Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 44

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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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44
Ever since those cursed otherworlders arrived, Gate accidents and breaches had multiplied exponentially, and soon the total number of Gates had increased several times over.
It was only later that we discovered they had manipulated monsters destined for Telus, their own world, to come to Earth instead. After sharing some information with us and earning our trust, they roamed Korea freely and tampered with the Gates.
Hunters found and killed them at the scenes, but they put up fierce resistance, and many Hunters died. Even after they were eliminated, the Gate increase rolled downhill like a snowball, growing ever larger. In a vicious cycle where Hunters died clearing the increased Gates and more Gates appeared, we faced annihilation.
The recent Gate breaches and the surge in monsters requiring extensive rescue operations were undoubtedly their doing.
After discovering Helen, I checked with Yang President whether there were any issues during the Gate reset periods. Each Gate has a predetermined reset time, and sure enough, there had been three accidents where Gates reset earlier than scheduled. As a result, there were casualties among the porters who had remained inside.
After this incident, the government failed to find any connection and only issued a notice to be cautious of porters and recovery companies. Had I known this beforehand, I could have anticipated Helen’s group’s arrival, but what’s done is done.
My original plan was to raise my level significantly before they arrived, becoming a Hunter with strong influence in the Awakener Management Bureau. Then, if I warned them to be careful of otherworlders, they would have taken it seriously.
Even though I’ve gained Baek Young-shin’s favor now, as a B-rank Hunter, I have neither the evidence nor the influence for anyone to believe me if I claim they’re enemies.
Since they’ve arrived earlier than expected, I need to completely revise my plans.
I considered sneaking in and killing them, but I quickly dismissed the thought. They’re currently being treated as distinguished guests from another world across the globe. If I killed them without solid evidence and got caught, I could become a traitor to Earth. I have no intention of taking the blame to save the world. Besides, I have much more to do ahead—I can’t become a fugitive.
No matter what I do next, my low level will be a problem. I made a plan and immediately began a forced march, pushing Bae Na-young and Yang Sang-heon through Gates.
“Huff… huff… Brother, what’s wrong? Why the rush?”
While the two of them cleared Gates, I protected them from behind during crises and fed them potions like water to relieve fatigue. Despite this, accumulated physical and mental exhaustion made Yang Sang-heon breathe heavily, and though Bae Na-young said nothing, her complexion looked poor.
“There will come a day soon when I need both of your strength. I’m sorry, but please trust me and follow along for now.”
The two of them sensed my serious mood. And knowing that while they rested, I continued clearing Gates without rest in the evenings, they followed without further complaint. I was truly grateful.
During the forced march, item and byproduct recovery wasn’t perfect, but I didn’t mind. Leveling up was the priority.
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Name: Lee Ji-seok
Occupation: Unemployed
Level: 38
Strength 98, Stamina 95, Agility 87, Intelligence 43, Vitality 980, Mana 353
Skills: Regeneration B, Hardened Body A, Resilient Mind A, Poison Resistance D, Keen Senses B, Toxic Blood A
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In just a few days of forced marching, I’d raised my level by 3. These stats were already far superior to my previous life. All the times I’d risked my life had paid off. However, fighting an S-rank Hunter was still beyond my reach.
Typically, S-rank Hunters are levels 46 to 50 with average main stats around 70. My stats are higher on paper, but S-rank Hunters have their stats boosted by tens of percent or more through job bonuses, and when they use skills, they become several times faster and stronger than their raw stats suggest.
Even Jung Min-gi, Korea’s only S-rank Hunter, likely has a lower total stat sum than me. But his sword strike that severed a Troll’s neck wasn’t merely the product of 70 stats. It would take at least 150, maybe 200 in stats to dodge or block it. Other S-rank Hunters possess similar levels of power.
Though I have a long way to go, I don’t have time to just keep leveling. For a few days, the world’s attention was focused on this, but now interest is beginning to wane. Before Helen’s group finds an opportunity to act, I must stop them.
I pulled my suit over my head and climbed onto the roof of the building next to the Hotel where Helen’s group was staying.
In my previous life, I was a small-time Hunter, so I only knew what appeared in the news and rumors circulating in Hunter circles. In other words, I don’t know the exact methods they used to push monsters destined for Telus toward our side. So I need to watch them and find out.
I predicted they would move at night since they had to work without Earth’s people knowing.
“Nothing happened during the day?”
“No. I’ve been watching carefully. All three of them were with the Awakener Management Bureau’s escort. There was no independent movement.”
I’d asked Yu President from the Detective Agency to handle daytime surveillance since they seemed unlikely to move.
“Good work.”
“But… why are you having these people watched?”
“Yu President.”
“Yes?”
“If you know, you’ll get more involved in this. Do you really want to know? You won’t be able to back out later?”
“I’ll just quietly do what you ask.”
There were no more questions.
As I kept my senses sharp and watched intently, my eyes caught something unusual.
The side door of the Hotel opened and closed, but no one came out. It didn’t seem like the wind had moved it—the motion looked exactly like someone had opened and closed it deliberately.
When I focused my attention near the door, I saw a faint shimmer. It was so subtle that an Awakener would never have noticed it, but I could see it. Narrowing my eyes and concentrating, the outline of that shimmer became visible. It was the shape of a person.
I descended the building and followed them. As I left the Hotel, the shimmer moved like it was flying, leaping between buildings. It was exactly like how I moved when I used the levitation magic from my suit to lighten my body.
I pursued without losing sight of them. If I’d only followed the shimmer, I might have lost them, but since I’d also caught their scent, there was no way I’d lose them now.
I entered an area with fewer people and increased the distance between us.
I was the one who had tracked the kidnapper of Bae Na-young using only their footprints. Areas with fewer people were actually better for tracking. I pursued them by their footprints, sounds, and scent.
They were indeed heading toward a Gate. The Gate we arrived at was already a cleared B-rank Gate.
The Awakener Management Bureau official who should have been guarding the entrance was too absorbed in their phone. Night shifts guarding cleared Gates were always like this. Once all the byproducts had been harvested, it was essentially just a formality.
Even without the invisibility, the official showed no interest in noticing anyone entering the Gate.
The figure passed by the official and entered the Gate.
“Hello.”
I spoke to the Awakener Management Bureau official who had their head buried in their phone.
“Huh? Hunter Lee Ji-seok?”
“Oh, it’s you, Seok-ho. You’re on night duty today?”
It was a familiar face. From visiting Gates so often, I’d come to recognize most of the field officials. They all liked me because I always brought them plenty of food when I waited or passed through.
“Yes. Night shifts pay a bit better.”
Geum Seok-ho made a circle with his fingers and laughed.
“You work hard. But I’m going to enter that Gate for a bit.”
“Huh? But this one’s already been cleared?”
“I got some new items and want to test them out.”
“Ah, I see.”
There was nothing left to take anyway, and the only reason to guard was to prevent anyone from being inside when it reset. Since my identity was confirmed and I could clear it alone even if it suddenly reset, there was no problem with me entering.
As I entered the Gate, a desolate Plains appeared.
I began tracking by following the most recent footprints. The figure was heading toward the outer edge of the Gate.
Even open-type Gates that appear infinitely vast have limits to their space, just like Cave-type Gates. Usually the boundary is formed by a Rocky Mountain, and beyond that is an invisible wall that makes it impossible to cross.
I found the figure who had deactivated their invisibility behind the rocks. It was Richard, the mage. Richard was unfolding a complex-looking device on the ground.
I committed each of their movements to memory, understanding how it operated. And I felt something being emitted from their hands, though I couldn’t see it clearly.
Then an intense light shot out from the device, striking the rock wall. And a Gate opened within the Gate.
It was clear that monsters coming through that Gate to Telus had arrived on Earth. Now that I knew everything I needed, I just had to apprehend them.
I moved swiftly. I grabbed their neck from behind and slammed them to the ground.
“Gack!”
“From now on, you only answer what I ask.”
Crackle!
The moment I finished speaking, electricity poured from the orb on the back of Richard’s right hand. My skin scorched from the electrical discharge, but that was all.
Boom!
I smashed the back of their hand with my fist. The bones shattered along with the orb.
“Aaaahhhhh!!”
“What is that? How do you deactivate it?”
I pinned the struggling figure down hard, preventing any movement, and demanded answers.

