Chapter 5
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Became the Last of the Giant Clan
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Kang Hyuk momentarily couldn't collect his thoughts.
That was only natural, since a stranger's voice had echoed vividly in his mind without any warning.
"Do not show your back, successor."
In the meantime, the voice speaks once more.
"Showing your back is the shame of a warrior."
Kang Hyuk lets out a low breath.
And just as he's about to shout something, a guttural roar echoes through the air.
Kuoooo!
The Steel Beak Goblin.
The master of this gate and leader of the Steel Goblins has finally revealed itself.
The mysterious voice sneers in response.
"A mere beast, yet its roar is a work of art. But in the end, just a beast. Not even a warrior—and you're thinking of turning tail in fear of trash like that, successor?"
Accepting that the vivid sensation meant it wasn't a hallucination after all, Kang Hyuk finally opens his mouth.
"W-Who are you?"
"You're wielding my power, and you dare ask who I am?"
"...?"
"The Giant Clan—the very last remnant of my power passed down to you—and you still ask who I am?"
At those words, Kang Hyuk's eyes widen once more.
"The Giant Clan... Then you!"
"Stories can wait. Isn't this an emergency? Some fairly powerful ones are closing in from behind."
Kang Hyuk clamps his mouth shut at the question.
He quickly assesses the situation.
‘Is it sharing my senses and thoughts?’
He wasn't certain, but the possibility was high.
The nuance from its words earlier reeked of avoiding the hunters.
‘On top of that... It knows the true nature of my power and even claimed to be its owner.’
It could be a lie, but given the circumstances so far, that seemed unlikely.
After a moment's deliberation, Kang Hyuk cautiously spoke up.
"You're right. It's urgent. Which is why I need to get out of here."
"Because of those behind you?"
"Yes. They can't find out who—what—I am."
The voice falls silent at his words.
Power of the Last Giant Clan activates.
Giant's Ear acquired.
Power of the Last Giant Clan: 0.3%
Amidst it all, the footsteps approaching from behind grow louder.
‘No time.’
No matter how he activated the Giant's power, in his current state where he couldn't even muster a full 1%, escaping skilled hunters would have its limits.
Having thought that far, Kang Hyuk moves to turn away again—when the voice speaks.
"Then isn't it simple?"
The Steel Beak Goblin spots the corpses of its kin and lets out another roar.
"Before those behind you arrive..."
At the same time, Kang Hyuk forgets his dire straits and bursts into laughter.
"Take it down and slip away. Problem solved, right?"
"It's possible to take it down with the power I can output right now."
With the explanation, Kang Hyuk's steps come to a halt.
"But it'll take time. To drop it in one go, I'd need to output more than 1% of the Giant's power. My current limit is just shy of that."
The voice bursts into laughter.
"1%? Is that the term they use here?"
"...The term here?"
"I get the gist. So... if you have 100 units of power, you need 2 to do it?"
"More or less."
"Simple, then. Output 2% and take it down."
Kang Hyuk quickly counters.
"I can force it out. But it'll come with a huge risk."
The voice falls silent for a moment.
"If I try to contain more power than my body can handle, it'll collapse. That's not what I want."
This concern, born from experience, was what he was most wary of right now.
And for good reason—in his previous life, he'd failed to properly control the Giant's power time and again, suffering severe injuries every time.
The Giant's power was destructive and awe-inspiring, but if the vessel containing it wasn't up to par, it would destroy the user themselves.
In other words, surpassing his limits meant his body would break down.
Sure, he could heal, but the fundamental damage lingered.
That accumulation of damage had tripped him up time and again in critical moments, taking years to build up.
‘That's why this time, I planned to stick to what my body could handle. Against national-level hunters—no room for variables.’
Of course, that wasn't the only reason. Practical concerns weighed in too.
Taking down the Steel Beak Goblin required 1% of the Giant's power.
The bare minimum to fell it.
His current max output was probably around that 1%.
‘Even at 1%, it'll drag on. And if it does, the approaching hunters will spot the scene.’
That was why he'd judged retreat as the optimal choice.
The best decision he could make right now, all factors considered.
But.
"That's no excuse."
The voice in his head declared otherwise.
"If the vessel to contain the power is lacking..."
Kang Hyuk's lips curl into a smirk.
It was utter nonsense, no doubt.
"...then make that vessel sturdier and tougher. Easy fix."
But some inexplicable intuition—fate itself, perhaps—urged him to hear it out.
With no time to spare, he fired off a question.
"How?"
"Simple. Enlarge your body."
"...?"
