This was insane. No, it really was insane.
It was definitely an insane thing to do, but I pulled it off.
"Haa... haa..."
Yoon Seohyeon sat down on the ground and exhaled. Black rain was falling steadily. Was this rain harmless even if it hit us? She didn't know.
Not far away, she spotted Lee Jihan lying collapsed.
Her vision was dizzy from the sudden depletion of magical energy, but it was only temporary. Yoon Seohyeon staggered to her feet and approached him.
The more she looked at him, the stranger he seemed.
'Just what kind of person is he?'
A perpetual F-rank hunter.
That had been her first impression of Lee Jihan. The information on Lee Jihan that the Association had checked contained nothing particularly unusual.
Aside from the fact that quite a long time had passed since he awakened, he was an ordinary hunter.
'I can't believe it even after seeing it myself.'
Most people escaped F-rank and became D-rank hunters within half a year at the latest. Unless there was some special reason, that was how it went.
But that man had remained F-rank for more than three years. It wasn't as if he hadn't participated in gate-clearing operations. There were records showing that he had consistently entered gates.
That was why it was even harder to understand.
'Why was he hiding his abilities?'
The Lee Jihan that Yoon Seohyeon had seen was someone who could never have remained at F-rank.
The duel with the named monster Kuhullen that she had witnessed inside the F-rank gate. It was definitely Lee Jihan who defeated Kuhullen. That goblin had looked at Lee Jihan and revealed its own name.
And today.
Yoon Seohyeon once again witnessed something unbelievable.
An existence that unleashed indiscriminate bombardment.
A new boss monster that had appeared in an anomalous gate.
A monster that seemed absolutely impossible to defeat—Lee Jihan had cut it down with a single strike. The blue afterimage of the sword that formed into a single line was still vivid in her eyes.
'Even my attacks didn't work at all.'
She had thrown Fireballs at the monster several times herself, but she hadn't been able to inflict any damage whatsoever.
Her Teleportation had helped at the end, but ultimately, it was Lee Jihan's blade that killed the monster.
Above all, that look in his eyes was still clear in her mind.
Lee Jihan's eyes as he charged toward her.
'He's insane.'
What kind of insane person would use Teleportation above a monster's head? And against a monster displaying overwhelming firepower, no less.
It was a reckless attack where there was no way back if it failed.
And yet, Lee Jihan seemed to know. He seemed certain that his attack would succeed.
She had been pushed forward by that momentum and used Teleportation.
The result was...
Absurdly enough, a complete success.
The black rain falling now was proof of that.
She hadn't shown it, but Yoon Seohyeon had been prepared to die in her own way. For a moment, she regretted not taking her older sister's advice to stay quiet more seriously. But in the end, she had survived.
Because of Lee Jihan.
The person who created such a miracle was now lying there, still gripping his sword.
Yoon Seohyeon shook him.
"Wake up. There's no time to sleep."
"Ugh... I can't move for the time being."
It made sense that he couldn't move. It had been an enormous technique.
"No, but I think we still need to move..."
As she said that, Yoon Seohyeon raised her head. Silver wolves that had appeared from somewhere were surrounding her and Lee Jihan, forming a circle around them.
Their number was roughly more than fifty.
It was possible that every wolf inside the gate had gathered here. Once the black wolf had fallen, they seemed to have rushed over thinking this was their chance.
The wolves bared their fangs and slowly tightened the encirclement.
"Hold out for just five minutes."
"Seriously..."
After opening the bottle, she drank the potion in one gulp, and a refreshing sensation spread through her.
Yoon Seohyeon wiped the potion dripping from the corner of her mouth and spoke.
"You absolutely have to buy me a meal. The most expensive one."
"...Holding out for even one minute is enough."
I will definitely endure.
Blue magical energy began gathering in Yoon Seohyeon's hand.
***
"We're out! Thank you!"
"W-we survived. I thought we were done for, but... thank you so much."
The Roman Guild members who had escaped from the anomalous gate each said a few words. Despite everything that had happened inside, the outside was quiet. It was the same as before they entered.
'Of course nobody is here. The actual clearing time wasn't that long.'
Surprisingly, Yoon Seohyeon had succeeded in driving away the wolves by herself. Even when all that time was added together, it was still within the expected range.
I left the gate while being supported by her.
Natural Recovery was exceptionally effective for injuries, but recovery of things that weren't visible from the outside, such as mental stamina or energy, was slow.
