An Unequal Proposal

Working-level delegates from the Korean Hunter Bureau were currently seated across the negotiation table from their Japanese counterparts.

The subject on the docket was a joint assault on this month’s newly appeared Legendary-grade ruin, the Tower of Babel. If South Korea attempted to raid it alone, the odds were overwhelmingly high that Japan would intervene and seize it. Under the circumstances, playing the joint operation card was their only viable recourse.

Of course, Japan had more than enough high-tier firepower to conquer a Legendary-grade ruin on its own. As a result, it was the South Korean side that had come begging, desperate to salvage even a fraction of the strategic spoils by relentlessly highlighting the virtues of bilateral cooperation.

“Wouldn’t a joint expedition yield massive dividends for both our nations?” the Korean lead delegate urged.

Japan, holding all the cards, was thoroughly relishing the opportunity to toy with them. One of the Japanese delegates leaned back, openly digging at his ear before blowing away the dust with a dismissive snort.

“We are entirely capable of clearing a Legendary ruin on our own,” the Japanese official replied lazily.

“Be that as it may, pooling our resources would ensure a far smoother and swifter clear. Naturally, since the Japanese forces boast superior combat capabilities, we are fully prepared to concede the lion's share of the spoils.”

The Korean delegate’s argument was sound enough. Even if a ruin was well within their capacity to conquer, a Legendary-grade expedition was still an extraordinarily grueling and hazardous endeavor. If South Korea supplied auxiliary manpower, Japan could minimize its casualties and conserve its frontline hunter assets.

“Well… if you put it that way, I suppose we could consider it,” the Japanese delegate murmured thoughtfully.

At that unexpectedly receptive response, the Korean officials' faces brightened with faint hope. That fleeting relief, however, was shattered by the very next sentence.

“In exchange, we will grant South Korea exactly ten percent ownership over the magic stones harvested from the ruin.”

The Korean delegates' expressions instantly froze.

“Ten… did you just say ten percent?”

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Japanese official offered a careless shrug. “Is there a problem?”

“I—isn’t that absurdly disproportionate? No matter how heavily skewed the distribution is, ten percent is an insult! This is supposed to be a joint venture. We ought to receive thirty percent at the bare minimum!”

Yet Japan's outrageous demands had only just begun.

“Furthermore, South Korea shall shoulder one hundred percent of all operational expenses required for the raid.”

“What?!”

“Hey, take it or leave it. We’re certainly not forcing your hand,” the Japanese representative sneered, letting out a greasy chuckle. “Who in their right mind would resort to petty extortion like that? Ha ha ha.”

“……”

Beneath the mahogany conference table, the official heading the South Korean delegation clenched his fists until his knuckles turned bone-white. His stomach burned with humiliation. To be subjected to such shameless daylight robbery felt like swallowing broken glass. Yet despite how egregious the terms were, South Korea was the desperate party here. If push came to shove, they would have no choice but to bow their heads and sign.

Opposite him, the Japanese officials were inwardly gloating, feeling an immense sense of vindication. Ever since Jeon Jaewoo had snatched away a Legendary-grade ruin right under their noses, Japan's Ministry of Defense had faced relentless hell from top to bottom. The Minister of Defense had been publicly dressed down by the Prime Minister, and citizens across Japan had flooded the streets to condemn the ministry’s utter incompetence. Furthermore, following Jeon Jaewoo’s monumental performance in the Ancient-grade ruin, Japan had been forced to grovel before South Korea and make painful concessions just to purchase a tiny quota of the highest-grade magic crystals.

Now, in the blink of an eye, the tables had turned. It felt as though an agonizing toothache had vanished overnight—pure, unadulterated catharsis.

Just as the Korean delegation was about to swallow their pride and bring the disastrous meeting to a close, a phone began buzzing insistently on the table. The Korean lead official reached to silence it, but the screen kept flashing urgent notifications.

“It seems quite urgent,” the Japanese lead remarked smugly. “Why don’t you go ahead and take—”

Before he could finish his taunt, his own encrypted smartphone began vibrating violently against the desk.

Both delegation heads exchanged a bewildered glance, offered a curt nod of apology, and picked up their respective lines.

“Yes, Deputy Commissioner. I am currently in the middle of hammering out the operational specifics with the Japanese delegates…”

As the calls progressed, the eyes of both men widened wider and wider. Within moments, pure tragedy and boundless euphoria swapped places across their faces in an instant.

Hunter Jeon Jaewoo, who had vanished from the public eye for days, had just resumed his solo ruin conquerings.

Jeon Jaewoo stood before the gateway of a Legendary-grade ruin that humanity had long since abandoned, accompanied by Novum, Lich King, and the Ego Sword. Conquering this site offered little practical value in terms of drops—its primary completion reward was merely an Extra Clear Ticket—but it was the perfect testing ground to gauge the newly upgraded capabilities of his summons.

