The Regressed EX-Class Martial God Decided to Become a Thousand-Star Hunter - Chapter 6

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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 6
6.
Acquiring Cheonsal-seong plants madness deep in the mind.
It was a choice that could become poison, eroding the very advantages Ju Do-gyeom possessed—his composure, his patience, and more.
But in exchange, he would gain the power to kill what could not be killed, to end battles that seemed endless against monsters that appeared immortal—even they would fall before him at last.
He had known all this when he returned.
And that was why he stood here.
So Ju Do-gyeom’s choice could be nothing but inevitable.
『The power of Cheonsal-seong settles upon the body of user Ju Do-gyeom.』
In the basement.
From the occult carvings that crowded the walls, flooding the space, red light poured forth and was drawn into Ju Do-gyeom’s body.
The change did not feel immediate.
But.
‘Status Window.’
『Name: Ju Do-gyeom
Age: 26
Job: Universal Cook
Stats
Strength: E- / Stamina: E / Agility: E+(131 seconds) / Mana: F-
Trait: Cheonsal-seong (Unique)
Skills: Cheon-gyeol Ki-gong (2-star) / Ji-gyeol Ki-gong (2-star) / Myeong-mok-gong (1-star) / Mu-yeong Sin-bo (2-star) / Su-ra Yeom-toe (1-star) / San-hwa Yeong (2-star) / Seom-jeon Bi (2-star) / Ban-do Boong-ik-gong (3-star) / Cooking Knife Proficiency (Level 2) / Cook’s Knife Mastery (Level 1)』
It was unmistakable.
A Trait column that had not existed in the Status Window before.
And there, written plainly, the three characters: Cheonsal-seong.
It was as Ju Do-gyeom nodded in confirmation.
『Unique Trait Cheonsal-seong acquisition complete.』
『Remaining rewards are now being calculated.』
『Clear reward Mana Stones are being granted in substantially increased amounts.』
『Mana grade increased: F- => F+』
『Additionally, one of your currently held stats will be randomly increased substantially.』
『Agility grade increased: F+ => E-』
『Special skill of the job Universal Cook is being granted as a bonus.』
『Skill acquired: Mana Stone Stew (Level 1).』
The final eighth commandment of the 8 Commandments of Dungeon Rules.
The Dungeon must always grant rewards in proportion to the player’s accomplishments—and when exceptional play is achieved, those rewards are magnified all the more.
A torrent of messages befitting that caliber.
For a returner like Ju Do-gyeom to receive such rewards on his very first Dungeon—
The numbers were extraordinary enough to make one think so, but truthfully.
‘……I’m in no position to savor this fully now.’
Gyeok-bal-gong. Ban-do Boong-ik-gong.
The recoil from these martial arts—deployed while bracing for internal injury—was amplifying in real time.
To the point that even Ju Do-gyeom, whose patience was considerable, found himself furrowing his brow deeply without realizing it.
Fortunately, he would not need to endure it much longer.
『Reward calculation complete.』
『Return to Earth? Y/N』
The message had reached its end just in time.
Ju Do-gyeom answered.
“I return.”
His vision inverted.
* * *
-You’ll pull it off anyway.
-Ju Do-gyeom. You can do this.
-You’re the man I’ve always believed in…….
On the bed, Ju Do-gyeom’s eyes snapped open.
The dim fluorescent light of the narrow Gosiwon room—with not a window to its name—filled his vision first.
“Mm…….”
A murmur escaped as Ju Do-gyeom rose from the bed.
A bitter smile played at the corner of his mouth.
‘How long has it been.’
Just over a month.
A dream before the Regression. Of all times.
‘……Vivienne.’
He picked up his phone and checked his mail.
As expected, still unread.
Ju Do-gyeom set the phone down.
“Hah…….”
He drew a deep breath, then settled into a lotus position.
He took stock of his body’s condition.
Even at mere second-tier, the fact that he’d mastered Ji-gyeol Ki-gong seemed to be helping.
His state was better than he’d braced himself for.
Still, internal injuries remained.
Nothing permanent, but he’d be sore for a while yet.
‘Can’t be helped.’
The unforeseen events in the Cannibal Ghoul’s mansion.
Considering he’d acquired Cheonsal-seong out of it all, it wasn’t such a heavy price.
To be more candid about it.
It was something close to the state that had been Do-gyeom’s daily routine before the Regression.
No point agonizing over it.
‘Time will sort it out on its own.’
Instead, he turned his attention inward to his own mind.
‘Madness.’
It was definitely planted there.
In the Dungeon his condition had been so poor he couldn’t confirm it until checking his Status Window, but now he felt it clearly.
The reality that something alien had lodged itself in his head.
Perhaps because he’d only just acquired it?
It was more subdued than he’d expected.
His mind wasn’t unusually muddled.
He felt no twisting of the heart.
Still, he had to be cautious.
