Walkthrough for the Transcendental Hunter's Ruins - Chapter 104
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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 104
Several days had passed since the raid team returned from the ruin.
Even amid the commotion, the Hunters returned to their respective posts.
Jeon Ji-woo had also finished his remaining work at the Hunter Bureau and come home.
But once there, Jeon Jae-woo pestered him relentlessly about what happened in the ruin, forcing him to repeat everything he’d already told the Bureau.
“…So you’re saying that in a desperate moment, you awakened a Transcendent-grade Trait and even lopped off the boss’s head?”
“Yeah.”
Hearing the story from the ruin, it was beyond absurd—it was almost laughable.
Who would have thought someone could advance to Transcendent grade in that kind of situation?
“Well, you don’t seem to be injured anywhere, so that’s good.”
“I was shocked that you didn’t have to exit the ruin. Fascinating stuff.”
What was even more remarkable was that he’d been promoted to Transcendent-grade Hunter in the middle of combat.
‘He was growing at an incredible rate for an S-Rank Hunter, and now he’s finally obtained a Transcendent-grade Trait.’
He’d been born in a state bordering on Transcendent-grade Trait, but he hadn’t expected him to reach this level so quickly.
There were so many Hunters who finished their lives without ever reaching the Realm needed for a Transcendent-grade Trait, despite having it within arm’s reach.
Before long, two pieces of news spread rapidly.
One was that South Korea had successfully cleared an Ancient-grade Ruin alone for the first time.
The other was that a new Transcendent-grade Hunter had been born in Korea.
[Korea’s Second Transcendent-grade Hunter Born.]
[Hunter Jeon Ji-woo Awakens Transcendent-grade Trait. Official Statement from Hunter Bureau.]
As the news spread, the entire Hunter world—indeed, all of South Korea—was abuzz with excitement.
It was only natural, given that a Transcendent-grade Hunter had emerged from Korea.
As a side note, Jeon Jae-woo himself had figured out why the Hunters couldn’t exit the ruin.
Surprisingly, it matched exactly what Lich King had predicted.
‘Using the ability to trap souls, preventing people from escaping the ruin.’
Necromancy, the skill used by necromancers like Lich King, is the ability to bind and hold souls in place.
In other words, once a soul is bound, the physical body cannot escape either—unless one resorts to Astral Projection.
If enemies began a serious assault, the Lich King could manage by exerting full power early on, but attempting a late exit would prove impossible.
Lich King lacked such capability, but the Lich Monarch—the boss of the Ancient-grade Ruin—was no ordinary Monster, so nothing seemed out of place.
In any case, Yoo Jung-tae’s prediction had missed the mark.
He’d decided to attempt the Ruin Conquest because the difficulty seemed relatively low, but upon opening the lid, it wasn’t low at all.
Well, in the end, since they’d cleared the ruin and everything turned out well, one might call it fortunate.
If Jeon Ji-woo hadn’t awakened his Transcendent-grade Trait, it could have ended in total annihilation.
Of course, even with Jeon Ji-woo becoming Transcendent-grade, it was only possible because the other Hunters had backed him up well.
Even a Transcendent-grade Hunter cannot clear an Ancient-grade Ruin alone.
“At any rate, I’m glad you and everyone else made it back safely.”
“You worry too much. I told you nothing would happen.”
Nothing happening was far from the truth—things nearly went catastrophically wrong.
“I’m seriously considering whether to re-subordinate you to the Hunter Bureau or not. If something like this happens again, how do you plan to get out?”
“Then you can help me out by invoking your right of intervention.”
I’d nearly used it this time.
But I’d cleared the ruin before needing to, so I didn’t end up using it.
‘Well, I’ll probably have a use for it eventually.’
“Honestly, I’d completely forgotten that piece of paper even existed.”
To reiterate: regardless, everything worked out well, and that’s what matters.
Yet Jeon Ji-woo shook his head in a way that suggested he disagreed.
“Hmm. I don’t think everything worked out that well.”
