Basics of the Blade and the Mirage Relics
Korea's Rank 1, Cheon Seung-hyuk, was throwing everything into national defense.
As if he wouldn't tolerate even a single gate, he began a nationwide purge with a madness bordering on frenzy, not sleeping a wink.
The lowest to mid-high gates.
The shadowy dungeons scattered everywhere.
The Necrophilia villains lurking in every corner.
Cheon Seung-hyuk
Slash! Slash slash!
No experience points or system rewards were given for any of it. He had long surpassed the level where such things mattered.
For someone at Cheon Seung-hyuk's pinnacle, levels or gold held no real significance.
What truly mattered was the hunter's own realm and enlightenment.
Contemplation and understanding of awakening. In other words,
the depth of what had already been granted.
Basics
The White Tiger Sword Badge and Lion's Verdict fully melted into one—a chillingly serene power that no longer even needed to press down on its surroundings.
Slash! Slash slash!
Kaaaagh! Gahk!
'More. More. I have to make it fully mine. Completely melt it into me.'
Right now, Cheon Seung-hyuk saw nothing in his eyes but the faint glimpse of the Basics' essence. That ultimate enlightenment felt like it could slip from his grasp in the blink of an eye. It was that subtle, that mirage-like a realm.
'I haven't even grasped half of half of this power.'
His intuition screamed it. This was an infinite realm. Achieving it took eternity, but losing it could happen in a day.
At that moment,
"It's getting a bit scary, honestly."
Korea's Rank 7, Paeng Je-won, had stayed behind to support Cheon Seung-hyuk's rampage.
He was the director of the magic engineering lab, the one who could crudely open portals to let Cheon Seung-hyuk zip across the country.
"That bastard's DPS has skyrocketed. He's gone even more insane."
Kim Chi-gon, who was heading out on deployment to a European nation, left those words behind and departed.
The white-haired elder Baek Moon-seong and the bald Kim Chun-gyu were also receiving real-time reports of Cheon Seung-hyuk's feats. Something must have happened—after returning from Japan, he'd grown in every way.
Yoon So-i, who had been with him until just before, was now off analyzing the Japanese relic. Kim Chun-gyu grabbed her as she left and asked,
"Where did he go with Hongmaehwa? Looks like he achieved something there. Even to me, he seems like a different person... His violent fighting style has somehow settled. He looks really unstable, though."
Indeed. Cheon Seung-hyuk's style was recklessly berserk, smashing everything around him as he charged, flying about and whipping up sonic booms.
Slash! Slash!
Now, it was just quiet. His signature red killing intent leaked out only occasionally, like a mistake, crushing those nearby.
"Is he mastering something still immature? It seems Hunter Cheon Seung-hyuk is under a lot of mental strain."
Director Baek Moon-seong sipped his tea. Kim Chun-gyu thought the same.
The Unregistered seemed to be watching Cheon Seung-hyuk's rampage, not making any moves. Only when gates spawned simultaneously did he slaughter on the opposite side.
Whatever the case, thanks to Cheon Seung-hyuk's growth, Korea's citizens were the only ones in the world enjoying days untouched by disruption.
In this situation, if the Unregistered joined forces with national power in earnest, Korea would suddenly be touted as the world's top hunter nation.
'If Russia's Ivan Mikhailov gets serious, who knows, but that's beside the point.'
The Management Bureau was busy because there were no real results on the Power Fragments.
The Unregistered was someone with no guarantee of sticking with Korea long-term.
The only thing he was presumed to care about was the Power Fragments, so Korea needed a long-term business model to offer.
"Hunter Yoon So-i."
"We're not secure yet. We must settle this in Japan. Analyze the relic as much as possible."
"I have no confidence, but I'll do my best."
"......"
Baek Moon-seong stepped out to the rooftop for the first time in a while. He used to smoke in his office.
'Finally got a breather.'
To Kim Chun-gyu, it was a face he'd never seen before—the director's wrinkles smoothed out.
