Chapter 11

Chapter 11. Invasive Species

***

Guild Invictus.

This group bore the grandiose Latin name of "the unconquered," but in my memory, that name was synonymous with cancer.

I was certain they were the main culprits who had set the Korean Hunter ecosystem back by at least ten years, no, half a century.

They were obsessed with Mana Stones.

It was not simply that they loved money. They were closer to parasites sucking the blood from the nation's veins.

They used capital as a weapon to sweep up and monopolize every promising prospect they could find, then trampled any rival guild the moment it showed signs of growth.

'Starving them out.'

The damage they caused was horrific.

Eighty percent of Korea's S-rank Hunters belonged to Invictus, but when a large gate actually broke open, they would start crunching numbers.

If the profit and loss did not add up, they would not deploy, and they made a habit of barging into raids other guilds were clearing and trolling them.

Their decisive blunder was the Evil God Dragon subjugation.

When humanity should have united against Zephyros, those bastards withdrew to the rear, claiming they were preserving their strength.

The moment those who should have been the strongest spear hid behind the shield, the front line collapsed.

Even as the Blade Guild was annihilated and my brother was dying, those bastards were probably checking Mana Stone prices somewhere.

Meanwhile, the excited man kept talking.

"I'm telling you, even Invictus showed up, and they almost never come."

"..."

"Ah, anyway, look over there. Plenty of others came besides Invictus. Guardians, Arang Guild too..."

He was right.

The area around the platform was crowded with scouts dispatched from various guilds.

It was rare for this kind of lineup to gather at a Hunter exam site.

The attendance fee could not have been cheap, but they looked like a pack of hyenas that had caught a scent and swarmed in.

Was there some big fish among the 25th class?

I had no memory of one.

Was this also because this was a world without Kang Tae-yoon?

Either way, that big fish could be me, or it could not.

What mattered was how I appeared in their eyes.

A tasty piece of prey? Or a thorn that would catch in their throats?

Bzzzt.

Noise burst from the speaker, cutting off my thoughts.

"All right, attention! Thirty-six people have withdrawn. Current remaining examinees, forty."

It was the Hunter Association examiner's voice.

Dozens had packed their things over a single liability waiver.

A wise decision.

No one could enter a gate with a half-hearted resolve.

"Drones are deployed over the test site and will record you from multiple angles. Teamwork, combat sense, crisis response ability. Everything will be quantified. Do not worry about the cameras. Focus on surviving."

Whirrr.

The sound of propellers turning came from overhead.

Dozens of drones were hovering in the air like a swarm of bees.

"Once you finish checking your equipment, assemble in front of Building A, Gate 1!"

The crowd moved as one.

Tension was embedded in their footsteps.

Some took deep breaths, and some made the sign of the cross.

Different stories, different desperation.

But gates did not care about such circumstances.

'Let's go.'

I gripped the rough handle of the training sword tightly.

My heartbeat settled into calm.

The second real combat test since my regression.

It was time to prove myself.

Creeeak.

With the sound of rusty gears meshing, the massive green iron door opened.

From the darkness beyond, the briny smell of a forest rushed out.

***

Creeeeak.

Beyond the iron door was another world.

The concrete floor was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a primeval forest spread out before us, covered in underbrush that rose to our ankles and damp leaf mold.

Artificial sunlight blazed down from the ceiling, but the humidity and smell were indistinguishable from a real gate.

'They spent some money on this.'

As expected of an internationally standardized test site.

This was not a simple set, but an artificial ecosystem with its mana concentration adjusted.

Even ten years ago, they still built test sites with this kind of craftsmanship.

"We will split you into groups of ten! Group C, this way!"

The staff member's shout split the crowd apart.

I ended up in Group C's waiting line as if I had been pushed there.

The order did not matter anyway.

Monsters would try to kill everyone equally.

"Oh my! We meet again? This must really be fate. Ha ha ha."

A familiar voice.

When I turned my head, the man in the green tracksuit was smiling good-naturedly.

A tenacious connection.

I was not exactly glad about it.

"I didn't think we'd be in the same group."

"I know, right! Look at that, we have not even introduced ourselves. I am Lee Seong-chan."

"Kim Do-jin."

He offered his hand.

The palm I clasped was thick and rough.

Calluses were embedded in it like medals.

These were not muscles made in a gym.

They were real combat muscles, or rather... muscles forged through training.

"I used to do some weightlifting. I am confident when it comes to using strength. I will take hits from small fry like goblins, so Do-jin, you can fire magic from the back. Bang, bang."

"Is that so?"

"I am confident in tanking!~ Would you like to team up?"

"No."

"Oh, take it easy! Take it easy!"

Lee Seong-chan banged the two small shields on his arms together.

It was an unusual setup.

Most people would carry one large shield.

He opened his eyes wide and round.

I decided to ask the question he wanted.

"You have two shields."

"Curious, right? Ah, of course you are. This is my secret technique. You will understand once you see it!"

He winked at me after announcing a secret I had not even asked about.

Overdone affability.

Unlike at first, I did not dislike him.

His eyes were clear.

He was a rare type to find in a place like this.

I liked people whose outside and inside matched.

"Ah, fuck. You're so fucking loud, seriously."

A sharp voice flew from the front of the line.

The atmosphere went cold as if someone had dumped cold water over it.

A young man with yellow-dyed hair and ears loaded with piercings was glaring at us.

"What, did you come here to play? Shut your mouth, will you?"

Fire flickered at the delinquent's fingertips.

Fwoosh.

A Fire Ball with a fairly stable form.

His mana was at the early 2nd Circle.

'High-level for an examinee.'

He was throwing a tantrum because he had something to rely on.

It was a provocation with grounds.

In truth, Lee Seong-chan had been a little loud.

Even my ears were starting to ring beside him.

