The days passed once again.
Since the system suddenly appeared, Sung Jin-Woo began to change.
The change was not a sudden explosion, nor an unreasonable leap in power.
It was slow, steady, and consistent growth... growth he could feel in his body before he ever saw it reflected in numbers.
Day after day, his muscles regained their strength.
His injuries healed faster than they should.
His breathing grew deeper.
His steps became heavier… and more stable.
In the middle of this change, Jin-Woo made a firm decision.
He quit his job with the Hunters Association.
In the past, Kim Yu-Won was the real reason he had joined.
That person was the only link tying him to the Association.
But now… there was no reason to stay.
Even if he wanted to, he would not be able to hide what was happening to him.
His strength was growing.
Day by day.
In a way that could not be explained to the Association staff or other hunters.
He knew that himself.
But what he did not know, and that he never expected or imagined, even for a moment , was that he was already being watched.
"Well… I guess this proves Johan's theory, doesn't it?"
One of them spoke in a low voice while observing from afar.
"Yes," another replied.
"In just a few days, the boy didn't only recover from his injuries. His body became stronger. Clearly different from the weak boy we saw before."
"But it's strange…"
The third joined in, his eyes fixed on the target.
"Running ten kilometers every day, push-ups, sit-ups, squats… Did he really get stronger just from training? Or is this some kind of protagonist cheating?"
A short silence followed.
Then the first spoke decisively,
"Either way, let's contact Johan again. We need to know our next move."
At that moment, completely unaware of what was being said about him, Sung Jin-Woo was in the park.
He finished his daily run and began doing extra stretching exercises, while his mind was focused on something else.
He was no longer thinking only about training.
He was thinking about the future.
About how he should move forward…
without drawing attention he could not deal with yet.
Elsewhere
"Ah… I'm exhausted,"
one of them complained while wiping sweat from his face.
"We searched the entire country for Kim Yu-Won, but there's no trace of him. Are you sure he hasn't already left the country?"
Before an answer came, a phone rang beside them.
It was Johan.
He answered calmly, listened for a few seconds, then said,
"Alright, I understand. Let's meet at the agreed place in one hour."
He ended the call.
Johan turned to the two standing beside him, his eyes shining with sharp focus.
"It's confirmed," he said confidently.
"There's a ninety percent chance that the person called Sung Jin-Woo is the hero of this world."
The two straightened up immediately.
"If that's true, then that means..."
one of them began, but stopped.
Both looked at Johan, who seemed lost in thought, as if connecting invisible threads.
"If Sung Jin-Woo is Kim Yu-Won's target,"
Johan said slowly,
"then it's impossible for him to leave him unmonitored or stay far away from him."
He raised his gaze.
"But the question is… where could he be?"
Silence filled the air.
Then suddenly...
An impossible idea flashed through his mind.
"If he's looking for a place to hide,"
Johan continued,
"then the place he would go to… is the last place anyone else would think of."
The two widened their eyes.
Johan turned to them, his decision made.
"Let's move," he said firmly.
"I have a specific idea about where Kim Yu-Won might be…"
*** ***
That evening, as he had done for several days now, Louis was sitting on the highest peak of Jeju Island.
Cold sea winds blew around him, carrying the smell of blood and death, while he calmly scrolled through his phone.
He moved between news, articles, and forums, searching for any sign…
any new information related to him.
But there was nothing.
Around where he sat, the bodies of ant monsters were piled up in messy heaps—cut limbs, shattered armor, and clear signs of battles where no mercy was shown.
Over the past few days, Louis had eliminated everything that disturbed his peace on the mountain peak.
Any ant that came close… died.
Any group that tried to climb up… was wiped out.
If not for one single reason, he would have killed the Ant Queen long ago.
Waiting.
Waiting for Beru to appear.
It seemed that even the Ant Queen had realized the truth.
This mountain peak… was no longer neutral ground.
It had become Louis's territory.
Because of instinct, or fear, the Queen made sure not to send a single ant to this place for the past two days.
An unusual silence…
but not a comforting one.
Louis looked away from his phone and summoned the System Storage interface.
Clear numbers appeared before his eyes:
584 high-grade magic stones
397 mid-grade magic stones
621 low-grade magic stones
A massive amount.
And all of them… could be taken to the real world.
Louis smiled faintly.
