Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Suspicious Recruitment
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Chapter 9
In a grassland-type gate with fine weather and a pleasant breeze.
A party of eight had just finished hunting and was taking a short break when two of them glanced around slyly and stood up.
“We’ll go do a quick scout.”
“Oh, sure! We’d really appreciate that!”
In grassland gates where parties had to roam freely without set paths, scouting was crucial.
Wandering blindly without it could lead to encountering a massive monster horde mismatched to their abilities, or ending up picnicking until the gate’s time limit expired without accomplishing anything.
For optimal efficiency, scouting during breaks to locate the next group was best.
But after a grueling battle, volunteering for scout duty wasn’t easy.
Typically, it was customary to scout on the way back after resting, but since these two had offered, the rest were grateful.
After the pair left, the remaining members chatted.
The main topic was, naturally, the departed duo.
“Young-jun and Joo-young seem like such nice people, don’t they? Honestly, most folks like that usually have guilds or fixed parties.”
“Yeah. They’ve been E-rank level 2 for a while, right?”
“Way better than a level 1 D-rank scrub like me.”
Their current location was the “Kobold Hills,” a level 2 or below gate.
Young-jun and Joo-young, both level 2 hunters, had recruited mostly level 1 newbies via Hunter Net.
In such cases, experienced higher-level hunters usually took the lion’s share regardless of rank, but Young-jun and Joo-young offered even splits, volunteered for scouting, and displayed skills far beyond typical E-ranks.
It felt like being bused by hunters a rank above them.
“They must be nearing the end of level 2. Levels matter, but I didn’t expect them to be this good. And they’re still scouting despite being tired.”
“Those two seem like a couple. They arrived together. Maybe they’re sneaking off for a date since the scenery’s nice?”
“Ugh, love’s great and all, but I couldn’t do it. What if a kobold pops up mid-kiss?”
The group burst into hearty laughter at the joker’s remark.
The scenery was indeed stunning.
If this existed on Earth, it’d be swarming with tourists.
Excluding the ever-present threat of kobolds, the gate’s main monsters, it wasn’t a bad date spot.
Though that flaw was a dealbreaker.
They spent a while fancifully imagining the absent pair’s love life.
Then, screams echoed from beyond the hill the duo had crossed for scouting.
“Argh, run!”
Moments later, the two came sprinting back, faces pale.
And behind them,
“Kyaak!”
Came a horde of kobolds too numerous to count at a glance.
“What, what is it?!”
The relaxed group jolted up, grabbing nearby weapons and preparing for battle.
“Kyaack!”
But it was too late to stop the frenzied kobolds charging at the sight of humans.
The sudden ambush struck before the fatigue from battle had faded.
Each had traits sufficient for kobolds, but they shared a fatal flaw.
“This many... Argh!”
“Help, help!”
Their lack of experience, having awakened recently.
Veteran hunters would’ve formed ranks and avoided collapse.
Kobolds were treated as goblin-tier monsters, after all.
But what could be expected from panicked rookies shoving each other to delay death, let alone forming ranks?
Guilds and parties valued levels not just for trait growth from level-ups, but for the experience and coping skills gained.
Thus, the level 1s—or fresh level 2s—didn’t even notice Young-jun and Joo-young fleeing like the rest until the end.
As the last one—the kiss joker—faced a kobold handaxe dropping on his head,
“Kak—”
The kobold’s head flew off.
“Now, let’s clean this up.”
A sneer-laced voice rang out.
From that moment, the swarming kobolds were massacred in seconds.
The ones slaughtering them were none other than Young-jun and Joo-young.
Young-jun swung an axe his size freely, carving through kobolds, while Joo-young unleashed nonstop spells from afar.
Their skill was leagues above what they’d shown hunting earlier.
Living kobolds vanished as quickly as the hunters died.
“Kuii......”
When the last kobold breathed its last.
Young-jun and Joo-young approached the lone survivor with creepy grins.
Especially Young-jun, drenched in kobold blood and steaming with heat, looked downright demonic.
“What... What the hell...?”
The kindly duo was gone.
The man repeated himself, unable to comprehend.
“Why? Isn’t it obvious?”
Young-jun chuckled as if at a ridiculous question.
He picked up the axe from the kobold that had targeted the man first.
Joo-young giggled beside him, amused.
“For fun.”
Those were the man’s last words.
Young-jun cleaved the man’s head mercilessly, just as the kobold had intended.
“Look at him piss himself. Gross.”
Joo-young nudged the corpse with her shoe-tip, pinching her nose.
“Not our first rodeo.”
Young-jun shrugged nonchalantly.
“Anyway, seems like rumors are spreading. Time to bounce soon.”
“Already?”
Joo-young raised an eyebrow.
Young-jun nodded.
“Yeah, Hunter Wiki’s got all the suspects listed. Buncha idle bastards.”
“Ugh, annoying. But we can squeeze one more, right?”
Joo-young grumbled, kicking the dirt idly.
The blood-soaked soil splattered stickily.
