Chapter 60
He returned.
A new record in the Training Room—back in reality without even a full day passing.
Checking the clock, it had been less than an hour.
“I thought I’d get some real training in the Training Room…”
But Juhyuk had come back with nothing gained, just an unnecessary burden.
Worse, because he had eaten the magic stone, pretending nothing happened was impossible.
“But… why didn’t a message pop up when I ate the stone?”
Was it because he ate it inside the Training Room?
For some reason, the messages that always appeared whenever he touched a magic stone did not appear this time.
“Is the stone even really inside me?”
Could it be that the stone he ate in the Training Room was absorbed as power for the upgrade?
As he rose to check, holding onto a small thread of hope…
Thunk!
The moment his foot hit the floor, he felt it.
Something in his senses had changed far more than he realized.
His body felt unfamiliar.
“…What is this?”
He lightly rotated his shoulders.
The strange feeling hit his mind even stronger.
It was like taking off a sandbag he had been carrying for a week—his body felt astonishingly light.
It was hard to describe the sudden sense of ease.
“…”
Juhyuk touched the pattern etched on his left forearm.
[Magic power for Training Room upgrade and operation: 0/100…]
The message appeared.
Not even 1/100, but 0.
Normally, even if he consumed a cheap magic stone after leaving the Training Room, the number would increase by 1 once absorbed.
Yet even after eating the stone, it had not risen.
“The stone wasn’t properly absorbed.”
The stone he had consumed in the Training Room had not been properly absorbed.
Moreover, his body felt much lighter, as if he could now perform at a higher level than usual.
He recalled reading about this feeling on the internet before.
“After reawakening, my body suddenly felt light… like being freed from ropes that bound me.”
“No way…”
This was what he had dreamed of and longed for before even facing the Training Room.
Juhyuk, momentarily stunned, slapped both his cheeks.
“Focus.”
No unnecessary hope—he still needed to verify the situation.
He first assessed his surroundings, then slowly picked up his phone to make a call.
“You’ve hardly been in touch—what’s going on?”
“I always see you at the shop.”
“Seeing me at the shop isn’t the same as keeping in contact. When I sparred with Kierron, I went to you first.”
Yena spoke with a slightly sulky tone.
It had been a while since they met outside the shop, and her mood didn’t look good.
“So now that you go to gates alone, am I useless?”
“That’s not it.”
“Then what did you want to call me for today? It must be about gates or guild stuff, right?”
She complained, half accusingly.
Their communication had been sparse due to Juhyuk’s tendency not to leave messages, even though they were close.
He also refrained from contacting her at other times, thinking it might disturb her when she was at the shop.
“I didn’t expect her to be upset that I didn’t contact her.”
True, compared to the past when they often exchanged messages about gates or guild establishment, lately they barely communicated.
From her perspective, it made sense she felt a little disappointed.
Today, he had contacted her because he needed a favor, so there was no excuse.
“I’ll buy you a meal next time, so cheer up.”
“…Really?”
She seemed to lighten slightly at the promise of a meal.
He added, noticing her surprised expression:
“Yes, next time we can have dinner together with my mom.”
“….”
Yena fell silent.
Seeing her quiet, he asked, puzzled:
“What’s wrong?”
He thought it would be nice to eat together with her and his mom.
She stared at him blankly for a moment.
“No, it’s fine. It would be nice for all of us…”
Then she abruptly changed tone.
“I’ll be satisfied with that for now.”
“Huh?”
“So, why did you come today?”
She seemed to want to avoid continuing the previous topic, diving straight into the main point.
Juhyuk didn’t want to press further, so he explained the reason for his visit.
“I want to get a reawakening check.”
“Reawakening?”
Her indifferent expression shifted dramatically.
Yena jumped to her feet at the shocking words.
“Could it be… you finally reached reawakening?”
“Not sure yet.”
“L-let’s go check immediately.”
The two headed to the mana measurement room to confirm the awakening.
Juhyuk, already familiar with the procedure, didn’t need any guidance and placed his hand on the magic stone.