If extracting these stones did not require special mining abilities, and if he had not suffered headaches from accidentally destroying many of them, he would have swept through the entire Jeju Island without hesitation.
But this was not his only discovery.
He had noticed something else.
The Ant Queen's eggs.
They were also classified as Special Items that could be transferred to the real world.
This discovery opened the door to many new questions.
What exactly are Special Items?
Louis began to organize his thoughts.
First: Weapons or items crafted inside Tower worlds do not fall into this category.
Those can be found directly in the System Shop.
This includes Kamish's daggers.
Second: Materials or consumable items.
Even though they exist in the System Shop, they are still classified as Special Items.
It seems the system gives them to players as bonus rewards.
Magic stones fall into this category.
Third: Living beings.
Normally, you can only obtain them through system summoning.
But… there seemed to be another method.
Eggs.
According to Louis's understanding, if a creature does not hatch inside this world,
it can be taken to the real world,
hatched there with the system's help,
and most importantly…
gain complete loyalty.
Then there was another type…
Rare items.
Items not intentionally created, but that hold enormous value in this world.
Such as "Kamish's dragon skeleton and its super-grade skill stone".
There were surely other types of Special Items, but Louis was not in a hurry to explore them now.
While he was lost in thought, the silence was suddenly broken by an unexpected voice:
"You look bored, don't you?"
Louis reacted instantly.
He turned around quickly, and at that exact moment…
Space shattered.
Black cracks like broken glass appeared in the air, and through them stepped out a group of people, as if they had pulled themselves out of another dimension.
"Did we disturb your peace in any way,
Hunter Kim Yoo-Won?"
The speaker was a blond-haired man standing at the front.
The spatial cracks disappeared, leaving six people standing before Louis.
He did not recognize them…
and had never seen their faces in this world.
"You…"
Louis said softly, then smiled knowingly.
"Heh… I thought the group of players clearing this stage with me were just amateurs.
Who would have thought there were a few talented ones among them?"
With that sentence, Louis made it clear to everyone…
that he was a player, and that he had also identified who they really were.
The blond-haired man smiled.
"If I'm not mistaken, you are the player known as L.K in the Tower System, correct?"
His companions froze for a moment.
"L.K?! Him?"
"So he's the one who caused all that chaos in the real world recently…"
"As expected of Johann… such a bold guess."
Louis frowned slightly.
Johann continued speaking.
"Allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Johann Albert, the third son of the Duke of the Sword and one of the pillars of the Human Empire—Duke Albert."
He paused, then continued:
"Judging by your appearance, you are human as well.
That's why I would like to invite you to join my family.
I promise the benefits you gain will be unlike anything you can find elsewhere."
"What do you say?"
Louis looked at him carefully.
Johann might not recognize him because of his changed appearance…
but Louis knew him very well.
The MacLaine family and the Albert family.
Two knight families.
Old rivals.
Always compared.
Louis still remembered clearly…
how, in the first month after his reincarnation, he was beaten by Johann during a skill exchange event between the two families.
He was also certain now that Johann had used his status and influence to gather this group of players under his command.
It was obvious… none of them used swords, which was the signature trait of the Albert family.
Louis smiled calmly.
"I'm sorry… but I have no interest in working under anyone."
Johann sighed.
"I expected that… how unfortunate."
The others immediately understood what that meant.
In an instant, they moved.
They formed a tight circle, surrounding Louis from all directions.
Louis examined them carefully.
Aside from Johann, who seemed to have somehow awakened as an S-rank hunter in this world, the others were clearly weaker.
Most likely A-, B-, or C-rank hunters.
But the real problem was not their ranks.
It was the skills and items they could choose from the system.
Such as the space-rending ability one of them used to bring them here.
Louis thought for a few seconds.
Teleportation…
He decided to escape.
But… before he could do anything…
A terrifying voice echoed deep inside the souls of all players:
ERROR!! ERROR!! ERROR!!
Attempting error correction!!
ERROR!! ERROR!! ERROR!!
Error correction failed!!
ERROR!! ERROR!! ERROR!!
Executing security measures!!
At the same moment…
Louis's shadow moved.
In the blink of an eye, it stretched out and turned into a dark curtain that covered everyone in the area.
Because of the system's horrifying voice,
no one, not even Louis himself, was able to avoid it.
And the mountain peak fell into complete darkness.