Chapter 5: Abnormal Mutation
“Yeah. I’m going to be a Hunter!”
Now that I have a goal, my steps feel light.
Sure, my right knee is already screaming after just a short walk, but I easily brush it off.
‘Look at this. How can I do any labor with a body that can’t even run? It’s hard even to manage day-to-day life with so many gaps in my memory.’
My facial skin may not twitch at all, but I’m actually in a very happy state.
Honestly, until lunch today, the future felt bleak.
The owner of this body is extremely poor; all their assets would vanish just paying for a bowl of soup.
Just when I was pondering how to make money for some nutrients, hope appeared.
I learned that there’s a profession called Hunter on Earth.
‘Since it’s come to this, I’ll hunt with magic to make a living!’
Of course, right now that crucial magic isn’t coming out, but I figured it would fix itself with time.
At least the solution isn’t totally out of reach.
‘That Beginner Killer thing needs a sufficient number of individuals, right?’
I stopped in my tracks on my way home and turned my head.
‘But do I really need to just target the Beginner Killer?’
An idea suddenly popped into my head.
They said Beginner Killers are C-Class Monsters. That means there must be prey of other classes as well.
‘The location of the Gate must be over there.’
Gate.
It’s obvious where the hunting grounds for Earth’s Hunters are located.
‘There are monsters residing inside.’
Though my magic casting is blocked, sensing the flow of mana is a different ability.
It didn’t take long to pinpoint the location of the Gate.
Even now, if I just make up my mind, I could find one nearby.
So, is there any reason not to go?
Of course not. For future activities, I need to analyze Earth’s monsters in advance.
‘I should just sneak a peek at what level the monsters living nearby are at.’
With this magic detection ability, I could assess danger from a considerable distance.
I spontaneously turned around to execute what I had been thinking.
*
Kim Gi-ryeo arrived at the nearby hillside shortly after.
It looked close, but walking with human legs took more time than expected.
“Phew, I almost lost my breath because of the slope.”
He wiped his sweat and looked at the Gate before him.
“The tape stuck between the trees made it unnecessarily hard.”
The entrance of the dungeon, known as the Gate by humans, was still emitting a low hum of magical waves.
“Seriously, Earthling aesthetics are bizarre. Why decorate plants?”
Well, shall I take a look inside?
He took a deep breath and entered the Gate without hesitation.
“Wow! It’s pretty spacious inside!”
The voice coming from the Gate gradually faded.
Gi-ryeo disappeared into the dungeon like that. And about ten minutes later, footsteps echoed in the now-quiet hillside.
Pat, pat, pat.
Soon, a group of about four people approached.
“Hello? Team Leader?”
The man in his early twenties at the front of the group held up a cellphone. He started a simple call.
“We’ve just arrived in front of the Gate.”
-Right. Yoon Seung-ah. Are there any civilians around?
“It’s fine. The control line is well established.”
‘Yoon Seung’ looked around.
A bright yellow warning tape, recognizable to any human, surrounded the trees near the Gate.
“Besides, who would get close to a Gate that’s undergone an abnormal transformation?”
-That cursed mutation is driving me crazy. How many ranks have changed this month alone?
The voice on the other end sounded very worried.
“Don’t worry. We’ll start the investigation right away.”
From the fragmented information, it appeared that the people gathered were a Hunter team investigating the abnormal phenomena occurring at this Gate.
However, they seemed unfazed even after hearing that the danger level of the Gate had changed.
“Don’t dawdle! Let’s get in there! This is only F-Class, anyway.”
There seemed to be some reason behind their confidence.
“Should we grab a drink after work? It’s Friday.”
“We haven’t even started yet and you’re talking about that…”
Before long, their figures also vanished beyond the shimmering light of the Gate.
“Ugh, it’s musty. What kind of cave is this in the middle of summer?”
Inside the Gate was a completely different world from the outside.
A dark, humid cave that looked like bats could pop out at any second.
Occasionally, stalactites were visible on the high ceiling.
“According to the measurements, the internal mana density is at the level of a D-Class dungeon.”
“It’s always like that. It’s practically a rule now. If there’s an anomaly at the Gate, it’s guaranteed to jump two levels.”
“It often only changes one level, too.”
They progressed forward while recording how the dungeon interior had changed.
The man holding the shield at the front spoke up.
“Are we going too fast? Should we slow down a bit?”
“Is that necessary?”
“It’s been quite a walk, and we haven’t seen any signs of monsters…”
His voice carried a hint of caution.
However, his suggestion didn’t seem to impact the party at all. Instead, one of the team members playfully slapped his shiny scalp and joked.
“C’mon, why are you always acting like that, young man? Our team has an A-Class Hunter! What’s there to be worried about with Ahn Yoon-seung here?”
The investigators all thought the same.
Most of the Hunters gathered here were B-Class. Even the team leader was an A-Class rising star—what could they possibly worry about?
Thus, they wanted to finish this tedious investigation quickly, just like any other day.
“Ah, bro. Still… it’s a dungeon.”
“Got it. Got it. As long as we’re careful…”
But at that moment, while they were chatting away…
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A regular THUD echoed, and the ground began to shake as if an earthquake was happening.
This sound was enough to silence the investigators’ conversation.
“What the…?”
The first to speak was the Hunter holding the staff.
