The All-Time Best Talent was F-Class Purification - Chapter 70

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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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70
Chapter 70 – An Elite Talent Awakened as an F-Rank Purifier
Click! Screech!
Dozens of crimson eyes gleamed in the darkness. Block 12 Underground Parking Lot. Once a staging ground for Dominion’s cargo trucks, this place had transformed into a lair of Giant Rats—the air thick with damp mold and the stench of beast excrement.
“I… Lee Tae-hyun. There are so many of them…”
Kim Seok-hun, standing behind me, swallowed hard and whispered. The worn spear tip in his hand trembled slightly. Giant Rats were the weakest among F-Rank monsters, but in swarms they could tear apart an injured E-Rank Hunter without breaking a sweat.
“Stay behind me.”
I spoke curtly and stepped forward. My hand instinctively reached for my waist before stopping—nothing there. White Fang. My only weapon was currently wedged as a stopper at the bottom of that sinkhole.
But I felt no alarm. If anything, a faint smirk escaped me. There was no need for a legendary blade to deal with mere rats.
Tap.
As I stamped my foot, the swarm recognized me as an intruder and surged forward in unison. Grotesque snouts with protruding incisors. Muscular masses the size of an adult man’s thigh came crashing toward me like a black tide.
I clenched my fists. My left hand, wrapped in the Alchemist’s grip, and my bare right fist. Purification would make this simple—they’d vanish without a trace. But now I needed to capture them intact.
Crack!
I brought my right fist down on the lead rat’s skull. Instead of a dull thud, it burst like an overripe watermelon. No need to hold back. My muscle fibers, reconstructed to A-Rank, pulverized its skull with just a casual swing.
Squeak?!
The rats hesitated seeing their companion’s head explode, but the scent of blood sent them into a frenzy, charging even more ferociously.
“Bothersome.”
I didn’t track their movements with my eyes. The flow of air, the vibrations in the ground, the rhythm of their heartbeats—everything became data, painting a 3D map in my mind.
Slash. Thud. Crack.
There was no need to dodge or block. I seized the throat of one charging rat and twisted, stomped the spine of another biting from the side and shattered it. No flashy skills. No heroic acrobatics. None of that.
It was less combat than slaughter. I cut off their breath with the fastest, most efficient movements. To avoid damaging the hide, I aimed for the neck; to keep the organs intact, I avoided the belly. These calculations happened instinctively.
“Ugh…”
I heard Kim Seok-hun’s groan from behind. He was staring at me in shock. Most Hunters fight desperately, shouting battle cries. But I stood there expressionless, my breathing undisturbed, methodically snapping the necks of rats.
Snap. Pop. Splat.
In less than five minutes, the parking lot fell silent. Over twenty massive rat corpses littered the floor.
“Should we take them?”
I brushed the blood from my hands as I spoke. Kim Seok-hun snapped back to attention, startled.
“All of… these? Just the two of us?”
“We need to eat.”
I picked up a thick steel wire lying nearby and began binding their ankles. Like bundling dried fish, I made two bundles of ten each. Nearly 800 kilograms in total.
Drag.
I grabbed both bundles, one in each hand, and began dragging them. The concrete floor scraped loudly. A-Rank strength made this weight feel like a single sack of rice.
Kim Seok-hun closed his mouth. Quietly, he hoisted the remaining rat onto his shoulder with great effort. It was the best he could manage.
We walked through the darkness in silence. The scent of blood hung heavy, but it didn’t repel me. This was the smell of food. As we emerged to ground level, a massive shadow overhead caught my eye.
I lifted my gaze to the sky. An overwhelming mass of black blocking out the moonlight—the Floating City, as the Middle District was called. And the steel pillar anchoring that colossal island to the ground: the Anchor Tower, fifty meters in diameter.
When I first descended from that place, cargo elevators inside that tower had been running ceaselessly.
“The elevator inside the tower.”
