Chapter 11: Test (2)

Jin Seongha currently possessed three skills. According to the novel, five months from now, he’d awaken a fourth, becoming the strongest Hunter on Earth. Korea’s representative Hunter would become the world’s.

Hong Insu was the villain who greatly aided Jin Seongha’s fourth skill awakening.

By killing Choi Jungho, he enraged Jin Seongha, whose grief and fury triggered a powerful area-of-effect attack skill.

This fourth skill was Jin Seongha’s trump card, used even in the novel’s later stages.

Thus, Hong Insu was a villain essential to the story’s progression.

He wasn’t always a bad guy.

Awakened as a B-rank, Hong Insu was a dutiful Hunter. His frequent dungeon raids kept him away from home.

One day, a non-awakened burglar, assuming a Hunter’s home would be rich, broke in and killed his parents.

It didn’t end there.

A week later, his younger sibling was caught in a dungeon overflow and killed by a monster.

Hong Insu learned no one helped his sibling during the attack.

“I risked my life in dungeons to save people, but no one saved my family. They killed them, or stood by and watched…!”

This betrayal turned him into a villain.

His anger shifted toward heroes who saved those he deemed unworthy.

“Why save this trash? The problem is the ones saving them. By saving trash, the world’s overrun with it.”

With this mindset, Hong Insu went to Jin Seongha’s home to kill him, the most active hero at the time.

Instead, he killed Choi Jungho, who was there feeding Jin Seongha’s animals.

“In the novel, he was with Udinbara Guild… was he a mercenary?”

His affiliation didn’t matter.

As long as he turned villain properly.

But the problem was…

“Twenty? Just a year younger than me. In times like these, a year or two’s nothing. Let’s drop formalities, Ion.”

His personality was completely different from the novel’s description.

Grinning broadly and offering a handshake, Hong Insu showed no signs of turning dark.

“…Sorry, I’m not good at dropping formalities.”

“No need to apologize! Just be comfortable! Here, shake!”

“Alright…”

Ion shook his hand reluctantly.

Today was May 26, 2050.

The exact date of Hong Insu’s family’s death wasn’t specified, but it was definitely in May.

Considering his sibling died a week after his parents, they should be dead by now… yet he was this cheerful?

“If we both get picked, great, but if one of us fails, how about the other gets Jin Seongha’s autograph?”

“…Do you like Jin Seongha, hyung?”

“Of course! I was gonna stick to mercenary work, but the chance to team up with Jin Seongha made me take this test.”

“What? You’re a Jin Seongha fan?”

Bae Younghoe, the Peanut Vice Leader, chimed in.

“Yeah. Any Hunter who doesn’t admire Jin Seongha? What, you an anti, ajussi?”

“Not a fan or an anti. I actually pity him. He barely rests, always raiding dungeons. Just this morning, he entered one in Donghae.”

“That’s what makes him cool! Unlike D-NATE’s guildmasters, who dodge raids with excuses, he’s a real hero. Full of duty and purpose. I heard he volunteered for animal rights groups in school. Total hero. I wanna call him ‘hyung’ soon. Seongha hyuuung.”

Hong Insu gushed, spitting with enthusiasm, eyes sparkling. It felt genuine.

Ion felt uneasy.

This was when his parents should’ve died.

‘Are they still alive…?’

This was a big issue.

If so, Ion might have to kill them for the novel’s sake.

After deciding to let Kim Minjun live, now it was Hong Insu. Ion’s head throbbed—a chronic headache.

“Everyone, if you’re ready, gather at the gate.”

At Lee Jina’s call, they left the tent. Ion followed, his large backpack slung over his shoulder. Hong Insu eyed it curiously.

“First time seeing someone bring such a big bag into a dungeon. Why not use your inventory?”

“It’s full.”

“Oh, right. Low experience means a tiny inventory. They say initial sizes vary. Mine was barely phone-sized at first. B-rank, but so small I could only carry potions. It’s average for B-rank now.”

“…”

“But once it got bigger, I realized there’s not much to carry. Items are crazy expensive, so I don’t bother. Just water and lunchboxes.”

Ion hadn’t known, since Hong Insu appeared post-darkening in the novel, but he was quite talkative.

“Lunchboxes?”

“When I go to dungeons, Mom packs enough for three or four days. In the inventory, they last a week.”

“Your mom’s alive…?”

“…? Yeah. Dad too.”

So his family was alive. Ion’s face darkened, and Hong Insu flinched.

“Oh, uh… sorry. Didn’t know. Don’t be too sad. They’re watching over you from above.”

Ion could guess what misunderstanding his expression caused.

“Still getting your mom to pack lunchboxes at your age? Tsk.”

The prickly youth, Kim Young, scoffed as he passed, not forgetting to snap at Ion too.

“Slow us down with that luggage, and we’ll leave you.”

Hong Insu shook his head behind Kim Young.

Kim Young seemed more villainous than Hong Insu.

‘Was his name Kim Young?’

Bae Younghoe, Kim Young, Shin Minji, Seon Dayeon—all testers were extras from the novel.

Besides Lee Jina, eight more Horizon guild members were at the gate. Bae Younghoe asked:

“Three supervisors?”

