The Returned Hunter Has Awakened to a Hidden Class - Chapter 8
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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8
Chapter 8
Dragon Heart
Transplanting a Dragon Heart is an extremely difficult and dangerous task.
Containing the immense mana held within a dragon’s heart into a human body—it’s like a waterfall pouring into a calm lake.
Thump! Thump!
Northern Inn of Tebe.
Kim Jun, who had rented the largest room, took out a Dragon Heart as massive as his own body.
‘I can do this.’
This heart obtained from the 80th Floor Dragon’s Plain before his regression.
When he attempted the transplant back then, his level was 91. His current level is 33, creating an overwhelming gap compared to his previous life.
Even then, it was a dangerous challenge that required risking his life.
‘I need Seo-yeon’s help.’
Having received the reward for the first clear of the 6th floor, Lee Seo-yeon’s current level is now 10.
At this level, Seo-yeon’s unique skill 「Mana Stabilization」 should be considerably strengthened as well.
Knock knock-
Kim Jun carefully knocked on the door where his companions were staying, then called for Lee Seo-yeon.
“Seo-yeon, could you come out for a moment?”
The door opened and Lee Seo-yeon’s face appeared. Behind her, Ryu Ji-a’s suspicious expression was visible.
“Oh my, you’re only calling for me? At this late hour?”
“Why are you only calling unnie? That’s strange. I want to come too.”
“It’s not like that. Just go to sleep already.”
Kim Jun asked for a moment’s understanding and quietly walked with Lee Seo-yeon to a forest on the outskirts of Tebe.
“Guild Leader? There must be a reason you brought me all the way here. Will you tell me now?”
Lee Seo-yeon smiled, but within that expression was a premonition that something serious was about to happen.
Kim Jun, the leader of Han Guild, was never someone who moved lightly.
There must be a significant reason for calling her to this place at this hour.
And that expectation was accurate.
“Seo-yeon.”
“Yes.”
“Please help me with the Dragon Heart transplant.”
“What?”
The heart Kim Jun took out from his spatial pouch still pulsed with a red glow.
Lee Seo-yeon’s body instinctively stepped back from the intense mana waves emanating from the Dragon Heart.
“You, you have a Dragon Heart?”
“Yes.”
“But how do you transplant something like that?”
“I’ll handle it myself. Seo-yeon, just help stabilize the flow of mana surging within me during the process.”
Without Lee Seo-yeon, even if Kim Jun had obtained the Dragon Heart, it would have taken months to fully accept its power.
But now he couldn’t afford such luxury.
The Tower never gives challengers time to catch their breath.
A moment’s stagnation meant retreat, and that was tantamount to death.
“I’m starting.”
“Y-yes….”
Lee Seo-yeon’s voice trembled with tension.
The Dragon Heart’s overwhelming presence planted anxiety in her heart, but she steadied herself by repeatedly taking deep breaths.
She carefully approached behind Kim Jun and knelt down.
Kim Jun placed both hands on the massive Dragon Heart.
Thump! Thump!
The mana felt from the Dragon Heart was tremendous.
An overwhelming amount that couldn’t compare even if all the mana in his body were combined.
‘Will this be okay?’
He hesitated for a moment. Could a human body handle such power? But he had already crossed a river of no return.
“Whoo.”
After taking a deep breath, he began absorbing the Dragon Heart’s mana.
“Hup!”
Thick, red mana climbed up his fingers like a starving snake.
The mana flow that initially connected as thin as a thread gradually grew more intense.
Red lines could be seen spreading beneath his skin.
Like a river of flowing lava, that mana traveled through Kim Jun’s hands to his arms, from his arms to his shoulders, and finally rampaged toward his heart.
“Grraaah!”
A suppressed scream burst from his mouth.
His entire body stiffened, and all his blood vessels swelled red beneath his skin like heated iron chains.
The torrent of mana was testing his human limits.
“Aaahhh!!”
Kim Jun’s face contorted.
Pain washed over him.
The sensation of every cell burning. His human mana circuits were too narrow and weak to handle the dragon’s immense power.
‘At this rate….’
Warning signals rang in his consciousness. At this rate, his mana circuits would explode from overload.
His body would be swept away by the torrent of mana, and his soul would be torn apart.
“Guild Leader!”
Lee Seo-yeon cried out urgently, but all she could do now was stabilize the flow from behind Kim Jun.
Whoosh-
Blue-tinted mana flowed from her fingertips and enveloped Kim Jun’s body.
But before the Dragon Heart’s overwhelming and violent mana, it was as thin as a single thread.
‘Stronger!’
Lee Seo-yeon gritted her teeth and poured out all her mana.
An even more intense battle was taking place within Kim Jun.
He turned his consciousness inward. There, Kim Jun could see his mana circuits.
Small rivers of blue light flowed within his body. The dragon’s red mana poured down upon them.
‘Don’t resist. Don’t reject it. Let yourself flow with it.’
