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Chapter 6
The area had become chaotic with the arrival of Hunter Management Bureau personnel.
Guild Master Lee Sunjin had also arrived after hearing the news.
Honestly, if he was going to come anyway, he should have just participated in the gate raid from the start.
There was clearly a reason this guild ranked near the bottom.
An incident inside an F-Rank gate.
The surroundings were completely wrecked.
The traces of battle were everywhere.
The Dragon Breath.
And that woman’s terrifying attacks.
“This… you’re saying you subdued that woman by yourself?”
Technically, yes.
The Red Dragon did it alone.
Not only the Bureau employees, but even Lee Sunjin could not hide their shock.
Anyone could tell from the battle damage alone that the woman was no ordinary villain.
Yet she lost to me, an E-Rank hunter.
Or more accurately, to the dragon that appeared on its own.
“Mr. Kang Hyuk… according to the hunter registry, you’re listed as an E-Rank hunter…”
The question came from the Bureau employee whose life I had saved.
He had personally seen my dragon.
And not just any dragon.
He saw the S-Rank dragon from before my return, the massive creature dozens of meters long.
Naturally, the words “E-Rank hunter” and what he just witnessed did not match at all.
“I really am an E-Rank hunter. The explanation is… complicated.”
The problem was not just that it was complicated.
I literally could not explain it.
Because even I did not understand how an S-Rank dragon suddenly appeared in front of me when I only possessed an E-Rank summoning skill.
“Mana suppression device. Double-check it carefully.”
“Understood.”
The Bureau employees carried the unconscious woman toward the criminal transport vehicle.
She still looked miserable, but somehow she remained alive.
She escaped death.
But what awaited her now was something worse.
The Criminal Isolation Center.
Awakened criminals were imprisoned in facilities built specifically for them.
And they spent the rest of their lives inside sealed rooms equipped with special suppression devices.
Though honestly, that only applied to lesser villains.
For a case this severe, the ultimate punishment was usually execution.
“Thankfully everyone survived. We’ll take the woman and investigate her separately.”
Even after the transport vehicle left, many people remained behind to inspect the scene.
And all of them looked completely confused as they discussed what happened.
Naturally, I listened in.
And through their conversation, I learned something unexpected.
The woman was definitely an awakened person.
But she was not registered in the hunter database.
“She never registered as a hunter?”
Who exactly was she?
At minimum, she was an A-Rank hunter.
And she used fire-based awakening abilities.
But no matter how hard I thought about it, no woman like her existed in my memories from before my return.
United States.
Independent.
“It seems there’s a problem. We’ve lost contact with Cecilia.”
“Was Cecilia the hunter dispatched to Korea? But…”
One of his eyebrows twitched.
“You’re telling me she failed even after an S-Rank hunter moved personally?”
Cecilia.
A Korean-American adopted from Korea into the United States.
And a newly awakened S-Rank elite hunter.
The person who achieved America’s highest floor record in the Tower of Trials.
Yet communication with Cecilia, who had been sent to Korea, had been completely lost.
***
I returned home.
Everything that happened today was thoroughly covered up.
Even the battle traces were already being cleaned up through government intervention.
There had been several recent incidents involving villains targeting porters.
But this was the first time a Bureau employee had also been attacked.
At this point, it was obvious they were trying to prevent public panic.
Anyway, putting that aside.
E-Rank summoning skill.
I checked my status window again, but nothing had changed.
I was still an E-Rank hunter.
“An E-Rank summoning skill suddenly calling out an S-Rank dragon? And without even following my command?”
I replayed the events from earlier in my head.
At the moment of danger, the S-Rank dragon appeared.
Honestly, “summoned” was not even the right word.
It came out on its own.
And during all that, the Bronze Sword, my summoning medium, crumbled into dust.
This was definitely something I had never experienced during the past three years.
Then a certain thought crossed my mind.
Maybe dragons could still be called forth through consuming artifacts, even without directly using the summoning skill.
And perhaps that allowed S-Rank summons instead of being limited by my current rank.
Judging from how the Bronze Sword shattered, consuming the artifact seemed to be a necessary condition.
But beyond that, I understood nothing.
“There’s no way simply consuming an artifact is enough to summon an S-Rank dragon.”
Even if I figured out the rule, it would still be a problem if artifacts disappeared every time I summoned one like that.
But before worrying about that, there was something more urgent.
“First, I need a new summoning medium.”
I lost the Bronze Sword.
Which meant I could no longer summon the Red Dragon.
Fortunately, the tower contained more than just one artifact.
The third ancient artifact hidden inside the Tower of Trials.
That needed to be my next target.
[You have entered Floor 6.]
Tower of Trials.
Sixth Floor.
This time, I had to clear it without the Red Dragon.
The only dragon I could currently summon was the Gold Dragon.
[Summon Rank: E-Rank]
[Summoning a defense-type dragon using the Bronze Shield as a medium.]
[Summon Limit: 1/1]
Unlike the Red Dragon, this one was different.
Not an attack-type dragon.
But a defense-type dragon.
“Grrrr…”
The Gold Dragon appeared before me, releasing a golden aura.
As expected of a defense-type dragon, its main abilities were healing and buffs.
