Episode 1
Chapter 4: My efforts were not in vain (4)
I stood there, mouth agape in disbelief. I had only expected a slightly higher score, but the punching bag had exploded.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I swiftly moved my body. The noise was too loud, and I knew people would come running.
“Let’s get out of here quickly. People will come.”
Despite the perplexing situation, I managed to maintain my composure and make a swift decision, thanks to the traits of a monarch.
I canceled the summoning and sought refuge in the bathroom down the hallway.
As expected, as soon as I opened the bathroom door and stepped inside…
“W-What! What’s going on…!”
“I think it came from the skill verification room?”
“Oh my goodness! The punching bag in here has exploded!”
Inspectors rushed out into the hallway, their voices filled with confusion and concern.
I wondered if this could turn into a major problem. Hiding in the bathroom, I listened intently, but fortunately, the atmosphere didn’t seem too serious.
“Could it be that a high-ranking hunter has arrived? It has happened before, right? A hunter would come, hit the punching bag, and then disappear.”
“Only steel? Yeah, there was a time like that. He would show up without saying a word, break his own record, and then vanish.”
From what I overheard, it seemed that Kang Cheol-man had also pulled off a similar stunt in the past—showing up, hitting the punching bag, and then disappearing without a trace.
It was a crisis, but luckily, an hour had passed, providing some relief. It seemed like the right time to step back and avoid any suspicion that may arise from being hidden and caught.
With boldness, I ventured out into the hallway.
And there, I approached the inspector I had spotted earlier, pretending to be surprised.
“Uh? What’s going on? It sounded quite loud.”
Fortunately, there was no immediate suspicion.
“Ah, it’s nothing major. It appears that a high-ranking hunter hit the punching bag. They say it’s a way to relieve stress.”
“That’s intense. But seriously, that punching bag seems to burst quite easily, doesn’t it?”
“No, it’s actually specially made. Even if an S-class hunter were to hit it, it would be fine. Sometimes, the alloy chain connecting the sandbag breaks due to old age, but this is the first time I’ve seen it completely break. I don’t know who did it, but they must be really strong. It’s not something that can be achieved with just a perfect score. You’d have to be at least an SS-level hunter to crack it.”
An SS-class hunter.
The corners of my mouth naturally curled into a smile upon hearing the inspector’s words.
From F level to SSS level.
Hunters are categorized into nine levels, with the grade determined by the Hunter Administration based on their level, stats, and skills.
If being an SS level requires a minimum level of over 400, it’s hard to believe that I’m being evaluated like that when I’m only at level 3.
As expected, the [Character Summon] skill was a morale-boosting ability.
A shiver ran through my entire body, but I couldn’t let it show. I played the part of an oblivious hunter and spoke to the inspector.
“I don’t know who he is, but he seems like an exceptional hunter. I’ll have to work hard too.”
“Ah, Right… haha. Please be careful out there. Stay strong in the future.”
The inspector didn’t say much more, but her smile and encouragement conveyed a deeper meaning. I understood what he was trying to say.
There are limitations to the growth of an F-level hunter without any skills. While it’s possible to increase levels and acquire good items through hunting, most F-level hunters struggle to gain new skills as they progress, ultimately not reaching high levels.
As the difficulty of the dungeons increases, the power and variety of skills become crucial. Hunters who awaken without any skills are likely to struggle to acquire new ones, even as their level increases, or they may only obtain skills with limited utility.
This is common knowledge in the era of great hunters. From that perspective, my potential was extraordinary. With the talent I possessed, I had the potential to reach SS level or even higher, despite being at level 3.
Of course, the inspector standing before me had no knowledge of that fact.
Regardless, thanks to my skills remaining undisclosed, no one suspected me.
“Yes, thank you for your support. Have a nice day, Inspector!”
With a smile, I bid farewell and leisurely made my way out of the hunter office.
Now that I had confirmed the power of Yuil’s skill and obtained my hunter’s certificate, it was time to put it into practice.
* * *
When it comes to growing in gaming, what is the most important factor?
Luck, effort, and skill all play a role, but based on my extensive experience, there is one key element: efficiency.
Regardless of whether you’re fortunate or not, whether you have ample time or not, maximizing efficiency in any given environment allows for rapid growth.
This is a truth I’ve learned from over a decade of playing games.
So, as soon as I obtained my hunter’s license, I didn’t head home but went straight to the hunting ground at Seoul Station.
The strategies I used in games were now being applied to my life as a hunter.
After going through a morning dungeon run and an afternoon test in Seoul, fatigue weighed heavily on my body, but I couldn’t afford to rest.
It had been 10 years since the Great Hunter Era began.
If I were to compare reality to a game, I was a noob.
