Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 4

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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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4
[Regeneration (E): Evolves when regenerating the body.]
Just like my previous life. Starting from E-rank, not only does the regeneration speed increase, but my body evolves in ways that help me overcome wounds and stress. The more I get hit, the tougher my body becomes. The more I run, the faster I grow. That’s the principle at work.
I examined the wounds on my body from earlier. New flesh had risen from where the skin had torn, leaving the surface smooth without a trace of scarring. This too is an advantage of the Regeneration skill. It’s not mere recovery—it’s the regeneration of new cells like fingernails or hair, so scars never form.
Moreover, if a limb is severed or the wound is severe, basic recovery skills or potions can’t achieve complete healing. But Regeneration, given enough vitality and time, restores the body even stronger than before.
My motivation surges. The Regeneration skill level has risen, and the regeneration speed is noticeably faster now.
I’d planned to raise my stamina and then seriously level up my skills within a Gate, but now I have reason to push myself to even greater extremes.
After using Regeneration to heal my injuries and enduring intense training, I was ravenously hungry—my stomach ached with it.
As I entered the Cafeteria, I felt the gazes of other students upon me. Ever since I sustained severe injuries from the instructor on the first day, I’d apparently become something of a notorious figure.
“That guy? He has no talent, yet he has the audacity to call himself an Awakened and enroll in the Academy?”
“Yeah. An F-rank Regeneration, supposedly?”
A student’s skills should be confidential, yet somehow they knew. But since I wouldn’t be staying at the Academy long anyway, I ignored their whispers, grabbed my food, and headed to the corner seat where I’d sat at lunch.
Ignoring their stares, I methodically stuffed my mouth with the heaping plate of food and finished my meal.
After eating, I returned to the Dormitory, grabbed my clothes, and headed to the Public Bathhouse.
My level had barely risen by one, yet my body had grown slightly larger and more solid. Perhaps because my body had been so soft before, the change felt all the more pronounced.
I washed away the dirt and blood clinging to my body with scalding hot water.
After finishing, I changed into fresh clothes when a group of students passed by, spotted me, and approached.
“Hey, F-rank. Why don’t you stop bothering people who are serious about becoming hunters and just go home?”
One of them, apparently the leader of the group, stepped forward and started trouble. He was nearly two meters tall with an impressive build.
Most Awakened are proud. They believe themselves different. They’ve actually awakened their abilities, after all. That’s why they resent non-Awakened or Awakened with mediocre skills encroaching on their domain, and territorial behavior was commonplace.
“Mind your own business.”
I finished dressing and answered without looking at him.
“What? Did you just talk back to me?”
In my previous life, I would have simply smiled nervously and avoided contact as much as possible. But now there was no need for that. I calmly gathered my things, turned around, and glared directly at him.
“Heh…. So you call yourself an Awakened? Do you know who I am?”
“No idea.”
An unfamiliar face. That meant he wasn’t someone destined for future fame.
There were entrance ceremonies several times a month, and this Academy wasn’t the only one. Even if he excelled here, he’d ultimately be small-time.
“Huh…. You certainly have a talent for getting under people’s skin. What are you banking on?”
The much larger man looked down at me and tapped my forehead repeatedly as he spoke.
“Nothing in particular.”
I brushed away his irritating hand.
“Hahaha…. Ha!”
He laughed, then suddenly threw a punch at my head. He’d probably intended a surprise attack, but the motion was too telegraphed to miss.
I pivoted my body to the side, dodging while driving my fist into his ribs.
The punch connected with a dull thud, but his posture didn’t shift an inch. His body was harder than it looked.
“My skill is Reinforcement, you bastard!”
I evaded the punch aimed at my head with crushing force, but my agility stat wasn’t enough to dodge all the successive punches raining down on me.
Eventually, a hook caught me across the face and I crashed to the ground.
My head rang. As I tried to regain my senses and push myself up, a kick came flying at me.
I twisted my body left and right, desperately trying to avoid the vital points, but the other spectators joined in and began stomping on me as well.
“Damn it! Where do you think you are?! Don’t get cocky!”
Heat surged through me, and I considered killing all of them right then. But as I thought about it, I realized it wouldn’t be a bad thing. I’d been delighted by the unexpected skill level-ups today, and if I kept getting beaten by these malicious bastards, I figured I could gain a skill or two more.
“You bastard, don’t you dare drop out. From now on, every time I see you, I’ll stomp you good. Ptui!”
He spat on me as I lay there, then left the shower room with the rest of his gang following behind.
I remained lying in the empty changing room for a while, and once I’d recovered somewhat, I pushed myself up.
“Damn. I need to wash again.”
By the time I brought fresh clothes and showered, all the wounds on my body had already healed.
* * *
After that chaotic first day passed, the wake-up bugle sounded at 5 AM the next morning.
“Rise! Rise! Do you think you can sleep so lazily inside a Gate?! Assemble at the Training Ground within 10 minutes!”
The Academy, designed to simulate conditions inside Gates, had early wake-up times.
I was already awake, but I didn’t rush. I dressed slowly and left the Dormitory without hurrying.
The students with good stats sprinted at incredible speeds, and some even jumped out of windows. By the time most had arrived, the instructor shouted.
“That’s it! All students who arrived after the 10-minute mark will wear these weights on both wrists and ankles. Begin!”
