Chapter 70 – The Appearance of Cheon-je

The believers murmured at the appearance of the god they had only heard about.

“Woooah!”

“Oh Lord!”

Some showed signs of madness, rolling their eyes.

When Cheon-je raised his hand as if asking for silence, all believers closed their mouths at once.

“Greetings, faithful ones. I am Kim Petro, leader of the Daecheon Truth Association.”

Applause erupted before he finished speaking.

The believers’ faces were filled with excitement.

How could they not be, with the being they believed to be god standing before them?

“Some of you may have seen me before, but I imagine most are seeing me for the first time. That’s why I’m here to greet you, and perhaps this too is fate.”

Cheon-je delivered a speech in a somewhat slow tone.

Yet the believers present didn’t take their eyes off him, as if not wanting to miss a single word.

The level of concentration was incomparable to when Sang-je preached.

And when Cheon-je looked at the believers with his profound gaze.

‘Gasp! Ch-Cheon-je looked at me!’

‘Aah, Cheon-je!’

They reacted as if meeting a celebrity.

Gwak Gi-deok was no exception.

‘Huh? Cheon-je seems to be looking especially in this direction?’

It wasn’t just his imagination.

Even while speaking, Cheon-je’s gaze remained fixed on Gwak Gi-deok for quite some time.

‘Could he really be looking at me?’

Perhaps information about his large donation had reached Cheon-je’s ears, as his gaze lingered on Gwak Gi-deok for quite a while.

‘To receive the attention of the one called the cult’s god!’

For Gwak Gi-deok, it was an undeniable joy.

But he couldn’t express his joy outwardly.

He had to listen attentively to Cheon-je’s words.

Instead, he tried to share his joy with Gil Chung-soo sitting next to him through eye contact.

‘Did you see? Cheon-je is… huh?’

But Gil Chung-soo who had been sitting next to him was nowhere to be seen.

Gwak Gi-deok looked around in confusion, but couldn’t find him anywhere.

‘Strange? He was here just moments ago?’

In fact, Min Do-jun had already retreated to a corner seat at the very back before Cheon-je even stepped onto the platform.

Fearing eye contact with Cheon-je.

‘If I’m not careful, he might discover my ghost mask disguise.’

His disguise could be detected if the opponent’s combat power was high enough.

Without a doubt, Kim Petro’s combat power exceeded his own.

The evidence was simple.

[Kim Petro]

– Description: ??? ??? ???

– Combat Method: ??? ??? ???

– Weakness: ??? ??? ???

No weaknesses were visible.

‘Kim Petro’s level is 2,433, while mine is 1,050.’

No matter how much stronger Min Do-jun had become, he was still only a B-grade hunter.

The saying “level is king” wasn’t just empty words.

‘I thought I’d gotten quite strong, but I can’t even see his weaknesses…’

Of course, he had anticipated the other would be stronger, which is why he retreated before Cheon-je reached the platform.

‘If weakness detection shows no information, it must mean his combat power exceeds mine?’

It probably wasn’t just about higher level.

Hunters like Cho Gyu-chan and Yang Seung-hyun had shown information despite their high levels.

It seemed information visibility was based on combat power, like with invisibility or the ghost mask.

‘At least he probably didn’t see me.’

If Cheon-je had spotted Min Do-jun, he wouldn’t be giving his speech so calmly.

‘I met Kim Petro earlier than expected.’

He had thought tracking would take months, but meeting him turned out to be surprisingly easy.

This was good news anyway.

He could place a tracking spell.

‘Little brother, place a tracking skill on that old man without being detected.’

[Wang!]

The ghost wolf crossed over the believers’ heads to reach Cheon-je.

Despite this, Cheon-je didn’t notice the ghost wolf and remained focused on his speech.

[Summon has used tracking skill.]

[Summon has memorized the scent.]

[Location will be tracked in real-time.]

Min Do-jun smiled inwardly at achieving his goal.

Now he could find him anytime.

‘Though I’d like to kill him right now…’

It wasn’t time yet.

He didn’t have the power either.

‘I need to get stronger.’

Min Do-jun silently glared at Cheon-je as he disappeared through the back door amid enthusiastic cheers after his speech.

* * *

Swoosh-!

Ten wind blades penetrated between the stone lizard’s body.

Crash crash crash!

Boom-

The creature collapsed in less than three seconds.

