F-Rank Secretly Becomes Stronger - Chapter 47

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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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47

“Huff… huff…”

Ragged breathing escaping sharply.

The metallic taste in his throat and the fatigue crushing his muscles gnawed at his mind.

He desperately grabbed Jung Juhyeok’s shoulder as he ran ahead and said.

“P-please save me.”

“Let’s run just 5 more kilometers and then rest.”

They had already run 15 kilometers.

And that was in less than an hour.

It was practically the kind of kilometers per hour you’d need to be on a bicycle to achieve.

Of course, it was normal for an awakened Hunter’s body to have better stamina and speed than ordinary people.

But running 15 kilometers in under an hour was quite difficult even for a B-rank Hunter.

‘What kind of body does this guy have?’

If he was just F-rank, his Physical Enhancement should be less developed than his own.

Yet with that body, he was showing endurance on a completely different level.

Of course, he had thought enough that an irregular would be different from others, but this was an ability that far exceeded expectations.

“Let’s cover the remaining distance in 30 minutes and rest immediately.”

“Ha… what do you mean…!”

Even when he replied with a dying voice, Juhyeok continued running forward as if there would be no compromise.

Eventually, Hyeonsu somehow mustered all his dying strength to cover the remaining distance in 30 minutes, and as soon as they reached their goal, he collapsed on a bench, gasping for breath.

“Hueok… huk… I really think I’m going to die…”

“But you ended up running it all.”

Juhyeok handed water to Hyeonsu who was lying sprawled out.

He asked with a refreshing smile.

“If you do it, it all works out. Right?”

“Right my ass… ha…”

His speech wouldn’t even come out properly from exhaustion.

He wanted to retort with something, but he was too busy supplying oxygen right now and could only keep repeating inhaling and exhaling.

‘Did I suggest training together for nothing?’

Hyeonsu had received a guild invitation from Juhyeok.

When he was about to be put in a position to work together due to his grandfather’s semi-forced acceptance, he barely managed to get through the situation by saying one thing.

[How can I work with someone I’ve known for less than a week?]

Honestly, he did have a good impression of the person called Juhyeok.

But if you asked whether he was ready to take on something as important as guild management already, the answer was obviously no.

Partnership in this industry required that much trust, and his grandfather had acknowledged that too.

There, Hyeonsu had tried to turn crisis into opportunity instead.

[Let’s get to know each other a bit by training together and then decide.]

Using the excuse of getting to know each other, he created an opportunity to train with that famous F-rank irregular.

Of course, there was also the purpose of building trust, but getting the opportunity to train with him was most important.

‘I was curious about what kind of training method he used to become so strong…’

Today had arrived with his curiosity about whether he had some special training method.

He had visited his home from the morning, eaten freshly baked bread that his mother had made, and started simple warm-ups together.

‘I never imagined we’d run 20 kilometers from the morning.’

They had covered 20 kilometers in less than 2 hours.

Juhyeok had definitely called it a warm-up, but his legs were shaking and he felt like he couldn’t move anymore today.

‘He’s not strong for nothing.’

An irregular who became strong through training and experience alone, without shortcuts.

If someone with F-rank talent could slaughter A-ranks to this degree, was this level of running necessary?

Suddenly curious, Hyeonsu asked in a hoarse voice while receiving the water bottle.

“Juhyeok, do you run like this every day?”

“No. Not every day.”

Well, that would make sense.

How can a person run 15 kilometers every day in an hour and a half—

“Today I ran 10 kilometers less because I was running with Hunter Hyeonsu.”

“….”

What he ran today was the reduced amount out of consideration.

After hearing that, Hyeonsu gave up trying to understand Jung Juhyeok any further.

‘He’s just a monster.’

They say effort is also a talent, and that person is a genius of effort.

It felt foolish that he had been lamenting why he wasn’t getting stronger without even reawakening.

‘No, I’m not the one being foolish.’

Who in the world would run 25 kilometers as a morning warm-up to get stronger?

It wasn’t that he was weak to begin with, but rather Jung Juhyeok’s way of thinking was incomprehensible.

“Are you going to train again after this?”

