MLCAI 07

Chapter 7

“It’s not my magic I should worry about… haah, I need to rebuild my muscles first…!”

Having awakened to S-rank, her body was incomparable to that of an ordinary person.

Yet, even so, there was a difference between a body honed for nearly ten years just to survive and a freshly awakened one.

“Phew…”

Saebyeok, having reached her destination, took a moment to catch her breath. She sipped some water she had stored in her inventory and scrolled through online communities.

“As expected, no one seems to know anything about regression abilities.”

Since last night, Saebyeok had been trying to activate <Time of Suho (EX)> once more, planning to rewind time by a few hours to find Kang Suho.

But no matter how hard she tried, <Time of Suho (EX)> would not activate. The only message that appeared was “Conditions not met.”

She didn’t even know how she had met the conditions the first time, so there wasn’t much she could deduce.

Desperate, she posted a question on the Awakened community.

She didn’t mention the EX rank or the skill name, focusing solely on the concept of a “regression ability.”

But all she got were nonsense and false answers—nothing useful.

“Of course. Even EX-rank powers can’t rewind time at random.”

It seemed best to assume it couldn’t be used twice.

“Anyway…”

Saebyeok put her phone away and looked at the gate in front of her.

In the middle of Gwanaksan Mountain.

Far from any hiking trail, this lone, open gate was her destination today.

She remembered it suddenly when she heard that <Anka Key (A)> could be copied into adamantium.

Gwanaksan wasn’t a “territory” assigned to any guild, and the association’s maintenance lines weren’t even set up around the gate, meaning no one had claimed it—it was an abandoned gate.

So…

“Hehe, first come, first served.”

“Uh…? Uwaah?!?”

“What’s wrong?”

Kim I-han, the deputy guild master of the Glory Guild climbing Gwanaksan, looked back at his assistant, who was suddenly clutching his head.

“The golden light is disappearing fast! Why… why is this happening?!”

Though his combat ability was terrible, Jin Sung-cheol, the assistant with the title <All or Nothing>, could sniff out the smell of luck and money perfectly.

A few days ago, he had claimed to have sensed the “smell of money” and suggested they come here.

“C-crazy…!”

Suddenly, the smell of money was vanishing rapidly.

And that wasn’t the worst part.

Soon, with a face as pale as a blank sheet of paper, he shouted:

“Wh-what… what is this?! What’s this overwhelmingly massive silver light?!”

The money scent had turned into a terrifying smell of luck.

“What kind of light is big enough to cover all of Gwanaksan?!”

And it was the kind of luck that made your whole body tremble.

Kim I-han’s eyes gleamed with interest.

“Wow, this is a goldmine. Did the Glory Guild enjoy all this alone in their past life? <Blow>!”

Saebyeok laughed gleefully as she unleashed a Wind Blade Tornado at the small rock monsters running toward her.

Before regression, her tornado had swallowed entire villages, but now it had shrunk to human size—yet it was still sufficient.

<Dungeon Info>

• Server: Golma Mine (8H-MW)

• Dungeon Grade: B

• Mission: Hunt all monsters inside the dungeon.

• Progress: Mini Golem 46/80, Mini Golem Boss 0/1

• Time until Break: 23 days 19 hours 3 minutes

The monster kill count rose quickly.

“And…”

Whoosh!

As she reached out toward the area cleared by <Blow>, the mana stones piled at her feet were absorbed directly into her inventory.

“Ah, this is electrifying.”

She shivered, feeling goosebumps all over.

She had thought she had to physically place objects on the grid window to select items, but now she realized she could move things in and out of her inventory just by thinking about it.

“Not having to shout skill names is seriously amazing.”

Most combat skills required speaking the skill name, according to research by the World Hunter Association.

Technically, all active skills could be used with just thought and willpower. But during chaotic combat, focusing on thinking a single skill name wasn’t easy.

You had to attack, move, predict your opponent, and defend simultaneously, so just shouting the skill name was more accurate and efficient.

Saebyeok, used to combat skills, almost always had to speak the skill name.

