Access to the abandoned factory in Sector E would not be permitted until the afternoon. Lee Jin-gu had no intention of wasting the free morning.
While checking the route for the venomous-insect request, he discovered a posting for a half-day morning sorting job at the Hunter Association’s Third Logistics Warehouse. It was also the perfect opportunity to test whether Traces remained inside spent mana stones after their mana had been drained.
“Hey, you! The new day laborer! Stop standing around and get moving!”
Lee Jin-gu gave a slight nod at the irritated shout.
A sour, musty smell of dust assaulted his nose. The interior of the Hunter Association’s Third Logistics Warehouse was no different from an enormous garbage dump.
Sacks were stacked high enough to nearly touch the ceiling, while faded stones lay scattered carelessly across the floor.
They were discarded mana stones that had become useless after all their mana had been extracted.
The request was one of the worst unwanted listings on the board. Ordinary hunters would not even click on it.
Even after shoveling all day, the worker would earn only a few tens of thousands of won. The working conditions were also worse than those at a construction site.
Yet a smile remained fixed on Lee Jin-gu’s lips as he gripped the shovel.
Other people might see this as a dirty, dangerous, and difficult job where he would inhale dust for pocket change.
To him, however, this place was nothing short of a gold mine.
‘Traces don’t remain only in monster corpses.’
Mana stones were the cores of monsters and vessels that had once contained mana.
Even after the mana drained away and they became ordinary stones, minute remnants were bound to remain inside their shells.
“Then let’s get started.”
Lee Jin-gu sat down and picked up one of the fragments scattered across the floor.
The instant its cool surface touched his fingertips, a familiar and exhilarating sensation flowed through his skin.
‘Minor Mana Resistance increased. Mental Strength increased.’
As always, the increases were tiny, rising in increments of only 0.01.
But what did that matter?
When he raised his head, he saw a mountain of discarded mana stones numbering in the hundreds of thousands—no, easily in the millions.
“Every one of these is a stat copier.”
Lee Jin-gu picked up the shovel in earnest and began filling the sacks with discarded mana stones.
SCRAPE.
CLATTER.
Every time he shoveled the stones or swept their broken fragments up with his bare hands, faint waves continuously flowed into his body.
‘Minor Mana Resistance increased.’
‘Mental Strength increased.’
The entire disposal warehouse was an infinite farming ground prepared solely for him.
Unlike when hunting rat monsters, he did not need to set traps and wait. Nor did he have to crawl through a foul-smelling sewer.
All he had to do was gather and move the stones, and his stats would accumulate on their own.
“Why does that guy look so excited?”
“No idea. I heard he took a sewer request yesterday and lost his mind.”
The day-labor porters resting nearby whispered among themselves, but Lee Jin-gu ignored them.
Instead, he displayed frightening concentration and increased the speed of his shoveling.
Each time another sack filled, an invisible resilience accumulated within his body.
He became so absorbed in extracting Traces that he nearly felt like singing a work song.
CLATTER—!
A deafening crash suddenly erupted from one side of the warehouse.
A furious shout immediately followed, reverberating throughout the vast space.
“You crazy bastard! Where the fuck are your eyes?!”
Lee Jin-gu set down his shovel and turned toward the commotion.
Near the conveyor belt, an employee wearing a permanent staff vest was raging at someone.
A young man with a youthful face was on his hands and knees before him, his complexion deathly pale. Unaware that his thick horn-rimmed glasses had slipped down his nose, the young man frantically gathered the stones scattered across the floor.
“I-I’m sorry! My feet got tangled, and I…….”
“Sorry? You think this ends with an apology? These are low-grade genuine mana stones scheduled for delivery to a guild this afternoon! You knocked over the waste box beside them and mixed everything together, you bastard!”
The employee’s face became mottled with rage.
Discarded mana stones that had lost their light were now jumbled together with low-grade genuine mana stones that still contained traces of mana.
Low-grade mana stones naturally emitted very little mana. Without expensive appraisal equipment, distinguishing them from waste with the naked eye was nearly impossible.