"If the vessel for your power is too small, just make it bigger."
Kang Hyuk stammers.
"E-Enlarge my body? What does that even mean?"
"No time for talk. Lend me your arm for a bit."
He starts to protest—
"...!"
A strange chill envelops his body.
His senses dull, and without realizing it, Kang Hyuk stares down at his right arm.
From tumbling on the ground, the torn sleeve of his right arm reveals writhing muscles.
The mass of muscle fibers that any human should have—slowly, but unmistakably, imprinting themselves in his mind.
His eyes fly wide.
‘The muscles... they're growing?’
At the same time, the torn gym uniform sleeve splits open wider.
Anyone could see his arm had changed size. Kang Hyuk stares in shock.
But the astonishing transformation didn't end there.
Power of the Last Giant Clan activates.
Partial Giantization activates!
Power of the Last Giant Clan: 0.5%
A message he'd never seen before.
And new information floating before his eyes.
The voice speaks again.
"The Giant's power doesn't refer to raw strength."
In that instant, Kang Hyuk instinctively whirls around.
"It refers to the body that holds it."
At that moment, the Steel Beak Goblin charges.
Its body wrapped in iron, the object of the goblins' faith swings a massive axe down toward Kang Hyuk's crown.
Gazing at the attack, Kang Hyuk instinctively pulls his right arm back.
The instant he does.
"That body is the Giant's power."
A bodily sensation unlike any he'd felt before reveals a new field of vision—a new landscape.
The era when gates opened and awakeners were born.
Economies shifted like natural disasters in response.
The most striking change? Guilds formed by hunters.
Groups of beings surpassing humanity seal gates and supply the magistones pouring out to corporations.
Corporations refine them into a third energy source, replacing oil and natural resources.
Surpassing petroleum, coal—every earthly energy source.
The world went wild for this new resource.
Mega-guilds now dominated the global economy, much like Middle Eastern oil states of old.
"...".
And right now.
Among countless guilds, Yoon Hee-na—3rd Team Leader of Arena—frowns.
‘What the hell is this?’
She'd rushed here after hearing of a gate at Hongdae Lake Park.
Nothing unusual up to that point.
These mysterious portals could open anywhere, anytime—including right in the heart of Hongdae Lake Park.
What caught her eye wasn't the F-rank gate hovering smack in the park's center.
It was the 'situation' outside the F-rank gate.
‘Someone got here first. And held off the goblins.’
Smashed asphalt.
Bent streetlights.
Decapitated goblin corpses screaming of a prior visitor.
But that visitor's skill was no joke.
‘...’
The goblin corpses were far too clean.
Steel Goblins might be F-rank monsters, but a hunter who could kill them this neatly had to be seriously skilled.
Suspicious enough on its own—but the corpse sprawled before it narrowed her eyes further.
‘...No upper body?’
An E-rank Steel Beak Goblin.
A bit weaker than some gate bosses, but still a gate boss.
Its lower half alone lay rolling across the asphalt.
Even more shocking? No signs of the fight that took it down.
‘Magic? No... not magic. There'd be traces of mana. Mana flow? No mana either...’
She focused her senses, wondering if it was a misread—but still, no mana or magical energy lingered at the scene.
Yoon Hee-na mutters, brows furrowed.
‘...Pure physical force, no mana or magic, did this to a Steel Beak Goblin?’
To pulverize Steel Goblins like this with raw body strength alone? That put it at D-rank or higher among physical-type hunters.
All the more suspicious.
Why would a D-rank hunter clear the gate's monsters, ignore the magistones inside, and bail?
‘Because of Arena Guild?’
She shook her head at the assumption.
Hongdae Lake Park was Arena territory, sure—but Korean law let any nearby hunter tackle D-rank or lower gates.
No reason to retreat.
‘Then why? Some other reason?’
As Yoon Hee-na pondered, Arena guildmates approached.
"Team Leader! Gate cleared!"
"All 130 magistones from inside secured!"
Snapping to at the reports, Yoon Hee-na glances back at the Steel Beak Goblin corpse.
"...".
Still baffling, riddled with questions—but she shakes her head.
"Wrap up and pull out. No casualties, looks like."
Unusual, yes. But not worth dwelling on.
An anonymous hunter passing by took out the outer goblins.
Cases like this cropped up more often than you'd think—no bandwidth to investigate every one.
‘Yeah, chalk it up to that. Dig deeper and it'll just be a headache.’
With that, she turns away, erasing the incident from her mind.
In an age where superhumans roamed free,
She concluded it was just one more feel-good tale of a skilled hunter.