A Hunter on Borrowed Time Keeps Surviving - Chapter 6

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 6.
【Quest Success!】
【You have brilliantly eliminated a life-threatening enemy using the Stamina Exhaustion Strategy combined with Head Severing.】
【You receive 3 Level-up Points as a reward.】
【Every time your accumulated Level-up Points reach 10, your Awakening Grade rises by one stage.】
【Current Accumulated Points: 3】
The moment the Giant Golem’s breath ceased, a cascade of Quest notifications flooded Siul’s vision.
‘I actually soloed a B-rank Dungeon boss.’
The reality of his achievement hadn’t quite sunk in, and Siul let out a hollow laugh.
Not long ago, he’d been nothing more than a low-tier D-rank Hunter.
And now?
Siul surveyed the Boss Room.
The Giant Golem’s corpse lay sprawled across the center of the stone chamber.
The red core embedded in its chest had shattered into fragments, glowing faintly with residual light.
The same was true of the second-floor landing above.
The Golems, now bereft of their leader, slumped where they stood in defeat.
Those that had tumbled down below the railing hung their heads, limbs dangling limp and lifeless.
‘I actually brought down all those monsters….’
Siul marveled at his own feat, then self-consciously rubbed the back of his neck.
‘Though I didn’t exactly win with style—I won by wearing them down.’
That distinction mattered more than he cared to admit.
During the battle, his body had been torn apart too many times to count.
His head had been severed, his chest caved in, his limbs broken and shredded beyond recognition.
Yet each time, Siul had gotten back up.
‘No pain, and regeneration happens instantly—I could’ve kept fighting all day if I had to.’
Meanwhile, the Golems had simply exhausted themselves into complete defeat.
Thanks to his immortal ability, the longer the battle stretched on, the more the scales had tipped in his favor.
‘Crude as the method may be, it’s undeniably effective.’
Siul turned his attention back to the Quest reward text.
‘Three Level-up Points for a single Giant Golem….’
The A-rank Wyvern Goblin had a Danger Rating of 30 and yielded 10 reward points.
The C+ Rank Golem had a Danger Rating of 7, which fell short of the Quest threshold.
These were facts he’d confirmed with his own eyes.
But there was one thing that nagged at him.
‘Are these numbers really fixed?’
The Giant Golem and the Wyvern Goblin were undeniably formidable opponents.
But what if Siul leveled up to an A-rank Awakener or higher?
Would these creatures still show the same Danger Rating then?
Siul’s eyes narrowed.
‘If it stayed the same, that’d be perfect for me. Easy kills with loads of Level-up Points to show for it.’
Yet he had a nagging feeling it wouldn’t prove that simple.
‘Never mind. I’ll worry about that later.’
Siul turned and headed for the exit.
‘I’ve tested enough for one day.’
The information and financial gains from this raid had exceeded his expectations.
For someone like Siul, where every day counted, this was a rare day spent well—one without regret.
* * *
The middle depths of the Dungeon.
A heavy silence had settled over the clearing where the first Portal Stone of the Mini Gate lay waiting.
Hmm.
Min Hyungshik stood motionless, his gaze fixed on the direction of the Boss Room.
‘He’s taking too long.’
How much time had passed since leaving Siul in the Boss Room? He couldn’t say.
But one thing was certain: the duration had far exceeded what any normal human could endure in combat.
“Team leader, could it be….”
Park Dohyun bit his lip, his words trailing off into silence.
Not just Park Dohyun, but none of the team members could bring themselves to voice the words: ‘He’ll come back safely.’
……
That was when—from deep within the darkness of the Boss Room—the sound of footsteps echoed toward them.
Ah!
Min Hyungshik rushed forward first.
The figure that emerged from the darkness was none other than Siul.
He bore not a single wound, and his body showed no sign of exhaustion.
He returned with two Portal Stones tucked at his side, his face perfectly composed.
“You’re all here? I had some trouble finding you in the dark.”
Upon spotting his team, Siul waved casually from a distance.
At his utterly untroubled greeting, the team members stood dumbfounded.
“He really came back alive….”
Someone blurted out their true thoughts before quickly correcting themselves.
