Chapter 173 – Hidden Class

My level went up.

By a whopping eight levels.

I was level 74 before, but now I’m 82.

I opened the integrated status window.

-Porter Hero Lee Hyunbin LV. 181

-HP: 5,947

-Strength: 191

-Agility: 180

-Stamina: 174

-Magic Power: 112

-Luck: 125

The stats were beyond the scope of a human.

Currently, the highest-level hunter in the world was Mister Cowboy, active in the United States, who had reached level 83.

Since I’ve now reached level 82 as a Porter, I was probably ranked second in the world.

Though, looking at my integrated status window, I’d be the undisputed number one.

That’s not all.

Ivan Sergey, known as the best tanker, boasted an HP of 1,942.

I heard he was hunting diligently, aiming to surpass 2,000 soon.

My HP as a Porter was 1,422.

It was a number high enough to crush most tankers.

My stats had also far surpassed the human maximum of 99 points.

What would happen if this information was revealed to the public?

The systems currently in use wouldn’t be able to measure my stats.

I looked at the punching bag in my personal training room.

-You won’t break this one.

I tore off the A4 paper with the provocative message.

It was a new punching bag made by Graham.

He said it was made of special materials just for me.

The exterior was covered with the hide of the toughest Hatz lizard, and the inside was supposedly filled with some material that absorbed internal shock.

I gave the punching bag a light tap.

Pow!

The bag swayed once, then returned to its original position.

Oh, it seems he really made it properly this time.

The punching bags I used before couldn’t even last a day. No, not even a moment before bursting.

Seeing this, Graham, the workshop’s technician and guild master—a dwarf—had been diligently crafting punching bags as if to see who would win.

I threw a proper one-two punch at the Graham 2.1 version punching bag.

Wham! Pow!

The impact was so strong that if the bag could talk, it would have cursed me.

The satisfying feel of the impact felt good.

I followed up with a straight punch.

KABOOM!

The punching bag bent around the point of impact, then, unable to withstand the force, it burst.

From inside the broken bag, a piece of paper with red writing flowed out along with the sand.

-You damn bastard! Just you wait!

What the, he knew it was going to burst.

I felt a sense of respect for Graham, who continued to show his challenging spirit despite facing such despair.

I’ll have to burst his punching bag and his spirit again next time.

Anyway, I wasn’t expecting much from hitting a punching bag.

If I skip even a day of training, my whole body feels sluggish.

It’s like that uncomfortable feeling you get when you don’t brush your teeth after a meal. Something like that.

Today, too, I lift my dumbbells.

Seeing my deltoids contract with joy makes me happy too.

Trapezius, check. Biceps are smiling brightly today as well.

As I check my muscles one by one, it’s as if I can hear the joyful laughter of my cute little friends.

This is it. This is what it means to be alive.

After warming up, I decided to test my newly acquired skills.

I never know when a battle might break out. I need to know exactly what kind of weapons I have at my disposal.

I’ve definitely grown stronger after defeating the 6-star monster.

Aside from leveling up, my synchronization rate has surpassed 90%.

Thanks to that, I’ve recovered my Phase ability.

From now on, I can amplify my power like that stylish president.

Honestly, even as I am, I have no rivals, but with a broken ability like this, I’m even more unmatched.

At most, the only threat would be a Demon King, maybe?

Right now, I’m stronger than that monster, Quasar.

He won’t be able to strike a cool pose and say there’s no future anymore.

Not only that, but I also unexpectedly acquired something called an ‘Achievement’.

The new ability I gained from it is a restored ancient swordsmanship.

-Beginning restoration of Repilia Ressode.

When I selected the skill, a screen like one from a martial arts manual immediately appeared.

The hologram that appeared before me kindly guided me on how to sit in seiza and breathe.

It wasn’t just the illustrations that were like a martial arts manual; it actually felt like energy circulation breathing.

As I breathed, I projected my own body.

Starting from my fingertips, I trace each part of my body—toes, ankles, knees—gradually moving from my dantian to my heart.

Then, I move in reverse order.

I feel the magic power flowing through my body and manipulate it.

I try gathering magic power only in my hands, then scattering it throughout my body.

By mastering mana breathing like this, a new world naturally reveals itself.

