Solo leveling Ch 91-95

 Chapter 91

 

‘Summons??’

The first thing Cha Hae-In thought of was summoning when she saw the Shadow Soldiers. However, there were simply too many of them to say that this was the result of summoning magic.

The thing was, the mage-type Hunters specialising in summoning magic could only control one, or two at a push. If one could control two, then the treatment one received improved greatly, and she hadn’t yet heard of anyone capable of controlling three or more summon creatures.

However….

Just how many of them were here?!

‘This makes no sense!’

One man summoned over 100 in one go. And, he didn’t even need a lot of time to summon them, too. No, he only needed a moment to summon dozens and dozens in one go.

‘I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it with my own two eyes.’

She might be one of the top-ten ranked Hunters in South Korea, but another Hunter’s ability had managed to leave her totally speechless now.

However….

‘This isn’t the time for me to stand around like this.’

Her gaze immediately shifted past the Shadow Soldiers and locked onto the raid team. Their complexions were not good at all. Some of them were squatting on the ground as if they no longer had any energy left.

Didn’t matter what the identity of the man named Seong Jin-Woo was, didn’t matter what kind of ability he possessed – her priority lay with lending him aid by taking care of these High Orcs right away.

The results of her thought process might be simple, but she was incredibly quick to put them into action. Cha Hae-In tightened her grip on the ‘weapon’ in her hands and took a step towards the High Orcs.

However, it happened then.

Her eyes met Jin-Woo’s. And his eyes were telling her in no uncertain terms.

….That it was not necessary; that she shouldn’t interfere.

That she should just observe from the sidelines.

Cha Hae-In couldn’t understand why.

‘But, how come….?’

She could easily tell that Seong Jin-Woo was capable of controlling countless summons. However, there were just as many High Orcs standing, and there was also the boss possessing greater power, too.

Because he had to summon that many creatures, and he had to maintain them constantly too, his magic energy reserve should be running empty by now. Yet….

‘What is he trying to do on his own?’

She was puzzled, sure, but in the end, Cha Hae-In lowered her weapon. It wasn’t because the so-called weapon just so happened to be a pickaxe she borrowed from the mining team. No, she became curious with what the Hunter named Seong Jin-Woo would do against the army of High Orcs, instead.

Expectations.

Her cool-headed reasoning and her expectation had a fight in her mind, and the latter achieved a resounding victory. For some reason, her heart began palpitating faster now.

‘Whew, that’s a relief.’

Jin-Woo inwardly breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Cha Hae-In’s response. Seriously, the real thing was about to begin, so it wouldn’t do for some interference to suddenly pop out, now would it?

Heck, he even had to let the poor Sohn Ki-Hoon go through that crap until the very last moment humanly possible, just for a chance to monopolise all the monsters in here.

‘Well, he’s the kind of a guy who’d try to fight alongside if he has some energy left still.’

That was why he only acted the moment Sohn Ki-Hoon let go of his sword. Even though he had to suppress his urge to rush forward and kick the head of that d*mn Shaman.

It was all for this moment.

‘As expected of a quick-witted woman.’

What a relief it was that Cha Hae-In turned out to be a smart girl. She backed off without him needing to raise his voice, after all. Jin-Woo turned his attention back to his front while a deep smile formed on his face.

“Shadows!”

Jin-Woo loud yell reverberating within the boss room prompted the shadows to take the battle stance all at once, not one of them deviating from the formation ever so slightly.

Clack!!

Only a moment later, an eerie silence filled up the chamber.

The thing that broke this silence was the single word Jin-Woo threw out while pointing at the High Orc Shaman.

“Go.”

With that, over a hundred Shadow Soldiers rushed towards the cowering group of High Orc warriors.

RUMBLE—!!!

The black soldiers and their controlled march shook the ground, the cavern, and even the eyes of all those witnessing this scene.

---

Woo Jin-Cheol was running breathlessly.

“Pant, pant, pant….”

He ran so hard that he now tasted sweetness in his mouth.

He bent over and tried to catch his breaths, before raising his torso up – only to spot a woman with a short hairstyle standing near the entrance of the boss room. He immediately recognised who she was.

‘Cha Hae-in….’

Where would you find a female Hunter possessing an aura like hers?

‘….However, why is she standing still like that?’

Woo Jin-Cheol found it strange that she didn’t try to participate in the battle and simply stood by, so he quickly walked up next to her.

And it was at that point he got to see clearly the situation inside the boss room.

“This…. What is this?”

Soldiers wearing jet-black armour were one-sidedly massacring the supposedly-powerful monsters, also known as High Orc warriors.

“K-kuwaaahk!!”

“Kiiahk!”

“Kueehhk!!”

The pitiful screams of the High Orcs even managed to deafen Woo Jin-Cheol’s hearing.

Also, he might have been less shocked if there were only human-shaped soldiers present. But then again, just what were those nonsensically huge black bears with smoke coming out of them, as well as High Orcs kitted out in various black-coloured armours?

“Been a while, Chief Woo Jin-Cheol.”

“Ah, yes, miss. It’s been a while… but, what are they? They don’t seem to be simple monsters….”

“They are summons that man called out.”

Cha Hae-In greeted Woo Jin-Cheol first before pointing at Jin-Woo in the distance.

Woo Jin-Cheol quickly took his sunglasses off and stared at Jin-Woo, now standing in the middle of the battlefield. While wielding two shortswords that looked like daggers, he was busy destroying the formation of the High Orcs.

‘No matter how I see it, doesn’t he look like a top-ranked melee-type Hunter?’

However, he could even use summoning magic, too?

And, sure enough…

When Jin-Woo’s lips moved a little, dozens more summons rose up from the ground.

“Oh, my god!”

Woo Jin-Cheol’s jaw fell to the floor.

Just how many summons could that man control?!

‘This… this is the true ability of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo….’

He couldn’t close shut his slack jaw at all.

Could the Association President Goh Gun-Hui have recognised the skill set of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo already? If so, then his sky-high interest in Hunter Seong Jin-Woo made plenty of sense.

Cha Hae-In couldn’t rip her eyes away from Jin-Woo for a long time, but she belatedly did manage that and asked Woo Jin-Cheol.

“By the way, why are you here, Chief Woo? Was the call made to the Monitoring Division already?”

When Cha Hae-In asked him that question, Woo Jin-Cheol somehow managed to regain control over his emotions and replied.

“No, that’s not it. We were in the neighbourhood, just passing by. But, it was a coincidence that we discovered the Gate’s abnormal condition, and we came here to help facilitate the evacuation of the raid team, but well….”

Woo Jin-Cheol stopped talking there and stared at Jin-Woo again.

“However, looks like that won’t be necessary.”

This would be his first time witnessing Hunter Seong Jin-Woo’s true skill. And that just so happened to be the spectacle of him clearing a rank A dungeon with his own power.

It didn’t look like other’s help was necessary.

“Yes. I think standing still is the right call to make here.”

Cha Hae-In too agreed with that assessment.

That man’s battle didn’t leave any gaps for a rank S like her to butt in at all.

“Do you know who that man is?”

Cha Hae-In asked.

Woo Jin-Cheol was clearly admiring Seong Jin-Woo’s skills, and obviously not worried about his identity, at least not outwardly. Also, he was an agent of the Association which did block Jin-Woo’s information from leaking out, too.

‘So maybe, Woo Jin-Cheol might know who that man is.’

Her expectation was on the money.

“Yes, a little bit.”

“That man… just who is he?”

Woo Jin-Cheol put his sunglasses back on and replied.

“I can’t reveal that information.”

---

The Shaman was furious.

When it first opened its eyes in this place, only one order was filling up its mind.

• Hunt down humans!

However, what was the meaning of this pathetic display?

Wasn’t a lone human easily hunting down every single member of its tribe? This wasn’t supposed to happen. No, such a thing must not happen at all.

The Shaman’s eyes reddened even further as it witnessed the massacre of its subordinates.

‘You insect-like b*stard! I’ll step on you!!’

If hexes didn’t work against the enemy, then all it had to do was to bless itself and fight!

“The song of rage! The song of strengthening! The song of the giants! The song of the fire dragon!”

With the completion of the various spells, the Shaman’s body suddenly ballooned up to nearly ten metres tall. Its strength, agility, stamina, and even its confidence increased greatly as well, power filling up every square inch of its frame.

Right away, the Shaman used its gigantic arm to swat away the Shadow Soldiers, and then took a deep breath.

And then…

“Fuuuu-hoook!!”

When the Shaman spat out its breath, reddish black flames erupted out of its mouth.

Rumble!!

The soldiers immediately dissipated and scattered away when they were struck dead-on by the flames. Even those grazed by it were no exception. Parts of their bodies were blown away and they were rendered unable to carry on fighting.

The flames didn’t end with one attack; the second wave of flames spat out of the Shaman’s mouth in a row.

The Shaman was able to greatly reduce the number of the Shadow Soldiers with its continuous attacks. Having received a boost to its confidence, it roared out at the top of its lungs.

“Do you still find this great Karugalgan funny now?!”

The reply came from above its head.

“Yup.”

The Shaman flinched and raised its head, all the while hurriedly trying to chant a defensive spell, but…

But, Jin-Woo was one step quicker.

POW!!

CRACK!!

The Shaman’s head smashed down into the ground. The floor shattered and spiderweb-like cracks rapidly spread out.

Jin-Woo had already experienced blowing away Vulcan with his bare fist. And that demon was much, much larger than this arrogant Shaman, too.

[You have killed the owner of the dungeon.]

Tab.

When he lightly landed on the ground, feel-good messages began popping up in his view one after the other.

Tt-ring.

[Level up!]

“There you go!”

Jin-Woo pumped his fist.

Back when he was fighting using ‘Stealth’, he levelled up once. When he was killing these Orcs, another level up. And, after killing the boss just now, another level up. Clearing this rank A dungeon netted him three level ups, in other words. This was a result well above his expectation. He even felt very grateful towards Foreman Bae for suggesting yesterday that they should work together again.Ñøv€l-B1n was the first platform to present this chapter.

‘This is very good.’

With an elated mind, Jin-Woo walked closer to the boss. The once-buffed up Shaman’s body had reverted back to its original size already.

He saw an egg-sized magic crystal embedded in the dead boss’s necklace, but he decided to not to get too greedy.

‘Earning experience points is good enough.’

This was the Hunters Guild’s dungeon, at the end of the day.

If he wanted to get his hands on a magic crystal from a rank A dungeon, he didn’t need to enter someone else’s dungeon – he’d just buy himself a permit for a dungeon of his own, instead.

No, what Jin-Woo was aiming for was something else. And that would be the black smoke beginning to rise up from the boss’s corpse.

Gulp.

Jin-Woo licked his lips in anticipation.

He couldn’t help but remember the corpse of Baruka, the one that slipped through his fingers back in the Red Gate.

‘But, my situation is a lot different compared to then.’

Compared to now, his Stats weren’t that high back then.

