Copying Runes to Become the World's Strongest - Chapter 34

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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 34
Orientation site.
In the makeshift monitoring room tucked into a corner of the gymnasium, Nam Jaewoon found himself unable to close his mouth.
‘This is unexpected.’
The Hunters he’d expected to stand out were all promising recruits from Guilds.
Hyeonjun?
Perfect marks on the Hunter Certification practical, and a strong showing in the basic Stamina drills, had earned him a modest amount of expectation.
But actual combat blew past those expectations by a wide margin.
‘Now I’m interested.’
It wasn’t only Hyeonjun.
Seong Sohui and Kim Changdong, who were displaying overwhelming strength unlike any of the other Hunters.
Just how far did the power of these three really go?
Nam Jaewoon rested his hand on the Level Controller.
“Te-team Leader?”
A team member stared at his hand in confusion.
Nam Jaewoon flinched for a moment and snapped back to himself.
‘…I nearly crossed the line.’
Arbitrarily manipulating the Level was not permitted.
If you were the facilitator, you were to do exactly as instructed and nothing more.
‘That’s how it has to be…’
And yet, why?
Why did a craving to watch someone fight an even stronger opponent keep welling up somewhere deep inside him?
Woooong.
Just then, his smartphone buzzed.
Nam Jaewoon checked the notification.
A short message from Choi Jaeil, Director of the Management Bureau.
It said that all the observers had agreed, and that depending on the judgment of the on-site supervisor, additional Level adjustments were permitted.
It seemed everyone was eager to measure the size of the talent they had stumbled upon in such an unexpected place.
‘Viewed coldly, not adjusting it is the right call.’
More than half the Hunters were already struggling at their current Level.
Even when they belatedly pooled their strength, it wasn’t enough. That was what their limit meant.
‘Should I really concern myself with those who have already hit their wall?’
Wouldn’t it be more correct to push the talent they had found to its very limit?
After all, what was the reason this orientation had begun in the first place?
‘To find rough gems.’
Once a rough gem has been found, there is only one thing left to do.
To gauge the size of that gem.
Nam Jaewoon made up his mind.
For the sake of the nation’s development and safety.
He would gladly drive the blossoming talents to the edge of a cliff.
Click.
Level 4.
A level that only D-Grade Awakened could hope to handle.
And on top of that, an additional target setting.
The Robots that had effortlessly driven back Hunters struggling at Level 3 began moving in unison in one direction.
They no longer roamed the building; they set out in search of designated individuals.
.
.
.
“Why are there so many!”
Seong Sohui vented her frustration and kept hurling flames.
Unlike before, the Robots would not go down easily.
Even the ones she had already knocked down were getting back up and charging at her.
“What the hell is going on!”
Meanwhile, Kim Changdong was facing hardships of his own.
“Gah!”
He barely dodged one attack, only for another to come flying in and slam into his side.
Since he fought mainly in close-quarters combat, his situation was worse than Seong Sohui’s.
Whoosh!
A fist came flying toward his face.
Kim Changdong sensed he couldn’t avoid it.
The moment he thought he’d been struck for good.
Ting!
A Magic Arrow streaked in from somewhere and struck the robot’s arm.
The angle of the twisted arm.
Thud!
The robot’s fist buried itself in the ground right beside Kim Changdong’s head.
“Hmm.”
He sensed someone’s presence.
Kim Changdong lifted his head.
Hyeonjun stood there with a War Hammer resting on his shoulder.
“Strange.”
Hyeonjun muttered and swung the War Hammer.
The iron mass struck the robot square in the belly.
Clang!
With a clear metallic ring, the robot tumbled across the ground.
“Why are they suddenly going after people instead of the buildings?”
The robots, which had been hunting after the buildings all along, had started prioritizing people over structures.
That was exactly why Hyeonjun had left the area in front of the building.
‘And they’ve gotten even stronger.’
The robot that had just been hit got back up as if it were nothing.
Until now, a single hit would have made them stagger, but these looked completely unfazed.
