An A-Rank Among the Ranks
After the chaotic frenzy of the hunting season, Mina could only stand awkwardly at Seok-jun's side. The hunters' stares, which until now had been nothing more than curious or puzzled, now carried the weight of people gazing at something from an entirely different world.
"Where the hell did that young lady come from?"
"This isn't a film set, is it?"
She couldn't bring herself to join their ranks while they kept whispering and glancing her way. That's when Captain Jeong's voice rang out from the middle of the group.
"Alright, alright! Looks like we've caught our breath, so let's grab lunch first and finish the job after!"
"Already time for lunch?"
"Ugh, it's just military chow anyway."
"Free food is free food. Let's not complain."
When the others' attention shifted at Captain Jeong's words, Mina felt the tension finally ease from her shoulders.
"Shall we go eat now?"
"Ah, yes!"
She followed Seok-jun back into the village packed with derelict houses. Occasional glances still pricked at her, but it was far more bearable than before.
They arrived at the spot where the Humvees were parked. Soldiers, Captain Jeong among them, were unloading green boxes and handing them out to the hunters.
"One box per group of four, please."
"Groups of four?"
The people ahead were clustering with familiar faces and collecting the green boxes. Mina glanced at Seok-jun.
"What about us...?"
But she quickly realized she didn't need to ask.
"Hey, sis!"
"Hmph."
Cheok-jeong and Min-jeong approached Seok-jun as if it were the most natural thing in the world. They collected a green box together, found a spot, and opened it. The sight inside filled Mina with an indescribable sense of awe.
The square plastic containers tightly packed with pure white rice made sense. But every side dish came tied up in white plastic bags.
While Mina stood frozen, Cheok-jeong reached in as if he'd been waiting for this moment and grabbed the bag stained with red oil.
"Whoa! What's this? Why's it so generous today?"
"Generous?"
It looked like stir-fried chicken. The transparent bag let her see everything clearly—the food was already cooked and ready to eat.
"First time seeing this, sis? Usually they only give you three or four of those round patties."
"Stop yapping and get ready to eat."
Min-jeong shoved Cheok-jeong aside, pulled out only the rice from the green box, and slammed it shut. There was still kimchi, vegetables, and soup left inside.
"Aren't you going to eat the rest?"
"Hah, I'd rather eat plain rice than that dog food."
Min-jeong and Cheok-jeong were already taking out store-bought stir-fried kimchi, dried seaweed, canned ham, and similar items. A quick glance at Seok-jun showed he was pulling out a nearly identical spread.
"Help yourself, Mina," he said.
"But..."
"We usually keep plenty stocked, so it's no issue."
"I don't think that's the problem here?!"
When clearing gates, Mina had always relied on the priests' combat rations. She had never imagined she'd end up eating food straight from plastic bags. And sitting right in the middle of a concrete road, no less.
Plus, everything is ridiculously salty.
Whether they noticed her reeling in shock or not, the others paid no attention. They untied the plastic bag that had held the chicken, set it on the utensils they'd taken from the box, and began dividing the rice.
"Wow, Captain Jeong must have dipped into his own wallet. We won't even need to mix anything today."
"Who do you think it's for? Total waste of effort if they don't even know."
At Cheok-jeong's comment, Min-jeong shot her a quick glance. Mina flinched. It really did sound like this was all because of her.
Since the implication wasn't entirely off-base, Mina stayed silent. Min-jeong let out a heavy sigh.
"Might as well ask now. You're a Hunter Department graduate, aren't you?"
"How did you..."
She had considered the possibility of someone noticing she was an A-grade hunter, but never imagined anyone would realize she had majored in Hunter Studies at university.
"You graduated from there? Then that whole approach actually makes sense."
Cheok-jeong nodded in understanding.
"Yeah, without that background it wouldn't add up."
"It was impressive, though. Never thought I'd actually meet someone who does it for real."
Even the surrounding hunters seemed to accept the explanation. Mina blinked, completely lost.
What exactly was going on? Why did everyone seem to understand without her even revealing she was an A-grade hunter?
"What kind of reputation does the Hunter Department have, exactly?"
The way they treated it as even more significant than simply being an A-grade hunter left Mina utterly puzzled.
"Because they're elites, obviously?" Cheok-jeong answered.
"Every university with a Hunter Department is prestigious, and A-grade hunters personally teach practical combat techniques there."
Graduates from such a place really were no different from living weapons. Mina couldn't deny it. After all, even with A-grade observers present, these people had been risking their lives since their B-grade days, learning through brutal experience how to fight monsters with maximum efficiency.
Still, she didn't particularly enjoy being described that way, so she remained quiet. Cheok-jeong continued with something even more surprising.
"Min-jeong's a Hunter Department graduate too, you know."
