The All-Time Best Talent was F-Class Purification - Chapter 18

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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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18
Chapter 18 – An Elite Talent Awakened as an F-Rank Purifier
We began climbing the emergency ladder mounted on the Wall. The weight of the bag pressed down on my shoulders, and my injured body screamed in protest. Park Jae-jung, in particular, was carrying a load far heavier than himself despite his broken ribs. His ragged breathing echoed through the empty Elevator Shaft.
“Park, why not lighten your load? You’ll collapse at this rate.”
“Huff… huff… I can’t. This is my retirement fund. I’d rather die than let it go.”
He laughed roughly, throwing out the quip. A snort of laughter escaped me as well. We encouraged each other as we climbed the endless ladder, rung after rung.
After climbing for a while, a heavy thud reverberated from below. The Boss had begun demolishing the Warehouse Wall where we’d been. We would have been buried if we’d delayed even slightly. We squeezed every ounce of strength and accelerated our pace.
Finally, fresh air brushed against my face from above. As I pushed open the rusted hatch and emerged into daylight, brilliant sunlight poured down upon us.
“Ah…”
I sprawled flat on my back on the ground. The hard bag pressing against my spine was uncomfortable, yet it felt as soft as a plush bed. A blue sky. Clear air. And the profound realization that we were alive.
We had emerged near a collapsed guardhouse on the outskirts of the Chemical Complex. In the distance, the old truck we’d arrived in was visible.
“Let’s head back.”
I rose to my feet and headed toward the truck. Park Jae-jung settled into the driver’s seat and started the engine. The sputtering sound of the engine had never been more welcome. The truck bed was packed with the scrap metal we’d risked our lives to gather.
During the drive back, neither of us spoke, yet it felt perfectly natural. Perhaps it was the contented silence of a farmer standing before an abundant harvest?
By the time we arrived at our Base in the Middle District, lunch hour had already passed. We dumped our haul onto the living room floor.
Crash—
Dust-covered equipment parts, corroded metal chunks, and lusterless raw mana stones. To others, it would have been a junkyard, but to our eyes, it gleamed more brilliantly than any treasure.
Park Jae-jung sank to the floor and caressed each piece of scrap metal one by one.
“How much do you think all this is worth?”
“Hard to say. But it should make our target amount look trivial.”
He laughed silently. We decided to wash up and have a proper meal first. After hastily devouring delivered food, the tension finally released, and an overwhelming drowsiness crashed over me. But I couldn’t sleep. There was still work to be done.
I gathered the remnants of Park Jae-jung’s shield that I’d set aside in a corner of the living room. A B-Rank shield, the Gigas Shield. It had taken the Boss’s attack head-on and shattered into pieces—Park Jae-jung’s other self and the hero that had protected our lives.
Park Jae-jung noticed my actions and approached.
“Boss, that’s…”
I roughly reassembled the scattered fragments into their original shape. The central core was devastatingly dented, and the mana circuits were so severed that traces of them were barely discernible.
But I knew the truth: this shield’s essence had not yet perished.
“Park, before we start on anything else, we need to restore our partner’s shield first.”
I placed both hands on the shield’s core. The Core Energy in my body, now elevated to E-Rank, was sufficient. I closed my eyes and envisioned purification—washing away the corrupted wounds and restoring the shattered fragments to their originally perfect form.
“Purify.”
Whoooosh—
Brilliant pure white light erupted beneath my palms, bathing the entire living room in radiance.
Screeeech. Clang—. Clang—.
A miracle within the light. The shattered fragments drew together like iron to a magnet. The crumpled metal smoothed out, reclaiming its elegant curves, and the severed mana circuits reconnected like threads of luminescence, beginning to emit a powerful azure glow once more.
This was no mere restoration. My Core Energy seeped deep into the shield’s special alloy material, reconstructing its very structure to be even more resilient and efficient.
As the light faded, the perfectly reborn Gigas Shield lay beneath my hands—a new shield suffused with a deeper, richer azure radiance than before.
Park Jae-jung knelt down and lifted the shield with trembling hands.
“This is…”
He channeled mana into the shield. With a resonant hum, a far more robust and transparent mana barrier formed across its surface than before.
“This isn’t just high-tier B-Rank… this should be classified as A-Rank.”
He looked up at me with glistening eyes.
“Thank you, Boss. Really…”
I extended my hand and helped him to his feet.
“Save your gratitude for later. Things are about to get very busy from here on out.”
I surveyed the living room, which was completely filled with scrap metal.
“We need to turn all of this into merchandise, don’t we?”
Park Jae-jung’s eyes shifted in an instant from gratitude to ambition.
“Good. Rest today, and we’ll start tomorrow. Let’s turn this entire industry on its head.”
The next morning, I awoke to brilliant sunlight streaming through the windows. My eyelids felt impossibly heavy. The moment consciousness returned, a wave of muscle soreness crashed over me as if my entire body had been pummeled.