Meanwhile, striking another lizard’s glabella with his sword.

Clang! Clang-!

Crack-!

Cracks appeared and it vanished into smoke.

“Huh…”

Party members could only watch blankly.

They didn’t even have time to act.

“M-magic swordsman was such a powerful class…”

Not only was his sword prowess impressive, but killing monsters with one spell was even more surprising.

“Um, Min Do-jun? Sorry, but could you leave some for us…”

“Should I hunt alone instead?”

The party members quickly nodded at those words.

Min Do-jun promptly moved in another direction, as if this was what he wanted.

‘They’re just a hindrance when hunting together.’

As someone who preferred solo play, Min Do-jun didn’t welcome parties.

But he couldn’t rent dungeons with priority rights either.

He had already used all five chances.

To run A-grade dungeons, he had no choice but to party.

‘Parties not only reduce experience but also make it hard to show my true abilities.’

With others watching, he couldn’t utilize the ghost wolf or transform the ghost sword into a hammer.

So his solution was to show overwhelming power from the start and take everyone’s share.

Then they wouldn’t complain about him hunting alone.

‘They seem to welcome it actually.’

Anyway, he had no time to hunt while leading party members.

He needed to get stronger quickly to kill Kim Petro.

‘Though he’s not running away…’

It was frustrating knowing his location but being unable to kill him.

After 10 hours of intense hunting, he managed to gain 5 levels.

“Whew…”

Leaving the cleared dungeon, Min Do-jun approached Park Dong-yun, ignoring party members who looked at him like a monster.

“Must have been tough, Hunter-nim. Please have a drink.”

“Thank you.”

After moistening his throat, Min Do-jun silently got in the car.

“I’ll take you home.”

Park Dong-yun headed home as if used to this.

After clearing a 10-hour A-grade dungeon, there’s no time for other dungeons.

Besides, reservations were full, making daily runs impossible.

“When’s the next schedule?”

“Tomorrow’s full, but there’s a spot at 10 AM the day after.”

“If there are no spots, book even lower dungeons.”

“Oh, even B-grade dungeons?”

“Yes. If we can’t enter A-grade, we should at least do B-grade.”

“Ah, understood.”

Park Dong-yun was amazed at his determination that wouldn’t allow even a moment’s rest.

Min Do-jun couldn’t be picky about dungeons when he wanted to get stronger as quickly as possible.

Returning home in the afternoon, Min Do-jun showered and went straight to bed.

Night hunting had reversed his day and night cycle.

After sleeping for about 4 hours and having dinner, he prepared to go out.

As it was Friday.

Disguised as Gil Chung-soo as usual, Min Do-jun waited at the meeting place.

The bongo truck appeared at the exact time.

“You came today too, Mr. Gil Chung-soo. Get in.”

Min Do-jun attended services regularly despite his busy hunting schedule.

‘Though I know Kim Petro’s location, learning about the cult won’t hurt.’

Min Do-jun was gradually gathering information while attending the cult.

It might help when dealing with Kim Petro.

Fortunately, getting information wasn’t difficult.

He had an ideal informant in Gwak Gi-deok.

“Gil, you missed seeing Cheon-je last time because of the bathroom, right?”

“Yes, when is he coming again?”

“No word yet, but they say he shows his face about once a year. He’s busy visiting other branches now.”

“There’s more than one branch?”

“I heard there are three total, one each in South Chungcheong and North Gyeongsang provinces.”

Min Do-jun nodded at the information, then made a disappointed expression.

“Ah, I wanted to see Cheon-je…”

“Would you even be able to see him with your bad stomach? That irritable… what was it?”

“Irritable bowel syndrome.”

“Right, that makes you need to poop when nervous?”

Having chatted several times and grown closer, Gwak Gi-deok spoke casually with Min Do-jun.

“I just won’t get nervous this time.”

“Tsk tsk, young people should be healthy. Want to get old like me?”

“You’re still young.”

“Haha, this guy can even joke!”

The two exchanged comfortable conversation with smiles.

“How much did you prepare today?”

“500,000 won.”

“Isn’t it wasteful to give such a large donation? Especially with your debt…”

“I know. I’m not blind. But if my daughter can succeed as a hunter, this money is nothing.”

“True, if she becomes a hunter, this much would be pocket change.”

Though he agreed, Min Do-jun knew not all hunters lived well.

