Se-in's Explosive Growth
“Ahh! Haah! Sung-gi! Yes, it feels so good, so good!”
I was having intense sex with Kim Se-in.
The reason I chose this crucial moment for it was to trigger her growth.
I’d already grasped the concept and method of mana injection through previous sessions, but I needed to refine it further.
This wasn’t just for my benefit—it was to elevate her.
For now, repeated trials were necessary to gather data.
Kim Se-in and I were in the middle of our third round.
Curiously, even though I was channeling the mana I’d absorbed from Park Hyun-jun and Kim Hyun-cheol specifically into her, I didn’t feel it vanishing from within me.
There was a momentary sense of depletion, but not the permanent loss of that quantity.
Thinking back, it had been the same when I gained experience from sex with the women.
I’d absorbed mana of the same nature as theirs and reaped massive experience points, yet they hadn’t been drained of mana—in fact, they’d grown to a certain degree.
I suspected my ability wasn’t merely extracting and injecting a fixed amount of mana. Instead, it might be copying the mana and using it as a seed to amplify more.
Any other explanation didn’t make sense.
In any case, with our meeting with Kang Mancheol behind us and the critical confrontation with Kang Min ahead, Kim Se-in and I were making love in my one-room apartment.
The goal was mana injection, but during the act itself, I focused entirely on the pleasure.
How could I not? Kim Se-in was stunningly beautiful and alluring.
Perhaps because my first impression of her was of someone on the brink of death, watching her transform before my eyes felt miraculous.
She’d always been gorgeous at her core, but through sex and growth, she’d gained an even greater aura.
Still A-rank for now, she already carried the dignity of an S-rank.
After our third session, Kim Se-in checked her changes with the mana measuring device.
A 10.1% growth from a single session! This was monumental.
It was nothing short of stormy growth.
Not quite on par with the experience I gained from the women, but for Kim Se-in, it was a revolutionary leap.
Still, I felt a twinge of regret.
“Not quite S-rank, huh.”
Kim Se-in jumped in surprise at my words.
“Were you seriously expecting me to hit S-rank?”
She’d been awestruck by the 10% figure, but now she looked at me in disbelief.
Fair enough—maybe I was being too greedy.
I hadn’t stolen all the mana from Park Hyun-jun and Kim Hyun-cheol, just what the talismans could hold within the sorcery’s limits.
Mana wielded through spells had inherent constraints, after all.
Injecting S-rank mana wouldn’t instantly make someone S-rank.
It was like how I didn’t become S-rank right after sleeping with Kim Seol-bi.
For now, it was just a hypothesis, but I wondered if mana compatibility played a role—whether injecting matching mana led to faster growth.
With this new ability unlocked, there was plenty left to research.
“How strong is Kang Min, exactly?”
“A-rank, and solid for that level, but he never seemed interested in developing his abilities.”
That made sense. His focus had never been on hunter life in the guild.
From the start, his goal was stealing Kim Se-in’s guild.
And his future interests likely wouldn’t prioritize personal growth either.
“If you fought him at your current level, who’d win—you or Kang Min?”
“Not to brag, but my hunter skills were always superior. And now, with your help, I’ve grown tremendously.”
That was answer enough.
I’d hoped focused sessions might push her to S-rank, but it wasn’t that simple.
Forcing her to S-rank right now wasn’t essential anyway.
This was something to research and pursue gradually.
It’d be great to elevate Kim Eun-bi and Jo A-young to S-rank too.
I glanced at the clock on the wall.
“Shall we shower and get going?”
Guild hunting schedules were rarely secret.
Most guilds and clans had websites and SNS where anyone could check raid timetables easily.
Kim Se-in and I confirmed Violet’s schedule was posted.
The guild master was still listed as Kim Se-in.
But Kang Min would be the one leading the members into the dungeon.
They’d reserved the same dungeon where she’d “died” to verify her corpse.
“That dungeon had a back entrance, right?”
“Back entrance... Yes. They didn’t reserve or enter normally. They’d gone ahead and waited for me. Probably Kim Cheolho’s doing.”
“Kim Cheolho?”
“He joined later and was especially chummy with Kang Min, calling each other brothers. In hindsight, he was in on it from the beginning too.”
“Why bring up the back entrance?”
“He had a history as a tomb raider. I didn’t want to recruit him because of it, but Kang Min defended him, saying it was just youthful mischief, so I relented. By then, Kang Min already had a lot of sway in the guild...”
I pieced together the backstory from her explanation.
She was probably right—Kim Cheolho had been Kang Min’s accomplice from day one.
Kang Min must have pushed for his recruitment because he was essential to the plan.
But I still hadn’t gotten the answer I wanted.
“What does ‘tomb raider’ mean, exactly...?”
“Oh, you don’t know. Tomb raiders are hunters who detect weak points in dungeon outer walls or such. They can enter through non-standard routes. They sneak in without fees to harvest mana crystals or for other purposes, bypassing the management office. It’s illegal, of course. Most don’t raid themselves—they guide hunters in and take a cut.”
“Ah...”
Tomb raiders. I’d never heard of them, even working at the Dungeon Management Office.
They must be rare. Either the skill was uncommon, or the payoff wasn’t worth the risk.
For Kang Min, though, one was indispensable—for covertly eliminating obstacles like he did with Kim Se-in.
“So that back entrance...”
If Kim Cheolho opened it, he’d know the spot.
To execute our plan, I intended to infiltrate via the back entrance like them.
No immediate ideas came to mind, so I called Kang A-jin.
“I understand the situation.”
She replied like that, then explained the method.
“You already have a talisman among yours that identifies leaking mana. It was developed for detecting stealthy intruders or hidden enemies, but it can be adapted here. Let me explain.”
I received a brief lecture from Kang A-jin over the phone.
With my accumulated knowledge of sorcery, a short explanation was enough to grasp the principle.
“Thanks, A-jin.”
“I hope you give them a proper reckoning.”
She knew what Kim Se-in and I were planning.
“Yes, I’ll call after it’s done.”
Preparations were complete.
Time to move.
Kang Min, Kim Cheolho, and the other members were bewildered deep in the dungeon.
“Hey! What the hell is this?!”
They’d spent hours conquering the dungeon to reach the spot where they’d killed Kim Se-in.
No need for the back entrance they’d used yesterday just to check the body—they wanted alibis too.
Yet, when they arrived, she was gone.
The rocks they’d dropped on her were cleared away, rolling on the floor. The poison-coated sword and spear had been pulled from the ground and lay nearby.
They’d chosen a remote corner where monsters didn’t roam, too far for other hunters to hear cries—even S-ranks might miss it.
“Fuck! Where is she?!”
Kang Min lashed out at his innocent guildmates.
But no one there knew why Kim Se-in’s corpse had vanished.
They just stared at each other in stunned silence.