A Public Servant Hunter Who Exploits Skill Combinations – Chapter 23
Translated by: Hanzo
Chapter 23: MT (4)
The ant yokai had the face of an ant and the body of a human.
Its wings fluttered briefly, and before I knew it, it was right in front of me.
‘Oh? Pretty fast.’
Its shoulders moved, and the creature's sharp hands—or rather, its scythe-shaped arms—sliced toward my chest.
‘I can see it.’
That meant I could dodge it.
No, perhaps... my counterattack might be even faster.
I swiftly drew my sword and blocked the creature's strike.
A screech rang out, like iron colliding against iron, and vibrations traveled down to my fingertips.
‘Not being pushed back...?’
<What are you doing, human? Use some strength already.>
This ant yokai had all the physical traits of a real ant, meaning it possessed the ability to exert strength several times greater than its body size.
Even if this creature was classified as B-rank, in terms of raw strength, it was probably close to A-rank.
Just like me—strong in attack power but lacking in other areas.
‘If that’s the case, how about elemental skills?’
Since I had to clash blades with it anyway, I decided to imbue my sword with elemental power.
As our weapons—my sword and its scythe-like arm—locked together in a contest of strength, flames suddenly ignited from my blade.
For a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of panic in the ant monster’s eyes.
I couldn’t read the expression on its ant-like face, but it was definitely flustered.
No matter how sharp or durable its scythe-like arms were, they were still a part of its body.
And when that heat transmitted to its skin, it had no choice but to react.
Insects, after all, are weak against heat.
As the creature momentarily withdrew, creating a brief gap as its scythe-arm disengaged from my sword, I seized the opening and swung my blade.
Slash.
The ant monster fluttered its wings and took a step back almost instantly.
‘It seems those wings serve a similar function to my Wind Sprint skill.’
At this point, we both understood something.
This was a fight where one wrong move could be the end.
But I’d been in this line of work far too long to lose to something like this.
‘There’s no way I’m going to lose to this thing.’
Using Wind Sprint, I immediately closed the distance and unleashed a Flame Slash.
The ant yokai moved to flutter its wings again, but just then, the worm coiled around my left wrist like a bracelet poked its head out.
With a loud buurrrp, it belched.
And at the same time—
Fwoooooosh!
A tremendous burst of flames spewed from the worm’s mouth, engulfing the ant yokai's wings and burning them to ash.
<Ah, my bad. I overate a bit.>
“Thanks...”
The unexpected flames from my left arm caused the ant monster, now wingless, to contort its expression in a peculiar way.
It was clearly more flustered than before.
I was a bit stunned myself.
‘I didn’t see that coming.’
Was that a burp or a flamethrower?
Now that its speed advantage was gone, I was clearly faster.
And that meant...
There was no longer any reason to hesitate.
Taking advantage of its confusion, I surged forward. My blade transformed from flames to lightning, crackling as it shot toward the monster.
Crackle! Zzzzt!
I poured as much mana into my sword as I could, causing the lightning to extend slightly beyond the blade’s usual length.
The ant monster must have thought it had dodged, but it hadn’t accounted for the extended reach of the lightning.
Its chest was slashed open, and fluid spattered everywhere.
Paralyzed by the sudden jolt of electricity, the ant monster froze for an instant.
Not missing the opportunity, I pulled back my blade and swung it toward its neck.
Thunk.
The ant yokai’s head fell to the ground.
Though its face resembled that of an ant, the expression seemed undeniably bitter, as if it couldn’t accept its fate.
The worm slipped off my arm and harvested the mana stone from the monster’s body.
<Jackpot.>
Crunch.
As it chewed the mana stone, the worm’s eyes glowed an eerie blue.
“Why are your eyes suddenly glowing like that?”
<I’ve eaten so many mana stones today that my body’s starting to grow. I think it’s time for me to molt.>
“Molt?”
<Yeah, shed my skin.>
“Does that mean you’ll grow bigger right away?”
<It’s not like I’ll grow huge immediately just because I ate this much.>
“So you’ll grow gradually.”
Inside the ant yokai’s body, I found a new skill card.
It was a skill that briefly hardened the body for defense.
“Wow... A B-rank skill card? This is a huge win.”
After washing off the monster’s fluids at the beach, I returned to the base camp.
Some people were already asleep, while others gathered in small groups, chatting.
“Why are you so late?”
When I turned my head, I saw Seo Ye-rin.
“I ran into some ants while I was out taking care of something.”
