Chapter 02

 EX Rank

The fallen Hunters, the gravely wounded A-Rank Hunter Kwon Min-gi, and even Son Jeong-ho,

who had wiped out the Blood-Tearing Statues with a single Fire Bolt, were all at a loss for words.

[Blood-Tearing Statue: 17/17 Destroyed]

[B-Rank Gate Cleared!]

[Contribution: Son Jeong-ho (100%)]

An F-Rank Hunter named Jeong-ho had cleared a B-Rank Gate all by himself, with a single spell.

[Gate Clear Reward: Living Plaster (Common) x6]

[Exclusive Rare Reward for Top Contributor: Bloodstone Ruby (Unique) x1]

He almost thought he was dreaming, but the gate-clear rewards had arrived, too. He had no choice but to believe it was real!

“I-Inferno! I’ve only ever heard rumors about it!”

“Hunter Kwon Min-gi really learned Inferno while studying abroad!”

“Wow. He cleared a B-Rank Gate with one hit…”

It wasn’t Inferno. It was Fire Bolt.

Were all the Hunters lying sprawled on the ground collectively dreaming or something?

Well, I can see why they’d mistake it for Inferno.

The Fire Bolts other people cast might technically be magic, but they were about as powerful as throwing a lit match.

Only the more powerful Mage Hunters could use them as offensive spells. Even then, they could only shoot a single fire arrow before the spell was over.

But Jeong-ho had unleashed a rain of fire. A volcanic eruption. An impact on the scale of Armageddon or a meteor strike.

Why was it so ridiculously powerful?

The original is all that Dimensional Shop [Da-Panda] deals in. Everything you’ve obtained from the Tower or Gates is merely an imitation of the original. They’re on entirely different levels.

He remembered what Daeyoung had told him in the Tower of Heroes.

If even the most basic spell, Fire Bolt, was this powerful, just how strong were the other originals?

I might actually be pretty strong, huh? At this rate… Urgh, ugh?!

Suddenly, he retched violently. Blood surged up his throat, and his head began to spin.

[Warning! Mana Contamination: 99%!]

[Warning! Mana Contamination: 99%!]

[Warning! Mana Contamination: 99%!]

Oh, right. The mana contamination…

There had originally been no mana on Earth, and humans had not originally been Hunters.

Naturally, there was a limit to how much mana the human body could absorb.

Using a skill that was too powerful for one’s rank, consuming an elixir, or equipping an item could all increase mana contamination, eventually driving a Hunter to their death.

What happened when mana contamination reached 100%?

Death. Guaranteed.

Summoning what little strength he had left, Jeong-ho picked up his smartphone.

“Please send an ambulance!”

Jeong-ho struggled to open his eyes.

He saw an unfamiliar ceiling and smelled disinfectant.

“Where… am I?”

The doctor, who was examining his chart, answered nonchalantly.

“Oh. You’re in a hospital. Don’t worry.”

Strangely enough, his body felt light and perfectly fine.

If his mana contamination had reached 99%, he should have been as good as dead.

“Doctor, what about my mana contamination?”

“Mana contamination? It was only about 1%. That’s roughly what you’d get from exposure to natural mana.”

The doctor even showed him the test results.

Beneath the various Hunter statistics, all of which were estimated to be F-Rank, was a mana contamination reading of 0.8%.

“See? Nothing serious. Get some rest and then you can leave. Besides, the government covers 99% of the medical expenses for Gate-related incidents. You can even be discharged right away.”

“What happened to Hunter Kwon Min-gi?”

The doctor’s expression grew serious.

“He’s in the intensive care unit.”

“Ah. Okay. Understood.”

After the doctor left, Jeong-ho lay back down on the bed.

Hunter Kwon Min-gi. He’s alive. Thank goodness.

He was glad he’d had the courage to cast Fire Bolt instead of running away.

Jeong-ho felt proud of himself for finding the courage to act.

Where did all that mana contamination go?

Mana contamination could heal naturally, too. The problem was that the process was about as slow as the natural recovery of radiation damage.

He searched on his smartphone, but there wasn’t much information. As for someone who might know about this sort of thing…

Oh, right. There is someone.

Daeyoung, the Great Shadow who lived in the Tower of Heroes.

That guy dealt in all kinds of monstrous items. Surely he’d know something?

Kwon Min-gi, an A-Rank Hunter, opened his eyes in the intensive care unit.

The Hunter Administration Bureau employee watching over him anxiously shouted out.

“Section Chief! He’s awake!”

The door burst open, and Section Chief Oh Seung-woo of the Hunter Administration Bureau rushed inside.

“Hunter Kwon. Can you hear me? Do you remember who I am?”

Kwon Min-gi struggled to part his parched lips.

“Bureau… Section Chief Oh? What happened to the Gate?”

Section Chief Oh Seung-woo smiled and nodded.

“Hunter Kwon, you’ve done well. That could have turned into a major disaster, but you eventually learned Inferno, didn’t you?”

“It wasn’t me. I can’t use Inferno.”

Section Chief Oh’s eyes widened.

“But didn’t you go to China for two months to learn Inferno?”

