Chapter 901: EarthNing stepped through the portal and arrived on a mountaintop with trees everywhere. Both Black Halo and White Depth Field walked through the silver portal and arrived as well.
Ning brought out Saphandra who had made him promise to bring her out only after he had left being a hermit and went back to Earth.
"Did we leave?" she asked as soon as she came out. "We did, yahoo!"
"You can tell?" Ning asked amusingly.
"Of course," Saphandra said. "I can sense the Spiritual energy."
Ning's eyes narrowed. "You can sense wha—" his eyes moved away from where he was looking towards the empty space around him.
"Holy Shit! There really is Spiritual energy here," Ning thought.
"And Qi," Black Halo said. "I was assuming this world to not have any."
"Not in big amounts," Ning said. "There's Qi and Spiritual energy, but they barely make up anything. The energy that is available most is actually Mana."
"Is it?" Saphandra asked.
"I wonder how it is in the cities," Ning said. "Let's go to the city." He grabbed everyone and teleported away from the mountain.
Not even a few seconds after he left, smoke and mist appeared out of nowhere, gathering at the location where Ning had been.
A man appeared from within it, one with pitch-black eyes and no nose. His uncanny face turned towards the silver portal that was just starting to close up.
A scary smile appeared on his face as he spoke in a language that did not originate from earth.
"Interesting!"
Ning arrived outside of a city he did not know the name of yet. It was the system that brought him here so the city was as much of a mystery to him as the 3 other people that were with him.
"Nope, the Qi isn't any denser here. I believe this is the extent of its thickness," Ning said.
Ads by Pubfuture
"This Qi… it feels weird," White Depth Field said.
"It's not," Ning said. "It's rather your body that is acting weird in response to this new universe. Your universe constricts your strength quite a bit when you are born. If you compare two infants, your universe will always fall short. That is why you feel this way."
"I see," White Depth Field said.
"What about you? How are you feeling?" Ning asked.
"I… I can't divine anymore," Black Halo said with a face that wasn't happy or sad.
"You got what you wanted, be happy," Ning said. "Make sure not to get cursed again."
"I won't," Black Halo said.
"Anyway, where are we exactly?" Ning looked around.
"Oh, I'm in America?" Ning said with a smile on his face. "I remember being fascinated by this place as a child as they made it out to be the best country in the world."
"Let us go and see if there was any truth in my childish dreams."
Pennsylvania, USA
A blond-haired man in an official black suit and pants rushed through a hallway with a glowing electronic device in his hands that had some sort of stats showing all over it. He was freaking out for some reason as he hurried.
The men and women that were walking in the hallway were forced to step aside as the man didn't care if he slammed into them as he ran.
One of these times, he did slam into another man, tripping both of them.
"Hey! Watch where you're going," the other man shouted, but the young blond-haired man didn't respond.
Instead, he moved his hands around for the glasses that he had dropped and put them back on. The device he was carrying was not far away from him, so he quickly grabbed it and stood up to run away.
He didn't even apologize to the man he had knocked down.
Ads by Pubfuture
"The hell is up with him today?" the man wondered and went back to his own job.
The blond-haired young man arrived in front of a massive door and opened it to arrive in a dimly lit up room with many screens all around him and the people working there.
There were images of various locations from all around the various states as well as many different places from all around the world under constant surveillance here.
The people in the room that seemed to be in a meeting suddenly turned towards him and frowned.
"Gary, what the hell are you doing?" the man that was closest to him shouted immediately. "This is a classified meeting. Get the hell—"
"A Dungeon!" Gary spoke before the man could finish his words.
"What?" the man was confused.
Gary was winded from running so much, so all he could do was breathe heavily while he handed over the device in his hand to the man in the room.
The man looked at the screen and his eyes went wide. He turned to look towards the rest of the people with a shocked look on his face.
"What is it?" one of them asked.
Gary spoke from behind. "5 minutes ago, our systems detected a spatial anomaly in upper Utah. When we checked it through the satellites, we learned that a new dungeon has formed."
"A new dungeon?"
"Impossible!"
"There hasn't been a new one since 6 years ago."
The man looked at the information on his device and frowned. "This is a weird dungeon," he said. "Not only did it form so late, but it also formed in the mountains with barely any humans living in a dozen-mile radius. That goes against everything we know about dungeons."
"It is indeed weird, sir," Gary said.
The man did not hesitate. "Find the best hunters we have, tell the apostles to prepare, and send a preliminary party over to the mountains. I do not want this to turn into a Dungeon break. Make sure to determine the rank of the dungeon as soon as you can."
"As for the one that will be at the head of this operation," the man looked at Gary. "I will be assigning you, Gary Benton."
Gary was surprised. "Me?"
Chapter 902 Hunters
"This is where you're from, Ning?" Saphandra asked as she looked at the tall buildings and massive roads.
She was curious about the metal vehicles swishing past her on the road while Ning and the others walked on the sideway.
"I am? No, I was. I don't know. My life here was short-lived and I died here before being reborn on the planet Kumia. As for whether you call that my home or this one, you can choose on your own, I suppose," Ning said.
"They say your home is where your heart is," Black Halo said from the side. "Where does your heart lie, senior?"
"My heart?" Ning paused. The obvious answer was Ely, but then he couldn't toss away the memories of his parents just like that.
"It's complicated," he said and didn't elaborate. Instead, he put on a happy face and found a place. "Hey, you guys wanna eat something? I remember seeing ads for burgers and fries long ago. It's supposed to be amazing."
"Food? Does it have meat?" White Depth Field asked.
"Uh… there's cooked meat," Ning said.
"I won't consume cooked meat. They lose their flavor after being burned," he said.
"I wish to try out the delicacies of this world," Black Halo said.
"Great!" Ning said. "You will both be eating then."
Ning took them into a burger joint and ordered some fries and burgers for themselves.
"It will be 21.89 dollars. Do you have a hunter's discount?" the lady asked.
Ads by Pubfuture
"I'm sorry… what's that?" Ning asked.
"A hunter's discount, sir. You will get 20% off on all of your purchases in any of our 78 different chains if you have a hunter license," the girl said.
"I don't have such a thing," Ning said and 25 dollars, letting her keep the change. He took their food and went over to an empty seat to eat.
"I just realized, master," White Depth Field said. "I do not understand a word of what you were talking about."
"Really? They talked about having to pay cheaper for the food you are about to eat if your master here was a hunter," Saphandra said.
"Oh, then it mustn't have cost us as much," the tiger said.
"No, he paid the full price," Saphandra said. "He's not a hunter, you see."
"How can he not be? Master is the Godkiller, he hunts gods. How could someone like that not be considered one?" White Depth Field asked.
"Hunter doesn't mean that here," Ning explained. "It should be those people that kill deers or birds for a hobby. I do remember the people in America owning a lot of guns. It has to be about that."
"Ah, so you're not the kind of hunter they are talking about," White Depth Field understood. "I don't think it would've helped if I did understand what you were saying back there."
"Hmm? Oh right, of course, you wouldn't know the language. Since your world only has a single spoken language, you should be surprised to learn that there are hundreds if not thousands of language that is spoken in this world."
"Really? So I won't understand a word you say?" he asked.
"Well… you will now," Ning said as he snapped his finger. The golden handing earrings that White Depth Field was wearing glowed a little as Ning imparted translation functions into them.
"Stop talking now, the food will go cold," Ning said as he took a hold of the burger. Black Halo said nothing and took the burger as well, but White Depth Field wouldn't eat the buns and veggies as a tiger, so he only ate the patty.
"Aww, I want to eat some food after seeing you guys eat as well," Saphandra said.
"Do you want to eat?" Ning asked. "I can make some simulation for you like those games where you will be able to taste stuff."
Ads by Pubfuture
"Yeah, make those, please. I want to feel my physical body," she said.
"Later," Ning said and started eating. He took a single bite out of the burger, expecting it to be the food of divinities, one that could rival the best of foods that were cooked using heavenly treasures.
It didn't need to be said just how disappointed he was.
"This tastes shit," he said angrily.
"I did not want to be the one to say that," Black Halo said as he quickly swallowed the food without chewing much.
"Your world must be very poor to sell garbage like this, master," White Depth Field said.
"Alright, alright, stop speaking. If you're not going to eat then stop," Ning said as he begrudgingly ate the food.
The rest watched him eat angrily and decided to at least finish the food. As Ning ate, someone in the building asked the staff to put something on the TV.
As the TV lit up, the people there started hearing some sort of news report.
"… in. We do not have any information on what is happening inside. It is said that the ones that went in are rookies, so everyone is very worried," The news reporter said.
"Hmm? What's that? Some sort of movie?" Saphandra asked.
"No, that has to be news," Ning said as he looked at the flat-screen TV. The breaking news at the bottom said that this was the Fire Dragon's newbies' first dungeon hunt.
"What's that?" Ning looked curiously when he saw the pool of moving energy on the screen. "Is that…"
"A dungeon gate," Saphandra finished speaking. "That's similar to the dungeon gates in the games we played."
"Yes, it is," Ning said.
"They are out!" the woman in the news shouted. "There we have it folks, the group of newly formed hunters has successfully cleared the dungeon. You will not need to worry about any dungeon break from this dungeon. We will try to get more information from them, please stay tuned to Channel 42's live report.
Ning watched as a curious smile formed on his face. "It would seem that a hunter is not as simple as I first imagined."
Chapter 903: I'm Back"Dungeons have formed in this world?" Saphandra was surprised. "Is that the thing with the different universes?"
"It must be," Ning said. "The system did say that there were 2 universes that were affecting this galaxy, and that earth was already being filled with the energy from the different world."
"As it would seem, the majority of the world must use Mana for that to be what is affecting this world," Ning said. "I am very curious as to what is going on now."
"Should we leave then? Go check out the different dungeons?" Saphandra asked.
Ning thought for a moment and shook his head. "Later," he said. "Now that I am back here, there is someplace I wish to visit first."
He turned to look at Black Halo. "What do you plan on doing now?" he asked. "Since you are out, do you still intend to stick with us, or do you want to be on your own?"
"I have received all the help I required, senior. Any further assistance will not be necessary," he said.
"Is that so?" Ning said as he thought for a bit. He then asked the system to create something to help Black Halo with the knowledge of the earth.
The system created something and Ning looked at it. "What is this piece of glass?" he asked.
Just then, the glass glowed and something appeared on it. "Wait, is this a phone?" Ning moved it around. "It's not even transparent."
He then saw something on the screen and couldn't help but sigh. "It's 2029 already huh? I really have only been gone for 7 years. It's almost scary to think about how little time has passed."
Ads by Pubfuture
He handed it over to Black Halo who looked at it weirdly. "You should be able to learn how to use it on your own, or wait… just touch here… here… and here. This is where you can learn the language. Once you learn it, you will have to get adjusted to this world."
"There are laws here were killing, stealing, hurting, or even just disrespecting someone can be illegal to some extent. You also can't just go after someone for what they do to you. An eye for an eye does not exist here in the view of the law. If someone kills your family, and you kill them back, you will still be held accountable for murder, albeit not as severely had you been the other person."
"There are books on law in there as well and a way to communicate with me if you need anything. However… I may not stay here for longer than 5 days. I will need to leave pretty soon."
"I understand, senior. Thank you," Black Halo said. He then stood up and walked away.
"So, what do we do now?" White Depth Field asked.
"Now, we go to my home country," Ning said. He grabbed the tiger's hands across the table from him and teleported.
The people around him were surprised when he disappeared just like that, but they assumed that he was a hunter or an apostle and returned to their task.
Ning arrived a few distances away from Chendu city, appearing along the side of the road that led to the city.
The cars went past and he was surprised to see the lack of trees along the way. 'So much has changed,' he thought. It wasn't that far from here where his parents had crashed against an oncoming truck and died.
Now that he had his memories, he remembered that his parents were coming back from the city where his father had gone to interview for a new job.
If he had passed, Ning's family would've moved away from the suburban life, and gone to the big city. He couldn't say that their life in the suburbs had been a bad one, but this move would have definitely been an improvement.
He shook his head. "Let's go," he said and walked along the road for a few hundred meters before the road forked into a smaller road that led somewhere other than the city.
How long had it been since he had come here? Was it 2021 when he last came to this place?
He remembered it was right after he had left the orphanage, before going to the city. It was a hot day, unlike the cool night that covered this side of the earth at the moment.
Ads by Pubfuture
Ning walked quietly for a while before arriving in front of a gate that obstructed his way. He was about to teleport them all in when he stopped.
Instead, he turned behind and asked, "Can you guys stay here for a second? I wish to be alone."
"Of course, master," White Depth Field said.
"Sure," Saphandra said as well.
