Walkthrough for the Transcendental Hunter's Ruins - Chapter 69

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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 69
Korea had nearly wrapped up the Dungeon Break crisis in North Korea.
All the monsters that had already escaped the dungeon and were attacking civilian areas had been eliminated.
But to prevent another Break from occurring, they needed to venture inside the dungeon and thin out the monster population further.
Of course, entering the dungeon was an extremely dangerous undertaking.
Before long, the hunters who had entered the dungeon to hunt monsters were carried back out.
“We have another wounded here!”
“Critical condition! Get a healer, anyone, hurry!!”
“Hey! Go to the storage and bring more World Tree Potions!”
As the wounded arrived, the healing-class Awakened Ones moved about in a flurry of activity.
For reference, the World Tree Potions referred to potions that Jeon Jae-woo had provided.
Though not an official designation—the creator hadn’t formally named them—hunters had taken to calling them World Tree Potions collectively.
Compared to the World Tree of mythology that had birthed the foundations of the world, they were now more akin to simple Elixir trees.
In any case, the moment potion was poured onto a wound, a critical patient on the brink of death recovered in an instant.
“Ah…”
“Come on now, Kim Hunter. Are you coming to?”
“…How am I still alive? I thought I was done for.”
“We used the potion on you, that’s how. If you’re awake, move aside quick. More patients are coming in.”
“But I swear a shark-creature bit me in half—my whole torso was severed. How is any of this…”
Both the healers administering treatment and the patients receiving it marveled at the potion’s effectiveness.
Meanwhile, outside the treatment room stood the CEO of Youngmyeong Company.
Kim Jun-ha stared intently at a single bottle of World Tree Potion that his subordinate had brought.
The moment he uncorked the bottle and caught the lingering scent of its contents.
“Oh…”
A short exclamation escaped him unbidden.
His subordinate, as if he’d expected this, asked him.
“Different, isn’t it?”
“It is. A truly outstanding potion.”
Word had it that this was made by diluting the World Tree’s Elixir multiple times, yet to achieve this quality was remarkable.
In decades of hunter work, Kim Jun-ha had never seen a potion this fine.
He wondered if even the national-treasure-grade potion hidden deep in the American underground came close to this.
Kim Jun-ha muttered in a tone of complete bewilderment.
“How in the world did they manage to create something like this?”
“He must be a genius. Jeon Jae-woo is quite the remarkable figure, after all.”
“Still, this is beyond remarkable. This is excessive.”
If he were only exceptionally talented at potion-making, that would be one thing.
But for him to be strong enough to solo Legendary-grade and Ancient-grade Ruins while also possessing this kind of crafting ability—
Kim Jun-ha had never heard of such a thing in all his years as a hunter.
And recently, apparently he’d even crafted weapons for a newly recruited S-Rank Hunter.
So he had expertise not just in potion-making but in magical tool crafting as well?
When he’d first heard the name Jeon Jae-woo, he’d assumed some exaggeration had crept into the stories of his accomplishments, but upon reflection, that didn’t seem to be the case at all.
“Tch…”
Kim Jun-ha clicked his tongue softly and turned his head away.
The sight of Hunter Bureau personnel carrying potions and treating the wounded.
Kim Jun-ha found that image deeply disagreeable.
“Something this extraordinary shouldn’t be reserved only for active-duty hunters.”
His subordinate questioned the abrupt remark.
“Sir, what do you mean all of a sudden?”
“Well, aren’t we better at fighting monsters than they are?”
It was only natural that established hunters fought better than active-duty ones.
They’d accumulated more experience and training over the long years of hunter work, so they ought to fight better.
“It’s not as if the work is any easier for us. In fact, from my experience, it’s harder for the established generation. Have you never worked as an active-duty hunter?”
Kim Jun-ha was frustrated that such a fine potion was being used exclusively by the Hunter Bureau.
Preventing such a valuable commodity from leaking abroad was understandable, and he could accept the Hunter Bureau taking an active hand in that.
But shouldn’t domestic companies at least have equal opportunity to purchase the potion?
Why did the Hunter Bureau monopolize procurement and restrict its use to active-duty hunters only?
Though his company had taken on the role of receiving Elixir from Jeon Jae-woo and producing potions from it, that didn’t mean those potions were made available to his own people.
“We should try making direct contact with this Jeon Jae-woo fellow. How much longer are they going to keep everything locked up at the Hunter Bureau?”
His subordinate, however, sounded reluctant.
“…Would it be alright to do that?”
“Is it really okay to do that? What’s the problem?”
“The Hunter Bureau might not take it well if they found out.”
“If we just get closer to that friend, it doesn’t matter. If Jeon Jae-woo says he’ll only sign a contract with us, what can they do about it?”
It was true—at this point in the hunter industry, it was Jeon Jae-woo who held the cards, not the Hunter Bureau.
If they could just secure the potion, it would be an enormous profit.
Besides, Kim Jun-ha’s relationship with Yoo Jung-tae had never been particularly warm to begin with, so he wasn’t especially keen on treading carefully.
***
The Dungeon Break rotation had shifted to North America.
Mexico, Canada, and the United States had to move quickly once again for ruin exploration.
Though the superpower United States could handle it one way or another, the real trouble lay with Mexico and Canada.
But Canada had one less thing to worry about this time.
“Achieve Spiritual Purification.”
—Shhh-ssshhh!!!
At the Lich King’s gesture, a ghost vanished with the sound of something burning.
Jeon Jae-woo was currently exploring the ruin that had been assigned to Canada.
But the word “ghost” wasn’t metaphorical.
The kind you’d commonly see in media—a pure white sheet draped around something, drifting here and there through the air.
‘Damn it, I want to go home.’
