Chapter 6

EP.6 Outholder Purge

“Haa!! Kryaa…!!”

In front of the house, Park Jin-woo let out a roar as he swung his sword.

His younger brother, Park Yun-seo, looked at him with a sense of exasperation.

“Don’t you ever get tired?”

“Haa! Don’t! Speak!”

He was completely focused on his training, showing no signs of fatigue.

Park Yun-seo couldn’t understand this kind of person.

While he had always enjoyed training, ever since he returned from the Seoul Holder Academy entrance exam, he had become even stranger.

Wake up and train, train before going to bed.

Eat breakfast and train, eat dinner and train.

Training all day long, over and over again.

Endless repetition of all the physical labor he could do.

Ever since he came back from the entrance exam, he has been like this.

-If I stay still, I’ll fall behind Do Jae-hyun! Only training can save me! I have the duty to surpass Do Jae-hyun…!!

He would occasionally spout such words, as if they were his own personal vow…

Honestly, it’s embarrassing.

He acts like he’s the protagonist of a shonen manga.

Being the younger brother of such a fool is a source of shame.

And on the other hand, he was also curious.

Who exactly is this Do Jae-hyun?

What kind of person could make Park Jin-woo so dedicated to training?

Who could have been the one to light the fire in his heart, already known for his training obsession?

He couldn’t help but wonder.

Probably one of his classmates from the academy entrance exam?

“Is Jin-woo training again?”

Suddenly, his mother appeared beside him and asked softly.

She was holding a basket full of peaches, freshly picked and ripe.

Their house, being a rare rural home in Seoul, had the quality of fruits you’d expect from an orchard.

The Park family was unique in that they were urban farmers in Seoul.

“Mom, try to talk some sense into him. He’s going to collapse.”

“Leave him be. He used to be just like that. Especially after coming back from an expedition.”

“Dad did?”

“Yes. Jin-woo takes after his father in that aspect. After experiencing something special, his competitive spirit seems to surge.”

“I must take after Mom then.”

“Mom thinks so too. Both of us have our unique sides, don’t we?”

Park Yun-seo nodded.

While he didn’t really understand, knowing that his father used to be the same way made him think it might be genetic.

His mother smiled gently at the sight and stroked the peaches in the basket.

Then, as if a memory from the past came to her.

Her grip on the peach tightened.

“There were times when he would even leave in the middle of a date to go train. He said he had to beat someone… I really wanted to kill him back then, hehe.”

“…”

They say that when a woman holds a grudge, even the coldest month can feel like summer.

It seemed that after a moment of reminiscing, her anger had gradually built up.

Park Yun-seo said nothing and quietly went inside the house.

He felt that if he stayed any longer, he might get caught in the crossfire.

His family, while his own, was indeed a strange one.

It felt like no one in the house had a normal way of thinking.

* * *

“What the hell is this guy?!”

“Ah! Sir, please spare me…!!”

“Three of us can’t even catch one guy? Stop him somehow! Stop him!”

Including the man called the boss, four Outholders engaged in a fierce battle.

‘Outholders’ are a type of criminal group formed by Holders at the bottom, who can’t bear their low self-esteem and deep inferiority.

They are spread out in various places and are generally of low level, so they don’t require the same level of vigilance as <Villains>.

Most of them are Holders with low abilities, equivalent to the lower classes in an academy.

Because of this, regular police are sometimes deployed to eliminate them, rather than Holders.

On the other hand, <Villains> are serious criminal organizations in the modern society where Holders have appeared.

They operate on a national scale, committing major crimes, and are designated as wanted clans in Korea, leading to large-scale purges.

They have many high-level Holders and a lot of psychopaths who are indifferent to crime.

‘It’s not my problem, though.’

<Villains> are honestly a story from a distant land.

I might encounter them someday, but not now.

My immediate opponents are the Outholders right in front of me.

A group of thugs who are a nuisance to ordinary people.

At best, they are just thugs who have been chosen by Runes to wield weapons.

With the academy entrance exam approaching,

The reason I am associating with such low-level thugs is simple.

To use the power of [Rune Hunter] without holding back.

[You have won the duel. With the mysterious power of the Rune Hunter, you can duplicate one of the opponent's Runes. Since the opponent only has one Rune, it will be duplicated.]

[You have obtained a new Rune.]

[You gain 1 Strength from the Rune's attribute.]

‘Wow! A windfall, a windfall!’

While the power they possess is weak, the Outholders have Runes.

Winning a duel allows the [Rune Hunter] to duplicate the opponent’s Rune.

This combination is a perfect match.

Even though they are weak, I can legally beat up these malicious Holders.

And as a bonus, I get Runes.

Plus, it makes me feel good, so it’s a win-win situation.

Thanks to this, for a week after the entrance exam,

I have been seeking out Outholders in the Seoul area every day and picking fights with them.

By continuously winning duels against Outholders, I have been able to obtain new Runes and ability points.

“Sir! This guy is the one. A new Holder who has been causing trouble around here…!!”