Like wind blowing over a deep lake creating ripples, Kim Jun’s mana wavered.
He simply closed his eyes and fully felt that flow.
‘Let it all flow through.’
In his consciousness, two streams met.
Human blue mana and red mana rushing from the Dragon Heart.
Initially they collided, creating violent whirlpools, but as Kim Jun released all resistance, the two streams gradually began finding a unified flow.
Gurgle!
The natural flow of mana. He let it flow there naturally.
The red current flowing into the blue river soon became one,
Thud thud thud!
The unified mana soon gathered at his fingertips,
Whoooosh-!
Flames erupted from Kim Jun’s hands.
“!!”
It’s coming.
A massive wave flows.
The mana that had been blocked somewhere and flowing weakly until now bursts forth like a flood.
The dragon’s mana begins to gradually stabilize in all his blood vessels.
“Guild Master! Open everything! Now’s the time!”
He must absorb all the power of the Dragon Heart. Not a single drop can be wasted.
He goes back inside. There’s definitely a barrier somewhere. It must be blocking him from fully drawing out the dragon’s mana.
“Grrrgh!”
He sends his consciousness back into his body.
Like exploring a maze, he traces the path of mana.
From hand to chest. And the flow that started from his chest was traveling in all directions, but it kept circling back and hovering around that area.
‘Found it.’
The connection point between heart and soul. The tiny gap at the boundary where human and dragon power meet.
The wave of mana that couldn’t flow there and was dissipating.
Whooo-
He concentrates all his mind to widen the gap.
Whoooong-
The thread-thin crack gradually widens. And through that crack, Kim Jun saw something.
The dragon’s consciousness.
The power of a primordial being that human reason cannot comprehend.
Whoooooong-!
In that moment, the dragon’s consciousness noticed him. And it lunged at Kim Jun.
“Cough!”
His body trembles violently, and blood pours from his mouth.
“Focus! If you stop here, you’ll die!”
Facing the dragon’s consciousness, Kim Jun was overwhelmed by its crushing presence. Ancient memories pierced through his consciousness like lightning.
Moments of flying freely through blue skies, moments of breathing flames that burned mountain ranges, fierce battles with transcendents, and finally… the moment of death.
‘Who are you?’
The dragon’s voice echoed in his consciousness.
*
‘What should I do?’
Lee Seo-yeon panicked. Kim Jun’s condition was far from normal.
His body was frozen without the slightest movement, and cold sweat poured down his entire body.
His lips had turned blue, and his breathing was only labored.
Most concerning were his eyes.
His pupils were severely dilated, staring into empty space without focus.
“Guild Master! Guild Master!”
No matter how much she called, there was no response.
‘Is he really going to die like this?’
Lee Seo-yeon’s hands trembled. Her 「Mana Stabilization」 skill didn’t seem capable of resolving this situation.
The mana waves emanating from the Dragon Heart were still fierce, and Kim Jun’s body was trembling, unable to handle that power.
‘Even if it’s hard, I have to endure. I can’t let him fight alone!’
Lee Seo-yeon forcibly pushed her body that had already reached its limit.
Her arms and legs became heavy as lead, and her head spun dizzily.
Her mana was running dry. But she couldn’t give up.
She couldn’t leave the Guild Master to fight alone.
Lee Seo-yeon bit her lips so hard that they bled. That pain helped her stay alert.
Down to the last drop, she gathered all the mana remaining in her body.
From her fingertips to her toes, even scraping together the faint mana hidden in her hair, she poured it all toward Kim Jun.
‘Please… please come back, Guild Master…’
And so, five hours passed.
Hissss-
Heat burst forth from Kim Jun’s body.
Lee Seo-yeon’s face was pale as a blank sheet of paper.
Her appearance after concentrating all her mind for five hours straight to sustain Kim Jun’s mana was as precarious as a flame before the wind.
Her body had long since exceeded its limits, but only her will held onto that last thread of hope.
And finally, as if her sincere devotion had been answered, a miraculous change began.
Like the calm that comes after a long storm, something inside Kim Jun’s body began to stabilize.
The red mana flowing through Kim Jun’s blood vessels.
The dragon’s rough mana waves began to harmonize with his original mana.
Thump! Thump!
His heart, which had been flickering on and off, began beating anew,
Faaaaa-!
The blue mana disappeared.
Only red mana remained.
“Guild Master…?”
Lee Seo-yeon was shocked.
Whiiiiing-!
Intense wind swirled around Kim Jun in all directions.
Nearby leaves were caught in the wind and fell, and dust from the ground rose in spirals.
His hair fluttered in the wind, and his clothes flapped violently.
The oppressive force of mana emanating from his entire body made the air itself vibrate.
Kwaaaaah-!
It gathered around Kim Jun again and shot high into the sky. Like a dragon ascending to heaven.
“Thank you, Seo-yeon.”
“Guild Master…”
Deep fatigue was etched on Kim Jun’s face, but at the same time, there was a sense of relief as if he had lifted some great burden.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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