Chapter 47

The Hunter Association.

The name had first appeared some thirty years ago, when the Great Cataclysm ended.

The first-generation Hunters who survived that blood-soaked catastrophe raised their flag, and over the years, the Hunter Association grew into an organization of tremendous stature.

Gulp.

I swallowed as I stared up at the Association building towering before me. Its sheer size and height made it stand out even in this dense forest of skyscrapers. Though it was an ordinary weekday, countless people streamed in and out.

How many years has it been?

Every Awakened underwent rank measurement under the Association’s supervision.

I was no different. Thinking of twenty-year-old Jin Taekyung walking in here with his heart full of excitement almost made me laugh—like hell it did.

Now that I’m actually here, I’m incredibly nervous.

I entered the lobby on stiff legs. The place was the size of a playing field and packed with people. Following the electronic signs posted throughout the lobby, I found the place I wanted.

Measurement Waiting Room

On the clerk’s instructions, I filled out the paperwork and went inside. Dozens of people were waiting to be measured.

Thud.

The door shut, and everyone’s eyes shot into me like arrows.

I can’t breathe. This is suffocating.

Even the air was different here. A taut tension pressed down on the entire waiting room.

One measurement decides your whole Hunter life.

I was no exception. I’d once been so nervous that I farted in front of an examiner. That pretty much said it all.

I was waiting my turn, lost in thought, when—

“Jin Taekyung?”

A familiar voice came from behind me. I slowly turned my head.

There he was.

“I thought it might be you. Sure enough.”

A potbellied, middle-aged man with a bulbous nose. A face I couldn’t forget no matter how hard I tried.

…Team Leader Kim?

Kim Sangshik. A founding member and team leader of Sopung Guild, where I’d spent years. He could be summed up in one word.

Former boss.

“Wow, I never expected to run into you here. Good to see you.”

Team Leader Kim thrust out his hand with a hearty laugh. I hesitated for a moment, then shook it.

“Likewise. It’s been a while.”

“What do you mean, a while? It’s only been a few days.”

“Those few days felt pretty long to me.”

I’d said it thinking of Murim, but Team Leader Kim would take it another way. After all, he was the one who’d handed me my dismissal only a few days ago.

“It’s because it’s summer. My days have felt long lately too.”

“Really?”

Watching him slip past the remark like a sly old fox, I let out a dry laugh.

He was always an amusing man.

In more ways than one.

“So what brings you here?”

“I had some business. What about you, Team Leader?”

“Came to scout. Heard there was a decent one this time.”

They’d fired me for staff cuts in a restructuring. And he was here to scout.

“I see.”

That was all I had to say. It was the same tired story everyone knew, and it was already over. I had no lingering attachment to it.

“What about you? Why are you here? Don’t tell me you’re trying to get reassessed.”

“Yes.”

Team Leader Kim smiled.

“Nice try, but isn’t that a waste of money? A reassessment isn’t cheap. Must be a burden for an F-rank Hunter.”

“I thought I’d give it a try anyway. Just in case.”

“You should save your money while you’re young. What’s going to change if you keep clinging to something that’ll never work?”

“Who knows? I think this time might be different.”

“It’s not that easy—”

“Team Leader.”

“Huh? What?”

I smiled gently.

“That’s enough.”

Team Leader Kim’s smile cracked.

“What?”

“I said that’s enough. I’m out of the Guild now, so stay out of my business.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

What did it mean?

“You know exactly what I mean.”

“…”

“All that ‘It couldn’t be helped,’ ‘At least you survived,’ and ‘Forget about it and make a fresh start.’ You pretended to comfort me while chipping away at me behind my back.”

“You…”

“Weren’t you the first one to tell the Guild Master to fire me? Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”

Kim Sangshik was a half-baked, petty little man.

Short on both humanity and ability.

Even inside Gates, he was always too busy saving his own skin. His reputation within the Guild was rock-bottom.

“Who did you put in my place after firing me? How much did they pay you to get them in?”

“Hey, Jin Taekyung.”

Team Leader Kim pressed down on my shoulder and growled. He might not look it, but he was one of only three D-rank Hunters in Sopung Guild. With that kind of strength, he could toy with an F-rank Hunter like me using one hand.

But—

“Take your hand off.”

