Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 203

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

203
My head felt like it might split apart from worrying about what could happen to Bae Na-young and our unborn child.
“Bae Na-young!”
I kicked open the door to the World Tree House and rushed inside.
“You’re here?”
Bae Na-young, preparing for labor, turned to me with a serene expression.
“Are you alright?”
My heart sank.
“Yeah. The baby should be coming soon.”
Ye-seul and several nurses were monitoring Bae Na-young’s condition.
Ye-seul had given birth not long ago herself, yet she was taking excellent care of Bae Na-young.
While Ye-seul was busy, our two mothers looked after Ye-seul’s child. Since both Ye-seul and Hyung-bin had lost their parents early, the mothers doted on them considerably.
“But the due date is still weeks away—why now?”
“There’s no major problem. The baby wants to come, so there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Bae Na-young’s contractions have shortened considerably. Since it’s a few weeks early, the baby’s lungs might be slightly underdeveloped. We could use medication, but I thought it would be better if you infused your life force, so I had them call Hee-chul.”
“Hee-chul’s expression looked so grim, I thought my heart would stop.”
“Oh dear, he must have thought it was an emergency when I told him to hurry.”
I made a mental note to give Hee-chul a flick on the forehead later as I took Bae Na-young’s hand.
“You can do this.”
The contractions grew closer together.
I thought Bae Na-young, who endured pain well, would give birth smoothly, but the agony of labor made even her sweat profusely.
“Ye-seul, you said not to give life force before the baby comes out, right?”
“If her body recovers before the baby is born, it could actually hinder the delivery. The same goes for healing. Right now, she just has to endure.”
“You can do it.”
Bae Na-young gritted her teeth, sweat pouring down her face as she bore the pain.
Most anesthetics she could detoxify on her own, and using large doses could affect the baby, so we couldn’t ease her pain with medication.
I could see the determination in Bae Na-young’s face—she would do anything for our child.
Holding her hand, I lost track of time until finally, the baby was born.
“Sister, why isn’t the baby crying?”
When the umbilical cord was cut and the baby still didn’t cry, Bae Na-young’s face went pale.
“Chairman!”
I took the baby in my arms and infused my life force into it. The child was so small and fragile that I feared it might shatter just from resting in my palm.
As I poured in my life force, Ye-seul connected a small ventilator to the baby’s nose and transferred the child to an incubator.
“…It’s alright. Stabilized. Now the baby will recover on its own with just the World Tree’s power.”
After running several tests, Ye-seul exhaled in relief.
But I didn’t stop infusing life force. What I gave directly was far more potent.
Bae Na-young, with an S-rank Hunter’s superhuman physical abilities and having received healing from Ye-seul, got up from the bed immediately.
With one hand pressed against the plastic incubator, I continued pouring in life force, while with my other hand, I channeled vitality into Bae Na-young as she approached.
“Brother, our son is handsome.”
Holding Bae Na-young’s hand, I gazed at our child for a long time.
* * *
“Ji-seok isn’t participating in the exchange match!”
News of my non-participation spread rapidly throughout the Academy.
“But Amy is still competing, right?”
“It’s a team event, not individual matches. Shouldn’t we have a decent chance?”
Hundreds of people submitted applications, thinking the situation had changed.
But the moment word spread that Marbas would be teaming with Amy, they withdrew their applications like autumn leaves falling in the wind.
“Hmph, I knew it would come to this. Cowards.”
Marbas snorted derisively.
“Come on, don’t be like that~ It’ll be fun, I promise~?”
“There’s no human stronger than Ji-seok. What’s fun about that?”
“Practicing against multiple opponents isn’t just one-on-one combat. It’s good training, right?”
This exchange match had no fixed team size.
Team capacity was determined by measuring basic ability and soul magnitude. Thus, a team could consist of a hundred people or just one.
Amy and Marbas possessed such overwhelming individual power that two people already filled their team capacity.
Though the number of participants in the exchange match was small, people were ecstatic at the prospect of witnessing superhuman combat with a Hunter of Amy’s caliber.
And Yang Chul-hyun, Yang Sang-heon’s father, caught the scent of money for the first time in ages.
“I smell something.”
“Pardon? Father, what did you say?”
“Yang Sang-heon, don’t you smell it?”
“What smell? Did the baby soil her diaper?”
Yang Sang-heon brought his nose close to the diaper of the daughter Akiko was holding and sniffed.
“The smell of money. This could turn into serious profit.”
Watching his father’s eyes gleam at the thought of money, Yang Sang-heon sighed.
“…How much more are you planning to earn?”
“Money is never enough, no matter how much you make. Isn’t that right, little one?”
“That’s right, Father-in-law.”
Akiko smiled prettily at her father-in-law’s words, though she remained indifferent about money itself.
“Earth, Tellus, the Moon, and Metallanet—the whole world is gathering, they say? Why travel to Tellus when you can taste Tellus cuisine! Why journey to the Moon when you can sample lunar delicacies! And you don’t even need to dig five kilometers underground to witness the famous Metallanet metal plants!”
Unlike the lukewarm Yang Sang-heon, Yang Chul-hyun saw this exchange match as a tremendous opportunity. The fact that Rigen now ran smoothly without his constant oversight had also reduced his workload considerably.
With about a month remaining before the exchange match, Yang President immediately began construction on land outside World Tree City.
“Could you send more of those excellent Metalim workers? This is a modest gift, but….”
Yang Chul-hyun visited Elchai directly and presented him with a gift.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have gone to such trouble. A simple word would have sufficed.”
Though Elchai said this, his hands eagerly accepted the gift—premium polishing compounds and finishing products that the Metallanet nobility absolutely coveted.
They already gleamed brilliantly, and since Metalim loved shiny things like crows, these products were always popular.
“I’ll send workers to the surface immediately.”
Elchai answered while keeping his eyes fixed on the box.
After concluding his meeting with Elchai, Yang Chul-hyun headed straight to the Academy Training Ground.
“I hear Hunter Ji-seok considers this harmony event important. I wonder if he needs help finding someone….”
I deliberately sat down on a bench at the Academy Training Ground and let out a long, exaggerated sigh loud enough for everyone to hear.