The name Repilia Ressode apparently means ‘Dance of the Sword’.

Though, unlike its name, it’s a technique for butchering enemies like a human slaughterer.

I mastered the breathing method easily enough.

I drew my sword.

A wooden mannequin-like figure moved in front of me to teach the basic sword forms.

I walked just like it, and assumed the same stance.

The thrusting sword makes a point in the empty air.

If I connect it, it becomes a line.

Connecting lines creates a plane, drawing circles from circles, and as I moved forward, I could feel my sword strikes becoming wider and more precise.

The swordsmanship I usually used had no form.

At first, I learned my master’s swordsmanship, and then I learned that guy Siegfried’s clean stance.

After that, I gradually made the instinctively learned swordsmanship my own, and later, after acquiring the ancient swordsmanship, I mastered Form 0.

This swordsmanship utilizes mana.

Mana exists everywhere.

In water, blue clumps of mana squirm and swim, and in fire, red clumps of mana open their mouths to devour everything around them.

So, it was better to understand mana as spirits.

The mana of each element has a different appearance.

In other words, this ancient swordsmanship is a style that utilizes magic.

Using mana, it can even deploy formations with the sword as if performing a sword dance.

This was also why Form 0, which I used from a manuscript, consumed an insane amount of magic power.

It was because I couldn’t see these mana spirits in the first place.

To use this swordsmanship properly, one must receive the help of the mana spirits.

The fact that I used this technique without any affinity for them means I was just that awesome.

I tickled the mana swimming in my water bottle with my index finger.

As if tickled, it giggled and dove deep into the bottle.

Haha, that little guy. I guess I can’t even drink water from now on. So things like this were all around me?

Of course, it doesn’t matter if I consume them. The air I’m breathing now also contains mana.

People say that when gates open and dungeon fields appear, a demonic magnetic field flows, but it’s a phenomenon caused by the contamination of these mana clumps I’m seeing now.

Breathing this contaminated air instead of the usual purified air naturally causes magic stones to form in the body, leading to incurable diseases.

Currently, I’m equipped with Phase, equipped with the ancient swordsmanship, and on top of that, my Inventory Field skill has also been enhanced.

‘This is awesome.’

I’ve obtained the main skill from my prime, and thanks to my Porter skill, I can now use a barrier skill.

“Declare Domain.”

As I declared the domain in the personal training room, hexa blocks spread across the floor.

Every object in the room was now composed of binary code, 0s and 1s.

I picked up a dumbbell from the storage rack.

The 5kg dumbbell in my hand.

I set a rule that the dumbbell was 10kg.

Setting a rule within the barrier is simple. I just have to will it.

The structure of the dumbbell began to transform.

Soon, I felt its weight increase.

That is, if I wasn’t going crazy or imagining things.

This time, I picked up another dumbbell and set a new rule.

From now on, this dumbbell is as light as cotton.

Following my will, I could see the numbers engraved within the dumbbell multiplying chaotically.

I dropped the synchronized dumbbell on the ground.

Thump, thump.

The dumbbell bounced on the floor like a ball. I couldn’t feel any weight from it.

Before, I was just half-convinced, but thanks to the data the regressor provided, I now understood it clearly.

Within the area where my Inventory Field is deployed, I can change the structure of any object bound to me.

“Return to normal.”

Of course, the ability isn’t perfect yet.

My dumbbell, now light as cotton, didn’t return to its original state.

Of course, if I cancel the barrier, everything will return to normal.

Inside the barrier, I can control everything as I wish.

This ability will surely become a great power for me. It’s like the power of a god.

It was highly effective when catching Villains and when eliminating monsters trying to self-destruct.

“Is that your new power?”

“You’re here?”

Im Jae-joon entered my personal training room.

He’s been so busy running the group lately that it’s hard to even see his face. I wonder what brings him here.

“Looks like the personal training room will need some redecorating.”

With his hands in his pockets, Im Jae-joon surveyed the traces I’d left in the training room.

In one corner was Graham’s special punching bag, burst open and spilling its contents.

The walls and floor were completely shattered, with chunks of stone rolling around.

This is why I use a personal training room.

I controlled my strength as much as possible, but fine-tuning the technique is difficult.

No, honestly. Can you throw a boulder at a carton of eggs and not break them? It’s hard.

