I'll Completely Overhaul You!

I figured out why the applicant had been listed as F-Rank the moment I read the detailed description.

"What the hell is this..."

On the surface, it was a disgustingly overpowered ability — one that wouldn't have looked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out of place carrying an EX-Rank. The problem was the laundry list of penalties plastered on behind it.

The penalties just kept coming. I was getting dizzy looking at them.

"Hmm...?"

Once I'd finished reading the application, a sense of déjà vu settled over me. It was uncannily similar to the ability I had received at the very beginning.

"They handed me a single Enhancement skill I couldn't even craft with, and a success rate that was downright atrocious." Granted, if I actually succeeded, my stats would skyrocket. Anyway, I'd unlocked my abilities one by one and gradually grown into something that actually lived up to EX-Rank.

"It's a ridiculous thought, but... what if she's actually EX-Rank too?"

If the format was that you fulfilled certain conditions to unlock the penalties one at a time, it would make perfect sense. The one thing that bothered me, though...

"The fact that she wrote F-Rank herself is what's nagging at me."

If she were EX-Rank like me, it should have shown up the same way on her status window.

For now, maybe I should interview her first and pick the other four later? If my hunch was right and she really was EX-Rank, I probably wouldn't even need to recruit four more people. I'd rather use the remaining budget to hire more blacksmiths.

"Alright, kids. Let's call it here for now."

The familiars who'd been scanning application messages lit up at once.

"What does everyone think of this one?"

Unddung had already recommended her, so I only needed to hear from the other two.

"This one places her faith in the Princess's discernment."

Mitsu sent an okay without even looking. Had the F-Rank put her off?

"Hmph. What a lovely child! This Angel is most satisfied!"

Corneline agreed surprisingly easily. The girl did have that innocent, wholesome look about her, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I hadn't expected permission to come this cheap.

"Great. It's unanimous, so I'll tell her to come in for an interview tomorrow."

I sent a message to the applicant through the gallery.

The read receipt popped up the instant I hit send.

"What, she's answering right away?"

It was three in the morning. I couldn't even begin to guess how desperate this applicant was.

The next day dawned, and we waited for the applicant in the Mirror World.

"But can a mortal even enter this place to sit for an interview?"

I answered Corneline's question readily.

"If I invite them, they can come in."

This was the kind of thing you'd expect from an EX-Rank artifact.

"But why's it gotta be my room of all places..."

"The view's nice."

When I'd first obtained the Mirror World, rooms had appeared for each of my familiars. Of those, I'd chosen Unddung's as the interview venue. A wide-open meadow ought to take some of the edge off her nerves, or so I figured.

"But wouldn't Miss Corneline's room be quieter and more proper..."

"Goblin. It is the Princess's command."

"......"

I feel like I'm the only one getting picked on here.

Unddung pulled a sour face at Mitsu's barb. Apparently she still hadn't forgiven him for snapping her katana.

"She should be here any minute..."

As if answering my words, a mirror portal began to shimmer into existence right in front of us. What emerged from it was a girl with a pure white bob cut and bright blue eyes.

"H-hello. My name is Lee Seo-yoon."

The girl in simple athletic wear stood with both hands clasped in front of her, staring our way with a face wound tight with nerves. The familiars each reacted in their own way.

"......"

Can a child this frail really protect the Princess?

Mitsu looked as though she were taking the measure of the girl's ability from the outside.

"Ohh!"

Corneline's eyes sparkled.

"She's far lovelier in person than in the photograph!"

To serve as this Angel's subordinate, one must possess at least this much beauty! Thank goodness she doesn't look like that goblin!

Seo-yoon went even stiffer under the familiars' scrutiny, her whole body locking up.

"Have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a seat. Relax."

I gestured, and Seo-yoon carefully lowered herself into the chair.

"I read your application. A Copy ability, huh? That's a new one."

"Th-thank you."

"Your application listed you as F-Rank, though."

Seo-yoon's expression stiffened slightly at that.

"...Yes. They determined it had too many restrictions to be usable in real combat."

