The World's Most Useless S-Rank
Huh? Me? "..." No, does this even make sense? It looked so damn strong, though...
Wait, no way... 'Did I miss?'
That's entirely possible. It was my first time using it, after all. I must have accidentally shot it at the floor. 'Yeah, yeah, that's gotta be it.' Since things turned out this way, I might as well try out Thunderbolt. I have a rough idea of what it is, but... seeing it in person is different.
I focused my gaze back on the goblins and shouted the skill name in my head.
'Thunderbolt!'
Thunderbolt
BOOM!
'Whoa...!'
This time, it activated instantly without any physical movement. A massive, dark cloud formed in the sky, and a giant bolt of lightning crashed down. It was exactly the skill I had imagined. 'This one definitely hit, right?' The size was incomparable to that railgun from earlier. Honestly, it would be impossible to miss with this...
"Kreeeeeek!" "..."
As the smoke cleared, the goblins appeared, looking perfectly fine. No way... "...This isn't happening, right?"
An uneasy feeling washed over me. But I tried to ignore it.
'Thunderbolt!'
BOOM!
I dropped another Thunderbolt.
"Kreeeeeek!" "..."
They were still howling, looking perfectly fine.
'Thunderbolt!'
BOOM!
"Kreeeeeek!"
Same result.
"..."
I dropped Thunderbolt about five more times.
"Kreeeeeek!"
As expected, they were fine. "...Son of a bitch."
At this point, even an idiot could figure it out. It wasn't that I missed... it was just fucking weak. 'EX-rank... did that mean it wasn't even E-rank?' I mean, with an effect like that, how can the target be completely unscathed? I let out a dry laugh, feeling absurd. Is there such a thing as being this unlucky?
"Kreeeeeek!"
Perhaps the goblins' patience, which had been tested by my constant attacks, had reached its limit. They charged at me with terrifying momentum.
'I'm screwed.'
I have to run. With my current abilities, there's no way I can take them down. But... how do I leave the Tower?
"Status Window."
Cannot be used within the Tower.
"..."
This... I think I'm really screwed. The goblin was already right in front of me. What do I do? 'Ah, that's right!' Come to think of it, there's one skill I haven't used yet. 'Please... let this one be normal...!'
I squeezed my eyes shut, jumped backward, and shouted the skill name.
'Ride the Lightning!'
Whoosh!
"..."
Did I... survive? I didn't feel any pain. If that's the case, I either died without feeling it or I escaped safely. I slowly opened my eyes. "...Oh."
I survived. I'm back inside the Tower. In the distance, I can see the goblin. It's looking at me with a bewildered expression. 'So it was a movement-type skill, just as I expected.' Thank goodness. If my guess had been wrong, I would've been dead meat.
"Phew..."
I let out a sigh of relief. It's a relief to have at least one useful skill.
"Kreeeeeek!"
The goblin started charging at me again. In response, I jumped backward once more. My body moved at an incredible speed. I didn't really feel it earlier because my eyes were closed, but this time, I could feel it clearly. This... is ridiculously fast. It feels faster than most cars. It's a speed worthy of the skill name. The goblins couldn't keep up with me. It was quite a sight to see them chasing me with confused expressions.
"Ah."
Come to think of it... I can't just keep running away, can I? I had to catch them to get out, right?
"..."
How... do I catch them?
......
"Haa... haa..."
A familiar ceiling. This old, moldy ceiling... it's my studio apartment.
"Ugh!"
I hurriedly opened the toilet lid. Blegh! I threw up everything in my stomach.
"...Was the last one also trash?..."
I mean, does it make sense to get motion sickness from using an ability? Shouldn't there be some kind of compensation effect so the world looks normal even when I'm moving fast? If the world looks like that, what am I supposed to do... walk around with my eyes closed...? My pathetic life.
To vent my frustrations, I took my phone out of my pocket and logged into the Hunter Gallery.
Damn, does this even make sense... My two attack skills don't even deal damage to a goblin, and the movement skill gives me motion sickness... My life... damn it...
"Sigh..."
Life... is bitter... What on earth am I supposed to do with this ability? 'Should I just work at a convenience store...' ...Or should I become a model?
I wiped my mouth with my arm and stood up to look in the mirror. "...With this..." Objectively, this is a face that could rank in the top tier worldwide. This is what people mean when they say someone makes a living with their face. ...Seriously, this is doable, right? I think I could earn more than most hunters. With this, earning in the 10 million won range per month would be easy.
'Alright.' I should look up audition information right now...
"Ah."
Come to think of it... My identity... is the problem, isn't it? '...Isn't this screwed?' The only ID I have is one with the name 'Kang Suho' and my face from when I was a man. In other words, there's no way to prove my identity with this face. That means... I can't be a model, I can't work at a convenience store, I can't do anything?
"..."
Tap tap-
'How to... make... a fake... ID...'
Gasp!
I hurriedly deleted what I was searching for. "...I almost became a criminal." ...But what do I really do? There's no way there's anything I can do in South Korean society without an identity... "..." There is one.
Haa...
I put my hand on my forehead and sighed. 'In the end... is this how it's going to be?'
...
I took the bus to the Hunter Association. The only thing an adult can do in South Korea without an identity: a Hunter. If you have power, they don't ask about your identity or anything else. They register you as a hunter immediately, give you subsidies, provide whatever you need... they just do everything for you. I don't have power, though...
But as long as I've awakened, they'll at least make me an E-rank. I'll just live off the subsidies and take it easy.
Whirrr-
"Oh, Mom! They said I'm B-rank!" "How about our Hwaryong Guild?" "Yes, Guild Master. We've secured 3 C-ranks and 1 D-rank."
There are more people than I thought. A few boys and girls in plain clothes. And a few adults in suits. The ones in casual clothes must be awakened hunters. And the ones in suits... are they guild scouts? Scouts who recruit promising hunters for their guilds. Even if they look like ordinary office workers, they're all awakened too. And high-ranking ones at that. The reason such people are doing that kind of work is... because of the orders of even higher-ranking Guild Masters.
Well, that's none of my business. They wouldn't recruit an E-rank anyway.
"Yawn~."
Maybe it's because I slept in the shoe cabinet yesterday. I'm still tired, maybe I slept wrong. I yawned and headed to the counter to register.
"Excuse me..." "Yes~ how can I help you~?" "I'm here to register as a hunter." "Oh, yes. Take a number here. Please sit and wait for a moment~."
After taking the number, I waited as the employee said, and soon it was my turn.
"Please go into room number 3~."
Creak...
"Oh, welcome~."
A young woman smiled brightly and pointed to the chair opposite her. I nodded silently to greet her and sat down.
"Please place your hand on this Measuring Crystal Ball~." "Ah... okay..."
I looked down at the crystal ball in the middle of the desk. I clearly read in the Hunter Gallery reviews... that if you touch this, the employee recites your traits, skills, and stats one after another. It's a fascinating device. It must have been made with an ability, too.
I immediately placed my right hand on the crystal ball. 'Will they be surprised by my EX-rank trait?' Well, even if they're surprised by that, my stats are so low that it's obvious I'll be E-rank...
Click, click-!
"How does it feel to become Korea's 7th S-rank hunter?" "Now, now, everyone step back..." "Oh, Hunter! The Association President would like to see you for a moment..." "We at the Baekya Guild would like to officially..." "If you come to our Ragna Guild, we'll even give you a Vice-Guild Master position..." "..."
Uh, excuse me? S-rank? Me? What kind of nonsense is this?