Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 289
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
289
Ji-seok walked confidently toward the darkened entrance of the Bank, but suddenly a thought crossed his mind and he stopped in his tracks.
“Hmm. If I make too much of a commotion, the Demon Race—or those two women—will chase after me. Better to slip in quietly.”
Ji-seok entered the alley between the Bank building and the adjacent structure, spreading his senses in all directions to scan the ground below and the interior of the Bank.
He located a spot free of pipes and electrical wiring, then mentally mapped a route through the earth leading to the Bank’s vault.
A domain manifested around Ji-seok’s body. The dense aura melted the earth with its heat, lowering him underground like an elevator.
After descending sufficiently, Ji-seok moved laterally and reached the vault wall of the Bank’s underground chamber. Though it was constructed of thick alloy, it posed no resistance to his aura—he passed through it at nearly the same speed as melting earth.
The Bank never imagined an S-rank Hunter would rob a bank, so there was no need to reinforce the underground vault excessively. This was merely a branch, not headquarters, and the total sum of money in the vault meant little to an S-rank Hunter anyway.
Upon entering the vault, Ji-seok saw bundles of fifty-thousand-won notes and scattered scraps of paper of unknown purpose. A small box caught his eye; when he twisted it open, he found jewels inside, though they held no interest for him.
Ji-seok swept the bundles of fifty-thousand-won notes into a white pouch beside him and leaped out through the hole he’d dug.
“Where should I go have some fun?!”
Ji-seok felt exhilarated. A sense of liberation. For reasons he couldn’t quite explain, this freedom—unconstrained by anyone, unbound by expectations—felt wonderful. He wanted to play more.
The reason Ji-seok craved this freedom was, amusingly enough, due to his skill.
When he first saw those two women wielding violet mana, something drew him toward them, made him want to follow. But his acute sensory skill had issued a dire warning: if he followed these women, all his fun would end.
Ji-seok had fled because the prospect felt like stepping into a grave.
Now liberated, Ji-seok turned his steps toward where he heard many voices.
Unsteady footsteps. All of them reeked of alcohol. To Ji-seok’s sensitive nose, it was a stench, yet even that brought him joy.
Music drifted from not far away—a rhythm he’d never heard before, yet his body swayed to it.
As he drew closer to the sound, women dressed inappropriately for the cold weather became increasingly numerous.
“Yes, this is it!”
A rather long line of people waited to enter the Club, but Ji-seok simply walked straight toward the entrance.
“Uh…? You, what are you doing? Get in line. Get in line.”
The Security Guard, who also managed the water, was momentarily flustered by Ji-seok’s brazen approach, but quickly regained his composure. If he let someone in without proper procedure, the manager would have his head, and the people in line wouldn’t stand for it either.
Sure enough, one of those waiting in line had already pulled out their phone.
The Security Guard decided to make an example, pushing Ji-seok’s chest with his hand. It was a gentle push, but coming from an F-rank Hunter, it should have sent him stumbling backward.
“Huh?”
Rather than being pushed, it felt like pushing an enormous boulder. The Security Guard, having expended his strength, lost his balance and was shoved backward a step.
“Ah, money? Here.”
Initially uncertain why this man was blocking him, Ji-seok misunderstood—he thought the man was asking for payment. He pulled a bundle of fifty-thousand-won notes from his pouch and tossed it onto the Security Guard’s chest.
“Uh… uh…”
The Security Guard caught the money, bewildered by Ji-seok’s audacious demeanor. In five years working Club security, he’d received plenty of tips and seen many try to buy their way in, but the maximum had always been hundreds of thousands of won. This was the first time someone had burned five hundred thousand just to enter.
The Security Guard stared at the bundle of fifty-thousand-won notes, his mind blank, while Ji-seok slipped inside.
“Ooh… it’s similar to the Demon Realm?”
The interior was very dark, but colorful lights shot from all directions. Smoke filled the space, though it barely smelled—clearly artificial, created to enhance the atmosphere.
The unfamiliar music assaulted Ji-seok’s eardrums.
The Club environment resembled the places where demons in the Demon Realm conducted curse rituals.
But the people were different. Vibrant, full of life, they danced to the music’s rhythm and drank without restraint. Their faces bore no burden. This was exactly what Ji-seok wanted.
“No, this is better than the Demon Realm.”
Delighted, Ji-seok walked deeper into the Club.
Watching people at the bar take drinks and leave money, Ji-seok placed one bundle of fifty-thousand-won notes on the counter.
“Alcohol.”
“…Would you prefer to drink quietly in a private room, or here in the main hall?”
The fact that he’d placed five million won on the table from the start was already unusual, but when the Bartender glimpsed the bulging money pouch containing far more, he recognized a big spender—no, a distinguished patron—had arrived after a long time.
The private rooms behind this club were places ordinary customers didn’t even know existed. Only an extremely select few VVIP guests could enter.
“A private room? If I drink in a room, I can’t enjoy this beautiful scenery. Let’s have fun, real fun. Pass drinks around to everyone else too.”
“Yes, sir!”
The Bartender’s lips curled upward as he imagined properly fleecing this customer and receiving a generous bonus.
* * *
People swarmed around Ji-seok like a pack of dogs as he scattered money everywhere. Was he just rich? His face was handsome too, and the muscles visible between his shirt buttons were enough to make women swoon.
“Ah~ I feel alive coming here after being in Hell!”
