The All-Time Best Talent was F-Class Purification - Chapter 26

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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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26
Chapter 26 – An Elite Talent Awakened as an F-Rank Purifier
The next morning at 9 AM, a new announcement appeared on Moonglade’s online store, Renewal Shop. It was a bombshell declaration that would shake the very foundation of the Middle District equipment market’s ecosystem.
[URGENT NOTICE: Mass Release of Basic Equipment]
[Items: Essential equipment for C-Rank and D-Rank Hunters (swords, shields, leather armor, etc.)]
[Price: 50% of market lowest price (unlimited quantity)]
Half-price dumping. For a typical workshop, this price wouldn’t even cover material costs—but our profit margin exceeded 90%. Even selling at half price, we still came out ahead.
But Steel Fang Guild was different. Raw material purchases, factory operations, labor costs. For them, half-price sales meant bankruptcy.
“It’s begun.”
Park Jae-jung showed me the monitor.
“The forums are in chaos. Hunters using Steel Fang products are demanding refunds, and customers are switching over to us.”
The graph on the screen shot straight up. It wasn’t a sales graph. It was the speed at which Steel Fang Guild’s market share was collapsing.
“Just as expected.”
I answered calmly while sipping my coffee.
“When the money dries up, organizations crumble. Especially when someone like Ma Seok-gi bought loyalty with cash.”
According to the intelligence Park Jae-jung had gathered, Steel Fang Guild had recently overextended themselves in business expansion, leaving their cash flow in poor condition. Guild members’ paydays were just around the corner, and payment deadlines to trading partners overlapped. They desperately needed cash. We’d just cut off their lifeline.
“According to reports, the factory’s operating rate has already dropped below 30%. Rumors are spreading among the staff that wages will be delayed, causing serious unrest.”
“Good. It’s time to finish this.”
We headed toward the van parked in the Underground Parking Lot. When I opened the rear door, I saw a man completely bound with rope and gagged in his mouth. It was Shadow Blade, the assassin who’d come to kill me yesterday.
The moment he saw me, his entire body trembled and he tried to retreat into the corner. The fear in his eyes—eyes that once belonged to a high-level D-Rank expert—was absolute.
I removed the gag from his mouth.
“Gasp…! P-please… I’ll do whatever you tell me…”
“Good. I’ll keep my promise and spare your life. As long as you do this errand well.”
I tossed his smartphone to him. The screen was cracked, but it still worked.
“Call Ma Seok-gi.”
His hands trembled violently.
“W-what should I… say?”
I leaned close to his ear and recited the script for him. A proposal so sweet and irresistible that it couldn’t be refused.
…Ring…ring…
Before the signal even rang three times, the other end picked up.
‘Hey, you bastard! Why are you just calling now? I thought you were dead and was already looking for someone else.’
Ma Seok-gi’s raspy voice came through the speakerphone. A voice mixed with impatience and anger. The assassin glanced at me nervously and opened his mouth with a trembling voice.
“I apologize, Guild Master. Things got complicated.”
‘Complicated? You failed? Are you trying to eat my money and run?!’
“No. I’ve captured him.”
‘…What?’
“His bodyguards were stronger than expected, so it took time. I even broke one of my arms. But… in the end, I managed to subdue him and successfully kidnapped him.”
Silence flowed through the phone. Only Ma Seok-gi’s rough breathing could be heard.
‘…Really? You captured that bastard Lee Tae-hyun?’
“Yes. I have him tied up at my Safe House right now. I also secured the ledgers and manufacturing technical documents I brought from his base.”
It was the bait Ma Seok-gi desired most. Mun Glade’s financial resources and technological prowess. With those alone, he could rise again. No—he could become the king of this underworld.
‘Oh, excellent. Very well done. You never disappoint me. Where are you now? I’m coming right away.’
But the Assassin, following my instructions, threw cold water on his enthusiasm.
“Wait a moment. I have conditions.”
‘Conditions?’
“This job has become too big. It smells like the Association is involved, and my arm is ruined. I won’t be able to work for a while. I need retirement funds.”
‘How much do you want.’
“Instead of the remaining 500 million, add another 2 billion in cash. And bring the guild share transfer agreement as well.”
‘This crazy bastard. 2 billion? Have you lost your mind?’
“If you don’t like it, forget it. I can hand this guy and the ledger over to Hunter Association Team Leader Lee Ji-young, and I might get even more. Plus, the recording of you hiring me for murder will go with it.”
‘What?…You…’
Ma Seok-gi was backed into a corner. His business was collapsing and his funding had dried up. If he couldn’t capture Lee Tae-hyun here, he was finished. There was no choice.