“Ugh…”
Yesterday, intoxicated by adrenaline and the windfall of scrap metal alchemy, I hadn’t felt the price. No matter how much my body had grown to E-Rank or how much self-healing I’d performed, the exhaustion from dancing repeatedly at death’s threshold refused to fade easily.
I pushed myself upright and sat on the edge of the bed. Across the living room floor lay tens of billions—no, hundreds of billions of won worth of scrap metal that we’d dumped there yesterday, piled like mountains. It wasn’t a dream. Just as a smile began to form, I heard rough breathing coming from the direction of the living room sofa.
“Hah… hah…”
Irregular, labored breathing fighting against pain. It was Park Jae-jung.
I quickly got up and rushed over. He was huddled on the sofa, drenched in cold sweat as if caught in a downpour. His face was completely drained of color, and his forehead burned hot as a coal.
“Park Jae-jung! Stay with me.”
When I shook his shoulder, he spoke with difficulty, his eyes unfocused.
“Ah, Boss. I’m sorry. My body feels… heavy.”
He tried to force a smile, but his lips trembled uncontrollably. It was too much. This was the aftermath of his bare body absorbing an impact powerful enough to shatter a B-Rank shield. The emergency treatment I’d given him yesterday had merely extinguished the immediate fire.
‘This won’t do.’
I immediately pulled up his shirt. His entire chest and abdomen were covered in deep bruises, and the blood vessels beneath his skin stood out in dark red. It wasn’t simple blunt trauma. The corrupted mana from the mutated Boss had penetrated his body along with the impact, gnawing away at his Core circuits.
“Stay still. I’ll treat you.”
I placed my hand on his chest. Concentrating the Core Energy that had recovered overnight, I cast Purification.
Whoooosh.
Pure white light seeped through my palm into his body. I closed my eyes and felt my energy flowing through his blood vessels, muscles, and between his bones.
‘It’s serious.’
The Boss’s corrupted energy had penetrated deep, reaching near his lungs and heart. I carefully began erasing those traces one by one. As the corruption disappeared, I felt the damaged tissues rapidly regenerating.
But something felt wrong. Even after I’d cleared away almost all of the Boss’s corruption, there was still something catching. Like debris stuck in a drain, sticky and hardened foreign substances were clinging thickly throughout his body, especially at every junction of the major circuits where Core Energy circulated.
‘This doesn’t seem like it happened yesterday…’
These were very old traces. Over the ten years he’d lived as a Hunter, accumulated mana poisoning and corruption debris from countless battles and injuries. A chronic condition common among Hunters, and the primary cause of declining abilities with age.
Only then did I understand why Park Jae-jung, despite possessing such outstanding instincts and experience, had remained perpetually stuck at C-Rank. It wasn’t a matter of talent. The debris accumulated in his body had become a wall blocking his energy from flowing to greater heights.
‘Can I break through this?’
It would require far more energy than simple wound treatment, but it had to be done. He was my partner, my savior, and the person who would climb to greater heights alongside me.
Looking down at him, I spoke.
“Park Jae-jung, this is going to hurt. Actually, it’s going to hurt a lot.”
“You’re treating me, aren’t you?”
“While I treat you, I’m also going to do a deep cleanse.”
He didn’t seem to understand my words, but trusting me nonetheless, he simply nodded.
“Please do.”
I took a deep breath and drew together every last bit of Core Energy within me. Then I poured the power of Purification toward the old, hardened debris deeply embedded in his body.
“Purification.”
[Target: Park Jae-jung (C-Rank Hunter)]
[Detected ancient mana contamination and circuit damage.]
[Initiating fundamental purification.]
“Krraaagh.”
A cry tore from Park Jae-jung’s throat—the kind of agony that felt like bone being scraped away. Blood vessels rupturing from within, forced open by the surging energy. His body arched like a drawn bow. Cold sweat cascaded down his frame, and every muscle convulsed violently.
I couldn’t stop. Not until the black sludge dissolved into nothingness beneath the purifying light, not until the severed circuits reconnected. I pushed my energy forward relentlessly, again and again.
Ssshhhhh…
Black smoke-like wisps rose from his pores, carrying a stench so vile it burned the nostrils. Ancient toxins were being expelled from his body.
Sweat beaded on my own forehead, and dizziness threatened to overwhelm me when the final blockage choking his body finally dissolved.
Thump.
A subtle vibration resonated through him—the sound of a dam bursting, Core Energy surging freely through his channels at last.
“Hah… hah…”
Park Jae-jung collapsed onto the sofa, utterly spent. I too felt my strength drain away, sinking to the floor. The room fell silent except for our ragged breathing.
After a long moment, Park Jae-jung slowly pushed himself upright. He clenched and unclenched his fists, rolled his shoulders. His expression twisted strangely—but not from pain.
