Chapter 15

Once the battle concluded, the Hunters gathered around Kang Yuseong.

Their eyes held a mixture of surprise and awe.

The King Alligator.

If it had just been them, they might have been wiped out instead of merely failing to catch this colossal monster.

Because when the creature appeared, they had done the one thing a Hunter should never do inside a dungeon.

The moment Hunters feel fear in a dungeon, they are doomed.

No monster would ever leave a paralyzed prey alone.

Yet, Kang Yuseong had moved in that instant and saved them.

“Thank you. You saved our lives.”

Baek Myeong-han, the attack leader, approached and extended his hand.

Kang Yuseong smiled and shook it.

“You were incredible, weren’t you? We honestly thought we were dead.”

“I was just lucky.”

Baek Myeong-han shook his head.

“How can that be just luck? Seeing how you handle a blade, you’re clearly no ordinary person.”

He truly was an experienced Hunter.

Kang Yuseong simply grinned without replying.

“Myeong-han, hyung, this person is SS-rank.”

At those words, the Hunters’ gazes all turned to Kang Yuseong.

Their faces showed a mix of surprise and astonishment.

“S… SS-rank?”

Even Baek Myeong-han stammered, clearly taken aback this time.

Whispers rippled through the Hunters.

It was extremely rare to even see an SS-rank Hunter.

There were purple licenses for skilled Hunters, red licenses for masters, and white licenses for those who had just become Hunters.

All three categories had SS-ranks, and while there was a difference in experience, their immense skill remained the same. The purple and red licenses simply indicated an increase in level from a white SS-rank.

There were only a handful of such individuals in South Korea.

And all of them had joined famous mega-guilds, making a name for themselves.

Yet, an SS-rank Hunter had appeared in a C-rank dungeon.

“Hmph, so you were an extraordinary person. No wonder.”

“You flatter me.”

Kang Yuseong made no effort to hide his identity.

It was bound to be revealed eventually.

Major guilds were already paying attention to Kang Yuseong, and the emergence of a super rookie was bound to spread like wildfire.

It was impossible to forcibly suppress it.

“So, when you said you came to gain experience…”

“That’s true. It’s only been a day since I got my license.”

“A day…!”

Baek Myeong-han clicked his tongue in amazement.

Such skill in just a single day?

Watching Kang Yuseong, who exuded the composure and nonchalance of someone who had experienced thousands, tens of thousands of dungeons, Baek Myeong-han struggled to comprehend the situation.

‘Whew… they say there are many monsters in this world, but…’

But in the end, he couldn’t reach a conclusion.

He didn’t know that Kang Yuseong had regressed, which limited his deductions.

“Let’s hurry and disassemble that thing, divide it up, and continue the hunt.”

At that moment, Kang Yuseong pointed at the King Alligator and said.

“Ah, yes. Let’s do that. But I’m truly surprised to see a creature like that in a C-rank dungeon.”

Monsters of the King Alligator’s caliber usually appeared in B-rank dungeons, so its appearance itself wasn’t entirely new.

But this was a C-rank dungeon.

That’s why its appearance was so shocking.

‘It makes sense, though…’

A Trap Dungeon would be considered an astonishing phenomenon at this time.

Trap Dungeons would gradually begin to appear from this period, becoming fully active a few years later.

At that point, the dungeon’s level itself would lose much of its meaning.

It would become common for SS-rank monsters to intrude into B-rank dungeons, wiping out Hunters.

Kang Yuseong knew the reason well.

But it wasn’t yet a time of complete chaos.

“Alright, let’s go disassemble it.”

The King Alligator wasn’t a monster that yielded particularly valuable byproducts.

Its meat and bones were useful, but there wasn’t much to gain that was truly exceptional.

On the contrary, the liver of a regular Sand Alligator was frequently used as a fatigue recovery agent, so the Hunters appropriately divided the byproducts. Kang Yuseong was given two Sand Alligator livers and some King Alligator meat.

Since there was no Porter, Kang Yuseong had to carry it himself, but he didn’t mind.

His physical abilities had significantly increased, so it wasn’t heavy at all.

Instead of focusing on that, he quickly checked his Chakra Points.

[Chakra Points: 210]

It wasn’t a huge amount, but it was satisfactory.

Kang Yuseong pulled out a water bottle and drank from it.

Gulp—

[You have absorbed 600 Chakra Points.]

A brief status window appeared and then vanished.

‘Good.’

As expected, water infused with melted Chakra Cubes possessed incredible efficacy.

The downside was that he couldn’t keep drinking it because it filled him up, but the fact that this one bottle of water could provide as many Chakra Points as catching three King Alligators was remarkable.

And no matter how many Chakra Points he had, they were always insufficient.

While initial awakening of Chakra skills cost 500 points, leveling them up required even more Chakra Points.

Flash—

Kang Yuseong brought up his Chakra skills.

[Basic] Chakra, Primordial Calm Level 2
[Stage 1, Attack] Chakra, Lightning Wedge Level 1
[Stage 1, Attack] Chakra, Critical Strike Level 1
[Stage 1, Attack] Chakra, Meteor Stab Level 1
[Special] Chakra, Swordsman’s Mindset Level 1

There were a total of five Chakra skills.

Among them, Kang Yuseong raised the level of Swordsman’s Mindset one more time.

