Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 236

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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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236
I bit down on the Lushi, and a burning sensation enveloped my mouth. I slowly analyzed its composition.
The Lushi had an exceptional absorption rate for magical stones, with remarkably few side effects. It was an advanced boost of the caliber you’d only see from the Rigen Research Institute. With a drug like this, ordinary people could momentarily exert the strength of a Hunter, and Hunters would experience exponential increases in their abilities.
However, I sensed demonic energy at the tip of my tongue. Exposure to demonic energy tainted with fraud would corrupt a human.
It was so faint that a single dose wouldn’t produce dramatic changes, but accumulation would bring side effects. A docile person would become violent, losing self-control and unable to escape the grip of desire.
“Hand over the watch.”
“What the hell, you bastard? You take one dose and suddenly you’ve got the nerve to talk back?!”
The dealer aimed a homemade mana gun at me again.
While Rigen held the patent for mana guns using magical stone bullets, they couldn’t prevent the underworld from manufacturing counterfeit versions and distributing them.
I walked toward the dealer with heavy, deliberate steps.
“Damn it… if I have to clean up a corpse in the room, I’ll catch hell….”
I felt no guilt over murder. It was merely the inconvenience of cleanup and the hassle of punishment.
Bang!
A magical stone bullet struck the center of my forehead, ricocheting off to shatter the ornate chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
“How… how is this possible?”
Bang, bang, bang!
The mana gun spewed fire, and the bullets didn’t stop falling until the magazine was empty.
The ricocheting bullets were powerful enough to reduce the room to complete chaos in seconds. Though the ammunition was expensive, even a B-rank Hunter like this dealer could momentarily unleash the firepower of an A-rank Hunter.
Click, click.
I seized the dealer’s hand and gun in one motion as he continued pulling the trigger, crushing them together.
“Aaaahhhhh!”
The dealer fell to his knees and struck my hand, but my grip didn’t budge an inch.
“Where do creatures like you keep coming from?”
I could see the dealer’s soul, stained with filth, in my eyes.
“You’ll go to Hell when you die.”
“P-please… spare me….”
“When did you aim the gun at my forehead?”
“Hey! What the—?!”
The dealer’s associates burst into the room from behind, openly brandishing short swords and guns.
“P-please… save me!”
The dealer with the crushed hand screamed.
“Damn it! Has the drug dealer lost his mind?!”
A bulky man wielding a short sword disproportionate to his size charged at me.
‘Why is this bastard just standing there?’
As I remained motionless, the bulky man felt something was wrong. But he’d already committed to the charge, and his pride wouldn’t allow him to stop.
The bulky man ignored his misgivings and trusted his comrade behind him, bringing the short sword down.
It was a mistake he would regret for years to come.
The blade was meant to cleave diagonally across my chest, but as I stepped forward, the sword fell upon my shoulder instead. An attack that would have split an ordinary person’s body diagonally.
Clang!
“Gaaahhhhh….”
The blade shattered against Ji-seok’s body, and the thug’s wrist snapped backward at a ninety-degree angle.
“Grow.”
I tried to knock him out with a palm strike to the neck, but ended up breaking it instead.
“…I might’ve overdone it…”
“Kill him!”
Bullets and blades flew toward me. Just days after fighting Metatron, facing these petty criminals was enough to make me yawn.
The mana bullets ricocheted away, and the sword blades shattered against my body.
‘Is this how Superman feels?’
When none of their attacks landed, the gang finally began backing away slowly.
“Stop moving.”
I applied pressure, and the entire gang flattened against the floor.
The detectives I’d called then entered the Club.
“What…. This is….”
Since I’d applied the pressure selectively, the detectives could walk through between the drug organization members writhing in pain on the ground.
“Let’s make the arrests.”
“Sigh….all we needed was the drugs.”
Investigation Division Chief Kim Hoe-hwan’s expression grew troubled.
“Why is that?”
“If we touch the middlemen, the higher-ups go into hiding. Catching these guys is difficult enough, but since it’s a vertical organization, catching the supply chain is even harder.”
“Let’s arrest everyone today.”
“Pardon? But we have no information.”
“Deploy all available personnel. I’ll be back shortly.”
Before the chief could respond, I left the room and searched from the top of a high-rise building for where the scent of Rush was strongest.
I could sense Rush scattered throughout the city.
“It’s spread this widely…. Director Baek Young-shin will have his hands full.”
I slowly surveyed the city and located where large quantities of Rush were concentrated.
“Chief, I found it. Sending the location. Follow me.”
[Wait…. Hunter! You can’t enter without a warrant!]
“I already have one.”
[What?]
“I called Director Baek Young-shin and already got it.”
[You already obtained the warrant?]
“Power is useful when applied appropriately.”
[…All units, move out!]
“Just secure the perimeter so there’s no collateral damage elsewhere.”
I flew leisurely through the sky toward the source of the scent.
“Here of all places?”
Usually in movies, these operations happen in abandoned factories or Clubs, but this was an ordinary residential Apartment.
“Hey! Move it fast! They’re coming!”
Several suspicious-looking men burst out of the elevator, each dragging two large travel bags.
“How did you know?”
The moment the men opened the apartment door, Ji-seok slipped in through the window.
“Huh…. Gasp! Who the hell are you?!”
“How did you know the police were coming?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
One of them gestured behind his back, and the organization members rushed into the apartment.
“Heh heh…. Why didn’t you come sooner?”
“Why?”
“The warrant’s useless now, isn’t it?”
The man laughed with a metallic edge.
“Ah, so that’s why you moved? You got the warrant for the upper unit, so you thought moving would keep you safe?”
“…”
“The warrant covers this entire district.”
It wasn’t just one apartment. Not even one building—the search warrant extended across the entire surrounding area.
“What?! That’s impossible!”
“And yet, it happened.”
Ji-seok approached the man.
“Aaaahhhhh!!!”
Rata-ta-ta-tang!
Two mana guns—the same ones I’d seen at the club—spewed fire from the boss’s hands.
I immediately deployed my domain. I could take the hits, but stray rounds might catch innocent residents.
The mana rounds within my domain ignited and vanished before reaching me.
“M-monster….”
“I hear that often.”
The man clenched his lips tightly.
“Full dose!”
The boss shouted and swallowed a handful of the drug, and the men in the room did the same.
“…They’d at least reach A-rank level.”
A-rank hunters could commit mass slaughter if they wanted—the fact that B-rank thugs could instantly become A-rank after taking a drug was terrifyingly dangerous.
If detectives had caught these guys, they would’ve had a rough time.
I threw a punch at the men charging down the apartment hallway, their footsteps thundering against the floor. The aura of vitality erupting from my fist swept them away in one blow. No matter how much drug they’d taken, compared to me they were nothing but mayflies.
I was about to raise my hand to my ear for the radio when demonic energy surged from the room.
“Grrrrr…. Where is the insignificant creature disrupting my ceremony….”
A demon, radiating malevolent energy from every inch of its body, stepped out through the apartment doorway.
A tattered robe covered it from head to toe, with only skeletal, branch-like hands protruding from the garment.
Its face was obscured by a hood, revealing only sinister, glowing eyes.

