Copying Runes to Become the World's Strongest - 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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Chapter 6
Day 9.
Agility 100, Stamina 19 achieved.
But I couldn’t go hunting.
The muscle aches caught up with me late, and I spent the whole day lying down.
Day 10.
Stamina 29 achieved.
Caught 8 Rune Rabbits.
Sold the Agility runes too.
Rune sales: 280,000 won
Settlement: 196,000 won.
Day 11.
Stamina 39 achieved.
Caught 10 Rune Rabbits.
Settlement: 245,000 won.
Day 12.
Stamina 49 achieved.
“And then the body aches.”
Maybe it was from hunting two days in a row.
I’d felt fine yesterday, but today the muscle pain came creeping in.
“From now on, I’ll need to hunt every other day.”
Unless I had a party, that is.
Hunting alone was putting a lot of strain on me in more ways than one.
“Still, it’s better than a few days ago.”
The day after I first went hunting.
Back then, I really couldn’t move a muscle.
Aside from trips to the bathroom and meals, I did nothing but lie there the whole day, quite literally.
“What a waste of time that was.”
A body that had been working every single day.
Even while suffering through such severe aches, I couldn’t shake the feeling that my time was being wasted.
“I can’t spend today like that either. I should do something.”
Exercise means using my body, so that’s out.
Theory study? I already know plenty, so there’s nothing more to study.
“Ah, maybe I’ll do that.”
Hyeonjun sat down at the low table.
Hunting was gradually finding its rhythm.
Now it was time to start planning how to reach E-Rank.
“There are three conditions for reaching E-Rank.”
Hyeonjun jotted the conditions down with a pen in his notebook.
1. Reach E-Grade for the Soul Circuit.
2. Complete the Hunter Education Institute’s beginner course.
3. Clear one F-Rank Closed Gate.
First, the first item: upgrading the Soul Circuit’s grade.
To raise the circuit’s grade, I need the Five Major Runes, meaning every Stat has to reach 100.
“That’s five hundred runes in total.”
In cash, it comes to over 100 million won.
It wasn’t an impossible sum for ordinary Hunters, but it wasn’t exactly easy either.
“Back then, that was money I could never dream of.”
That was how it used to be.
But now, time would take care of it.
“Agility 100. Stamina 49. The rest of the Stats at 10. I need 321 more runes.”
The Stats that stopped awkwardly at 9 could be filled in with original runes.
‘Thirty-two days from now.’
If I don’t waste the Copy Skill on anything else, the Soul Circuit will reach E-Grade on Day 32.
“The first one’s done. Next, the second.”
Pass the promotion exam held by the Hunter Education Institute.
The Hunter Education Institute is a government-certified educational facility that offers a wide range of learning related to Hunters.
It was founded for the purpose of basic education about Awakened and Anomaly Spaces, and it served as a kind of preventive measure to stop Hunters from dying recklessly.
‘So to become a Hunter, you basically have to take the basic classes and sit for the exam.’
Though since it’s online, hardly anyone actually takes it seriously.
Anyway, I have to pass the Hunter Education Institute’s promotion exam.
The official name is the E-Rank Hunter Qualification Exam.
Literally, it was a test to see whether you were qualified to become an E-Rank Hunter.
“I heard it’s not that hard.”
It’s absolute evaluation, not relative.
Clear the set benchmark and you pass, becoming an E-Rank Hunter.
“And it’s free, too.”
The second item didn’t seem worth worrying about.
The third one was the problem.
“One clear of an F-Rank Closed Gate.”
It was a Closed Gate he’d rather never set foot in, but there was no avoiding it if he wanted to climb a rank.
“Well, at least it’s just the one time.”
Hyeonjun felt uneasy, but a strange flutter of excitement stirred in him too.
It was much like the feeling he’d had when he first dreamed of becoming a Hunter.
‘An unknown space, full of experiences no one can predict.’
Danger, in other words, was just another word for thrills.
As a reckless boy, Hyeonjun had dreamed of that thrill and yearned to become a Hunter.
