Chapter 38
Chapter 38
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Spirit Forest Preparations
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 38
"Hoo..."
Jeong-hyeon let out a deep sigh as he trudged back home.
Was this damn world endless no matter how high you climbed?
Jeong-hyeon felt like a hunter most vividly not when hunting or checking his system, but when he saw the money hitting his bank account.
And in that sense, witnessing Ye-rin buy her gear firsthand had made him feel her A-Rank Hunter status more effectively than anything else.
"That much money all at once? In one payment? I nearly passed out for real."
It was an amount so massive it felt irreverent even to speak aloud.
Ye-rin had swiped her card for it without batting an eye.
"Hmm, that's a fair price. I'll pay in full."
Of course, the gear she bought was truly luxurious—a treasure that wouldn't look out of place passed down as an heirloom in any average household.
And there he was, whining about 15 million won in front of her. How was he supposed to face her now?
"If she has that much money, couldn't she buy a junior hunter a mace or something?"
Jeong-hyeon grumbled just to grumble.
Even if she'd offered, he probably would've refused.
"Haa... It takes the wind out of my sails. Guess I should spin the shop now."
The most important part of luck-based elements like the shop was expectation control.
True luck betrayed you when expectations were highest and gifted surprises when you least expected it.
He had exactly 3 coins left.
Perfect number for testing his luck once.
[Would you like to refresh the list?]
"Refresh it or don't."
With a mindset so detached it burrowed into the ground, Jeong-hyeon nodded.
And amid the unremarkable list, one trait caught his eye.
"Eh?"
[「Stealth that Fools Even Goblin Eyes」 (E, Lv.1), 2C]
A stealth trait.
Honestly, stealth traits were close to unpopular.
For starters, people didn't view them favorably.
Sneaking away in plain sight to smack someone in the back of the head? Sure, it was prejudice, but you couldn't guarantee that back of the head wouldn't be yours.
Thanks to that, there was an active private group on Hunter Net called the "National Stealth Trait Association," or "National Stealth Assoc." for short.
He doubted many actual stealth trait holders were among them.
Their activities mostly boiled down to:
- Ugh, met someone with a stealth trait today. Total creep.
- Hunter spreading baseless stealth hate—we at National Stealth Assoc. stand with you too.
- Lol, gotta watch my back.
Interactions like that, verging on spam and mockery, so the image improvement efforts were going a bit sideways.
But Jeong-hyeon had a different reason for eyeing this trait.
"Would this synergize with Throwing Skill?"
He had the Throwing Skill trait.
Throwing weapons and stealth just seemed like a natural fit.
But there was no way to confirm such a hunch anywhere.
The only way to have multiple traits was re-awakening, after all.
Re-awakenings were rare chase items themselves, and getting a second trait that synergized perfectly was even tougher.
'Even re-awakeners aren't guaranteed synergy like mine.'
The odds of landing a synergistic trait were like hitting the lottery multiple times over. No sane re-awakener would share that on Hunter Net.
Only Jeong-hyeon could experiment himself.
[Insufficient coins.]
But he had only one coin left.
Even if he wanted to test it, he'd have to postpone.
Plus, his equippable slots were full.
He could swap with an existing trait in a week, but it felt too risky.
"Guess I need one more hunt first. No novels where expansion tickets drop like crazy?"
That meant farming coins through hunts and refreshing until an expansion ticket appeared.
He smirked at how absurd even he sounded saying it.
Anyway, he needed to scout a new hunt spot.
Beyond coins, realizing his near-30-million-won balance was down to 500,000 made his stomach churn.
And even that would soon go to repayments.
Hunting earned big, but spending matched it exactly—nothing more frustrating.
"Tch, is this the life of a day-laborer hunter... Maybe text Sunhyeong."
But he'd realized it was hard to find spots on Hunter Net with only the info he'd revealed.
Unregistered, no level listed—how could it be easy?
Plus, he'd had bad experiences with shady parties personally.
Sunhyeong's party had that awkward gate vibe every time, but it was comfortable.
Like the saying: at work, if the people are good, the exhaustion's fine.
As he thought that and grabbed his phone,
- Rrring.
It rang.
Caller: Sang-su.
"These guys are no saints either. Hello?"
Jeong-hyeon answered, and an upbeat voice came through.
- Hey, bro! Picking up right away. Wanna hunt again?
He'd told them a dozen times not to call him "bro" despite being same age, but the nickname stuck.
'Why's everyone around me doing their own thing?'
Too annoying to correct every time.
Jeong-hyeon rubbed his brow.
"Sure, I'm in. Where to this time?"
- 'Distorted Forest of the Lowest Spirits'! Sound good?
"Eh? There?"
Sang-su's sudden pick surprised Jeong-hyeon.
The 'Distorted Forest of the Lowest Spirits,' commonly called Spirit Forest.