Ning nodded in thanks and simply flew over the gate before lightly landing inside. He then looked ahead in front of him where nothing could hide from his eyes.
He knew exactly where he was supposed to go, so he quickly walked through the maze-like place, going past the many headstones, before arriving in front of the ones that held the names Ning Tianshen and Ning Luyin.
Those were the names of his father and mother.
Ning stood there for a long time, looking at the gravestones silently. He had a million thoughts going across his head just moments prior, and yet now he couldn't find any in his head.
His head had gone blank while his eyes simply stared at the names on the gravestones.
He didn't know whether to feel happy or sad at returning to this place once again. There were certainly bad memories attached to this place, but so were there happy memories of the times when the three of them were still together.
In the end, he could only think to say a single thing, so he smiled a little as he spoke the words he would think his parents would be most happy to hear.
"Father… Mother… I'm back."
Chapter 904: PortalsNing had no leftover grief that he had to deal with. Everything he did, he had dealt with in his past life and including this life.
He had gone through many trials and tribulations that had hardened him as a warrior.
And yet, after an hour of telling his parents about his life, when it came time for him to leave, he couldn't help but feel the tears stream down his cheeks.
He chuckled a bit when he felt them wet his cheeks. "Well, at least that proves that I'm not heartless, I suppose," Ning thought.
He stood up to leave, but before he did, he turned around. "System, is it possible to know where they reincarnated to and if their current lives are happy?" he asked.
The tears that were starting to stop flowed once more. "What?" he asked. The system said nothing.
"Are you saying that them dying in such an unfair way was the last life they ever lived?" he asked. Rage was starting to fill his heart at the moment.
Ning was getting only angrier when the system said something else that made him even more angrier.
"Goddammit!" he shouted as he slammed the ground with a force that put cracks all over the surface. He had fortunately slowed down at the last moment, or this whole side of the planet would have been destroyed due to various earthquakes and tsunamis from his slam.
He was just that strong at the moment.
Ads by Pubfuture
Still, his anger did not disappear. How could it? After all, if the universes were coming together, there was nothing left for him to place the blame on.
All he could do was blame fate, and that was as useful as trying to collect water in a net.
He took a few deep breaths as the cool air of the night filled his lungs. He used that to calm his head as well as he could before hearing a bunch of shouts from the distance.
"Ah, it's the grave keeper. Let's leave," Ning said before teleporting away. He arrived back in front of White Depth Field and Saphandra who were waiting for them.
Saphandra looked at him with warm eyes. "You were visiting your parents' graves?" she asked.
Ning looked at her weirdly. "How did you know that? Did you spy on me?" he asked.
"Did you forget? I hear everything that goes on between you and the system," she said.
"Ah, right. Yeah, I was visiting their grave. And I'm done visiting them. We can leave now," he said.
"Let us leave then, master. I wish to see more of this place known as earth," White Depth Field said.
"Yeah, let's go," Ning said. He created a rather normal-looking car and gained knowledge on how to drive them. Once he did, he let White Depth Field get in and drove it onto the highway before going toward the city.
Along the way, he would see many moving advertisements about products that were endorsed by hunter guilds. That only made Ning more curious about the current situation of this world.
"System, give me thorough details on everything that has happened in this world since the interference from the two universes," Ning said.
In 2023, a little more than a year after Ning's death, a white portal appeared in the center of Manila city, in the Philippines. People were curious as to what it was, but no one could tell for certain.
The government in the Philippines as well as many other countries sent their best researchers, but they learned nothing.
Ads by Pubfuture
The world wanted to learn more about this random occurrence and was gathering a task force to go through this portal when another portal appeared in Pateros in the Philippines again.
Before anyone could make sense of what was happening, another one appeared in Mandaluyong, in the Philippines again. People wondered what was so different about the Philippines for it to have 3 random portals appear within the same month.
The world focused its eyes on every other city in the Philippines, expecting another portal to open somewhere.
However, the next portal opened in Iraq in the city of Baghdad. This threw humanity for a loop until the next one opened in Mumbai, India.
Then Bangladesh, the Philippines again, Haiti, Israel, and many other countries had these portals appearing one by one in quick succession.
It was only a full 3 months after the first portal opened that someone managed to figure out the reason for where the portal was opening.
It turned out, that the portal opened in the place with the densest population when going by area.
As soon as the knowledge moved around, people noticed that the portals were in fact following a pattern of appearing in the place with the densest population.
But of course, the portals continued appearing for almost an entire year, sometimes appearing in the same city multiple times.
As a result, most of the cities in the entire world were now covered in the random portal of swirling energy.
People tried everything thing they could from using machines to animals to humans. But nothing worked. Living flesh could not enter, and that nonliving never returned.
Exactly 400 days after first appearing, all the portals in all the various cities opened at once, and they spewed out monsters.
This was an incident that would later be known as Dungeon Breaks.
The monsters were weak, not even as strong as a wolf. However, they had the power of numbers with them as they trampled the cities in their footsteps.
Humanity fought back, killing what it could, bombing what it couldn't, and yet they didn't win.
At the end, when all hope seemed lost, they arrived to save the day.
The Apostle of Gods.
Chapter 905: GodsThe apostles were given incredible power and authority by various different gods, and they used that power to help the world against the dungeon break.
They defeated all the monsters, bringing the people peace in the apocalypse.
The Apostles became the heroes of the new generation, and every single person looked up to them.
After the incident that came to be known later as Dungeon breaks, it became known that people could now enter it for some reason.
However, not everyone was allowed to enter it so easily. After all, this was the same portal that spewed out monsters into the world. Who knew what they could hold?
So, the government started off by sending in the military, along with the apostles in their country to scout.
Surprisingly, it turned out that there was a contained space within this portal that held monsters inside. There weren't many monsters, however, so the military and Apostles easily defeated them.
They returned from the newly named Dungeons with research materials which were quickly taken by the government. Not long after, it became known that there were a lot of materials inside, many different minerals and metal ores that could be very beneficial to the earth.
So, they started sending in people to mine it. While mining dungeons, they also started bringing back the remains of dungeon beasts, which were always just small purple stones that were later known as Mana cores.
Around the same time, people started getting awakened with powers that shouldn't have existed otherwise. Some were strong, some were weak.
A gifted engineer, who was also an apostle, crafted the first machine that could quantify the strength and weaknesses of these newly awakened humans, which he powered with mana cores.
That had been a game changer for humanity and everyone wanted what he had made for their country.
Surprisingly, instead of capitalizing on the thing he had crafted, the apostle instead gave out the schematics to the entire world for free.
All he asked in return was that they pray to the god that he was the Apostle of.
Ads by Pubfuture
The rest of the story was simple. More and more people started gaining power, and the government found that it needed to step in to manage them.
Now, there was a division for hunters in every country who either worked for the government or worked for private guilds who still had to work together with the government for everything.
As for the Apostles, they were usually so strong that they were either the head, the vice head, or just solo contractors for the government.
It had been over 4 years since then and the only thing that had changed was that a few of the countries had suffered devastating defeats during the Dungeon break.
The country that seemed to have succeeded the most was surprisingly South Korea, despite it being a smaller nation.
"Oh, this world has gods too. Are you going to reprise your title here too, master?" White Depth Field asked.
"Umm, no," Ning said as he didn't give much thought to what he was saying. He focused a bit more on the apostles' part of the information before stopping.
"It says that a few select humans were first given powers by these beings that call themselves gods, but they seem to have a word that they use to describe themselves even more," Ning said.
"Constellations."
Ning's eyes narrowed. "Are they… who I think they are?" he asked.
"Wills… am I in trouble?" he asked. "Should I be taking in their energy?"
"Explain a bit more about Constellations," Ning said.
Ads by Pubfuture
"I see," Ning said. "So I am safe for now."
He drove the car as he gave the information some thought. "So, the constellations are trying to appear as a savior so that they can continue their survival, huh? Calling themselves gods sure is a way to make people remember you."
"Still, how many constellations are there exactly that are operating on earth?" Ning asked.
"Holy… that's a big number. How many Apostles do they have again?" he asked.
Ning's eyes narrowed quite a bit. "That math doesn't add up. What about the other 54 constellations? Do they not want publicity?" he asked.
"For what exactly?" Ning asked.
"What? What would that achieve? Don't they need the humans?" Ning asked.
906 Chart
"So if the humans die, but they learn of them before they die, that still works?" Ning asked.
To a certain extent, yes
They care more about the souls that recognize them than anything. The negative emotions of the people are quite powerful and let them survive for a little longer than if the same amount of people simply thought of them nicely.
"Wait… from what you're saying, it just sounds to me like it's better in their interest to keep the humans safe and have them remember forever," Ning said.
Normally, a Constellation continues surviving in two ways.
they either help the beings with souls and get remembered by them. Or they rule them in fear and then get remembered by them
however, the situation on earth is different. There is no one constellation, but 144 that want a piece of it.
As such, they realized that not all of the could do the same thing. The portals were forming to another universe anyway, so they could help them. But if they did so, it would be hard for the humans to remember all 144 of them
They could at the start, but then they would have to continue being popular to constantly remind them that they were one of the ones that needed to be remembered.
as such, a few of the constellations decided to take a different approach. Instead of helping the humans, they decided to terrorize the humans. No matter what they simply wanted to be remembered after all.
They have a higher chance of failure due to their low number, but if they succeeded somehow…
"They would have hit a jackpot," Ning said. "I see. So they are indeed capitalizing on the dungeons and cooking up a plan to bring their names to the forefront at once."
Yes.
Ads by Pubfuture
"Do we need to be concerned?" Saphandra asked.
"No, not really," Ning said. "For now, let's just get to the city and see how it has changed."
Ning drove all the way to Chengdu city and saw the many billboards with various apostles on them. Each one of them had their god's name in the advertisements too.
He saw the various tall buildings that he didn't remember being there. He passed by a zoo and turned around to look at it.
"That's the zoo where I used to work," Ning told the two in the car. "That was also where I died before reincarnating."
"Do you want to go in and see?" Saphandra asked.
"Well…" Ning stopped the car. "Maybe just a quick look. Do you want to come?"
"Sure," the two of them said.
"Okay, it's nighttime, so the zoo must be closed. We will have to fly over," Ning said and quickly entered. He concealed himself with Qi and so did White. As for Saphandra, she didn't need to conceal herself with how easily she could hide in the dark.
Ning went through the zoo from above and arrived in the cage that housed the zebras. "Which one killed me?" Ning asked.
The zebra that killed you have already died. It died during the Dungeon break 5 years ago.
"Ah… is that so," Ning said with a sad face. "Well, what can you really do?"
The group left and went back to the car, driving away once more.
"It's only been 7 years since you left. Don't you want to meet your friends?" Saphandra asked.
"Hehe, I don't have any friends," Ning said with a smile that was clearly self deprecating.
"Why? Were you bad at making friends? Or were you just the type of kid that liked to stay alone?" Saphandra asked.
Ads by Pubfuture
"Neither," Ning said. "I wasn't very outgoing, but I still liked having friends. I did have some friends before my parents died, but after that, I was sent to the orphanage and I could no longer talk with my friends from before."
"I tried making friends in the orphanage, but any time I got close to someone, I would only be disappointed after they were adopted, and I was left all alone."
"After a few times of making friends and losing them, I finally stopped trying to make friends altogether. I would just sit in the lounging area, watching the same old movies that we were allowed to watch in the orphanage," Ning said. "Sadly, after I left the orphanage, I was alive for barely 3 months. Not enough to make any real friends."
"I see," Saphandra said.
"What about relatives?" White Depth Field asked. "Did you not have any?"
"No…?" Ning thought. "My parents never took me to any relatives from what I can remember. My grandparents died when I was very young. My father's parents, that is."
"As for my mother's parents… hmm, I think they might have died early too. I don't remember her saying anything about them," Ning said.
"What about uncles or aunts? Or even just cousins?" Saphandra asked.
"Stop asking an orphan such questions," Ning said. "System, can you show me my family chart for up to 2 generations ago?"
The system immediately gave him a chart of his family tree. Ning saw him being connected to his father and mother, who were born into two different couples.
Ning saw the status of every single one of them as well. His father and mother were dead and so were their father's parents. On his mother's side, however, while her father was dead, her mother was still alive.
"I… I have a grandmother?" Ning's eyes narrowed as a cold emotion filled him. He saw that his grandmother also had a son who had two children of his own.
"She was still alive," Ning said softly. "And my uncle was still alive. Why did they never come to find me? Why did my mother never talk about them?"
His words were cold and full of hidden anger. "System, answer me."
Your mother was pregnant with you before she was married. When her family found out, they wanted her to get rid of you.
However, your mother refused and when they threatened to disown her, she left on her own. Since then, she cut her ties and her family never tried to look for her.
