The All-Time Best Talent was F-Class Purification - Chapter 27

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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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27
Chapter 27 – An Elite Talent Awakened as an F-Rank Purifier
He launched himself from the ground before my words had even finished landing. The speed was unbelievable for someone of his massive frame. Mid-air, he twisted his body and brought a colossal hammer crashing down toward Park Jae-jung’s head.
“Krraaagh!”
It was more than raw power. The shattering attribute imbued in the hammer warped space itself as it descended. Park Jae-jung sensed the inevitability and raised his shield, deploying a wall of protection.
Kwaaang—!
A deafening boom erupted, and a shockwave tore outward. The concrete floor of the parking lot fractured like a spider’s web, and the windows of nearby vehicles shattered into countless pieces.
Park Jae-jung’s knees buckled. He knelt on one knee, gritting his teeth as he held his ground. The blue light of the Gigas Shield wavered precariously.
“Ugh!”
“Hoh? You actually withstood that? So it really is a B-rank shield?”
Ma Seok-gi seemed surprised, but his lips twisted into a grin.
“But can you block it a second time?”
He raised the hammer again. This time, a deeper crimson aura gathered around it—far more intense than before. Skill: Shattering Strike. A direct hit would pulverize Park Jae-jung along with his shield.
‘Dangerous.’
I couldn’t stand idle any longer. No matter how sturdy Park Jae-jung’s shield was, continuously taking the killing blow of a power-type Hunter with a weight advantage head-on was impossible.
I pushed off the floor and charged toward Ma Seok-gi’s flank.
“Your opponent is me.”
“You little rat!”
Ma Seok-gi glanced at me sideways, then twisted the hammer’s trajectory and swung it toward me instead. The speed was terrifying. The sound of air being cleaved felt like it would rupture my eardrums.
But I didn’t dodge. The old me—the F-rank me—would have dodged. No, I would have had to. But not anymore. I was reading his attack trajectory.
I lowered my body and slipped inside the hammer’s arc. The hammer grazed past my head, tearing away strands of my hair.
“What?!”
Ma Seok-gi’s eyes widened. He couldn’t believe his attack had missed. I seized the opening and drew my purification dagger, aiming for his abdomen.
But Ma Seok-gi was a veteran after all. Using the recoil from his missed attack, he rotated his body and blocked my dagger with his elbow guard.
Clang!
Metal rang out as my attack was deflected. He immediately counterattacked, gripping the massive hammer short and thrusting the shaft’s end upward toward my jaw. He was skilled in close combat too.
We exchanged roughly a dozen blows in that narrow space. Each time the hammer and dagger collided, sparks flew. He tried to crush me with his overwhelming strength, while I targeted his vital points with speed and technique.
‘Stronger than I expected.’
I had to acknowledge it. He was no mere thug boss. His senses were honed by countless real battles, and his raw power was staggering. The title of top-tier D-rank wasn’t mere boasting.
But he had a fatal weakness. He relied far too heavily on his own strength and equipment.
“You sure do run around a lot! How much longer do you think you can keep dodging!”
Ma Seok-gi swung the hammer in a wide arc, frustration evident in his movements. It was a large, sweeping motion. I retreated, creating distance between us.
“I’m not running away.”
I steadied my breathing and fixed my gaze on him.
“That hammer of yours. It looks quite expensive. B-rank?”
“Hmph. You’ve got an eye for quality. A Red Ogre’s hammer. Cost me 300 million. Worlds apart from your cheap dagger.”
He held up the hammer proudly.
“I’ll crush your skull with this.”
“300 million, huh…”
I let out a quiet laugh.
“What a shame. As of today, it’s just scrap metal.”
“What did you just say?”
I sheathed my purification dagger and held up my empty hands.
“Now, let’s finish this.”
I walked toward him slowly. Approaching without a weapon, Ma Seok-gi’s face flushed with indignation at the insult.
“You arrogant bastard… Die!!”
He brought the hammer down with all his might. The aura of Crushing Strike enveloped the hammer once more. A direct confrontation with nowhere to escape.
I didn’t stop. Just before his hammer reached my head, I extended my left hand and grabbed the hammer’s shaft—or more precisely, the critical junction where the head and shaft connected, where the mana concentrated most intensely.
“Kugh!”
