🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 8
“Hahaha…”
A truck drove away from in front of my house.
And what it left behind…
“I didn’t expect them to send this much.”
An enormous pile of artifact fragments was sitting in front of me.
At a glance, there were well over a hundred pieces.
There was enough that they needed an actual truck just to deliver them.
Every single one came through Gaya Guild.
Looks like they really decided to invest in me properly.
“Next time I should ask them to carry everything inside too.”
I started moving the artifacts from the villa parking lot into my house.
There was far too much to carry in one trip.
I had to ride the elevator back and forth several times before finally moving everything inside.
Artifact fragments filled the living room.
The amount was truly overwhelming.
If I were gathering them alone, it would have taken at least a month.
Even for a guild, collecting this much in a single day should have been impossible.
Did they negotiate with other guilds or something?
I examined the fragments spread across the floor.
Enhancement efficiency was highest when artifacts were fused using identical fragments.
Unfortunately, there were no matching pieces here.
But honestly, that kind of luck was extremely rare anyway.
“Well, it doesn’t really matter.”
With this amount, I would definitely reach D-Rank today.
Growth speed was especially fast in the early stages.
I casually paired the fragments two at a time and began fusing them.
I started with the larger pieces first to reduce the clutter.
[Summon Rank: E-Rank]
[Summoning an attack-type dragon using the Bronze Ring as a medium.]
[Summon Limit: 1/1]
“Grrrr…”
For now, the dragon was still small enough to summon inside the living room.
But once it grew a little more, I would need a different location.
The next stage would already be the limit for summoning it inside this tiny villa.
“Take all of them.”
The Red Dragon began absorbing the artifact fragments scattered across the living room one by one.
Last time, only two fragments were enough for enhancement.
But now, there were fifty.
[Enhancing E-Rank summon Red Dragon.]
[Enhancement Progress: 100%]
Enhancement completed after only eight attempts.
Of course, its rank had not increased yet.
It was simply strengthened another step.
True growth only happened after multiple enhancements were completed.
I held out more artifact fragments toward the dragon.
[Enhancing E-Rank summon Red Dragon.]
[Enhancement Progress: 100%]
[All enhancements required for the dragon’s growth have been completed.]
[The Red Dragon’s body begins to grow.]
[Summoning skill changes from E-Rank to D-Rank.]
“Already?”
After consuming only ten more artifact fragments, the dragon finally evolved.
Not enhancement.
Actual growth.
Enhancement slightly improved the dragon’s abilities.
But rank growth was completely different.
Even its physical size increased.
And a dragon that advanced one rank became at least twice as strong as the previous stage.
[Name: Kang Hyuk]
[Awakening Skill]
[Summon: D-Rank]
As the dragon evolved, my summoning skill evolved as well.
“A D-Rank hunter after only a few days since awakening…”
Of course, this was not the end.
I still had thirty-two artifact fragments left.
But before continuing…
“I should head outside first.”
If it grew any more here, the living room would be destroyed.
The D-Rank dragon had already become enormous.
It was practically filling the entire room.
***
[All enhancements required for the dragon’s growth have been completed.]
[The Red Dragon’s body begins to grow.]
[Summoning skill changes from D-Rank to C-Rank.]
“This is insane.”
The Red Dragon had evolved to C-Rank.
And naturally, my summoning skill did too.
“As expected, growth is fast in the beginning.”
Now that it evolved another stage, its size completely surpassed human scale.
Summoning it indoors was absolutely impossible now.
Even the alley outside my house was no longer safe.
The dragon already filled most of the narrow road and nearly touched the parked cars nearby.
Still, I already had a solution for that.
The Bronze Ring I obtained on the tenth floor of the Tower of Trials.
And the hidden additional option currently displayed as question marks.
I already knew how incredible that ability was.
But it would only unlock after reaching the 30th floor.
“Should I head straight to the tower now?”
A C-Rank dragon.
Reaching the 30th floor should be easy.
But everything had an order to it.
I should reward Gaya first for providing all these artifacts.
So I headed straight to the Hunter Management Bureau.
To have my rank reassessed.
Even though I had grown stronger, only my personal system reflected it.
Officially, I was still registered as an E-Rank hunter.
***
“You want your rank reassessed?”
At the Hunter Management Bureau, the employee in charge of rank measurements tilted her head in confusion.
“I think my previous measurement may have been wrong.”
“Our measurement equipment is accurate. That shouldn’t be possible.”
Of course, the machine itself was not wrong.
The problem was that I continued growing stronger.
“We’ll know once we test it again.”
“Well, reassessment itself isn’t difficult. Though your rank probably won’t change.”
She guided me into the testing room.
Coming back here again in less than a week.
Compared to before my return, my growth speed was absurd.
I already knew the procedure, so there was no need for explanations.
I immediately placed my palm on the device and activated my C-Rank summoning skill.
A loud humming sound came from the machine.
The process lasted noticeably longer than before.
But I already knew that higher ranks took more time to measure.
So that was not surprising.
“Ding.”
[Measured as a B-Rank Hunter.]
“What?!”
“Excuse me?!”
A completely unexpected result appeared.
B-Rank?
Why?
I quickly checked my status window.
[Name: Kang Hyuk]
[Awakening Skill]
[Summon: C-Rank]
My memory was correct.
My summoning skill was still only C-Rank.