I spoke first. Even as I dragged the heavy load, my gaze remained fixed on the tower’s outer wall.
“Is it completely destroyed, or just without power?”
Kim Seok-hun gave a bitter smile and shook his head at my question.
“It’s done for. The moment the gas erupted, Dominion’s men detonated the interior of the Tower. The elevator rails and emergency staircase all collapsed, so now it’s just an empty chimney in there.”
“I see.”
I clicked my tongue. Kang Chang-gyung—that meticulous bastard wouldn’t have left a path. A vertical corridor six hundred meters high. If all means of transportation were destroyed, only the smooth exterior wall remained. But the Tower’s outer wall had automated defense turrets installed. Even an A-Rank attempting to scale the bare wall would be committing suicide.
“What about supplies then? How do they manage electricity?”
“They used to get water through pipes embedded in the inner walls of the Tower, but now all the valves are shut—not a single drop of clean water comes out. They’re completely isolated.”
The situation wasn’t good. The formal route was destroyed, and physical access was blocked. But I didn’t give up. Even the most perfect fortress has cracks.
‘Is there a rat hole?’
There had to be emergency passages for maintaining that massive Tower, or drainage pipes and ventilation shafts they neglected because they were dirty. Dominion’s men liked things clean, so they might not have thoroughly sealed the holes where filth emerged.
Soon the lights of the Plaza came into view. As we arrived, the people gathered around the bonfire rose in unison. Their gazes fixed on the massive meat I held in both hands.
“M-meat…!”
“My goodness, what is all that? Rat meat?”
A cheer? No. It was a cry for survival. The people tried to swarm toward us like zombies.
Thud!
I set the bundle of meat down on the ground. A heavy vibration echoed, and the sound made people freeze. My presence restrained them just before their grip on reason snapped.
“Kim Seok-hun.”
“?”
“Distribute it. Fairly.”
I stepped back and sat on a drum in the corner. If I distributed it myself, they might see me as a king or savior. I had no taste for playing hero. I was merely a merchant seeking compensation.
Kim Seok-hun drew a knife with trembling hands and began butchering the meat. He stripped the hide and carved the flesh into chunks. The smell of blood hung heavy, but to the starving, it was more fragrant than any perfume.
“Get in line! Children and elders first! Anyone cutting in line gets nothing!”
As Kim Seok-hun shouted, the Plaza that nearly descended into chaos found order. People lined up holding old pots, plastic bowls, and even broken roof tiles.
I watched silently. The smell of boiling meat began to drift from the large cauldron hanging over the bonfire. It reeked of gaminess, but beneath it, the aroma of fat breathed red vitality into the gray faces of the people.
Shortly after, a small child approached me hesitantly. With a dirt-smudged face, he held a boiled bone as large as his own head. It had quite a bit of meat still attached—more than a fair share for a child.
“Mister….”
The child offered me the bone. The adults nearby must have sent him. A tribute offered first to the strongest male. Or perhaps a bribe to dispel their fear of me.
I let out a small laugh. This wasn’t my style.
“You eat it.”
I waved my hand.
“I’m full from eating sujebi earlier. Go ask for more broth over there.”
The child blinked, double-checking that I really wouldn’t eat it, then smiled brightly and scampered away. Watching his retreating figure, I fingered the mana stone in my pocket.
Full? That was impossible. An A-Rank body demanded enormous calories. I could devour that entire rat right now and still be hungry. My stomach felt hollow and shriveled.
But I had to endure now. If they saw me bearing hunger, they could eat with peace of mind. A full belly meant a working mind, and a working mind meant they could do what I asked.
“Lee Tae-hyun.”
Kim Seok-hun, having finished distributing the meat, brought me a large grilled hind leg as my portion. This time I didn’t refuse.
“Thank you for the meal.”
I took a large bite of the meat. It was tough and dry. Without salt, it was bland. But the more I chewed, the more savory fat spread through my mouth. It was the taste of survival.
