Jiwon makes a request

Seung's heart raced, his breathing seized with anxiety. He wanted to stop the monster's actions but found himself immobilized.

'It's absorbing our mana! Am I going to die here?!'

...

His mouth fell open as he looked at the screen.

[Blocking external attack....]

[Completed. You can continue the fight now.]

Seung was staring at the monster, then his lips gently curled into a smirk.

"What an idiot."

At the moment, the azure light faded off as well as the dungeon boss's reddish energy. As a result, he and his replicas crashed onto the floor with a loud thud.

"Yagrhh!" The monster exploded as it delivered a blow towards them.

The trio rose up, panting heavily.

Lee Seung immediately sidestepped the attack; afterwards, he saw his clones do the same too.

'It means we are on the same page,' he thought, smiling.

This wasn't a time to get too overwhelmed with thoughts. He gripped his dagger tightly and as the weapon crackled with elemental energy, he propelled towards the monster's eyes.

Getting close to the eyes, he raised the weapon high in the air. And yelled, "Go to HELL!!!"

Mercilessly, he plunged the dagger into the buggy eyes, causing the Chimera to cry out of pain. The monster shook its body extremely, although Seung maintained his balance at the head.

'Kharrgh!'

He relentlessly squeezed the dagger and shouted out to his clones, "If you guys aren't tired, let's get done with this hunt already!"

"Yes, sir!"

The first clone's dagger clattered with the monster's body. He yelled, pushing the weapon with fierce determination, "Ahhhh!"

Bham!

Splash!

The dagger pierced the body, green blood splashing out.

Snarl!

Thus, the other clone made grave markings on the dungeon boss and then, the trio reassembled at the front.

The beast snarled out of anger. Just as before, the air became strong and thick.

'I will finish this immediately!' Lee Seung thought, gripping his dagger. The screen then displayed that his skill, Light Speed, had been activated.

Maintaining an athlete's stance, he hurtled upwards. And then, a straight azure light cut sharply through the Chimera's neck.

Silence...

The F-rank Hunter landed behind it, turning his back at it. He pant hardly while pinning the dagger to his chest.

"I have...wheh, I have done it.. right?" He mumbled as he looked at the monster. Eventually, its massive head fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Consequently, the dungeon boss's lifeless body crashed to the ground. Seeing that, Seung's lips curled into a wide grin.

"I knew an E-ranker is just a punching bag for me," he said.

He sighed loudly, "Aigoo, but I was pushed to my limit to defeat it. I should train and hunt more frequently from now on; besides, it may not be long for me to find a C-rank dungeon."

Outside, Mr. Choi held his waists tightly while staring at the portal. He was anxious about what was holding Lee Seung inside.

Could it be that what the soldiers suggested was true?

Their statements echoed in Mr. Choi's mind:

'Even though this is a weak dungeon, no Hunter has been able to defeat it.'

'It means no adventurer has ever stepped out of the portal.'

"I don't wanna believe anything," Mr. Choi mumbled, swallowing hard. He then noticed a presence behind him, and checking, it was one of the men in red uniforms.

"Excuse me, sir. Do you mind if we go inside to clean up?"asked the man, casually. He grinned, rubbing his hair, "You know, it's been over an hour that-"

"Please wait a bit longer,"Mr. Choi said frankly, not even removing his watch from the portal.

Twish!!!

"The Hunters are coming out!"

"Whoa!"

Those were the murmurs of the maintenance team.

Mr. Choi's eyes widened with amazement. He then grinned brightly, saying, "Thank goodness!"

The soldiers exchanged surprised glances too as Lee Seung and two other men wearing face masks emerged from the portal.

Seung looked a bit surprised too. He said, with a smile, "There's so many people here."

Later on, the three of them walked closer to Mr. Choi.

"What took you so long?" the man asked. "I was worried about your safety..."

"You need not worry, Mr. Choi. I will always be safe because my clones are with me," he said softly.

Later on, the four of them left in the red Range Rover.

The man, who approached Mr. Choi earlier, said to others, "Maintenance Team, giddy up. Let's get to work!"

