Jeon Jae-woo had entered the Common Ruin ‘Old Golden Palace’ to clear it.
The moment he entered the palace, he encountered Goblins, so he left the fighting to Myeolgeop.
Then he stood behind it with his mouth hanging open, watching the battle unfold.
-SLASH! CRUNCH!!
Myeolgeop roamed through the palace, slaughtering every Goblin it encountered.
‘It really is appearing here one moment and there the next.’
What was it, Hong Gil-dong?
It was not even an exaggeration. Jeon Jae-woo almost wondered whether it actually possessed some kind of teleportation Trait.
In the time it took him to blink once—
-THUD THUD THUD.
Dozens of Goblin heads were already tumbling across the floor at its feet.
He had come here to see just how powerful his Golem was in combat, yet Jeon Jae-woo could not even properly follow Myeolgeop’s movements with his eyes.
‘…I should probably collect the Goblin corpses too, right?’
Even the weakest monsters could be sold if he brought their remains to the Hunter Administration.
Jeon Jae-woo began gathering the Goblin heads one by one, taking care not to interfere with Myeolgeop’s fighting.
Meanwhile, the looting Goblins seemed to realize just how overwhelmingly outmatched they were. Rather than attacking the Golem, they all began fleeing at once.
“Krrrk? Krrk!”
“Krrk! Krrk! Krrk!!”
If all three thousand Goblins scattered, tracking every last one down and killing them would be a task in itself.
That was one of the reasons clearing a Ruin usually took so long regardless of its difficulty.
Apparently, however, that did not apply to Myeolgeop.
It raced after the Goblins at an incredible speed, hunting them down without allowing even a single one to escape.
Jeon Jae-woo caught a glimpse of a blade extending from Myeolgeop’s hand.
It then formed Sword Aura around the blade with Mana and swung.
Since it was not using any other combat techniques and was simply attacking with Sword Aura, was that its primary ability?
‘Then is creating blades like that what the Annihilation Trait I saw in its Status Window does?’
It certainly looked powerful, but if merely creating blades was all the Annihilation Trait amounted to, it seemed a little underwhelming.
Even plenty of Hunters with A-grade—no, even B-grade—Traits could use abilities like that.
Rather than the Trait itself being extraordinary, it felt more as though Myeolgeop was simply absurdly strong.
Well, it probably had not had an opportunity to properly demonstrate its abilities yet.
Once they left the Ruin, he would ask Myeolgeop about its Traits in more detail.
If anything, the fact that it could be this powerful using abilities that did not look particularly extraordinary only proved how exceptional Myeolgeop itself was.
In any case, Myeolgeop swung its blade once more, and another shower of heads came tumbling down.
[‘Old Golden Palace’ Exploration Requirement: Eliminate all Goblins stealing the palace’s gold. (2999/3000)]
Then, in less than five minutes—let alone an hour—it killed the final Goblin.
[The Exploration Mission has been completed.]
[The ‘Old Golden Palace’ Ruin is now the property of Jeon Jae-woo.]
[Ruins Currently Cleared – Altar of the Apostle of Death, Old Golden Palace]
The clear of the Old Golden Palace Ruin was complete.
Having finished the battle, Myeolgeop approached its master.
[Creator. I have carried out all of your commands.]
Still dazed, Jeon Jae-woo stiffly nodded.
“Uh… yeah. Good work.”
Even with a notification window right in front of him announcing that the clear was complete, it still did not feel real.
An entire Ruin now belonged to him.
“Good heavens.”
Jeon Jae-woo swallowed repeatedly.
Owning the Ruin meant that everything inside this golden palace belonged to him.
He picked up a piece of gold that Myeolgeop had broken off during the battle.
‘…This is not a dream.’
There was no longer any question about it.
Jeon Jae-woo could live the rest of his life as a rich man.
And not merely rich, either. He had enough wealth that even three generations of his family could spend extravagantly without ever running out of money.
He could make a fortune simply by breaking chunks off the golden palace walls and selling them.
While he was immersed in those blissful thoughts, a message from Myeolgeop appeared before his eyes.
[Creator. Do you have any further commands for me?]
“Ah, no. We cleared the Ruin, so there’s nothing else. Let’s head out.”
-HUMMMMM.
The moment he logged out of the Ruin System, he found himself back inside his studio apartment.
After returning, Jeon Jae-woo checked his Status Window once again.
[Ruins Currently Cleared – Altar of the Apostle of Death, Old Golden Palace]
‘It really, really belongs to me.’
Jeon Jae-woo turned on his phone with trembling hands.
‘Ah. Who should I call?’
For some reason, he felt as though he had to tell someone this wonderful news.
His family? His closest childhood friends? Or maybe even that older girl from church who had been his first love in elementary school(?)?
‘N-No. Calm down. Stay calm. Deep breaths. Haaa, hooo.’
It would probably be better to prepare himself mentally before telling anyone.
‘Come to think of it, why the hell would you contact that older girl from church, you lunatic?’
There was no benefit to going around announcing to everyone that he had suddenly become rich.
He probably could not hide the fact that he had awakened and owned Ruins forever anyway, so he could tell the people around him gradually.
Come to think of it, he had not even visited the Legendary-grade Ruin that Myeolgeop had cleared first.
‘Altar of the Apostle of Death, huh? What in the world is inside that Ruin?’
The name alone was enough to send a chill down his spine.
Surely the actual place was not quite as frightening as its name made it sound?
Then again, every Ruin was guarded by monsters. Was there really such a thing as a Ruin that was not frightening?
Jeon Jae-woo cautiously asked Myeolgeop.
“Would it be all right if I visited the Ruin with the altar?”
