Copying Runes to Become the World's Strongest - Chapter 13

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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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Chapter 13
“Huh…”
Baek Jejung, who had watched everything unfold, couldn’t find words.
Hyeonjun had knocked out three men on his own.
It wasn’t even a desperate fight. He had toyed with them, plain and simple.
‘Were they really this weak?’
That couldn’t be right.
These were the same men who had put up a decent fight against monsters.
He had watched them from behind, so he knew their skills were nothing to scoff at.
‘They said they were E-Rank, didn’t they.’
Were they really E-Rank?
He’d had a few chances to see E-Rank Hunters in action before.
But this kind of fight was something he’d never seen.
‘This wasn’t a real fight to begin with. It was more like… a child fighting an adult…’
Did that man have an overwhelming number of runes?
If he had absorbed hundreds of E-Rank Runes, I could understand it.
‘The power of runes really is something…’
Following the Grassland incident, Baek Jejung felt the power of runes firsthand once again.
“Are you okay?”
Just then, Hyeonjun walked over.
Baek Jejung lifted his head, then went rigid the moment he saw the face.
‘He—he’s the one from back then, isn’t he?’
The man he had seen at the Grassland.
The one who had pulled him, a man who only wanted to hunt for fun and a bit of romance, deeper into this world.
Now that I see his face up close, I’m sure of it.
I never expected to meet that man again, and here of all places.
“I-I’m sorry.”
Baek Jejung pressed his forehead against the ground.
It was an apology for the resentment he had harbored only moments ago.
“Huh?”
Hyeonjun tilted his head, clearly lost.
Since there was no way he could explain himself, Baek Jejung kept his head down and stayed silent.
“I don’t really know what’s going on, but I’ll get you untied first.”
Hyeonjun used Kim Seokdae’s dagger to slice through the rope binding Baek Jejung’s hands and feet.
“Ugh.”
“Get up slowly.”
With Hyeonjun’s help, Baek Jejung got to his feet.
Even though he hadn’t been tied up for very long, a wave of dizziness washed over him.
“Looks like those guys hit you on the back of the head. The blood’s already dried, but just in case, go to a hospital once you’re out.”
“Thank you…”
“Go outside and rest for a bit. I’ll tidy things up in here.”
Hyeonjun sent Baek Jejung out and looked around inside the cave.
There was no sign of the Green Mane Tyrant.
“Looks like someone already took it down.”
It takes a few days for the Tyrant to respawn.
It seemed they had been hunting the Tyrant and using this cave as a base until it respawned.
“How many people did they actually kill?”
Corpse remains were scattered in every corner. At least ten people, from the look of it.
If they had been cleaning up regularly, the number would be far higher.
“Scum.”
A length of rope lay in a corner of the cave.
Hyeonjun gathered up the rope.
He planned to tie these men up with it and take them out of the cave.
“I’d love to turn them into corpses right here, but…”
Then I’d be no better than them.
There’s no need to dirty my hands. Handling them through the law will be more than enough.
They’ll never be allowed back into society. That’s what Rune Killing is.
“But I’ll need solid evidence.”
The man I just rescued could serve as a witness, but his testimony alone won’t prove they committed Rune Killing.
“This definitely wasn’t the first time.”
Skilled technique and craftsmanship.
Search them thoroughly and there’s bound to be something.
Hyeonjun took his time, searching the three of them from head to toe.
He stripped their gear and confiscated every last weapon.
They didn’t have much on them.
But in Kim Seokdae’s backpack, he found an astonishing amount of goods.
Magic Stones and loot from Monsters.
Dozens of runes.
And finally, Soul Traces.
“Found it.”
Three Soul Traces, tossed carelessly into the bag.
These items would prove the three men’s crimes.
“It’d be nice to figure out whose they are, but…”
Unfortunately, that was out of reach.
There were so many dead, and with no ID Cards on them, there was no way to trace a single one.
“These runes must have been obtained by altering the traces too.”
They were probably stockpiling them to unload all at once.
Hyeonjun bound the three men tight with rope, then turned to check the runes.
“How much is all this worth?”
At a glance, there were easily dozens. It was almost a shame to hand over such criminal profits to the police.
“Huh?”
As he idly rifled through the pile, Hyeonjun spotted a rune of a different color among the rows of F-Rank ones.
He picked it up.
A gray glow, signifying E-Rank.
Unlike ordinary runes, its surface was covered in far more Rune Script.