‘Looks like they’ve leveled up somehow.’
It didn’t matter.
Level 3 had been far too easy to begin with.
‘Even I didn’t realize I could be this strong.’
Hyeonjun gripped the War Hammer tightly and swung.
Bbang-gak!
Thwack!
Unlike the Level 3 fight, this battle dragged on much longer.
But in the end, the robots dropped to their knees before Hyeonjun.
Catching his breath, Hyeonjun held out a hand to Kim Changdong.
“Are you okay?”
“T-thank you.”
Kim Changdong was flustered.
It was the reason Hyeonjun’s fighting style was completely different from last time.
‘How did he change this much?’
Just as he was puzzling over it.
Shwaek!
A whistling sound sliced through the air.
Hyeonjun whipped his body around.
Ting!
An arrow came flying from somewhere, struck the War Hammer, and bounced off.
Kim Changdong’s eyes went wide.
‘He didn’t dodge it, he knocked it away?’
I didn’t even notice it coming.
“That was close.”
His tone was as casual as ever.
Kim Changdong was left speechless by that composed reaction.
“Grab your weapon. Here they come.”
“Ah, right!”
Kim Changdong snatched up the Longsword he’d dropped.
Three robots were closing in on the two of them.
Farther back, another robot had an arrow nocked on its bowstring.
“Shouldn’t we deal with the ranged one first…”
“That one’s fine for now. Let’s take down these guys in front first.”
Hyeonjun kicked off the ground and charged into the midst of the robots.
The War Hammer swung with full force.
The robot nimbly dodged the attack, and the heavy blow slammed down into the ground.
Thud!
At the same moment, Hyeonjun’s back was fully exposed.
The robot slipped into that gap.
“Uh, uh! Behind you!”
Kim Changdong cried out in a panic, but it was already too late.
That was when it happened.
Whoosh!
A Magic Arrow materialized out of thin air and struck the head of the robot that was about to attack Hyeonjun.
Caught off guard by the sudden barrage, the robot faltered.
Hyeonjun didn’t let that split-second opening slip past him. He turned his body.
Bang!
The robot’s head, struck by the War Hammer, slammed into the ground.
‘No way. That’s impossible.’
Kim Changdong stood there, dumbstruck, and could only admire him.
‘He can do that without even looking?’
It was a mastery of magic so overwhelming that “astonishing” was the only word that came close.
Bang!
Another deafening crash.
The War Hammer came down on the fallen robot’s head, delivering the final blow.
Just as Hyeonjun was about to throw himself toward the next target without a moment’s hesitation—
‘Here it comes.’
Hyeonjun sensed the arrow flying toward him.
He immediately summoned a Magic Arrow and fired it.
Ping!
The two arrows collided.
The Magic Arrow vanished, and the arrow the robot had shot dropped to the ground.
“…What?”
Kim Changdong couldn’t believe his eyes.
The accuracy was so staggering it brought to mind an air defense network.
He had known about Hyeonjun’s magical precision from his skill training, but it still left him in awe.
‘Hitting an arrow with an arrow…’
Kim Changdong forgot he was supposed to help and simply watched Hyeonjun fight.
He had already thought Hyeonjun was impressive the last time he saw him a few days ago, but he had believed he could catch up to some degree.
Yet now, there seemed to be a gap between them that he could never hope to close.
-Aaaaaah!
Then, a scream rang out from somewhere nearby.
It wasn’t very far away.
.
.
.
“How far are you going to chase me?!”
Sohui had burned through too much magic and her strength was running low.
She had chosen a tactical retreat, but her body had lost its strength, and even running away was not easy.
‘What’s with these guys? Why did they suddenly get so strong?!’
Something outside must have intervened.
I don’t know what it was, though.
If things continued like this, there was no doubt she would be caught and beaten by them.
“Kyaa!”
Sohui, running in a frenzy, tripped over something and rolled roughly across the ground.
Several daggers scattered around her.
