To acquire the Heavenly Killer was to have madness planted in one’s mind.
It was a choice that could become a poison, eating away at Joo Do-gyeom’s greatest strengths—his composure, his patience, and more.
In return, it granted him the power to kill without fail even those immortal monsters that refused to die no matter how many times they were slain, dragging him into battles that seemed to have no end.
He had regressed knowing all of that.
And he had come to stand here.
So Joo Do-gyeom’s choice could only have been inevitable.
『The power of the Heavenly Killer imbues user Joo Do-gyeom’s body.』
The basement.
Red light burst from the ritual engravings that covered the walls and was sucked into Joo Do-gyeom’s body.
He didn’t feel any immediate change.
But.
‘Status Window.’
『Name: Joo Do-gyeom
Age: 26
Class: Chef of All Things
Stats
Strength: E- Stamina: E Agility: E+ (131 seconds) Mana: F-
Trait: Heavenly Killer (Unique)
Skills: Heaven Formula Qigong (1-Star) Earth Formula Qigong (1-Star) Clear-Eye Art (1-Star) Shadowless Divine Step (2-Star) Asura Flame Kick (1-Star) Scattered Flower Shadow (2-Star) Lightning Flash Flight (2-Star) Reverse-Flow Roc-Wing Art (3-Star) Kitchen Knife Proficiency (Level 2) Chef’s Knife Technique (Level 1)』
It was definitely there.
A Trait section that hadn’t existed in his Status Window before.
And within it, the three words Heavenly Killer were written clearly.
Joo Do-gyeom nodded as he confirmed it.
『Unique Trait, Heavenly Killer, granted.』
『Remaining rewards are being calculated.』
『Clear reward: Large additional quantity of Mana Stones granted.』
『Mana Grade increased: F- => F+』
『One of the user’s current stats will receive a major random increase.』
『Agility Grade increased: F+ => E-』
『Special Class Skill for Chef of All Things granted as a bonus.』
『Skill, Mana Stone Braising (Level 1), acquired.』
The eighth and final of the Eight Dungeon Commandments.
A dungeon must reward a player in proportion to their performance. If the player achieves something exceptional, that reward is maximized even further.
A veritable feast of messages befitting what he had accomplished.
It was an astonishing haul, enough to make even Joo Do-gyeom, a regressor, think it was excessive for a first dungeon.
But to be honest.
‘......I don’t have the leisure to fully enjoy it right now.’
The Detonation Art. The Reverse-Flow Roc-Wing Art.
The price exacted by the martial arts he had unleashed despite knowing they would cause internal injuries was intensifying by the moment.
It was enough to make even the remarkably patient Joo Do-gyeom furrow his brow deeply without realizing it.
Fortunately, he didn’t need to endure it for long.
『Reward calculation complete.』
『Return to Earth? Y/N』
The messages had ended at just the right time.
Joo Do-gyeom answered.
“I’ll return.”
His vision flipped.
***
-You’ll still pull it off.
-Joo Do-gyeom. You can do it.
-If you’re still the man I’ve watched all this time.......
Joo Do-gyeom’s eyes snapped open atop the bed.
The dim fluorescent light in his cramped, windowless rented room filled his vision first.
“Hmm.......”
Joo Do-gyeom groaned and sat up.
A bitter smile crossed his lips.
‘It hasn’t even been that long.’
Only a little over a month.
And yet he was already dreaming about the moments just before his Regression.
‘......Vivienne.’
He picked up his phone and checked his inbox.
As expected, the email was still unread.
Joo Do-gyeom put the phone down.
“Haaah.......”
Then he let out a long, deep breath and sat cross-legged.
He checked the condition of his body.
Was it thanks to learning Earth Formula Qigong, even if it was only at 1-Star?
He was in better shape than he had braced himself for.
However, the internal injuries themselves remained.
They weren’t severe enough to leave him permanently disabled, but he would suffer for a while.
‘It can’t be helped.’
The unexpected incidents he had encountered in the Cannibal’s Mansion.
Considering that and the fact that he had obtained the Heavenly Killer, this wasn’t much of a loss.
To put it even more bluntly.
It was close to a condition that had once been everyday life for Joo Do-gyeom before his Regression.
There was no need to worry.
‘Time will take care of it on its own.’
Instead, he turned his attention inward.
‘Madness.’
It had definitely been planted there.
His condition had been too poor inside the dungeon for him to be certain until he checked his Status Window, but now he could feel it clearly.
Something alien had been driven into his mind.
Perhaps because he had only just obtained it, though.
It was quieter than expected.
His thoughts weren’t unusually chaotic.
Nor did he feel his heart twisting out of shape.
Even so, he had to be careful.
He had witnessed with his own eyes what kind of monster Jin Woo-seong, the previous master of the Heavenly Killer, had ultimately become.
