“Ha.......”
Baek Je-jung, who had watched everything, couldn't finish his words.
He'd knocked down three people by himself.
It wasn't a desperate fight; he had literally played with them.
‘Were these guys this weak?’
That couldn't be.
They had definitely fought monsters well.
He had seen it himself from behind, so he knew their skills weren't bad.
‘He said he was E-Grade.’
Was he really E-Grade?
Je-jung had also had a few chances to see E-Grade Hunters.
But this was the first time he'd seen a fight like this.
‘It wasn't a proper fight to begin with. It was just...... like a fight between a child and an adult.......’
Did that man have an overwhelming number of Runes?
If he had absorbed hundreds of E-Grade Runes, it would be understandable.
‘The power of Runes really is incredible.......’
Following the last time in the grassland, Baek Je-jung once again felt the power of Runes firsthand.
“Are you okay?”
Just then, Hyun-jun approached.
Baek Je-jung raised his head, and when he saw that face, his mouth froze.
‘Th-That's the guy from back then?’
The man he'd seen in the grassland.
The one who had made him, a person who had meant to enjoy Hunter life for fun while looking for a bit of romance, set foot somewhere deeper.
Seeing his face up close, he knew.
He never imagined he'd meet that person again. And in a place like this, at that.
“I-I'm sorry.”
Baek Je-jung pressed his forehead to the ground.
It was an apology for having resented him until a moment ago.
“Sorry?”
Hyun-jun tilted his head, not knowing what this was about.
Since he couldn't properly explain, Baek Je-jung just stayed still with his head down.
“I don't really know what you're talking about, but I'll untie you first.”
Hyun-jun used Kim Seok-dae's dagger to cut the ropes binding Baek Je-jung's hands and feet.
“Ugh.”
“Get up slowly.”
Baek Je-jung got up with Hyun-jun's help.
Even though he hadn't been tied up for very long, he felt dizzy.
“It looks like they hit you on the back of the head. The blood has dried, but just in case, go to a hospital once you're out.”
“Thank you.......”
“Go outside and rest a bit. I'll take care of things in here.”
Hyun-jun sent Baek Je-jung out and examined the inside of the cave.
There was no sign of the Green-Maned Tyrant.
“Looks like they already caught it.”
It took a few days for the Tyrant to respawn.
It seemed they had been hunting the Tyrant and using this place as a base until it respawned.
“How many people died here?”
Traces of corpses remained in every corner. It looked like at least 10 people.
If they had cleaned up periodically, it would be far more than that.
“Garbage.”
There was also rope lying in the corner of the cave.
Hyun-jun brought the rope over.
He planned to tie them up with the rope and take them outside.
“I'd like to turn them into corpses right here, but.......”
That would make him the same as them.
There was no need to get blood on his hands; handling it according to the law was enough.
They would never be able to come out into society again. That was the kind of crime Rune Killing was.
“But I'll need solid evidence.”
The man he had just saved could be a witness, but that alone couldn't prove that they had committed Rune Killing.
“This is definitely not their first time.”
Practiced methods and skill.
If he searched, something would surely turn up.
Hyun-jun took his time and searched the three thoroughly.
He stripped off their equipment and took all their weapons.
They didn't have many items on their persons.
Instead, he was able to find a great many items in Kim Seok-dae's backpack.
Monster loot, including Mana Stones.
Dozens of Runes.
And finally, Soul Traces.
“Found it.”
Three Soul Traces carelessly thrown into the bag.
These items would prove the three's crimes.
“It'd be better if we could find out whose they are, but.......”
Unfortunately, that much was impossible.
So many people had died, and on top of that, there were no IDs, so there was no way to find them.
“These Runes were probably obtained by exchanging traces too.”
It seemed they had been saving them up to dispose of all at once.
Hyun-jun tied the three up tightly with rope and checked the Runes.
“How much is all this worth?”
Even at a rough glance, there seemed to be well over dozens of Runes. It was so much that having to submit them to the police as criminal proceeds felt like a shame.
“Huh?”
Idly rummaging through the Runes, Hyun-jun found a Rune of a different color among the many F-Grade Runes.
Hyun-jun picked up that Rune.
A gray Rune, indicating E-Grade.
What's more, unlike ordinary Runes, more Rune Script was written on its surface.
“A-A Skill Rune.”