“S-Skill Rune.”
A rune that grants a skill just by being absorbed.
It could be obtained with a certain probability in Anomaly Spaces outside Hunting Grounds, and its price was considerable.
Because of its rarity, even the lowest grade tended to trade at a premium.
“How did these idiots get their hands on this?”
Skill Runes started at E-Rank at the very least.
These guys couldn’t have killed an E-Rank Awakened, so where on earth did they get it?
“Well, it doesn’t really matter.”
Hyeonjun examined the rune with a fluttering heart.
It was the first time he had ever seen a Skill Rune in person.
“I wonder what skill it is.”
I want to check, but is there a way?
As he mulled it over, the Copy Skill suddenly came to mind.
“Come to think of it, my Copy count went up.”
Having reached E-Rank, his Copy count had risen to 11.
He remembered that this morning, without really thinking, he had copied and absorbed 10 Runes of Agility.
“Since I can copy E-Rank now too, checking it won’t be a problem. Wait, hold on. Does that mean I could sell Skill Runes as well?”
He had assumed Skill Runes couldn’t be copied anyway, so they had slipped completely from his mind.
Hyeonjun’s heart began to pound, but in a rather different way.
“All I need is one E-Rank Skill Rune worth at least 2 million won.”
Copy the Skill Rune, sell it, and use the money to fill Stat Runes.
That way, he could earn money and grow stronger at the same time.
“First, let’s make sure copying actually works.”
Hyeonjun reined in his excitement and activated the skill.
[Do you want to copy <E-Rank Skill Rune – Magic Arrow>?]
“I-it works.”
So copying itself is possible.
But one obstacle still remained.
The 24-hour limit wasn’t much of a problem.
If he lowered the price, it would sell well within 24 hours and then some.
The real problem came down to just one thing.
Would a copied rune produce the same effect when someone else consumed it?
“How do I test that?”
“Urrgh…”
At the sound of a presence, Hyeonjun’s gaze naturally swung back around.
Three people, tied up in a row.
The one who’d passed out last, Kim Seokdae, was starting to come to, letting out a low groan.
“Thanks for waking up so quickly.”
There was no reason not to use the lab rat that was right here.
Hyeonjun copied the skill rune right away.
The gray-tinged skill rune sat on his palm.
He had no copies left, and part of him wanted to absorb it himself, but for the greater good, there was no help for it.
“Hey.”
“Ugh.”
Hyeonjun nudged Kim Seokdae with his foot, prodding him.
Kim Seokdae’s eyelids slowly lifted.
“What, what the— Ugh! Untie this!”
“Open your mouth.”
“Untie me now!”
Hyeonjun pinched his nose.
With his breathing cut off, Kim Seokdae’s mouth fell open on its own.
“What the hell are you— gah!”
Hyeonjun shoved the rune into Kim Seokdae’s mouth and poured water after it.
“Swallow.”
“Cough! Cough!”
In an instant, the copied rune slid down the back of Kim Seokdae’s throat.
Hyeonjun let go of him and watched for a reaction.
Kim Seokdae choked and coughed for a good while. Thankfully, no rune came spitting back out of his mouth.
“Cough, cough! Shit! What the hell did you feed me!”
“You don’t feel anything?”
“Feel anything? My throat feels like it’s being torn open!”
“No, not that. I mean, didn’t a message pop up in front of your eyes or something?”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
Hyeonjun let out a sigh.
‘A bust.’
If the guy showed this kind of reaction, it was obviously a failure.
If the absorption had gone through properly, he would’ve panicked first at the message saying he’d learned a skill.
It seemed that a copied rune could only be absorbed by the one who had copied it.
‘Too bad, but there’s nothing to be done.’
It was already a ridiculously powerful skill as it was.
Its failure to work in another way wasn’t a big disappointment.
“Get up.”
“No way.”
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Hyeonjun punched Kim Seokdae, who was showing a pointless bit of defiance, over and over.
With his face split open, Kim Seokdae got to his feet.
“Wake up your friends too.”
Kim Seokdae vented his anger by kicking his companions one after another.
A little while later, Hyeonjun led the three of them out of the cave.
***
Hyeonjun stepped out of the Gate.
When he explained the situation to the staff at the management booth, the staffer immediately called the police.
He went down to the base of the building and waited, and before long, black patrol cars—the Awakened Police’s dedicated vehicles—began to arrive.
