The All-Time Best Talent was F-Class Purification - Chapter 22

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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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22
Chapter 22 – An Elite Talent Awakened as an F-Rank Purifier
[Korean Hunter Association Official Certification (KHA-Certified)]
[Appraiser: Chief Appraiser Lee Ji-young]
At the top of the product detail page on the monitor screen sat a golden mark. It was far more than a mere image—it was the powerful absolution and guarantee that Park Jae-jung and I had fought so hard to obtain, our lifeline for survival.
“Are you ready, Director?”
Park Jae-jung’s finger rested on the mouse, his gaze locked on the sales launch button in the lower right corner of the screen. Watching from beside him, I nodded with palpable tension.
Our first lineup. The Renewal Series—perfectly restored B-rank and C-rank waste salvaged from the secondhand market.
“I’m clicking now. Three, two, one…”
Click.
With the mouse click, our newly prepared online store, Renewal Shop, connected to Hunter Net’s main server.
Silence. The night view beyond the window remained peaceful, and the workshop held only the sound of the air purifier humming. No dramatic server crashes or flurries of incoming calls materialized.
“The response is a bit slow.”
Park Jae-jung offered a wry smile and pressed the refresh button. But I remained untroubled.
“Of course it is. It’s an unknown new shop with prices higher than secondhand but lower than new. Everyone’s suspicious right now.”
Our pricing strategy was calculated precisely. Take, for example, a B-rank Flame Gauntlet with a retail price of 100 million won. Secondhand market value ranged from 60 to 70 million depending on condition. But we restored it perfectly and listed it at 85 million—more than secondhand, certainly less than new. We knew the performance exceeded new condition, but the buyers didn’t yet.
‘But if Lee Ji-young’s reputation isn’t hollow…’
I crossed my arms and watched the monitor intently. The view count began climbing gradually. Ten, fifty, one hundred… The promotional posts Park Jae-jung had seeded across Hunter Net’s equipment forum were working.
[Title: Hunter Association Chief Appraiser Certification? Is This Real?]
[Author: Red Orc]
Yo, check that link. Some nobody shop has a certification mark under Lee Ji-young’s name. Gotta be photoshopped, right?
[Title: Renewal Shop? Check out their specs, they’re insane lol]
[Author: Magic Girl Kim Deok-bae]
B-rank gauntlet mana efficiency at 98%? Dude, even the Blacksmith Guild’s premium pieces barely hit 95%. But the price is 85 million? If this is a scam, I’ll cut off my own hand.
Suspicion and curiosity. The public response was split exactly down the middle.
Then it happened.
[Sale Complete]
The C-rank Gale Boots at the top of the list turned gray.
“It sold!”
Park Jae-jung shouted.
“Someone took the plunge.”
That first purchase was the signal flare. Pioneers who trusted the Association certification mark, or who figured they had nothing to lose—their purchase buttons triggered a cascade. Items began turning to sold out one after another.
With each refresh, the numbers dwindled. Fifty units became forty, then thirty, then ten…
And exactly thirty minutes later.
[SOLD OUT]
[All prepared items have been depleted.]
“Everything’s sold. In thirty minutes. Total sales: 3.85 billion won.”
He opened the settlement page in disbelief. The money we’d spent on material purchases was roughly 200 million won. Our net profit exceeded 3.6 billion—all in just thirty minutes.
“Ha… haha… hahaha!”
Park Jae-jung burst into breathless, incredulous laughter.
My heart raced as well, but I kept my excitement hidden and calmly predicted what would come next.
“This is just the beginning, Park Jae-jung. Once people receive their items and confirm the performance, a second wave will hit. When it does, it won’t take 30 minutes—it’ll be a one-minute sellout.”
My prediction wasn’t wrong. In fact, it happened much faster than I expected. The next morning, Hunter Net was flooded with posts about Renewal Shop.
[Best Post: I’m an idiot who bought boots from Renewal Shop yesterday. The review is insane.]
[Content: Dude, I’m losing my mind. I’m naturally paranoid, so I took them straight to an Appraiser I know. The Appraiser thought the machine was broken. The mana circuits are cleaner than new. Is the person who made this even human? I ran a durability test—a C-rank item bounced off B-rank monster fangs. Hey, when’s the next batch dropping? I’m looking into taking out a loan.]
The comment section exploded.
-Without proof, what is it? (photo attached) -> Whoa, that’s insane.
-Yo, if Team Leader Lee Ji-young vouches for it, that’s all that needs to be said.
-When’s the next restock? Has an announcement gone up?
-Resellers already caught the scent and are waiting in line.