I sauntered over and strapped the weights to my wrists and ankles as the instructor commanded.
Since I needed additional strain in my training, this penalty was actually beneficial. But if I’d come out early to put on the weights, it would have been obvious, so I deliberately came out slowly.
Since it was still early in the program, each weight was about 10 kilograms, totaling roughly 40 kilograms.
Once all the students lined up, the Senior Instructor began to speak.
“Without stamina, you cannot survive in a Gate! There are times when hunts must span several days, and you may run out of supplies or sustain injuries. In such situations, the most helpful and most fundamental thing is stamina. I want all of you to keep that in mind and approach this training with that awareness. Now then…. The first 80 to reach the summit return. Begin!”
Some students were startled by the sudden announcement, but most had already adapted to yesterday’s training and bolted forward like arrows. The instructor at the front set the direction, and the students surged after him in a mass.
The latecomers, burdened with an additional 40 kilograms, struggled to maintain that pace—even Awakened ones were on the verge of collapse.
Even with my slightly elevated stats compared to an ordinary person, running with 40 kilograms slowed my pace, and I gritted my teeth and pushed forward.
What had started as a clustered group soon stretched into a long line, but the instructor at the front never looked back and continued running.
The front group reached the summit of the Rear Mountain and had already come back down. But my rear group hadn’t even reached the summit yet.
Drenched in sweat, I climbed to the summit, and a cool breeze swept over me, cooling the heat. But there was no time to rest. I immediately began the descent.
When I arrived back at the starting point after an hour, most of the students were already gone.
“How do you expect to survive monsters chasing you if you’re this slow?! From the students arriving now onward, you’ll reach the summit one more time. Begin!”
To the rear students, their breath barely contained, it felt like the sky was collapsing.
“I-Instructor, couldn’t we at least put down these weights before going?”
A Female Student asked the instructor in a pleading voice. Her face was pale—she was clearly exhausted.
“The fault and responsibility belong to the students who arrived late. You run as you are. Begin.”
“Y-Yes, begin.”
She lacked the courage to talk back to the instructor, so she simply turned around and started running. But the instructor’s words were flawless. If they couldn’t handle this, they wouldn’t survive in a Gate anyway.
I too turned toward the summit again.
Ignoring the sensation of my heart and legs tearing apart and the dizziness in my head, I moved my legs without pause. As I reached the summit again after climbing the slope, a refreshing breeze swept over me, and a notification window appeared.
[Strength has increased by 1.]
[Stamina has increased by 1.]
[Skill Acquired: Unyielding Spirit (F)]
The increase in stats and skills brought me more joy than the breeze itself. I’d thought the Academy was a waste of time, but yesterday’s incident had turned it into a gain.
The Fortified Spirit skill enhances overall mental endurance—granting tolerance to pain, resistance to mental magic, and perseverance.
As my stamina increased, my body felt lighter, and I picked up speed on the descent.
Since I had no fear of injury, I ran boldly down the slope, making the downhill far easier than before.
Drenched in sweat, I arrived back at the starting point. Among the students who had run twice, I crossed the finish line first—no one else was there yet.
“Lee Ji-seok. You may go eat.”
The instructor who had been waiting spoke to me, and I bowed my head respectfully before heading back to the Dormitory.
* * *
This morning, there was a Monster Overview lecture.
The students who had run twice were utterly exhausted from the morning exertion, but I had already recovered after breakfast—no muscle soreness or fatigue plagued me.
“Welcome to Monster Overview. While we lack the time to teach you everything about monsters, you will learn the essentials about the creatures you’ll encounter over the next year.”
The Professor, muscular enough to pass for an active hunter, displayed a photograph of a goblin on the screen.
“What? Just goblins?”
“What’s there to learn about those?”
Murmurs rippled through the students.
“Silence!”
The Professor struck the wall with his palm to command attention. He too seemed to be an Awakened One—the wall cracked slightly with a resounding boom.
“You think goblins are a joke? They’re the number one cause of death among rookie hunters.”
“What?! Aren’t they the weakest monsters?”
“That’s right. In terms of combat ability alone, they are the weakest. Goblins stand about 130 centimeters tall and possess strength slightly inferior to an unawakened adult male. If you remain calm, even an unawakened person can defeat one in single combat.”
“Then why do hunters fall to them?”
“They hunt in packs. Their numbers are significant. And they’re cunning—they set traps, poison their weapons. Combined with their willingness to throw their lives away in an attack, and the fact that modern people raised in comfort have a different mindset, rookie hunters often fall victim.”
The Professor displayed graphic photographs of hunters who had fallen to goblins.
“Ugh….”
Some covered their mouths and looked away, while others watched intently with grave expressions.
“Brutal, isn’t it? This is what you will witness from now on. In a company, a mistake means writing an incident report or, at worst, getting fired. But for a hunter, a mistake means someone dies.”
The Professor continued his lecture on goblin habits and ecology amid the tense atmosphere.
“That’s all for today. Don’t neglect your studies—you’ll need to hunt goblins during the Academy graduation exam.”
At the Professor’s words, everyone left the Lecture Hall with a mixture of anticipation and nervousness.
In the afternoon, there was hand-to-hand combat training—my first actual combat training since entering the Academy.

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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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