Chapter 3
How much time had passed?
The monsters that had been unleashing indiscriminate bombardment gradually ceased their attacks and began retreating step by step.
But what was this? The man who should have been dead by all accounts stood perfectly intact.
"Cough! Son of a bitch. What fresh hell is this? Did the dimensional jump fail? That's impossible... Cough! Cough!"
The man slowly raised his arm.
Wooooong!
A white luminescence gathered around his uplifted hand, rapidly coalescing into the shape of a sword.
"Fuckers. I don't know why you mongrel hybrids are here, but I'll return every ounce of what I've received."
The luminous mass solidified into a pristine blade just as the man sprang into motion.
Whoosh!
Thus began the true battle between the man and the monsters.
To any observer, this should have been the man's inevitable defeat—yet the clash concluded with an unforeseen outcome.
Though for Junhyuk, who already knew the result, it held no surprise.
In barely two hours,
A brutal struggle unfolded, overflowing with savage, dazzling skills.
C-class and higher elite species each possessed unique signature abilities.
This was why suppressing a single elite typically required at least a hundred high-ranking Hunters.
Yet this solitary man had slaughtered over a dozen such elites in under an hour.
Then came the final adversary—the domain ruler. He fought the A-class monster as an equal.
No, beyond equal—he inflicted such catastrophic damage that the A-class creature retreated voluntarily.
What even five S-class Hunters (only five existed worldwide) couldn't achieve together, this lone man accomplished alone.
But could this be called victory?
Technically, no.
For the man too lay collapsed, his grievous injuries leaving him more corpse than living.
'God! Hearing about it was one thing, but witnessing this... To single-handedly annihilate over a dozen elites and force an A-class retreat... Is this the true power of the Copy Master?'
Junhyuk peered through the window, urgently scanning the surroundings.
No other monsters remained.
"Seems clear... Time to move."
He hastened from the scene.
Descending to the first floor, Junhyuk immediately headed for the fallen man's location.
Though plunged into pitch darkness by the power outage, his eyes had long adapted to the gloom.
Moving cautiously, he soon reached the man.
Up close, the warrior appeared around Junhyuk's age—perhaps younger.
'Younger than expected. He said he gained powers by saving this guy. Should've asked more details. No—prioritize rescue.'
So far, everything matched Gicheol's account.
The critical moment approached now—whether he'd obtain the Copy Master ability hinged on his next actions.
With no further information and escape being paramount, Junhyuk shook the man awake.
"Hey. You okay?"
The man stirred with pain-filled gasps.
"Kkh... Cough! Haah... Haah..."
His condition looked dire enough to expire at any moment.
"I'm moving you somewhere safe. Hold on."
Junhyuk hoisted the man up, feigning nervousness as he hurried toward an abandoned apartment.
"Ugh! Kkh!"
After settling the man in a first-floor room, Junhyuk exhaled dramatically.
"Thought I'd die from tension."
His performance radiated exaggerated anxiety. The man lay wheezing, face twisted in agony.
"Urgh... Cough! Cough!"
Moments later, the man convulsed, vomiting blood as he struggled to rise.
"Hey! Don't move—stay down!"
The attempt proved futile. After feeble twitching, the man collapsed back.
"Haah... Cough. Where... is this?"
"Current location? Haengsin-dong."
"H-Haengsin... Cough! Then... Goyang City?"
"Correct. It's monster territory now, but yes."
The man's bitter smile twisted at Junhyuk's reply.
"Hah... So the jump... Cough! Worked. Yet why... are these... Cough! Here?"
"Monsters? Like I said—they've overrun this area."
Confusion etched the man's face.
"Cough! Monsters... occupying...? What year...?"
"June 2035."
"2035... Cough! Only five years... I spent thirty... Cough! There... Kkh! Kkh!"
The man doubled over, spewing blood.
"Shit! Stop straining yourself!"
"Too late... for me."
"Nonsense! Hunters will come at dawn. They'll have healers—"
"I know... my body. My time... Haah... is up."
Junhyuk fell silent. His encouragement was hollow—the man's wounds were clearly mortal.
"Damn... Hadn't exhausted... Cough! most power opening the Gate... This wouldn't... Happened... Hah. Novels made it... Cough! look easy... Kkh! Not... protagonist material..."
The man had drained himself creating a dimensional portal, leaving him vulnerable to the ambush.
'He displayed that might while nearly depleted? At full power... This ability might surpass all expectations.'
Junhyuk's intel from Gicheol painted Copy Master as mere skill replication—already valuable with his hyper-senses.
In his previous life, those senses alone had made him an infamous trillion-won bounty villain despite being a common warrior-class.
But witnessing this... The true potential dwarfed his assumptions.
'Gicheol never grasped this power's depth. Pathetic—wasting such a gift in life's gutter.'
As Junhyuk mused, the man rasped:
"A... favor."
"Favor?"
With trembling hands, the man produced a photo from his pocket—a family portrait showing parents, a high school boy (likely himself), and a middle school-aged sister.
"Find... my family... Cough! If alive... protect them."
"I'd like to, but survival's hard enough in this monster-ravaged—"
"Kkh... Not... free. I'll... give you... power."
The man seized Junhyuk's wrist with surprising strength.
"Your... name?"
"J-Junhyuk. Choi Junhyuk."
"Cough! System Transfer... Target: Choi Junhyuk!"
The words Junhyuk had desperately awaited finally came.
