<The Hunter Association (1)>
Before going to find Park Ye-rim, I headed to the Hunter’s Association to register my Awakening and purchase contract items.
The Korean Hunter Association.
At the start it was a government-established Awakening Registry, and then, with the power of the three largest guilds, it became an association. Other Hunter Associations abroad have also been created through similar processes. Currently, the government-run Association has a 51-percent stake with the government, 30 percent with the three largest guilds, and 19 percent with other guilds, but after five years, the power of the guilds becomes bigger and the majority of the shares are taken away.
To be exact, the Haeyeon Guild took it.
‘The more I think about it, the more I felt that pre-regression Yuhyun was crazy.’
The leader of such a great guild risked his life to save a useless older brother. I don’t understand.
But thanks to it, my life was saved, I regressed, and I got two L-Class titles, so I gotta endure Yoo Hyun ‘s crazy things, what can I do?
There were quite a few people in the Hunter’s Association waiting room waiting to register their Awakening. It was impossible for most of the Awakened to do Hunters’ work with skills and stats being F-Level, aka Double F, but they still came to register. This was because the government gave subsidies to promote the registration of people with Awakenings. As the registration of Awakened people alone provided a subsidy of 1 million won, everyone came to the association with money to burn.
I drew a waiting table and sat down on the chair. The number says it’ll take some time.
“Hey, isn’t that the A-Level Hunter, Kim Sunghan?
“What? Really?
People sitting in the waiting room began to chat when they recognized Kim Sunghan, who followed me. The A-Levels’ popularity falls short of that of S-Levels, but Kim Sunghan was a hunter well-known for his face and name. Half of this is influenced by Yuhyun, and the other half is due to his performance during the Break of the Class A dungeon in the Dongdaegu area.
A Dungeon Break occurs when the number of monsters in the dungeon exceeds the capacity of the dungeon. Monsters would break out of the dungeon, creating a dangerous situation, but nowadays they rarely happen due to good management. There has been no known case of an already discovered dungeon having a Dungeon Break, but it has occurred occasionally when the discovery of a new dungeon is delayed.
“But why are you here?”
“I came in with him.”
People’s eyes turned to the me who was sitting next to Kim Sunghan.
“He’s the only one sitting there with the A-Level.”
“Is he an important person? It looks like you’re standing by like you’re guarding him. You’re here to escort him?”
“The waiting ticket seems like he must be here to register his Awakening but if there is an A-Level along with him, it doesn’t seem to be a joke. It must be an S-Level rookie from the guild.”
No, it’s an F-Level. I looked up at Kim Sung-han and said little.
“Sit down.”
“No thank you.”
“Shouldn’t you sit?”
“It’s better to stand in case anything happens.”
No matter what happens, this is still the inside of the Hunter’s Association. There’s even a first batch of people here to register their Awakening.
‘Let’s see if there are any good newcomers.’
I used Promising Sprout to check out the stats of a man who was busy talking.
[Awakened Person – Shin Minho
Current Stat Class F
Awakening Available: Stats F to E
Optimization of Initial Skill
Quick Feet (E) Failed to Obtain
Jump (E) Obtained
Throw (F) Obtained]
The Awakening Stats fell a grade and not all the Initial Skills were gotten. However, he would still get a Hunter’s license because he had an E-Grade skill.
‘Ugh.’
When I checked out two more FF-Class people, a short pain flared up in my head and disappeared just as suddenly. It was a sign that I had consumed half of my mana.
‘The Promising Sprout skill’s status check is limited to 6 times.’
No wonder my magic stat is 2.
Health and mana were not shown in the status window. It would be nice if it was displayed as a red and blue stick like a game, but because it was not, I had to guess the condition of the body.
If it’s health, it’s fine to see by eye. That one’s half dead, that one’s dying. I was able to roughly tell, but the problem was mana. Five years later, people still have not invented the way to check mana levels. However, if you consume half of your mana, you will feel a short headache, and you have less than ten percent left, you will lose consciousness.
I’m glad that passive skills like poison resistance do not usually consume mana.
‘Triggering the optimal awakening or using the Little One skill will have a higher cost than a status check.’
My Little One’s The Best is an L-Grade skill, so it will eat unpleasantly eat mana. For Yuhyun’s case, it was alright to use it passively as a one-time conferment effect, but if I use it now, I might fail and pass out.
‘I’m sure we’ll have to raise my level a little.’
To do that, I would have to go into the dungeon, but if Yuhyun finds out he will jump in to stop me. I will have to sneak in.
“Number 56 to 65, please come in.”
The people who came here first got up and followed the Association’s staff. My turn came only after another group of them had gone in.
As I walked in, the partition hanging in front of the desk was hanging down. The staff handed out a sheet of paper to each person. On the paper was the application for the registration of Awakening, there was a column to write the stat and skill in addition to the personal information. After writing and ensuring that there are no mistakes or falsehoods, the Awakening level will be recorded.
