Greatly Increased!
"What? You're already awake?"
The Dimensional Corridor. To either side stretched an endless abyss. It was a perilous place where a single misstep could send you plummeting into oblivion.
A man strolled leisurely through the ever-shifting corridor as if it were his own bedroom. A flicker of interest crossed his face.
"I figured it'd take another ten years or so, but this seed that's taken root... it's something special."
He was the only one across all dimensions who could traverse the Dimensional Corridor at will.
The blue planet of the 12th dimensional realm—Earth by another name—had been on the brink of consumption by another dimension. He'd saved it by the skin of his teeth, planting his seven pillars there to slow the erosion.
But recently, he'd detected a tiny crack caused by a distortion in causality. And from that crack had emerged a single seed that took root.
It was far too early for it to sprout. Just how much causality had been twisted for it to bud already?
"Let's see... how much time's left."
He traced the connection to the seven pillars he'd planted.
"Tch. Looks like those greedy transcendent bastards will be drooling soon enough."
Realizing time was short, he clicked his tongue lightly.
"Well, first things first."
As if the worry had never been there, he wiped it from his face and stepped through the door at the corridor's end.
"Kraaaaaargh!"
A massive dragonkin beat its membrane-winged flaps, slicing through the sky. Then demons tore through it like a child's toy, plummeting from above.
"Hey now~ You're not supposed to be here yet."
He floated into the air and swung his hand casually.
"Grrraaaaaagh!"
A dimensional rift tearing across the sky began sealing at his gesture. The head of a colossal demon lord trying to squeeze through was forced back inside.
The rift, pierced through millennia of effort, was on the verge of closing. The demonic eye of Azathoth—one of the eight lords of the demon realm, the Demon Sultan—locked onto the man responsible.
"Gaaaaaaaah!"
"Guhhh! Guhuk!"
"Kraaak! Kruek! Urgh!"
His true name spilled forth, and the surrounding dragonkin and demons sliced off their own tongues, gouged out their eyes, and killed themselves.
"Not a bad try, but not yet. See you later, Prince of Darkness."
The rift sealed shut. Battle erupted between the demon forces that had slipped through and the intermediate realm coalition led by the dragonkin.
"Well, that's my cue. Fight hard, everyone."
He grinned mischievously, doffed his top hat, and bowed politely—as if a vast audience watched his every move.
Knock knock.
A door materialized in empty space at his rap.
Click.
Gazing into the Dimensional Corridor beyond, he whistled lightly.
"Now, where to next?"
Slam.
The door vanished without a trace, erased clean.
A sharp pang stabbed through Professor Kim Tae-min's temple as he sipped tea at home. He grimaced, pressing it hard.
'This...?'
It was clearly an aftereffect from his master's connection. Since lending his power initially, the master occasionally spoke or silently viewed this world through their eyes. And every time the link ended, a vicious migraine followed.
'What did he see this time?'
He checked the urgent posts on the hunter network while sipping his remaining tea.
'Uijeongbu: SS-rank monster presumed appeared. Gangneung: S-rank monster presumed eliminated...'
He sorted his thoughts while scanning reports of monsters spilling from ten suddenly rampaging dungeons.
'Hmm, was it because of these guys?'
No way for him to know his master's intent. He shook his head to clear it and glanced out the window.
'SS-rank... Professor Kim Yo-han can't handle that alone.'
The Hunter Association would dispatch more hunters now that they'd assessed it, but the problem was casualties until resolution. Buildings could be rebuilt—lives couldn't. Especially if awakeners were involved.
'And that kid's probably out there too.'
Kang Min-ho's image flashed in his mind, wrapped in the same thunderous electricity.
Crunch!
Concrete spiderwebbed under my stepping foot's pressure. My body shot forward like a bullet.
'Haste.'
It was definitely Haste. But the speed defied imagination.
Splat!
My swung fist exploded the beast's massive, tree-trunk calf. Like some invisible mega-predator had chomped it.
I'd used a strike skill, sure—but this power was beyond anything I'd known. A simple swing without even footwork yielding this devastation? Unthinkable.
Whoosh!
Spewing blood vanished into me, its mana cleanly absorbed. Waste expelled as red steam.
"Kraaaaaargh!"
Pain from underestimating a "bug," maybe? The Twin Head Ogre bellowed anew after losing one head.
"Too high up."
To match eyes, one had to move. I glared up at the dangling head and swung.
"Get down here, you fucker!"
Splat!
The other calf burst in a chunk of flesh. Scaling via its leg, I knee-kicked its joint.
