Chapter 13

Siyoon rejected Min Seolah’s offer and stepped out of the building.

‘I need to be more careful from now on.’

Min Seolah’s abilities were remarkable.

She had managed to track him down by obsessively digging into a single line of a news article.

She took a simple inference, concretized it, and thought it through.

She pieced together the corresponding information to approach the root of the matter.

An intellectual capacity and tenacity that an ordinary person would find hard to replicate.

It was an excellent ability, just as she had claimed.

But not for Siyoon.

The only reason he had simply listened to her talk wasn’t because the offer was attractive.

It was to figure out exactly how she had found him.

He never had any intention of signing a contract in the first place.

“Why should I rush? Well, if she has thoughts, she’ll contact me again later.”

This was the end of his dealings with the agency.

Siyoon neatly organized his thoughts.

There was no use worrying about what came next.

‘Did she say I’m good at being objective? She’s right about that.’

His worth wasn’t something to be decided right now.

He didn’t need to sell himself at the lowest possible price.

It was better to do what he could for now.

“Let’s go hunting.”

There was still plenty of day left.

Siyoon set off to hunt.

* * *

Today’s goal was hunting.

To this end, he had spent the past few days enhancing items.

As a result, Siyoon’s combat power had increased significantly.

“My condition is good, and the feeling is good too.”

The injuries he sustained from the boss Krakto must have fully healed.

He had also earned over 100 million won for his life.

Both his body and mind felt incredibly light.

At this rate, today’s hunt would be no problem.

“I should start getting ready.”

Siyoon quickly pulled out various drinks from his backpack.

No matter how urgent things were, he had to drink these.

They were items that raised his lacking basic stats.

Beolkeong.

[ You have consumed ‘Special Vitamin +2’. ]

[ Vitality increases. ]

[ Your mind becomes peaceful. ]

[ Mental fortitude is Enhanced. ]

[ You have consumed ‘Hot Seven +2’. ]

[ Concentration improves. ]

[ Fatigue is partially reduced. ]

[ Movement speed increases. ]

“Keuh.”

As the still-cold drink went down, his mind snapped awake.

Power welled up within his body, and his mind, feeling elevated, became even calmer.

This more or less finished his preparations.

“Shall I enter the dungeon now?”

A ‘Dungeon’—a rift that does not disappear even after killing the boss and conquering it.

Generally, such places were managed by the Association.

And the place Siyoon had chosen today.

‘Hunter’s Forest’ was an almost abandoned dungeon.

‘It’s as unpopular as Krakto’s Domain.’

It was an F-Rank dungeon, but one shunned by F-Rank hunters.

The reason was similar to Krakto’s Domain.

The magic beasts that appeared inside were difficult for F-Rank hunters to deal with.

It was a place where the cost-benefit ratio didn’t add up.

In other words, it also meant there was no one around, so he didn’t have to worry about being watched.

Whether he entered alone or with a group, no one would know.

That was why Siyoon had chosen this place.

He gazed at the rift.

Chijik…

A torn shape, as if someone had left a wound in thin air.

Inside, it held a landscape distinctly different from its surroundings.

Seuseuk.

As his body touched the rift, he felt a sensation of floating.

In the blink of an eye, a forest spread out before him.

He had entered the ‘Hunter’s Forest’.

“Alright.”

Siyoon swiftly drew his pistol.

It was time to begin the dungeon hunt in earnest.

* * *

Siyoon had a few criteria for selecting a dungeon.

First, there had to be few people.

Second, magic beasts that he could handle himself had to appear.

This was partly because he hunted alone.

But it was also because the incident at the beginner hunting grounds had stuck in his mind.

‘I can’t draw attention like I did back then.’

Drawing attention was dangerous.

There was a chance his skill could be exposed.

He could write off the beginner hunting grounds as a mistake.

But he had no intention of repeating such a thing.

‘Of course, I don’t know what exactly happened inside the dungeon, but once a rumor spreads, it’s bound to become distorted.’

Unless you were in a party, you couldn’t enter most dungeons from the outside.

They said things were different for high-rank dungeons.

But that didn’t apply to the low-rank dungeons Siyoon operated in.

Still, he had to be careful.

An F-Rank hunter repeatedly entering a dungeon alone to hunt and coming back out.

Wasn’t that the perfect subject for rumors to spread?

In that sense, ‘Hunter’s Forest’ was the ideal hunting ground for Siyoon.