Tremendous impact coursed through my arm. My bones sang and my muscles screamed. If I hadn’t possessed a D-rank body, my arm would have been torn clean off. But I endured. And I poured every ounce of my purification energy into my clenched grip.
“Shatter.”
[Contaminated mana detected.]
[Target: Red Ogre’s Hammer (B-rank)]
[Structural defects identified. Initiating forced decomposition.]
Uuuuuuung—!
Pure white light erupted from my hand, devouring the crimson mana. Ma Seok-gi’s eyes bulged from their sockets.
“W-What is this…!”
A horrifying cracking sound emanated from the 300-million-won B-rank hammer.
Crack-crack-crack!
The hammer’s shaft twisted, the steel of the head melting and shattering into fragments. The mana circuits reversed, sending red sparks flying.
Boom!
The hammer’s head exploded, tearing free from Ma Seok-gi’s grasp and flying through the air. Only a bare shaft remained in his hand.
Silence. Not even a breath could be heard in the Underground Parking Lot. Ma Seok-gi’s subordinates, Park Jae-jung, and Ma Seok-gi himself—all stood frozen, unable to comprehend what had just happened before their eyes.
I brushed the metal dust from my hand and approached Ma Seok-gi, who stood dazed.
“I told you. I’m taking everything from your bowl.”
I didn’t grab his collar. There was no need. His most powerful fang had already been broken.
“Now, shall we have a real negotiation?”
Ma Seok-gi’s most formidable weapon had been destroyed. Now it was time to negotiate.
Ma Seok-gi stared blankly at his empty hands. Three hundred million won. A fortune that even C-rank Hunters could barely touch in a lifetime, and his B-rank weapon symbolizing his power—reduced to scrap metal fragments by a single touch. His mind refused to accept the reality before his eyes, and his gaze had gone hollow.
“This… this is…”
His lips trembled. Anger? No. It was primal fear in the face of power that transcended his understanding.
I brushed the metal dust from my hand and took another step toward him. Ma Seok-gi flinched and stumbled backward. The legendary Steel Fang Guild Master was cowering before an unarmed youth. The sight sent shockwaves through his subordinates. The organization members lying on the floor held their breath, watching us in silence.
“Let’s continue our conversation from before, Guild Master.”
I spoke in a calm voice.
“I said I came to negotiate. But the reception was rather rough.”
“You… who are you? That wasn’t magic.”
Ma Seok-gi asked in a hoarse voice.
“Forcibly severing my hammer’s mana circuits? I’ve never even heard of such a technique!”
“There’s much in this world you don’t know. And I have no obligation to explain it to you.”
I kicked the fallen hammer shaft aside.
“What matters is that the strength you were so proud of doesn’t work on me. Whether you have weapons or subordinates, the result is the same… Do you understand that now?”
Ma Seok-gi closed his mouth and looked around. The eleven elite subordinates he’d boasted about were already subdued by Park Jae-jung and me, rendered combat-ineffective, and his destroyed weapon had shattered his fighting spirit.
He had no choice but to accept defeat.
“What do you want?”
He lowered his head as he asked. A sign of submission…
I gave Park Jae-jung a meaningful glance. Park Jae-jung pulled out a document envelope he’d prepared beforehand from his pocket and threw it in front of Ma Seok-gi.
“Read it.”
Ma Seok-gi opened the envelope with trembling hands. As his eyes scanned the documents, they grew wider and wider before becoming bloodshot.
“These… these thieves!”
He shouted.
“A transfer of mining rights? And that’s not enough—the factory equipment and inventory too? This is basically demanding I hand over the entire guild!”
It was essentially a declaration of Steel Fang’s dissolution. The contents transferred all the lucrative assets—the raw material mines and production lines—under Mun Glade’s control. All that remained was an empty shell of a name and mountains of debt.
“Do you think that’s too much?”
I countered.
“When you cut off our logistics, destroyed our trucks, and put a bounty on my head, that was fine?”
I stepped closer. I released the aura of my D-rank enhanced body without restraint. Ma Seok-gi’s shoulders flinched.
“I’m the one who put a 2 billion won bounty on your head. Yet I’m letting you walk out of here alive on your own two feet, and you’re complaining about losing a little money?”
“A little money?! That’s what I’ve built my entire life for!”
Ma Seok-gi screamed, his face twisted in rage.
“If I hand this over, I’m finished. Just kill me instead!”
