The World's First, The World's Only (1)
"For now, Mr. Park Jihun, I think it's best if you come with us to the Association."
"Huh? Why?"
When the instructor spoke with a slightly serious expression, Park Jihun felt a flicker of unease.
'No way. Since a familiar is still technically a monster... they're not going to forcibly take her away claiming the government or Association needs to manage her, right?'
Fortunately, it wasn't for the reason that had Park Jihun worried.
"Well, first of all, we'll need evidence when we report the taming skill to the Association... and you can't exactly ride the subway home with a monster."
"Ah."
Now that he thought about it, the instructor was right. She might look close to human, but Briana was a goblin with pointed ears and green-tinted skin. She was unmistakably a 'monster.' Because the concept of tamed monsters didn't exist yet, people would naturally freak out and run the moment they saw her.
The Association would probably either escort him home separately or take appropriate measures regarding Briana. Getting their help definitely seemed like the smarter move.
"Alright, let's go together."
"Yes. In that case... the rest of you have finished your practical training, so you're free to head home. Oh, and..."
The instructor approached Imina and Shin Junghoon and whispered.
"Please keep this matter to yourselves until the Association makes an official announcement. I have no choice but to report it at my level, but... Mr. Park Jihun might not want this publicized."
"Ah, understood..."
Imina and Shin Junghoon nodded with clear disappointment before turning away. It was only natural. They had just witnessed the birth of the world's first tamer hunter and his familiar right beside them. How frustrating it must be to not be able to turn that into a story or drinking anecdote.
But if, as the instructor said, Park Jihun didn't want it known, spreading rumors could end up causing problems for them too. So they quietly headed home.
"I also sent Hunter Kang Sigyeong a text asking him to keep this to himself. No reply yet, but..."
Watching the instructors thoroughly lock down the information, Park Jihun simply scratched the back of his head.
'Hmm. I don't really care either way.'
'The bigger the impact, the more benefits I'll get anyway.'
Park Jihun wasn't exactly thoughtless. In fact, he'd been considering it nonstop since leaving the dungeon.
The special nature of the Alpha Male skill. His own peculiar sexual preferences. The process of creating familiars. Taking all of it into account...
'I need to enter gates alone.'
Honestly, no matter how human-like they appeared, showing other people the sight of him getting intimate with a different species wasn't exactly appealing. And beyond that, very few people possessed the peculiar kink of enjoying having their sexual activities watched by an audience.
Anyway.
Gates normally required a minimum six-person raid party for entry. Anything less was considered too dangerous.
But in extremely rare cases, fewer members were permitted—specifically when the party included a hunter ranked at least three stages above the gate's own rank. In those situations, they would allow entry even without six people. Even solo entry was approved for high-ranking hunters with extensive gate experience, since it was assumed they wouldn't encounter anything life-threatening.
In other words, if you could receive special treatment, the hunter world was happy to provide it.
'If I leverage the fact that I'm the world's only tamer hunter and demand special privileges by including my familiars as party members...'
With titles like "world's first" and "world's only," the Association would find it difficult to refuse. Especially if they withheld the benefits and the world's only hunter decided to leave Korea.
'Our people absolutely can't stand that kind of thing.'
The Association, having tossed patriotism aside, would be unable to escape fierce public criticism. Since they could predict that much, they would have no choice but to accept Park Jihun's demand for solo entry privileges.
'It'd be nice if word spread beforehand and created some buzz. I'd have more leverage during negotiations that way.'
Of course, it didn't matter even if rumors didn't circulate in advance. The title of world's first and only still held its weight.
Having already calculated that far, Park Jihun's steps toward the Association weren't particularly heavy.
While the instructors made their report, Park Jihun waited in the reception room.
"Graa, auua."
Briana sat beside him, but sitting still clearly didn't suit her. She kept glancing around, making strange noises whenever she made eye contact with the humans sneaking peeks at her through the windows. She displayed the restless energy of a young child.
"Hmm. Is her intelligence still at goblin level? She can't even speak properly."
Of course, as a higher goblin who had grown close to human-like, her intelligence was undoubtedly higher than a regular goblin's. Still, the wild habits from her life as a monster combined with the complete lack of language practice made her seem rather dim.
'I wonder what would happen if I taught her language and how humans live...?'
The question suddenly intrigued him.
"Whoa... look over there."
"It's real. That's an actual goblin?"
"She's prettier than I expected, though."
"Right? I've only seen them in photos or videos. First time seeing one in person."
Meanwhile, the Hunter Association staff continued peering through the windows, eagerly observing Briana.
'Heh, of course they're fascinated.'
As Park Jihun felt an odd sense of superiority, someone opened the door to the reception room and stepped inside.
"Hello, Hunter Park Jihun."
"Ah, yes..."
A middle-aged man with streaks of white in his hair. Whether through diligent self-care or natural gifts, he possessed a surprisingly solid physique for his age.
"Grr..."
Briana's wary reaction suggested he was a hunter.
'She only shows mild aggression toward civilians but stays on guard around hunters.'
Park Jihun had observed her behavior patterns briefly at the Association, which allowed him to identify the man as a hunter.