He’d regretted agreeing to ruin exploration in the first place.
Since arriving, Jeon Jae-woo had done nothing but hide squarely behind Myeol-geop.
Truth be told, even during normal ruin exploration, he rarely did much himself.
He simply happened to be more frightened of ghosts than of beasts.
Of course, he’d fought similar monsters before, but this one had exactly the kind of appearance that would come to mind when a Korean thought of a ghost.
The Lich King, Catsy, and No-bum were handling the ghosts themselves.
When it came to fighting soul-type creatures, specialists in the psychic and spirit-summoning arts were without equal.
Myeol-geop was certainly capable of fighting soul-related monsters too.
But he couldn’t understand why the Lich King, undead though he was himself, used the word “spiritual purification” when exorcising ghosts.
‘Where does he even learn these words?’
It seemed like lately, whenever the Lich King sat at the computer in his corner, he’d been studying various things about Earth’s religions.
‘But how exactly are ghost-type monsters even created?’
Unlike modern society, where ghosts or spirits had been dismissed as pure fiction, the academic world had come to seriously debate the existence of spiritual entities since the Great Cataclysm struck.
The abilities wielded by hunters and beasts made it difficult to flatly deny the existence of spiritual beings.
Prime examples of this were Spirit Art and Necromancy.
Jeon Jae-woo glanced sideways at No-bum, who was casting buffs on him from nearby.
‘Come to think of it… haven’t I been living alongside spirits this whole time?’
No, wait—no, that’s not right.
Ghosts and spirits were definitely different entities.
Ghosts were the souls of the dead, separated from their bodies and lingering in the world.
Spirits, on the other hand, never possessed physical form in the real world to begin with.
And Myeol-geop gave him a straight answer to his question.
[Ghosts do exist.]
“Really?”
[Yes. If a soul fails to disperse for some reason and remains attached to the body, that’s when it becomes a ghost.]
“So you’re saying I could run into a ghost on the street?”
[You could, but generally people cannot see them. Unless you possess an ability to interfere with the spiritual realm, like a shaman or a spirit summoner.]
……
A sudden chill ran down his spine, but curiosity won out over fear.
“So it’s really true that ghosts appear to people and cause harm?”
[Such cases do exist, but they’re extremely rare. Most likely, most of those stories are lies.]
So they do happen, just rarely.
“Why?”
[Generally, souls in spiritual form cannot interfere with the real world. A ghost—having lost the body, which is the only means of affecting reality—lacks any way to intervene.]
“But then how do they cause harm?”
[That’s precisely why I said such cases are extremely rare. There may indeed be various methods to interfere with reality.]
“Do they become, like, malevolent spirits or something?”
Myeol-geop shook his head.
[No. Simply harboring resentment doesn’t transform a soul into a vengeful or malevolent spirit. That sort of plot—where resentment leads to corruption and a surge of power—is the kind of cliché you see in manga.]
And he pointed to the Lich King, who was fighting hard.
[Malevolent spirits like that are usually summoned by spirit summoners like the Lich King. They then cling to skeletal bones to temporarily obtain a new body.]
“But even if they cling to something, why does it have to be a skeleton? That seems needlessly scary.”
[Skeletons are easier to reanimate because they were once bodies with souls attached. Though it’s not limited to skeletons—souls can transfer into inanimate objects and become puppets for the caster.]
“Hmm.”
That’s certainly fascinating.
‘…Fascinating or not, I’m sleeping with No-bum and Catsy from now on.’
Just in case any spirits show up, I can purge them right away.
After hearing the explanation, I somehow felt even more unnerved.
A short while later, the Lich King and Catsy returned, having finished cleansing all the spirits.
[Exploration quest complete.]
[The ‘Nameless’ Ruin is now the property of Jeon Jae-woo.]
The ruin exploration was finished.
In truth, spirits weren’t particularly powerful or dangerous monsters.
The problem was their intangible nature—it severely limited the means of attack, which was why so many hunters who’d challenged them over the years had struggled.
Being spirit-like, they were adept at concealing themselves, making them difficult to locate in the first place.
Jeon Jae-woo stepped outside and contacted Yoo Jung-tae.
“Director. I’ve just finished exploring the ruin in Canada.”
[Oh. Hunter Jeon, that was quicker than expected, wasn’t it?]
“Yes. There weren’t any traps or complications.”
[Thank you so much for taking the request, Hunter.]
Originally, I hadn’t planned to explore the ruin assigned to Canada at all.
The rewards—necessary materials or additional Conquest Rights—weren’t particularly appealing.
The only reason I came in and completed the exploration was because the alliance made the request.
It was at most a Legendary-grade Ruin, but the real concern was what it contained.
If all those spirits broke out into the world through a Dungeon Break, it would cause serious problems.
And Jeon Jae-woo himself was glad he’d chosen to explore it personally.
Just imagining those spirits loose in the world was horrifying.
‘Spirits don’t care about physical distance anyway.’
From Canada’s perspective, drawing Jeon Jae-woo in had been a stroke of luck.
The Hunter Bureau would handle the compensation.
“I’ve gathered all the materials needed for the upgrade now.”
It was time to upgrade Catsy to the next level.
I picked up Catsy and placed her in a box.
“Meow?”
Catsy looked bewildered, unsure what was happening.
Jeon Jae-woo smiled gently and spoke.
“Just sleep for one night. I’ll see you tomorrow, Catsy.”
I waved my hand and closed the box.
The Transcendent-Grade Hunter’s Guide to Ruin Exploration
Author
: Autumn
Publication Date
: June 16, 2026
Publisher
: Aces Media Inc.
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: Aces Media Editorial Team
Address
: 10F Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Email
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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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