“What is going on?”
Even the employee looked shocked.
Back before my return, people reacted similarly.
But this time, I was just as surprised.
Though for a different reason.
“Is the machine malfunctioning?”
She hurriedly inspected the equipment.
An E-Rank hunter suddenly becoming B-Rank overnight.
Her reaction made perfect sense.
But then…
Why was I measured as B-Rank instead of C-Rank?
“Wait…”
Something suddenly came to mind.
The permanent enhancement buff.
To clear the tower without the Red Dragon, I received buffs from the Gold Dragon.
Permanent buffs.
Which meant the effects were still active even now.
And those buffs also increased the mana inside my body.
“Strong Mind,” was it?
And this measurement device judged hunter rank based on mana quantity.
“So that’s why it measured me like this?”
That was the only explanation I could think of.
I was technically a C-Rank hunter.
But the amount of mana inside my body had already exceeded normal C-Rank limits.
[Strong Mind]
A ridiculous buff that permanently increased mana.
“M-Manager!”
The employee rushed out of the room.
Judging by her reaction, she was probably going to ask someone to inspect the machine.
I was told to wait while they checked whether the equipment had malfunctioned.
“What exactly is going on here?”
“There’s definitely nothing wrong with the machine. We tested other hunters too, and their measurements were completely accurate.”
Listening to their conversation almost made me laugh.
Regardless of the reason, my rank had still increased.
I suddenly wondered how they would react once I became an S-Rank hunter.
That was the one thing I never witnessed before my return.
Back then, I became S-Rank during an emergency situation.
There was never time to visit the Bureau for reassessment.
“I’m actually looking forward to that now.”
About an hour later, the Bureau finally concluded that the machine had no issues.
“We’ll officially correct your rank to B-Rank. And…”
The employee hesitated before speaking again.
“When you first came here… were you really an E-Rank hunter?”
She looked completely confused.
This change was far too extreme to dismiss as a minor error.
Still, there was no reason for me to hide the fact that I could grow stronger.
Even before my return, people eventually learned about it naturally.
And I had no intention of pretending to be some hidden overpowered hero.
The mysterious protagonist hiding his strength?
In movies and novels, that secret always gets exposed eventually anyway.
Why bother making life difficult?
“My rank grows.”
“Excuse me? Your what grows?”
“My awakening rank.”
“Y-Your awakening rank grows?!”
I nodded calmly at her stunned expression.
“How is that even possible…”
Her confusion had now transformed into shock.
A growth-type hunter.
Honestly, even I could not believe it at first.
“That’s impossible…”
“You don’t have to believe me. I’ll be back here again eventually anyway.”
Leaving the speechless employee behind, I walked out of the Bureau.
But the moment I stepped outside the front entrance, I stopped.
“Join our guild!”
“Shut up! He’s joining ours!”
“…”
A massive crowd was waiting for me outside.
A hunter who jumped from E-Rank to B-Rank overnight.
“News really spreads fast.”
Someone inside the Bureau must have already posted about what happened online.
Otherwise, there was no way this many people gathered so quickly.
Still, I was only a B-Rank hunter.
Not exactly an extraordinary rank.
So why were so many people here trying to recruit me?
“Is it true your summon is really a dragon?”
“Please show us the dragon just once!”
A hunter who summoned dragons.
That was the real reason they gathered.
Not because I became B-Rank.
Every hunter’s basic abilities were publicly viewable in the Hunter Community.
Mine included.
Clicking on a hunter’s name displayed a short description of their traits.
But normally, nobody cared about the abilities of an E-Rank hunter.
Until now, I had been completely ignored.
At least until the rank reassessment incident happened.
The sudden jump in rank naturally sparked everyone’s curiosity.
And during that process, they looked up my abilities too.
That was why this situation was unfolding now.
The important part was not that I became B-Rank.
It was the fact that my summon was a dragon.
“You want to see the dragon?”
[Summon Rank: C-Rank]
[Summoning an attack-type dragon using the Bronze Ring as a medium.]
[Summon Limit: 1/1]
“Grrrr…”
A dragon the size of a large bus rose into the sky.
Its massive wings flapped powerfully, creating violent gusts of wind.
“M-My god…”
“He actually summons a dragon…”
Everyone stared blankly at the Red Dragon.
Seeing a real dragon in person after only watching them in movies left them speechless.
I dismissed the dragon again.
“P-Please join our guild!”
“No! We’ll pay you more!”
The exact situation that happened much later before my return was already happening now.
But I already belonged to a guild.
“I’m already part of a guild. Sorry.”
I politely refused.
And right on cue, the next question came.
“Which guild are you with?”
“Gaya.”
The moment I said the name, everyone immediately looked down at their phones.
Gaya was a tiny, unknown guild.
A nameless guild managing areas around outer Gyeonggi Province.
Most people probably heard the name for the first time today.
Even before my return, I never knew a guild called Gaya existed.
Everyone started searching for information about Gaya.
Just how incredible was this guild if it had a hunter who summoned dragons?
They were probably all thinking something like that.
Because of me, the name Gaya, which barely existed before my return, was now known to the world.
That alone was enough repayment for all the artifacts they provided me.
And I would continue growing all the way to S-Rank.
Meaning situations like this would keep repeating.
The once-unknown Gaya Guild would grow into something completely different from before my return.
