TL: ænigma
PR: Hayath
Episode 1
Chapter 3 My efforts were not in vain (3)
Hunter’s Office, Seoul Southern Branch.
“Was this place always this cool?”
A signboard was visible in front of the main entrance of a tall building.
This is a building I occasionally visited for dungeon guard safety training, but it felt especially shiny today.
Is it because I was awakened?
In the past, I wouldn’t have been impressed, but everything looked beautiful.
After looking around for no reason, I went inside.
As I entered the building, I could hear conversations here and there as usual.
“How many people had awakened today?”
“The southern branch must have about 20 people, right? What matters is not the number of people. “It’s the skill level.”
“Whew, I guess I’ll have to scout for a high-level awakened person today… .”
They were scouts trying to recruit high-level awakeners.
I heard that they were killing it near the hunter office, and it seems to have been true.
Inside the Hunter’s Office, there was a crowd of probably hundreds of people at best.
However, not all of those people were Awakened people, and most of them were scouts from the Awakened family members or guilds.
Since the awakened person must stop by the Hunter’s Office for further activities, a scouter who resides permanently is placed at the guild level.
But in the end, even though there were a lot of people, what attracted the most attention was a high-level hunter with good skills, so a fierce search battle was taking place with hundreds of eyes going back and forth.
There were eyes on me too, but most of them were quickly taken away.
Since I am currently wearing a dungeon sentry uniform, I think it is unlikely that I look like I’m a high-rank hunter.
‘It would be better if you just didn’t pay attention to me.’
It was because of the unique skills I had, as well as my characteristic as a monarch, ‘self-reliance’.
‘It’s not too late to join the guild later after you’ve sufficiently raised your level. In the beginning, the guild can actually be a limitation.’
If you want to take advantage of the characteristic that increases experience points by 10 times, solo hunting is the way to go, early party hunting can be toxic.
It would be unnatural for a newcomer who had just awakened and had low level abilities to go hunting alone.
You will definitely be suspected, and there is a high possibility that something troublesome will happen.
I leisurely picked up the documents provided in the waiting room, filled out my personal information, and then walked to the reception desk.
“Hello, are you here for safety training?”
The receptionist smiled and spoke kindly. She must have decided that I had come to take safety training because of my dungeon sentry uniform.
“No, I came to report an awakening.”
“Ah, I see, please excuse me.”
The receptionist slightly bowed her head and pulled out a piece of paper, perhaps feeling sorry for assuming that I was a sentinel.
“Here is the registration form. Congratulations on your awakening. Please proceed with the test according to your number in the examination room on the upper floor.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Actually, it’s quite possible to assume that. In fact, it is true that I was a sentry until a few hours ago.
I said bye to the receptionist and went to the designated location.
As I went up from the first floor to the second floor, there were newly awakened people like me waiting for the inspection.
Ranging from young children to the elderly.
A variety of people, regardless of their age, gender, and race, were all sitting on chairs in the waiting room, waiting for the test.
It seemed true that awakening comes without prejudice.
“Are you here to get an alertness test?”
“Oh, yes. you’re right.”
“Could you come over here, show me your ID, and fill out your personal information?”
The receptionist on the second floor also seemed familiar with this situation.
Fill out the documents as instructed and the guide will show you the way.
“You can go to the third inspection room, please wait five minutes and I will call your name.”
“Yes, thank you.”
As the guide said, it didn’t take that long.
“Han Sangwoo, you can come in.”
Immediately my name was called, and I entered the examination room.
The start was a stat check.
When I entered the room, three inspectors were waiting for me.
“We will verify your identity again before the inspection, are you Han Sang-woo?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Your identity has been confirmed. Now then, please place your hand on this handle and we will start measuring.”
I followed the instructions and climbed onto a machine that looked like a body composition measuring machine.
The results came out right away.
“Strength 8, Dexterity 7, Intelligence 7, Stamina 8, Magic Power 2. The numbers are high…Oh, but you’re level 3?”
“Ah, I awakened during the dungeon break.” “There was a monster right in front of me.”
