Obtained End-Game Gear for a Bowl of Ramen - Chapter 20

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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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Chapter 20. Shapeshifting
I was about to have a bowl of ramen when the power went out.
The induction cooker went dead with it. My carefully prepared ramen was headed straight for the trash. Heat crawled up my neck, and my insides began to roil.
‘I’m going to burn this whole thing down right now.’
I was about to bolt from the kitchen when Kwon Min-gi’s hand clamped down on my shoulder.
“Please wait here. Something feels wrong. Let me go check it out and come back.”
“That’s exactly why I want to go out there.”
“It could be dangerous. Have you heard of Jack the Ripper? He’s The Summoners’ assassin, and word is he’s landed in Korea.”
Kwon Min-gi’s expression had turned dead serious.
“He might be targeting the Baekdam Guild. I heard from the Hunter Management Bureau to stay on guard.”
“Why would he target Baekdam?”
“The High Potion we produce here works too well. It’s the kind of thing that can bring a dying Hunter to his feet in an instant—exactly what The Summoners would want to disrupt if they’re trying to make Gates explode.”
Kwon Min-gi seemed prepared, his composure steady.
“Dangerous things might happen. You’re a VIP, and I can’t let you get caught up in danger. I’ll handle this alone.”
“Actually, I’m really E-rank…”
Click. Kwon Min-gi walked out of the kitchen. When I tried to follow, the door slammed shut right in front of my face. And as if that weren’t enough—clink. He locked it.
“Kwon Min-gi! Open the door!”
“Stay somewhere safe. This might look like nothing, but it’s a five-centimeter-thick fire door—it’s solid. A-rank Hunter Kwon Min-gi will definitely come back.”
“No! I’m EX-rank! Open this door!”
I pounded on the door, then pressed my ear against it. Kwon Min-gi had already gone far off, and faint screams echoed from a distance.
“All I wanted was to see what kind of bastard would ruin my ramen. Min-gi is being way too overprotective.”
Water Shield covers my whole body with plenty to spare. I even bounced a troll’s full-swing attack right back at him.
But muttering to myself after he’d gone wasn’t going to change anything. I pushed and pulled at the door. It was locked tight.
‘Something’s definitely off out there. I need to get out. But I don’t have a lock-picking skill.’
I took a few steps back. Could I punch through a five-centimeter fire door?
“Fire Bolt.”
[Skill Used: Fire Bolt (Original)]
[Hero’s Strength, Stage 4, resonates!]
[Divided Mind activates!]
Boom—!
The door was torn from its hinges and left a crater in the wall.
‘Ah. I probably don’t need to pay for that… right? It was because of the intruder. Definitely because of the intruder.’
I tried to convince myself. A pitch-black corridor stretched out before me.
‘Let me see the face of whoever dared ruin my ramen.’
* * *
Jack the Ripper pulled his blade from the generator. Blue sparks flew from the shattered machine with each strike.
Clank. Crackle—
The generator exploded, killing all power to the facility and shutting down every security system. Jack the Ripper licked the blade of his sword. It tasted like batteries.
“Who’s there!?”
An employee who hadn’t gone to lunch yet? Jack the Ripper turned his head. The employee who’d just entered had a face identical to his own.
“A… a monster…!”
Squelch. Jack the Ripper yanked out the sword he’d thrown—it had pierced the employee straight through. The man crumpled without a sound.
“Next, borrow the face, then steal the High Potion recipe. Recipe. Recipe. Recipe…”
Jack the Ripper fell silent mid-muttering. A flashlight beam cut through the darkness like a blade.
‘Already here? Pointless loyalty. This is why Korean guys are such a pain.’
Jack the Ripper walked casually forward, as if nothing were amiss. Soon he came face-to-face with the approaching workers.
“Choi! What are you doing here?”
So the dead employee’s name was Choi. Jack the Ripper answered in Choi’s voice.
“I was checking the generator. I already called a repair technician, so don’t worry. Just get back to work. It should be fixed in about an hour.”
“Really? Wow, our Choi! Skipping lunch and everything—you’re employee of the month material!”
“Ha ha ha. I’m just doing what needs to be done. By the way, where did we keep that potion recipe again?”
The workers exchanged suspicious glances.
“Why would you ask about the potion recipe?”
