The All-Time Best Talent was F-Class Purification - Chapter 51

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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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51
Chapter 51 – An Elite Talent Awakened as an F-Rank Purifier
“Seven of them….”
More than I’d anticipated. I clenched and unclenched my fists repeatedly. I was C-rank now—strengthened by the power I’d gained from Basement Level 3, but if I encountered even a single S-rank Hunter, my chances of victory were slim.
The gap was palpable. Yet it wasn’t hopeless. Seven was a number that, conversely, meant I only needed to break seven people.
“Lee Tae-hyun, you’re not seriously….”
Seo Eun-ha chuckled while chewing on jerky.
“Already imagining yourself dueling an S-ranker? Your dreams are ambitious. Right now, we look like we’re about to starve to death here.”
“You always said to dream big. And… we need to turn imagination into reality.”
I turned my gaze toward Han Su-jin. She sat with hardtack in her hand, untouched, her head bowed low.
“Su-jin, why aren’t you eating?”
“…I don’t deserve to.”
Her voice grew hollow.
“Earlier… I couldn’t properly heal those people. I’m supposed to be an S-rank Healer… but my mana depleted so quickly… and in the end, that woman….”
She seemed to be recalling the woman in the alley who had reached out desperately for salvation.
“That wasn’t your fault.”
Lee Ji-young interjected.
“Your skills—Substitution and Area Heal—have S-rank performance, which means their mana consumption is astronomical. But your mana capacity is still only E-rank level. So naturally, you burn out after a few uses.”
It was an accurate assessment. S-rank skills with E-rank mana reserves. Of course she’d burn out. She’d been draining her own life force to cast heals all this time.
“Is there a way around it?”
Han Su-jin asked with desperate eyes.
“I… I don’t want to be a burden anymore. I want to help.”
“There is.”
I answered.
“Either expand your mana reserves or continuously inject high-concentration fuel.”
I pulled out a small refined mana stone I’d brought from Basement Level 3.
“If I craft a mana amplification ring or battery from this stone, you could last ten times longer.”
“Really…?”
“Of course, you’ll also need to train to expand your mana capacity yourself.”
I shifted my gaze to the side. Lee Seung-ryong and his party members were huddled in the corner, eavesdropping on our conversation. They looked deflated by our equipment and discussion.
“Lee Seung-ryong.”
“Ah, yes! What is it?”
He startled and responded.
“What’s the average rank of your party members?”
“…It’s embarrassing, but I’m D-rank, and the rest are D and E-rank. We’ve all awakened, but our skills are rather unremarkable….”
I see. Outside right now, B-rank and A-rank monsters are roaming. With this force, even reconnaissance would be difficult. One wrong move and we’re wiped out.
I paused briefly before speaking.
“I’d like to help you all grow stronger.”
“Us?”
Lee Seung-ryong’s eyes widened.
“Yes. Outside is essentially a B-rank Dungeon right now, so to survive, you’ll need at least the strength to escape. I think it would be good for me to reinforce your equipment with the materials I have.”
It wasn’t charity. If they grew stronger, they could protect the Hideout, and that meant we could rest easy or conduct operations without worry.
“However, there are conditions.”
“W-what conditions? We’ll do anything we can.”
“Let my colleagues rest comfortably here. And… share information about the geography and layout of the Lower District with us.”
“Of course. Thank you… truly, thank you.”
His eyes had changed. Not the eyes of a defeated man, but eyes that had glimpsed hope—the possibility of becoming stronger.
“Good.”
I shoved the remaining hardtack into my mouth and stood up.
“Everyone should get some proper rest now.”
Seo Eun-ha yawned and collapsed onto the mattress.
“Yeah, let’s sleep. When we wake up tomorrow, everything’s going to ache.”
Park Jae-jung placed his shield at the head of his sleeping spot and closed his eyes. Han Su-jin alternated her gaze between her own hand and the magic stone I’d given her, quietly clenching her fist.
I dimmed the lantern to its lowest setting. My body felt impossibly heavy, but my mind was already filled with tomorrow’s tasks.
Morning arrived in silence. The iron door sealing us from the outside muffled the monster sounds, but in their place, damp humidity and the stench of mold seeped deep into everything.
“Ugh…”
Seo Eun-ha groaned as she sat up from the mattress. The moment she rose, she stared blankly at the moisture-laden wall, then irritably kicked at an empty can beside her.