By now, they assume that she is either living a peaceful life somewhere or has already died in a dungeon break.
Chapter 907: South KoreaWhat surprised Ning the most after learning about his family was that he was actually half-Korean. His mother had run away from South Korea and had come to China with his father who had been there to study.
They were forced to leave before his study was fully complete, so his father had never managed to gain enough education to apply for higher jobs.
Still, being able to provide for his family, he had already done more than he ever needed to.
"South Korea huh? Then my mother must've changed her name when she came here. Her family wouldn't have been able to find her even if they had wanted to.
"Well, since I have relatives, let's go see what is up with them," Ning said. "But, before we leave china, I still need to go somewhere."
So, he turned the car around and went towards the orphanage where he grew up.
There was no one in the orphanage that he necessarily wanted to meet, but he still cared about the orphanage in general.
So, he went there and left an anonymous donation of a large amount. Something that would help the orphanage survive for years and let the children there be happy forever.
Once done, Ning turned his car around and made his way toward where the rest of his family remained.
He had wanted to visit the dungeon here, but he realized he could do so in South Korea too, so he went there first.
The distance between Chengdu and South Korea was nearly two thousand kilometers, so if he were to go all the way there by car, then it would take forever. He only had given himself 5 days to roam Earth before leaving for Kumia.
So, he couldn't waste any time.
Ning teleported the car close to Daegu city before driving there himself. By now, the sun was starting to rise on the eastern horizon.
"Where exactly are we going?" Saphandra asked.
"Well, from what I understand, both of my cousins seem to have awakened by now and are working together to make ends meet for their parents. The older daughter, Tae Hi-Ah is a B-ranked mage, while the younger brother, Tae Jung-Hee is a C-Ranked swordsman," Ning said. "Weirdly enough, they are both younger than me."
"Not weird at all. Wasn't your mother pregnant with you very early on?" Saphandra asked. "Also, are they still younger than you? You look like you're 18 years old."
"Ah, you're right. Still, it's weird because my uncle, Tae Min Ki is 4 years older than my mother, and yet my cousins are only 21 and 23. I would've been 25 this year had I still been alive."
"Speaking of age, my uncle seems to be 53. As for my grandmother, Bak Jung Hwa… she seems to be nearing 80 years old now," Ning said. "I'm surprised she is still alive."
"So we're going towards them now?" Saphandra asked.
"Yes," Ning said. "By the way, do you guys think I should just go lurk around first or make friends with my cousins before revealing myself, or should I just go and introduce myself?"
"Are you a little kid or what? Why are you afraid of just introducing yourself openly?" Saphandra asked.
"I was just ask—"
"Master, don't you only have 5 days, no 4 days in this world before you have to leave?" White Depth Field asked.
"Ah, you're right. I do not have time to waste," Ning said. "Still… it feels a little awkward."
By the time Ning arrived in the neighborhood that System marked, it was already 7 o'clock in the morning. The highways were starting to get packed, but fortunately, Ning and the others were quite far away from the highway.
Ning drove through the maze-like streets before arriving in front of a modest-looking house with a small gate at the front.
Ads by Pubfuture
Ning got off the car and went up to the gate. He saw a doorbell to the side and, with some hesitation, pressed it.
He heard the ringing in the house and waited. However, when he didn't see anyone walk out, he rang it again.
And again.
By the 4th time, he thought something was wrong and was about to enter when the door opened and a girl walked out.
She was a young adult that was about the same height as him. She had long hair that was surprisingly red and seemed as if she had woken up just yet. She was also wearing some sort of pajamas, so Ning wondered if he woke her up perhaps.
She opened the gate harshly and asked, "What?"
"Um, this is Tae Min Ki's house right?" Ning asked.
"Yeah, so?" she asked.
"Then you must be Tae Hi-Ah?" he asked.
"What are you? Some sort of salesman? Why do you know our names? We don't want to buy anything, so goodbye," she said as she slammed the gate back.
However, Ning placed his hands before the gate could fully close. "My apologies," he said. "My name is Ning Ruogong. I am the son of Tae Myung-Hee."
"What am I supposed to do with learning your mother's na—" the girl paused mid-rant before looking at him suspiciously. "Wait for a second," she said and quickly walked back to the house.
"Father! Father!" she shouted. "Father!"
"What?" a voice came from deep inside the house. The girl quickly went up and Ning saw nothing else. He chose to see nothing else.
A moment later, a man clearly in his 50s walked down with a wrinkly face and a bald head. His hair around his temples was also starting to turn gray.
He wasn't overweight, but he wasn't fit either. The man seemed to be hungover, but even so his eyes were wide awake as he appeared by the gate.
For a full minute, he did nothing but stare at Ning with wide eyes. Then, he finally spoke.
"You have your mother's eyes for sure," the man said.
"Hello, uncle," Ning greeted back.
"So he's really your missing sister's son?" the girl asked.
"Yes, he is. Look at us. Don't we look similar?" the old man said.
"Uhh… kinda, I guess," the girl said.
"Nephew, where's your mother? Is she in the car outside? Why did that damn girl not contact us for so many years?" his Uncle asked.
"I'm sorry, Uncle. Mother and father both died over 15 years ago," Ning said.
"… what?" the old man's happy face suddenly lost all expression. The girl also couldn't help but show a surprised expression.
"Your mother… is she really?" the old man asked.
"Yes," Ning said.
Ads by Pubfuture
"How?"
"A car accident," Ning replied.
"We… we thought she might have died in the dungeon break if anything… but to think it had been so much before that," his Uncle shook his head as his eyes filled with tears.
"What about your older brother? Is he alive?" his Uncle asked.
"Older brother? No, I'm their only child," Ning said.
"What? What about their first child?" the uncle asked.
"I am that child," Ning said. "I look young, but I'm their first and only child," Ning said.
"I see," the old man said. "Who've you been staying with after your parents died? Did your father have any brothers or sisters?"
"No, I had no family members, so I stayed in the Orphanage until I was 18," Ning said.
"Aaissh… you must've suffered, dear Nephew," the old man said. "Come on in, let us talk more inside."
"Ah, my friend is waiting outside. Is it okay to call him as well?" Ning asked.
"Ah, yes, yes," the Uncle said.
Ning quickly walked out and called White Depth Field inside. As for Saphandra, she hid inside Ning's clothes, viewing the outside world quietly.
His cousin couldn't help but show a wide eye full of shock when she saw the golden-haired White Depth Field walk through the gate.
"Hello, I am Tae Hi-Ah," she greeted.
White Depth Field, however, couldn't speak Korean so he looked toward Ning.
"Ah, sorry about that. He only understands Korean a little, but can't speak it. He is called White Field. I'm accompanying him on his tour of various different places," Ning said.
"Oh, I see," Tae Hi-Ah made a disappointed face.
Ning walked into the house and was surprised to see how old it was. He didn't say anything regarding that, but he did say something about the messy plates and beer bottles that were around the house.
"You must have partied quite a bit last night," he said with a chuckle.
"Ah, yes. Hi-Ah finally became an A-ranked mage, so we partied last night," his Uncle said.
"Oh, rank A?" Ning was surprised. Even his system didn't know that for some reason. He was sure she was B-ranked. "The intelligence agency I used to find out about you guys said that cousin Hi-Ah was still just B-ranked. He must've given me older information."
"Ah, no," the Uncle said. "She is still officially a B-ranked, but she grew enough for her skills to reach Rank A. So, after today's test, she will officially become an A-ranked mage."
"I see," Ning said. "Then I must congratulate you for that, cousin. I would give you a gift, but I'm not sure what you would like, so you will have to wait."
"No, no, I don't need anything," she said.
"I heard I had another cousin too. Where is he?" Ning asked.
"He went to work early in the morning. Rank C doesn't have as much freedom as Rank B or A after all," Tae Hi-Ah said.
"I see," Ning said. "And what about grandmother?"
His cousin and uncle stopped walking as they turned around with a face that did not have any good news.
Chapter 908: Mana PoisoningNing's eyes narrowed as he read the situation. "What's wrong with grandmother?" he asked.
"She's sick," Hi-Ah said. "She's currently in the hospital under the care of the doctors."
Ning's face showed a bit of surprise as well as worry. "Is she okay? Is she hurt?" he asked.
"She's not fine, or she wouldn't be in the hospital," his uncle said. "But she's being taken care of and that's all that matters."
"What happened to her? Some sort of disease? Or maybe some accident?" Ning asked.
"No, she's just poisoned, like everyone else," Hi-Ah said.
"Sorry, poisoned?" Ning asked. "How long has she been poisoned?"
"For 3 years now," Hi-Ah said.
"THREE?!" Ning was surprised. "She's been poisoned for 3 years and they haven't treated her yet?"
"How do you expect someone to just treat an old lady with Mana poisoning?" Hi-Ah asked.
"Mana poisoning?" he had never heard of that before. So, he quickly asked the system for some information.
"Ah, she's mana poisoned huh?" he said. He asked the system if he could treat her, and was surprised to hear he couldn't.
He could for a short time, but it was impossible to stop the poisoning from returning again. To heal one completely, one needed to find a fruit that grew in the most treacherous of dungeons.
"Is there any dungeon around here that has the fruit that can heal her?" Ning asked.
"Nephew, you do not need to worry about it, this little girl will get the antidote in no time," his Uncle said.
"I'm already an A-rank, or at least I will be today. I will try hard and gather some more mana stones. After I make enough, I will gather S-rank's worth of mana stones and become S-ranked."
"Once that happens, I can go into the dungeons where the fruit grows," Hi-Ah said.
"I see," Ning said. "Still, won't it take a long time?"
"What else can I do?" the girl asked and shook her head.
"Don't think about that for now, Nephew. It's early in the morning, so you must not have eaten yet. Let me make you some breakfast," his uncle said. "Hi-Ah, take care of the cleaning."
Ads by Pubfuture
"Yes, father," she said and quickly got to work. Ning waited around for the girl to be done before sitting by the table.
"By the way, I wanted to ask. Your hair, is it natural, or did you dye it?" Ning asked.
"I dyed it of course," Hi-Ah said. "I would've loved to have my hair change colors after awakening, but I suppose I'm not so lucky."
"I see. Also, if you don't mind me asking, does a B-Rank hunter not make much money?" he asked.
"We do make enough," she said. "But I need to take care of grandmother, so I end up not spending most of the mana stones I get from a dungeon hunt."
"I see," Ning said. "I would love to enter one of these dungeons."
"Are you a hunter?" she asked.
"Umm… I am awakened, but I'm not officially a hunter," Ning said. 'I am, right?' he asked.
'Unique? Unique how?' Ning asked.
While Ning started talking with his system, Hi-Ah brought out her phone to try and converse with White Depth Field.
Unfortunately for her, however, none of the apps on her phone could translate what White Depth Field would say.
In the end, Ning had to intervene and help translate. Tae Hi-Ah was practically infatuated with White Depth Field's incredible look and physique, so much so that Ning had to tell her that he was already married.
When she learned that, she was very disappointed.
His uncle returned with some breakfast a few minutes later and they ate together as they talked.
His uncle asked various different questions like where he was staying and what he did for work. Ning remained as vague as possible but made it sound like he was looking for some new opportunities at the moment.
"Oh, and how long will you be staying in Korea?" he asked.
"As long as I need to," Ning said. "I don't have any plans of staying in any specific place anyway."
"Oh, then you must stay in South Korea," his uncle said. "You can do that right?"
"Umm… sure," Ning said. "I don't see why not. I have some small business to take care of away from here, but once I return, I can think about staying."
"Oh, what sort of business?" Hi-Ah asked.
"I need to go get my wife," Ning said.
Ads by Pubfuture
"Oh, you're married?" she asked.
"Master, you're married too?" White Depth Field looked at him with surprise.
"Oh, didn't I tell you yet?" Ning looked at White Depth Field before turning back around.
"Yes, I'm married. She's foreign, so she's in her country at the moment. I will have to go get her," Ning said.
"Oh, a foreign wife, huh? You really did quite good for yourself, nephew. Your parents would certainly be proud," his uncle said.
They talked for a while longer before Hi-Ah stood up to go get dressed. She was to become an A-rank today, so she was very excited.
Ning wanted to see how that worked as well.
"Cousin, can I come with you as well? I want to see how the ranking system works," Ning said after Hi-Ah walked out after being dressed.
She was dressed in an official governmental outfit with a black suit and white shirt underneath. Her bright red hair contrasted with her outfit, giving her a hint of uniqueness that would help her stand out even in a crowd.
She looked toward Ning after hearing his question. "Umm… I don't think you're allowed to go in there just because you want to," she said.
"You can't even wait around there?' Ning asked.
"No, you can do that," she said. "But the actual testing happens way inside where the regular folks aren't allowed. Even other hunters aren't allowed unless you're there to get tested."
