Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 69

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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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69
“…I made a mistake…. I’m so sorry….”
After a brief conversation with Yang President, I returned to find Jung Ji-eun on her knees, head bowed deeply as she apologized to Bae Na-young. Both of them were covered in wounds, their clothes and hair disheveled.
Display cases for items lay shattered in various places, and the walls and floor bore signs of destruction. It looked as though a typhoon had swept through the room.
Behind them, Ye-seul lay unconscious. From the steady rhythm of her breathing and heartbeat, it appeared she was simply knocked out.
“What on earth happened here?”
“Um…. Brother…. That is….”
Bae Na-young glanced between me and Jung Ji-eun anxiously, unable to form a proper explanation. Seeing her struggle, Jung Ji-eun crawled toward me on her knees with rapid movements.
“Hunter Lee Ji-seok! This woman assaulted me! And she used her skill!”
“Bae Na-young is my girlfriend, isn’t she? She’s not the type to cause trouble first. What did you do?”
I’d never seen Bae Na-young get into a brawl like this. While it was true that if someone provoked her, she might not hold back, she wasn’t the type to start problems.
“Brother….”
Bae Na-young’s eyes glistened with tears.
“G-girlfriend? You had a girlfriend? No, setting that aside! What about me?! I don’t even know what happened, and you’re blaming me?”
Jung Ji-eun shoved me. But as a Healer, she had no chance of moving me—instead, she lost her balance and fell.
“We can see what happened by watching the video.”
I pointed to the camera above. This was a place where valuable items were stored in massive quantities, so access was restricted and cameras were always recording.
“Y-you think you’ll get away with this! The Guild Master won’t let you off easy!”
* * *
In the Rose Guild’s Guild Master’s office, we played the CCTV footage to clarify the facts.
In the video, Jung Ji-eun straddled the fallen Bae Na-young and drove her fists down. Bae Na-young took several blows on her guard before deflecting Ji-eun’s punch with her arm and grabbing her collar to roll away.
The dynamic vision to deflect incoming punches was honed through multiple training sessions with me. A typical Healer would never find themselves in direct combat like this in the first place.
Bae Na-young could have mounted Ji-eun in return, but she chose to create distance instead.
“This—!”
Ji-eun pushed herself up and charged forward. With the distance secured, Bae Na-young unleashed a high kick with her long legs.
Ji-eun raised her arms to defend, but the impact was clearly significant even through the guard.
She followed with several low kicks and then unleashed a barrage of punches using her superior reach. The combination was flawless.
As people watching the video turned to look at Bae Na-young, she hung her head low.
“Wasn’t she supposed to be a magic-type?”
Hunter Jung Min-gi asked with a tired expression.
“Yes.”
I answered on behalf of Bae Na-young.
After that, it became almost one-sided. Bae Na-young didn’t dodge Ji-eun’s attacks—she took them head-on while landing two or three blows for every one she received. She seemed to have learned from watching me fight, but I’d need to warn her about that. I could recover from damage, but she couldn’t.
Whenever Ji-eun tried to use a healing skill, Bae Na-young would unleash a flurry of punches, preventing her from casting anything. Despite Ji-eun’s claim that Bae Na-young used a skill, there was no sign of skill usage in the footage.
“I…. I was wrong!”
Then she knelt down and extended her hands in apology. The screen went dark after that.
“I apologize for this.”
Hunter Jung Min-gi bowed his head. Beside him, Jung Ji-eun also lowered her head, but her face was filled with indignation.
“It’s my fault for not educating our Hunters properly.”
“Well…. While Hunter Jung Ji-eun started it, it was mutual assault, so it’s fine. Hunter Bae Na-young agreed to let it go.”
Bae Na-young, seated beside me, nodded. Just as we’d seen in the footage, it seemed all the resentment had been thoroughly beaten out of her system.
“I really am sorry again.”
“And what will happen to Hunter Choi Ye-seul going forward?”
At the mention of Choi Ye-seul’s name, Jung Ji-eun flinched.
“It’ll be difficult for her to stay with Hunter Jung Ji-eun.”