A level 3 gate, hugely popular, spots rarely opened up.
'The payouts are insane.'
Jeong-hyeon's above-average earnings so far came from his knowledge of harvesting valuable monster parts.
Others avoided it, but the pay made it worthwhile.
Spirits didn't need that, though.
'Just pick up the spirit stones.'
Spirits dropped attribute-specific spirit stones randomly.
Thumb-sized, just collect them—no mess, no fuss.
Spirit stones were hot with magic-trait hunters and industry, so high price too.
In short, not a spot lazy Sunhyeong would book.
"This really Sunhyeong's reservation?"
- Huh? Yeah, I booked through the guild! Got it right away since you're coming too.
As expected.
Jeongjin Guild again, huh.
His head throbbed at how often they kept crossing paths.
'Keep this up, and I'll have to join Jeongjin Guild eventually.'
For them, building ties was good, recruitment better. But he couldn't ignore the debt of favors.
Worse, it was help hard to refuse.
'How do you turn down a spirit hunt?'
Perfect timing when he needed cash, handing him a famously lucrative spirit gate.
But one thing to check first.
"By the way, Sang-su. Can you guys handle Spirit Forest?"
Catching his worry, Sang-su replied quick.
- Huh? Oh, don't sweat it. We've prepped properly.
"Hmm... I'm always grateful. When do we head out?"
- Three days!
That wrapped it up.
Spirits had totally different traits from normal monsters, but they seemed prepared.
They were pros; grilling details over phone would be weird.
"Promised hunts always go smooth."
The issue was inside the gate, but one win was one win.
Hunt spot solved; now prep.
Normally he'd research the gate, but something more urgent.
Jeong-hyeon eyed the mace against the wall.
Getting used to the new weapon's reach and feel.
He'd probably crash at the association's training facility for three days.
"Haa... Just hope I don't run into Section Chief."
Cha Ye-rin might call sparring "best practice" and beat him under pretense of training.
No, she definitely would.
***
"Jeong-hyeon! Long time no see!"
"Everyone doing well?"
Three days later.
Sunhyeong's party was lively as ever, but with subtle changes.
"Check this out—I got new arrows."
"Ooh, marium ones?"
Jeonga's arrows first.
Made from marium, the mineral from mine-type gates like Mari Mine—same as his dagger or mace.
Sunhyeong's armor and shield had a faint blue tint, similar quality metal.
Mana-conducting ore, clearly.
Low purity meant weak effect, but full plate armor and shield in that? Insanely pricey, no choice.
In summary, everyone using physical attacks—including Jeong-hyeon—had switched to magic-imbuement gear.
They'd handled spirit prep themselves, alright.
Spirits weren't physical like normal monsters.
Standard physical attacks barely worked; only magic did.
Even then, you had to precisely destroy the tiny spirit core. Tricky.
Defense-wise, non-mana-conducting gear lost huge effectiveness.
'They must've shelled out big. Though, time to upgrade for higher gates anyway.'
Looked like overkill just for spirits.
But level 4 gates onward? The utility gap was huge—smart investment timing.
Meanwhile, Jeonga eyed the mace on Jeong-hyeon's back, eyes sparkling.
"Wow, Jeong-hyeon, new mace?"
"Yeah. Last one broke. Went for a good one since I was at it..."
"Ooh! Looks top-quality."
Sunhyeong chimed in.
Having seen Ye-rin's gear firsthand, calling it "good" felt guilty.
But hunters couldn't resist gear bragging.
Like boasting about a grown kid—praise, show off, bonds strengthen.
Hunters were gear-sensitive.
After chatting and admiring gear awhile, Jeong-hyeon turned to Sang-su.
"But won't it tire you out imbuing magic for all of us?"
Great they switched to imbuement gear.
But without the imbuement? Empty dumplings.
Even at D-Rank level 2, Sang-su couldn't handle three people's worth repeatedly.
Not a specialist trait; general magic meant heavy mana drain.
Sang-su nodded like he'd expected it, beaming.
"Yeah, I'd struggle alone."
"......?"
That was it?
Jeong-hyeon felt dumbfounded, but the party's vibe was off.
Like they'd prepped a surprise behind his back—everyone just smiling silently.
"What is it? Spill."
"Actually, one more person's coming. Oh, there she is."
Then, a small luxury foreign car pulled into the lot—popular with women.
Jeong-hyeon had met a good-car-driving hunter before; not fond memories. But he stayed quiet, watching.
A petite woman with waist-length hair stepped out.
"Hello, I'm Park Soo-yeon from Jeongjin Guild's HR."
"Big round of applause, everyone!"
"Wooo!"
Led by Sang-su, the party clapped and cheered.
Park Soo-yeon blushed, shy.
In the warm, cheerful welcome for their spirit-hunt hidden card,
"Haa..."
Jeong-hyeon sighed to himself.