Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Civil Servant Hunter’s S-class Resignation Log – Chapter 4
Jung Tae-seok paced anxiously, shifting from foot to foot.
His eyes darted back and forth between the watch on his wrist and the gate as the screech of tires skidding to a halt rang in his ears.
Spotting the management office director, Do Jun-young, stepping out of the car, Tae-seok nearly burst into tears, as if he'd just been rescued.
"Director!"
"What's the situation?"
"The gate still won't open. We haven't even taken down the boss monsterhow could this happen...?"
"Then we'll have no choice but to force it open."
"Pardon?"
Tae-seok's eyes widened at the green mana stone Do Jun-young pulled from his pocket.
That was a gate stone, an incredibly rare item obtained from dungeons. Something so astronomically expensive that it could forcibly open or close a gateand he was going to use it here!
Overwhelmed with genuine emotion this time, Tae-seok finally let the tears flow.
"Opening the gate."
Ignoring Tae-seok, Do Jun-young pressed the mana stone against the gate. With its high purity, it should definitely be enough for a rank-3 dungeon gate.
...It should have been.
The green gate stone shattered pathetically amid the barrage of warning messages.
"......"
"......"
Do Jun-young and Tae-seok stared in wide-eyed shock at the completely unforeseen turn of events.
The mana gauge had clearly read rank-3, so how could the dungeon's rank suddenly be too high? And for the gate stone to shatter from overuse?
Was this even possible?
But the surprises didn't end there. A new message appeared.
Shock washed over Do Jun-young and Jung Tae-seok's faces.
EX-rank.
That designation was reserved for cases so far beyond measurement that ranking them was pointless. Even Do Jun-young had never seen an actual EX-rank dungeon in his life.
And yet, a dungeon full of mere werewolves was EX-rank?
'No way. Then the hunter trapped inside, Yoon Se-ra...'
Do Jun-young's expression hardened instantly. If this was true, Yoon Se-ra had no chance of coming out alive.
No, perhaps she was already...
His fists clenched tight.
"Ah, so you're the government official in charge?"
At that moment, Park Jin-yongthe very man who'd thrown Se-ra into the dungeonapproached. Tae-seok gasped and glanced nervously at Do Jun-young, but oblivious, Park Jin-yong swaggered on.
"I didn't mean to do it on purpose or anything, but hey, sorry about that. I just wanted to show that F-rank the dangers of the dungeon. How was I supposed to know it would close?"
"......"
"Still, good thing she's just F-rank. She wouldn't have been any help anyway, right? Think of it as a free sacrificewe got the gate closed without a single casualty..."
Park Jin-yong's rambling was cut short. Do Jun-young had grabbed his jaw in a vise-like grip.
His cold, sunken eyes fixed on the man.
"Pushing someone into a dungeon is illegal by law. Even if they're a hunter. Surely the raid leader of Cheongrang Guild knows that."
As Do Jun-young's grip tightened, Park Jin-yong's massive frame slowly lifted off the ground. His eyes bulged as he grabbed at Do Jun-young's arm with his thick hands, but it wouldn't budge an inch.
"Guh... urk...!"
"Doing it knowingly makes it aggravated assault. Obstructing official duties, attempted murder..."
"Mmph! Guhgh!"
"Team Leader Jung Tae-seok. Note this down. Under my authority, I'm punishing Cheongrang Guild's A-rank hunter Park Jin-yong."
"D-Director... aaagh!"
As Jun-young's fist rose high, a thunderous boom erupted, shaking the ground.
The park where the gate had broken out turned into a scene from hell in an instant.
* * *
"...So this is S-rank power."
Se-ra's skin crawled all over.
There had been around thirty wolf-like monsters in the cave by her rough count. And now, all thirty lay dead, scattered across the floor. But that wasn't all.
"One-shotting a werewolf, too..."
One mana bullet.
That was all it took to kill a werewolf standing nearly three meters tall.
No, even for an S-rank... Do people normally one-shot a rank-3 dungeon boss like that...?
"Administrator, Administrator. No matter how I look at it, these stats are way too broken, don't you think?"
Were all S-ranks like this? Had she only lived as an F-rank who could barely shoot straight, so she couldn't appreciate the stats? Were all S-ranks originally this monstrously powerful?!
Her trembling gaze shifted between the sniper rifle and the dead werewolf when the weapon's info window popped up before her eyes.
Name: Heat
Type: Firearm
Unique Trait: Can freely change form according to the owner's will.
Special Note: A firearm imbued with the System Administrator's blessing. Accuracy and destructive power each increase by 200%.
