Chapter 9
“This is ridiculous! Why am I ranked E? The instructor said I’d be at least D!”
“It won’t help to argue here. If you want a reassessment, please make an appointment and come back.”
“The scanner must be broken! There’s no way this is right!”
“If you keep causing trouble, I’ll call security.”
“What? You made the mistake, why am I the one….”
“Hey, over here!”
At the woman’s call from behind the counter, two large men approached.
They subdued the shouting man and dragged him away with ease.
“Let go! I said let go!”
As the man struggled, the men, as if irritated, tucked their arms under his armpits and lifted him.
Dangling in the air with his arms raised, he looked ridiculous.
“Guess he’s really an E rank.”
The woman quietly muttered to herself as she watched the man being dragged out.
After all, the men were awakeners on par with D-rank hunters. If the man had really been ranked D or higher, he wouldn’t have been dragged away so easily.
Ding-dong.
“Now serving number 39.”
As the number on the display next to the woman changed, a man stood up from his seat.
“How can I help you today?”
“I’d like to get a reassessment.”
“Ah, just a moment.”
The woman pulled out a stack of papers from under the desk and handed them over.
There were nearly ten forms, including a physical exam sheet, consent form, and reassessment confirmation.
“Can I see your license?”
The man handed over his hunter’s license.
It was discolored from lack of use.
“Mr. Lee Do-jae? Your ID number checks out. You’re F rank…?”
The man’s name was Lee Do-jae.
The woman glanced at him.
It was rare for F ranks to request reassessment.
Moreover, the issue date on his license was quite old.
“Is there a problem?”
“No, everything checks out. Please wait in the examination room.”
“Thank you.”
The woman watched Do-jae head towards the exam room with a pitiful expression.
“Sigh.”
This was the Seoul Regional Hunter Office, where awakeners came for mana assessments before taking their hunter exams.
Mana assessments were done using a specialized device called a Mana Scanner, which evaluated various aspects such as mana volume, activity, and distribution.
Since the invention of the Mana Scanner, the hunter system had become more defined, giving rise to lower ranks like E and F.
And because the scanner wasn’t operated by humans but by a machine, it boasted nearly 100% accuracy.
Of course, since mana alone wasn’t a perfect indicator of a hunter’s abilities, a secondary verification was conducted through the hunter exam.
“That was a waste of money.”
Like the man dragged out earlier, people often couldn’t accept their rank and requested reassessments.
But for an already licensed hunter to ask for a reassessment?
In the hunter world, where rank changes were nearly non-existent, the probability of a rank change through reassessment was incredibly slim.
But slim doesn’t mean impossible.
The woman suddenly stood up and looked towards the examination room.
“No way…”
She quickly dismissed the thought and sat back down.
Ding-dong.
“Now serving number 40.”
***************
Do-jae sat among the other examinees in front of the exam room.
There were quite a few people waiting, so it seemed like it would take a while.
“I should be ranked at least C, right?”
After the Black Wolf raid, he had only managed to complete one more dungeon in the past week.
No matter how many teams he contacted, no one was willing to include an F rank, and he realized he had to get a reassessment.
“That guy earlier… reminds me of myself.”
Do-jae had been an early user of the Mana Scanner.
It didn’t even take a minute for the scan results to come out.
And when he saw the letter “F” on the paper, the feeling was indescribable.
“It felt like a death sentence.”
He knew better than anyone that he wasn’t strong, but to have it officially confirmed was humiliating.
Those days of struggling to survive as an F rank.
The days he endured countless humiliations but kept going.
“Looking back, I was a real nuisance.”
But now, things were different.
From now on, everything would change.
As Do-jae reflected on his past, his turn for the scan came.
“Please go inside.”
The Mana Scanner room was a square chamber, 3 meters wide, long, and high.
The walls were covered in geometric patterns, with mana stones embedded in several places.
‘Scanning will now begin.’
The voice came from a speaker inside the room.
Whirr.
As the scanning began, mana flowed through the patterns, creating a faint noise.
The sensation of being scanned could be described as feeling like a gentle breeze brushing all over your body.
Not a strong wind, more like a cool draft, lightly touching your head, body, and feet.
The operator monitoring the scan in real time felt something unusual.
“Huh?”
Lee Seung-gyu, the operator managing the scanner from outside, blinked as he looked at the mana profile on the screen.
-“Sir, did you bring something inside with you?”
Seung-gyu asked Do-jae through the microphone, his voice tinged with irritation.
Sometimes, despite prior warnings, people would bring items into the scan room.
These people would try to cheat by bringing items to boost their rank, but they were always caught.
– “If your item breaks the scanner, are you going to take responsibility?”
Seung-gyu was lying.
There was no way an item could break the scanner.
Even S-rank hunters had been scanned without issue, so an item certainly wouldn’t cause damage.
“What are you talking about? I didn’t bring anything in.”
Do-jae responded, confused.