As I chewed, I spoke to the people in the Plaza. My voice wasn’t loud, but everyone stopped eating and looked at my mouth.
“This isn’t free.”
I swallowed the meat I’d been chewing and continued. My tone was firm and cold.
“This is an advance payment, so eat up and regain your strength.”
The light in people’s eyes shifted. Rather than mere charity, there was a sense of relief. Free aid was uncertain goodwill that could end at any moment, but a transaction with clear terms was different.
“What I want is simple.”
I pointed my finger toward the distant night sky, toward the Anchor Tower that stood like a pillar supporting the heavens.
“A way upward. Find me an opening to slip inside that tower. A pipe, a ventilation shaft, even a rat hole will do.”
Silence fell over the plaza. Everyone understood how dangerous and difficult such a task would be. Yet they held warm meat in their hands. And they had seen my eyes—the eyes of someone who would not simply hand out a few scraps of meat and call it done.
“For whoever finds that path…”
I tossed the remaining meat bones into the campfire as I spoke.
“I’ll make sure you eat meat like this until you’re sick of it.”
The campfire crackled and flared upward. Life kindled in people’s eyes—not the gleam of mere hunger, but the light of those who had found a purpose.
That would do. Now the game of finding a path had begun.
Morning broke. The 9 Block Plaza was more vibrant than the day before, thanks to last night’s meat feast. People had filled their bellies for once, sprawling out to sleep or gathering in small groups around fires.
I sat in a shadowed corner and laid my equipment across my lap. The condition was dire.
First, the Commander’s tactical jacket. A high-performance protective suit rated B+, but it had been shredded by the research facility’s toxic gas and the sinkhole’s acidic puddles. The ballistic fibers had melted and fused together, and the automatic temperature regulation system’s circuits were severed and dead.
And on my left hand, the Alchemist’s Glove. My treasure and an A-rank artifact for mana control. But now it had become grotesque. The finger joints were twisted, and the silvery surface was blackened with soot. Not because the equipment was weak—it had endured the full force of my A-rank mana rampage at the sinkhole’s depths and the pressure generated when I wrung out that massive concentration of contamination.
“You’ve had a rough time with a poor master.”
I caressed the gauntlet. A normal blacksmith would have declared it beyond repair, but I had another method. I still remembered the true nature of this equipment.
“Purification.”
I infused mana into the gauntlet. The power to erase contamination. It was not merely wiping away dirt. It was burning away the microscopic dust lodged in the metal’s crevices, the play in the twisted structure, and the impurities blocking the mana circuits.
When I erased the traces of damage clinging to an object, that object naturally returned to its most perfect state—its original form. That was my definition of repair and purification.
Whirrrrr—!
A-rank mana enveloped the gauntlet. The black soot became white smoke and dispersed, and the twisted finger joints clicked back into place with a grinding sound. As the rust that had filled the surface scratches vanished, the subtle luster unique to A-rank artifacts that had been hidden beneath emerged once more.
The sensation of the equipment’s essence being restored. Mana conductivity returned to 100%. The true performance of an A-rank artifact.
Click. Whine.
I clenched and unclenched my fist, and mana gathered at my fingertips with a smooth mechanical hum. Perfect. No—thanks to being attuned to my A-rank mana, the response speed was far faster than before.
Next, I kindled purification’s flame on the jacket. As the toxins between the melted fibers dissipated, the tangled threads loosened, and the original deep navy color returned. I could not restore torn fabric from nothing, but at least the protective function and heat resistance were back to normal.
“Phew…”
Equipment restoration complete. Now only one thing remained.
‘A weapon.’
My waist was empty. My main weapon, White Fang. That A-rank dagger was now lodged deep underground, serving as a plug to seal the Sinkhole’s fissure. Only an A-rank weapon could serve as a pillar to maintain my domain, so it was an unavoidable choice.
