Chapter 4

The Fate-Seizing Hunter 004

Chapter 4

Night fell. It was time to finish the day's work and go to bed.

Song Jin-woo picked up the strangely shaped headband hanging on one side of the bed, put it on his head, and lay down.

This small headband was a device that allowed him to connect to the 'Dimension World' even while sleeping.

As soon as he lay down, he felt his consciousness gradually fading.

……

《LOG IN》

When Song Jin-woo opened his eyes, he saw an environment different from his home, indeed different from Earth.

He was standing in the middle of a fountain in a town that evoked a fantasy world.

Elves and dwarves walked around the town without a care, and occasionally, lizardmen and orcs could be seen.

This was the virtual reality game 'Dimension World.'

With a simple headband, one could connect to this place for seven hours a day.

One could also sleep while connected, so most people logged in while they slept.

This place was very similar to the 'Central Continent' that Song Jin-woo had visited by crossing a dimensional gate during the day.

In fact, the Central Continent, now a hunting ground for hunters, was originally part of the Dimension World.

Originally, the Dimension World consisted of seven continents:

The 'Fantasy Continent' that fully embodied the world of fantasy,

The 'Eastern Continent' that realized the legends of martial arts, shogunates, and yokai from the East,

The 'Science Continent' built with the advanced science of the future,

The 'Dark Continent' occupied by black mages and the undead,

The 'Holy Continent' where all myths converged,

The 'Demon Continent' where all evil and demons gathered,

And the 'Central Continent' where the characteristics of all continents were mixed.

One day, about ten years ago, a tremendous event occurred.

A dimensional gate connecting the 'Central Continent' and reality suddenly appeared in the real world.

This place was not just an extension of a game.

One could bring items or NPCs from the game into reality using points collected in the Central Continent.

Some people even began to use skills from the game in reality.

As the game's elements entered reality, everything began to change rapidly.

Critically injured patients or those suffering from rare diseases, who could not be saved by modern medicine, were cured with a single vial of potion.

One could cast amazing magic in reality with a magic wand and leap over buildings with a pair of shoes.

Wars between nations were decided by the amount of items they possessed.

With the 'Seal Points' obtained from the Central Continent, one could achieve anything they dreamed of.

Thus, people called this event the 'Great Transformation.'

The era had changed.

To dominate the world, it was not only necessary to have military and economic power but also to control the continents.

However, while the Central Continent, now connected to reality, mostly followed the game's rules, there were exceptions.

The most important one was that if you died in the Central Continent, you died in reality.

The Central Continent was already the continent with the highest difficulty. It became even harder when it connected to reality.

Initially, many people who entered greedily suffered mass deaths.

But as time passed, those with power united and successfully explored the Central Continent, obtaining many Seal Points.

Thus, the profession of hunter, who explored the Central World, was born.

By collecting Seal Points, one could bring desired game items into reality. This made Seal Points more valuable than gold.

Interestingly, Seal Points could be traded like goods, so people were willing to pay a fortune to obtain them.

The amount of Seal Points one collected could even affect a nation's power. Naturally, world leaders supported guilds and provided various benefits at the national level.

Successful hunters could live in luxury and achieve stardom, enjoying popularity comparable to celebrities.

As a result, the top career aspiration for elementary school students became being a hunter.

'This has nothing to do with me.'

While butchering new monsters at the town's slaughterhouse, Song Jin-woo thought.

In the virtual reality game 'Dimension World,' Song Jin-woo did not hunt monsters but only performed manual labor.

Of course, like other players, if he hunted or completed quests, he might find unique items or higher.

Selling a unique item usually fetched at least 100 million, so finding a higher-grade item could change one's life.

However, to obtain good items, one needed a high level, which required time and money to achieve.

For Song Jin-woo, who struggled to make ends meet, such things were mere luxuries.

Thus, the only thing he could do was help merchants, cut wood, and perform other odd jobs around the town.

These jobs paid a small amount of money, which he could exchange for real money to supplement his meager living.

Song Jin-woo was not the only one doing such work. People from poor developing countries also performed these odd jobs, even while sleeping.

Men could only do manual labor, but women sometimes sold their bodies to earn money.

Song Jin-woo could not condemn such women.

If he were handsome, he would not have hesitated to sell his body to a wealthy woman.

However, since game characters reflected their real-life appearance, he had no choice but to do such work.

Of course, not everything reflected reality. For example, Song Jin-woo's legs were fine in the Central Continent.

Whack!

Song Jin-woo butchered various monsters without a moment's rest.

Since he was paid based on performance rather than hourly, the faster he worked, the more money he earned.

However, speed alone was not enough.

