The Regressed EX-Class Martial God Decided to Become a Thousand-Star Hunter - Chapter 10

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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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Episode 10
10.
He’d just finished off another pack of the common hyenas that prowled the Zombie Burst Dungeon.
To be precise, it was another one.
The third time already.
Time remaining.
『762/1,000』
『8 hours, 1 minute, 19 seconds… 18 seconds…』
All of it had happened in just five hours.
It was no coincidence that Ju Do-gyeom had once thought, back during the Red Zone assault, that what he’d witnessed wasn’t the Red Zone average but the average of humanity in this age.
‘No wonder villains overflowed, pushed to such extremes.’
A flash of anger flickered across Ju Do-gyeom’s eyes—usually so composed—before it snuffed out just as quickly.
Now wasn’t the time to dwell on such things.
Instead, Ju Do-gyeom closed his eyes for a moment and turned his gaze inward.
‘I’ve killed people.’
Especially when taking down the last crossbowman, he’d deliberately employed Cheonsal-seong.
Would there be a change?
‘More quiet than I expected…’
Silence.
Equanimity.
That was exactly the word for this state.
No upheaval, no emotional disturbance.
And yet Cheonsal-seong should have found such an act quite appetizing.
Was it the power of the Mental Fortitude Enhancement Ring?
‘Or am I simply resistant?’
He couldn’t draw the simple conclusion that, from Cheonsal-seong’s perspective, there was no real difference between humans and monsters—both were merely “things to be killed.”
Because the owner of Cheonsal-seong was human.
‘I’m not sure… but for now, there doesn’t seem to be a problem?’
Just to be safe, he watched a little longer, but the frenzy didn’t veer off in another direction.
Ju Do-gyeom nodded and opened his eyes.
After that, he quickly gathered the most valuable items from among the villains’ corpses—pieces small in volume but high in price.
Without any particular surprise, greed stirred in him.
‘I need to expand my inventory soon.’
There were quite a few items scattered about that would fetch good money if he brought them back out.
* * *
Ju Do-gyeom continued forward toward his destination.
Most terrain could be handled with his current martial prowess, but whenever he encountered a place too difficult to cross in a single movement, he used the Infinite Rope to traverse it.
Admittedly, it was only basic-level equipment, but its convenience was quite good.
Combat never ceased throughout the journey.
Zombies were plentiful.
And there were hyena-like villains as well.
Strengthened considerably through his training, Ju Do-gyeom moved through it all with ease, continuously re-examining his condition—specifically, his relationship with Cheonsal-seong.
In a sense,
No, it was certainly the most important thing to address.
And to maximize that efficiency, he learned one more martial art during combat.
『You acquire the skill Bunsim-igong (1-Star).』
Bunsim-igong.
A downgraded version of Yangui-simgong—it was similar in dividing the mind in two, but you couldn’t actually perform two actions simultaneously.
Through this technique, Ju Do-gyeom observed his own frenzy as though it were a separate thing.
And because of it, he could see.
The frenzy, which at first glance had appeared only quiet, was actually subject to frequent convulsions.
Not only during combat.
Even while walking calmly.
Of course, the upheaval was more violent when he committed murder.
What was surprising.
Was that Cheonsal-seong’s turbulence subsided faster than he’d anticipated.
After the fighting ended.
For someone like Ju Do-gyeom, who had only confirmed it by redirecting his awareness during quiet moments, it wasn’t strange that he hadn’t noticed until now.
‘Why?’
The power of the Mental Fortitude Enhancement Ring?
But it doesn’t seem to be nonexistent either.
The moment the Mania activated, he’d felt an alien Mana stir in response, as though trying to shield his mind.
Yet that alone couldn’t explain it.
The surge of Mana that erupted from the Cheonsal-seong’s Mania in that brief instant was far more intense than what flowed from the Mental Fortitude Enhancement Ring.
But it ended very quickly.
‘Why is that?’
His thoughts were deepening when it happened.
Suddenly, a conversation with Vivien surfaced in his mind.
—Wow, Ju Do-gyeom. You’re something else, you know? Does it hurt? And here you are, not even letting out a single groan.
—It hurts.
—Then cry out. Don’t just grit your teeth and bear it.
—I can endure it regardless.
—……You’re tough, so tough. Goodness. In all my years, I’ve never met anyone with patience like yours.
—That’s an odd thing to say. I don’t have good patience. Just by the number of villains I’ve killed with my own hands…….
Within that exchange, one word stuck with him more than any other.
‘……Patience?’
He’d doubted it at first.
But somehow, it felt right.
His own formidable patience was suppressing the Cheonsal-seong’s Mania instead.
