Infinite Evolution Hunter [NOVEL] - chapter 29
As time passed, Na-young’s control over her Corruption skill kept improving.
Now the surrounding plants didn’t die at all.
Previously, a path would appear on the ground, but now—only my sharpened senses could feel a dark aura streaming out from Na-young and extending in a straight line to the Walking Tree.
The Walking Tree was neutralized before it could reach Na-young and collapsed before even touching her.
Compared to monsters of the same tier, Walking Trees are dim-witted and slow, so this was possible. If it had been a monster that was fast or used hit-and-run tactics, it wouldn’t have been this easy.
Even so, it was impressive.
“My level went up!”
“Congrats. Did your skills go up too? Did Corruption reach A-rank?”
Raising a skill level in just a single day is no ordinary feat.
“No! All of them.”
“Huh?”
What did she mean by that?
“My Awakened level went up and all my skill levels went up too. Blind, Nightmare, and Corruption are all A-rank.”
I used to think my Regeneration skill was cheating, but I guess there are plenty of monsters in this world besides me.
Seeing Na-young’s speed of growth made my spine prickle as I remembered how she had struck fear into many hunters in my previous life.
If I hadn’t met her early and formed a good relationship, I would’ve been taken down in an instant if I’d met the future villain version of Na-young.
“Na-young.”
“Yes?”
“Let’s stay close from now on.”
“Huh? Of course.”
Na-young looked at me like, what are you even saying?
Naturally, our hunting speed kept rising.
If there was only one, I’d dash in while holding Na-young and shatter it with a side kick; if there were several, Na-young would take one while I handled the rest.
Na-young’s skill levels had gone up, and so had her proficiency.
My skill values didn’t change, but just gaining resistance to Corruption made it a day of big gains.
“The sun’s about to set. Let’s head back.”
“Okay.”
Na-young answered with a pale face. She hadn’t complained about my forced march and kept up well.
Calm-looking, but with grit.
On the way back with Na-young in my arms, I spotted the Hwagok Collection Agency staff.
“Come on!! Move, move! Hey! Don’t haul it whole—break it down and carry it! First day on the job or what?!”
Assistant Manager Kim—no, now promoted to Manager Kim, Kim Sun-ho of Hwagok Collection—was yelling at the new hires.
“Need a hand?”
I set Na-young down and walked up to ask Manager Kim.
“Oh, no, no. You’ve done enough—please go rest.”
I don’t think I ever lorded it over them, but both the boss and Manager Kim seemed pretty intimidated by me.
“Let’s finish together and rest faster. We’re done hunting for today anyway.”
“Love you, hyung!”
Sang-heon, who’d been working, ran over—so I sidestepped.
“Na-young, hop in the truck and head to base camp first.”
“No. I’ll help too.”
“You don’t have to…”
“Hyung… If you’re working, how can I in good conscience go relax? If the boss orders jjajangmyeon, the subordinates eat jjajangmyeon—that’s how society works.”
Sang-heon butted in from the side. At his words, Na-young just gave a small smile and quietly started working.
“Sang-heon, not everyone is like you.”
Sang-heon’s face puffed up in a sulk.
“All right, all right—let’s wrap it fast and go grill meat back at camp. My treat.”
I raised my voice so all the staff could hear.
“You hear that?! Move it! Let the three strong ones handle the heavy stuff—everyone else take care of the fiddly bits!”
At the words early finish and barbecue, Manager Kim stopped refusing and began directing the work.
That made things easier for me too.
Since I’m strong, jobs that normally require equipment I could handle one-handed, and of course the pace sped up.
I hoisted the heavy pieces and loaded them onto the company truck parked on the nearby road.
The staff handled dismantling and sorting the mana stones and by-products.
As I picked up speed, everyone else got motivated and the work rate climbed.
“Hah… hah… Is he helping… or feeding us into the grinder…”
I heard a staffer mutter a complaint.
“Take it easy.”
I said as I walked past.
“Eh?! No! I’m sorry!”
Not realizing I’d heard him, he jolted and apologized, then zipped off to work.
I might’ve just added pressure, but if I hadn’t helped, they would’ve been working long after sunset today.
I know—having done porter work for ages myself.
It’s easier on the body to go hard now and rest in the evening.
Besides, even though we’d cleared the Walking Trees nearby, once it gets dark the staff could be in danger no matter that Sang-heon’s around.
Thanks to me and Na-young joining in, we finished right before sunset and headed back to base.
“Good work, everyone!”
At base camp we exchanged greetings. Everyone was in a good mood to be done early.
“Mr. Lee Ji-seok, delivery’s here!”
The vendor I’d called ahead rolled up, unloading a mountain of meat, grills, food, and alcohol from the truck.
Perfect timing.
The resort’s food is prepared for hunters, so porters and collectors normally have to fend for themselves.
I didn’t like that, so when I called Hwagok Collection I also ordered heaps of meat and booze.
“Great work today. Eat and drink plenty—and I’ll be counting on you again tomorrow.”
“To Hunter Lee Ji-seok!”
When I finished speaking to everyone, Manager Kim shouted.
The rest followed with a chorus of “Cheers!” raising their cups.
It felt a bit embarrassing to be praised so much, but hey—if everyone’s having fun, that’s what matters.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Expedition? Didn’t you suspend his license?!”
A vein bulged on Im Seong-jun’s forehead as he heard the report.
