Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Volunteer Work (1)
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"Didn't you go to Ichie's place yesterday?"
The next day, after training was over, Yu-jeong senior asked the question in a friendly tone.
Ichie nodded and replied.
"I introduced her to my uncle. He said Su-hyeon oppa seems like a really great guy."
"Su-hyeon is a good guy, after all."
"Right?"
The two of them met each other's eyes and grinned. They really did seem to get along well.
Yu-jeong senior stopped smiling and turned to me, pulling out her pad. There was still a bit of coffee left in her drink cup. She slurped up the rest before swiping through her pad to bring up the document she wanted.
It was an official notice sent to mentors. Ichie and I huddled around the pad to read it.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Rookie King Tournament Preliminary Preparation Guide] "Already?"
"Yeah. It's about time to start preparing. Your real combat sense is still a bit lacking, so stacking training on training from now will reduce injury risks and boost your chances of winning the Rookie King Tournament later."
Time really flew by. The Rookie King Tournament, which had felt so far off, was now just a month and a half away. The notice said we'd have preliminaries before the main event, so they were asking for confirmation of participation in advance to allow for training.
"Training... Can you help?"
Ichie looked at Yu-jeong senior with eyes full of expectation. Yu-jeong senior nodded under that sparkling gaze and said,
"But first, you two are participating, right? You and Su-hyeon."
Ichie nodded vigorously. I hesitated for a moment. I was still a little scared. What if I went out there as 'Ada Bomber' and everyone just laughed? And if I failed, wouldn't I just become a joke? Someone firmly grabbed my fidgeting fingers on the table. It was Yu-jeong senior. She squeezed my hand tight and said,
"If you don't try, nothing will ever happen."
It was the same thing she'd said at the drinking party. Turn that name into your strength and build confidence from it. I tried to erase the image of my failure from my head. Instead, I pictured myself winning the Rookie King Tournament.
📰 Breaking News This Year's Rookie King: 'Ada Bomber' Hunter Jeong Su-hyeon Just seeing the name gave off the vibe of a total pro. This was it. I wasn't some weirdo with a weird nickname anymore. I was a contender who could win the Rookie King Tournament. I met Yu-jeong senior's eyes and nodded.
"I'll participate."
Yu-jeong senior looked pleased, like she'd expected as much, and pulled out application forms from her bag. Before I started writing, I hesitated again, rolling the pen in my hand. Ichie was filling out hers when she asked Yu-jeong senior,
"Just sign here?"
"Yes. The bottom part is for me to confirm as your mentor, so don't sign there."
Then she glanced at my arm and said,
"It's getting thicker and thicker. Your arm. It didn't feel like this when I first saw it."
My muscles were growing at a pretty fast rate.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ ⚡ Strength: 14 💨 Agility: 13 ✨ Intelligence: 12 🍀 Luck: 20 Looking just at the stats, my Strength, which had once been '9', was nearing 15 now, and Agility had shot up to 13. My Intelligence had ticked up slightly too, probably from meditation. I nodded at Yu-jeong senior's comment.
"Yeah. I think Strength will hit 15 soon."
"Already? That's too fast."
Ichie sounded a bit sulky. I felt bad about pulling ahead of her too, but there was no helping it. Sticking to low-level training wouldn't make you grow. Yu-jeong senior comforted Ichie.
"You can catch up by training hard too, Ichie. What's your stats like now?"
"13."
That was higher than I'd expected. She'd probably catch up to me and hit 15 soon too. Yu-jeong senior said,
"At that level, it'll go up quick. Growth is super fast at low stages. Most people breeze from D-rank to C-rank."
"Really? I'll do my best then."
Ichie was fired up. I filled out the application following Yu-jeong senior's guidance. Once she had both forms, she tucked them into her bag and said,
"Now we just submit these to the academy administration. I'll handle that. You two need to prep for training, and there are two ways to do it. One is using the training grounds inside the academy, and the other is using private guild training grounds..."
