Immediately after Jeon Jae-woo cleared the Grave of Swords Ruin, at the same time in Japan.
“What the hell is going on?!”
Japan’s Ministry of Defense—no, the entire Japanese government—was thrown into an uproar.
Just as South Korea had the Ministry of Disaster Administration with the Hunter Administration under its jurisdiction, Japan operated its Hunter-related agency under the Ministry of Defense.
As the Japanese Hunter Bureau was preparing to begin its Ruin exploration as usual, a bombshell dropped on them.
Of all things, the Legendary-grade Ruin Japan had chosen as its target, ‘Grave of Swords,’ had already been cleared.
They had spent days conducting extensive research and preliminary reconnaissance to ensure that their target did not overlap with those of the other major Hunter powers.
All that remained was to gather the country’s Hunters and begin the clear.
Yet all the effort they had poured into the Ruin became meaningless in an instant.
No matter who had invested the most effort, ownership of a Ruin ultimately belonged to whoever completed its exploration first.
Considering that Japan had been so focused on this one Ruin that it had lacked the capacity to devote much attention to other clears, the loss was enormous.
The moment the news broke, the Minister of Defense urgently summoned the Director of the Hunter Bureau.
“What exactly happened? How did South Korea claim the Ruin we were targeting before us?”
“We are still confirming the details, but South Korea’s movements have been highly unusual. They claimed one Legendary-grade Ruin immediately after this month’s Ruins appeared, and now they have cleared another.”
“And neither clear was conducted by a major Company or the South Korean Hunter Administration. Both were claimed by an individual. Could a Transcendent-grade Hunter have appeared in South Korea?”
“…We are currently investigating that possibility.”
Damn it.
Why did it have to be the very Ruin they had been preparing to clear?
“Could they have somehow learned beforehand that we planned to clear Grave of Swords? How else could this happen at precisely the moment we were about to begin our clear?”
“We cannot completely rule out that possibility. Perhaps they are deliberately deploying a newly awakened Transcendent-grade Hunter to wear us down…”
Nothing had been confirmed yet, but Japan and several other countries were already half-convinced that a new Transcendent-grade Hunter had appeared in South Korea.
Otherwise, there was no plausible explanation for how a single Hunter could clear a Legendary-grade Ruin less than an hour after the new Ruins appeared.
However, one part of the Minister of Defense and the Director’s speculation was wrong.
Jeon Jae-woo had not specifically targeted a Ruin that Japan intended to explore.
There was no way an ordinary Korean citizen like him could have known such classified information in the first place.
In any case, none of that mattered now.
At this point, Japan had no choice but to secure another Legendary-grade Ruin somehow.
The Minister of Defense pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose, apparently developing a headache.
“How is the exploration of the other Legendary-grade Ruins progressing?”
“We are proceeding with the contingency plans we prepared.”
Of course, there was no way Japan had any meaningful contingency plan when it had devoted so much attention to a single Ruin that it had barely been able to consider the others.
Only a little over twenty Legendary-grade Ruins appeared in a given month for every country in the world to compete over.
From Japan’s perspective, obtaining even one Legendary-grade Ruin would have been considered a respectable result.
Put another way, Japan needed to secure at least one if it wanted to maintain its status as a major Hunter power.
But South Korea’s sudden seizure of Grave of Swords had thrown all of Japan’s plans into disarray.
Naturally, they could hardly protest that South Korea had taken something Japan had wanted first.
At most, they could make some forced accusation that South Korea had somehow stolen information regarding Japan’s planned Legendary-grade Ruin clear and rushed to seize it first.
“Find some way to respond. We cannot simply let this month end without obtaining a single Legendary-grade Ruin.”
“……”
After the meeting ended, the Director of the Hunter Bureau returned and pressed his subordinates for answers.
“How is it going? Is there another Legendary-grade Ruin we can clear?”
“I am sorry, Director. Russia, China, Europe, and the United States are already conducting exploration operations on the remaining Legendary-grade Ruins. Even if we begin a new clear now, we are too late.”
“Find a solution somehow. We cannot let this month pass without obtaining a single Legendary-grade Ruin!”
However, no amount of brainstorming was likely to produce a convenient solution to their current predicament.
In the end, the entire month passed without Japan securing even a single Legendary-grade Ruin.
***
Meanwhile, Jeon Jae-woo and Myeolgeop returned after completing their second Legendary-grade Ruin exploration.
Jeon Jae-woo immediately opened Heaven’s Box and gathered the swords they had brought back.
‘Should I just put them in?’
But when he thought about it, did he really need to put all the swords inside?
He had no idea whether repeatedly adding identical materials would have any meaningful effect on the resulting item’s performance.
More importantly, he hesitated because the materials going into the box were swords.
Since the materials were swords, whatever emerged from the box would probably be something specialized in close combat.
But Myeolgeop already handled close combat perfectly well. Creating another entity whose specialty overlapped with Myeolgeop’s did not seem particularly efficient.
Myeolgeop immediately noticed its master’s hesitation.
[Creator. Is there a problem?]
“No, not really. I was just wondering whether there is any point in making another swordsman when you can already use a sword.”
[Then perhaps you could create an entity of a type other than Martial-Type.]
“Hmm? How?”
Jeon Jae-woo’s eyes widened at the unexpected suggestion.
How was he supposed to create a different type of entity when the only materials he currently had were dozens of swords?
[Do not place the swords themselves inside. I believe it should be sufficient if you extract only the energy contained within the swords and infuse that into the box.]
Jeon Jae-woo looked bewildered.
Extract the Mana contained in the swords and put only that inside the box?
Was something like that even possible?
Myeolgeop approached and calmly picked up one of the swords.
