Obtained End-Game Gear for a Bowl of Ramen - Chapter 25

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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 25. Eliminating the Root of the Problem
Whoooosh!!
Hero’s Diary Chapter 3 was battered by an unrelenting storm. The raindrops fell like whips, prickling the skin raw.
“Everyone, evacuate to higher ground! This area will flood soon!”
The keeper of the diary worked tirelessly to guide the citizens to safety, moving from house to house through the labyrinthine streets of what resembled an ancient Roman city.
Meanwhile, Jeong Ho used his Earth Manipulation skill to construct a seawall along the coast, holding back the floodwaters. He even remembered to drill holes in the barrier to let excess water drain through.
The diary’s keeper, who had been rushing between buildings, ran toward Jeong Ho.
“You’ve done more than enough. Please, let’s evacuate to higher ground as well. The barrier won’t hold for long anyway. We need to put as much distance between ourselves and the water as possible.”
“Distance? Why?”
“Because the master of the waters is rising.”
The makeshift shelter on the high ground—a hill barely a hundred meters tall—was eerily quiet.
The living stood silent as corpses. In that quietness, only the occasional sound of people trembling from cold and fear could be heard.
“Damn it. To think we only managed to save this many…”
The diary’s keeper struck the wall with his fist. Bang. Jeong Ho surveyed the temporary shelter. There seemed to be at least a hundred people crammed inside.
“This seems like a lot to me.”
“This city had twenty thousand residents.”
“Th-the rest must have evacuated elsewhere!”
“Impossible. The only city gate is blockaded by the Kingdom Military, and those who tried to escape by sea…”
The diary’s keeper looked off into the distance. A faint shadow stirred in the far waters, then vanished in a flash of lightning.
“Even these hundred people—I couldn’t have saved them without your help. But we can’t even provide them a proper place to rest…”
The “temporary shelter” was, in reality, the lobby of a building with people crammed in like sardines.
<I pulled people from the jaws of death. Yet within moments, they sink back into it. Did I stand against absurdity, or have I merely become part of that same great absurdity?>
The words from the diary flashed through Jeong Ho’s mind. Essentially, he was apologizing because the people he’d just saved were suffering. Jeong Ho tossed out the Miniature Tent. Whomp!
“Come on. Inside, everyone! Form a line and go slowly!”
An enormous collapsible tent suddenly materialized. The refugees and the diary’s keeper stood stunned, blinking.
Was it unfamiliar because it was modern technology they’d never seen before? Jeong Ho unzipped the tent himself and went inside, rolling around on the floor.
“Ahh—so comfortable. Warm and soft. Resting here would really be wonderful.”
The refugees glanced nervously at the diary’s keeper. He cleared his throat lightly and stepped into the tent to survey it.
“Is this a form of Space Magic?”
Perhaps because Jeong Ho was a hunter passing through, the diary’s keeper addressed him as such.
“Something like that, more or less. Roomier and more comfortable than it looks, right? Go tell the people outside to come rest.”
“But this is your private space. Those people are… well, it’s awkward to say, but they’re from the lower classes. Dock workers, vagrants, beggars, children…”
Jeong Ho stood up abruptly and shouted toward the outside.
“What are you all gawking at? Get in here, now!”
The refugees, who had only been watching cautiously, shuffled into the tent one by one. The diary’s keeper looked moved, eyes glistening with emotion. The refugees who had been shivering in the cold and damp now rested comfortably inside the Miniature Tent.
<This hunter freely surrendered his own space. It made no sense. It was absurd. Yet that same absurdity became a ray of light for us, drowning in suffering.>
The words from the diary had transformed before Jeong Ho’s eyes.
‘Yes! This definitely gets me one Ability Stat increase.’
Jeong Ho quietly clenched his fist. The diary’s keeper, unaware, spoke carefully.
“I’m deeply grateful for your assistance. But I’m afraid it’s not enough.”
“Of course not. Everyone’s hungry.”
“Because the master of the waters will—what?”
Jeong Ho snapped his fingers together. The campfire that had been burning outside the tent swept into the tent interior in a whirl and transformed into a portable gas burner.
‘Just as I thought. This Miniature Tent is incredibly useful.’
He placed the largest Cooking Pot on the gas burner, poured in water, and as it began to bubble and boil, dumped in five packets of Ramen at once.
The rich aroma of Ramen drifted through the gloomy tent. The refugees, who had been quietly cursing their cold and hungry fate, began to sniff the air one by one.
“Here, everyone gets a helping of Ramen. Since there are so many of you, I’ll make several batches.”
Jeong Ho distributed the Ramen into paper cups, giving each refugee a portion. They received them almost in a daze.
