F-Rank Secretly Becomes Stronger - Chapter 3

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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3

[You must come out starting tomorrow, okay?]

Leaving behind the homeroom instructor who had been worried about him, he arrived at the dormitory.

As soon as he entered, he searched for all kinds of information on his cell phone.

‘A cube-shaped spatial transfer artifact…’

The Training Room, the appearance of the artifact.

He searched for all the information he knew, but only found a few similar stories.

He couldn’t find the same experience he had gone through anywhere.

“Hah… What the hell is going on.”

At first, he wondered if he had a vivid dream like Zhuangzi’s butterfly dream.

In fact, the artifact didn’t have spatial transfer ability, but illusion ability.

He even considered the premise that the storage room door had never been opened, and even the cube-shaped artifact was an illusion…

“Looking at what appeared on my body, it’s definitely not an illusion.”

After entering the dormitory, he first went to the shower room to organize his thoughts and examine his body.

After taking off his shirt, what he saw was a tattoo on his left arm that wasn’t there before.

The tattoo that looked like ancient patterns made him realize that the Training Room wasn’t fiction.

If it had only been that, it could have been seen as just evidence of being affected by an illusion artifact, but the problem was that wasn’t the end.

[The Training Room lacks power source!]

[Mana replenishment for Training Room upgrade and operation 1/100…]

A message appeared when he touched the tattoo.

Just like before being dragged to the grassland, it appeared as a transparent window before his eyes.

“It’s definitely not an illusion… but then the problem gets bigger.”

The message appeared even though he wasn’t carrying the artifact on his body.

There was only one situation that could be inferred from that alone.

‘The artifact must have attached itself to my body.’

It wasn’t impossible.

Since gates opened and artifacts were discovered everywhere, there had been numerous attempts to implant their powerful abilities into the human body.

However, there was one problem.

‘The human body cannot withstand an artifact for more than 10 minutes.’

Whether artificially or naturally, when an artifact dwells in the body, even awakened humans cannot withstand the latent mana inside and soon cause a massive explosion.

Therefore, the fusion of artifacts and humans was still a story of the distant future.

With current human technology, it was nothing short of science fiction that was nearly impossible.

‘That’s definitely how it should be…’

His body was enduring for more than 12 hours with an artifact dwelling inside.

And he was maintaining a physically intact state without any pain that would be felt just before explosion.

“Does that make sense.”

It doesn’t make sense.

At least it was a state that couldn’t be understood with his common sense.

It might have been comforting to have advice from an expert, but it was difficult to confide in anyone easily.

‘The moment I say an artifact has dwelled in my body, I’ll immediately become a target for disposal.’

One of the rules designated by the Hunter Association.

If a human with an artifact dwelling inside is discovered inside or outside a gate, they quickly stop the heart, which is the source of mana, before it explodes.

In other words, humans with artifacts dwelling inside are treated the same as monsters inside gates.

No matter how much he had lived like a model student at school, they would definitely show hostility as soon as he revealed that an artifact had entered him.

‘I don’t feel like there are signs of explosion… but they wouldn’t believe that.’

He wasn’t stupid enough to place false hope on obvious reality and act foolishly.

The fact that an artifact had dwelled in his body was a secret that must not be discovered by anyone.

At the same time, he needed as much information about this artifact as possible.

‘But there’s no information on the internet that seems like this.’

Even though spatial transfer artifacts exist, stories related to dolls and grasslands are nowhere to be seen.

The artifact dwelling within him was likely either not yet revealed to the world, or an artifact kept classified as a state secret.

Since it was an artifact found in the Rooftop Storage of Hunter Academy, far from any Gate, the latter possibility seemed more likely.

‘I don’t know why such a thing was in the Rooftop Storage, but that’s not what’s important right now.’

He had to find information about the artifact somehow.

Only then could he prepare for any potential explosive situation.

“…Should I go outside and move my body around a bit.”

There were limits to what information he could find on the internet.

Moreover, while there were many artifacts similar to his own, he couldn’t see any that had the same nature.

It was impossible to dig up any more information here.

So the next observation method he chose was his own body that housed the artifact.

‘There shouldn’t be anyone at the Training Ground right now, right?’

Night time when there would be as few people as possible, in case problems arose and he got caught.

Seeing the completely dark sky with the sun fully set, he thought there would be no one there at this hour and quickly moved his steps.

*

‘As expected, no one’s here.’

The Training Ground was completely empty with lights on but not a trace of anyone.

While it wasn’t closing time yet, few students remained at the Training Ground until this late hour approaching dawn.

‘Surely it won’t explode just from swinging a sword a bit…?’

Now that he’d arrived at the Training Ground, he felt somewhat afraid.

Even though he’d lasted over 12 hours, what if intense exercise stimulated it and caused an explosion?

Since cases of artifacts fusing with humans always ended in explosion, it was a reasonable concern.

He briefly considered stopping even now, but quickly brushed his face lightly with his hand and changed his mind.

‘…Forget it. If it’s going to explode from swinging that thing around, it’s a body that’ll blow up anyway.’

He had no intention of putting down the sword just because he was afraid of exploding.

If so, it was a moment he would inevitably face someday.

There was no need to amplify his fear with imagination.

