The Regressed EX-Class Martial God Decided to Become a Thousand-Star Hunter - Chapter 17

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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 17
Episode 17.
The conversation with the tycoon Lee Young-sik was straightforward.
To summarize: three conditions.
First, bring me something that can save my daughter within one week.
Second, the faster you bring it, the greater your reward.
And third.
If there’s no contact after one week, or if you bring me something bizarre and try to mock me, you will pay the price.
It seemed odd that the chairman of one of the top ten conglomerates in South Korea could make such a terrifying threat so openly.
‘Well, that’s the era we live in.’
Ju Do-gyeom accepted it without concern.
It’s common knowledge in South Korea that anyone foolish enough to try to deceive Chairman Lee Young-sik simply vanishes without a trace.
And the state knows it and turns a blind eye.
Again, that’s the era we live in.
If anything, he found it gentlemanly.
Hadn’t he warned him in advance with words?
Back out now if you’re half-hearted about this.
In any case.
The contract was made, and the time given was one week.
And Ju Do-gyeom had no intention of dragging this out for a full week.
‘I’m going today.’
But there was one place he needed to stop by first.
Yongsan.
* * *
Yongsan Luxury Market.
It resembled Yongdun in that it was a Hunter-exclusive market, but in every other respect, it was entirely different.
For one, Yongdun is underground, while the Luxury Market occupies a respectable above-ground building.
The grade of merchandise differs far more significantly.
They dealt only in items whose performance had been rigorously verified—exceptional goods.
Potions that instantly heal even serious wounds.
Elixirs that grant blessings for a set duration.
Items that had even risen to the realm of Magical Artifacts.
Naturally, the prices were different too.
Here, a price tag in the hundred millions was practically the baseline currency.
And today, there was one thing Ju Do-gyeom intended to buy.
‘Lowest-Grade Blessing Potion.’
What is a Blessing Potion?
The name says it all.
Drink it, and for a set time, blessings envelop your body.
At the lowest grade, the duration lasts three hours.
The effect: a random stat rises by one rank.
That much is standard.
The real treasure comes next.
‘The bonus option.’
Each bottle of Blessing Potion came with its own unique bonus option.
The variety was endless.
From extra damage against corrupted monsters to underwater breathing and night vision.
That’s why most Hunters chose their potions based on these options rather than the stat boost alone.
Every dungeon had its own useful effects.
For Eden Garden, the dungeon Ju Do-gyeom was headed to today, extra damage against corrupted monsters was a reasonably valuable effect, but it meant nothing to him.
‘Because I have the Heavenly Killing Eye.’
For one who possessed the Cheonsal-seong, bonus damage was a meaningless option.
Yet.
There was one option, and only one, that was absolutely necessary.
‘Heavenly Wings.’
True to its name, an option that makes wings of light sprout from your back when consumed.
Wings, you might think—surely you can fly through the sky?
No.
Sadly, the Heavenly Wings attached to the lowest-grade Blessing Potion only allowed gliding.
If he wanted true flight, he’d need to drink at least a mid-grade potion.
It didn’t matter.
‘Gliding would be enough.’
That was the extent of what Ju Do-gyeom considered essential for conquering Eden Garden.
For reference, option-specified purchases like this were only possible at the Luxury Market.
Buy a Blessing Potion at Yongdun?
What options it had was a game of chance—you wouldn’t know until you opened it.
But here at this place, every potion had already been appraised and classified.
The price was a minimum of one billion per bottle.
Expensive.
Yet cheap.
Because items like this couldn’t be obtained anywhere except at a premium Hunter market.
That was the reason the Luxury Market existed.
* * *
Having obtained the Blessing Potion he wanted, Ju Do-gyeom didn’t head straight for the dungeon; instead, he moved deeper into the store.
He wanted to see if there was anything else he could use right away.
Normally he would have held back, saving for the purchase of a Formless Sacred Weapon or the Ten Thousand Forms, but he no longer felt the need to restrain himself.
After all, he was saving his daughter’s life.
Would a man wealthy enough to be a conglomerate chairman hesitate to buy a fifty-billion-won weapon for her?
He was certain the answer was no.
All the more so since he wouldn’t even use up all the time he’d been given—a full week.
As Ju Do-gyeom’s eyes swept across the store, the varied merchandise of the Luxury Market flashed past him in rapid succession.
“Hmm…….”
Most of it far exceeded the level of mere magical artifacts, rising into the realm of true Magical Artifacts.
The price tags bore figures in the tens of billions to hundreds of billions as casually as breathing, yet each item was worth every last won.
Of course, by current-era standards.
In the inflationary future that would arrive alongside the Boundary Collapse Between Earth and Dungeons, most such items would lose all significance.
Was that why?
He’d started this shopping trip thinking he’d acquire at least one thing, yet nothing caught his eye.
