Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 52

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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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52
“Nam Si-hwan.”
“Yes….”
“How much longer do you plan to work at the Detective Agency?”
You can’t grind people without ambition into something useful. I’d thought they’d understand what kind of opportunity I was offering, but these idiots need every single detail spelled out for them.
“Pardon?”
“Didn’t you hear me? I asked how much longer you’re going to work at the Detective Agency.”
“I… I’ve never really thought about it.”
“Are you satisfied extorting people and pocketing the money?”
“We don’t do that kind of thing anymore.”
“Right, right. These days you’re running around with cameras taking pictures of affairs, aren’t you? That’s not something you can do forever, is it? You said you wanted to become Hunters. Are you not going to do it? If you don’t like this, Rigen has plenty of production line positions available. I can put you there. Just say the word anytime.”
The three of them listened with their heads bowed.
“It’s fine to give up. That’s a choice too. But shouldn’t you at least try until you’re ready to die before you give up?”
I was speaking to the three of them, but I was also speaking to my past self. If someone had pushed me like this back then, my ending might have been different.
“We’ll do it.”
The three of them listened quietly to my words, and when they seemed to have resolved themselves, they answered.
“Good. Prepare yourselves.”
After that, we engaged in hours of grueling combat. I didn’t spare advice on skills either.
“Nam Si-hwan. Use your skill. Scream until the ants burst.”
“Yes! Aaaaaaaa!!!!!”
Si-hwan shouted until blood dripped from his throat, and his maximum volume grew so loud the air itself trembled. Thanks to that, we managed to disrupt the ants’ communication and make them flinch. Of course, it wasn’t enough to deal physical damage to them. But he’d grown accustomed to defending and attacking with his shield, and now he hunted the ants with ease.
“Jin-woo. The dogs you summon keep dying—why do you keep calling them? Either increase the dog’s size or strengthen it. If that doesn’t work, summon something other than a dog.”
After my advice, Jin-woo experimented with summoning various types of creatures in combat. Among them, the hawk-form summon worked best. While he tanked, the hawk attacked the ants from above.
Min-woo was doing well on his own and didn’t need much advice. He shattered the ants with his hands shaped like hammers. His hands would hurt as the battle dragged on, but after fighting for a while, his skill level increased. Now he could harden certain parts with his skill, reinforcing the impact surface of the hammer even further before smashing the ants. He’d grown accustomed to combat, and among the three, his combat power had become the highest.
It gradually grew dark, and the ants kept increasing, leaving the three of them almost no time to rest. It was time to end today’s training. I sent a text to Yu President telling him to return to Base Camp.
“Alright, that’s enough for today.”
As I approached the three of them, I began to enlarge. With each step I took, I grew bigger, and the three of them’s gazes kept rising higher and higher, their faces growing pale.
Then I stomped on the ants on the ground, crushing them to death.
“Si-hwan hyung… we just talked back to that person… that took real guts.”
Min-woo whispered, thinking I wouldn’t hear him since my head was so far up above.
“No… I didn’t know he was this strong.”
“Hyung. You’d better apologize profusely later.”
Jin-woo chimed in from beside him.
“No… this isn’t right?! You said it was enlargement?! Hyung only grows about a meter, but this… what kind of enlargement is this?! This is gigantification!”
I’d cleaned up dozens of ants in an instant, and when I returned, Si-hwan, Jin-woo, and Min-woo were standing at attention.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
Their response was sharp. Should I have shown my power earlier? I’d only ever shown them me beating people up, never this kind of visually overwhelming strength.
Everyone returned to Base Camp completely exhausted.
Inside the large hunting vehicle we’d ridden in were rest areas with bedrooms and bathrooms, and when the vehicle’s side panels unfolded, a large tent expanded outward as well.
I assigned the five of them a comfortable space and prepared a large pot of stew. For outdoor meals, it was convenient to throw everything in and let it simmer. We paired it with some slightly hardened bread.
“Brother, look at this. I can make it even more solid now.”
Min-woo formed one hand into a shield and the other into a hammer, striking them together with rhythmic thuds. Now the shield didn’t need to be carried separately—the one he created could block attacks from the ants. Since he could transform its shape depending on the situation, it had far greater utility than a standard item.
“Oh, that’s impressive! Brother, I changed my summoned creature.”
Jin-woo summoned a hawk and showed it off.
Everyone had developed an intuition for their skills, and as their levels rose, their stats and skill levels increased by one or two tiers. They were all too busy showcasing their improved abilities like children with new toys.
“Hunter Lee Ji-seok.”
Yu President approached me.
“Thank you.”
And he bowed deeply.
“I understand that it’s no small matter for an A-rank Hunter to spend an entire day training us and helping us obtain our Hunter licenses. Especially considering we’re people who have wronged your mother.”
The other four, seeing Yu President speak, came over and stood behind him.
“Thank you so much!”
And they bowed respectfully.
“If you’re grateful, repay it through your work later. And you shouldn’t be grateful yet—today is only day one. Understand?”
“Yes! We understand! We’ll work hard!”
It was almost like the military.
“Then go eat and rest.”
The five of them rushed off together, eating and chattering as they took their break.
“Brother, despite everything, you really take good care of them.”