Flash—

[Chakra, Swordsman’s Mindset has increased to Level 2. Attack power of swordsman-type offensive skills increases by 25%. Swordsman-type physical abilities are enhanced by 10%.]

This was why fundamentals were important.

A basic skill that increased the attack power of all offensive skills by 20%.

Other Hunters might have used Chakra Points to unlock higher-tier Chakra, but Kang Yuseong knew how foolish that was.

“Let’s go.”

As Baek Myeong-han’s voice sounded, Kang Yuseong began to move.

Much of the dungeon still remained.

They continued to hunt, clearing the dungeon.

* * * * *

Thud—

The Hunters, who had defeated the last remaining Monstrous Bird Tulakan, wiped the sweat from their brows and caught their breath.

Fortunately, there were no large monster intrusions, and despite the desert terrain, they had prepared well, so no one was exhausted.

The monsters were not easy.

However, in this extreme situation, their ability to clear the dungeon with little damage was largely due to Kang Yuseong’s efforts.

After the battle with the King Alligator, command naturally fell to Kang Yuseong, and he did not decline it.

And as people followed his command, they were shocked.

Kang Yuseong’s command.

There was absolutely no wasted movement.

He gave instructions very cleanly and precisely, and the Hunters under his command only needed to move accordingly.

Even more surprising was that Kang Yuseong employed the most suitable strategy for each monster.

Even monsters that were previously so difficult could be taken down immediately by following Kang Yuseong’s timely commands.

Even Baek Myeong-han, who had considerable experience in mid-tier guilds, was utterly amazed by his leadership.

Thanks to him, they were able to significantly shorten the dungeon clear time.

“I’ve learned so much today.”

Baek Myeong-han said, looking at Kang Yuseong with a genuinely impressed expression.

“That was truly amazing! I’ve never had so much fun hunting before!”

Jwa Myeong-hoon gave a thumbs-up.

His greatsword was stained with monster blood, showing how fierce the battle had been.

The other Hunters seemed to share his sentiment.

Before entering the dungeon, they had considered Kang Yuseong a burden, but now their perception had completely reversed.

“Um… would it be possible for us to hunt together again in the future? I was truly inspired today.”

Among them, a Hunter named Oh Si-yeong looked at Kang Yuseong and spoke.

When he stepped forward, the other Hunters also nodded in agreement.

“That’s right. I don’t think hunting has ever been this fun. Let’s definitely do it together next time!”

“If you’ll have us, we’ll work hard!”

Kang Yuseong smiled as he looked at them.

It reminded him of the past.

Before he became a Monarch commanding hundreds of thousands of Hunters, he too had such times.

Times when he recklessly threw himself into the fray, dedicating himself to hunting with fierce determination and grit.

Later, the images of them growing into reliable commanders under him, the Monarch, vividly appeared in his mind.

Kang Yuseong recalled their faces and tightly closed his eyes.

They must have fought like madmen to protect him.

Though, in the end, they were all cut down by Han Taesung’s overwhelming power.

‘Comrades…’

Kang Yuseong quietly took a breath inwardly.

Having experienced betrayal, trusting people again was incredibly difficult.

He slowly opened his eyes.

He saw their gazes.

Pure eyes, mixed with earnestness.

Kang Yuseong quietly looked at them.

Of course, for now, they were merely Hunters trying to make hunting easier by using Kang Yuseong, rather than true comrades.

But Kang Yuseong knew that he would eventually have to build his own force.

Even though he had suffered a terrible betrayal, he knew it was something he would inevitably have to face again.

Could he earn their loyalty?

No, it didn’t matter.

Kang Yuseong already had the answer to that.

“The next hunt.”

A smile played on his lips.

“Let’s do it two days from now.”

Loyalty was just loyalty.

What led a powerful organization was overwhelming strength!

He had already set that as his new answer from the moment he began planning for the future.

He would now acquire power that was stronger than anyone else’s, more overwhelming than anyone else’s.

He would reign and dominate with powerful might.

That was his solution.

* * * * *

The two-day period was crucial for Kang Yuseong.

His Chakra Cultivation method was already perfectly prepared.

He had analyzed past trial-and-error, meaning the most powerful path to reach peak strength was already laid out.

Then, only one problem remained.

The Chakra Force to fill him.

Kang Yuseong already had a solution for that, but it wasn’t enough.

Dissolving Chakra Cubes in water was too slow.

What good was having countless Chakra Cubes if it took too long to absorb them?

He had to drink the water, which meant there was a limit to how much he could absorb.

‘The second method.’

Kang Yuseong already had all the equipment ready.

These days, it was common for people to make potions or pills from ingredients at home, so such equipment was not difficult to acquire.

The method involved refining and compressing the water infused with melted Chakra Cubes, then crystallizing it again.

Similar to how extracts were drawn out to create medicinal pills, a method for efficiently processing Chakra Cubes would be developed in the future.

Kang Yuseong now intended to use that.

He gazed at the complex array of instruments laid out before him.

These were the instruments used in the early days of Chakra Cube processing discovery.

With these, he could only extract eighty to ninety percent of the Chakra Cube’s efficacy, but it didn’t matter. After all, he already had a monopoly on Chakra Cubes.

‘Let’s begin.’

He started processing the water, which already contained dissolved Chakra Cubes.