The All-Time Best Talent was F-Class Purification - Chapter 77

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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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77
Chapter 77 – An Elite Talent Awakened as an F-Rank Purifier
‘What the—?’
The moment I turned my head to look down, my heart seemed to freeze solid.
A colossal shadow was crawling up the wall from the darkness below. Six luminous crimson eyes fixed on me. The same creature I’d encountered in the water. A monster the size of a house.
A mutant whose rank defied estimation.
It ascended with terrifying speed, gripping the pipe system with dozens of chitinous legs. Its form was grotesque—a fusion of a giant centipede and a shark. Acidic saliva dripped from its maw, corroding the metal beneath it.
‘Damn it, it’s chasing me!’
I couldn’t fight. Not in this narrow vertical tunnel. If we clashed here, we’d both plummet. My only option was to climb faster than it could.
I gritted my teeth and pushed harder.
Two hundred meters. Two hundred fifty.
My forearm muscles felt like they were tearing apart, and my finger joints had gone rigid. But I couldn’t stop. Every time I glanced back, the distance between us was shrinking.
Kuoooo—
It let out a deep, guttural cry and accelerated. Its massive frame moved with an agility that defied its size. The pipe groaned under its weight, bending audibly.
‘Faster, move faster!’
Three hundred meters.
That’s when it happened.
Crrrack—screeeech!
The pipe I was gripping tore free from the wall, and my body lurched into the void. Three hundred meters of darkness yawned below me. If I fell, it was over. No—before I hit bottom, I’d end up in that thing’s gullet.
I reflexively drove my dagger into the wall.
Clang—
The blade skidded. The contaminated sludge was too slick. My dagger scraped across the metal, throwing sparks. My body slid down two meters, then three.
‘Please—!’
I concentrated my purification mana into my left hand. White flames erupted from my palm like an explosion.
Ssssshhhhh—!
The sludge burned away, exposing bare metal. Simultaneously, my dagger bit deep into the wall.
Click!
I stopped—barely. My body swung in the void, suspended by a single dagger. My heart hammered wildly. Pain shot through my shoulder as if my arm would tear from its socket.
Kuoooooo—!
The creature’s cry echoed closer from below. I turned to see its gaping maw less than twenty meters away. Acidic drool dripped between its saw-like teeth.
‘I won’t die here.’
I gritted my teeth and used the dagger as a fulcrum to haul myself up. Then I kicked at the large pipe system beside me.
Boom!
Corroded bolts exploded outward as a meter-diameter pipe tore free from the wall. Hundreds of kilograms of steel plummeted downward.
Thud—crash!
The pipe struck the creature’s head directly. It shrieked and recoiled. Not a killing blow, but it bought me precious seconds.
I seized the opportunity and climbed upward with desperate fury.
Three hundred fifty meters. Four hundred.
My shoulders burned like fire. With each breath, a metallic taste rose from deep within my lungs. I couldn’t remember when sensation had fled my fingers. Whether my skin was flayed or frostbitten, I no longer knew.
Even an A-Rank body couldn’t sustain a six-hundred-meter vertical ascent. It transcended human limits.
‘If I stop, I die.’
450 meters.
The creature’s cry echoed from behind again. It hadn’t given up despite being struck by the pipe. But it sounded farther away now. I was gaining distance.
Beneath that excruciating physical agony, suppressed thoughts forced their way through.
‘Park Jae-jung… he has to be safe.’
Older than me, yet always trusting and following my lead—a stubborn man. He was surely protecting our comrades at the front even now. When Dominion or government pursuit teams descended upon us, even as he struggled to survive, he’d be holding that massive shield, trying to protect Han Su-jin and Seo Eun-ha despite the overwhelming odds.
‘Su-jin has weak stamina… will she be able to endure this life on the run?’
‘Eun-ha has such a fiery temperament. I hope she hasn’t done anything reckless.’
In the darkness, their faces appeared like lanterns before me. Class-1 terrorist alert. The entire State would be desperate to capture them. My people, wandering cold alleys without proper sleep or food.
‘I’m sorry. I should have moved faster.’
500 meters.