Buseureok.

Just then, the foliage straight ahead rustled.

Siyoon quietly aimed his loaded pistol.

Then.

Pakwak!

A pitch-black figure burst from the bushes.

Siyoon calmly tracked its shape.

In the light filtering through the dense leaves, its form became visible.

—Kkweh-eh-eh-ehk!

It stood at the height of an adult man’s waist, covered in dark brown fur.

A muscular body hidden beneath a lush coat.

The beast, charging at a terrifying speed by kicking off the ground, had tusks jutting out like horns.

Arma Boar.

A lowest-rank magic beast with high defense and attack power.

But its most outstanding trait among them was its speed.

‘Just as the information I looked up said. It’s quite fast.’

Deudeudeudeu—!

The momentum of it charging, tearing up the ground entirely, was quite fierce.

It rammed through trees blocking its path, pushing forward like a bulldozer.

The distance between them closed by more than half in an instant.

That was the problem.

It was tough, and its attack power was strong.

Yet it was also fast.

It was an opponent not suited for a novice F-Rank hunter to face.

‘It’s only classified as lowest-rank, but even among them, the Arma Boar belongs to the powerful side.’

Siyoon smirked.

This was where the reason this dungeon had good synergy with Siyoon came in.

Tat!

Siyoon moved lightly to the side.

It was as light and agile as if the wind was supporting his body.

The speed at which he took his steps was truly swift.

It was the effect of ‘Sneakers +3’.

Siyoon had already moved far out of its attack range.

Tudududu!

In the meantime, the Arma Boar charged straight to where Siyoon had been.

The rough trembling of the ground shook all the surrounding trees.

The Arma Boar approaching with a terrifying aura.

Its threat and intimidation seemed to be felt directly on his skin.

But this speed was actually the Arma Boar’s weakness.

‘Being unable to control the acceleration it has already built up, making it impossible to change direction, is a fatal flaw.’

No matter how fast it was or how strong its attacks were.

If it didn’t hit him, it didn’t matter.

Siyoon was the optimal counter to the Arma Boar.

Of course, if it were before, the story would have been different.

But now, he had ‘Sneakers +3’, so he had nothing to worry about.

‘Imbuing the sneakers with Krakto’s Gemstone was a really good choice.’

A marksman needed to be fast on their feet.

In that regard, Siyoon’s thinking was correct.

With the movement speed increase from the sneakers and Hot Seven.

It was enough to dodge the Arma Boar’s attacks.

Seuk.

When Siyoon turned his back, the Arma Boar charged again.

A pattern of running a certain distance to build acceleration for an attack.

As long as he handled the initial charge well, it wasn’t too difficult.

After that, he just had to shoot the beast charging in a straight line.

“Goodbye.”

Taa-ah-ang!!

As he pulled the trigger, flames spewed out.

The firepower was strong.

Instead, his arm shook from the recoil.

“Hmm, the recoil is a bit worse than I thought.”

To think this was after the recoil was reduced by the leather jacket.

Was this the effect of +3 Enhancement?

But the effect was certainly reliable.

Teolssok.

The Arma Boar’s corpse, pierced through the head, fell powerlessly to the ground.

It wasn’t an area attack that completely swept the surroundings like before.

Instead, that firepower was concentrated.

Still, it was one shot.

Regardless of the recoil, it was powerful.

Tremendous firepower beyond his expectations!

“This… is beyond expectations.”

Siyoon’s face naturally brightened as he looked at the muzzle.

“I should be able to hunt a lot today.”

Even though the hand gripping the pistol was a bit numb.

He could easily endure this much.

Seogeok.

Siyoon collected the Arma Boar’s tusks.

He headed deeper into the forest to scout for his next prey.

* * *

The ‘RTB-002’, which had been enhanced up to +3.

The pistol’s performance was truly remarkable.

Ta-ang, Taa-ah-ang!

Every time the muzzle blazed, an Arma Boar fell.

The noise wasn’t as terribly loud as before.

The range was also concentrated, so it didn’t leave many traces around.

‘This is actually fun to hunt.’

One beast per shot.

It even had accuracy attached to it, so it almost never missed.

It was fine even if the aim shook slightly.

It felt as if the bullet calculated the margin of error as it flew and struck its target.

‘It’s no wonder hunters are so obsessed with getting better equipment.’

They said high-earning hunters were desperate to acquire better equipment.

Before his Awakening, he hadn’t understood it.