Also, killing that b*stard took a lot out of him. Only after receiving the aid of two knight-grade soldiers, Igrit and Iron, did he manage to beat that boss down.

However, he was able to kill this Shaman comparatively easily today.

A week spent inside the Demon’s Castle – this was the definite proof that the events of those short seven days weren’t in vain.

Jin-Woo issued a new order at the rising, wavering black steam-like smoke.

“Rise up.”

At the same time, an ominous wind brushed past his two cheeks. He instinctively realised it right away.

‘It worked!’

A radiant smile bloomed on Jin-Woo’s face.

Kuwaaaahhh!!

As the soul-tearing scream resounded out, a mage covered in black robe rose up from the shadow of the dead Shaman.

‘…Huh?’

Jin-Woo sensed something was different about this guy, and so he checked the information window.

[?? Lv.1]

Elite Knight grade

‘An Elite Knight?’

Previously, Jin-Woo was able to confirm that there were three grades to the Shadow Soldiers.

Regular grade.

Elite grade.

And then, the Knight grade.

But now, for the first time ever, the ‘Elite Knight’ grade appeared.

He began to think that, seeing the word ‘elite’ tacked on to the already-existing grade ‘Knight’, this new guy had to be a realm higher than either Igrit or Iron in terms of combat prowess.

‘For sure, I can sense that its magic energy is far greater than that of my two knights.’

As expected of turning the boss of a rank A dungeon into his Shadow Soldier.

Tti-ring.

[Please set the soldier’s name.]

And also as expected, he got another System message telling to name the new guy, now that another Knight-grade Shadow Soldier had appeared.

‘A name, is it….’

Well, its face was hidden under the hood of the robe now, but still, High Orcs and lengthy fangs went hand in hand, no?

‘Right, let’s name it Fangs.’ (TL note at the end)

He didn’t need to issue a separate order; just thinking about it meant the new guy’s name would be set.

[Fangs Lv.1]

Elite Knight grade.

Instead of question marks, the new name appeared in the information window.

If the Shaman who remained utterly arrogant right till the moment it died heard this name, the poor guy might have fainted on the spot. But well, who cares? It was already dead, anyway.

With a satisfied grin on his face, Jin-Woo recalled his Shadow Soldiers.

He could now store almost 130 of them. Although it was a bit regrettable, he had to return the rest back to the void.

‘This much is more than enough, though.’

He stepped off from the altar with a big smile on his face, but then, several people rushed over to him. They were – Hunters from the raid team, Cha Hae-In, and finally, a group of men wearing matching black business suits.

Jin-Woo recognised one of the faces among the black suits.

‘Since when did Chief Woo Jin-Cheol show up?’

Seeing the expression on Woo Jin-Cheol, he probably had witnessed the Shadow Soldiers in action in full.

“Mister Seong Jin-Woo.”

“Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim.”

“Mister Porter?!”

Everyone called out to him at the same time, then they took glances at each other.

Well, it was all fine and dandy that he got to fight to his heart’s content since he no longer had any reason to hide his powers, but…..

‘….How am I supposed to get out of this now?’

Jin-Woo looked at all these people surrounding him and scratched the back of his head.

Chapter 92

 

Woo Jin-Cheol was the first to react.

While everyone else was busy eyeing others around them, he quickly walked right up to Jin-Woo’s side, pulled out his identification card and displayed it proudly for all to see.

“We’re from the Association’s Monitoring Division.”

Didn’t matter whether you were a high ranked Hunter or a low ranked one, you’d inevitably tense up after hearing the name of the Monitoring Division. And this tactic was the right one.

It was only for a brief moment, but a hint of nervousness flashed past the expressions of the Hunters Guild members, with the sole exception of Cha Hae-In.

Woo Jin-Cheol seized upon this chance and carried on with what he wanted to say.

“The identity of Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim is being strictly guarded by the Association. It is highly classified information that cannot be revealed publicly.”

Jin-Woo could only stand back in dumbfounded admiration at Woo Jin-Cheol’s skilful bullsh*tting.

Heck, his expression and words looked and sounded so natural that one couldn’t help but wonder if he practised it every morning while looking in the mirror or some such.

Whatever the case may be, his intentions definitely got through to the other party. At the same time, Woo Jin-Cheol sent the slightest hint of a signal to Jin-Woo with his eyes.

‘We will assist you with avoiding unnecessary fuss when exiting from this place.’

Jin-Woo had no idea why the Monitoring Division were helping him, but since they were volunteering to take care of the aftermath, was there a reason for him to refuse now?

Jin-Woo nodded his head.

That’s what he wanted, anyway.

The quick-witted subordinates of Woo Jin-Cheol quickly surrounded Jin-Woo like bodyguards.

“If you have any questions, please send them to the Association. We shall escort Seong Jin-Woo Hunter now.”

Not-so-subtle implication of ‘We won’t hear any of your objections’ was apparent in his voice.

All thanks to Woo Jin-Cheol’s hardened attitude, hard enough to shatter a rock even, the members of the Hunters Guild had no choice but to rein in their questions and stay silent.

“Shall we go?”

While being escorted by the agents of the Monitoring Division, Jin-Woo walked past the Hunters.

‘Well, I am grateful, but….’

Something felt a bit odd, just then. Why did Chief Woo Jin-Cheol do something no one asked him to do in the first place? Once they got to a sufficient distance away from the members of the Hunters Guild, Jin-Woo quietly asked.

“Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

“By any chance, are you thinking of signing up with the Hunters Guild?”

Jin-Woo shook his head. As if he knew that such an answer was coming already, Woo Jin-Cheol quickly made his reply.

“What you did just now was to display the kind of power that exceeds rank S classification in front of the employees working for the largest, wealthiest Guild in South Korea. If you wish to avoid annoying matters in the near future, this method is the best one.”

Indeed, he was right.

No one could tell just what lengths the wealthy Hunters Guild might go to secure another rank S Hunter. Other Hunters would raise their hands and welcome that, but Jin-Woo was different.

It was the same story for the Hunter’s Association, too.

And so, the interests of both the Association, trying to prevent the concentration of too much power to one specific Guild, and Jin-Woo’s, who found the hindrance (?) of the Guilds annoying, lined up rather nicely.

Since this wasn’t one-sided goodwill coming from the other party but something that would help both sides, Jin-Woo didn’t feel uncomfortable by the current situation at all.

‘Well, things have become more convenient thanks to the Association.’

Because this matter had been resolved quite nicely in an unexpected manner, Jin-Woo could afford to float a thin, nearly-imperceptible smile on his lips.

But, as they were about to exit from the boss room for good….

“H-hold on!!”

An urgent call came from behind the group.

Unintentionally looking back, Jin-Woo spotted Sohn Ki-Hoon approaching them while being supported by his big-framed colleague. All of his external wounds had been healed perfectly, but his complexion remained pale as he had lost a lot of blood.

‘It’d be better for him to not move yet, though.’

Despite Jin-Woo’s worries, Sohn Ki-Hoon managed to stand before him. He then bowed deeply.

“Thank you.”

And he began speaking up his mind without holding anything back.

“Thanks to you, we are all still alive. On behalf of the raid team, I’d like to thank you.”

If one believed the words of the Monitoring Division’s Hunters, then this young man seemed to be burdened by some kind of circumstances preventing him from revealing himself.

‘With that kind of power, it’d not be too strange if he does have some kind of an unspeakable circumstance.’

However….

He risked his identity being revealed to aid Sohn Ki-Hoon and the rest of the raid team. But, was that all? He didn’t even ask for any compensation, either.

He could’ve easily requested the Hunters Guild for the corpses of the monsters or for the cost of saving the lives of the raid team, but he backed off without saying a thing.

So, how could he not bow down to this young man?

“….Thank you very much!”

His emotions now getting raw, Sohn Ki-Hoon bent his back forward 90 degrees once more. That sudden movement caused his aching body to scream out in pain, but he actually found that rather welcoming.

His heart had welled up with emotions when he saw Jin-Woo kill the monster in the exact same fashion as how he had been toyed around with before. Thinking back to that moment was enough for him to thank this young man a countless number of times.

The Hunters of the raid team saw their leader bow down to express his gratitude and finally snapped out of their stupor.

‘If it wasn’t for that man….’

‘He’s our saviour, isn’t he?’

‘In that case, I shouldn’t be standing around like this in a daze.’

They scrambled to get closer and bowed their heads as well.

“Thank you, Mister Port…. No, I mean, Hunter-nim.”

“If it wasn’t for you, we…..”

“Thanks to you, my wife won’t become a widow now.”

A young male Hunter who showed off his shaking hands back when Sohn Ki-Hoon decided to give up on raiding this dungeon, approached Jin-Woo with a tearful face.

“Excuse me, Hunter-nim…. It’s because I’m really grateful so, like, can I hug you just this once?”

“Eiii, that’s too much, dude.”

“He’s starting again. Someone stop him.”

“Well, why don’t you hug me instead, then??”

Hug.

“Euh-heok?! You’re giving me the creeps, so let go of me!!”

Wahahahahaha…..

For the first time ever since entering this particular rank A dungeon, the members of the raid team got to laugh to their heart’s content.

Jin-Woo stared at these Hunters, feeling content inside. He didn’t help them out for their flattery or for their praises, but their genuine thanks did automatically bring about a warm smile to his lips.

“….Ah.”

Jin-Woo walked over to the female Hunter jumping up and down by the corner.

‘Because she’s so small, I nearly failed to spot her.’

When he pushed forward the memo she gave to him earlier, the female Healer blushed and received it with both of her hands.

“T-thank you….”

Inwardly, though, she was admonishing herself.

‘Ah-whew. Why did I even say those embarrassing things to him back then?’

She now had one more reason to kick her sheets before going to bed if and when she ended up remembering today’s event in the future.

From the perspective of Mister Porter who could easily punch the dungeon boss to death, she must’ve looked really funny when she handed over a memo while saying it contained her final will.

She slightly raised her head and found that, thankfully enough, he wasn’t sneering at her. No, actually – he began speaking to her in a bit of strict voice.

“Miss Healer.”

“Y-yes?”

The female Healer straightened her posture right away like a student being reprimanded for her sloppy behaviour.

“From today onwards, please refrain from placing your personal articles inside the raid team’s luggage. It only serves to increase the volume.”

“….Pardon me??”

The female Healer became utterly speechless, her eyes opening up to form round buttons. Jin-Woo grinned in satisfaction.

He said all he wanted to say. And it seemed that the other party had pretty much said everything in her mind, too. So, putting the dazed female Healer behind him, he coolly turned around to leave.

“Let’s go.”

As soon as Jin-Woo began walking, the agents of the Monitoring Division moved together in one unit as if they had been rehearsing it.

There was one exception, though.

‘Ah…’

Only Cha Hae-In had failed to say something to Jin-Woo and she tried to reach out to him, but gave up in the end.

‘I wanted to ask him for his contact numbers….’

All she wanted was to ask him if he could find some time to talk to her. However, she might be misunderstood if she asked him that now, what with the current situation not being settled yet.

It was then.