The air changed. The humid, stale air transformed. A cold, acrid yet somehow familiar wind began to blow. And something was gleaming in the darkness.
Whirrrr— whirrrr—
Red light. Mechanical red light swept across the walls.
‘Drones?’
They’d installed surveillance throughout the Tower’s interior. Two unmanned patrol drones swept the space in a fixed pattern. If that light caught me, troops would pour down from the Middle District. I pressed myself behind the pipe and held my breath.
Whiiiirrr—
The drone passed directly beside me. Its red sensor light grazed my feet. My heart nearly stopped. But the drone descended without any reaction.
‘Phew…’
The moment I exhaled in relief.
Kuoooooh—!
The creature’s cry from below—the drone’s sensors detected it.
Beeeep—!
An alarm shrieked. Both drones banked sharply downward. The massive creature and drones collided.
Tat-tat— ta-da-tat!
As the drones fired bullets at the creature, it shrieked in fury and spat acidic saliva at them.
‘Now.’
I seized the chaos and squeezed out my last reserves of strength.
550 meters. 580 meters.
Far above. A massive tear in the Tower’s inner wall came into view. Faint ash-gray light seeped through the gap.
‘Almost there!’
Below, the battle between the creature and drones raged on.
Clang.
I grabbed the edge of the torn gap and hauled myself up. As I perched on the warped steel beam, fierce wind battered my drenched body.
“Haah… haah…”
I gasped roughly and looked down at my palms. The gloves had melted into tatters, and beneath them my fingertips were soaked in blood. But it didn’t matter.
I’d made it. I’d survived the climb.
I turned my head. And there I encountered a sight I would never forget.
Beyond the torn Tower’s gap. A world shrouded in gray dust and gas. Collapsed buildings and skeletal remains. The vista of Ground Zone 9 itself.
The place I’d risked my life to protect. The scene of the terror attack that Kang Chang-gyung had pinned on me. Beneath that ash lay the traces of people I couldn’t save.
Heat surged up from my chest. And once again, I thought of my colleagues who were still being hunted below, and my Mother waiting at the Mid-level Hospital.
‘Just hold on a little longer.’
I wiped my face clean of sweat and grime. My eyes weren’t fixed downward on the murky depths, but upward toward the brilliant lights flickering beyond the clouds.
‘I’m coming now.’
There was no more time to waste.
The air had changed. The damp, stale stench from below had vanished, replaced by the cold, sterile smell of machinery. The internal structure of the Tower had transformed as well. Gone were the rusted pipes and steel girders—in their place were smooth alloy conduits and meticulously arranged bundles of cables.
‘Almost there.’
I gritted my teeth and pulled myself upward. My fingertips throbbed with pain, but I couldn’t stop. When I looked up, the ceiling that had seemed impossibly distant was now within arm’s reach. Up there, where the massive circular bulkhead doors were sealed shut. Once I opened those doors, I’d reach the Middle District.
But something felt wrong.
It was far too quiet.
Down below, whether it was Tube Worms or Predators, something was constantly attacking. But at this height, there was nothing. Only the mechanical hum and the rhythmic red glow of LED lights. Not a single sign of life.
‘Could it be…?’
A chill ran down my spine. The upper levels of the Anchor Tower—a critical state facility. There had to be something in place to stop the monsters crawling up from the contaminated water below. Some kind of automated cleaner. Without it, there’s no way this place could be so pristine.
I slowed my pace and pressed myself flat against the wall. Holding my breath, I peered upward.
That’s when it happened.
Whirr—click.
Ten meters above my head. A mechanical sound echoed from the Catwalk. A sensor hidden in the darkness rotated, emitting a red beam. The light swept across my body.
[Warning: Restricted Access Zone]
[Unidentified Biological Response Detected.]
[Classification: Presumed Lower-Grade Mutant. Initiating Incineration Mode.]
A cold mechanical voice reverberated through the Tower’s interior.
‘…A mutant?’
I suppose I should be grateful. The name Lee Tae-hyun hadn’t been mentioned. To them, I was just contaminated waste crawling up from the sewers. At least I wouldn’t be recognized as a wanted criminal, but that didn’t make the situation any better.
