Chapter 94. I Thought It Would Work

"When did you return to Korea?" Son Chang-Il asked.

Inside the Hunter Association's president's office, a woman sat across Son Chang-Il. Her name was Yeon Hong-Ah, one of only three S-rank Hunters in South Korea, along with Shin Yoo-Sung.

Unlike Shin Yoo-Sung, who usually stayed in the country, Yeon Hong-Ah often traveled abroad with the other S-rank Hunters. The reason was simple: the dungeons in South Korea could no longer sustain their growth. They needed more challenging dungeons, which could be found overseas.

"Well, it hasn’t been long," Yeon Hong-Ah answered with a shrug, responding to Son Chang-Il’s question.

Son Chang-Il exhaled a small puff of air, his curiosity piqued. Normally, the movement of an S-rank Hunter would make the front page of the morning news. but this time, there had not been a single report.

Even his own reliable information network hadn’t caught wind of her return. She just showed up in his office one day, out of the blue. But he decided to overlook it because it wasn’t a real issue. What truly mattered was not the "how" but the "why." And Son Chang-Il had a pretty good idea about the reason for her visit.

"You’re here because of the Stem, aren’t you?" Son Chang-Il asked.

"Yes, that’s right. I heard the first exploration was concluded safely?" Yeon Hong-Ah asked.

"Indeed, it was. The Guild Master of Mir played a crucial role," he replied.

If not for Shin Yoo-Sung, the Guild Master of Mir, the mission would have likely resulted in significant casualties. Of course, there was another who contributed greatly—Kim Do-Joon. He intervened and ensured the battle with the Baku Tribe ended without incident. But, Son Chang-Il had no intention of bringing up Kim Do-Joon.

Fortunately, Yeon Hong-Ah didn’t press for details either. Her interest lay elsewhere.

"Did anyone manage to obtain elf equipment from that expedition?" Yeon Hong-Ah asked.

"Elf equipment? Why do you ask?" Son Chang-Il asked.

"I fought some elves overseas and managed to get my hands on some of their gear. It had an option called Spirit Affinity. I need to do some research to see if it’d affect one of my skills," Yeon Hong-Ah replied.

“Oh, is that so?” Son Chang-Il nodded, understanding her reasoning.

Although she wasn’t a user of the rare spirit skill, Yeon Hong-Ah possessed a skill that could be influenced by spirit affinity. Just to seek out stronger dungeons, she roamed the world, leaving her guild in South Korea unattended. How could someone like her resist the chance to experiment with a new option like Spirit Affinity?

"Couldn’t you have found more of it overseas? Did you really return just for that?" Son Chang-Il asked.

"Well, I did manage to get a few pieces, but it wasn’t enough. There’s no notable change in my skill,” Yeon Hong-Ah explained.

“In short, you need more?” Son Chang-Il asked.

"Yes," Yeon Hong-Ah replied.

Watching her nod, Son Chang-Il crossed his arms thoughtfully. First of all, none of Shin Yoo-Sung’s team had encountered any elves during the expedition.

But didn’t Hunter Kim Do-Joon mention he encountered some elves?

In that case, there was a high chance Kim Do-Joon got his hands on their equipment as well.

The elf he fought initially, Eldora, had used a sword. Based on the footage, that sword was likely in Kim Do-Joon’s possession. Son Chang-Il could’ve explained it to her in a few words, but he saw no benefit in doing so. Besides, he preferred to keep anything related to Kim Do-Joon under wraps.

"I’m sorry, I’m not sure. It might be best to ask them directly," Son Chang-Il said, deliberately withholding the information.

He hadn’t given up on his initial offer to Kim Do-Joon, the invitation to join the Association. That offer still stood, and keeping Kim Do-Joon’s capabilities hidden was part of his plan.

"Is that so? Are you sure?" Yeon Hong-Ah asked, her curiosity not fully satisfied.

