for once.”
Whether because he had grown used to gates or not, Jihun now chatted casually without any tension. Then—
You have entered the E-rank Gate ‘Giant Bat Cave’.
After clearing the gate or 30 minutes after entry, you may exit through the entrance.
Passing through the gate’s dark crack, an even darker cave appeared before them.
“...It really is quite dark.”
“Yeah. Good thing we brought lights.”
The interior of the cave was extremely dim. Limited visibility was one of the field factors that made clearing gates much harder. Still, since it was only an E-rank gate, there probably wouldn’t be any traps, complex layouts, or monster debuffs that made it any more dangerous than necessary.
Click!
Jihun turned on the flashlight he had brought. Bright light spilled out, reflecting off the cave walls and illuminating the interior.
“Whoa... It’s pretty wide.”
The cave was quite spacious. It looked about five meters across and roughly ten meters high.
“Since swarms of bats over a meter long fly around in here, it makes sense that it needs to be this big.”
That was actually a good thing. If the space had been cramped, fighting properly would have been difficult.
“This is perfect. Decent amount of space, enemies that come in swarms, and limited visibility. It’s an ideal environment to demonstrate real combat swordsmanship,” Shin Jiyeon said with a smile as she stepped forward. She would be demonstrating first.
“Grrrng.”
“Kiik!”
Briana and Kar, with their sensitive noses and ears, reacted first. A beat later—
“Kiiiieeeeek!”
“Kyaaaaak!”
The screeching cries of giant bats echoed through the cave. When they shone the light toward the sound, six or seven bats with wingspans as wide as a grown person came flying straight at them. The sight was incredibly creepy and sent waves of instinctive fear surging through them.
“Watch carefully and try to copy me, Sunbae. I’ll move slowly. Since we sparred a lot earlier and you have the martial arts skill, it shouldn’t be too hard to follow.”
Shing—
With those words, Shin Jiyeon raised her sword toward the incoming giant bats.