Creak.
The old front door opened with a dull groan. Woo-min set his heavy porter bag on the floor and massaged his stiff shoulders.
The tiny studio apartment, barely twenty square meters in size, was chilly. He had turned off the heat before leaving, and cold seeped up through the floor. Accustomed to it, he took off his shoes and stepped inside.
Woo-min casually removed his coat and draped it over a chair before immediately opening his bag.
Deep inside, wedged between his porter supplies, was an object tightly wrapped in thick work cloth.
He carefully removed it and placed it on the floor.
When he peeled away the cloth with his rough hands, the hideous piece of scrap metal he had found in the dungeon came into view.
A badly chipped sword covered in reddish rust.
Taking a deep breath, Woo-min gripped the hilt again.
***
[Unnamed Sword]
[Grade: F]
[Growth Requirement: Absorb Mana Stones]
[Current Growth: 0%]
***
As expected, the translucent information window appeared before him.
Woo-min narrowed his eyes and carefully examined the floating words.
‘Absorb mana stones.’
He rose and approached a creaking chest of drawers. After opening the bottom drawer, he rummaged through its contents.
Several dull-colored stones lay inside a small plastic bag covered in dust.
They were the lowest-grade goblin mana stones he had kept for emergencies. Even the merchants around the Hunter Association would treat them like garbage, offering no more than a few thousand won apiece.
Woo-min selected the smallest and roughest one.
It was practically worthless, making it perfect for an experiment.
Sitting on the floor, he slowly moved the hand holding the mana stone toward the sword’s blade.
Just before they touched, he stopped.
It wouldn’t explode or release poisonous gas, would it?
A brief flicker of caution passed through his mind, but he had already come too far to stop now.
Tap.
The mana stone touched the rusted surface of the blade.
At that moment—
Hummm.
A faint vibration traveled through Woo-min’s fingertips. Just as he flinched and prepared to pull his hand away, the solid mana stone began losing its shape as though it were melting.
It did not crumble into powder.
The stone itself transformed into a faint mass of light before being drawn into the sword’s surface like water soaking into a sponge.
“…”
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
The mana stone vanished without a trace.
Then the words on the information window blurred and changed as though the display had refreshed.
***
[Current Growth: 2%]
***
The number had increased.
Woo-min’s eyes widened slightly.
He quickly lowered his head and inspected the sword. Was it merely his imagination? The thick reddish rust covering the center of the blade seemed to have faded ever so slightly.
“It really ate it.”
A disbelieving chuckle escaped Woo-min.
Something that should have belonged in an unverified internet horror story or the drunken boasts of low-ranking Hunters had just occurred before his eyes.
Without hesitation, he removed the remaining two low-grade mana stones from the plastic bag. He pressed them against the blade one at a time.
Hum. Hummm.
A pleasant vibration ran through the sword as light spread across its surface. Both mana stones were absorbed without leaving a trace.
***
[Current Growth: 6%]
***
This time, the change was more noticeable.
Some of the rotten leather fragments around the hilt fell away on their own, and one side of the severely chipped blade appeared slightly smoother than before.
Woo-min adjusted his grip and slowly stood.
With a light flick of his wrist, he swung the sword through the air.
Whoosh.
A low, heavy sound echoed through the room.
“Huh?”
A short exclamation escaped Woo-min before he could stop it.
When he first lifted the sword in the abandoned dungeon, its balance had been so terrible that holding it felt worse than wielding an iron club.
Now it felt different.
The distribution of weight around his wrist had become considerably more stable.
He had fed it only three of the cheapest mana stones available, yet it already felt as though the weapon’s fundamental structure was gradually correcting itself.
Woo-min wanted to test the sword’s condition more thoroughly.
He picked up an old steel practice rod standing in one corner of the room. He had bought it secondhand to use during bodyweight exercises and to maintain his basic striking technique.
Woo-min planted the steel rod firmly against the floor. Holding the Unnamed Sword loosely, he used only a snap of his wrist to tap the top of the rod.
