Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 54

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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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54
“Yes, I’ll craft the items later. But I’m curious about something right now. How are this creature’s scales so incredibly hard? Even my aura couldn’t cut through them properly.”
“Let me take a look.”
Jae-in pulled out her monocle and examined the scales with her appraisal skill.
“Most monsters have mana infused throughout their bodies, which gives them durability and strength beyond ordinary biological tissue. And the ratio of mana infusion varies slightly from monster to monster.”
Thanks to my knowledge from my past life, I understood which parts of a monster were strong, which were weak, and how to raise my skills—but I’d never grasped the fundamental theory behind it. There was no academic depth to the conversations I shared with my comrades while fighting on the front lines.
“Hmm… Is it the same reason hunters have such hard bodies?”
“Exactly. In your case, your body continuously evolves into those components through your skills, and with mana infused throughout, you’re far more durable than hunters of the same rank.”
I’d always wondered why my status window showed mana when I barely used it—now it all made sense.
“But the drake seems far harder than me, doesn’t it?”
My interior might be harder, but its scales were undeniably far more durable than my skin.
“That’s right. It comes down to composition, but flexible tissue like skin inevitably sacrifices durability. Think of it like comparing a full plate armor’s solid steel plate to chainmail—it’s about selection and focus. The drake’s mana is infused so its scales are incredibly hard while its muscles remain flexible and generate greater strength. You can’t have biological tissue that’s both hard and flexible with excellent mobility all at once.”
“I see…”
Jae-in was right. I’d been trying to maintain both durability and mobility this whole time. I did possess a certain level of both, but anything beyond that felt insufficient. Perhaps when my Hardened Body skill reached S-rank, something might change, but according to Jae-in, I was heading in the wrong direction.
I needed to consider evolution in a new direction.
“Then I’ll head back, analyze the composition, and send you the data. The rest can be crafted into items, right? If we leave it as is, the mana will dissipate and the durability will gradually decrease.”
Jae-in quickly operated the crane and loaded the drake onto the truck.
“Sure, please do. Oh, and I don’t need items for myself. I’ll leave the decision of what items to craft and how to dispose of them entirely to you.”
“I’ll handle it!”
“It’s nothing special, but at least have a meal before you go.”
I gestured toward the stew I’d been adding ingredients to for days—its contents now completely unidentifiable.
“No thanks, I need to hurry back and start the dismantling and preservation work.”
Jae-in glanced at the bubbling pot, her eyes twitching slightly, and she practically fled. It looked questionable, but it actually tasted good…
The training and subjugation continued the next day as well.
While I put Si-hwan through his training, I held a scale I’d pried from the drake in my hand, turning it over repeatedly.
Even when I applied force to the scale, it didn’t shatter. Of course, the gaps between scales were a weakness, but even my full-power strikes couldn’t break it, and the Axe Wielder’s aura couldn’t easily cut through this hard shell.
I’d certainly considered developing skin like stone or steel. But as my body became increasingly inhuman, I’d consciously rejected such evolution because I didn’t want my appearance to become monstrous as well.
“Ugh! I’m dying from the heat.”
Si-hwan threw off his armor after finishing training. Summer had passed, but with September still here, fighting in full armor all day was inevitably sweltering.
“Is there any way to make this armor easier to put on and take off?”
Rigen armor was relatively convenient, but it was still more cumbersome than casual clothes.
“Right? It would be nice if the armor transformed like my hands do—changing when needed and folding away for storage when not.”
Min-woo chimed in, agreeing with Si-hwan’s complaint.
As I sat listening to their conversation, a sudden realization struck me.
What if I didn’t make permanent transformations, but temporary ones instead? Gigantification wasn’t permanent either—it was just expanding my body’s cells.
I could create armor. Armor that I could absorb after combat and deploy again when needed. Unlike gigantification, which simply required imagining size increase, creating something my body didn’t naturally possess would be challenging, but it was absolutely worth attempting.
I gripped the scale in my right hand and focused on the back of my left hand.
Not scales covering my skin densely like a serpent, but the sensation of hard armor plating forming on my hand’s back.
“…It’s not working.”
Despite concentrating for a long time, nothing changed. Creating something my body didn’t naturally possess was indeed difficult. I’d tried making wings before and failed similarly. It seemed my detailed imagination was lacking.
“What is it?”
Yang Sang-heon asked, having overheard my muttering.
“Ah, I was thinking of awakening a new ability, but it’s not easy.”
I explained to him about the Drake’s scales.
“Since you have a straightforward personality, wouldn’t it happen naturally once you start fighting?”
“I never thought I’d hear myself called simple by you.”
“You think a lot, but your nature is very straightforward. Even your skill names are incredibly simple. What’s ‘Solid Body’? And people say status windows and abilities reflect personality anyway.”
“Abilities don’t reflect personality!”
Bae Na-young interjected from beside us. If she agreed with that theory, she’d become a witch who corroded enemies and inflicted nightmares.
I couldn’t say it to Bae Na-young, but that theory was quite accurate. The intuitive skill names in Korean and the characteristic of evolving when struck—it clearly reflected my straightforward nature.
Bae Na-young wasn’t dark-natured either, but she had a remarkably stubborn streak and a personality that couldn’t be stopped once started. Perhaps her curse skills were a manifestation of that obstinate and extreme nature.