[Consume the magic stone to absorb mana.]
“So it appeared again.”
The message prompting him to consume the stone.
He thought it strange, as the message had not appeared when he ate the stone in the Training Room.
After drifting in thought, the check was completed, and the excited Yena announced the results.
“D-rank!”
“D-rank?”
“Yes! Finally, your mana isn’t as negligible as F-rank!”
She showed him the results sheet.
According to the measurements, his mana quantity was at an average D-rank level.
“So now I…”
“You’re no longer an F-rank hunter, but a D-rank hunter. Honestly, it’s still low for your current ability… but your physical ability has probably improved at least twofold!”
His physical ability had increased more than double.
Combined with the previous boost from consuming the Dream Herb, he had become far stronger with the addition of mana.
Stunned by the unexpected fortune, Juhyuk remained silent while Yena, eager to register him with the guild, rushed out.
Following her, Juhyuk fell into deep contemplation.
“Is it because of the magic stone I ate back then that my mana increased?”
He had digested countless magic stones through the Artifact before.
But the stone consumed in the Training Room, given by a demon via contract, had not been absorbed. Yet, it still boosted his mana.
“It wasn’t absorbed? Is that right?”
The stone wasn’t just lingering in his body—it had definitively enhanced his physical abilities.
The effect would not have occurred if the stone had been absorbed as usual.
It was easier to think of the stone as now being a part of him.
“Why?”
The stone in the Training Room was supposed to explode if he broke the contract. Yet somehow, it had become a part of his power.
It made no sense.
With so much unknown, he could hardly make any judgments.
The only thing he could be certain of now was that the stone given by the demon in the Training Room had augmented his mana.
Discovering more than that was impossible at the moment.
To find out, he needed…
“Garisto.”
The mastermind behind the mysterious Artifact.
He would need Garisto’s cooperation to prevent an explosion inside his body.
“But will he even cooperate?”
He had neglected this while only thinking about approaching Garisto.
Would Garisto even help him remove the Artifact if they met?
From what he had seen, Garisto was a mad scientist who would be delighted to see the Artifact meet its worthy owner.
To persuade him, Juhyuk would need something new to offer.
And the only one who might know was… a single demon.
“I need to see Mephisto first.”
However, he currently had no way to contact Mephisto directly.
He said only that he would open a gate on the day of Garisto’s mansion inspection, leaving him with just a farewell to Yena.
“Should I just wait at the gate when it opens?”
Yena looked bored without anything to do.
He thought waiting at the usual gate location might work—but then realized that blindly waiting could waste time if nothing happened.
“If he doesn’t appear, it’s just wasted time. I need a definite way to reach him.”
Should he enter a hellish gate?
Doing so might alert Mephisto that he had entered—but even then, nothing was certain.
“In the end, I have to hope Mephisto seeks me out.”
The stress of uncertain methods weighed on him.
While pondering alternative ways to contact Mephisto, a phrase he once overheard popped into his mind.
[Ah, I remember. I made a contract with a little kid that day, and they’ve grown so much I can barely recognize them.]
“Ah.”
There was a way.
Unlike him, who refused the contract, someone with a long-standing bond for over ten years was nearby.
“Well, maybe not nearby.”
He took his wallet from his pocket.
From among the many business cards inside, he chose one and made the call.
After a few rings, the other person answered.
[Hello, this is [Name] speaking.]**
“Juhyuk Jeong.”
[…]
The person went quiet as soon as he gave his name.
Soon, the person, maintaining an excited voice, replied:
[I never imagined you’d contact me first!]
“I had an urgent matter.”
If it weren’t urgent, he wouldn’t have called.
Now wasn’t the time to be picky.
[Let me guess—you’re not calling with a positive response to the scout, right?]
“Of course not.”
[I thought so.]
They laughed together.
After a brief chuckle, Juhyuk asked again:
[So, why did you contact me personally like this?]
“Nothing major.”
He paused briefly, then got to the point:
“Give me Sungjia’s contact information.”
