Walkthrough for the Transcendental Hunter's Ruins - Chapter 48

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 48
It had been several days since Jeon Jae-woo entered the Dungeon alone, and there was still no word from him.
After a day passed, the Korean Hunter Association—or rather, the Korean Government—grew anxious.
Several days had elapsed since he entered the Dungeon, yet there remained no contact.
If it were another hunter, they would have accepted it, but this was Jeon Jae-woo we were talking about.
And it wasn’t even an Ancient-tier Dungeon—merely a Legendary-tier one.
Even if it had been left unclaimed for years, had there ever been a time when Jeon Jae-woo took this long to clear a Legendary-tier Dungeon?
‘Could it be that even Jeon Jae-woo finds it difficult when a Dungeon has gone unclaimed for over twenty years?’
It would have been better if he’d gone in with other hunters instead.
But up until now, he’d cleared everything so effortlessly.
I can’t help but worry whether something’s gone wrong inside.
“I can’t exactly venture into the Dungeon myself…”
Yu Jeong-tae bit his lip, his anxiety plainly evident.
It wasn’t just the Korean Government that felt anxious—Turkey was equally on edge.
If Jeon Jae-woo failed to clear it, the monsters inside the Dungeon would be unleashed upon the heart of the city.
Yet contrary to everyone’s fears, though it had taken somewhat longer than usual, Jeon Jae-woo eventually emerged from the Dungeon.
The moment Yu Jeong-tae saw Jeon Jae-woo exit the Dungeon, his expression brightened noticeably.
“H-Hunter Jeon Jae-woo!!”
……
But the expression on Jeon Jae-woo’s face as he came out was far from good.
Seeing this, Yu Jeong-tae tensed visibly again as he asked.
“W-what happened? Did you clear the Dungeon…?”
“I cleared it. I received the reward as well.”
“Ah.”
The Hunter Association had just confirmed from the Dungeon system that the Grand Cross had been cleared.
Jeon Jae-woo had finished yet another unclaimed Dungeon on his own.
“But was there some problem during the clearing? Your expression looks quite troubled.”
“No, it’s nothing. The Dungeon proved more challenging than expected, so I’m simply fatigued.”
Just how difficult could it have been to leave even Hunter Jeon Jae-woo complaining of exhaustion?
“I’ll escort you back to your residence. Or would you prefer to rest here at the Association? We have premier facilities available at headquarters.”
While Yu Jeong-tae would have preferred to keep Jeon Jae-woo at the Association until the next Dungeon clearing, the hunter shook his head.
“No. I think I’ll head home now.”
An uneasy feeling gnawed at Yu Jeong-tae’s heart.
This troubled expression on Hunter Jeon Jae-woo’s face was cause for concern.
‘Surely there wasn’t a problem when he cleared Rainy Night?’
Seized by urgency, Yu Jeong-tae hurried after the departing Jeon Jae-woo, pressing him with repeated questions.
“Th-that is, Hunter Jeon Jae-woo.”
“Yes?”
“I know you must be tired, but when might you tackle the Dungeon allocated to Korea…?”
The Director’s expression was one of deep concern.
‘Did my face really become that stiff?’
He’d only felt melancholy because, despite all the effort, he hadn’t recovered even a single monster corpse.
“I’ll begin immediately tomorrow.”
Only then did Yu Jeong-tae’s expression brighten once more.
***
News spread that the Legendary-tier Dungeon allocated to Turkey had been cleared.
Both the Korean and Turkish peoples were relieved.
The prolonged silence had made them fear something catastrophic might have occurred inside the Dungeon.
With the clearing complete, Turkey eagerly handed over the compensation promised in advance to Jeon Jae-woo.
The Turkish Government’s official statement did its part too, lavishing Jeon Jae-woo with effusive praise as expected of him.
‘If only they’d let Hunter Jeon Jae-woo offer his thanks in person…’
The Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Hunter Association worked to prevent Jeon Jae-woo from meeting with Turkish officials who had entered the country to deliver the compensation.
Meanwhile, even as the world-class disaster of Dungeon Breaks continued to unfold, social conflict persisted.
