Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: F-Rank Dimensional Rift
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Bonuses popped up from time to time.
Suni diligently reported whenever there was a mana stone.
I was able to confirm for the first time upon arriving here that the suit could detect mana stones.
It was unexpected luck.
There were detectors for mana stones, but they were quite expensive.
So, they weren't all that efficient for hunting F-rank monsters like this.
From D-rank monsters onward, most were mid-sized and naturally contained mana stones, so high-rank hunters saw no reason to use them.
They were mostly used for busting mana stone smuggling operations; hunters hardly ever used them.
Having such equipment now put me in a good mood.
Thanks to Suni, I could harvest mana stones comfortably without slicing open each monster's body one by one, saving time as well.
By the time I reached the rift, I'd already collected four mana stones.
I skipped the byproducts.
Lizard hides might fetch a decent price, but I was past the point of bothering with them.
The distance to the target was only 5 km.
With Suni projecting navigation right in front of my eyes like a game HUD, locating the rift wasn't difficult.
But testing out various new combat methods using the inventory took about three hours before I finally arrived.
A barren, desolate clearing appeared—the complete opposite of the jungle.
In the center, something round hovered about a meter off the ground, emitting an ominous dark crimson glow.
It resembled a hole or an orb, its bizarre form constantly rippling, evoking a deeply unpleasant sensation.
Surrounding it, more than twenty black lizards swarmed, guarding the rift.
One lizard crawled out from within the dark crimson hole.
The group gained one more member.
Dimensional rifts spit out monsters.
That was why it was best to eliminate them as quickly as possible upon discovery.
At Suni's words, I looked up at the sky.
A drone hovered there.
Did Jin-ah send it up?
‘No using the inventory, then.’
I couldn't rely on Suni's inventory-assisted help, but I wasn't particularly scared.
I drew the greatsword from my inventory and prepared for battle.
Jin-ah watched Un-ho's movement path on a large screen in the camp control room alongside the commander.
“Hmm? He's arrived. Switch to the drone footage.”
The commander said to the operator, eyes gleaming with interest.
The massive screen then displayed the live scene from the drone.
“Let's see our enthusiastic rookie hunter in action.”
The jungle's trees had obstructed the drone shots, but the area near the dimensional rift was an open wasteland.
There was a theory that rifts depleted the surrounding life force, causing such phenomena.
With the barren plain, drone filming posed no issues.
Un-ho emerged from the jungle, greatsword in hand, charging straight at the lizard pack.
Every swing of his blade severed three or four monsters.
No—pulverized was more accurate.
“Haha. What a fierce fighter. First time I've seen someone handle that big... heavy thing so fluidly.”
Jin-ah observed Un-ho intently as she spoke.
“It's not just raw strength.”
“Hmm... his speed's solid too. You're sure he's a fresh awakener? Aigoo, he's ruining all the hides...”
Despite the commander's fussing, Jin-ah remained focused on the screen.
‘Doesn't even look like he's going all out.’
Un-ho's greatsword unleashed devastating power that was almost overwhelming, yet the lizards charged at him like moths to a flame.
Corrupted Beings knew no fear.
It was a trait of those spawned from dimensional rifts.
Not only the greatsword but his fists and kicks were wielded with seamless precision.
For a newly awakened hunter, his movements were far too refined.
The lizards burst and were crushed, slaughtered in seconds.
In the end, only Un-ho remained.
“Where on earth did you recruit a guy like that, Director?”
“Luck... was on my side.”
Jin-ah gave a perfunctory reply.
After finishing the lizard slaughter, Un-ho slowly approached the dimensional rift.
Dimensional rifts shattered under sufficient impact.
They had a protective barrier; once broken, the rift vanished, leaving only the core.
Un-ho stood before it, raised his sword high, and brought it down.
-Clang!
With the sound of something shattering, the ominous glowing orb shrank and disappeared.
A glittering dark crimson object fell.
The dimensional rift core.
As I picked it up, a message appeared.
‘Can I absorb this too?’
It wasn't strange to think of it as a kind of mana stone.
‘Energy crystal... Anyway, not absorbing it now. I'll hold onto it.’