"Oh," Ning thought. "Then I can go in if I was to get tested too?"
She looked at him with a weird expression. "You want to get tested?" she asked.
"Yes," Ning said. "I've never officially become a hunter, so I'm also quite interested in seeing how it all goes."
"Umm… okay, I guess," she said.
"Do you have a car? We can go in mine," Ning said.
"Sure, I don't have one so that is easier for me," Hi-Ah said.
"Let us go then," Ning said and stood up. "Uncle, I will see you later. White, let's go."
"Yes, master," White Depth Field stood up and walked out of the house. They then got into the car with Ning driving it and his cousin sitting next to him.
White sat in the back. As for Saphandra, she was still hiding inside Ning's clothes.
Once they were all in, Ning started the car and they were all on their way.
Chapter 909: Rank Test"5 major guilds?" Ning asked.
He was trying to learn about the current situation in South Korea when it came to hunters and dungeons.
"There's the Neo Warriors guild led by Park Hyung-Jye, the Frost Empire guild led by Lee Kwon-Yu, the Silver Star guild led by Ja Soo-Yun, the White Devil guild led by Kim Min-Soo, and finally the Young Korean guild that Bi Sang-Ook leads," she explained.
"All 5 of them are SSS-Ranked individuals since they are all Apostles after all," she said.
"I see," Ning said. "There's so much to learn in this country. I should have given more thought to what was happening here."
"I'm more surprised you were able to go on with life here without learning about any of it. I swear you can't go an hour without people talking about one of the 5 guilds. Especially the White Devil guild since it's located in Daegu city," she said.
"I must've unconsciously ignored everything since it was mostly vacation for me," Ning said. "But, I'll keep my ears open for now."
"I don't think you have to worry much about that," she said. "I don't see how learning any more will really help you."
"I will still keep my ears open," Ning said.
"By the way, do you have a Korean id? I completely forgot that you were Chinese for a second there since your Korean is so good," Hi-Ah said.
"Ah, I do," Ning said as he pulled out a Korean citizenship card. His system had already made him one for every country as soon as he had come to earth, so he could freely show it off.
"Oh, that looks new," she said.
"Yep, I made it just a few days ago," Ning said.
Hi-Ah gave the directions and Ning drove through the unfamiliar roads.
"So, you don't work for any guilds, right?" Ning asked.
"No, I work for the Department of Dungeon Defense," she said. "So technically, I'm a governmental employee. My little brother, Tae Jung-hee works for a small guild known as True Dawn guild which has an A-rank leader."
"Does a government job pay well?" Ning asked.
"No, a private guild usually pays about 50% or higher than the government does," she said.
"I'm surprised you are still working for the government then," Ning said. "Did you get rejected from the guilds?"
Tae Hi-Ah remained quiet for a bit, unable to answer the question since the answer wasn't as easy as one would think.
Ning waited for her to answer, but it never came.
Ads by Pubfuture
"I'm sorry if I'm intruding on some personal matter. You can tell me off if you feel uncomfortable," Ning said.
"No, it's fine. I just don't want to talk about it," she said.
"Okay, then we can talk about something else," Ning said and started asking about various other questions about hunters, apostles, and dungeons.
By the time they arrived at the Department of Dungeon Defense, Ning felt like he knew a lot about everything.
He took the car to the parking area and left.
"Hmm, should we go in now?" he asked.
"What about him?" she asked.
"Uhh… let's see," Ning thought for a moment. "Ah, I know."
Ning quickly asked the system to help with more translation features and added them to his earrings which allowed White Depth Field to speak to anyone now.
"There you go, you should be able to talk to anyone now. Just listen to what it says and repeat it. Here's some money for you to spend, and if you encounter any trouble, don't act on your own. Or even if you do, make sure not to hurt anyone involved. Try your best to solve the problem without any violence," Ning said.
"Okay, master," White Depth Field said and left from there.
"Is he going to be okay all alone?" Hi-Ah asked.
"Oh yeah, he'll be fine. Let us go inside now," Ning said.
"I think I want to go roam the city too. I will go with him," Saphandra said and quickly flew away from Ning before going towards White Depth Field.
'Whatever,' he thought and walked with his cousin.
"Come, let me take you to get registered first," she said and walked away from the car towards the massive building in the distance.
There were many sections to the building they went to, but only one of those sections tested hunters' ranks, so that was where the two of them went.
Ning looked at all the government figures that were working and was surprised at just how many there were here.
He saw a group of people in white suits with devil embroidery on their backs and knew that they were members of the White Devil guild.
"Why're the White Devil Guild's people here?" Ning asked.
"Probably to get tested maybe? Or to schedule some upcoming dungeon runs in dungeons owned by the government," Hi-Ah said. "As far as I know, they own 3 of the 8 dungeons in the city, with 2 of the remaining 5 being owned by some other guilds. Sometimes, they end up having too many people that want to go dungeon hunting at once, so it's likely they came to borrow one."
"Although," Hi-Ah said as her eyes moved towards the White Devil guild members that walked towards the testing area. "Sometimes, the guild has their people test themselves repeatedly. That is most likely what is happening here."
Ads by Pubfuture
"Oh? Why would they need to be tested repeatedly?" Ning asked.
"Certainly not to be tested," Hi-Ah said. "They come to scout for new potential members. Since they aren't allowed inside without being in line for testing, they have to do this."
"Oh wow, doesn't the government ban these people from repeatedly taking tests?" Ning asked.
"No, they still have to pay for it, so it's a good source of money. After all, if a person is truly worthy of being scouted, they would usually send their reports to various guilds to try and join on their own," she said. "The only reason they even scout is to get to the person faster than other guilds."
"I see," Ning said.
They quickly registered and Ning was surprised it cost him 100 thousand Won just to register for a test. He didn't know how much that was worth in value, but that certainly sounded like a big number.
They quickly entered the testing room and Ning was surprised to see a massive room holding nearly 50 people in it already.
"Wow, so many people," he said softly.
"People awaken all the time, so they come and test. Other than that, most are repeaters, and not to forget Scouters," Hi-Ah said. "Let's just wait for our turn."
Ning sat down and watched how the testing was done.
One woman walked to the front and had to place her palm on a crystal ball-like device that showed a set of digits on a screen nearby.
There were 3 types of stats that were shown on the screen. They were Strength, Speed, and Mana.
They were all ranked from E to A, which then upgraded to S, SS, and SSS.
The woman who tested had C for Strength and Speed, but B for Mana.
So, she was a potential B-ranked hunter. All she had to do was now prove that she could use that mana in a dungeon, which she tested away from the main hall.
Ning didn't know what happened in the other room, but he could hear her perform some sort of wind magic, and could even hear the judges inside agree that she was fit to be a B-rank.
While the woman was away, another man was tested who had B ranked Strength and B ranked Speed with C ranked mana. The man unfortunately was already a B-ranked hunter, so he had to return without any result.
He had assumed he had reached A rank by now, but he was sad to find out he was not.
The woman from before walked back out and was immediately announced to be a B-ranked hunter.
Before the woman could enjoy her own new rank, nearly 5 different men and women walked up to her to ask her to join her guild.
The woman wasn't mad at all. She was excited and quickly went along with one of the guild members.
One by one, the rest of the people were tested as well until it was time for Tae Hi-Ah to test as well.
910 Hi-Ah's Test
Hi-Ah walked to the front and placed her palm on the crystal ball that tested her stats.
Ning was curious, so he moved a little forward to see what she showed.
[Strength : B, Speed : B, Mana : A]
"Huh? Not bad actually," he thought. The surrounding crowd immediately went into a frenzy, mostly from the Scouters who saw a guild-less person get an A rank in any of the stat.
In a mid-tier guild, she would definitely get a spot in the main party without a doubt. As for something like the White Devil, she had a good chance of making one of the newbie parties as long as her skill was good enough.
Now, the Scouters just had to hope that she passed that part of the test.
Ning left behind an illusion of his and teleported into the room where the testing was happening to see how it worked.
The testing room was larger than he had imagined, and the judges were staying on the upper floor and watching from the balcony.
Hi-Ah stood in front of a metal contraption that was humanoid in shape but had no distinguishing features.
"Your mana is A rank, so use any skill that you can," the judges said.
Hi-Ah nodded and put her hands before her. Suddenly, a magic circle formed in front of her hands as she shot out something small and bright.
Ning saw some sort of fire-like bolt of energy strike the metal puppet in the chest.
To his surprise, the puppet took absolutely no damage at all. However, it took enough damage for the judges to take note of how she did.
Ads by Pubfuture
"Next, balls will fall from the ceiling and they will be targeting you. You can attack the target again, but only 5 seconds after we begin, and before 10 seconds have passed," the judges said.
"Begin!"
Hi-Ah's eyes shot up as she saw the various colored plastic balls fall from the ceiling. There were maybe 2 or 3 seconds, and they were effortless to dodge as they didn't bounce around much.
However, it was a bit hard to concentrate on her spell as that required a great deal of focus, and focus was something he couldn't afford at the moment.
Still, she focused as much as she could while dodging the various balls and shot another projectile of volatile energy at the puppet.
Once done, she dodged the balls for 2 more seconds and was done.
"Great, now a final test," the judges said. As they spoke, 5 more puppets appeared out of nowhere. "Attack them all at once. As long as your damage is higher than B rank, you will pass."
Hi-Ah nodded and prepared her attack again. A magic circle formed on her hands, a different one from before. Just as it appeared, lightning struck forward, branching into various tendrils.
There were 6 main tendrils and they all attacked the various puppets directly, burning them red hot, but not damaging them more than that.
"Great," the judges said. "You've passed. You may leave."
Hi-Ah nodded and left the room. Ning left as well. He arrived back in his place and his illusion disappeared with none the wiser.
The moment Hi-Ah walked out and was announced to have passed, the Scouters immediately hounded after her. However, it seemed that Hi-Ah had absolutely no intention of joining any of them, so she flat-out refused.
A few of them still tried to follow after her just in case she changed her mind, but they scurried away once she threatened to beat them.
"Congratulations, but this was a given I suppose," Ning said.
"Thanks," she said with a small smile.
Ads by Pubfuture
"Your turn isn't up yet?" she asked.
"We seem to have registered mine a little late. We will still have to wait a few minutes longer," Ning said.
"That's fine. Once we are done here, I can take you to visit grandmother," Hi-Ah said.
"I'm not sure if that will be possible or not," Ning said.
"Huh, why?" she asked.
Ning didn't answer. Instead, he simply asked, "do you have some sort of hatred for these guilds by any chance?"
"No, I just—" he didn't want to bring it up. Speaking out loud something so pessimistic felt wrong for her.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I just wanted to know if you would be uncomfortable if I joined any guild," Ning said. He looked towards her to see her emotion. However, she didn't show anything.
"Oh, you can join if you want to. I don't mind. My brother is already working with a guild, so I have no bad feelings about anyone working with guilds," she said.
"I see, that's all I wanted to know," Ning said.
Hi-Ah looked at him curiously, wondering why he wanted to know what he had asked. But, she quickly found it hard to care about as the time she had to spend here waiting for his turn to come around was quite enormous.
Finally, after nearly an hour, Ning's name was called. The people around him looked at him weirdly as the name being called out wasn't Korean, but rather Chinese.
Ning walked through the staring men and arrived in front of the crystal ball that would tell the world about his stats.
He thought for a moment. What exactly would this device figure out about him? Would it figure out everything about him or only the part that was affected by Mana? But then, he had been on earth for no more than 7 or 8 hours at this point, so he wasn't even sure how much mana he had gathered.
Should he actually hide his stats by any chance? Was there even any merit to hiding his stats at all?
'Why should I even bother?' he thought. 'Besides, I need to find the fruit that can heal Mana Poisoning.'
With that in mind, Ning placed his palm on the crystal ball and felt the energy flow through him. In mere moments, it would reveal all of his secrets.
911 Ning's Test
As the machine tested Ning's stats, a variety of people watched him. The Scouters were watching because it was their job, but the majority of the rest were watching because the person taking the test was Chinese.
And they had to wait for a while to see the result.
"Hmm?" the staff members came to the front to look at the device as it took an abnormally long time to show up result.
"I'm sorry, it's taking a while. Please stay right there," the staff said.
Ning shrugged and stayed there. He had to wait for nearly 2 whole minutes before the results came back.
[Strength: SSS, Speed: SSS, Mana: B]
The moment the stats appeared on the screen, everyone in the room collectively lost their minds.
Hi-Ah was too shocked to say anything. All she could do was rub her eyes and look at the stats again. She even wondered if she was seeing double for some reason.
"Wait? Is that…?"
"Is that two Ss or three Ss?"
