Infinite Evolution Hunter [NOVEL] - Chapter 12
I had no intention of resting until the week of the cull. To get my level into shape, I ran F-rank Gates nonstop and pushed my level up to 8.
As my awakened level and stats rose, fights with goblins were no longer a threat to me, so—unfortunately—neither my skill levels nor bonus stats went up.
—
Name: Lee Jiseok Class: Unemployed Level: 8 Strength 28, Vitality 27, Agility 23, Intelligence 13, HP 270, Mana 100 Skills: Regeneration E, Hardened Body F, Iron Will E, Poison Resistance E
I was proud to have raised my level this much in only about a month and a half, but there was still a long way to go.
When I arrived at the resort prepared for hunters to stay during the cull period, people who had already arrived were out in the plaza in front of the resort, our temporary quarters. Besides hunters, there were many from the Administration and support staff—easily in the hundreds.
The resort had been a famous tourist spot, but after the Gate incident, travel dried up and it closed; the Administration later bought it. Since the Gate Break, humanity’s range of activity has shrunk drastically.
“Oh? Hello!”
Yang Sangheon recognized me and came over.
“Sangheon, are you going on this cull too?”
“Yeah, I need money, and I’m trying to rank up.”
He scratched his head as he answered.
“Same here.”
“Also, you can drop the honorifics now.”
“Shall I?”
While I was chatting with Sangheon, someone stepped up onto the platform.
“Hunters, thank you for participating in today’s culling mission. I’m Section Chief Baek Young-shin of the National Awakening Agency’s Culling Division, and I’ll be overseeing this operation. This hellhound hunt will run for seven days starting today.”
A map marking the frequent-appearance zones came up on the huge screen behind him.
“The mountains at night are dangerous, so unless you have special skills, please rest today and begin hunting in the morning. We’ve posted the habitual appearance areas and hellhound traits on the Hunter app—please refer to them.”
The screen switched to a scoreboard. It listed names and scores, all currently at 0.
“There will be a prize for the top hunter by kills. Then—aim for results while keeping safety first.”
With that brief greeting and briefing done, the hunters moved off to get their room assignments.
“Hyung, want to hunt together?”
Sangheon asked.
“Nah, I’m going solo. Let’s grab a meal together when it’s all over.”
This cull was for promotion, yes, but that wasn’t my only goal. I wanted to raise the skill levels and stats I couldn’t push up in the goblin Gates. And the way I level skills is brute-force stupid—nothing I should be showing other people.
“Okay, see you later then.”
Without asking twice, he turned neatly away and went around talking to people to form a party. He’s got a knack for getting along with others.
While others rested for tomorrow, I got my room, dropped my gear, and headed straight into the mountains.
With Vitality and Agility well past 20, I bounded up the slopes at speed.
I get multiple times more stat points on level-ups than typical hunters, and I also get bonuses outside of leveling. Just in raw stats, I’m already at E-rank hunter levels.
After twenty minutes of all-out mountain running, I finally started to feel winded.
Entering a dense, night-dark forest where people rarely set foot, the fresh air felt like it was rinsing my body clean.
The sun had fully set; it was quite dark. Faint moonlight seeping through the clouds let me make out shapes dimly.
Using my phone’s GPS, I moved into a predicted appearance zone. I focused all five senses searching for hellhound signs. My senses weren’t as sharp as in my past life’s body, which was frustrating.
Leaves rustled behind me; I whipped my head around—and a maw full of needle fangs yawned open right in my face.
Startled out of my skin, I threw up my arm on reflex, and the hellhound clamped down.
Gritting my teeth, I hammered its head with my fist.
With a thud, it yelped—more like a “kyang,” canine-like—and bounced away. Maybe because they’re canid in build, they even sound similar when hit.
My footing was poor, so I couldn’t finish it in one blow. As I moved in to end it, more showed up.
Blood ran from my arm. The bite wasn’t deep, but the fact it pierced Hardened Body meant its bite force was far beyond that of a normal large dog.
Hellhounds have lower intelligence than goblins, but with powerful jaws and high mobility in mountainous terrain, they’re not easy to deal with—especially since they see well at night. Usually you don’t hunt them after dark.
But I’d come at night on purpose to get a skill you can acquire by focusing in darkness.
I drew a deep breath and roared forward to draw attention. Soon they swarmed from all directions.
Clenching my fists, I tracked the fast-moving shapes in the dark with my eyes.
I still wasn’t adapted to the darkness and their speed. They kept biting and darting away before I could counter.
