The All-Time Best Talent was F-Class Purification - Chapter 86

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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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86
Chapter 86 – An Elite Talent Awakened as an F-Rank Purifier
Water cascaded down in a torrent—
Cold water from the showerhead poured over my head.
The thick layer of black grime and filth coating my face washed away, spiraling down the drain.
‘One mistake and I’m dead.’
I dried my face and stared at my reflection in the mirror. By now, our faces were plastered across every holographic billboard and Hunter terminal throughout Neo Seoul. A bounty totaling 26 billion won—an astronomical sum whose weight pressed down on my chest with every breath I took.
When I emerged from the bathroom, Park Jae-jung stood waiting with an enormous bundle strapped to his back. A Gigas Shield was secured there, but this time it wasn’t just a scrap of cloth. He’d wrapped it layer upon layer in thick yellow waterproof tarps purchased from the market, and affixed a sticker reading [WARNING: Lead Panel for Radiation Shielding] to the outer surface.
“The weight would’ve drawn suspicion, but this makes it look convincing.”
A faint hum—
I felt the subtle vibration of a low-noise motor. Park Jae-jung pressed the ignition button on an old mana-powered truck hidden in the garage behind the butcher shop. A model manufactured in the late 2020s. It looked like a heap of scrap metal on the verge of being junked, but the mana engine’s output rumbled with weight.
“Battery efficiency is somewhat compromised, but at full charge we can make a round trip to Zone 3 without issue. I’ve also modified the suspension to withstand considerable impact.”
Park Jae-jung’s voice remained calm as he checked the holographic dashboard. I sat in the passenger seat beside him. Seo Eun-ha and Han Su-jin were riding in the refrigerated cargo hold.
Before boarding, I recalled their expressions. Seo Eun-ha, dressed in a patient gown, had opened the freezer door and immediately frowned.
“You want me to get in there? Seriously?”
“You need only hide behind the drained meat boxes until the checkpoint inspection is complete.”
“…I’m S-rank, you know?”
“I’m aware.”
After that, Han Su-jin quietly entered first. Seo Eun-ha stared at her for a moment, looking as though the wind had been knocked from her sails, then gritted her teeth and stepped into the freezer. The door slammed shut.
“Let’s depart.”
The truck pulled out of the narrow alley in District 7.
The sun that had risen this morning had already set, and darkness blanketed Neo Seoul once more. The rain had stopped, but puddles scattered across the streets gleamed as they reflected neon signs.
[URGENT WANTED: Grade 1 Terrorist Suspect Mun Glade]
[Citizens, please report any suspicious individuals immediately.]
Our four faces appeared on massive holographic billboards throughout the streets, emblazoned with the red “WANTED” label. Total bounty: 26 billion won. Passersby and autonomous patrol drones alike flickered their eyes between the billboards and pedestrians, their gazes gleaming. To them, we were walking lottery tickets.
“There’s a checkpoint ahead.”
Park Jae-jung reduced our speed.
The Boundary Gate marking the transition from District 7 to Zone 3. Normally we would have passed through via high-pass, but today armed police and Dominion private security had erected barricades and were conducting inspections.
“Stay calm. We’re just making a meat delivery.”
I pulled my cap down low as I spoke.
The truck came to a halt before the checkpoint. A security guard in a reflective vest tapped on the window.
Knock, knock.
Park Jae-jung rolled down the window.
“What’s the matter? I’m running late on a hospital delivery.”
“Inspection. Show your ID and open the cargo hold.”
The guard spoke dryly as his eyes swept across the truck’s interior. A mana detector hung from his hand. Park Jae-jung tagged a forged electronic ID onto the terminal he’d prepared in advance.
[Beep – Identity Confirmed.]
The forged ID passed. The problem was the cargo hold.
“What are you carrying in back?”
“Pork loin and specialty cuts. We’re making a delivery to a hospital cafeteria in Zone 3.”
“Open the door.”
The security guard walked toward the back. Park Jae-jung gripped the dagger in his pocket tightly. If the door opened and Seo Eun-ha and Han Su-jin were discovered, the area from here to Zone 3 would become a war zone.
Click.
The sound of the freezer door opening echoed through the truck.
“Ugh… the smell.”
Moments later, the door slammed shut again. The guard returned to the window, pinching his nose.
“The meat storage is a mess. The stench is overwhelming.”
“Ah, the freezer’s been acting up. We really need to get going…”
“Go ahead. Next!”