“Yes, I’ll rest for about 30 minutes then go train with a friend I know.”

“From what I hear, you don’t have a guild yet so you wouldn’t have a place to train….”

“I train at my friend’s guild.”

Training at a friend’s guild.

Usually, if you’re not a member of the guild, they won’t allow you to use their facilities.

‘Maybe they allow it because he’s somewhat of a celebrity?’

Curious about the special treatment, he rested and then walked together to the guild after hearing it was nearby.

That place was a major guild that anyone would recognize just by name.

“Your friend belongs here?”

“Yes, there’s someone named Sui.”

“Sui…?”

A familiar name he had heard somewhere before.

Hyeonsu asked back with a hopeful feeling.

“You don’t mean Han Sui, do you?”

Among people with such an unusual name who were hunters belonging to major guilds, there could only be that one person.

Still, asking with disbelief, Jung Juhyeok nodded his head.

“Yes, Han Sui. Do you know her?”

“What hunter wouldn’t know that person?”

An insane talent who had never lost the valedictorian position since her Academy days.

A woman who was called South Korea’s greatest prospect because there was no one of her age who could match her.

Of course, Jung Juhyeok was now exceptionally strong without needing to be compared to that person, but it was fascinating that another celebrity’s name came up.

“How did you become close with her?”

“We’re Academy classmates. We became close after graduation though.”

Jung Juhyeok spoke as if it was nothing special.

Then suddenly he looked across the street and pointed with his chin.

“She’s over there across the street.”

“….”

When he turned his head in the direction Jung Juhyeok was looking, there stood a girl who appeared quite short.

Though it was a bit blurry from a distance, it was definitely her from the photos he had seen.

“You train with that person every day?”

“Yes.”

“Wow….”

Training together with South Korea’s greatest prospect.

Though this morning’s warm-up was painfully difficult, training with her would definitely be a great help in his hunter career.

“Today you’ll be sparring with Hunter Hyeonsu.”

“What?”

Wondering if he had heard wrong, he turned his head toward Jung Juhyeok and asked again.

“Today you’ll be sparring with Hunter Hyeonsu.”

“I’m sparring with her?”

Sparring with Hunter Han Sui, who was said to be strong enough to enter A-rank Gates without any problem?

When he asked again about this unbelievable story, Jung Juhyeok said.

“Does that feel a bit burdensome?”

“Oh, no. That would be great for me!”

To think he would get to spar with South Korea’s greatest prospect.

This was an experience you couldn’t buy even with money.

With overwhelming emotions, Hyeonsu desperately shook his head at him.

‘Sparring with Hunter Han Sui… I’m glad I came along today.’

Just training together today would be incredibly helpful.

At first, he wondered if he had come for nothing, but now that he was having such a rare experience, his happiness made him feel like he had an invisible tail wagging.

‘At this rate, won’t I reawaken today?’

His happiness circuit spinning excitedly.

Just as he was indulging in all sorts of fantasies in his head, the traffic light turned green and Han Sui slowly approached.

When she crossed the street and greeted Jung Juhyeok, Hyeonsu also smiled brightly and greeted her along with him.

“Hello! Hunter Han Sui!”

*

“Please spare me! Hunter Han Sui!”

Hyeonsu screaming and running away.

Despite his earnest cries, Sui chased him to the end and persistently beat him.

“Agh! Agh! Wait a moment, time out!”

“You already used up all your timeouts.”

With a merciless voice, she caught Hyeonsu who was crouched on the ground like catching a mouse.

Jung Juhyeok, unable to watch any longer, thought this wasn’t right and stopped Sui.

“Han Sui, that’s enough.”

“Time isn’t up yet.”

“He’s already lost his fighting spirit.”

Sui mercilessly poured attacks even on an opponent who was crying for mercy.

Right before sparring, Hyeonsu had said not to go easy on him, but he didn’t expect her to be cruel enough to beat him while he was lying on the ground.

“I’ll do the rest with you, Mr. Hyeonsu can rest for a bit.”

“…Yes.”

Hyeonsu barely got up from his position, supporting his battered body.

As he left the sparring hall, Jung Juhyeok received the wooden sword and stood in front of Sui.

