Copying Runes to Become the World's Strongest - Chapter 18

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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 18
A pier in Incheon.
The Michuhol Guild staffer who had been waiting in the vehicle stared at the Gate, which had opened again, and couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Why is it open already?”
Average clear times for dungeons meant nothing, but it was normally a good half day before one got through.
Yet only about an hour had passed.
“Did another Gate appear?”
Could another Gate form right where an existing one had been?
He had never heard of such a case, not even a rumor of something similar.
“What on earth happened…”
His bewilderment didn’t last long.
Soon the Hunters who had gone in earlier came walking out of the Gate.
“Wow, we’re outside.”
Not a trace of exhaustion on any of them as they stepped out.
Still puzzled, the staffer hurried over to them.
“How did you come out so quickly?”
“We got lucky and ran into the Boss Monster early.”
“That’s part of it, but it’s all thanks to him.”
Him?
The staffer’s gaze drifted past the Hunters.
Standing there were Hyeonjun and Baek Jehyeok, who was still keeping his identity hidden.
‘Don’t tell me he got involved?’
Since he knew who Baek Jehyeok was, the staffer edged closer and asked in a low voice.
“Did you get involved?”
“No. If I had, would I still be hiding my face?”
“Then what happened?”
“There was a Boss right in front of us.”
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
While Baek Jehyeok and the staffer exchanged words, the Hunters kept bowing their heads to Hyeonjun.
“Thank you so much. You saved our lives.”
“Right? If not for him, I can’t imagine how brutal the fight would have been.”
“I heard that monsters taken in a dungeon get split equally, but you can keep all of mine, Hyeonjun.”
“Mine too!”
Everyone, as one, handed their spoils over to Hyeonjun.
Hyeonjun accepted their goodwill with a warm heart and no fuss.
“Thanks.”
“Oh, it’s nothing like that.”
“By the way, we must have come out first, right? Does that mean we’re guaranteed to get in?”
The Entrance Test had ended remarkably fast.
Of the passing criteria described at orientation, time took up the largest share.
“Surely we’ve passed the first stage for sure?”
“Oh, right. There’s a second stage too.”
The staffer approached the Hunters, who were still chatting away.
“Clear records will be reflected by evening. Everyone, please get in the vehicle. I’ll take you to the orientation venue.”
The Hunters headed toward the minivan.
Hyeonjun tried to follow them as well.
But the staffer grabbed his shoulder.
“Mr. Ko Hyeonjun, you don’t need to come along.”
Murmuring that quietly, the staffer went after the Hunters who had already moved ahead.
Hyeonjun stopped where he stood, bewildered.
‘What’s going on?’
Just as the confusion was beginning to show on his face.
“Ko Hyeonjun.”
At the voice behind him, Hyeonjun turned around.
And froze right where he stood.
“…Baek Jehyeok?”
“You recognized me right away.”
Baek Jehyeok, who had been hiding his face under a cap and mask, had already pulled them off and tossed them aside.
“Wh-why are you here…?”
“Wow, you’re really flustered, huh? If you can’t even recognize me in this outfit.”
Hyeonjun belatedly checked his outfit.
It was exactly the same as the buffer’s from earlier, when they were still in the dungeon.
“Huh.”
Only then did Hyeonjun realize he had actually cleared the raid together with him.
He jolted, and everything that had happened inside the dungeon flashed through his mind like his whole life passing before his eyes.
“No wonder the buffs felt so good…”
“Buffs? Those are the worst kind. You just fought well on your own, Go Hyeonjun.”
“Hearing that from Hunter Baek Jehyeok… I don’t know where to put myself…”
He meant it.
Hyeonjun had always looked up to High-Grade Hunters from afar, and this was the first time he had ever come face to face with one like this.
Just being in his presence made his nerves tingle, and now that he was receiving praise on top of it, his feelings were hard to pin down.
“You don’t need me to spell out why I was in the raid, do you?”
“Was it for safety reasons?”
“Sharp, aren’t you.”
Hyeonjun had more or less expected as much.
Even if it was only an F-Rank dungeon, it was an Entrance Test held in the name of a guild.
A guild as large as Michuhol would never send a party made up entirely of F-Rank Hunters without taking precautions.
That was also the reason he had deliberately chosen the Entrance Test for a safer raid.
‘I never imagined it would turn out to be Baek Jehyeok, though.’
“So the other parties must have had members from the guild too.”
“That’s right. I was originally supposed to go with Jejung’s group, but I came here after seeing you, Go Hyeonjun.”
“Me?”
“I was curious how well the man who saved my little brother could actually fight.”
“Oh… yes?”
Hyeonjun, who had been nodding casually, unconsciously raised the tone at the end of his words.
