Infinite Evolution Hunter [NOVEL] - chapter 35
Ghouls crawled out of the ground one by one, forming a group.
Ghouls are E-rank, so they aren’t very strong.
The reason hunters avoid them is because they’re disgusting.
Their flesh is rotted, and the stench—something you’d never smell in normal life—spreads from a great distance.
It becomes even worse up close, and if you let even a small attack through, you can be poisoned by corpse-toxins.
On top of that, if you strike poorly and stray flesh splashes onto you, you get poisoned again.
Like skeletons, ghouls don’t have meaningful mana stones.
They have no nutritional value, and dealing with them is a huge hassle—trash monsters in every sense.
But if you don’t clear them, breaks occur, so the Bureau forces hunters inside by offering rewards and promotion points.
Sangheon couldn’t take a step forward.
“This time, it’s my turn to shine.”
Nayoung created multiple mana balls in the air and fired them simultaneously.
Each one exploded the head of a ghoul with perfect accuracy.
Ever since she obtained her A-rank wand, both her magic power and control had increased dramatically.
And with me taking her around to raise her levels, she’d become like a tiger with wings.
We dealt with the ghouls easily, and before we could catch our breath, I saw another monster beyond the hill.
“There.”
I pointed past the hill.
“A ghost? Much better than ghouls. Let’s get them quickly.”
Sangheon looked eager.
“No, leave this to me. You two go right from here and circle wide. I’ll circle left.”
Since I personally trained them, I could trust that they’d handle things safely.
And I needed to train against ghosts to level up Regeneration.
If Regeneration reaches B-rank, I can release life force externally to use it for offense and defense.
In other words, I’d be able to use aura—the minimum requirement for S-rank hunters.
S-ranks can use a lot of aura, but I can only use as much as my life force allows.
Still, having some is better than having none.
“Okay.”
“See you later, hyung.”
They agreed without argument since they knew my strength.
Once they were far enough, I set down the bag of holy water onto the ground.
Wooooo……
A ghost floated toward me with its gloomy, familiar wail.
As it approached, I threw a punch at it.
Its form rippled, but of course it took no damage—the ghost passed straight through my body.
When it passed through, icy chills ran through me as my life force was shaved away.
It wasn’t much, but my body felt heavier.
No matter how many times I threw punches, they only passed through the ghosts.
A dozen ghosts began rotating, passing through me one after another, draining my life bit by bit.
I didn’t collapse because my maximum life force was far higher than a normal hunter’s,
but if they were higher-rank ghost-type monsters instead of E-rank, even I would’ve taken serious damage.
When they realized I couldn’t attack them, the ghosts started attacking more aggressively.
But once they realized I still wasn’t falling, they began circling me before finally giving up and drifting away.
I couldn’t just let them go.
I followed after them and swung my fist again.
It still had only a ripple effect, but the ghosts seemed displeased by it.
They resumed attacking by passing through my body.
When they saw I still wasn’t going down, they tried to flee again—
and I repeated the process.
Time passed, and their numbers grew.
What began as a dozen ghosts became roughly thirty.
Even for me—with high life force—the constant drain from thirty ghosts made my body extremely heavy.
My breathing grew rough.
I recalled the sensation of releasing life force in my past life and threw out another punch.
Still no effect.
Seeing my growing exhaustion, the ghost swarm stopped running away and repeatedly passed through me.
Dozens of ghosts flowing through my body was not something anyone could call pleasant.
It felt like something cold and filthy was invading my body and melting my life force from inside.
It became harder and harder to move.
At this point, the skill should’ve leveled up,
but it didn’t.
Even if it did, I wasn’t sure I’d have the strength left to deal with them.
Maybe I’d grown careless because my levels and skills had been rising so fast lately?
My vision blurred, and finally, I dropped to my knees.
I was really about to die,
so I pulled out the small potion tucked at my waist and drank it.
As expected of a high-grade potion, a large chunk of life force returned immediately.
I kept drinking potions to withstand the attacks.
When I drank the very last potion I had, the ghosts finally gave up and drifted away one by one.
My hands had turned pale, the blood drained.
A little more, and it might’ve truly been dangerous.
I collapsed backward and rested for a moment, then returned to where I had left the bag to eat and replenish my strength.
As expected, gaining skills equivalent to the ten years of my past life within just half a year was no easy feat.
After a short break, my body recovered enough for me to stand up and resume hunting.
Skeletons and ghouls were easy, but ghosts kept draining my life force every time they appeared.
I only used potions when I felt like I might pass out.
If I were truly in danger, Regeneration would evolve—
but maybe the required experience was higher than I expected,
or my body simply didn’t deem the situation dangerous enough.
