Around the same time, at the U.S. Awakened Management Agency.
The Director of the Awakened Management Agency studied the report submitted by his subordinates with a grave expression.
“Are we certain this is the man?”
“Yes, Director.”
A photograph of Jeon Jae-woo’s face was attached to the report.
Ever since he first cleared a Legendary-grade Ruin in five minutes, the U.S. Awakened Management Agency had devoted all of its resources to locating the Hunter named Jeon Jae-woo, and they had finally succeeded in identifying him.
The United States was particularly aggressive when it came to recruiting Hunters from other countries.
Even after the Great Cataclysm, the United States had maintained its position as a hegemonic power.
In truth, once the age of the Awakened began, the United States had been in a position where it could easily have retained its status as a major power while losing its former standing as a superpower.
After all, Awakened Individuals were directly tied to national strength, and countries with larger populations naturally had an easier time producing more of them.
Yet contrary to many people’s expectations, the United States had succeeded in maintaining its position as a superpower.
When the Great Cataclysm began, many other countries imposed strict controls on their Awakened Individuals. The United States, by contrast, advertised that it would guarantee them as much freedom as possible and actively drew powerful foreign Hunters into the country.
This provoked fierce protests from numerous nations and caused various social problems, but in any case, the United States succeeded in gathering a large number of powerful Hunters.
And the United States’ policy of recruiting talented individuals from abroad remained very much active to this day.
In that sense, Hunter Jeon Jae-woo, who had appeared over the Korean Peninsula like a shooting star, was an Awakened Individual the United States wanted to recruit by any means necessary.
There were more than enough reasons to covet him.
From the moment he first appeared, he had cleared a Legendary-grade Ruin alone in five minutes.
He then successfully cleared an Ancient-grade Ruin by himself in record time.
And only a few days ago, he had even cleared a Ruin that several major powers had been unable to conquer and ultimately abandoned.
Judging solely by the accomplishments he had already achieved, he did not fall short in the slightest compared to the world’s greatest Transcendent-grade Hunters.
And yet, astonishingly, such an extraordinary Hunter held no position or official post of any kind in South Korea.
‘When will another opportunity this good ever appear?’
The Director set down the documents he had been reviewing and asked his subordinate.
“What do you think? Is it possible?”
“According to our investigation, Hunter Jeon Jae-woo does not have an especially close relationship with his country’s Hunter organization. I believe we have a very real chance if we act now.”
It was a reasonable conclusion.
They estimated that Jeon Jae-woo had awakened around two months ago.
Yet even after beginning his activities in earnest, he had continued operating independently without signing a contract with any South Korean organization.
It was reasonable to assume that he must have some dissatisfaction with South Korea’s system and could therefore be persuaded.
“Good. As it happens, we have also prepared the perfect compensation—something even the greatest Hunter would covet.”
The “perfect compensation” the Director referred to was nothing more than a small sheet of paper.
However, it was no ordinary piece of paper.
It was an item known as an ‘Additional Ruin Clear Pass.’
As the name suggested, it could increase the limited number of Ruins that every Hunter was permitted to clear.
The Director smiled, his eyes gleaming with desire for such an exceptional talent.
“This time as well, let us make sure we bring that man to the United States.”
***
Jeon Jae-woo was once again diligently consuming Spiritual Elixirs under the supervision of the Elder Lich and Myeolgeop.
“Haaaa…”
After circulating his Mana while sitting upright, Jeon Jae-woo exhaled deeply and opened his eyes.
He had spent the entire day digesting a single Spiritual Elixir and stabilizing its energy.
Once he finished absorbing one Spiritual Elixir, he rested briefly before spending another entire day absorbing the next.
The process repeated endlessly.
‘How many days has this been?’
Under the Elder Lich’s supervision, Jeon Jae-woo had already lost count of how many World Tree Spiritual Elixirs he had consumed.
