Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Slight Enhancement
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Jeong-hyeon’s hands were trembling.
The reason was obvious: the E-rank trait that had appeared in the refreshed shop window.
He’d hoped for a B-rank trait despite the ridiculous odds, but since he’d actually been agonizing over what F-rank trait to fill his last remaining slot with, this outcome exceeded his expectations.
“And on top of that...”
[「Slight Enhancement of Physical Abilities」(E, Lv.1), 2C]
By sheer luck, it was a strength-related trait that Jeong-hyeon had thought he needed while fighting skeletons.
He’d already secured plenty of agility with his F-rank traits, so with strength to back it up, low-grade monsters would pose no problem.
‘If only something like 「Slight Strength Enhancement」 had shown up...’
The fact that it didn’t boost pure strength was a slight drawback, but wasn’t that just being greedy?
[You have purchased 「Slight Enhancement of Physical Abilities」(E, Lv.1).]
“For now, let’s buy it right away.”
Jeong-hyeon purchased 「Slight Enhancement of Physical Abilities」 without a second thought.
Before equipping it, he swallowed hard.
It was because the adaptation pain that swept through his entire body every time he equipped a trait came rushing back to mind.
‘I’ve heard rumors that higher ranks hurt even more...’
Even F-rank traits had been quite painful—what would an E-rank feel like? He couldn’t even imagine.
But hesitation would only slow his growth.
Jeong-hyeon filled the last of his three equippable slots.
No synergy window appeared this time, and before he could feel disappointed about it,
“Grrraaah!”
Pain so intense it prevented him from even screaming properly hit him.
It was an unavoidable part of acquiring a trait and remodeling his body to support the massive physical enhancements.
Crunch—
Twisting in agony, Jeong-hyeon tore the blanket he’d been lying on.
At the same time, he ground his teeth so hard they made a grinding sound.
It was the only way he could endure it.
‘Dentist... I need to book a dentist appointment!’
Even in this life-or-death torment, Jeong-hyeon vowed to bite down on a gag next time.
***
“Mmm... Huh?”
After the indescribable adaptation pain, Jeong-hyeon passed out and slept like the dead, only waking the next morning.
The accumulated fatigue from hunting in the gate, combined with the pain, had knocked him out without him realizing.
He should have slept soundly until the fatigue lifted, but when he woke, it wasn’t refreshment he felt—more like shock and discomfort.
Tweet-tweet-tweeeeet!
Honk honk!
Ordinary noises like birds chirping or car horns sounded impossibly loud and vivid, making him wonder for a moment if he’d fallen asleep by the roadside.
Jeong-hyeon bolted upright. He was still on his narrow studio apartment bed, but what he heard, saw, and felt was drastically different from before.
“What is this?”
Jeong-hyeon lifted his right hand and looked at it.
He could clearly see every single fingerprint ridge and every line on his palm.
Before, he’d had to focus hard to examine one spot; now, even with his focus distant, everything was crystal clear.
He could even feel the weight of a single speck of dust landing on his finger.
He wasn’t unfamiliar with this sensation.
He’d experienced a sharp rise in senses when equipping his two recent F-rank traits.
But if that had been the change from ordinary person to barely-hunter level, this was on another dimension entirely.
“This is... E-rank?”
The words slipped out of Jeong-hyeon’s mouth involuntarily.
It was an overwhelming sensory boost that made him embarrassed for feeling smug about his agility synergy.
And the very first thing Jeong-hyeon noticed with these senses was,
“My place is a total dump.”
The state of his studio apartment, turned into a warzone from thrashing around during yesterday’s adaptation pain.
Cotton stuffing spilling from the pillow was standard; the blanket was in rags, and even the mattress had springs poking out.
With the bed—which took up half the already cramped studio—looking like that, everything else that had seemed passable before now appeared unbearably filthy.
Feeling dazed about how to fix this mess, Jeong-hyeon soon changed his mindset.
His eyes had landed on the bags piled up from yesterday’s hunt, including Sunhyeong’s group’s share.
“Screw it, I’ll just buy new ones.”
Something the debt-ridden Jeong-hyeon of the past couldn’t have dreamed of.
But the current Jeong-hyeon could more than afford it.
He got up, grabbed the bags, and left the room.
***
The familiar sight and stench of the workshop.
‘Ugh, heightened senses make this even worse.’
But Jeong-hyeon’s improved senses could no longer dismiss the familiar stench as just familiar.
Fortunately, his sense of smell dulled quickly—otherwise, plenty of hunters would’ve quit over the smell alone.
Jeong-hyeon opened the door and greeted energetically, as usual.
This time, it was packed with genuine enthusiasm.
“Hello!”
It had only been a day since his last visit, but it felt like ages.
The workshop foreman, sipping paper-cup coffee near the entrance with a laborer, lit up at the sight of Jeong-hyeon.
“Oh, Jeong-hyeon! Come on in. Why didn’t you come yesterday? Were you sick?”
“Ah, Foreman.”
Jeong-hyeon was equally thrilled to see the foreman.
He’d wanted to explain everything in detail yesterday and handle registration or hunting.
But explaining his awakening over the phone felt rude for such a big deal, so he’d said he had urgent business and planned to meet in person today.
The foreman had always looked out for him subtly after learning his circumstances, which made it even more so.
Jeong-hyeon glanced around and spoke to the foreman in a low voice.
“Um, Foreman, there’s something I’d like to talk about privately.”
“Sure, sure. Excuse me for a sec.”
The foreman’s expression turned a bit serious.
Jeong-hyeon rarely asked to talk alone.
As the laborer stepped away, Jeong-hyeon spoke with flushed cheeks.
“Foreman, I awakened.”