“Ah. You talk too much. Just attack quickly. Aren’t you embarrassed?”

Two of the Outholders were already worn out.

The only ones left were the one called the boss and a lackey.

At first, I couldn’t handle multiple Outholders like this.

Even if they are weak Outholders, they are still Holders with Runes and the ability to wield weapons.

Fighting one against many is unpredictable and never easy.

However, as I gradually defeated Outholders, obtained new Runes and ability points, and trained consistently for a week with [Sweat of the Seeker], my Runes began to grow steadily.

As a result, the [Dagger] is now level 3, [Sword] and [Rush] are level 2.

…By the way, [Cooking] has also leveled up to 3.

Kim Chae-eun’s cooking requests have been effective.

Thanks to the rapid growth of my Runes and the corresponding increase in ability points, I have reached a level where I can face multiple Outholders without being overwhelmed.

“Eat this, you bastard…!!”

And at that moment.

The Outholder leader, who had been hiding behind his subordinates, lunged at me.

The Outholder, without any particular weapon, charged at me with his bare hands.

For a moment, I thought it might be a Rune for hand-to-hand combat or brawling, but I quickly realized it wasn’t.

The hand of the Outholder charging at me.

His hand was not clenched into a fist but was stretched out.

As if…

He was about to scratch.

‘It’s a skill!’

As a devoted reader of <Next Rune Holder>, I could immediately recognize that this attack was in the form of a ‘skill’.

So far, the only skill I have seen with my own eyes is Kang Ju-yeon’s [Magic Defense Shield].

While I don’t know the exact form of other skills, the stance, which seemed unrelated to combat, strongly suggested it was a skill.

“Huff…!!”

I felt a sense of danger and quickly took a defensive stance.

I didn’t even prepare for a counterattack.

With my current speed stat at 10,

If I focus solely on evasion,

I could avoid the slow skill without taking any damage.

“He dodged…?!”

I immediately spun my body.

Almost a 360-degree turn.

And a backspin blow to the Outholder’s face!

This was an action assisted by the [Brawl] Rune I recently obtained.

“Gah!!”

“Sir! Damn it! Save me!!”

Asking for help.

I’ve never killed anyone before….

The fight was over.

The Outholder leader, who possessed a special Rune capable of using a skill,

Seemed to lack any weapon-related Runes.

When his skill missed, he immediately took a hit and fell, and the remaining Outholder fled down the alley.

It’s a rather anticlimactic end for an Outholder who only has the power to bully ordinary people.

More importantly, the reward from the [Rune Hunter] is what matters.

I shook my hand and checked the information window.

[You have won the duel. With the mysterious power of the Rune Hunter, you can duplicate one of the opponent's Runes. Since the opponent only has one Rune, it will be duplicated.]

[You have obtained a new Rune.]

[You gain 1 Poison Resistance from the Rune's attribute.]

[Holder information has been updated with resistance.]

“Resistance?”

Resistance activated?

‘Resistance’ is a type of resilience that can be activated through special situations or with the assistance of Runes.

Since this information about the protagonist Park Jin-woo only activates in the middle of the story, I didn’t expect it to happen, but I received an unexpected reward.

I quickly checked the updated <Holder Information> and the newly obtained <Rune Information>.

<Holder Information>

◎Name: Do Jae-hyun

◎Gender: Male (20)

◎Attributes

[Strength: 12] [Magic: 2]

[Speed: 10] [Spirit: 1]

[Endurance: 7] [Mind: 11]

◎Resistance

[Poison: 1]

◎Runes

[Rune Hunter Lv.Max] [Sweat of the Seeker Lv.Max]

[Dagger Lv.3] [Cooking Lv.3] [Sword Lv.2] [Rush Lv.2]

[Blunt Weapon Lv.1] [Bow Lv.1] [Axe Lv.1] [Spear Lv.1]

[Brawl Lv.1] [Shield Lv.0] [Poison Lv.0]

◎Skills

[Quarter Knife] (Dagger)

[Poison Claw] (Poison)

◎Ultimate Skill

-

<Rune Information>

◎Name: Poison

◎Grade: Rare (Rare)

◎Level: 0

◎Engraved Part: Fingernails

◎Special Effect

: +1 Poison Resistance

◎Derived Skill

[Poison Claw]

◎Detailed Information

: You can handle poison and understand it better.

The information window, which had changed dramatically in just a week,

Was so packed with information that the word ‘glorious’ would be an understatement.

The fantastic collaboration of the two Epic Runes, [Sweat of the Seeker] and [Rune Hunter].

Surprisingly, the Runes I obtained from hunting Outholders were not many.

The weapons and Runes they used were all the same.

It’s not for nothing that they are considered to be of lower class.

On the other hand, the [Poison] Rune I just obtained activates a special attribute, resistance, and comes with a skill from the start, making it a high-quality ‘Rare Rune’.

It’s a windfall that can’t be overstated.

“Thank you, Outholders…!!”

Outholders.

They are a nuisance to society due to their ambiguous nature and level.

But to me, right now,

They are a tree that generously gives Runes.