Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 6

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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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6
“Do you all have nothing better to do?”
Chu Kang-min and his cronies, who seemed to be waiting for an opportunity to harass me, looked pathetic. There’s always someone like this wherever you go—people intoxicated by a sense of privilege, deriving pleasure from tormenting those weaker than themselves.
“Correcting your habits is my job. For the good of society.”
“Are you insane?”
“Come on then.”
Sigh… It looked like I’d be exercising before my stomach had even settled. I could have run, but since getting beaten was also beneficial to me, I charged at Chu Kang-min without hesitation.
As he drove his fist down as if to nail me to the ground, I slipped smoothly to the side and struck his nose with my elbow.
“Ugh!”
His nose cracked and Chu Kang-min staggered back. Enhancement doesn’t make you invincible just because it blocks every attack—that would be invulnerability, not enhancement. No matter how much you enhance your nose tenfold, you can’t withstand an elbow strike backed by body weight.
As Chu Kang-min hesitated, I tried to follow up, but his lackeys rushed in from both sides and restrained me.
The ones who knocked me to the ground began pummeling me just like yesterday.
However, whether because they were more emotionally invested this time or because they knew I didn’t get hurt easily, the intensity of the beating increased. After protecting my head and taking a prolonged beating, there wasn’t a single intact spot on my body.
I could have found a way to kill these bastards if I’d set my mind to it, but thanks to my robust mental fortitude skill, I endured the pain better and suppressed my murderous intent.
“Kang-min! Stop, he’s going to die!”
One of the lackeys stopped Chu Kang-min.
“Spit! Try coming at me again after you recover!”
The moment they withdrew, a notification sound rang out.
[Skill Acquired: Resilient Body (F)]
My body must have judged that taking more hits was dangerous, gifting me a skill in response.
As Resilient Body reconstructed my flesh in real time, my skin began peeling away like a snake shedding its scales. The massive energy consumption left me not just hungry but in pain despite having just eaten.
While life force is primarily consumed during physical reconstruction, before my vitality reaches a certain threshold, I’ll burn through calories at an astronomical rate, so I’ll be perpetually starving going forward.
Any excess beyond what I immediately need gets compressed and stored in my body. My physique remains unchanged while I can store enormous amounts of energy. This means my weight gain is both an advantage and a disadvantage.
I tore off my tattered upper garment and threw it away, then bathed again.
Then I hurried back to the Cafeteria, which stayed open late.
“Do you have any leftover rice?”
“Oh my, didn’t you just eat?”
The woman working at the Cafeteria seemed to remember me because I’d been taking such large portions.
“I’m hungry again.”
“I knew Awakeners eat well, but you eat even more than most. Let me get this out for you—eat while we clean up.”
“Thank you.”
The women brought out the buffet-style serving dishes again, and I carried them whole to my seat and began devouring everything.
As I shoveled food into my mouth, I could feel my body being reconstructed in real time.
I’d have to repay these friends of mine who’d gifted me so many skills before I graduated from the Academy.
* * *
“Run faster! Would you shuffle along like that even if a Hellhound was chasing you?!”
The Instructor drove the students forward.
[Agility increased by 1.]
[Stamina increased by 1.]
“First ten to the summit! Go!”
[Strength increased by 1.]
[Strength increased by 1.]
“Treat sparring like real combat! The way you train now will save your lives later!”
[Stamina increased by 1.]
[Agility increased by 1.]
I threw myself into daily training with desperate resolve, and my Regeneration skill evolved me in equal measure.
“Looks like Ji-seok’s getting another beating today, huh?”
And every evening without fail, Chu Kang-min’s gang would pummel me. But now their blows barely registered—I gained nothing from taking them anymore. In other words, there was no reason to keep accepting them.
“That’s enough.”
Once my Strength reached 9, my power had doubled that of an average person who knew how to use their body.
From my back, I grabbed one of Chu Kang-min’s lackeys by the ankle and swung him up like a weapon as I rose.
Before he could resist, he collided with another thug, and I hurled him toward Chu Kang-min, who had dodged backward.
“You… how…?”
Chu Kang-min’s eyes widened as he caught his flying subordinate, shocked by my strength.
“I’ve been holding back and getting beaten for it. Now it’s time to settle the score.”
I cracked my neck and advanced toward Chu Kang-min. Compared to the hardships of my past life, the beatings from these punks meant nothing—and I’d gained skills besides—but the resentment still burned.
In recent sparring classes, Chu Kang-min and I had only dodged, blocked, and parried each other without inflicting real damage. That restraint had only aggravated him, leading to these evening thrashings.
But Chu Kang-min, who had never seen me exert my full strength, still looked down on me.
Until now.
“Try catching this.”
Seeing me approach with newfound intensity, Chu Kang-min sensed a different threat and lowered his stance, preparing to activate a skill as he fixed his gaze on me.
“What are you two doing?!”
The Instructor’s voice thundered from across the Training Ground.
Using a skill against another person—especially outside of class or sanctioned sparring—could cost me my Awakened registration, let alone any chance of becoming a Hunter. For a moment, rage had driven me to attack, but the Instructor’s appearance snapped me back to reality, and I stopped.
“I asked what you’re doing. Over here.”
“Nothing, sir. We were just playing around with friends.”
I answered the Instructor.
“You know using skills outside class hours means expulsion, right? Get back to the Dormitory.”
The sharp-eyed Instructor had immediately grasped what we were doing, but he didn’t press the issue further.
“Yes, sir.”
