EP2. Vampire's Castle
Choi Jae-jun felt himself being sucked somewhere, then spat out beyond the gate.
He tried to steady himself, but his body had no strength left, and he collapsed flat on the ground.
As soon as Jae-jun emerged from the escape route, the gate shrank and vanished.
'The fatigue's aftermath is way worse than I thought.'
He pressed a trembling hand to his knee and barely managed to stand.
The area around the gate was cordoned off with long ropes, under full control.
That's when someone from the crowd yelled out with an angry face.
"Hey!
Choi Jae-jun!"
It was Bae Ji-hoon, his face half-swollen from the beating.
Ji-hoon shoved through the people and rushed over to Jae-jun.
"You bastard!"
He charged like he was about to grab Jae-jun by the collar, but when Jae-jun staggered, he slipped to his side and supported his shoulder instead.
"...You okay?"
"Not okay."
"No shit, who the hell just—"
Ji-hoon started yelling at Jae-jun but glanced around and lowered his voice.
"—rushes in like that?!
You're lucky you came back alive!"
"Sorry."
"...Don't do it again."
A stern-looking man standing outside the ropes approached Jae-jun.
"Is this the guy who went into the gate alone?"
"Yeah.
I'll handle the paperwork and all that crap.
Just manage civilian control and broadcast the evacuation's over."
"Got it."
Once the man turned away, Ji-hoon grabbed Jae-jun's arm and dragged him along.
"You and me need to talk."
Ji-hoon led Jae-jun to a spot where people couldn't see them well.
In the secluded corner, Ji-hoon scanned the surroundings and spoke up.
"First off, I applied for your rank re-evaluation."
"Yeah?"
"You get dragged into a D-rank gate alone and come out fine—who'd buy F-rank?
Exam's in a week, so rest up at home till then."
"Sure.
After hitting a few F-rank dungeons."
Ji-hoon shot Jae-jun an exasperated look.
"Dude, after all the excuses I made to the Association because of you, I could beat you senseless and still not feel better.
Ugh.
If it weren't for Hye-seon..."
Hold up.
Why's Hye-seon coming up here?
As Jae-jun stared blankly, Ji-hoon cleared his throat awkwardly and changed the subject.
"...Ahem.
Anyway.
How was the dungeon?"
"Ants everywhere."
"Ants?"
Ji-hoon jumped in surprise.
He eyed Jae-jun anew with fresh respect.
"Insect monsters—even decent hunters avoid 'em.
Impressive."
"Got lucky.
Fought ants and these centipede freakshows."
"Centipedes?
Two bosses?
You really got lucky."
Jae-jun just nodded instead of admitting he'd taken both bosses down.
"Oh yeah, gotta sell some mana cores.
To you, right?"
"Yeah, pull 'em out."
Jae-jun took the mana cores from his inventory.
He had no plans to use The Gamer's shop, so he figured he'd cash them all in.
Six E-rank, one D-rank, one C-rank mana cores.
The C-rank one was top-grade, gleaming with mana in a way the others didn't.
Clatter.
Jae-jun dumped them on the ground.
Ji-hoon's eyes went wide as saucers.
"...What, this many?"
"Lots of ants."
"Got it.
I'll settle up and wire to your account."
"Thanks."
After wrapping up with Ji-hoon, Jae-jun glanced at his watch—nearly 5 o'clock.
Not 5 PM, but 5 AM.
He'd spent half a day in the dungeon.
A red dawn was peeking over the horizon.
"Rest up today.
I called Hye-seon so she wouldn't worry."
"Appreciate it."
Jae-jun said goodbye to Ji-hoon and hurried home.
The day had been nonstop, but he'd leveled up big time and upgraded skills.
'And scored a ton of mana cores.'
All in all, a hugely profitable day.
'Hye-seon's probably asleep?'
Better not wake her if she was.
Jae-jun quietly opened the door and slipped inside.
Sure enough.
Her bedroom door was shut—she was still sleeping.
Heading to his room carefully, Jae-jun paused at the sight of a meal laid out on the dining table.
A small note sat beside it.
'Don't go to bed after drinking—eat breakfast!
I'll check if you did!'
"..."
What the hell did Ji-hoon tell her?
Egg patties, soybean sprout soup, and basic sides filled the table.
Jae-jun sat and ate every bite.
He pulled out two 50,000-won bills and left them on the table.
Then he scribbled a note beside them.
'Ate it all.
Allowance for my good lil' sis!'
Jae-jun washed up roughly and hit the bed.
The moment his head touched the pillow, he was out—woke up at noon.
His body ached everywhere from yesterday's overexertion.
He forced his eyes open and got up.
Hye-seon was out, since it was the weekend—no sign of her.
The allowance on the table was gone.
"Yaaawn."
Jae-jun headed to the bathroom for a shower first thing.
Cold water to the face woke him up a bit.
Back in his room, dressed and checking his phone—text from Ji-hoon.
The mana core settlement.
'How much is all this?'
Counting them off one by one, Jae-jun's eyes widened.
