Chapter 12
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 012
Chapter Title: Rock Spirit - [5]
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"Knight-san? That Japanese hunter hadn't even Awakened yet, but they gave him quasi-Awakener treatment in the contract because he's so famous. Thanks to that, land prices are slowly recovering, and all the residents of Ganseok-dong are thrilled about it."
"Some Japanese guy who's not even an Awakener gets paid on the level of one?"
"Yes? Yeah. Not on the level of an A-rank like you, of course. But you know those mediocre Awakeners? Exactly that level......"
Seong Mun-yeong trailed off and suddenly glanced at my face. My expression must not have been great.
And sure enough, those words rubbed me the wrong way.
Why? Because a Japanese guy was making good money? No, I don't care about nationalities, mine or anyone else's. So what was it?
It took some serious thought before I figured out why those words had gotten under my skin so much.
I didn't like the idea of some non-Awakener getting treatment on par with an Awakener.
Hmm, I know it's not normal to feel this way. Me, feeling this sense of superiority just because I'm an Awakener and looking down on others?
Just half a year ago, I was the type to feel victimized by the fact that I was an Awakener. Suddenly developing this chosen-one mentality was confusing even to me.
I did have a hunch about why I'd changed so abruptly.
Today, I'd had another hallucination. In it, I was...
"Kim Geuk? Kim Geuk! Come on in!"
It was an Association staffer calling out.
I stood up from my seat. The academy trainees who'd come to cheer me on rose with me, shouting encouragement.
"You got this!"
"Hyung, if you don't make A-rank, remember what I said—take a good rest first and then take the test!"
I flipped off the snarky Seong Mun-yeong and headed into the testing room.
Today was the day I was being evaluated as an Awakener.
There was no one else in the testing room besides me waiting for their evaluation. Makes sense—there are few Awakeners among Koreans, even fewer with the skills to be Hunters, and even fewer who actually want to be Hunters despite having those skills.
Out of everyone gathered here, I was the only Awakener. The rest were all here to evaluate me.
The ones in uniforms were probably Association staff, but there were plenty of others who didn't look like staff.
The suit guys were likely from local government offices, here to scout a potential contract Awakener. The ones who obviously weren't Korean were foreign scouts, and I spotted a few who looked like they were from China or Japan.
Roughly two hundred people had gathered just to see me. The weight of it was already overwhelming.
"Alright, let's begin. Get ready and..."
After that, I went through various tests.
100m sprint: 5.8 seconds. A tad faster than a cheetah. I was pleased—it was 0.8 seconds quicker than my academy measurement.
Long-distance run: Thanks to Super Regeneration, confirmed I wouldn't tire at a steady pace below a certain speed and moved on. To prove the Super Regeneration, someone brought a scalpel and nicked my forearm. The bleeding stopped in just two seconds, shocking not just the onlookers but me too.
Weightlifting for Physical Enhancers...
And various other tests, all of which I cleared well beyond the benchmarks. The reactions from the crowd during each test made it clear my results would be stellar.
"This is textbook perfect for A-rank..."
Next, I demonstrated Teleportation. Long-range would have been tricky, but they wanted the line-of-sight version from the video. They asked:
"Can you really do it exactly like in the video?"
Old hat by now. I picked up a random stick and did it on command, drawing gasps from the crowd.
Finally, the shooting test. They handed me a 22kg Hunter rifle and told me to fire.
Well, I didn't follow orders completely.
"Kim Geuk? Aimed shots, not point shooting—"
Obviously, no need to listen to some non-Awakener peon. Especially if they're not even from Incheon—ignore them entirely.
I fired at the 100m and 150m targets without aiming. The Association staffer who tried to nitpick just gawked as every shot hit dead center.
Hitting the 200m target and moving ones without aiming filled the shooting test with perfect scores easily.
And so, my Hunter license got an A++ gold foil stamp. It means exceeding all A-rank criteria. Suddenly treated like prime beef, but it didn't feel bad.
"Now, Kim Geuk, you can officially operate as an A-rank Hunter. You know not just anyone gets A-rank Awakener status, right?"
Surprisingly, the Association's criteria for appointing A-rank Hunters matched HuntWeb's badge standards. Unlike before, when any Awakener got A-rank by default, now you need clear benchmarks.
Specifically, provide firepower equivalent to personal firearms or better, or substantial support capabilities.
As a Physical Enhancer, I could wield heavy weapons solo—meeting the firepower requirement. My clearly useful Teleportation was proficient enough for the support one too.
According to the staff, I was now in the top ranks of Awakener Hunters—you could count them on one hand from the top. Maybe that's why the Association head came out personally for a handshake.
"As one bearing great rights and responsibilities, you must now serve with patriotic zeal. Understood?"
I tuned out the Nazi-party drivel as a noisy national anthem blared, grating on my nerves.
I resisted the urge to Teleport out, and the ceremony ended.
That evening, I checked 78 text messages and over twenty more emails. Agents and agencies galore—I didn't even bother opening them.
No need to mention the missed calls. Filtering for actual contacts was a nightmare.
「Kim Geuk, you coming to the academy tomorrow? For real? Cool, I'll order chicken ahead— you better show! 」
「Saw you on the news. Congrats, Kim Geuk! The second I walked into the chamber, the chair was pushing me to recruit you.」
As Park Mi-hyeong said, I was on last night's 9 PM news and tonight's too. Record-breaking Awakener shooting scores, once-in-a-generation A-rank, interviews hyping national pride to lure foreign brokers.
Even an idiot could see it now. My ridiculously turbulent life had finally succeeded today.
Ⓐ BabyBerserker: Baby Mushroom got his A-rank cert today! The mean monster was bullying my friends! Baby Mushroom was scared but mustered courage, Awakened as Magical Girl Hellbender, and went yap! yap! to drive it off! So the Association uncles came, said Baby Mushroom is cute and righteous, and made him an A-rank Hunter! Proof of A++ rating below. Can't release Baby Mushroom pic everyone wants or the oppas will all fall head over heels~
Checked Association site—only one A-rank today, saw this guy's pic. I'm freaking scared right now...
F*cked. I'm A-rank too but from the vid, this dude keeps doing this crap I can't stop with my power. Where you at, Junchi hyung?
After sharing the good news with my HuntWeb comrades, I sat on my bed, lost in thought.
This morning, I had another hallucination.
A long one. Continuing from the last, showing what happened after I Teleported out of that scene.
Internet articles calling me a coward...
In the hallucination, I spiraled into paranoia, convinced every passerby recognized and scorned me. I even took Park Mi-hyeong's funding and loans to see a shrink.
Even to me, hallucination-me seemed like a mentally unstable nutjob.
From those events, I hated non-Awakeners, the Korean government, even the people.
Definitely the type who'd nuke Seoul without batting an eye.
But isn't this the opposite outcome from the previous hallucination? Do I have reason now for that?
No. As an A-rank Hunter raking in astronomical cash and living large, why would I commit such horrific terrorism?
By acting differently from the hallucination, I'll get a different ending from dream-me, right? Seems so.
So, does that mean I won't dream of that guy—who seemed like my future self—anymore?
Spoiler: No.
I dreamed again that night.
Unlike last time, no Im Hyeong-taek, Jeong Jin-yeong, or other battered acquaintances appeared. No stone-faced director either.
But the end was the same. His nuke blast, his mushroom cloud closed out the dream.
Waking gasping again, I wondered.
When the hell will this dream end?