‘Don’t forget.’
He was now the master of the Heavenly Killer.
He had to repeat that fact to himself again and again and remain vigilant.
After engraving it into his mind over and over—even muttering it aloud so he would fully acknowledge it—Joo Do-gyeom opened his eyes.
His gaze had settled into calm.
The next thing he checked was his Status Window.
First, the increased stats caught his eye.
They were at a level impossible to believe for a Hunter who had entered only one dungeon.
It was impressive, but Joo Do-gyeom passed over it without much concern.
As a regressor, he considered it only natural that he should accomplish at least this much.
He had already confirmed the Heavenly Killer by observing his inner state, so he passed over that as well.
Instead, his gaze stopped at the final section of the Status Window—the Skills.
Off to one side was a Skill he had never seen before.
『Skill, Mana Stone Braising (Level 1).』
As stated before, whenever someone acquired a Skill, the method of using it naturally entered their mind.
Mana Stone Braising was no different.
‘So...... I really am supposed to braise a Mana Stone in a pan?’
More precisely, if he melted a Mana Stone in a pan, it became a braising sauce.
He then mixed it with the main ingredient and ate the resulting dish.
What mattered was that eating a completed dish permanently increased his Mana.
If he was lucky, he could also acquire additional Traits or Skills depending on the type of Mana Stone.
There were limits determined by the grade of the Mana Stone used as an ingredient, but.
“Excellent.”
Even Joo Do-gyeom, who had heard about and experienced all manner of Hunter-related abilities before his Regression, couldn’t help voicing his admiration.
‘Chef of All Things.’
A Class that, true to its name, could cook anything.
Honestly, when he had first acquired it, he had wondered whether it would be of much help to his plans after Regression.
‘This may be...... a much greater stroke of luck than I thought.’
A smile spread across his lips.
***
There was no reason to let such a useful Skill sit unused.
And inside Joo Do-gyeom’s small System Inventory, which was only ten slots wide and two rows deep, sat nineteen ordinary lowest-grade Mana Stones and one unusual-looking dark-crimson Mana Stone.
When he checked the details of the strange Mana Stone through the System.
『Cannibal’s Mana Stone (Special)』
The name appeared immediately.
A Special Mana Stone.
It had no separate grade, but it was rarer than most high-grade Mana Stones.
Moreover, the Mana Stone had come from a Cannibal, a monster that had originally been designed not to be defeated.
There was no need to say more.
It could be sold for hundreds of millions of won.
But did that money matter?
Joo Do-gyeom shook his head.
Instead, a question occurred to him.
‘What will I get if I eat this?’
Even the System Skill couldn’t tell him what the result would be.
Not before he cooked and ate it.
He was about to start braising it immediately when his mental brakes slammed on.
The reason was simple.
‘This...... isn’t something I can just braise and eat by itself.’
His Class was Chef of All Things.
In other words, he had to prepare an actual dish himself.
Even the Mana Stone’s absorption efficiency and the chance of acquiring a special ability changed depending on the dish’s quality.
New information surfaced one piece after another.
Once Joo Do-gyeom understood it, what he had to do was obvious.
“I need to buy groceries.”
A few internal injuries weren’t enough to stop him from moving.
Joo Do-gyeom headed out of the rented room.
***
CLATTER, CLATTER.
The train had been rattling along the rails for quite some time when an announcement played.
-The next station is Red Zone, Red Zone District 1. Passengers continuing to the Blue Zone must disembark and transfer to a Blue Zone-only train. This station is.......
-Robberies have frequently occurred in the transfer passage between the Red and Blue Zones recently. Passengers using the transfer station are advised to keep this in mind and exercise caution. Our City Transit Corporation assumes no responsibility for any criminal incidents.......
A gray cityscape.
There was no other way to describe the scenery outside the window.
As Joo Do-gyeom stared at it indifferently, a single raindrop clung to the glass before him.
A little more time passed.
The number of raindrops multiplied in an instant and swiftly conquered the subway window.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT—!
The downpour hammered violently against the glass.
Listening to it, Joo Do-gyeom frowned, thought he would need to buy an umbrella, and turned his head.
An advertisement caught his eye.
【Everyday Insurance Co., Ltd. always puts our customers’ health first. We arrive at your location within three minutes and provide treatment using the latest medical equipment. In an emergency, safe transport to a university hospital via MAC (Magitech Air Car)! Trust Everyday Insurance and enjoy a safe life in the city!】
A strange smile flickered across Joo Do-gyeom’s lips as he read the advertisement featuring a handsome middle-aged actor.
Not because the advertisement’s main message was amusing.
Rather, the tiny line printed at the very bottom in a complementary color that made it nearly impossible to see had caught his eye.
【The services described in this advertisement may vary depending on your subscription tier. Please take note when enrolling.】
Back then, he had clicked his tongue whenever he saw things like that.
