The All-Time Best Talent was F-Class Purification - Chapter 87

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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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87
Chapter 87 – An Elite Talent Awakened as an F-Rank Purifier
Creak.
As the Emergency Exit door swung shut, the cacophony of the Lobby fell silent. Only a cold, suffocating stillness remained.
Seo Eun-ha bit her lip. Her knuckles whitened around the wheelchair’s grip, trembling faintly. Whether it was anger, anxiety, or some turbulent mixture of both—even she couldn’t say.
A floor directory mounted on the Staircase wall caught my eye.
[B1 — Funeral Hall / Mechanical Room]
[B2 — ?]
[B3 — ?]
[B4 — ?]
From Basement Level 2 onward, there were no markings at all. As if these spaces had never existed in the first place.
“Let’s descend.”
I led the way down the Staircase.
As we passed Basement Level 1 and descended into Level 2, the environment transformed. The pristine white tiles vanished, replaced by moldy gray concrete walls. The air, once sanitized, now carried a damp, metallic reek.
“That smell… is that blood?”
Park Jae-jung sniffed the air. A mercenary who’d spent years hunting alone possessed keen senses.
“It appears so. And there’s… a bestial odor as well.”
I stopped in my tracks.
At the entrance to the Basement Level 2 Corridor, beyond an iron-barred door, came the sound of something breathing heavily—something feral.
Grrrrowl….
These were no ordinary security guards. Four pairs of crimson eyes gleamed from the darkness. Muscular frames covered in black fur, saliva dripping from their jaws—engineered beasts.
“Dogs…?”
Seo Eun-ha swallowed hard. These were no ordinary canines. They were killing machines—dogs modified with monster genetics from the Lower District. Their hearing and sense of smell surpassed any radar system.
“We won’t fool their sense of smell.”
Han Su-jin spoke with concern. The mist flower pendant could conceal magical energy, but it couldn’t erase body odor or sound.
“There is a way.”
I turned to Park Jae-jung. He was still reeking of the putrid meat and rancid oil stench from the Black Market.
“Park Jae-jung. Lead the way.”
“What?”
“Those creatures react to unfamiliar human scents, but the reek emanating from you will numb their noses. Just as a garbage truck masks all surrounding odors in its wake.”
“Ah… so that’s what this is for.”
Park Jae-jung laughed bitterly and stepped forward.
“Trust me. When it comes to stench, I’m confident.”
Park Jae-jung carefully opened the iron-barred door.
Creak.
At the sound of rusted hinges, the hounds’ heads snapped up. As they snarled and began advancing toward us, Park Jae-jung walked toward them, deliberately fluttering his clothes.
A wave of overwhelming stench crashed over them—the reek of Lower District sewage, rotting flesh, and waste oil all at once.
Yelp!
The hounds, with their sensitive noses, recoiled in disgust. They rubbed their snouts against the ground, sneezing repeatedly. Such overwhelming stimulation had instead numbed their senses.
“Now. Hold your breath.”
I stayed close behind Park Jae-jung, slipping through the corridor while avoiding the hounds’ gaze. The creatures were too distracted by the stench to properly hear our footsteps.
“Phew…”
Only when we reached the staircase descending to Basement Level 3 did I exhale.
“Park Jae-jung, you’re really… amazing. In every sense.”
Seo Eun-ha pinched her nose while giving a thumbs up. Park Jae-jung scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“This is all thanks to your foresight, Director.”
Basement Level 3 was lined with warehouses and mechanical rooms. A humming cooling noise echoed throughout, and I could feel vibrations from something flowing through the pipe system beneath my feet.
And finally, the entrance to Basement Level 4.
A massive steel bulkhead door blocked the way ahead. Beside it, a red laser scanner and a warning sign were posted.
[B4 Research Wing — Biohazard Zone]
[Access Restricted: Security Clearance A or Higher / Biometric ID (Iris Scan) Required]
“Iris recognition…”
This couldn’t be bypassed by stealing a card key or tricking a machine. We needed the eyes of a registered researcher.
“What do we do? Are we stuck here?”
Seo Eun-ha was nervously shifting her weight when—
Zing—
A mechanical sound came from beyond the bulkhead. Someone was coming out.
I immediately pressed a finger to my lips and pushed everyone into the dark blind spot beneath the staircase.
Whoosh.
The heavy steel door swung open, and a researcher in a white coat walked out. He held a tablet PC in his hand and was yawning with a tired expression.
“Man, Director Kang really works people to death. He wants me to finish waste disposal before I leave today…”
Muttering complaints, he approached the staircase. I held my breath, waiting for him to pass in front of me.
One step, two steps.
The moment the researcher’s back came into view, I burst forward like a shadow. I approached silently from behind, clamping one hand over his mouth while pressing the carotid artery with the other.
“Ugh…!”
The researcher tried to resist, but his vital point was already subdued. I knocked him unconscious and laid him quietly on the floor.
“My apologies. I’ll need to borrow your eyes for a moment.”