“I’ll separate them immediately! I’m truly sorry!”
“Separate them? You think you can see the difference? Pack your things and get out! You’re fired as of today!”
“Please forgive me just this once. If I can’t even earn this much, I’ll really…….”
The young man looked ready to cling to the employee’s trouser leg, but the employee brutally kicked him away.
Lee Jin-gu narrowed his eyes as he watched from a distance.
That face looked familiar.
The shaggy hair, thick horn-rimmed glasses, and strangely recognizable air of awkwardness.
‘Han Do-yun.’
The pieces of his memory instantly fell into place.
At present, Han Do-yun was nothing more than an appraisal assistant who was pushed around like everyone’s punching bag.
Ten years later, however, he would occupy an entirely different position.
He possessed a freakish talent that allowed him to perceive the faint flow of Mana Lines with his naked eyes.
With that talent alone, he would claim the title of South Korea’s Greatest Mana Stone Appraiser. Even the masters of major guilds would bow their heads before him.
‘Why is he being cursed at here?’
Before Lee Jin-gu’s regression, Han Do-yun had always seemed like someone who lived above the clouds.
Seeing such a man crawling across a dusty floor with tears in his eyes was almost surreal.
If Lee Jin-gu left things as they were, Han Do-yun would be thrown out that day. The warehouse would descend into chaos, and Lee Jin-gu’s precious Trace-farming time would inevitably be interrupted.
‘It wouldn’t hurt to secure a dependable future connection.’
Lee Jin-gu brushed off the dust and walked toward them.
“I’m truly sorry. I’ll compensate you for everything, so please let me keep working…….”
“Compensate us? What money do you have to pay for this?! Crawl out of here on your own before I call security and have you dragged away!”
Just as the employee reached for his radio, Lee Jin-gu smoothly stepped between them.
“Aren’t you shouting a little too loudly this early in the morning?”
The employee’s face twisted at Lee Jin-gu’s abrupt intervention.
“And who the hell are you? Go back to your day labor instead of interfering.”
“I’ve been working myself to the bone since earlier. But you’re making so much noise that I can’t concentrate. Whatever happened, shouldn’t we gather up what was spilled first?”
Lee Jin-gu crouched and reached toward the pile of stones scattered across the floor.
The employee scoffed.
“Listen, pal. Those all look like identical rocks to the naked eye. Stop messing with them and go finish your shoveling.”
Lee Jin-gu did not respond.
Instead, he closed his eyes and focused entirely on the sensations in his fingertips.
There was the Presence Detection he had improved by slaughtering a hundred mutant rats.
Then there was the Mana Sense he had sharpened by frantically absorbing Traces from discarded mana stones all morning.
Once those two abilities combined, he began sensing minute differences between the waves emitted by the scattered stones.
The discarded mana stones felt cold and dead, like hollow shells.
The low-grade genuine mana stones, however, contained faint but unmistakable vibrations.
“This one.”
Without hesitation, Lee Jin-gu picked up a stone and tossed it into an empty box.
“This one too.”
“And this one.”
His hands moved with the speed and precision of a machine.
The furious employee and the tearful Han Do-yun stared in astonishment as Lee Jin-gu plucked only the genuine mana stones from the dust.
“W-What do you think you’re doing?!”
“I’ve collected all of them.”
Lee Jin-gu rose and brushed the dust from his hands.
It had taken only a few minutes.
The number of mana stones neatly arranged inside the box perfectly matched the number that had been lost.
“Run them through an appraisal device. The count should be correct.”
The employee took out a portable appraisal device with a doubtful expression and scanned the mana stones inside the box.
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
Every reading and response displayed on the screen was normal.
Not a single discarded stone had been mixed in.
The employee’s mouth fell open.
Even an ordinary appraiser could not distinguish low-grade mana stones from discarded ones with bare hands and no equipment.
“Uh…… These really are all genuine. What the hell are you?”
“I already told you. I’m a day laborer who came here to earn his daily wage.”
Lee Jin-gu answered leisurely with a shrug.