He wasn’t new to mana scans and knew that rumors about items or buffs affecting the scan were false.
There was no way he would’ve brought something.
Suddenly, Do-jae’s gaze shifted to his chest.
Something he had long since forgotten due to its familiarity came to mind.
But before he could mention it, the speaker announced the completion of the scan.
– “We can tell everything, so don’t worry. It’s over. You can step out now.”
A piece of paper was being printed on Seung-gyu’s desk.
He picked up one of the documents.
It had a drawing of a human body with various numbers written over it.
‘They don’t think this is an item?’
There was one number, written in unusually thick handwriting, right where the heart was located.
A spot that would be perfect to hide something inside a jacket’s inner pocket.
‘If you’re F-rank, just live a normal life. What’s the point of asking for a re-examination? At best, you’ll only get upgraded to E-rank.’
Lee Seung-gyu hesitated for a moment before writing one letter on the first page of the printout.
‘I’m feeling generous.’
He filled in the “E” on the rating section of the examiner’s report and looked pleased with himself.
*********************
At the smoking area of the Seoul Hunter Bureau.
“Hey, a new barbecue place just opened up around the corner.”
“Really?”
The older man among the two puffed out his chin as he spoke.
The younger man followed the direction of the elder’s gaze.
“How about it, after work today, pork belly and soju?”
“Huh? What about your wife?”
“She’s not here, that’s why I’m asking, you idiot.”
He smiled mischievously.
It’s been a while since he’s had a chance to drink heavily, and the thought of it made him happy.
“What’s the occasion? Your wife’s really not around?”
“She’s off with the kid on some camping trip for two nights, three days.”
“Wow, you’re going to have a blast this weekend.”
“So, are we doing this or not?”
“Of course, I’m in.”
The two men started planning their night out.
Where to go for the second round.
How much to drink.
Vroooom-!
Just then, a sports car with a deep, rumbling engine pulled into the parking lot.
A clean turn, a smooth reverse, and it was perfectly parked in one move.
In a sea of black, white, and gray domestic cars, the striking red car stood out.
“Who could that be?”
“Yeah, who here drives such an expensive car?”
A moment later.
Someone stepped out of the car.
Click, click, click-
Black high heels, paired with a neat, professional outfit.
She folded her sunglasses neatly and placed them into her handbag.
“Wow, she’s stunning.”
“Come on, man. Think about your wife and kids!”
“What, is it wrong to say she’s beautiful?”
“Well, she is pretty.”
The woman walked straight into the building.
She already had a scheduled appointment and headed directly to the second floor.
Knock, knock-
“Come in.”
She knocked on the door of the Seoul Hunter Bureau Director’s office.
The director greeted her warmly.
“Assistant Manager Jung Eun-hee, welcome.”
That’s right.
She was Jung Eun-hee, from the External Support Team at the Association.
“Hello.”
“It’s been a while. How have you been?”
“Fine.”
While the director was friendly, Eun-hee’s tone was cold.
“Did you bring the documents?”
“Yes, here they are.”
Eun-hee handed over a brown envelope.
It wasn’t an important document.
It was just a request for approval from the Hunter Association to the Bureau.
“Just a moment.”
Stamp-
The seal reading ‘Seoul Hunter Bureau Director’ was stamped on the document.
“Thank you. I’ll be going now.”
“Oh, wait a moment.”
As Eun-hee was about to get up, the director stopped her.
After a brief pause, he walked over to her and said,
“Is the chairman doing well?”
At his words, Eun-hee’s expression soured quickly.
Of course, she knew.
There was no reason for her, just an assistant manager, to meet with the director for something as trivial as getting a signature on a document.
Unless there was some ulterior motive.
“Thanks to you, he’s doing well. Is that why you called me here?”
“No, no. I called you to stamp the approval, of course. Just wait a second.”
The director returned to his desk.
Then, he pulled out a small, rectangular box from under his desk.
“Here, this is a nice gift. Take it.”
“Why are you giving this to me?”
The box contained a bottle of wine.
A luxury wine, priced at 2 to 3 million won.
Though she was bewildered, Eun-hee accepted the gift without showing it.
“I’ll make sure to pass it on to my grandfather.”
“No, no. This is for you, Assistant Manager Jung. I heard you like wine.”
“Ah, then I’ll enjoy it. May I leave now?”
“Yes, go ahead. Sorry for keeping such a busy person here so long.”
Creak-
As she left the director’s office, Eun-hee walked straight to the women’s restroom at the end of the hallway.
She tossed the wine box into the trash can.
“Tsk.”
She was annoyed.
It wasn’t unexpected.
But she still thought this level of blatant display was beneath them.
How could a public official, a director, behave like that?
With a sullen face, Eun-hee walked down the stairs.
And by chance.
She ran into Do-jae.
“Oh? Mr. Do-jae!”
But Do-jae.
His face looked much worse than Eun-hee’s.
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