Park Jae-jung and Seo Eun-ha stared at me with shocked expressions. I dragged the researcher’s body to the iris scanner.
“Eun-ha, could you lift his eyelid for me?”
“What? Ah… okay.”
Seo Eun-ha trembled as she lifted the unconscious researcher’s eyelid. I brought his face to the scanner. The red laser swept across his pupil.
There was a moment of hesitation. For a Dominion-level security system, it would be normal to check pupil response. But this scanner was old. A sticker on the side panel read “2019 Model”—it was an older generation system that only read iris patterns. It couldn’t determine whether the person was alive.
[Beep — Identity Confirmed: Senior Researcher Kim Min-su]
[Access Granted.]
Whoooosh—
The massive steel door slid open to both sides. A cold gust of air poured through the gap, accompanied by a chemical stench so thick it was nauseating.
I bound the unconscious researcher in the corner of the staircase and moved toward the entrance.
That’s when I felt something strange.
It was too quiet. If a researcher had just come out, there should be people inside, yet there were no footsteps or machine sounds. CCTV cameras were mounted everywhere, but no alarm had sounded. The hounds hadn’t detected us passing by. Throughout our descent to the basement, we’d encountered no resistance whatsoever.
‘This is too easy.’
A warning signal blared in my mind. But I couldn’t stop. My comrades were in there.
B-4 Research Building.
It wasn’t a hospital.
Whirrrr— Whoosh—
Hundreds of transparent cylindrical cultivation tanks stretched out like a forest across a space the size of a soccer field, and within glass tubes filled with green preservation fluid, unidentifiable lifeforms floated suspended.
“What… what is all this?”
Seo Eun-ha covered her mouth and stumbled backward. Her gaze fixed on the nearest cultivation tank. A creature with a human upper body but a spider-like lower half. Yet only its face retained the form of a person—twisted in agony.
“Those are… people.”
Han Su-jin collapsed to the ground. For a Healer like her, this place was hell itself. What filled the hundreds of cultivation tanks weren’t monsters—they were kidnapped or missing people.
“We need to find Lee Seung-ryong.”
I turned back to Park Jae-jung, struggling to maintain composure.
We pushed through the forest of cultivation tanks and ventured deeper. The floor was caked with sticky preservation fluid and dried blood, and surgical tables scattered about were littered with severed body parts.
I didn’t need explanation to understand what Dominion was doing to the Lower District residents.
We arrived at the deepest part of the Research Building, at a section marked with a sign reading [Special Management Zone].
Four cultivation tanks—far larger and thicker than the others, reinforced glass—stood in a row.
Park Jae-jung’s gaze fixed on the first tank and froze.
The electronic panel read: [Specimen No. 101 — Class: Tanker].
Crouched within the glass tube was a massive figure exceeding three meters in height. Its skin was covered in muscles so bloated they looked ready to burst, and steel plating had been forcibly fused to its back and shoulders, merged directly with bone. It resembled an ogre or troll more than a human.
But Park Jae-jung recognized that grotesque face.
“Seung-ryong…”
Lee Seung-ryong. That young man who smiled warmly and said, “I want to become like you, Park Jae-jung hyung.” Now his entire body had been modified into a meat shield, submerged in the fluid.
[Status: Minimal Vital Signs / Brain Death in Progress]
[Special Notes: Rational Collapse Due to Overdose of Strength Enhancement Agent]
“Aaahhh…”
Park Jae-jung dropped his shield and pressed his hand against the glass. In that instant, Lee Seung-ryong’s eyes—submerged in the fluid—snapped open. His pupils had vanished, leaving only whites. He clawed at the glass wall with his fingernails. It wasn’t a plea for rescue. It was a desperate thrashing to end it all.
The second cultivation tank. [Specimen No. 102 — Class: Ranger].
It was Lee Chung-hyung. Both his arms, which once wielded a crossbow, had been severed and replaced with bio-cannons carved from bone. His spine protruded abnormally, the vertebrae itself warped into a massive bowstring. He had been converted into a living siege weapon.
The third cultivation tank. [Specimen No. 103 — Class: Spearman].
Ju Mi-sung, the spearmaster. His limbs stretched unnaturally long like a mantis’s, with sharp bone spikes sprouting from each fingertip. His skin had hardened into an insect-like carapace.
The fourth cultivation tank. [Specimen No. 104 — Class: Mage].
Choi Min-ji, the mage. Her head had swollen to grotesque proportions, with tubes carrying cerebrospinal fluid plugged directly into her skull. Her brain had been manipulated to forcibly expand her mana circuits, leaving her staring blankly into empty space, drool trickling from the corner of her mouth.
“Ughhhh…”
Han Su-jin retched and collapsed to the floor. Her fists clenched tight. Her nails dug into her palms.
That interview we saw on television. The footage where Lee Seung-ryong appeared and condemned us. It was fabricated. They had been subjected to this for over two weeks already. Kang Chang-gyung had created deepfake videos to bury us, while behind the scenes, he was using them as experimental material.
“One person…”
I spoke with a trembling voice.