Mina turned to her in shock. Min-jeong scowled.
"Hey. Don't say useless crap."
"Useless? Says the gorilla who always charges in first. When you first showed up, it was pretty flashy. Not quite as much as sis here, but still."
"You little—! Calling me gorilla again?!"
The two immediately started bickering. Mina, never expecting to meet another Hunter Department graduate in a place like this, felt a complicated swirl of emotions as she picked up a piece of chicken and took a bite.
The chewy texture of the skin and the dry, firm bite of the breast meat registered, but the overwhelming saltiness hit her first and foremost.
"Ugh. It really is salty."
It was far saltier than she'd imagined. She quickly shoveled rice into her mouth. Min-jeong clicked her tongue.
"Military food's always like that. Just eat it."
Once lunch was finished and the green boxes returned to the soldiers, the hunters declared it break time and began sprawling out everywhere.
"Break time? Is it really okay to be this relaxed?"
Mina wondered if clearing a dungeon break was supposed to work this way. As far as she knew, emergencies like dungeon breaks were handled with extreme urgency to prevent civilian casualties.
"There aren't many homes nearby, so we aren't under that much time pressure," Seok-jun explained.
His casual assurance that everything was fine still felt strange to her. At least the salty food had left her stomach full enough that she didn't feel too uncomfortable. But Captain Jeong's mention of using his own money kept nagging at her.
"Is it unusual for an A-grade hunter to come to a place like this?"
Since there was already one graduate from the department here, going out of his way to upgrade the food just because another one arrived seemed odd. It really must be because she was an A-grade hunter.
"A-grade hunters almost never respond to incidents involving low-grade gates."
Of course, if a mid-grade or higher gate appeared it would be detected immediately and the guild would dispatch A-grade hunters. But low-grade gates or dungeon breaks usually called in B-grade hunters, so encounters were naturally rare.
"But the disaster alerts and hunter license notifications..."
Even then, a dungeon break should trigger contact regardless of rank.
"Sometimes an A-grade hunter who happens to have free time will show up."
Mina felt a small wave of relief realizing she wasn't the only one.
"Though they don't usually stick around quietly without anyone noticing before leaving again."
"I see."
From Seok-jun's additional comment, Mina thought she understood why. If even she felt this out of place and unable to adapt, other A-grade hunters probably experienced the same thing.
"So you really were an A-grade hunter?"
Min-jeong's voice suddenly cut in. Mina turned, startled, to find her standing with arms crossed, staring directly at her.
"That scene earlier, plus everything else. No way Captain Jeong would scramble to prepare all this otherwise."
"W-well, you see..."
As Mina fumbled for a response, Min-jeong simply looked at her with an unreadable expression.
"How did someone as clueless as you..."
"Clueless?!"
"Anyway, here's all I wanted to say. Don't waste your time messing around in a place like this. Go play where people are actually looking for you."
The difficult-to-interpret advice left Mina opening her mouth to reply when—
"Hey! Seok-jun! Where's Seok-jun?!"
Captain Jeong came striding over, shouting and cutting the conversation short.
"What is it, sir?"
Seok-jun approached and asked. Captain Jeong's face was grim.
"They say an outbreak just occurred in sector 6-4."
"What?!"
"Excuse me?"
Mina and Min-jeong were the most shocked. Hadn't the area they were currently in already been the result of a dungeon break? And now another one had happened somewhere else?
They had heard consecutive outbreaks could occur, but never expected it to happen here, of all places.
"What is the grade?"
"From the readings and the presence of goblins, it's E-Grade."
"Ugh, of all things."
This time Mina fully understood why Min-jeong was grimacing. Goblins might be among the weakest monsters, but their filthy habits and weapons made them something most hunters preferred to avoid.
"Mina, may I ask for your assistance? It broke out right behind our unit, so we need to eliminate them immediately."
Knowing she was an A-grade hunter, Captain Jeong bowed deeply as he made the request. But Mina had already planned to follow Seok-jun anyway.
"Understood."
She would have preferred to avoid goblins if possible, but with lives on the line she couldn't justify dodging the fight simply because it would be annoying. After all, one of the reasons she had admired hunters was the image of them saving people from monsters.
"Thank you! Seok-jun, give her a ride, quick!"
"I was already planning to. Mina, please get on."
Mina immediately climbed onto the back seat of the motorcycle. She hadn't ridden it many times, yet it already felt familiar. As she wrapped her arms around his waist, the engine rumbled to life with a deep growl.
"Head straight that way and they'll clear a path for you, so hurry."
At Captain Jeong's instructions, she glanced back. Min-jeong's displeased stare caught her attention, but Seok-jun had already started the motorcycle, leaving no time to wonder about it.