“No, wait—how are you completely unharmed?!”
“Not a scratch on you?”
“Did you escape from the Boss Room? Did you find the exit?”
Faced with the flood of questions, Siul found himself unsure where to begin.
So instead, he simply opened his Inventory to answer.
“Even in the dark, this stands out clearly.”
What Siul proudly produced was a palm-sized crystal gleaming a brilliant red.
A sharp intake of breath.
Everyone recognized the stone at once.
“That’s….”
A Red Mana Stone.
The core crystal embedded in the heart of the Giant Golem.
The trophy of victory, obtainable only when a boss is defeated.
In current market value, it traded for roughly fifty million won—a rare resource.
“You really defeated the boss alone? Without a single wound?!”
Park Dohyun’s voice trembled as he asked.
Most team members responded with disbelief rather than admiration.
At that, Siul casually twirled the Red Mana Stone and answered without ambiguity.
“It took some time, but I kept my word.”
That single brief statement settled every doubt.
While the team members stood stunned, Min Hyungshik stepped forward and bowed deeply.
“Thank you so much. We owe our lives to you.”
After bowing, Min Hyungshik shot a pointed look at his team members.
“Without him, we’d all be holding a funeral in that Boss Room right now. Isn’t that right?”
Only then did everyone snap to attention, and they hurried over to bow like Min Hyungshik.
“Thank you!”
“We’ll never forget this debt!”
“We’re sorry for doubting you!”
Siul could only offer an awkward, embarrassed laugh.
Then Min Hyungshik made a proposal.
“This may not be sufficient thanks, but the reward for the Red Mana Stone—after deducting the Daeho Guild’s commission—was to be split equally among all of us. I’d like you to take the full amount.”
Siul’s ears perked up.
“And the profits from all the Mana Stones we mined in this Dungeon will go to you at the highest rate.”
Min Hyungshik belatedly asked his team members for their consent.
“Is that alright with everyone?”
The team members nodded vigorously in agreement.
“Of course! You should take the most, Siul!”
“That’s a bargain price for your life.”
“Honestly, I couldn’t have done what you did.”
Min Hyungshik lowered himself again and extended his hand for a handshake.
“We’ve received a tremendous favor from you.”
It was more than sufficient gratitude—it was excessive.
Even if Siul had defeated the boss alone, offering such generous compensation would leave Min Hyungshik with nothing.
A Dungeon Raid inherently carries substantial costs just to secure access to the Gate.
If Min Hyungshik settled accounts as he proposed, he would finish the job at a loss.
‘He couldn’t possibly not know that.’
It conveyed to Siul just how deeply Min Hyungshik regarded him as a benefactor.
“I appreciate it, but I’d prefer a different form of compensation.”
“…I’m sorry?”
At this unexpected response, Min Hyungshik’s expression shifted to confusion.
The team members also tilted their heads in puzzlement.
“I’ll take only the Red Mana Stones. You can keep all the Mana Stones you’ve mined from the Dungeon.”
Confusion flickered across the team members’ faces.
“Why would you do that?”
“With your contribution, you should take everything—”
Siul raised his index finger, continuing before they could finish.
“There is one condition, however. I’d like you to continue hiring me as a mercenary for every B-rank Dungeon Raid you undertake going forward.”
The team members’ shoulders tensed in unison.
‘He wants to keep coming as a hired sword?’
‘Is he asking to join the team?’
‘We wouldn’t mind, but…’
Min Hyungshik spoke up, voicing the shared uncertainty.
“Is that truly your only condition?”
“There is one more detail. I’d like to handle all the Boss encounters myself, just as I did today.”
“Ah, well…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll only monopolize the Boss rewards today. Going forward, I’ll take twice my normal share.”
A brief silence fell.
In that short span, mental calculations ran through several heads at once.
‘If he takes twice his cut,’
‘Our profits will drop a bit,’
‘but he handles the Boss for us,’
‘and we raid safely.’
The verdict was clear: ‘This works in our favor.’
The loss of immediate profit felt trivial compared to the priceless value of clearing Dungeons without fear of death.