He’d witnessed with his own eyes what the former owner of Cheonsal-seong, Jin Woo-seong, had ultimately become — what a monster he’d turned into.
‘Don’t forget.’
He was now the master of Cheonsal-seong.
Remind yourself. Keep reminding yourself. Stay vigilant.
Cycling through the thought again and again, muttering it aloud to himself, Ju Do-gyeom opened his eyes.
His gaze, settled and calm, turned next to the Status Window.
First he saw the risen ability scores.
Levels that shouldn’t be possible for a Hunter who’d only visited a single Dungeon.
Remarkable, but Ju Do-gyeom let it pass without fuss.
Being a Returner, he thought such gains only natural.
He’d already confirmed Cheonsal-seong through inner observation, so he glossed over that as well.
Instead, his gaze lingered on the final Skill column of the Status Window.
A Skill he’d never seen before, resting there.
『Skill: Mana Stone Stew (Level 1).』
As mentioned before, when you acquire a Skill, knowledge of how to use it flows naturally into your mind.
Mana Stone Stew was no exception.
‘So you’re actually cooking the Mana Stone in a pan?’
More precisely, when you melt a Mana Stone over heat in a pan, it becomes a cooking sauce.
You mix it with your main ingredients and consume it.
The crucial part was that consuming the completed dish would permanently raise your Magic Power.
With good luck, depending on the type of Mana Stone, you could acquire additional Traits or Skills.
The ceiling was set by the grade of the Mana Stone used as the main ingredient.
“Very good indeed.”
Before the Regression.
For someone like Ju Do-gyeom who’d heard of and experienced various Hunter-related abilities, admiration spilled from his lips unbidden — it was that excellent a Skill.
‘Universal Cook.’
A Job that could cook literally anything, as the name suggested.
Honestly, when he’d first acquired it, he’d wondered if it would truly help his post-Regression plans.
‘This might be……a bigger stroke of luck than I thought.’
A smile played at the corner of his mouth.
* * *
There was no reason to let such a fine skill gather dust.
And in Ju Do-gyeom’s small system inventory—only ten columns wide and two rows deep—sat nineteen ordinary low-grade Mana Stones alongside a single remarkable gem that gleamed a deep crimson.
When he checked the details of that unusual Mana Stone through his system,
『Cannibal Ghoul’s Mana Stone (Special)』
that name materialized before him.
A special Mana Stone.
Though it had no formal rank assigned, it was rarer than most high-grade Mana Stones.
Especially considering its original source was a Cannibal Ghoul—a monster created specifically never to be touched—the value only deepened.
Sold, it would fetch hundreds of millions.
But did that money matter?
Ju Do-gyeom shook his head.
Instead, a question bloomed in his mind.
‘What happens if I consume it?’
The answer was beyond his system skills to reveal.
Not until he tried.
So he’d moved at once to prepare a stew, when his mind suddenly braked itself hard.
The reason was simple.
‘I can’t just simmer the raw stone and eat it like that.’
His job was Universal Cook.
Which meant he had to prepare it himself.
And depending on how well the dish turned out, both his Mana Stone absorption efficiency and his odds of acquiring special abilities would shift.
A new piece of knowledge crystallized.
Knowing this, what Ju Do-gyeom needed to do was clear.
“I need to go shopping.”
A little internal injury wasn’t going to keep him from moving.
Ju Do-gyeom’s feet carried him toward the Gosiwon exit.
* * *
Clatter-clatter, clatter-clatter.
Considerable time had passed since the subway train, clattering loudly on its rails, had pulled away from the station.
The station announcement played.
—Next stop, Red Zone, Red Zone Sector 1. Passengers continuing to the Blue Zone, please exit the train and transfer to the Blue Zone-exclusive line. This station is…….​
—Recently, illegal robbery incidents have occurred frequently during transfers between the Red and Blue Zones. Passengers using the transfer station are advised to exercise caution. The Seoul Metro Corporation assumes no responsibility for any criminal incidents…….​
A gray cityscape.
As Ju Do-gyeom gazed absently at the bleak view beyond the window, a raindrop splattered against the glass before his eyes.
As moments stretched on,
more drops multiplied rapidly, soon covering the entire subway window.
Patter-patter-patter-!​
The sound of heavy rain striking the glass with force.
Hearing it, Ju Do-gyeom’s brow furrowed, and he decided he’d need to buy an umbrella before turning his gaze away.
Then an advertisement caught his eye.
【(Inc.) Daily Insurance always thinks of your health. Emergency responders arrive within three minutes. Latest medical equipment support provided. For critical situations, we deploy our Magitech Air Car for safe transport to university hospitals! Trust Daily Insurance and enjoy safe urban living today!】
A faint smile tugged at Ju Do-gyeom’s lips as he read the ad featuring a handsome middle-aged actor.
Not because the main content was amusing, but because he’d suddenly noticed a small line at the very bottom, printed in a contrasting color so faint it was nearly illegible.