What irritated him was that the Spiritual Elixirs were so effective that he did not need to eat, sleep, or perform any other ordinary bodily activity.
Thanks to that, the Elder Lich had been able to work him relentlessly without giving him even a moment to catch his breath.
Still, after consuming so many Spiritual Elixirs, the results were unmistakable.
Following his previous Body Reforging, his total Mana capacity had increased, and he had acquired resistance to every kind of Status Ailment, along with various other improvements to his physical abilities.
[(Sealed) Heaven’s Box – Transcendent]
[Ruins Currently Cleared – Altar of the Apostle of Death, Old Golden Palace, Grave of Swords, The Sun That Never Sets, Underground Labyrinth, Silver Mine]
[Number of Ruins Available to Clear (6)]
‘But I still only have Heaven’s Box as my one and only Trait.’
That was only natural.
He had merely strengthened his fundamental capabilities. He had not learned any new abilities or awakened another Trait.
Still, it did not particularly matter when the beings produced by the box handled all of the fighting for him.
The Elder Lich chuckled.
“Before beginning proper training, it is essential to build a solid foundation. We will soon commence your true training, so you should look forward to it.”
The remark made Jeon Jae-woo’s heart sink.
‘No, I am fine. I just want to stay in the back and enjoy an easy life.’
Surely they were not planning to put their own master on the front lines whenever they cleared a Ruin?
And as far as Jeon Jae-woo was concerned, the training he had already endured had been more than “proper” enough.
Jeon Jae-woo turned his attention back to his Status Window.
He had now used exactly half of his available Ruin clears, leaving only six.
‘This is something I really need to think about.’
Which Ruins should he clear from now on?
With only six opportunities remaining, he could no longer recklessly clear whichever Ruin happened to catch his eye.
In truth, hardly any Hunter other than Jeon Jae-woo had ever found themselves short on Ruin clear attempts.
What kind of Hunter used up half of them in only two months?
‘It would be nice if there were some way to know what reward a Ruin gives before clearing it.’
And now that he had begun clearing Ruins, it was only natural to want to challenge a Mythic-grade Ruin someday, beyond even the Ancient Grade.
At present, humanity had only one Mythic-grade Ruin it could attempt.
Only a single Mythic-grade Ruin had ever appeared, and humanity had never succeeded in clearing it.
They had even assembled a coalition force of Hunters from across the entire world to challenge it, only to fail.
Jeon Jae-woo asked Myeolgeop.
“What do you think? Could you clear a Mythic-grade Ruin by yourself?”
[I will obey if you command me to do so, but I would find it difficult to place a Mythic-grade Ruin in your hands, Creator.]
Jeon Jae-woo’s eyes widened when Myeolgeop immediately denied the possibility.
Even with the Ancient-grade Ruin, Myeolgeop had merely said that it would take a long time, never that it would be too difficult.
“When you say difficult, that still means it is possible, right?”
[It is not entirely impossible. If I were to enter alone, I would estimate my probability of success at roughly thirty percent under favorable assumptions.]
Hmm.
That was still far from a meaningless chance.
“Then what if all of you went in together?”
[I believe the probability of success would rise to slightly above forty percent.]
Jeon Jae-woo fell silent.
Even if Myeolgeop, the Elder Lich, and Novum joined forces, a Mythic-grade Ruin would still be more than a match for them.
Myeolgeop possessed two Transcendent-grade Traits, and Novum had one of its own.
The Elder Lich added an explanation.
“Maker. The World Tree that appeared as our enemy in the Ancient-grade Ruin was a level below Myeolgeop.”
Even so, Myeolgeop had required considerable time to defeat it and had fought a difficult battle despite receiving support from the Elder Lich.
Then just how powerful would the enemy inside a Mythic-grade Ruin be?
Still, if Jeon Jae-woo continued creating new entities, it would surely become possible someday.
Put another way, Jeon Jae-woo already had a forty-percent chance of clearing a Mythic-grade Ruin using only his own forces.
