Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 68

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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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68
“Here you go. Please have some, Ji-eun.”
I handed a warm bowl of soup to Jung Ji-eun, who had tracked down the aroma with uncanny precision. Since she was Ye-seul’s senior, it wouldn’t hurt to treat her well.
After chatting with Jung Ji-eun for a bit to keep her entertained, I returned to Ye-seul’s side.
“How long have you been working as a hunter, Ye-seul?”
“Four years now.”
Four years in and still C-rank—for an ordinary hunter, that’s neither slow nor fast growth. But for someone destined to reach A-rank, it’s somewhat sluggish.
Healers gain levels faster when they heal those in mortal danger or the exceptionally strong. In other words, progression depends entirely on the environment. And unlike warriors, a Healer’s rank isn’t determined primarily by achievements but by healing output, buff potency, and the presence of special skills—level up, and the rank naturally follows.
“Hmm… what’s been the biggest obstacle in your growth?”
Everyone’s needs differ, so I asked. Besides, I had no prior information about Ye-seul at this point.
“Nothing in particular.”
Still giving short answers.
“Were you with a different team before?”
“No. I joined temporary parties or did medical volunteer work.”
Temporary parties rarely access Gates challenging enough to build real skill, and medical volunteer work on non-critical cases yields minimal experience. But now that she’d joined the Rose Guild’s A-rank Gate team, her levels would climb steadily.
We cleared the Gate without difficulty, chatting intermittently along the way.
“Hahaha, Hunter Lee Ji-seok! Thanks to you, we cut the time by more than half and barely used any consumables! Let’s do this again next time!”
“Sounds good.”
I needed to level up myself and find ways to support Ye-seul’s growth.
* * *
Bae Na-young has been clinging to me strangely lately. I don’t mind it, but whenever I say I’m going somewhere, she scrambles to get ready and follows along.
And Yang Sang-heon has this guilty expression on his face.
“You did something wrong, didn’t you?”
Yang Sang-heon flinched, his head still turned away.
“What is it? Tell me now.”
“Hahaha…”
Yang Sang-heon laughed awkwardly, then stopped and bolted.
I released my aura in a wide, dispersed wave toward his retreating back without concentrating it.
“Ugh…”
Pushed back by the non-lethal aura, Yang Sang-heon tumbled across the floor.
“Hyung?! Did you just use aura? In the house?!”
“I held back. Now talk. Next time I won’t be so restrained.”
“…Hahahaha, well, you see…”
* * *
“Noona, you should be careful.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Your brother was being very kind to the women in the Gate.”
“…Women? Who?”
Bae Na-young’s expression turned cold.
“Well, he looked after everyone, but there were two female Healers, and he especially took care of them.”
Hearing the word “Healer,” Bae Na-young felt her heart plummet. Was she truly unnecessary now that she was a witch? Was a Healer really preferable to a witch? These thoughts gnawed at her as she bit her lip hard.
Yang Sang-heon didn’t notice the shift in Bae Na-young’s expression and continued chattering.
“Man, I’ve never seen my brother go out of his way to be so kind to someone else before—except for you. We usually get worked hard and trained, but he just gives food, talks to them, and oh! The Gate was freezing, right? He used his body heat to act like a heater. Well, everyone benefited from that, regardless of gender.”
“I see.”
Bae Na-young’s voice had already lost interest in Yang Sang-heon’s words. Her mind was occupied with countless other thoughts.
Bae Na-young stood up from her seat.
“Where are you going?”
“To make a call.”
***
“Well… Hunter Bae Na-young. You see….”
Director Baek Young-shin on the other end of the line broke into a cold sweat.
“Director, you don’t need to say anything more. If you don’t promote me to A-rank, I’m done with healing activities. Actually, I’m done with hunter activities altogether.”
The Awakener Management Bureau had reaped considerable benefits from her healing activities. If she suddenly stopped, the losses wouldn’t end at losing those gains—they could suffer actual damage.
“Aren’t you already growing at an extraordinary pace? What’s the rush?”
