All-In

Jisu pressed the purchase button on his status window.

"Yes."

The four basic stats—Strength, Stamina, Agility, and Mental Strength—were laid out beneath the prompt, along with Mana. Mana hadn't been unlocked yet, so it seemed he couldn't put anything into that one.

Something else snagged his eye, though.

Full Buy.

Full Buy...?

Alright. Let's go Full Buy.

After the purchase went through, he stared at the monitor for a long while. Nothing happened. Justice Coin neither climbed nor dipped from 28 won; it just drifted sideways in a tight little range.

That's it? Kind of anticlimactic.

He kept watching the site for a few more minutes, but neither Justice nor any of the other coins were doing much of anything, and the chat was on the quiet side too. A few people were spouting nonsense about this or that coin pumping, or some supposed piece of good news, but even that trickled in slowly, and none of it was worth much.

Wait. This isn't the time for this. Anyway—now that I've awakened as a hunter, I should go take the license exam. They won't turn me away like last time... right?

Jisu pulled up the hunter certification site and checked the exam schedule. As luck would have it, there was a test nearby tomorrow—and a seat was still open. He paid the registration fee, shut the computer down, tidied up a bit, and flopped onto the floor.

Good thing tomorrow's my day off... I can't say for sure yet, but if I get a hunter license, I can probably quit construction, right? That part-time gig helping Jihan out sounds exhausting too... I'll talk to him about that later.

His thoughts drifted, and sleep came for him almost at once. Jisu had spent his life working his body hard, so when it was time to sleep, he dropped off fast—like a soldier.

He woke early and headed for the hunter testing center. On his days off he was usually busy looking after his mother at home, so going out for something other than work felt like it had been ages. Of course, he'd also made a point of staying in because he hated wasting money.

I'm here.

Jisu stepped off the bus and looked up at the hunter testing center. It was enormous—imposing, almost palatial. Anyone who had awakened a hunter's talent came here to have their status verified, then ran through a battery of tests that determined their rank. In an age when hunter development had become a pillar of the national economy, the importance of this place only grew by the day.

This wasn't actually Jisu's first time here. Not long ago, after hearing that hunters made real money, he had even skipped his second construction job to come take the aptitude test. Work had been thin on the ground back then, so for him it had been a serious decision—the kind you steeled yourself for.

The result had been a cold-blooded door slam. The attendant guarding the entrance had told him they couldn't read his status and to go home, and that had been the end of it. He'd heard that even if they couldn't pull up your stats, they used to check whether you had any talent at all, or at least tell you how it might bloom later. That was why he'd come. Reality had been ice-cold.

I've awakened a hunter's ability now, though. It should be fine this time... right?

Jisu had seen his own status with his own eyes. He still hadn't quite figured out how to call the window back up since investing in the coin at his computer, so he couldn't summon it at will—but what he'd seen had not been a dream. It had been vivid, undeniable reality.

Feeling a little like a conquering hero, he walked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up to the entrance. The same woman who had turned him away last time was still stationed at the security booth by the door. She'd been nodding off in her chair; the moment she spotted him coming, she sat up and spoke through the microphone.

"Welcome to the hunter testing center. What brings you in today?"

"I'd like to take the hunter aptitude test."

"Have you paid the exam fee?"

"Yes."

"And your name?"

"Hyun Jisu."

Her tone was purely bureaucratic. The memory of being thrown out last time rose unbidden, and Jisu swallowed hard.

"One moment... yes. Hyun Jisu. National ID ******-*******. That's you, correct?"

"Yes."

"We'll be measuring your status. Would you step onto the platform to your right?"

"Ah—yes."

He did as she asked and climbed onto the marked platform. Futuristic-looking machines stood clustered around it; those were probably what they used to read a person's stats. He had no idea how any of it actually worked.

Last time, this had been the end of the road. He'd stood there alone for three minutes, been told he had no ability, and been turned away at the door. He knew he'd awakened now—he did—but he still couldn't loosen his grip on the tension. For all he knew, what he'd seen had been a hallucination. He knew next to nothing about hunters, and the honest truth was that he couldn't be sure of anything.

Three minutes passed. Then what felt like another five.

...?

Wondering why it was taking so long, Jisu glanced toward the receptionist. He couldn't say why, but she looked extremely busy. Figuring she'd handle it, he went back to waiting on the platform—another ten minutes or so.

"Um, is there some kind of problem?"

"Hm? No—ah, no, there isn't. I—one moment. Please just wait a little longer!"

"...?"

He didn't think he'd said anything strange, but her reaction was off. She was making far too much of a fuss.

"Good lord, is this even possible?"

She muttered it under her breath, then frantically punched in a call. He couldn't make out the words, but she sounded thoroughly rattled.

A few more minutes crawled by. Just when he thought she was finally going to call him over—

"...?"

She stepped out of the booth and walked right up to him. Last time she'd dismissed him from her seat inside, like she was reading out a verdict.

"Ah—you're Hyun Jisu, yes?"

"Yes. I... is there some kind of problem?"

At the word problem, she startled and waved both hands in front of her.

"What? N-no! No, no. Not at all. I—you passed. We were able to confirm hunter aptitude, it's just..."

"...?"

"I... I think you'll need to go inside to see the details."

Was it just his imagination, or had her manner become extraordinarily polite? Had she always been this courteous? Not that he was about to turn down a little kindness.

"Thank you. So I can go on in, then."

"Yes! Ah—right. Here, this..."

She carefully held out a sheet of paper she'd been clutching to her chest.

"This is a printout of your status results, and the hunter rank measured from them. I... I'll leave you to it."

With that, she vanished from sight almost at a run. She'd looked like she wanted to say something more, but he'd gotten through the door this time. All's well that ends well.

So it wasn't an illusion.

Jisu let out a long breath of relief. He really had awakened a hunter's power. Maybe it was the sudden release of tension, but a rush of optimism hit him—the feeling that everything from here on out was going to go his way. If he made it as a hunter, his parents' hospital bills would be nothing. He couldn't exactly dream of some dramatic rise in station unless he became an S-rank hunter pulling in real money—but he could at least get his life back on solid ground. Maybe he could even move out of this studio into a proper two-room place.

A little ahead of himself, he looked down at the paper he'd been handed.

Okay, Strength 1,392, Stamina 972... rank SS++? Wait.

"Huh?"

"Huh???"

Jisu stood frozen on the spot, sifting through his memory, then clawed desperately after the numbers he'd seen yesterday. What had his Strength been? 116, wasn't it?

Wait. What? SS++ rank?

He remembered being stunned just hearing about A-rank salaries on TV and YouTube, never mind S-rank. He could still ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠picture himself a few months ago, sighing that this really was the age of hunters now.

But what did it just say? SS++ rank?

Dumbfounded, Jisu carefully pulled out his phone and groped through his memory for the Bitstorm address. ID. Password. Login. The whole sequence unfolded like a machine running on autopilot, utterly soulless.

The site loaded, and a wall of coins rose up to meet him once again. Even now they were endlessly mooning and crashing, as if reflecting the boundless greed and rise-and-fall of human desire. Meanwhile the chat was flooding same as always—today, with the triumphant howls of people calling everyone else a bagholder.

Justice Coin? A pump?

Right. He remembered buying something called Justice Coin. He'd known nothing about it; he'd just liked the name. And he'd Full Bought it. Not in pieces, not a little at a time—just, because he didn't know a thing. He hadn't understood any of it, but he'd figured he had to do something, so he'd thrown everything at it.

That far into the thought, Jisu carefully pulled up the price of the Justice Coin he'd all-in'd on.

"...?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"