“Long live Beria! Kekeke.”
The creature shrieked in an incomprehensible language, then something cracked inside its mouth. Foam spilled from its lips as its body went limp.
“Damn it…”
It had taken its own life before I could extract any information.
I collected all the items it had been carrying along with the equipment used to open the Gate.
Then I dug a hole and buried the corpse some distance away from the site.
“Thank you for your help.”
“You’re welcome~.”
Geum Seok-ho, the Awakener Management Bureau official guarding the Gate, was absorbed in his phone when I answered, so he never noticed that I’d entered empty-handed but was now carrying items as I left.
* * *
I brought the equipment to Jae-in’s Workshop. It was 3 AM, and I debated whether to wake her or wait for her to wake naturally, but she was still awake.
“You haven’t slept?”
“I was working on something.”
She was so absorbed in her research that she barely slept. Unlike Hunters who must hunt to raise their Awakener level, Crafters like her could increase their level through endless research, development, and creation. Jae-in, whose level had risen through such dedication, no longer possessed the physiology of an ordinary person.
“Could you take a look at these?”
I dumped the items from the cloak onto her work table in a heap.
“What are these?”
“You saw the news about the other world, right?”
“Yes.”
“These belonged to those people.”
“…You stole them?”
“No. I killed them and took these.”
“…Why?”
Jae-in swallowed hard as she asked.
“You know there have been a lot of Gate accidents lately, right?”
Jae-in nodded.
“These items—the otherworlders used them to cause those accidents.”
I combined what I’d known from my past life with what I’d discovered now and explained it to her.
“Then shouldn’t you report this to the Awakener Management Bureau?”
“The evidence is insufficient. I originally planned to capture the culprit and interrogate them, but this is all I have now. If you didn’t know me, would you have believed my story without evidence? Besides, those people are dignitaries of the world right now.”
“That’s true….”
“We need to analyze this quickly. I suspect Gates within Gates have already opened in at least ten locations. If we don’t close them soon, the damage will be irreversible.”
Jae-in audibly swallowed and nodded.

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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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