Chapter 28

Kang Yuseong emerged from the underground prison and immediately joined the Hunters.

“Boss!”

The Hunters, who had been waiting for him, brightened up and welcomed him.

“Was everything alright?”

Baek Myeong-han asked, looking him over.

Kang Yuseong nodded.

“I ran into some monsters and fought them, but I managed just fine. Everything was alright here, too, right?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a relief. I looked for ancient relics, but unfortunately, I didn’t find any. The monsters’ levels seemed much higher than those in B-rank Dungeons. It’s probably best to tackle this Dungeon later.”

That wasn’t a lie.

The monsters here were definitely not on a level the Hunters could handle.

“We were thinking the same thing. Please take us with you once we’re stronger.”

Kang Yuseong nodded.

“I will. All right, shall we head back then?”

“Yes.”

Kang Yuseong exited the Dungeon with the Hunters.

Since they knew it wasn’t a place they could clear anyway, no one had any complaints.

“For the next hunting schedule, I’ll contact you separately.”

Now that he had obtained the Plunderer’s Legacy, he had to consider what came next.

The Hunters nodded.

“Understood. It’s a shame, but we’ll wait.”

Kang Yuseong offered a smile.

He had no intention of abandoning these people.

When he returned to the past, if there was one thing he decided first, it was to truly build his own people.

That’s why he deliberately refused the Immortal Guild’s offer.

If he went there, he would only live as a mere cog in that guild.

If he grew strong too quickly, he would face considerable scrutiny and opposition within the guild. That wasn’t desirable in many ways.

Rather, it was better to build and nurture his own faction.

And that was also what Kang Yuseong excelled at.

“It won’t take long.”

“Yes, Boss!”

Up until now, Kang Yuseong had shown them trust.

Knowing that, the Hunters immediately followed Kang Yuseong’s words.

“All right, let’s part ways here for today.”

“Yes, we’ll await your call!”

Baek Myeong-han and the other Hunters nodded.

Kang Yuseong parted ways with them and returned to his home.

‘Hmm…’

And he systematically organized his thoughts.

In truth, he only knew where to obtain the Plunderer’s Legacy, but he didn’t know what it actually was.

The Hunter who had acquired the Plunderer’s Legacy had kept completely silent about it.

From now on, he would have to discover it himself.

‘First…’

The core of the Plunderer’s Legacy was the Thieving Eye.

If you activate the Thieving Eye, you can see the opponent’s skills.

It wasn’t limited to Hunters.

As it was in the Dungeon, it seemed he could even plunder the abilities of crawling insects on the ground.

Unfortunately, because he was busy plundering the Necromancy skill, he hadn’t been able to test that.

‘To activate the Thieving Eye, something called Karma Power was needed. I need to figure out what that is first.’

Karma Power.

It was a value required to plunder the abilities of other targets.

Similarly, Chakra Points could be compared to it.

But the problem was how to obtain Karma Power.

When he activated the Thieving Eye, Kang Yuseong already had accumulated Karma Power.

‘Could it be influenced by Chakra Force?’

If so, he could test it immediately.

He swallowed a few pills, refined from dissolved Chakra Cubes.

*Whoosh-*

Instantly, he saw his Chakra Points increase.

‘Hmm…’

But when he checked the Thieving Eye, his Karma Power remained unchanged.

‘It’s not related to Chakra Points…’

What then?

He quietly tapped the desk with his fingertips.

It was a habit he had when concentrating.

‘I already had Karma Power accumulated. That must be…’

It was probably because he had done something.

He quietly recalled the things he had done.

He raised his Chakra Points with Chakra Cubes, and then…

At that moment, something flashed through his mind.

‘Hunting!’

That was it.

He had been hunting.

But why would Karma Power increase through hunting?

Now he faced that question.

‘Hunting… It takes the lives of monsters. Death… and…’

Kang Yuseong widened his eyes.

‘Yes! If my theory is correct, Karma Power is accumulated by killing something! The more lives I take from them, the more Karma Power accumulates within me, and that can then be used to plunder abilities. If that’s the case…’

Kang Yuseong smirked.

“Karma… it was talking about karma.”

Karma.

It’s the word for retribution.

No one is free from the law of karma.

The price of good and evil, wrought by action, word, and thought.

Kang Yuseong killed monsters.

Karma, or retribution, accumulated from that, and with that accumulated karma, he could pay the price for plundering abilities.

This was now the secret of the Thieving Eye that Kang Yuseong had uncovered.

In other words, it meant he could plunder abilities by paying a price in blood.

‘I need to confirm this!’

If so, it was time to check if this rule was correct.

He grabbed his sword and immediately headed for a nearby Dungeon.

* * * * *

An E-rank Dungeon.

The monsters that appeared here were very weak, so Hunters rarely came here.

Rather than coming here, it was better to find a party online and go to a C-rank Dungeon or higher.

So for Kang Yuseong, it was perfectly suited to confirm his theory.

‘My current Karma Power is…’

Last time, when I acquired the Corpse Summoning Skill, 600 Karma Power disappeared.

And now, 100 Karma Power remains.

Kang Yuseong gazed at the wriggling snakes not far away.