She delivered it with the practiced ease of someone who had given that answer many times before. I pulled out the Eye of the Non-Believer and checked Seo-yoon's information.

Just like with Corneline, it came up as question marks. I decided to probe that a little further.

"Does your status window show F-Rank too?"

"......"

The applicant couldn't answer. She just hung her head. Time to drive the spike in, I figured, and I asked her straight.

"It doesn't happen to say EX-Rank, does it?"

"H-how did you...?"

Lee Seo-yoon startled at my words. So my judgment had been right after all.

"You're right. It is EX-Rank..."

"Then why did you apply as F-Rank?"

She looked like she was holding down something that had been crushed flat for a long time.

"...I don't want to talk about that."

"Then I guess the interview ends here."

I had no use for a hunter who couldn't lay everything out for me. Seo-yoon bit her lip for a moment, then slowly opened her mouth.

"When I first awakened, my status window had a rank I'd never seen before written on it. EX-Rank."

She clenched her fists as she went on, as if the memory still hurt.

"I was so excited I applied to a bunch of top-tier guilds, but... nobody believed me."

"Even after you showed them the status window?"

"The people at the top guilds were shocked at first, too. But then they told me to demonstrate the ability, and..."

Seo-yoon smiled, bitter.

"I copied a fireball-type skill. It came out weaker than a match flame."

"......"

"My physical abilities were a complete bust too, so they told me never to apply as EX-Rank again — that F-Rank was the right fit for my ability — and kicked me out."

So that was why she'd submitted the application as F-Rank.

Listening to her, a brilliant idea struck me. I had enhanced the abilities on my own status window to raise their levels. Couldn't I enhance someone else's abilities too? If I deliberately failed the enhancement and detonated the penalties... couldn't I remodel her into my very own EX-Rank hunter?

"Mind showing me your status window?"

"P-pardon...?"

At my request, Seo-yoon carefully shared her status window. Just as I'd expected, the penalties were sitting right there in the ability window.

Just one. Let's blow up just one as a test. It wouldn't pick up a plus-three percent or anything, but if it somehow succeeded, I wanted the one that would show the least...

Yeah. This one.

What I picked was One-Handed, one of the five penalties — the skill-count restriction that let her maintain only a single copied ability at a time. The enhancement rate was only three percent anyway, so it was bound to blow at ninety-seven percent odds.

"There's no way it actually succeeds, right?"

"Pardon?"

"Ah, it's nothing."

The idea was that enhancing a penalty until it broke would make the restriction vanish.

"Stay still for a second."

I swung my hammer at the penalty text floating in the air above Seo-yoon. A warning flared across the status window.

I prayed inwardly that I was right and brought the enhancement hammer down. Fortunately, that three-percent miracle did not occur.

CRACK—

A crisp, satisfying impact rang out as the failure window appeared.

"Uh......?"

Seo-yoon's eyes went huge as she watched the words One-Handed on her status window shatter like glass and vanish.

"The penalty...... disappeared?"

I had just become a blacksmith who could rewrite other people's abilities at will.

I asked the familiars whether they would give her a passing grade. I was going to accept her even if they all voted no, but the opinions of the people who'd be on her team still mattered.

"This one cannot say whether she is capable of protecting the Princess."

Mitsu offered an ambiguous answer.

"I'm satisfied, I am."

She seems to be in a similar situation to me, so I like her.

"This Angel finds the mortal most pleasing!"

At last, someone who looks like we might actually be able to hold a conversation!

Were these guys treating the interview like a joke? Still, they'd said she passed, so I didn't bother arguing.

"Alright. The kids agreed, so the final result is: you're in."

"D-does that really mean I passed?"

Seo-yoon asked again, as if she couldn't quite follow how any of this was unfolding.

"Of course it does."

Nobody in their right mind would throw away a coin sitting at rock bottom with a rebound written all over it.

"I'll wipe out the rest of the penalties too."

I kept going as Seo-yoon's eyes went round.

"Join my guild."

I'm the only one who can do this for you, you know.

I'll make you the strongest hunter in Korea. Now go mine me some magic stones.