I'm an F-Class Hunter

The Life Fruit.

Even among hunters, it wasn't a name anyone knew well. Hardly surprising. Most of them never had reason to encounter one.

It was the fruit of Life Grass — an herb that could theoretically appear in any dungeon, and yet was vanishingly rare in every last one of them.

"Wait. Where did you even find this? Don't tell me there's Life Grass growing in this dungeon?"

The alchemist of the Mirinae Guild accepted the fruit with trembling care, eyes wide.

That look — shaking, packed to the brim with hope — made the Team Leader glance at Kim Yerin before she gave a nod.

"Yerin found it."

"That's impossible. A Life Fruit in a D-class dungeon? And I've never seen one this large. At this size alone it's worth at least $200,000. The color's so deep it has to be A-grade at minimum. We could pull out of the dungeon right now and call it a day."

"A-grade?!"

The Team Leader — the same woman who had quoted Yerin $20,000 — echoed it in disbelief.

She was a veteran in her own right, a hunter with a B-class exploration skill and nearly a decade of dungeon work behind her, and even she had never laid eyes on a Life Fruit this big.

"This needs to go to auction. My skill level isn't high enough to process a fruit of this caliber."

"Wait, so we just hit the jackpot?"

"Holy shit! Exploration team, I love you!"

They hadn't even started the raid, and already they'd struck gold.

Watching the hunters erupt in cheers, the Team Leader quietly pulled Kim Yerin aside.

"Yerin. Are you sure about this? I'll say something right now — you can take it back."

"No, Team Leader. It's fine. I didn't even know what it was when I brought it in. If I say my brother gave it to me, that'll just look weird. Let's just say we found it."

"...I don't mind either way, but where on earth did your brother get this?"

"That's what I'd like to know."

She'd have been lying if she said it didn't sting.

But Kim Yerin's mind was a tangle. The Life Fruit she'd already eaten was worth $200,000? And at auction, it might fetch even more?

Then what if she took everything sitting in that basket on the kitchen table and sold it all?

How many had Mom eaten?

What about her brother?

Had he even known what they were when he brought them home?

"Team Leader. I think I need to step out and call my brother."

"Go ahead. Exploration's basically wrapped anyway — I'll let them know. You can head home after."

"No, I'll just make a quick call and come right back!"

She hurried out through the exit they'd already marked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and tried to reach him.

"Don't tell me he's sitting there stuffing his face without even knowing what they are. Pick up the phone, you idiot!!"

At the quiet mouth of the dungeon, Kim Yerin chewed on her finger and kicked at the innocent dirt, her insides burning up with frustration.

"Level 10. Strength 17. Agility 6. Vitality 9. Magic 6. Skill is Double Attack, B-class, skill level 5. Confirmed."

You needed a Hunter License to enter a dungeon. Mine was basically an illegal immigration paper from another server, but I had everything the Hunter Association asked for, so registering as a hunter hadn't been a problem.

"So? Do I look like I've got potential? C-class? B-class? D-class, since my level's still low?"

The clerk had me put my hand on a crystal orb, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠checked my stats and skills with brisk efficiency, then glanced at me and offered a thin smile — mouth curved, eyes completely blank. The picture of a bureaucrat.

"I'll be issuing you an F-class license."

"...Come again?"

Apparently hunters like me were common enough, because she started typing and launched into the explanation like she'd hit play on a recording.

"To prevent accidents among newly awakened hunters, the Hunter Association maintains several safety systems. One of them is the hunter rank level cap. E-class licenses can be issued from level 11, D-class from level 16, and ranks beyond that are granted through testing. This is all written in the hunter registration guidebook you reviewed earlier."

"...Ah."

I'd heard about this on the Hunter Gallery. A handful of whiners complaining they couldn't get a higher rank because their level was too low. I'd dropped a thoughtless lol F-class or lol E-class and scrolled on, never realizing a system like this actually existed.

"With a B-class skill and those stats, you should be able to receive a C-class license as soon as you hit the level requirement. Congratulations."

She typed something in with focused efficiency, picked up a long, oddly shaped stamp, took my arm, and pressed it down as she spoke. It might have been a sincere congratulations. It might also have been a bureaucratic way of saying I was done, stop bothering her, and get out.

The stamp on my wrist inscribed something into my skin, then melted smoothly away.

"What I just stamped is a stamp-type item. It links with the Association devices at dungeon entrances for license verification, and if you infuse it with mana, it unfolds like an ID. If there's no Hunter Association mark in the bottom left, it's a forgery, so be careful. If you ever lose the license, come back and we can reissue it."