It was only after an unforeseen accident, and the arrival of someone he had to protect, that he’d let go of that longing.
“The situation’s still the same… but maybe it’s fine to take on a little challenge.”
After several days of hunting, Hyeonjun had gained quite a bit of confidence.
Even in a dungeon where unpredictable things happen, he figured he could handle it just fine if it was F-Grade.
“Not right away, of course.”
For now, only his Agility was high.
He needed to grow a bit more.
“At the very least, I should have my Soul Circuit at E-Grade.”
If Strength, Agility, and Stamina all reached 100, it’d be worth a try.
But Hyeonjun wanted something more certain, something safer.
“It’s a place where you could die in a heartbeat…”
Death.
Even imagining it made his skin crawl.
It wasn’t simply that he feared dying, though. There was something far more terrifying.
The pressure the world would heap on his little sister if he were gone.
That was the one thing he never wanted to pass on to her.
“So, as safely as possible.”
Hyeonjun wrote something new beneath the third item.
3-1. Goals for safety.
3-1.1 Reach E-Grade Soul Circuit.
3-1.2 Gain experience.
‘I still lack real experience as a Hunter.
I’ve been into dungeons ranked above F a few times, but only as a porter.
Even that I’d considered too risky, so I hadn’t done it often.
‘And so far, the only monster I’ve taken down since becoming a Hunter is the Rune Rabbit.’
No one knows what kind of monster might show up inside a dungeon.
I need to face as many different kinds of monsters as possible and build up real combat experience.
‘I know the theory inside and out, but actually facing them is a different story.’
Hyeonjun added one more line beneath that.
-Once Stamina and Strength both hit 100, hunt in fields other than the Grassland Field too.
It was a neat summary of his plans going forward.
“Oh, and once my Soul Circuit reaches E-Grade, I should try a party hunt at least once.”
Dungeons can’t be entered alone.
It isn’t a system restriction. It’s a legal one, meant to prevent Hunters from dying recklessly.
It’d be good to get used to hunting with other people in advance, just in case.
“All right. That should do for the plan.”
Just as Hyeonjun put a period at the end of his notes.
Buzz-buzz.
His smartphone, which hadn’t rung much since he’d quit his job, started vibrating.
On the screen, the word “Sister” appeared.
“What’s going on?”
His sister usually reached out through the messaging app; she hardly ever called.
And right now she should still be at school, of all times.
“Isn’t it still too early for vacation?”
Hyeonjun answered the phone, a flicker of puzzlement crossing his face.
“Oh, hey, Hyeona.”
-Brother, can you talk right now? You didn’t come out of work, did you?
She still didn’t know he was working as a Hunter.
He knew she’d worry the moment she found out, so he’d been waiting for the right opportunity to tell her.
“I can talk, so I picked up. But why are you calling?”
-They’re kicking me out of the dorm.
“What? Why?”
It was a bolt from the blue.
They were kicking her out of the dorm, just like that?
-They’re renovating the whole dormitory.
“…Ugh, you should’ve led with that. I thought you were getting kicked out for good.”
-Hehehe. I was hoping for that reaction.
“When are you coming home? Today?”
-No. They said it starts a few days after vacation begins, so I’ll probably head home about two weeks in.
Hyeonjun glanced around the apartment.
It was roomy enough for two people to lie down, but not nearly big enough for living together.
“Will you be okay? It’s a semi-basement, it’s going to be rough.”
-Of course I’ll be okay. It’s not like it’s a garbage dump.
“I’m just worried you won’t be able to study.”
-I’ll just study outside. It’s fine.
“Outside?”
The neighborhood he lived in was full of hills.
The semi-basement apartment sat right at the top of the highest one among them.
Getting to the subway meant walking ten minutes to the village bus stop and riding down, so the transportation was dismal.
“You didn’t forget where the place is, did you?”
-Of course not! That distance is just good exercise, so don’t worry.