‘If that’s true…….’
Then the way the Mania had manifested in that bizarre form of fish-smacking, when it should have erupted far more aggressively, made sense.
And Vivien’s attempt to make him the master of the Cheonsal-seong—all of it suddenly became clear.
You could count on one hand, or perhaps find none at all, anyone in the entire world who could wield the Cheonsal-seong as stably as Ju Do-gyeom.
The sad truth was.
‘Incidents like fish-smacking couldn’t be prevented any other way.’
They would keep erupting in the future.
Under the influence of patience rather than murderous intent.
It was bizarre enough to warrant a hollow laugh.
‘……It’s not so bad.’
After all, the Mania born of patience was safer than the original killing intent the Cheonsal-seong held toward all living things.
‘……It will be fine.’
Truly.
‘Perhaps.’
Within that affirmation tinged with subtle doubt.
Ju Do-gyeom destroyed or scraped away the points of death visible through his Pilsalgan.
There was no more efficient way to fell the already-dead Zombies.
Ah, and in the midst of it all, he gained one more realization.
‘The Pilsalgan…….’
It responded almost automatically when he drew up Mana, but he could suppress it.
More precisely, if he concentrated his mind through the Bunsim-igong on the part where murderous intent never rises in the first place, it would vanish.
It was quite a meaningful discovery.
Because.
‘Maintaining it for long consumes Internal Energy at an accelerating rate.’
At first, sustaining the Pilsalgan itself wasn’t so difficult.
But as time wore on, the consumption of Internal Energy grew exponentially faster.
They were still Zombies, but mutations.
So when slightly stronger specimens appeared, it was the same story.
Moreover, the frequency of the Mania’s outbursts increased as well.
To be sure, crushed beneath his patience, it didn’t seem to be having much fun.
‘If I keep using it, the risks will grow.’
There was the risk of his rationality crumbling when his Internal Energy ran dry, and despite his inherent resistance, being consumed by the Cheonsal-seong’s Mania.
Or simply lacking enough Internal Energy to fight properly, landing him in grave danger.
‘Either way, there’s nothing good about it.’
With that thought, Ju Do-gyeom—his eyes now ordinary without the Pilsalgan—swung the Great Hammer once more, sweeping through the horde of Zombies with a wide arc.
A message sounded.
『Objective achieved. Zombie Elimination 1,000/1,000』
『Return to Earth? Y/N』
Ju Do-gyeom shook his head firmly.
“Decline.”
The message that followed came at once.
“Proceeding into the dungeon.”
“Time remaining: 6 hours, 59 minutes, 20 seconds… 19 seconds…”
“You may return at any time.”
His gaze stretched far ahead.
To the very heart of the Zombie Burst Dungeon, shaped like a sprawling city.
It wasn’t hard to spot.
A mountain of corpses stacked high as apartment buildings.
There lay the final objective Ju Do-gyeom sought to claim from this dungeon.
‘Death Reprieve.’
A unique Skill—Death Reprieve.
Its effect was precisely what the name promised.
When the user would normally perish, it grants a reprieve from death.
Duration: approximately ten minutes.
During that window, you wouldn’t die even if your heart was shattered or your brain exploded.
And if, during that time, you received aid from healing-type Skills and restored your heart or brain?
Complete resurrection, naturally.
For a close-quarters fighter like Ju Do-gyeom, finding a survival utility more powerful than this was nearly impossible.
‘Though I’ll still need to be careful about the brain.’
If the brain were destroyed, he wouldn’t die—but he’d lose a great deal of cognitive function.
In plain terms, he’d become a mindless berserker.
Of course, later he might acquire a Skill or trait that would let him move perfectly even with his brain destroyed.
‘But getting something on that level now would be difficult.’
Regardless, Ju Do-gyeom needed Death Reprieve.
As mentioned, it suited his close-combat warrior nature well.
But beyond that, the additional advantages he could gain from exploiting this Skill were already factored into several of his plans.
To obtain it, Ju Do-gyeom had remained in the already-cleared dungeon and advanced toward the corpse mountain at the city’s heart.
Sweeping aside the relentless Zombies that kept rushing him with his Great Hammer.
At quite a rapid pace.
* * *
Vroooom—!
An engine roar, rarely heard amid the crowds of Zombies lurching through the dungeon, split the air.
It came from a woman throttling her motorcycle for all it was worth.
Her name was Kim Han-yul.
With most of her stats already at D-Rank or D-minus, she could be called the strongest within the Zombie Burst Dungeon—yet here she was, being hunted.
Why?
Thud, thud, thud—!