She had worked hard to fight using only her mind, but even ten years of training hadn’t made it easy.

Quiet situations or demonstrations were fine, but battlefields were always chaotic—focusing on a single skill could break your concentration.

“Anyway, having a high-rank skill that’s inconvenient in some ways but also fun is great.”

She hummed happily at having a non-combat skill that didn’t require speaking the name.

Though inconvenient at first, the freedom it offered made it all worthwhile.

“Honestly, I couldn’t have come here without this skill.”

She continued hunting, thinking back.

This gate, owned by the Glory Guild in the past, was called a “goldmine” gate.

The reason was simple.

It was a mana stone mine!

Outside, the gate’s grade measured as B.

Unlike other B-grade dungeons with C-grade monsters and B-grade bosses, this dungeon contained E-grade monsters.

So why B-grade? Because of the massive mana stones buried inside.

The grade of a gate is determined by the amount of mana it emits. Usually, the primary source of mana comes from monsters, but some exceptions exist—this was one of them.

“Is that all of it?”

Once the mana stones were gone, the boss monster came running, thumping the ground. Even the boss was only D-grade in this trivial dungeon.

Saebyeok swung a branch at the cute mini golem. A sharply pointed, extremely weak “spear.”

<Sprout>

<Skill: Sprout (A→C)>
The dawn sun awakens nature. Hardy wildflowers pierce cold concrete, and drifting pollen covers barren lands.

Roots sprouted from the ground, binding the mini golem’s movements.

No other skill was needed. Pouring a large amount of mana into the stems made them hard enough to crack the golem’s surface.

!! Notification !!
All monsters in the dungeon have been hunted.
Mission complete.
Reward granted: 1 kg Adamantium, <Stone Hammer (D)>

“Okay, got the adamantium.”

Saebyeok put the two rewards dropped by the boss into her inventory.

!! Warning !!
The dungeon will close as the gate is cleared.
Time until forced closure: 59 minutes 58 seconds

Stretching as she read the familiar warning to exit within an hour, she smiled.

“If I sell all this, maybe 4 billion won?”

She looked at her neatly filled inventory of mana stones with satisfaction. Three hours of effort, 4 billion earned. Could any dungeon be more cost-effective?

“Hoo~♬”

Humming, she stepped out of the gate.

Just then, as the gate disappeared behind her after losing its boss…

Clap, clap, clap!

There shouldn’t have been anyone since the gate was far from the trail, but she heard clapping.

“You cleared it alone? According to our measurements, this dungeon should be B-grade.”

Seeing the man approaching with a friendly smile, Saebyeok almost frowned.

Soft platinum hair and greenish eyes that didn’t look purely Korean, yet fluent Korean.

‘Of all places, it had to be Kim I-han…’

The man was none other than the guild master of Glory Guild.

And he was the third S-rank Awakened in South Korea’s history.

‘Did Glory just discover this gate today?’

If she had been one day later, she might have lost it.

But colliding like this was not exactly pleasant.

In her past life, the hardest guild to deal with as an association raid leader was Glory Guild.

The Dangun Guild, full of hypocritical patriots, could be managed by faking nationalism, and Black Dragon Guild, though harsh in speech, was predictable in strength hierarchy, making them easy to cooperate with by citing “protecting the weak.”

But Glory…

‘What strange story will they come up with this time…’

They didn’t care whether it was good or evil as long as it drew public attention.

They often left gates unclaimed until just before break to attract attention, hiding some truths while exaggerating others for drama.

They truly believed that “negative comments are better than no comments.”

“Why did Hunter Kim I-han come all the way out here?”

Thanks to her past-life experience, Saebyeok didn’t panic. She smiled gently.

Realizing she recognized him, Kim I-han smiled even more charmingly.

“Our deputy sensed a delicious smell here, so we came…”

He slowly closed the distance, smiling in a way that made it impossible to guess his thoughts.

“I didn’t expect someone so beautiful.”

His gaze was like a child holding a sweet candy—wanting to devour it immediately, yet restraining himself for fear of punishment.