Clang!
A sharp metallic sound rang out.
Woo-min immediately inspected the rod’s surface.
A long, shallow but clearly defined cut had appeared across the exposed metal pipe beneath the chipped paint.
For an F-grade weapon—especially one this badly corroded—to leave such a mark on a steel pipe, the Hunter wielding it would ordinarily need considerable physical strength.
But Woo-min had neither channeled mana nor put any strength behind the strike. He had merely tapped the rod.
“Is its cutting power being restored as well?”
He silently stared down at the old sword in his hand.
The more mana stones it consumed, the more its physical performance improved.
The implications were enormous.
If he could acquire enough mana stones, perhaps the sword could advance to E grade—or even higher.
In a profession where a weapon’s performance was directly tied to a Hunter’s survival, equipment capable of growing on its own was invaluable.
Any ordinary low-ranking Hunter who discovered this would spend every last coin buying mana stones. They would take out loans from the brokerage agency and borrow from loan sharks if necessary, staking everything on the mysterious weapon’s growth.
Woo-min, however, remained calm.
He lowered the sword and slowly steadied his breathing.
‘I can’t spend the money.’
The first things that came to mind were his parents’ living expenses and hospital bills, which he had to pay every month without fail.
His father still required regular outpatient treatment, while years of restaurant work had severely damaged his mother’s knees. Most of the money Woo-min risked his life to earn went toward supporting his family.
He had gradually accumulated a small emergency fund, but he had no intention of emptying it to gamble on the uncertain growth of a weapon.
No matter how many mana stones he fed it, no one could guarantee that the sword’s growth wouldn’t abruptly stop at some unknown limit. It might even develop some terrible side effect.
The weight of reality on Woo-min’s shoulders was far too heavy for him to gamble everything after being blinded by a sudden stroke of fortune.
He meticulously wrapped the sword in the leftover work cloth.
Then he secured it deep inside the porter bag he normally carried into dungeons.
If he couldn’t afford to buy mana stones, there was only one solution.
“I’ll just collect them myself.”
He was a low-ranking Hunter who entered dungeons nearly every day anyway. His daily life already consisted of collecting mana-stone scraps left behind by others and disposing of monster corpses to scrape together a living.
If he fed the sword only the lowest-grade mana stones he found himself, he could safely test the limits of its growth without spending a single won.
It might take longer, but it was a far more reliable and realistic approach.
Woo-min took a bottle of cold water from the refrigerator and drained it in one go.
As the clean, chilled water ran down his throat, his tangled thoughts became considerably clearer.
He had work again tomorrow.
Woo-min set his alarm and turned off the lights early.
***
Early the next morning, the Hunter Brokerage Agency was already crowded with low-ranking Hunters searching for work before sunrise.
The acrid smell of cigarettes mingled with the aroma of cheap instant coffee. Rough curses and heated arguments frequently broke out amid the commotion.
“Fuck! Why does my quota keep getting cut? Do you have any idea how hard I worked my ass off last week?”
“Then join an official party. Don’t you know assignments for the debris disposal teams are handed out on a first-come, first-served basis? If you have a problem with it, improve your abilities and reach C rank.”
The familiar shouting continued in front of the reception desk.
Ignoring the disturbance, Woo-min approached a bulletin board in the corner. It was covered with newly posted requests for the day.
His gaze moved across the papers.
‘D-rank search support… Pass. Dedicated defense duty in an E-rank dungeon… Are they insane? They’re just asking for a meat shield.’
He didn’t even consider reckless assignments that demanded he throw away his life for a pitiful wage.
Woo-min had known what he wanted from the start.
A worn and crumpled document was posted slightly farther down.
***
[F-Rank Dungeon Debris and Monster Corpse Disposal]
[Basic Porter Duties]
[Daily Payment]
***
It was typical subcontracting work: cleaning up the scraps left behind after an official raid team had swept through the dungeon.