Hunter Jung Min-gi pressed his temples as if troubled.
“She’ll be removed from the A-rank Gate team?”
There were only a handful of A-rank Healers in the entire nation, so we couldn’t afford to lose Jung Ji-eun. From the guild’s perspective, it was better to remove Choi Ye-seul, even if she was merely C-rank and the victim.
“That’s how it’ll have to be. Still, I’ll place her on another good team and keep a close eye on things myself to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Being removed from the A-rank Gate team and relegated to B or C-rank teams would inevitably slow her growth. I’d meant to help her, but instead I’d become the one holding back Ye-seul’s advancement.
“Why don’t you transfer her to us instead?”
“Transfer her?”
“Well, Hunter Choi Ye-seul is only C-rank anyway, so it won’t affect the Rose Guild much, right?”
If we lined up all the B and C-rank Hunters wanting to join the Rose Guild, the queue would stretch hundreds of meters.
“If she’s willing, there’s no reason for us to stop her.”
Hunter Jung Min-gi turned his gaze toward Ye-seul.
“Ye-seul, we’re about to start tackling A-rank Gates separately, and we need a Healer. Want to come with us?”
“I’d prefer to stay with the Rose Guild. I have many colleagues here.”
Ye-seul politely declined.
“As for compensation…”
I wrote a salary figure on a piece of paper and slid it toward Ye-seul.
“I’ll do my best.”
Ye-seul bowed her head deeply and accepted immediately.
“Hunter Lee Ji-seok, exactly how much did you offer?”
At Hunter Jung Min-gi’s question, I simply shrugged in response.
No guild would recruit a C-rank Hunter with such generous terms. If she were just an ordinary C-rank, I wouldn’t have made such an exceptional offer, but this was an investment in someone destined to become A-rank, so I had no regrets.
* * *
“Hyung, the number of people entering A-rank Gates has changed to two. Apparently they’re lowering the alert level since there haven’t been any incidents in recent months.”
Bae Na-young suddenly gazed toward a distant mountain.
“I guess that’s why. No incidents, so they relaxed the restrictions.”
I could tell Bae Na-young was up to something. She’d suddenly been promoted to A-rank, and now the number of A-rank Hunters required for entry had dropped from five to two—such a convenient turn of events couldn’t possibly be coincidence.
“Na-young, Director Baek Young-shin asked how you were doing. Have you seen him recently?”
Director Baek Young-shin was asking if Bae Na-young was doing well, but his expression suggested he was worried less about her wellbeing and more about what might happen next.
“No, I haven’t seen him.”
She still wouldn’t make eye contact.
“Well, regardless of the reason, now we can really make our move.”
There were no more obstacles to entry. Multiple guilds’ teams would be entering the A-rank Gate, so we’d have to compete with them, but our mobility was superior, so there was no problem. Besides, the Gate itself was massive.
“The three of us will go together with Hunter Choi Ye-seul.”
“Oppa, will four of us be enough?”
“More than enough—we’ll have plenty. Really, I’m going to develop Yang Sang-heon and Hunter Choi Ye-seul. Just you and I would be sufficient on our own.”
* * *
“Brother!! Won’t you help me?!”
Yang Sang-heon cried out, surrounded by a swarm of Lizardmen. While individual Lizardmen were E-rank and no match for him, the real problem was the Lizardman King. Under its command, the Lizardmen received buffs, and the larger their numbers grew, the stronger they became. With dozens gathered now, each one wielded the power of a C-rank monster.
“Ye-seul, just keep him alive.”
“Y-yes! Yes!”
Ye-seul broke into a cold sweat, casting heals and buffs on Yang Sang-heon to keep him breathing.
Behind him, Bae Na-young cast Blind. The Lizardmen became like severely myopic patients wearing glasses that didn’t fit their eyes. They could make out shapes, but couldn’t discern details clearly—as long as Yang Sang-heon stayed alert, he wouldn’t die.
Yang Sang-heon weaved between the tridents of Lizardmen thrusting at him from all sides, but with their numbers overwhelming, he couldn’t even think of counterattacking. He could only try to create distance.