“What are you?”
“Not even trembling before the Demon King’s arrival—you’ve got some nerve.”
“Demon King? You?”
There was demonic energy, but the aura felt weak.
“You’re not Gaff, Lilith, or Valefor, so you must be the Demon King of the South?”
The creature’s pupils trembled violently.
“…How… how do you know those names?”
“Valefor is my subordinate, and I have ties with both Gaff and Lilith.”
The demon broke into a cold sweat.
The demon withdrew its demonic energy and placed its skeletal hands together respectfully before me.
“Oh… Could you possibly be Lee Ji-seok?”
“Why the sudden formality? It’s making me feel bad about hitting you.”
“I… I’ve committed a grave sin!”
The demon prostrated itself, pressing its head to the ground.
“So which Demon King are you?”
“I’m not a Demon King! I just traded on the name!”
“So, did you make this drug?”
“…Yes. I created it in exchange for souls.”
“To throw the human world into chaos?”
“No… I needed corrupted souls myself, so…hehehehe…”
The demon shed its initial dignified appearance entirely, offering a sycophantic laugh.
“What’s your name?”
“It’s Kargiwud.”
“You’ll do well in society.”
“Thank you!”
“But here’s the thing. I don’t like having drugs like this circulating in my world.”
“I’ll retrieve them all immediately!”
“Wouldn’t it all just disappear if I killed you?”
“No! If you do that, I can’t recover what’s already been distributed! I’ll take responsibility and retrieve everything!”
“Is that so? Then we have a contract. Retrieve every drug and trace of demonic energy you’ve spread in the human world. And no human can be harmed in the process.”
Demons must honor contracts. Binding him this way meant I wouldn’t need to follow him around.
“If you speak of a contract… a soul is the price…”
Even in this situation, the demon couldn’t overcome its desire and eyed my soul.
“Then your soul will be the payment.”
“What?”
“Isn’t sparing you now the same as gaining one soul?”
“… You demon…”
Kargiwud whispered under his breath.
“What?”
“Nothing! I’ll retrieve them!”

“See you again~?”
I waved at Kargiwud as he exited through the apartment window.
I intended to kill Kargiwud if I ever saw him again, and he knew it.
I wanted to kill him right then and there, but I held back for the sake of retrieving Rigen.
* * *
After the situation concluded, I returned to Director Baek Young-shin.
“Thank you for your hard work. I never imagined the Demon Race was behind this. Things unfolded differently than my plan.”
“A plan to lift my spirits?”
“You noticed?”
Director Baek Young-shin awkwardly scratched his head.
“Yes. Thanks to you, I was able to forget my helplessness, at least for a moment.”
“Hunter Lee Ji-seok. You seem to have many worries lately.”
“Everyone’s dissatisfied, aren’t they? I know you find it bothersome, but I was worried, so I followed along.”
“As you know, one cannot save the world alone.”
“I know.”
“Even among drug dealers, there are many beyond those we caught today. Rigen is just one type. There are those coming from overseas, and these criminals sprout like weeds.”
“…The situation is far more serious than I thought.”
“This is not a matter for Hunter Lee Ji-seok to concern yourself with. Aren’t you already handling greater tasks? For trivial matters like these, you can leave them to us. Even if incidents involving the Demon Race occur like today, we can simply deploy S-rank Hunters.”
However, Director Baek Young-shin’s words only multiplied my worries, and noticing this, he removed his glasses and set them on his desk.
“Hunter Lee Ji-seok, everyone dies someday. No matter how much they struggle. What you’re trying to do is catch flowing water in your bare hands.”
Director Baek Young-shin brought his hands together in front of him.
“In doing so, your hands become bound and you can accomplish nothing, don’t you see? We have already achieved much thanks to you, Hunter Lee Ji-seok. I wish no victims would occur, but expecting such a thing while fighting a pan-universal existence is unreasonable.”
“I know that.”
“Can you see my soul? What do you think? Is it large enough for reincarnation?”
“Yes. It’s a clear and powerful soul.”
“I see. Then I have one request.”
“What is it?”
“Even if I die, do not revive me.”
It was the second time I’d heard this recently.

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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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