Either way, the skill didn’t level up.
Doubt crept in.
Maybe this method wouldn’t work.
Just as I was about to give up on letting ghosts hit me and switch to using holy water,
a new swarm appeared.
Even now, with my life force drained, it was hard to move—
and with that many attacking, they could empty my life force instantly.
I chugged a potion and sprinted with all my strength—
but it was less than half my usual speed.
The continued attacks slowed me down even more.
I dropped to my knees and braced myself with my hands to avoid falling.
By now, the skill should have triggered its level-up notification—
was the thought I had before losing consciousness.
—
“Oh—Sangheon! He’s waking up!”
“Hyung! Are you okay?”
“Mm…”
My head felt heavy.
“What happened? What about the ghosts?”
“There were so many ghosts gathered in one place, so I thought it was weird. When I came, you were collapsed in the middle of them.”
So I hadn’t died.
A lot of time must’ve passed, but the ghosts hadn’t stolen the small core of life force at the center of my body.
Maybe that’s why the skill didn’t level up.
“You two handled them?”
“Nuna did most of it. She was scared but kept firing to save you. She rained mana balls like water.”
Sangheon whispered.
“Please don’t push yourself like that.”
Nayoung looked like she was about to cry.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would go that far.”
And I truly hadn’t.
“But I still need to continue.”
I had to increase my skill level.
Now that I knew ghosts couldn’t kill me, I had to push harder.
“No.”
“What?”
Her firmness made me reply reflexively.
“Then come with us. If it’s dangerous, we’ll save you.”
“That won’t level it up.”
“It worked for me, didn’t it? Let’s try together.”
Nayoung held my hand tightly and looked into my eyes.
“…Okay.”
Her gaze overwhelmed me, and I found myself agreeing without thinking.
“Let’s go to the next gate.”
I said as we exited.
“Not today. Rest today. We’ll do it tomorrow.”
“No, I’m fine now.”
“No.
Sangheon, can you drive?”
Smiling but firm, she pushed me into the back seat and got in beside me.
“Hyung, you’re completely under her control.”
Sangheon wasn’t wrong, so I couldn’t even argue.
—
“Aigoo, Ji-seok eats so well~”
Nayoung’s mother watched proudly as I devoured the mountain of food she piled up.
“I was so startled at first, you know. He was so skinny, but he eats so much.”
“He eats way too much. I struggled preparing food alone, but thanks to your mother, I survived.”
The mothers began chatting nonstop with me seated between them.
After the Im Sung-joon incident, Nayoung and her mother returned to their own home,
but on days Nayoung and I entered gates, they would visit our house, chat with my mom, and help with chores.
“I’m so glad you two get along so well.”
Nayoung sat beside me.
“My mom was lonely after moving somewhere so remote. Even when we don’t have gate schedules, bring your mom over often.”
“I will.”
Our eyes met.
“You two are so lovey-dovey. It’s hard being the only single one here.”
Sangheon grumbled beside us.
“Oh my, look at the time. I’ll go prepare for the gate.”
“If you’re done eating, let’s get ready to leave.”
Now that my stomach was full, it was time to head to the gate to raise my Regeneration grade again.
I’d given up on going alone because of Nayoung’s insistence.
We agreed that we’d move together, let me take aggro from ghosts first, and if I was truly in danger, they would help.
“Today’s the day! You can do it!”
Nayoung cheered brightly.
“Hyung, fighting!”
“Thanks. And thanks to you too, Sangheon.”
We quickly cleared skeletons and ghouls and went searching for ghosts.
“Found them. About… ten ahead.”
They were far away and half-transparent, so it was hard to count.
“I’ll go first. Keep your distance, and unless it’s really dangerous, don’t step in.”
I said, then charged toward the ghosts.
The ghost swarm noticed me and rushed in.
My fists still did nothing to them.
The ghosts passed through my body, draining my life force.
“I ate a lot today. Let’s see who wins.”
Since the skill didn’t level yesterday, it meant my body judged ghosts as non-lethal.
So instead of waiting for a near-death trigger, I needed steady exposure to push the skill upward.
That’s why I ate as much as possible before coming.
The battle dragged on, but the skill didn’t rise—only my life force steadily fell.
When I could barely move anymore,
Nayoung and Sangheon rushed in and wiped out the ghosts instantly.
“Are you okay? Drink a potion.”
Nayoung said with worry.
“Thanks.”
After drinking, some of my life force returned.
“Will this really work? You look like you’re suffering too much.”
“If this doesn’t work, we’ll find another method. But since we don’t know the exact condition, we have to try everything.”
I searched through my past memories, trying to recall exactly when the skill had upgraded.