“Even so, are you certain? This feels like we’re getting far too good a deal.”
Min Hyungshik spoke his mind plainly, without pretense.
That directness only deepened Siul’s desire to work alongside this team.
“To be honest, we have no reason to refuse. With someone as strong as you watching our backs, the Raid loses all its weight.”
The other team members added their voices in quick agreement from behind.
Once Siul confirmed their acceptance, he extended his hand to Min Hyungshik.
It was the handshake they hadn’t exchanged before—offered now in earnest.
Min Hyungshik hesitated for a moment, then smiled and clasped Siul’s hand.
“Then we have ourselves a contract.”
* * *
By the time they emerged from the Dungeon, the sun had already begun its descent toward the horizon.
Siul walked the city streets with a satisfied smile.
‘Now I can enter B-rank Dungeons regularly. Since they’re an independent team, they won’t have to answer to the Daeho Guild.’
Solving the constraints of his official D-rank Hunter status was the greatest prize he’d won today.
‘If I keep running Quests like this, I could become a high-rank Hunter before long. And when that happens…’
The image of the Arbiter Dragon flashed through his mind.
‘Maybe I’ll finally get the chance to face that creature again.’
His fists clenched with renewed resolve.
It was a strength that no man with a death sentence—someone counting down their final days—should possess.
‘Though I’ll need better equipment. Relying on raw physicality makes fights drag on. Even I feel the mental exhaustion.’
As Siul set his mind to future plans, he turned toward home.
But elsewhere, others had been watching his every move.
“So that’s him? The man who emerged from that strange Black Gate?”
A bald man in his forties, dressed in a black suit, spoke in hushed tones.
A woman in her late twenties with long black hair, wearing an identical suit, nodded in response.
“Those fox-like eyes match the photograph perfectly.”
“You always judge people by their eyes, don’t you?”
“It’s never failed me yet.”
“If that’s how you read people, I can’t argue. You have the keenest insight of any Special Hunter we know.”
Their suits, elegant as they appeared at first glance, were actually protective gear capable of withstanding the claws of an A-rank Monster.
Uniforms bestowed only upon Special Hunters.
The bald man, Kang Hotchul, and the woman with long hair, Baek Gahyun, were government-affiliated Special Hunters.
“This is frustrating. Why do we have to clean up the Hunter Association’s mess?”
“It can’t be helped. Anything connected to a Black Gate is critical business for the government.”
Kang Hotchul and Baek Gahyun followed in Siul’s wake, concealing their presence.
They maintained a careful distance, their eyes tracking his every gesture and movement.
“You know it, don’t you? Black Gates bring calamity.”
“Isn’t that just a legend? I have to say, that man doesn’t look anything like a calamity to me.”
Baek Gahyun studied Siul’s face intently, her dark eyes as black as her hair.
“I can’t say about calamity, but… there’s definitely something odd about him.”
As Baek Gahyun spoke with certainty, Kang Hotchul’s expression grew intrigued.
“Should we just grab him and interrogate him?”
“What, arrest him like a criminal? Both the government and the association said to approach carefully.”
“We can’t just keep watching from the sidelines forever.”
“Give me a moment. I’ll do some investigating.”
“Oh, you’re going to use that?”
At Kang Hotchul’s encouragement, Baek Gahyun removed her suit jacket.
“Just hold this for me.”
She handed the jacket to Kang Hotchul and began unbuttoning the cuffs of her dress shirt one by one.
“Two weeks’ worth of memories should be enough, right?”
A Hunter Living on Borrowed Time
Author | Katsumitsu

Publisher | Samyang C&C Corp.

Chief Editor | Editorial Department

Published by | Samyang C&C Corp. — Dream Books

Address | 7th Floor, Gwangseong Building, 28 Bongeunsa-ro 114-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

UCI | G720:N+A063-20260731071

Blog | blog.naver.com/dreambookss

Twitter (X) | @dreambookss

Submissions | [email protected]

This book may not be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without written permission from Samyang C&C Corp. — Dream Books.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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