But there were more of them than he’d expected.
“What is all this…”
Vehicles lined up in a crowd along the roadside.
There looked to be well over ten of them.
And from them poured dozens of Awakened Police officers.
Hyeonjun swallowed hard.
‘Do they usually send this many?’
Even for Rune Killing, there was no reason for this many Awakened Police to show up when the culprits had already been subdued.
‘There must be some other reason.’
What could it be?
No idea.
He had no time to think about it.
Dozens of Awakened Police were closing in on us from that direction.
“Are these the perpetrators?”
Hyeonjun nodded, tensing for no good reason.
“That’s right.”
“I heard you secured the evidence as well.”
“Here.”
He handed over everything he’d taken as evidence, including the Soul Trace.
The Awakened Police loaded Kim Seokdae and the other perpetrators into their transport.
“We’ll take your statements one last time. I’d appreciate your cooperation, both of you.”
“This man is injured. He needs treatment.”
“Huh? He looks perfectly fine to me. If he’s in that much pain…”
“Hey!”
Just then, a middle-aged officer in a uniform that suggested considerable rank barked out a sharp shout.
“Ch-Chief? Why would the Chief come out to the scene…”
“Are you going to keep an injured man standing around?”
“Y-yes, but…”
The Chief lowered his voice to a whisper.
‘He’s the Director’s nephew. Just send him to the hospital and take the statement from that man. No need to investigate in detail. We’ve got the Soul Trace, so those bastards are caught red-handed anyway.’
Hyeonjun’s keen hearing picked up every word.
‘The Director? He can’t mean the Awakened Police Bureau, can he?’
The Awakened Police Bureau sat under the National Police Agency. Technically a subordinate branch, but since it handled every villain-related crime, it was practically an independent organization.
‘So that’s why there are so many police here.’
Only then did he understand the swarm of officers filling the area.
It was all because the Director had given a direct order, and that was why everyone was scrambling like this.
“Ah, for now, we’ll take you to the hospital.”
The Chief bowed and fawned as he tried to lead the man away.
“W-wait, just a moment.”
The man, who had been staring blankly the whole time, stepped toward Hyeonjun and bowed deeply.
“I didn’t even manage to thank you properly earlier, I was so flustered. My name is Baek Jejung. Thank you so much for saving me today.”
“I was only doing what needed to be done.”
“I’d like to repay you somehow, but right now I don’t have anything to offer…”
“I didn’t do it for that. As long as you’re safe, that’s enough.”
Baek Jejung bit his lip, his voice wavering.
“Hnnk…”
“Come on, let’s go. Treatment first.”
The Chief led Baek Jejung away.
Left behind, Hyeonjun laid out everything that had happened inside to the Awakened Police officer.
“Thank you for your statement.”
“Will I have to take part in the trial later, or anything like that?”
“There’s no obligation, but if you wish, you may appear as a witness or attend as a spectator.”
“Skipping it won’t affect the sentencing or anything, will it?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. For Rune Killing, it generally won’t come into play.”
“Understood. Thank you.”
He had no desire to spend any more time on this, so he wanted to wrap things up right here.
The Awakened Police left, and the gathered vehicles streamed away in a rush.
Hyeonjun watched them go and thought to himself.
“Glad I came today.”
He hadn’t made a single won, but he didn’t feel like he’d wasted his time at all.
Just knowing he’d saved someone who would have died without him was enough to satisfy him.
‘Helping people really does give you a warm, satisfied feeling.’
Hyeonjun turned around, grinning foolishly to himself.
But then.
“Hey, you!”
One of the Awakened Police rushed over, calling out to Hyeonjun.
“Take this.”
What he held out was Kim Seokdae’s bag, the one they had collected earlier.
“Huh? This? But it’s evidence.”
“The Chief said the Soul Trace is enough evidence, so he told me to hand this over to you.”
“Isn’t this the proceeds of crime? Shouldn’t it be recovered?”
“That’s what I thought too, but the Chief told me just to give it back to you…”
Hyeonjun accepted the bag without hesitation.
It would be rude to refuse when he was offering it so freely, after all.
“Then I’ll be going…”
The officer jogged back to the car.
Hyeonjun opened the bag.
It was stuffed full of things.
The sight made him laugh.
“Did Baek Jejung ask for this?”
Figures, I suppose.
I thought I’d only come away with a full heart today, but my wallet got full too.

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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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