The Void Panther's corpse lay in ruins, its obsidian fur still smoking from the Hellfang Twins' final strike. Seun stood amidst the wreckage of the evaluation chamber, his chest rising and falling in controlled rhythm despite the four broken ribs and third-degree burns along his left arm. The System's golden text scrolled across his vision like a coronation announcement:
**[B-Rank Hunter Certification: Approved]**
**[Combat Efficiency Rating: 98.7%]**
**[New Privileges Unlocked]**
Blood dripped from his fingertips as he approached the panther's twitching core. Unlike the Association's sanitized reports, he knew the truth—this creature wasn't some random dungeon spawn. It was engineered.
---
### **THE SYSTEM'S PURGE**
As Seun's shadow tendrils absorbed the core, the System initiated its filtration protocol:
**[Memory Fragment Analysis]**
▸ 87% Useless Combat Data → **Purged**
▸ 9% Tactical Patterns → **Stored in Neural Archive**
▸ 4% Classified Intel → **[REDACTED - Sentinel Protocol Active]**
The fragments it preserved were razor-sharp:
- A twelve-legged frost spider decimating a Chinese A-rank team
- A plasma-winged drake nesting in Tokyo's ruined skyscrapers
- The way a Korean S-rank's bones had cracked when a dungeon ogre stepped on his chest
**[Warning: Core Contains Traces of]**
**[Entity: "Nine-Tailed Void Fox" (S-Rank)]**
**[Last Sighting: Demonic Realm Rift]**
Seun's lips peeled back in a feral grin. Now these were worthy prey.
---
### **THE HUNTER'S RETURN**
Seun's penthouse smelled of gunpowder and antiseptic. He shrugged off his ruined armor, letting the ceramic plates clatter against the hardwood floor. The mirror showed the damage—lacerations that would've killed a normal man, already knitting themselves closed under rippling black veins.
The System displayed his updated parameters:
**[Host: Seun Kim]**
**Hunter Rank:** B
**Shadowmancer Integration:** 47.1%
**Combat Statistics:**
| Strength: 89 → 92 |
| Agility: 97 → 101 |
| Vitality: 87 → 90 |
| Perception: 98 → 103 |
**Shadow Arsenal:**
- Yuri (Blade Form) - Stability 91%
- Chained Enforcer - Stability 88%
- Void Panther Essence - Integration 34%
He didn't need potions. His body was the ultimate regenerative weapon.
---
### **THE NIGHT'S VIGIL**
Sleep was for the weak. Seun spent the night:
1. **Cleaning his weapons** - The Hellfang Twins required blood-oil polishing
2. **Reviewing dungeon briefings** - Three new A-rank gates had manifested
3. **Monitoring shadow soldiers** - Yuri's cognitive independence had reached 12%
At 03:17, the System pinged:
**[Emergency Bulletin: Gangnam District]**
**[Dungeon Break Imminent - "Frostgrave Catacombs"]**
**[Estimated Monster: "Abyssal Yeti" (A+ Rank)]**
Seun's shadow stretched toward the door before he did.