A female Hunter walked over to Cha Hae-In.

“Excuse me…. Vice Chair?”

“Yes?”

When Cha Hae-In turned around to look, the female Hunter pointed to her hand.

“Why are you carrying a pickaxe?”

Cha Hae-In’s gaze drifted towards the head of the pickaxe and her face began blushing rather quickly. She hurriedly lowered the pickaxe and cautiously asked.

“You think he found me weird?”

The female Hunter, a mage, tilted her head and asked back.

“Who did?”

And that caused not just Cha Hae-In’s face, but even her neck to blush in the deep shade of crimson.

When they came out of the Gate…

Woo Jin-Cheol took a look at his wristwatch and asked Jin-Woo.

“We’re planning to return to the Association but, well…. If it’s okay with you, why don’t you ride along with us and join the Association President for dinner?”

“What time is it now?”

“It’s quarter past five. PM.”

‘Mm….’

Although he was cutting it close, he should be able to arrive at the promised location in time.

Jin-Woo politely rejected Woo Jin-Cheol’s invitation.

“I’m sorry. I’ve already made a prior engagement.”

---

Shu, shu, fuu, fuu….

Yu Jin-Ho did his very best to maintain his calm by breathing in deeply several times, just like how he saw it in one of the movies.

‘My fated hour is approaching.’

Indeed, hyung-nim’s choice would decide Yu Jin-Ho’s fate.

His heart was palpitating faster, and he felt even more nervous compared to a few days ago when he was negotiating with his father for the right to become the Yujin Guild Master.

‘Let’s go back to my original purpose. My original purpose….’

It was no coincidence that he chose the exact same cafe as the first time he met hyung-nim back when to propose his plan.

‘Without hyung-nim’s help, I wouldn’t even be here right now.’

He began looking around the interior of the cafe while thinking as such, and he was able to see this place in a new light. Quite coincidentally, the table he chose was the exact same one as the last time, too.

Ringgg….

Along with the doorbell, Jin-Woo entered the cafe.

“Hyung-nim!”

Yu Jin-Ho discovered Jin-Woo and shot up from his seat with a welcoming smile on his face. He bowed down as his greeting. Jin-Woo performed a simple little greeting with a nod and settled down on the opposite side of Yu Jin-Ho. The latter sat down after that.

“So, what did you call me here for?”

Yu Jin-Ho raised his head, only for his eyes to widen.

“H-hyung-nim, your clothes…..?”

“Oh, this?”

Jin-Woo came running here right after killing the High Orcs so his clothing was understandably dirty. His shirt even sported bloodstains from the dying High Orcs, too. He spoke as if there was nothing to worry about.

“I was coming straight from a dungeon, that’s why.”

‘Heok!’

Yu Jin-Ho was taken by surprise once more.

He was nothing compared to someone like hyung-nim; after getting his Guild Master licence, all Yu Jin-Ho did was to waste time by drinking and partying. But, what did hyung-nim do in the meantime? He possessed incredible power, yet he still found time to enter dungeons to further hone his crafts.

Suddenly, Yu Jin-Ho felt ashamed of himself.

‘As expected of hyung-nim….’

And at the same time, he held hyung-nim in an even higher reverence now.

The reason why hyung-nim didn’t bother to wipe away the blood on his clothes was probably because he was confident and forthright enough not to feel the need to hide his training process.

‘Well, the evidence of battle would be more like a medal of honour that he earned through his own two hands, after all.’

Yu Jin-Ho’s expression hardened. He was ready to follow hyung-nim’s decision, regardless of which direction he’d take.

So, he should come clean and don’t hold anything back.

“Hyung-nim, actually….”The debut release of this chapter happened at Ñøv€l-B1n.

Yu Jin-Ho didn’t leave anything out and reported everything that happened during the negotiation with his father to Jin-Woo – even the event of Goh Myoung-Hwan’s testimony revealing the truth of who saved the Hunters of the White Tiger Guild from the Red Gate incident, too.

‘That uncle, doing something unnecessary….’

Still, that man did that for Jin-Woo’s benefit, so he couldn’t get angry at that.

Perhaps that was the reason for Yu Jin-Ho’s expression to be a bit more glowing than usual when he was talking about the Red Gate incident.

In any case….

Jin-Woo knew what Yu Jin-Ho was trying to say here.

“So, in order for you to become the Yujin Guild’s new Master, you need my help, is that about right?”

Finishing all he had to say, Yu Jin-Ho calmly waited for Jin-Woo’s reply. He didn’t grow restless or try to sweet talk like how he would do normally.

‘Well, I’m talking to hyung-nim here, after all.’

Yu Jin-Ho was definitely thinking of leaving everything to hyung-nim’s decision.

Remaining silent as long as Yu Jin-Ho’s worries were deep, Jin-Woo finally raised his gaze.

“Hey, Jin-Ho. I am….”

Gulp.

Yu Jin-Ho swallowed his drying saliva.

---

The Chairman of the Hunters Guild Choi Jong-In received a certain call. After answering that, he abandoned what he was doing, entered his private chamber, and began shouting out loudly at the phone.

“What was that?! Seong Jin-Woo was present during our raids yesterday and today?!”

The newly-appeared rank S Hunter, Seong Jin-Woo.

Such a man decided to present himself right before Choi Jong-In’s own Guild, yet why did he fail to even notice that?! It was the same thing as kicking away the golden goose willing to enter his house.

It was enough to make him tear his hair out, but…

“Whaaat?! He was working for the mining team yesterday, and today, he was carrying luggage?!”

….After hearing that revelation, it did make sense for him to not know.

‘Okay, for the time being, let’s not worry about why he did what he did….’

He got this feeling that sweating over that mystery would only give him a case of a migraine and no tangible answer to chew on. Besides, that wasn’t important at all.

‘After White Tiger, us Hunters also owe that man now.’

Indeed, they were indebted to Seong Jin-Woo.

Choi Jong-In wished to talk to that man as equals as much as he could before attempting to scout him, but now, his position was no different than that of the White Tiger.

‘Even still, I learned of the tenth rank S’s existence before anyone else, so that’s something.’

That’s right.

The more pressing issue here was not the fact that his Guild received that man’s aid, but rather, knowing of what his abilities were.

“Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, what type of Hunter was he?”

• “…..”

As he listened to the explanation coming from the other side of the phone line, Choi Jong-In began talking progressively less and less.

The person he was talking to right now – the Hunter who took on the role of the raid team’s captain, Sohn Ki-Hoon, wasn’t a fellow who’d lie about something that didn’t happen, or embellish something minor as if it was a big deal. Even then, Choi Jong-In asked reflexively.

“Are you telling me the truth??”

• “Yes, sir. That’s all I saw.”

‘That’s all he saw….?! Does that mean there could be more?!’

If Seong Jin-Woo was that powerful, then….

“If you compare him to me, then how about it?”

Although he may have sounded a bit childish just then, there was no better way to ascertain someone’s strength than this question.

Sohn Ki-Hoon took a little time before continuing on.

• “Chairman. Can you solo an upper-grade rank A dungeon by yourself?”

“…..No, it’s impossible.”

• “However, that man did precisely that. He even dissuaded Cha Hunter-nim from lending her aid, as well.”

‘Cha Hae-In was there, too?’

Something felt a bit off, but her being there was not a big problem to worry about.

“Is there a chance that the dungeon was not an upper grade rank A?”

• “If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t have encountered so much difficulty, sir. That man saved us all.”

“….”

Choi Jong-In was often referred to as the ‘Ultimate Weapon’.

From a certain perspective, one could argue that he was being roundly disregarded in this situation, but rather than feeling sour, his heart was pounding harder instead.

‘Me, Cha Hae-In, and then, Seong Jin-Woo.’

This was the golden chance that his Guild could become renowned in South Korea, no, Asia, no, the whole world, on the back of Seong Jin-Woo’s abilities alone.

• “Chairman Choi. I know that I’m in no position to advise you on how to run the Guild, but….”

Sohn Ki-Hoon was definitely not someone who’d go beyond his stations and run his mouth off about the Guild. So, Choi Jong-In became even more curious about what he might say next.

“No, it’s fine. Please speak.”

• “That man…. You must scout Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim to our Guild. With him, your dream might become reality.”

Ba-dump.

Choi Jong-In’s heart began beating faster.

He tried very hard to disguise his trembling voice as he spoke.

“I’ll do my best.”

---

In front of the Korean Hunters Association main building.

The sea of reporters showing up to cover Rhee Min-Seong’s rank assignment test had set up a camp in front of the Association building.

South Korea’s own Rhee Min-Seong, often referred as Asia’s top superstar, becoming a Hunter!

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the cameras from the entire world were being focused here today.

What with space being such a premium, the reporters began a war of nerves with each other.

“Excuse me! We already reserved this spot!”

“Hey man! Are you blind? Can’t you see how many people showed up today? Who cares about your spot or mine?! Your spot is where you’re standing.”

“Dang it….”

Meanwhile, a full-blown smile was forming on Rhee Min-Seong’s face as he stared through the window at the sea of reporters extending as far as the access road while standing inside the Association building.

“Indeed, this many people showing up sounds about right.”

Deliberately wasting time and attracting the attention of the public definitely paid off today.

“Excuse me, Mister Min-Seong? This will be tomorrow’s headline, but what do you think about it?”

South Korea’s top newspaper reporter showed Rhee Min-Seong the manuscript for tomorrow’s front page and asked.

“Don’t you think using that as the headline is a bit dull?”

“You think so?”

“Hmm…. How about this one? ‘The man who has everything, Rhee Min-Seong. He now grasps power transcending humanity!’. Well?”

“But, if we use a strong lead-in like that, don’t you think a portion of the readers will feel uncomfortable?”

“Well, I’m not exaggerating here, and besides, no one in their right minds would talk rubbish about me in South Korea, anyway. I mean, both the media and my fans are watching closely with their eyes wide open, after all.”

“Okay. Got it. We’ll go with that one.”

“I’ll be in your care.”

Rhee Min-Seong bowed his head good-naturedly, but when he raised it again, a deep frown was etched on his face.

‘He’s going to do what I told him in the end, so why does he have to yap on about so much crap?’

It was then, two imported luxury sedans arrived at the parking lot of the Association. Two men climbed out of their respective cars almost at the same time – they were none other than Baek Yun-Ho from the White Tiger Guild, and Choi Jong-In from the Hunters Guild.

“Uh? Look at that!”

“It’s Baek Yun-Ho!”

“Choi Jong-In’s here too!”

The reporters blocking the front entrance of the Association building all rushed towards the side of these two men. Baek Yun-Ho and Choi Jong-In both frowned unhappily.

‘What is up with these reporters?’

‘Why is it so chaotic today?’

The noises of camera flashes going off were ringing out loudly. Countless reporters surrounded these two men and began their barrage of questions.

“Are you two visiting the Association to scout Mister Rhee Min-Seong?”

“As the Hunters representing South Korea, what do you think about Mister Rhee Min-Seong potentially retiring from the entertainment industry?”