'84 million won?'
Six E-rank cores at 1.5 million each: 9 million.
One D-rank: 5 million.
The priciest C-rank: a whopping 70 million.
Probably because it was top-grade—worth more than standard C-ranks.
'Made a fortune overnight.'
No wonder all hunters got rich.
But that was Jae-jun's misconception.
High-rank hunters raked it in, sure—but below D-rank, it was barely worth the risk to life.
The F-rank dungeons Jae-jun cleared and this D-rank were special cases.
The Gamer's quests had indirectly boosted the gates, raising difficulty slightly and core drops accordingly—but Jae-jun didn't notice.
Title: One Who Surpasses Ranks | Spare Points: 38
Active Skills: Fire Lance (D) / Double Strike (D) / Shield (D) / Charge: Blink (D)
Slept it off—fatigue down to 25.
Stats back to base now that the title buff wore off.
'Time to hunt again?'
Jae-jun booted his computer and logged into the Hunter Association site.
Couldn't enter anything but F-rank, but sitting idle sucked.
He applied for a random F-rank clear.
'Oh yeah, she said call directly.'
Jae-jun dialed Yoon Mi-kyung.
She picked up almost immediately.
<Choi Jae-jun?>
"Yes.
Just applied for a dungeon clear—calling about that."
Today work?>
"Yes."
<Come now?>
"Ten minutes."
Jae-jun grabbed his clothes and headed out.
Dungeon clears and level-ups.
That was Jae-jun's daily grind.
A week passed.
In that week, Jae-jun steadily cleared F-rank dungeons.
No level-ups, though.
The D-rank had overleveled him—F-ranks gave crap EXP now.
Bummer, but he cleared them to kill time till re-exam.
Bonus: qualified to form E-rank clear teams.
And today.
The re-exam day he'd been waiting for.
'Wonder what rank I'll get.'
His heart pounded—half excitement, half nerves.
'Whew.'
Let's go.
Jae-jun entered the Hunter Association building.
He knew the way from his first exam three years back.
Re-register at the desk first.
He'd come early morning, but plenty were already waiting with numbers.
Luckily, most were newbies—few re-exams, so he got right in.
At the desk, a stone-faced woman spoke tonelessly.
"Re-exam, right?
Hunter ID and 50,000 won fee."
Jae-jun handed over his ID and cash.
She took the ID, glanced at his face.
'F-rank.'
Lowest.
She nodded knowingly and gave him the receipt.
"Know where the exam room is?
Head there."
"Thanks."
He bowed, but she stayed blank-faced, no reply.
Once Jae-jun was gone, another woman at the desk asked.
"F-rank?"
"Yeah.
Wish these types would stop wasting time.
Thinks re-exam bumps the rank."
She pouted.
"Why not?
Might actually rise."
"At best E.
Seen tons who believe re-doing it magically makes 'em higher."
"True.
But kinda sad.
Just F-rank."
The women giggled, mocking Jae-jun.
Then the one who'd processed him frowned at the printed receipt.
"What?"
"Oops.
Gave that guy a newbie receipt by mistake."
She reprinted and looked for Jae-jun.
Gone—already headed to the exam hall.
"Ugh, annoying."
She grumbled and went to the exam room.
Jae-jun sat in the row of chairs before the exam dais.
Only one other waiting besides him.
The man wiped sweaty palms on his pants, tense.
'Rank changes everything.'
Like Jae-jun, dreaming of higher rank.
"Baek Il-dong."
The man went in.
Then the staffer called Jae-jun.
"Choi Jae-jun."
"Yes."
Jae-jun handed over the receipt.
The staffer's face crumpled as he read it.
Re-exam applicant with a newbie receipt.
'Desk screwed up again?'
Those chatty bitches.
He sighed.
Normally, send back to desk—but.
'Not like F-rank's changing.
Whatever.'
He scanned Jae-jun top to bottom and waved him in.
Just get it over with quick.
Jae-jun entered and looked around slowly.
Barely changed from three years ago.
"You know how it works?"
Jae-jun nodded.
Place hand on the mana/ability scanner, wait—done.
"Final ID check.
Choi Jae-jun, F-rank?"
"Yes."
The man compared ID and face, nodded.
"Hand on the magic plate, wait."
Staffer looked bored as hell.
Jae-jun placed his hand as instructed.
The device hummed, scanning his body.
"Even if rank doesn't rise, don't get too down."
Standard line.
'This guy's the same anyway.'
Hummm.
Device stopped.
Result on the opposite monitor.
'F-rank, obviously.'
But the staffer's face went ghost-white.
"S-sorry... one more time."
"Sure."
Jae-jun replaced his hand.
Hummm.
Same result.
Subject Outside of Grades.
"...Really sorry.
One last time."
Sweat beaded on the staffer's face.
'What's his deal?'
Eyes turned their way.
Third result: same.
Subject Outside of Grades.
The device measured F to A-rank mana only.
In other words.
"...S-rank!"
The shout drew every eye in the exam room to Jae-jun.
—Author's Note—
Thank you.