“With the power out, someone might try to steal it. I wanted to make sure it’s secure.”
“When did you become so conscientious? But… what’s that sword?”
Jack the Ripper turned his head. The sword—the one he’d thrown at the employee—was dripping blood.
“Ah. My mistake.”
“What?”
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh! Jack the Ripper moved like a living cyclone. The workers fell limp in an instant.
“Should’ve just pretended not to see and walked past. Jack the Ripper, don’t you know? The famous one from England…”
“Murderer.”
Jack the Ripper turned his head. Five fox fires wavered in the darkness. He narrowed his eyes, trying to see more clearly.
‘I can’t gauge the distance of those fox fires. Where exactly are they…?’
Jack the Ripper reached out his hand. The moment his fingers touched a fox fire, Bang!!
“Delayed-detonation flame sphere. That’s going to hurt.”
Jack the Ripper lurched to his feet like a corpse, stiff and jerking. The charred leather that had been writhing from the blast began to bubble and churn, transforming into the shape of one of the employees who’d just died.
“What?! A Unique Skill of ultra-regeneration?”
“Something like that. It’s called Shapeshifting…”
Another fox fire drifted upward. Jack the Ripper tried to gauge its distance, then gave up, tearing through his skin and transforming into a new form.
A Sky Shark—a monster from the 23rd floor of the Tower of Trials. Jack the Ripper, now in that shape, expelled water from his jaws.
Whoooosh!
The fox fires that Kwon Min-gi had created ignited the moment they touched the water, erupting in a chain of explosions. White steam billowed and roiled, filling the factory like clouds.
“Where are you? My eyes won’t miss you!”
“Grrrrrowwwl. That’s rich coming from you.”
A grating, inhuman sound. Not a noise any human vocal cords could produce. Min-gi looked upward. The Sky Shark lunged at him, mouth gaping wide.
“Damn it.”
Crunch!!
Kwon Min-gi’s right arm vanished into the shark’s maw. The creature’s lips curled into a grin—then its face went pale.
“Ah.”
Bang!!!
The Sky Shark’s upper body exploded from within, flesh and bone scattering in every direction.
“Should’ve been more careful with fire.”
Hunter Kwon Min-gi picked up his severed right arm, pressed it back against the stump, bit the cap off a High Potion with his teeth, and poured it over the wound.
Hisssss—
White smoke rose as the arm knitted back together. Min-gi flexed his right hand, made a fist, and opened it again.
‘I’m alive because of that High Potion. Jung Ho showed me the recipe. Is Jack the Ripper dead?’
As the steam slowly cleared, there lay a corpse—only its lower half—sprawled on the floor.
‘Dead. Wait… something’s wrong.’
Min-gi pulled a wallet from his back pocket. The dead man wasn’t Jack the Ripper.
“He swapped and ran! Damn it, where is he? Where?!”
“Riiiiight here.”
The severed lower half answered. Before Min-gi could move, whomp! A blade pierced through his abdomen.
“Kuh… huh…?”
The legless torso drove the knife deeper into Min-gi’s belly. The legs writhed and rose, squirming upward into a human silhouette.
“People always get the wrong idea when I say Shapeshifting. My Unique Skill is at least S-Rank Hunter level or higher.”
“You transformed into… just the lower half of a corpse…?”
A blood-red Status Window flashed before Min-gi’s eyes.
[Warning! Mana Corruption 56%!]
[Warning! Mana Corruption 68%!]
[Warning! Mana Corruption 73%!]
The Mana Corruption surged in an instant. Only then did he notice the black poison coating Jack the Ripper’s blade. His vision darkened, and he collapsed.
“I can do worse. Golems, wyverns, dragons—want to see? Hey. Don’t die yet. It’s no fun if you’re already dead.”
“Can you transform into ramen too?”
Jack the Ripper turned his head. An unfamiliar Hunter stood in the thick darkness.
“Who are you? You’re not in the Database.”
“Who am I? I should be the one asking. Who are you? Why are you interrupting me while I’m cooking ramen?”
“Are you insane? I’m Jack the Ripper. From The Summoners…”
“So you’re the real Jack the Ripper? Lucky me. Fire Bolt.”
Jack the Ripper’s nerve fibers twitched convulsively. Red death bore down upon him.
