Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 107

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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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107
“The conditions are identical to our last sparring match. The winning team gets a day of rest, while the losing team trains without reprieve.”
“Mi-ran, I’ll be coming over tonight, so leave your door unlocked.”
Jeon Dong-gun was already confident he’d be resting tomorrow and pestered Choi Mi-ran shamelessly.
“You bastard. You stink—get lost.”
“What, you’re being nice to me now?!”
“Shut up, you idiots. If you screw around and lose, I’m abandoning you all, so get your act together.”
Yang Deok-su’s growl made Jeon Dong-gun and Choi Mi-ran lower their eyes. A hierarchy had already formed among the prisoners. Yang Deok-su was first, Heo O-sung second, Jeon Dong-gun and Choi Mi-ran were roughly equal, and Shin Mu-yeol was last.
“Especially you, Shin Mu-yeol. If you collapse pathetically like last time, you’ll die by my hand today.”
Shin Mu-yeol, who had been helplessly overwhelmed by Jin-woo’s summoned hawk last time, hung his head low.
Hyung-bin’s team took the same positions as the previous week, but their expressions showed a different resolve than before.
“Begin!”
Like last time, Jeon Dong-gun fired a fireball at Ye-seul first. But no one moved to defend her.
Boom! The fireball struck Ye-seul’s shield, which had grown stronger from intensive training. However, the attack on Ye-seul triggered Hyung-bin’s guardian skill, boosting his stats.
Multiple hawks from Jin-woo’s summoning soared into the air simultaneously. Shin Mu-yeol used his invisibility skill upon seeing them, becoming unseen, but his trajectory was predictable enough that the hawks swept through that area in flight.
“Ugh!”
The sharp beak of the rapidly flying mana-constructed hawk struck Shin Mu-yeol’s head. The impact shattered his concealment, and multiple hawks mercilessly clawed and pecked at the exposed Shin Mu-yeol. The keen beaks and talons of the mana-forged hawks delivered the same devastating force as a hunter’s short sword.
In that moment, as Choi Mi-ran attempted to launch a poison attack—
“Aaaahhhhh!!”
Si-hwan’s shout engulfed Choi Mi-ran.
“Kyaaah!!”
The impact nearly ruptured her eardrums, sending Choi Mi-ran sprawling backward.
Hyung-bin and Jin-woo’s bear summons positioned themselves before Yang Deok-su and Heo O-sung, with Min-woo and Si-hwan providing support. Despite being outnumbered two-to-one, Hyung-bin’s team had Ye-seul’s defense buff, reducing injuries, and even minor wounds were instantly healed by chain healing.
“Damn it! Jeon Dong-gun! What are you doing?!”
Yang Deok-su cried out after Min-woo’s bone blade pierced his thigh, but no matter how many fireballs Jeon Dong-gun unleashed, he couldn’t penetrate Ye-seul’s shield. Whenever it seemed about to break, she recast it while Jin-woo raised his massive shield to defend. Even the slow Jin-woo had no difficulty blocking attacks that were obviously aimed at Ye-seul.
Yang Deok-su, Heo O-sung, and Shin Mu-yeol were subdued, and the sparring ended with blades pressed to the throats of Jeon Dong-gun and Choi Mi-ran.
Unlike last time’s disaster, a little motivation and training had made them somewhat competent.
* * *
“It’s over!!”
Heo O-sung shouted. The four-week training schedule had concluded.
“So now… we can go back to prison, right?!”
“Damn, looks like we’re coming back to this hellhole again.”
The other prisoners cheered at the end of training.
“Everyone worked hard. Now you can all return to prison together in harmony.”
The prison now lacks human rights protections, just as it did before the Gates opened. In a world where human life has become cheap, they must endure cramped prison conditions and venture through Gates to fight for their lives. They’ll live that way until death, yet they all eagerly wanted to return to prison. They’re happy now, but once they’re back for a month, their minds will change again.
As heinous criminals, I wanted to kill them all and bury them, but lifelong imprisonment in that prison would be more agonizing than death itself.
“Behave yourselves in prison. I hope we don’t meet again.”
The prisoners looked at me with a chill running down their spines.
“Especially you two, Shin Mu-yeol and Heo O-sung.”
The two men with sentences other than life imprisonment, Shin Mu-yeol and Heo O-sung, flinched.
“Live righteously even after you leave prison. This is your last chance.”
“I understand.”
The two men bowed their heads, perspiration beading on their foreheads.
Though I had subjected them to inhumane treatment for weeks, I couldn’t simply release them without insurance—they weren’t serving life sentences, after all. When they entered the special education facility, I subtly adjusted their minds so that they would be incapable of committing violence against humans, no matter how much they might desire it in the future.
* * *
“This should be sufficient material to prepare the Academy.”
After sending the criminals away, I compiled the data extracted from weeks of training and delivered it to Director Baek Young-shin.
“This is… quite encouraging! Korean Hunters will grow stronger, and survival rates will increase significantly.”
“We’ll need more Hunters. Stronger monsters will continue emerging in greater numbers. Even without a Break.”
“Not exactly pleasant news.”
“I think the Academy should divide its courses as well. As for duration, we could allow it to extend as long as needed, provided there are results.”
“You mean dividing by difficulty level? But will anyone attempt training that grueling?”
The Director, knowing what kind of training the criminals had endured, expressed his concern.
“They will. Our people overcome any hardship for the sake of success.”
“That’s true. Then I’ll prepare multiple courses.”
“And the Academy should open to overseas applicants as well.”
“You mean overseas newly awakened individuals?”