Chu Kang-min’s gang and I bowed respectfully to the Instructor and withdrew.
“Watch your back in the Gate.”
Chu Kang-min ground his teeth as he muttered at me.
“You keep your eyes forward in the Gate. With your skills, one moment of distraction and you’re dead.”
“Damn bastard.”
I watched Chu Kang-min’s gang disappear into the Dormitory, then began my physical conditioning on the Training Ground.
* * *
After that, Chu Kang-min’s gang left me alone for a while.
Without skills, I was no longer worth their effort, and though Chu Kang-min had been hot-headed enough to attempt a skill last time, now that his anger had cooled, he seemed terrified of the consequences that would follow.
Besides, he’d apparently already received recruitment offers from some third-rate Guild. Even if beatings could be overlooked, if someone died or suffered serious injury, his Guild membership could be revoked.
Thanks to that, Chu Kang-min’s provocations ceased for a while—until a change came. As the Academy drew to a close, skill usage restrictions were lifted for the sparring exam.
“Let’s go at it again.”
Chu Kang-min, who hadn’t selected me for sparring in quite some time, called me out.
It was already common knowledge that I possessed no skills beyond Regeneration. He’d apparently decided that now, with his own skills, he could finally win.
“Fine by me.”
I’d been itching to settle what I still owed him anyway.
Chu Kang-min grinned wickedly as he approached me, and shot a subtle glance at Instructor Heo O-sung—the one who’d sent me flying on the first day.
They’d likely agreed beforehand that he wouldn’t intervene even if I got hurt.
Birds of a feather, indeed.
“Begin!”
At the Instructor’s signal, I rushed at Chu Kang-min. I surpassed him in combat technique, and my stats were higher now as well, so I evaded his attacks with ease while relentlessly targeting his face.
“Argh! You bastard!”
He raised his guard to his face and charged forward as if to bulldoze me, but there was no reason to simply take it. I sidestepped and drove my knee into his flank, dropping him.
I watched him fall ungracefully, standing a step back.
Heat radiated from the crown of his head to his face, which twisted into something demonic.
“You brought this on yourself. Charge!”
He glared at me and cast his skill.
That Charge skill granted him the speed and strength of several times his original physical ability in an instant, allowing him to rush forward at an enemy. Combined with the enhancement skill he possessed, it amplified damage to the opponent while reducing damage to the caster.
Chu Kang-min thrust his shoulder forward and barreled toward me at several times his previous speed. The bad news for him was that I was intimately familiar with most skills.
Skills allowed Awakeners to do things their base stats and abilities couldn’t—multiply their speed several times over, breathe fire, and more. But they weren’t invincible.
The Charge skill might work well against low-intelligence monsters, but charging in a straight line like that made it easy to dodge. Moreover, once cast, the unfamiliar speed made changing direction difficult.
As Chu Kang-min rushed straight at me, I twisted my body to slip past and drove my fist into his exposed face.
His face and my fist met at the collision point and stopped, while his body swung forward like a pendulum.
Then I slammed him straight down into the ground.
My shoulder dislocated from stopping the Charge with one arm, but Regeneration activated immediately.
“H-Healer!”
Instructor Heo O-sung, who’d been grinning right up until the collision, urgently called for the Healer.
Chu Kang-min’s face was a wreck—his teeth scattered like grains of rice, his nose crushed flat. Physical damage like missing teeth couldn’t be fixed with potions. He’d need implants or at least a low-grade elixir.
And Instructor Heo O-sung, who’d simply watched without intervening, would surely face disciplinary action as well.
A satisfying way to wrap up the Academy—or rather, a sparring match.
* * *
For the remainder of the term, Chu Kang-min’s gang avoided me. I’d grown too strong for them to handle on their own.
I continued to give my all in the Academy curriculum, and at last, only the final graduation exam remained.
Half the students couldn’t endure even a month of training and left the Academy. Those who survived the education that pushed people to their limits were filled with grit. The polished appearance from the beginning had vanished entirely, replaced by the look of underdogs clawing their way back. Still, once we left here, we’d only be novice Hunters.
The graduation exam involved forming teams and conducting actual hunts in a Goblin Gate. Of course, an Instructor and Healer would accompany us.
When we arrived at the designated location with our team, a bluish circular Gate about five meters in diameter rippled before our eyes.
Instructor Jung Yo-han, who’d always been favorable toward me, and five trainees including myself were assigned to our party. Equipped with gear suited to our respective roles, we lined up in single file before the Instructor.
The protective suit, crafted from a blend of modern technology and materials from the Gate, had a simple yet practical design. They weren’t all identical—variations in mobility and weight differed according to our roles.
“The Academy and the Gate are different. Inside, if you act recklessly and die, no one can protect you. But if you follow orders precisely, when this exam ends, you’ll earn the name of Hunter that you’ve all been yearning for. Understood?!”
“Yes, sir!”
Listening to the Instructor’s encouragement mixed with veiled threats, we entered the Gate with our temporary Hunter licenses. We passed through the Gate situated halfway up the mountain, and beyond it lay a cave. It was dim, though not entirely dark.
“Follow me.”
The Instructor, a B-rank Hunter, walked through the Gate without any semblance of formation or order, his footsteps echoing steadily.
After walking for some time, he raised his right fist as a signal to halt.
Since there was nothing ahead, the trainees exchanged bewildered glances.
The Instructor ordered us to wait and continued forward alone. That’s when three goblins hidden behind the rocks suddenly burst out and attacked him.

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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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