"Absolutely," Son Chang-Il replied firmly.

Yeon Hong-Ah narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she asked, but she couldn’t see through Son Chang-Il’s calm and collected demeanor. Despite being an experienced S-rank Hunter, Son Chang-Il had far more experience than she did due to their age difference.

Pouting slightly, she asked, "Fine. Then at least tell me this. When the Stem first appeared, didn’t South Korea also get attacked by elves?"

"Yes, that’s right," Son Chang-Il replied.

"I heard one of them was captured, and they even dissected its corpse. Can you introduce me to the person who took it down? That shouldn’t be a problem, right?" Yeon Hong-Ah asked.

"Well..." Son Chang-Il hesitated.

"Why not? Is this off-limits too?" Yeon Hong-Ah asked.

This request was harder to deny. Many people had seen the footage from that event, so it wasn’t something he could just brush off. It was widely known that he had negotiated to secure the elf's corpse for research.

"

Hmm

... Since it involves personal information, I should ask for their permission first," Son Chang-Il replied.

"

Ugh

, why are you being so difficult? You could just tell me right now," Yeon Hong-Ah said, her frustration growing.

"I need to respect their wishes, don’t you think?" Son Chang-Il replied smoothly.

Yeon Hong-Ah squinted at him, sensing something off. His reasoning was sound, but she was an S-rank Hunter—one of only three in the country. Was he really going to miss the chance to earn a favor from someone like her?

Is there something more to this?

The Son Chang-Il she knew was a sly fox, always calculating. His reluctance to share information had to be deliberate. Sure, the person who killed the elf must be a skilled Hunter, but that alone didn’t explain why the Association President was being so cagey.

With a resigned sigh, Yeon Hong-Ah relented.

"Alright, I get it. It’s a personal matter, and it’s not urgent anyway. But please, try to find out and let me know as soon as possible."

"I’ll do that. But I have to warn you, this person can be hard to reach sometimes," Son Chang-Il said.

"What?" she exclaimed, bewildered by his response.

Son Chang-Il shrugged nonchalantly.

"He’s been out of contact for several days now. Who knows when we’ll hear from him again."

As he offered a wry smile, as if it couldn’t be helped, Yeon Hong-Ah realized she was getting nowhere. Defeated, she slumped her shoulders and stood up.

"

Ugh

, whatever. Do what you want," she muttered.

"Take care," Son Chang-Il said with a smile, waving her off.

Yeon Hong-Ah pouted in frustration, realizing she hadn’t gained anything from this visit. In the next moment, she disappeared in the blink of an eye, as if she had never been there at all.

***

[Your mana has increased by level 1.]

Kim Do-Joon frowned as he read the message. It was something he never expected to see.

Don’t stats only increase when Compatibility goes up?

Up until now, it was widely accepted that stat runes only improved when the Compatibility increased. Of course, there were exceptions. The first exception was a temporary boost when equipping certain items. However, that was just a temporary increase, and in such cases, a message like the one he just saw wouldn’t appear.

The second exception was when he used his copy-pasting skill to extract an item’s options. When this happened, the extracted options were listed under the "Additional Effect" section of his status window.

However, this time, it was different.

[Yggdrasil System]

Stat Runes

- Mana Level 62

Instead of appearing as an additional effect, his base mana stat had gone up by one. Just a moment ago, it had been at level sixty-one.

[Your skill level has increased.]

Another message popped up.

“

Huh?

”

Startled once again, Kim Do-Joon quickly realized what it meant.

[Skill: Fragment of the Heart of Flame Level 62]

The level of the Fragment of the Heart of Flame skill had risen to match his mana stat. Kim Do-Joon closed his eyes and focused inward, observing the energy within his body. There was no mistaking—both the mana in his core and the power of the Fragment had grown stronger! Despite the subtle increase, his keen senses caught it.

— Is it really that surprising? Mana increases naturally through training.