“Baek Jejung is your younger brother?”
“Is that so surprising?”
“No, I was certain you had three siblings…”
“You’ve seen him yourself, so you’ll understand. He has no talent for Hunting. That’s why we never made it public.”
“Ah… so that’s why I didn’t know.”
If there had been even the faintest trace of it anywhere, he would have known.
Anyone who studies Anomaly Spaces and Hunters naturally picks up at least some knowledge of the family trees of the major guilds.
“Enough of the small talk. Go Hyeonjun, join our guild. Normally you’d take the second test and then sit for an interview as the third stage, but I’ll waive all of that and pass you straight through.”
It had been a thoroughly satisfying raid.
Sure, the growth limit that came with his Bird Hunter trait nagged at him a little, but it didn’t really matter.
Even if they were being outpaced by the other major guilds, Baek Jehyeok had no intention of entrusting the guild’s future to an F-Rank Hunter.
‘All we need is someone to support the middle of the guild.’
Even a hidden rough gem was still F-Rank.
Even at the same rank, such a person would inevitably fall behind those with traits everyone would admire.
The expectations placed on someone like that had never been high to begin with.
‘Why isn’t he answering?’
Baek Jehyeok had naturally assumed he would hear a yes.
But Hyeonjun was agonizing over it.
Baek Jehyeok was flabbergasted.
He had come all this way and even taken the Entrance Test, yet he was hesitating this deeply over an offer to join.
“What’s there to think about? Isn’t this exactly what you wanted to hear? You should accept it on the spot.”
“Well…”
“Are you hesitating because we’re being outpaced by the other major guilds? They wouldn’t even take you in to begin with, you know?”
“That’s not it.”
Hyeonjun’s worry was a little different from what Baek Jehyeok imagined.
‘How am I supposed to turn this down?’
He had never intended to join a guild in the first place.
Even the Entrance Test had only been for the sake of meeting the requirements for Promotion.
After thinking it over a while longer, Hyeonjun decided to tell the truth.
“I’m sorry. I have no intention of joining the guild.”
“…What?”
“The thing is…”
After hearing the whole story from Hyeonjun, Baek Jehyeok was so flabbergasted that a dry laugh slipped out.
“Go Hyeonjun. You really are a strange one.”
“I’m sorry.”
Hyeonjun bowed so low it seemed his forehead might touch the ground.
Baek Jehyeok had felt a flicker of irritation at the idea of the guild being used for someone else’s purpose, but the sincerity in the apology melted it away almost at once.
“It’s fine. I’ve mostly gotten what I came for.”
When you got down to it, this was really his third brother’s scheme. Jehyeok had simply been dragged into it.
His real goal had been accomplished the moment he confirmed Hyeonjun’s strength.
“But why don’t you want to join the guild? Is it really just about safety?”
“Yes.”
“Is there some reason behind it, then?”
“It’s, um, a family matter…”
“Ah, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
Silence settled between them.
Jehyeok rubbed the back of his head at the awkward turn in the air and spoke again.
“Sorry about this. I ended up sending a car for you, didn’t I?”
“It’s fine. I can get there quickly on foot.”
“…Wouldn’t it normally be a taxi, though?”
“Oh, come on, a taxi would just be a waste of money.”
Hyeonjun gave a quick nod and took off running.
His back grew smaller by the second.
Jehyeok clicked his tongue with regret.
“I think it would’ve been fun having him join.”
It was a pity, but there was nothing to be done about it.
He wasn’t some irreplaceable talent they had to recruit at any cost, after all.
“Ah. I should’ve just kept him here.”
This was the man who had saved his precious youngest brother’s life.
He had wanted to thank him personally, but he’d missed his chance.
“Guess today just isn’t the day for it.”

After running for a good while, Hyeonjun finally reached the busy downtown streets.
From there he took public transit toward the Exchange near his home.
‘I wonder how much I’ll get if I sell everything.’
It probably wouldn’t be much.
Unless he’d hunted a huge number of monsters, it wouldn’t add up to much, since he’d run into the Boss so early and left the Dungeon in no time.
‘Aside from Magic Stones, goblins don’t really fetch any money.’
The same went for Hob Goblins.
But it didn’t really matter to him.
‘I wasn’t here to make money in the first place.’
Hyeonjun unloaded his haul and walked out of the Exchange.
Compared to what he usually earned from hunting, the amount was small, but simply not coming away empty-handed for the day was satisfying enough.
“I still have energy to spare. Maybe I’ll go hunt a bit more.”
The Entrance Test had wrapped up faster than expected.
It was too early to head home.
Besides, Hyeona would be hard at work on her studies right about now.
Buzz-buzz.
Just as Hyeonjun was weighing where to go next—
his smartphone vibrated.