To earn more money, he had to butcher accurately to produce high-quality byproducts. Thus, being both fast and accurate was key.

After years of continuous work, Song Jin-woo's life skills, such as butchering, logging, cooking, refining, fishing, crafting, and mining, all reached the highest level.

While combat skills usually maxed out at level 20, life skills maxed out at level 100.

It was that much harder to level up life skills. Mastering the beginner level led to the intermediate level, mastering the intermediate level led to the advanced level, and finally, mastering the advanced level led to the highest level.

In other words, to master the highest level, one needed to reach 400 levels.

Thump! Thump!

Song Jin-woo's hands moved precisely, following a specific path with the butchering knife.

Thus, all the byproducts he produced were of the highest quality.

This was the secret to his rapid level-up. The experience gained depended on the quality of the byproducts.

Once he reached the highest level, he would not gain experience unless he produced the highest quality byproducts.

Thanks to this skill, he became a porter for the Han-Young Guild.

Without this skill, it would have been difficult to be called for every exploration by the Han-Young Guild, and he would have lacked money, forcing him to go to more dangerous places.

Mastering various life skills was the only way for Song Jin-woo to avoid going insane from the monotonous work.

If he had continued the same work every day, even Song Jin-woo would not have been able to endure it.

Thump! Thump!

Song Jin-woo was butchering in a state of near-meditation.

Continuing the same action for the seven-hour connection time required exceptional concentration, which was one of Song Jin-woo's greatest strengths.

Then, a special event occurred that broke his concentration.

Suddenly, a ringing sound echoed in his head, and a translucent message appeared in the air.

《Emblem Obtained》

▲Meat Grinder

(Rank S)

▷Conditions: 10,000 successful highest-quality butchering

▷Abilities:

Strength +200

Health +200

Slash Attack Power +50%

Skill 'Butchering Slash' Obtained

'Premium Butchering' Possible

This was the message indicating the acquisition of an emblem.

An emblem is a type of medal that grants various effects to players. Unlike titles, which only one can be worn, all emblems provide their effects.

In short, the more emblems one has, the better.

"What is this?"

Surprised, Song Jin-woo checked his status window and saw that his highest-quality butchering skill had changed from Master to Premium Butchering Level 1.

Additionally, a new skill called 'Butchering Slash' appeared.

▲Butchering Slash

(Passive)

▷Abilities:

When performing a slash attack, there is a certain probability to inflict bleeding and debuff status effects on the target.

Passive skills, unlike active skills, do not have levels but are always active.

They are preferred by players because they are always helpful, but they cannot be obtained through skill books and are thus hard to get.

"S-Rank...?"

This was the first time Song Jin-woo, who did not hunt, had obtained an S-rank emblem.

S-rank emblems were hard to obtain even for players who completed daily quests. He never imagined he could get one from butchering.

While the options on this emblem were not particularly impressive compared to other S-rank emblems, the ability to perform premium butchering was likely the core feature.

Still, it was a significant effect for Song Jin-woo.

"Premium butchering... Is there such a thing?"

Generally, the highest level for life skills was known to be the highest quality.

He had never heard of life skills reaching the premium level.

Of course, large guilds might have known about this, but such important information would not have been made public to ordinary people like Song Jin-woo.

"This is good."

Song Jin-woo smiled contentedly.

The passive skill was useless to him since he did not hunt.

However, the combined increase of 400 points in strength and health, which he usually gained only 5 points per level, was a significant boost.

Most importantly, the ability to produce premium byproducts was the best part.

From now on, producing premium byproducts would increase his pay, and he would be more welcome in the guild.

At the moment, Song Jin-woo's mind was focused solely on money.

"Being able to upgrade butchering to premium... means other skills can also be upgraded to premium, right?"

If other life skills could also be upgraded to premium by meeting certain conditions, it would be the perfect way to compensate for his lack of stats.

Currently, Song Jin-woo's level was barely over 50.

The experience points he gained from such work were almost negligible compared to those gained by hunting.

While it was easy to level up to 100 in the early stages, Song Jin-woo chose to work instead.

To be active in the Central Continent, one needed to be at least level 500, as known from the Han-Young Guild members he had seen.

This was due to the promotion system.

There were three promotions at levels 300, 500, and 700, each granting 30%, 50%, and 100% stat boosts and master skills.

This applied to monsters as well. Level 500+ monsters in the Central Continent had 80% higher stats than level 300- monsters, excluding the level difference.

Song Jin-woo, who had never promoted, barely managed to work with the bonus stats he gained from leveling up.

If there was such a good method, he had to achieve it no matter how difficult the conditions.

This would significantly increase his survival chances as a porter in the Central Continent.

'What should I do? Should I upgrade other skills to premium first?'