The sheer amount of power is on a different level. Of course, it would be different if I used my barrier.

“What’s up?”

“What, do I need a reason to come?”

“Did you miss me?”

“As if.”

I exchanged some idle banter with Im Jae-joon. There’s no way this guy would visit without a reason.

He’s even busier than I am.

“The company is in an uproar because of you.”

“Me?”

What did I do?

“Major guilds overseas are sending a ton of scouting offers, wanting to sign you.”

“Really? How much are they offering?”

“It varies.”

“So, how much?”

“Between 120 and 150 billion won.”

“That’s low.”

“It is.”

Even the world’s top pro athletes get paid hundreds of billions.

But this is the hunter who single-handedly took down a 6-star for the first time in the world.

My value should be going up, and it needs to go up even more.

“So, you want to sell me off? Is the company short on cash?”

“Of course not.”

Im Jae-joon said confidently.

They say that after this guy became the CEO, the company’s welfare benefits changed completely.

Hanul Group was known for its high salaries, but also for its killer work schedules.

He changed the policy of habitual overtime and created spaces within the company for employees to rest.

Not only that, but he also benchmarked a certain IT company to create comfortable working conditions, adding things like a daycare center, a gym, and an errand service.

In reality, the higher-ups were not pleased with Im Jae-joon’s actions.

They were displeased that he was investing in welfare, not business.

Im Jae-joon’s attempts, which earned him nicknames like ‘Crazy Welfare’ or the ‘Serial Welfare-Demon’, were now starting to show results.

People in the same industry wanted to come to Hanul, where high salaries and work-life balance were respected, and where people were the company itself.

Still, from the management’s perspective, they were full of complaints. It wasn’t making them money right away, after all.

But the reason they couldn’t say anything was because Im Jae-joon was the one who had brought in a huge jackpot like me.

In the beginning, Im Jae-joon was pointed at and called a madman for spending billions on a mere Porter.

But now, the treatment was different.

Because my value had skyrocketed to the hundreds of billions.

“In that sense, let me ask you a favor.”

“A favor?”

I could see Im Jae-joon’s annoyingly handsome face smiling gently.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Looking forward to what? I need to borrow Olivier.”

“Olivier?”

A somewhat puzzled expression.

“Is she absolutely necessary?”

“Yeah. She is.”

“Can’t it be someone else?”

Among the people I know, Olivier has the best scouting abilities.

“Yeah. It has to be Olivier.”

After thinking in silence, Im Jae-joon finally spoke.

“Right, it’s about that time.”

“…?”

“Now that you’ve gained wealth and fame, it’s about time you found a woman.”

What is this idiot talking about?

“It’s unexpected, but I think you’d make a good couple.”

Annoyed, I activated the power of my barrier.

To make him collapse on the spot.

But he only flinched slightly and didn’t fall over.

Is my power still insufficient against high-level guys?

“I can certainly feel the pressure. You two seem compatible.”

“No, why aren’t you falling over? Is it because you’re bald?”

“I’m a Demon King, you know. And I’m not bald here. I get my hair treated at a salon every month. So why Olivier?”

A valid question.

If I’m going to borrow someone’s right-hand person, I should probably explain.

“That’s the reason.”

“What is? I told you, my hair is safe.”

The Demon King showed me the crown of his head as if to prove how thick his hair was.

Wow, I barely managed to resist the urge to punch him in the top of his head.

“What’s the ranking among the Demon Kings?”

First, let’s use this guy as a power-level scouter.

“Suddenly? Hmm, probably… lower-middle tier, I’d say.”

Im Jae-joon isn’t a combat-specialist Demon King in the first place. And yet, he fought on par with me, the Hero.

The goddess’s dominion is weakening, and a new goddess will ascend the throne.

One of the three goddess candidates is Karin, who is like family to me.

I don’t know if she will choose to become a goddess or not.

However, the important thing is that even stronger enemies will be crawling all over the place from now on.

I have now recovered the power of my prime.

Of course, I have no intention of stopping here.

-You have acquired a Hidden Class.

-Having achieved the Dominator class, the Transcendence Awakening Quest will now begin.

After I defeated the 6-star monster, a new system began to appear before my eyes.

A third status window.