TOP 06

CHAPTER 06……

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. Yeah, I’m a Porter

Scrape—

Scrape—

The sound of a heavy pile of gear dragging along the floor.

“What… what is all that!?”

“Crazy. What kind of equipment is that… how much does it even weigh?”

“Must be over 150 kilos… Ha. I wish I could Awaken too.”

Murmurs from the surrounding citizens.

And then—

【Wow! The buildings are so tall! Look, there’s a carriage moving without a driver!】

Frill’s chattering voice pierced into my ear.

“Frill, you’re distracting me. Can you be quiet?”

【But it’s fascinating!】

“Sigh.”

Frill’s voice could only be heard by me.

Likewise, her appearance was invisible to anyone except me, her contractor.

【It’ll drain a little of your power, but I can make myself visible! Should I?】

“No.”

If anything, if she became visible, I’d tell her to hide.

A spirit’s existence was rare enough that showing her off would only attract more attention.

And I was attracting enough attention already.

Scrape—

I gave another tug on the pile of gear.

It was the combined equipment of five Hunters—of course it was heavy.

Man, I really need a spatial ring.

I’d heard there were items that let you store things in pocket dimensions.

If I had one of those, I wouldn’t have to go through this crap.

But the good ones cost tens of millions of won… not something I can dream of right now.

Still, one day, I will get one.

A spatial ring.

The silver lining was, even without one, I’d already gotten plenty of immediate gains.

Good thing I trained regularly.

Even if I’d been stuck working as a porter, I’d kept up a brutal training regimen that would put most Hunters to shame.

It was exhausting, but I could at least carry all this.

And now… I could even use mana.

My body doesn’t break anymore.

Now, using mana just strengthened my body instead of damaging it.

Even just burning through a large amount of mana once had made me far stronger than before.

Sure, my mana is still recovering ridiculously fast, but…

The “Mana Overflow” problem remained.

My mana regenerated at a ridiculous pace.

But now, that wasn’t a problem.

I had a way to deal with it.

‘One Punch.’

Using that skill, I could release all my mana at once—

—with an absurd amount of attack power to boot.

No more suffering from excess mana.

And more than that…

I could finally say goodbye to the past, where even after Awakening, I was still just a porter.

Now I could actually use my mana.

I could become a real Hunter.

Which meant—

Revenge!

After ten years since my parents’ deaths…

I was finally taking the first step toward vengeance.

Scrape—

Scrape—

Dragging the pile of gear, I headed toward the Iron Fangs Guild headquarters.

Dragging my load, envisioning my future.

Yeah. First up, the Iron Fangs.

I laid out my plan.

Step one: quit the Iron Fangs Guild.

Legally, it wasn’t hard.

But—

They won’t let me go easily.

I was planning on claiming a hefty severance package too, so there’d definitely be trouble.

…Fine. Let’s do it.

No problem.

Without the “Mana Overflow” restriction, I had plenty of cards to play now.

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Thud!

“What… what’s all this!?”

I dropped the pile of gear and backpacks in front of Lee Se-han, the Iron Fangs’ quartermaster.

“What do you think? It’s the results from the 8th team’s dungeon run.”

“…Explain.”

He frowned, demanding a report.

Well, it wasn’t surprising—this haul was bigger than usual.

“The mercenary Hunter who joined us was a Red Hunter. Thanks to that, everyone died.”

“And how did you survive?”

“Luck. They killed each other off.”

“…Hmph.”

I improvised the story.

The truth was too complicated to explain, and I wasn’t obligated to give him the full details anyway.

“Anyway, according to Hunter law, half of the equipment I bring back is mine, right?”

“Well, technically, yes, but—”

“I’ve already listed everything here, so make sure I get my share.”

All I cared about was securing my cut.

“Wait.”

Of course, it wasn’t going to be that easy.

“So only the porter survived, huh… This is serious. I’ll hold onto this for now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just go. I’ll set aside your share.”

He waved his hand—clearly shooing me away.

“I’ll report it to the higher-ups, so just rest.”

Acting like he was doing me a favor—but really, he just wanted to keep it all for himself.

If I reported it upstairs, he wouldn’t be able to skim off the top, so he was cutting me off early.

【Wow! What a scumbag!】

“Yeah, he’s a scumbag alright.”

I wasn’t even surprised anymore.

I smirked.

“I was going to let you slide on that Lamia heart you smuggled out, but I guess not?”

“Heh. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Oh? So that’s how it is?

I’d been willing to ignore it if he just gave me my share.

But—

“You’re getting greedy.”

“What!? You little—”

He started shouting, but I just stared at him calmly.

Normally, I’d have no choice but to back down.

I was just a porter.

Even if I had proof of his corruption, exposing it would likely hurt me more than him.

That’s why I’d only planned to use it as blackmail.

But now?

I’m a proper 3-star Hunter.

In the Iron Fangs, that rank carried weight—and I didn’t even need blackmail to deal with someone like him anymore.