The employee cleared his throat several times and turned away with an awkward expression.
“Ahem! Well, as long as the count is correct, that’s enough. Hey, you! Consider yourself lucky this time. If you make another mistake like this, I won’t show you any mercy!”
The employee hurried away as though fleeing.
Once the commotion subsided, Han Do-yun finally recovered from his daze and approached Lee Jin-gu.
The tears gathered behind his thick glasses looked ready to fall at any moment.
“E-Excuse me! Thank you so much! I don’t even know how to begin repaying you…….”
Han Do-yun repeatedly bowed until his waist bent at a perfect right angle.
He looked ready to prostrate himself on the floor.
Suppressing an inward smile, Lee Jin-gu maintained an indifferent expression and waved him off.
“Raise your head. I’ll handle cleaning the floor.”
“No! You saved my life! How did you distinguish all of them without any equipment?”
“I got lucky and relied on instinct. After working in this field for a while, I’ve developed a decent eye.”
It was an answer disguised as humility, but beneath it lay the careful calculation of someone who had just brought a future titan onto his side.
“My name is Han Do-yun! I work as an appraisal assistant at the First Examination Center. May I ask your name……?”
“I’m Lee Jin-gu, an F-rank hunter.”
“Hunter Lee Jin-gu! I’ll never forget what you did for me. Once I become a certified appraiser, I’ll appraise all your mana stones at the highest possible price without charging you any commission!”
It might have sounded like an empty promise now, but Lee Jin-gu knew better than anyone how terrifyingly valuable those words would become in ten years.
He had now secured one reliable future connection.
“No commission? I’ll hold you to that. By the way, Mr. Han Do-yun, may I ask you for a favor?”
“Yes! Anything you want!”
Lee Jin-gu gestured with his chin toward the pile of discarded mana stones behind them.
“I’m talking about those empty mana stone shells lying around back there. I heard the regulations allow even civilians to purchase them at scrap value. Is that correct?”
“Ah, yes. Once all the mana has been drained from the shells, they’re no longer dangerous. We can weigh them and sell them at the waste rate. But they’re nothing more than rocks, so no one ever buys them…… Do you need them?”
“Yes. I have a use for them at my next worksite. Please process the purchase with your assistant authority.”
While shoveling earlier, Lee Jin-gu had set aside several shells whose internal structures had been completely emptied by his Trace absorption.
Ordinary mana stone shells retained at least a minute amount of residual mana. If struck incorrectly, they could explode.
The stones Lee Jin-gu had handled, however, were perfectly empty containers without even a Trace remaining inside.
They would make excellent materials for manipulating the terrain or constructing traps during his next hunt.
“Understood! I’ll process the paperwork immediately. I’ll classify them at the lowest possible grade, so you can take them for practically nothing!”
Han Do-yun enthusiastically tapped at his tablet.
After several inputs, the payment was completed and a purchase receipt was issued.
It was a perfect transaction conducted through legal procedures without violating a single regulation.
‘That takes care of everything I needed to do today.’
Lee Jin-gu stuffed the receipt into his pocket, loaded the empty mana stone shells into a sack, and slung it over his shoulder.
Throughout the morning, he had absorbed an unending supply of Traces and substantially increased his Minor Mana Resistance and Mental Strength.
He had also secured a dependable connection with a future genius appraiser and obtained excellent trap materials for his next hunt at a negligible price.
His day-labor wage was merely an added bonus.
“Good luck with your work, Mr. Han Do-yun. I’ll see you again.”
“Yes! Take care, Hunter Lee! I sincerely hope to see you again!”
Han Do-yun waved from behind as he saw Lee Jin-gu off.
Lee Jin-gu left the logistics warehouse with light footsteps.
The sack pressing down on his shoulder was quite heavy, but thanks to the Strength reinforced by his accumulated Traces, he did not feel the slightest fatigue.
The harsh afternoon sunlight poured over his face when he stepped outside the warehouse.
All that remained was to eradicate the venomous-insect colony infesting the abandoned factory in Sector E and rake in the cash.