Ji-seok grabbed a bottle of whiskey and drank straight from it. Intoxicated men who’d been drinking free liquor lay sprawled across the floor.
“Hell? Is your company really that tough? Wait, you don’t work at a company, do you?”
A woman with her chest exposed to a precarious degree clung to Ji-seok’s arm. He didn’t mind the woman pressing against him, nor the sensation he felt through his arm.
“A company? Is that place like Hell? I literally just came back from actual Hell.”
“Tch… You’re quite the liar.”
Seol A was in her third year of club life, clocking in almost every week and earning the official title of club regular.
She’d seen over a hundred men by now, but none had spent money quite like this one. Every time he ordered a drink, he threw down bundles of five-million-won notes.
When money had fallen earlier, she’d picked it up and already collected over a million won. But as her wallet grew fat, her greed only intensified. She no longer wanted to stoop and pick up money from the floor like some common girl.
Men were all the same—if she flaunted her confident assets, she could squeeze out a credit card bill. First she’d extract the card payment, and if things went well, there was no harm in progressing further. His face was decent enough anyway.
The moment she mentioned the credit card bill, Ji-seok’s continuously smiling face hardened like stone. His naturally rough impression made his expressionless face quite terrifying.
“…Look, if you don’t want to, just forget it. Why the scary face?”
Seol A flinched at that expression and quietly retreated.
Ji-seok’s interest wasn’t in Seol A. Rather, he’d sensed the people outside had changed. Until moments ago, most were ordinary humans, but now the proportion of humans with actual abilities had increased dramatically.
“Hmm… The ratio doesn’t make sense.”
“Ratio? I do have a pretty good figure.”
Seol A tried to resume her approach, emphasizing her chest by folding her arms.
“Back off a bit.”
Ji-seok pushed away Seol A’s face as she clung to him.
“Brother.”
Bae Na-young stepped in front of Ji-seok, who was drinking.
“So it was you after all.”
“Who are you?! This oppa was playing with me—”
Seol A yelped and shot to her feet, while Bae Na-young released a violet aura from her back and slowly turned her gaze toward the woman.
“…I’ll be going. Excuse me.”
Seol A’s instincts screamed at her. This woman was on a different level.
Seol A quietly grabbed her handbag, bowed respectfully, and slipped past Bae Na-young. She’d thought about drinking elsewhere now that she had money, but looking around, she noticed everyone in the club was holding a weapon in their hands.
As the club’s patrons were quietly ushered out one by one, Hunters had taken their places. If they’d evacuated everyone in a rush, Ji-seok would have noticed the encirclement before it was complete.
“I was too busy drinking to notice this little trick. But you all know—you’re not enough for me, right?”
“We’ll find out once we try.”
“Damn it… I just wanted to have some fun, and you keep interfering. Fine. At this point, I’ll just have to kill you all.”
Ji-seok rose from his seat, armor materializing across his body.
Bae Na-young extended her wand toward him.
Ji-seok’s hand shot forward, and a torrent of mana erupted from Bae Na-young’s wand.
The interior of the club shattered under the violet wave of mana unleashed by an S-rank Hunter.
“Hmph! Trivial!”
My charge slowed only slightly.
Yet Bae Na-young’s expression remained unchanged. She had reinforcements.
Hunters concealed throughout the club unleashed arrows and spells from behind her, targeting me, while close-combat Hunters surged from her left and right, brandishing swords and spears.
“Gnats!”
Before I could even reach Bae Na-young, the interference became overwhelming.
Though they were A-rank Hunters and above, a single swing of my arm sent arrows and Hunters alike tumbling backward in a cascade.
“Sister, didn’t I tell you? Sheer numbers mean nothing without quality.”
Yang Sang-heon took his position to Bae Na-young’s left, sword in hand.
“Numbers matter only if they have the rank to back them up.”
Violet stepped to the right.
“It’s really okay if we destroy this whole place, right~?”
Amy took her stance beside Violet.
“It’s been so long since I’ve drawn a blade. You won’t hold it against me if I’m a bit rusty?”
Even Jung Min-gi, whose soul had been damaged and left him comatose until now, made his appearance.
“I’m sorry for jumping in right after waking up.”
Bae Na-young’s expression turned apologetic.
As Jae-in continued her research into souls, she discovered a method to repair Jung Min-gi’s damaged soul. The technique involved purifying other souls and using them to restore the damaged portions—a method conceived after Ji-seok revealed the reincarnation process of the Heavenly Kingdom.
To avoid affecting the essence of the soul itself, the treatment required purified souls. Even for a human, dozens were necessary. Of course, human souls could not be used. As a substitute, countless animal and plant souls were gathered, and the process took so long that he had only awakened yesterday.
“What are you talking about? I’m grateful. I slept and woke to find that cursed monster gone from the world, didn’t I?”
Besides, both he and his daughter Jang Mi had survived in good health, so Jung Min-gi harbored no complaints.
Excluding the five S-rank Hunters, the others retreated steadily backward.
Sensing the extraordinary aura emanating from these five humans, I expanded my perception to detect if there were more like them. Yet within a hundred-meter radius, I felt nothing—not a single presence from the multitude that had been there moments before.
“So you’ve made your resolve.”
“Of course. You’re mine.”
At Bae Na-young’s words, my chest warmed while simultaneously tightening with an inexplicable pressure.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————