“My… my position is in danger.”
“Your position? What do you mean?”
“Regardless. A-rank, immediately.”
* * *
“So… you’re saying I was hitting on women in the Gate? Especially Healers?”
“That… I believe the wording you used was quite different from what I….”
Yang Sang-heon, who had been pressing his head to the ground, slowly lifted it as he spoke.
“Who told you to get up?”
Yang Sang-heon quickly pressed his head back to the floor.
“This bastard of a younger sibling—instead of helping his brother, he spreads rumors behind his back?”
“No! But you were being nice to the Healers, weren’t you?”
“You keep getting up? Should we switch to sparring?”
Yang Sang-heon hastily pressed his head back to the ground.
“Tsk….”
I seem to have caused an unnecessary misunderstanding.
“You’ll need to explain this with me to Bae Na-young later.”
Bae Na-young had been suddenly called to the Awakener Management Bureau, so she’d return and we could talk then. She’d left with a brightened expression for once, but I had no idea what it was about.
I needed to handle today’s schedule before Bae Na-young returned. Since I wasn’t traveling alone anymore, I couldn’t change my plans on a whim.
I headed to the Gate with Yang Sang-heon and cleared it together with the Rose Guild members. Having seen them once, I felt more comfortable, and knowing their combat styles made the clear time even shorter.
“Thank you for your hard work!”
The support hunters greeted me.
“Thank you all as well. See you at the next Gate schedule.”
As we exited the cleared Gate, we bowed to each other in farewell.
“Ye-seul, isn’t that a D-rank staff?”
It wasn’t that C-rank hunter Ye-seul couldn’t use it, but it was far from ideal.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“If you bought even a B-rank or C-rank item, your healing output would increase significantly, wouldn’t it?”
“…The prices are quite steep.”
“What? You’re running A-rank Gates and money is tight?”
“The expenses add up faster than you’d think.”
I’d been sponsoring and donating to those in need for quite some time.
“In that case, why don’t you visit our Workshop?”
“Rigen?”
“You know of it. I can offer you a good price.”
“Take Ye-seul? Take me too!”
Jung Ji-eun rushed over and wrapped her arms around mine.
“Your equipment is already excellent, Ji-eun.”
“Still, you never know. There might be something I need.”
Jung Ji-eun pouted. Rather than forcibly exclude her and deal with her venting frustrations on Ye-seul later, I decided to take Yang Sang-heon along and head to Rigen together.
“Brother… What are you planning to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure myself. Now that we’re here…”
Upon arrival, Yang Sang-heon went off to work while I guided Ji-eun and Ye-seul to the special exhibition hall.
“Oh my, oh my… Isn’t this something they don’t sell on the market?”
The item Jung Ji-eun was looking at was a prototype that Jae-in had created experimentally—a product not sold to the outside.
Rigen’s purpose extended beyond my earning money; it aimed to supply high-quality items at reasonable prices to increase hunters’ survivability. As a result, rather than producing diverse items through customization, we focused on mass-producing limited varieties at superior price-to-performance ratios.
“That’s right. It was made by the person overseeing our development. They’re all specially crafted with superior stats compared to mass-produced items.”
“There are so many interesting things… This staff directly enhances physical attack power? Is that correct?”
Ye-seul read the specifications written on the display case.
“That’s correct. Through various experiments, we’ve gotten some unexpected results.”
The two of them leisurely examined each item one by one.
“Chairman, the president was looking for you. Should I tell them you’re coming?”
One of the employees entered and spoke.
“No need. I’ll head there myself. You two, keep looking at the items.”
I told the two to continue browsing and headed to the president’s office.
* * *
“Isn’t this incredibly expensive?”
“It must be. I think it’s made from Drake bones they caught recently.”
Ji-eun and Ye-seul were busy chatting while examining the items.
“Who…?”
Bae Na-young entered the exhibition hall. While Jae-in handled the functional design, Bae Na-young was heavily involved in the aesthetic design. Recently, she’d even set up a workspace behind the exhibition hall.
