"Who Would've Guessed the Painting Itself Held the Answer"

Who could have imagined it? He hadn't just been given a hint—the entire content of the mural was the answer.

He shook his head in disbelief for a moment, then checked his status window and muttered to himself.

"Finally hit 400. Guess that means I'm no longer a newbie."

Level 400 marked the boundary between beginner and intermediate hunters. The reason it was a benchmark was because special skills unlocked at this level.

Dealers gained powerful new attack skills unlike anything before, while buffers received even more expansive support abilities.

So what about Taejeong, the Mechanic? He'd received a new skill as well.

"What the hell is this...?"

As Taejeong scanned the skill details, he could only stare at the window in stunned silence, overwhelmed by the suddenly massive scale.

It far surpassed even Cheonryong-1, his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠most powerful attack weapon. Not just in speed, but the range was triple, and the destructive power was off the charts.

"Hey, Gerard."

"Give me a detailed rundown on this weapon."

At Taejeong's command, Gerard began explaining the skill.

"Rockets? Long-range artillery?"

"Doesn't that mean it's useless now? I mean, I'm the only one with that stuff."

"Oh yeah? Give me some examples."

"What? That's totally broken!"

If Gerard's explanation was accurate, this skill was ridiculously overpowered. Max intercept altitude of 10 km and a 3 km range meant he could take out enemies from 3 km away, and up to a staggering 10 km in the air.

For flying monsters, it was a death sentence.

This would be insane even in a real war.

His excitement over the unexpected gift was short-lived as a question popped into his head.

"By the way, what's the difference between a rocket and a missile? The ones I saw at the history museum all looked pretty similar."

"What about Cheonryong? That's a guided rocket, right?"

"Oh ho. Good to know. So it's a big step up in weaponry, no doubt. Oh yeah, there was one more thing—the quest reward."

"A mine skill, huh? It's better than the first-dimensional mine skill, sure. But will I ever use this for hunting?"

It was an improvement over his existing mine skill in every way—lethal radius, power, mana cost, and deployment limit.

The issue was that its attack power wasn't much different from his MK4 rounds. One bullet per mine. Taejeong wondered if it was really worth it.

"Well, it's here now, so I'll try it out later sometime... Alright, time to head back."

Right after the Hydra fell, the entrance to the surface had reopened, so escaping the dungeon wasn't hard.

By the time he got outside, the sun was already setting.

"That took forever. I'm starving—better get back and grab some food."

Back at the Jenix Guild, Taejeong wolfed down a simple dinner before opening his inventory to check his loot.

He hadn't looted much. Focusing on the temple meant he couldn't pick up everything.

Still, dungeon drops were valuable, and each item's price was decent.

"Probably around 200 million won total?"

As he moved to close the inventory, something caught his eye at the very bottom—an item he hadn't noticed before.

He tapped it.

"What? It was separate?"

Tilting his head, he pulled out a small chest. Inside was a sheet of parchment. When he unrolled it, unfamiliar words in ancient script were listed.

"12th dimension... what the hell are these?"

Every single one was unfamiliar—except the last.

"Sirius shows up here too. So this must be related to him?"

The one who'd granted him his awakening power. He'd given Taejeong strength and vanished, leaving him curious about just what kind of being he was. And back then, Sirius had seemed to know something about why the world had changed.

But with what he had now, Taejeong couldn't even guess.

As he racked his brain, light suddenly burst from the parchment, turning it to ash in an instant.

"What the—? The light... No, forget that—gotta write this down before I forget."

Taejeong hurriedly jotted the words in his notebook, then summoned Gerard.

"You saw all that, right?"

"Anything you know besides Sirius?"

"So you know but can't say, or you don't know?"

"What the hell kind of authorizations do you even have... Whatever, drop it. No point pushing—you're not gonna spill. I'll check the archive tomorrow."

The next morning, Taejeong headed out early to the market. After selling all his materials, he went straight to the guild's large archive room.

He considered asking Park Se-ah for help, but Gerard's silence made him feel like this was something to keep secret.

Logging into the main computer, he started typing in each word.

"Figures. Nothing useful."

Most results were irrelevant. After a few more searches, he left the archive.

Sitting on a bench, lost in thought, he suddenly realized how empty the streets were.

"Come to think of it, why's it so quiet today?"

It was eerily peaceful, like some event was going on. Scanning the deserted surroundings, he headed home.

"Did the sales go well?"

"Decent enough. But the guild was weirdly empty today. What's going on?"

Park Se-ah answered Taejeong's question.

"Oh, that's probably the final training."

"Final training?"

"The Territorial War is the day after tomorrow."

"Territorial War? You mean the guild castle-capturing thing?"

Taejeong knew the basics of Territorial War, but he'd never looked into details. He hadn't been in the guild long, and hunting had been his sole focus.

"Castle-capturing... Yeah, that's one way to put it."

"Why didn't anyone tell me? Is there a level requirement?"

"No, no level requirement. But Territorial War is only for pre-trained teams, so it doesn't apply to you, Boss. Training starts three months in advance."

"Three months?"

"Yes. And this one's extra intense since it's the last season before World War. I heard they're challenging the Special List this time."

"Special List, huh..."

The Special List—Korea's top 50 guilds, the nation's strongest organizations.

Jenix was on the General List, one tier below. Special List guilds got massive national perks: real estate, business expansion, dungeon auction bids. Unlike General, they had real influence. Rankings were set by Territorial War results, and all guilds tacitly agreed.

Above all, Special List meant qualifying for World War—the national war—with huge rewards for performance. Every guild craved that title, including Jenix.

"I thought we were around 80th. Can we jump 30 spots at once?"

"It's not impossible. The gap between General guilds isn't huge—except the top 50s. Territorial War isn't just brute force; good strategy can make it happen."

Taejeong looked at her in amazement as she rattled off details like a pro.

"How ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠do you know all this? You're not even a hunter."

"Some from training, some I looked up myself. Gotta know my stuff to do my job well, right?"

Taejeong nodded silently. He remembered why she did this— to become a hunter someday. It made sense she'd study up for her future.

Satisfied, he asked his next question.

"I heard Territorial War is simulated combat—no real deaths, right?"

"Yes. If it weren't, there'd be maybe a tenth of the hunters left worldwide."

"A battlefield where you can't die. No pressure there."

"For individuals, sure. But like I said, for rankings, rewards, and World War qualification—no room for wasteful deaths."

"I think I heard something about resurrection."

"Right, it's called respawn. The catch? You can't change the respawn point. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Say you push from Busan to Seoul and die there—you respawn in Busan. War's probably over by the time you get back. That's just one scenario; strategy's key because of stuff like that."

Taejeong realized Territorial War was no simple castle raid. It was practically real war. He found himself drawn deeper into the explanation.