“Oh, I see! There aren’t too many people who have raised their level as soon as they awaken.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, even if you awaken, there are cases where you die from monsters, and there are many cases where you run away or do not accumulate enough experience to level up. In particular, this is the first time I have seen someone who has leveled up two levels without any skills.” “You are truly amazing.”
“I see. I guess I got lucky. Ha ha ha.”
A warm conversation taking place.
I cautiously asked what I was suspicious of.
“However… Do I have no skills? “I think I saw something.”
At my words, the inspector looked at the test sheet again carefully and said,
“Yes. I don’t have the skill yet. There’s a high possibility that you saw it wrong, but don’t worry too much. Even if it doesn’t exist immediately after awakening, it may appear as you level up… .”
The comments didn’t go well.
I can’t believe I don’t have any skills.
But, I have a skill called [Character Summon] that summons Taeseng GilgeoI, but the inspector said I had no skills.
What happened?
Feeling puzzled, I looked at the paper the inspector had printed and said,
“Excuse me, but can I take a moment to look at the results table?”
“Sure.”
I took the measurement sheet handed to me by the inspector and read it.
Other things such as name, level, and stats were the same as displayed in the status window.
But one part was different.
The skill in the status window says character summoning, but the result sheet says it is not measured.
What happened?
The reason could be guessed.
Unique skill.
Unlike other skills, my [Character Summon] was labeled as a ‘unique skill’, and because of that, the machine seemed to be unable to measure it.
“… Are you going to tell the truth?”
I looked up from my thoughts to see my friend, Mal, staring at me with a serious expression.
“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.
“You know what I mean,” he replied, his voice low. “Are you really going to hold back your skills just to get a lower rating?”
I sighed, knowing that Mal wouldn’t let this go easily.
“It’s not just about the rating,” I explained. “I want to focus on building up my abilities and becoming a powerful hunter. If I reveal all my skills now, I’ll be targeted by guilds and other hunters, and it could be dangerous.”
Mal nodded slowly, but I could tell he wasn’t completely convinced.
“I understand your concerns,” he said. “But you have to think about the benefits of being a high-level ranker. You’ll have access to better equipment, more lucrative quests, and you’ll be respected by other hunters.”
I knew he was right, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t worth the risk.
“I’ll think about it,” I said finally, hoping to end the conversation.
Mal nodded, but I could tell he wasn’t satisfied.
As we walked out of the Hunter’s Office, I couldn’t help but wonder if I was making the right decision.
“Is there a problem?”
“No, I was mistaken for a moment.”
I chose to move on from the mistaken assumption and continue with the inspection.
Since the meter could not determine the unique skill, it seemed better to keep it hidden as much as possible. Obtaining a special skill or characteristic through awakening is like winning the lottery. If there is no reason to reveal it, it is better to keep it hidden as much as possible. This was definitely a good choice.
“Where should I go now?”
“Next is a skill check, but since you don’t have any skills, you can skip it. If you gain the skill later, you can come back and check it out.”
The skill check is a test targeting attack skills, and it tests the power of the skill by hitting a specially made sandbag, but I didn’t need it right now.
“Ah, I see. Thank you.”
“Yes, this is the end of the inspection. Here is your hunter ID.”
One of the two remaining assistants who were helping with the inspection came up to me and handed me a card.
I can’t believe I already got my hunter ID. It was quite fast.
When I turned my head, I saw an inspector sitting at the card issuing machine, repeatedly registering and issuing hunter permits. She seemed to type things right away during the test.
“I heard that the Hunter Office’s work speed is very fast due to the unexpected nature of dungeons, monsters, etc., but I didn’t expect it to be this fast.
“Thank you. The processing is very fast.”
“It’s nothing compared to the hard work of the hunters. I wish you good luck, Hunter Sangwoo Han.”
“Anyway, although it is the lowest level, F level, you can now become an official hunter and enter the dungeon.”
After receiving my hunter ID, I left the skill verification room and walked down the hallway.
And…
“Oh, right, I have to turn on automatic hunting.”
I took out my phone and turned on Hire.