[It may be difficult to understand without seeing it yourself, so I will demonstrate.]
The moment Myeolgeop circulated its Mana and infused it into the sword—
-RUMMMMMBLE…
Jeon Jae-woo flinched in surprise.
The unpleasant Mana that had enveloped the entire sword began gathering toward its tip.
Myeolgeop then separated the Mana from the sword and pushed it into Heaven’s Box.
“Wow.”
Jeon Jae-woo let out a brief exclamation as he watched.
The Mana had been clinging stubbornly to the sword like a leech.
So this kind of thing was possible if someone knew how to manipulate Mana properly.
[It is not an especially remarkable technique. The Creator should be fully capable of doing it as well.]
“Uh, me?”
It had already been around a week since Jeon Jae-woo awakened as a Hunter.
However, he had barely practiced manipulating Mana itself.
He had left all the fighting to Myeolgeop and merely created Heaven’s Box and put things inside it.
[I recommend that you try. If you learn to manipulate Mana properly, you will also be able to grow considerably as an Awakened Individual.]
Growing as an Awakened Individual.
Jeon Jae-woo was not particularly confident, but—
“Fine. I might as well try.”
Now that he had awakened Mana, training his Mana manipulation was important too.
It was not good to leave every aspect of being a Hunter to Myeolgeop.
[An excellent decision. I will assist you from beside you.]
And so, partly as training, Jeon Jae-woo began the process of extracting Mana from the swords.
Under Myeolgeop’s instruction, he suffered terribly.
“I cannot separate my Mana from the sword’s Mana very well…”
[Your Mana is not reaching the sword itself properly. You need to increase the output further.]
Whenever Jeon Jae-woo asked why something was not working, Myeolgeop pinpointed his shortcomings with the precision of an elite instructor.
“Hey. I am getting pretty tired. Can we rest for a while? We have already been doing this for eight hours.”
[Forgive me for saying so, but I assess that the Creator still has sufficient reserves remaining.]
Despite being nothing more than a Golem, Myeolgeop made it abundantly clear that Jeon Jae-woo should keep going whenever he tried to rest.
“…I seriously feel like I am about to collapse now.”
[The fatigue is not at a level that will adversely affect your body, so there is no cause for concern. Self-discipline is only completed by overcoming a state such as this.]
“……”
It worked him mercilessly, refusing to let him rest even when he felt ready to collapse.
What made it even more infuriating was that Myeolgeop knew the exact condition of its master’s body and adjusted the intensity of the training accordingly.
Jeon Jae-woo almost wished he could simply pass out so that he would finally be unable to continue.
‘…Whatever else you might say about it, it would make the perfect Hunter Instructor.’
If the Hunter Administration Training Institute ever met Myeolgeop, they would probably try to hire it as an Instructor on the spot.
After devoting himself to the task for several grueling days—
-RUMMMMMBLE…
Jeon Jae-woo finally succeeded in extracting all of the Mana contained in the swords and placing it inside Heaven’s Box.
[You have worked hard, Creator.]
“……”
Jeon Jae-woo stared at Myeolgeop as it bowed its head and thought.
‘I should have just put the swords in from the beginning.’
After suffering this much, something good had better come out.
‘Not that I can actually do anything about it if it does not.’
Jeon Jae-woo infused the last of the Mana and closed the lid of the box.
[Time Remaining Until Production Is Complete 23 : 59 : 59]
The countdown to completion began.
‘Now all I have to do is wait until tomorrow.’
On his way to bed, Jeon Jae-woo unconsciously glanced at Myeolgeop for approval.
“Um, I can sleep whenever I want now, right?”
[I am merely a Golem and a tool. I have no authority to interfere with the Creator’s sleep.]
“……”
What a load of crap.
For a machine, it had certainly been good at making him feel guilty every time he tried to take even a short break during training.
‘Maybe this thing is not actually a Golem.’
In any case, Jeon Jae-woo entrusted Myeolgeop with guarding him while he slept and had just lain down on the bed when—
-DING-DONG.
“?”
The doorbell rang with almost impeccable timing.
“Who is it? I am not expecting anyone…”
Of all times, it had to happen just as he was finally about to sleep.
[If it is an intruder, I will eliminate them.]
“No, no. Unless it is an actual robber, stay where you are.”
Jeon Jae-woo stopped Myeolgeop and checked who the visitor was.
His eyes immediately widened.
None other than Commissioner Yoo Jeong-tae was standing outside his front door.
And he looked extremely anxious, restlessly shifting where he stood.
‘Why did that man suddenly come all the way to my house?’
Jeon Jae-woo first instructed Myeolgeop to conceal itself before opening the door.
The moment Yoo Jeong-tae saw him, his expression filled with immense relief.
“Hunter Jeon Jae-woo! You are safe!!”
“Yes…?”
He looked beyond relieved. He was practically on the verge of tears.
Who were you to suddenly show up at someone else’s home and start checking whether they were alive?
“Ahem. Forgive my discourtesy. The truth is, I have tried contacting you several times over the past few days, but you never answered.”
Had the Hunter Administration called him?
Jeon Jae-woo had been too busy being worked to the bone by Myeolgeop during training to check his phone properly.
Apparently, when a Hunter with a Transcendent-grade Trait suddenly stopped answering calls, Yoo Jeong-tae had assumed something had happened to him.
“I am sorry for worrying you. I was simply preoccupied with training. Nothing happened.”
“Ah! I see.”
Then please go home already.
He wanted to sleep.
However, Yoo Jeong-tae was not finished.
“If it would not be too much of an imposition, might I speak with you for a moment? There is something I absolutely must discuss with you, Hunter.”
“……”