I didn’t even blink. It wasn’t only the System that had synchronized. My martial arts, my stats, and even my steel-like Muscles and Bones had come with it.

“I’ll count to three. Take your hand off.”

“You little bastard. I’ve been putting up with you, but—”

I didn’t hesitate.

“One. Two.”

Three.

The instant I seized Kim Sangshik’s wrist—

Clack.

“Would the next group please come in? Numbers twenty-one through thirty!”

An Association examiner entered with a file in hand, and we sprang apart without waiting for the other to move first. Getting on the Association’s bad side wouldn’t do either of us any good.

“Consider yourself lucky.”

“Who? Me, or you?”

Kim Sangshik’s flushed face looked downright ridiculous.

So did the Level Window I picked up through Qi Sense.

System

Lv. 24 Kim Sangshik

“Meeting you was disgusting. Let’s never see each other again.”

I rose without a shred of regret. My waiting number was thirty.

My steps toward the examiner were no longer stiff.

“Number twenty-one. Please come forward.”

A tense-looking Awakened stood before the measuring device. Made from an A-rank Magic Gem, it scanned his entire body and converted the mana inside him into numbers.

Bzzzzzt—

The examiner checked the reading.

“Amount of mana distributed throughout the body: F-rank.”

The Awakened’s face turned ashen. But it was too soon to despair. He still had a second chance.

“Try moving your mana. Concentrate as hard as you can and imagine firing it into the measuring device.”

They were testing his mana control. Realizing it wasn’t over yet, the Awakened gritted his teeth and strained with every ounce of strength he had—

Pfffft.

“…”

“…”

Looking ready to vomit, the examiner said, “Control ability: F-rank.”

“Please! Just let me try one more time!”

“No. Next.”

The line moved quickly.

Everyone was E-rank or F-rank. One guy wasn’t even Awakened.

“This is a scam! A scam! That measuring device is made in China, isn’t it? Huh? You bastards!”

“Handle him.”

At the examiner’s command, the security Hunters waiting nearby dragged the fraudster away. Even if that guy miraculously Awakened someday, he’d probably end up on the Association’s blacklist.

“Next. Number thirty.”

Here it came.

I took a deep breath and stepped forward. The examiner glanced at the file in his hand.

“This is a reassessment?”

“Yes.”

“Mr. Jin Taekyung, you were rated F-rank seven years ago… You’re aware that reassessments carry a separate fee, correct?”

From his tone, he might as well have been telling me not to waste my money and to go home while I still could.

The usual attitude toward an F-rank Hunter.

Do they think I’m a beggar?

I was used to it. That didn’t make it any less insulting. When I glared at him, the examiner gave a short laugh.

“I’m only mentioning it in case you weren’t aware, but the fee is two million won.¹”

“…The price went up?”

“It has been a few years.”

Fuck. I didn’t know that.

How much was in my account right now…?

“Then we’ll begin the measurement.”

Nervous, I closed my eyes.

And the next moment—

Bzzzzzt.

A wave of magical power rolled out of the measuring device and swept through my whole body.

My fifteen years of internal energy responded with a shudder.

What rank will I get?

C-rank? No, I’d be happy with D-rank. But more than ten seconds passed, and the examiner still said nothing.

“Uh… Why is it doing this?”

“What’s wrong?”

Flustered, he looked back and forth between the device and me, then cleared his throat.

“There seems to be some kind of error… We’ll move on to the next step for now.”

I had no idea what was happening, but strangely, it didn’t feel ominous.

I’ve got a good feeling about this.

My heart pounding, I drew up my internal energy.

Ssshhh.

At the call of the Jin Family’s Cultivation Technique, fifteen years of internal energy surged up and shot toward the measuring device.

At the lobby entrance—

“Well done.”

Kim Sangshik patted a young man on the shoulder. As of today, the promising young man had officially been rated D-rank.

He would soon join Sopung Guild and be assigned to Kim Sangshik’s team. Thinking of the day to come, Kim Sangshik smiled proudly.

“Father and son on the same team. That’s my boy.”

“What are you talking about? I’m not even an official Hunter yet. I still have to go through the training center.”

“Don’t worry. Your father already took care of it.”

“Wait, really? Didn’t you say the Guild didn’t have any openings?”

