Jin-Woo realized he needed just one more item to complete the Elixir of Life. However, retrieving it required far more strength, meaning he had to power up before returning to that demonic castle. The problem? He was still classified as a Rank E and couldn’t join high-level raids. Deciding it was time to stop pretending to be weak, he headed to the assessment center to get his rank reassessed.
A scout from the White Tiger Guild was on the lookout for new talent, but all he saw were weaklings—until Jin-Woo walked in. The moment he saw him, he froze and immediately called the Guild Master. Even Baek Yoon-Ho was surprised when he heard that Jin-Woo had come for a reassessment.
While waiting in line, a nervous newbie was sweating bullets, terrified of getting a low rank and struggling to pay his bills. Another guy tried to reassure him, saying, “Relax, bro. If you at least hit Rank D, the smaller guild scouts will be all over you.” Finally, it was Jin-Woo’s turn.
Inside, he handed over his information—ID, documents, everything. The lady at the desk chuckled. “Another frustrated Rank E who can’t accept he’s a loser, huh?” she joked. She told him to place his hand on the black crystal, but when he did, the machine threw an error. Thinking it was a glitch, she reset it and tried again—another error. Now starting to panic, she called her boss. He personally ran the assessment, only for the machine to fail a third time. That’s when he started trembling. It wasn’t the machine malfunctioning—it was Jin-Woo. His power levels were off the charts. The boss whispered in shock, “This kid is one of the top 10 in the country… he’s a Rank S.”
Meanwhile, in a nearby park, Woo Jin-Chul was chatting with a red-haired nerd about the mysterious hunter who had helped at the Red Gate. Jin-Chul swore it wasn’t Hwang Dong-Su, even though some people thought it was. Curious as ever, the red-haired guy asked, “Then who was it?” Jin-Chul admitted he didn’t stay till the end, so he wasn’t sure, but he had his suspicions about Jin-Woo. However, he kept quiet until he had solid proof.
Just then, they noticed a commotion at the assessment building—it sounded like a hunter was throwing a tantrum over their rank. Jin-Chul decided to check it out, and the redhead tagged along, saying he was curious too.
Back at the assessment center, the boss had no choice but to postpone Jin-Woo’s assessment—his power was too much for their detector to handle. The entire place was in chaos because a delay like that practically screamed “Rank S.” No one had ever seen someone break the detector before. Scouts from smaller guilds were already drooling at the thought of recruiting him. But their excitement was cut short when someone unexpected arrived—the leader of the Hunters Guild, the biggest guild in South Korea.
Whispers filled the room. “Why is the Supreme Soldier himself here?”
Jin-Woo immediately recognized him—Go Gun-Hee. His fire magic was so powerful he could incinerate the entire building in seconds. With a piercing gaze, Go Gun-Hee confidently declared, “No need for any fancy detectors or a three-day wait. Without a doubt, this kid is a Rank S.”
With a polite smile, Go Gun-Hee introduced himself as the leader of the country’s biggest guild and personally invited Jin-Woo to join his squad. But Jin-Woo? He just walked right past him, saying he was busy. The entire room—including “Four Eyes”—stood there in stunned silence. Who in their right mind would reject one of the strongest guild leaders in the country like that?
Go Gun-Hee turned to his slick-haired assistant. “Did I forget to introduce myself properly?” But before they could react, Jin-Woo had already vanished into thin air without a sound. Gun-Hee smirked. “He’d make a damn good assassin.”
Things got even crazier when Baek Yoon-Ho, completely out of breath, stormed in. Gun-Hee, noticing how far the White Tiger Guild headquarters was, smirked. “Did you morph into a tiger to get here that fast?”
Still, Baek was late to the party. Gun-Hee assumed he already knew everything, and this confirmed his suspicion—Jin-Woo was the mystery hunter who had saved the White Tiger Guild during the Red Gate incident. Baek was equally shocked to see Gun-Hee there and grumbled, “Of all people to compete for the kid, it had to be that fiery-haired bastard.”
Meanwhile, in the background, some chubby dude was celebrating his Rank C achievement.
Later that night, Jin-Woo visited his mother in the hospital, silently hoping for a miracle to wake her from her coma. He whispered, “Just hang on a little longer, Mom. I’ll find a way to save you.”