“That damn Red Mage! He never even taught me Inferno! He made me work like a slave for two whole months! If anything, he stole my own skills!”

BEEEEEP!

The machines connected to the bed began beeping.

“Calm down, Hunter Kwon. I’m sorry. I won’t ask any more questions.”

“Hoo… No. It’s not your fault, Section Chief Oh. I think this was either a Gate Break or some kind of anomaly. A monster capable of using Inferno must have escaped. We need to track it down immediately…”

“The Gate was cleared in time. There was no Gate Break and no anomaly.”

Hunter Kwon Min-gi was so bewildered that he was at a loss for words.

“Then who the hell used Inferno?”

“The Bureau is investigating, but honestly, we’re completely in the dark.”

Kwon Min-gi clutched his aching head and tried to recall what had happened.

One hit, and it’s over?

Someone had been there. Someone who had remained perfectly fine while everyone else was on the verge of death.

That person had used Inferno. But who were they? He’d never heard that voice before, and he hadn’t gotten a proper look at their face.

Whoever you are, thank you.

If that Hunter hadn’t intervened, he would be dead by now.

He wanted to find that person, whoever they were, and express his gratitude. More than that, he wanted to take them on as his master.

The person was far stronger than the Red Mage, China’s ninth-ranked Hunter.

[Skill Activated: Enter the Tower of Heroes]

[Entering the Tower of Heroes.]

A brilliant light flooded the world, then faded away.

Jeong-ho found himself in the familiar stone hall, where the Great Shadow, Daeyoung, was waiting.

“Mr. Daeyoung, I’m back. There’s something I’d like to ask you today.”

Daeyoung extended something resembling a shadowy hand.

“What? Mana stones only come from the Tower. Weren’t you the one who told me not to climb it?”

That was a little unexpected, but he couldn’t exactly say Daeyoung was wrong. Jeong-ho had been planning to climb the Tower eventually anyway.

“Fine. A hundred mana stones. I can collect them from the Tower of Trials, right?”

“I didn’t bring any ramen today.”

Jeong-ho held up both hands to show that they were empty.

The Great Shadow, Daeyoung, froze as if someone had paused a video.

“You really don’t know anything, do you? Every kind of ramen tastes different.”

Daeyoung flinched.

The red glow of his eyes trembled slightly.

He talked big, but he seemed awfully curious about the taste.

“I have another kind at home, different from the one I made last time.”

Daeyoung pretended not to hear him.

“If you answer just one question, I’ll let you try it next time.”

Daeyoung continued to ignore him, but his robe was fluttering suspiciously.

“Well, if you don’t want to…”

“What happened to my 99% mana contamination?”

Daeyoung’s red eyes narrowed.

With that expression, he looked just like one of those Blood-Tearing Statue monsters.

Jeong-ho perked up his ears and concentrated.

“…Huh?”

What kind of nonsense was that?

That was like Zeno’s paradox of Achilles and the tortoise.

No matter how much contamination accumulated, he’d recover 1% before it could reach 100%? And that made him immune to contamination?

Jeong-ho couldn’t tell whether that was an insult or a compliment, but at least it meant he could keep using Fire Bolt.

Still, he couldn’t go around spamming skills recklessly. Something worse could happen, and if the contamination peaked in the middle of a fight, he could die.

“Is there any way to prevent mana contamination?”

FWOOOSH!

Daeyoung spread his robe wide, like a bat unfurling its wings.

Beneath the robe shimmered a black universe, filled with countless artifacts, items, and elixirs, too many to comprehend, all glowing brilliantly.

—Original Monkey’s Paw (Legendary): Grants three wishes…

—Original Ambrosia (Legendary): Transcend humanity and reach the realm of a demigod…

—Original Gongsungseokyu (Legendary): Permanently and dramatically increases stats…

—Original Energy Circulation Skill Book (Legendary): Enables rapid recovery under any circumstances…

And there were countless other items.

Myriad overlapping description windows glittered like the Milky Way.

Jeong-ho swallowed hard.

That was right. This was a dimensional shop. A place where goods could be bought and sold.

An elixir that increased his mana, a skill that helped him control it, or even an item—he could buy anything he needed.

All right. Time to climb the Tower and mine some mana stones.

After all, mana stones could only be obtained as rewards from the Tower.

But first, let me sell these.

Jeong-ho took his Gate rewards out of his inventory.

Six chunks of Living Plaster. One red Bloodstone.

“Do you happen to buy items, too?”

There was, of course, the Hunter Auction House, but if an F-Rank Hunter like Jeong-ho listed a Unique item, he’d be in serious trouble.

How did an F-Rank get his hands on this? Did he obtain it through criminal activity?

The authorities would investigate him at the national level, confiscate the items, and subject him to intense interrogation.

And that was the best-case scenario.

If he was unlucky, a Hunter Guild or criminal organization might get their hands on him. At least the government might eventually let him go. With those people, there would be no escape.

“How much would you pay for these?”

“Sixteen? I could get at least five hundred mana stones for these at the Hunter Auction House!”

Jeong-ho reluctantly gathered up his items.

What an outrageous rip-off!