‘Even with S-grade characteristics, they’re useless if you’re not suited to killing monsters.’

Even if suited, getting F-grade or non-combat characteristics would be incredibly disappointing.

Of course, even then they could easily earn 100 million won annually just hunting monsters, but that’s hazard pay.

“See you next week then, Gil.”

“Yes, sir.”

After returning home from service, Min Do-jun slept for a few hours before going hunting again.

He needed to level up as quickly as possible.

* * *

Two months passed in a busy blur.

During that time, Min Do-jun reached level 1,350.

‘300 levels in two months?’

Achieving in two months what would take normal hunters 1 year and 3 months was remarkable progress.

‘One more month of hunting at this rate and I’ll be A-grade.’

At level 1,500, his grade would rise to A.

And naturally, there’s an enormous gap between B-grade and A-grade.

Though levels 1,499 and 1,500 seem similar, there’s over a 1.4x difference in items and skills.

‘I need to be at least A-grade to face Kim Petro.’

Thinking he wanted to reach A-grade as soon as possible, Min Do-jun turned on the TV after a long time.

[Hunter news. Last month we reported hidden effects in the Lion’s Roar skill, and with hunters scrambling to obtain it, prices have skyrocketed.]

Min Do-jun’s eyes sparkled at the word “skyrocketed.”

[The price, which was only 200,000 won last month, is now trading at 50 million won, and with limited supply, prices are expected to continue rising.]

‘Just 50 million won… Not time to sell yet.’

Min Do-jun knew the Lion’s Roar price would reach 200 million won.

Though it might go higher, he had no intention of selling below 200 million.

[Meanwhile, Lion’s Roar, an F-grade provocation skill thought to have no special effects, has drawn attention after being found to petrify and paralyze certain monsters. This was discovered by an A-grade tank Mr. Kim from Blue Dragon Guild, who found it by chance while using the skill…]

‘So Kim Jin-woo spread it as expected.’

Min Do-jun thought he’d made the right choice buying the skill books in advance.

[Next news. For those interested in hunters, you all must know Hunter Shin Gyeong-min. We have the joyful news that Korea’s #1 ranked Hunter Shin Gyeong-min has finally reached level 3,000, becoming Korea’s first S-grade hunter.]

‘Already reached level 3,000?’

Checking the rankings in disbelief, it was true.

‘Well, that bastard’s hunting speed was always fast.’

Before regression, Min Do-jun had hunted with Shin Gyeong-min several times.

His unique hunting method using telekinesis was still vivid in his memory.

‘His leveling speed was fast even before regression. If he hadn’t suddenly disappeared, Shin Gyeong-min would have been #1 in Korea instead of me.’

Min Do-jun acknowledged Shin Gyeong-min’s leveling ability.

Though not faster than the current Min Do-jun.

[Becoming the world’s 26th S-grade hunter, Shin Gyeong-min calmly expressed his joy. Meanwhile, the hunter industry expects S-grade dungeons to appear now that Korea has its first S-grade hunter…]

Min Do-jun turned off the TV, seeing nothing more worth watching.

‘Of course S-grade dungeons will appear.’

Until now, dungeons had appeared sequentially matching hunters’ levels.

Like unlocking the next difficulty level in a game.

Dungeons hadn’t appeared with high difficulty from the start.

‘If they had, dungeon breaks would have caused humanity’s extinction long ago.’

With an S-grade hunter’s appearance, S-grade dungeons would appear everywhere.

Their locations couldn’t be known in advance.

Of course, as a regressor, Min Do-jun knew.

‘Five will appear total, but with only one S-grade hunter, just one will appear for now.’

Min Do-jun knew where the S-grade dungeon would appear.

And that nearby property values would be halved.

‘As long as it’s not near my house.’

Other people’s property values weren’t his concern.

‘I remember a classmate living there – should I tell them?’

Min Do-jun shook his head.

Who would believe him about falling property values?

Besides, he hadn’t contacted any classmates since regressing.

He had no one he could truly call a friend.

‘They were all just people asking to borrow money.’

His future classmates all coveted Min Do-jun’s money.

The same was true now.

‘Should I change my phone number? The constant contacts are annoying.’

Having heard he became a hunter, contacts from classmates increased recently.

Classmates whose names he couldn’t remember called from unknown numbers.

Some even contacted him despite not being from the same school.

While seriously considering changing his number.

Ding dong-♪

The doorbell rang.