Wolfing Down the Meal
Park Se-ah handed a cup of warm water to Yoo Taejeong, who was devouring his food without a care in the world.
"Take it slow. You'll get indigestion."
"Thanks. But why warm water? I prefer cold."
"Warm water's better for your stomach when eating rice."
"Really? Come to think of it, my mom used to say that when I was a kid. More rice?"
He'd polished off a bowl in no time and held out the empty dish. She glanced at the nearly empty rice pot and asked back.
"I didn't know when you'd come back, so I only made a little. How about some instant rice?"
"Instant rice is fine. Back when I was a porter, that was my staple. Don't worry, just give it to me."
"How many days have you been starving?"
"Don't even ask. I survived on one chocolate bar a day. Even when I was broke, I'd never felt hunger like that."
"How was the labyrinth?"
"Just... a place I never want to go back to. When you awaken as a hunter, stay away from there. It's no place for humans."
"If the boss says that, it must be as dangerous as the rumors say. Here you go."
"Insanely so. But what's this rice made of? It's not even sweet, but it goes down so easy."
Having cleared a bowl of rice and the instant pack with ease, Taejeong finished his meal with the tea she brought out.
"Now I feel alive again. Thanks, seriously. Go get some sleep. Don't stay up because of me."
With that, Taejeong headed straight to the bathroom. Staring into the mirror, he saw a man covered head to toe in grimy black dust, looking like a beggar.
He didn't seem particularly bothered by it.
"Brings back memories."
Gazing at his reflection took him back to his porter days, when he looked like this every single day.
But for all the hardship, there had been fun and satisfaction too—mostly because of the great people he worked with.
"Poor old uncles. I'm doing so well now."
They'd wished him the best future more than anyone. Unlike other teams, they never picked on the youngest and forgave his mistakes.
Even on that fateful day, they'd had his back.
In the frantic chaos when everyone was fleeing, the team leader had smacked his panicked back to make him run, while the others shouted to clear a path.
Thanks to them, he'd survived—but the rest had met tragic ends.
He'd sent anonymous condolence money not long ago, but what good was that?
He'd never see them again.
"I have to succeed. Even more than now. For their share too."
The next morning, after over ten days away, Taejeong returned to the guild office and was swarmed by visits from the guild master on down to the key executives.
"What a relief. Truly."
"No injuries? Feeling okay?"
"I thought you'd been kidnapped or something. Those bastards—if you hadn't come back today, I was gonna make them pay."
"Where the hell were you? We were worried sick."
"You've lost weight since we last saw you. Swing by later. I'll give you some of my nutritional supplements."
Overwhelmed by the flood of executives, Taejeong could only manage an awkward smile.
Once they'd all poured in and then poured out, he got to work on the backlog.
"So the Dream Center in Paju got canceled too. That's eleven now. They've touched everything."
Three more had fallen through or been scrapped while he was away—including the Dream Center, which focused on community welfare over profit.
In other words, they were targeting every single Jenix operation, profitable or not.
What absolute scum.
It only fueled his resolve to grow stronger.
"I need to level up. Can't keep taking hits like this."
[Mechanic's Path 1-4]
Traces of a Lost Ancient Relic
Old Address in Songpa-gu, Seoul
Jamsilbon-dong 55-2
A modular cruise nuclear missile, jointly developed by the US and Korea, is hidden at the old address in Jamsilbon-dong 55-2, Songpa-gu, Seoul.
It is sealed in a cube-shaped medium mana stone, activatable only by the Mechanic class.
Acquire the modular cruise nuclear missile.
📍 Objective: Cube-shaped medium mana stone
🎁 Reward: Modular Cruise Nuclear Missile (S2)
"Jamsilbon-dong 55-2."
If it was the Jamsil he knew in Songpa-gu, it was an area urbanized long ago. A civilian zone with no dungeons possible.
"Sweet mission? Gerard, any data on this address?"
No data available for that address. It predates the First Outbreak.
"So it's ancient. Fine, I'll look into it separately. What's a modular cruise nuclear missile?"
Modular missiles are attachable missile modules for vehicles. Think of them as miniaturized missile silos. However, being early-stage tech, they required external supports, so they were usually detached for use.
"Got it. Destructive power?"
The S2 cruise nuke is a mini tactical nuclear weapon with 15 kilotons of TNT equivalent—matching humanity's first combat nuke. But due to seals and power limits on yours, actual yield is around 5 kilotons.
"That's meaningless. Can't you convert it to something I get?"
About 20,000 times the power of a multiple launch rocket system.
"What!? 20,000 times!?"
Taejeong wondered if he'd misheard. Not 2x, 20x, 200x, or even 2,000x—but 20,000?
