Potential Breakthrough
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Has this guy finally gone crazy?
No money. Wake up from the dream.
Where did the money we earn from clearing the tower go? Is it being embezzled?
Embezzlement? What kind of scoundrel is this?
You crazy bastard! The Beginner’s Tower clear gold is two hundred thousand won, and that’s all you spend on your food? Two hundred thousand!
Hey, don’t lie...
Swish.
Without a word, I pointed in a certain direction and the hero fell silent.
Five kilograms of meat piled like a mountain for Nabi’s single meal.
...I admit it.
So you won’t give it to me.
Ka-biyo.
Ka-biyo? What a sweet moment.
“Give me that.”
The Demon King’s voice came from beside me.
Sigh...
The Demon King wasn’t any different either.
Standing blankly in front of the bakery, what the Demon King pointed at was an eight-thousand-five-hundred-won slice of cake.
...
You’re not going to buy it for me?
With that expressionless face staring at me, if I don’t buy it, she’ll go hungry with a sulky look again.
...I’ll buy it.
Unforeseen expenses like this, which I never thought of when I was single, have become quite a lot.
Sigh, it’s tight.
Even the money left after buying equipment is running low now.
Aren’t you all growing? Didn’t you want to go back to how things were?
These guys seem to be getting used to this life lately. Where did the innocence go!
But without my buff, you can’t do anything anyway.
That’s right. With just a one-hour buff, what are you going to do about it!
Kweh, the little guys know exactly where it hurts...
Yeah, the biggest problem was this skill.
LT__strong>Kin Reinforcement Lv 1
You can reinforce the designated kin.
Duration: 1 hour.
Cooldown: one day.
At first I thought it was a cheat skill and was happy about it. But I can only use these little guys for one hour a day.
Isn’t one hour enough?
The tower only allows entry once a day.
You’re asking for everything at once!
Yeah, tower entry is only once a day. And the problem is that even that single entry disappears in an instant.
These guys have made the Beginner’s Tower way too easy.
Yeah, no matter how many times I try, there’s no sign of leveling up...
Uhm.
In the current state, I’ll be facing bankruptcy again.
It seems like it’s time to move up to the next tower.
First, let’s go to the Hunter Association.
I need to find out if there are other towers I can enter.
******
Except for the Beginner’s Tower, you can enter E-class towers.
I didn’t think there would be a tower entry limit.
So how do I...
No. For your safety, it’s absolutely impossible.
The receptionist in front of me said firmly.
‘I should just blurt out that my kids got fleeced by E-class hunters!’
Phew, I’ll hold it back. It’s not like that.
“Your job is Tamer, right?”
...“Did something happen to me?”
Again? Job discrimination.
Just like always, this person will ignore me because I’m a Tamer and give me disadvantages.
Letting out a sigh, I was about to turn away.
“No, nothing’s wrong. I’m worried for you.”
She grabbed my turning hand.
My head snapped back in surprise at her face. There was no mockery or pity in her eyes.
It was the worried look of a mother watching over a child she’d put on the market.
...
The negative emotions that had surged up to the very top of my head instantly cooled the moment I saw her eyes.
Was it my paranoia? Pure worry for me?
‘Whoa, embarrassing...’
The memories of how I’d been ignored as a Tamer until now seemed to be pretty painful.
“Ahem, still, even if I clear the Beginner’s Tower with my eyes closed, I’m that safe. How can it not be possible?”
I said it with as much courtesy as I could.
“I’m sorry, but this is a matter of survival.”
The receptionist auntie I was talking to gave me a long look and said,
“The Beginner’s Tower is the weakest tower, so it’s open to even F-class hunters. But it doesn’t mean you can clear E-class towers safely. The difficulty level from the start...”
She stubbornly blocked it with facts.
‘Damn it.’
She hit me with facts cowardly! I can’t argue...
“...Then how do I promote to E-class?”
Seeing my face slightly drooped, the staff finally smiled.
‘Wow...’
The smile she showed for a moment was imprinted in my mind.
“Hey?”
“Huh?!”
“Would you mind raising your hand here?”
She took out a round object and placed it in front of me.
Sigh, Hyunwoo, wake up. Wake up.
“H-Here?”
“Eh? You haven’t done this before? Everyone does this when they first register as a hunter.”
“Ah... really?”
Damn, the uncle who was there at the time of my first registration burst out laughing the moment he heard my job and basically said F-class, just go.
“First, raise your hand here and turn on the system window. The system will connect you naturally.”
“Oh?”
Connecting to the system window. It feels like the internet.
“Then, does the Association also collect information like my details or skills?”
“Ahaha, of course, it’s personal information, so we don’t collect it and can’t even if we wanted to.”
“We can only connect to the system, and the ranks are decided by the system itself.”