"This can get lost? How would it even get erased?"

"Occasionally someone has the arm with the license on it severed, and it's too damaged to restore."

"...Ah."

"Will there be anything else?"

"No. Thank you."

I fed mana into it. A hologram unfolded above my forearm — my Hunter License.

F-class. Level 10. Stats, skill grade, skill level — all of it. According to the guidebook I'd been given, everything on it except the hunter rank would update to match my status window.

The hunter rank didn't really matter.

What mattered was that I was no longer a thirty-year-old deadbeat leaching the life out of my parents. I was a proper Hunter now.

Pop into a dungeon every now and then so it looks like I'm working. Level up in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠100x server, join a major guild, and live the easy life.

I'd dug through the Hunter Gallery and found that for hunters, levels were a kind of barrier to entry — something that demanded years of grinding.

A hunter's measure of growth. The level you had to raise if you wanted to get stronger.

For me — a guy who'd hit level 10 in three days — it was nothing more than a story from another server.

"I've awakened and everything. Might as well take a look at a dungeon while I'm at it."

Honestly, I was a little chicken about testing Level 5 Double Attack in the armor and weapon I'd gotten from the 100x server. Wild dogs ran around in packs of a dozen over there, and wandering into a place packed with who-knew-what other beasts and monsters was a genuinely dangerous proposition.

But here, the punching bags came with a safety guarantee.

"Let's go F-class! If it's a field map, there are other people around. I can always bounce if things go south."

Regulated open-field dungeons were the ones newly awakened hunters flocked to — the lowest accident rates around. I had zero intention of farming exp or loot here anyway.

I rummaged through my Server Inventory, pulled out my armor and longsword, found a nearby dungeon on the Association's dungeon app, and headed over.

New clothes. New weapon. My first dungeon.

I held my arm to the scanner installed at the dungeon entrance, and the message popped up. I walked straight into the shimmering gate.

Same as logging into the server — my vision went dark. Then a wide world unfolded.

"Whoa."

A broad plain stretched out before me, dotted with hunters hunting here and there. Monsters of every kind — wolves, bulls, even wild dogs like the ones I'd seen in the 100x server — and all of them locked in fierce, tumbling combat.

I picked out a monster wandering on its own and closed the distance. Might as well face the only monster I'd actually fought. I raised my sword as I met a wild dog in a reasonably deserted spot, one that was roaming alone.

"Grrrr—"

Furious at the swarm of humans tramping through its territory, the wild dog bared its teeth.

"Yeah, this one's about that size."

Bloodshot eyes, a mangy look that made you wonder if it had rabies — it had the same ferocity I'd seen yesterday. If anything, it looked a bit bigger, and it had put on some weight too. Plenty of prey around here, so it had clearly been eating well. Compared to the scrawny beasts nearby, this was just about the only one that could stand comparison with what I'd seen in the Survival Server.

I wasn't more nervous than yesterday. The thought that getting bitten was fine had me feeling downright confident.

"Hyaaah!! Double Attack!!"

I charged first. Wrapped head to toe in wild-dog-hide armor, I closed in, and the wild dog flinched, bared its fangs, and came at me in turn.

I was faster.

Go on, bite me!

A heavy crunch landed in my arm. I met the eyes of the wild dog clamped onto my forearm — and I smiled.

It didn't hurt.

I slammed the startled animal down and brought my sword crashing into its exposed flank.

The blade sheared through.

"Ohhh!"

In the Survival Server I'd smashed their skulls in, but a sharp sword cut straight through hide and bone. And a beat later, along the line the blade had already traveled, came the sound of a second cut.

"Kyeeeek!!"

The wild dog twisted, trying to slip the sword, and its body was carved twice. I could see exactly how Double Attack dealt its damage.

But that wasn't the end of it.

It felt like afterimage lightning crashing down. The wild dog's carcass — already clumsily sliced into grotesque chunks — split apart under that last strike, and its life was snuffed out completely.

One hit. A thrill ran up the sword and filled my whole body.

"What the hell? Did that guy just one-shot the wild dog pack leader?"

"Wasn't that an E-class monster?"

"That's field-named tier. Is he an E-class hunter?"

My shoulders swelled at the whispering. I shook out my slightly heavy wrist and walked out of the dungeon like it was nothing.

It was only one kill — but it was more than enough to confirm I'd made the right call picking that Level 5 Double Attack card.