In the photos brought by Tak Dong-yeon, Lee Ji-seok was grilling meat with Bae Na-young, or chatting amiably.
“Apparently he has connections at the Bureau. A section chief in the Takedown Division said he’d take responsibility and brought him along. He’s so straight-laced—our pressure didn’t work, and he wouldn’t take bribes, so we couldn’t touch him.”
Tak Dong-yeon spoke with his head bowed.
“Doesn’t your ear count as assault?”
Though he’d used a potion, the lost chunk hadn’t grown back—his ear had a bean-sized divot.
“If I get involved publicly, the contract issue could surface; the downsides outweigh the benefits.”
“Then why did you go there and make a scene yourself! Are you brain-dead?!”
Im Seong-jun hurled a book from his desk.
“I apologize.”
Hit by the book, Tak straightened his head and replied.
“What about that bastard’s parents?”
“One of the hired PI offices intimidated Lee Ji-seok’s mother. But the next day she quit her job and moved into Lee’s house. And that house has tight security now—no way to approach.”
“So he’s staying there with Na-young for a week?”
“Y-yes…”
“Goddamn it… I can’t stand that sight. That… guy I contacted before? Call him again.”
“Who do you mean?”
“You know, the guy who handles this kind of thing.”
“Are you serious?”
“You think I’m joking with you? Kill that bastard, and bring Na-young to me.”
“At this point, perhaps you should give up on Bae Na-young…”
“You little shit! Shut up! Just! Do what you’re told when I pay you! Want me to kill you too?! Huh?!”
Losing his temper, Im threw things; Tak fell.
Still not calm, Im stomped him.
“Hah… hah… Do as I said! Or you’re first!”
✦ ✦ ✦
As Na-young and I found our rhythm, our hunting speed kept climbing.
Unlike the previous expedition where I was alone, Hwagok Collection handled retrieval, so I could run the mountains carefree, hunting Walking Trees.
Naturally, our score was an overwhelming first place.
Later, I felt bad hogging everything, so I deliberately looked for places hard for other hunters to reach.
Rougher paths didn’t really affect me, anyway.
The Hwagok staff did have it harder, but with hearty dinners every night, there weren’t many complaints.
Spotting Walking Trees ahead, I set Na-young down.
“Na-young, from here, don’t target with Corruption—use it as an area effect. I need the training too.”
“Okay.”
She nodded and cast Corruption.
Before, the grass and trees would wither a bit; now the surrounding vegetation blackened and died in an instant, like a deathland from an undead tale.
“H-hold on. That’s a lot of collateral damage. Did the skill’s power rise when it leveled?”
“Seems so. What should I do?”
“Mm… It’s not essential—we don’t need to dry out the whole forest. Go back to targeting one Walking Tree at a time.”
“Okay.”
We pummeled them together and shredded a Walking Tree without trouble.
Those under the curse broke apart like dry wood.
But if we keep doing this, there’s less point in traveling together.
At best I’d be power-leveling her.
Before, I made sure she benefited while I also raised my resistance to curses—a win-win.
This way is a bit of a waste.
“Starting tomorrow, let’s have Sang-heon come with us too. Since we’re at it, let’s boost both your levels a ton.”
“Thank you.”
We spent another half-day hunting Walking Trees.
“Hm?”
I was bounding through the mountains with Na-young in my arms when I saw a mass of Walking Trees ahead—dozens at a glance.
“A cluster? If we clear all that, we might level up. This time… use wide-area Corruption. There’ll be some collateral, but the gains will outweigh it.”
“Okay!”
Once I set Na-young down, the Walking Trees spotted us and started closing in.
But when Na-young’s Corruption spread to them, they writhed in pain and their approach slowed noticeably.
Then a chilling killing intent prickled my senses and I twisted around.
KWAANG!
A massive impact slammed into my head and knocked me sprawling.
My body wouldn’t move.
A bullet?
To smash my skull and hit that hard—this wasn’t an ordinary modern firearm and round.
It had to be a mana-charged bullet fired by a hunter.
There are hunters who can load mana into bullets; I never imagined one would shoot at me today.
And even though we were mid-fight and I was somewhat on guard, I hadn’t sensed the killing intent until the moment of the shot.
That meant the shooter was certainly a high-tier hunter.
“Ji-seok!”
Na-young cried and ran toward me.
Thud!
The next round struck Na-young in the chest.
For an instant I thought she’d died and my eyes bulged—but what hit her was a tranquilizer round.
The mass of Walking Trees advanced on our fallen bodies.
I still hadn’t recovered—couldn’t move a muscle.
Taking a hit to the head is dangerous in this way.
THUD THUD THUD THUD!
A man in a black hood pulled low over his head raked the Walking Trees with automatic fire and rushed to Na-young.
Judging by the power of those rounds and the speed he charged down the slope—definitely not an average hunter.
“Goddamn pests—you know how many mountains I had to run because of you?!”
RATATAT!
Reaching Na-young, the gunman fired several more rounds into me; the bullets pierced my skin and lodged inside.
I was just starting to recover, and fresh blood geysered out to soak the ground.
Ignoring the Walking Trees, the gunman laid down suppressive fire, slung Na-young over his shoulder, and left on the spot.
Still unable to move, I was surrounded by Walking Trees; they stabbed branches into my body.
When my skin didn’t yield, they dug their branches into the wounds the gunman had opened.
Would you like me to keep the same spaced novel layout like this for the rest of the upcoming chapters too?