“Why? Were there any casualties?”
“No. Director Yoo Jung-tae is taking responsibility and stepping down because of this incident.”
……
***
After the Lich Monarch ruin conquest came to an end.
Though a catastrophic accident had nearly occurred, the mood among the Hunter community and the general public was largely positive.
A new Transcendent-grade Hunter had emerged, and they’d succeeded in clearing an Ancient-grade Ruin solo.
But separate from that, Yoo Jung-tae, the top official responsible for this conquest, could not escape the blade.
It had nearly been a disaster where the Director’s poor judgment wiped out the Bureau’s elite forces in an instant.
There was no thought of hiding it, nor any way to hide it—it was a problem that could not be concealed.
Certainly, there are Hunters above the law in this world, and the one who manages such Hunters is the Director of the Hunter Bureau.
But this wasn’t just any matter—if a mistake was made against fellow Hunters, it couldn’t simply be overlooked.
Fully aware of his error, Yoo Jung-tae held a press conference two days after the ruin was cleared and formally announced his resignation before anyone could say a word.
“…and effective immediately, I shall be stepping down from my post as director. I sincerely apologize to the citizens of this nation for any concern my resignation may cause.”
The reporters stirred at this unexpected announcement.
Yoo Jung-tae descended from the podium before questions could flood in like a tsunami.
While it was true that Yoo Jung-tae had reached an age where retirement was reasonable, his track record made this anything but an honorable departure.
He wasn’t at such an advanced age that he couldn’t have remained in his post at the Hunter Bureau—there would have been nothing wrong with that.
Once Yoo Jung-tae’s resignation became official, every hunter’s attention converged on a single question.
‘Who will be the next director?’
While the director’s seat remained vacant, the deputy director would handle most of the duties, but a successor would need to be appointed as soon as possible.
Even Na Yu-gyeong, who still carried the air of a newcomer, was brimming with curiosity about who would fill the director’s role.
“So who will the next director be?”
“I’m not sure. Usually, they bring in someone from the retired senior hunters rather than promoting from within.”
The Hunter Bureau director, as the head of one of the central administrative agencies, is appointed solely by the President.
Of course, in practice, the influence of active and established hunters inevitably plays a role.
Since appointing a new Hunter Bureau director essentially means choosing who will steer the hunter community’s future.
Na Yu-gyeong, lost in thought, suddenly blurted out a question.
“Could Ji-woo become the next director? She’s a Transcendent-grade Hunter now, after all.”
Kim Yu-min, who had been answering the younger hunter’s questions patiently, let out a short laugh.
“I can say with confidence that won’t happen.”
While Jeon Ji-woo would be the strongest choice from a pure combat perspective as a hunter, the director’s position naturally wasn’t determined solely by rank.
“They’ll almost certainly bring in one of the retired seniors. An S-Rank Hunter, of course.”
Among the established hunters, there are many exceptional S-Rank Hunters, but most of them are occupied leading their own organizations, making it difficult for them to take on the director’s role.
And since a hunter’s rank does matter as a Hunter Bureau director, it’s become customary that the candidate must be at least S-Rank.
Yoo Jung-tae himself had accepted the director’s position at the government’s request when he was winding down his active career as a hunter.
“Whoever comes, I hope they’ll be as good as Director Yoo Jung-tae.”
Kim Yu-min shared the sentiment that it would be nice if a capable person took the role.
Yoo Jung-tae had been an excellent superior in both ability and character.
Though he’d nearly suffered a catastrophic failure this time.
As mentioned before, who would become the next Hunter Bureau director was an unprecedented matter of public interest.
“He hasn’t stepped down yet anyway. Don’t be so disappointed.”
“Right. By the way, what rewards came from the Ruin Conquest?”
“The rewards?”
Na Yu-gyeong had been the only one absent from the Ruin Conquest among the S-Rank Hunters, so she’d never even seen what the rewards were.
Since they hadn’t been revealed to the public yet and the Hunter Bureau was treating them as classified, only those who’d actually entered the Ruin could know.