A Rune that granted a Skill just by being absorbed.
It could be obtained at a certain rate in Anomalous Spaces other than hunting grounds, and it was quite pricey.
Because of their rarity, even the lowest grade ones traded at high prices.
“How do these guys have this?”
Skill Runes started from E-Grade at minimum.
There was no way these guys had killed an E-Grade Awakened, so where on earth had they gotten this?
“Well, I guess it doesn't matter.”
Hyun-jun examined the Rune with a pounding heart.
It was the first time in his life he'd actually seen a Skill Rune.
“What Skill could it be?”
He wanted to check, but was there a way?
After pondering it carefully, Hyun-jun's thoughts suddenly landed on the Duplicate Skill.
“Come to think of it, my number of duplications went up.”
The number of duplications had become 11 when he reached E-Grade.
He remembered that this morning, he had unconsciously duplicated and absorbed only 10 Runes of Agility.
“And I can duplicate E-Grade too now, so there's no problem checking it. Huh, wait a minute. Then couldn't I sell Skill Runes too?”
Because he'd thought Skill Runes couldn't be duplicated anyway, he had completely forgotten about them until now.
Hyun-jun's heart began to beat wildly, in a slightly different sense.
“All I need is one E-Grade Skill Rune worth at least 2 million won.”
He could duplicate Skill Runes, sell them, and use that to fill up his Stat Runes.
Then he could earn money and grow at the same time.
“First, let's check whether it really can be duplicated.”
Calming his excitement, Hyun-jun used the Skill.
[Duplicate <E-Grade Skill Rune – Magic Arrow>?]
“I-It works.”
Duplication itself was possible.
But there was still an obstacle to get past.
The 24-hour limit wasn't a big problem.
If he lowered the price, it would sell within 24 hours with time to spare.
There was only one real problem.
Whether the duplicated Rune would have the same effect when someone else consumed it.
“How do I test this?”
“Kuuugh.......”
At the sign of someone stirring, Hyun-jun's gaze naturally turned behind him.
The three tied-up people.
Among them, Kim Seok-dae, who had been the last to pass out, was groaning as if he was gradually regaining consciousness.
“Thanks for waking up so fast.”
There was no reason not to use the lab rat close at hand.
Hyun-jun immediately duplicated the Skill Rune.
A gray Skill Rune resting on his palm.
He had no duplications left, so he would have liked to absorb it himself, but for now, there was no choice for the greater good.
“Hey.”
“Ugh.”
Hyun-jun nudged Kim Seok-dae with his foot.
Kim Seok-dae's eyelids slowly lifted.
“Wh-What? Ugh! Untie me!”
“Open your mouth.”
“Untie me now!”
Hyun-jun pinched his nose.
When his breathing was blocked, Kim Seok-dae's mouth naturally opened.
“What are you- kugh!”
Hyun-jun shoved the Rune into Kim Seok-dae's mouth and poured water in.
“Swallow.”
“Cough!”
The duplicated Rune went down the back of Kim Seok-dae's throat in an instant.
Hyun-jun took his hands off him and watched his reaction.
Kim Seok-dae choked and did nothing but cough for a long while. Fortunately, the Rune didn't pop out of his mouth.
“Cough, cough! Fuck! What the hell did you make me eat?!”
“You don't feel anything?”
“Don't feel anything?! It feels like my throat's going to rip!”
“No, not that. I mean, isn't there a message popping up in front of your eyes or something?”
“What kind of bullshit is that?”
Hyun-jun sighed.
‘A dud.’
If a guy who knew nothing reacted like that, it was obviously a failure.
If it had been absorbed normally, he would have been flustered first by a message saying he'd learned a Skill.
It seemed that a duplicated Rune could only be absorbed by the person who had duplicated it.
‘It's a shame, but it can't be helped.’
It was already an outrageously broken Skill.
He wasn't very disappointed that using it in another way had failed.
“Get up.”
“No?”
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!
Hyun-jun beat up Kim Seok-dae, who was showing pointless defiance.
His face busted up, Kim Seok-dae got to his feet.
“Wake up your friends too.”
Kim Seok-dae rained kicks on his comrades as if taking out his anger on them.
A little later, Hyun-jun took the three of them out of the cave.
***
Hyun-jun came out of the Gate.
When he explained the situation to the staff member at the management post, the staff member immediately called the police.
