Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 182

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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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182
“There’s a Gate coordinate where the Administrator’s forces bring in races they’ve captured from other dimensions. We’ll use that route.”
The residents of Brixel Village and the inhabitants of the Monster Planet weren’t in direct contact with the Administrator. That’s why Jae-in’s strategy was that if I impersonated a subordinate of the Destruction God, we might not get caught.
“They’ll be preparing to open the Gate, so would you like to go home and say goodbye first?”
Jae-in spoke carefully, fully aware of how dangerous this operation was.
It could very well be our final farewell.
“Please get everything ready. I’ll be back soon.”
Both mothers rose to their feet as I entered.
“My son-in-law should rest too.”
My heart ached seeing my mother-in-law worry about me while my wife stood frozen like stone.
“I’m fine. I just need to step away for a moment.”
“Did you find a way?”
Mother stood up from her seat.
“I’m not certain yet. But I have to try.”
“My son-in-law, you mustn’t get hurt. Go carefully and come back safely.”
After receiving my mother-in-law’s blessing, I gently brushed Bae Na-young’s cheek, hardened like stone.
“We’ll see each other again soon.”
I left the Hospital and headed back to the Research Laboratory. Director Baek Young-shin was standing in front of the laboratory door.
“You can’t go.”
I hadn’t told him where I was going, but he clearly already knew.
“Director, step aside.”
I applied light pressure, but Baek Young-shin bit his lip until it bled, refusing to budge.
Director Baek Young-shin showed no sign of retreating even an inch.
“Why… are you doing this?”
“I can’t stand by and watch Hunter Lee Ji-seok throw his life away.”
“I won’t die. I’ll just extract the information.”
“You don’t know that. Hunter Lee Ji-seok, you know I’ve supported everything you’ve done with all my heart and resources, don’t you?”
“…”
“In all this time, I’ve never asked for anything in return. But now, for the first time, I’m asking you. Please don’t go.”
“How can you ask me not to go when Bae Na-young is like this?”
“I understand. But she’s in a frozen state, isn’t she? We’re searching for a solution too.”
“I have no intention of continuing to watch my wife frozen like that. And we don’t know when the Administrator’s forces might attack. Bae Na-young needs to wake up—she’ll be a tremendous help.”
That was the surface reason. The world could end at any moment, and I had no intention of waiting idly. I had to act while I could and resolve this. Later, there might be no opportunity at all.
“Couldn’t we… extract the Child quickly? If we place it in an incubator in the Shade of the World Tree, the probability of safety is high.”
There was no child in this world born awakened like mine. I couldn’t predict what effects any action might have.
Among all the methods I’ve found, sealing is the only way for the Child to be born without aftereffects.
As long as it’s born healthy, losing its abilities to the seal doesn’t matter. I’ll protect it.
“I can’t accept it either, but if Bae Na-young wakes up, she won’t stay still.”
One might ask what a single S-Rank Hunter could do, but Bae Na-young killed thousands of Hunters in her previous life.
She might not be overwhelmingly strong in direct confrontation, but if Bae Na-young goes berserk with intent…
While I was lost in such thoughts, Director Baek Young-shin’s body trembled as if he’d recalled something as well.
“Please forget what I just said. However, my concern isn’t the only one. What if we open a Gate and enemies pour in from the other side?”
“The Gate is already riddled with holes, isn’t it?”
“The main base is different, isn’t it?”
“If it seems like I’ll draw enemies here, I’ll die there. There’s no time, so I’m going. If you’re dissatisfied, tell them to come at me.”
I pressed down on Director Baek Young-shin with my aura. He fell to his knees, cold sweat dripping down his face as he struggled to rise, but he couldn’t. For an unawakened human to endure this much was remarkable mental fortitude.
“I need to leave immediately.”
I entered the Research Facility.
“What? Right now?”
“Other people have noticed me leaving. They’ll try to stop me.”
With so many staff members at the Research Facility, one of them could have overheard our conversation and spread the word.
Looking back, it seemed Director Baek Young-shin had given me an excuse—either stop me if you can, or leave quickly.
“Understood. I’ll prepare.”
The Manager used newly captured races to maintain that planet. To disguise myself as one of his subordinates, I needed to bring something, so I grabbed a compressed box containing only the most vicious criminals from the upper levels of the Ark.
“When you return, pressing this will open a Gate. It will only stay open for a very short time, so only open it when you’re ready to enter.”
“While I’m gone, please take care of this place.”
“Leave it to me.”
Jae-in opened a tiny Gate. The outside grew loud. People trying to stop me from leaving.
I threw myself directly into the Gate.
The Gate Jae-in created was different from ordinary ones. Designed to prevent enemy backflow, it was one-way only—whether for spiritual bodies, physical forms, or mana.
I passed through the Gate after a longer transit time than usual.
The village I’d seen in Brixel’s memories appeared. The Ark he’d ridden away on was there again, as if nothing had ever happened.
The sun hung in the sky, but its light was weak, casting everything in a dim haze like thick fog.
According to the information I’d gained from Brixel’s memories, time flowed differently across all dimensions. Since Brixel had spent considerable time in dimensions where time moved quickly, this place might have only experienced hundreds of years, decades, or even just a few months rather than thousands.