‘Perhaps it’s better to save it for something else.’
And so.
As Ju Do-gyeom walked between the displays, mentally shaking his head, his feet suddenly froze as though nailed to the ground.
‘What’s this?’
His gaze snapped toward it.
Had he misread something?
But he hadn’t.
‘Why is this here?’
His gaze had landed on a corner of the store.
[Unappraised Consignment – No Returns]
It was a shabby display case with such a placard, utterly at odds with the pride of the Luxury Market.
The Luxury Market was not omniscient.
There existed in the world items that were impossible to appraise.
Such goods ended up here in the corner, marked with a no-claims condition and liquidated at steep discounts.
Though of course, “steep discount” by the Luxury Market’s standards.
On that shabby display.
A single tightly rolled, pitch-black scroll lay waiting.
The price was three billion.
The description plate read as follows:
[Identity unknown. Appraisal impossible. However, based on the grade of magic power emanating from it, presumed to be a Magical Artifact.]
Wrong.
It wasn’t a Magical Artifact.
‘It’s a single-use scroll.’
One whose official name he even knew.
‘Eve’s Gift.’
Its effect was simple.
Slot expansion.
Like an inventory expansion ticket?
Exactly.
But that’s not all it does.
‘It’s not just the inventory.’
Whether it’s a summon’s slot or a Manifestation Technique’s stock.
It applies to every ‘slot’ the user possesses.
To put it simply.
For an ordinary Hunter, it’s an inventory expansion voucher.
But for a Summoner-Class Hunter whose slots are combat power itself, it becomes a treasure beyond price.
‘Kim Han-yul would lose his mind if he knew.’
He could use it himself.
But if he gave it to a Manifestation Technique user?
The team’s overall combat strength jumps up a tier.
In fact, Eve’s Gift was evaluated as tremendously valuable even in the future.
Had cash been usable, it would have been worth hundreds of billions—no, even hundreds of billions would seem trivial.
Yet that Eve’s Gift was now sitting in a corner of the Hunter Market for three billion won.
Basically free.
Of course, there were conditions.
Eve’s Gift was currently in a sealed state.
If its effects couldn’t be awakened, it was just a thirty-billion-won scrap of black paper.
Which was probably why the appraisers at the Luxury Market had thrown up their hands and stuffed it in a corner.
But it posed no problem for Ju Do-gyeom.
‘One dose of Adam’s Apple Juice would do the trick.’
The name itself wasn’t Eve’s Gift for nothing.
And by a stroke of fortune, today’s destination was none other than Eden Garden.
The timing was perfect.
He was certain enough to stake his life that luck meant something like this.
There was no reason to hesitate.
Except for one thing that nagged at him.
‘I need two Adam’s Apples now.’
A dungeon begins its first activation the moment someone enters it.
Before that, it’s a non-existent world.
And in Eden Garden, after picking the first fruit from the apple tree, it took quite a long time for the second fruit to ripen.
At minimum, a span of several months by his reckoning.
Of course, after that the count would increase on its own and grow more abundant.
But initially, just one.
One for the chairman’s daughter.
One for Eve’s Gift.
‘The math doesn’t work out.’
The time gap between two visits was too large.
Most Regressers lack patience.
Because they have so much to do.
And judging by his track record so far, Ju Do-gyeom was no different.
As Ju Do-gyeom looked around in thought,
a Blessing Potion caught his eye on a nearby display shelf.
[Blessing Potion – Blessing of Abundance]
[After consumption, Ungraded Item acquisition doubles, one time only.]
The price was five billion won.
A full five billion.
For merely doubling Ungraded Items?
You might think so, but there’s one crucial fact here.
‘Adam’s Apple is an Ungraded Item.’
It’s neither a magical artifact nor anything graded.
An item so powerless outside of awakening purposes that it hadn’t even been assigned a rank.
And that was what Adam’s Apple was.
One apple becomes two.
One for the chairman.
One for Eve’s Gift.
‘That’s exactly what I need.’
Ju Do-gyeom picked up the scroll and the potion without hesitation.
His bank account would hit rock bottom, but he didn’t regret it.
He knew this was an expense that would return multiplied, many times over.
‘Well then, shall I finally
head to Eden Garden?’
With that thought, as he turned toward the register, a large axe suddenly caught his eye on the wall.
* * *
Beep!
“An excellent choice, sir.”
With the completion tone, the clerk bowed with a smile.
Ju Do-gyeom came to his senses belatedly.
A receipt lay on the counter.
Four items.
Two bottles of Blessing Potion.
An Unidentified Scroll.
And.
‘……The Great Axe?’
That enormous axe which had been hanging on the wall just moments ago now occupied a solid place in his inventory.
He remembered seeing it.
But he had no memory of choosing it.
Yet he’d bought it.