Most of the work involved dealing with the corpses of insignificant monsters such as goblins and slimes. The pay wasn’t particularly good, but there was little threat to his life.
More importantly, it was the perfect environment for collecting discarded mana-stone fragments without attracting attention.
Woo-min removed the request from the board and took it to the reception desk.
The employee sorting through a stack of documents glanced up at him.
“Mr. Yoo Woo-min, are you applying for debris disposal again today?”
“Yes.”
Woo-min answered impassively and handed over the document along with his Hunter ID card.
The employee stamped the paper out of habit before speaking.
“With your stamina, you could easily work as an E-rank porter or join a rear collection team. You know the daily pay there is at least twice as much, right? You’ve already been doing this for three years. Aren’t you being a little too cautious?”
“I’m rather particular about how much my life is worth.”
“Well, it’s your choice. Wait in the queue for Zone Two. They’ll depart as soon as they have enough people.”
“Have a good day.”
Woo-min slipped the returned ID card into his pocket and left the brokerage agency.
The cold, biting morning air struck his cheeks.
The porter bag over his shoulder felt slightly heavier than usual, but the added weight didn’t bother him at all.
An old cargo truck sat idling in one corner of the parking lot. Several low-ranking Hunters were already crouched together in its cargo bed.
Woo-min climbed into the back with practiced ease.
Feeling the truck’s vibrations beneath him, he settled into a corner and tightly gripped one of his bag’s straps.
There was a fixed quota of monster remains he had to collect today.
And now there was also a target number of mana stones he intended to gather whenever the opportunity arose.
Rumble.
Once the truck was full, it began speeding down the rough dirt road.
Woo-min leaned his head against the shaking wall of the cargo bed and quietly closed his eyes. The murmured conversations of the Hunters around him drifted through his ears.
“I heard a lower-tier team from the Clear Sky Guild cleared this F-rank zone a few days ago.”
“If the Clear Sky Guild handled it, there probably won’t be much left. Those cheapskates scrape up everything down to the last speck.”
“You never know. If we find even one overlooked goblin corpse in decent condition, it’ll cover tonight’s drinks.”
Woo-min showed no reaction to their conversation.
Whether it was the Clear Sky Guild or anyone else, a few tiny mana-stone fragments they had overlooked would be enough.
He didn’t need pristine mana stones that could be sold to merchants. He needed the lowest-quality stones available—something he could gather in quantity.
After approximately an hour, the truck screeched to a stop.
“We’re here! Everyone out!”
At the guide’s shout from the driver’s cab, the Hunters poured from the cargo bed. Woo-min adjusted his bag and climbed down.
Before him, a dark cave entrance gaped open between enormous rocky cliffs. The familiar smell of dust and the faint stench of blood drifted toward him on the wind.
The guide raised a megaphone and shouted.
“Spread out to your assigned sections! Put the monster corpses in plastic bags and carry them to the entrance. Place any remaining ores or usable materials in separate transparent sacks. If you get hurt while messing around, that’s your problem, so watch yourselves. Everyone must be out before sunset!”
Woo-min collected the two empty sacks he had been issued and entered the cave.
Goblin remains were scattered everywhere near the entrance. Severed limbs and congealed black blood covered the ground, clear evidence of the official party’s merciless assault.
Woo-min took out a pair of metal tongs with practiced ease.
As he gathered the corpses in one place, his sharp eyes meticulously searched through the dust covering the floor.
‘Nothing over here.’
He overturned a rock and scraped away the hardened dirt beneath it. Before long, his fingertips touched something solid and rough.
It was a cloudy gray stone no larger than his little fingernail.
“Found one.”
A mana stone.
It was a defective fragment that had broken apart and failed to retain its original form.
Woo-min lightly brushed the dirt from the tiny mana stone and slipped it into his pouch.
For a moment, he imagined that something inside the bag on his back was faintly humming.
Woo-min exhaled and silently bent back down.
There was plenty of garbage to clear away.
And plenty of mana stones to collect.
There was no reason to rush.