The Reincarnated Hunter Sweeps Up All Fortunes - Chapter 16

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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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Chapter 16
16
Chaining.
A system effect where compatible skills combine and produce explosive synergy.
Beyond mere amplification of power, it was also one of the essential conditions for becoming a higher-tier Awakener, according to the memories of his past life.
“Hng!”
Im Gang pushed off the ground and closed the distance to Tu Jeon Gwi.
The Whirlwind Slash, raised to the fifth rank, unfurled.
Through the Great Power Fist Technique, he gained tremendous force, slicing through the air with a ferocious howl.
Tu Jeon Gwi flinched and attempted to create distance with the Withdraw Footwork, but the trajectory of the Whirlwind Slash was bizarre beyond measure. The distinctive movement of the Circular Flow Footwork twisted the path in mockery of his predictions.
‘Damn it, why is his footwork like this!’
Tu Jeon Gwi panicked and instinctively grasped the limits of the Withdraw Footwork. But who was he?
The ghost Tu Jeon Gwi, who had seen everything in the Underground Fighting Pit.
One who was prepared to stake his life for money opened his eyes wide as though awakened by fate.
‘Who am I! The money-mad ghost, Tu Jeon Gwi!’
His choice was a frontal breakthrough.
If the Withdraw Footwork was a technique of retreat, preparing for future fights—
‘The All-In Footwork.’
He deployed a footwork that never looked back, for fights where his life—his fortune—hung in the balance.
At the same time, he extended his fist.
As his fist drove forward with momentum, aiming for Im Gang’s chest—
Thwack!
A dull impact sounded, and tremendous pain shot through his side.
Simultaneously, his vision went black.
When his sight returned moments later, the first thing he saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.
‘What is this? Was I dreaming?’
Tu Jeon Gwi thought as much, blinking.
His last memory was of his fist about to strike Im Gang’s chest.
Then his vision had gone dark, and now an unfamiliar ceiling greeted him.
“……Ah. Patient, you’ve come to.”
At the voice from beside him, he turned his head to see the Underground Fighting Pit’s unlicensed physician.
Seeing that face, the lost memory rushed back.
Im Gang’s Whirlwind Slash had bent at an angle that seemed impossible for human joints, crashing down to rake his ribs.
“Your ribs are currently fractured…….”
‘So that’s why my side hurts so much.’
Tu Jeon Gwi let the physician’s words wash over him, though regret lingered.
Thinking back, his opponent had many openings too.
As if he couldn’t yet control the power he’d only just gained.
Had he been just a little more composed, he could have dodged that final strike.
Like a rookie stepping into his first gambling den, he’d been rattled from the start and dragged along to the bitter end.
‘Though perhaps even that was calculated.’
Just as the thought occurred to him—
An enormous roar erupted from the arena.
Another match had just finished.
Tu Jeon Gwi smiled bitterly, gazing toward the arena entrance, when the masked White Face—Im Gang—casually walked out.
‘Did that bastard fight another match right after fighting me? How many matches is he running in one day?’
Tu Jeon Gwi looked at White Face with an expression mixing awe and admiration.
* * *
Back in the waiting room, Im Gang collapsed into a chair.
“Damn, that was exhausting.”
Im Gang’s face, now unmasked, was drenched in sweat.
Originally, he’d planned to return to the inn once his match with Tu Jeon Gwi ended.
But the Manager had rushed over, claiming another fighter had suddenly dropped out, pleading desperately for just one more bout.
Naturally, he’d meant to refuse.
‘I’m exhausted.’
Yet the Manager had made an offer he couldn’t decline.
A thirty-percent bonus on winnings was just the start.
But what truly caught Im Gang’s ear was the promise of “a few unclaimed items in the Underground Fighting Pit’s warehouse.”
Those items were either heirlooms of fighters who’d died by misfortune during matches, or goods surrendered to the pit as collateral by those unable to repay debts.
To Im Gang, who possessed the Treasure Detection Skill, it was a goldmine.
“I really owe you one. You saved my life.”
“We were just helping each other out.”
Im Gang collected his winnings from the Manager and followed him toward the warehouse.
“Here we are—this is our storage. I can’t promise you’ll find anything useful, but take your time. First, this is the Jeopryn Meoldto, a blade once wielded by a master swordsman—one of the finest blades under heaven. It’s so sharp that if you drop paper on the blade, it’ll slice clean in half, and…….”
Though his words painted a grand picture, the Manager elaborated with flowery descriptions as they walked, but Im Gang found himself listening with only half an ear, letting the rest drift past.
The actual performance, it turned out, was rather disappointing.
‘Pale white dot, deep white dot…… that one’s a light blue dot…… eh, nothing special.’
Suddenly, Im Gang’s eyes snapped wide open as he scanned deeper into the warehouse.
A single yellow dot gleamed from one corner—the same golden light he’d seen when he discovered the Great Power Fist Technique.
‘What the…….’
Im Gang suppressed his excitement and made his way toward it. There, carelessly tucked into an old box, lay a Flying Blade.
A peak-grade Flying Blade—his primary weapon—was finally within reach.
His heart began to pound, thump-thump, thump-thump.
On the surface, it looked like nothing more than a well-crafted, ordinary Flying Blade.
But.
When Im Gang checked its options with the Appraisal Skill, he silently exulted.
[Hidden Chain Flying Blade]
⌞
Attack Power: 10 (+@)
Durability: 98 / 100
Special Option: When internal energy is infused, a strand of Qi materializes from the hilt’s end and connects like an invisible thread, allowing retrieval after throwing. Attack power scales proportionally with the amount of infused internal energy.
The dulled iron swords used by Wanderers typically had an attack power of around 10.
His usual thrown Flying Blades sat at a similar level.
