I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 243

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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 243.
The next day.
Time had elapsed, and the core absorption concluded as scheduled.
Baek-seol, standing beside me, examined the core directly and broke into a radiant smile.
“The Territory’s grade has risen dramatically!”
“Indeed. I can see it too.”
I nodded, observing the messages materializing before my eyes.
I’d absorbed other territories before, but this time the increase was particularly substantial.
It was likely because the previous lord’s territory had been of considerable caliber.
In truth, it was only natural.
Though the former lord of this place had been defeated elsewhere and driven here in exile, their original grade remained far superior to most.
Their rank had declined somewhat through that process, yet it still exceeded that of other lords of comparable strength.
“With this, we should be able to expand the facilities all at once! We have plenty of mana stones accumulated.”
“Good. I’m leaving that to you. Just tell me later how you plan to develop the facilities.”
“Yes! Leave it to me!”
Baek-seol wagged her tail excitedly.
“So you’ll be staying here for now?”
“Yes. I’ll install a transfer portal first, and then organize the overall chaotic atmosphere.”
The war had ended, but there remained much work within this territory.
I needed to rebuild the defensive barriers and castle walls I’d destroyed, and managing the people was equally crucial.
If they were to rebel from within, it would prove considerably troublesome.
“Anyway, I’ll return here once I exit The Tower. I’ll stay here for a while.”
“Yes!”
Thus I concluded my conversation with Baek-seol and entered the building I was temporarily using.
There was no need for me to involve myself in organizing this place. Now it was time to attend to my own matters.
‘I’ve rested for quite some time.’
Between traveling to another land to conquer The Tower, learning swordsmanship anew from Arthur, and occupying this territory, time had slipped away.
Though I hadn’t perfectly absorbed everything I’d learned, I could continue integrating it while ascending The Tower.
I organized my thoughts and gazed into the void.
‘Proceed to the next floor.’
The moment the thought crystallized, a response came.
A deep hum resonated.
A familiar energy enveloped my body—the sensation of being pulled into somewhere, accompanied by vertigo.
When my senses cleared.
I stood in a space saturated with bleak, ashen tones.
Simultaneously, a message materialized before me.
[Objective: Hunt the Guardians of Purgatory (0/10)]
A straightforward hunting mission, one I hadn’t seen in ages. Yet the prey was far from ordinary.
‘The Guardians of Purgatory, then.’
I surveyed my surroundings with keen attention.
It appeared this floor’s setting was Purgatory.
It seemed clearing the Hidden Floor related to Purgatory last time had influenced the outcome.
“Hmm.”
Jung Han-sung drew his sword and slowly surveyed his surroundings.
To complete the mission, I’d need to find the guardian beast, but all that met my eyes was the Desolate Land stretching endlessly.
‘Well, might as well take a leisurely walk.’
Normally, I would have scoured the area at full speed to hunt for prey, but this time I decided to take things slowly.
For now, I wanted to refrain from deploying other abilities and focus entirely on the sword.
That didn’t mean I’d simply wander aimlessly until enemies appeared.
‘Flow.’
Arthur’s sword ultimately begins by reading the flow and ends by dominating it.
This flow is useful in combat, but depending on how it’s applied, it can serve equally well for reconnaissance.
The reason I hadn’t used it often for exploration before was that I possessed abilities with superior efficiency.
‘For now, I should focus on utilizing this technique well.’
I intended to deliberately accept some inconvenience and engrave the art of reading flow into my very body.
As I continued walking, my perception caught a subtle distortion in the flow ahead.
I immediately headed toward it.
“Grrrrrrr―.”
Before long, I discovered a massive presence at the end of the tangled flow.
By appearance alone, it resembled an enormous wolf, though it was far more than simply oversized.
Its entire body seemed composed of mist, constantly writhing and merging with the surrounding air before reforming itself.
“Grrr!”
The moment I approached, it shifted into a defensive stance and began moving slowly toward me.
With each breath the guardian beast took, mist billowed forth, obscuring my vision.
Though the mist-shrouded body appeared insubstantial at first glance, its footprints left clear marks on the ground where it trod.
‘It’s not a complete spirit form. It seems to possess those characteristics only partially.’
This was the type of opponent difficult to engage with pure physical force alone.
Yet I remained undaunted.
I didn’t draw upon Arzka’s power as I had before, nor did I amplify my lightning abilities.
I simply recalled what I’d learned through a week of unrelenting sparring with Arthur.
Whoooosh―!
At that moment, the guardian beast crouched, and mist suddenly erupted outward in all directions.
I recognized that my opponent was approaching through the mist.
Though its form remained invisible, the flow revealed it with perfect clarity.
Therefore, I lightly swung my sword from where I stood.
Shhhhwack!
“Yelp!”
The guardian beast materialized as it collided with my blade, crying out in pain.
It had tried to approach covertly and strike at my throat, only to have its own neck slashed instead.
Yet the wound fell short of being fatal.
As expected, the Watchdog of Purgatory immediately concealed itself within the mist once more, beginning to circle rapidly around Jung Han-sung.
Yet Jung Han-sung held his ground without wavering.
The creature wouldn’t flee anyway. Especially not after already being struck once.
So I merely had to wait for it to attack.
Ssssshhhhh―.
The mist swirled ceaselessly, repeatedly drawing near to Jung Han-sung’s vicinity before retreating.