As Yang Sang-heon said, overthinking didn’t suit me. I decided that with regular visualization practice and fighting strong opponents, it would come naturally, and I cast the worry aside.
* * *
After a week of relentless forced marches without rest, Oh Brothers’ eyes had lost all focus.
Even Bae Na-young, who had initially disliked Oh Brothers, felt pity seeing his state.
“You didn’t push me like that.”
“That’s because your abilities improved faster.”
“So if they hadn’t improved, you would’ve pushed me like that too?”
“No, I wouldn’t have done that to you.”
Because if she went dark, that would be a problem. Not now, but back then, I was still quite afraid of Bae Na-young.
She seemed to interpret it differently and giggled.
Of course, now that she’s my girlfriend, I don’t push her around like that. Besides, she’s been growing steadily without me even needing to worry.
Yang Sang-heon also grew tired watching Oh Brothers’ training.
“Isn’t this harsher than when you trained?”
“If you don’t improve, I’m putting you on that team too. Train well.”
“…Yes.”
While eating and resting, something caught on my senses from a distance.
“Everyone, quiet.”
I silenced everyone and spread my senses wide to concentrate.
It’s far but I can feel it. Ground vibrations, engine sounds, gunfire.
“Someone’s being chased. I’ll be back in a moment.”
Before anyone could say anything, I pushed off from my seat and bolted away.
It’s not far. Within a few kilometers.
Within minutes, I found the source of the sounds.
What had once been agricultural land was now overgrown with weeds and brush. A small military vehicle cut across the terrain, its occupants firing rifles at a fleeing man.
“A Hunter?”
The vehicle couldn’t gain much speed in such terrain, but that man was incredibly fast. He seemed to be moving at forty, maybe fifty kilometers per hour.
The Hunter might be guilty of something, but from what I could sense, that didn’t seem to be the case, so I immediately leaped in front of the military vehicle.
Screeeech!
“Get out of the way!”
The vehicle screeched to a halt upon seeing me. The fleeing hunter also stopped in his tracks.
“Wait. Who are you people? Why are you chasing that man?”
I asked politely, having suddenly inserted myself into the situation.
“This is none of a South Korean’s concern! Move aside!”
“Please help us! My younger sibling is sick!”
The hunter being chased from behind cried out. His face was youthful and innocent, yet his body was well-trained and stood over six feet tall. Up close, I noticed he wore tattered clothes, ripped and scratched in various places.
“Lower your weapons and get out of the vehicle. I won’t move until we talk and reach an understanding.”
I was trying to be reasonable, but if they were going to act like this, there was no need for civility.
“Just shoot him!”
The soldier driving shouted, and the one aiming at me pulled the trigger.
Tat-tat-tat!
There was no need to dodge.
Two of the three bullets struck my chest and cheekbone, then fell to the ground.
“A Hunter….”
The two North Korean soldiers lowered their guns slowly.
“Lower your weapons. Guns don’t work on Hunters of that caliber.”
A man riding in the back of the military vehicle spoke to the soldiers, then leaped from behind the vehicle and landed in front of me.
“It would’ve been better if you’d just let this go. You don’t even know what’s happening.”
“You said you’d talk, but then you started shooting. That tells me enough about what’s going on.”
“Relying on enhancement skills, are you?”
He seemed to think blocking the bullets was a skill.
“A man with too much meddling doesn’t live long!”
As he finished speaking, he drew the sword at his waist with a skill-enhanced motion and slashed at my neck. Quite fast. C-rank? Maybe even B-rank if he was skilled. But it wasn’t a speed I couldn’t react to, and the blade’s trajectory was obvious.
Finally, the real combat I’d been waiting for. I raised my arm, imagining armor forming on the back of my hand.
Clang!
“Clang?”
The swordsman frowned, as if the sound wasn’t what he expected.
“Damn. That won’t work.”
The blade was stopped by my hardened hand, but the scales I’d imagined didn’t appear. Perhaps because the speed was predictable and the power was weak, I felt no sense of danger at all.
Hardening can block such pathetic attacks, but not aura. And hardening has the disadvantage of reducing flexibility in that area. For example, if I hardened my entire arm, its movement became noticeably slower.
Lost in thought due to the lack of tension, he recovered his sword and thrust it at my chest.
I received the incoming blade with my chest while sweeping my front kick at the swordsman’s abdomen.
Boom!
The man flew backward and crashed into the vehicle.
“He probably won’t die, but his internal organs are damaged. Take him and get him treated.”
The North Korean soldiers fled in terror.
“Sir! Please save our younger sibling!”
The fleeing hunter dropped to his knees and grabbed my pants. Sir? We didn’t seem to have much of an age difference….
“Wait, calm down. Tell me slowly what’s going on.”
“My younger sibling is sick! The adults won’t treat them, and they won’t let me take them out!”
“Where is your younger sibling?”
“In North Korea. Please, sir, go rescue my younger sibling. I overheard the adults talking. They said a hunter as strong as the Supreme Leader came from South Korea. That’s you, isn’t it?”
“The Supreme Leader? You mean the one who uses twin axes?”
“Yes.”
But something about this conversation felt off. Adults? Sir? The pronouns didn’t add up.
“How old are you?”
“I’m ten years old.”
For a moment, I thought I’d misheard. The child’s frame was so tall and well-proportioned that I’d never have guessed they were under twenty. Their face was youthful, certainly, but ten years old?

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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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