Park Jae-jung bowed his head respectfully and pressed the accelerator. The moment he passed through the checkpoint, he exhaled deeply.
“What happened? Didn’t you notice there were people in the back?”
“I prepared things in advance.”
Park Jae-jung chuckled.
“I told them to hide behind the meat boxes. The guard didn’t search thoroughly because of the smell.”
“…I’m going to hear about this from those two later.”
South Korea’s S-rank Hunters had just smuggled themselves through a checkpoint hidden among pork carcasses. Pathetic, perhaps, but undeniably effective.
The truck sped down the neon-lit roads of Zone 3. Yet there was no relief in sight.
“We’ve got company.”
Park Jae-jung’s eyes sharpened as he checked the side mirror.
“Who?”
“Two hover bikes. They’ve been tailing us since we passed the checkpoint. Black Eye insignia on their helmets.”
Black Eye—the notorious Bounty Hunters guild. Those bastards had a keener nose than the police. The mana detector had registered zero mana from all occupants but displayed only two people aboard. They’d likely noticed the discrepancy. Or perhaps the sheer oddity of just two people in a truck reeking of meat had tipped them off.
Either way, their instincts were sharp.
“Can we lose them?”
“Not in this piece of junk. Besides, they’re targeting the tires.”
Pshhh—!
A suppressed gunshot rang out before he finished speaking. The side mirror shattered, sending fragments flying.
“Damn!”
Park Jae-jung wrenched the steering wheel hard. The truck lurched, drifting into the adjacent lane. One of the hover bikes pulled alongside the cargo hold, lining up a mana harpoon for a shot.
“Boss, grab the wheel!”
“What?”
“Grab it tight!”
Park Jae-jung released the steering wheel, rolled down the window, and leaned his upper body out. The truck skidded on the wet road, swaying violently. From the passenger seat, I twisted my torso toward the driver’s side, gripping the wheel with both hands. My heart felt like it was climbing into my throat.
Crash!
Park Jae-jung grabbed the cargo hold roof and hurled himself onto the truck’s roof. An acrobatic feat atop a truck barreling at 80 kilometers per hour. The biker hunter flinched, and his harpoon shot wide.
“How dare you!”
Park Jae-jung’s massive frame descended from the truck roof, crashing down onto the bike’s driver.
Boom!
The hover bike lost balance, flipped, and tumbled across the road. Park Jae-jung rolled with the fall, then sprinted back and grabbed the cargo hold’s rear door handle, dangling from it.
“Step on it!”
I pressed the accelerator to the floor. The electric motor screamed like a banshee. The remaining bike pursued relentlessly, but when I ran a red light and cut sharply through the congested intersection, it vanished from sight.
“Huff… huff….”
Park Jae-jung climbed through the passenger window, drenched in sweat. He gave a thumbs up.
“We’ve lost them.”
“…Next time, just focus on driving. My heart nearly stopped.”
After a harrowing journey, we arrived in an alley near Dominion Central Hospital.
As the cargo hold door opened, Seo Eun-ha stumbled out first, her hospital gown stained with blood and reeking. Han Su-jin, who followed, had lips drained of all color from prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures.
“This is… absolutely terrible.”
Seo Eun-ha retched and brushed off her clothes. Normally, she would have immediately demanded someone take responsibility, but now she lacked even the strength for that.
Han Su-jin said nothing, leaning her back against the wall. She hugged herself with both arms, teeth clenched tight. Her shoulders trembled visibly.
“Su-jin.”
“I’m fine.”
Han Su-jin spoke first. Her voice wavered slightly, but her eyes remained clear.
“I was just a bit cold. Let’s go.”
Seo Eun-ha studied her for a moment, then wordlessly draped her own blanket around Han Su-jin’s shoulders. Han Su-jin looked up.
“Eun-ha…”
“Just take it. If you collapse, I’ll have to drag you around too.”
The words were curt, but her hand gripped Han Su-jin’s shoulder firmly before releasing it.
I handed over fresh hospital gowns we’d prepared in advance. We changed quickly, and Park Jae-jung pulled an enormous piece of luggage from the cargo hold—a Gigas Shield wrapped tightly in yellow waterproof tarp with a [Medical Lead Shielding] sticker affixed to it.
[PM 09:40 — Dominion Central Hospital Lobby]
The Fog Flower pendant’s power was undeniable.