“I’ll help!”
“So it’s just Hee-chul. Make sure to tell Lee Ji-seok the Hunter that you helped.”
“I… I will too!”
The Hunters swarmed around Ji-seok like a pack of dogs, each eager to make an impression.
Some of them knew that Yang Chul-hyun was leveraging Ji-seok’s name, but they still wanted to help. After all, Yang Chul-hyun was now the CEO of Rigen, one of the world’s leading item corporations—there was no harm in looking good to him.
Labor was now abundant, and materials were stockpiled sufficiently in the Rigen Warehouse.
Under Yang Chul-hyun’s skilled direction, the hilltop vanished in just one week, replaced by a concert hall, exhibition space, and cafeteria.
Wide sidewalks and trees were laid out so people could stroll comfortably, and metal sculptures crafted by Metalim were erected throughout the street. The level of completion was so polished that no one would believe it had been built in merely a week.
Yang Chul-hyun gazed at the completed street with satisfaction.
[Multi-World Cultural Exchange Street]
The fact that Korean characters were written largest among the street’s signage reflected Korea’s current standing in the world.
“Now we just need to fill it.”
Construction was complete, but no businesses had moved in yet. While construction was underway, Yang Chul-hyun had sent official notices to each world, inviting them to bring their signature cultures and cuisines.
The cultural street filled up in an instant.
Since many chefs from the World Tree City’s restaurants were present, the dining section filled first, and the street was already packed with visitors who had come to watch the exchange tournament.
“Luna City specialty! Try our Rainbow Steak!”
Beetle cuisine from the Ark, brought by the Moon’s inhabitants.
“Succulent Telus Deer Roast—the juices flow like rivers!”
The elephant-sized deer roasts brought from Telus contained mana and had the effect of boosting stamina. It was food that could only be consumed beneath the World Tree.
Beyond that, cuisines from various nations on Earth were on display.
Though no competition had been organized, each country’s culinary pride was at stake, so they all competed to see whose line of customers was longer.
* * *
Hearing that the cultural street had been completed, I took my son Ji-ho and Bae Na-young out for a walk.
Bae Na-young cast a perception-blocking spell so people wouldn’t recognize us as we walked past.
“I never expected it to become this popular.”
Bae Na-young popped a piece of the giant beetle steak she’d raised on the Moon into her mouth.
“Once it’s sliced up, you can’t see what it originally was, and the taste is really good, right?”
Since I was holding Ji-ho and couldn’t use my hands, Bae Na-young fed me a piece of steak as well. My breathing had already stabilized, but I couldn’t stop channeling my life force into the prematurely born child.
“Kimchi Pancakes and Seafood Pancakes made by the Earth’s strongest Hunter’s mother! Eat these and you’ll become an S-rank Hunter too!”
As I was looking around the street, I heard Si-hwan’s voice.
“…What is he doing over there?”
“Mother hired him as a part-timer.”
“Mother opened a stall too?”
“She’s been rejuvenated and full of energy, but since you won’t let go of the child, I think she was getting bored.”
It was good that she wanted to work.
Si-hwan wiped sweat from his brow as if exhausted.
His voice carried far without being so loud as to grate on the ears of those nearby—he was applying a Shouting skill.
It was natural that using such a skill for extended periods would be tiring.
“Um… Mother, would it be alright if I rested for a moment?”
“Hmm?”
Upon hearing Si-hwan’s words, Mother, who had been cooking pancakes, glanced over at the neighboring stall. Its line was longer than the one at her assorted pancake shop.
“My goodness, I wasn’t thinking. I haven’t given you a break. Here, drink this and rest.”
Mother poured him a glass of sweet rice punch.
“Hehe, thank you.”
“Ow, ow, ow… Is it going to rain? My cheek hurts.”
Mother touched her cheek, which had been cut by the cup Si-hwan had thrown earlier.
“… Seafood pancakes! Kimchi pancakes! Mixed pancakes! We have all of Earth’s pancakes! Come taste them! Please!”
Si-hwan downed the sweet rice punch in one gulp, stood up from his seat, and shouted again.
“Oh my, Si-hwan must be exhausted. Thank you so much.”
As her body grew younger, her spirit seemed to return to her youthful days as well—her competitive spirit had grown noticeably stronger.
“…She’s going to wear the boy out.”
“Oppa, just leave it. For Earth’s strongest woman to have a wound inflicted on her body, this much is getting off cheap.”
Bae Na-young’s words made sense. I decided I’d give him a generous bonus later and pretended not to notice, moving elsewhere.
True to its name as a cultural street, there was much more than just food.
The place where the eight-member girl group Lilis, decided upon in Telus, was performing was packed with people.
Mina, with cat-human blood flowing through her veins; Ethel, the most beautiful woman of the Western Continent; Asta, an Elf; Sil, a half-orc with green skin who proved that orcs could transcend their race and be beautiful; and seven other multi-racial idols creating a stage with magic was more than enough to captivate the crowd’s attention.
Lilis merchandise was also selling at an astounding rate nearby.
One of the places that was no less popular was a shop created by Metallanet.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————