The sole heir to a ruined world

Chapter 20

After leaving the Hunter Management Bureau building, Lee Hank-yul reached into his pocket when he felt his phone vibrate.

-Hunter Management Bureau: Hunter Lee Hank-yul, thank you for your efforts in contributing to peace. The location of the gate you registered for is…

The message provided the location and time of his reserved gate.

Checking the details, Hank-yul resumed walking.

“Where did he go? Find him immediately!”

“Yes, sir!”

A commotion broke out behind him.

A group of people rushed out of the building, searching for someone.

Without sparing them a glance, Hank-yul continued toward his destination.

“This must be it.”

In front of him was a sinister-looking crack in the air, resembling shattered glass.

The red and blue ominous rift flickered as Hank-yul clenched and unclenched his fist.

While he stared at the gate, a staff member from the management team approached.

“Are you Hunter Lee Hank-yul?”

“Yes.”

“May I see your Hunter ID?”

Hank-yul immediately handed over his ID.

The staff member checked it and nodded.

“Confirmed. At 4:07 PM today, we will record your entry into the gate. Do you agree?”

“Yes.”

“Then, we wish you a safe clearance.”

The staff member stepped aside.

Hank-yul gave him a slight nod before stepping toward the gate.

As soon as his hand touched the rift, he narrowed his eyes.

It was a familiar sensation—similar to when he controlled lightning.

It felt like the energy within the gate was flowing.

It was as if a beast was licking him with its rough tongue—a deeply unpleasant feeling.

Hank-yul let out a short sigh.

[F-Rank Gate – “Slime Habitat”]

Would you like to enter?

When he accepted, his body was sucked into the rift.

A Deadly Mistake?

F-Rank gates were the weakest.

Even ordinary people, if well-trained and properly equipped, could clear them.

Hank-yul had a way to reach Asgard anytime.

He was certain nothing dangerous would happen in an F-Rank gate.

But was that certainty a mistake?

Only seconds after he entered, a nearby management team staff member noticed something unusual.

The gate that Hank-yul had just entered began turning dark red.

“A mutation gate!?”

This sometimes happens.

A seemingly low-rank gate suddenly mutated, increasing in difficulty by several levels.

There was no way for the management team to predict when a gate would mutate.

Even now, nobody knows why mutation gates occurred.

But in this case, it wasn’t entirely unexpected.

Dobong had once been swept by the magic energy of Baal’s Third Army Commander, Astera.

Gates were sensitive to mana and magic.

A commander’s powerful magic could corrupt nearby gates.

This was how Africa was destroyed.

A Demon King’s magic turned all gates in Africa into high-rank mutation gates, corrupting even the weakest monsters into terrifying creatures.

“Damn it!”

The staff member quickly grabbed his radio.

If the hunter inside was at least C-Rank, they might have a chance.

But Lee Hank-yul…

He was just an F-Rank hunter with no experience.

And the mutated gate’s difficulty was now at least D-Rank.

They needed to find a way to rescue him—fast.

Inside the Gate

Meanwhile, Hank-yul wandered through the gate, completely unaffected.

“Is the air inside the gates always this heavy?”

The moment he entered, he was greeted by a sea of green.

Dense trees and bushes filled his vision.

It was like stepping into the heart of the Amazon rainforest.

But something was off.

Normally, in a place with this many trees, the air should be fresh.

Yet, the air here felt polluted, as if he had walked into a room filled with cigarette smoke.

His body rejected the gate’s atmosphere.

However, because it was his first time entering a gate, Hank-yul didn’t realize this wasn’t normal.

F-Rank gates were designed to be safe for even ordinary people.

A gate’s difficulty wasn’t just determined by the strength of its monsters—its environment played a major role.

If an unawakened person had entered, they would have instantly died.

Even E-Rank hunters wouldn’t survive more than three minutes here.

Why?

Because the air inside the gate wasn’t oxygen—it was filled with pure magic energy.

This gate rejected anything that wasn’t a magical being.

Any normal person would suffocate.

Even E-Rank hunters would perish quickly.

Yet, Hank-yul was only experiencing minor discomfort.

The reason?

He possessed over 50,000 mana.

He had repeatedly fought optimized goblins, forcing his body to grow stronger.

He had died and revived countless times, pushing his limits.

Most importantly—he had the core of a Demon Army Commander.

So far, only one Demon Army Commander has ever been killed.

And no one had ever obtained their loot.

Because no hunter was strong enough to retrieve it.

Everyone had been too busy running for their lives.

Lee Hank-yul was the only person in history to acquire a Commander’s Core.

And a Commander’s Core contained pure demonic magic.

Even B-Rank hunters struggled to endure it.

If Hank-yul hadn’t been exposed to it in Asgard, he would have died the moment he entered this gate.

Because of his exposure, he had developed a resistance to magic energy.

“This feels disgusting.”

Muttering to himself, Hank-yul summoned his sword from Asgard.