"That's 3 S for sure. Either that or I'm going blind."
"Wait, that's double SSS! I have never heard of something like this before at all."
"Is the machine broken by any chance?"
"Maybe, that's the only answer, right?"
The group went from being shocked at the result to being suspicious to ask for a retest.
They asked someone else to be tested before him just to make sure the machine wasn't broken. At the same time, security came outside to check for any suspicious equipment Ning might be carrying with him.
Ning stepped to the side and let himself be tested. He was even taken to another room and made to strip naked before they searched him thoroughly.
After not finding anything on him, they let him back out. By now, the machine was tested and they found out that the mana stone that was powering the machine had nearly depleted.
"Was it really the mana stone?" a staff member asked another one.
Ads by Pubfuture
"Didn't we just see it was the mana stone?" the other person asked.
"But doesn't a mana stone last for nearly a week most of the time? I changed this one this morning," the first person said.
"Then you must have taken a defective one," the second person replied.
The first person couldn't think of anything else to say, so he turned back to see Ning's test done again.
However, this time around as well, his test wasn't done quickly at all. Once again it took the same amount of time before the results came.
Everyone immediately looked at the result again. Their surprise would have been equally as big as the first time had the result being the same.
However, the result changed this time around.
[Strength : SSS, Speed : SSS, Mana: A]
His mana stat had changed from B to A. His results were better this time around.
Everyone immediately started shouting over each other to voice out their surprise. The Scouters didn't even wait for the official result before jumping in front of each other to ask for Ning to join their guild.
Their contract terms were simple. It would be whatever he wanted.
The guards had to bring order to the crowd before the staff members made a judgment on the results.
"It seems the result is real, so you can go take the test," they said.
Ning nodded and left the hall to go take his test.
He arrived in the massive room with the judges sitting on the balcony. The judges had heard the commotion too, and now they knew why the men and women were going crazy outside.
"Is this… is there no mistake?" they asked the staff that brought them the result.
"We tested twice, the result was the same… err, actually, the 2nd time was better," the staff said. "Fear not, we detected no cheating."
"I see," the judges said and turned to look at Ning. "Do you use any sort of weapon?"
"I do, but I can also do without," Ning said.
"We would like it if you used a weapon. We want to see you fight at your full potential," the judges said.
"Okay," Ning said. "I can use a spear, where should I get that?"
Ads by Pubfuture
"There in that closet. There are a bunch of ordinary weapons. Choose one to your liking," they said.
Ning opened the closet that was in the corner of the room and saw that it was full of weapons of every single type.
Short swords, long swords, great swords, sabers, katanas, spears, halberds, axe, daggers, throwing knives, glaives, etc.
Everything and anything he could think of was there for him to use. Ning took a simple spear with a small blade and closed the closet.
He got back into place and looked towards the judges.
The main judge of the 3 was about to give a task when he paused. If the stats results they were handed were true, then there was no way any of their expensive puppets could ever survive.
"Umm, can you attack softly, and slowly ramp up? We don't want you to destroy the puppet in front of you," they said.
"Oh, don't worry about it. I have restoration magic. Anything I destroy, I can fix as long as it is something without life," Ning said. "Well, maybe not mana stone either, but you guys have spare right?"
"Is… that true?" the judge asked. He had never heard of such an amazing type of magic.
"We would like to see it then," the head judge said.
Ning nodded and changed his hold on the spear. Instead of holding it normally, he held it in a throwing stance and shot the spear at the puppet with moderated strength.
The spear left his hand, leaving behind a sonic boom as it moved faster than the speed of light. The judges didn't even see the spear leave his arm.
All they saw was his hand blur, and then they were knocked back due to the shockwave his attack had generated.
"Oops, that was still too hard," he thought. He quickly jumped up to the judges and helped them get back up.
Then, he jumped back to where he had not only destroyed the puppet but had torn up the ground for at least 15 more meters. Even the walls at the back were showing cracks now.
Ning put his arms forward and suddenly a magic circle appeared in front of them. They were real magic circles as Ning had asked the system to give him knowledge on the spell to revert time itself.
The magic spell had a few requirements. The changes he made couldn't be more than 2 minutes in the past as even Mana found it hard to follow entropy backward for that long.
The 2nd requirement was that the target couldn't be a living being.
Other than that, the larger the target, the higher the mana would be needed.
The judges looked with shock as everything that was destroyed just moments before flew back to its original place as everything was restored to how they were.
The puppet was perfect, the ground was untouched, and the spear was back in Ning's hand.
He looked at the judges and asked, "What should I do next?"
912 Double SSS
Ning tested his speed.
All he had to do was dodge the balls that fell from the ceiling. There would be red balls amongst those that fell, and those balls he would have to grab and put on a basket that was to the side of the room.
Ning waited for the balls to start dropping.
"Begin!" the judges shouted.
Suddenly, 10 different balls fell at scattered speeds. Ning slowed down his perception and simply walked around as he dodged the balls.
He saw a red one starting to fall and walked next to it. He grabbed the ball and checked for another red one. Seeing that there were none, he took it to the basket before returning.
He did that for 15 seconds, and just as he thought it would end, the panels on the floor and the walls opened up and started shooting balls at him as well.
Ning was surprised, but he wasn't caught off guard. He simply dodged those balls too while catching all the red ones.
After 15 more seconds, he was done.
"So, how did I do?" he asked the judges.
The poor judges had no answer as they could barely see the blur that was Ning. They had to wait for the slowed-down footage to even see if he had touched any of the falling balls or not.
After a while of checking, they simply had to give him the pass.
The final test would be to test his ability to fight multiple monsters at once, but given that he was so fast and so strong, the judges saw no point.
"Uh… you've passed it all. Congratulations," they said.
"Thank you," Ning said and left.
The judges looked at the score and sighed. "A double SSS hunter and one that's not an apostle. Do you guys think that would cause any problem?" the head judge asked, but the other had no answers.
"I guess we will have to wait and see then."
Ning walked back out into the main hall where his double SSS rank was announced to the group of 30 or so people.
Ads by Pubfuture
Each one of them went into a frenzy again when they realized that they had indeed witnessed history here.
Ti-Ah was simply too shocked about everything to come forward and congratulate Ning. Even if she weren't, she would never have made it there before the Scouters had fully covered him from all sides.
Ning couldn't take a single step without stepping on some random person, so he stood where he was and waited for them all to be done with their words. Once they were done, he turned towards the men and women that wore a white coat with devil embroidery at the back.
"I want to ask you something," he said to the White Devil guild's Scouters.
"Ye-yes, what can we do for you, sir?" they asked.
"I hear there is a dungeon under your guild's control where I can find the cure for Mana poisoning. Is that true?" Ning asked.
"The S-ranked gate? Yes, that is true, sir," they said.
"I was access to it as long as it takes me to find the cure," Ning said.
The men and women looked at each other. "Does that mean you will be joining our guild?" they asked with a hopeful look.
"Yes," Ning said. "I have some other requirements, but I will join."
"Thank you, sir," the said. "Would you mind coming with us to the guild to talk with our heads? We can't make decisions on our own. Or if you are busy, just give us a way to contact you."
"No, I'm not busy. I can go with you right now," Ning said. "Cousin, do you want to come with me for a moment?"
"I…" Hi-Ah was still quite speechless to make any well-thought-out judgment.
"Come on, it will be fun," he said and walked along with the people from the White Devil guild. Hi-Ah went along without even knowing she was going along.
They all got into a car that wasn't Ning's and drove off.
Just as they left, Ning spread his divine sense as far as he could and instantly covered all of the city. He searched for a moment before finding the person he was looking for.
"I'm going off on a little side quest. If you are done roaming around, you can either go by car or come to me," Ning said.
"I will do as you say, master," White Depth Field replied out loud so Ning could hear him.
"We will be done soon," Saphandra said.
Once Ning's divine sense left off, White Depth Field went back to looking at the jewelry.
Ads by Pubfuture
"The craftsmanship on these is terrible, but I would like to take some back as a memento for my family," White Depth Field said.
"That one is not bad," Saphandra said.
"Well, if you say so," White Depth Field said.
"Mr. Shopkeeper, how much money for this one?" he spoke in crude Korean that barely registered in the Shopkeeper's ears.
"This one, sir? This one costs 2.2 Million won. Should I package it for you?" the shopkeeper asked.
"2.2 Million? Do I have that much money?" White Depth Field wondered as he brought out a fat stack of thousands of 50 thousand won notes.
He counted for a bit and brought out 44 of those notes and handed it to the Shopkeeper. "Yes, package them," he said.
Saphandra looked around the room and saw the eyes of everyone in the room on White's money. "You might have made a mistake showing so much money out in the open," she said.
"Worry not, dear miss. Didn't master simply make this money? There would be nothing to worry about even if we lost it," he said.
"Well… that's true," Saphandra said. "You still have yet to tell me how Ning found a young man like you and even managed to dominate you. As far as I know, he didn't dominate anyone in the other universe."
White Depth Field grabbed the package that the shopkeeper had handed him and placed it into his soul space.
"Oh, did you not figure out yet that I'm not a human?" he asked.
"What?" Saphandra was confused. "What are you if not human?" she asked.
"I'm a beast, of course," White Depth Field said. "Did you really not know I'm a tiger?"
"Honestly, I was asleep for nearly a hundred thousand years, so I only know of what happened after I came here. Before that is a mystery," she said. "So, tell me what happened exactly? Did you try and beat Ning or something and he got angry? Hehe."
"Oh no, it was nothing like that, I just—"
A hand fell around White's shoulders just as he was speaking. Saphandra noticed it too and slowly peeked out of his clothes.
A few other men appeared around White as well, getting close to him.
"Hey brother, long time no see. How about we catch up on old times in that alleyway over there," the man who had his hand around White said.
"I don't know you, do I?" White asked.
"Tsk, this one's mind doesn't seem to be working," the man said with a peal of laughter in his voice. "Of course, you don't know me. Shut the fuck up, and come with us."
913 Solving Conflicts Without Violence
"What is going on?" White asked the men without moving. He was by the sidewalk and the bystanders were starting to notice them.
One of the men pulled a knife on him and placed the tip on his back. "Shut up and move or I will push this knife into your back," the man said.
White was appalled. "Why are you doing this?" he asked. He couldn't understand the reason at all. After all, he hadn't offended anyone as far as he remembered.
"Did I do something to make you guys angry? If so, I want to say sorry," White said as he cupped his fists.
"The hell? You looking to fight?" the ruffians asked. They mistook his cupped hands for someone preparing to fight.
"Of course not. I can't hurt anyone," White said. Those were the words Ning had told him. After all, he was to end any conflict without violence.
"Damn right you can't, you coward westerner," they said. "Now walk to the alley or we will stab you right here."
"Wait, I still don't understand what is going on here," White said. "What did I do for you all to come after me?"
"Are you dumb or acting dumb? How could you not understand?" Saphandra asked. "They must've been tipped off about your money by the people in the jewelry store. Now they want your money."
"Huh?" White was still confused. He suddenly turned towards the men and they quickly backed off while pulling out more knives in daylight.
"Are you guys trying to rob me of my money?" he asked.
"The hell did you think this was then? A reunion?" someone asked.
"But master said there are rules here like you can't steal from people," White said. "Are you guys not bound by the rule?"
"What? Why the hell would we care about some stupid rules?" the men asked.
"I see," White said as he rubbed his chin. "So I was mistaken, huh? When master said people weren't allowed to do bad things here, I thought they were bound by oath or something. So it was just some law."
"Why would you ever think otherwise?" Saphandra asked.
"Where I came from at the moment, I am not allowed to harm any humans there, so I thought it might be a similar situation here," White said. "I'm sorry for the confusion."
Then, he turned towards the few men in front of him and suddenly his expression changed from foolish to mocking. "Did you idiots really think you could rob me?" he started laughing.
Ads by Pubfuture
"This bastard is crazy," the men said. "Just stab him before the cops arrive."
Just as the men were about to attack, White shook his head. Suddenly, the men dropped to their knees gravity seemed to be amplified for them.
They struggled to even stay on their knees and dropped flat to the ground. White's cultivation aura was so strong that these men could do absolutely nothing to him.
He took a single step forward and the pressure on the men increased. Another step and it got stronger.
Any more and the men would have their bones broken in many places. Fortunately for them, White stopped and crouched down so they could see his face.
"Pray to your gods and say thanks to my master. If it weren't for him telling me not to hurt anyone in any conflict, I would have had 4 corpses on the ground in front of me. A chopped-up one at that too," White said. "And I don't know how humans of this world taste, but I wouldn't mind feasting on you either."
He looked at the third man from the right who seemed to have soiled himself. "Well, maybe not you."
The men on the ground feared White now to the point that they didn't even dare look into his eyes.