He’d never planned to keep it secret.
The foreman’s kindness had been immense, and he had business at the workshop anyway.
“What? You, Jeong-hyeon?”
The foreman’s dark, tanned face had his whites bulging like ping-pong balls, standing out even more.
Jeong-hyeon grabbed his arm in a hurry and added,
“Yes, yes, but keep it quiet—”
“Hey, everyone! Gather ‘round, gather ‘round! Jeong-hyeon awakened!”
Jeong-hyeon hadn’t wanted a fuss since word would spread in a day or two anyway, but the foreman had no such reservations.
Oblivious to Jeong-hyeon’s pleading eyes, he grinned and called people over.
The laborers tilted their heads once, then crowded in noisily.
“Jeong-hyeon awakened?”
“Oh man, that’s great! Congrats!”
They patted his shoulders and offered handshakes like it was their own achievement.
Unable to ignore them, Jeong-hyeon smiled awkwardly and responded.
Was this the vibe when a local passed the civil service exam back in the day?
They looked ready to butcher a pig right there.
Being a monster slaughterhouse, it felt like they just might.
As the excitement died down a bit, the foreman beamed and asked Jeong-hyeon,
“So, what did you want to say?”
He didn’t need to call everyone for this.
Jeong-hyeon scratched his nape, face red, and said,
“Uh... I brought monster byproducts I hunted. I want to sell them.”
The foreman didn’t miss a beat.
“Everyone! Jeong-hyeon wants to sell monster byproducts he hunted himself right here!”
“Ah, no, you don’t have to announce it like that!”
“Woooaaah!”
The workshop erupted.
Was this what they called public execution? Jeong-hyeon, guilty of nothing, hung his head.
“Looks like Jeong-hyeon really awakened.”
“Good for him, good. We should buy it a hundred, a thousand times over.”
They nodded as if they’d be offended if he sold elsewhere, murmuring.
Satisfied with the teasing, the foreman clapped Jeong-hyeon’s shoulder and led him to the office.
“If Jeong-hyeon wants to sell, of course we’ll buy. Let’s go inside.”
Jeong-hyeon occasionally entered the workshop office for meals.
The foreman sat him down and even brewed him coffee.
Though titled foreman, he handled operations right under the boss, so deals went through him.
“So, everything in the bags is for sale?”
“Ah, yes. Nothing special. Zombies and skeletons.”
“That’s a decent amount.”
Jeong-hyeon started unpacking the bags one by one.
A whopping 40 zombies and 20 skeletons’ worth.
Of course, missing parts meant less actual volume, but even so, a typical laborer would need half a day full-time for this.
The foreman, who’d been smiling fondly, now inspected seriously.
“Ooh, fresh from the field—nice condition.”
Corpses usually took a week to reach workshops.
The association collected from gates then distributed.
So they were rarely fresh.
Rotten zombies or skeleton bones—freshness hardly mattered, but experts saw differently.
Examining zombie hearts and skeleton hand bones closely, the foreman fetched a calculator.
“Ah, but this isn’t all mine. It includes my party members’ shares.”
Jeong-hyeon explained his deal with Sunhyeong’s party.
Even with unavoidable margins in processing, he intended to honor the agreement without tricks.
The result: about 5 million won for Jeong-hyeon’s share alone.
Equal to a month’s salary from one day’s hunt.
“First time, so no workshop commission. Next time, we will?”
That included the foreman’s favoritism.
Plus 500,000 won extra, totaling 5.5 million in Jeong-hyeon’s account.
“Huh? Foreman, this amount seems off.”
Seeing the uneven figure, Jeong-hyeon asked puzzled. The foreman grinned.
“Think of the extra as pocket money from your uncle for becoming a hunter.”
Then he left the office.
The foreman who expressed affection with cash.
***
Flush with unexpected profits, Jeong-hyeon returned home and handled the rest.
First, transferring Sunhyeong’s group’s share and sending settlement details.
Next, naturally:
[Shop List (Refresh Cost: 2 Coins)
「Poor Healing」(F, Lv.1), 1C
「Decent Toughness」(F, Lv.1), 1C
「Passable Archery」(F, Lv.1), 1C
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「Faint Combat Sense」(F, Lv.1), 1C
Current Coins: 1]
Dealing with the 1 coin left after the E-rank purchase.
‘Honestly, I could just leave it, but...’
A realization from actively using the shop.
1 coin was precious.
If he ever lacked one coin for a jackpot trait later, the regret would be immense.
Still, Jeong-hyeon decided to spend it on 「Faint Combat Sense」, like his current traits.
The cheat condition: three of the same trait upgrades to the next rank.
His slots were full anyway.
Healing might be useful, but getting caught using it meant he couldn’t pass it off as agility-related.
Better to rely on the party healer.
Then Jeong-hyeon browsed the internet, bought a bed and bedding, and logged into Hunter Wiki.
“Let’s see, F-rank...”
To maximize the trait shop, he needed to become an expert on traits himself.
Predict synergies in advance, since he couldn’t look up every unknown one.
Of course, he wouldn’t ditch his current agility synergy lightly.
But scanning the F-rank trait table, Jeong-hyeon’s eyes went to the adjacent real-time edit doc.
“Newbie Hunter?”
Rumors of Newbie Hunters circulated among hunters: half urban legend, half serious warning.
Forging low-rank licenses to join newbie parties, then staging accidents to kill them.
But all confirmed intentional cases were caught; remaining incidents, scattered across regions, were ruled accidents.
Standard precautions: avoid non-HunterNet sites for parties, verify licenses thoroughly.
“Jeez, the world’s rough. Already busy fighting monsters.”
Jeong-hyeon clicked his tongue and returned to the F-rank traits doc.