“Sang-heon, if you run backward, I’m leaving you behind.”
“Brother! This isn’t payback for what I told sister, is it?!”
“If you have time to say that, you’re doing fine.”
Watching Yang Sang-heon scream, I pulled out some jerky and began eating. I absolutely wasn’t doing this out of anger. After all, Yang Sang-heon couldn’t stay at C-rank forever, right? This was all for his sake.
Seeing me sit comfortably munching on dried meat, Ye-seul’s expression filled with regret. *Are these people villains? Why did I come to such a place?* That’s what her face said.
But actually, this was a good environment for Ye-seul too. Her level only increased when she healed heavily injured and endangered people. There was no better place to grind a Healer’s level by grinding through party members like this. I’d have to send her with Oh’s Group later.
Though she didn’t show it, Bae Na-young, who had been jealous of Ye-seul, seemed to relax a bit after seeing me work Ye-seul and Yang Sang-heon hard. And it helped that I’d boldly declared Bae Na-young as my girlfriend in front of everyone. Truth be told, I’d never really hidden it before.
In my past life, I’d seen Ye-seul as a romantic interest, but back then I was too busy surviving to develop anything beyond that. And now that I have Bae Na-young, my heart doesn’t wander to other women. Toward Ye-seul, I only feel the need to repay my debt.
We cleared the Gate methodically, and all four of us leveled up.
Today too, we were just exiting after clearing the A-rank Gate.
“Brother! That person seems to be chased by an Orc!”
In the distance, a nobleman-like man with silver-white hair and an Orc were running toward us.
“An Orc outside the Gate—that’s unusual….”
I looked in the direction Yang Sang-heon had indicated.
“Looking at that man’s expression, he doesn’t seem to be running away. Besides, he’s running alongside the Orc. And who are those people behind him?”
“Behind? Where?”
Yang Sang-heon, who had been squinting, spotted the people I mentioned. Dozens of Hunters were approaching us from the distance.
I was about to launch my aura at the Orc’s head to deal with the monster first. But… this Orc was different from ordinary ones. Unlike other Orcs who were always half-naked, this one was dressed like a mage, neat and orderly. I’d never seen or heard of an Orc dressed so impeccably.
Since the Orc posed no threat anyway, I dispersed the aura I’d gathered and reabsorbed it to assess the situation.
“Huh? Brother, those people are from the Azure Dragon Guild!”
Yang Sang-heon identified the dozens of Hunters pursuing from behind. The Azure Dragon Guild was registered as the 3rd-ranked Guild in Korea’s rankings. They insisted they were 1st due to their large numbers, but with no S-rank Hunters and fewer A-rank Hunters than the Valkyrie Guild—the 2nd-ranked Guild—they were perpetually treated as a 3rd-tier Guild.
That said, they weren’t a Guild to be dismissed in terms of scale. They accepted Hunters down to F-rank, with thousands registered.
“Do not attack!”
The man running with the Orc stepped in front of it and spoke.
“This person is not a monster!”
The nobleman-like man with shimmering silver-white hair declared. His frame was slender, but the aura emanating from him made it clear he was a formidable fighter.
“Everyone, get behind me. Stay alert so you can always fight or flee.”
I pulled Bae Na-young, Yang Sang-heon, and Ye-seul behind me.
The silver-haired man and the Orc drew closer and slowed their pace.
The Orc stared directly at my face.
“Greetings. My name is Sono Rim. Are you the warrior who defeated Helen?”
The Orc, Sono Rim, spoke in a calm, deep voice. Standing about my height, he had the sturdy build typical of Orcs, yet showed none of the rage and madness toward humans that ordinary Orcs displayed.
“Brother! I… I told you! The Orc was talking!”
“It’s a common misconception that Orcs cannot speak. I understand you’ve only encountered the ones invading your world, so I won’t hold it against you.”
“Who are you?”
I raised my hand to block any further approach and demanded answers.
“We are people from Telus. I am Sono Rim, a scholar and mage, and my companion here is Blitz, a warrior.”
His tone was remarkably composed and courteous.
“Telus!”
The three behind me immediately shifted into combat stance.

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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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