“Boss.”
He wrapped his arms around himself, murmuring.
“Something’s… different about my body.”
“Does it still hurt?”
“No. Quite the opposite…”
He rose and performed a light jump in place, then threw a punch into the empty air. The movement was so swift and fluid it cut through the air with an audible whoosh.
“It feels lighter than when I first awakened. No—it’s different from back then. The energy flows without obstruction. I always thought my Core capacity had hit a ceiling, that I was trapped at C-Rank no matter how hard I pushed. But now… that wall is gone. I can feel it.”
Park Jae-jung’s eyes reddened. For a Hunter, hitting a growth ceiling was a death sentence of sorts. He must have spent years trapped within that limit, drowning in despair and resignation. Yet today, that wall of hopelessness had crumbled.
“You were never weak, Park Jae-jung. Your body was simply corroded.”
I smiled as I spoke.
“You’ve simply returned to your true form. You’ve been restored.”
The true essence of Park Jae-jung as a Hunter—he was never meant to be confined by C-Rank. I had merely shattered the shell of contamination and released his genuine potential into the world.
Park Jae-jung grasped my hand. It was warm and trembling slightly.
“You saved my life, and now you’ve saved my career as a Hunter. This debt can never be repaid, no matter how long I live. I will dedicate the rest of my existence to you and this operation.”
I clasped his hand firmly and pulled him to his feet.
“We’re partners. When my partner grows stronger, I’m safer too.”
To shift the mood, I gestured toward a small bag tucked in the corner of the living room—yesterday’s spoils from the Dungeon, containing the smallest yet most valuable item.
“Now that you’re limber again, shall we make some money?”
Park Jae-jung’s eyes transformed in an instant. Sharp. Intelligent.
“Why not? I’ve been itching for it.”
I opened the bag. Inside, the [C-Rank Control Core] I had purified at the Safe House yesterday gleamed with brilliant blue light.
“We’ll sell this and secure the capital to build our fortress.”
Park Jae-jung nodded and picked up the [Purified C-Rank Control Core] from the table. The contamination had been washed away, leaving it transparent and radiating a deep, luminous blue.
“Where will we list it? The general Trading Post?”
Park Jae-jung shook his head. His eyes had shifted into operational mode.
“No, the general Trading Post won’t do. They deal in trinkets and refuse, not fine goods like this. Word spreads too quickly there. We need maximum price and anonymity.”
He pulled out his smartphone and displayed a map. The location he pointed to was the heart of the Middle District—the Financial District, where the headquarters of major Guilds were densely concentrated.
“Central Auction. It’s an exclusive VIP auction house. The entry requirements are strict, but if the merchandise is legitimate, they keep your identity completely confidential.”
“Entry requirements… Can unaffiliated Hunters like us get in?”
“Normally you’d need an invitation, but…”
He held up the Control Core in his hand.
“This serves as an invitation. With something like this, the branch manager will come running.”
I trusted him and stood up.
“Let’s go.”
Central Auction was overwhelming from the outside alone. The massive building finished in black marble stood apart from the surrounding structures. S-Rank Hunter-level security guards stood at the entrance, and the parking lot was lined with luxury sedans and limousines worth astronomical sums.
Park Jae-jung’s worn truck that we’d arrived in looked completely out of place in this setting. The valet attendant’s expression faltered at the sight of our vehicle, but Park Jae-jung paid no mind and confidently tossed him the keys.
“Take good care of it. It’s my first car.”
His shameless confidence made me burst into a quiet laugh. The security checkpoint at the entrance was more rigorous than an airport. One guard blocked our path.
“I’ll need to see your invitation.”
“We don’t have one.”
“Then I’m afraid you can’t enter—”
“We’re here to register merchandise, so let’s start with an appraisal.”
Park Jae-jung withdrew a small velvet pouch from his jacket and showed it briefly to the guard. The moment the guard caught sight of the blue light leaking through the pouch’s opening, his eyes changed. He whispered something into his radio, then shifted his demeanor and politely guided us forward.
“The Appraisal Room is on the third floor. I’ll show you the way.”
The third floor we reached by elevator was quiet. Appraisal Rooms lined the Corridor. We were guided to the innermost room. Shortly after, the Chief Appraiser entered. A nameplate reading “Chief Appraiser” hung from his chest.
“Welcome. I hear you’ve brought merchandise?”
The Old Gentleman’s tone was courteous, though his eyes carried a hint of fatigue and ennui. To someone who appraised hundreds of items daily, merchandise brought by nameless Hunters hardly warranted much anticipation.
Park Jae-jung silently placed the pouch on the table. Then he carefully removed its contents.
Clink.
A fist-sized blue gemstone rolled across the murky glass table. A vivid blue light filled the Appraisal Room. The Old Gentleman’s eyes widened in astonishment.

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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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