Young-jun grinned.
“Of course. One quick haul, then we’re out.”
They smeared blood and dirt on each other.
They even inflicted light wounds.
Finally, they swapped hunter IDs from unrecognizable dead hunters with their own.
“You’re Park Ga-ryeong now.”
“And you?”
“Seo Han-seok.”
“Perfect.”
“Both D-ranks this time. No need to hold back.”
After checking details, Joo-young altered her facial contours with magic to match the photo on the ID Young-jun handed her.
Young-jun marveled at her perfectly transformed face.
“Still blows my mind. How do you do that?”
“Not just anyone can.”
They bantered lightly as they headed for the exit.
“Hey, you okay? Where’s everyone else? Medical team here!”
But exiting the gate, they looked every bit the sole survivors of a tragic accident.
***
“Phew, that should do it.”
Having devoured traits from F-rank to D-rank, Jeong-hyeon closed the Hunter Wiki tab.
Of course, wikis only listed common ones, not rares.
But rares rarely hit stores anyway.
Trait names were intuitive, so he could judge on the fly.
“Ugh, studying after ages gives me a headache.”
Jeong-hyeon leaned back in his chair, stretching.
Post-graduation, his jobs were just manual labor at workshops.
Planning ahead like this felt alien.
His traits were too complex for winging it.
“Trait Shop.”
Still reclined, he opened the shop.
The list showed two empty slots.
He wanted to snag everything, but coins aside, it was impossible.
Precisely, impossible now.
‘Can’t advertise an EX trait when only F-ranks pop up.’
Maybe later if he could flood with A and S-ranks.
Then no one—not even associations or big guilds—would mess with him.
But now, he only had one E-rank and two F-ranks.
Decent among low-rank, low-level hunters, but he’d fold against a seasoned C-rank.
High-rankers existed in numbers despite rarity.
So, Jeong-hyeon needed to hide his true power.
Swinging swords wildly then casting spells screamed “kidnap me” or worse.
He eyed the Trait Shop.
[Equippable Traits / Stored Traits: 0 / 7]
This hindered his growth right now.
‘Can’t ignore it.’
Slots might expand with levels, unknown.
Until then, no impulse buys.
- Rrr
His phone buzzed briefly.
“Hm?”
Sun-hyeong’s message popped up.
- Got the money! Income’s way up thanks to you. Up for hunting again if schedules align?
Their daily earnings had likely doubled.
Jeong-hyeon smirked and replied casually.
They weren’t bad folk; another hunt wouldn’t hurt if times matched.
‘But I might still be smashing zombie or skeleton skulls.’
With his new E-rank 「Slight Enhancement of Physical Abilities」, past undead fights just drew sighs.
He’d thought his moves optimal then, but full of wasteful flailing.
Unavoidable without skill to trim it.
‘Ranks make huge gaps.’
Reflection hammered home limits of rank and level over his own.
With trait disparities by rank/level and only three slots?
His coin-earning goal was clear.
He gazed at the shop bottom: unused, stored traits.
[「Faint Combat Sense」(F, Lv.1)]
Same as his current one.
Levels were XP-locked, so he’d collect same-lineage traits to upgrade.
E-rank counterpart to “Faint” series was the common “Decent” for E.
「Decent Combat Sense」
Shop refreshes might allow others, but principle same.
Prioritize upgrading current traits.
And the task was clear.
“Time for a gate.”
Hunt in gates for coins.
Plus, yields dwarfed workshop gigs.
Jeong-hyeon reopened the browser, logging into Hunter Net.
He scrolled recruitment boards for fits.
“Avoid skeletons or zombies...”
Most abundant were low-competition low undead gates, but he skipped.
Same monsters lowered coin drop odds.
One or two hunts wouldn’t tank it much, but maximize gains.
Ideally, weak as low undead but experientially useful.
“Like goblins.”
Goblin gates were popular, though, so scarce.
Mid-scroll,
“Huh?”
His eyes snagged a post.
- Seoul area, recruiting for level 2 or below goblin gate. Rank/level irrelevant.
Tailor-made for him.
If spots left, contact fast. He speed-read.
- Guild quest needs goblin byproducts; recruiting fillers. Two end-level-1 D-rank hunters for safe carry. Even splits, no penalties. Recruiting as talent donation—prioritizing low-rank newbies, select two. ^^
“Whoa, insane. Actual angels?”
Conditions had Jeong-hyeon shaking his head in awe.
Two D-ranks for goblins? Lavish overkill.
Busing with even splits?
First come, first served.
He texted the listed number pronto.
- Hi, saw your Hunter Net post. Really no rank/level reqs?
Reply swift.
- Yes ^^ Can you send hunter ID pic?
- [Photo]
- [Photo]
The poster sent theirs first: two D-rank level 1s, no forgery signs.
‘Not like fakes matter.’
Too good to be true raised flags, but Hunter Net’s ID verification minimized risks.
Plus,
‘What if I dawdle and someone snags it?’
Hunter society was cutthroat; spots got stolen quick.