Truth be told, Jaewoo felt a twinge of unease stepping through the barrier. This was the first time he had ever entered a ruin ranked Legendary or higher without Myeolgeop by his side.

“Are you two certain about this?” he asked, looking down at his companions. “Wouldn’t it be safer to wait until ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Myeolgeop finishes his upgrade?”

Unlike their cautious master, the summons brimmed with supreme confidence.

“It’s totally fine, Master!” Novum chimed in cheerfully, bobbing its gelatinous white body. “I looked through the ruin’s ley lines, and I could easily clear this place all by myself!”

“Fret not, Demiurge,” Lich King rasped smoothly from beneath his ornate cowl. “This is a mere Legendary ruin, not an Ancient calamity. Our present strength is more than sufficient.”

Jaewoo nodded slowly. That was true enough. Transcendent-grade hunters from other sovereign nations routinely found ways to conquer ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Legendary ruins solo. With two summons possessing Transcendent-tier traits at his disposal, worrying was frankly an insult to their power.

With his resolve set, Jaewoo crossed the threshold into the ruin known as the Castle in the Sky.

The Castle in the Sky was a ruin that previous raid parties had repeatedly failed to conquer due to an impossibly tight clear window. The system allotted an unforgiving limit of exactly thirty minutes. For a Legendary-grade zone crawling with formidable, high-density monsters, half an hour was an absurdly brutal constraint.

Clank! Clatter!

The moment they crossed the castle courtyard, dozens of towering armored guardian soldiers came into view. Yet rather than forming a defensive phalanx upon spotting Jaewoo’s party, the winged automatons immediately scattered in all directions, retreating through corridors and colonnades.

Guards who abandoned their post to run away and hide? No wonder people failed the time limit, Jaewoo thought, his brow furrowing. Hunting down every single coward across this massive complex within thirty minutes would be a nightmare.

Vwoooooom!

Before Jaewoo could even consider strategizing, Lich King raised his skull staff and invoked Necromancy. Pale spectral mist erupted across the flagstones, churning as a vast legion of skeletal soldiers clawed their way into reality. Unlike the fragile, bare-boned skeletons of his previous form, these summoned warriors wore gleaming iron helmets, carried solid kite shields, and wielded honed broadswords. They looked like a thoroughly drilled army of elite vanguard shock troops.

With his necrotic ranks assembled, Lich King pointed his staff forward and uttered a cold decree.

“March.”

Clack-clack-clack-clack!

A cacophony of chattering bone and marching iron rang out as the skeletal legion surged forward, chasing down the fleeing guardian soldiers. Even so, these were elite constructs native to a Legendary-grade ruin. While the skeletons had numbers on their side, they were physically outmatched in raw brute force, and the frontline soon began to buckle under the guardians’ heavy strikes.

Watching his frontline get pushed back, Jaewoo felt the familiar prickle of impatience.

At this rate, can we really wrap this up within thirty minutes?

Unsheathing the Ego Sword, Jaewoo stepped forward, intending to join the fray himself. But before he could take a third step, Lich King turned his skeletal visage toward him.

“Demiurge. What in the heavens do you think you are doing?”

“Huh? I figured it’d be faster if I lent a hand…”

“Banish such preposterous thoughts at once,” the undead sovereign scolded in an archaic, haughty drawl. “Where in the world has a sovereign ever taken to the vanguard to swing a blade like a common footman? Should your noble person sustain even a scratch, that alone would constitute an irredeemable catastrophe!”

“Still, the tide doesn’t look particularly great right now…”

“Cease your fretting and entrust the battle to us. The true performance has not even begun.”

Right on cue, Novum leaped into action.

Activating its Transcendent-grade trait, Natural Realm, Novum dissolved into the surrounding atmosphere, synchronizing directly with the ruin's environmental mana. In an instant, the entire domain fell under its sovereign control.

Hummmmmmm!

A dazzling cascade of emerald light washed over the courtyard as Creative Regeneration took hold, showering every single ally within the castle with absurdly potent restorative vitality. Fractured bone knapped together, shattered shields reassembled mid-air, and the skeletal warriors rallied, fighting on as an endlessly regenerating wave of undead.

Novum didn’t stop at restorative magic. It unleashed the brand-new support traits woven into its newly upgraded essence.

Nature's Grace and Nature's Wrath.

Jaewoo had been intensely curious about how these two newly forged S-rank traits functioned in practice, and seeing them deployed side-by-side answered every question. In layman's terms, they were the ultimate buff and debuff combination.

Under the luminous golden-green aura of Nature's Grace, every allied skeletal soldier experienced an explosive surge in physical strength, movement speed, and mana reserves. Conversely, a suffocating, gravitational mire settled over the guardian soldiers as Nature's Wrath took effect, drastically draining their vitality and slowing their mechanized joints to a crawl.

