The Rank Measurement
The foundation of this world, as I mentioned before, is an eroge game. At its core, it's about raising the protagonist, seducing the heroines, and getting up to all sorts of explicit business. There are also characters who stand in the protagonist's way, and one of them is none other than Cheon Ma-ru.
Tall, with a solidly built frame that isn't overly muscular, and a face that's conventionally handsome in a somewhat cute way. Because of his gentle-looking impression, many players never saw it coming. That this guy was the type who only targeted other men's women.
If you make mistakes on certain choices after seducing a heroine, or if your stats don't reach a certain threshold, this bastard shows up and steals her away. Sometimes you'd reach the ending only to watch his back as he got busy with the heroine right in front of you. He was a real piece of shit, no two ways about it. The number of times he'd ruined my mood... If it weren't for him, the game would've gotten much better reviews.
Anyway, the important thing right now isn't that old frustration. It's the fact that I'm in the same class as him—and sitting right next to him, at that. If I want to raise the protagonist properly, I need to figure out how to deal with this guy. Because if the protagonist gets his lover stolen and falls into despair, it could lead straight to humanity's extinction.
It's been about twenty years since I last played, so I'd forgotten for a moment. That this bastard was a first-year senior to the protagonist, meaning he's in the same grade as me.
Whether the person sitting next to me was Geum Tae-yang, the protagonist, a heroine, or anyone else, it didn't matter to the instructor. They couldn't know, and they didn't need to. They just had to do their job.
After the self-introductions, the instructor explained the academy's curriculum and elective courses. None of it was particularly important, and then—
“We will now begin the rank measurement. Please follow me to the sparring arena.”
It was finally time for the long-awaited rank measurement. This was a staple scene in hunter stories and academy tales. The protagonist or heroine would get their rank measured while the extras gasped in awe and hyped them up. That exact cliché applied perfectly to the world of Suspicious Hunter in Another World.
For the record, the one being hyped up wasn't the protagonist—it was the heroine who enrolled with him. The protagonist only got mocked for being E-rank.
Come to think of it, isn't rank supposed to be personal information? Why do they announce it to everyone without even asking for consent?
Anyway, when we arrived at the sparring arena, there was a black sphere about the size of a person. Obviously, that was the magic power measurer. It measured the amount of magic power in anyone who touched it. As a bonus, it also classified their rank. It was ridiculously expensive, too. I heard there were only a few in all of Korea.
“…Yes…”
“…”
“…”
The woman who seemed to be in charge of the measurements stepped forward. She had heavy dark circles under her eyes, but her voluptuous chest that not even her lab coat could hide and her decadent beauty somehow made her disheveled appearance look attractive.
“…Um… what… the thing in front… uh… what was it again… Oh, right… This is the magic power measurer…”
“…”
“…”
“…? What are you doing? Just come out quickly and get measured…”
“Waaaait!!! Just a second!!!”
A pink-haired woman jumped in, cutting off the dark-circle woman who was butchering the proceedings. The woman in leggings that accentuated her lower body had a well-maintained appearance and a slender figure that radiated healthy beauty.
As you can probably tell from the description, both of them were heroines. Not the main ones, though.
“How can you run things like that?!”
“But… I gave enough hints, they should’ve caught on…”
“I can’t with you! Everyone, please wait just a moment! We’ll call your names one by one, so please come forward when called!”
In the end, the pink-haired woman snatched the microphone and took over. Thanks to the extremely simple process, things proceeded without any issues. And yes, I said that correctly. Without any issues.
“I’m D-rank?! Let me see that! This thing’s obviously broken!!”
There were quite a few people unhappy with their rank measurement results. Some even started throwing tantrums. But—
BAM—!!!
“…There’s nothing wrong with the machine… If you want to keep acting up…”
“Hiiiik!!!”
The dark-circle woman’s physical persuasion quickly calmed them down. She was more of a physical type than she looked. Still, plenty of people insisted there must be an error and demanded a retest.
“Baek A-rang! Please come forward!”
Time passed, and eventually it was my turn. The measurement went without a hitch, and the result was exactly what I’d expected.
— A-rank —
The appearance of the first A-rank in this freshman class caused an immediate stir in the surroundings.
“A-rank?”
“That person?”
They were buzzing among themselves, but it wasn’t any of my business. I was just thinking about going back to my seat and spacing out when—
“Bullshit!!!”
A man jumped to his feet, shouting loudly as if he’d been waiting for this moment to stir up trouble.