“What do you think will be Mister Rhee Min-Seong’s rank?”

“Please share your thoughts on Mister Rhee Min-Seong.”

The famously short-tempered Baek Yun-Ho waved his hands around as if he found all this annoying.

“I’m not here because of that man. I’ve nothing else to say.”

….While Choi Jong-In emotionlessly stated the facts.

“Anyone related to this matter would know by now that Mister Rhee Min-Seong has already signed up with the Reapers Guild. I’m visiting the Association today on an unrelated matter.”

After hearing answers that didn’t meet their expectations, the reporters inwardly grumbled and turned around.

‘Eii, what the hell.’

‘And I thought I might have a juicy new story.’

‘I got excited for no dang reason.’

Still, none of them dared to express their dissatisfaction in front of a pair of rank S Hunters. Reporters returned to their spots and began their waiting for Rhee Min-Seong’s emergence once more.

Once the reporters left them alone, Baek Yun-Ho and Choi Jong-In met each other’s glare. Baek Yun-Ho greeted his counterpart first.

“I heard the story. Hunters Guild almost got into a big tangle yesterday, too. Or so I hear.”

He even deliberately emphasized the word ‘too’ as well.

“Well, it wasn’t much of a big ‘tangle’, compared to how the White Tiger had to lose their newbie rank A.”

The two men’s war of nerves was just as fierce as the one taking place among the reporters. Baek Yun-Ho was incensed for a little bit there, but eventually, he sighed out softly and spoke up.

“In any case, both the Hunters and us are in that man’s debt.”

“We really were kissed by Lady Luck yesterday. If he wasn’t there, my second elite team would’ve been wiped out.”

Even though both men knew that person’s name, not mentioning it could be considered the final act to their war of nerves. Choi Jong-In took a step closer.

“That is why, out of principal, I’d like to ‘definitely’ bring that man over to our Guild.”

Baek Yun-Ho didn’t back down. He and Choi Jong-In got close enough for their foreheads to nearly butt against each other.

“We even had suffered casualties. Looking at the need to replenish our combat force, wouldn’t you agree that person joining us makes more sense?”

“Just what are you planning to do by recruiting a rank S to shore up your combat force? Are you thinking of invading North Korea or something?”

“What about you? Since when did you worry about principals and the like to talk about your principals here?”

Flames erupted out from the eyes of the two men.

‘….Huh?’

Master of the Reapers Guild, Im Tae-Gyu, was arriving at the Association building just now to match the timing of the press conference. When he saw those two growling at one another, a mocking smirk formed on his face.

Wasn’t there an old saying for that?

Didn’t it go, counting chickens before hatching or something like that?

For Im Tae-Gyu, this sure was an exciting development, since he always lost out to their two Guilds when trying to secure resources until now. He did his best to not to let the corners of his lips arch up and approached the two men.

“Oiii, two Guild chairmen over there. I hope you aren’t acting like that over my Min-Seong, no?”

And then, both Baek Yun-Ho and Choi Jong-In’s heads spun at the same time towards Im Tae-Gyu. It was hard to tell who was first, really.

‘What the hell is up with this moron?’

‘I don’t give a rat’s a*s about this Rhee Min-Seong or Rhee Min-Gun or whatever.’

Im Tae-Gyu flinched in surprise and took a step back when two rather terrifying glares landed squarely on him.

‘What is up with these two b*stards all of a sudden?!’

---

‘What’s this? Choi Jong-In, and Baek Yun-Ho, too?’

Rhee Min-Seong grinned deeply.

He already familiar with Chairman Im Tae-Gyu when they met during the signing of the contract.

Rhee Min-Seong signing up with the Reapers Guild, which had been criticised for being a shell of its former glory, while disregarding the country’s top two Guilds, was a calculated move on his part.

‘I mean, with this, I’ll enjoy the image of someone willing to stand up for the underdogs.’

Crudely speaking, celebrities survived on their public image. And Rhee Min-Seong was really meticulous about maintaining his.

‘The best Guilds in Korea are fighting over me….’

He wasn’t thinking of carrying on this Hunter lifestyle for long, but still, that sight naturally made him feel even better about himself. Soon afterwards, his manager entered the reception area.

“Min-Seong-ah, they say they are ready now. Let’s go and do the press conference.”

“Alright.”

The manager took the lead. He opened the glass front entrance and allowed Rhee Min-Seong to emerge from the Association building; camera flashes exploded in a scary cacophony of endless shutter clicks.

Click, click, click, click, click…..

As he would do every day, Rhee Min-Seong formed a fake smile towards hundreds of lenses surrounding him.

It was then.

Jin-Woo had finally arrived at the front of the Association.

‘……??’

Just like he’d been told, he was stopping by the Association three days later.

‘Why is it so noisy here?’

However, it didn’t look like he’d be able to enter the Association at all under the current circumstances. Of course, there were plenty of ways to go around these people, such as using ‘Stealth’, or jumping over the reporters, or even by finding a back entrance.

But then again, his re-evaluation test had been reserved in advance three days ago, so he didn’t feel like going through the back entrance just to avoid this wall of reporters.

‘It’s not like I committed a crime or something anyways.’

He had no reason not to use the front door at all. Jin-Woo then proceeded to push away the tightly-packed throngs of reporters and made a path for himself.

“I’m coming through.”

“Oii, what are you doing??”

“What the hell?”

“What’s wrong with you?!”

This was the physical strength of a rank S Hunter. Reporters were all helplessly pushed away, deep frowns etched on their faces. The path forward was opened up in the blink of an eye, and Jin-Woo could walk up the steps leading to the front entrance of the Association.

However, even before he could take another step, a large, muscular dude suddenly blocked Jin-Woo’s path.

“Oii!!”

He was Rhee Min-Seong’s manager. His eyebrows rose up as he growled menacingly.

“Who the hell are you? You work for the Association or something?”

Jin-Woo didn’t bother to avert his gaze and met this manager’s glare squarely, before shaking his head.

‘Huh? Would you look at this b*stard?’

The manager’s thick eyebrows quivered.

“Can’t you see all those reporters behind you?!”

Jin-Woo took a short glance at the reporters. They were all shooting him with unhappy glares. Even Jin-Woo could understand that they were trying to do a press conference here. However, it wasn’t as if they had rented out the whole entrance, now had they?

A private individual had no right to chase away the reporters, and conversely, they had no right to chase him away, either. That was common knowledge.

There were plenty of eyes watching and Jin-Woo didn’t particularly want to raise his voice here, so he was going to ignore this idiot and walk right by, but at that moment….

“Go back to where you came from. You can’t go through here. Get lost, punk.”

The manager blocked the path again and tried to shove Jin-Woo’s chest away. The light in Jin-Woo’s eyes changed immediately.

‘….What was that?!’

The manager was taken by a huge surprise.

He was a melee-type rank D Awakened, and pushed this young punk away with the full intention of embarrassing him, but the guy didn’t even budge from the spot as if his legs were nailed to the ground.

The manager had used enough force that would’ve injured a regular person greatly. Jin-Woo also knew that fact very well.

“…..”

That was why he wordlessly glared, and that alone was enough to gradually drain the manager’s face of all colour.

“What the heck? What’s the matter with that guy?”

“What happened? Are they going to fight?”

Bustle, bustle…

The reporters present all sensed the atmosphere becoming rather strange, and they became noisy quite quickly.

Cold sweat was pouring out of the manager.

If there was no one watching, he’d have conceded already and stepped aside. However, never mind the reporters, his employer Rhee Min-Seong was watching him from behind at the moment.

Rhee Min-Seong walked closer to the manager and whispered with a deep frown.

“Argh, hyung, what are you doing? Hurry up and get rid of this loser already.”

“Uh, uh….. S-sure thing.”

If he showed a shameful sight here, then he’d lose his job without a doubt. The manager’s expression crumpled unsightly and he raised his voice up high.

“You can’t pass by here, so get lost already!”

“And just who said you can block the entrance like this?”

‘Uh?’

The reply didn’t come from the manager’s front but from his back. The manager quickly spun his head around.

The Hunter’s Association President Goh Gun-Hui stood tall in front of the glass doors. The eyes of the reporters grew extra round. They were so shocked that they even forgot to operate their cameras.

“G-Goh Gun-Hui?!”

“President Goh Gun-Hui’s here?”

The once-chaotic bustling atmosphere immediately cooled down with the entrance of someone completely unexpected. Goh Gun-Hui walked right up to the steps and spoke up.

“This gentleman is my guest.”

And then, Goh Gun-Hui stared at Rhee Min-Seong.

“I hope you haven’t forgotten who gave you the permission to hold a press conference in this place, Mister Rhee Min-Seong.”

Rhee Min-Seong recovered his wits right away.

“O-of course, sir.”

The first day as a Hunter, he falls out of favour with the Association President and loses the location of the press conference – Rhee Min-Seong couldn’t afford to suffer such a humiliation when there were so many eyes watching him right now.

Rhee Min-Seong frowned and quickly signalled his manager; the burly guy bowed slightly to both Goh Gun-Hui and Jin-Woo and voluntarily stepped aside.

“Please, follow me, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim.”

Even until Jin-Woo disappeared into the Association building under the guidance of Goh Gun-Hui, the gathered reporters couldn’t hide their confusion at all.

Noisy, noisy….

“What was that all about?

“Who was that man, and why is the Association President personally coming out to greet him?”

“Does anyone know who that man is?”

Reporters felt frustrated and raised their voices, but there was no one answering them.

Chapter 93

 

Rhee Min-Seong’s expression stiffened right away.

A mysterious man who cut through the throng of reporters, and then, the Association President Goh Gun-Hui who came out to personally escort that man into the building.

“How does President Goh Gun-Hui’s schedule look like for the rest of today?”

“I hear he cancelled everything for the morning.”

“Are you telling me that the Association President cancelled the whole morning’s worth of appointments for that man?”

Noisy, noisy…..

This place had become too restless after those two men’s sudden entrance, and the current situation was no longer suitable for holding a press conference.

But, just how much effort did Rhee Min-Seong pour in for today’s event? He shot a glare at his manager with an expression of a man chewing on insects.

‘D*mn idiot of a manager who can’t even take care of something so simple…’

The manager couldn’t meet that glare and powerlessly lowered his head; now that Rhee Min-Seong had become a rank A Awakened, the manager couldn’t even win against him in physical strength anymore. He had no choice but to cower accordingly.

‘……..’

Rhee Min-Seong glared at his manager for a long time, before his head naturally spun towards his side.

“Cue!”

‘D*mn it!’

Like throwing salt on the wound, the camera crew from the news stations were getting ready to leave. They were supposed to broadcast everything live. If this ‘distracted’ spectacle got on the airwaves and was broadcast to the rest of the country, then there was a good chance that all of Rhee Min-Seong’s hard work to increase his brand’s value by becoming a rank A Hunter would go down the drain for good.

However, the Association President Goh Gun-Hui’s entrance caused too much of a ripple to calm the mood down and restart the press conference. Just why did someone so big have to appear at such an important time??