Lee Se-han’s tone softened slightly.

“Hey, uh… porter!”

“Kim Yoo-jin.”

“Right, Yoo-jin.”

Maybe he sensed trouble when I didn’t flinch.

“You need mana suppressors, right? I’ll give you some cheap—30 a piece—if you just do as I say.”

He’d gone from shouting to dangling a carrot.

Too bad for him, I didn’t need it anymore.

Mana suppressors—

The only way to keep “Mana Overflow” from going out of control.

Past tense.

With my “One Punch” skill, they were useless to me now.

“I don’t need it.”

“What!?”

“So you’d better drop your greed while you can.”

His face twisted in disbelief.

“You crazy bastard. What makes you think you can talk big?”

“My abilities.”

Even without “One Punch” or Frill, I was at the level of a 3-star Hunter now.

With the “Mana Overflow” side effect gone, I had my full strength back.

And I wasn’t hiding it anymore.

I stepped forward.

Shing—

Click.

“H-Hey, what are you—”

“Stay still. I’m still clumsy with a sword—I might cut you by accident.”

I held the Ten-Thousand-Year Frost Blade to his neck.

“You think you’ll get away with this?” he stammered.

“Yeah.”

I’d already done the math.

Given the Iron Fangs’ current state, my abilities, and his crimes—

—I could get away with this.

【Whoa! You’re gonna kill the scumbag? You’re more hardcore than I thought!】

“I’m not killing him.”

That was for Frill, but Lee Se-han clearly misheard.

“Y-Yeah! See, you can’t even—”

Thwack!

I punched him in the mouth.

No mana, no skills—just a fist.

He might be Awakened, but without training, he was no better than a regular person.

If I used mana, I might actually kill him.

He groaned, clutching his bleeding mouth.

【Kyaa! Can’t you hit him again? This is so cool!】

“…Is this the first time you’ve seen someone get beaten up?”

【Yup!!!】

Frill was practically bouncing in excitement.

But I lowered my fist.

【Huh? Why’d you stop?】

“Just felt like it.”

I’d been about to hit him a few more times, but her reaction made me feel like a circus act.

And anyway, I didn’t need to—Lee Se-han had already lost his nerve.

“…Hm? What’s going on here?”

A new voice entered.

Lee Se-han immediately crawled over and clung to the newcomer’s pant leg.

Tall, square-jawed, with a body like a boulder—

—this was Yong Tae-soo, captain of the 1st Hunter Team and the guild’s de facto second-in-command.

“Hh-sghah ghh hahhgss!”

Lee Se-han tried to speak through his swollen mouth.

I couldn’t understand a word.

【He says, ‘This bastard committed insubordination!’】

I stared at Frill in surprise.

She understood that?

【Hmph! Of course. I read intent, not just sound.】

…That could be useful.

Yong Tae-soo turned to me.

“Looks like the quartermaster can’t explain. You tell me—what team are you in?”

“8th team. Porter.”

“…Porter?”

He looked surprised—guess he thought I was a Hunter.

“So you did this to him?” He gestured at Lee Se-han’s swollen face.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“He ignored reporting protocol and tried to steal my rightful property.”

“Ah, ah-pffhh-hhh!”

“You, shut up.”

Yong Tae-soo silenced him without hesitation.

Guess the rumors about them not getting along were true.

“This needs a proper explanation. Come to my office.”

He summoned me on the spot.

…This wasn’t in the plan.

I’d meant to find the HR manager first—
he oversaw mercenaries, and the fact that the tattooed woman who joined our party was a Red Hunter would’ve given me leverage.

That would’ve made it easier to be recognized as a 3-star Hunter instead of just a porter.

But this wasn’t bad either.

I followed him through the guild.

People bowed to him left and right—and, by extension, to me walking just behind him.

So this is what riding someone’s coattails feels like.

We reached his office—simple, with just a desk, sofa, and bookshelf.

“Sit.”

I obeyed.

Click.

He locked the door.

“…?”

“Nothing serious.”

Then he turned—his presence pressing down like a massive boulder.

“You’re no porter.”

“…Excuse me?”

“With that much mana? If you’re going to lie, at least make it convincing.”

“Wait—”

My protest was cut off.

“Let’s hear why a Hunter is pretending to be a porter.”

He advanced toward me, looking ready to throw a punch.

“Stop! I am a porter!”

I was Awakened, sure—and about to become a Hunter—but my status was still that of a porter.

It was the truth.

But he clearly wasn’t listening.

“Still lying. Let’s see if you can keep that up after a beating.”

He lifted a leg—

Crack!

—and smashed it down, splitting the sofa in half.

Sigh.

I barely dodged in time.

【Yoo-jin! You gonna fight!?】

Yeah.

No choice now.

I shifted into a fighting stance.

And Yong Tae-soo…

“Heh-heh-heh. Now that’s more like it!”

He swung a fist at me—

Whoosh!

Fast.

But—

I can take him.

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