As I surveyed my surroundings, the Guardian of the village came running from a distance.
“Greetings, Warrior. I apologize for the delayed response—this isn’t when you were supposed to arrive.”
His eyes held suspicion, questioning why I’d come when I wasn’t expected.
“Like you, I merely follow orders. The Ark’s… Archive needs space for ten thousand new arrivals.”
“Ah, my apologies. I’ll verify immediately.”
Looking at him—his face bearing an uncanny resemblance to Brixel, as if they were of the same Caretaker Clan—I felt my fists clench involuntarily.
He opened a ledger to check the Archive’s capacity.
A tall Tower loomed behind him. That was my destination. I planned to wait here and infiltrate the Tower at nightfall.
I surveyed the surroundings and expanded my senses, but I couldn’t feel the Manager’s presence.
Yet the place felt intensely artificial. While I could understand why the buildings were constructed so uniformly, the plants—the trees—were all identical in size as if measured by ruler, and there was no trace of insects or animals.
“I’ll guide you.”
The Guardian finished his verification and led me forward.
The Guardian placed the races that had been in the Soul Urn first, then arranged the new race like a folding screen.
Inside the vast Archive, Exbog and the Giant Race Warrior lay in frozen states.
Though their spiritual forms are now damaged and they cannot speak, Ricaros made a powerful request before the battle—to punish the criminals no matter what. Having spent eternity here, Ricaros would be satisfied.
“It’s all done now.”
“Thank you for your efforts.”
I offered a casual greeting and naturally turned my steps toward the village’s edge.
“…Where are you going, sir?”
“…Why do you ask?”
“The Gate is in the opposite direction…”
The warriors had handed over the prisoners, but I couldn’t find where they went in Brixel’s memories, so I had no idea what he was talking about.
Still, I decided to leave without explanation.
“Do I have any reason to account for my whereabouts to you?”
“My apologies.”
His face showed lingering confusion, but due to the Brixel Caretaker Clan’s characteristic obedience to their superiors’ commands, he quickly bowed his head under my pressure.
I walked slowly and exited the village, deliberately taking a slightly diagonal path to avoid revealing my true direction toward the Tower.
I felt eyes on my back, but I kept my gaze forward. Once the attention withdrew, I quickened my pace and left the village swiftly.
The strange sensation I’d felt in the village intensified once I stepped outside. Despite not being an orchard, identical trees of the same species stretched endlessly in perfect rows.
“…Were these planted deliberately?”
Even so, not a single weed grew between the trees, and there were no animals either.
Once the village was no longer visible, I changed direction and headed toward the Tower.
Fortunately, I encountered no enemies on the path to the Tower. It seemed no one monitored who entered this planet.
The Tower’s entrance stood open.
Brixel had acquired knowledge about seals in the upper levels of this Tower. I needed to ascend there undetected as well.
Since the Tower’s exterior had no openings, I had to enter from within rather than break through the walls.
I suppressed my presence and moved swiftly toward the Tower’s entrance.
I spotted several Scholars. I slipped quietly and quickly past their blind spots, searching for the stairs to the second floor.
I was about to step onto the stairs leading to the second floor when I pulled my foot back.
I didn’t understand my own action. It wasn’t an invisible physical or magical barrier. It felt like the natural instinct of not stepping off a cliff—something I simply couldn’t do, something I shouldn’t do.
In other words, my mind had concluded that I couldn’t pass through this point.
“What are you doing?”
“…”
While my attention was fixed on the stairs, a Scholar approached from behind.
“You need to solve a problem to go up.”
He didn’t even question my identity and simply handed me a piece of paper.
Then he casually climbed the stairs.
The paper in my hands contained a mathematics problem.
For someone who’d received Korea’s rote-learning education, this level of mathematics was simple.
I solved it mentally and obtained the answer.
And I felt it—that I could now ascend.
I moved toward the second floor and this time climbed without any obstruction.
I didn’t need to submit my answer anywhere. The Tower simply allowed me to ascend once I knew the answer.
Another Scholar on the second floor, upon discovering me, handed me another problem sheet.
This Scholar also didn’t ask my name or introduce himself. Such trivial matters didn’t seem important to them.
The paper I received this time asked about this planet’s ancient history—something I had no way of knowing.
I surveyed my surroundings. The tower’s vast expanse was dominated by shelves of books, and it appeared that the knowledge necessary to traverse this floor had been carefully assembled here.
Unlike Jae-in or Bae Na-young, I lacked their creative brilliance, but my memory rivaled theirs without question. I had already committed the Brixel language to memory before arriving.
I opened each tome and flipped through its pages with practiced speed. I extracted a book, scanned it for answers, paused briefly to consider, and moved to the next if it held nothing relevant.
My vision could track arrows, bullets, and even auras moving at extraordinary velocities, and my computational ability to process multisensory information from all directions proved invaluable for this task.
The books here chronicled countless kingdoms from this planet’s distant past, as well as accounts from other dimensions. While some sections intrigued me, most bore no connection to the puzzle at hand.
After devouring one book per minute and consuming hundreds of volumes, I finally uncovered knowledge of this planet’s history—the history shaped by the Manager.

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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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