‘Isn’t there a way to reverse this situation?’

The quick-witted Rhee Min-Seong began kicking his brain into gear.

‘Right. Only a big something can reverse a situation like this one.’

These reporters didn’t come here because they wanted to find out about his feelings regarding the rank assignment test or some such. No, they came here to find out what the top star Rhee Min-Seong’s Hunter ranking would be, as well as what his future plan was after he got his licence.

If he gave them what they wanted, then everything would return to order.

‘I should start the assignment test ahead of schedule.’

A sly smile formed on Rhee Min-Seong’s face.

Indeed, his ability to come up with schemes on the fly, something others around him had already acknowledged him for, remained rather exceptional.

“Excuse me, everyone. Allow me to go have a quick chat regarding my schedule today with the Association’s representatives.”

Blurting that nonsense to the reporters, Rhee Min-Seong then headed to the main Association building. It was to not to ‘discuss’ the change of schedule but to ‘declare’ his intentions.

‘I mean, you have any idea how much my dad donates to the Association? The Association or not, they should grovel accordingly before me.’

Unfortunately…

‘Huh??’

Just before he could push open the glass front door, Hunters from the Monitoring Division rushed out first and he was pushed back, instead. They stood in a line to block off the front entrance.

‘What the hell is this now?!’

Rhee Min-Seong’s forehead creased up. He quickly checked the name tag attached to one of the men’s chest.

‘Section Chief Woo Jin-Cheol, Hunter’s Association Monitoring Division?’

Rhee Min-Seong questioned Woo Jin-Cheol right away.

“What’s the meaning of this? Why are you blocking the entrance?”

Woo Jin-Cheol’s sunglasses-covered eyes stared down at Rhee Min-Seong.

“Currently, another Awakened is going through the process of the rank re-assignment test. No one will be allowed to enter the building until 11 o’clock, when the test is scheduled to end.”

“What did you just say?!”

By ‘another Awakened’, was this man referring to that young man who followed the Association President into the building not too long ago?

Rhee Min-Seong took a look at his watch. The time now was half past ten in the morning. Eleven o’clock was the originally scheduled time for his rank assignment test. No one was allowed to enter before that?

Rhee Min-Seong’s scheme to take the test ahead of schedule to reverse the situation was about to blow up in his face.

At first, he spoke in a polite tone of voice.

“Please, don’t be like this and let me in. I have something to discuss with the related department of the Association.”

“I’m sorry.”

Woo Jin-Cheol shut his mouth up with that single short sentence.

With his frustration boiling over, Rhee Min-Seong couldn’t hold back any longer and his true colours slowly surfaced to the fore.

“Look here, mister. Don’t you know who I am? I’m Rhee Min-Seong, man. Rhee Min-Seong!”

Rhee Min-Seong’s tone of voice became sharp and abrasive as if he could no longer take this crap, but still, Woo Jin-Cheol showed no sign of budging.

“Hah….”

Rhee Min-Seong spat out a dumbfounded groan.

“Oii. You know that Yujin Construction is the biggest sponsor of the Hunter’s Association, right?”

The corners of Rhee Min-Seong’s lips arched up.

“Vice Chairman of the Yujin Construction, Rhee Won-Gyu is my father, okay? And do you see all these people behind me?”

Rhee Min-Seong pointed towards the sea of reporters below the entrance steps.

“You think you can treat the son of Yujin Construction’s Vice Chairman this badly in front of these many reporters? You think you can handle the fallout?”

Woo Jin-Cheol’s reply was pretty simple.

“Yes, we can.”

“What?!”The debut release of this chapter happened at Ñøv€l-B1n.

Rhee Min-Seong was even more dumbfounded now.

Just who the hell was that young man for the Association President to personally escort him inside, and block off the entire building for a measly rank assignment test?

And, letting a Section Chief gopher, someone not even that high up in the food chain like a head of the department, to do whatever the hell he pleased??

Rhee Min-Seong’s hands were placed on his waist as he began questioning in anger.

“Just who the hell is this ‘another Awakened’ supposed to be that the Association is willing to bend over backwards like this?”

Only then did Woo Jin-Cheol remove his sunglasses.

“If I were to tell you that….”

Flinch.

When Woo Jin-Cheol’s sharp, scary eyes resembling a bird of prey were finally revealed, Rhee Min-Seong unwittingly took a step back.

Woo Jin-Cheol continued to glare at Rhee Min-Seong and quietly spoke.

“…..Do you think you can handle the fallout instead, Mister Rhee Min-Seong?”

---

The inside of the main building was rather empty.

There was no one waiting to take their rank assignment test inside the hallway, with only a smattering of Association employees going about their usual business.

This unusual situation was probably related to the reason why all those reporters were camping outside.

“Please, come this way.”

“Alright.”

Jin-Woo was about to follow after Goh Gun-Hui’s guidance and enter the measurement room, but then, spotted two somewhat familiar-looking faces.

‘Eh?’

Baek Yun-Ho and Choi Jong-In were sitting on the waiting room chairs facing the measurement room. That was where smartly-dressed headhunters of various smaller Guilds could be found three days ago.

When their gazes met, both men stood up from their seats and bowed lightly. Jin-Woo reciprocated the greeting and walked past the hallway. As they walked down on the passageway, a soft smile formed on Goh Gun-Hui’s lips.

“Those two men, they have been waiting for you for about an hour.”

The leaders of two Guilds that represented South Korea in the world stage had shown up one hour early to wait for the re-evaluation result?

Perhaps he had read Jin-Woo’s expression, because Goh Gun-Hui continued to explain in a calm voice.

“A new rank S Hunter has appeared after two long years. And besides, Choi Jong-In has heard of your powers so he should be even more anxious at the moment.”

Jin-Woo slowly nodded his head.

“Oh, my!”

“Association President!”

The Association employees they met on the way all politely greeted Goh Gun-Hui, and stared at Jin-Woo with mystified eyes.

‘Who is that man that necessitates our Association President to personally guide him?’

‘Could he be someone really important?’

‘How can someone that young know our President?’

Goh Gun-Hui had never shown up to personally receive guests even when a government minister came to visit, so the fact that he was doing precisely that had shocked the Association employees to no end.

Goh Gun-Hui spoke while keeping his eyes fixed to the front.

“I heard about what happened yesterday.”

Goh Gun-Hui’s expression was one of enjoyment for some reason.

As a matter of fact, he was indeed feeling really excited. Because his expectation of Seong Jin-Woo being a different type of Hunter from the rest proved to be right on the money, that was why.

When he heard about Seong Jin-Woo’s actions from Woo Jin-Cheol, sweat formed in Goh Gun-Hui’s hands as if he was personally there, witnessing everything.

‘Yes, he does have incredible powers, but also….’

But also, he found Seong Jin-Woo’s actions afterwards even more to his liking.

Including the boss, he had almost single-handedly cleared the dungeon all by himself, yet the young man had shown not one trace of greed over the loot found within.

If Seong Jin-Woo’s real aim was to fight monsters and protect other people rather than become famous and make lots of money, then the Association was fully prepared to support him in every conceivable manner. Because, that goal lined up perfectly with the purpose of the Association’s existence.

‘If it’s possible, I wish I could bring him into the Association with whatever means necessary, but…’

But, he couldn’t do that, now could he?

Just like what the young man told him before, entering the Association would mean he’d have nearly zero opportunity to fight against the monsters.

And from what Goh Gun-Hui had heard about Seong Jin-Woo’s powers, it was way too good to be wasted outside dungeons.

Soon, they arrived at the examination area, located deeper within the building.

“Before the re-evaluation can take place, we must confirm your abilities first and set the new classification for you.”

Jin-Woo already knew that.

Hunters were classified as a melee, mage, healing, or even support-type according to their abilities, and performed their roles where they were needed the most.

The Association employee waiting at the examination area bent his back forward 90 degrees to greet Goh Gun-Hui, and took over guiding Jin-Woo from him.

“Please, come this way.”

Jin-Woo stepped up to the middle of the examination area. Its interior layout much resembled an indoor gymnasium commonly found everywhere.

If there was one thing different from those gymnasiums, then it’d be the fact that one could sense powerful fluctuations of magic energy coming from the walls as well as from the floor. Magic had been utilised to reinforce the structure in case something went wrong.

The examiner asked Jin-Woo.

“What kind of ability can you use?”

The Association President Goh Gun-Hui didn’t return to his office immediately and, while standing in the far corner, stared at the examination process with a great deal of interest.

This was the reason why he came to guide Jin-Woo personally. He wanted to confirm Jin-Woo’s powers with his own eyes as quickly as possible.

“Well, I can do this.”

Jin-Woo called out a single Shadow Soldier.

“Heok?!”

The examiner was greatly taken by surprise.

Seriously speaking, how could anyone stay composed when a soldier decked out in jet-black armour suddenly rose up from the ground?

Jin-Woo deliberately chose the lowest levelled one out of his regular Soldiers, but still, the dude emitted intense pressure that most normal people found hard to endure.

“This…. Is this your summoned creature? You can control a summon?”

The examiner’s voice was trembling noticeably.

Jin-Woo had half a mind to helpfully explain that his Soldier was definitely not dangerous, but….

He formed a pitying expression while making his reply.

“….Well, something like that.”

“I-in that case, h-how many summoned creatures can you control?”

‘Well, it will be useless to lie, so….’

Indeed, the number of eyewitnesses who saw his Shadow Soldiers yesterday was nearly twenty.

Jin-Woo spoke up a slightly reduced number of Soldiers sealed inside his shadow through his skill.

“It’s around 100 or so….”

The examiner’s eyes went extra round at the number 100.

“A h-hundred?!”

“Yes.”

On the other hand, Jin-Woo remained nonplussed.

At the same time…

As he stared at the Shadow Soldier, Goh Gun-Hui’s eyes were glittering brightly.

‘A hundred of those….’

At a glance, that ‘soldier’ possessed around the same amount of magic energy as a rank B Hunter. If that young man could summon a hundred of those soldiers, then one simply had to concede that his powers had already exceeded a regular large Guild’s combat force.

Truthfully, that was an incredible ability.

Jin-Woo could feel Goh Gun-Hui’s passionate gaze burning up on his skin.

He breathed a sigh of relief after confirming the reactions of the surroundings.

‘Well, if one regular Soldier can elicit this sort of reaction, then….’

He should thank his lucky stars that he didn’t choose to call out the highest levelled soldier among his flock, ‘Igrit’, or the boss-level creature he managed to poach yesterday, ‘Fangs’.

Whatever the case may be, this was enough to prove the type of ability he had possessed.

“In that case…. Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim, you’re a mage type.”

The examiner studiously jotted down something on the recording document and raised his head up, while looking rather satisfied.

“We can now head to the measurement room.”

---

Jin-Woo held the newly-issued Hunter licence in his hand.

It said, ‘Seong Jin-Woo, rank S, Mage-type’.

Even though his face was plastered on the photo box, he still found it hard to believe.

‘Very good. It’s been smooth sailing until now.’

