Kang Seung-woo's breath had yet to settle from his fight with the Clawbeast when the forest fell
silent again.
Too silent. As if something were watching.
He glanced down at his blood-stained hand. Something within him was shifting. His instincts...
changing.
Hunter Instinct v0.1
Active — Bio-signal detection radius: 50 meters
In an instant, his vision subtly altered. A hazy virtual map formed in his mind. Two signals
flickered — one moving fast, the other fading slowly.
"Two targets...?" he murmured, sliding into the underbrush.
He crawled low, creeping through thick leaves. Less than 30 meters now.
Black eyes locked on movement.
Bloodbugs — palm-sized mutant beetles with shiny black carapaces and jagged legs.
More than ten of them swarmed something.
"Detected: High-frequency disruption wave — targeting nervous system."
Seung-woo's mind registered a small, cat-sized creature trapped in the swarm's center.
That was the prey.
"Analyzing: Bloodbug weak points — Third rear joint and mid-back wing link."
Targets glowed faintly in his sight.
He unsheathed his folding knife, switched to low-vibration mode, and flicked a pebble.
Two Bloodbugs turned.
"Testing group hunting response..." he whispered, then launched forward.
CHUK!
The blade struck true. The bug burst in a spray of dark fluid.
The swarm screeched in unison, emitting neural-disrupting pulses.
But—
"Disruption identified. Counter-echoing in progress."
He moved in a curve, forcing the bugs to turn toward each other.
Two collided. He struck twice more.
Within a minute, he had taken down four of the ten.
Not a scratch.
Breathing hard, he watched the swarm scatter. This wasn't blind aggression.
It was calculated hunting.
After slaying the fifth, he felt something shift again.
He reached into the carcass and grabbed a core. Not to scan it.
But to feel it.
"Separating bio-energy... Low-grade genetic compound detected."
"Permission granted: Absorb basic insect agility (E-Class)."
A pale glow danced across his palm.
The energy flowed into his chest.
A soft hum pulsed through him.
"E-Class Passive Acquired: +10% movement agility (24 hrs)"
"I can actually absorb it..." he whispered.
Not a weapon, yet.
But a beginning. Something no manual had ever taught.
Beep!
His GEU scanner flashed red.
"Error: Unable to measure energy values."
He froze, staring at the flickering screen.
It wasn't GEU rising.
It was another kind of signal — one the system couldn't comprehend.
He strapped on his backup reader.
Same result.
"Is this... power beyond measurement?"
Gene Evolution System: Mutated bio-wave accumulation active (Class E-D).
When threshold is met, next function will unlock.
Seung-woo smiled faintly.
He didn't need a high GEU.
He had his own path.
Unmeasurable. Unreplicable.
He stored the core carefully. The remaining Bloodbugs scattered.
Sunlight waned. Shadows stretched.
Seung-woo stood beneath a towering tree in the deep shadow forest.
No longer just a boy.
He was now a hunter.
And he was evolving.
End of Chapter 9 — The Beginning of Unmeasurable Power