Out of nowhere, Woo Jin-Chul appeared. “Were you the one who defeated those monsters in the double dungeon that day?” he asked.
Jin-Chul admitted that Jin-Woo had taught him not to always trust his gut instincts. Jin-Woo casually replied, “We meet again.”
Jin-Chul then started rambling about a bunch of things Jin-Woo barely listened to—until something caught his attention.
When Woo Jin-Chul mentioned that the president of the Hunters Association was here to see him, Jin-Woo turned, and stepping out of the shadows came none other than—Vice Admiral Garp? Well, his long-lost twin, at least. Seriously, if this guy isn’t Garp’s twin, I’ll eat my hat.
The old man introduced himself as Go Gun-Hee and invited Jin-Woo for a chat. He congratulated him on becoming a Rank S Hunter and told him there was no need to wait for reassessment—everyone already knew the result. Gun-Hee admitted that the Hunters Association didn’t have the fame or fat paychecks of the big guilds. He explained that their top guy, Director Woo, was only a Rank A Hunter. Still, he told Jin-Woo that it would be incredible if he joined the association and even promised him a prestigious position.
Jin-Woo was confused, so the old man broke it down. The five biggest guilds were constantly competing, and if Jin-Woo joined one of them, it would tip the balance of power. That’s why he was inviting him to the association—a neutral sixth power that helped keep things in check. Jin-Woo thought it was a solid offer. It sounded like job security, plus he’d be working under Korea’s first-ever Rank S Hunter—a total legend who didn’t even look like he was pushing 80. But despite the tempting offer, Jin-Woo still turned him down.
Gun-Hee figured Jin-Woo was just after the big bucks, but he was caught off guard when Jin-Woo said, “I want to fight. My place is in the dungeon.” His resolve was so strong that it left the old man moved. Jin-Woo excused himself, saying his little sister was waiting for him at home. Gun-Hee sighed, canceled all his plans, and turned to Director Woo. “Let’s hit the bar.”
On his way out, Jin-Woo muttered that he didn’t accept the offer because the association mostly handled Rank D and E gates. He needed to get stronger fast—his mom was waiting, and there was no time to waste.
The next day, Hwang Dong-Su woke up in the hospital, completely wrecked. The deputy guild master asked him if Il-Hwan was really a magic beast disguised as a human. Dong-Su scoffed. “Does that freak look human to you?”
The deputy mentioned that HQ was tracking Il-Hwan, but he doubted they could catch someone even America’s strongest hunter couldn’t handle. Dong-Su vividly remembered the guy stepping on him and warning, Stay away from my family, or you’ll wish for death a thousand times over. Fueled by rage, Dong-Su was already plotting his revenge.
Meanwhile, Jin-Woo was browsing for artifacts to boost his power but quickly realized they were so expensive that he’d have to sell both kidneys just to afford half of one. He considered selling the Orb of Greed he had picked up but worried about explaining how a supposed Rank E hunter had something that could only come from high-level gates. Then, he saw a job ad hiring for a mining team and thought, Well, maybe this could work.
Over at the association building, Go Gun-Hee was digging into more info about the kid. He found out that just four months ago, Jin-Woo looked like a total rookie. The guy was impressed that Jin-Woo had survived so long before awakening, considering he used to get clapped by even the weakest goblins.
Jin-Chul mentioned that Jin-Woo had been paying for his mom’s Eternal Sleep treatment and his sister’s college tuition. One record even showed Jin-Woo had joined a raid team from the Hunters Guild. Gun-Hee assumed Jin-Woo was just after money, as expected, but he was surprised to see that Jin-Woo had joined the mining team instead of the attack team—where the real cash was.
And there he was, looking like a construction worker, ready to get his hands dirty.
First, the attack team went in, led by “Four Eyes.” The guy launched a fireball that fried an entire group of Chupacabras in seconds. He was so overpowered that a squad of tanks had to block his own attack. After clearing everything except the boss, the attack team called it a day. Jin-Woo could tell right away—this Choi guy was a beast. He made sure to suppress his presence so he wouldn’t get noticed.
