Winter Certification: Birth of an S-Rank
- Hunter Ability Certification - Hunter ability certification evaluation. Held twice a year, roughly once in the first half and once in the second half of the year. Hunters usually call them the summer evaluation between July and August, and the winter evaluation between December and January. The exam Seong Ye-han was participating in this time was none other than the winter evaluation.
Hunters received an exam number upon registering and simply showed up at the testing venue on the corresponding date. Even with the participants spread out like this, the designated testing site was packed with countless awakened individuals, each harboring their own swelling dreams as they awaited the gates to open. It felt like every awakened person in Korea had gathered here. From low-rank hunters to high-rank ones.
The special testing facility built exclusively for hunters resembled a massive stadium with a straight, unyielding design. Just a short while ago, Seong Ye-han had thought he'd never have any connection to this place. The sight of it now etched itself into his heart. Back in his academy days, how envious he'd been of those who strode confidently through its doors.
But now, all these people here would envy him.
The certification exam was basically divided into two parts: one for the newly awakened E- to D-rank low-tier awakeners, and another for C-rank and above high-tier awakeners who had unlocked special abilities. They were separated right from the entrances, so those heading to the high-tier section got to bask in the fresh, green envy from the newbie low-tier entrants as they marched proudly toward the testing grounds.
It wasn't a system Seong Ye-han personally found all that sensible, but efficiency-wise, it was unavoidable. Easier to have them sort themselves from the start than to divide crowds of swarming awakeners into groups. Besides, he was now on the side being envied anyway...
With that, Seong Ye-han stepped into the testing venue.
And then.
One pair of eyes recognized him.
"Se...nior?!"
The first thing a hunter did at the exam was declare what category their special ability fell into. The standards demanded of physical-type hunters and esper-type hunters were worlds apart.
This criterion had been set in the early days of the Gate incident, during the dawn of hunters, and since then, plenty of ambiguous cases had arisen—abilities that blurred the line between physical and esper. Some called for modernizing the standards, but a convention hardened over decades wasn't about to change easily.
As a result, many hunters still picked roughly based on what felt right for their powers.
In that sense, Seong Ye-han leaned more toward physical than esper. Overwhelming boosts to his physical capabilities—that was textbook physical-type hunter evidence.
The physical-type ability measurement resembled a standard fitness test in many ways. It evaluated the three core components of an awakened's physical prowess: strength, stamina, and agility. Strength covered power and durability; stamina covered endurance and recovery; agility covered reaction speed and cognitive ability.
They then factored in mana levels and the additional gains from mana reinforcement to determine the rank. Each category got graded, then combined for the final hunter rank.
For A-rank and above, they added a separate combat evaluation—which was, naturally, a spar with an active A-rank hunter. Of course, pitting a fresh A-rank against a veteran wouldn't be fair; the senior almost always won. So victory itself wasn't the focus. If all three hunters involved—the sparring A-rank and the two A-rank proctors—agreed, promotion to A-rank was granted.
Some questioned what if these A-ranks were bribed or pressured, but they were handpicked by the Hunter Association. President Jeong Beom-ho oversaw it personally, making corruption nearly impossible in this era. Plus, if flaws were later found in their evaluations, the penalties were brutally severe. A-rank hunters, with their wealth and status, had little reason to stray.
Seong Ye-han eyed the sleek, metallic orb gripped in his fist. Just squeeze as hard as you can, right?
Around him, others clutched similar orbs, sweating bullets as they bore down with both hands.
Piece of cake.
The cool, round texture in his palm. Seong Ye-han simply clenched his fist.
Crunch—
The smooth orb crumpled in an instant, reduced to a mangled scrap of metal.
"!!"
Plop.
Ignoring the hunter beside him whose jaw had dropped in shock, Seong Ye-han submitted the crushed orb to the strength test proctor. He brushed past the wide-eyed official and joined the line for the agility test.
The test was straightforward: identify shapes flashing by at blinding speeds—what was it, what letter was on it?—and dodge rubber balls fired from machines. Success ramped up the speed and adjusted distances for higher difficulty.
Having maxed out his limits long ago, Seong Ye-han breezed through and headed straight for the stamina field.
