Infinite Evolution Hunter [NOVEL] - chapter 25
“Did you come?”
I greeted President Yang, who was busily giving instructions to the staff and soldiers.
“Oh~ you’re up? Ji-seok, when I follow you around there’s never a break in the work. Hahaha.”
When we’d first pushed hard clearing a lot of gates he’d looked exhausted, but since I’d been running fewer gates lately his complexion had improved. Even so, he seemed to be earning far more money than before, and a smile bloomed on his face.
“President, could you separate the wings first and send them to my house?”
“Okay. I’ll ship a first batch today with whatever we get sorted.”
I bowed and went to report to the Awakener Bureau director as well.
—
“Huh… hypnosis, you say?”
Wrinkles formed on the director’s brow as he listened to my report.
“I don’t know if it was pheromones or the wing dust or both. My head suddenly went hazy and before I knew it I was following the Queen’s words. If I’d been completely brainwashed, I might’ve attacked our own side without recognizing them. The werewolves coordinating with the fairies was probably due to the Queen’s ability.”
“This is the first time such an ability has been discovered. We need to examine the body. May we purchase the Queen’s corpse?”
“Just give me the wings. I’ll sell the other parts. Please discuss that with Hwagok Collection.”
After that, President Yang and Director Baek Young-shin launched into a heated round of haggling. This is why I don’t do it myself. I have to secure my cut, but getting into a money fight with the Bureau and souring faces would not be good for acting in the future.
I granted Hwagok Collection agency to act as my proxy and let them take a set portion of the sale price, and they bargained like it was their own business.
Leaving the two of them to haggle, I helped with the forward base setup. I cleared trees and rocks so vehicles could move.
Since no human hands had touched the place in a long time, the trees had grown absurdly large. I wrapped my arms around a tree and applied force; my fingers dug into the wood. I pulled straight up and ripped out the roots.
In raw strength, I’m on par with an A-class hunter. Uprooting trees is nothing.
“Ooooo~!!”
There was heavy equipment working, but the space was narrow so it took time. I yanked trees out like pulling radishes and hurled them into the forest, and the soldiers applauded.
Thanks to my help, our line established a defensive position at the objective faster than scheduled.
After that, we left only the minimum number of hunters to hold this point, and the rest of us, including me, were reassigned to other units to support the northward push. As a result, the overall timeline shortened a lot.
“Excellent work. I heard you helped the soldiers a great deal as well. Thank you.”
The battalion commander shook my hand.
“Think nothing of it.”
In this subjugation I ranked up again and became a C-class hunter. It was a profitable operation in many ways.
“I hope we meet again on a subjugation operation.”
“I’ll participate depending on the situation.”
Gates are more efficient, so unless I’m coming to obtain items like this time, I don’t plan to do subjugations often.
—
“How’s production coming?”
After returning home I asked Jae-in, who was working in the workshop.
“I still haven’t turned out a product I’m satisfied with.”
He looked back at me, with dark circles under his eyes.
“…What’s with your complexion? I told you only eight hours a day.”
Judging from his dirty clothes and complexion, he didn’t seem to be resting and was just working.
“Once I got into it it was fun, and I got stubborn about it, so I couldn’t stop.”
I could see the researcher’s temperament that won’t let go once he digs in.
“Take it easy. There’s no need to rush. Work eight hours a day and rest the rest.”
“It’s… not working out like that.”
I’d be happy to get the item quickly, but I was worried he’d ruin his health.
“If you get tired, drink this while you work.”
I put potions in the refrigerator. Even low-grade potions cost several hundred thousand won each.
“Thank you. I practiced a bit with the fairy wings you sent, but I haven’t yet reached the specs you requested.”
Fairy wings can be used for flight or camouflage through enchantment. But they tend to let attacks pass through, so they’re usually not used for defensive items.
However, what I requested was, first, a garment form that lets attacks pass as much as possible. Functionally, it would have no defensive ability. Still, that suits me better. My body is already harder than most armor, and I get stronger by taking hits.
Second, it needs to have good elasticity. I’ll be using gigantification often and the magnification will keep increasing, so it’s essential.
Lastly, inscribe levitation magic. As my muscles and bones have become denser and I store energy regularly, my body weight keeps going up. If I eat a lot these days I weigh around 200 kilograms, and the heavier I am, the more energy I consume and the slower I move.
If I can use levitation magic like the fairies, I can fight far more efficiently.
“Attack transmittance is about 80 percent. As for elasticity, it can cover up to a 50 percent increase in volume over now. Levitation magic is… I’m sorry, not yet.”
“I didn’t expect it to happen that fast anyway. I’ll take this for now. Take it easy.”
What Jae-in made was a black suit formed by layering multiple long, thin strips about five centimeters wide made from fairy wings. When I put it on it hugged my body with a springy feel and was comfortable to wear.
“Let me run a quick test.”
I tested gigantification. My height went from 180 to 250. The magnification rate is steadily going up.