“Is that so?”
Judging by her expression, she didn’t seem particularly suspicious.
“Do you think there’s really a queen ant below us?”
“Why? Are you worried?”
“No, if there isn’t one, we can just break through head-on. It doesn’t really matter.”
“Then why ask?”
“I don’t want to lose to Team B.”
There wasn’t even a prize at stake, nor did this MT (membership training) affect our grades.
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. That’s just life.”
“But I can’t afford to lose.”
I turned my gaze toward Seo Ye-rin.
She looked at me quietly for a moment before speaking.
“I made a restroom.”
“Huh... What?”
What was she suddenly talking about?
“I want to get stronger. Teach me.”
“...What?”
I picked up a bottle of water from nearby.
“Teach me how to become a strong hunter.”
“Pfft... Wait, don’t tell me you made the restroom because of that?”
“N-no! We needed one anyway...”
For now, I was ahead of her... but it wouldn’t last long.
In less than ten years, she’d become an S-rank hunter.
What exactly should I even say to her?
“You seem close to Ma Tae-ho. Why not learn from him?”
“You’re stronger than him.”
“...”
Of course, I wouldn’t become an S-rank. At best, I’d stay stuck at C-rank.
What could someone like me possibly teach an S-rank hunter?
The worm stirred and observed Seo Ye-rin.
Seo Ye-rin, finding it cute, gently stroked the worm.
<Oh, this one manages mana quite well.>
‘Weren’t you sleepy?’
<It got noisy, so I woke up.>
‘By the way, what exactly are mana channels?’
<Mana channels refer to the pathways through which mana flows within the body.>
‘Oh, so that’s what it’s called?’
<Exactly.>
‘Then what does it mean for them to be twisted?’
<Your mana channels are twisted, so mana can’t flow smoothly.>
‘Why is it twisted?’
<I don’t know that either.>
‘What happens when it’s twisted?’
<The pathways can’t expand properly.>
‘What do you mean by 'can't expand properly'?’
<You blockhead... What do you even know about mana?>
‘...’
“Why aren’t you answering?”
“Oh, I was just... thinking for a moment.”
“How far have you refined your mana? Recently, I felt it flowing, but it felt like I reached a wall—like I couldn’t take in any more. What about you? Did you feel it as well? Can it be expanded or anything like that?”
“Huh?”
What’s all this now...?
<She’s better than you.>
Ah.
Seo Ye-rin is someone who will become an S-rank in the future. It makes sense that she’d figure out these things on her own, even without being taught.
Meanwhile, I’m stuck with a C-rank ceiling. I didn’t even know about the concept of mana pathways, let alone how to widen them.
The reason I couldn’t understand the worm’s explanation was simple—it was about a realm I hadn’t achieved and likely never would.
‘So, how do you widen the pathways?’
<What kind of question is that? You have to spread the mana widely and gradually move it around.>
‘That easy?’
<You think that’s easy?>
‘Isn’t it?’
<You need a complete understanding of mana flow to control its size. Only then can you expand your mana and gradually push it through narrow pathways. But the pain that comes with it makes it nearly impossible to attempt casually.>
‘I don’t get it.’
Since I couldn’t make sense of what the worm was saying, I explained the knowledge I had from the future to Seo Ye-rin instead.
“First, you need to fully understand the flow of mana. Every bit of it inside your body. Then you need to concentrate it.”
“Understand the flow and concentrate it...?”
“Or compress it, if that makes more sense. Think of it like increasing density. By condensing the mana flowing through your body, you reduce its volume and increase its density. Then...”
“Then you’d have extra space to accumulate more mana!?”
She figured it out without me needing to spell it out.
“That’s right.”
After pondering for a moment, she looked at me and broke into a radiant smile.
“Thanks. Even Ma Tae-ho was stuck on this and didn’t know what to do, but you knew all along.”
“...”
“I’ll make sure to repay you someday.”
As I watched her walk away, I wore a bittersweet expression and called out to the worm.
‘Worm.’
<What is it?>
‘I know how to spread mana throughout my body, control it, condense it, and rotate it. Then, when it’s concentrated, I use it. That’s what’s called S-rank, isn’t it?’
<Tsk tsk. You skipped a step.>
‘Skipped a step?’
<Let me put it simply: think of mana as something you store in a container. Right now, your container is no bigger than a soy sauce dish. No matter how much you condense and rotate it, how powerful could it possibly get?>
‘So just condensing mana alone doesn’t make it significantly stronger?’