If he continued growing stronger, there would surely come a time when the odds shifted in his favor.
However, to accomplish that, he needed to put more—and better—materials into Heaven’s Box and create even more powerful entities.
And as mentioned earlier, he only had six Ruin clears remaining.
‘I seriously regret wasting one of them on a Common-grade Ruin just because I wanted to test Myeolgeop.’
Seeing the troubled expression on its master’s face, Novum asked brightly.
“Master, can’t we forcibly take another Hunter’s clear attempts?”
“……??”
For a moment, Jeon Jae-woo wondered whether there was something wrong with his hearing.
He might have expected such a suggestion from Myeolgeop or the Elder Lich, but hearing it so casually from Novum, whom he had thought of as the most innocent of the three, was deeply unsettling.
Or perhaps it was precisely because Novum was so innocent that it could say something like that without hesitation.
In any case, Hunters could not transfer their Ruin clear attempts to one another.
‘…Just because it came out of the box does not mean I should leave it alone. I really need to give these guys some basic education.’
The Elder Lich, which had been listening quietly, offered another suggestion.
“I have heard that an item called an Additional Ruin Clear Pass can sometimes appear as a reward for clearing certain Ruins.”
The Elder Lich’s words immediately caught Jeon Jae-woo’s attention.
He had heard rumors of the Additional Ruin Clear Pass before.
They said that, on extremely rare occasions, an Additional Ruin Clear Pass could appear as a reward for clearing a Ruin.
The international community did not officially acknowledge the existence of such items, but active Hunters took the possibility quite seriously.
That was because several powerful Hunters who had unquestionably exhausted all of their Ruin clear attempts had suddenly emigrated and subsequently participated in additional Ruin clears.
Perhaps they had abandoned their homeland and changed nationality in exchange for additional clear attempts.
“But even if those passes really exist, the problem is that we have no idea where to get one.”
No one knew what reward a Ruin contained until after it had been completely cleared.
At most, Hunters could enter a Ruin, examine its environment, and make a rough guess at what kind of reward might appear.
If it was a mining-type Ruin, for example, various Magic Stones would already be visible throughout the area, so everyone naturally assumed the reward would involve Magic Stones.
And if a reward like an Additional Ruin Clear Pass existed, it would undoubtedly be extraordinarily rare.
Jeon Jae-woo had already cleared four Legendary-grade Ruins and one Ancient-grade Ruin, yet he had never even seen such a reward.
‘Would I have better odds just putting paper into Heaven’s Box and hoping it turns into one?’
Just then, Novum slipped out of its master’s arms and spoke.
“I’ll find out which Ruin gives the Additional Ruin Clear Pass.”
“Huh?”
Jeon Jae-woo naturally looked bewildered.
“You are going to find out which Ruin gives it…? How?”
Did an Artificial Spirit possess an ability like that?
He could not see anything similar among the Traits listed in Novum’s Status Window.
“If I become one with nature and merge with the Ruin itself, I can do it!”
Become one with nature?
The Elder Lich standing beside them added an explanation.
“It means using the Transcendent-grade Trait Natural World to dissolve into the very environment of the Ruin.”
“Ah…!”
Using the Trait to become one with the Ruin itself.
Did that mean Novum could discover what reward the Ruin would provide before it was cleared?
“Master, if you give me permission, I’ll definitely find the thing you want!”
“……”
Jeon Jae-woo stared at Novum, which was overflowing with loyalty, and thought.
‘Our Slime really does have a Transcendent-grade Trait.’
At first, he had thought Natural World seemed rather unimpressive for a Transcendent-grade Trait.
It turned out to be ridiculously useful.
Please forgive your foolish master for failing to recognize your true value.
After that, Novum entered each of the remaining Ruins one by one on its own.
By using its Trait ‘Natural World’ to become one with each Ruin, it discovered what reward the Ruin would provide.