As my body expanded, the suit stretched with it, but it neither tore nor even went taut. The material simply redistributed naturally to match my body size and extended.
“This is nice.”
I moved around and spoke to Jae-in.
“It’ll suffer far less damage than what you wear now. But are you really fine with it having no defensive power?”
“No problem. It’s exactly the function I wanted.”
“Then I’ll keep going. Once I feel confident enough, I’ll work with the Queen’s wings.”
“I’m counting on you.”
—
“What?”
Im Seong-joon was sitting at a desk so extravagant it felt excessive, and he doubted his ears as he listened to the report.
“So… someone paid the money?”
“…Yes. It seems to be a fellow hunter; he paid the elixir cost up front.”
Im Seong-joon’s secretary, Tak Dong-yeon, kept his eyes down and continued the report.
“We confirmed through our plant inside the Bureau that a contract was made to prioritize party formation. It is not a contract particularly favorable to that hunter. In fact, it is overwhelmingly favorable to Bae Na-young.”
“I see… I see… So what did you do?”
“Sir?”
“I!”
Im Seong-joon stood up and hurled the nameplate from his desk at Tak Dong-yeon. Tak flinched in shock, ducked, and covered his head with his arms, but the heavy nameplate struck his forearm and he fell.
“That bitch! What is she doing! I told you to manage her!”
Im began to fling things from his desk in a fit.
“I’m sorry.”
Tak stood back up, came to attention, and apologized.
“What’s so great about that damn woman that she rejects my contract and what? Accepts a contract with another hunter?”
Tak kept silent, but knowing how vicious the contract Im had proposed was, he clicked his tongue inwardly. It was practically a slave contract.
“So is that hunter some top-tier hunter?”
Perhaps done venting, Im slumped into his chair and asked Tak.
“No. He’s a rookie who awakened not long ago. His awakening skills were low grade.”
“And yet? He had the money to buy an elixir?”
“His growth rate is frightening. He rose from F-class to C-class in just three months.”
“Three months? Is that even possible?”
“His record is tremendous. He’s been running subjugations and gates without rest.”
“Yeah? In the end he’s just a mere hunter. Go get the contract transferred.”
“Sir?”
“Don’t make me repeat myself. Transfer that contract to us. It won’t be as good as a direct contract, but if the debt is owed to us, that woman won’t be able to dodge us anymore.”
“I reviewed the contract; it can’t be transferred that way.”
“Why the hell do I pay you hundreds of millions if not to make the impossible possible? Talk to legal, bribe someone, threaten someone—figure it out!”
Im began throwing things again.
“Understood.”
Dirty and cheap as it was, Tak, who was paid seven figures as he’d just said, clamped his mouth shut and bowed his head.
—
“Time to run some gates again?”
I’d taken a day off after the subjugation mission, so the rest was enough. Time to hit the gates again.
Na-young’s mother’s treatment had finished, so I let Na-young spend time with her. Today I would rampage solo for the first time in a while.
Ding-dong.
I was scrolling the hunter app to book a gate when a visitor came.
“Who is it?”
No one should be coming to this house.
“Hello. Are you Hunter Lee Ji-seok?”
When I opened the door, a man in his early thirties wearing a suit was standing there.
“Yes. And you are?”
“I’m Tak Dong-yeon from a hunter management agency.”
“Ah, right.”
“May I have a moment to talk?”
“No, I don’t need management.”
I wasn’t pleased that some peddler had come to my house without notice. As I moved to close the door, Tak caught it.
“No, I’m not here to offer you a contract. It’s about Bae Na-young.”
“Na-young?”
Hearing her name, I let go of the door.
“May I come in for a moment?”
“Sure, come in.”
I didn’t like it, but the fact he knew Na-young’s name also bothered me.
“So what’s your relationship with her?”
I asked as we sat on the living room sofa.
“Our agency had been trying to scout Ms. Bae, but I heard she signed a contract with you, Hunter Lee.”
“You heard from Na-young?”
“Ah… no.”
“That’s odd. I haven’t told anyone, and if she hasn’t either, where did you hear it?”
“Haha, finding that kind of thing out is the sort of work agencies do, isn’t it.”
Tak was sweating profusely as he spoke.
It was obvious he was lying. Heart rate, cold sweat, body temperature, subtle body movements, and most decisively, my intuition told me so. In my previous life it took long practice to do this, but now, with my past memories, once Keen Senses ranked up I could immediately detect when someone was lying.
Of course I can’t read a person’s heart down to the last detail, but I can generally tell when someone lies. And this guy had been lying since the first moment I saw him.
“And?”
I continued the conversation to draw out more details.
“Transfer that contract to us. We’ll pay you twenty percent more than what you paid Ms. Bae.”
He placed a thin contract on the table as he spoke.
I’d spent billions on the elixir, so if I transferred it back I’d make a few hundred million in profit.
I stared straight at Tak Dong-yeon.