This is because now was the time to turn to hunting for other characters, not because I’m going to miss you.
But just as I was about to log in, something caught my eye.
<1st place: Kang Cheol-man - 832 points>
<2nd place: Ahn Ji-eun - 817 points>
<3rd place: Hwang Hyeon-seong - 796 points>
In the middle of the hallway, in the empty skill verification room, there was a familiar name on the electronic board.
‘Only steel? Is that guy in first place too?'”
Hunter Man, real name Kang Cheol-man, took first place in the Guardian Knight rankings.
I never thought I’d see his name here too.
‘Wait a minute, if Kang Cheol-man is that good, how many points will I get?’
At that time, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
To be honest, I intentionally avoided skill verification, but I was curious.
In Hire, what will happen if Taeseng GilgeoI, who is at max level, demonstrates his power properly in reality, and will he be stronger than the world’s best hunter, as I guess?
Kang Cheol-man is SS-class, estimated level 590, so if my prediction is correct, I’ll hit you, I’ll hit you, and I’ll update your score even higher.
‘Just in case, if you figure this out in advance, it will be helpful later.’
Coincidentally, there was no one else in the hallway except me.
My mana recovered a bit while riding the bus, and I was able to use my skills.
Okay, let’s give it a try.
I snuck into the dark 7th skill verification room.
The inside of the room was simple yet equipped for training. The white walls were designed to absorb shock and adorned with various weapons such as swords, axes, and hammers. In the center, a massive 5-meter-high punching bag hung, ready for action.
Although there were CCTV cameras, they were only positioned in the verification room with the punching bag. So, there was no need to worry about being filmed.
Sure, there was a risk of getting caught if I hit the punching bag, but why did it matter? In this world, the person caught on CCTV would never be identified.
“Come out, I’m going to miss you.”
With those words, I summoned my character using the skill “Character Summon: I’ll miss you.” A beam of light appeared in front of me, signaling the arrival of my character.
“Did you call me, my lord?” my character asked.
“Alright. I’ll explain quickly because my mana is running low. But… how do I give you an attack order? Can I simply command you verbally?”
I had no idea how to control my character in the real world. In games, there’s usually an interface that allows control through a keyboard and mouse, but such a thing doesn’t exist here.
In response to my question, a message appeared, providing some guidance:
[Summoned characters can be given commands verbally.]
[Other than orders, the character makes autonomous decisions and acts according to the nature of the summoned character.]
[Skills used by the character can be controlled through commands or icons in the character window.]
“Icons… Is this it?”
I hadn’t realized it earlier, but when I clicked on the skill item in the character window, I found a list of skill icons possessed by Taeseng GilgeoI, just like in Hire.
Now, the question was, which skill should I choose to deliver the most powerful blow to the punching bag?
After a brief moment of consideration, I decided to give the order first. Since my mana wasn’t recovering well at the moment, I couldn’t keep summoning characters for an extended period.
“You’ll hit it. Attack the punching bag in the middle of the room over there.”
“I will follow your orders.”
Clap-clack-clack-!
As soon as the command was given, Taeseng GilgeoI sprang into action, moving towards the punching bag.
Meanwhile, I contemplated which skills to use on the punching bag. Using a skill that was too strong would create a ruckus, while using a weaker skill might be ineffective. Being a guardian knight, I had a multitude of defensive skills, which made the decision even more challenging.
“Well, let’s give the weakest skill a try, shall we?” I mused, clicking on a skill icon as I observed Taeseng GilgeoI making his way towards the punching bag.
Alright.
[Character: Taeseng GilgeoI uses Shield Strike.]
A message popped up, indicating that the skill had been cast.
With a sword and shield in hand, Taenggilgeo entered the attack stance, closed the distance, and swung his shield at the punching bag.
I didn’t have high expectations for the outcome since Shield Strike was known to be the weakest attack skill in the game and was usually used as a test or a check.
However…
In that moment, as Taeseng GilgeoI rotated his body and struck the punching bag with his shield…
Whoa!! Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!
The impact was tremendous, causing the sandbag to explode with a resounding noise.