"......"
Se-ra rubbed her eyes. She checked her status window, rubbed her eyes again, looked back, rubbed them once more, looked again...
No matter how many times she repeated it, nothing changed.
So the gunno, the riflein her hands right now was EX-rank...
"...Administrator, do you usually give EX-rank gifts? And with such a broken unique trait, no less?"
Suddenly, the weapon felt incredibly heavy in her hands. Se-ra trembled as she carefully cradled it with both palms.
It was commonplace for higher beingsfull-grown entitiesto sponsor contractors with gifts or skills upon contracting.
But which lunatic hands out an EX-rank weapon!
And look at that unique trait. Freely changeable form.
After a moment of silence, Se-ra muttered softly.
"Colt."
The weapon shimmered, and its hefty weight lightened considerably. In an instant, the sniper rifle transformed into a Colt.
"It's real..."
She'd seen plenty of weapons since becoming a civil servant, but she'd never once encountered one that could freely change form.
This noble weapon was worth far more than even the newly minted S-rank Se-ra.
At that moment, a bizarrely strange message appeared.
What was this? Some kind of emoticon...?
"Administrator...? Don't tell me, the System Administrator?"
Was it real? The actual System Administrator?
"But why is the content..."
Like this.
An emoticon? From what she knew, contractors with higher beings could at least communicate basically, even if full conversation was impossible.
So why was this Administrator only sending emoticons?
'The Administrator's image...'
She'd imagined someone solemn, intimidatingdignified, at least. The shock hit her like a slap to the back of the head.
Emoticons. She'd never heard of any awakener with a higher being using these for communication.
"Um, Administrator. Why are you only sending emoticons?"
It was crying. Se-ra asked again.
"You can't communicate any other way, right? Please say no."
Please, please say no.
But this Administrator crushed her hopes. Without thinking, Se-ra smacked her own forehead.
Of all the... A contractor communicating via emoticons. And with the Administrator, no less!
"The emoticon Administrator who gifted me an EX-rank weapon..."
'Don't be shy! That was sarcasm!'
Was it oblivious, or doing this on purpose? She couldn't tell.
No matter how she looked at it, this Administrator seemed totally off. Was her contract really okay like this?
Oh no, had her anxious expression been too obvious? Se-ra quickly schooled her features.
"No, let's think about it. When would I ever get to hold an item this broken? Boosted accuracy and firepower, and it can even change forms freely."
Throw away a cheat item like this just because it scared her? Absurd. She had to cling to the Administrator's coattails and hold onto this treasure for dear life.
'Yeah, just think of it as winning the Powerball. With Powerball money, a diamond tiara's no big deal.'
Se-ra kept whispering to herself like a mantra.
"I'll make good use of it. Thank you."
Pat pat.
She stroked the weapon like a baby's bottom, then carefully stored it in her inventory.
It had only held junk until now, but suddenly it seemed to shine like goldsurely not just her imagination.
"With the werewolves cleared, the gate should open now, right?"
"Then I should head out..."
As she moved to step forward, Se-ra paused and looked around.
The blood-soaked cave, thirty dead wolf monsters, and one headless werewolf.
Still impressive no matter how many times she saw it, but there was one problem.
"If I go out now, at least the other S-ranks will notice my stats have changed, right?"
That would be trouble.
No matter how much you trained, jumping from F-rank to S-rank in an instant was impossible. Especially since her awakening limit had been F-rank.
If word got out, all sorts of unwelcome stares would come her way. She really didn't want that.
She had no desire to shoulder responsibilities thrust upon her by others. Nor to live a life of self-sacrifice like someone else had.
"Is there any way to hide my improved stats from everyone?"
"...I don't want to tell anyone. Anyone. So please."
Se-ra clasped her hands together and pleaded earnestly.
She refused to live crushed under the weight of obligatory sacrifice. All she wanted was to live freely and comfortably.
Did her desperation get through?
Se-ra's eyes widened at the blessing bestowed upon her.
"Th-thank you."
She hadn't expected it to be granted so readily; she felt a bit dazed. Even though she knew it was impossible, she brushed her arms as if something had draped over her body.
Was contracting with a higher being supposed to feel like this?
"Really, thank you so much."
"......"
Just as the welled up, one look at the emoticon and her emotions crumbled. Se-ra, who had nearly glared at the Administrator with cold eyes, quickly smoothed her expression.
Fine. So what if it was a little weird in exchange for perks like this.
...Just a little weird, please. Not too much.