Jin-Woo quickly shoved his new Hunter licence inside his wallet. When he got to the end of the corridor, the waiting duo of Baek Yun-Ho and Choi Jong-In approached him.

“Mister Seong Jin-Woo, can we have a chat?”

“Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim, I…..”

“I’m sorry. I’m pressed for time at the moment.”

Jin-Woo ignored them both and quickly walked towards the glass door.

“Uh? Uh?!”

Baek Yun-Ho raised his worried voice.

“If it was me, I wouldn’t use that exit.”

‘Is he trying to imply that the sweet deals he prepared for this occasion will make me regret walking out of this door or something?’

Jin-Woo wasn’t interested regardless of what was being offered, so he continued to ignore Baek Yun-Ho’s dissuasion and pushed the glass door wide open.

When that happened….

Click, click, click, click, click, click….!!

The reporters that had managed to climb up the steps to push and shove against the Monitoring Division’s agents, began clicking their cameras non-stop, with flashes exploding brightly all around him.

‘What the heck is this?’

Jin-Woo became utterly speechless at this blinding explosion of lights.

---

As usual, Seong Jin-Ah stopped by the school tuck shop after the third period ended, and bought herself a pack of banana milk.

There was still around one hour to go to lunch. If she didn’t fill herself up temporarily with something like milk, for instance, she’d be unable to concentrate during the class.

And sure enough….

Rumble…

Already, her remorseless stomach was noisily demanding for more fuel to be put in there. Jin-Ah rubbed her hungry tummy and was about to enter her classroom, but then, one of her friends grabbed her wrist, a shocked expression clearly visible on that girl’s face.

“J-Jin-Ah!!”

“Wha-what?!”

With her friend shocked like this, even Jin-Ah got shocked alongside her for no reason.

“It’s your oppa! He’s on TV right now!!”

“What?? Why is my oppa…??”

Jin-Woo felt her heart tumble to the pit of her stomach.

Did he get injured again? If not, could it be even worse….??

The friend dragged Jin-Ah by her wrist inside the classroom as if she didn’t want to waste time explaining anymore.

Jin-Ah’s eyes immediately shifted over to the large TV located next to the blackboard.

And there was….

“O…. oppa?!”

The moment Jin-Ah saw the TV screen, the banana milk in her hand fell to the floor.

Chapter 94

 

Ten minutes prior, in front of the Hunters Association building.

When it clearly became impossible to take his rank evaluation test ahead of schedule, Rhee Min-Seong sensed the looming crisis, and in the end, decided to drop a bombshell.

“Excuse me, I, Rhee Min-Seong, will retire from the entertainment industry regardless of the test result, and I shall pledge my service as a Hunter for the betterment of the public!!”

This was his last hurrah at reviving the atmosphere of the press conference that had cooled off from the sudden entrance of Goh Gun-Hui. Its effect was immediately noticeable.

“What?!”

“Rhee Min-Seong is going to retire?”

“Regardless of what his rank is?”

Right away, the atmosphere became frenzied.

Click, click, click!!

Countless cameras were now pointing at Rhee Min-Seong, and questions from excited reporters poured down on him non-stop.

“Mister Rhee Min-Seong!! Please look this way!”

“Are you telling us that you’ll abandon the title of Asia’s top movie star and choose the life of a low-ranked Hunter if need be?”

“Are you willing to give up on everything you built up as a successful actor?”

‘Yes! Very good!’

Rhee Min-Seong was pleased as punch at all the attention being focused on him again.

“Even if the result is bad and I end up with a low rank, I wish to repay all the love everyone has shown me by fighting the monster threats.”

Of course, he was lying through his teeth.

Just two years. He was thinking of helping out with the Reapers Guild’s public image as its most famous rank A Hunter for only two years, while enjoying the sky-high annual pay package.

This was the best method to silence those voices raising issues with him avoiding the draft with his father’s help, as well as a few distracting noises rising up here and there recently, all in one fell swoop.

Climbing down from the summit to protect the ordinary citizens while risking his own life!

This was the greatest opportunity for him yet, to achieve that often-talked about ‘lifetime guarantee against criticism’ status.

Enjoying the taste of everything finally going according to his plan, Rhee Min-Seong continued on with the press conference.

“And, with the Master of Reapers Guild, Chairman Im Tae-Gyu, who shares my wish, I….”

And so, as the gathered reporters were listening to Rhee Min-Seong’s future aspirations….

Ringggg….

Someone’s phone suddenly went off. The surrounding reporters glared at the phone’s owner, and he quickly killed the phone before lowering his head in apology several times.

Thanks to that, the press conference was slightly interrupted, but fortunately enough, it was not a permanent interruption in the end. Rhee Min-Seong also pretended to not hear it and continued on.

However….

This time, someone else’s phone went off.

“Argh, what the hell?”

“Whose phone was that?!”

“Isn’t is a common sense to switch it off before a conference?”

“Turn it off, now.”

Thinking that this might be a good chance to earn himself some extra brownie points, Rhee Min-Seong beamed brightly and spoke up.

“I’m fine with it, so why don’t we continue after you answer your urgent call?”

Hahahaha….

Rhee Min-Seong’s spontaneous response elicited jovial laughter from here and there. But, who knew that was merely the beginning?

Buzzzz….

Vrrrr…..

Seemingly from everywhere, mobile phones were singing out in a messy chorus of noises.

“What’s this?”

“What the hell? Even me?”

The first reporter who switched his phone off first realised that something was very wrong. Meanwhile, the eyes of the reporters were growing extra wide after confirming the contents of the calls.

“You got a call from the Association??”

“Why are you only telling me this now?!”

Reporters present hurriedly accessed the Association’s website. It was then, they discovered the new rank S Hunter’s photo and his name being uploaded there as if everything had been prepared beforehand.

The announcement date for that person’s evaluation result just so happened to be today.

‘Wait, but didn’t they say something about the measurement room not being available in the morning?’

‘It wasn’t because of Rhee Min-Seong?’

‘In that case, the reason for the measurement room being emptied out wasn’t because of Rhee Min-Seong’s rank evaluation, but this new rank S Hunter?’

And then, the face of a certain man flashed by in the heads of all the reporters present.

Could he have been?

That young man who followed Association President Goh Gun-Hui into the building! He was the only one to have accessed the measurement room today.

If they all go inside now, wouldn’t they be able to take that man’s pictures?

“E-everyone?!”

With their eyes now resembling those of a starving predator, reporters ignored Rhee Min-Seong and rushed towards the Association building.

Rumble….

When Woo Jin-Cheol signalled with his eyes, Hunters from the Monitoring Division spread out their arms and formed a human barricade.

“Let us in!!”

“A rank S has emerged, right? Aren’t you supposed to announce this ahead of time?”

“Just get out of the way, will you?!”

Reporters violently pounced forward, but they couldn’t overcome the wall created by the agents of the Monitoring Division, where every single member was a Hunter.

“W-what the hell is this??”

Having been forgotten by everyone in an instant, Rhee Min-Seong and his flustered face ran over to his burly manager. Mister manager pushed forward the screen of his phone with what he discovered only a second ago.

“….A rank S?!”

Rhee Min-Seong became completely dazed.

“A rank S showed up today, of all days?!”

He wanted to receive the attention and adulations of the world by becoming a rank A Hunter. But, to think that a rank S Hunter would pop up out of nowhere and ruin everything….

Rhee Min-Seong shook his head, hard.

‘No, wait. Something doesn’t feel right here.’

Seriously now, a rank S wasn’t a cup of instant coffee one could buy in a vending machine with a couple of change, now was it? Maybe, these reporters knew something about what was happening right now?

It was at that point that Rhee Min-Seong spotted a reporter still talking to someone on the phone while belatedly climbing up the steps. He was none other than the exact same reporter who sought out Rhee Min-Seong’s opinion regarding tomorrow’s headline earlier.

“Excuse me, Reporter Im?”

Even though Rhee Min-Seong’s voice sounded urgent, Reporter Im simply walked past while responding in haste.

“Ah, Mister Rhee Min-Seong. I’ll get in touch a little bit later, okay?”

“Excuse me? Reporter Im!! Wait!”

Rhee Min-Seong got to eavesdrop on the contents of the call as the Reporter Im’s back gradually distanced itself away from him.

“….That’s right. I’m telling you to go with the headline of ‘Tears of rank E, now joys of rank S’ for tomorrow.”

Rhee Min-Seong scanned his vicinity with energyless eyes. There was no one around him now. He fell down on his knees.

“What…. what is this….”

While he remained on the ground muttering to himself in dejection, the front entrance to the Association was abruptly pushed open wide, and South Korea’s tenth rank S Hunter revealed himself.

Click, click, click, click, click, click, click….

Jin-Woo’s eyes opened up super-wide.

‘What the heck is this?’

The camera lenses captured in full Jin-Woo standing in front of the entrance, and behind him, Baek Yun-Ho with a rueful expression and Choi Jong-In and his bitter smile.

---

It was now lunch time.

The Hunters of the mining team had ended the morning’s operation and were sitting around to enjoy their lunch.

Mining might have been their main role, but, since there was no threat of rockfall or cave-in, the mood of the team was rather carefree.

Some Hunters were lying on the floor resting, having gobbled up their meals in the blink; some Hunters were busy giggling to themselves while checking out their phones; a few Hunters were even enjoying cold alcoholic beverages while sharing snacks among themselves.

“Huh??”

One of the Hunters playing with his phone cried out in surprise and hurriedly raised his upper body up.

“Hey, isn’t this Mister Seong??”

Lee Seong-Gu’s ears perked up.

“Hey, it is him!”

“Mister Seong’s on the news.”

Indeed, Lee Seong-Gu hadn’t heard wrong.

“I knew it.”

With his face considerably flushed red after ingesting three cups of alcohol, Lee Seong-Gu ran to where his colleagues were as if he had been waiting for this. Even while he was doing that, his mouth continued to operate without rest.

“I knew it from the moment that bstard glared at me! Let me see for myself what horrible things that insolent bstard committed now!”

Perhaps Lee Seong-Gu’s voice was too loud?

“Mister Seong did what?”

“Did Mister Seong commit a crime or something?”

Including Foreman Bae, all of the mining team’s Hunters in the near vicinity gathered in one spot.

Jin-Woo’s face filled up the palm-sized screen of the mobile phone, and just below that, large subtitles flashed by.

[….Following after Hwang Dong-Seok and Cha Hae-In, South Korea’s tenth rank S Hunter, Mister Seong Jin-Woo, has just now…]

“Heok?!”

Having ‘discovered’ Jin-Woo, Lee Seong-Gu’s eyes began trembling.

---

In front of the private office of Yujin Construction’s chairman.

Standing in front of the door, Yu Jin-Ho let out a short sigh.

“Fuu….”

He opened the door, and as it smoothly glided inward, he also raised his head to spot his father busy going through several documents, not bothering to even turn his head this way.

“Come inside.”

Even though he made his ‘reply’, Yu Myung-Hwan continued to scribble his signatures on the documents.