"Yes, captain!"

* * *

As the car revved on the road, Lee Seung asked Mr. Choi to drop him at his previous apartment instead.

The man asked, "Is there something you forgot to take when leaving?"

"Nothing specific. Besides, it's already been demolished."

In no time, he got down at his formal neighbourhood. Getting to Mister Song's shop, his gaze fixed on the spot where his apartment once stood, now reduced to a pile of rubble.

He shrugged and entered the shop. At the moment, Mr. Song was about to exit as well.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Song," Lee Seung greeted.

The old man smiled, "Oh, Seung. How are you doing?"

"Fine," he replied. His eyes momentarily scanned the shop. Soon, he asked, "Ahjusi, are you locking your shop since you're going out?"

The old man nodded, saying that his granddaughter would take care of the shop. Hearing that, Lee Seung mumbled the statement 'Thank goodness': what did he actually mean by that?

Following that, he ventured further into the shop and found no one there.

"I thought he said she's inside..."he whispered to himself, looking around.

"By any chance, are you here to ask for forgiveness?"a feminine voice said from the back. Turning around, Seung laid his eyes on a slender figure with graceful posture, undoubtedly Mister Song's granddaughter.

"Ahh, you...I didn't know you were inside..." Lee faked a smile. Most importantly, he was staring into her expressive eyes for some reason.

She said nothing and sat on a chair nearby. He then joined, maintaining a good distance between them.

He said, "Uhm, something important came up that day I left you at the restaurant. You don't find it insulting, do you?"

Seung himself knew the best answer to his question was 'yes'. He assumed he was completely rhetoric.

Jiwon pressed down on the chair and stared into thin air for a while. She then replied, "Normally, it is. But you said you had to attend to something quickly, so we are good..."

'Why is she speaking as though we have known each other for a long time?'

The shop suddenly became silent. Jiwon was busy staring in the air as if a treasure was hanging there; on the other hand, Lee Seung kept on looking at his leg.

'D*mn, is no one going to sp-?'

The girl interrupted his thoughts, "That I told you it doesn't matter doesn't mean I have forgiven you. I had to pay for your noodles plate when you didn't even eat it."

Lee Seung knew she meant to ask something in return. However, what valuable thing did he have to give?

"You are the top student at school..." Jiwon strangely put on a grin and drew closer to him, which made him shift backwards, "....so could you please be my personal tutor?"

"A-a personal tutor?" Seung spelled out loudly. He then straightened his back and cleared his throat. He stuttered, "Why would you ask your mate to be your personal tutor?"

"That may be true, but you're more knowledgeable than anyone else in school," she said, softly.

Being soft was the typical attitude of those in need of help.

"Just be my tutor till the final exam ends. Please..." Jiwon said, placing her palms together.

Seung smiled inwardly, remembering when she said he was the most knowledgeable person at school.

'So she knows me as the top student, not the one always being bullied? What a relief!'

Eventually, he accepted her request and left, telling her he would get back to her after he reschedule his plans.

He was completely tired when he got back home. Before going into his bedroom, he asked his first clone to go work out while the other cleans the house.

"They can't just be eating my money away."

Lying down on the bed, he heard his phone vibrate for a notification...

Ding...ding...ding...

He picked the phone up and checked.

[Account balance: seven hundred million one]

[About $623,000]

"Yahoo! Whoa!" He shouted and jumped to his feet. He threw his fists up in excitement, a wide grin spreading across his face. He would be able to have a good meal and buy lots of things with that money.

.....

Lee Seung sat at the edge of his bed, still smiling as something crossed his mind.

After killing the E-rank boss, the mana crystals holding the chamber swept across his mind. He knew he could neither absorb it into himself nor his clones could, so he drained it in order to improve his weapon.

'Switch to Residue section,' he thought, prompting the screen to display the mana in solid form.

But the solid mana was white unlike the previous one that was red. He had no idea why the mana was different, but he still believed his weapon could be improved.

[External mana absorbed: 5000]

"Now, let's upgrade Shadow Blade. I can't wait to use another skill with it."