The sun greeted him with a blinding slap to the face as Zairon stepped out of the Forgotten Burrow. His makeshift cloak fluttered behind him, dust swirling around his boots.
Before him stretched a broken forest turning into hills, and just beyond—walls. Cracked, patched, and reinforced with scrap metal and Spirit Stone remnants, the gates of a frontier town stood open.
[Location Discovered: Hollowedge Outpost]
A small settlement on the edge of a larger Hunter territory. Population: a few thousand. Condition: mildly terrible.
Zairon grinned. "Oh wow. Ramshackle buildings? Dusty streets? Ragged survivors and untrusting stares? Perfect."
He strode in like he owned the place.
People gave him odd looks—half because of his ragged dungeon-covered appearance, half because he was loudly humming what suspiciously sounded like a villain theme.
He ignored them.
First stop: the local bar—The Broken Fang—because of course it was.
Inside, he threw some random beast core he picked up onto the counter and asked for information.
And oh boy, did he get it.
The world, he learned, wasn't just wild. It was lawless.
Guilds fought like gangs, towns paid Hunters protection money, rogue cultivators robbed weaker ones for EXP-rich cores, and corruption infested what little authority existed. It was survival of the strongest, and the strongest were often the worst.
Zairon sipped his oddly glowing drink and leaned back in his chair.
"I see…"
He closed his eyes dramatically.
"…The world is sick."
People at nearby tables turned to stare.
"…But worry not. For today, this rotten world has found its liberator."
He stood up with a dramatic flourish. A plate fell off the counter.
"I, Zairon—future emperor of EXP and slayer of status quo—have arrived!"
Someone near the back whispered, "Who the hell is that?"
A man scoffed. "Another lunatic."
Zairon pointed at them both. "Correct. I am a lunatic. The last one this world will ever need."
He turned on his heel and left the bar, mind already racing.
"Let's see how others cultivate," he mused, sitting in the shade outside a shop.
From what he'd gathered, Hunters gained EXP through monster kills and through absorbing Spiritual Energy in high-density zones or from spirit cores.
Some meditated to absorb energy slowly. Others used cultivation techniques to increase their intake rate.
Zairon crossed his legs and closed his eyes.
He focused.
A faint tingling filled his chest. The world pulsed softly around him. Particles of energy drifted toward him like fireflies.
[Cultivation Technique: Instinctual Absorption (Basic)]
+10 EXP per minute
He cracked one eye open. "Hm."
Five minutes later…
[EXP: 4,060 → 4,110]
He leaned back. "It works. But…"
He scowled.
"…It's way too slow. At this rate I'll reach D-Rank sometime next year. I don't have time for slow montages. I've got fate to slap around and a continent to conquer."
He stood, stretching. "Let's do this right. First, set a micro-target. Level D. Then the real grind begins."
He scoured the town's mission board and local maps.
Eventually, he found what he was looking for:
[E-Rank Dungeon: Bristlefang Den]
Monster Types: Wolf-like beasts, packs of 3–6, some D-Rank Alphas
EXP Potential: Moderate–High
Danger Level: "Don't go alone, idiot"
Zairon slapped the paper and grinned. "Excellent."
He looked up at the town gate, his coat fluttering dramatically behind him again.
"Time to hit the gym."
[Current EXP: 4,110 / 10,000]
Target: D-Rank