Bang!!
A miniature sun swallowed Jack the Ripper and spat him out. A charred lump staggered to its feet.
“What are you?”
“Me? EX-Rank. Fire Bolt.”
Bang!!!
The charred mass shattered into fragments. The scattered pieces squirmed like a swarm of insects, crawling back together to regenerate.
“You’re EX? Kheh-heh. Kheh-heh-heh! I was going to wipe out Baekdam first and then kill them all. You’re saving me the trouble…”
“Fire Bolt.”
Bang!! Bang!! Bang!! With each word Jung Ho spoke, massive explosions engulfed Jack the Ripper. And yet, despite it all, Jack the Ripper stubbornly regenerated.
“Stop!! Stop it!! You maniac! I’m trying to talk—”
“Fire Bolt.”
Bang!! A red-scaled dragon suddenly tore through the flames and unfurled its wings.
“Kehehehe. A Red Dragon. Fire magic won’t work on it—you planning to keep trying?”
“Water Shield.”
Glub-glub-glub! A sphere of brilliant blue water engulfed Jack the Ripper’s head. In an instant, his breathing was cut off, and he gasped for air.
When he clawed at the water sphere to tear it apart, his talons bounced harmlessly away. When he tried to breathe flame, only bubbles gurgled forth.
“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!!”
As Jack the Ripper thrashed about, he suddenly blazed with blinding light. Reflexively shutting my eyes and opening them again, I found him gone.
‘Did he run? No. I can feel it. He’s close. He’s invisible.’
He’d shapeshifted and turned transparent. Since I couldn’t guarantee the Water Shield would keep suffocating him, I dropped the skill. Keeping it active would only make me nauseous with Mana Corruption at ninety-nine percent anyway.
“Krhihihi. You’re pretty strong. I think you really are EX.”
Echoes. His voice bounced around the space, making it impossible to pinpoint his location. Was this some kind of skill?
“If you’re that strong, why do you close Gates? Why do you keep looking over your shoulder at what others think? Come with us. We’ll level the world fairly.”
I ignored him and focused. My senses were still only B-rank, so I was barely scraping by—catching the edge of his invisibility one moment, losing it the next.
“Soon a massive Gate will open off Shanghai. A really massive one. We’ll detonate it. Then you can stand above everyone. Doesn’t that sound good?”
‘Damn. Can’t find it. Where’s the Twilight Cherry Blossom Bow?’
I pulled the Twilight Cherry Blossom Bow from my inventory. Whoosh! The subtle aura unique to Legendary items bloomed in pale cherry-blossom pink.
-Twilight Cherry Blossom Bow (Legendary): A bow that fires Mana instead of arrows. Always hits its target. If it strikes the same target twice, it’s instant death.
Always hits. I pulled back the bowstring toward empty space with all my strength and released. Twang! A pink arrow swam through the air like a fish.
Thwack!!
“Cough……!”
Jack the Ripper’s shapeshifting broke. He lay sprawled flat right beneath my feet, apparently having closed in while distracting me with words—planning an assassination.
“You……bastard, what is this? I was completely hidden…….”
“What is it? This is a Legendary item. Shut up and stay still. I’m calling the Management Bureau.”
“That can’t……happen!”
Jack the Ripper’s body roiled violently. The boiling flesh gradually took on a familiar shape.
It was the shape of Jung Ho. I gasped the moment I saw it.
“Stop! You’ll die!”
“Krhrhrhrhrhh! If you’re an EX……then I’ll shapeshift into the strongest Hunter……Ugh? Cough!!”
The moment his transformation completed, Jack the Ripper was coughing blood. Like with the doppelgänger before, he crumpled to the ground without a chance to do anything, his body wracked with violent tremors.
“Cough! Mana Corruption……no, my own Unique Skill can’t even withstand this much Mana?! How pathetically weak is your Mana stat……!”
“I told you not to do it.”
“This……damn monster is the EX?! Unacceptable……cough!! Cough……!”
Jack the Ripper’s shapeshifting forcibly broke. He coughed up one last glob of blood, his body convulsed once more, then went limp.
“D-did he die? Hello?”
I prodded Jack the Ripper with the tip of the Twilight Cherry Blossom Bow.
Wee-ooo-wee!
