Hellum slightly frowned and shouted out.

“Ekidu, I didn’t make a mistake. That guy asked for a promotion first.”

Ekidu’s beautiful expression turned into a slight frown at those words.

“Don’t lie. How would a newbie know of such a …”

But Ekidu realized that it was the truth after seeing the expressions on Hellum, Hansoo and Altair.

Hellum replied out confidently as he saw Ekidu getting flustered.

“I told you, I’m not doing anything.”

‘They’re going to leave soon anyway.’

“It’s still a bit too much. Why is Keron going out? Keron’s been here for over 11 months.”

Hellum couldn’t reply as he didn’t have anything to say to this either.

Hansoo merely shook his head as he watched this scene.

‘I can’t watch this any longer.’

He didn’t have any time to bicker around here.

‘It might be different if the time left for the offerings was more than 7 days but… If it’s lower than that then just preparing for it is going to be hard enough.’

As Hansoo prepared himself.

Kududududuk

A tremendous aura exploded out from Hansoo’s entire body.

Kwarururu

His body had puffed up the point where it was about to explode from the silver liquids inserted into his body from the Body Enhancement Surgery.

The Dragon Essence Blade within his body reinforced his bones and the essence that was inside the blade stormed throughout his entire body.

The Demonic Dragon’s Reinforcement covered over the Thousand Soliders Armor as Pandemic Blade’s spores started to slowly seep out from above that.

Kuruuururnnng

Silver, gold, black and yellow lights constantly swirled around Hansoo’s body and the surrounding ground trembled as it blew apart.

And Hellum made an expression of disbelief as he saw this.

‘What the fuck…No way. He’s just a newcomer, how the hell.’

The reason why adventurers couldn’t determine the other’s strength with physical looks was very simple.

Since the runes were a mystery of nature that the five senses could not sense.

They would not be able to figure out how strong one was unless that person went full out.

On the other hand it meant that if the user wanted others to see then they’ll show it however much they wanted.

And Hansoo’s artifacts didn’t look simple either.

A shiny armor set and a spear that seemed like it could pierce through anything with just its aura.

‘It seems his ring has something as well… It hasn’t been long since he came up, he gained such items in the beginning areas of the Yellow zone?’

Hellum, who had been searching for an answer at the strange scene in front of him, suddenly reached a conclusion.

‘Oh god, is everything on this kid’s body a growing artifact? Unique ones as well?’

Hellum rubbed his eyes.

Unique.

Every skill and item had different values for their worth.

They called the especially valuable skills and items <Unique> due to them being very special.

Some people said that if they found all of these uniques then they would be able to number them from 1 to 1000 according to their might but this was a story for another time.

The one thing that was clear that the unique skills and artifacts had mights that were monstrous in comparison to those that could be gained from normal beasts.

And their worths would be much more if they were growing artifacts as well.

Hansoo, who had shrouded his entire body with light, spoke towards Keron.

“Come out.”

“Fuck…I feel like a beggar, damn.”

Keron raised the strength in his body to the brim from the sudden words of Hansoo and focused his senses.

At the same time he put away his gauntlets and pulled out his precious weapon, <Thunder Saber>.

He thought it’d be a walk in the park but for it to suddenly become a heavy duty job.

No, no, the harshness of the job wasn’t the important part.

‘Wait, will I perhaps lose to this newbie?’

But Keron erased the anxiousness that was slowly crawling into his head.

‘No way, no. It hasn’t been long since he came here. Even if he has unique artifacts he shouldn’t have been able to grow them that much.’

In conclusion, the unique artifacts would only grow properly if they ate yellow runes.

And Hansoo and his artifact’s growth should be around the bottom.

His rune growth was almost 40%.

With this much, even if Hansoo had reached 1% from 0, there was still a difference of heaven and earth between their strength.

And the artifacts he had were special ones only supplied to the hunters of the village.

‘Yeah, no need to be scared. God dammit, let’s have a go at it.’

If he got pushed down here then there wouldn’t be a greater humiliation then this.

And Keron, who had finished his preparation, took a very slight glance at Ekidu.

With a small hope of Ekidu stopping this fight.

But Keron just spat out curses inwardly.

Since the expression of Ekidu was bright and filled with joy.

‘You damned bitch. Does me losing make you feel that good?’

But unlike Keron’s thoughts, Ekidu wasn’t feeling like this because of how Keron will get destroyed by Hansoo.

No, her reason was much more different.

‘I’ve found him. Someone who is worthy of this village’s leadership position…’

But she couldn’t figure it out completely by just looking at him like this.

‘Hurry and show me, please.’

Ekidu felt her beating heart as he looked at Hansoo with an expression full of expectation.

***

“Hey, Keron! Hahahaha! I heard all about it! That you lost to a newbie!”

“Hahahahahaha!”

As Minchul*, the team leader of the team that covered the 11th area, laughed the surrounding 11th area Hunters all laughed at Keron with him.

They could only.

To get beaten by a newbie.

What kind of humiliation was this.

It was such a funny story that Keron’s defeat spread out throughout the entire village in an instant.