A newcomer diving into a game that had been in service for a decade, facing the challenges of catching up.
Although I possessed the unique skill [Character Summon] and an exclusive attribute that increased experience by 10 times, I was already lagging behind in terms of growth.
My efficiency needed to be maximized.
“For now, I’ll focus more on being a hunter rather than using Hire.”
It couldn’t be helped.
While I could automate certain aspects of Hire, there were limits to it.
But that didn’t mean I had completely given up on Hire.
After all, due to the nature of [Character Summoning], the stronger I made my Hire characters, the stronger I became as well.
Instead, I had to compensate for the lack of time with money.
That was the current reality.
Like Kang Cheol-man, my plan is to earn money through raids and invest in improving my characters with cash.
Since most of my characters are already at the maximum level, my focus will be on strengthening their equipment and skills, which can be partially covered with money.
Of course, I’m not sure if I’ll be making hundreds of millions or even billions, and the current challenge is that the money I would normally spend on Hire needs to be used for my work as a hunter.
“Whoa, that’s ridiculously expensive,” I grumbled while looking at the bottle in my hand on the way to the dungeon.
It was a mana potion I had purchased from a simple vending machine at the entrance of the hunting ground. If I wanted to hunt alone using [Character Summon], I needed to replenish my mana. However, even a low-level mana potion costs 1 million won.
Considering that the price exponentially increases with higher grades (low, middle, high, top, etc.), it was an exorbitant price.
I had seen this countless times while on guard duty, but it felt even more expensive when I had to buy it with my own money.
Of course, it wasn’t a wrong choice. In the world, the truth is that you earn as much as you invest.
“So if this raid is successful, the burden could be significantly reduced.”
[Character Summon] is powerful but consumes a considerable amount of mana. Although I can currently only afford to buy two mana potions with all my money, the profits I earn from successfully clearing dungeons can be used to purchase additional mana potions.
Thanks to the [Solo] trait, I would enjoy all the benefits in the dungeon that others would normally have to share with their party members.
I chose a hunting ground near the Hunter’s Office in southern Seoul. The close proximity was one reason, but there was more to it.
This place held what I desired.
“Hello, I’m about to enter the dungeon,” I greeted the dungeon sentry.
“Please enter your hunter ID using the barcode here,” the sentry replied, glancing at his phone with a lackadaisical attitude.
While this response might be considered offensive in normal circumstances, for me, it was exactly what I expected. The lax management worked in my favor.
A smile formed on my lips.
The Seoul Station hunting ground was operated by a small company known for cutting costs. As a result, the hourly wages were high, and they employed only one person at a time, thanks to a clever shift system.
Due to the unfavorable working conditions and treatment, the attendance of staff was low. It used to be the worst when I worked here, but now it was the perfect environment for me.
I knew this well because I had worked here before. I hadn’t even taken off my dungeon sentry uniform, wondering if it might come in handy. Yet, the sentry didn’t even spare a glance.
While it would be troublesome if any rumors started circulating, I couldn’t have asked for a better situation.
“Thank you, and good work,” I said, acknowledging the sentry.
Beep-!
-Eligibility confirmed.
I stamped my hunter ID on the machine displayed in the window of the management office and made my way towards the portal.
Immediately, my attention was drawn to the engraved letters on the gate.
It was an F-grade dungeon, the lowest among dungeon grades.
Considering the power of I’m Going to Want It and the fact that I had already defeated the E-level monster Gray Rock Bear, I could have ventured into an E-level dungeon. However, according to the current hunter policy, I had no choice but to clear a lower-level dungeon before being allowed to enter a higher-level one.
Moreover, this particular dungeon held the item I desired.
The probability of obtaining it was low, but if it did drop, it would be a tremendous help in the early stages of my journey.
Knowing that there would be fierce competition for reservations, I relied on my gaming-honed determination.
As soon as I received an alert about a cancellation through the Hunter app, I succeeded in securing a reservation through continuous refreshing and clicking.
“Wow, did you just say the 12th F-grade dungeon at Seoul Station sold out instantly?”
“Is it a macro? How is that even possible at human speed?”
Even users on the low-level hunter community page were impressed by my speed.
“Opportunities are seized by those who consistently put in hard work,” I thought to myself.
I took out a sword and a broken shield from the large bag on my back.
And with determination in my eyes, I declared, “Let’s begin.”
After taking a deep breath, I stepped into the portal.
[Entering an F-class dungeon.]
The real adventure was about to begin.
* * *
“Whoa, I’m so swamped. Why are there so many applications from this person…”
Palak- Palak-
Every time I turned a page, the employee card of Shin Dae-hoon, the head of the 3rd Human Resources Department at the Hunter Administration, seemed to wave at me.