That might’ve been the case in your world, but it’s different here. In this world, stats don’t increase just from training.

Kim Do-Joon said to Karlish, conversing with the voice in his head.

— Isn’t that strange though? Why wouldn’t you get stronger from training?

Well...

When he thought about it, that did seem odd. But that was just how the system worked here. Mana was something that came with Awakening. To increase it, one couldn’t simply depend on training, but also hunt monsters and gain experience points. Even top-tier S-rank Hunters couldn’t escape this rule.

However, for the first time, Kim Do-Joon had broken this rule.

Actually, I’ve been breaking it for a while now... because of the copy-pasting skill. Ah!

As his thoughts progressed, something dawned on him. Kim Do-Joon had indeed been operating outside the norms for some time, thanks to his unique skill.

Perhaps, this strange phenomenon was also linked to the copy-pasting skill. Perhaps, there was an effect or a skill he had copy-pasted that could explain this.

Is it this one?

There was one effect that came to mind.

[Additional Effect]

- Passive: Mana Recovery Level 7

Kim Do-Joon had obtained this peculiar effect after defeating a statue at the labyrinth called Sky Road. It was also where he first met Jecheon Seong. No matter how much he thought about it, that was the only explanation for the current phenomenon.

He studied the passive with renewed interest.

Hmm... A passive that allows me to absorb mana from the atmosphere with my entire body, not just through breathing. I thought it just increased my mana recovery rate?

Who would’ve thought it could also increase his mana stat? Of course, there were specific conditions, or his stat would’ve significantly increased by now.

The first hypothesis that came to mind was the weather.

Does it increase when I’m cold?

After using the Heart of the Glass Snake to raise Kim So-Eun’s resistance, Kim Do-Joon had also increased his own resistance to seventy-five percent. Since then, he rarely felt the cold. The only time he had felt freezing recently was here at the Frozen Harbor.

If this is correct...

Kim Do-Joon glanced downward. Beneath the thick ice lay the frigid seawater, swirling in cold currents. His eyes sparkled with a dangerous gleam.

Moments later, without any hesitation, Kim Do-Joon plunged into the icy water through a crack in the ice.

— What the...? Hey, hey! What are you doing?

Splash!

A column of water shot up as his body sank into the sea. Only his head emerged above the surface, spitting out seawater. As he dove in, Kim Do-Joon had stored Karlish in his inventory, knowing that the spear’s weight would pull him under.

Ugh, it’s freezing cold!

The cold hit him even harder than when he was standing on the ice. Of course, it did because he was not even using the Fragment of the Heart of Flame to resist it.

However, despite his teeth chattering uncontrollably, a smile crept across his lips.

If it’s this cold, I should see another message about my mana going up soon.

He could’ve easily copy-pasted effects from equipment to increase his mana, but that had its limits. Not just the fund, but also the scarcity of the items with such effects.

Kim Do-Joon needed to raise the Fragment of the Heart of Flame to the level of the inner elixir of the Ten-Thousand-Year Dragon mentioned by Jecheon Seong. Even if he swept the market clean of all mana items, it’d be a tough task.

Therefore, an alternative method to increase his mana was more than welcome.

However, moments later, a loud sneeze echoed through the basement of his own house.

“

Achoo

—”

Kim Do-Joon had already returned and was thawing his frozen body with the flames of the Fragment of the Heart of Flame.

—

Ugh

, what kind of idiot just jumps into the water like that? You could’ve at least asked me first.

I thought it would work...

Kim Do-Joon muttered, clicking his tongue in disappointment.

His plunge into the sea had been a complete failure. His mana didn’t increase at all, and all he got out of it was a bitter lesson in what it felt like to freeze to death.

So it’s not just about the environment...

As Kim Do-Joon rubbed his stiffened body to warm it up, he recalled another message besides the one about his mana increasing.

— You have absorbed the energy of Ice Crystal.

Maybe that was the clue he needed to figure this out.