"Kim Chun-gyu. I haven't given up. On the day we sign an exclusive contract with the Unregistered."
The white-haired elder, in full 'Baek Moon-seong Team Leader' mode, exhaled smoke. A sight only Kim Chun-gyu could see.
The bald man, now in junior mode, replied,
"You still haven't given up? I got scared and quit ages ago."
"Team Leader Kim Chun-gyu."
Back to director mode.
I was deboning mackerel for Jenny—grilled mackerel. Ollie surprisingly had talent with chopsticks.
The grilled mackerel came from the shelter's [Cooking] function. A microwave-looking appliance spat out remarkably fresh, thick fillets.
The savory fish aroma filled the shelter before the [Air Purifier] swiftly turned it into crisp, fresh air.
They munched away happily. Their favorites were instant salty-sweet snacks, but as the leader and only adult, health management fell to me—I had to ensure balanced meals.
"Hic! This is sooo good!!!" "Ooooh."
Jenny especially seemed like she'd never tasted good food back in Arcana. I remembered her shock at first that [Cooking] could produce actual meals.
'Eat well and grow strong. We've got to push together.'
Thank goodness they ate anything without fuss. Kids could be picky, but understandable. Wait, Ollie was 100 years old—why?
Anyway,
Cheon Seung-hyuk
Cheon Seung-hyuk was zipping around the country.
"Nice."
My agents and I were enjoying some peace, however brief.
We'd been feeling idle, just busy with no real action since those no-XP mobs didn't give rewards.
Perfect timing to focus on sniper training. I'd always regretted the lack of time.
"Let's go! Jenny!" "Yes, Captain!"
Lately, Jenny and I had been practicing a new technique.
Vwooooom...
Create spatial distortion right in front of the target.
I fire at the distortion without sticking my body in. The 'Unknown Origin' bullet passes through space on its own,
Baaaang!
And the target vanishes in one hit.
No need for stealth, no opening windows. No aiming required—just pull the trigger from my bed in the corner, and it's dead.
"You're really nailing it now! Jenny! So reliable!"
"Thank you, Captain!!! Jenny will work even harder!!!"
This idea had been around since early days, but it became feasible thanks to Jenny's spatial control sharpening noticeably.
Distance, angle, precision.
Not just me growing—Jenny was too, on the same principles.
Partly from real combat honing her skills in national defense lately, but also from downing plenty of [Saintess's Tears].
We're about halfway through the potions; once we hit 30, her growth will be even more exciting.
"Let's name our new technique."
"Uh... um... Sniper Captain? Hmm..."
No naming sense, as expected.
For now, me peeking in for precision sniping was 'Peek Shot', and just firing into the distortion was 'Contact Shot'.
Contact Shot was battle-tested in training among ourselves, but it had clear drawbacks.
Vwoooom...
Forming distortion near the target risks exposing our power's nature—mirage-like haze gives it away.
Also, must form the distortion 'touching' the target.
Otherwise, Jenny's control needs near-divine precision, and I'm basically blind-firing anyway.
"Still, this'll come in handy someday. New technique success! Good work!"
"Ooooh!"
I took the bouncing, joyful Jenny to the ops room.
Ollie was munching Josbar like feed while diving into Necrophilia intel. Cheon Seung-hyuk had cleared the erosion zones and dungeons.
We focused on the ♠ inside Japan.
The spy chips planted on villains gave faint signals, but only hellish 'Kieek! Kirik!' sounds came through.
"To go back in, we'd need that warp stone from the church. Problem is, no extras even after scouring the place."
Drones exploding on entry made it tricky. Ollie, who always aimed for perfection, was down lately.
"You're still acing gate currents, though. Keep analyzing the Hell Gate."
"Yessir..."
Hmm. Needed a pick-me-up. There was one facility Ollie had eyed wide with interest recently.
Installation cost: 300 million gold. No big deal for me.