I stared blankly at my empty waist, then lifted my head to gaze upward at the enormous shadow covering me—the Middle District above.
‘What are they doing now?’
Park Jae-jung. Seo Eun-ha. And my guild members. They supposedly made it up safely on the Blue Tower transport, but judging by Dominion’s talk of frozen assets and terrorist organizations, the situation must be dire. They might be locked in their underground dungeons or on the run.
My heart pounded. I wanted to rush out immediately. I wanted to climb that 600-meter tower with my bare hands if necessary, smash their skulls, and bring my people back.
But I clenched my fists and suppressed that impulse.
‘I can’t. Not now.’
I had to be rational. I had no weapon right now. What if I threw myself at the Anchor Tower unarmed and got hit by the automatic interception system? Or what if I made it up and faced armed Dominion forces, but had no blade to deliver the killing blow?
Failure was not an option. If I died or was captured here, no one would be left to save Park Jae-jung and Seo Eun-ha. I had to go fully prepared. I needed fangs that could pierce their encirclement in one strike, fangs that could fully channel my A-rank power.
Just then, Kim Seok-hun approached with a yawn.
“You’re up early. Huh? That gauntlet… when did you fix it? It was a hunk of scrap metal a moment ago.”
“I cleaned it up a bit, and it improved.”
I asked casually, beating around the bush.
“Kim Seok-hun. Is there a Waste Disposal Facility around here?”
“A Waste Disposal Facility? What for?”
“I’m looking to scavenge some scrap metal. Not ordinary scrap—equipment discarded by Middle District Hunters. Places where such things fall through.”
Kim Seok-hun’s expression shifted subtly at my words. The Middle District housed countless rankers and Large Guilds, and they disposed of high-grade equipment past their durability and damaged artifacts after hunts. There had to be specific zones where such refuse fell down to the Lower District.
“Ah… there is one. The Block 15 Waste Disposal Facility…”
Kim Seok-hun frowned and pointed southward.
“But Lee Tae-hyun, that’s no place for people to go. The magical contamination is severe from Ma Seok residue and shattered artifacts falling from above. It’s nearly impossible to endure even for a moment.”
“Contamination doesn’t concern me.”
For me, contamination wasn’t poison—it was sustenance.
“The real problem…”
“Monsters. Metal Eaters bred on those contaminated scraps infest the place. Their shells are steel-hard—blades won’t even pierce them. It’s somewhere low-rank Hunters like us can’t even approach.”
Metal Eaters. Monsters that consumed metal. Then their stomachs and nests would be filled with high-purity metals they couldn’t digest. Common iron might dissolve, but high-grade metals wouldn’t break down even in their gastric acid.
My eyes gleamed. This was the mine I’d been searching for.
“Is there someone who can guide me there?”
“Guide you? Who’d go there? Everyone avoids it.”
Kim Seok-hun shook his head.
“But… I can tell you the location. The edge of Block 15, a place called the Black Puddle. There was a rumor a week ago that a fairly large container fell from above. Supposedly experimental materials discarded by Dominion…”
Experimental materials. If they came from Dominion Research Laboratory, even a single material would be top-tier. With luck, I might be able to create something surpassing the White Fang.
“Thank you.”
I stood up from my seat.
“Kim Seok-hun, stay here and protect the people. Be ready in case those rats attack again.”
“Wait, you’re going alone? That’s dangerous! Metal Eaters are in a completely different league from Giant Rats!”
“That’s exactly why I’m going alone.”
I smiled coldly and gripped the Alchemist’s hand I’d just repaired. A pleasant vibration hummed through my arm. A-rank equipment output. And an A-rank body. I was ready to tear apart scrap metal monsters with my bare hands.
“I’ll be back soon.”
I ran toward Block 15 empty-handed, yet heavier in spirit than ever before. Park Jae-jung, Seo Eun-ha. Wait just a little longer. The moment the sharpest blade is placed in my hands. I’ll pierce through this damned Ceiling.

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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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