Even on Earth, these were common creatures.

Flower Snake.

They weren’t venomous, but unlike their Earth counterparts, their fangs were quite tough.

If bitten, significant bleeding would occur, so caution was needed.

Though this didn’t apply to Kang Yuseong.

He immediately rushed forward and cut down the Flower Snakes.

“Hiss!”

Their heads fell off with a thud.

In an instant, after annihilating the Flower Snakes, Kang Yuseong checked his Karma Power again.

And he smirked.

‘It went up!’

His current Karma Power was 110.

Killing ten Flower Snakes yielded 10 points.

‘So this is how it worked. Heh heh!’

Now that he knew the secret, he had to accumulate Karma Power.

Currently, the Thieving Eye could only be reactivated after 24 hours.

He needed to shorten that time to make the Plunderer’s Legacy worthwhile.

Kang Yuseong gave a wry smile.

‘In the end, it meant I had to hunt relentlessly.’

Only then did he understand why the Hunter who had obtained the Plunderer’s Legacy in the past had pushed himself so hard in raids. He had fallen into this fatal temptation.

If you kill stronger monsters, even more Karma Power would accumulate, which was probably why he overexerted himself.

Even Kang Yuseong felt the desire to immediately enter an AA-rank Dungeon and sweep it clean.

‘Slowly… but surely.’

Kang Yuseong’s eyes shone.

Now that he had found the way, all that was left was to run.

* * * * *

Returning from the Dungeon, Kang Yuseong took his Chakra pills.

Now, hunting had become the priority.

To do that, he needed to become even stronger.

‘Hmm… I need to make some investments.’

The Chakra pills too were reaching their limit.

Since there was a fixed amount of Chakra Points he could absorb per day, he felt impatient.

Currently, the absorption rate of the Chakra pills was approximately 80 percent.

In the beginning, that was enough, but from now on, it wouldn’t be.

The best machine currently available for processing and refining materials was DHM Corp’s Super Nova, a German product. With it, he could raise the absorption rate of Chakra pills to 95 percent.

That was already a proven fact from the past.

And the Chakra Cube compression rate could be increased by a whopping 10 percent.

This meant a single pill could contain much more compressed Chakra Force, and by taking it, he could gain even more Chakra Points.

The problem was the price of the Super Nova.

A staggering 1.5 billion won.

For Kang Yuseong, who already had a 500 million won loan, it was an expensive machine he couldn’t even dream of.

However, Kang Yuseong was smiling.

1.5 billion won was certainly a large sum.

But for some, it might not be such a huge amount.

‘All right, shall we begin?’

Stamina Potion.

First, he planned to file a patent and release all the Stamina Potions he had produced so far.

It didn’t matter if replica potions appeared.

If that happened… it would actually help him even more.

Kang Yuseong had already meticulously planned even beyond that.

Nowadays, the patent application period had been shortened, so it could be granted in as little as three days, or a week at most.

Kang Yuseong took the prepared patent application documents to the Patent Office and submitted them.

‘Phase one, start!’

Now he just had to wait for time to pass and make potions.

And in his free time, he planned to clear Dungeons with the Hunters.

In about two weeks and a few days.

The time when this Korea would be defenselessly exposed to foreign invasion was approaching.

‘Come… I’ll wipe you all out.’

Kang Yuseong’s eyes gleamed sharply.

* * * * *

The hunt was arranged immediately.

The Hunters had been eagerly waiting for Kang Yuseong’s call.

“Today, we’ll be clearing a B-rank Dungeon.”

Since they had already cleared B-rank Dungeons, there was no need to go to a C-rank Dungeon.

And today, Porters were also accompanying them.

From now on, all the materials inside the Dungeon would be thoroughly collected.

Kang Yuseong’s partner Porter was naturally Yoon Seong-tak.

He had received Kang Yuseong’s request and immediately rushed over.

“B-rank Dungeon, Dungeon D-24. Estimated clear time: five hours. Let’s have a real blast today.”

Kang Yuseong smirked and said to the Hunters.

The Hunters also clenched their fists and replied.

“Of course! Today, we’ll slice them all up!”

“All right, check your radios and let’s enter the Dungeon.”

“Yes!”

On the Hunters’ faces, instead of tension, there was anticipation.

Because they already knew how thrilling hunting with Kang Yuseong was.

“Boss, we’re ready!”

The Hunters checked their radios and equipment and reported.

Kang Yuseong nodded.

“Attack team, enter!”

Kang Yuseong’s brief command was given.

* * * * *

A low rumble-

B-rank Dungeon D-24.

The terrain was a jungle.

With the rain drizzling down, the atmosphere felt suitably grim.

Kang Yuseong, looking at it, smirked.

This kind of terrain was a place he truly loved.

Because he could fight more desperately and like a madman.

“Senior.”

Before starting the battle, he called Yoon Seong-tak.

“Huh?”

“You’re going to be incredibly busy today. Collect everything you see.”

Yoon Seong-tak smiled.

“That’s… my specialty. Leave it to me!”

Kang Yuseong nodded.

And he sent a radio message.

“Attack team, commence the hunt.”