White moved his hands and suddenly yellow threads appeared from him that wrapped around all four men.
He stood up and the aura lifted. The men could finally breathe properly.
"Now, what should we do with them?" White said while he put on a thinking face.
"Please spare us. Don't kill us. We beg you," the men started asking.
"I already said I won't kill you, idiots, didn't I?" White said. "I was told to solve any conflict without violence. This is my way without using violence."
Just as he said that a few police cars arrived and cops came out of the car with their guns in their hands.
"Get away from them," they shouted at White.
"Oh, are you guys the authorities of this world? You should punish them for what they—"
"Get away from them," they shouted again.
"Are you talking to me?" White was surprised. "But I didn't do anything."
"Usage of awakened powers in the public is a major crime. You will have to come with us," one of the cops said.
"And what about them?" White asked as he pointed at the four people that came for him.
Ads by Pubfuture
"They will be dealt with too," the cop said. "You guys take them away. You should gather witness reports. I will take him."
"Yes, sir," the cops replied.
The cop took White and placed him in the car before taking him away to the police station.
Saphandra laughed as quietly as she could while White put on a sad face. "I hope master doesn't get mad with me for this."
"Haha, you got caught by the police here, on the first day of being here too. I will have way too much fun talking about it to him," she said.
White had nothing to say and just drooped his head.
Around the same time, Ning arrived in front of the White Devil guild's main headquarters. It was a massive office building that was covered with glasses on the side.
A few people were at the front of the building already as they had been made aware of his arrival beforehand.
"Sir Ning, please come with us. Our leader is waiting for you in the building," the man said.
"Oh, and who might you be?" Ning asked.
"Haha, I'm a nobody really. Just a Rank A rookie, unlike you sir," the man said.
"You're Lee Kyung-Hyun," Tae Hi-Ah said from the side.
"Oh, sister seems to be aware of me. I'm flattered," the man said. "You must be Tae Hi-Ah, then. I heard you went up from B rank to A rank today. Please accept my congratulations."
"Thank you," Hi-Ah said softly.
"Let's go on now. I don't want to keep either sir or our leader waiting," the man said.
Ning and Hi-Ah entered the building, and together with Lee Kyung-Hyun, they entered the elevator that was inside.
There were 26 floors in the building, and Lee Kyung-Hyun pressed the button numbered 26. The elevator took them to the top where it opened up to reveal a hallway with a single door at the end with some sofas outside.
Lee went up to the door and knocked. "Leader, sir Ning has arrived," he said.
"Send him in," a female voice spoke from inside.
"Please go in, sir," Lee said. "Miss Hi-Ah can wait outside.
"No, she's coming with me," Ning said and called his cousin to come with him. Together, they entered the room.
914 Kim Min-Soo
Ning entered the room and was quite surprised to see how wide and open it was.
The whole room was white, brightly lit by the glass wall on one side, with devilish paintings hanging on the wall. The sofas were white as well and they were on either side of the room.
One of the sofas was empty, while the other one had 2 people sitting in it, who immediately got up the moment Ning entered.
An older man with white hair moved first as he arrived next to Ning. "You must be the new SSS-ranked hunter, Ning Ruogong. It's nice to meet you," the man said.
Ning shook the man's hand. "Who might you be?" he asked.
The man almost looked offended. "Ahem, I'm Han Ki-Yoon, the vice-leader of the White Devil guild," he said.
"Ah, nice to meet you," Ning said. "Then you must be Kim Min-Soo, the leader of the White Devil guild."
Ning turned to look at the tall girl with pitch-black hair. Her white clothes fit her tightly, revealing the figure within.
"I don't like wasting time on nonsense, so let us get to the point," the girl said. "What will it take you to join our guild?"
Ning smiled. "Access to the S-ranked dungeon to find a cure for Mana poisoning, and a month's break before I start," he said.
The girl narrowed her eyes. "And?" she asked.
"No and. That's it," Ning said. "As an SSS-ranked hunter, I doubt I will have to worry about money anyway. Besides, I doubt you will pay me low."
"That's true," she said, but she couldn't help but hold suspicion. How was she to trust that he would keep his word after entering the dungeon?
Even if he did break his words, who would say anything to the only SSS-ranked hunter that was not an Apostle?
Kim Min-Soo gave some thought to her predicament and asked, "How am I to trust that you won't just leave after I give you access to the S-ranked dungeon?"
Ning thought for a moment. "What exactly would my job be here if I were to join?" he asked.
"Hunting dungeons, taking sponsors, going to talk shows, and the rest," she said. "We will use your image as much as your strength."
"Huh, that's surprising," Ning said. "Well, I don't have much of an image at the moment, so let's just talk about my strength."
"How many dungeons will I have to hunt to make you give me access to the S-ranked dungeon?" he asked.
"The dungeons aren't so easily available that you can get as many as you want. We have to make parties to enter it. Even I might get into trouble if I were to go in alone," she said.
"I won't," Ning said.
"You can't be sure," the girl said.
"I can," Ning replied.
The girl scoffed in return. She had seen such arrogance in newcomers before who thought just because they got a high rank, they were immune to everything.
Ads by Pubfuture
She had seen them despair inside the dungeon when things were even the slightest bit south. Ning gave her the same vibes.
She decided to show him this despair before it was too late.
"Fine, let's go see just how strong you are," she said and walked out the door.
"Great," Ning said as he turned around. "Isn't it great?" he asked his cousin.
Hi-Ah was way too dumbfounded by the conversation to say anything. In fact, the whole day had been way too over the top for her that from time to time, she would think she was dreaming.
As such, he blankly followed behind Ning, unsure where he was taking her.
The group went down the elevator again and went out of the building before getting in a car to go somewhere else.
The S-ranked dungeon was located about a kilometer away from the headquarters. It was the first dungeon to form in Daegu city, and as such, it was the center of the city, surrounded by massive walls that had people constantly guarding it.
The dungeons grew in power over time, and it was about 3 years ago that the originally A-ranked dungeon had become an S-ranked dungeon.
Once the White Devil's guild took over it, they had been clearing it day after day, as quickly as they could so that they didn't have to suffer another dungeon break.
If an S-ranked dungeon were to break, it would spell the death of the entire city before help could even arrive.
The car stopped by the gate and the four of them walked out.
Ning, Hi-Ah, Kim Min-Soo, and Han Ki-Yoon walked into the compound, and Ning finally saw the 5 meters tall gate that swirled with reddish energy.
"That's the gate to the S-ranked dungeon?" he asked.
"Is this your first time seeing one?" the girl asked.
"This is my first time seeing a gate at all," he said without thinking much.
"Wait, this is your first time seeing a dungeon gate?" the White Devil leader couldn't help but ask.
"Don't look too much into what I say," Ning said. "I like to spew nonsense sometimes. So, should we enter?"
The leader looked at one of the people that was already standing next to them with a tablet and asked, "Is anyone in there?"
"The Beta party entered about 3 hours ago. They should be coming out any minute now," the person said.
"Cancel anyone that's scheduled for after them. Actually, no, just remove a few so I and him can go in as well," she said.
"Wait, why would you want to bring more people? It will be fine with just me, you, and her," Ning said as he pointed to his cousin.
"Me? I can't go into an S-ranked dungeon. I'm only an A-ranked hunter," she said quickly.
"Doesn't matter. I will be there so you won't be hurt," Ning said.
"That's not possible. You will have to focus on the battle. You can't afford to protect someone else," she said.
"Well, then you should protect her. You are going in as well, aren't you?" Ning asked.
Ads by Pubfuture
The girl frowned. "I can't help her either. I need to be ready if you are overwhelmed. I might end up having to fight the dungeon on my own. That would be quite hard if I have to protect 2 people that have never been to an S-ranked dungeon before," she said.
"Well then…" Ning thought for a moment. "I guess I will just have to get her a guard of her own then."
Ning's divine sense suddenly spread everywhere but inside the dungeon gate. It reached all over the city as he started searching for White Depth Field and Saphandra.
When he finally did find them, he couldn't help but be surprised. "What the hell? Why are you in the police station?" he asked.
White Depth Field was in the middle of an argument regarding his nationality when he heard Ning.
"Master, I took your advice and tried to end a conflict without violence. I used some technique to bind my attackers, but these authorities say that I misused my awakened abilities out of the dungeon and now I should go to prison or something," he replied.
Ning sighed. "Forget that. Come to my location quickly. I have some task for you."
"Oh, okay," White said, and in the blink of an eye, disappeared from the police station.
White arrived inside the compound so fast that the only person who noticed his arrival other than Ning was the female SSS-ranked Apostle.
Her eyes went wide and a pool of dark energy gathered in her hands, ready to strike, but Ning put his hands forward.
"He's with me."
Only then did the rest of the people there noticed him. They spoke around, wondering how someone managed to infiltrate their most secure place without triggering any alarm.
"Hahaha! Ning, you should have seen him. He spent the entire time in the station trying to explain why he has a Chinese name when he's clearly not Chinese. That police thought he was lying about his name," Saphandra laughed out loud in Ning's ears as she moved from White to Ning.
"Why would they be—"
The wind picked up as the dungeon made a buzzing sound. Ning turned around to see around 30 different individuals walking out of the dungeon gate, one by one.
They all seemed covered in dust and dirt, with no sign of blood or injury anywhere.
"Another success it seems," the vice leader at the side said.
"Ooh, can we go in now? You no longer have to worry about her either since I brought her a guard," Ning said. He turned towards White and said, "your task is to look after my cousin when we go inside."
"As you say, master," White said and turned around to Tae Hi-Ah to give her a warm smile.
Kim Min-Soo looked at White once more and contemplated whether it was a good idea to bring him along or not. However, he was already a man strong enough to be SSS-ranked in terms of speed alone.
If she were to deny such a person from entering, she could only imagine what would happen if he got angry.
"Fine, all four of us will go then," she said in the end.
"Leader, what about me?" the vice leader asked.
"I'm afraid I can't afford to lose you in case something goes wrong inside. Just stay out here for now," she said. "We should be out in a few hours."
The vice leader didn't agree to that, but he couldn't disobey his own leader, so all he could do was nod and go to the side.
"Alright, we can go in now."
915 Terra and Gray
"Cousin, do I have to really go in as well?" Tae Hi-Ah asked.
Ning turned to look at her. "Don't you want to find a cure for grandmother?" he asked.
"I… I do," she said, finding some resolve in her. "Okay, I will go too."
"Great," Ning said and walked on ahead.
He entered ahead of the others, and White followed behind him as well. Hi-Ah was right behind him, and Kim Min-Soo entered after all of them had.
Ning appeared in a desert-like environment at the bottom of some sort of canyon. The canyon cliffs were high and the pathway through them was narrow.
"Right… so what are we supposed to do exactly?" he asked as he turned toward Kim.
"There are stone monsters as well as some desert beasts here, you will have to kill them. The stone monsters will drop ores when they disappear, and the beasts will drop mana stones. I will be taking all the loot," she said.
"Oh, and the cure?" Ning asked.
"If we're lucky, there will be a tree at the end of the dungeon. So long as we beat the boss there, we should be able to get the fruit," she said.
"Sweet, let's go then," Ning said and started walking.
"Be careful. You need to be vigilant at all moments. You never know where the monsters will come fr—"
Before Kim Min-Soo could finish her words, a humanoid stone monster appeared in front of Ning. It had been embedded in the wall itself, so it was impossible to notice it beforehand.
However, now that it had split off from the wall, it was clearly visible. And as such, all Ning had to do was snap his fingers and the monster fell apart.
Ads by Pubfuture
Once the rock monster fell apart, it disappeared in wisps of smoke, leaving behind some metal ingots only.
Kim Min-Soo and Tae Hi-Ah's mouth was wide open when they saw that scene. Even White was surprised at how fast Ning had reacted. More than that, he hadn't sensed any Qi coming from him when he had acted.
"Oh, it's been a while since I've seen Terra's ability," Saphandra said from within Ning's clothes. "I forgot you could do that now."
"You can do that now too, can't you?" Ning asked.
"Well, yeah," Saphandra said.
He then turned to look at the White Devil Guild's leader. "You should pick this up quickly. We need to move," he said.
Kim Min-Soo was truly awestruck, and that had been for 2 main reasons.
First, she learned that Ning had gained the SSS rank in Strength and Speed. There was nothing about him having a very high amount of mana at all. Even if there was, she hadn't seen him use any magic as the magic circles never appeared on his hands.
The second thing was that the monster he had just killed would've required the previous group about 3 minutes at least to properly defeat. That was if they performed the best.
On average, one such fight required at least 5 minutes for the group.
And yet, Ning had destroyed it so quickly.
'Can I do that?' she thought. She didn't think it was possible even when she brought out her best fighters.