Fine. He’d just have to climb the Tower, raise his Hunter rank, and sell the items himself. He was determined to do it out of sheer indignation.

“Just you wait. I’ll climb the Tower and bring you mana stones.”

With a flash of brilliant light, Jeong-ho disappeared.

[Skill Activated: Enter the Tower of Trials]

[Entering Floor 1 of the Tower of Trials.]

Jeong-ho emerged from the light into a clearing in the middle of a dense forest, surrounded by thick trees.

[Floor 1 Objective: Destroy 1 Trial Straw Dummy.]

[Time Limit: 6 Hours]

The first floor of the Tower was a tutorial zone, where no one could die.

Newly awakened Hunters came here to test their abilities. All they had to do was destroy a straw dummy with an absurd amount of HP.

The problem was that the dummy was ridiculously durable.

Even the world’s number-one Hunter, Ronald, had a first-floor record of thirteen minutes.

The dummy teleported every time it was hit, and traps were scattered throughout the area. Hunters could suffer serious injuries while chasing it and stepping into traps, even though they couldn’t actually die.

Someone like Jeong-ho, whose every stat was F-Rank, could be seriously injured by a trap.

I should finish this in one clean hit.

If his mana contamination hit 99% again, he’d start spitting up blood.

Who could fight monsters while vomiting blood? He’d die.

From now on, it was best to end every fight in a single blow.

The moment Jeong-ho stepped out of the safe zone, he cast Fire Bolt.

[Skill Activated: Original Fire Bolt]

A blazing red fireball materialized above Jeong-ho’s head.

KWA-KWAKWANG!

[Floor 1 of the Tower of Trials Cleared!]

[Clear Time: 00:00:03 seconds.]

[Clear Rank: EX]

[EX-Rank Reward: 19 Mana Stones Acquired.]

[EX-Rank Special Reward: 1 Proof of Hero Acquired.]

[Rank 1 Reclaimed! New Record Established!]

Thankfully, it was over in a single hit.

Jeong-ho desperately swallowed back the blood rising in his throat.

Even though he’d expected it to be powerful, the strength of the original Fire Bolt exceeded all his expectations.

But wait. Nineteen mana stones for clearing the first floor?

And an EX-Rank reward? A Proof of Hero?

What was this? He’d never seen any of these before!

At that very moment, on the giant monitor in the Korean Hunter Administration Bureau…

Section Chief Oh Seung-woo gaped at the screen when he saw that an anonymous Korean Hunter had cleared the first floor in just three seconds.

“Th-Th-three seconds? Not three minutes, but three seconds? It takes three minutes just to make ramen, and someone cleared the first floor of the Tower in three seconds?!”

The faster a Hunter cleared a floor, the higher their completion rank. Higher ranks guaranteed better rewards.

An S-Rank reward was worth roughly twice as much as a C-Rank reward. Some rewards even appeared only rarely on high-ranking clears.

But EX-Rank?

That was above S-Rank!

Just what kind of rewards would it give? And how many?

Meanwhile, in Japan…

“This is serious! The first-floor record of the Tower of Trials has been broken. Three seconds!”

“Three seconds?! Could it be a system error?”

“No. The transmission comes directly from the Tower of Trials. The signal is clear, and there are no errors.”

“Good heavens! There was an EX Rank above S Rank all along! All those S-Rank strategies we purchased from other countries to break records are now completely worthless!”

“And of all people, it had to be a Korean! If only it had been a Japanese Hunter!”

In China…

“Find that EX-Rank Hunter at all costs. Mobilize every detection-type Hunter we have. Send the intelligence, recruitment, and assassination teams to Korea!”

“W-What? Isn’t that a bit extreme?”

“The blessing our great nation possesses is in danger! If someone cleared the first floor at EX Rank, they’ll steal the top ranking on every floor that grants a blessing—that is, every fifth floor!”

Li Wei, China’s number-one-ranked Hunter, ground his teeth.

“The blessing of our great nation must never be taken away. That is what’s best for all of humanity.”

In the United States…

“What the fuck?! An EX-Rank clear?! Who is it?”

“Could it be one of the promising rookies Ronald, the world’s number-one Hunter, is training? He trains foreigners, too.”

“But all his promising rookies were at a White House dinner at that time.”

The Americans stared at one another in shock.

“Then who on earth could it be…?”

In the European Union…

“Breaking news! Breaking news! A new EX-Rank record!”

“Three seconds on the first floor? The previous world record was thirteen minutes!”

“It must be a Briton.”

“No, surely it’s one of our Frenchmen.”

“At last, Spain will reclaim its former glory.”

“Have you forgotten how many powerful new Hunters Germany has produced recently?”

“Everyone, calm down. The Hunter is registered under Korea.”

“Have you never heard of overseas nationals? I’m certain the Hunter is Italian.”

“Whoever you are, reveal yourself soon! Greece will offer you one billion euros to join us!”

“Portugal will offer two billion euros!”

“Imagine being so stingy with an offer like this. You know nothing about talent. Switzerland will offer ten billion euros to show our respect for an EX-Rank Hunter!”

Jeong-ho had cleared the first floor in three seconds, achieving an EX-Rank record.

The entire world was in an uproar.