‘…Fine. Alright. I’ll match the 2 billion. But if you try any funny business, you die by my hand.’
“The location is Basement Level 2 of the District 4 Redevelopment Construction Site. I’ll see you in one hour. Oh, it would be best if you came alone. If any rats tag along, there’s no deal.”
Click. The call ended.
The Assassin hung up and immediately prostrated himself on the floor, begging.
“I… I did it… I did everything you told me to… Please let me go now…”
I looked down at him.
“It’s not over yet. You need to stay tied up. It has to look real.”
Park Jae-jung bound him again and loaded him into the van’s cargo hold.
“Representative. Do you think he’ll really come alone?”
“No. Absolutely not.”
I spoke with certainty.
“Ma Seok-gi is a suspicious man. He’ll bring every soldier he can muster. He’s planning to pretend to hand over the 2 billion, then kill us all and take the goods.”
“Won’t that be dangerous?”
“That’s exactly why I chose that location.”
The District 4 Redevelopment Construction Site. An abandoned apartment complex left unfinished during the Cataclysm ten years ago. A labyrinthine structure with collapse hazards lurking in every shadow—a perfect ruin.
“It’s ideal for a small force to face a larger one. And…”
I clenched and unclenched my fist. A body elevated from E-rank to D-rank.
“I am no longer who I was yesterday.”
One hour later. The abandoned land of the Lower District, the District 4 Redevelopment Construction Site. An eerie wind coiled between the concrete structures.
Park Jae-jung and I concealed ourselves in the darkness of Basement Level 2 Parking Lot. In the center, the Assassin sat bound to a chair with a gag in his mouth, and beside him lay a bag containing the forged ledger.
Screeeech.
The sound of a shutter opening came from above. Then, moments later, the roar of multiple engines and the thunder of countless footsteps echoed down.
“Just as expected. They came in force.”
Park Jae-jung whispered, his veteran instincts flaring.
“Twelve total. Three D-ranks, the rest high-tier E-ranks. And Ma Seok-gi himself.”
Ma Seok-gi. Guild Master of Steel Fang. A martial-type Hunter evaluated as high-tier D-rank or bordering on C-rank. He descended into the basement with his subordinates. A massive combat hammer hung from his hand. His expression gleamed like a predator before its prey.
“Where is our honored guest?”
Ma Seok-gi laughed cruelly upon seeing the bound Assassin.
“Good work, Shadow Blade. I brought the money as promised.”
He gestured to his subordinate, who held up a briefcase. But Ma Seok-gi’s eyes weren’t on the money—they were fixed on the Assassin’s neck. It was clear he intended to kill him once the transaction was complete.
“Now, show me the goods. Where is that bastard Lee Tae-hyun?”
The Assassin’s eyes darted in terror. He couldn’t speak. Instead, I stepped out from the darkness.
“I’m right here.”
Ma Seok-gi and his subordinates instantly trained their weapons on me. His eyes widened in shock.
“You… how did you escape?”
“Escape? I was never captured.”
I smiled leisurely and took my place beside the Assassin.
“I came of my own accord. To give you one last chance.”
“A chance?”
Ma Seok-gi’s face twisted. He realized he’d been deceived.
“This bastard… it was a trap. You dare toy with me?”
“Toy with you? I’m here to conclude our business.”
I pointed at him and his subordinates.
“These forces you brought—they’re the last of the Steel Fang Guild’s strength, aren’t they? Once they’re dealt with, all that remains of Steel Fang will be an empty shell.”
“Ha! You madman. Just two of you against us? You don’t understand the situation. This is your grave.”
Ma Seok-gi raised his hammer high.
“Kill them! I’ll give a billion won to whoever brings me his head.”
At his command, eleven Hunters surged forward in unison, their killing intent blazing. The narrow underground parking lot filled with their roars and surges of magical power.
But I didn’t retreat. Beside me stood Park Jae-jung, wielding a B-rank Gigass Shield, a steadfast bulwark. And within my body, the core energy that had evolved to D-rank was boiling over explosively.
“Jae-jung. I’m counting on you to cover the left.”
“Leave it to me. Not a single one will get through.”
We moved in perfect synchronization. It was time to show, not tell.
“Tear them apart. Crush them.”
Ma Seok-gi roared, and eleven Hunters charged forward in unison, their killing intent and magical power flooding the narrow underground parking lot. These were Steel Fang’s elite strike force.
But we didn’t give ground.
“Here they come!”
Park Jae-jung shouted sharply and stepped forward. Rather than planting the massive Gigass Shield on the ground, he raised it to shoulder height—a stance for charging, not defending.