“Just… I always wished I’d had an opportunity like this before. And I want to see how much skills develop in harsh conditions.”
“I wish I had a heart as broad as yours, but it’s not easy.”
Bae Na-young leaned against my shoulder.
“No, you’re doing well. How many did you catch today?”
“The Ant Nest, the Goblin Cave, a Werewolf pack, and Walking Trees too. About five hundred?”
“…You did well. Aren’t you tired?”
“I learned how to use skills from Paul, remember?”
Bae Na-young lifted a ping-pong-sized purple mana sphere into the air and spun it on her fingertip, then made it rotate in a figure-eight pattern.
The Mana Sphere skill normally launches a ball of mana in a straight line when cast, but she was controlling it to that degree.
“Before, I was wasting a lot of mana on the Mana Sphere, right? Now that I’m using mana without waste, the color changed to purple and the power increased too. I’m going to research other skills and improve their performance as well.”
Her smile is beautiful. But how much stronger will she become? At this rate, she’ll surpass even my previous life’s power.
“Good. Take it slow. I’m heading out for a bit.”
“Aren’t you resting?”
“Watching those guys made me restless. I need to work it off. Go to sleep first.”
“Understood.”
“Yang Sang-heon, I’m going out, so look after those five for me.”
“Yes, have a good trip.”
“Have a good trip!”
With everyone’s farewells, I launched myself toward the Mountain. There were no monsters in this area strong enough to be my match, so leveling up would be difficult, but I wanted to do some night training as Bae Na-young suggested, and I also wanted to hurry along with the North Korean Territory restoration mission.
I shot aura from my fingers at every Werewolf, Walking Tree, Hellhound, and Fairy I spotted, disposing of them. Running while shooting required double the concentration, raising the difficulty, but I welcomed this challenge.
Unfortunately, no rare monsters like the Fairy Queen appeared. After hunting through the night and eliminating hundreds of creatures, we returned to Base Camp.
The morning of the second day broke.
“Today we split into teams. Na-young, you move alone. Yang Sang-heon and the rest of you five move together. When today ends, we’ll check the results—the team in last place gets a penalty.”
“Brother! Aren’t you basically just giving me the penalty?!”
“Quiet. You’re six people. Work hard. I’m only counting numbers regardless of monster rank, so you might win if you catch a lot of weak ones. And if you come in first, you get tomorrow off.”
“Everyone heard that, right?!”
“Wooooo!!”
Yang Sang-heon and the five brothers burned with determination. The six of them retrieved two motorcycles and a four-seater ATV from beneath the vehicle to increase their travel speed and departed.
“Oppa. Let’s make a bet. How about the winner gets a wish granted?”
“A wish? Is there something you need?”
“It’s a secret. Will you do it?”
“Sure. Let’s do it.”
In truth, I’m optimized for powerful single opponents, so Na-young has a significant advantage hunting masses of weak monsters. But I welcome any challenge. And even if I lose, granting Na-young one wish is no burden.
“You promised. See you tonight~”
Na-young departed with her cloak billowing. She now wielded the levitation magic inscribed in the cloak with complete mastery, infusing it with mana. She vanished almost as if flying.
Based on intelligence from the Awakener Management Bureau, I set my direction toward the Northeast Mountain, where the strongest monsters seemed most likely to appear.
I spread my perception wide to locate the monsters around me, then eliminated them along the optimal route.
“This isn’t even a workout.”
Daytime hunting was easier than last night. While developing others is important, I need to grow stronger myself—this isn’t training at all.
The battle with the Troll and the clash with Helen came to mind. I must become stronger. Some things have improved because I move differently than in my past life, but many timings are off. I need to prepare that much more.
I steeled my resolve and increased my speed. Searching for stronger monsters.
In one hour, I eliminated hundreds of monsters, but the strongest among them was an Ogre.
When North Korea collapsed, large monsters sought out people and migrated north and south. Most were subjugated in China and Korea. The missiles China poured down forced us to redraw the map of North Korea. As a result, Korea suffered dealing with monsters that fled China and came to Korea.
Still, in a forest this dense, I’d hoped to find A-rank or B-rank monsters hiding somewhere. If they don’t appear like this, perhaps the restoration of North Korea will be easier than expected.
The sun was beginning to slip over the mountain ridge. Just as I was about to give up and return, I sensed a monster with powerful life force moving rapidly.
Finally, it seemed I could exert some real effort. My excitement surged as I leaped toward the direction of the presence.
From above, I saw a monster moving while toppling trees.
I free-fell and landed on its head with both feet.
Boom!
Its head crashed to the ground. I stomped on its skull and leaped again, landing on the ground. The massive impact sent leaves trembling.
“A Drake?”
A B-rank monster not encountered recently. Covered in hard scales, it resembled a giant lizard, yet at a glance also looked like a dragon. It stretched ten meters long with a head height of three meters.
The previous attack would have eliminated a Cerberus in one strike, but the creature showed no sign of major impact—it merely shook its head and glared at me. The hard scales apparently prevented the shock from reaching its interior.
“Come on.”
I beckoned with my hand.
As I, appearing smaller in stature, beckoned, the creature scraped the ground with its hind legs as if to charge immediately.

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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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