Somehow, some of the Retired Hunters had begun to view the Active Hunters with disdain.
[Youngmyung Company Representative. Stated publicly: “Frankly, hunters are lacking in ability.”]
[What is causing the decline in Active Hunters’ capabilities? The result of chasing only comfort and profit?]
When several Retired Hunters made remarks taking shots at the current Active Hunters, the online communities where Active Hunters gathered erupted in outrage.
[Hunter Community. “You used up all your Dungeon clears and now you’re passing responsibility to us?” Heated exchanges.]
[“We’re not helping you at all. Try doing it yourselves if you’re so great.”]
And when the Active Hunters responded in kind, the Retired Hunters would in turn.
[Did you ever think things would come to this?]
[If a Dungeon Break had happened while we were still active, it wouldn’t have been a problem at all.]
Even pooling their strength wasn’t enough, and resentment toward one another accumulated steadily in this way.
It was a social conflict visible not just in Korea, but across the entire world.
Yet this was not a conflict between older hunters and younger ones.
Among those whose Awakening came late and who were well past their prime, many still served as Active Hunters, and there were plenty of others who had long since transitioned to Retired status after exhausting their Dungeon clears early in life.
It was most accurate to view this as a conflict between Active Hunters and Retired Hunters.
Every hunter has a fixed number of Dungeon entries from the moment they Awaken to Mana, and Retired Hunters have already exhausted theirs, making them unable to participate in Dungeon clearing—in a sense, it was a conflict written into fate itself.
Of course, only a handful openly displayed such hostility; most others were preoccupied with formulating countermeasures against Dungeon Breaks.
After all, if Dungeon clears failed and a Break occurred, monsters would pour forth across the land, and then both Active and Retired Hunters alike would have to join forces and fight.
Kim Yu-min, who represented the Active Hunters, paid no mind to what others said and focused solely on preparing for Dungeon clearing.
Should Jeon Jae-woo, Korea’s last bastion (?), prove unable to do it, then they would have to step forward.
As always, Kim Yu-min was absorbed in training in the Hunter Association Basement.
“Huff! Huff!”
Despite being an S-rank trait holder, after wielding his sword for quite some time, sweat poured down his face.
“Whew…”
As Kim Yu-min set his sword down and took a brief rest,
Yu Jeong-tae, the Director, approached silently from behind and handed him a beverage.
“You’re working hard. Yu-min.”
“Ah, Director.”
Yu Jeong-tae sat beside Kim Yu-min as he drank the beverage.
Though Yu Jeong-tae and Kim Yu-min had an age difference comparable to that of father and son, they maintained a close relationship within the Hunter Association.
For Kim Yu-min, Yu Jeong-tae—old enough to be his father—was both a life mentor and a hunter he deeply respected.
“How’s your condition?”
“No problems.”
“That’s reassuring.”
Not just Kim Yu-min, but most of the hunters on the front lines of the Korean Hunter Association were in peak condition.
Even so, they wouldn’t be able to clear the Rainy Night Dungeon allocated to Korea.
It was a thought shared by not just Yu Jeong-tae and Kim Yu-min, but by all Korean hunters.
They had attempted it several times already, but each attempt ended in failure.
Minister Lee Chul-su, President Lee Hoe-chan, and the Prime Minister all shut their eyes tight upon hearing of the failures.
It wasn’t a matter of narrow misses or mistakes that could be corrected with better preparation—they had failed so overwhelmingly that even the thought of trying again seemed impossible.
If it were something that could be accomplished through thorough preparation and grueling effort alone, the other great powers would have cleared it long ago.
Honestly, even a Transcendent-rank hunter might not be able to clear it.
Kim Yu-min glanced sideways at Yu Jeong-tae, who sat without speaking.
“Did you come to console me, sir?”
This was someone who didn’t usually do such things, so why had he suddenly appeared during training?
Yu Jeong-tae felt a pang in his chest, but quickly nodded.
“…Well, yes, in a sense. Mental management for hunters is an important duty for the Association.”
Not empty words—recently, the criticism directed at Active S-rank hunters like Kim Yu-min had become far too severe.