The Ramen in their hands was piping hot. Even the sound of the torrential rain outside seemed like music from within the Miniature Tent.
“Here, mysterious savior, you should have a bowl too.”
Jeong Ho served the diary’s keeper a helping as well. The keeper eyed it suspiciously for a long moment, then suddenly gulped it down in one go.
“Cough?!”
“Haha! Spicy, isn’t it? Your nose burning? You shouldn’t eat Ramen in such a rush or you’ll regret it. Be careful!”
“Phew. Quite the spicy flavor. My mentors always warned me never to accept food from a mage without caution. Now I understand why.”
Jeong Ho served the diary’s keeper a freshly cooked portion. After two pots’ worth made the rounds, the refugees, warmed and sated, began to doze off one by one.
“The tension is wearing off.”
Everyone except the diary’s keeper. He seemed even more tense than before.
“May I ask your name, if you don’t mind?”
“Bright. It’s not my real name, but that’s what everyone calls me.”
The diary’s keeper replied.
“Bright, what were you about to say earlier? What’s going on with the Master of the Sea?”
Bright, the owner of the diary, slurped down his ramen before answering.
“Today’s storm is a curse. A curse sent down by the Master of the Sea, who dwells at the bottom of the abyss. The Kingdom Military sealed off the castle to prevent the curse of the waters from spreading.”
He gazed up at the sky with a bitter look. The dark clouds loomed far more oppressively than before. The raindrops had grown heavier still.
“Hunter, it’s because we failed to make our offerings on time. The Masters of the Sea demand seventeen youths—both young men and maidens—as sacrifices every year.”
“Why?”
“A contract. An ancient pact made long before we were even born. The people of the land offer sacrifices to the Masters of the Sea, and in return, the Masters bestow upon us the treasures and abundance of the deep.”
‘I’ve heard this story before somewhere.’
While Jeong Ho pondered this, Bright crumpled his paper cup.
“It’s an absurd contract. Some people are raised like livestock from the moment they’re born—for others’ happiness. I rescued those meant to be sacrificed. And this is the result.”
Bright stared out with sorrowful eyes. Rumble—the wall Jeong Ho had built at the shore crumbled, and seawater surged up in a torrent.
From the churning waves, suspicious shadows began to emerge one by one. Fish-headed humanoids with bipedal, tentacled bodies. They wore armor studded with barnacles and jewels, and wielded swords.
“Fish-headed merfolk, then. Is that the Master of the Sea?”
“Yes. I’ll hold this position. You should evacuate now, Hunter. I won’t call you a coward for running. You’ve already done more than enough.”
“Why not fight together?”
“Kill one and two more rise up. As long as there is water, there is no escape from the Masters of the Sea.”
Faint words from the diary flickered across Jeong Ho’s vision.
<In the end, the Masters of the Sea found us. I will fight them, even if it costs me my life. If I can make even the slightest difference in this unreasonable world, my life is not wasted.>
The diary text appearing meant it could be changed—a chance to increase ability stats.
“If water’s the problem, I’ll just get rid of it. Earth Manipulation.”
[Skill activated: Original Earth Manipulation]
[Manipulate earth, stone, and mineral.]
[Hero’s Power level 4 resonates!]
[Divided Mind Technique activates!]
[Skill copied: Original Earth Manipulation]
Crash-crash-crash!!! The land began swallowing the sea in reverse.
Screech?!
The merfolk rising from the water were swept up and buried in waves of earth and stone. The merfolk forces faltered. Even Bright, who had been eyeing the inside of the Miniature Tent for the sacrifices, jumped back in alarm.
“Hunter?! What in the world is this…?!”
“I’m eliminating the source of the problem. Earth Manipulation.”
[Skill activated: Original Earth Manipulation]
[Manipulate earth, stone, and mineral.]
[Hero’s Power level 4 resonates!]
[Divided Mind Technique activates!]
[Skill copied: Original Earth Manipulation]
Crash-crash-crash!! A surge of earth far more massive than before. The water level that had been surging upward began to recede in the opposite direction.
“This is… insanity! Hunter, you’ll die! Magic of this scale has never been used in recorded history!”
“Really? Then I’ll be the first.”
Jeong Ho himself felt like he was dying.
[Warning! Mana Pollution 99%!]
[Warning! Mana Pollution 99%!]
[Warning! Mana Pollution 99%!]
With his immunity to 100% Mana Pollution, he wouldn’t die—but the mana corruption at this level was a world away from when he’d been spamming Firebolt.
‘But I’m immune to mana pollution anyway, so what’s the harm in keeping going?’
Jeong Ho wiped the blood trickling from his nose with the back of his hand.
“Earth Manipulation.”