【*The content of this advertisement may vary depending on membership tier. Please review carefully before enrolling.*】
Time was, he would’ve clicked his tongue at that.
‘But later, I longed for even a world where ads like that existed.’
Still,
‘Once I earn more, I should move deeper into the Blue Zone.’
Not because the Red Zone was dangerous.
For Ju Do-gyeom—a Regressor once called a War God—most incidents currently occurring at this level in the Red Zone posed no real threat.
The problem was that whenever he needed to travel for hunter supplies, like now, the commute ate up substantial time.
Yongsan Dungeon Place Market.
That hunter-exclusive market, famous by that name, was located literally in the old district called Yongsan, now part of Blue Zone Sector 1.
Of course, property prices and taxes differed enormously between the Red and Blue Zones.
Far beyond what a newly minted hunter could afford.
But Ju Do-gyeom now?
‘A month at most, maybe half that if I’m fast.’
That was thinking only of earnings from pure hunter work.
Add in the money he was gradually building up in stocks, plus withdrawals from his final profit targets,
and moving past the Blue Zone into the Green Zone would be entirely within reach.
He had no intention of going that far anyway, and there was no pressing need.
In any case.
Using the Universal Cook skill to prepare meals, he’d find it inconvenient to rely on the shared kitchen in the Gosiwon each time—relocation was essential.
It was as Ju Do-gyeom was thinking this.
He’d just arrived at a transfer station and slipped out through the closing doors of the train.
The thick rain that had battered the train turned out to be a downpour, and a brief lull had settled in.
His pace quickened.
* * *
The reason Ju Do-gyeom had made the trip to the distant Yongsan Dungeon Place Market—or “Yongdun” for short—when he set out to do his shopping was simple enough.
Within the skill information for Universal Cook that had lodged itself in his mind.
It stated that the effects would be amplified when using ingredients sourced from dungeons rather than ordinary terrestrial produce.
It wasn’t an unusual thing.
Dungeon-sourced ingredients were effective enough that even ordinary people made use of them.
Take, for instance, regenerative creams that prevented skin aging.
There were even beverages that actually eliminated inflammation in the body, made from dungeon materials.
As far as Ju Do-gyeom knew, further down the line, there would even be youth-restoring elixirs that literally reversed the body’s physical age.
Of course, since the ingredients were so difficult to obtain, the quantities were scarce and the prices astronomical.
In any case.
That’s why Ju Do-gyeom’s choice of ingredient today was Steel Fish.
It was a common catch that unfailingly appeared in marine-themed dungeons, and in terms of size, it was comparable to a mackerel as seen on Earth.
The price ran roughly one million won per fish.
Expensive for a common catch, befitting dungeon goods, but having disposed of more than half of the Mana Stones he’d obtained at Yongdun—ten of them—it wasn’t an expense Ju Do-gyeom couldn’t afford.
For reference, the private sale price of a lowest-grade Mana Stone was around one point five million won each.
Ordinarily, a Hunter who completed the tutorial obtained between one and three lowest-grade Mana Stones at minimum.
Through exceptional play, acquiring nineteen Mana Stones in a single dungeon run—no, wait.
With the Cannibal Ghoul’s Mana Stone included, that made twenty—Ju Do-gyeom was a special case indeed.
Ju Do-gyeom placed the Steel Fish in a black bag, boarded the train again, and arrived at Red Zone District 5 where he was staying.
Afterward, he stopped by a mart and bought a few more fish.
‘Since the effectiveness varies depending on the completion quality of the cooking.’
He wanted to attempt the fish stew recipe a few times first.
As Ju Do-gyeom headed to the Gosiwon with bags of fish in both hands, a short breath escaped him.
“Mmm…….”
He’d been aware of it for a while now.
‘Someone’s following me.’
To be precise, not someone—someones.
Multiple gazes were adhering to him.
It wasn’t unusual.
The Red Zone.
A dangerous area where CCTVs, once common in the past, were mostly broken or removed, and where even street lamps failed to cast proper light after nightfall.
In fact, before Ju Do-gyeom became a Hunter, during his training center days, he’d often felt such gazes following him at night.
But most of them never escalated into actual threats.
There was rarely anything worth taking from him in those days.
But now it was different.
He was carrying something he’d purchased at Yongdun.
The Red Zone’s plunderers, who kept their eyes on Yongdun, didn’t know precisely what it was.
But they figured it was worth stealing and checking.
A predictable situation.
Ju Do-gyeom gradually slowed his pace.
Did they sense this as an opportunity?
Or perhaps they saw the deepening darkness and decided it was time.
Presences drawing rapidly, urgently closer.
Ju Do-gyeom considered it.
‘How convenient.’
Spending money and coming back only to have pocket change tumble into his lap.
Ju Do-gyeom waited quietly for his moment.
As mentioned, it was familiar territory.
‘But why…….’
Why does this feel so exhilarating?
“…….”
Hmm.

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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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