‘The wall of A-rank is too high…’

Still, since he was B-rank, he thought he would at least be able to exchange swords a few times.

From the start, attacks he couldn’t parry came flying, and before long, he ended up slumped against the wall.

Sitting quietly, he let out a deep sigh filled with disappointment.

Not long after, the sparring between the other two began.

Clang―!

Simple yet spectacular sparring.

Jung Juhyeok stood as the protagonist in the scene he had imagined.

On equal terms with the famous Han Sui… no, it even felt like she was going easy on him.

‘Could I ever become like that someday.’

The S-rank level reached with F-rank talent.

Just because he had achieved it, did that really mean he could do it too?

‘…I don’t know.’

If he worked as hard as Jung Juhyeok every day, it might really be possible.

But was he really the kind of person who could live obsessed with practice every single day like today, just like him?

He had doubts.

However, along with that, he had this thought.

‘I want to do it too.’

Desire.

He wanted to make a bigger name for himself as a Hunter.

He wanted to become stronger than anyone and stand confidently before his grandfather who demanded inheritance.

What should he do to achieve that?

‘I need to be like Mr. Jung Juhyeok.’

He needed to work harder like that person.

If an F-rank could do it, there’s no reason a B-rank couldn’t, right?

Rather, if he trained alongside that person doing the same training every day, wouldn’t there come a day when he’d become even stronger than him?

‘Let me watch from the side and give it a try.’

Since he said the guild would be operated on a small scale anyway, if he handled management work and trained with him every day, someday he too could get close to S-rank.

He needed to absorb everything related to growth by staying as close to him as possible and become stronger.

‘Ugh, I really hate management work though…’

If he had to become a connection with him, this was the only situation available.

Hyeonsu had no other choice.

‘I have to do it.’

The studying he would have to reluctantly start again in order to stick by his side.

It was really annoying, but he grudgingly made the decision with no other choice.

*

‘Everything worked out well.’

Hyeonsu, who accepted to take on management after training with him today.

As compensation for that, he proposed the condition of training together every day from now on, and Jung Juhyeok immediately accepted since there was no reason to refuse such a condition.

‘Now I just need to gather money.’

He had found someone to handle management, and for money, he just needed to keep going around Gates.

Opening a guild by himself was really just a matter of time.

‘Now I just need to enter the artifact a few more times, then go to Garitos and have the artifact removed, and it’ll be perfect.’

His steps heading home, inwardly satisfied with how smoothly the plan was proceeding.

The moment he was walking alone through the dark alley illuminated by streetlights, lost in thought.

“Jung Juhyeok?”

He heard a voice calling his name.

When he turned around, some woman he’d never seen before approached him.

“You’re Jung Juhyeok, right?”

A tone that called him familiarly as if she knew him.

“Hey~ Long time no see. I heard you’ve become really famous lately.”

“….”

A complete stranger.

Her face approaching while reeking of cigarettes wasn’t in his memory at all.

“What’s with that expression… Don’t tell me you don’t remember?”

“…Well.”

Was she really someone he knew?

To say no seemed wrong given how genuinely happy she looked, making him hesitate.

“To be honest, I don’t remember…?”

“That’s too much… You used to come to your mother’s bakery often during elementary school.”

She used to come to Mother’s bakery too?

‘There were way too many kids like that.’

The bakery where he often brought friends from the same school.

Besides, during elementary school was when he got along with everyone regardless of age or gender, so there were too many kids he could think of.

“Now that you’re famous, you can’t even remember your classmate’s face?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Yeah right.”

She could have been hurt by the fact that he forgot, but she laughed it off casually as if it was understandable.

She didn’t seem to want to make things more awkward as she turned to go back the other way and said.

“Just say hi if we see each other again.”

“…Got it.”

Saying that, she quickly disappeared.

He wondered if she was deliberately acting friendly to extract something from him, but seeing how she disappeared without being clingy, it didn’t seem like that was her purpose.

‘Who was it… Hana? Sumin?’

A name that wouldn’t come to mind no matter how hard he tried to remember.

That day he went home filled with questions.

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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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