It was a call from the hospital.

Hyeonjun rushed to the hospital in a panic.
When he stepped into the ward, he saw a cluster of nurses and doctors gathered around his mother.
“W-what happened?”
He hadn’t gotten a proper explanation over the phone.
All he’d been told was that something had suddenly gone wrong with his mother.
“Her Mana levels inside her body were rising abnormally until just a moment ago, but now they’ve stabilized again.”
“She suddenly stabilized? Are you sure she’s actually all right?”
The doctor nodded in response to Hyeonjun’s question.
“Yes. She’s definitely stable now. I’ve never seen anything like this before… It’s strange.”
After checking a few more things, the doctor and nurses left the room.
Hyeonjun forced himself to calm his pounding heart and sat down in the guardian’s chair.
“I thought something terrible was going to happen.”
Hyeonjun studied his mother’s face.
Despite the news that something had changed, she looked as peaceful as always.
Seeing her face made Hyeonjun feel a little sheepish.
“It’s been a while since I last came, huh?”
His last visit to the hospital had been a month and a half ago.
He hadn’t come even once since he had Awakened again.
“You should have come at least once. You must have been really busy.”
Hyeonjun said that and scratched the back of his head.
Truth be told, he could have made the time if he’d wanted to.
But he had figured that getting stronger through Hunter work was the best way to take care of his mother, so he kept putting off visiting her.
And after five years of living like this, he’d stopped dropping by as often as he used to.
Her care was handled by the hospital’s caregiving service, so there was hardly any reason for him to come in person.
“You didn’t do that on purpose just to see me, did you?”
He chuckled and took hold of his mother’s hand.
And then.
[Contact with the designated target has been confirmed.]
[ is activating.]
[ is activating.]
A string of messages appeared in succession.
Before Hyeonjun could even finish reading them, his vision flipped, as if the scene had been switched.
***
A sky drowned in thick darkness.
The only thing filling that void of light was a moon glowing with the color of blood.
“…Where am I?”
Hyeonjun looked around, bewildered.
A vast desert stretched out with nothing to block it.
The moon’s crimson glow stained the boundless sands in a grim, ominous hue.
Standing in the middle of it all was a tower, towering high.
“A tower?”
It was absurd enough to find himself in the middle of a desert, but then a structure he recognized caught his eye.
A tower, one of the Anomaly Spaces.
It was quite far away, but its distinctive obelisk shape was clearly visible.
“Did they just teleport me to somewhere like Egypt?”
But why, all of a sudden?
No, more than that.
Illusion Realization?
Soul Leap?
Everything was a jumble he couldn’t make sense of, from top to bottom.
“All I did was hold Mom’s hand.”
Just then.
Whooosh!
A fierce sandstorm rose and blocked his view.
When the dust settled, a figure was already standing in front of the tower.
His tattered cloak snapped in the wind, and his dark red hair whipped about.
‘A person?’
He was dressed in clothing far removed from anything an ordinary person would wear.
He looked like a Hunter at first glance, but his strange attire made it impossible to call him a plain Hunter.
“Hey, you!”
The moment Hyeonjun called out to him, another violent gust swept over them.
Whooosh-!
When he squinted open his tightly shut eyes, the figure had already vanished without a trace.
“Wait, he’s gone?”
The figure was nowhere to be seen, not on the ground, not in the sky, not anywhere.
Hyeonjun tilted his head and took a step forward anyway.
The only things around were sand and that tower.
If he wanted to find anything out, he figured he had better get closer to the tower first.
“It’s really old.”
Cracks had formed in places all over it.
From the gaps in those fissures, a strange black smoke seeped out in thin, creeping wisps.
Even some unidentified creeping vines covered its surface.
It was different from Earth’s towers, which were smooth and neat.
“Shall I touch it?”
Coming closer didn’t seem to be a problem.
Hyeonjun hesitated, then placed his hand on the surface of the tower.
Beneath his fingertips he felt the coarse texture of rough stone.
If Earth’s towers were closer to metal, this one was pure rock.
“It’s not exactly the same kind of tower…”
Hyeonjun never managed to finish his thought.
[The resonates.]
A message appeared before him without warning.
Before he could make sense of it, the next message scrolled in.
[A portion of the engraved upon your soul has been activated.]
[You have acquired .]
Hyeonjun blinked, dazed.
He read the messages over and over, but he simply couldn’t make sense of them.
[The duration of has ended.]
[The leaped soul is returning to its original space.]
“W-wait a second.”
At the word “returning,” Hyeonjun opened his mouth on instinct.
But nothing went the way he willed it.
His vision went dark all at once.
“……”
When he opened his eyes again.
He was still in his mother’s hospital room.

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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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