A siren wailed from outside. I had a bad feeling this would be annoying. Questions about who I was, why I was here, and who’d defeated Jack the Ripper.
‘I came to thank Hunter Kwon Min-gi and ended up with this. I was looking forward to eating ramen in the break room for once—didn’t even get that. These Gate followers ruined everything. Shadow Swap.’
[Skill Used: Shadow Swap – Original]
[Swaps your position with your shadow.]
Whoosh! My form vanished. My shadow followed an instant later. Almost simultaneously, O Seung-wu, the Bureau director, burst in.
“Hunter Management Bureau! Everyone drop your weapons and……?”
Director O rushed over to the fallen Kwon Min-gi to check if he was alive. Fortunately, Min-gi was breathing.
“Hunter Kwon Min-gi. Can you open your eyes? What exactly happened here?”
Kwon Min-gi opened his eyes with difficulty, his voice hoarse.
“I’m……not entirely sure myself. But Director O, there’s another person inside……Jung Ho is in the kitchen…….”
“Another person? Understood. Officer Kim! Secure the interior!”
Officer Kim Min-jae saluted sharply and entered with the Bureau personnel. Moments later, Officer Kim’s voice crackled over the radio.
-Director O! The kitchen is empty! There’s just a wrenched door panel stuck in the wall!
“Officer Kim. I found something interesting myself.”
Director O Seung-wu’s right eye gleamed. Sprawled on the floor was a foreigner—Jack the Ripper.
“This is Director O. We’ve secured Jack the Ripper. Prepare the detention cell and send a transport team immediately.”
* * *
That night, the Korean Hunter Management Bureau issued an emergency news bulletin.
Director O Seung-wu was wearing a sharply pressed suit—something he only donned for meetings with high-ranking officials.
Standing before the cameras, Director O drew a breath and spoke.
“We have apprehended Jack the Ripper.”
Click! Click-click-click! Reporters fired off flashes in rapid succession. There were foreign journalists too. The whole world was watching the Korean Hunter Management Bureau.
“An EX-rank Hunter from Korea personally neutralized Jack the Ripper. Korea stands firm, and we will not yield to the Gate followers.”
Director O had debated whether to say this, but decided he would. Hiding it wouldn’t matter anyway—the truth would naturally emerge that it was thanks to the EX-rank.
A-Rank Hunter Kwon Min-gi had been overwhelmed by Jack the Ripper, and even China’s top-ranked Li Wei had come close to death.
Jack the Ripper’s previous assassination targets were no different. He had killed two S-Rank Hunters — formidable adversaries.
‘But there were almost no signs of combat at the scene. Even most of what was there bore Kwon Min-gi’s marks.’
An EX-Rank Hunter had dispatched Jack the Ripper effortlessly. The evidence at the scene was obvious anyway, so there was no point in covering it up. That’s why he’d taken the offensive first instead.
“An EX-Rank Hunter exists, and he is in Korea. That concludes my statement.”
Thunder-like applause and cheers erupted. People from various nations who had suffered at Jack the Ripper’s hands shed tears and expressed their gratitude on his behalf.
Even those arrogant Chinese Hunter Management Bureau journalists quietly offered their thanks to Director O.
“Thank you for avenging our great nation’s hero, Li Wei, in our stead.”
Director O responded with a business smile.
“It is not my doing. Please express your gratitude directly to the EX-Rank Hunter.”
“No, mere words of thanks are flowers without fragrance. As a token of our gratitude, our great nation will gift you approximately one ton of mid to low-grade Elixir.”
Thanks to the EX-Rank Hunter, international diplomacy had become far smoother. With Jack the Ripper secured, South Korea had transformed into an international hero.
‘An order led by an EX-Rank Hunter. Has it already begun? It’s not so bad, really.’
Director O Seung-wu let out a chuckle. It was the first unguarded, perfectly refreshing laugh he’d released in a long while.
Continued in the next episode ▶
Settled the final piece with a single bowl of ramen
Author
White Persimmon
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Publishing House
Grae Publishing
Contact Email
[email protected]
Publication Date
August 24, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260423069
※ This e-book is protected by copyright law. Unauthorized reprinting and reproduction are prohibited. Violation of these terms may result in criminal and civil legal liability.
※ Pentagram awaits your precious manuscript.

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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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