“Both newly awakened individuals and Hunters. Charging appropriate fees and providing proper training would benefit all nations. Of course, they’d need to pass thorough background checks and aptitude assessments.”
“An excellent idea. Korea’s standing will rise, and we’ll generate revenue. I can already hear the higher-ups’ approval. Haha.”
It wasn’t a problem we could solve by protecting only our own country—if we could cultivate Hunters from overseas as well, we should.
* * *
[You’re here? Do you have a new game?]
The World Tree Spirit, now noticeably taller, circled around me in greeting. Where it had been about three or four years old before, it now stood roughly Eres’s height.
“You’ve already beaten everything I gave you?”
[Yeah. It was fun. Hurry and give me something new.]
Once I brought a gaming console and television, it spent the entire day playing games. With no one else to talk to, it made sense that it would be bored.
I had generated electricity using a manual generator, and the tree’s branches turned the handle to produce power.
“Here. I brought this today as well.”
I handed over a tablet filled with novels and manga.
[What’s this?]
“Read it when you get tired of gaming. Do you need anything to eat?”
[I like eating contaminated stuff. I’ve eaten almost everything on this land.]
Now that I thought about it, the toxic fog had indeed become much thinner.
Though there was nuclear waste underground, Baekdu Mountain’s vicinity had never been heavily trafficked by humans, so contamination beyond that was minimal.
“Want more?”
[Yeah! I love it!]
Giving it waste like a snack made my conscience twinge slightly, but since it enjoyed it, there was no harm.
While I was here, I sat in a wooden chair and played games with the World Tree Spirit.
* * *
They said the next Legion Commander would appear soon, but autumn passed and winter arrived without a new one emerging. Were they taking a breather after consecutive S-rank monsters being hunted? Yet seeing monsters continue to pour from Gates suggested they hadn’t abandoned Earth entirely.
The World Tree created an underground passage wide enough for vehicles. When waste was deposited at the end of the passage, the World Tree would drag it deeper and process it.
Thanks to this, the government earned considerable money from waste disposal fees and Academy tuition.
Hunters from around the world competed fiercely to raise their stats and skills, so the Academy was in constant expansion.
In exchange for communicating and negotiating with the World Tree, I received substantial land and money. However, compared to what I earned from Rigen, it was a pittance.
I had nearly monopolized Korea’s item market. The Mexico Factory had begun operations, and exports to the United States had started. Sales climbed steeply each month.
When I saw Yang President after a long time, he had gained considerable weight, apparently comfortable in his position. I advised him to exercise so his health wouldn’t suffer and infused his body with vitality. He needed to maintain his position as Rigen’s president for many years to come, and contracting adult diseases would be problematic.
“By the way, Chairman, your mother seems to be unwell lately?”
Yang President brought up the subject of my mother.
Yang President mentioned that Mother was ill, but his expression seemed less like concern for a sick mother and more like he felt guilty toward me.
“I’ll go see her right away.”
Yang President had no reason to harm me, so I went directly to see Mother.
As I arrived, I sensed Mother hurrying into her room and lying down.
Entering the room, I found her lying on her side like a patient. However, judging by her vitality alone, it far exceeded that of women her age, so she didn’t seem like someone who was actually ill. Considering how much I’d infused her with life force over the years.
“Mom, where does it hurt?”
“My heart hurts….”
“Why?”
“I’m so frustrated I could burst!”
Mother suddenly sat up and grew angry. Seeing her rage, she looked like she could run a marathon without issue. Her skin was so taut that despite being over sixty, she appeared to be in her forties.
“What…. What do you mean?”
“You’ve been dating for over a year and practically living together? Aren’t you getting married? Aren’t you having children?”
“It’s not even a holiday—why are you suddenly saying this? Were you faking being sick just to say this?”
“Otherwise, you wouldn’t come home….”
Mother was normally gentle, but when marriage came up, she became extreme.
“How can I get married when the world is in such turmoil?”
I spoke my true feelings.
“I only have one child, so I won’t even get to see grandchildren? Never mind, never mind. Just give me a grandchild already.”
Neither sincerity nor logic worked on her.
After enduring Mother’s nagging for quite some time, I was finally released.
“Sigh….”
My eyes met Bae Na-young’s as she emerged from Na-young’s Mother’s room.
“You too?”
“You as well?”
“Hahahaha….”
“I don’t mind getting married later….”
She said that, but Bae Na-young clearly wanted to get married too. Truth be told, marriage was possible, but I was reluctant about having children. What if the world collapsed when a child was only a few years old?
I had gained considerable power now, but not enough to obliterate the Destruction God faction in one blow. And I couldn’t exactly take my family and flee somewhere. If Tellus fell and Earth fell, no matter how strong I became, where could we possibly live?
I felt sorry toward Bae Na-young.
“Should we go somewhere for Christmas?”
Next week happened to be Christmas.
“Really?! Where?”
“Well, rather than traveling far, why don’t we enjoy some delicious food and spend some time alone together at the Hotel?”
“Let’s go!”
“Okay… sure.”
“You’ve seemed busy lately, so I didn’t want to bother you, but I’m glad you asked. I love you.”
Bae Na-young wrapped her arms tightly around mine.
I had forgotten about it, so I was grateful she reminded me. Thank you, Mother.
Since I didn’t know much about good restaurants, I asked Jeon Gyu-hee, the director of Rigen’s executive office.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make a perfect reservation for you.”
“Oh, and please book reservations for Hyung-bin and Ye-seul as well. They don’t seem to be going on proper dates.”
“Of course. Leave it to me.”
As a bonus, I distributed generous Christmas bonuses to all employees.

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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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