"Kraaaah!"
Thud.
The Twin Head Ogre finally buckled one knee in agony.
Absorbing its blood accelerated, mana intake surging proportionally. It weakened accordingly.
Thump, thump.
My mana heart pounded joyfully, pumping mana to limbs. My body ignited hot.
"Raaaaagh!"
I spewed the heat from my maw, flailing limbs wildly.
Splat! Splaat! Splat! Thunk!
Repeated brutal strikes tore its right leg off below the knee—like mangled meat from a clueless butcher.
"Kro! Krooo!"
Fear. Predatory ogres knew none—they'd never left the top. Alien to it.
But this mutant, intellect boosted, grasped the puny human was devouring it.
Being eaten.
Weak-eat-strong absolute. Always predator, now prey—primal terror dawned.
Blood loss sapped its strength; the foe grew mightier.
"Grrooo. Grrooo!"
SS-rank via Black Stone mutation, yet it fled.
"Where you running, bitch?!"
Massive mana from the leg-stump waterfall fueled me. I hopped after the limping beast, yelling at its skull.
"Krooo."
It glanced back once, then bolted madly toward Sapa Mountain's base.
'N-No way...'
Hiding in a building corner, Kwak Su-hyun clamped trembling hands over her mouth, swallowing screams as she watched.
Stealth had broken long ago. SS-rank monster's committed punch shattered it; shockwave scrambled her mana.
She struggled to process.
'Ate... the monster.'
Technically sucked blood, but from afar? Same monstrous vibe.
Mana-sensitive, she confirmed clearest: Kang Min-ho devouring the Twin Head Ogre's mana.
And now the monster fled from him.
'Monster bastard.'
Replaying the unbelievable, she seriously pondered quitting Hwarang Guild.
After Kang Min-ho chased the fleeing monster, support from the Hunter Association arrived ages later.
"Hey, Kwak Su-hyun. You okay?"
"Ah, Senior Min-su."
Among them, A-rank hunter Park Min-su, who'd joined Hwarang with her.
Hwarang cherry-picked top-tier per rank; his skill ranked fingers-up in A-rank.
He poked her over.
"What the hell happened? Where's the monster?"
She pointed to distant mountain foothills.
"It went... that way?"
"Yeah."
"Claiming that mountain as turf?"
"..."
Kwak Su-hyun silently shifted away, eyeing him quizzically as he muttered.
While a support healer mended her, she stared complexly at the far mountains.
BOOM!
"Kraaaaaargh!"
"Die, you fucker!"
BOOM! Boom!
Meanwhile, at Sapa Mountain: an unlikely monster-human chase. Twist: human was the pursuer.
Splat!
Back-hit mid-flight, the ogre groaned, tumbling down the slope.
One head long gone, leg halved below knee—yet it hurled toward opposite ravine for survival.
'Damn, tough bastard.'
High-spec monster dead-set on fleeing made catching trickier than thought. So I herded it directionally with blind attacks.
"Kro!"
Dodging drew it naturally to the ravine. It scaled an ancient tree, leaping across.
"Not a chance!"
I dove in, slamming its exposed gut.
Thruuum!
Proper power flow, clean footwork rippled shock through its body.
No more wild mana rampage like before; I'd adapted. Each hit now packed full force.
Thud, thump. Thump.
Straight gut-shot, the Twin Head—now Single Head—Ogre plummeted into the ravine.
"Whew~ Finally caught ya."
I peered down at it, crashed and heaving raggedly.
Twice normal ogre bulk, yet it clawed ground desperately.
My eyes fixed center: its core, mana nexus.
"Bye."
Shwick.
Stab!
Knife-hand pierced tough back muscle. Mana storm blasted a huge hole.
Thump, thump.
Its heart pulsed fiercely amid ruin. Compelled, I touched it.
Thump, thump.
Our rhythms synced. Its weakened as mine strengthened.
Its stopped. Mine roared.
I summoned my status window right away.
Titles: Regressor, Irregular
Awakening Rank:S
Skills:Whimsical God's Roulette(L), Information Viewing(S), Thunderbolt(S), Boiling Rage(A), Skin Reinforcement(A), Earth Strike(A), Leap Strike(B), Leap(C)
Unique Skills:Strike(Lv.3), Acceleration(Lv.3), Buff(Lv.2), Mana Absorption(Lv.3)
Passives:Talent(L), Mana Control(S), Mana Heart(S), Mana Body(S)
As expected, my rank had skyrocketed.