[Of course. There is no place among the Ruins I have cleared that the Creator cannot enter.]
“I know, but what happened to the monsters inside the Legendary-grade Ruin?”
[They have already been eliminated without exception.]
Hmm.
Well, of course they had. The Ruin had already been cleared.
Jeon Jae-woo let out a small sigh of relief.
The fact that it was a Legendary-grade Ruin alone was enough to make him nervous before he had even entered.
“All right. Since we’re at it, should we go take a look around there too?”
Not long after leaving the golden palace, Jeon Jae-woo immediately traveled into the Legendary-grade Ruin.
***
Meanwhile, at the South Korean Hunter Administration.
The Hunter Administration employees were moving around even more frantically than usual.
Of course, employees working at one of South Korea’s most powerful government institutions were rarely anything but busy.
This time, however, there was a special reason they were even busier than normal.
The reason was simple.
Two days ago, an unidentified Hunter had cleared a Legendary-grade Ruin only one hour after the new Ruins for the month had been announced.
After finishing his external appointments, Hunter Administration Commissioner Yoo Jeong-tae returned to his office and sank wearily into his chair.
“Haaa…”
“You worked hard today, Commissioner.”
He turned toward the Chief of Staff who had entered with him and asked.
“More importantly, have we still not found the person who cleared that Legendary-grade Ruin?”
The Chief of Staff lowered his head apologetically.
“I am sorry, Commissioner. We are doing everything we can to locate them, so please give us a little more time.”
“No. Finding someone who appeared out of nowhere in only two days was unreasonable to begin with. I was simply getting impatient.”
The Blue House and the National Assembly had been in an uproar for the past two days.
Had they found the Hunter who cleared a Legendary-grade Ruin in one hour?
When would they be able to find them?
As if that were not enough, public interest was growing tremendously as well.
“Please do not be overly concerned. No matter what it takes, we will identify them within a week.”
“……”
A week.
The Chief of Staff spoke with determination, but Commissioner Yoo Jeong-tae was not particularly satisfied with that answer.
A week was far too long.
He wanted to tell them to bring that Hunter to the Hunter Administration immediately.
Until three days ago, the Hunter Administration had been going about its business as usual.
As always, every ounce of their attention had been focused on the new Ruins the Ruin System would announce the following day.
How many new Ruins would appear?
What strategy should they adopt to secure even one more Ruin for South Korea?
Everyone had been putting their heads together and considering every possibility.
Then, while all of their attention was focused on preparing for the clears, an entirely unexpected incident occurred.
An unidentified South Korean had cleared one of the roughly twenty Legendary-grade Ruins that had appeared.
Alone.
And only one hour after the new Ruins had been announced.
Whenever a Ruin was cleared, the Ruin System displayed the name and current nationality of the person responsible, so they had immediately learned that much.
And that meant not only the South Korean Hunter Administration, but every Hunter organization in the world had learned it as well.
A South Korean Hunter clearing a Legendary-grade Ruin was not a problem in itself.
If anything, it was an extremely welcome development. A Korean now owned a Legendary-grade Ruin, which greatly increased the possibility that it would contribute to the country’s national strength.
The problem was that they currently had no way to identify the Hunter.
For the past two days, the South Korean Hunter Administration had been devoting all of its resources to determining the Hunter’s identity.
Their investigation had at least established that the person did not appear to be a Hunter affiliated with the Hunter Administration.
The major Companies supporting South Korea’s Hunter industry apparently knew nothing about the individual either.
Whoever it was, they were most likely a newly awakened rookie Hunter who simultaneously possessed extraordinary abilities.
As mentioned before, a Korean Hunter clearing a Legendary-grade Ruin was good news, not a problem.
‘But we absolutely have to be the first ones to secure that Hunter’s identity.’
This was not a Common- or Rare-grade Ruin.
An individual personally owned a Legendary-grade Ruin.
It was exceedingly rare for a single Hunter to hold exclusive ownership of a Legendary-grade or higher Ruin. Only the world’s very best Hunters could normally accomplish such a thing.
In other words, if the Hunter Administration wanted to obtain Mana resources from that Legendary-grade Ruin from now on, they would require the owner’s permission.
And as if that were not enough, the individual possessed overwhelming combat power capable of clearing a Ruin in a single hour.
That was precisely why they had to do everything in their power to ensure that the Hunter maintained a positive relationship with South Korea.
What?
Since the person was already Korean, could the Hunter Administration not simply enter the Legendary-grade Ruin whenever it pleased?
No.
Once a Ruin had been cleared, the authority to decide who could enter belonged exclusively to the Hunter who had completed the first clear.
The Ruin System itself prevented anyone from entering without the first clearer’s permission.
And if that person were to turn their back on South Korea, sign a contract with another country, and hand the Ruin over to them…
‘…As long as I remain Commissioner, I can never allow something like that to happen.’
Commissioner Yoo Jeong-tae was especially anxious because South Korea had already suffered its share of painful experiences involving Ruins in the past.
Even setting aside the resources obtainable from the Ruin, this was someone who had single-handedly cleared a Legendary-grade Ruin almost instantly.
Despite apparently being a rookie, the Hunter possessed a level of combat power that was difficult to believe.
If they could recruit such a person, there was no telling how much they could contribute to the nation’s combat strength.
“We must find them before anyone else does. Especially before China, Japan, or the United States.”
“I will keep that firmly in mind, Commissioner.”
After receiving Yoo Jeong-tae’s instructions, the Chief of Staff bowed and left.
However, no matter how hard the Hunter Administration searched, they would not be able to find him just yet.
Because at that very moment, Jeon Jae-woo was alone with his Golem inside the newly cleared Legendary-grade Ruin.