I recalled the academy training ground I'd gone to with Yu-jeong senior last time. It was pretty decent, but could we use it now? Yu-jeong senior searched for training ground info on her pad and clicked her tongue.
"Academy grounds are often fully booked like this, so it's inefficient."
The pad showed the reservation status for the academy's internal training grounds. We checked it out, then naturally pulled out our own pads to try booking.
"Yeah, no slots in the times I want. Just early morning or our training slots are open."
But we couldn't skip training sessions for that.
I felt disappointed seeing only one room booked at that time— for three people, every day at the same slot. No idea who, but...
"Hunters are usually out gate diving then, so the grounds empty out. But skipping training... I don't recommend it. For a lot of reasons."
Ichie didn't seem keen on skipping training either. We looked back at Yu-jeong senior. She'd mentioned two options, so time for the second. She said,
"That's why people usually go for private training grounds. Guilds run their own. Not like that monster holding area we went to last time—this is the real deal, with on-duty instructors who give hands-on combat guidance and teach proper form."
Ichie and I hesitated a bit at that. We could guess which one she'd recommend. Yu-jeong senior eyed us carefully and said,
"...So, right now, I'd recommend the Black Dragon Clan's training ground, [Heavenly Demon Cave]. It's not the monster pens—it's a proper training facility. Good setup too."
"...No other options?"
"Doesn't seem good."
Ichie looked uneasy. I felt a bit awkward too. Getting this tangled up with the Black Dragon Clan might make joining them feel inevitable later. Yu-jeong senior smiled like she'd expected that and said,
"Hear me out. I'm not recommending it just 'cause I'm Black Dragon Clan. [Heavenly Demon Cave] is genuinely one of the better private spots. It's not free—you pay to use it."
"How much?"
Yu-jeong senior didn't say it outright. She turned on her pad, searched private training ground info, and showed us. No small guilds listed—just the bigger names' prices. Ichie squinted at them.
"One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand... Three million?"
"Three million a month. That's the standard rate for a month's use. Covers the loss for the maintenance hunter who can't work that day, plus facility use and upkeep. That's for D-rank and below. C to B is five to ten million. A and up is over ten million."
Property damage in there must be no joke. Still, three million... I asked again.
"No daily rates?"
Yu-jeong senior shook her head.
"Nope. Strictly monthly. But unless it's intentional destruction, they handle repairs even if stuff gets busted."
"Still, three million's too steep."
We'd gotten subsidies, but not enough to cover three million monthly. Living alone, my food and expenses all came from that. Ichie looked at me and said,
"I can pay for you."
"Ah, no need to."
Before I could refuse more, Yu-jeong senior stopped Ichie first. Ichie blinked wide-eyed at her. So did I. Was there an alternative? Yu-jeong senior explained,
"[Heavenly Demon Cave] lets you reduce the fee with volunteer work at designated spots instead of cash. One hour of volunteering shaves off 2%."
Quick math: 50 hours for 100% off. No need to hit exactly 100%, and I could adjust the discount as needed—way better than begging Ichie or my parents. I asked,
"Other guilds have discounts?"
"A few do, but for conditions you can actually meet, Su-hyeon, this is the easiest. Diamond Club does 70% off for guild screening passers. [Amazing] does 80% if you support their gate raids and explorations for free. [Sunset Outlaws] buys gate resources for cash. As you see, most are for active hunters—no discounts for apprentices."
"What's Diamond Club's screening like?"
This one seemed easiest overall. Black Dragon Clan needed volunteering, but screening was one-and-done. Yu-jeong senior said,
"Problem is, their next screening's in a month, so you'd lose real usage time. And their grounds are popular, so reservations get pushed back. Okay with that?"
"Ah, got it."
I nodded in understanding. Time was tight, and spotty reservations? No point. Yu-jeong senior turned to Ichie.
"What about you, Ichie?"
"I'll just pay."
Ichie planned to pay full. I did some mental math. A month and a half to Rookie King meant cramming volunteer hours over the next two weeks, then a full month at [Heavenly Demon Cave]. Should line up.
I said,
"Yeah. I'll do it."