Right behind Four Eyes was the vice master of the Hunters Guild—Cha Hae-In, aka The Ballerina. Jin-Woo was amazed by her aura, but she wasn’t far behind either. Noticing a strong presence, she thought it could only belong to President Go. Jin-Woo had to max out his stealth mode to avoid being detected by her superhuman sense of smell.
That’s when the mining crew rolled in. They worked hard to gather all the crystals and monster carcasses, but Jin-Woo? He only had eyes for the dungeon boss. The boss radiated power even greater than Vulcan or Metus from the Demonic Castle. Jin-Woo couldn’t wait to go one-on-one with this Rank A beast.
Out of nowhere, he overheard the crew gossiping about how they brought a Rank E to work. Meanwhile, some wannabe tough guy bumped into him, trying to flex, but one icy glare from Jin-Woo nearly made the dude wet himself. Everyone started questioning if this guy was really a Rank E—he looked way too strong for that.
When it was time for a break, the whole crew rushed off to eat. But not Jin-Woo. He kept mining, saying, “I’m almost done.”
Once he was finally alone, Jin Wu bolted straight into the dungeon at full speed. He figured he had an hour-long break—plenty of time to sneak a peek at the boss. Jin Wu knew he couldn’t kill the monster because that would close the portal and cost the Hunter’s Guild a fortune, but he just couldn’t resist the temptation. He had already summoned his dagger when Cha caught him red-handed.
She raised an eyebrow. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Jin Wu was so surprised he couldn’t even respond. Then, he went full improv mode and said he got lost and ended up there by accident. Smooth. Real smooth.
Cha folded her arms. “Back off. This is the boss’s room.”
Jin Wu realized she was seriously strong if she managed to catch him off guard like that. But she was also looking at him like he was insane—because she could have sworn she saw a weapon in his hand just moments ago. As Jin Wu walked past her to leave, she suddenly stiffened.
“Wait.”
Before he knew it, she was sniffing him. Yep. Like a bloodhound.
Jin Wu blinked. “Uh… what?”
Cha frowned. “You don’t stink.”
Jin Wu had no idea how to respond to that. Apparently, she was used to most hunters smelling like an ‘Ode to Dumpster,’ and since he didn’t reek, she was on high alert. She was even ready to pounce on him until she checked his badge.
“Rank E?” she muttered.
Now she was really confused. Did he smell good just because he was low rank? Some real Narnia logic going on here.
Back with the mining crew, someone whistled. “Damn, dude, you got lucky! Running into Miss Cha while she was on patrol.”
Jin Wu scratched his head. “She was on patrol?” He thought she had been tailing him all along.
One geeky dude piped up, “Nah, she can literally smell certain stinks on hunters.”
That’s when Jin Wu remembered—Cha always carried a tissue near her nose. Apparently, it wasn’t just for allergies; she just couldn’t stand being near sweaty hunters who smelled like onions.
Later, when Jin Wu went to collect his mission payout, everyone was drooling over him because, thanks to him, they wrapped up two hours early—like a human excavator. The boss was so impressed he even offered Jin Wu a full-time position, promising to “take real good care of him.”
Jin Wu smiled. “Thanks, but I’ve got other gigs lined up.”
The boss wasn’t done yet. “Then how about tomorrow’s raid? You in?”
Jin Wu’s eyes widened. “Wait. Another Rank A raid? Already?”
Apparently, this Guild was built different. They were one of the only groups in Korea that could split their forces and run multiple high-level raids at once. Jin Wu even asked what time he should show up, and the boss got so hyped he doubled his pay on the spot. Not bad for a guy working for five bucks an hour.
That night, Cha called the Guild. “Hey, I need some info on a guy named Sung Jin Wu. He was on the mining crew.”
She told them he might’ve gone off the rails since he claimed he got ‘lost’ earlier. She suspected he could be a spy from another Guild. But let’s be real—she was just looking for an excuse to stalk our hero.
Then came the shocker.
“Oh, Master Choi ordered research on that guy too,” the Guild said. “But the Association locked down his files.”
Cha nearly dropped the phone. “Wait, what? They locked his files? For a Rank E?”
Yeah, that was definitely suspicious. She was about to ask more questions, but the boss just chuckled and hung up on her. Now she was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering why Jin Wu was the first hunter she’d met who actually smelled… good.