It could strengthen someone’s abilities for a certain period of time or rapidly heal injuries.
It was more of a support unit than a direct fighter.
But honestly, even I did not know much about this dragon yet.
Before my return, I almost never used the Gold Dragon properly.
The only time I truly relied on it was after reaching the 100th floor right before my return.
The reason was simple.
Until reaching S-Rank, I was limited to summoning only one dragon at a time.
Meaning I could only choose one between the two dragons.
And the Red Dragon alone was enough to clear both towers and gates.
Naturally, anyone would choose the Red Dragon under those conditions.
But now things were different.
Until I obtained a new artifact, I could not summon the Red Dragon.
“So this time, I’ll try using you properly.”
“Grrrr…”
The Gold Dragon.
Even if it was a defense-type summon, it was still a dragon.
Its buffs were probably just as monstrous as the Red Dragon’s breath attacks.
The problem was that this time, I would personally receive those buffs and fight myself.
“Actually, this works out well.”
Before my return, I only managed to clear the 100th floor because my dragons were overwhelmingly powerful.
But after the incident inside the F-Rank gate, one thing became clear.
I also needed to become stronger myself.
Just in case summoning ever became impossible again.
“Human… die…”
One wandering orc locked eyes with me.
From the sixth floor onward, orcs were the main inhabitants.
“You’re going to kill me? But are you sure you can?”
The orc stopped after noticing the Gold Dragon beside me.
Unlike the fearless goblins, orcs had some level of intelligence.
I did not know whether they had ever seen a dragon before.
But instinctively, they understood.
This was a being far beyond them.
“Give me a buff.”
“Grrrr…”
I never imagined I would personally receive a dragon’s buff.
That was something I never even considered before my return.
A powerful aura began pouring from the dragon’s body.
The aura slowly wrapped around me.
[The power of the Holy Gold Dragon flows through you.]
[Strong Body: E-Rank]
[Strength and agility permanently increase by a certain amount.]
[Strong Mind: E-Rank]
[Mana within the body permanently increases by a certain amount.]
“Wait. Permanently?”
I reread the message multiple times to make sure I was not seeing things.
But I read it correctly.
The word “permanently” was clearly there.
There was no duration limit.
“What kind of insane buff is permanent?”
Buff abilities themselves were not rare.
Many hunters possessed buff-type skills.
But this buff came from a dragon.
Naturally, I expected it to differ from ordinary human buffs.
“But still… permanent physical enhancement?”
So just how much stronger did I become?
I examined my body, but nothing felt noticeably different.
My status window had not changed either.
“Well, I’ll find out once I fight the orcs.”
The orcs still hesitated because of the dragon.
Since they would not approach me, I walked toward them myself.
“Guess we’re doing this hand-to-hand.”
I did not have any proper weapon.
I lost my only one, the Bronze Sword, during the F-Rank gate incident.
But humans still had one excellent weapon.
Their fists.
I swung my fist at the orc.
CRACK.
“What?”
That was not the impact sound I expected.
A sound like bones shattering echoed out as the orc collapsed.
Not only did it fall down, it stopped moving entirely.
“One punch killed an orc?”
Orcs possessed physical abilities several times greater than humans.
Yet one punch from me ended its life instantly.
The increase in physical ability was unbelievable.
An E-Rank hunter overpowering orcs in direct hand-to-hand combat.
At that moment, another orc behind me swung its sword.
I twisted my body to dodge.
No.
I merely thought about dodging.
But before I even consciously moved, the sword already sliced through empty air.
My reaction speed had increased tremendously too.
The orc’s sword cut through nothing.
“And this is only the buff from an E-Rank dragon?”
I swung my fist again and smashed the orc’s head apart.
Yes.
That was not an exaggeration.
Its head literally exploded.
Honestly, the feeling was disgusting.
Close combat where flesh collided directly with flesh did not suit me.
Fortunately, the dead orc dropped its sword.
A shabby-looking orc sword.
Without hesitation, I picked it up.
[Orc Sword]
[Rank: Lowest Grade]
[Attribute: None]
A sword carried by ordinary orcs.
As expected, it was low-grade junk.
“Still better than nothing.”
At that moment, another group of orcs charged toward me from the distance.
Five of them.
I already knew they could be destroyed with my fists alone.
So what would happen if I used a weapon?
SMASH!
The orcs’ bodies shattered ridiculously easily.
The orc sword itself was quite dull.
Rather than cutting enemies, it felt more like crushing them.
[You have successfully cleared Floor 6 of the Tower of Trials.]
“This is insane.”
This was my first time hunting monsters personally.
Of course, the clear time became much slower.
No matter how strong my buffs were, I could never compare to a dragon flying through the air and wiping out enemies with breath attacks.
But even so, this ability was practically cheating.
A summoner-type hunter who also excelled in close combat?
That alone was already absurd.
And this was only the buff from an E-Rank dragon.
I cleared the tower floor using nothing but buffs, without a single combat skill.
At this level, it honestly felt like even ordinary humans could clear the tower if they received this buff.
“Good. Let’s keep going straight to the tenth floor.”
“Grrrr…”
The tenth floor of the Tower of Trials?
That was where the third ancient artifact hidden in the tower was located.