“Just me. These five are A-rank Hunters for the raid. It’s a test, but this is an official B-rank dungeon we need to clear. The other three are for byproduct collection. Everyone ready?”

“Long ready.”

“Check your return stones one last time.”

Return stones.

Disposable items that let awakened escape dungeons back to Earth. Every awakened starts with a random number in their inventory. Even if used up, they refill infinitely based on experience, so no worries.

Using a return stone to exit and re-enter a dungeon leaves the environment unchanged, meaning no need to re-fight monsters.

Return stones were an extra life for awakened.

But there were two penalties: you couldn’t re-enter the same gate for a set time, and only one return stone per person per dungeon.

Some, believing infinite refills weren’t guaranteed, saved them for dire emergencies.

Half right, half wrong.

When the world reached Level 2, return stones became unusable.

They were beginner-aid items.

Better to use them now than save them.

Of course, non-awakened Ion had no return stones to begin with.

“Yep, my precious babies are safe. Let’s go!”

“We’re all veterans here. Stop checking and let’s move. I wanna show off!”

Hong Insu bounced excitedly. Lee Jina, expressionless, typed on her small tablet. Hong Insu, paling, whispered to Ion:

“She didn’t dock points for my enthusiasm, right?”

“…Haha, no way.”

Lee Jina turned off the tablet and clipped it to her waist.

“May 26, 2050, 10 a.m. Sixteen people entering B-rank gate.”

Lee Jina, eight Horizon members, and seven testers crossed the gate.

ROAR!

Crunch! Ion drove his dagger into a monster’s torso. Zap! The electric current in the blade surged through its insides, killing it before it could scream. Ion dismissed the dagger and stepped back.

“How’s that? My skill. Clean, right?”

Bae Younghoe, who’d buffed Ion’s dagger, approached.

“Yeah. No blood splatter. Nice.”

“Melee types always say that. It’s so clean, once they try it, they’re hooked. You’ll be addicted to my support too, kid. Haha.”

He was insufferably smug for one comment.

Lee Jina, examining the monster corpse, activated her tablet.

“Ion Hunter, was it hard to time the electric charge?”

“It lasts 30 seconds. Plenty of time. If I can’t time it right, the problem’s with the combatant, not the supporter.”

“I see. Almost no cooldown, low mana cost. Quite a useful skill.”

Tap tap. She recorded her evaluation. Bae Younghoe peeked curiously but looked away under her sharp gaze.

“Next, Hong Insu Hunter.”

Having tested melee, it was time for ranged. Hong Insu scratched his head.

“I don’t really have a weapon.”

“No weapon at all?”

“Nope, ajussi. Just like this…”

A dark red aura flowed from Hong Insu’s feet, stretching into a black shadow. It radiated a menacing, sinister vibe.

The shadow lunged at the monster corpse, opening its maw like a boa constrictor and swallowing it whole.

Crunch. Snap. Crack.

After gruesome sounds, the shadow returned to Hong Insu. Not a trace of the corpse remained.

Curse of the Shadow.

The main skill of Hong Insu, a curse mage.

Bae Younghoe whistled.

“That’s one brutal skill. My Electric Dispatch only works on weapons, so it won’t help you.”

“Hmm. Can’t be helped. Moving on. Kim Young Hunter.”

The prickly youth stepped forward.

“Yes.”

“You have a detection skill, right? Guide the way.”

“Understood.”

The group boarded a military truck, heading in the direction Kim Young indicated.

Obviously, dungeons weren’t traversed on foot. Many vehicles weren’t fully itemized yet, but surprisingly, military trucks were among the first.

This dungeon’s open grassland terrain was perfect for them. It was likely chosen as a test dungeon for easy navigation.

If Ion were alone, he’d have flown through with flight magic, clearing it in three or four hours.

But this party—six A-rank Hunters, two B-rank or lower combatants, five supporters, and three porters—would take a week to ten days to clear a B-rank dungeon. As a B-rank awakened, Ion had to stick to the average pace.

During the ride, Bae Younghoe and Hong Insu chatted to pass the time.

“My monster debuff skill’s top-notch too. Combat types who’ve tried it always seek me out.”

“Two skills, ajussi?”

“Ally buff, monster debuff. Pretty great, huh?”

“Jealous. I’ve only got this one. It’s versatile, but I’d love to try others.”

Sadly, that wouldn’t happen. Hong Insu was fated to die with just Curse of the Shadow.

“Heard rumors that enough experience can increase skill count. True?”

“Dunno. If so, I’d have at least five by now.”

Experience above a certain threshold was consumed in three ways:

1. Inventory expansion.
2. Return stone acquisition.
3. Skill evolution (unknown to humanity at this point), enhancing skill power or increasing skill count.

But these were automatic, beyond the awakened’s control. Even if they wanted to boost skill power, the system might expand their inventory instead.

As the world’s level rose, more experience-consuming features appeared: skill workshops, skill shops, long-distance communication.

‘They’re weaker than me now, but eventually, awakened will be dozens of times stronger.’

As a non-awakened, that was inevitable.

But Ion didn’t care.

By then, he wouldn’t be in this world anymore.