But openly casting magic with killing intent like that crossed the line.

Magic had to be aimed only at monsters.

If I so much as twitched a finger, I could push mana into that bastard's fingertips and make it flow backward.

Should I make him cough blood and roll around on the floor?

For a very brief moment, that impulse rose in me.

Step.

Lee Seong-chan scratched the back of his head awkwardly, then walked over to the thug.

The difference in build was overwhelming.

Lee Seong-chan was a giant over 190 centimeters tall, while the delinquent was scrawny.

The shadow looking down on him from above should have been intimidating enough, but the thug did not back down and only made the flame bigger.

"What? Why? Want me to burn one of your eyes out?"

A hair-trigger situation.

But Lee Seong-chan's response went against my expectations.

"Oh dear, I am sorry! I talk a little too much when I get nervous. I was being very loud, was I not?"

He bowed at the waist to a full ninety degrees.

It did not look servile.

It was the attitude of an adult soothing a child throwing a tantrum.

It was a sincere apology, but beneath it lay the composure that said, 'You had a reason to be angry.'

"..."

The delinquent was the one who looked flustered instead.

He had expected Lee Seong-chan to push back, but when the man bowed first, the wind went out of him.

He clicked his tongue and withdrew the flame.

"If you know that, then shut up. You're so fucking distracting."

"Yes, yes. I will be careful. Good luck on the exam!"

Lee Seong-chan returned with a bright smile and gave me a look.

I reassessed him.

His mana value might be lower than the delinquent's, but his vessel was overwhelmingly larger.

The social tact to avoid wasting emotions and to keep the exam atmosphere from falling apart.

That kind of person was a real tank.

He also had the qualities of a leader.

He had the potential to become a good Hunter.

If only he did not talk so much.

"Group C, enter! The test begins the moment you go in!"

BEEP—!

The starting signal sounded with the buzzer.

"Let's gooo!"

"Move! I am first!"

People poured out in a rush.

They sprinted at full speed as if this were a hundred-meter race.

The obsession with scoring early points and the impatience to secure a good position first pushed them forward.

They shoved each other's shoulders, and some even stooped to tripping people.

Humans fighting each other before they even fought monsters.

Lee Seong-chan clenched his fist too.

"Do-jin! We should go too! We must not fall behind!"

"Go ahead. I am going to tie my shoelaces."

I leisurely pretended to retie my shoes and stepped back.

Lee Seong-chan looked puzzled, but he was swept up by the atmosphere and ended up running out with the others.

"Yes, yes! Good luck! See you later!"

His back disappeared into the forest.

I was left alone.

The area around me grew quiet.

"I used to run like that too."

A gate was not a first-come footrace.

Charging in without information was like walking on your own feet into a ravenous demon's jaws.

The forest ahead was not a simple meadow.

There was no way the examiners had kindly paved a road for us.

BANG—!

BOOOOM—!

Just as I expected.

Explosions and screams came from deeper inside the forest.

It seemed the ones who had stepped on the mana mines placed at the entrance were appearing one after another.

"Aaaagh! My leg!"

"H-Help me!"

Thick smoke rose along with their desperate screams.

The acrid smell of burning flesh drifted over.

It was cold, but this was also part of the test.

A sieve that filtered out impatience.

Those who were not prepared were better off packing their things here.

That way, they could avoid dying like dogs in a real gate.

I slowly raised my head and observed the forest.

Sunlight filtering through the leaves, the damp smell of moss.

And the sticky sensation touching my skin.

'Mana concentration.'

I opened my palm and brushed through the mana in the air.

Ssssh.

The resistance catching on my fingertips was heavy.

A pressure like walking through water.

"......It's dense."

Far higher than an ordinary low-grade gate.

The test sites right before my regression diluted the mana concentration for beginners' safety.

But ten years ago was different.

The wildness of a gate was alive here as it was.

Their panic was not simply because of the traps.

Their brains had become drunk on mana, dulling their judgment.

'All the better.'

A denser mana concentration meant stronger magic.

It was poison to beginners, but to me, someone who could manipulate mana freely, it was the optimal stage.

The air itself was fuel to me.

Five minutes passed.

The screams had died down too.

It was about time to move.

"[Synchronization]."

Wooooong.

I rotated the mana core near my heart.

Mana flowed through my blood vessels and was converted into Aura.

Tiny sparks crackled across my whole body.

But there was no severe pain.

Thanks to the optimization work I had done at the altar, the fusion of mana and Aura was as natural as flowing water.

'Smooth.'

Before, it had felt like stiff gears being forced to turn. Now, it was as smooth as an engine lubricated with the finest oil.

My mana circuit did not reject Aura. It accepted it.

The comfort of a newly installed operating system and hardware being perfectly compatible.

Like a well-oiled machine, my muscles and mana meshed perfectly.

My body became light as a feather.

The creaking I had felt at Donggureung was gone now.

Whoosh.

I put strength into my toes.

I sent Aura down to the soles of my feet.

The repulsive force pushed off the ground.

"[Haste]."

Shweeeeeek—

The wind rose.

A spell formula of acceleration wrapped around my body.

It was not simple wind.

It was a fluid-dynamic barrier that eliminated air resistance and assisted my movements.

The scenery around me blurred and warped.

To my Aura-enhanced muscle strength, I added the propulsion of acceleration magic.

This combination was possible because of my unique trait, "Tree of Sephiroth."

The preparations were finished.

I took my first step toward the forest.

At that moment, the wind followed.

It wrapped around my ankles, brushed past my calves, and gently lifted my balance upward.

My movement changed.

The sensation of stepping on the ground became far thinner.

As if my weight had decreased, my toes found the path first.

My legs were different now.

As agile as a nimble rogue.

No, I would be able to move even faster than that.

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