He strained his neck to figure out the source of the sound and finally identified the owner of the noise…
“Ahhhhh!”
With wide-open eyes, he let out a scream that he hadn’t yet swallowed.
*
“Aaaaah…!”
“Hmm?”
Did I hear that wrong?
I feel like I heard something.
‘Kim Gi-ryeo’s ears are definitely not trustworthy. Come to think of it, Alphauri people have exceptional hearing.’
I briefly tuned into the fleeting little noise, then lost interest and turned my head back.
But turning my gaze back didn’t change the situation.
It’s already been a few minutes since I entered this unidentified Gate.
“I feel like I’ve gone pretty deep in…”
I definitely came here to observe monsters.
But strangely, I hadn’t encountered a single living creature yet.
This place was just… a quiet cave with the humidity I like.
‘Damn it. Did I misunderstand the Gate?’
Not finding any monsters. Plus, there weren’t any other peculiarities in the cave.
What would I accomplish by staying here?
I turned back in disappointment, ready to give up and return to the entrance.
“Hmm?”
But as I got closer to the entrance, I felt an unusual mana.
This small, shabby yet lively mana. Ah, this must be humanity’s internal mana.
“Someone’s come in? It must be a Hunter?”
Since I had quite a bit of activity today, I couldn’t increase my walking speed.
So, I limped slightly with Gi-ryeo’s injured leg and slowly approached the direction of the detected mana.
As I got closer, I finally heard some voices.
“Hii, hiiik!”
“Whew, I’m dead. I died in one hit… O-oppaaaa…!”
“…Cough!”
Huh, what the heck is this mess?
With the sounds being so starkly clear, it became evident that things were not right.
‘W-was a monster appearing?!’
First, I need to assess the situation.
I quickly hid behind a nearby rock.
‘Where? Where’s that scary monster?!’
It was too far to see clearly from my vantage point, but I tuned in and focused on the sound information.
“Just now… I saw it with Pixy Glass… A, it’s A-Class. This monster’s mana level is A…!”
“What does that mean?! Why is there an A-Class in a D-Class dungeon?!”
“Yoon Seung-ah! Are you okay?”
This is ridiculous. I don’t understand half of the words these Earthlings are throwing around.
Feeling frustrated, I peeked my head out to assess the situation. The first thing I noticed was a bloodied bald man.
‘He’s looking like a rag now.’
He had wounds that looked like he’d been hit by something massive.
The man, panting from being slammed against a wall, adjusted his shield. A shield? Is that humanity’s tool?
‘Wow, that’s primitive.’
However, even holding that shield, he looked far from sturdy, swaying like that.
Then what the heck could have reduced that man to such a bloody state?
“Hey, even an A-Class dude awakened as a defensive type can’t block it… How are we supposed to handle this… huh?”
“Quickly prepare your skills! I’ll create an opening…”
“I can’t do it!”
Hmm. The angle was tricky, and unfortunately, I couldn’t see the monster’s appearance. But I could sense its mana.
‘Could it be…?’
I found myself lost in thought, gauging the monster’s mana they were dealing with.
“This is why I didn’t want to team up with inexperienced youngsters! If you had blocked properly, my arm, Chul-min’s… damn it…!”
“Bro! Wait a moment!”
But while I was focused on my detection, the situation changed rapidly.
‘Those bloody marks on the wall… they can’t be Earthling’s, can they?’
It seemed those three were teammates.
It appeared that one was attempting to bind the monster’s feet while the magic user at the back was readying a counter, but now the number of them had reduced to two.
One of them cursing just fled.
Grrrrrr…
“Bindings, the bindings aren’t ready yet?”
“Skills… already used them. Yoon Seung-ah…”
And in the blink of an eye, the team faced destruction.
While the front-line Hunter distracted the monster, it seemed a teammate was prepping restraint magic…
When that didn’t work at all, the last mage was looking for an escape route.
“We should retry! Yoon Seung-ah! Can you hold out for another 30 seconds with that technique?”
“…H-huh, okay!”
The shield-wielding Hunter was already losing focus, yet he gritted his teeth and charged toward the monster.
However, when the promised 30 seconds were up…
When he turned to look at the mage, nobody was left behind.
“…!”
The last mage had used that Hunter as bait to draw the monster’s attention while making a getaway.
Sacrificing someone who shielded him with their body, leaving only ruin—is this really the nature of Earth’s people?
“Ugh…”
Realizing he had been betrayed, the Hunter knelt down looking utterly defeated, as if he didn’t even have the energy to be angry.
His wounds were fatal. There was no way he could stand anymore.
“I believed in everyone…”
That sight, waiting for death with teary eyes, was pitiful.
But it’s all good, Yoon Seung-ah!
‘Thanks to you, I’ve had the chance to analyze the situation.’
Boom!
At the moment the monster took a heavy step forward to claim the Hunter’s life…
The massive monster halted abruptly as it sensed new movement behind.
I slowly stepped out, breaking the long silence.
“Wow, seeing you up close really confirms it. Nice to meet you in a place like this!”
Yeah, the truth is…
The monster they had been facing all along was a Golem.
And Golems are very familiar to Alphauri. How familiar, you ask?
“Oh, this is totally ancient-style!”
You could say it felt like encountering a robotic vacuum cleaner from another galaxy.