The infamously hellish stamina test of the hunter certification.
The stamina field drew inspiration from some famous old comic—a so-called gravity room. Though it used mana to mimic the effect, hunters who took the test started calling it that, and the name stuck.
In the testing chamber glowing faintly blue from potent mana, Seong Ye-han started running alongside the others.
"Hup! Hup! Pah— Hup! Hup! Pah—"
An endurance trial: run nonstop under mounting gravity until collapse.
One by one, his fellow runners vanished unnoticed as he kept going, and going.
"Hah— Hah—"
Even Seong Ye-han finally lost control of his breathing, gasping raggedly. No one ran beside him now.
Clothes soaked in sweat. Muscles burning hot.
Since inheriting Shin Ye-hwa's stats via Heroine Hunter, have I ever pushed my stamina this far?
That's it. One more step and my legs give out.
With that thought, Seong Ye-han finally exited the chamber.
Murmur—murmur—
A crowd awaited outside, eyes filled with jealousy or awe fixed on him. The venue's countless lights seemed to shine solely for him, like an illusion crafted just for his glory.
Amid the jumble of voices hard to parse, one word stabbed clearly into Seong Ye-han's ears.
S.
The pinnacle of hunters—that very word.
Of course, the tests weren't over. A-ranks and above still faced the crucial spar.
But no one here dwelled on that. A and S were just one rank apart on paper, but it wasn't a mere letter's difference.
The easiest yet hardest thing in the world. Fair and square, yet dirty and cheap...
What they called "deal-stealing."
In a pure 1v1 with no terrain advantage, teammates, or outside help, no A-rank ever beat an S-rank. Not once.
"Feels fucking great."
Bathing in the attention from everyone present, Seong Ye-han flashed a thick smirk. Now he understood why Shin Ye-hwa had craved reclaiming S-rank so badly. Why she'd give her body to a total stranger just to reach those heavenly heights again.
He got it now, somewhat.
A vast office. The low-saturation, starkly linear interior amplified the already oppressive space.
The man seated in a massive black leather chair behind a glossy executive desk twitched an eyebrow at the report.
"A new S-rank?"
"Yes..."
His deep-set eyes gave a heavy, sinister impression, but his well-groomed beard added a mature gravitas. The man eyed his subordinate standing before him.
"That guy glued to Shin Ye-hwa's side, right?"
"Yes. Confirmed multiple times."
"He was definitely reported as E-rank trash."
"W-Well, that is..."
"Then have you tracked Shin Ye-hwa's location?"
"S-Sorry!!"
The man's voice dropped an octave, and the subordinate trembled violently. His deeply bowed back and trickling cold sweat spoke volumes of his terror.
The subordinate had his excuses, felt wronged even, but he swallowed them all. To the man before him, they'd just be excuses and nonsense.
And this man despised such irrelevancies.
"Jumping from E-rank to S-rank in an instant... Yeah. Hunter special abilities always pull off the wildest shit."
He continued as if the subordinate weren't even there.
"I know that well... Very well."
With a deep sigh, the man dismissed his underling, swiveled his chair, and gazed out the enormous window behind him.
Clear sunlight poured down on the blue sky and the sprawling cityscape connecting them. Towering Seoul skyscrapers looked puny from this overwhelming vantage.
Tiny specks like ants scurried the streets below. The view made the world feel trampled underfoot—but he knew it was an illusion.
In this era, raw power trumped wealth or influence.
"After all that prep... some bastard snatched it right from under me."
Infuriating. Who wouldn't rage at a thief snatching a priceless treasure from their grasp?
But he still saw opportunity. Hell, maybe even better.
More S-ranks meant more treasures for him to claim.
"Seong Ye-han... a new S-rank, huh."
It even explained his botched commission. Only another S-rank or a monster could stand against one.
Shaking his head at the thought of yet another S-rank about to chew him out over the phone, he muttered,
"Gonna get a bit more annoying from here on."
Yeah. Just a little more hassle, nothing else.
With that, the man turned back to his desk and routine work.
Scratch—scratch—
The pen nib scraping paper filled the quieter-than-usual office.
Save for the faintest... drip of someone's sweat falling.