Lightning crackled in one hand, while the sword rested in the other.

Before his mana ran out, he would clear this gate.

He was certain it wouldn’t be difficult.

And with that confidence, he pressed forward.

Urgent News

Meanwhile, at the Hunter Management Bureau—Lee Hank-yul had shown up.

As soon as he received the report, Yoo Jin chul dropped everything and rushed over.

But even though he had hurried—he was too late.

Hank-yul had already left the building.

Scanning the area, Yoo Jin chul let out a frustrated sigh.

“I’ll have to wait for another chance…”

Just as he was about to return to his office—”Team Leader! We have a serious problem!”

One of his subordinates ran up to him, shouting in panic.

Yoo Jinnchul narrowed his eyes.

He hadn’t heard the details yet, but he had a bad feeling.

The ‘Slime Habitat’ near Dobong District has mutated.”

“Is there someone inside?”

“An F-rank Hunter went in alone.”

“Pfft.”

Yoo Jin-chul sighed after hearing the report.

An F-rank Gate.

Even an F-rank Hunter could clear it without much trouble.

It was a weak Gate that could be handled easily.

But if the Gate had mutated, he could no longer be sure of the Hunter’s survival.

When a Gate mutates, its rank usually increases by at least two levels.

“What’s the rank now?”

“It’s B-rank.”

“Form a rescue team immediately.”

“That’s the problem… it’s a closed-type Gate.”

“Hah…”

Yoo Jin-chul’s face twisted in frustration.

A closed-type Gate.

That meant no one could enter from the outside unless the Hunter inside either cleared the Gate or died.

In other words, there was nothing they could do from outside.

“Was there magic left in Dobong District…?”

Yuoo Jin-chul ran a hand through his hair.

“Do we know who the Hunter inside is?”

“Well…”

The team member hesitated, looking uneasy.

Yoo Jin-chul narrowed his eyes.

Something was off.

It was as if the team member was about to say a name they shouldn’t.

“Tell me.”

“It’s… Lee Hank-yul.”

“What?”

“Lee Hank-yul is the one who went in.”

Lee Hank-yul.

The moment he heard that name, Yoo Jin-chul felt like lightning had struck his mind.

The Hunter that the Hunter Administration Bureau was looking for.

The same Lee Hank-yul who visited the Gate Management Team today.

And now, the same Lee Hank-yul who had entered a mutated Gate.

It could be a coincidence.

Just someone with the same name.

But for some reason, he had a feeling this was not just a coincidence.

‘If it’s really him… I don’t have to worry too much.’

Even so, he had to prepare for the worst.

“Let’s move out immediately.”

“Yes, sir!”

Yoo Jin-chul headed toward the mutated Gate.

As he walked, he clenched his fists.

If it really was him—

If the Hunter he had met and spoken to was the same person inside—

As a member of the Hunter Administration Bureau, what should he propose to him?

What should he say?

This was giving him a headache.

—

Crackle!

Sparks flew everywhere.

Lightning struck, scorching the ground around it.

He had already killed dozens of blackened slimes.

The number of red mana stones he collected had surpassed 30.

Yet, Lee Hank-yul still didn’t look satisfied.

‘Too weak.’

The grand lightning that Thor wielded truly showed the dignity of a god.

Every movement he made summoned massive bolts of lightning, with thunder following behind him.

But compared to that, the lightning Lee Hank-yul used was weak.

It was only as thick as his pinky finger.

It wasn’t exactly weak, but it wasn’t strong either.

He only felt dissatisfied for a moment.

[You have defeated a ‘Corrupted Slime’.]

[Lightning Skill Level Proficiency +0.01%.]

There was at least one good result.

Hunting increased his skill proficiency.

Before, he had to use lightning for 10 minutes straight to get just a 0.01% increase.

Now, just killing one monster per minute raises it by the same amount.

Thanks to that, his proficiency was now close to 1%.

But even then, it was only 1%.

To max out his skill, he needed to kill nearly 1,000 slimes.

There probably weren’t even that many here, and he didn’t have enough mana to keep going that long.

‘At least it’s not bad.’

It was now clear that hunting monsters helped increase his proficiency.

If he could get more mana from mana stones, he could keep hunting and leveling up his lightning skill.

‘If I hunt stronger monsters, will I gain proficiency even faster?’

In games, the stronger the monster, the more experience points you get.

Would it be the same in reality?

He was curious.

And he was also impressed by the current Hunters.

Even the Corrupted Scout Goblin that had killed him multiple times before only gave 0.01% proficiency.

That meant these F-rank slimes were as strong as those goblins.

‘So Hunters have been dealing with monsters this strong all this time…?’

Now, he had even more reason to get stronger.

In a world where even F-rank monsters were this tough, he couldn’t survive unless he became stronger.

As he continued hunting B-rank slimes in the mutated Gate, Lee Hank-yul strengthened his resolve.