I couldn’t count them exactly, but at least ten circled me.
If I pried one off my arm, two more latched onto my calves.
I tried punching the ones clinging to me, but the angles were awkward and I couldn’t land telling blows.
I gave up on punching and grabbed the head of the one at my flank, twisting its neck and killing it.
With the first kill, they grew cautious and stopped closing recklessly; if I approached, they skittered away.
In the mountains I couldn’t match their mobility.
After that tussle I’d managed just one, and now even more had gathered—maybe twenty hellhounds circling me.
They gave up on direct bites and began circling to slash my legs with laterally ridged, blade-like foreclaws when they saw an opening, or dart in for a snap at my back and peel away.
Looked like it was going to be a long night.
—
By the time dawn neared, after wrestling with the pack all night—
[Level has increased.] [Skill: Keen Senses (C) acquired.]
I’d come out at night and let dogs chew on me for this skill. Constant regeneration meant little physical fatigue or damage, but the mental fatigue lingered. Still, the satisfaction of getting Keen Senses blew even that away in an instant.
The new skill sharpens not only the five senses but also intuition, letting me read danger in combat and even detect hostility aimed at me.
It was one of the main skills that let me survive to the end in my previous life.
I was about to start real hunting in earnest, but whether because morning was breaking or because they sensed my movement had changed, the hellhounds began to drift away from me.
I tied together the three I’d taken down and headed back to the lodgings, planning to eat and rest.
I could just extract the magic stones and turn those in, but monster corpses can be toxic and attract other monsters, so they need to be recovered.
Some hunters had brought porters or retrieval crews, but I preferred being alone for now.
There were checkpoints around the mountain for turning in supplies and bodies, but they didn’t operate at night. In the end I dragged the hellhounds all the way back and handed them over to an Administration official.
Seeing my blood-smeared, torn clothes, the official tried to call a healer, but I told him the blood wasn’t mine and left.
Back in my room, I washed up and changed—only for my clothes to feel tight again. I’d bought new ones after awakening, but it looked like I’d grown again.
For a while, my body would bulk to match my Strength as I regenerated. Before I died in my past life, my shoulders were far broader than now, and my entire body was armored in dense, compact muscle, not just bulky mass.
Wearing tight clothes, I went down to the resort breakfast buffet. Since hunters had disliked coming in the past, they’d put effort into the lodging and food quality.
In the early days, they’d stuck hunters in tents and served field rations soldiers hate, so hunters ignored culling missions for a while. See? They should’ve done it right from the start.
I piled multiple plates mountain-high and started eating when Sangheon came over.
“Hyung, are you going to eat all that by yourself?”
He looked slightly overwhelmed by my intake.
“Yeah. I’m hungry. Did you find a party?”
“Yep. Lots of people were recruiting, so it wasn’t hard.”
He pulled out a chair, sat down, and told me about the party he’d joined today; I shared what I’d felt hunting hellhounds at night and what to watch out for.
“You went out alone at night? Isn’t that dangerous?”
“With my skills it’s doable. But you don’t do it.”
Without Hardened Body or a buff like Chu Gang-min’s Enhancement, an F- or E-rank hunter who gets one bite to the neck dies on the spot.
Even while chatting, I kept shoveling food in. I ate ten times as much as he’d brought and finished faster. My digestion was beyond human range; even without much chewing, I digested it instantly.
“I’m going to rest now—good luck out there.”
I stood up after finishing and said goodbye.
“Huh? You’re not hunting now?”
“I hunted all night. I’ll rest and head out again tonight.”
“It’d be nice to go together in the day, but okay. See you later.”
Leaving the disappointed Sangheon behind, I returned to my room, put on a sleep mask, and grabbed some shut-eye.
—
I only got up around sunset and went down to eat.
The dining hall was almost empty. As I sat there eating enough to fill a whole table by myself, hunters began trickling in from the day’s hunt.
“Did that guy not go out?”
“Maybe he came for the food.”
I heard whispering behind me. Glancing back, I saw a few people openly glaring with displeasure.
“When they give stipends just for showing up, you get guys like that.”
Their voices dripped with contempt. Thanks to Keen Senses, my hearing had improved a lot; their mutters sounded like normal conversation right beside me.
“I heard from an Admin guy he hunted last night? Came back covered in blood.”
“They say he only took three? He probably messed around somewhere and smeared blood on himself. Not a scratch on him.”
I didn’t feel it was worth responding. I silently kept eating and finished my meal. Once the seven-day cull ended, their attitude would change—just like at the Academy.