Tae-oh locked himself back in his manor room, his mind reeling. The one person who should have known his future weakness—the Regressor—was now convinced he was a tactical genius. He needed to focus on the only thing that gave him an edge: his System.
He brought up his status screen, his eyes burning with forced concentration.
[Host Status: Virtue Points (VP): 50. Intelligence (INT): 13.]
[New Skill Unlocked: Basic Audit (Passive)]
He commanded the System to explain the skill immediately.
[Basic Audit (Passive): A logistical cheat that converts analysis into instant identification. Effect: Automatically highlights the most statistically inefficient or flawed process, structure, or energy flow within a 10-meter radius. Usable: 5 times per day. Note: Can be applied to living targets.]
Tae-oh stared at the description. "Applied to living targets?"
He tested it immediately, activating the skill and focusing on a small, silk-upholstered footstool nearby. The stool immediately glowed with a faint, angry red light. [Flaw: Center Leg Instability (0.01mm variance). Risk: Collapse under average load.]
"Useless," Tae-oh scoffed. This was a skill designed for quality control, not dungeon crawling.
He stood up and walked out, activating the skill again, targeting the first person he saw: a junior Hunter sweeping the courtyard, who immediately bowed low.
The red glow immediately latched onto the Hunter's chest. [Flaw: Mana Core Leakage (1.2% per hour due to poor posture during circulation).]
Wait. Tae-oh's eyes widened. A passive skill that could instantly pinpoint a person's fatal weakness or inefficiency, even in their esoteric Hunter abilities?
He looked at the junior Hunter, who still bowed, patiently waiting for the 'genius' Young Master to give his next profound insight. Tae-oh dismissed the skill and hurried past. He had just stumbled onto a terrifying power: he could audit living people and the environment for structural flaws.
He decided he needed to escape the Guild premises for fresh air and fewer terrifying Regressors. He drove his sleek, black Guild-issue sports car toward the local Hunters' Association headquarters in Gangnam.
As he entered the lobby, the Audit skill activated on its own, blasting a powerful red light onto the entire room.
[MAJOR STRUCTURAL FLAW DETECTED!]
The light focused on a section of the massive stone pillar supporting the central dome. [Flaw: Internal Aetheric Corruption. Critical Structural Failure Imminent. Time to Collapse: 3 minutes, 15 seconds.]
Tae-oh froze. This wasn't a flaw in a spreadsheet; this was a flaw that would kill hundreds.
He looked around wildly. People were chatting, oblivious. He couldn't scream—he'd be mobbed and questioned. But he couldn't let the pillar collapse.
Just as he was about to panic, a sharp, clear voice cut through the ambient noise.
"Everyone! Step back immediately! That pillar is collapsing!"
Tae-oh snapped his head toward the voice. Standing near the central fountain was Yoo Eun-ha.
She was the True Heroine of the original novel: an S-Rank Hunter, famously known as the 'Sword of Righteousness.' She was beautiful, radiating a powerful, protective golden aura, and was known for her incredible intuition.
She stared at the pillar with intense, focused alarm, already pushing civilians away with a powerful gust of wind.
She saw it too? No, she wouldn't see Aetheric Corruption. She's guessing!
Tae-oh had to act. He calculated the fastest way to stabilize the pillar to buy them time. The Basic Audit had given him the diagnosis.
He spotted a small, decorative water feature near the pillar's base—a weak point. He charged forward, not with a heroic battle cry, but with a frustrated yell, driven by the timer ticking down in his mind.
He slammed his F-Rank mana into the water feature's drain valve, his action entirely focused on the structurally weakest point identified by his Audit skill.
The result was a catastrophic surge of mana into the stone base, causing a controlled, highly-localized Mana Discharge. The shockwave did not stop the collapse, but channeled the stress into a harmless side chamber, stabilizing the pillar just long enough for the building to be evacuated.
The roaring noise died down. The pillar was saved. The civilians were safe.
Yoo Eun-ha, her gold aura still blazing, looked at Tae-oh. She didn't see the panicked F-Rank heir. She saw a determined young man who had just performed a precise, subtle miracle.
Her eyes, full of the novel's characteristic pure reverence for justice, shone with respect.
"You… you performed a Controlled Mana Displacement to save the structure," she breathed, her voice filled with awe. "Young Master Han, that was... selfless. And a stroke of tactical genius."
Tae-oh, covered in dust and still hyperventilating, just glared at the destroyed water feature, furious at the near-death experience.
[Quest Alert: Public Display of Righteousness. Reward: Virtue Rank UP.]
A Virtue Rank UP? Because I prevented a lawsuit?!
He knew his goose was cooked. If the Heroine thought he was a genius, the Regressor was going to be absolutely certain he was the Devil.