Crash! Crash! Crash-crash!!
The encroaching merfolk were steadily driven back. The dark clouds that had been pouring rain gradually thinned. Jeong Ho recalled something Dae Young had said.
-Once you get the hang of it, you could create an artificial island made of a thousand tons of diamond in the sky and smash it into the ground.
It was possible with Crystal Formation, so it should definitely be possible with Earth Manipulation too. Jeong Ho expanded the land again and again.
The merfolk were driven back to the sea. Jeong Ho didn’t stop; he moved closer to the water’s edge and continued casting the skill.
“Earth Manipulation!”
Shriek! Screech!
Crunch! Crunch-crunch!!
The merfolk cried out in various voices of agony, begging Jeong Ho to stop.
“Why should I stop?”
Screech!! Screech!!
The merfolk bobbed their heads in unison above the surface, nodding frantically. Looking closer, this wasn’t an open ocean—it was an enclosed sea, like the Mediterranean or the Dead Sea.
‘Ah. If I keep filling it in with land, I’ll wipe them all out completely.’
Jeong Ho casually thrust his hand into his pocket.
“Why should I stop?”
The mer-folk exchanged nervous glances before a few of them dove deeper into the sea and returned with a treasure chest.
“That’s all?”
After more hesitant looks passed between them, this time they surfaced with an enormous quantity of fish.
“I’m not really hungry right now.”
Squeak?!
The mer-folk became visibly distressed.
“Nothing else? If not, I’ll just use Earth Manipula—”
Shriek!!
After several mer-folk scuffled with one another, what appeared to be the highest-ranking among them surfaced clutching a Conch Shell.
Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!
“What is this? A Conch Shell? I don’t need it.”
“No! That is—that is the Sacred Treasure of the Deep!”
Bright came bounding down the jagged slope warped by Earth Manipulation.
“Hunter! That’s the legendary Conch Shell of the Deep—the treasure the mer-folk’s master uses to govern them! I never imagined it actually existed.”
“Is that so? If we have that, we don’t need living Offerings or anything else, right?”
“Precisely. The benefits can be enjoyed without the need for any Offering whatsoever.”
“You heard that? Hand it over.”
Squeak!
Jeong Ho took the Conch Shell from the mer-folk’s grasp and immediately handed it to Bright, the diary’s owner.
“Wh—why give it to me?”
“I don’t have any use for it.”
Jeong Ho patted Bright’s shoulder gently. Water welled up in the boy’s eyes—whether rain or tears, he couldn’t tell. The dark clouds parted and the sun broke through.
<In the end, I could not prevent it. To ward off the Water’s Curse, I could only offer 34 Sacrifices—17 for each group. To save a hundred, I had to let 34 die.>
Whoosh! The diary’s words shifted.
<Today I witnessed the greatest Absurdity.>
New words from the diary began crawling slowly across Jeong Ho’s vision.
<He was the greatest Absurdity of all—one who could correct every other injustice in the world.>
‘Wait—is he going dark?’
The world dissolved into a haze around Jeong Ho as he tried to act.
<I wanted to become him. To become the sun. A radiant sun.>
‘No! Don’t do it—don’t go dark! My stats!’
Crack!
<Hero’s Diary Chapter 3 has concluded.>
<You swiftly rescued the people.>
<Agility Ability Stat increases: E → D>
<You generously bestowed upon the people.>
<Constitution Ability Stat increases: D → C>
<You dominated the mer-folk with overwhelming might.>
<Strength Ability Stat increases: D → C>
Jeong Ho picked up the Hero’s Diary and opened Chapter 3. A radiant sun shone over a city as Bright, the diary’s owner, gazed up at it.
‘He didn’t go dark because of me… did he?’
* * *
Days after South Korea’s S+ gate crisis, the US Hunter Management Agency held a press conference broadcast live worldwide.
“An EX-rank Hunter is strong enough to close an S+ gate alone.”
The opening statement hit like a bomb. Rumors scattered. Fabrications dispelled. The murky suspicions about EX-rank Hunters that had festered abroad were erased in an instant.
But the final statement carried a shock of a different kind.
“An EX-rank Hunter could also become mankind’s greatest threat. The EX-rank Hunter of South Korea—reveal your identity at once. If you do not—”
Roger, the director of the US Hunter Management Agency, spoke without blinking.
“America will find you ourselves. We will declare war on Korea if we must.”
To be continued ▶
Obtained an endgame item for one bowl of Ramen
Author
Hayan Gotgam
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Published by
Grae Publishing
Contact Email
[email protected]
Publication Date
August 24, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260423069
※ This e-book is protected under copyright law. Unauthorized reproduction and duplication are prohibited. Violations 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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