Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 123

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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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123
Director Baek Young-shin opened his browser to unwind from the accumulated stress.
-HIKI561: Why does Lee Ji-seok keep escalating situations?
-IrresponsiblePleasure: Exactly. Because of Lee Ji-seok, the territory we have to protect has multiplied several times over? Take responsibility. Take it.
-HUNTING101: Isn’t an S-rank Hunter supposed to be able to solo all the Gates in Korea? What’s so difficult about it?
-EUNMA: Goblins appeared on the Rear Mountain behind my mother’s house. But Lee Ji-seok is out playing with his girlfriend. Is this a country?
Director Baek Young-shin cracked his knuckles and neck while reading the internet comments.
Then he unleashed a torrent of replies.
-MR.WHITE: You bastards would all be dead without Hunter Lee Ji-seok, yet your mouths keep running. He’s not escalating situations—he’s cleaning up the mess other Hunters have made. Watch the news.
-MR.WHITE: Lee Ji-seok is expanding territory? Fact) Before Lee Ji-seok recovered territories and hunted Gates like a madman, there were far more Gate incidents than now. Check the attached data.
-MR.WHITE: Without Hunter Lee Ji-seok, Korea would already be finished. Who stopped the Tellus incident? How many times did he prevent Gate Breaks alone? The least you can do is not drag him down when you can’t help.
-ADC247: Here comes another Lee Ji-seok fanboy. Would you pass out if you actually saw Lee Ji-seok in person?
-MR.WHITE: I see Hunter Lee Ji-seok regularly, though?
-ADC247: Tsk tsk… Get psychiatric treatment. You don’t look well. Ah, I’ll admit Lee Ji-seok is impressive too, so don’t bite my head off.
Director Baek Young-shin spent his day relieving stress through keyboard battles with trolls. Sometimes he lost the verbal exchange. In those cases, he’d save the conversation, trace the IP, and shake out the dirt. Trolls deserved no mercy.
* * *
I sat with Bae Na-young atop the World Tree, gazing at the sunset.
“I’ve been through so much that this peaceful everyday life makes me anxious somehow.”
Bae Na-young leaned against me as she spoke.
“I know. After the Angel incident ended, Gaff disappeared without a word, and the Legion Commander hasn’t appeared either. It’s been about a month without anything major happening?”
I had told Gaff to leave, but I never expected him to disappear so cleanly. Out of anxiety, I had contacted governments worldwide to strengthen their vigilance against Angels and Demons.
“Oh, oppa, how’s the new skill training going?”
“Hmm. Maybe because I’m not that bright, I can’t move like Eres or Gaff do. I’m just suited for brute force. But living with the World Tree has been helping me sharpen my senses toward higher-dimensional beings.”
“You said you can touch the World Tree Spirit now?”
“Yeah. But gentle touching requires more concentration than attacking. I’ll have to ask Eres about the details when I see her next. How about you? You were researching other dimensions with Jae-in, right?”
“Hit a wall. Other dimensions are something humanity has only theorized about until now. Plus, all existing theories turned out to be wrong, so we have to rethink everything. It’s a bigger shock than when mana first appeared in this world.”
“At least there aren’t many of those beings.”
“Right. If all monsters were higher-dimensional entities, we’d already be finished.”
Peaceful days continued as I spent time dating Bae Na-young and training.
* * *
“Hunter Lee Ji-seok~”
“Adriana! You’re back again!”
Bae Na-young bristled like a cat and blocked my path. As Adriana kept trying to cling to me every day, Bae Na-young had become increasingly on edge.
“What? Am I a ghost? Na-young, I won’t approach Ji-seok anymore, so relax.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. I came today because I have a favor to ask.”
Adriana turned her gaze toward me.
“What kind of favor?”
“Could you train my kids a bit~”
“Me training Mexican Hunters?”
“Yeah. The American kids have been pushing us hard lately~ I’ve been giving them plenty of stimulation, but maybe it wasn’t enough.”
Adriana rested her chin on her palm and sighed.
“You want training harder than Adriana’s? The hunters won’t be able to survive that.”
Adriana’s training was already as brutal as what she’d put the life-sentenced criminal hunters through.
“But~ if we don’t do that, we can’t beat the American kids.”
The World Tree Academy had created a scoreboard to track training progress.
The scoreboard displayed by country how many levels each nation had raised per month. Since the World Tree Academy was a place where hunters could achieve insane level-ups in a short period that couldn’t be done just by running Gates, they quantified the results to stimulate competitive spirit among nations.
There were minimal safety measures in place. If a death occurred, that nation would not only rank last, but would undergo thorough investigation—so far, there hadn’t been a single incident.
Checking the scoreboard, the United States was indeed ranked first. By an overwhelming margin, no less.
Since higher levels became harder to raise, they applied differential points. Raising one level in the 1-10 bracket earned 1 point, raising one level in the 11-20 bracket earned 2 points, and so on.
The total points divided by the number of participating hunters was what appeared on the scoreboard. But at this point, only halfway through the month, the United States had 6.12 points. That meant an average of 6 points per hunter. A level 1 becoming 7, or level 11 becoming 14—massive growth. And in just two weeks.
“An average that high? Korea barely broke 3?”
“Seriously. All the hunters from every country at the Academy are grinding their teeth.”
“Hmm….”
After hearing Adriana’s words, I headed to the American Training Facility among the basic training grounds assigned to each nation.
“Here…. When did this happen?”
The basic training ground had definitely been a bare dirt parade ground without pavement, but now several mobile buildings made from modified containers stood on top of it.