"Hello."
When Park Jihun bowed politely and gave him a questioning look, the man introduced himself.
"Ah, I'm Lee Hyeondong, branch manager of the Bupyeong branch of the Hunter Association."
"Ah, nice to meet you."
A branch manager held full authority over the Bupyeong branch. In other words, he was a high-ranking figure. Not all branch managers were hunters, but this one clearly was—and a fairly powerful one at that.
Judging by Briana's wariness and the aura he gave off, he was at least C-rank.
'Definitely stronger than the instructors or Kang Sigyeong.'
As Park Jihun made that assessment, Branch Manager Lee Hyeondong gestured toward him and Briana.
"I've heard the report. You possess a taming skill. And this goblin beside you..."
"Yes. She's my familiar."
"Oh ho..."
Branch Manager Lee Hyeondong examined Briana with open fascination.
"Grrrr..."
Apparently disliking the strong man's scrutiny, Briana let out a low growl and hid behind Park Jihun.
"This is incredible. First time seeing anything like it. Well, of course it is. Hahaha."
Lee Hyeondong lightened the mood with a casual joke before getting straight to business.
"...This is a bit awkward to say, but we would like to use you for promotional purposes, Hunter-nim."
"......"
The branch manager spoke gravely, but Park Jihun had expected exactly this.
The world's first. The world's only. The world's first and only hunter located in Korea, Incheon, and Bupyeong! There was no chance the higher-ups would pass up such perfect bait.
And Park Jihun had already come prepared with calculations regarding the conditions.
"I don't mind."
"Of course, you might not want your special ability publicized—wait, what?"
Lee Hyeondong's eyes widened in surprise when Park Jihun agreed so readily. He clearly hadn't anticipated such easy consent.
"If this gets out, foreign media will swarm you and every guild on the planet will bombard you with offers."
To the point that the branch manager—the one who stood to lose the most—brought up the downsides first. But Park Jihun had already anticipated all of it and was willing to accept the consequences.
"I'm aware. Including the part where I need to stay in Korea instead of leaving for another country."
"......"
Realizing Park Jihun wasn't just some excited rookie who had awakened as a hunter and obtained the world's first ability, Lee Hyeondong relaxed his shoulders and asked directly.
"You must have conditions in mind. What are they?"
Park Jihun smiled.
"Exemption from investigations into my skill, and permission for solo gate entry."
"Hmm."
The surprisingly straightforward demands made Lee Hyeondong nod.
Skill investigation was something that absolutely had to be blocked. A hunter's skill was both his livelihood and his lifeline. It wasn't something to be casually revealed to just anyone. Especially for the world's first taming skill, countless individuals and organizations would try to dig into its secrets. His request was for the Association to shield him from those people.
Of course, the "exemption" Park Jihun mentioned really meant 'prevent people from finding out I have sex with other races and coming to watch.' But the next condition—solo gate entry—wasn't particularly difficult either. It was a benefit already granted to high-ranking hunters by default.
The real issue was something else.
"You're still F-rank, Hunter Park Jihun... so special treatment will inevitably cause controversy."
The fact that Park Jihun was F-rank. The lowest rank, yet allowed solo entry because of a taming skill? Entering a gate alone meant monopolizing all the mana stones and byproducts that came from it.
Instead of six people splitting roughly two million won from an F-rank gate, he would pocket twelve million won by himself. That would naturally leave lower-ranked hunters feeling deprived, claiming that one special skill was being rewarded far too generously.
Even if that special skill was the one and only "taming" ability in existence.
"A significant number of citizens will oppose it. They'll ask what happens if the world's only hunter dies because of it."
"Hmm..."
That was true as well. Gates were dangerous places where anything could happen. That was precisely why a minimum six-hunter party of equal rank was mandatory.
If Park Jihun entered alone—even with familiars—and suffered a sudden death inside the gate, the world's only tamer hunter would vanish that very day. The public backlash would be enormous. People would blame the Association for granting such benefits and question why they hadn't stopped him.
"...We'll need to review that aspect carefully before giving you an answer."
Since it was directly tied to the Association's public image, Lee Hyeondong remained cautious.
Looking at him, Park Jihun offered a compromise.
"Then how about this?"
"Yes?"
"We add my familiars to the raid party roster."
"Your familiars?"
In other words, to fill a six-person raid, it would be Park Jihun plus his familiars for the remaining slots, with other hunters filling any gaps.
"...If it's like that, then certainly."
To qualify for solo entry he would need at least five familiars. At that point, even solo entry would be understandable to most people. They had filled the six-person quota, after all, so the risk of death would seem minimal.
And in the early stages when he didn't have many familiars yet, he would still need to recruit other hunters. That way it wouldn't appear as though he was receiving an overwhelmingly large benefit.
Of course, issues remained—distribution of loot when using familiars as party members, the fact that it was still effectively solo entry, and so on. But it was a far better compromise than pure solo entry.
"Understood. I'll report it to the higher-ups this way and inform you of the decision. When you head home, don't worry about the stares. Our staff will drive you there."
After receiving that positive response, Park Jihun and Briana were finally able to return home after their long day.