The beast understood that reckless approach would only result in being slashed.
But eventually, its patience wore thin.
Shhhhaaaa―.
The mist then split into two directions, both converging on Jung Han-sung simultaneously.
An ordinary person would assume the Watchdog lurked within one of the two.
But to Jung Han-sung, who perceived the world through the flow of energy, the truth was evident.
Neither was an illusion.
Tap―!
Jung Han-sung pushed off lightly from the ground and swept his blade through the air.
Shhhhwaaaack!
From the sword’s edge came a tearing sound, and the Watchdog emerged from the mist. In nearly the same instant, another tendril of mist descended toward Jung Han-sung’s head.
While his attention was drawn, the creature’s other body had targeted him.
But that too fell within Jung Han-sung’s grasp.
Shhhhwack!
Jung Han-sung spun lightly in place, evading the snout that burst from the mist while bringing his blade down vertically.
Crack!
With that single strike, the Watchdog’s head was severed.
It couldn’t even cry out, merely trembling before collapsing.
“Grrrrrrrrr!”
Immediately after, the remaining one lunged forward. It seemed to have lost all reason, which allowed Jung Han-sung to effortlessly pierce a hole through its skull as well.
Having dispatched the Watchdogs in an instant, Jung Han-sung saw the message materialize before him.
[Hunt the Watchdogs of Purgatory (2/10)]
‘So it wasn’t just one after all.’
It appeared that rather than one beast splitting into clones, two had been disguising themselves as a single creature.
Well, it hardly mattered.
Step, step―.
Jung Han-sung resumed walking.
The sensation of cutting through Watchdogs wasn’t unpleasant, but it remained insufficient.
To absorb enlightenment, I needed to move more, to swing my blade more.
Thus Jung Han-sung traversed Purgatory.
* * *
In less than twenty minutes, having hunted the Watchdogs of Purgatory, Jung Han-sung immediately proceeded to the next level.
[Objective: Vanquish the Spirits of Purgatory (0/15)]
[Objective: Eliminate the spirits of Purgatory (0/15)]
The next mission was to hunt the specters of Purgatory. It took merely ten minutes to clear this one.
The specters had congregated together, after all.
The next mission took fifteen minutes. The one after that, ten. I pressed forward relentlessly, ascending floor after floor without fatigue.
And so, I finally reached Floor 120.
[Objective: Defeat the Gatekeeper and enter Purgatory’s Center]
Floor 120 presented a mission distinctly different from those before.
It appeared to be similar to the Hidden Floor—defeat a formidable opponent and advance to the next stage.
A figure materialized before me.
The Gatekeeper I encountered now carried an entirely different presence than the one I’d faced previously.
The Gatekeeper possessed a stature and build comparable to my own.
He wore pristine garments and held a sword in one hand—an appearance that, had we met elsewhere, might have mistaken him for another climber.
“It has been quite some time since I encountered a living being who reached this far.”
The Gatekeeper spoke first.
Unprepared for the opponent to speak, I opened my mouth slowly to respond.
“Are you the Gatekeeper?”
“Indeed.”
The Gatekeeper spoke with his sword held loosely at his side.
“I stand here to bar those without qualification.”
“What qualification is that?”
“To verify whether one can survive what lies beyond.”
The Gatekeeper then slowly raised his sword, pointing it toward me.
“If you cannot defeat even me, there is nothing you could accomplish within.”
“I see. Then we simply fight?”
“Precisely.”
The conversation ended there.
Immediately after, the Gatekeeper pushed off the ground and rushed toward me.
Despite the considerable distance between us, he closed it in less than a second.
A metallic clash rang out.
My sword met the Gatekeeper’s blade.
Upon impact, I felt a subtle numbness ripple through my arm.
It wasn’t merely a matter of raw strength. There was a peculiar force woven into his sword.
Steel shrieked against steel.
Yet the Gatekeeper’s swordsmanship proved equally formidable.
His blade moved at bizarre angles, constantly probing for openings in my defense.
Clang, clang. Clang—!
Of course, I did not yield easily.
What appeared abnormal to the eye followed a consistent pattern when observed as a flow.
The Gatekeeper clearly understood this flow and wielded it with mastery.
Thus, to the untrained eye, his blade seemed to materialize from impossible angles, only to curve away again.
A resonant clash echoed through the chamber.
However, to Jung Han-sung’s eyes, every movement of the Gatekeeper’s blade was legible. And within those openings, it was entirely possible to thrust his own sword through.
Shhwiiing!
Jung Han-sung’s blade suddenly swept across the Gatekeeper’s shoulder and passed through.
Yet the Gatekeeper didn’t retreat; instead, he began wielding his sword with even greater aggression.
Watching the Gatekeeper’s blade move faster and strike harder, Jung Han-sung’s eyes narrowed.
‘He wasn’t fighting at full strength.’
In response, Jung Han-sung began accelerating his own speed as well.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Their blades collided and separated multiple times within a single second, repeating endlessly.
Throughout this exchange, Jung Han-sung carved his blade across the Gatekeeper’s body several times. And with each wound, the Gatekeeper’s blade grew faster.
At some point, both their swords moved at speeds barely visible to the eye, each seeking the other’s openings.
A true clash between swordmasters who had reached the pinnacle of their craft.
‘Excellent.’
Within that dance, Jung Han-sung’s lips curved upward as he surrendered himself to the flow.

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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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