But now, he desperately understood why they did it.

‘It’s light.’

His body was so light.

With every step he took, a vitality different from before surrounded him.

And what about his attacks?

There was the thrill of sending magic beasts he used to struggle to kill in a single shot.

The realization that he had grown stronger was palpable.

‘They say high-rank hunters are wrapped in good items, I wonder what that feels like.’

They said the items they used were different from ordinary equipment.

They had various special magical treatments and abilities attached to them.

Even just ‘Sneakers +3’ made this much of a difference.

He wondered how it would feel to wear such items.

‘With my ability, would it be possible to make such items later?’

The Enhancement skill was special.

Enough to grant characteristics to a weapon that had no abilities at all.

Considering his skill level was still 1, the possibilities were endless.

—Kkuo-oh-oh-ohng!

—Kkweh-eh-ehk!

While he was lost in various thoughts, the magic beasts’ screams echoed.

It was the Arma Boars that had seen the corpse of their kin.

Their eyes turned red with rage as they charged at Siyoon.

Tudududu.

Their kicking was so strong that the ground shook.

There were five Arma Boars charging at him now.

Siyoon moved his body calmly.

Their speed was fast.

But Siyoon had ‘Sneakers +3’.

Furthermore, he had a speed buff from ‘Hot Seven +2’.

Tatat!

Mana imbued with wind wrapped around his legs.

As he leaped in that state, his body floated into the air.

It felt as if he had jumped a full 3 meters in one go.

It felt like he had become a character in a game.

—Kkuik?

—Kkeh-ehk!

As he shot into the air, the Arma Boars panicked.

Leaving the beasts that had abruptly rammed into empty space behind.

Siyoon landed softly.

And immediately turned around to aim at them.

“Die.”

Ta-ang!

Firing.

Fire burst from the pistol.

Along with smoke, the bullet slipped out.

A single bullet that sliced through the wind and leaped across the space in an instant.

Peopeopeok—

The Arma Boar’s body was pierced right through from the head.

He dealt with the remaining two in a similar fashion.

“This pistol is the real deal.”

Siyoon marveled.

The Arma Boar had immense physical defense.

It had the weakness of being vulnerable to magic, but mages were quite rare.

It was something that an F-Rank marksman or swordsman would struggle to kill no matter how much they attacked.

But Siyoon was different.

He could kill them with one shot per beast.

This was largely thanks to the ‘Penetration’ increase attached to the pistol.

Thanks to this, the battle ended in less than 5 minutes.

It was truly a swift end.

“Nice, isn’t it?”

The more he used it, the more surprised he was.

Leaving aside the fact that the number of characteristics increased through Enhancement.

Its inherent performance had also increased.

The pistol in particular was like that.

The recoil got worse, but the power increased significantly.

“If I go to Krakto’s Domain again in this state, I can clear it much faster.”

He had already been there once, so he was familiar with the geography.

With the effect of ‘Sneakers +3’, his movement would be fast too.

Tok.

Siyoon put the tusks he had gathered into his pocket.

The Arma Boar’s hide was good for novice hunters to use as armor.

Because it was relatively easy to obtain and sturdy.

But it was too much to dissect it right now.

“I’m alone, so if I get attacked while dissecting a corpse, it’ll be annoying.”

That was why he collected the relatively useful tusks.

It was a part consumed in various ways when making weapons.

They said that if you added it during smelting, the iron would become a bit harder.

“Since there’s a pair per beast, did I catch about twenty?”

There were 20 pairs of tusks in his pocket.

A pair was worth about 5 million won.

Just from the tusks, he had earned about 100 million won.

Adding the other byproducts, it would exceed 200 million won.

“This is quite good, isn’t it?”

For an F-Rank hunter to make this much in four hours was a miraculous income.

Normally, you couldn’t earn like this.

Because you had to form a party, you had to split the byproducts.

And you couldn’t hunt as many magic beasts as Siyoon did.

In his heart, he wanted to hunt more.

But it was getting late.

The current time was 5:00 PM.

Considering he was in a forest, it was time to start heading out.

“It’s a shame, but I should wrap up and head out.”

Greed gnawed at him.

But safety was the top priority.

Especially in Siyoon’s case, even more so.

The darkness of night was fatal to a marksman.

Unless he had special items or skills.

At that moment, an idea flashed through Siyoon’s mind.

“If I don’t have such an item, I can just make it myself, right?”