As soon as Lee Siwoo stepped through the gate, he took off running. His destination? The Kern Tarn flower field—the very place where yesterday's incident had unfolded.
'That hole should still be there, right?'
The thought struck him as oddly amusing. Those bastards. Killing a man and trying to dump the body? Unforgivable.
The more he thought about it, the more disgusted he felt. Still, he had given them a fitting payback.
'There's nothing more tragic than a hunter losing their abilities.'
He nodded to himself. 'What's done is done.'
With that, Siwoo pushed himself to run faster.
Tadadak!
His speed surged, the ground blurring beneath his feet.
'Whoa!'
This was different from yesterday. Much faster.
'So this is what being a D-rank Hunter feels like, huh?'
With his rank rising, his body had transformed noticeably. But what surprised him even more was—
'Back on Earth, my muscles were aching like hell, but here, I feel light as a feather.'
He had felt some stiffness when leaving home, yet within the gate, the pain vanished. The ability to use mana in the gate significantly boosted his physical prowess.
"Whew!"
Exhaling lightly, he kept running, eager to gauge the full extent of his newfound strength.
Extract!
Siwoo extended his hand and activated his skill. A blue and red light flickered from his palm, bathing the Kern Tarn petals in its glow.
Rustle—rustle—
The petals began to wither rapidly. After about twenty seconds, they crumbled into fine powder, falling neatly onto the plastic sheet he had placed beneath them.
Carefully, he lifted the sheet. Roughly 10 grams of powdered Kern Tarn petals.
Was that it?
Not quite.
To retain the mana properties of the extracted material, another skill was required—preservation.
Siwoo focused his mind and activated the preservation skill.
Ssssk—Sssk!
A radiant light enveloped the powdered petals, forming a thin protective layer around them.
'Perfect.'
With preservation complete, the Kern Tarn powder was now stable for sale on Earth.
This was why high-ranking gatherers were valued in guilds. Just as hunters lost much of their strength upon returning to Earth, materials extracted or harvested from within gates also degraded significantly outside them.
That's where gatherers came in—to prevent mana loss in harvested materials.
Of course, this skill only applied to harvested plants or dismantled monster parts. It didn't work on living people, plants, or creatures.
Siwoo casually poured the collected powder into the pouches attached to his Hunter suit.
Each pouch could hold about 3 kilograms of powder.
'I'll need to buy a proper bag soon.'
Every piece of gear used in the gate cost money, so careful budgeting was essential.
After two hours of work, Siwoo checked his progress.
Using his E-rank extraction skill, he had gathered roughly 900 grams of powder.
That was about 70,000 won in earnings—his daily goal.
But he wasn't satisfied.
'To really make a living, I need at least 130,000 won a day.'
That was the sweet spot for an E-rank Hunter. Any more, and people would start to ask questions.
'How's an E-rank making more than 130,000 won a day? Is he cheating?'
Suspicion could be dangerous.
So Siwoo kept a low profile, blending in with the average earnings of an E-rank Hunter.
But still… he couldn't waste an entire year holding back.
'Alright. Time to test my D-rank extraction skill.'
Taking a deep breath, he spread out a fresh plastic sheet beneath the flowers and activated his upgraded skill.
Hwooosh!
The process looked the same, but the results?
Sssssk—
A clear difference.
'This is at least 20 grams!'
Twice the yield of his E-rank skill.
Simply put, using his D-rank ability would more than double his earnings.
'Hmm.'
Siwoo hesitated.
All materials gathered or extracted within a gate had to be reported to the Korea Hunter Association (KHA).
Higher-ranked gates, C-rank and above, even had security measures in place—like airport-style scanners—to prevent smuggling.
But in E-rank gates?
The KHA offices for E and D-rank gates were notoriously understaffed and under-equipped.
Most of the time, they just checked paperwork and waved hunters through.
'So a little smuggling shouldn't be a problem, right?'
Determined, Siwoo continued using his D-rank skill, rapidly collecting more powder.
Four hours later, he stood up, stretching his arms.
He had gathered over 3 kilograms of Kern Tarn powder.
Monetarily? More than 200,000 won in just four hours.
If he had stuck with his E-rank skill, he would've collected only about 1.2 to 1.4 kilograms in that time.
'D-rank really makes a difference.'
Siwoo nodded to himself.
And this was just the beginning.
As a freshly promoted D-rank Hunter, he was still in the 'runner' stage—learning and growing. That meant he could increase both his mana and level, boosting his yield even further.
'Alright. Let's see how much I can really gather!'
Checking his status, he saw:
[Time Remaining in Gate: 2 hours 20 minutes 31 seconds]
He had time left, but…
'Better not overstay.'
KHA kept records of how long hunters stayed inside gates.
If a newbie hunter spent too long inside, people would get suspicious.
Hunters at his level didn't have large mana reserves. Staying in too long didn't make sense.
'A shame, but I should play it safe.'
Suppressing his disappointment, Siwoo sprinted toward the exit.
At the Pyeongtaek Gate checkpoint, KHA officer Nam Pyeonggil lazily flipped through Siwoo's paperwork.
"Lee Siwoo, right?"
"Yes, that's me."
"So, you collected exactly 1 kilogram today?"
"Yes."
Nam Pyeonggil hummed, looking from the paperwork to Siwoo's face.
"Same as yesterday, huh?"
"Yes."
"Hmmm… interesting."
Yesterday, the officer had barely glanced at the papers before signing them off.
But today, he hesitated, scrutinizing Siwoo closely.
'Did he notice something?'
Siwoo's pulse quickened.
He had carefully distributed the extra powder, flattening the pouches to avoid bulging. He even packed some into gate-safe bags and secured them against his thighs, arms, and stomach.
'It shouldn't be obvious… so why is he stalling?'
Then, Nam Pyeonggil met his eyes and asked, "Are you feeling alright? Any mana depletion or body aches?"
"Huh?"
"You know, like what happened to Jang Dongpil and Seo Gwangseok. Well… they're just regular civilians now."
"Oh, the guys who lost their mana yesterday?"
"Yeah. It caused a huge commotion here today."
Siwoo exhaled in relief. 'Whew. Thought I was caught.'
Smiling, he replied, "I'm fine. Nothing unusual."
"Well, just in case, why don't you stick around for a bit?"
"For what?"
"Ah, just humor me. The HQ guys from Seoul are breathing down our necks."
Siwoo chuckled. "No problem."
And just like that, he found himself chatting his way into an unexpected alliance.