Auto Hunting

15

Jin Chang-hoon raised his head as if he was trying to say something.

He didn’t know how to say it. Instead, he motioned for Sung-wook to follow him.

“Come in and see,” he replied instead.

Kim Sung-Wook went into the infusion chamber. Yoo-Seong was sitting cross-legged on the treatment table.

It was the best posture to harness the energy immediately after the injection. Yoo-Seong’s eyes were closed, and his breathing was light.

“What? Is the injection finished already?” Kim Sung-wook asked as he looked back at Chang-hoon.

“This is the second round,” Chang-hoon said.

“What?”

“We have already completed infusion and absorption once. I have just injected 500CE again.”

Kim Sung-wook was stunned.

Barely a dozen minutes had passed since Yoo-seong entered the infusion chamber. One absorption round had already ended in that short time?

That was exceptionally fast.

“What is the absorption rate?” Sung-wook asked.

Jin Chang-hoon’s voice trembled as he answered.

“64.3%.”

“Interesting,” Kim Sung-wook said, raising his eyebrows.

It was indeed surprising.

An average person absorbed energy at a rate of 60%.

“That’s higher than average. However, considering how experienced you are and how impressive he is, I expected he would be absorbing over 80% of my energy,” Sung-wook joked.

“The energy… it’s not yours,” Chang-hoon said.

Sung-wook frowned in confusion.

“What?”

Jin Chang-hoon shut his eyes tight as he spoke.

“I’m sorry. Sung-wook,” he confessed.

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“From the moment you told me what you wanted, I knew I couldn’t inject your energy into another person. I couldn’t imagine your life without the energy you had gone through so much for.”

To Jin Chang-hoon, Sung-wook was not only a benefactor but a great friend.

Sung-Wook had gone through so much hardship to gain that CE during his period of active duty.

The moment he learned that Sung-Wook was planning to transfer his CE to a successor, Chang-hoon prepared a separate 500CE extracted from a monster.

It had depleted a lot of his resources, but he didn’t mind. He was doing it for a friend.

He had resolved to try the energy on Yoo-seong once and test if the younger man could handle it, and he had been surprised by the outcome.

Yoo-Seong had surpassed the average absorption rate by three times.

“I’m sorry. Sung-wook.”

“Apologize to Yoo-seong, not me. You could have killed him.”

Jin Chang-hoon nodded. Even though he was still in a risky situation, he was a little relieved that things had turned out well.

Kim Sung-wook sighed.

He was very embarrassed by the unexpected misbehavior of his friend. Still, he was glad that no one was hurt.

Yoo-seong had received a separate CE injection for free without his knowledge. He could not move well enough yet.

According to Jin Chang-hoon, it hadn’t been long since he received the second injection, so it would take a few minutes to settle in.

Kim Sung-wook thought about what he had seen.

Yoo-seong had absorbed raw CE at 64%. At what rate would he absorb Sung-wook’s CE?

Even if he didn’t know the exact answers, he could guess from his years of experience as a hunter.

He had instructed Chang-hoon to pour his energy into Yoo-seong. There were a few minutes of silence.

Suddenly, Yoo-seong began to scream.

“What’s going on?” Sung-wook asked.

Jin Chang-hoon hurriedly picked up the scanner to measure the absorption rate; however, Kim already knew what it was.

“100%!” the doctor screamed.

…

Eventually, they completed the injections three times for the day.

One serving was prepared separately by Jin Chang-hoon, and the other two were from Kim Sung-wook.

In total, Yoo-Seong had already absorbed approximately 1300CE of the total 1500CE.

It was more than what other hunters could have absorbed in a day.

“What about the pain?” Chang-hoon asked Yoo-seong.

“It’s not that much. I just feel a little bloated.” Yoo-seong said.

“Once the pain is completely gone, I’ll begin the next strengthening injections.” Chang-hoon explained.

500CE at a time.

There were several reasons why the quantity was legally determined, but the biggest was the core’s burden.

Expanding the core also meant stretching the body organs forcefully. The process of storing the core was essential.