“There’s always a way.”

He didn’t mention that he’d made room by firing the lowest-ranked Hunter, who had long been a thorn in his side.

“Anyway, get plenty of rest this week. Starting next week, we’ll go to work together—”

Kim Sangshik’s face suddenly twisted.

“What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing. Go wait in the car.”

Once his son had left, Kim Sangshik rolled up his shirtsleeve.

His wrist was already swollen blue-black. The sight made him grind his teeth.

“Jin Taekyung, you fucking bastard.”

He’d disliked that bastard from the start. An F-rank Hunter had no business being deputy team leader, and he’d hated the way Taekyung acted like a brother to the former team leader, who was now dead.

That bastard should’ve fucking died with him back then.

The unfortunate accident two years ago had been a stroke of extraordinary luck for Kim Sangshik.

After being sidelined over several sex scandals, he’d returned triumphantly as team leader. A few days ago, he’d even managed to get Jin Taekyung thrown out.

But did that bastard really reawaken?

Kim Sangshik stared down at his throbbing wrist.

It had lasted only an instant, but the strength he’d felt had been tremendous. Taekyung might have reawakened as an E-rank—or perhaps even a D-rank.

“No. Reawakening isn’t child’s play.”

Maybe he’d simply gotten weaker because he hadn’t exercised lately. Kim Sangshik was muttering to himself, his thoughts in turmoil, when—

“Breaking news from the measurement room.”

“Did someone promising show up?”

“They say a big fish surfaced. C-rank.”

“C-rank? That’s not bad, but is it really enough to call him a big fish?”

“His mana control is supposedly A-rank.”

“What? A-rank? Get your hooks into him, now!”

“Yes, this is Choi Minsu from Sangdong Guild. The reason I’m calling is…”

A stir spread among the scouts prowling the lobby entrance like hyenas.

Most had been sent by small and midsized Guilds, but the handful representing major Guilds were already moving quickly.

C-rank alone is impressive, and he’s gifted with mana control on top of it?

This was a jackpot.

Kim Sangshik’s mind snapped into focus. He cast every thought of Jin Taekyung aside and pulled out his phone.

“Hey, Team Leader Kim. Did that business go well?”

The deep voice on the other end belonged to Sopung Guild’s Guild Master.

Kim Sangshik spoke urgently.

“Guild Master, it’s chaos here. A C-rank just appeared, and they say his mana control is on the level of a high-ranking Hunter.”

“What? Where did a guy like that come from?”

“Exactly. The major Guilds always snatch them out from under us, but it looks like they were a step late this time.”

“Good. So that’s how it is…”

Huff. Huff.

Rough breathing came through the phone, as though the Guild Master were excited. Even the way he addressed Kim Sangshik changed.

“Sangshik. You hold on to that guy no matter what. Tell him we’ll meet any conditions he wants.”

“How high can we go?”

“Don’t worry about the money. Add plenty on top of whatever the others offer. The major Guilds will back off if they decide he isn’t profitable enough. It’s not like they’re desperate for him.”

“Yes, yes.”

“I’m on my way. Keep him there until I arrive. If you pull this off… you know what that means, right?”

After ending the call, Kim Sangshik clenched his fist.

We’ve got this!

He was an old hand at this business. Holding on to a newly Awakened rookie would be easy.

This was a world where money could put even ghosts to work.

Double whatever everyone else offers. I’ll offer him twice as much, no matter what.

The commotion grew louder. The elevator was descending from the third floor, where the measurement room was located.

“He’s coming!”

“Hey, stop shoving!”

Some twenty scouts crowded around the elevator doors like a swarm of ants. Kim Sangshik muscled his way to the front and readied his business card.

Ding.

At last, the elevator doors opened.

Kim Sangshik bowed low and launched into his prepared speech.

“Hello. I’m Team Leader Kim Sangshik of Sopung Guild. We are a prestigious Guild with a long tradition here in Bucheon—”

“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard anyone call Sopung a prestigious Guild.”

“…What?”

At the familiar voice, Kim Sangshik slowly raised his head.

Their eyes met.

At the same time, Kim Sangshik’s buttonhole-sized eyes went wide.

“Y-you…”

Jin Taekyung grinned.

“We meet again, Mr. Kim Sangshik.”