“Keron, hahahahaha! Was the newbie that strong?”

Hellum, Ekidu and even the other newbies had all been quiet about what happened in the fight.

Just the simple story of a newcomer being promoted to a Hunter had spread.

‘Tsk. I’m curious as to how he got destroyed but there’s no way to figure it out since everyone who witnessed it is being quiet about it.’

Keron looked at Minchul making fun of him and then replied with a heavy expression.

“…You try fighting him as well.”

“Why would we? Hahahaha! He’s a Hunter like all of us now, so why? Heheheheh.”

“…”

“And why the hell would we touch someone who’s going to killed in a week? Hahahaha! We have no intentions of becoming like you!”

It might be different if that guy shook the entire village and was going to clash against them.

Then it might’ve be better to crush him right now.

But that guy was going to be an offering with a 99.99% certainty.

Why would they risk getting humiliated for no reason?

The Keron over there will probably become the source of jokes after the new contracting period starts, in a month, and for about an entire year after that.

‘He shouldn’t apply for an extension. Not after this kind of humiliation.’

Once a Hunter became a 1st year in the yellow zone, they will be placed in front of another crossroad where they have to make a choice.

Either get promoted.

Or get kicked out.

But most left.

Since most people who were 1st years could go explore the <Green Road>, which led them to their next destination, and unlike being a Hunter the rank above it wasn’t really that great.

‘Well, shall we stop making fun of him?’

Minchul slowly started to stop the sneering.

Since the eyes of Keron shaking back and forth told them that provoking him further wasn’t a good idea.

The fact that he, who usually walked around cursing off everything around him, was standing quietly proved this.

That he was just about to blow up.

‘Tsk, he was quite proud of his power… He’s probably quite pissed right now.’

Unlike them, who were in charge of the 11th area, Keron hunted in the 1st area.

1st Area.

The most dangerous area around the village and the place the strongest people were in charge of.

Of course Keron was a powerhouse who was fitting to fight there.

And as he lived in the 1st Area, his character turned more vicious and aggressive.

Minchul decided to throw some final words and finish it off.

“Well. I heard that you at least got the reward. You can vent off your anger there then. You know, those girls who you like usually. Were they called Emily and Kachraki?”

Since he had completed the task given to him, he was still awarded.

Keron looked at the two small medallions in his hands at Minchul’s words.

Though they looked simple, these 2 medallions were created by skills so they couldn’t be counterfeited.

3 days of second level free pass against 2 farmers.

Though originally it was 2 days but Hellum gave him 3 instead.

And this made Keron even angrier.

Since he knew the reason why Hellum gave him another.

Kudududuk

Keron clenched onto the medallion on his hands as if he wanted to break it.

Emily and Kachraki.

Two girls who he would’ve ran off right away to if he gained the medallion.

But the current him wasn’t in a situation where he would do that.

Since another sensation was driving away all his sexual desires out.

Crunch

Keron grinded his teeth, pocketed the medallions and then proceeded to walk towards where Ekidu lived which was halfway from the center of the village and where the Hunters lived.

The office of the village leader.

Before the sensation of a place with gravitas where they had to pay respect was quite strong but this feeling disappeared after Ekidus became the village leader.

— Since listening to the villager’s opinions are important, come whenever you have something to say.

‘Muddle-headed bitch. She doesn’t even have any desires over power. Is it because she’s a girl or something?’

But she was still the village leader.

She still had a large amount of authority.

“Ekidu. I have something to say.”

“Come in.”

Ekidu’s residence was quite high up but her office was below it.

Keron reached the office in an instant and spoke out very directly after smashing open the window.

“That newcomer from before. Dispatch him to the 1st Area.”

“Mmmm…Well you see.”

Keron got angrier as he looked at Ekidu who was making a perplexed expression.

“Why are you hesitating? You know the village’s rules.”

The strong are assigned to dangerous places.

And the weaker ones paid.

This was the rule of the village.

‘If nothing had gone wrong…She probably wanted to dispatch him to some random place that isn’t that dangerous.’

Ekidu probably wanted to let this bastard live happily for a week since he was an offering but he could not let that happen.

‘Fuck, I didn’t lose yet.’

This guy needed to be dispatched to the 1st Area no matter what.

Keron grinded his teeth at the thought of the battle from before and asked Ekidus.

“You’re not saying that it can’t happen right? Even if it’s you…”

But Ekidus shrugged her shoulders.

“No, even if you didn’t say that… He said that he would go to the 1st Area with his own mouth.”

“What?”

“He’ll be with you starting tomorrow.”

“…”

***

Kururururururnnngg

Hansoo stood above the wooden barricades on the outermost parts of the village and looked towards the especially dark 1st Area.

1st Area.

A place so dangerous that even the villagers carefully pried through the past 19 years.

And a place that had been left as a mystery because of this.

‘Just wait.’

Hansoo glanced between the residence of the Hunters and the jungle of the 1st Area multiple times, left behind those words that seemed to be directed at someone and then jumped down from the barricades.