“One person is missing. Han Ae-ri.”
The cultivation tank of Han Ae-ri, the Slasher among our five party members, was nowhere to be seen.
“There, look there!”
Seo Eun-ha pointed. Behind the four massive cultivation tanks, in a corner, sat a small Iron Cage.
We rushed toward her urgently.
“Han Ae-ri!”
Someone was huddled in the darkness behind the iron bars. A small-framed woman in a patient’s gown. Her face buried in her knees, trembling violently. Fortunately, there were no visible mutations.
“Don’t come closer… Don’t come…!”
As we approached, she screamed and burrowed into the corner.
“Han Ae-ri, it’s us! It’s Park Jae-jung!”
“Aaahhh! I don’t know! I hate it! I hate the injections!”
She covered her ears, spiraling into panic.
It was the Slasher class’s signature aura-suppression ability that posed the problem. Dominion’s experimental equipment calculated drug injection timing based on precise mana readings, but Han Ae-ri’s aura-suppression constantly distorted those measurements.
Unable to pinpoint the injection timing, the experiments kept getting delayed. But while her body remained intact, her mind was on the verge of collapse. Every night, she must have heard her comrades’ screams as they transformed into monsters beside her.
“Han Su-jin, could you cast a calming spell…?”
“Yes, yes!”
Han Su-jin reached through the cage bars and cast a calming spell. As warm light enveloped Han Ae-ri, her convulsions gradually subsided.
“Ugh… sob… sister… brothers….”
Han Ae-ri lifted her head. Her face was streaked with tears. She recognized us, blinking as if unable to believe her eyes.
“Jae-jung… oppa? Tae-hyun… nim?”
“Yes, it’s us. I’m sorry we’re late.”
Park Jae-jung tore the cage lock off with his bare hands. The metal shrieked. As the door opened, Han Ae-ri crawled out and collapsed into Park Jae-jung’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
“The oppas… the unni… they became monsters… those people… the injections….”
“I know. I know. You’re safe now.”
Park Jae-jung held her and patted her back. His thick tears fell onto Han Ae-ri’s hair. Seo Eun-ha also bit her lips, trembling with sobs.
I turned to look behind us. Four people trapped in glass tubes. The moment we removed them from here, their completely transformed bodies would either go berserk or die in agony.
‘Is there only one way?’
I was about to make a decision.
Crackle—
A large monitor mounted on the laboratory ceiling powered on.
No, it hadn’t just powered on. I checked the timestamp in the corner of the screen. The monitor had been on the entire time. Since the moment we opened the door and entered. It had simply been waiting on a black screen until now.
My spine went cold.
He’d been watching from the beginning. Us subduing the Researcher. Us passing through the Hounds. Us breaking down before the cultivation tanks. He’d witnessed everything while waiting.
A familiar, unpleasant voice echoed through the speakers.
[Ah, microphone test. Can you hear me?]
A man appeared on the screen. A man sitting leisurely with crossed legs, holding a wine glass. It was Kang Chang-gyung.
[Welcome, Moonglade. This is your first time in my laboratory, isn’t it?]
“Since when….”
[From the beginning. Weren’t you curious why the Hounds passed so easily? Why that Researcher happened to appear at that exact moment?]
Kang Chang-gyung tilted his glass and smiled.
[I sent all of it. Since we have guests, I had to open the doors for you.]
Something cold trickled down my spine. It was a trap. A meticulously planned trap from start to finish. We had walked into the basement of our own volition.
[That was quite a touching reunion. I’d even like to praise you little rats for crawling all the way down here.]
“Kang Chang-gyung…!”
Seo Eun-ha pointed her staff at the screen, but Kang Chang-gyung shrugged with a sneer.
[Don’t look at me like that. I’m helping humanity evolve. Those friends should be thrilled, right? Trash that couldn’t even reach B-Rank, and now they have bodies comparable to S-Rank thanks to me.]
“You bastard!”
Park Jae-jung screamed like a madman.
[Well, since we have a guest, shall we run a performance test?]
Kang Chang-gyung placed his hand on a red button atop the table.
[Old friends reuniting after so long. We should at least exchange greetings.]
“No—!”
Before I could even cry out, he pressed the button.
Beeeep—!
A sharp alarm blared as crimson liquid began injecting through the hose connected to the Cultivation Tank.
[Berserk serum administered].
At first, there was silence.
Then cracks began forming inside the tank. Hairline fractures spiderwebbed across the glass surface in all directions, deepening with sharp crackling sounds.
Crash!
The first tank exploded outward. Green liquid cascaded everywhere, flooding the floor. The second, third, and fourth followed in rapid succession.
Crack! Shatter!
Lee Seung-ryong, Lee Chung-hyung, Ju Mi-sung, and Choi Min-ji—four monsters opened their eyes simultaneously. Reason had vanished from their gaze, replaced only by crimson light burning with pure destructive instinct.
Boom!
They turned their heads toward us.
Graaaaaah—!
It was no longer the voice of comrades I knew.

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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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