Impossible to fathom.
"Really 20,000? Confirm."
Affirmative.
"That could wipe out a whole district."
A 5-kiloton nuke at optimal altitude: everything within 500m of ground zero vaporizes. Structures within 2km utterly destroyed. Life within 5km faces lethal radiation and blast aftereffects.
"What, only that for 20,000x?"
He tilted his head at the seemingly modest power, but reconsidering, it was still devastating.
"Right. I used 24 rockets to blow that rotten mansion. 20,000x sounded too abstract. A 1km radius is huge—would flatten all major facilities here."
Nukes' real terror is radiation damage, far beyond raw firepower. But yours runs on mana energy, so no radiation.
"I know about radiation. Saw it when researching chemical weapons. That's the real apocalypse. Better without it. Wait—this alone makes me invincible, right? Top ten in my arsenal?"
Individually, outside the top 1,000.
"Outside 1,000 with this power? How strong was humanity?"
First Outbreak monsters were mere toys for human weapons. S2 firepower was completed in the 1940s—just not miniaturized. Humanity already had the power to fight back. Relics by today's standards.
"Relics. And it all vanished in an instant? What the hell happened..."
As I said before, that's beyond my clearance.
"I know. Just mumbling. So even stronger stuff ahead? Man, my growth motivation just skyrocketed."
If Gerard was right, future skills would be mind-blowing. Cheonryong at level 500 was 20,000x this relic—and it didn't even crack top 1,000.
Taejeong couldn't imagine how strong he'd get.
"Alright, Gold Lion, Invincible scum. Just watch. I'll grow so strong you'll crawl on your bellies."
Finishing morning duties, Taejeong called Park Se-ah.
"You called?"
"Need you to look something up. Find Jamsilbon-dong 55-2 in Songpa-gu."
"That's... not a modern address system."
"Yeah. Pre-First Outbreak, probably. Dig through old records."
"Got it."
"And I'm heading out—no calls unless urgent."
"Where to?"
"To get stronger."
Leaving the guild, Taejeong headed to the Blue 12-grade Lake of Sylarion.
Entering the gate revealed an endless lake vista—not a jungle, but an oasis paradise. Unnamed flowers bloomed around it, so peaceful it hardly screamed dungeon.
"Look how clear the water is. You can see the bottom."
The lake was glass-transparent, boundaries between water and depths barely perceptible, adding to its mystique.
"First, test the new skills..."
Taejeong summoned Taeguk 1 and the laser gun from the quest rewards simultaneously.
A shimmering hologram formed, coalescing into full-body powered armor.
"Oh ho. So this is it?"
He examined the mechanical suit covering him head to toe, intrigued.
As Gerard described, no restrictions on movement—light and flexible, yet steel-tough at a glance.
"This defense is solid, huh. Nice."
Taejeong was thrilled with Taeguk 1. Non-mechs left his face exposed, always a worry in hunts. Now solved.
And Korean-made? Extra attachment.
Testing motions, he eyed the laser gun mounted on his right arm.
"Shorter than I thought. How's it work?"
Clench your fist forward. Single shot: clench and release. Max power: hold clenched.
"Got it. Anything to shoot?"
He scanned for targets, but laziness kicked in. He clenched at the flowerbed and released hard.
Pop! A intense beam lanced out.
Sizzle—!
Whoosh!
"Whoa, fast."
The flowers turned to ash instantly. He nodded, impressed—the beam was nearly invisible, meaning blistering speed.
Excited, he fired left, right, everywhere.
Pop! Pop! Pop pop! Pop!
Flowers blackened and vanished on hit. Nearby trees already blazed.
"Pretty good. Power needs field test, but feels light and piercing, like a needle. Max power next."
Mastering basics, he aimed at a massive dead tree.
Unlike single shots, light gathered at the barrel, intensifying with time, humming resonantly—building hype.
"How much longer?"
60% output now.
"Takes a while."
70%......
As warned, max power took ages—impractical in close quarters.
Finally past 90%, Gerard announced 100%.
Max output.
"Good."
He released the clenched fist. A eerie whine preceded a monstrous laser beam.
Pew!
The massive tree holed instantly. Astonishingly, the beam persisted—a solid 10+ meters of light from barrel to trunk.
Shaking it side to side split the tree, exposing ravaged innards.
Stunned briefly, he swept to a boulder—its face sheared clean like tofu.
Unbelievable cutting power.
Whirling arms everywhere, the area devastated in seconds.
No flashy blasts or booms—just plasma light slicing all it touched.
"Good. Real good."
A satisfied smile spread across Taejeong's face.