Chapter 224
Evolution and Excavation
While everyone waited quietly, Arthur smoked another cigarette, slowly exhaling the smoke as he observed his surroundings with a calm gaze that revealed nothing of what was happening deep within him.
Then…
the gate finally opened.
The Hunter team emerged, each surrounded by an aura of varying intensity, every one of them carrying the weight of their experience upon their shoulders.
Arthur's eyes settled on the leader of the Hunters Guild.
A powerful aura…
but stable and calm.
'He's truly strong…
My current self could defeat him… but with some losses.'
Arthur calmly exhaled smoke, then noticed a young woman with short, golden-blond hair standing not far away.
'Her aura…
It resembles Go Gun-Hee's aura.
Is she close to him? Or…'
Without realizing it, while he scanned everyone with his eyes, a faint battle aura began leaking from his body.
An unfocused aura.
Weak.
But sufficient.
Ordinary humans would never sense it,
but anyone who had reached a higher stage could not ignore it.
At that exact moment, the girl and the leader of the Hunters Guild both turned toward Arthur.
Arthur immediately realized what had happened.
He calmly lowered his aura until it disappeared completely, then acted as though he knew nothing.
"???"
He extinguished his cigarette between his fingers, then stood up and entered with the excavation team without a word.
---
Arthur grabbed his pickaxe and began excavating the magic stones.
Strength…
speed…
precision.
He and Sung Jin-Woo worked as though they were seasoned professionals.
"Arthur… have you worked in excavation before?"
Sung asked while watching his hands.
Arthur's movements were calm…
yet every strike shattered the stone from within.
It wasn't pure strength.
When Sung looked at himself, he was breaking the stone through direct force.
Arthur, on the other hand…
struck a specific point with deadly precision, causing the rock to break apart into fragments with every light strike.
Arthur smiled calmly.
"Earlier… yes.
I worked as an excavator in a truly ridiculous group.
But I needed the money."
He took a drag from his cigarette.
"I worked in construction… excavation… a restaurant… as a guard… an assassin."
"An assassin?!"
Arthur smiled sarcastically, then lightly struck Sung on the shoulder.
"I'm joking, you bastard. Yes, I worked as an excavator before."
He laughed quietly, lit another cigarette, and returned to work.
---
After a short while, it was time to eat.
Most of the team stopped…
but Arthur continued.
Then he noticed that Sung had disappeared.
"Where did that bastard go?"
Arthur moved forward, wiping the sweat from his muscular, burned body.
His disfigurement was obvious.
The fire had consumed nearly seventy-six percent of his body.
A massive burn covered most of the center of his face.
His hair had been burned away until only a small amount remained.
His hands, feet, chest, back…
all of them carried the marks of the burns.
He moved farther…
then saw two people.
From a distance, he noticed the same girl approaching Sung Jin-Woo…
and sniffing his body.
"Weirdo…"
The word escaped Arthur's mouth unintentionally.
'Damn…
Since when have I stopped controlling my mouth?
Maybe it's because of this world…
I'm adapting to it more than I should.'
The two noticed his comment, and the girl moved closer to Sung.
"You… are you really a Hunter?"
"Y-Yes."
"You smell… really good."
"Arthur!"
Sung called out somewhat loudly, as though asking Arthur for help.
"No, no, that's not what I mean.
I mean… most Hunters smell terrible.
Like… you. Come over here."
'Is this idiot ordering me around?'
Arthur wanted to leave, but he sighed and stepped forward.
The girl began explaining that the scents of Hunters were unpleasant to her…
with the exception of Sung.
She approached Arthur…
and sniffed.
She had been prepared to vomit.
But instead of disgust…
she felt fear.
Not disgust…
nor beauty…
but pure fear.
Could fear be smelled?
Yes.
Some creatures with sharp noses could identify prey.
The weak emitted an Omega-26 scent.
But danger…
emitted domm-99.
Yet what the girl smelled…
was worse.
Tyranny.
Dominance.
The power of a ruler.
Lethal danger.
Her legs began trembling.
She slowly stepped backward,
then retreated quickly.
'Throughout my entire life, and across all the worlds…
I've never met anyone stranger than this girl.'
Arthur's body shuddered at all of her strange behavior,
then he returned to work.
---
He shut his mind down.
Activated overwhelming power.
With every strike, the cavern trembled slightly.
He pushed human thought aside and focused on a single objective:
Excavation.
His body moved faster…
with overwhelming strength.
Like a machine programmed to perform one task,
without questioning…
without hesitation.
This state was called:
Absolute Stability.
His emotions were shut down.
His thoughts dissolved along with the sweat dripping from his body.
Only the objective remained…
and the strikes.
The team began abandoning their own work and collecting the stones Arthur broke,
after seeing Sung do the same.
Then…
the sound of striking stopped.
Sung raised his head,
and saw Arthur lying on the ground.
"Damn… did he pass out?"
He rushed toward him and turned his body over…
then smiled foolishly.
Arthur…
was simply asleep.
---
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