Boom!
A massive steel form leaped down from the Catwalk. The impact of its landing made the pipe I was clinging to shudder. I reflexively tightened my grip. If I fell, it was over.
An automated interceptor weapon. A Sentry Golem MK-2.
It was less humanoid and more like a massive spider—a four-legged walking robot. Its central body housed an engine core that glowed with blue light, and both shoulders were mounted with laser cannons.
‘Of all the times for this?’
After climbing 600 meters with my entire body battered and broken, and now I encounter this thing. The timing was terrible. Or perhaps it was inevitable. Anything that made it this high would be exhausted anyway. Wiping them out at this point would be efficient.
Whirr—click.
Its cannons locked onto me. A mechanical aim without hesitation or mercy. A red laser targeting reticle appeared directly on my chest.
‘I have to dodge—’
Whoosh!
Before the thought could finish, a red beam shot toward me. My body moved first. I released the pipe and threw myself to the side.
Clang!
The laser struck where I’d been. The steel pipe melted like taffy, scattering crimson sparks. Molten metal dripped downward in globs.
‘This is insane.’
That’s not ordinary firepower. Standard batteries can’t produce that kind of output. It’s definitely a Mana Stone engine.
I grabbed another pipe and concealed myself behind it. My heart pounded wildly. My limbs felt weak. After climbing 600 meters with my stamina completely depleted, and now I’m supposed to fight that thing?
‘Please… just this once.’
Despair crashed over me. But I couldn’t stop. If I stopped, I died.
Tap-tap-tap!
The creature scaled the Wall toward me. Its four legs gripped the Pipe System like a spider crawling upward—the sight made my skin crawl. Its mechanical speed exceeded my calculations. For something so massive, it moved with terrifying swiftness.
I ducked behind a pipe and caught my breath. I had to think. How could I neutralize it?
Destroying it physically was impossible. Against an opponent clad in thick alloy armor, my short blade was nothing but a toothpick. Targeting its joints? With these arms after climbing 600 meters? Precision strikes were a fantasy.
‘There has to be another way.’
I studied the creature. Each time it fired its laser, the blue core embedded in its chest blazed brilliantly. After each shot, the light dimmed momentarily. It had a charging cycle.
Mana Stone.
Then it struck me—an idea.
A Mana Stone was a crystallized concentration of magical energy. What if I reversed my purification ability? If I treated the mana within the stone as an impurity and purged it completely? A Mana Stone drained of its fuel was just a rock. Not a precious gem, not an energy source—merely worthless gravel.
The problem was how to reach its core.
Whoosh!
Another laser streaked toward me. I rolled reflexively. Heat seared across my back. A bundle of cables behind me ignited, spewing smoke.
‘Get closer.’
I had no choice. There was no way to defeat it from a distance. I had to close in, to burrow into its embrace. I rose above the pipe, gripping my blade, and bared my teeth in a grin.
“Come on, tin can.”
The Sentry Golem’s sensors locked onto me. It began charging its laser again. The blue light intensified.
[Target reacquired. Incineration commencing.]
I had to move before it fired.
Boom!
It lunged at me. Not with its laser—with its razor-sharp steel pincers, intent on crushing me. A massive shadow engulfed my head.
I didn’t dodge. Instead, I threw myself into its embrace.
Clang!
Its pincers crushed the Pipe System just beside my shoulder. The sickening screech of metal crumpling. One second slower, and my skull would have been flattened like that. But I had no time to dwell on it. I was already inside its grasp.
“Got you.”
My left hand wrapped around its joint. The smooth metal surface was slick. I poured all my strength into my grip. If I let go, it was over.
The creature thrashed wildly, trying to shake me loose. Its four legs flailed through the air. Then it began slamming its back against the Wall.
Thud!
I thought my spine would shatter. The taste of blood flooded my mouth.
Crash!
Again. My vision flickered. I heard my ribs creak.
‘…Don’t let go.’
I clenched my teeth and pulled the creature’s body tighter against me. I pressed my right palm against its chest, directly over the engine cover where blue light leaked through. It was scorching hot. The Mana Stone’s heat seared my palm.
It didn’t matter.

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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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