Clang!
“God, this is infuriating.”
She swept her hair back roughly.
“I thought when I woke up it’d all be a dream. But it’s still this shithole. Those Dominion bastards… did they really bury us alive? Just to save themselves?”
Her voice was filled with betrayal and rage rather than fear. Park Jae-jung silently rose and began wiping his shield, but the tendons in his hands stood out as he scrubbed with barely contained fury. Lee Ji-young’s eyes, fixed on her tablet screen, were unfocused, staring into empty space.
“Everyone’s awake?”
I pushed myself up. Every muscle in my body ached. It seemed to be the aftereffect of yesterday’s wide-area purification.
“Save the anger for later. We need to preserve our strength for when we grab Kang Chang-gyung by the throat.”
I spoke calmly as I picked up a water bucket. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t furious. Thinking of those Dominion bastards sleeping in warm beds above the ceiling, I felt a thousand fires burning inside me. But right now, I had to focus on reality.
I looked at Lee Seung-ryong and his party members, who had been dozing fitfully in the corner. They jolted awake at the sound of movement.
“Ah… did you sleep well?”
Their appearance was pitiful. Worn leather armor, longswords with edges so dull they resembled saws, staffs wrapped tightly with tape. It was a miracle they’d survived in that alley yesterday with such equipment.
‘This won’t do.’
When we left, they would need to defend this place. Otherwise, we’d have nowhere to return to in the Lower District.
“Lee Seung-ryong.”
“Yes?”
“Bring me all your equipment. Everything—yours and your party members’ as well.”
“Equipment…?”
Lee Seung-ryong extended his worn sword with a puzzled expression.
“It’s in pretty rough condition. Like I mentioned yesterday, let me take a look at it for you.”
“What? You really mean it? No, it’s fine.”
He waved his hand in protest. For a Hunter, mana was as vital as life itself, so the idea of using it for someone else’s benefit was almost unimaginable kindness.
I smiled and took the sword from him.
“Like I said, you need to grow stronger so we can trust you with our backs. We’re all in the same boat now.”
I settled into a seat. Purification and Synchronization. I had to use these two skills with precision.
Screeeech. First, I purified the rust and impurities clinging to the blade. Red powder fell away, revealing silvery metal beneath. Then I took a Spike Hound fang from my backpack, pressed it against the blade’s edge, and infused it with mana.
[Synchronization]
Beads of sweat formed on my forehead. Unlike combat, where I unleashed mana explosively, this required spreading it thin and evenly—a task demanding several times more concentration.
“Hah….”
Thirty minutes later, I finished repairing five weapons and pieces of armor while breathing heavily. The blades gleamed razor-sharp, and I reinforced the dented sections of the armor with monster hide.
“Take these.”
Lee Seung-ryong’s hands trembled as he accepted the sword I offered.
“Is this… really my sword? It looks even better than a new one.”
“Nothing’s free.”
I added with a hint of humor.
“Yes, I’ll do my best to help.”
Lee Seung-ryong and his party members bowed in gratitude. I hoped they wouldn’t carry the weight of obligation.
“Phew….”
As the tension drained, exhaustion crashed over me. I slumped against the wall, my back sliding down. I’d burned through too much mana. My fingertips tingled, and the world spun slightly before my eyes.
“Lee Tae-hyun, are you alright?”
Han Su-jin rushed over in alarm.
“Just… tired. My blood sugar must be dropping.”
Seo Eun-ha approached silently and unwrapped a chocolate bar she’d been saving, placing it directly into my mouth.
“Here, found it. Eat up and get your strength back, leader.”
“Thanks.”
I chewed the chocolate with a wry smile. As the sweetness spread, my head began to clear.
A strange tranquility settled over the hideout. Lee Seung-ryong’s party examined their new equipment with wonder, while Park Jae-jung and Lee Ji-young consulted over a map. Outside was hell, but in here at least, it smelled like people living.
“Su-jin.”
I dug through my pocket and pulled out a ring I’d crafted in spare moments yesterday.
“Take this.”
“What is it?”
It was a crude metal band with a small mana stone fragment embedded in it.
“You’ve been worried about your small mana pool, right? I made this in a rush, so it’s not pretty, but… it should work as a backup battery. Now you can use healing without holding back.”
Han Su-jin took the ring but couldn’t find words.
“Were you… thinking about me?”