<Condensation is good—it does make it stronger. But if your container were bigger, you could condense more mana, right?>
‘That makes sense... Then what else...?’
<That’s why you need to fix your twisted mana pathways, expand them, and then condense and concentrate your mana. Only then can you truly harness the full power of mana.>
This idea of widening mana pathways was something I was hearing for the first time from the worm.
This meant that the method I had known was missing an entire step.
It wasn’t just my personal problem—this was true for all hunters.
The theory was out there, but without breaking past that wall, no one could achieve the highest level.
To put it simply:
Sensing mana = F-rank.
Understanding mana flow = D-rank.
Controlling mana flow = C-rank.
Spreading mana throughout the body to enhance physical abilities, senses, and special skills = B-rank.
Using mana with greater precision and speed = A-rank.
This was the current system.
Since it had only been ten years since gates first appeared, the structure of mana refinement was still underdeveloped.
But in the future, the B-rank of today would be classified as D-rank.
Today’s F and D ranks would be considered F-rank in the future.
Today’s C and B ranks would be future D-rank.
And today’s A-rank would be future C-rank.
After that comes the stage of condensing and rotating mana, where the amplification of skill cards becomes more potent.
This stage would be future B-rank.
Then comes the step of concentrating and increasing mana, classified as future A-rank.
And finally, the stage where hunters not only use their own internal mana but also draw from the mana in the atmosphere—that’s S-rank.
This was the system I knew from the future and its basic explanation.
But there had been no concept of widening mana pathways.
In fact, the very term “mana pathways” didn’t exist back then.
People only vaguely understood that mana flowed through some kind of channel.
If I combined the worm’s theories with the ones I knew...
It might even be possible to create a rank stronger than S-rank.
Is such a rank even possible?
‘But even if the container gets bigger, wouldn’t it be meaningless if we’re just using atmospheric mana anyway?’
<Atmospheric mana is borrowed and funneled through your body’s mana pathways before being used.>
‘So... if my mana pathways are narrow, no matter how much atmospheric mana is available, the amount entering my body would still be limited?’
<You’re not a complete idiot, after all.>
‘...’
Could there really be a rank beyond S-rank?
‘One last question.’
<What is it?>
‘How do I fix my twisted mana pathways?’
<I don’t know.>
‘...’
<But I don’t entirely not know.>
‘Then?’
***
The next day.
At dawn, the group began digging into the ground.
“Tae-sung, how much farther do we need to dig?”
“Hmm. We should hit it today.”
“Really?”
Encouraged by my words, Jun-hyuk started digging even more fervently.
All the food he had been eating seemed to pay off—he was quite adept at shoveling.
“When we get close to the queen ant’s chamber, you’ll feel a suspicious energy.”
And sure enough, by midday, we found the queen ant.
The queen ant was in a deep slumber, and together, we were able to finish it off in one strike.
Seo Ye-rin spoke up.
“Tae-sung, you take the mana stone.”
“Alright. Since you basically made this a breeze for us, we’ll have the rest of the time to relax, right?”
What should have taken about a week was completed in just a day and a half.
This became the fastest mission completion in the academy’s history.
The headmaster was grinning ear to ear.
And for some reason, they handed out skill cards to every member of Team A.
How much are all those worth!? Shouldn’t I get them all for myself!?
Still, I wasn’t too upset.
After all, I had received a more special gift.
With the MT over, a peaceful stretch of time lay ahead.
‘I guess I won’t have much to do until midterms.’
<What do you mean you have nothing to do!?>
‘What is there to do?’
<My molting day is approaching.>
‘Isn’t molting just like a snake shedding its skin?’
<You think molting is that simple? Do you think a thousand-year-old Imugi’s shedding happens easily?>
‘Then...?’
<Water... I need water.>
‘Water? What for? Are you planning some kind of purification ritual?’
<You fool. The heat generated during molting will melt everything around me.>
From the way the worm said it, it didn’t seem to be joking.
‘What? That’s insane... Wait, hold on. Then, if I just turn on the water in the restroom sink...’
<Do you think I’m some ordinary worm?>
‘Then?’
<I need a lake or a river. The ocean works too.>
‘The ocean, huh... It’s been a while since I’ve been to the beach.’
Luckily, it was the weekend—a day when I could go out without any issues.
I pulled out my phone and opened an app.
Let’s see... Who should I invite?
Ah, this person will do.
[Wanna go to the beach...]
Sent.
....
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