The latest equipment visible through the windows of the mobile buildings was even more impressive.
Hunters covered in electrodes all over their bodies either lifted weights to their limit or pushed their bodies to the brink of collapse. Just before they collapsed from exhaustion, emergency Healers would treat them and send them back to training.
Those doing sparring trained with the same intensity as real combat. When injured, waiting Healers were immediately deployed. Each hunter had three or four supporters attached—Healers, trainers, and the like.
“They brought their own equipment and brought a ton of people.”
“The system seems really well-organized.”
“Look there, that’s Peter—he’s experiencing explosive growth right now.”
Where Adriana pointed, a blonde American man in a training suit was navigating an obstacle course that looked like it belonged on an American TV show. He was at least 190 centimeters tall with an impressive build.
“His movements are fast and his fighting spirit is good. His ability is…. Storage?”
Peter blocked an incoming fireball with his palm, but instead of the flames exploding, they were sucked straight into his hand.
Then when the next attack came flying, he extended his hand and flames shot out, blasting away the projectile.
“Hmm…. At that level, he’d be around a B-rank hunter. I’m not sure why he’s so impressive though?”
“Last week he was D-rank level.”
“…. He raised 20 levels in just two weeks?”
Ranks increase with levels, and levels increase through real combat experience or extreme training. For a D-rank to become B-rank in just two weeks—that’s faster than even when I regressed.
“Not quite 20. He went from late D-rank to early B-rank~ probably just over 10 levels. But what’s scary is that his growth rate hasn’t slowed—he’s improving day by day.”
At Adriana’s words, I watched Peter’s training again.
“If he keeps growing like that, he might even surpass Ji-seok~”
Adriana said.
“If he gets stronger and does more work, that’s fine by me. I’d like to rest a bit too.”
This was sincere. If the hunters grew strong enough to reduce my workload, I wanted to quit being a hunter and travel around comfortably with Na-young.
“Hey! You there!”
Peter pointed at me, and I wondered if he was actually pointing at me, so I turned around.
“You! What are you spying on?!”
When I turned my head again, Peter came rushing toward me.
“Spying on another country’s training facility? Do you have a death wish?”
Hunters being aggressive was common enough, but seeing him act this way while standing in another nation’s training grounds suggested he had serious anger management issues.
“Calm down. We’re training in an open space anyway—what’s the problem?”
“You’re trying to steal our intelligence!”
“You! Watch your mouth! Do you know who this person is?!”
Adriana stepped in front of Peter.
“Who are you?!”
Peter drew his fist back.
“Peter!”
“…Director Allen.”
At Allen’s sharp rebuke—the man overseeing the American Hunters’ training—Peter quickly lowered his fist. Too bad. I would have liked to cure his anger management disorder myself.
“Hunter Lee Ji-seok, I apologize. The intense training seems to have made him overly sensitive.”
Allen, himself an S-rank Hunter, bowed his head apologetically.
“Well, it happens.”
I wasn’t the type to get upset over something like that. B-rank Hunters felt to me like passing mice—creatures I could crush under my heel, but chose not to out of pity.
“Peter! Get back to training!”
At Allen’s command, Peter trudged away while glaring at both Adriana and me.
“I’ll just… I apologize. Let’s talk again later.”
Allen followed after Peter, continuing to scold him.
Having seen everything I needed to see, I left the American Training Facility with Adriana.
“Ji-seok, it’s not just Peter. Charlie and Tyler from the American team are also growing explosively fast, though not quite at Peter’s level.”
“It’s good that Hunters from any country are getting stronger. They’re a bit aggressive, sure, but I can fix that if the opportunity arises later.”
“Then, you won’t help us with our training?”
“I’ll help. It’s good for everyone to develop together, but I can’t stand seeing our Hunters fall behind. Send them over right away—I’ll work with our people and keep an eye on the Mexican Hunters too.”
I immediately summoned all the Korean Hunters, and Adriana gathered the Mexican Hunters.
“Thanks, Ji-seok.”
Adriana was about to hand over the Mexican Hunters and leave.
“Where are you going?”
“Huh?”
“You need training too.”
“Hehe, Ji-seok! I’m doing fine on my own~ Don’t worry~”
“You’re B-rank, right? Still?”
“…Yeah….”
“Go line up over there.”
Adriana looked like she had plenty to say, but seeing my firm expression, she lowered her head and went to join the line.
Around two hundred Hunters had gathered. The newly awakened were undergoing basic training elsewhere, so everyone here was at least E-rank.
They all knew I’d called them, but they didn’t know why.
Looking closer, I recognized familiar faces—the Oh Brothers, Ye-seul, Jung Jang-mi the daughter of Hunter Jung Min-gi, and even Kwon Hee-chul, whom we’d rescued from North Korea. I made brief eye contact and nodded lightly to each of them.
“What’s this? Lee Ji-seok only showed his face in the early days of the Academy and hasn’t participated in training recently, has he?”
“Will you be training us today? Can I get your autograph when we’re done?”
The moment I stepped onto the platform, the chattering hunters fell silent.
“Thank you for coming on such short notice.”
I paused briefly, letting their gazes settle upon me.
“I hear you’ve been training diligently at the Academy.”
“Yes!”
“We’re doing our very best!”
“It’s so exhausting!”
Their responses rang out loudly, though lighter remarks scattered throughout the crowd.
“I appreciate the effort you’re putting into these grueling sessions. Results follow dedication, so keep pushing forward.”
“Yes!”
“But here’s the thing—the American Hunters are advancing at a remarkable pace.”
“…”
The hunters who had been chattering moments before went completely still.

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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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