Lee Jin-gu adjusted the sack over his shoulder and grinned.
“Now, shall I go earn some real money?”
The windows of the rattling old bus vibrated irritably each time it crossed a speed bump.
Seated in the back row, Lee Jin-gu indifferently watched the outskirts of the city pass beyond the window.
The sack he had been carrying rested carefully at his feet.
He removed his smartphone from his pocket and reopened the Association app.
Sector E Abandoned Factory Venomous Insect Colony Cleanup Request.
‘The insect-type monster known as the Venomous Bug.’
He searched through his memories from before his regression.
Individually, those creatures were weaker than the rat bastards. However, they lived in colonies, and anyone who carelessly disturbed them was often rendered helpless by the Paralytic Venom they sprayed from every direction.
Ordinary F-rank or E-rank hunters often charged in without understanding the danger, armed with nothing but a single knife, only to be carried away foaming at the mouth.
‘That’s why they pay five thousand won per creature.’
But they posed no problem for Lee Jin-gu.
He only needed to crush them before they could release their venom.
Even if he were exposed, the Mental Strength and Minor Mana Resistance he had absorbed that morning would support him.
Above all, the empty mana stone shells at his feet would play an important role.
“The next stop is Sector E, Abandoned Factory Intersection.”
A mechanical announcement sounded.
Lee Jin-gu switched off his smartphone and effortlessly lifted the sack from the floor.
As soon as he stepped off the bus, hot and humid air clung to his skin.
A distinctive metallic odor from rotting soil and rusted fences assaulted his nose, completely different from the exhaust fumes of the city.
“It was this way.”
He began walking along an unpaved road bordered by a long stretch of rusted fencing.
Few people were nearby.
Access to the outer districts, where Gate Rifts frequently appeared, was strictly restricted for civilians.
In the distance, a shattered factory roof and grimy black exterior walls entered his view.
Yellow restriction tape had been carelessly stretched across the entrance.
Lee Jin-gu stepped over it and entered the factory yard.
Old materials and rotting tires of unknown age lay scattered across the ground.
‘It’s quiet.’
From the outside, it appeared to be nothing more than an abandoned building.
But Lee Jin-gu’s senses were already warning him.
A faintly sour venomous odor drifted on the wind.
Subtle vibrations traveled through the ground and into the soles of his feet.
The creatures had clearly built a massive nest beneath the factory and within the cracks in its walls, where they now waited hungrily.
He removed a fist-sized empty mana stone shell from the sack.
When he tapped it with his fingers, it produced a hard, metallic sound.
With every Trace completely extracted, the stone had become an excellent blunt weapon and trap component.
“Shall we begin construction?”
Lee Jin-gu approached the factory’s main entrance and casually tossed a shell through a gap beneath the collapsed metal shutter.
CLANG!
CLAAANG—!
The stone struck the floor, and its sharp noise reverberated through the factory.
That was when it began.
SKITTER—!
An unpleasant scraping sound emerged from every direction, like thousands of leaves dragging across the floor at once.
Red dots began appearing one after another inside the dark factory.
They soon surged toward the entrance like a massive wave.
The insects were each as large as an adult man’s forearm.
The entire Venomous Bug Colony had reacted to the intruder.
“There are a lot of them.”
An ordinary beginner hunter would have screamed and fled at the sight.
Lee Jin-gu merely licked his lips.
“How much money is that?”
He lowered the sack from his shoulder and filled both hands with empty mana stone shells.
The moment the venomous insects poured through the main entrance, Lee Jin-gu’s arm tore through the air too quickly to follow.
THUD!
The stone leaving his hand struck the head of the leading insect with perfect accuracy.
Green bodily fluid sprayed in every direction as the creature tumbled across the ground.
“One.”
The corners of Lee Jin-gu’s mouth curved upward.
It was time to harvest every last Trace.
“Come at me, all of you.”
Without hesitation, Lee Jin-gu hurled himself toward the swarm.
The sound of countless skittering bodies filled the factory yard.