The high-performance mana detector at the entrance recognized me and the other S-rank Hunters as “minimal mana levels—ordinary civilians.” The security guards, seeing Seo Eun-ha’s pallid complexion in the wheelchair, let us through without suspicion.
Her pallor was no act—she’d only just emerged from the cargo hold.
But the real challenge was just beginning.
I sat on a bench in the corner of the lobby, catching my breath. Beneath the ornate chandelier, countless patients and medical staff moved through the vast space. I had to find the Lee Seung-ryong Party somewhere in this sprawling hospital.
“Do you have any idea where they might be?”
Han Su-jin asked with anxious eyes. In this massive hospital building, there was no way to know which ward or room they occupied.
“Wandering around aimlessly will raise suspicion quickly.”
I kept my eyes on the Administrative Desk in the center of the lobby. Nurses and staff moved busily about. If I could inquire there, it would be fastest, but the likelihood of a special isolated patient under Dominion’s care appearing in a general administrative terminal was low. I had to think differently.
‘If the inquiry itself is blocked, that blockage becomes a clue.’
I pulled a crumpled receipt and pen from my pocket—items I’d retrieved from a trash bin near the lobby entrance. Then I unbuttoned one shirt button and mussed my hair.
“I’ll go check.”
“How? Do you know someone there?”
Seo Eun-ha asked.
“No. But the thing hospitals fear most isn’t terrorists.”
I stood up.
“It’s an irate family member.”
I strode toward the Administrative Desk. I stopped in front of the busiest-looking young male staff member wearing glasses.
Slam!
I brought my palm down hard on the desk.
“Excuse me! Our uncle is admitted to this hospital—Lee Seung-ryong! We submitted a visitation request, but why haven’t we heard back?”
All eyes in the lobby snapped toward her. The Shop Clerk fumbled with the keyboard, flustered.
“Guardian, please calm down for a moment… You said the patient’s name is Lee Seung-ryong, correct? Let me search for him.”
“Hurry! We haven’t heard anything in two weeks!”
The Shop Clerk typed Lee Seung-ryong into the search field. I stared intently at the monitor from the corner of my eye. The results appeared.
[Search Results: 5 entries]
[1. Lee Seung-ryong — General Surgery Ward 502]
[2. Lee Seung-ryong — Orthopedic Surgery Ward 301] …
A common name. I scrolled down to the last entry.
[5. Lee Seung-ryong — Access Restricted / No Viewing Authority / Contact: Security Team Extension 9000]
A red lock icon hovered above the entry. Only the name appeared. No ward, no room number, no attending physician. If this were a routine patient, there would be no reason for access restrictions. The fact that even ordinary Administrative Affairs Department staff couldn’t view the details meant this case existed outside the hospital’s official medical system.
‘Not a standard ward.’
The fact that the Security Team was listed as the contact was equally suspicious. It meant security personnel, not medical staff, were managing this patient.
‘Underground, or a separate annex. Somewhere with no overlap in foot traffic with regular patients.’
The hospital’s floor plan, which I’d reviewed online before arriving, unfolded in my mind. The Dominion Central Hospital’s main building basement originally housed the Radiology Department and Central Laboratory. But after renovations two years ago, the blueprints for Basement Levels 3 and 4 were deleted from the official website. Whenever suspicions arose, the hospital claimed it was for facility security.
Basement Level 4.
The floor completely erased from public records. A patient managed by the Security Team. A name blocked from the general system.
Everything pointed in the same direction.
“Guardian? Are you perhaps confusing this with another hospital? We’re unable to assist with this particular Lee Seung-ryong.”
The Shop Clerk spoke carefully.
“Ah, I see. I must have been mistaken. My apologies.”
I snatched the receipt and turned away immediately.
Behind me, I heard the Shop Clerk mutter, “What’s wrong with that crazy person?” but I didn’t care.
I returned to my companions and whispered softly.
“I found him.”
“Where?”
“Basement Level 4. The section deleted from the official blueprints. The Security Team is managing the patient directly.”
The three of them went rigid.
Seo Eun-ha spoke quietly.
“So it’s not a hospital room.”
“Right. If treatment were the goal, there’d be no reason to hide it like this.”
Park Jae-jung nodded slowly.
“Then we can’t use the elevator. We’ll have to breach the staff emergency stairwell.”
Leaving the lobby’s glittering lights behind, we moved quietly toward the Emergency Exit marked with a “No Entry Except Authorized Personnel” sign.
A sense of foreboding crept up my spine.

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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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