It wasn’t mere word-of-mouth. It was the formation of a fanbase. For Hunters, equipment is life itself. The appearance of cheaper, more powerful gear triggered their survival instincts.
We had no time to rest. Park Jae-jung drove a truck around the Seoul Metropolitan Area, sweeping up materials from secondhand dealers, while I locked myself in the Workshop night after night, casting purification.
“This time it’s 100 pieces. Our funding situation improved, so we even acquired two A-rank damaged items.”
Park Jae-jung’s eyes were heavy with fatigue, yet they shone brighter than ever. We released inventory every three days. Second sale, one-minute sellout. Third sale, thirty-second sellout.
The account balance swelled exponentially. Five billion, ten billion… the speed at which the numbers grew was terrifying. We stopped counting money. We simply accumulated it.
But when light grows stronger, shadows deepen. Those who didn’t welcome us began to move.
In the Mid-Layer District North, the Steel Fang Guild—a mid-tier guild with a massive smelting factory as its headquarters. This organization had long dominated the budget and mid-range equipment market across the Seoul Metropolitan Area, a traditional powerhouse in the Hunter market.
In the Guild Master’s Office, a heavily built man slammed his desk with a bang! It was Ma Seok-gi, the Guild Master of Steel Fang.
“Sales cut in half? That doesn’t make sense. Did the Dungeons close? Did the Hunters go on strike?”
The Sales Team Leader bowed his head, sweating profusely.
“It’s… because of a shop called Renewal recently.”
“Renewal? That no-name repair workshop?”
“Yes. On the days their items drop, our orders vanish completely. Their prices are cheaper than our new products, but the performance is incomparable… customers are flocking to them. Even Hunters who had placed advance orders are canceling and demanding refunds.”
Ma Seok-gi’s face flushed red and then purple.
“Some secondhand repair shop dares to take food from my table? Who are these bastards? Who’s backing them?”
“Officially, they’re unaffiliated. The representative is a C-rank Hunter named Park Jae-jung. However…”
The Team Leader carefully handed over a report.
“Each item bears the certification mark of Lee Ji-young, the Korea Hunter Association’s Chief Appraiser. They seem to have some connection with the Association.”
“Lee Ji-young?”
Ma Seok-gi’s eyebrows twitched. The Hunter Association. A troublesome opponent to touch. But he couldn’t just take this lying down. His factory was bursting with inventory produced daily.
“These bastards don’t know business ethics? Just because they have good technique… there’s definitely something. No one’s clean when you dig.”
He pressed the intercom.
“Get the action team leader. And deploy the information team to dig into those Renewal bastards. Where they source materials, where their workshop is—find every last detail.”
His eyes gleamed with murderous intent.
“The Association? Ha. If the workshop burns down or the representative disappears, the Association can’t stop that. If you want to do business in my territory, you pay taxes. A life is worth that much.”
On the 35th Floor of Golden Tower, I gazed down through the window. Somewhere below, I could feel hostility rising toward me. Park Jae-jung, with the instincts of a veteran, had already caught the scent and was reinforcing security.
“Representative. The number of flies circling us lately has increased.”
Park Jae-jung spoke while checking the monitor.
“We’re being tailed, and people have started asking about us at our material suppliers. They appear to be from Steel Fang.”
I answered calmly.
“I saw it coming. The vested interests wouldn’t sit idle while their rice bowls were taken away.”
I gazed down at the A-rank staff resting on the workbench, its restoration just completed. We had earned enough money. But there were things that money alone couldn’t protect.
“Park Jae-jung. We need to prepare as well.”
“Prepare for what?”
“To become a force that no one can touch carelessly—not mere merchants. Now that we’ve accumulated 10 billion won, it’s time to establish a Guild.”
[Current Assets: 12,450,000,000 won]
12.4 billion won. Just a month ago, I had entered a Dungeon prepared to die because I lacked 3 million won. Now I had become wealthy enough to acquire an entire corporation. Our business had grown at a pace that exceeded all expectations, and the Renewal Shop brand had become an icon of innovation among Hunters.
But I had anticipated it. As the sum grew larger, so too would the number of enemies.
“CEO, are you ready?”
Park Jae-jung emerged into the living room in a crisp business suit. A thick briefcase hung from his hand. Today was not a day for work clothes.
“Let’s go.”
I answered while pulling on my jacket.
The Hunter Association Headquarters. Located at the boundary between the Upper District and Middle District, it was the colossal center of power that managed and controlled all Hunters in South Korea. We headed toward the Ground Level, to the Guild Management Bureau.