Shin Dae-hoon loosened his tie and handed me a stack of papers.
How many hours had it been already?
It was the recruitment period for new hunters, so there were countless documents to review.
The volume was so overwhelming that it seemed almost impossible to review them all, but we had managed to narrow it down as best as we could.
The initial screening had been done using a computer, and some documents had been assigned to other human resources departments, so we were left with a few hundred to review.
Still, it was a daunting task for the five of us in the office, but there was no other choice.
This was the Hunter Administration, the sole national agency for hunters in Korea.
Considering the status alone, all the top hunters in Korea should be applying here.
“Ugh, there’s no one. I don’t see a single hunter that catches my interest…”
There seemed to be no promising talents in sight.
From F level to C level, the applications didn’t seem to meet the expectations.
Hunters of various levels had applied, but not a single one seemed to meet the standards of the Hunter Administration.
Criminals, mentally unstable individuals, those denied entry into dungeons, and more. They all had their flaws.
In a way, it was to be expected. Talented hunters often chose to join general guilds rather than national organizations. The hunters who applied here either found it difficult to actively participate in dungeon activities or were simply looking to take advantage of the benefits offered.
Perhaps the same sentiment was shared by the members of the personnel department, as they flipped through the documents with bored expressions.
Palak- Palak-
The sound of papers being turned filled the quiet office.
“But there must be at least one,” Shin Dae-hoon thought to himself.
Despite the monotonous tasks at hand, he refocused on his work. He couldn’t afford to show any signs of breaking down.
But just as he was trying to maintain his composure, someone appeared who shattered his fragile state of mind.
“Chief! It’s a scoop, a scoop!” exclaimed Seo Sang-jae, the assistant manager of the Hunter Administration’s 3rd Personnel Department.
Seo Sang-jae, a tall and handsome man in his 20s, was known as the poster boy of the human resources department.
It seemed like he had stumbled upon something interesting, but Shin Dae-hoon, frustrated with the workload, frowned and nodded.
“Are we reporters now? What’s so special about it?” Shin Dae-hoon grumbled.
“No, Chief, this is really amazing. You have to see it for yourself!” Seo Sang-jae insisted, not even bothering to listen to Shin Dae-hoon’s complaints as he held out his cellphone.
Seo Sang-jae seemed unusually excited, as if he had discovered something remarkable.
“Is it another funny video? There’s no need to make a fuss…” Shin Dae-hoon remarked, trying to maintain his calm demeanor.
Assistant Manager Seo Sang-jae had a tendency to show funny videos from the internet and make a fuss, which had become somewhat predictable.
Bored with the continuous work, Shin Dae-hoon pretended to give in and glanced at the cellphone that Seo Sang-jae eagerly presented.
However…
“W-What is this?”
What appeared on the screen was not a funny video at all.
It was indeed a video, but the content was different.
The structure of the video immediately indicated that it was CCTV footage, and the location was familiar.
A punching bag and an electronic signboard placed in an empty room.
It was the Hunter Administration’s skill verification room, a place every hunter had to go through at least once.
A place where hunters would jump with joy upon awakening, only to be disappointed by the low power score they received when striking the punching bag.
But the video showed something entirely different.
Suddenly, a knight in armor entered the skill verification room.
Whoa, whoa-!!
With a powerful strike from his shield, the knight shattered the punching bag.
“What is this…?”
“A friend of mine who works at the Seoul Southern Branch sent me this. It just happened. The hunter is unidentified, and he owes me a favor, so he shared it with me first. Manager, at this level, the information will definitely reach other guilds,” Seo Sang-jae explained with a sense of urgency.
Seo Sang-jae provided a detailed explanation of the situation to Shin Dae-hoon.
Shin Dae-hoon, his eyes fixed on the cellphone screen, began speaking urgently.
“Just now? What was the exact time?”
“2 p.m., three hours ago.”
“Alright! Everyone, grab your coats! We’ll review the documents later. We need to go out and work right away!”
After a brief conversation, Shin Dae-hoon grabbed the jacket hanging on his chair and quickly left the office.
The other five team members sat there, their heads tilted in confusion.
“What’s going on? Why is the chief acting like that?”
“What did he see that prompted such a reaction?”
The members of the human resources team, curious about the situation, approached Seo Sang-jae and watched the video as well.
Their reactions mirrored the initial surprise.
“Hitting a punching bag with a shield? I don’t think he even used any skills.”
“Who could it be? To pull off something like this, they must be at least an S-class hunter. And that armor… I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
Everyone stared at the hunter in the video with wide-eyed astonishment.
Just then, Shin Dae-hoon returned to the office, grabbed his car keys, and shouted as he left.
“That’s at least an SS-level hunter! We must recruit him!”