He thrashed about. A typical embodiment of greed, fearing destitution more than death.
“Kill me…”
I slowly raised my right hand. White purification energy shimmered above my palm like heat waves.
“I don’t commit murder. Too much cleanup involved. Instead, I’ll take something far more certain.”
I held my palm directly in front of his eyes.
“That thing attached next to your heart.”
“Wh-what…”
“Ma Seok-gi’s lifeline. Your core.”
Ma Seok-gi’s pupils trembled as if an earthquake had struck. Every Hunter possessed a mana core near their heart that stored and channeled magical power. It was a Hunter’s life force and the source of their strength.
“You saw the hammer shatter earlier, didn’t you? Anything containing mana disintegrates when it touches my hands. So what about a core inside a Hunter’s body?”
I whispered quietly.
“D-rank Hunter Ma Seok-gi would become just an ordinary person with no mana. You’d lose all the power you’ve accumulated your entire life and face the resentment of countless people you’ve trampled on with nothing but your bare body. Would that be better than dying?”
It was a bluff. I didn’t know if I could actually destroy a biological core. I’d never tried, and I had no intention of trying. But to Ma Seok-gi, my ability to reduce the hammer to powder became a more realistic terror than any threat could ever be.
“Ah… ah…”
All color drained from his face. The terror of his life as a Hunter ending. The fear of retaliation that would come after losing his power. It was a different dimension of problem than losing money.
He fell to his knees. His two hands gripping the floor trembled violently.
“I’ll… I’ll sign…”
He completely broke.
When Park Jae-jung handed him a pen, Ma Seok-gi signed the contract with shaking hands. With that single signature, the era of Steel Fang, which had dominated the equipment market of the Middle District, came to an end.
I collected the documents.
“You made a wise choice.”
I turned back as I spoke.
“Park Jae-jung will handle the transfer of the Mine and Factory tomorrow, so make sure everything is cleared out. And.”
I gestured with my eyes toward his fallen subordinates.
“Cover their hospital bills. After all, you should at least do that much as a boss.”
We left the Parking Lot. Behind us, only Ma Seok-gi’s muffled sobs echoed hollowly through the space.
Park Jae-jung started the truck engine and exhaled deeply. The tension seemed to drain from him.
“It’s really over.”
“Yes. It’s over.”
“That last threat was honestly a bit much even for me. Can you actually destroy a Core?”
Park Jae-jung asked carefully. I let out a soft laugh.
“Of course not. Touching someone’s body like that would cause serious problems. I was just trying to scare him.”
“Ha, well. Your acting skills are S-rank. Ma Seok-gi should be grateful he didn’t lose control.”
We laughed together. The composure of victors.
The truck pierced through the darkness, heading toward our Hideout, the Golden Tower. On the way back, I powered on my tablet and logged into Hunter Net. News of Steel Fang’s collapse hadn’t spread yet. But by tomorrow morning, this entire industry would be turned upside down. A story about an unknown New Guild swallowing an established powerhouse.
“Jae-jung.”
“Yes, boss?”
“When we take over tomorrow, check the Mine first. We need to bring all the raw stones there to our Workshop.”
I was already envisioning the next phase of Scrap Metal Alchemy. Until now, we’d been collecting and selling what others discarded. But now we could produce and process raw materials ourselves from the ground up.
“Understood. What about the Factory equipment? Most of it’s old and won’t meet our standards.”
“Keep only what we need and dispose of the rest. We don’t compete on quantity.”
“Right. Renewal Shop is a luxury brand after all.”
Our conversation continued without pause. The anticipation for what lay ahead outweighed even the joy of victory.
The next morning. As expected, the Hunter industry was in complete upheaval. News of Steel Fang’s sudden business contraction and major asset sales. And when it became known that the acquirer was the New Guild Munglade, the forums exploded.
[Title: Steel Fang Collapsing? Munglade Ate Them?]
[Content: Wow, isn’t that the place running Renewal Shop? I thought their technology was incredible, but their financial power is insane too. There’s no way Ma Seok-gi would hand things over peacefully. What the hell happened?]
Comment 1: Damn, David just swallowed Goliath.
Comment 2: More Renewal products will be available? That’s a steal.
Comment 3: Munglade now owns the equipment market in the Middle District.
Public opinion was on our side. No Hunter would reject us for supplying quality goods at affordable prices.

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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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