Chapter 15
“Please wait a moment in front of the measurement device.”
“Understood.”
It was a mana measurement room located on the top floor — just like the one at the Mir Guild.
The only difference was that, unlike Mir Guild, this one didn’t occupy the entire floor; it shared the space with several other offices.
At a glance, it was obvious the room violated the Hunter Association’s regulations for minimum size.
“I can already tell what kind of place this is.”
After passing through the anti-theft system for mana stones, Ju-hyuk stepped inside the room.
Beyond the control booth’s glass window, a scout was busy adjusting the equipment.
After a few minutes of fiddling, the scout’s voice came through the speaker.
“If you’ll place your hand on the panel, we’ll begin the measurement.”
“Sure.”
Ju-hyuk put his hand on the mana measurement device.
As expected, the same message as before appeared before his eyes:
[If you consume this mana stone, you can immediately upgrade your Training Room!]
[Absorb the mana by consuming the mana stone.]
He had wondered what would happen if they used a lower-grade mana stone here.
But apparently, they weren’t so incompetent as to use cheap stones even for official measurement devices.
“We’re starting the measurement now. Please keep your hand still.”
Ju-hyuk nodded, and the machine whirred to life.
The scout glanced at the monitor, then suddenly got distracted and busied himself with something else.
Taking advantage of that, Ju-hyuk quickly reached out with his free hand and swiped the mana stone.
The device’s structure made it easy — the stone was placed right within reach.
Most measurement rooms didn’t even have CCTV to avoid interference errors, making this the perfect opportunity.
As soon as the alarm blared to indicate the stone’s removal, Ju-hyuk swallowed it whole.
[Extracting mana from the consumed mana stone.]
The absorption began immediately.
While mana surged through his body, the startled voice of the scout came through the speaker.
“Huh? Why is it doing that… Hunter Ju-hyuk, did you touch the stone?”
“No? I didn’t do anything — it started acting up by itself.”
Luckily, the staff hadn’t seen him eat the stone.
Feigning ignorance, Ju-hyuk answered calmly. The scout, clearly flustered, glanced around and soon stepped out of the control room into the chamber.
“Could you step out for a moment, please?”
“Sure.”
Ju-hyuk stepped back, pretending to watch curiously.
The staff member checked the device nervously, only to discover the mana stone was missing.
“…Mr. Ju-hyuk, was the mana stone missing when you came in?”
He clearly suspected Ju-hyuk.
If the stone hadn’t been there from the start, the device wouldn’t have worked at all.
If it had stopped with an alarm mid-process, that meant it lost power — implying Ju-hyuk had removed it.
It was the natural suspicion. But Ju-hyuk simply shrugged.
“I’m not sure… is there a problem?”
“….”
The man’s eyes narrowed, practically burning holes through Ju-hyuk’s face.
After a moment of tense silence, the staffer pointed toward the exit.
“It looks like the device malfunctioned. Could you please wait in the office next door for a bit?”
He gestured politely toward the door — the same door with the anti-theft scanner he’d passed earlier.
‘The extraction isn’t finished yet.’
The stone must’ve contained an immense amount of mana, because absorption was taking longer than before.
If the mana hadn’t been completely extracted, the scanner would surely detect it.
Ju-hyuk needed to buy a little more time.
“Is there a problem with the machine? What’s going on?”
“No need to worry, sir. We’ll have it ready again shortly. Please wait in the other room.”
“I don’t have much time, actually.”
The staffer clearly wanted to lead him toward the scanner.
Ju-hyuk, desperate to delay, tried to stall as naturally as possible.
A silent battle of nerves unfolded between their gazes.
“It’ll only take three minutes, I promise. Please step out just for a moment.”
“….”
No more excuses left.
If he dragged this out any longer, he’d only raise more suspicion.
“Alright.”
With no choice, he began walking.
Each step toward the anti-theft gate made his heartbeat pound louder.
‘Please… hurry up.’
Sweat trickled down his cheek.
The staff’s cold stare and the red light of the scanner alternated before his eyes.
Finally, at the slowest pace that still seemed natural, he reached the exit.
Just as he clenched his eyes and stepped forward—
[Mana absorption complete.]
[Training Room upgrade and activation available!]
The message appeared just in time.
“Phew.”
He exhaled without realizing it.
But there was no time to relax.
Last time, he’d been forcibly pulled into the artifact’s space — it could happen again.
As he watched nervously, another message popped up:
[Would you like to enter now?]
‘…Good. At least it’s not dragging me in right away.’
He focused on rejecting it, and the message vanished.
His pause must’ve looked odd, because the staffer asked,
“Is something wrong?”
“…Nothing.”
With that, Ju-hyuk calmly walked forward.
He passed straight through the anti-theft system — and, as expected, no alarm went off.
“Eh?”
The staffer froze, confused.
The machine hadn’t made a sound.
Ju-hyuk turned and asked, expression cool,
“Something wrong?”
“….”
The man stood there, dumbfounded — unable to comprehend what had just happened.
The stone had vanished, the only suspect had passed inspection, and nothing made sense.