I pretended to put the core in my bag and stored it in my inventory.
It was known as the power source for dimensional rifts.
An item that self-recharged by consuming mana.
Not infinite power, but it had a certain lifespan.
This fingernail-sized F-rank core was worth more than ten F-rank mana stones.
“Easy money.”
This must be why non-awakened hunters were so desperate for awakening.
It had taken about three hours to get there, but the return trip was under an hour.
“Good work. Rift elimination confirmed. Reward will be deposited into your account.”
“Good work.”
Upon returning to camp, the camp commander and Jin-ah approached.
“Yeah. You too, Jin-ah.”
“What will you do with the core?”
Jin-ah asked about handling the rift core.
“I'll hold onto it for now.”
Mana stones and cores were valuable in themselves. Holding them for a while wouldn't cause much loss.
“Understood. What's your plan for the next schedule?”
‘What time is it?’
I could push for one more run if I tried...
“Gonna head home and rest.”
“I'll escort you.”
Jin-ah would play chauffeur again, it seemed.
“Wanna grab a meal together?”
“Sorry. I'll drop you off and head back to the company.”
Shot down cleanly.
“How was it?”
Hanna asked with a curious expression.
“Combat ability-wise, you could call him a veteran hunter.”
Jin-ah answered one of her questions honestly.
Jin-ah herself was D-rank.
She could handle an F-rank dimensional rift solo.
But she couldn't guarantee doing it as casually as he had.
There wasn't even a hint of fatigue after processing the rift.
“I figured. More than that, he's a more interesting guy than I thought. Take a look at this.”
Hanna handed over a file with an excited face. It contained Un-ho's profile.
“You investigated him.”
“Of course. Gotta check out the suckers I sign contracts with.”
Jin-ah read through the investigation report slowly.
“Supporter for 5 years. Non-awakened hunter for 9 years. This means he's been living in gates from the very beginning up to now...”
He was older than expected.
And honestly, it was miraculous he'd survived this long.
Gates were stable now, but not in the early days.
Even renowned awakeners dropped like flies back then.
“Achieving his dream after 14 years—truly impressive. What's shocking is he hit the gates at least twice a week. Though the last six months, fatigue must've set in; down to once a month.”
Jin-ah couldn't help but admire the tenacity of surviving 14 years in gates as a non-awakener.
“More amusing: he bought a combat suit just to pick herbs. Haha.”
“Why do that? Joining a mercenary group would've netted solid pay...”
“Who knows. Severe trust issues with people? Didn't get that vibe when we met...”
Hanna resting her chin looked like a painting.
Jin-ah gazed at the beautiful Hanna and said,
“Maybe because it's you.”
“Me?”
Whether she knew or not, Hanna's wide-eyed innocence made Jin-ah shake her head and return to the profile.
“This is more surprising?”
Jin-ah spoke with an incredulous expression, prompting Hanna's eyes to sparkle.
“What?”
“His relationships with women... remarkably clean.”
“...Is that surprising?”
Jin-ah stared at Hanna in disbelief.
“Even after seeing him? He stared at you like he wanted to devour you at our first meeting.”
“Hehe. It's been ages since I got such a blatant look.”
Jin-ah recalled Un-ho's gaze on her in the car.
“And me too...”
At Jin-ah's faint murmur, Hanna asked,
“Huh?”
“Ah. Nothing.”
“Now that you mention it, yeah. His actions scream playboy, but the report says otherwise.”
“This one.”
Neat black hair falling to her shoulders framed a pretty, cute face that looked quite young.
Bagel girl, they used to call this type back in the day?
And there was some inexplicable dark aura about her face.
Just an online profile, though.
Call girl profiles couldn't be taken at face value.
Suni had somehow dug up profiles of call girls listed in a dark web auction.
There were about three candidates, but this one matched my tastes in face and figure the best.
Probably because of the virgin label, they were all insanely expensive.
Starting bid was 80 million won.
A twinge of worry about wasting money on something pointless, but whatever.
At this price, curiosity piqued about just how exceptional she'd be.
Plus, with Suni around, I could always back out if she didn't measure up.
“Yeah.”