Magic Stones Are Needed (2)
An ogre was a monster that only a Hunter-class user could reasonably face one-on-one. The one small mercy was that they tended to live solitary lives.
Seon Yul also came face-to-face with a single ogre.
Even though he had been moving cautiously, he failed to notice one hiding among the massive trees, and as a result, ended up confronting it head-on like this.
Here, Seon Yul had two choices.
The first was to quickly open Absolute Space and escape inside.
The second was to confront the ogre directly using the method he had been researching.
In truth, it didn’t matter which option he chose.
However, the first option could be executed at any time. More precisely, even if he chose the second option and engaged in combat, he could immediately switch back to the first if things became dangerous.
For that reason, Seon Yul chose the second option first.
It was a decision made in a split second, so it wasn’t born of overflowing confidence. Still, no matter how much Seon Yul avoided risk to the extreme, he knew he couldn’t simply avoid everything forever. This was something he had to prepare for in advance.
“This might actually be for the best.”
Nodding to himself, Seon Yul calmly opened the entrance to Absolute Space.
However, the entrance he opened was not visible at a glance.
It wasn’t easy to see, but he had definitely opened it.
Then he pulled out the wire that Hephaestus had made for him from the bag slung over his back.
Seon Yul hadn’t given the wire any special name.
A wire was just a wire.
“Grur!!” Thud, thud, thud.
The ogre spotted Seon Yul and immediately charged toward him.
But Seon Yul did not evade.
Shrrrrrrk.
Instead, he flicked the coiled wire lightly into the air, unraveling it in a single motion.
An astonishing level of control.
But in truth, this made no sense.
The Wire Master ability only activated when Seon Yul was inside Absolute Space.
And yet he was now using Wire Master perfectly fine in the real world.
Shrrrrrrk, snap!
The wire he casually flung forward wrapped around the ogre’s leg, and Seon Yul gave it a sharp tug, toppling the creature.
Kwaaaang!
No matter how much Seon Yul’s physical abilities had improved through awakening and leveling up, they could not compare to an ogre’s brute strength.
However, combined with the Wire Master effect and his delicate wire control, this result became possible.
But how exactly was Seon Yul able to use Wire Master right now?
The secret lay beneath his right foot.
Just moments ago, Seon Yul had opened the entrance to Absolute Space.
Directly beneath his right foot—extremely small.
He had opened a tiny entrance behind his heel and had inserted just the slightest portion of his heel into it.
Only the back of his heel overlapped with the space slightly…
And that was the key.
In his attempts to use Absolute Space with maximum efficiency, Seon Yul had conducted all kinds of experiments. In the process, he discovered something very interesting.
As long as even the tiniest part of his body… say, half a joint of his little finger was within Absolute Space, every ability that could normally be used only inside that space would be applied.
In other words, even if he stood outside with just half a finger inside, he could still use abilities like Hyper Regeneration or Wire Master.
After discovering this, Seon Yul had researched ways to fight outside Absolute Space.
This was the result.
“It works!”
Because Wire Master increased even the force transmitted through the wire, Seon Yul was able to hurl the bound ogre to one side.
Whoooosh! Kwa-gwa-gwang!
But the ogre was not a monster that would fall from something like that.
It was the ruler of this region.
Like a tiger commanding its territory, it had dominated this area and countless users…
Shrrrrk. Crack!
“KRUAAAGH!!”
A single line of wire pierced through the ogre’s shoulder.
At the tip of the wire Seon Yul wielded was a sharp triangular drill, crafted exactly as he had requested, and it penetrated the ogre’s shoulder with ease.
And that wasn’t the end.
After piercing through the shoulder, the wire made a U-turn in midair and wrapped around the ogre’s neck.
Shrrrrrrk, grind!
“Grrrrrr!!”
The ogre struggled violently.
With its massive hands, it tried to tear off the wire constricting its neck.
Grgrgrgrgrgr!
But the wire tightened further, and the ogre could do nothing but barely hold it with both hands as it choked.
“The more force I use, the more strength I feel instead… Ah! This must be Hyper Regeneration’s Muscle Booster!”
Wolverine, known for his Super Regeneration ability, was famous for possessing physical strength surpassing even most enhancement-type users.
He had once revealed a hint of the secret: the more he used his muscles, or more precisely, the more damage they sustained, the more his muscle fibers would instantaneously increase in number and toughness.
He had called it Muscle Booster. Only now did Seon Yul truly understand what that meant.
“So it activates automatically when I exert this much force.”
The ogre’s strength was tremendous, so Seon Yul squeezed out every ounce of his own power in response. As a result, Muscle Booster is activated.
With Wire Master amplifying the force transmitted through the wire and Muscle Booster activating on top of that, Seon Yul’s strength rivaled that of the ogre.
And what was an ogre?
Among countless monsters, it ranked near the top in raw strength. One of its rare drop items, the “Ogre Power Gauntlet” (OPG), was considered a dream item for enhancement-type users.