The Lobby was crowded with numerous Hunters and Guild officials. Hunters in uniforms bearing the logos of major Guilds walked with arrogance, while lower-ranked Hunters bowed before them. It was a microcosm of a rigid class society. We, squeezing through their midst, appeared to be nothing more than ordinary visitors.
We took a number and sat before the Counter. The attendant was a middle-aged woman wearing glasses. Buried beneath piles of documents, she asked mechanically without even glancing at us.
“What business brings you here?”
“We’ve come to register the establishment of a Guild.”
At Park Jae-jung’s words, she lifted her head. Her gaze swept over Park Jae-jung and me. One C-rank Hunter and one F-rank Hunter. A faint smirk flickered across her eyes.
“Guild establishment? We do get a lot of social club registrations these days. Fill out the application form, and the registration fee is 1 million won. The review process takes about two weeks.”
She pulled a single sheet from a drawer and handed it over. A social club. She was treating us as nothing more than a group of pretenders playing at being Hunters.
“It’s not a social club.”
I didn’t accept the paper she offered. Instead, Park Jae-jung opened his briefcase and placed a thick stack of documents he had prepared in advance, along with a corporate seal and a bank statement proving our deposit balance, on the desk.
“This is a formal Corporate Guild registration. We’ve brought everything—proof of capital contribution, a business plan, and an office lease agreement.”
The employee’s expression hardened. A Corporate Guild. That was an entirely different matter from a neighborhood social club. It required a minimum capital of 1 billion won, a solid base of operations, and a clear revenue model—a genuine enterprise.
She picked up the documents with suspicious eyes. The moment she turned the first page, her eyes widened in shock.
[Capital: 10,000,000,000 won]
It wasn’t 1 billion. We were establishing a large-scale Corporate Guild with 10 billion won in capital, including operating reserves. 10 billion won—an amount equivalent to a mid-sized Guild’s annual budget.
“T-ten… ten billion?”
At her startled exclamation, all eyes in the Lobby turned toward us at once.
The employee’s fingers froze. She adjusted her glasses and recounted the zeros on the monitor. 10 billion won. It was not an amount an individual or social club could possess. Her dry gaze transformed instantly into bewilderment.
“Just a moment. This isn’t a system error… is this the actual deposit amount?”
“Check the certificate.”
“I-I’m so sorry. Please wait just a moment. I’ll fetch the Director!”
She hurriedly picked up the phone. Her voice was entirely different from before—tense and urgent.
“Director, you need to come to Counter 1 right now. It’s a Corporate Guild registration, but… the capital scale is beyond my authority.”
She rushed into the back office. Moments later, a middle-aged man with a protruding belly came running out, perspiration streaming down his face. He was the Guild Management Director.
“My goodness, what an honor to have such distinguished guests! Please, allow me to show you to our VIP Consultation Room.”
The atmosphere in the Lobby had shifted. The gazes that had dismissed us moments before now glowed with astonishment and curiosity. In a capitalist society, money was rank itself. The figure of 10 billion won had transformed me from an F-rank Hunter into a VIP in an instant.
The procedures in the Consultation Room proceeded without a hitch. The notoriously rigorous review process became a free pass before such massive capital. The Director was busy catering to us, even pouring tea with his own hands.
“So the Guild Master is Lee Tae-hyun, and the Vice Master is Park Jae-jung.”
The Director paused briefly upon seeing my F-rank identification, but soon resumed filling out the paperwork without further comment. He seemed to assume I was some wealthy heir establishing a guild as a hobby. It was a misunderstanding, but there was no need to correct him.
“Finally, you must decide on a guild name.”
The Director placed his hands over the keyboard and asked. Park Jae-jung and I exchanged glances. The name had already been decided.
In the corrupted darkness, a single light that illuminates the essence. Like moonlight pouring through a deep forest, a power that descends upon what the world has abandoned and grants it value once more.
“Moonglade.”
I answered.
“Moonglade… it has a romantic yet noble quality to it.”
The Director nodded in admiration. He deftly typed on the keyboard and pressed Enter.
Ding.
[Guild Moonglade registration has been completed.]
[Congratulations. You have become the Master of the 4,821st official guild recognized by the Korea Hunter Association.]
The guild registration certificate emerged from the printer with the warm scent of fresh ink. I took the paper in my hands. It was merely a single sheet, yet its weight was far from light. This was both our shield and our spear.
“Congratulations, Guild Master Lee Tae-hyun.”
Park Jae-jung—or rather, he who had now become Vice Guild Master of Moonglade—extended his hand to me. I grasped it firmly.
“This is just the beginning, Vice Guild Master Park Jae-jung.”

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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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