The system decides the ranks of hunters? What even is this system?
While I was wondering, she smiled brightly and said,
“Well, it’s determined by various factors, so don’t worry too much!”
“Yes.”
“Now the result is out. Let me see, your hunter rank is...”
As she fiddled with the crystal ball while talking, shock filled her face.
‘What?’
“...Hunter-nim, you said you awakened a little over a month ago, right?”
“Yes, but?”
“Your job is Tamer, right?”
“Yes.”
“Huh?”
After tilting her head for a long time, she said,
“E-class.”
“What?”
“You’re E-class.”
“Who?”
“I-I mean, the hunter in front of me right now.”
“Me?”
For real?
“That’s strange? That’s impossible. How could a Tamer break through?”
Muttering to herself in disbelief for a long time, she said,
“Is it broken?”
She started tapping the crystal ball with her hand.
Tap tap, bang bang.
It... it’s going to break.
She looked at the crystal ball again and said,
“No, I’m sorry. Just a moment.”
She replaced it with another crystal ball next to her with a trembling hand.
“Is this number real? Not broken?”
Still muttering to herself, she said in a trembling voice,
“Kang Hyunwoo Hunter? Did you recently tame any special kin?”
Two little guys that crossed my mind.
“Eh? No.”
I’ll keep it secret for now. After all, you can’t reveal your own hand.
“It’s strange. The system’s criteria for raising rank are exactly three things: mana amount, level, and potential.”
“I see.”
“Most hunters have different numbers depending on the skills they learn, but I don’t have information on Tamers either.”
It really is determined by various factors.
“Your mana is average and your level is average too, but...”
The staff’s words cut off.
The receptionist stared at the crystal ball intently and slowly raised her head to look at me.
Her eyes shook as if an earthquake had hit.
“But your potential is SSS-rank.”
There was silence for a moment.
“...Me?”
“Yes.”
“For real?”
“Yes.”
We both couldn’t speak for a while.
Probably because Nabi, the Demon King, and the Hero were all replaced by my potential.
‘That can’t be true.’
Even if it’s the Demon King and the Hero, what’s the problem!
“Hehehe.”
“Hunter-nim?”
Nabi, who was emptying my wallet for food.
The Demon King, who talks about cake every day.
The idiot Hero obsessed with Magic Ranger.
The guys who were destroying my account finally paid their dues.
‘Wait, if this keeps up, won’t I be E-class and then C-class soon?’
Wait, just before that.
My mouth twitched trying to hold back the laughter that was about to burst out.
“So you’re an E-class hunter?”
“Yes, I’m E-class.”
“Then can I go to the E-class tower?”
She nodded with a dazed expression.
“Here.”
A new Hunter Card was printed with a wing sound from her trembling fingertips.
LT__strong>E-class Hunter: Kang Hyunwoo
A smooth plastic card with faint mana shimmering.
The faces of the ones who had ignored me as F-class, Tamer, would have been overlaid on the card.
‘I can’t change my job, but I can change my rank. You guys.’
“Hey, Kang Hyunwoo Hunter... are you really okay? Even if the system promotes you, E-class towers for a Tamer could be dangerous.”
Her warm voice still worried about me. But my decision was already made.
Unlike the Beginner’s Tower, this tower drops good rewards and equipment. I can’t miss it.
“Thank you for worrying.”
I smiled faintly while putting the card in my pocket.
“Now it’s time to go loot.”
It’s time for black ink.
******
Everyone had left work and the Association building was dark.
“It’s been a while, Priest Kang Subin. No, should I call you Hunter Receptionist?”
“Don’t joke, High Priest-nim.”
“Haha, you’re still the same. So what’s up? Another E-class hunter disappearance case?”
“No, that’s true, but the reason I called this time is different.”
“Really? Tell me.”
“We found a hunter who broke through their potential limit.”
“W-What?”
It’s no wonder the High Priest, I mean the Association head, was surprised.
I didn’t believe it even when I saw it.
“No! Even S-class Hunter Jin Seah, who was called the best talent ever, had A-rank potential, and she broke it?”
Potential.
Unlike mana and level, numbers that can be raised with effort,
it’s an absolute factor decided the moment you awaken as a hunter.
In the part where you have to rely on such talent,
the first hunter in hunter history to achieve SSS has appeared.
“Yes, that’s right. And your job was Tamer.”
“Tamer?”
“Yes...”
The Association head couldn’t speak, shocked by the news.
Even I would have said not to lie if someone told me that.
Who would believe that? Even if A comes out, they might be called a top ranker.
“Subin. No, Kang Subin. No lie in front of the Lord’s name, right?”
“Yes. I swear in the name of the Lord.”
“Hehe...”
The Association head, who had been struggling to speak for a long time, finally said,
“What is the name of that blessed hunter?”