“Oh, they’re from our Rose Guild. Don’t mind them. They came with Hunter Lee Ji-seok.”
Jung Ji-eun glanced sideways at Bae Na-young and spoke dismissively, as if addressing a subordinate.
“With your brother?”
“Brother? Ah, so you’re his younger sibling?”
Ji-eun rose and looked Bae Na-young over.
“Hmm… I thought we’d gotten close, but I didn’t know you had a younger sibling.”
“Wait… Close? Don’t tell me you’re the Healer from the Rose Guild?”
“Ah, you told your family about me? How embarrassing.”
Bae Na-young’s face froze rigid as ice, and an ominous violet mist spread around her.
“I… Hunter Jung Ji-eun, I think there’s been a misunderstanding….”
Ye-seul tried to stop Jung Ji-eun.
“You’re my younger sibling, but you don’t look alike at all~. So what did your older brother say about me? I’m curious.”
“I’m… not your younger sibling.”
“What? You’re an employee? An employee can just call the chairman so casually? You have no sense of propriety.”
Jung Ji-eun was the one who’d misunderstood her as an employee, but her pride was wounded at having used formal speech with a mere employee.
“What did you just say about propriety?!”
“Never mind, go back to work. Oh, and call Lee Ji-seok when you see him.”
The difference in treatment and salary between an A-rank hunter and a workshop employee was like heaven and earth. But few people were as openly dismissive as Jung Ji-eun. And she was only operating on her own misguided assumptions about Bae Na-young.
“You….”
“Hunter Jung Ji-eun, you’re misunderstanding right now….”
Ye-seul tried to stop Jung Ji-eun again.
“Why do you keep interrupting me?! And don’t you have any sense? When Lee Ji-seok calls, you should know to excuse yourself. Why are you following along?”
“No, that’s not the issue right now—it’s about this person….”
Crack.
“Talking back again? Do you think I’ve gotten soft lately?”
Jung Ji-eun slapped Ye-seul across the face, and her head snapped to the side.
“What are you doing?!”
Bae Na-young shouted at Jung Ji-eun.
“Who do you think you are? Didn’t you hear me tell you to get back to work? Damn it, why do these kinds of people keep clinging to me lately?”
“Watch your words, Hunter Jung Ji-eun….”
“I told you to shut up!”
Jung Ji-eun raised her hand to strike Ye-seul again, but Bae Na-young caught her arm and stopped her. Both Bae Na-young and Ye-seul were tall enough to look down at Jung Ji-eun.
“I hate… people looking down on me!”
She wrenched her arm free and slapped Bae Na-young across the face. As Bae Na-young’s head turned, she pivoted back and drove her fist toward Jung Ji-eun’s nose.
“Aaaah!”
Jung Ji-eun stumbled backward.
“You crazy bitch!”
Jung Ji-eun, who had fallen, used her shorter stature to her advantage, rushing at Bae Na-young, grabbing both her legs, and throwing her backward.
There was a regulation against using skills outside, and both of them instinctively knew that using skills would escalate the fight too far, so neither of them activated any abilities.
Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Bae Na-young couldn’t execute a proper fall and crashed hard to the ground. Jung Ji-eun mounted her, pressing her advantage.
Though the Healer and the witch—whose main strength lay in debuffs—were A-rank hunters with exceptional baseline physical abilities, their movements were blindingly fast and ferocious, far beyond what any ordinary non-awakened martial artist could match.
“You bitch! How dare you raise your hand against an A-rank hunter?!”
“Hunter Lee Ji-eun! This person isn’t an employee!”
Ye-seul tried to grab Jung Ji-eun from behind and pull her away.
“I already told you to shut up!”
Jung Ji-eun shoved Ye-seul with her arm, and Ye-seul crashed against the wall, losing consciousness. Even between Healers, a two-tier gap in rank meant an overwhelming difference in strength.
“I’ll break you of that habit.”
Jung Ji-eun drew her arm back to strike Bae Na-young’s face.
And Bae Na-young’s eyes blazed with violet light.

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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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