“Of course. You’re our main healer.”
As she slipped the ring onto her finger, a soft glow emanated from it.
“Thank you… really, I’ll work hard.”
“Yes. Rest now. I should get some sleep too.”
I buried my face in my knees and closed my eyes for a moment. My teammates’ voices and the sounds of equipment maintenance drifted like a lullaby.
After about an hour, as my body recovered somewhat, I opened my eyes again. The atmosphere had grown noticeably calmer.
“Ji-young, spread out the map.”
At my words, everyone gathered to the center. It was time to move.
“Our top priority is recovering the Moon Rover.”
I pointed to a location on the map.
“With the supplies we have now, we can’t last even three days. But that vehicle contains emergency rations, ammunition, and most importantly, a communication amplifier.”
“A communication amplifier? What do you plan to do with that?”
Seo Eun-ha asked.
“We need to contact the outside. Not Dominion—somewhere else.”
“Somewhere else?”
“The Blue Tower or the Steel Alliance. Dominion’s competitors. We’ll inform them of our survival and propose a deal. In exchange for the truth about Zone 9, we’ll request either rescue or supplies.”
Lee Ji-young’s eyes gleamed.
“You’re right… if we leverage Dominion’s weakness and shake them with it, the other guilds will definitely respond. It’s a political matter, after all.”
“Exactly. For that, we need to get the vehicle first. Shall we go?”
Whoooosh—
As I headed toward the iron door to prepare for departure, the sound of a massive ventilation fan rotating echoed through the walls. Through the gaps in the underground hideout’s iron door, I felt air being sucked out along with subtle vibrations.
“…Ji-young. What do you think the contamination levels outside are like right now?”
Lee Ji-young used her Eye of Truth to survey the outside, checking for any monsters in the area.
“The monsters’ movements are almost nonexistent right now. Their numbers seem to have decreased too.”
“Did you notice any patterns when you checked last night?”
“For about three hours, there were a lot of them, but for the three hours after that, I barely saw any.”
I nodded. Since the Basement Level 3 Borehole was open, the pressure difference caused the gas to rise and fall in cycles. It seemed like a form of breathing.
“The ones that love high-concentration mana ride the gas up when it accumulates and hunt, then descend back down when the gas dissipates because breathing becomes difficult.”
“Ah, now that you mention it, that makes sense.”
Park Jae-jung, who had been listening beside me, slapped his knee.
“So right now, while the gas is dissipating, most of them might have descended to the ground level…”
“That’s right. But we can’t be careless. There will be stragglers left behind who couldn’t descend.”
I looked around at my companions. They all seemed tense, but their eyes were more alive than yesterday.
“We have roughly two hours. We need to find the vehicle and return within that time. If the gas starts accumulating again… we could become isolated.”
“Two hours… that’s tight.”
Seo Eun-ha grumbled as she picked up her staff.
“Let’s hurry back. I’m sick to death of this moldy smell.”
“If you’re ready, let’s go.”
Creeeeak.
Lee Seung-ryong carefully opened the iron door. The moment it swung open, a pungent, fishy stench—similar to the smell of tidal flats—wafted in.
“Ugh… the smell is absolutely terrible.”
Seo Eun-ha pinched her nose and grimaced.
“Lee Tae-hyun, I’m billing you for a new mask when we settle accounts later. Got it?”
“Understood. I’ll get you a premium filter one.”
I gave a bitter smile and stepped outside. The landscape was completely different from yesterday. The violet mist that had risen to my ankles had almost entirely dissipated, leaving only a sticky purple mucus clinging to the ground.
“Be careful. It’s slippery.”
Han Su-jin followed behind me and caught Lee Ji-young, who nearly slipped.
“Ji-young, hold onto my arm.”
“Thank you, Su-jin.”
We positioned Lee Seung-ryong’s party at the vanguard and moved along the wall, hugging its surface. The number of monsters had indeed diminished. Yet scattered throughout the streets lay the horrific remnants of the gas’s passage.
Torn metal doors, shattered windows, and the bodies left behind where the gas had dissipated. Most were blackened by toxic poisoning or so mangled by monsters that their forms were barely recognizable.
Park Jae-jung silently stepped in front of me, blocking my view—a considerate gesture to spare the leader from witnessing such carnage. But I saw them anyway, over his shoulder. I couldn’t turn away. This was our reality now.

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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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