And here’s the secret, buddy—he uses Lightning McQueen’s cologne.
Meanwhile, back at the mining crew, Jin Wu suddenly remembered his first-ever raid party. The others were calling him to lunch, treating him like a hero. But out of nowhere, a knight from the attack squad showed up.
“Hey, we need a replacement. Our shield-bearer bailed,” he said.
The miners exchanged nervous glances. “Uh… we’re kinda drowning in work here.”
“We’ll pay extra.”
Too bad that still wasn’t enough for them to risk their necks. They weren’t about to put their lives on the line for pocket change.
That’s when Jin Wu did the unthinkable.
“I’ll go.”
The entire mining crew froze. An E-Rank tagging along with an A-Rank raid team? That was straight-up insanity.
One guy panicked. “Dude, you’re way too young to become monster chow!”
But Jin Wu figured he could learn a lot just by watching. The squad leader, Sun Keiun, introduced himself—only to stare in disbelief when he saw Jin Wu casually carrying a 300 kg backpack like it was a school bag.
The portal ahead was even bigger than yesterday’s, but the team assured him it wasn’t dangerous.
“Relax,” they said. “If it were actually life-threatening, they wouldn’t have sent the backup squad.”
Yeah… just like that one time with the double dungeon, where almost everyone got a one-way ticket to the afterlife.
Even though this was just the reserve team, they were still stacked—11 A-Rank hunters and six B-Ranks.
Finally, it was time to go in.
But for some reason, Jin Wu was getting that same weird gut feeling he had before stepping into the Red Gate.
And that? That was never a good sign.
Inside the dungeon, a beautiful mage reassured Jin Wu not to be scared. “We’ve got your back,” she said, especially emphasizing herself since she was an A-rank healer. “If you get hurt, I’ll patch you up in no time!”
She even started reciting an old saying: “If the mage gets hit, it’s the tank’s fault. If the healer gets hit, it’s the attack squad’s fault. But if the shield-bearer gets hit… everybody screwed up.” Basically, Jin Wu was only in danger if the whole squad got wiped out. Comforting.
Meanwhile, Heun was hyped. This was his first time leading Group B, and if he pulled this off, he might get promoted to full-time leader. But before he could bask in his imaginary promotion, a noise echoed through the dungeon. The entire team snapped into formation like a well-oiled machine. Jin Wu was impressed—nobody even needed to be told what to do. This was the power of an A-rank squad.
Then a pack of coyotes showed up. The squad wasted no time slicing them to pieces. Honestly, if they had struggled with this, it would have been embarrassing. Jin Wu soloed 300 of these things back in episode 2 while still being a total weakling.
The mage called out, “Duck!” before lighting up the entire area, vaporizing the enemies in a flash. But something was off. Coyotes? In an A-rank dungeon? That didn’t make sense. They were only C-rank monsters—way too weak to be here.
That’s when Jin Wu noticed something strange. These weren’t just wild mutts—they had collar marks on their necks. Someone had domesticated them. And that’s when the real demons of the dungeon crashed the party. A whole squad of high orcs appeared, and the team immediately started sweating bullets. One of them chucked a spear at light speed, nearly shattering the leader’s shield.
The orcs rushed in, and the red knight tried to block them. They used him as a stepping stone and went straight for the mages. One of them caught a fireball right in the face—didn’t even flinch. Turns out, their magic resistance was built different.
The catgirl managed to hold one down with magic whips, but the guy was a tank. “Five seconds max!” she yelled.
“That’s all I need!” the mage replied, summoning two massive fire soldiers. Problem? He used up all his mana. Now he was just a sitting duck.
The martial artist chick went for a fancy Karate Kid move, but the orc hit her with a full-body tackle, sending her flying into a wall.
Things got worse. More orcs started surrounding them. Keiun ordered the team to split into three groups. Even though this was an A-rank dungeon, nobody expected 20 high orcs to spawn out of nowhere. That was not what the portal scanner showed.
And it didn’t take long for the first unlucky soul to lose an arm.
The mage chick tried to trap the orc, while the healer flexed her OP skills and straight-up regrew the guy’s arm like it was no big deal. But the orc snapped the bindings like they were paper and teleported behind her, about to send her straight to the respawn screen.