‘He probably has no idea where to even begin figuring this out.’
After glancing back and forth between the device and Ju-hyuk, the staffer finally bowed awkwardly.
“Ah, my apologies. There must’ve been some kind of mistake.”
“I see.”
Now that Ju-hyuk’s innocence was “proven,” the tables had turned.
With a cold tone, he said,
“Seems GGH can’t even perform a basic mana measurement properly.”
“T-that’s not usually the case…”
“I can tell. The measurement room doesn’t even meet Association standards.”
He subtly shifted the blame, mentioning the illegal room size.
The staffer could only stand there, speechless.
“I’ll consider today’s discussion about the contract null and void.”
Right then, the elevator arrived — and a group of burly men stepped out.
‘They even called security already.’
Clearly summoned over the “missing mana stone.”
The man in front, with a rough look, asked the staffer,
“Why’d you press the emergency call?”
“Ah, that’s… um…”
The scout averted his eyes, embarrassed.
Ju-hyuk, pretending not to notice, walked calmly past the guards and into the elevator.
It was ironic — just minutes ago, the staffer had looked down on a protesting woman outside as if she were trash.
Now he was the one trembling.
Ju-hyuk caught his eye and smirked slightly before the doors closed.
Only then did he finally exhale.
“…That was close.”
The stone had contained so much mana that absorption took far longer.
A few seconds more, and he’d have been caught by security.
‘If they’d done a body search and found the artifact, it would’ve been over.’
It had been a reckless gamble — one that could’ve ended his life.
Part of him thought he should proceed more cautiously from now on… but he couldn’t afford that luxury.
Even now, Lim Hyung-jun — whom he had once completely outclassed — was rapidly closing the gap.
And countless other talented hunters were racing ahead too.
‘I can’t fall behind.’
He refused to see only the backs of others again.
As long as the artifact’s existence remained a dangerous secret, he needed power — and fast.
For someone born slow, walking wasn’t enough.
“I have to keep running.”
He murmured to his reflection in the mirror, like a mantra.
After wiping his face, Ju-hyuk stepped out of the elevator on the first floor.
He tore off his visitor badge and tossed it into a trash can on his way out.
Under the dimming sky, he saw her again —
the mother of the overworked hunter who had died — still standing where she’d been earlier.
“….”
His eyes lingered.
She looked to be about the same age as his own mother.
According to the article, her husband had died in an accident when their son was still young.
She’d raised him alone.
The son had awakened, graduated from the academy through sheer grit, and became an F-rank hunter.
Then he’d died of overwork — leaving behind only a 2 million won condolence payment.
‘If I hadn’t found the artifact…’
Watching the woman protest alone, he thought of his mother lying in the hospital.
If fate hadn’t given him the artifact, would he be in the same position — slaving away for GGH until he collapsed?
‘This is wrong.’
He didn’t feel gratitude for obtaining the artifact.
He didn’t feel relief that the woman wasn’t his mother.
Instead, fury welled up inside him — fury at GGH for creating such grotesque realities.
Quietly clenching his fist, Ju-hyuk stepped into a convenience store.
He bought an energy drink and some snacks, then walked out.
The woman was still there, unmoving, even as dusk fell.
Without saying a word, he placed the plastic bag beside her.
She didn’t respond right away —
but when he’d taken about five steps away, a faint voice followed.
“…Thank you.”
“….”
He opened his mouth — but couldn’t find any words that would actually comfort her.
So he simply walked away.
That was the only thing he could do.
“Message sent to Mom… alright, let’s go.”
After finishing preparations, he touched the familiar pattern.
A message appeared.
[Would you like to enter now?]
He nodded without hesitation.
His body was pulled in, and the world went dark.
“….”
After what felt like only a blink, he opened his eyes again.
Before him spread a new landscape —
a forest filled with trees, completely different from before.
It seemed the environment had changed with the upgrade.
‘Where’s the doll?’
He pushed through the trees and soon found it —
the training mannequin he’d struck a million times before, standing silently with a sword at its feet.
‘Let’s begin.’
He’d already steeled himself before entering.
But when he raised his sword and faced it—
‘…Why isn’t it moving?’
The mannequin didn’t attack. It just stood there.
As Ju-hyuk tensed, a new message appeared.
[Defeat the Sword Training Dummy 1,000,000 times – 0/1,000,000]
[Defeat the Archer Training Dummy 1,000,000 times – 0/1,000,000]
“…What?”
A gust of wind brushed past.
Sensing danger, Ju-hyuk rolled to the side — and saw an arrow pierce the ground where he’d just been standing.
‘An archer?’
So the upgrade hadn’t just changed the scenery.
Before he could locate the shooter, the swordsman dummy lunged forward with a metallic shriek.
Clang—!
“Ugh!”
No time to think — attacks came relentlessly.
Arrows rained down from behind.
“Gah!”
Pain seared through his back as arrows struck.
“What the hell—”
This wasn’t the same training room as before.
The difficulty — and even the pain — had been upgraded.
The agony pressed down on him, suffocating and unrelenting.