'Still, I didn't expect to be unable to move this much.'
It was the backlash from using Straight Slash stretched to its limit. The greater the power, the greater the price. Still, I had recovered enough by now.
"It's fine now. I can walk by myself."
"Really?"
I needed to return the armor to Go Seongjun, the guild leader of the Roman Guild. I wanted to keep it, but I had no desire to be sued for something pointless.
"Here. I used it well."
"Ugh..."
Go Seongjun's face turned miserable as he received the battered armor. I really had used it well. After all, it had blocked those magical projectiles several times.
Whether he realized that I had saved his life or not, Go Seongjun couldn't bring himself to say anything. The scene he had witnessed inside the gate must have been quite shocking.
The eyes of another guild member, Park Hyeonju, were filled with tears.
"Thanks to you, we were able to stay safe. If you two hadn't been there, what would have happened to us... I don't even want to imagine it."
The remaining guild members repeatedly bowed their heads. Even Go Seongjun's stiff neck lowered slightly. After cooling down and thinking about it, he must have realized.
That he had almost sent every guild member into a death trap.
Hunter Yoon Seohyeon gave an awkward smile and spoke.
"The Association will contact you later, so please say something good about us when they do."
This incident was different from the previous named monster incident.
They had identified that it was an anomalous gate beforehand and stopped the incident before it happened. No one from the Roman Guild had been seriously injured or killed.
Park Hyeonju, who had listened carefully to Yoon Seohyeon's words, nodded.
"Yes, of course. But..."
Her gaze turned toward me.
"We forgot to ask the name of the other person besides Hunter Yoon Seohyeon. May I ask what your name is...?"
She suddenly asked for my name. Yoon Seohyeon, who was standing beside me, lightly poked my side.
"What does it matter? It will be included in the report anyway."
That was exactly the problem.
"Kim Gaphwan."
"Ah, Hunter Kim Gaphwan! Thank you so much. I will never forget this."
I simply gave the name that came to mind. Of course, my real name was Lee Jihan.
Yoon Seohyeon looked at me with an incredulous expression. As the guild members stepped away to handle the cleanup, she asked me:
"I'll ask seriously. Are you some wanted villain? Why are you hiding your personal information so much in the twenty-first century? Just like last time."
"I just don't want to stand out."
It's not that I wanted to hide it. If I could receive recognition for my potential, gain support from a large guild, and grow quickly, that would be ideal.
'The problem is that my growth is simply too fast for that.'
100,000x Experience applies not only to Levels but also to Skills. That rate of growth was clearly abnormal, beyond something that could simply be dismissed as talent.
I had no intention of ending up on the blacklist of demons hiding within human society.
'Until I have enough power to protect myself, I should keep a low profile.'
As long as I work as a hunter in South Korea, completely hiding myself is impossible. Still, there was no benefit to standing out unnecessarily.
Defeating the demon of growth itself was already a major accomplishment. However, this level of information could be contained at Yoon Seohyeon's level.
'Defeating the demon of growth isn't a problem either.'
The demon of growth was the lowest-ranking demon, one that had no communication with other demons. It became a demon commander only because it possessed exceptional innate qualities. The other demons did not even know of its existence.
"Let's say Yoon Seohyeon defeated the boss of the anomalous gate as well. My help was only secondary. The Association would probably prefer that."
Even if records of me remained, it would be fine. By the time they investigated me and connected all the dots into one line, I would already have become strong enough.
Yoon Seohyeon narrowed her eyes and shook her head.
"Even if I'm shameless, that's not something I can do."
"An F-rank hunter couldn't possibly defeat such a massive monster."
It was the same excuse I had used during the previous incident, but it was true. I had moved up one Rank and was now D-rank, but that changed nothing.
Even if the boss had been defeated, it was more natural for someone like Yoon Seohyeon, a high C-rank hunter, to have done it.
"I'm asking you to do me this favor. In exchange, I'll buy the meal."
"...You were already supposed to buy it."
After thinking for a moment, Yoon Seohyeon nodded.
"Fine. If you insist that much, I guess I can't refuse. But if the Association presses me too hard, I can't lie either."
"They probably won't even be interested."
I looked at Yoon Seohyeon intently. She reluctantly accepted.
"...Well, thanks to you, we did prevent a major accident. But I don't know if this is really okay."
"It is."
"How do you even know that? Do you happen to know someone from the Association?"
Instead of answering, I gave a bitter smile.
There was someone.