Jung Juhyeok lightly kicked the ground a few times and reached for a Wooden Sword lying on the floor.

Just then, the Changing Room door inside the Training Ground opened.

“What, Jung Juhyeok?”

“….”

He thought no one was here, but someone was still around.

Like a pickpocket caught in the act, his hand reaching for the sword stopped and he looked at the other person.

“Haven’t seen you for days, thought you went back home.”

A somewhat cocky tone with short hair.

A male student wearing the same Academy third-year School Uniform as himself.

The sharp eyes were a face he knew well.

“Still planning to graduate before leaving, I guess?”

Third-year runner-up Im Hyeongju.

A person who always made sure to drop a comment when passing by while Jung Juhyeok was focused on training.

The one he’d exchanged the most words with since entering as a first-year… though in reality, he just picked fights one-sidedly.

Anyway, though he didn’t know the exact reason, he was one of those people who looked unfavorably upon him for dwelling only in the Training Ground every day – the type you could find anywhere.

“Why can’t you give up that lingering attachment? I saw this time you didn’t even break 200th place, wouldn’t it be right to just give up?”

“Looks like your training’s done, so go your way.”

Seeing him come out of the Changing Room in School Uniform, it seemed his training was already finished, so couldn’t he just leave?

He’d had enough of dealing with his words for three years already.

He didn’t want to waste time on petty arguments in a situation as unsettling as this.

On any other day, he would have just ignored him moderately and swung his sword.

However, today he needed to move his body without being noticed by others, so he answered curtly, hoping the guy would disappear quickly.

But at even this small reaction, he seemed rather pleased and approached.

“Why~ I’m just worried about you!”

A face that was hard to see as someone who was worried.

I had answered casually, hoping to get out of the training ground as quickly as possible, but it seemed that Jung Juhyeok’s response, when he usually ignored everything, made him feel even better.

“Anyway, with those grades, you won’t be able to get into a proper guild even after graduation.”

“….”

“Or should I introduce you to my dad’s guild? With those grades, even an internship would be tough, but there’s a reason why they say connections matter. I’ll put in a good word for you!”

Hyeongju kept poking at him while bringing up his father’s name.

He always scratched at him in this way.

Always with that arrogant attitude and condescending tone.

I should have dealt with Im Hyeongju by ignoring him as usual, but my mind was a bit impatient and I ended up responding unnecessarily.

‘I should just stay quiet from now on.’

Being treated like I’m invisible is the answer.

I turned my head away from him and put my hand back on the wooden sword I was about to put away.

If it had been another student, I might have hesitated to grab the wooden sword, thinking about the danger of a possible explosion, but seeing him who had interfered with training with all sorts of hysteria for three years, I felt no guilt whatsoever.

‘If it seems dangerous, he’ll run away on his own.’

The academy training ground facilities should be able to withstand most impacts even if they exploded along with the artifact.

I thought that someone who ranked second would notice something strange and run away on their own, so I started training.

“Hey, when someone’s talking to you, shouldn’t you listen?”

“….”

The wooden sword I held after a long time.

It was lighter than the real sword I had held in the space I was dragged into by the artifact.

As I moved a little while holding the sword, the battle I had experienced filled my mind.

‘It remains too perfectly to be called all an illusion.’

The pain I experienced when hit by the doll.

The thrilling sensation of ultimately achieving victory by breaking through the doll’s swordsmanship.

Countless battles had become experience points accumulated in my body.

“Jung Juhyeok. This is an opportunity, I’m telling you? Just get on my good side and I’ll talk to my dad’s guild.”

It definitely wasn’t an illusion.

I had vaguely felt it when showering, but my muscles had also developed noticeably.

I didn’t know how my body had grown in such an absurd space, but I figured it was possible because it was an artifact.

“Hey.”

There were no signs of my heart exploding.

They said that humans fused with artifacts show symptoms of chest tightness or nausea.

Instead, I felt more refreshed than when I had trained before.

My feet became lighter, and my sword path became considerably cleaner.

Skills that had grown enough for me to notice myself.

“What’s the point of being so desperate when no amount of effort will make you succeed? It’s all useless, I tell you.”

Whatever he was babbling about beside me didn’t even register.

Instead, moving with my noticeably improved skills made the corners of my mouth rise faintly.

“You….”

Trembling hands.

Seeing that faint smile, Hyeongju felt an indescribable emotion and simultaneously scrunched up his face.

“Let’s see if you can ignore this too!”

Hyeongju kicked up a wooden sword from the floor, caught it, and charged with a flashy turn movement.

It was a light strike.

A light attack meant to prevent the other person from ignoring him.

It was at a level that wouldn’t be life-threatening even if it hit, but just enough power that Jung Juhyeok wouldn’t be able to counter it.

The sword that spun once around the floor flowed directly toward Jung Juhyeok.

Thunk.

Jung Juhyeok, who had been turned around, concisely turned back, saw through his sword, and deflected it to the side.

“…Huh?”

Along with the unbelievable reality, his strength flowed away and he lost his balance.

Hyeongju fell disgracefully onto the training ground floor and looked up with a dazed expression.

“….”

Eyes colder than ever before.

Pitch-black pupils were looking down at him.

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