"Are you going to pick that up or not?" Ning asked again, breaking her out of her thought.
"Ah, sorry," she said as she took the ores and placed them in the air where they disappeared.
'Interdimensional storage?' Ning thought when he saw that. He wondered how she got that. Was that something her 'god' gave her?
'I should learn about it later,' he thought and continued forward.
Ads by Pubfuture
Terra's powers were fearsome. Since Ning was a Rank 10 Bondforger, his bond with the spirit Terra gave him fearsome control over everything that was stone and rock.
Ning hadn't been able to use Spiritual energy since he had left Nulwurn, but now that he was on earth where it permeated underneath all the mana, he could finally use it again.
He walked forward unobstructed. Any stone monster that would come out of the wall would die in a snap of his figure as he had innate control over what the monsters were made of.
When beasts appeared, he created rock spikes that killed them or crushed them in between two massive rocks.
Ning was killing the monsters faster than Kim was picking up all the dropped loot from the ground.
Not even 5 minutes after entering the dungeon, the group arrived at the boss of the dungeon that was actually neither rock nor flesh.
Instead, it was a metal golem, formed from various ores that were available in this place. It was nearly 10 meters tall and was holding what looked like an axe.
Terra's powers weren't as usable anymore as rocks wouldn't harm the boss as much.
Kim quickly ran up to Ning. "We have come to realize that its joints are its weak points, as long as you target them, you should be able to defeat it," she said.
"It's fine. I don't need to use weak points," Ning said as he slowly walked forward.
The golem saw him coming and swung its axe. Ning smiled as he moved and caught the axe by the blade mere inches away from his face.
Suddenly, the blade crumbled in his hands even when he hadn't used any force other than to catch it.
"To rust you go," he said.
The metal axe rusted very quickly as Gray's powers were used to speed up the entropy of the materials that made up the monster.
With enough time, the metal would either rust due to coming in contact with air, or simply grind away from repeated use.
Gray's decaying powers only accelerated it by a lot. The rust flowed along the axe and went into the hands that were holding it.
Before long, the metal boss was entirely rust, and then, it crumbled into nothing but flakes of rust.
Ning looked behind the monster and sighed. "Well, that's a shame. There is no tree here," he said as he turned to look at Kim Min-Soo. "Can we do this again?"
916 The Fruit
Ning went into the dungeon again and fought his way through it in record time. Since he knew what to expect this time around, there was nothing for him to do other than kill all those that came in front of him.
Even the second time around, there weren't any plants at the end of the dungeon.
Ning was starting to doubt he could ever even find any. However, the third time he entered, he did find the plant.
He quickly defeated the metal boss and walked over to the end where the tree was located at.
Hanging by one of the branches was a golden fruit that glittered so brightly that Ning suspected it was studded with diamonds.
Tae Hi-Ah looked at the fruit from afar with wonder in her eyes. All this time, she was struggling to think of a way to reach that very fruit, but it seemed so far away.
She had been planning to work herself to death if that was all she could do to possibly gain that fruit. In fact, she was very sure that she would die in one of the dungeons with how hurried she was.
That was the main reason why she didn't want to join a guild at all. After all, only the government continued to pay people even past their death, while the guilds would be too greedy to do anything other than a single-time payment to her father who would desperately need funds.
Her little brother was making some money, but it would take him way too long to make anything of value soon enough. While he and her father could possibly live off well, it wouldn't be as well as what she earned.
Ning had no knowledge of her inner feelings, so he didn't think much when he arrived under the tree. He reached for it and without even putting in any effort, the fruit came off the branch.
He looked at the circular fruit that was in the shape of orange but had the outer texture of an apple.
"So this is the fruit responsible for curing Mana poisoning huh?" he thought. The fruit disappeared as he put it into his storage and walked back.
Ads by Pubfuture
"What? Where did the fruit go?" Tae Hi-Ah asked when she saw that it was gone. Seeing the fruit gone was akin to losing her own sense of self for her.
"Don't worry, I've kept it," Ning said as he pulled the fruit back out and put it back in again.
"You're an Apostle?" Kim Min-Soo asked him with narrowed eyes.
"No, I'm not," Ning said. "I doubt any of your gods would want me to represent them anyway."
Ning started walking back the way he had come from as it was time to leave again. White followed leisurely, looking at the unique place he was in, taking in all the variety that would be hard to find in his own universe.
Once they walked out, Ning turned towards the White Guild's leader. "Do you think we should do it again?" he asked.
"No, we're not doing it agian. Any more and the dungeon will disappear," she said.
"Hm? What do you mean?" he asked curiously.
Kim Min-Soo couldn't help but be suspicious about his question. "How do you not know about dungeon's disappearing?" she asked.
"I'm just ignorant, that's why," Ning said. "Anyway, If we can't go into the dungeon again, then I will take my leave. If you want to contact me then… uhh… just contact her. I don't have a phone on me right now."
Kim Min-Soo quickly had someone record Tae Hi-Ah's phone number. "Now, would you mind having someone take us back to the Department of Dungeon Defense? Our car is there," Ning said.
Kim Min-Soo's eyes looked at him weirdly as it turned towards White. "Are you sure you need us to send you there? You seem to have a faster way," she said.
"Well…" Ning said in an embarrassed manner. "I suppose you're not wrong. See you later then."
Ning snapped his finger, and the space twisted itself around him, White, and his cousin as they were all teleported directly into the DODD's parking lot.
Ads by Pubfuture
"How did you…?" Tae Hi-Ah's eyes were wide with shock. There were too many things of shock that happened today, but this was probably the one that surprised her the most.
"Which hospital is grandmother in again? We should go there now."
Tae Hi-Ah gave the name and assisted with the direction. With her aid, Ning backed the car out of the parking lot and left the DoDD to go heal her grandmother.
Tae Hi-Ah was still in disbelief and simply couldn't wait for the moment her grandmother's eyes would open again.
It had been so many years after all.
Kim Min-Soo stared at the empty space with a dumb look on her face. Her words had insinuated that White was fast enough to take them all away. However, she hadn't expected it to be Ning that took them away.
'Was that teleportation?' she thought. She herself could teleport, but it was more of a swap, and it took a long time before she could do it again.
Not only that, it was only her that could teleport using that method. Ning on the other hand had taken all 3 of them with him.
'How could he not be an Apostle?' she thought.
"Miss? Should we proceed with forming a contract?" one man asked from her side.
"…" she gave some deep thought before answering. "No, not right now. We will have to find out more about him."
She turned towards the vice leader and said, "Find everything you can on this person called Ning Ruogong. We need to make sure he's not a Chinese spy, or worse…"
"What's worse than a Chinese spy?" the vice leader asked.
"Someone not from this world," she said. She then turned to look at the man that had asked about the contract. "Prepare an empty room for me. I'm going to need to have a talk with the god."
917 White Devil
Kim Min-Soo arrived in a dark room with curtains and blinds all closed up to block all light.
She could do what she was going to do in a light environment too, but darkness helped her concentrate far better.
Once she arrived at the center of the room, she closed her eyes and slowly knelt on one leg as she bowed into nothingness.
"My liege, I require your assistance," she spoke out loud.
She waited for a few seconds, but when she couldn't hear anything, she spoke again. "My liege, I—"
"You don't have to repeat yourself, little girl," an archaic voice said from in front of her.
When she opened her eyes, a devil stood inches away from her.
Kim Min-Soo quickly backed away in surprise as dark powers gathered in her hands. The devil's eyes moved towards her hands and the powers dissipated into nothingness.
"What do you want?" he asked.
The devil was nothing but a giant spindly skeleton wearing a devil mask. However, when looked closely, one could realize that the devil mask was actually the skeleton's actual face.
"My liege, a certain human has awakened as a double SSS ranked hunter, who is far stronger than me. He claims to not be an apostle of any gods, but I'm unsure what he is if not that," she said.
"A human with SSS rank? That's too soon," the devil said. "There shouldn't be anyone that can reach that high without the assistance of a god."
"That is what I thought," she said. "But I can't imagine why an apostle would try to hide their god's name when that is one of the main requirements of becoming an Apostle."
Ads by Pubfuture
"Tell me more about him," the Devil asked.
Kim Min-Soo nodded and gave all the information she had gathered up to this point to the Devil. "He is also accompanied by a person, not from this side of the world whose speed is so fast that I could barely keep up with my own eyes."
"That… is truly interesting," the Devil said. "Now I'm curious if he is in fact someone who has one of those."
"One of what, my liege?" she asked.
The Devil was amused by his own imagination. "I wonder if he has a System."
"What's a system?" Kim Min-Soo asked curiously.
"It's a concentration of power, given to someone either by choice or without. We are too weak to make one, so it must have come from somewhere else," the Devil said. "What I gave you is but a mere attempt at copying what a system is capable of."
"The… does he really have a system?" she asked.
The Devil waited a bit to speak. "Give me a few days. I will have to approach this carefully."
Tae Hi-Ah asked many questions to Ning regarding how he was so strong, but she got no answers back at all. At least not the ones that explained stuff.
So, when Ning asked a question of his own, she was very sure that she would not give him an answer of her own.
However, with how much of a help he had been, she found it impossible to stay angry at him for long.
"A dungeon has enough mana to continue existing only a certain amount of iteration. The lower the dungeon level, the higher this amount is."
"Once you kill the monsters in a dungeon, the amount of mana in it is lowered. However, there is a continuous flow of mana to it that keeps it active."
Ads by Pubfuture
"However, if you kill the dungeon too quickly, which means to clear it multiple times in a short period of time, then the total mana in the dungeon will be so low that the gate will be unstable and it will shut down," she explained.
"Oh, so that's why," he thought. "Wait, so the S-ranked dungeon would have collapsed if I had cleared it a few more times?"
"Most likely," she said. "While its overall mana would be very high since it has to create A-ranked and S-ranked monsters inside, it wouldn't take many close clears to destroy it."
"I see," Ning said. "But isn't that a good thing? Clear the dungeons so you no longer have any chance of dungeon break?"
"It is, and many countries did do that during the starting phase when Apostles and hunters started to take prominence," Tae Hi-Ah said. "The Apostles outright refused, and while the Hunters did do what their government told them to, it didn't take long for the government to realize their mistake."
"Which is?" Ning asked.
"Clearing dungeon meant that you were suddenly out of resources and mana stones to improve your own hunters. Korea was about to do that too, but the majority of the dungeons were owned by guilds, and they refused to clear it, which is why it is so powerful today," she said.
"I see," Ning said. "Any other reasons other than wanting to keep your country strong?"
" I don't know," Tae Hi-Ah said. "I suppose it's just the human mindset to keep wanting to become stronger. Even when you have the chance to fully remove all threats from your country, if it keeps giving you resources and energy sources, the government also decides to not do so at the risk of so many people dying."
"I suppose that's true," Ning said.
They arrived at the hospital, and the group quickly took the elevator up through the hospital.
White looked around in awe at what men could do were they not to have any powers to fall upon.
Ning walked out of the elevator, and Tae Hi-Ah quickly showed them where their grandmother was. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably the closer they got to the room.
Ning grabbed her hands to calm her. "It's all going to be fine," he said.
Hi-Ah calmed down a little, but she was still quite nervous at what was going to happen.
Ning arrived at the door to the room and found out that he was quite nervous himself. However, with a single breath, he removed any nervousness from himself and walked in.
918 Healing
Ning walked into the room and was surprised to see that it was actually a massive hall, filled with various different people. Most of them were staying in the beds, but due to there being too many people who were there, some were down on the floor as well.
"Are they all…"
"Mana poisoned? Yes," Tae Hi-Ah said. "There are too many of them, so some of them have to be kept on the floor."
Ning heard some grunting noises from the sides, where people were in pain. "They're not in a coma?" he asked.
"Not yet," she said. "But this pain and the inability to focus on anything but the pain is just a precursor to going into a coma."
"And the antidote is so hard to get," Ning thought. He couldn't even rush the dungeons to find it as the dungeons would disappear after a few too many runs.
'Can I really not do anything?' he thought.
He had asked the system if he could heal people before but the system's answer had been simple. He had the ability to rid someone's current symptoms and get them out of the coma, but he was incapable of actually curing the mana poisoning.
"That can't be true, right? Is there absolutely no way?" he asked the system again.
There is a way, but it is not available to you now.
"Tell me what is it, so I can hopefully work toward it," he said.
There is an 8th Tier spell called 'Holy Guardian's Cleansing' that can cure and rid a person of all ailments or injuries.
"8th Tier? What does that mean?" Ning asked.
Ads by Pubfuture
Tier is how a mage's level is seen
"Is it? Oh wait, I bought information about them, didn't I? Gosh, it's been so many hundred thousand years that I nearly forgot," Ning said as he quickly checked.