‘Later, I came to miss a world where even billboards like this still existed.’
That aside.
‘Once I earn a little more, I should move into the Blue Zone.’
Not because the Red Zone was dangerous.
As a regressor who had once been called the God of War, most incidents that currently occurred in the Red Zone couldn’t be considered much of a threat to Joo Do-gyeom.
The problem was that every trip to buy supplies for Hunter work took a considerable amount of time, just like this one.
Yongsan Dungeon Place Market.
The famous Hunter-only market bearing that name was literally located in what had once been called ‘Yongsan,’ now Blue Zone District 1.
Of course, property prices weren’t the only thing separating the Red and Blue Zones. The difference in rent was enormous as well.
It was beyond what a fledgling who had only just become a Hunter could even dream of affording.
But what about the current Joo Do-gyeom?
‘A month at most. If things go quickly, fifteen days should be enough.’
And that was considering only the money he could earn through Hunter work.
What if he also cashed out the money he was steadily growing through stocks at his planned exit point?
Bluntly speaking, he could afford to move into even the Green Zone, never mind the Blue Zone.
He had no intention of going that far, since there was no particular need.
In any case.
Using the shared kitchen of his rented room every time he cooked with his Chef of All Things Skills would be inconvenient, so moving was unavoidable.
Just as Joo Do-gyeom reached that conclusion.
He stepped off the train, which had just arrived at the transfer station.
Perhaps the heavy rain that had battered the train had only been a passing shower, because it had eased for the moment.
His steps continued at a brisk pace.
***
There was a simple reason Joo Do-gyeom had gone so far out of his way to visit Yongsan Dungeon Place Market, known for short as ‘Yongdun,’ despite the distance.
The information the Chef of All Things Skill had placed in his mind stated that its effects increased when he used ingredients from dungeons rather than ordinary ingredients from Earth.
It wasn’t strange.
Dungeon ingredients were effective enough to be used even by ordinary people.
For example, regeneration creams made from dungeon ingredients prevented skin aging.
There were also drinks that genuinely eliminated inflammation from the body.
As far as Joo Do-gyeom knew, after a little more time passed, a rejuvenation medicine capable of turning the body’s time backward would be created as well.
Of course, every ingredient it required was exceptionally difficult to obtain, so the quantity was limited and the price astronomical.
In any case.
The ingredient Joo Do-gyeom chose today was a Steel Fish.
It was a trash fish that appeared without fail in ocean-themed dungeons, and in terms of common fish from Earth, it was about the size of a mackerel.
The price was roughly one million won per fish.
It was expensive for a trash fish, but that was the nature of dungeon products.
Joo Do-gyeom had sold ten of the nineteen Mana Stones he had obtained at Yongdun, more than half of them, so it wasn’t an expense he couldn’t afford.
For reference, the private sale price of a lowest-grade Mana Stone was around 1.5 million won each.
A Hunter who completed the Tutorial typically obtained no fewer than one and no more than three lowest-grade Mana Stones.
An exceptional performance had earned Joo Do-gyeom nineteen from a single dungeon.
No.
Counting the Cannibal’s Mana Stone, he had obtained twenty.
Joo Do-gyeom was the exceptional case.
He placed the Steel Fish in a black bag, boarded the train again, and returned to Red Zone District 5, where he lived.
Afterward, he stopped by a supermarket and bought several more fish.
‘The effect changes depending on the dish’s quality.’
He intended to practice making braised fish several times first.
With bags of fish in both hands, Joo Do-gyeom headed toward his rented room and let out a brief grunt.
“Hmm.......”
He had noticed it for a while now.
‘Someone’s following me.’
More precisely, it wasn’t one person but several.
The gazes of multiple people clung to him.
It wasn’t unusual.
The Red Zone.
A dangerous area where the CCTV cameras said to have once been common had mostly been broken or removed, and even the streetlights often failed to come on at night.
Even before Joo Do-gyeom became a Hunter, when he had been attending a training center, gazes like these had sometimes followed him at night.
But most of them hadn’t turned into genuine threats.
He usually carried nothing worth taking.
Now, however, things were different.
He was holding something he had bought at Yongdun.
The Red Zone marauders who kept an eye on Yongdun didn’t know exactly what it was.
But they must have decided it was worth stealing to find out.
It was obvious.
Joo Do-gyeom slowly reduced his pace.
Did they see this as an opportunity?
Or perhaps they had decided the deepening darkness meant it was time.
The presences rapidly closed in.
Joo Do-gyeom thought.
‘Good.’
Pocket money was rolling his way all on its own, just as he was returning from spending money.
Joo Do-gyeom quietly waited for the right moment.
As stated, this was familiar to him.
‘But why.......’
‘Why am I so excited?’
“.......”
Hmm.