I picked up the pen on the desk and began to fill in the empty space. Only the stats and basic skills were written and no titles were revealed. The stats will be measured immediately, but skills and titles cannot be measured and hence and cannot be confirmed if hidden.
‘Although there were people who exaggerate their abilities in the beginning, few people would write it down.’
I don’t think people deliberately put a lower grade unless it’s a unique case like me. People would treat you differently once they see you have a lower grade. In addition, there are many benefits for those who are C-Level or above.
“Is he an S-Level rookie?”
“Haeyeon Guild’s new S-Level, whom A-Level Kim Sunghan escorted?”
No. No, you guys. It’s been a while since the speculation has already been made. You there, where the hell are you calling in such a hurry? Ugh, high ranking people in the Association are coming over. Surely you did not come here because of me?
“Good morning. I am Seok Kimyung, head of the registration department of the Hunter’s Association.”
He bowed his head to me. Fuck, don’t. Don’t say hello.
“If you don’t mind, could I check your application for a moment?”
“……here you go.”
I was already starting to feel embarrassed but I handed him my application. Seok Kimyung, who saw the single digit stats and the E-Grade skills, frowned slightly. Hey, I only have five L-Grade skills.
“…hm. Then have a nice day.”
Checking out the application form and dropping formal speech right away. The polite attitude disappeared right. How horrible. It is horrible, but it happened a lot even before the regression.
“What, so it wasn’t an S-Level?”
“I can’t see his attitude.”
“But why did he pretend to be an S-Level?”
I’ve never done that, you bastards! What the fuck are they doing when they were the ones who misjudged?
‘It reminds me of the people who used to write novels about me and Yuhyun.’
Ugh… I’m sick thinking of it. My inferiority complex has contributed about 30% to the gossip trash explosion. Yuhyun was not as good as portrayed in the article that praised him, but he was always appearing in comparison with his incompetent older brother.
With a glance, I submitted my application and headed towards the lower-level ability measurement room.
“Do you have any items you are using or carrying?”
The measurement room staff asked in a clerical tone.
“No.”
“Please stand on the meter.”
As I was told, I climbed into the measuring instrument that looked like a circular disk. A measuring instrument made by using items from dungeon lit up weakly, and soon the results came up.
“Stamina 6, strength 4, agility 5, spirit 4, magic 2 has been measured.”
That’s correct.
“Your skills are the E-Grade Spirit Up and the E-Grade Agility Up, is that correct?”
“Yeah.”
“Please use your skills on the helper.”
A helper came forward to confirm the usage of buff skills. I was worried that I was lacking mana, but fortunately no mishaps occurred when I used my skills. I need to buy some mana potions.
After I finished checking my abilities, I went into the photobooth and took a picture. Not only pictures the size of the ID photo but also pictures of your whole body, back and front, are checked and immediately stored in the Association database. I then waited for a while. Upon hearing my name being called, I approached the certificate issuer.
“Mr. Han Yujin is an F-Level Awakening and meets the Hunter requirements. You can be issued a Hunter’s license and enter Dungeons after completing the basic program for new Hunters. Would you like the apply for the program?”
“I will apply to join Haeyeon Guild.”
Rookie Hunters who have already entered or is scheduled to enter guilds, can skip the basic program under the guild’s guarantee. It was because of the much higher quality of the rookie Hunter education in the guild.
I passed the Haeyeon Guild’s guarantee to the staff. The employee in charge of checking guarantees tapped their fingers on the keyboard.
“Please give me your account number to receive the subsidy. The subsidy can only be accepted in your name.”
“Baekil Bank number 995-04-109982.”
I got one million won in pocket money. Long live the Association.
A Hunter’s license was issued immediately after receiving a guild guarantee. The Hunter’s license was the same size as a resident registration card and had a number, rating, and your name, along with a photo of proof. I took the license and asked the staff.
“Is there any way to the Hunter’s mall from here?”
It’s annoying to have a watchdog tagging along when you go outside. You don’t have to follow me inside the Association.
“You can use the elevator at the end of the right corridor.”
“Thank you.”
As the employee said, I went up the elevator and immediately came out a side door that led straight into the shopping mall. ATM machines were seen near the door.
‘Let’s check to see how much Yuhyun gave us.’
Taking a card out of my wallet, I approached the ATM machine. A gift card dedicated to Hunter’s shopping mall. When I said I needed money to buy a contract, Yuhyun said that he had put in a moderate amount of money. It’s a bit embarrassing to get an allowance from my little brother, but all the items for Hunters are expensive, so I can’t cut it with just my poor wallet.
‘It is said that an A-Level contact could go up to 10 million won.’
Ideally I would buy an S-Level contract but I did not know how much it would cost. It would be more than twice the price of an A-Level contract. I needed a mana potion so I’ll just buy an A-Level contract.
When I put the card in the machine and checked the balance, the number quickly appeared on the screen.
[Balance: 1,000,000,000 won]
……how many zeros are there?
‘Yuhyun, are you insane?’