He’d even haggled over the price.
It was bewildering.
‘The Madness.’
So this was how it manifested this time.
He’d resigned himself to wielding fish and speaking in backward sentences.
But now a complete blackout?
Spending tens of billions on a shopping spree with no memory of it whatsoever.
At least it hadn’t veered into homicidal urges, but this was dangerous in its own way.
‘Tsk.’
Ju Do-gyeom, inwardly clicking his tongue, had started to request a refund.
But he stopped.
At the bottom of the receipt.
[Used Item Purchase: Dungeon-Grade Great Hammer x1]
His eyes caught the payment details—the difference after deducting the trade-in value.
‘You sold the Great Hammer?’
In just this short span?
Who did?
I did, obviously.
More precisely, the version of himself consumed by the Madness did.
No matter what, to think he’d sold off a weapon he’d fought alongside all this time in such a brief moment.
Ju Do-gyeom, staring at the Great Axe in his inventory with bewilderment,
soon found himself overtaken by a peculiar feeling.
He should have been displeased, certainly.
‘……It’s not bad though, is it?’
A long haft.
A massive blade honed with considerable weight.
It was quite a satisfying piece—the kind that stirred something in his chest just to look at it.
Come to think of it, his primary martial art, the Heavenly Force Method, was originally an axe technique.
With this kind of weight, he could swing it like the Great Hammer had been swung.
And since the blade was sharp, its versatility was arguably greater.
He paused in consideration.
He checked the price tag.
For a Luxury Market item, the Great Axe was surprisingly affordable.
Five hundred million won.
Most Hunters disliked its oversized design, and since it had no special effects to speak of—merely the distinction of being crafted by a renowned master—the price reflected that.
It was a situation much like the one with the Great Hammer.
Ju Do-gyeom gazed at the Great Axe for a moment, then made his decision.
‘Yes, I’ll just use it.’
In any case, he wouldn’t be able to afford a Formless Sacred Weapon for another three months.
By then, there was no telling whether the Great Hammer—forged from lower-grade dungeon metal—would hold up, but this newly purchased Great Axe seemed like it would more than pay for itself.
Besides, he liked it.
Having settled the matter, Ju Do-gyeom completely exited the Luxury Market.
His already sparse bank account had grown a touch thinner, but he harbored no great regrets.
After all, he’d earned this money precisely for spending it on things like this.
‘If I finish this job quickly, it shouldn’t be a problem to ask for a bit more added to the Ten Thousand Forms.’
Having reliable backing felt reassuring too.
The preparations were complete.
Ju Do-gyeom murmured to himself.
“Dungeon entry, destination specified: Eden Garden.”
Moments later.
His body vanished from Earth.
* * *
His vision shifted.
The first thing he felt was the wind.
The raw, unobstructed gust that came with high places.
Ju Do-gyeom opened his eyes to find himself standing atop a cliff-like hill.
And below it.
The world was awash in green.
‘Is that Eden Garden?’
A vast meadow stretched to the horizon.
At first glance it looked like nothing more than an endless plain, but it wasn’t.
Looking closer, the entire landscape rose gradually, gently upward.
True to its name, the whole world itself was one colossal peak.
And at its summit.
Far in the distance, at the very center, stood a single tree.
‘Adam’s Apple.’
Today’s destination.
The problem was distance.
If he walked down the hillside and crossed the meadow?
It would take him several days.
A dungeon that demanded days of walking.
Most Hunters would sigh right here, but that didn’t apply to Ju Do-gyeom.
He retrieved a Blessing Potion from his inventory.
Uncapped it and drained it in one gulp.
The liquid slid down his throat, spreading warmth throughout his entire body.
It was blessing.
『Blessing granted.』
『Duration: 3 hours. Temporary Magic Power grade increased. D- => D』
‘Magic Power…’
Among random stat increases, he’d gotten the most useful one.
‘Luck’s on my side.’
A good start.
And the real part came next.
Whoooosh—!
Light erupted from behind his back.
Feathers of light spreading from around his shoulder blades took shape in an instant.
Heavenly Wings.
Supposedly the lowest-grade wings capable only of gliding, yet even to the eye they bore such a sacred beauty that one could believe they belonged to an angel.
Ju Do-gyeom gave those wings—so unfamiliar to a human body—a light experimental flutter.
Then, without hesitation, he threw himself down the hillside.
Whoooooosh—!
Wind embraced his entire body.
The wings at his back unfurled fully upon the current, transforming his fall into a glide.
A sensation like being pushed forward.
Beneath his feet the blue meadow rushed past.
‘…Not half bad.’
To be honest.
It was quite good.
Across all his previous lives, he had few memories of flying through the sky so freely and without urgency.
It wasn’t that he’d never flown before.
But even in the sky, he was always fighting something.
Freedom—he felt it.

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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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