The Explosives Storage appeared next to the lab as an iron door.
◈ [Training Ground]
◈ [Lab]
◈ [Explosives Storage]
Like a military base now, with iron doors lined up beside the wardrobe-like Training Ground.
Inside,
"Ooooh."
A vast warehouse, unlike the supply depot—full of storage racks, even for missiles.
A thicker iron door in the corner led to [Explosives Factory]. Perfect for Ollie's tastes, right? Inside,
"Woooah!"
Ollie let out his first squeal of uncontainable joy. Jenny-level: '0.5 instant noodles' output.
"This is seriously not bad! Could tweak some magic engineering stuff here too—this sniper shelter is the real deal, huh? Thanks, Captain!"
"No biggie. I'm the grateful one."
I didn't know the details, but it had mixers, reactors, measurers, cooling, exhaust, filters, compressors—all finely tuned for explosives production. Solid facility.
[No explosives manufacturing specialist agent present.]
Aptitude: C-rank
Ollie wasn't S-rank at explosives manufacturing. But,
Beep. Beep beep.
Tapping panels furiously, Ollie tweaked device compatibilities.
[Explosives manufacturing specialist agent present.]
Aptitude: A-rank
[Manufacturing speed increased.]
[Manufacturing effects improved.]
[Manufacturing types expanded.]
'What the hell is this guy?'
"Tweaked the system for magic-fused explosives only. I'll use it a bit, then hand it off to a real explosives specialist later, Captain!"
'...Not S-rank? Makes no sense? I'm pretty good with bombs myself? The nerve?' he muttered, but said he'd make plenty of useful ones.
— Gate current identification. Gate current identification.
The urgent mechanical voice blared from the ops room where alerts were enabled.
The whole team rushed in.
"As expected."
Just as predicted—gates stirring in Seoul and Fukuoka, same spots.
"No clue why this keeps happening. No XP either. I'll research more..."
Difficulty: high-grade again, top-tier.
...Blatantly telling us to die.
Yoon So-i in Japan.
The relics [Jackal Mask] and [Reverse Cross] stood firm, barriers up. Both trials inaccessible.
[Entry Prohibited]
[Already Participated]
Likely from entering the 'Maze' at Jeju's Seongsan Ilchulbong. And the Reverse Cross trial in Japan had failed big-time. Now she was stuck twiddling thumbs.
But Yoon So-i didn't give up, squeezing every bit of relic info from Japan.
"......As expected."
She agreed relics were 'vessels for souls.'
Energy structure demanded it.
Problem: no signs of soul absorption. Fukuoka had massive casualties— one relic should pulse with full power.
'Neither does. Just emitting their native otherworld currents.'
Hypothesis: relics don't absorb souls. Despite being built to.
'Why not? Where did the souls go?'
Didn't make sense.
Plus, one phrase kept nagging her mind.
The ancient inscription on the altar for embedding the golden jewel.
"Even if you grasp the gold, you shall obtain but a mirage. Only when facing the essence in the cave do you touch truth."
'Mirage' stuck with her. Gold intuitively meant the golden jewel.
Retrieved it, reclaimed the Jackal Mask—so this relic was the 'mirage'?
That instant,
"......All fakes."
Yoon So-i's expression turned gravely serious.
All relics on this land were replicas. Copies mimicking the originals. Amplifiers solely to roil gate currents. No other functions.
Replicas handling soul 'extraction,' then.
Where did the souls really go?
Where was the 'essence in the cave'?
If essence meant the [real relics], what was the cave?
That instant,
"Hunter Yoon So-i! Get out of there!"
Contact from the Bureau. Gates incoming.
Seoul: gate opening. Exact same spot, high-grade.
Cheon Seung-hyuk could handle it. But,
Fukuoka too: gate opening. Exact same spot, top-tier. Two of them.
"......No way."
Confirming that, Yoon So-i bit her lip hard.
"The cave......?"
An unbelievable,
unwanted thought struck her.
The End