“Severe” was understating it; it had clearly crossed all bounds.
Yu Jeong-tae had come specifically to offer genuine consolation.
Kim Yu-min sighed deliberately and spoke in a murmur.
“I want to retire soon too. Standing at the forefront of the Hunter Association, I feel like I’m bearing the full weight of everyone’s gaze.”
“The more exceptional a person is, the more attention they tend to draw.”
“If that’s the standard, shouldn’t Jeon Jae-woo be receiving far more attention?”
Yu Jeong-tae fell momentarily silent.
Well, strictly speaking, it was true.
Currently, both within Korea and globally, Jeon Jae-woo commanded the highest attention among Active and Retired Hunters alike.
Yet among the Korean public, Kim Yu-min bore the brunt of the criticism.
As someone representing the Active Hunters, he seemed to lack sufficient ability.
In reality, because Jeon Jae-woo was so formidable, people feared approaching the subject at all and instead redirected their anger toward an easier(?) target.
But in truth, the Active S-rank hunters, Kim Yu-min among them, were far from lacking in ability.
Yu Jeong-tae, representing the Retired Hunters, had never once felt that the current generation fell short compared to his own during his active years.
Of course, he and his peers might possess greater experience and seasoned judgment now,
but comparisons ought to be made on equal terms to be fair.
And the current Active Hunters were certainly not complacent compared to the Retired Hunters.
Though the Hunter Association had issued an official stance multiple times, citizens gripped by anxiety merely perceived these explanations as signs of systemic rot produced by incompetent bureaucrats.
As someone representing Korea’s hunters, Yu Jeong-tae ceased making excuses and offered a sincere apology.
“I’m sorry, Yu-min. Here I am, failing to thank you for what you’re doing at the front for the people, and instead hearing slander behind your back…”
Kim Yu-min shrugged as if he didn’t much care.
“You’re right that it doesn’t help much, but what can you do.”
“What do you mean? Before Jeon Jae-woo came along, we were able to clear Dungeons because of hunters like you.”
“Still, in a crisis of this magnitude, there’s no one else our country can rely on but Jeon Jae-woo.”
……
To be honest, he couldn’t deny it.
If Jeon Jae-woo hadn’t existed, Korea would have been left completely exposed to the threat of this Dungeon Break.
Yu Jeong-tae cleared his throat briefly and continued.
“Even if that’s true, there’s no reason for you to take the blame. I’m from the older generation too, but if a Break had occurred in our time, what would have been different? We’d all be begging for help from America or China, sucking our thumbs like helpless children. And besides, Jeon Jae-woo is still very much a next-generation hunter. So doesn’t the fact that the new generation of hunters outperforms ours already prove something?”
Yu Jeong-tae sounded genuinely remorseful and continued without pause.
Kim Yu-min swallowed all the drink Yu Jeong-tae had given him and then asked.
“Still, is Jeon Jae-woo doing okay? I heard he looked troubled after clearing the Turkish Dungeon.”
“I’m not sure. He says he’s fine, but…”
Given the circumstances, it was hard not to worry.
They needed him to start the Dungeon clearance tomorrow as promised without issue.
But ultimately, it wasn’t something Yu Jeong-tae could control.
“It’ll be fine.”
Kim Yu-min nodded reassuringly as well.
“Right. It’ll be okay. Honestly, if we can’t trust Jeon Jae-woo among all the hunters in the world, who could we trust?”
And the next day, Jeon Jae-woo began the clearance of the Legendary-tier Dungeon “Rainy Night,” which had been assigned to Korea, as scheduled.
How a Transcendent-rank Hunter Clears Dungeons
Author
: Autumn
Date of Production
: June 16, 2026
Publisher
: ACES Media Co., Ltd.
Editor
: ACES Media Editorial Team
Address
: 10F Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Email
: [email protected]
※ This work has been published by ACES Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder,
and the content may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the publisher and author.
This e-book is a copyrighted work protected by copyright law, and unauthorized reproduction or copying may result in legal liability.
UCI
: G720:N+A129-20260615033

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————