A normal mage could go from Tier 1 to Tier 10 by gathering mana in themselves. A spell was similar as well, and only people who had reached a certain tier could use the magic of that tier.
"What is Tier 8 when compared to this E to SSS rankings?" Ning asked.
One rank higher than SSS
"Wow, that will take me quite a few days to achieve. I will probably have left here by then," Ning said. "Then I suppose I must heal them after I come back."
"There she is," Tae Hi-Ah pointed towards the end of the hall. Ning turned around to see an old woman with a thin body wearing a blue hospital gown, laying on the bed. Her eyes were shut, and her breathing was slow.
Her face… he could see parts of his mother's face in the old woman's features.
"How is she?" Hi-Ah asked a nearby nurse.
"Her conditions are stable, and her body isn't rejecting the nutrients we are giving her. She shouldn't be in any condition to take any significant damage to her body now," the nurse said.
"Thank you," Hi-Ah said.
"Are you guys visiting? I'm afraid you guys will have to come in one at a time so you don't crowd up this place," the nurse said.
"Sorry, it will just take a few minutes," Ning said and quickly walked up to his grandmother. Then, he pulled out the golden fruit.
The nurse's eyes went wide when she saw it. "You found a cure?" she asked.
"Yes," Hi-Ah said.
Ads by Pubfuture
Ning took the fruit up to her grandmother and paused. "How do I use it again?" he asked.
"Put the fruit near her center of mass. It will do its job on its own," Hi-Ah explained.
"Center of mass… the naval area? So I should just put it above the Sea of Mana huh?" he thought. He placed the fruit above the naval area of his grandmother and suddenly, the fruit shined with bright light, sensing trapped mana that could not circulate in a body that wasn't used to having mana.
Ning expected the fruit to absorb the mana that was inside a person, but instead what happened was that the fruit dissolved into a golden pool of energy, flowing down into his grandmother.
He sent in his senses and saw that the fruit was dissolving into the body to fix the broken channels in the body that were causing the mana to pool and not flow properly.
As soon as the channels were forged and the mana could circulate again, he instantly sensed his grandmother awaken as a mage.
Her slow breathing got a little faster, and her heartbeat quickened. Her pale colored face showed some more color and overall she looked better.
Tae Hi-Ah closed her mouth to not let out any sounds as emotions overwhelmed her. It had been so long since the mana of this world had poisoned her grandmother.
Finally, she was healed. She couldn't help but cry and even Ning felt a bit emotional. Still, he couldn't get too emotional as there were more things to do.
He grabbed his grandmother's hands from the side and checked the heartbeat. Along with that, he sensed if she had any problems.
He couldn't find any immediately visible problems but still, it wouldn't be a bad idea to heal her, so he used his healing skill to remove any other problems she might've had in the body.
Still, his grandmother did not open her eyes.
"What's going on?" Ning asked.
"It's normal," the nurse said. "They take a few hours to wake up. As their body has just been healed, it will take them more than a few minutes to relocate the nutrients that were taken away to use elsewhere."
"Once the body realizes there's no more need, she will wake up. Also, because she is on the older side of patients we have, please don't be surprised if she even takes a whole day to wake up."
Ning nodded. "We should prepare to take her home still. She should wake up back in the house," he said.
Tae Hi-Ah agreed.
919 Mana Siphon
A doctor came to sign off the discharge papers so that Ning and Hi-Ah could take their grandmother back home.
After learning what she did, and checking the old woman's vitals, the doctor was certain that she had recovered and would be fine to take home.
Staff came and put their grandmother into a stroller before dragging her out of the room.
"We should go," Tae Hi-Ah said.
Ning paused for a moment as he looked at the remaining people in the room. He then turned toward the nurse and asked, "Do you have information on everyone in this room at the moment?"
"Sorry?" the nurse looked confused and worried. "We can't give out patient information."
"You won't have to," Ning said. "I only need to know that if they were ever to leave this hospital, could you call them back?"
"I… suppose, yes," the nurse said. The nurse looked towards the doctor to help her.
"Is everything alright?" the doctor asked.
"Everyone here suffering from Mana Poisoning, right?" he asked.
"Yes, this is the ward where we keep people that have mana poisoning," the doctor said.
"Good," Ning said. "Hi-Ah, White, get everyone that is not a patient out of here right now."
"What are you doing?" Hi-Ah asked.
"Yes, master." White was ready to follow his command at a moment's notice.
White gently gestured for the nurses, staff, and even the doctor to leave. Hi-Ah didn't understand what was happening.
The doctor was practically appalled at the situation.
Ads by Pubfuture
"I will call security. You can't—"
Ning pulled out something he had received from the DoDD after passing their test. A Hunter ID. He showed the ID to the nurse, who had her words stuck in her mouth after reading the words on the card.
"S… SSS Rank?" she looked at the card and back at Ning.
"I'm going to get rid of the mana that's torturing their body. Please get anyone that isn't tortured by it out of here," he said.
"I—"
Tae Hi-Ah had seen too much today to question his words again. "Come on, sister. We should get out of here for now," she said.
The doctor wanted to stay behind, but she found it hard to disagree with an SSS-ranked hunter's command.
"Fine. Everyone, out!" she shouted. The nurses and staff moved out one after another.
Ning waited for everyone to go out and for the door to be shut. Once shut, he looked around at the people there.
"Alright, let's start. System, is there a way to do it all at once?" Ning asked. "Some sort of skill to steal away mana from others maybe."
There is a Tier 5 Spell you can use. A spell called Mana Siphon where you can steal away someone else's mana.
"Can I target multiple people with it?" he asked.
No, but you can use multiples of it at the same time.
"Oh, okay that works. Teach me," Ning said.
The system gave him the relevant information, and Ning quickly learned it. With his talent, he hardly ever needed any time to learn since he had talent that was simply uncontested.
"Alright, let's begin."
He took a deep breath and suddenly a magic circle appeared in his hands from which came a long, illusory blue stream of light that landed on a random person in his sight.
Then, the mana inside their body was slowly sucked out of them. At the same time, Ning cast the spell again, this time the illusory blue light latching onto someone else and pulling out the mana from them.
Ads by Pubfuture
The mana that was siphoned out went into Ning, increasing his own mana and even improving his tier.
He used the spell again, siphoning more mana from another person.
Ning felt a slight strain on his body, particularly his mana channels which had to accept such a vast amount of mana. However, because of how strong his body was, he didn't have to worry about it in the least.
More and more mana circles formed in front of him as he sucked in more and more mana from everyone around him. At some point, he had even reached S rank in mana alone.
Still, there were a lot more people around him who needed him to take away all the mana.
The latch on the first person vanished as he finished taking away all their mana. While they weren't healed, the stagnant mana was gone, for now, making them feel a lot better.
The few people that had still not fallen into a coma stopped grunting as the pain and nausea slowly lifted from them.
Once it went away, the people started falling asleep as a result of the fatigue they had been under.
Time passed slowly, while White, Hi-Ah, and the other staff members stood outside, worried.
They had been outside for nearly half an hour but they couldn't hear anything other than the people that had stopped moaning in pain.
The doctor and nurse wanted to go in, but White stopped them. By now, the rest of the hospital's management had arrived as well, but they couldn't go in once they heard that an SSS-ranked hunter was inside, they stopped as well.
They went and checked the cameras, but they saw nothing openly nefarious happening, so they all went back outside the room and waited.
Another 10 minutes went by and finally the door opened as Ning walked out with a relatively tired look on his face.
He saw the many people that were standing outside and gave a foolish smile. "My apologies. It took a bit longer than I imagined. You guys can go in now," he said.
The doctors and nurses quickly went in, while the hospital security kept Ning where he was just to ensure he hadn't done anything.
"It's a miracle!" the doctor shouted. "They're all healed."
The nurses started gossiping as well.
"No," Ning said. "They aren't healed. What I've done is not different from relieving the pressure from a swollen area. I haven't healed the injury itself."
"Then?" the doctor looked at him.
"They should be able to get up and go about their daily life, but they will once more fall ill in the future. Hopefully, by that time there will be a cure for their illness."
920 Bak Jung-Hwa
Bak Jung-Hwa slowly opened her eyes, confused for a moment as to where she was. She felt well-rested and had no sense of discomfort, which felt weird for some reason.
It was as if she woke up expecting some sort of problem with her own body
"Hmm?" she thought when she felt a weight around her leg when she tried to lift it. When she looked at what it was, she saw a head full of red hair, sleeping by the side of her bed.
The old woman was confused and slowly nudged the head.
Tae Hi-Ah woke up from her own sleep. She had been looking after her grandmother ever since they brought her home. She knew it would take some time, even a day for her grandmother to wake up, so he had fallen asleep by her without hesitation.
Now that she was awake, she looked at the old woman with her confused face.
"Grandma!" she shouted and immediately rushed to hug her. "Grandma, you woke up."
"Hi-Ah? Is that you?" the old woman asked.
"Yes, grandma, it's me," she said.
"How… you…" the old woman found it hard to speak about what was so confusing.
Tae Hi-Ah quickly left her grandma and rushed to the door.
"Grandma is awake!" she shouted into the house. Two pairs of footsteps could be heard as they rushed up the room.
The old woman expected to see two familiar faces. The first one to enter was her son, Tae Min-Ki, who seemed to have somehow grown older since the last time she saw him.
The second one to enter was her grandson, Tae Hung-Jee, who—
The old woman paused. Was that Tae Hung-Jee? He looked nothing like the young man she remembered.
Ads by Pubfuture
She kept staring for a while when she noticed something. "Those eyes… are you…?"
"Mother, look who came to visit us," Tae Min-Ki walked up to her and grabbed her hand. "You can recognize him, right?"
"Is that really my grandson?" she asked.
"Grandmother, I'm happy to finally meet you," Ning said as he walked up to the old woman. He sat by her side as he introduced herself. "I'm Ning Ruogong."
"You really are her son?" she asked with tears. "Where is that stupid girl? She never once even reached out to tell her how she was."
Ning's face darkened. "My mother and father both have both passed away already in a car accident," he said.
The tears that were teetering on the edge of her eyelids fell as the old woman heard the news.
"My child, she… I told her not to go with him. I told her he wasn't good for her. And now he killed her," the old woman said.
"Mother, please don't curse the dead. My Brother-in-law wasn't the one at fault here. Accidents happen, it's not like he did it on his own," Tae Min-Ki said. "Besides, if not for him and your sister, you wouldn't have a grandson like this who were far and beyond to get you out of your coma."
The old woman turned to look at her. "Coma?" she asked with a confused look.
The 3 of them had to spend some time explaining to the old woman that it had been a few years since she had gotten ill with Mana poisoning and had fallen into a coma.
The woman finally understood why everything looked so weird around her.
"I was in a coma, huh? And my eldest grandson healed me?" she asked.
"Yes, grandma. Cousin did something that could only be considered a miracle today to heal you," Hi-Ah said.
"Forget miracle, it's the hottest news out there right now. You open any outlet and they talk about either him getting the SSS-rank, or him healing the entire hospital room," Min-Ki said.
The old woman couldn't understand most of the things her son was talking about, but she could see that it was definitely something incredible.
"Hah, at least that stupid girl did something good in her life. If only she hadn't died too," the old woman said softly. Her tears started flowing once again and the rest of the people in the room started tearing up as well.
Ads by Pubfuture
Ning stayed quiet for a while, letting the others cry, while his eyes got a little moist as well.
After a while, Tae Hi-Ah left the room to go prepare dinner. Normally, they would have ordered food, but since their grandmother was home, she decided to give her so home cooked meal.
Besides, the doctor had given strict directives to not give anything solid as the old woman's body had severe muscular degeneration due to not having to use any of it for a long time.
It got dark outside not long after and the door to the front of the house opened up.
"Gosh, it is so late today." A young man walked in with a small box in his hands. He had black hair and fair skin and was tall and lean.
He wore a green coat, a uniform from his guild, and hung it by the side of the room.
"Sis, I got you some cake as—" he stopped when he saw a man with golden hair intently watching TV in their living room.
"A guest?" he thought.
White turned around and looked at the young man. With a single look, he understood who it was.
"Your family is upstairs," he said as he went back to watching TV again.
"Okay…" he slowly walked away from the weird encounter and walked upstairs. He quickly found his sister in the hallway.
"Sis, who's the guy downstairs?" he asked.
"A guest," she said. "Come with me."
"Hmm?" he followed her without asking any questions. "Oh right, did you hear about what happened at the Hunter testing place today? You must've been there right?"
"I was," she said.
"So, is it true? Was there really a man with not one SSS-rank stat, but two?" he asked.
Tae Hi-Ah smiled. "Let me introduce someone to you."
:)