A person who used to go on and on about the Association before my return.
'That person believed that if only the Association had been operating properly, the world would never have ended.'
Even if the Association searched for me, there were plenty of excuses I could make. Measuring demonic energy wasn't the only way to identify anomalous gates.
"Make sure you contact me later! Don't forget that you're buying the meal!"
Yoon Seohyeon turned around and shouted as she walked away.
For now, I probably didn't need to worry about Yoon Seohyeon. For some reason, she seemed to have a favorable impression of me.
For the time being, the matter of the demon of growth was settled.
Ah, I can't go back like this.
I went through all this trouble to meet someone with Teleportation.
"Wait!"
"Yes? Why?"
Yoon Seohyeon stopped at my call. She looked like she was expecting something. Of course, that expectation disappeared the moment I spoke.
"Could you take me to Yongsan?"
"...Excuse me, Lee Jihan. Did you leave something with me?"
"If you don't want to, that's fine."
Tap.
I was about to turn away when Yoon Seohyeon grabbed my shoulder. Then she muttered:
"Well, it's not that I don't want to."
***
Thanks to Yoon Seohyeon, I was able to conveniently return the items and go home.
As soon as I arrived home, I collapsed and slept for an entire day. I didn't have any major injuries, but my body had been pushed violently, and the aftereffects of Straight Slash were severe.
Still, after sleeping for a while, my entire body felt refreshed.
『 The effect of Skill 'Natural Recovery Lv.10' has taken effect. 』
『 Superhuman recovery ability! 』
A satisfied smile appeared on my lips as I checked the messages.
'As expected, Skills are overpowered.'
Without Natural Recovery, I would have had to sleep for several days straight.
『 You have gained a large amount of Skill Experience. 』
『 Natural Recovery Lv.10 [35%] 』
I nodded while checking the message. An Experience percentage had appeared next to the Skill Level.
'Right. After defeating the demon, the maximum Level increased.'
Thanks to that, I could now accumulate Experience beyond the normal maximum Level of a Skill, which was 10.
Sleeping once filled it up to 35%. It was a growth rate that would shock anyone who heard about it, but I was slightly dissatisfied.
Was it because it was an expanded Level? Even considering the 100,000x multiplier, the Experience gain was incredibly slow.
'I know that Skills beyond Level 10 are supposed to have ridiculous effects.'
Maybe increasing them was just that difficult despite their performance.
Items that could raise a Skill's Level beyond the maximum were traded at extremely high prices. It was something that had nothing to do with me before. Since I had simply obtained such an ability, it really was unreasonable.
'Hm?'
While appreciating the greatness of the Talent Adjustment Trait, I happened to check my smartphone and saw a missed call notification.
He was the director of the hunter agency where I had worked in the past. It seemed he was calling because of a replacement hunter position at another guild.
'I have no intention of doing fill-in work anymore...'
From now on, my earnings would be different. I had no intention of scraping together small change by working as a fill-in.
I took out the magic stone I had secretly placed in my inventory.
『 Astonishing-Purity Magic Stone (D++) 』
It was a magic stone emitting a faint red glow. It was the one that had dropped after defeating the demon of growth. There was a reason I had collapsed on the ground.
Thanks to that, I had been able to take it without anyone noticing.
'Since it was originally a D-rank gate, the item grade is a little disappointing. But still, this is something.'
There was a limit to the grade of magic stones that could appear from lower-rank gates. The same applied even to anomalous gates. The level of magical energy contained within a gate was predetermined.
'Still, wouldn't I get at least five million won for this?'
Since it had the modifier "astonishing," it was reasonable to expect an even higher price. Magic stones had countless uses, but their applications varied depending on their purity.
Of course, the results of this demon hunt did not end here. I recalled the message that had appeared after defeating the demon of growth.
It meant that my attributes would increase by 1.2 times whenever I raised my Level from now on. This would become my basic foundation, providing explosive power when I equipped items.
'Leveling up won't be a problem as long as I can find gates.'
On top of that, the maximum Level of all Skills had increased.
'This is the same. As long as I can raise them, the expected value is huge.'
The rewards were satisfying.
But the true core was something else.
'I was curious from the beginning. What exactly could this be?'
Another function created by the Trait Talent Adjustment: Limit Break. There was no information about it anywhere.
I could only guess that it was a shop where I could purchase items based on their names.
Naturally.
Because this was probably an ability that only I in this world had acquired.
I moved my finger and activated the shop function.