She tried to scramble to her feet, but the robots that had closed in within seconds surrounded her.
“Is there no one here?! Someone, come help me!”
Sohui shouted with everything she had left.
She tried using a skill, desperate to fight back.
But all that appeared in her palm was a tiny flame.
Even that flickered on and off, like a lighter running out of fuel.
Her mana was completely spent.
It was the price of fighting without holding anything back.
“Kyaaaah! Get away from me!”
Sohui’s breathing grew ragged.
Something she had never once imagined was gradually becoming reality.
“Me, get hurt?”
Fear settled into her eyes as the robots drew closer, an emotion she had never felt before.
Dread. Terror.
It was the first time in her life she had ever experienced anything like it.
‘How… in a place like this…’
Though at worst, it would probably end with her being knocked unconscious.
Even that was unfamiliar to her.
Just as the future she never wanted was about to become reality.
Pak-thunk!
The robot’s weapon, inches from her face, vanished from her field of vision in an instant.
Bang!
A shockwave and a roar rolled through the ground beneath her.
Seong Sohui turned her head.
Standing there was someone she never could have expected.
“Wow, I thought so, but it really is you.”
Hyeonjun glanced at the dagger scattered across the floor and clicked his tongue.
“Seriously, you grabbed all the daggers?”
“Be—behind you…!”
A robot crept up behind Hyeonjun’s back as he spoke so calmly.
Crack!
But before she could even finish her warning, Hyeonjun was already moving.
His body spun lightly.
The concentrated force at the War Hammer’s striking point collided with the blunt weapon the robot had swung.
Ka-clang!
Sparks flew.
Then came the robots’ coordinated assault.
Three or four robots lunged at Hyeonjun from every direction.
‘That’s quite a few.’
Hyeonjun calmly leapt diagonally and slipped out of the encirclement with ease.
The robots charged at him again.
Hyeonjun dealt with them through fluid, flowing movements, as smooth as water.
With every motion, the next one had already taken shape in his mind.
Without even trying to think, the information his senses picked up on instinct filled his head naturally.
Predicting the opponents’ movements.
Shifting his body in the optimal direction, leading into evasion and counterattack.
The whole sequence flowed on without a single hitch.
[Activating .]
Now and then, he used the skill to keep the robots approaching from blind spots at bay.
A fierce fight between the robots and Hyeonjun, carried on without anyone else’s interference.
The winner was obvious.
***
The Management Bureau’s conference room fell silent.
The executives, who only moments ago had been chattering away with their impressions, had lost all words at the battle on the screen.
A remarkably polished fight.
It was movement and destructive power rarely seen from E-Rank Hunters.
“…It’s over.”
Choi Jaeil, who had forgotten even to breathe, finally spoke.
The robots had all collapsed without anyone noticing when.
Had they leveled up, they would have gotten back up and fought again, but now there was no need for that.
This much was enough to gauge the size of the Rough Gem.
“The robots just now. You said they were Level 4, didn’t you?”
One executive raised his hand and asked.
Choi Jaeil nodded.
“That’s right.”
“That Hunter, Hyeonjun. Is he affiliated with anyone right now?”
Another executive asked.
Taking that as a cue, the other executives began to chime in as well.
“If he isn’t, we’d like to bring him in.”
“Hey, I was the first to bring it up.”
“Nabi Guild would also like to request that this Hunter join us!”
The room erupted at once, like a rebound after silence.
Hyeonjun had been posting outstanding grades all along, and now that he’d shown such overwhelming strength in battle, every executive wanted to recruit him before anyone else could.
Choi Jaeil watched the officers raising their voices at one another and let the corners of his mouth lift.
‘Saved.’
A Rough Gem that not even the Guild had managed to find.
He was only one man, but the fact that he had overpowered the other Hunters meant a great deal.
“Heh, heh.”
Better than expected.
Choi Jaeil tried his best to hold back his laughter, but—
“HAHAHAHA!”
In the end, a hearty laugh burst through his lips.

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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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