As he came down from the building and waited, black patrol cars, the vehicles exclusive to the Awakened Police, soon arrived.
But there were far more of them than he'd expected.
“What is this.......”
Vehicles stopped in a crowd along the roadside.
There looked to be well over ten.
Dozens of Awakened Police officers got out of them alone.
Hyun-jun swallowed dryly.
‘Do this many usually come?’
Even if it was Rune Killing, there was no reason for this many Awakened Police officers to come when the culprits had already been subdued.
‘It seems like there's some other reason.’
What could it be?
He didn't know.
He had no time to think.
Because dozens of Awakened Police officers were approaching this way.
“Are these the perpetrators?”
Feeling needlessly nervous, Hyun-jun nodded.
“That's right.”
“We heard you also secured evidence.”
“Here.”
He submitted all the loot, including the Soul Traces, as evidence.
The Awakened Police officers took away the perpetrators, including Kim Seok-dae.
“Lastly, we'd like to take your statements. We ask for both of your cooperation.”
“This person is injured and needs treatment.”
“Sorry? He looks fine. If it hurts a lot......”
“Hey!”
At that moment, a middle-aged Awakened Police officer, whose uniform suggested a fairly high rank, shouted sharply.
“S-Station Chief? Why are you here at the scene......”
“You going to hold up an injured person?”
“Ah, but......”
The Station Chief whispered quietly.
-He's the Bureau Chief's nephew. Just send him to the hospital and take the statement from that guy. No need to investigate in detail. The Soul Traces were submitted, so those bastards are done for anyway.
Hyun-jun's keen hearing caught every word.
‘The Bureau Chief? Could he mean the Awakened Police Bureau?’
The Awakened Police Bureau was under the National Police Agency. It was said to be under it, but since it was in charge of practically all villain crimes, it might as well be considered an independent agency.
‘So that's why so many police officers came.’
Only then did the presence of the police officers swarming all around make sense.
Since a direct order had come down from the Bureau Chief, they had made this big fuss.
“W-Well, we'll take you to the hospital first.”
The Station Chief bowed and scraped as he tried to take the man away.
“W-Wait a moment.”
The man, who had been in a daze the whole time, approached Hyun-jun and bowed deeply.
“I was so flustered earlier that I couldn't even greet you properly. My name is Baek Je-jung. Thank you so much for saving me today.”
“I just did what I had to do.”
“I'd like to repay you somehow, but I don't have anything on me right now.......”
“I didn't do it expecting anything like that. It's enough that you're safe.”
Baek Je-jung bit his lip, on the verge of tears.
“Kuhup.......”
“Now, let's go. Let's get you treated first.”
The Station Chief took Baek Je-jung away.
Left behind, Hyun-jun told the Awakened Police officer everything that had happened inside.
“Thank you for your statement.”
“Do I have to participate in the trial later or anything?”
“You're not obligated to, but if you wish, you can appear as a witness or observe.”
“Not going won't affect the punishment or anything, right?”
“With Rune Killing, you can consider that pretty much never happens.”
“Understood. Thank you.”
He didn't particularly want to spend more time on it, so he wanted this matter to end here.
The Awakened Police officers returned, and the cars that had gathered left in a crowd.
Watching them go, Hyun-jun thought.
“Glad I came today.”
There was no financial gain, but he didn't feel like he'd wasted his time at all.
Having saved someone who would have died if not for him was satisfying enough.
“Helping people is surprisingly rewarding.”
Hyun-jun turned around, grinning.
But just then.
“Excuse me!”
An Awakened Police officer called out to Hyun-jun and came running in a hurry.
“Take this.”
What he handed over was Kim Seok-dae's bag, which they had taken earlier.
“Sorry? This? It's evidence.”
“The Station Chief said the Soul Traces are enough evidence and told me to give it to you.”
“It's criminal proceeds, so shouldn't it be confiscated?”
“I thought so too, but the Station Chief told me to just bring it to you.......”
Hyun-jun obediently accepted the bag.
Refusing when they were offering it to him wasn't polite either.
“Then I'll be going.......”
The officer ran back to his car.
Hyun-jun opened the bag.
It was full of items.
Looking at it made him laugh.
“Did Baek Je-jung ask for this?”
That had to be it.
He'd thought only his heart would be full, but it turned out to be a day when his wallet got full too.