To not be overwhelmed by such an ogre in terms of strength meant that Seon Yul’s power was now comparable to users possessing top-tier enhancement abilities.
“KRRR!!!”
The ogre poured every ounce of strength into trying to tear off the wire from its neck.
But there was one thing it didn’t know.
That the wire Seon Yul held had another end.
Shrrrrrk! Crunch!
Because Seon Yul had designed both ends of the wire identically, while the ogre was distracted trying to rip the wire from its neck, he sent the drill at the opposite end flying and pierced straight through its head.
“Krrk!”
Even with its head impaled, the ogre continued pulling at the wire for a time. Its vitality was astonishing, but its life was already draining rapidly.
Shrrrrrrk! Craaack!
Seon Yul pulled the wire with all his strength and snapped the ogre’s neck as it made its final desperate struggle.
That was the end.
Whoooosh. Thud!
With its head pierced and neck broken, the ogre finally collapsed to the ground.
[You have eliminated a Wandering Ogre.]
[Calculating your contribution related to the Wandering Ogre’s elimination.]
[Contribution 100%. All experience and loot will be allocated to you.]
…
…
The Wandering Ogre was among the weaker ogres.
But an ogre was still an ogre.
Defeating one this easily was no common feat.
Even a seasoned Hunter-class user would not have handled it so effortlessly.
“…It actually worked.”
Retrieving his wire, Seon Yul muttered in disbelief.
In truth, when he had conceived this combat method, he believed there was over a 50% chance of failure.
No matter how powerful Super Regeneration and Wire Master were, the fatal weakness remained: he could not move from his spot.
That was why he had spent more time considering escape routes in case of failure.
Yet unexpectedly, the plan had succeeded with ease… and he had discovered even greater potential.
“This changes a lot.”
Seon Yul’s foremost goal was safety. But safety was not defined by a single factor.
Present safety and future safety were different domains.
Sometimes sacrificing a bit of present safety could secure a much greater degree of safety in the future.
This was exactly such a situation.
To guarantee greater safety in the future, Seon Yul decided to sacrifice just a little of his present safety.
Of course, that did not mean abandoning his current safety altogether.
It meant taking on just a slight risk while maintaining a sufficient degree of security.
After retrieving the wire and placing it back into his bag, Seon Yul closed the tiny entrance to Absolute Space beneath his foot.
“Let’s set up near that mountain ridge.”
Having chosen the location for this hunt’s base camp, Seon Yul began climbing the mountain in earnest.
Now that he had confirmed he could adequately deal with monsters in the field, his movements became bolder and faster.
***
“Take on a request?”
Director Jeong Yeon Woo asked again, as if confirming, while looking at Cha Seong Hyeon.
“Yes. From what I can see, at present, there is absolutely no way to track AbsoluteSafetyFirst. So… I think it would be best to send some kind of request first to understand his tendencies and style.”
“Tracking him is completely impossible?”
“It’s not just impossible… ‘absurd’ would be a more fitting expression. We don’t even know how he accessed the market in the first place.”
“Huh…”
At Cha Seong Hyeon’s words, the Director showed a surprised expression.
He knew Cha Seong Hyeon well. If he was saying something like this, it meant there truly was no method.
“No matter how I look at it, he’s no ordinary figure. We don’t know his disposition yet, but if someone like him were recruited by the NEU (New Humanity User Union)… it could become quite troublesome.”
“Do you think recruiting him to our side is possible?”
“That’s why I’m suggesting sending a request. And if recruitment to our side proves impossible, at the very least, we need to ensure he remains neutral.”
“For now, we treat him as a likely new ‘Noblesse-class user,’ correct?”
“Yes. At the very least, he likely possesses an awakening ability of SS-grade or higher, and he appears to be leveling rapidly. If this continues and his level surpasses 80, we would have no choice but to classify him as a Noblesse-class user.”
Level 80 and an S-grade or higher awakening ability.
Those were the minimum requirements for a Noblesse-class user.
“Then what kind of request do we send?”
“I’ve given it some thought… Since his area of activity appears to be the northern dungeon region, first, we should officially grant permission for him to operate there.”
“So, since we can’t catch him anyway, we might as well authorize him?”
“Yes. There’s no need to create unnecessary friction over something so minor.”
“And after that?”
“Next, we can send a collection request from our research lab for ogre tendons and dire wolf fangs… which we’re currently purchasing publicly. What do you think?”
“That’s practically manufacturing a request out of thin air.”
“Yes. That’s exactly what it is.”
“Hmm… Well, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“If we set the completion reward slightly higher than the public purchase price, there won’t be any issue. He’ll understand that this is an indirect gesture of reconciliation. The question is whether AbsoluteSafetyFirst will take the hand we’re extending.”
“Very well. Proceed as planned.”
“Understood.”
In the end, the Gate Management Bureau chose to bow their heads first and extend a hand.
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