“Want to go take a look now?”
“Really? Even though it’s classified?”
“You’re an S-Rank Hunter—what does it matter? We’re just looking.”
The hunters had been quite surprised by the rewards from the Ruin Conquest.
The rewards seemed to have little connection to the Ruin’s environment or the monsters that appeared there.
Yet true to an Ancient-grade Ruin’s promise, they were undoubtedly something extraordinary.
Deep within a building lay a Hunter Bureau vault, hidden from sight.
“You understand you can’t tell anyone else what the reward is, right?”
“Of course!”
After disabling numerous protective seals and barriers, the iron door swung open.
Na Yu-gyeong stared at the single object displayed in the center of the room in confusion.
“Surely… a stopwatch?”
There, solitary in the middle of the chamber.
The reward from the Ancient-grade Ruin Conquest was a stopwatch that looked remarkably ordinary.
Just an utterly plain wristwatch—nothing special about it whatsoever, just the bare form of a timepiece.
“It’s no ordinary watch. It’s a Magical Artifact with the ability to stop time.”
Na Yu-gyeong’s eyes widened in astonishment.
“Time Stop? You mean if you use that stopwatch, time actually freezes?”
“Not like freezing the entire Earth’s time or anything. It seems to be able to temporarily halt the time of a targeted subject.”
Even the ability to halt a target’s time temporarily was impressive enough, though naturally the effect diminishes against subjects of higher caliber.
An S-Rank Hunter could break free in the blink of an eye after time is stopped.
Though at that level, there’s plenty an S-Rank Hunter can accomplish in that fleeting instant.
Moreover, the Mana consumed each time the Magical Artifact is activated is staggering.
So much so that even a hunter bearing a Magic-type Transcendent-grade Trait couldn’t easily operate it.
Impressive as it is, it’s not something the Hunter Bureau can readily put to use.”
“Still, that’s amazing, right? Even Magic-type hunters say that Time Stop is a magic that can’t exist unless you’re a god.”
“This is nothing. It’s not like we can just keep using it carelessly anyway.”
The magical artifacts Jeon Jae-woo had sold off so far were remarkable enough on their own.
Especially among the Spirit Elixirs of the World Tree, the one that reversed the body’s age and restored youth—there was nothing more wondrous to behold.
“But when the rewards were distributed, things got rather complicated.”
“What do you mean?”
“It seems Hunter Jeon Ji-woo had his eye on it.”
Once the conquest was complete, Jeon Ji-woo had claimed more than half of the total contribution to the Ruin Conquest.
He’d rescued hunters from danger, slain the most monsters, and dealt the killing blow to the Lich King himself—naturally, he’d played the largest role.
Hunters affiliated with the Hunter Bureau technically entrust their rewards to the bureau under contract and receive a salary in return.
But separately, by the Ruin system, if Jeon Ji-woo insisted, no one else could set foot in this Ruin.
If another hunter tried such a thing, they’d be dragged to prison or fined and have their goods seized by force—but there was no practical way to punish Jeon Ji-woo for monopolizing the magical artifacts.
A newly emerged Transcendent-grade Hunter.
And moreover, Jeon Jae-woo’s own brother—how could the laws of South Korea possibly punish him?
Jeon Ji-woo knew of the trait his brother possessed, the existence of Heaven’s Box, so when he saw this remarkable magical artifact his mouth did water.
Fortunately, he didn’t overstep, and it safely made its way into the Hunter Bureau’s vault.
After viewing the strange objects alongside Kim Yu-min, Na Yu-gyeong muttered to herself.
“I hope the new bureau chief will be a good person.”
Right now, who the new bureau chief would be mattered far more than the Ruin Conquest rewards they couldn’t yet use.
Transcendent-Grade Hunters and Ruin Conquest Strategy
Author
: Autumn
Production Date
: July 31, 2026
Publisher
: Aces Media
Editor-in-Chief
: Aces Media Editorial Team
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Without permission from the company and author, the content may not be used in any form or by any means.
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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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