“Hmm…”
-Oh, Brother, I’m hanging up. Class is about to start.
“Alright. See you in a week.”
Hyeonjun ended the call.
He stared at the blinking screen for a while, then opened his banking app and checked his balance.
The balance was more than enough to cover a two-room place with money left over.
But it was money that was already spoken for, all of it going somewhere.
“Considering the income I’ve been bringing in since I started as a Hunter, I should be able to refill it quickly enough.”
His worries deepened.
Until now, his sister had stayed at the dorm even during vacations.
Next year her serious study grind would begin in earnest, so he wanted her to be able to relax at home this winter break.
“Yeah. If I push myself a bit, it’ll be fine.”
After much deliberation, Hyeonjun made up his mind.
He would leave the semi-basement he’d lived in for several years and move into a new home.
***
From decision to action took no time at all.
Hyeonjun went straight to a real estate agency.
Once he laid out his rough requirements, the agent introduced him to a place.
“This one fits exactly what you described.”
Two rooms. Good heating, windows, plenty of sunlight coming in,
and on top of that, appliances like a refrigerator, washing machine, and bed.
“I’ll take this one.”
Hyeonjun signed the contract quickly and moved out of the semi-basement.
When he told the landlord he was leaving, the man finally said with a smile that he was glad he was moving up in the world.
“Most people don’t stay as long as you did, you know.”
According to the landlord, before Hyeonjun had moved in, the tenants had changed every few months.
That was how hard the place was to live in.
“I thought it was pretty livable, though.”
Hyeonjun got ready to move.
Packing took exactly thirty minutes.
Despite all those years, everything he owned fit into a single box.
“Turns out I’ll have nothing left once I throw out the junk.”
The bulkier stuff was the low table and the mattress, both of which he’d picked up off the street, so he slapped disposal stickers on them and tossed them out.
The blankets were so worn out that he threw those away too.
“Goodbye. Banjiha, you’ve grown on me.”
Hyeonjun moved into the New House.
He had only one box of belongings, so the move was over before it could really count as one.
“Now this is a home.”
Wallpaper so clean it looked freshly pasted.
It was a different world from Banjiha, where mold was visible no matter which way you looked.
“And it even has LED lights.”
Back in Banjiha, he’d used an incandescent bulb of unknown age.
So whenever he switched it on, which was rarely, the whole room took on a yellowed tint.
“So this is what I’ve been paying for.”
Hyeonjun flopped down onto the bed that came with the place.
A softness that had nothing in common with the mattress he’d scavenged.
His eyes felt ready to fall shut at any moment.
“No, no. I can’t sleep yet. I need to finish everything I planned for today.”
Now that his cold had left him with some free time, Hyeonjun intended to fill in the remaining daily necessities and furniture.
“Buy what I need in person, and get whatever I can through Carrot Market.”
Hyeonjun was constantly going back and forth between the house and the outside.
Thanks to his restless movement, the once-empty home was starting to look reasonably furnished.
TV, an office PC with a monitor, a microwave, a chest of drawers, and so on.
“Phew.”
Even though it was winter, Hyeonjun wiped the sweat beading on his forehead.
“At this rate, I might finally be living like a human being.”
After finally washing his body with warm water, Hyeonjun sat down in the living room.
Wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts in the middle of winter felt strangely off.
“I used to pile on a padded jacket and even pants just to save on heating.”
Hyeonjun, carried along by the momentum, ordered fried chicken and sat down in front of the TV.
It was a reward for finishing the move in a single day, and also a farewell to the version of himself who had agonized over every single won.
“I’m happy.”
Eating chicken in front of the TV.
Honestly, he had thought that days like this would never come again.
But his life had turned around, as if by miracle.
“So it seems there really is no law saying I have to just die.”
Of course, nothing had really changed in any concrete way yet.
His mother was still lying in the hospital, and the debt hadn’t gone anywhere.
Still, it meant a great deal that his hope finally had a basis.
Hope that had been precarious for lack of any foundation had now, at last, gained real strength.

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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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