Meanwhile, Mr. Backpack himself—Jin Wu—had mysteriously vanished.
Suddenly, an orc started choking in midair. Turns out, Jin Wu was in stealth mode, going full ninja, slicing up the beast from the inside out. The healer had zero clue what just happened. Another orc randomly lost his footing because a deep cut appeared on his ankle—right before Keiun split him in half.
The squad was confused. Why was this fight suddenly easy? Then they realized Jin Wu was secretly weakening the orcs one by one without anyone noticing. A few of them started sensing his presence, so he just yeeted them off the map before they could start swinging at the air like crazy people.
The martial artist chick took the opportunity to body an orc with some premium-grade hands while the leader carved through their boss like he was slicing butter. The dude hit the ground hard.
After the battle, the healer reported something weird—one of the high orcs randomly started choking out of nowhere. Keiun thought it was the mage’s doing, but she denied it. “No way my spells could pull off something that wild.”
Then she figured it out. If someone could do that, it would have to be someone outside the squad. She was the only one who realized Jin Wu had been using stealth mode the whole time to assassinate the monsters. But since he clearly had his reasons for hiding his real power, she decided to let it slide.
After catching their breath, the squad debated whether to retreat. They barely survived fighting these high orcs—who knows what else was lurking ahead? But Keiun really wanted to finish the dungeon so he could get promoted.
Jin Wu could tell the guy was dead set on completing the raid, but since he genuinely cared about his team’s safety, he decided to pull back.
The squad was sweating, thinking he was about to say, “Nah, let’s keep going.”
Only one slight issue—when they tried heading back, a cursed barrier suddenly materialized, blocking their way.
“Yo, you got a spell for this?” they turned to the mage chick.
“I can,” she said, “but I need time.”
The real issue? Some ridiculously strong monster had to be the one who cast this spell. Yeah, retreating was definitely the right move. Pushing forward would’ve been a one-way ticket to getting wiped out.
But when she tried to break the barrier, she immediately started coughing up strawberry jam. The other mages looked like they were about to pass out.
Then they looked back.
Sixty. High. Orcs.
They were standing there, ready to breathe down their necks like some creeps in a dark alley. If the squad barely survived 20, imagine three times that.
The squad leaders locked eyes. The biggest orc stepped forward, yelling straight into Keiun’s face with breath so bad it could melt steel beams. Dude was talking in monster gibberish, and obviously, no one understood a thing.
Until—plot twist—the boss orc suddenly switched to human language.
Keiun asked if he was the one who put up the magic barrier. The guy straight-up flexed. “Damn right I did. I’m none other than the Great and Powerful Orc Shaman. And your weak little human spells ain’t got nothing on mine, so don’t even bother.”
The shaman gave them two options—get obliterated now or follow him.
Since they weren’t complete idiots, they obviously picked option two.
Keiun whispered to the squad, “We’ll pull a surprise attack on the boss as soon as we get close enough. Even if we can’t take him down, it should be enough to break the barrier.”
Then he turned to Jin Wu. “The second the barrier drops, run for your life and get the real strike team over here.”
Jin Wu, being Jin Wu, was like, “Yeah, and by the time they get here, you guys will already be mashed potatoes.”
Keiun just hit him with that professional soldier mindset. “Our job is to close the portal, not survive. That’s why we get paid the big bucks.”
The healer pulled Jin Wu aside, asking him to deliver a message to her family if he made it out alive. “This isn’t your fight. No reason for you to risk your life.”
Jin Wu took the letter and smiled. “I’ll hold on to this… but I won’t be needing to deliver it.”
Meanwhile, outside, Cha was pacing around, wondering if Jin Wu was finally done playing Minecraft in the mining crew.
Inside the dungeon, the squad reached the boss room. And oh boy, it was straight-up chaos.
Hundreds of high orcs. Warrior-type monsters who looked like they just walked out of God of War. And at the center of it all—the boss.
An absolute demon of a monster stared them down like fresh meat and greeted them:
“Welcome, humans. I’ve been expecting you.”
Bro. I felt that.
This dude was, without a doubt, the strongest boss yet.
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