Because pursuing her wasn’t merely a horde of standard Zombies, but the Boss Monster of the Zombie Burst Dungeon itself: the Corpse Giant.
Cold sweat poured down her palms gripping the throttle and streamed down her back.
‘Damn it. Why did I agree to this…’
The Zombie Burst Dungeon.
The conquest objective was to eliminate one thousand Zombies, but there was a boss.
The one she’d just mentioned—the Corpse Giant currently on her tail.
Any Hunter worth their salt knew this fact.
And at this point,
every Hunter couldn’t help but wonder:
what incredible reward would drop if you defeated the Boss Monster instead of just meeting the conquest quota?
A natural thought.
Dungeons rewarded play beyond their stated parameters with greater spoils, and sometimes even revealed hidden pieces concealed within.
This was why Kim Han-yul, seeing graduation from the Zombie Burst Dungeon within reach, had gathered her team to attempt the Corpse Giant.
How did she feel now?
‘Should’ve listened to the seniors. Damn…’
Surely other graduates already at her level hadn’t tried this for a reason?
Yet they’d all told her the same thing.
That thing wasn’t meant to be beaten—just give up and leave it alone.
Kim Han-yul had believed she was different.
Everyone knew that even with identical Rank stats, a Hunter’s true level depended on Skill utilization sense, Mana control instinct, combat intuition, and the synergy of their traits—it created vast gaps between individuals.
And from that perspective, she was a Hunter well above her Rank tier.
But this—this was another matter entirely.
‘The Corpse Giant…’
That thing really wasn’t meant to be beaten.
“Ahhhhh—!”
A scream tore from her lips before she could stop it.
Bang!
Flames erupted from the corpse giant’s body in a thunderous blast.
Kim Han-yul let out a whoop of triumph.
“Did it work? Did we get it? Yes!”
The mage on her team, hidden on the rooftop.
The one who should have hurled this enormous fireball ten minutes ago had finally—finally—landed the spell.
‘She must have been busy chasing off all those lesser zombies until now.’
Still, thank heavens.
Better late than never.
Fire—the undead’s weakness.
A direct hit from a fireball that massive meant something had to give, even for a creature like the corpse giant.
Dead would be even better.
That’s what she’d been thinking.
Roaaaar!
The corpse giant shrieked and shouldered through the dust cloud kicked up by the flames, revealing itself.
Its form was—
“…Just charred on the surface.”
To be precise, there were holes burned through its body.
But the zombies swarming around it rushed in to fill the gaps, and in a heartbeat the thing had knitted itself back together into a complete form.
It fixed its gaze on Kim Han-yul and charged.
Thud-thud-thud.
Roaaaar!
Now it was swinging both arms, smashing buildings as it came.
With brute strength befitting a boss over six meters tall, the creature made short work of the apartment complex—a dungeon set in the twenty-first century—tearing it nearly in half.
One of her teammates, the mage who’d been sheltering inside preparing the next spell, screamed and bolted.
She’d clearly decided the fight was unwinnable.
Kim Han-yul couldn’t disagree.
‘…This isn’t happening. This won’t work.’
Run.
Get as far away as possible.
The problem was the corpse giant’s tenacity—once it fixed on a target, it would pursue them to their dying breath.
‘But if I push the throttle and make some distance, maybe I can draw its aggro away…’
Could it work?
That’s what she was thinking when—
Three mutant zombies materialized directly in front of her racing motorcycle.
“Damn it all—!”
Kim Han-yul cursed, pushed herself up from the seat, kicked the motorcycle toward them, and raised her hands.
As she hung suspended in air, a blue shimmer of mana coalesced between her palms, and a Mana Gun took shape.
She pulled the trigger.
The motorcycle hurtling forward collided with the mana round mid-flight, detonating in a violent bloom.
Boom!
All three mutant zombies went down in the explosion.
The problem was—
Roaaaar!
The corpse giant.
The Grotesquely Mangled Corpse Giant, to give it its full name, had caught up to her position.
As Kim Han-yul landed on solid ground, a massive shadow fell across her back.
She turned her head and saw the thing’s drool-slick face looming inches away, and laughed darkly.
“Ha… hah… Well, I’m done for.”
The corpse giant’s enormous hand blotted out her world.
In the moment she swallowed hard, resigned to death—
Crack!
Flesh and sinew exploded outward in all directions as the creature’s hand shattered apart.
Eyes wide, Kim Han-yul found a man standing before her in a perfect follow-through swing, the Great Hammer still in his grip.
The man—Ju Do-gyeom—turned to look at her, his voice carrying a note of confusion.
“Kim Han-yul?”

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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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