Yu Jin-Ho stood next to Yu Myung-Hwan. The father briefly raised his head to confirm the son’s visage, before continuing on with his work.

‘Dad’s still the same, I see.’

In the past, Yu Jin-Ho would’ve been suppressed by his father being like this and run off, utterly unable to say what he wanted to say. However, it was different now.

“I’d like to speak to you about something, Father.”

“Is it regarding Hunter Seong Jin-Woo?”

“Yes.”

Yu Myung-Hwan finally raised his head up.

“Alright. So, what happe….”

It was then.

Yu Myung-Hwan’s phone suddenly went off.

Vrrrr…

“Hold on.”

Yu Myung-Hwan raised his hand and stopped Yu Jin-Ho’s words. Checking the message on the phone’s screen, Yu Myung-Hwan’s eyes grew wide just a little.

‘My dad can get surprised too?’

Yu Jin-Ho tilted his head slightly.

“…There’s something you should see.”

“Pardon?”

Rather than providing an answer, Yu Myung-Hwan operated the remote and switched the giant TV mounted on one of the walls, instead.

A breaking news piece immediately came up on the screen.

[Yes, it has been confirmed just now. The Hunter who was evaluated as rank S earlier today is a Re-Awakened, someone who has gone through the secondary Awakening process after his initial one. His name is Mister Seong Jin-Woo, who used to work for the Association as a rank E previously.]

The reporter’s excited voice easily conveyed the current atmosphere of the location. Yu Jin-Ho had been listening disinterestedly, but when he heard the name ‘Seong Jin-Woo’, he was taken greatly by surprise.

‘Heok!”

The screen changed after that. It was now showing the emotionless face of someone he was quite familiar with, busy surveying the immediate surroundings.

It was none other than his hyung-nim.

‘I’m sure of it. Hyung-nim is feeling irritated right now.’

Thanks to Yu Jin-Ho sticking around hyung-nim for a while, it became pretty easy to tell what he was thinking about simply through his expressions. But, besides all that – he was a rank S?

Yu Jin-Ho was well aware of his hyung-nim being great, but that greatness had far exceeded his own imagination.

At the same time….

‘Even though he possesses such incredible power, he enters dungeons every day to train himself even further?’

A sense of awe rushed in, fast. As a person who used to guard his side, Yu Jin-Ho’s heart swelled with pride as Jin-Woo’s name got continuously mentioned on the TV.

Beep….

The TV was switched off and hyung-nim’s face also disappeared from the view. Yu Jin-Ho formed a wistful expression.

“Okay, continue.”

Father was telling Yu Jin-Ho to continue with what he wanted to say.

As he had practised beforehand, Yu Jin-Ho bowed down hard and spoke.

“My apologies, father. I couldn’t change hyung-nim’s mind.”

Yu Myung-Hwan’s expression hardened.

“…..Okay, what did Hunter Seong Jin-Woo say while rejecting your offer?”

“Well, hyung-nim said…..”

Yu Jin-Ho hesitated slightly, but he slightly raised his head and spoke.

“He wants to make his own Guild, so if I was interested in the Vice Master spot, I should come over, instead…..”

Yu Jin-Ho thought that father would get angry or ignore that suggestion altogether, but instead, his expression was solidly frozen up.

And then….

Grin.

Yu Myung-Hwan chuckled without making a sound.

Someone widely known for his poker face, Chairman Yu Myung-Hwan had actually revealed a change of expression in front of his own son.

‘What is my dad doing?’

Yu Jin-Ho couldn’t dare to ask what was happening, so all he could do was to avert his gaze this way and that.

Yu Myung-Hwan spoke, that smile now erased from his lips.

“Do you know why I’m trying to establish the Yujin Guild?”

“Isn’t it because…. there’s money to be made in the Hunter business?”

“No, it’s not.”

Yu Myung-Hwan’s tone of voice was resolute, unwavering.

“We have more than enough money right now. You think I’ll try something that could put us at odds with other large Guilds just for the sake of chasing after a couple more bucks?”

Was he trying to imply that money wasn’t the reason?

Yu Jin-Ho’s eyes widened.

“But, if not that, then….?”

Yu Myung-Hwan carefully put the pen down.

“It’s in order to protect ourselves.”

Yu Myung-Hwan’s serious, dignified eyes caused Yu Jin-Ho to swallow his dry saliva in nervousness.

“Hunters are growing in power every day. And it’s not uncommon to see a single person possessing enough power to rival a country’s military might.”

For instance, the world’s most powerful Hunters, seen as already on the level of exercising power equal to that of a country’s government.

Yu Myung-Hwan was talking about those people.

“I hear that some Hunters already rule smaller nations like kings. How long do you think that the rule of law and governmental authority will keep us safe under the current situation?”

Yu Myung-Hwan’s voice was getting heavier.

However, as Yu Jin-Ho was listening to this explanation, it suddenly dawned on him that he was actually feeling happy at the moment.

Why was that?

‘….Ah.’

That was because, his father included him too and said ‘We’, instead.

Indeed, Yu Jin-Ho felt happy because he thought he got to glimpse for the first time another side of his father.

Yu Myung-Hwan’s explanation continued on.

“I wished to establish a Guild and gather trustworthy Hunters to our side. Not because I needed more money or that I am searching for talented individuals, but it’s all to find those Hunters who we can trust as fellow human beings, as well as for us to rely on their strength.”

And then, a nearly imperceptible smile formed on Yu Myung-Hwan’s face again.

“Looks like you already found someone like that, haven’t you?”

“Yes, Father.”

Yu Jin-Ho replied right away. It was a bit hard to tell where his father was going with this, but well, it was true regardless that Yu Jin-Ho could trust and rely on his hyung-nim.

Yu Myung-Hwan nodded his head.

“Very good.”

“Yes?”

“You pass.”

What did he pass just now? Yu Jin-Ho belatedly raised his bowed head.

“I shall entrust the Yujin Guild to you.”

“Pardon me?”

“Do your best to develop the Yujin Guild. Make those trustworthy and reliable Hunters ‘your’ people. In the future, they will no doubt become even more valuable assets than any form of wealth.”

Yu Myung-Hwan spoke with abundant certainty in his voice. And, just as his certainty was great, so was Yu Jin-Ho’s delight.

Would this be the first time since his birth that Yu Jin-Ho was acknowledged by his father?

“Thank you very much, Father!”

With an ample smile blooming on his face, Yu Jin-Ho bent his back forward 90 degrees. Yu Myung-Hwan looked on at that sight with a content expression.

Unfortunately, what Yu Jin-Ho said next went completely against Yu Myung-Hwan’s expectations.

“However, Father, I don’t think I can accept your offer.”

“Mm?”

Yu Myung-Hwan’s brows quivered slightly.

The financial wherewithal of the Yujin Construction was more than enough to put the soon-to-be-established Yujin Guild on the fast track.

Already, talks with a few rank S Hunters had advanced into a more concrete stage, as well.

The Yujin Guild becoming South Korea’s best, biggest Guild was already a foregone conclusion.Ñ00v€l–ß1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.

Yu Jin-Ho must’ve known this, too.

‘That’s why my son wanted to become the Master, wasn’t it?’

However, now that he was about to hand the Guild over, why was his boy declining it? Did he get scared in the meantime?

Yu Myung-Hwan did his best to suppress his disappointment and rage towards Yu Jin-Ho, and managed to say something.

“….What is your reason?”

Yu Jin-Ho raised his head at that prompt, and while still carrying a happy-looking face, he spoke without holding anything back.

“I’ve decided to work for hyung-nim’s Guild.”

Chapter 95

 

Finding himself surrounded by a wall of reporters, Jin-Woo became quite flustered.

‘Why aren’t these people taking pictures of Rhee Min-Seong like they were supposed to, instead of blocking my way??’

Wondering if Rhee Min-Seong was standing behind him, he took a quick glance, but he could only see Baek Yun-Ho and Choi Jong-In there.

It was then, his thigh began vibrating.

Vrrrr…. Vrrrr….

It was his mobile phone inside the pocket.

‘Why would Jin-Ah call me at this time of the day?’

As soon as he tapped on the ‘Answer’ icon, his little sister’s urgent voice exploded out from the speaker.

• “Oppa! Oppa, you’re on TV!!”

But, that was obvious. Just how many TV cameras were present here? You would still get roughly the same picture regardless of which TV station you tuned into.

He got momentarily tense after his sister, who was supposed to be still in school, suddenly called him up but was able to breathe a sigh in relief.

“Mm…. So, nothing in particular happened, right?”

• “Nothing in particular?? How can you even say that?! What’s this about Re-Awakening? And this rank S thing, too???”

From her voice, it was quite obvious that the girl was feeling really shocked at the moment. Unfortunately, his current circumstances meant that he couldn’t explain everything to her in detail.

“Right now, I’m a bit occupied so…. Okay, I’ll tell you everything once you get back home.”

• “Oppa?! Oppa!”

Despite his sister’s anxious voice calling out to him, Jin-Woo ended the call.

Click.

And at the same time, he got to figure out how the current situation came to be.

‘….There was a message, huh.’

The Hunters Association used a dedicated app to deliver important information in real time. Most of the time, the app alerted the users to the locations of rank A or higher dungeons, or where dungeon breaks were about to occur, but it was a different story today.

‘….Huh.’

After confirming the contents of the message, Jin-Woo quickly accessed the Association’s website. And sure enough….

The ink on his rank S Hunter licence wasn’t even dry yet, but the list of the highest ranking Hunters in South Korea had been updated already.

[Seong Jin-Woo, rank S, Mage-type]

It was as it was written on his licence.

‘….They are unnecessarily fast on things like this.’

Shoving the phone back in his pocket, Jin-Woo redirected his gaze back to the front.

“Mister Seong Jin-Woo! Are you really the rank E Hunter once affiliated with the Association?”

“You are now a very rare Re-Awakened!! How are you feeling right now?”

Reporters writhed and struggled desperately in order to capture a bit more of Jin-Woo’s face or his voice with their cameras. However, Jin-Woo found their explosive attention towards him simply annoying.

‘I gotta get out of this place first.’

Asking them politely to make way wouldn’t going to work.

Jin-Woo’s brows quivered. Should he just summon his Shadow Soldiers to carve out a path and leave?

“Over here! Mister Seong Jin-Woo, please look over this way!”

“Mister Seong Jin-Woo! The whole country is watching, so how about a smile for the viewers?”

While the camera lenses and mics were gradually inching closer, Jin-Woo spent the next two seconds earnestly pondering whether he should summon Shadow Soldiers like ‘Tank’ or ‘Fangs’ or not.

Meanwhile, behind Jin-Woo…

Choi Jong-In looked at Jin-Woo’s back as the youth stood there, unable to go anywhere thanks to the cordon of reporters blocking his way.

He approached Baek Yun-Ho and spoke.

“Looks like my new recruit Hunter-nim is feeling a bit troubled from the excessive attention, no?”

“And just who gave you the permission to call Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim ‘your’ new recruit now?”