Boom—
The great swords and axes wielded by the two D-rank Hunters at the front crashed against Park Jae-jung’s shield. Sparks erupted and thunder roared, but Park Jae-jung didn’t yield an inch. Instead, blue light flickered across his shield’s surface, deflecting the impact entirely.
“Ugh?!”
The attackers staggered from the recoil that nearly snapped their wrists. The perfectly restored B-rank shield elevated Park Jae-jung’s defensive capabilities—a C-rank Hunter—to an entirely higher dimension.
“Is that all you have?”
Park Jae-jung grinned wickedly and swung his shield. Shield Bash. With a heavy impact, one of the blocking Hunters flew backward like a bowling pin, tangling with his pursuing comrades. Their formation collapsed in an instant.
That gap was exactly what I’d been waiting for.
I burst from behind Park Jae-jung like a shadow. My targets were three E-rank Hunters attempting to circle around the flank as their formation crumbled.
They spotted me and thrust their spears. In my former self, I would have panicked and retreated from such an attack. But now, their movements appeared painfully slow and clumsy to my eyes. My D-rank reconstructed nervous system was reading their muscle movements in advance.
I twisted my upper body slightly, letting the spear tips slip past. Without hesitation, I pressed forward. I carried no weapon in my hands—my Purification Dagger remained sheathed at my waist.
They saw my empty hands and let their guard down. That carelessness would be their undoing.
I grabbed the shaft of the spear that had been thrust at me first, seizing it with my bare hand.
“What?”
He tried to wrench the spear free, but my grip strength was far beyond what he could handle. I stared directly into his eyes and channeled purification energy through my palm.
Screeeech—!
With a bone-chilling sound, the steel spear shaft began to rust and corrode in an instant. The crimson rust spread like a serpent from where my hand touched it, crawling all the way to the spearhead.
“W-what is this?!”
He yelped and released the spear. The weapon that fell to the ground had already become a crumbling heap of scrap metal. I didn’t miss the opening created by his panic and drove my heel into his chest. He crashed into a parking lot pillar with a scream and lost consciousness.
“Mage! That bastard’s a mage. Fall back!”
The other two, witnessing what happened to their comrade, recoiled in terror. They’d mistaken me for a ranged magic-type Hunter.
“A mage, huh… Not entirely wrong.”
I smiled and walked toward them.
“Just one who deals physical damage through magic.”
I kicked off the ground and charged forward. The distance closed in an instant. They panicked and hurled magical arrows and daggers at me, but I evaded or deflected them with minimal movement. Then I closed in on them, and wherever my hands touched—their leather armor, their weapons—I caressed them with purification energy.
Bzzt—.
Each time my fingers made contact, their equipment deteriorated in a chain reaction. Mana circuits severed, durability reduced to zero—their gear could no longer protect them.
“M-my armor…!”
“My sword broke!”
In less than a minute, the three who had been targeting my flank lay disarmed on the ground. I paid them no further attention and turned my gaze back to the center of the fray.
Park Jae-jung was still holding strong. No—he was overwhelming them. Eight Hunters surrounded him, unleashing a barrage of attacks, but he used his Gigass Shield to deflect and redirect their strikes as if dancing. The B-rank shield’s durability was so formidable that it didn’t bear a single scratch.
“Damn it! What is that shield? It won’t break!”
“The legs. Target the legs.”
They cursed and attacked, but Park Jae-jung was seasoned. At every critical moment, he used his taunt roar to dull their movements, then pressed them down with his shield whenever they showed an opening. Already, three or four of them had broken bones and were combat-ineffective.
“Pathetic.”
Then, from the rear of the battlefield where he’d been observing, Ma Seok-gi’s voice rang out—a sound like metal scraping, filled with rage.
“Fumbling against just two of them. Is this all you’ve done with my money?”
Ma Seok-gi walked forward slowly. As he moved, his subordinates parted like the Red Sea, opening a path. In his hands was a massive two-handed battle hammer that looked to be at least 1.5 meters long. Red mana shimmered like heat waves from the hammer’s head.
“Move aside. I’ll tear those bastards apart myself.”
He pushed his men back and stood before us. His presence—that of a high-tier D-rank, bordering on C-rank—was unmistakably formidable. The killing intent he radiated made the air in the parking lot grow heavy and oppressive.
“Park Jae-jung. So you’re betting everything on that shield.”
Ma Seok-gi glared at Park Jae-jung and adjusted his grip on the hammer.
“Let’s see if it can withstand my Shattering Hammer.”

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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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