Chapter 1, Civil Servant.
Chapter 1, Civil Servant.
Slightly noisy office interior.
Right in front was the Civil Complaint Office, so there was never a quiet day.
Sometimes you'd hear the shouts of complainants, and other times pissed-off complainants would spam skills everywhere.
No shooting sprees yet, but apparently they happened pretty damn often in the Civil Complaint Offices of other buildings.
In that sense, the current situation—where you only occasionally heard typing sounds or bits of conversation—could be called extremely peaceful.
In that office interior, I was diligently tapping away at the keyboard: ttudak ttudak.
Almost done organizing the Excel sheet.
Entered the number in the last cell and hit Enter.
"Huu..."
Leaned my back deep into the chair and stretched long.
Rotated my stiff neck a couple times.
Glanced at the clock at the bottom of the monitor: 5:30 p.m.
'A little longer and it's quitting time.'
I was a Grade 9 Civil Servant in the Civil Complaint Administration Department of the Hunter Management Bureau.
A piping-hot newbie just recently appointed.
The type who got really lucky to become a civil servant.
Every day, I offered prayers of thanks to the higher-ups and to God.
After my parents passed away in an accident, I became the real breadwinner of the house.
I had to hustle like this every day just to keep the family afloat somehow.
Right then, Team Leader-nim poked his head out from over the partition.
"Gyeong-ho-ssi. You done sorting those documents I asked for earlier?"
"Ah, yes. Here you go."
Stood up from my seat and handed over the document binder I'd neatly organized next to me.
Since I'd only been appointed a short while ago, I was just handling simple clerical stuff.
Team Leader Kim meticulously scanned the documents, then nodded in satisfaction.
"As expected, Gyeong-ho-ssi gets shit done right. Thorough and quick."
"No, no. I still have a ton to learn."
"So humble."
Team Leader-nim chuckled and headed back to his seat.
"Just scan this and fax it over to the association, and today's work is really fuckin' done."
Team Leader-nim opened the scanner lid at his computer and slid the documents in.
Whiiing—the machine hummed for a moment.
I confirmed him sending the documents via electronic fax.
The clock hit exactly 5:45 p.m.
Work wrapped up right on the dot.
"Gyeong-ho-ssi, if you're all done, head out first. No need to play the polite newbie."
"Yes, sir. See you tomorrow."
"Yeah. Get home safe."
Grabbed my bag, gave a sharp 90-degree bow, and left the office.
Greeted the other colleague officers as I headed out.
Stepping out of the government building, the sweltering evening air hit me along with a red sunset.
The whole sky was bathed in orange.
Teobuk teobuk—I walked to the bus stop, and bam, the bus pulled up like it'd been waiting.
Beep.
Tapped my card and plopped down in the very back seat.
Stared out the window at the scenery whipping by for a sec.
'Ah, right.'
Habit kicked in—I pulled out my phone and opened the browser.
Tapped the community app at the top of my bookmarks.
Korea's most popular community site.
Logged into the 'Hunter Gallery' there.
Working as a civil servant at the Hunter Management Bureau, I naturally had a ton of interest in hunters.
Nah, truth be told, I'd been hooked even before that.
'I wanted to be a hunter too.'
But the Awakening Test results were brutal.
Mana Sensitivity: D-Class.
No way to make it as a hunter with that.
So I shelved the hunter dream and grinded the civil servant exam.
Passed that, and now my hobby was pulling aggro on the Hunter Gallery.
It was one of my precious few ways to blow off steam and kill time.
Logged into the gallery, and a flood of posts hit my eyes.
Typical community shit—most of it was worthless crap barely better than diarrhea.
[Kim Cheol-su, what you up to these days?]
[Recruiting for Gangnam B-Class Dungeon Guide party (tank/heal)]
[Exchange shop part-timer shorted me a grand, fuck]
'Peaceful as ever today.'
Mindlessly scrolling down when one post caught my eye—looked fun.
[Title: Spill on my trip to the Hunter Management Bureau Civil Complaint Office.]
[Headed to Hunter Management Bureau today for a rank-up issue, and those dumbfucks had zero brains.]
[A Grade 9 shitstain yelled his head off at this godlike hunter-nim for not bringing his license?]
[What fuckin' era does this asshole think it is, carrying the original license around?]
[I recorded all his rude-ass bullshit, planning to hit up the petition board right away? They can slap a real penalty on him, right?]
[And why the fuck haven't these pricks implemented fingerprint recognition or some shit? Stuffing their faces with our taxes—what for?]
[Don't other countries all use fingerprint recognition?]
I burst out chuckling the whole way through reading it.
'This fucker actually posted it.'
The Grade 9 dipshit mentioned here? That's me.
Had to be the asshole who'd been parked right in front of the Civil Complaint Office earlier, throwing a fit demanding a license renewal without his damn license.
ㄴForeign countries use licenses too? Japan requires not just a license but a personal seal too.
ㄴㄴPersonal seal? What's that shit fuck lol
ㄴㄴIs this for real? lololol fuckin' primitives.
ㄴJudging by the writing, smells like a D-Class wannabe lololol
ㄴㄴFact) Even D-Class is a godsend
ㄴHunters like this? Korea's hunter scene is in deep shit.
ㄴDoes this fucker even know he's a malicious complainant?
ㄴㄴIf he did, he'd be bitching like this?
ㄴDon't bully our Gugeup-i (Grade 9), you fuckers.
ㄴㄴQuit projecting onto ajumma civil servants already.
ㄴㄴㄴ(Did I Hunterchut...? Gallerycon)
The comment arrows were predictably aimed straight at the OP.
[Regulations say we can't. No original, no document processing.]
[Ah, fuck this shit for real. Zero flexibility. What's your name, asshole?]