Bong Chu-hwan, who had just enrolled in Mir Academy, couldn’t calm down no matter what. The moment he realized he had awakened, he thought his life would change. He believed he could finally turn around the twisted mess his life had become. He thought he could finally get revenge on all the bastards who had looked down on him.
But reality was different.
E-rank. The lowest rank.
Bong Chu-hwan knew a thing or two about hunters. An E-rank hunter wouldn’t be taken seriously at all. It was the rank that got endlessly mocked online every single day. He wanted to say there must have been some mistake, but he couldn’t. The cratered floor in front of him had frozen him in place.
While he was quietly seething inside, he witnessed an unbelievable scene.
— A-rank —
‘A-rank?’
A rank considered high-tier even among hunters. The proof of a complete life turnaround—the rank that should have been his. But when he looked at the person who received it, she didn’t look strong at all. Her arms and legs looked like they would snap with a single serious hit from him.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, burning jealousy and rage overwhelmed him. For some reason, it felt like that bitch had stolen what should have been his. So he shouted and stood up, his anger-eaten brain completely disabling any filter between his thoughts and his mouth.
“That bitch gets A-rank and I get E-rank?! That fragile-looking girl who’d break if you even tapped her?!”
He wasn’t thinking about what would happen later. Getting back the opportunity that bitch had stolen from him was far more important right now.
“…You… that’s enough…”
“If there’s a machine error, then admit it and let us retest!! Are you trying to ruin someone’s life just because you’re too lazy?!”
The atmosphere grew icy. It felt like something was about to explode at any moment. But—
“Haaam~.”
The girl who had just received A-rank—Baek A-rang—showed zero interest and simply returned to her seat as if nothing had happened. Bong Chu-hwan couldn’t stand the sight of her anymore. It felt exactly like the people who had always looked down on him.
“This bitch!!”
He grabbed the folding chair he’d been sitting on and hurled it at her. The people around them noticed and scattered in panic. But she didn’t even glance at it, simply catching the flying chair with one hand.
Then she slowly turned her head and finally looked at him.
‘Ugh…’
At that point, he sensed that something had gone terribly wrong. Normally, he would have immediately apologized and run away. But the opportunity for a life reversal that he’d been certain was his had vanished right before his eyes, and he was no longer in his right mind.
“What are you looking at?! You really want to di—”
“You started this first, didn’t you?”
The moment Baek A-rang said those words, she threw the chair back at Bong Chu-hwan. Unlike her, he could neither catch it nor dodge it.
And then—
“Guhk!”
Struck square in the center of his head, he clutched his face and collapsed. His nose bone was shattered, and blood poured out like a faucet.
“Pink-haired instructor. Could you please heal him?”
“Y-yes! Of course!”
The pink-haired instructor who came running first checked the injury. Deciding that the wound wasn’t as severe as it looked, she began healing it while thinking to herself,
Did I ever mention that I was a healer?
“You… are surprisingly scary, aren’t you?”
Lunchtime after the rank measurements ended. Kim Chae-eun, the only one who had followed Baek A-rang, said this. Everyone else seemed completely overwhelmed by the girl who had knocked Bong Chu-hwan unconscious and remained perfectly quiet until the measurements were over.
“If someone does something that deserves a beating, they should get one.”
It wasn’t that she couldn’t understand the guy at all. Sure, you could increase your total magic power through training or elixirs, but it was hard to catch up to those who were born with a naturally high amount. The rank you received upon first awakening usually stayed with you for life.
“Rank is purely based on your initial magic power. Anyone who acts like their life is ruined over just that was never going to amount to much anyway.”
Still, that was one thing and this was another. Causing harm to others and committing acts of violence weren’t things that should be tolerated. Just thinking about those punks who used to pick fights with her back when she was younger still made the back of her head throb.
“You look like a slightly timid librarian, but you’ve got a really cold side to you.”
She didn’t think she’d shown any particularly cold side. She was just eating the academy cafeteria food with a blank mind when her phone suddenly rang. The moment she saw the caller ID, her expression stiffened for a brief second. Fortunately, it seemed Kim Chae-eun hadn’t noticed.
“I’ll take this call real quick.”
“If you don’t come back soon, I’m eating your share too~.”
She got up from her seat, walked out into the hallway, left the building, and slipped into a secluded corner. After confirming no one was around, she answered the call immediately.
“What is it, Association President?”