But the Hidden Chain Flying Blade was different once you infused it with internal energy.
‘This is absolutely incredible!’
Keeping his expression flat despite his inner excitement, Im Gang picked up the blade.
“I’ll take this one.”
“This? It’s just a well-honed Flying Blade, nothing fancy. Aren’t there flashier treasures around? You could always sell it if you run short on funds later.”
“For a Wanderer, practicality trumps appearance. Throwing weapons are consumables, so having more is always better. And a well-honed Flying Blade is especially valuable, wouldn’t you say?”
With a smooth answer, the Manager nodded in agreement.
As far as he was concerned, Im Gang taking such a thing off his hands was a favor.
It was only possible because he didn’t know the Hidden Chain Flying Blade’s true worth.
Im Gang salvaged several other useful items he’d been lacking and left the warehouse in excellent spirits.
* * *
A few days later.
Im Gang pooled together the money he’d earned from the Underground Fighting Pit along with his savings and finally secured a small house. This time, he followed proper legal procedures and settled in the Official Residential District rather than the Slum District.
Though it was only a few minutes’ walk from the Slum District, being within the jurisdiction of the local magistrate meant arson and theft were far less of a concern.
Compared to his previous dwelling, this represented nothing short of miraculous progress.
“Excellent. Now I can finally sleep without worry.”
The threat of being stabbed awake in the middle of the night had drastically diminished.
Savoring the smell of his new home, Im Gang adjusted the sword at his waist.
He’d exhausted his funds getting the house.
It was time to return to his main livelihood.
What, he couldn’t just keep fighting at the Underground Fighting Pit?
Unfortunately, that was impossible.
Perfect Victory Record.
That was the Underground Fighting Pit’s achievement over the past month.
Since First-Class Martial Masters were forbidden from competing, there was no opponent who could stand against Im Gang, a Second-Class Peak Master.
As a result, he’d been barred from participating as a competitor for one year.
“Guess I’ll head back to the Mercenary Guild.”
Im Gang set off with a light step toward the Quest Hall.
* * *
A month had passed, and Hangzhou’s atmosphere had shifted considerably.
The heterodox sects and rogue factions who’d been treading carefully and watching their step while paying the price for offending someone of high standing had begun to swagger openly once more.
And because of that.
“Escort duty for a traveling procession through the nearby villages…….”
“Here! Pick me!”
“Get your hand down before I cut it off! That job’s mine!”
Hordes of Wanderers descended upon the Quest Hall clerk like ravenous zombies, lunging for the notice board he held.
Such was the result of this strange, fragile peace.
Im Gang let out a hollow laugh at how much the atmosphere had changed in just a month.
‘Like watching a marketplace from a past life.’
There were wanderers squabbling over choice commissions.
“Ah, hell, I raised my hand first!”
“Yeah. Whoever grabbed the notice slip first owns it.”
“Watch your back on the night road.”
“Why wait for the night road? We could settle this right here and now.”
“Not that I’m planning to stab anyone in the back or anything…….”
But there were commissions no one wanted.
“Great Dragon Faction and Blood Sea Sect…….”
…….
…….
The moment those two sect names were spoken.
A chill silence descended over the wanderers.
No one was volunteering because those two sects were locked in an elimination war—a death match to determine which would survive.
It was different from the Red Stream Faction and Black Sword Faction war. That conflict had been about territory and a sect’s future, but the Great Dragon Faction and Blood Sea Sect were fighting over a blood debt—a karmic vendetta.
Nobody knew the exact nature of the grudge.
A wanderer would have no way of knowing.
One thing was certain: nothing in the martial world was more brutal than a blood debt.
‘It’s been quiet for a while……but now it comes to this.’
Im Gang flicked his ear with an indifferent expression.
The Mercenary Guild staff member continued calling out commissions.
Whenever a halfway decent one was announced, wanderers would peel off to take it.
There were actually some solid commissions by Im Gang’s standards. Yet he refused them—not because his purse was particularly full.
‘Hmm. Nothing’s really calling to me.’
Most of his money had gone toward buying the house.
He had barely enough left for meals.
He simply wasn’t stepping forward because the commissions felt strangely off—like they were all missing something.
Back then, he’d taken any job for coin.
‘But that was then. This is now.’
It wasn’t just a change of heart.
It was intuition.
As he awakened and leveled up, his intuition grew sharper.
It had been the same in his past life.
A treasure hunter’s intuition didn’t just sniff out artifacts—it culled opportunities from the worthless.
As he grew bored, leaning solely on that intuition and passing commission after commission.
“Cave exploration…….”
“……!”
That intuition flared.
Im Gang’s ears perked up instantly.
Like a sleeping dog snapping awake at the sound of a treat bag tearing open.
“……An unidentified cave discovered in the Northern Outskirts of Hangzhou. The commission comes from the nearby village chief—the objective is exploration and hazard assessment, and the compensation is…….”
The Mercenary Guild staff member continued, but all Im Gang heard was ‘cave.’
A cave.
The martial world was full of fortuitous opportunities.
Thirty percent came from cliff encounters, fifteen percent from caves (the remaining fifty-five percent consisted of things like stumbling upon a reclusive master who teaches you techniques, or a renowned sect recognizing your talent and taking you as a disciple).
A shame it wasn’t a cliff cave.
‘There’s a reason wuxia novels have that scene where the protagonist falls from a cliff and everyone just assumes he’s dead without confirming it.’
Medieval wuxia land’s cliffs weren’t low enough that you’d bother climbing down for confirmation.
A fall meant instant death as a rule.
You could die looking for the body on your way down.
Besides, there weren’t any cliffs like that near Hangzhou anyway.
“I’ll take that commission.”
Im Gang followed his intuition and raised his hand.

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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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