“Can’t I even make a joke? It’s just a joke.”

Two men began their war of nerves once more. In the end, though, Choi Jong-In took a step back first. He sighed before speaking up again.

“In any case, it’d be the same thing as giving other Guilds a chance if we waste any more time here.”

Baek Yun-Ho agreed with that assessment. Not just the Reapers Guild’s Master Im Tae-Gyu, who just so coincidentally was present here today because of Rhee Min-Seong, but the other remaining super-large Guilds would be desperately trying to get in touch with Hunter Seong Jin-Woo right about now.

Baek Yun-Ho scanned the crowd of reporters.

“So, Chairman Choi, what you’re suggesting is….”

“Before flies come rushing in from the smell, let us escort Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim to his residence. While we have a chat with him regarding this and that.”

Meaning, the two of them should pool their resources first, and prevent more potential rivals from appearing.

Didn’t matter what kind of abilities Hunter Seong Jin-Woo possessed, he’d still need a Guild’s aid if he were to attack high-ranking dungeons. So, if they played their cards right, then either the White Tiger or the Hunters Guild could find themselves with another rank S in the roster.

Choi Jong-In was utterly confident of the Guild he led, the Hunters, and….

“Alright.”

….Baek Yun-Ho too didn’t feel that this was a bad suggestion, either.

The White Tiger might not have been as big as the Hunters, but it still was a Guild with great future prospects.

‘Besides, our Section Chief Ahn and Deputy Hyun are familiar with Mister Seong Jin-Woo from a while ago, too.’

At a bare minimum, he knew for sure that they had a closer relationship than the Hunters Guild.

And so, the interests of these two men lined up rather nicely. They exchanged a few suspicious gazes at each other, before turning around to approach Jin-Woo.

The first one to engage the young man in conversation was Baek Yun-Ho.

“Hunter-nim.”

Jin-Woo looked behind him.

“Yes?”

Choi Jong-In inwardly clicked his tongue after losing the initiative, but since they made a tacit agreement to cooperate, he didn’t interfere. Baek Yun-Ho formed the brightest smile he could manage and continued on.

“Are you feeling lost with all these reporters around? We can safely escort you back to your house, so how about going with us? We are pretty good at dealing with these sorts of situations, you see.”

Although a bit of exaggeration was mixed in there, what he said wasn’t an empty promise at all.

This event was something any rank S Hunter would experience at least once. Not only that, these two men also learned how to deal with people’s attention while managing their respective large Guilds, too.

Choi Jong-In provided support fire from the side.

“Let’s head out together. Also, there is something we’d like to discuss with you, as well.”

Too bad for them, Jin-Woo simply formed a polite-enough smile to reject them.

“I’ll be alright.”

He then pulled the hood attached to his top and hid his face.

“I actually do have a place I need to stop by first.”

“Excuse me? But, how will you get out of here, what with all these repor…..”

Choi Jong-In couldn’t get to continue with the rest of his sentence.

Swish-!!

Because, Jin-Woo turned to face the reporters and then, jumped up tens of metres in the air before landing on the other side of the crowd, that’s why.

“Uh, uh???”

Even before the flustered reporters could respond, Jin-Woo blended into the crowd and disappeared from the view.

Choi Jong-In was left speechless. Now that was a movement he couldn’t even react to in time, even though he was a rank S. It was quite obvious that the reporters, who were all regular people, wouldn’t be able to follow that with their naked eyes.

Choi Jong-In let out a wry chuckle.

‘As soon as registering as a rank S, he’s already playing the part of Superman?’

How was he supposed to be a Mage-type with that sort of physical ability? As a fellow Mage-type, it sure riled him up a bit.

But, in that case, how would a rank S melee-type Hunter think of that?

“Just now, he….”

Choi Jong-In turned towards Baek Yun-Ho in order to ask a question, but he flinched and reflexively took a step back.

“Chairman Baek, your eyes??”

He was so surprised that he even forgot to add the honorific title.

“Ah….! M-my apologies.”

Baek Yun-Ho hurriedly covered his eyes with his hand and turned around. When he opened his eyes again a short while later, they had reverted back from the monster-like irises to those of a normal human being. However, just because his eyes changed back to normal, that didn’t mean his shock had worn off.

‘How can this be…..??’

Baek Yun-Ho trembled on the spot.

Just now, when Jin-Woo gathered strength on his legs to prepare for that jump, he very briefly released his magic energy he’d been concealing until then.

No matter how skilful a Hunter was, it was nearly impossible to detect anything in such a short period of time. However, that incredible magic energy still caused Baek Yun-Ho to instinctively activate one of his abilities, the Eyes of the Beast, and those eyes successfully detected Jin-Woo’s hidden power.

‘He’s strong.’

Baek Yun-Ho already knew how strong the youth was. However….

‘No, that’s not important.’

Back when they had gotten into a bit of confrontation in front of the Red Gate, Baek Yun-Ho also activated the Eyes of the Beast inadvertently. Jin-Woo’s strength was clearly imprinted in Baek Yun-Ho’s mind back then.

Back then, the youth was very strong. Even if it was Baek Yun-Ho himself, he would not have been able to win without sacrificing an arm.

However, that was all.

If he was willing to sacrifice that much, then he’d be able to win at any time.

But now….

What was the meaning of this difference in strength? He detected magic energy incomparably greater than before. That youth was so much stronger now.

So, so much stronger than back then.

His Re-Awakening process should’ve been over a long time ago. So, how could this be?

In that instant, an implausible theory popped up in Baek Yun-Ho’s head.

‘Could he… be able to grow stronger?’

Possibly, not through Re-Awakening process, but through growing stronger that he…..

Just as his thoughts arrived at this point,

“Excuse me, Chairman Baek? Are you alright? Your complexion is….”

….Choi Jong-In worriedly asked him.

Baek Yun-Ho rubbed his face and shook his head, hard.

“I was suddenly feeling a bit dizzy just now. I’m okay.”

“You’re still young…. You should be more careful.”

While conversing with Choi Jong-In, Baek Yun-Ho continued to stare in the direction that Jin-Woo had disappeared to.

‘He’s already transcended the regular rank S, but if he could continue increasing his strength, then…’

Shudder.

Baek Yun-Ho’s entire body shuddered from goosebumps.

---

“Taxi!”

After successfully shaking off the reporters, Jin-Woo caught a taxi on a deserted road.

He now possessed the rank S licence that he so wanted. Him levelling up and clearing dungeons were all good and nice, but right now, the most important thing was curing his mother.

‘The Divine Water of Life….’

He didn’t know if this item called ‘Divine Water of Life’ could really heal his mother.

‘However, if there is a one in a thousand, no, even if it’s one in a ten thousand chance, then I…..’

He wanted to clear the Demon’s Castle as quickly as humanly possible and collect all the ingredients so he could craft this ‘Divine Water of Life’. And in order to do that, he needed to find an artefact that could protect him from the overwhelming heat of the Demon’s Castle.

Jin-Woo settled down in the backseat of the taxi and told the driver his destination.

“To the Korean Hunter Auction, please.”

The taxi driver took a glance through the rear-view mirror and grinned brightly.

“Well, you must be going there to sell something good, am I right? I hear that the minimum trading price starts at around tens of millions of Won.”

Instead of a reply, Jin-Woo simply formed a thin smile.

Gulp.

The driver swallowed his saliva.

By saying that he wanted to go to the Hunter Auction to sell something, that youth was declaring that he was a Hunter; and the driver needed to be extra careful when dealing with Hunters.

There were more than a few among the Hunters possessing somewhat of ‘particular’ personalities that were just as strange as their powers. If the driver made a mistake and got on the bad side of this youth, a big incident might break out.

‘Well, this young man doesn’t look like one of those people, but still, it’s better to be on the cautious side, no?’

The driver remained mindful of Jin-Woo’s moods and kept his mouth shut, and thanks to that, the interior of the taxi was left largely quiet during the drive. Jin-Woo used this part of the trip to search the internet.

Various articles, social media sites, as well as portal communities etc., were all filled with the discussion regarding the new rank S Hunter. Rhee Min-Seong used to be the number one most-searched-for topic until this morning, yet his name could no longer be seen in the top 10 now.

‘Tsk.’

Jin-Woo clicked his tongue.

‘I didn’t expect it to be this crazy, though.’

Sure, he did expect some amount of attention, but he definitely didn’t believe that it’d become such a hot trending topic at all.

Then again…

There were only ten in South Korea.

If one were to exclude two who died or had emigrated to elsewhere, then there were only eight rank S Hunters in the country, so how could the response of its citizens not be feverish?

‘Wait, why was it quiet back when Cha Hae-In became a rank S?’

Because the ninth rank S Cha Hae-In was almost never exposed to the media, Jin-Woo thought his case would be similar to that. But when he searched this and that, he eventually discovered that, once Cha Hae-In had become a rank S, she requested the Association to keep most of her details confidential.

‘Just by requesting the Association, both the media and Guilds can’t even rely on laws to approach you.’

If there was such a convenient method available, why didn’t the Association President tell him about this?

‘….Ah.’

Jin-Woo recalled the question he got just as he was about to enter the examination area. Back then, the Association President asked him this:

“Have you thought of a Guild to join?”

“No, not yet.”

Did he ask because of that?

If he were to request confidentiality, then Guilds wouldn’t have been able to approach him, so it was likely that the Association President deliberately hadn’t said anything.

‘Well, that’s that, I guess.’

Jin-Woo requested confidentiality from the Association while online, and rang up the Korean Hunter Auction.

Click.

• “Welcome to Korean Hunter Auction.”

“I’d like to get an artefact appraised. I’m on my way there, but will it be okay?”

• “Yes, of course. However, what type of an artefact would you like to get appraised?”

“It’s a bead containing an amplification effect on one’s magic.”

• “Ah. A magic tool that can amplify….. By the way, seeing that you’re already aware of the artefact’s effects, you must have had it appraised elsewhere?”

“Indeed I have, but they weren’t really all that trustworthy so I wanted to get the Hunter Auction’s opinion.”

• “Hahaha. You made the right choice. There is no one out there that can correctly estimate the value of an artefact better than us.”

The conversation was halted for a moment as if the other party was jotting something down, but it soon resumed.

• “So, may I ask, what was the amplification percentage detected from the previous appraisal?”

“It was 100%.”

• “Pardon me?”

“It was a one hundred percent amplification effect.”

• “….”

The voice over the phone came out after a short pause.Ñ00v€l–ß1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.

• “My apologies, but may I ask if you’re a Hunter?”

“Yes, I am.”

• “In order for the smooth appraisal process, we require the identity of the seller. Can you provide us with your rank and your name, please?”

The corners of Jin-Woo’s lips arched up.

‘I knew this would happen.’

Would the Hunter Auction even talk to him if he wanted to sell this nonsensical artefact when he was still a rank E Hunter? It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he got re-evaluated precisely for this moment.

Jin-Woo confidently declared.

“It’s rank S. Name’s Seong Jin-Woo.”