Empowered by immense blessings while their targets were severely crippled, the skeletal vanguard went on an absolute rampage, overwhelming the guardians with sheer ferocity.

And the moment the first wave of guardians collapsed, Lich King’s supreme specialty came to bear.

Clack… Creaaak!

Tendrils of violet soul-fire surged into the fallen automatons. Through Necromancy, the crushed guardian soldiers hauled themselves back to their feet as reanimated zombies. Turning on their heels, they raised their halberds and charged straight into the ranks of their former brethren.

Jaewoo stood rooted to the spot, his mouth hanging slightly open as he watched the massacre unfold.

Wow. This is outright insane.

The synergy between Novum and Lich King was so grossly overpowered it bordered on cheating. Granting allies omnidirectional stat buffs, debilitating the enemy’s combat capabilities, showering the field with endless passive regeneration, and immediately raising every slain foe to swell your own ranks… wasn’t this the very definition of an invincible, self-sustaining army?

Watching them systematically dismantle the battlefield, Jaewoo wondered if the pair working in tandem could hold their own against Myeolgeop.

Realizing the battle was utterly lost, the surviving winged guardians spread their metal plumage and took to the sky, attempting to flee the floating fortress. But the reanimated zombie guardians launched themselves after their former comrades, intercepting them mid-air and tearing them down one by one until total annihilation was achieved.

The battle concluded in a sweeping, one-sided triumph.

Brilliant. Even without Myeolgeop on the field, Legendary-grade ruins were now child’s play.

Pocketing his clear rewards with a satisfied grin, Jaewoo stepped out of the portal and mused aloud, “At this rate, if you and Novum work together, don’t you think you could match Myeolgeop’s combat output?”

Lich King shook his crowned skull, offering a firm, uncompromising denial.

“Nay, Demiurge. Even combining our might, we fall well short of Myeolgeop’s stature.”

Jaewoo blinked in surprise. Both Novum and Lich King possessed a Transcendent-tier trait alongside a suite of S-rank abilities, yet they still couldn’t hold a candle to Myeolgeop? Their clear time in this Legendary ruin wasn't noticeably slower than Myeolgeop’s usual pace.

Lich King, reading his master’s bewilderment, spoke with solemn reverence. “Myeolgeop is an entity forged exclusively for slaughter. It is not merely a matter of combat traits—the very ‘grade’ of his existence surpasses our combined essence by a considerable margin.”

“……”

Just how terrifyingly strong is that golem? Still, having such a monstrous powerhouse permanently on their side was a blessing beyond measure.

“Then what about conquering a Mythic-grade ruin?” Jaewoo asked, his eyes brightening. “Once Myeolgeop finishes his upgrade and joins you two, could all of us take one down together?”

“Regrettably, that too is impossible,” Lich King replied flatly. “Even if every one of us rallied our strength, we still could not match that sphere of primordial energy we encountered back then.”

That revelation struck Jaewoo like a bolt from the blue. Even with two upgraded summons packing Transcendent traits, they couldn't match Myeolgeop—and even with Myeolgeop added to the equation, conquering a Mythic ruin remained entirely out of reach?

“Not even a decent fighting chance? Like, a fifty-fifty coin toss?”

“No. We have certainly bridged the chasm closer, but victory remains beyond our grasp. If you harbored any intention of challenging a Mythic-grade ruin, I strongly counsel that you abandon the thought, even after Myeolgeop completes his metamorphosis.”

Damn it all. After progressing this far, the pinnacle was still an insurmountable mountain.

If I want a guaranteed victory against something of that caliber, I’ll need to craft entirely new summons and put these guys through multiple rounds of upgrades.

Barely minutes after stepping away from the ruin's exit gate, Jaewoo’s smartphone buzzed violently with an incoming call from Yoo Jeongtae.

“Hunter Jeon! Hunter Jeon Jaewoo! Have you truly resumed conquering ruins?!” the Commissioner shouted over the receiver, his voice practically trembling with manic fervor.

I literally just stepped out of the gate, and he’s already calling? His intelligence network is terrifying.

“Yeah, well. Something like that,” Jaewoo replied casually.

At Jaewoo’s confirmation, Yoo Jeongtae let out a breathless, half-sobbing gasp of triumph before begging with desperate urgency.

“Then I implore you, I am begging you on my knees! Could you please conquer the newly spawned Legendary ruin for our nation?!”

The negotiations with Japan had clearly pushed the Commissioner to the absolute brink of his sanity. Jaewoo was well aware of the political tightrope the Korean Hunter Bureau had been walking, but he didn't even hesitate.

“No.”

“……???”

Without deeming the request worthy of a second thought, Jaewoo shut down the Commissioner's plea with cold, absolute finality.