The unpleasant memory came flooding back.
No hesitation—I hammered out a comment on the keyboard.
Anonymous anyway.
ㄴOur hunter-nim oughta redo his basic home training before even thinking about hunting.
Anyone could see it was a nice little scratch.
The second my comment went live, notifications blew up like they'd been waiting.
ㄴㄴ(Gugeup-i showed up, Gallerycon)
ㄴㄴ(To your gallery, Gallerycon)
ㄴㄴlololololol home training spot on lolololol
ㄴㄴFact) Hunters need mandatory personality education.
ㄴYou have it rough. Keep fighting.
ㄴㄴBut you really a civil servant?
ㄴㄴㄴAs if lol
ㄴㄴㄴDelusional nut who thinks he's a Grade 9 civil servant.
ㄴㄴㄴㄴAin't that from a manga? Crayon Shin-chan's dad
ㄴㄴㄴㄴㄴThat manga's setting has him as Shin-chan's dad for real lolol
The usual hilarious reactions had me smirking.
Felt a bit of stress melt away.
Right then, the bus announcement chimed.
- This stop is Deohan Apartment entrance.
Perfect timing—my stop.
Shoved my phone in my pocket without a second thought and got off.
Cleared my head of gallery bullshit as I walked, and soon the familiar villa entrance popped up.
3rd floor of the rundown villa.
Home sweet home.
Beep- beep- beep- beep-
Punched in the password and unlocked the door lock.
"I'm home."
Kicked off my shoes and called out, but no answer.
Headed straight inside for some water and locked eyes with my little sister in the kitchen.
My little sister, who'd been living the hikikomori life for a solid year now.
"Food?"
"Ate."
Super short reply.
Shockingly, that was a huge improvement.
Ever since Mom and Dad died in that car crash, she barely spoke and just holed up in her room.
I got how massive the shock must've been, so I was leaving her be for now.
'Least she's not like other hikikomoris who never leave their rooms...'
Silver lining.
She seemed to sneak out at night sometimes too.
No clue what she did in her room, but she'd snap out of it eventually.
My little sister slipped wordlessly into her room.
"If you need allowance, just say so."
"Yeah..."
Mumbled a tiny reply, and the door shut.
That's when the door on the opposite side creaked open.
"Back?"
Out came my NEET noona in comfy sweats.
Her hair was a total mess.
Noona and I were born the same year.
She was one year older.
Been full NEET mode even before Mom and Dad passed.
She'd been working fine at her company before, but the bullying got way too brutal.
Landed her a depression diagnosis and months of psych treatment.
Way better now, but she still had a touch of social phobia hanging on.
"Food? You eat?"
"Nah. About to."
"Wash up quick then. I'll set the table. Got stew warming."
"Yeah. Thanks."
Noona might be a NEET, but she nailed housework perfectly.
Cleaning, laundry, cooking—nothing left for me to touch after work.
No post-work chore stress, thanks to her.
Of course, I slipped her allowance every month without fail.
Took a quick shower and came out to a dinner table practically groaning under the weight.
"Looks delicious."
"Loaded it with pork. Dig in quick. Grilled up some rolled omelet and Spam too."
"I'll eat well."
Scooped a huge bite of rice.
Noona sat across from me, watching me chow down, pouring water, sliding over sides.
"Eat this too. Rolled omelet."
"Yeah. Damn thick."
"Eat lots."
Her service game was flawless.
The second I finished, noona whisked away the table and dove into dishes.
Rubber gloves on, humming a little tune.
Soon grabbed the sorted trash bag and headed out.
'This ain't NEET vibes—this is straight-up full-time housewife. Or live-in helper?'
Since I was paying her allowance...
Kinda felt like that setup.
[Receive 100,000 won.]
Sent her the usual weekly 100k allowance.
My phone pinged back in like one second flat.
For the record, it wasn't like noona had no money.
I managed it all, so it was as good as gone anyway.
[Noona: Thanks!! Will use it well!! (cat emoticon)]
[Noona: Go wash up and crash hard. Bringing beer and snacks later.]
Checked the chat and flopped onto my bed in my room.
Lying there, I stared blankly at the beat-up ceiling.
Another day in the books.
The same dull routine every damn day.
Noisy office full of complainants' bullshit.
Coming home to noona greeting me...
'Still, beats the alternative.'
After Mom and Dad passed, shit was bleak as hell.
Noona's savings saved our asses—if not for that, before the insurance and all that crap hit our accounts, who knows...
But I passed the civil servant exam, started pulling in that steady pittance salary, and life got bearable.
'Noona and little sis... they'll be okay someday.'
I wanted to believe it.
'Huu. Time to chill.'
Grabbed my phone again.
Wondered what that D-rank hunter fucker replied.
Hopped back on Hunter Gallery—notification icon showed [99+].
Did it blow up into a featured post or what?
[Title: Spill on my trip to the Hunter Management Bureau Civil Complaint Office.]
The post was already exploding with comments.
My comment had climbed to 'best comment' status.
ㄴOur hunter-nim oughta redo his basic home training before even thinking about hunting.
ㄴㄴ(OP): What? This fucking fucker for real. You know who I am, talking shit like that?
ㄴㄴㄴ(OP): I'll track your ass down for sure.
ㄴㄴㄴㄴlolololol he got scratched lololol
ㄴㄴㄴㄴTrack me down and what lolol gonna throw another no-license tantrum?
ㄴㄴㄴㄴㄴ(OP): Shut your fucking hole. I'm suing your ass. Insult crime, suing.
ㄴㄴㄴㄴㄴㄴlolololololol
'Aw shit, kinda scary.'
What if the fucker shows up again.
He won't come fuck with me for real, right?