“While the CE is settling in, and the core is still in shock, you can still claim to be in good condition for another injection right away. But then, you wouldn’t be able to handle the high CE. That’s why 3-4 treatments were taken as the medically recommended amount.”

Jin Chang-hoon continued to explain.

“Even though your absorption rate is very good, three times is enough in this case. It is still necessary to rest. You have a lot of potential, so there is no need to be impatient.”

“I see. Thank you,” Yoo-seong replied calmly.

It was early in the morning, and the nurses had not come to work yet, so Jin Chang-hoon, the hospital director, received the payment himself at the desk.

“You don’t have to bother, Yoo-seong. Let me handle it,” Sung-wook said.

“No, teacher. I’ll take care of this one,” Yoo-seong insisted.

Originally, Kim Sung-wook wanted to cover all the expenses. However, Yoo-seong refused. His teacher had done so much for him already; he couldn’t allow him to pay the expenses, too.

He made up his mind to pay for the costs and the market price for Kim Sung-wook’s CE.

“You’ve been too kind to me, sir, by introducing me to such a competent doctor and giving me the privilege of owning your core energy. I’m in your debt already,” Yoo-Seong said. He had begun to enjoy the relationship he had with Kim.

He paid the examination and medical expenses at once.

“I’m sorry, I can’t pay for your core energy yet, but I will definitely pay for it once I earn more as a hunter.”

While preparing a receipt at the desk, Jin Chang-hoon listened to the conversation.

He felt his face turn red as he did so.

Two hours ago, he had almost laughed at Yoo-seong. He didn’t like the man.

He thought that the guy was just a lucky nerd. Did the young man know the cost of the Core Energy from a veteran hunter?

However, now, his thoughts about Yoo-seong had changed.

Perhaps it was because he had seen, firsthand, Yoo-Seong’s outstanding qualities.

Perhaps it was because Kim Sung-wook confirmed it himself with his mouth.

Perhaps it was because he had seen Yoo-seong’s sincerity.

Chang-hoon was unable to look at Yoo-seong directly as he handed him his receipt. Yoo-seong read the receipt carefully, then tilted his head.

The number of injections recorded in the cost breakdown was only two.

“Teacher Kim, I thought you gave me three doses of infusion?”

Jin Chang-hoon’s face turned even redder. Yoo-seong didn’t know yet that the first injection he had received was prepared from a monster by Jin Chang-hoon.

“Uh… I think I made an error in my calculations,” Jin said, thinking of a good excuse to give. His head was still bowed, and his face had become chili pepper red.

“Yoo-seong … Mr… I… really…” he stuttered as he tried to explain.

“Yes?”

Kim Sung-wook smiled at him, gave him some support.

“It’s a welcome gift. Think of it as a discount.”

“A gift? But the infusion cost is quite expe-”

“Of course, it’s a welcome offer! You will be a frequent customer here, won’t you? This is just a welcome gift. My friend here, Sung-wook, knows about it. Please receive my humble offer,” Chang-hoon babbled.

“Sure,” Sung-wook said, looking amused.

“Oh, thank you, Doctor. This is most kind of you,” Yoo-seong said.

“Oh, it’s all good,” Jin Chang-hoon bowed once more as he replied.

As he walked out with Yoo-seong, Kim Sung-wook glanced back and frowned at his friend. He then mouthed some words.

“Apologize next time. Properly.”

Jin Chang-hoon nodded.

As they went down in the elevator, Yoo-Seong still felt weird about the free injection.

“The doctor must have given me one too many shots,” he said.

“Ah, sometimes, even in plastic surgery, you can get double eyelids for free. How do you feel?”

Yoo-Seong patted his lower abdomen.

“It’s itching in a very annoying way,” he said.

“As you use up the energy, the pain will naturally disappear.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Train hard, and it would disappear faster. If you get into a real battle, it goes all at once.”

They stepped out of the building.

Suddenly, a siren pierced through the air—disaster notification alert.

The sky was clear. There were no clouds. However, a few hours from then, a crack would form nearby.

To put it a little differently, there would be a party to announce Yoo-seong’s debut.