Total Evaluation: S-Rank

Park Minho had made contact with Seungcheon Tower!

The news raced outward through online channels, mass media, and every outlet that could carry it.

Knock, knock, knock—

"Come in."

Director Jeong Seungil cracked the door open just enough to slip through.

"Senior."

"It's the Director of the Counter-Abnormal Bureau."

"There you go again. Sit down."

Choi Jiung, Commissioner of the Rift Bureau, smiled lightly and waved him toward a chair.

"We ought to announce the founding of the Rangers soon, don't you think?"

"Director Jeong. Straight to the point, I see."

"Hunter Park Minho has gone to Seungcheon Tower."

…

The reporters who had interviewed Minho blasted out breaking stories in under ten minutes.

Even Jeong Seungil, a man who almost never showed emotion, took one look at those headlines and rapped on the Commissioner's door in a hurry.

"Senior."

"Director."

"Hmm. I can't remember the last time you got this worked up, Director Jeong."

"I knew he was exceptional talent, but I never expected this much."

Jeong Seungil's eye for hunters bordered on foresight. An SS-class hunter on the same level as the Twelve Heroes, he had stayed active from the earliest days of the Great Cataclysm right up to the present. Brilliant talent layered with hard-won experience had made him peerless at reading a hunter's potential.

Even he had never imagined Minho would be ready for the next exam in only a month.

"He did put in an absurd number of raid applications."

Choi Jiung slid over the documents he had received not long ago.

Gates Park Minho had successfully bid on:

"He won bids on twenty gates?"

"He cleared ten of them. In less than a month."

"Every one of them over-ranked."

"Yes. And he cleared those gates at SSS grade."

"Crazy."

Choi Jiung barely held back a laugh. Just hearing a curse slip out of that ice-block of a senior made Minho's file worth ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠its weight in gold.

"You've met the kid once, Director Jeong."

"He felt like an uncut gem."

Minho, who had inherited the Heavenly Martial Body. True to the name—"martial gift bestowed by heaven"—the inheritance alone refined everything from his breathing and muscle control to the way his skin reacted. Even the smallest details set him apart. An SS-class hunter like Jeong Seungil could glimpse the shards of that talent without ever crossing blades.

"He's a necromancer, I hear."

"Whichever way you look at it, he was clearly extraordinary."

"If you rated him that highly, why the shock now?"

"I never thought he would hit level 100 in a single month."

An unprecedented explosion of growth. Even the top five domestic guilds never drove their hunters this hard. In the earliest days of the Great Cataclysm, when people fought with their lives on the line, no one had climbed from D-class to C-class in a month.

"Not that I recall, either."

"It's not in the WHU data either."

Choi ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Jiung produced additional numbers his staff had scrambled to pull together. Exceptional talent. A burning drive to grow stronger. The young man lacked nothing as a hunter.

"I'm just glad this kid turned down every offer from the domestic top five."

"That would have been a real headache."

The Commissioner let out a quiet sigh. The Rift Bureau had no desire to see the five-guild balance collapse. If one guild came to dominate the Korean hunter industry, the monopolies would bring every kind of rot. Mana stone and byproduct supply would be the least of it. Gate management was a matter of public safety; letting any single guild seize hegemony was unacceptable.

"Mir tried to strong-arm him and failed."

"Guildmaster Yong Cheonwoo has always been a greedy man."

"Exactly. If competition doesn't work, he'll switch to the next move and try to keep him in check."

"So you already know this is no time to sit back and watch."

Jeong Seungil returned to the real subject.

"I rubbed elbows with the high-ups and finally got the approval."

"As expected of the Commissioner."

"If you were sitting in this chair, Director, you wouldn't have needed to rub elbows. One good roar would have settled it."

Korea's living legend, who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Twelve Heroes. Had Jeong Seungil shown even a flicker of interest in power, both ruling and opposition parties would have been throwing love calls at him.

"Too much of a bother."

"Doesn't it hurt to watch your junior get torn apart at National Assembly audits?"

"I consider myself lucky I don't have to sit in that seat."

"Ah, you little—"

"So when does the Ranger program launch?"

"We'll announce it. Soon."

Suddenly Choi Jiung pointed at the article glowing on his phone.

"This kid. Do you think he'll come out S-rank?"

"Yes."

"Without a retake?"

"Park Minho has always delivered more than anyone imagines."

He had climbed to S-rank after five long years. Less than ten days after reaching D-class he had slain a mutated C-class boss monster. And now, only a month later, he was knocking on Seungcheon Tower's door again. Search the entire world and you would not find another hunter who had grown this outrageously.

"He must have been certain he would take S-rank this time as well."

Jeong Seungil spoke with absolute conviction. How far would the growth of a man who always brought the extraordinary continue? Even the two men sitting in the Commissioner's office could not easily guess.

"Director. Once the promotion exam is over, can we set up a meeting?"

"I'll arrange it as quickly as possible."

"Recruit Hunter Park as Ranger Number One."

"Exactly what I was hoping for."

Iron resolve rang in Jeong Seungil's voice.

Sh-shit.

It actually worked.

Strength drained from my legs and I dropped straight to the floor.

You have done it.

This maiden never doubted for a moment that you would receive an S-rank.

Don't say it so calmly. My heart is hammering like it's about to explode.

This was nothing like the D-class exam. For four straight years I had never missed a single attempt, so I knew every detail cold. With the Heavenly Martial Body I had been certain of promotion. C-class was different. A necromancer-lineage exam. Necromancers themselves were rare, so information was scarce. How was I supposed to be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sure of an S-rank when I didn't even know what the test would be?

Have more confidence in yourself.

Even that iron skull says something sensible once in a while.

Come out, mage! This is a duel!

Failing the exam for more than four years had left my heart instinctively shrinking. A kind of trauma, I supposed.

"Fine. I'll try having some confidence, just like you said."

Haha! That is how my Lord, Isra's master, should speak.

I will always be at Master's side to help. Do not worry.

They really were reliable.

Corpse Sewing?

"Tch."

Why do you sound so disappointed?

"I should have remodeled Ingrid after the promotion."

I had even done needlework to make her skin tone as close to human as possible. If I'd had the Corpse Sewing skill, I could have gained the stat boost on top of it. What a waste. What a damn waste.

Hmm. Then I shall be the one who benefits when you remodel me.

I'm fine. I'm already more than satisfied.

Hahaha! Then I will take the lead, mage!

Ah. I'd rather not, thanks?

Take the lead on what, exactly?

I could more or less guess what Corpse Sewing did. The second new skill was construction.

"Not something I'll use right away."

Build a workshop with my own hands? Tempting, but materials were the problem. If I plopped a structure made of bone and flesh right in the middle of a residential neighborhood…

"I'd get reported for sure."

Spirit structures, huh. Later, once I bought some land, I'd have to experiment.

The effects of corpse processing and crafting will rise further as well.

"Still a long way before they get stronger."

Both growth-type skills carried a triple proficiency penalty. Gate raids. Practice at the forge. Training. There was no way I could push understanding of corpse crafting and processing up quickly while handling all of that. Making the Armed Zombie Warriors and Draco had raised it quite a bit, but understanding still sat a little under 50 percent. The next grade was a long road away.

"Still, these are the core of what I am. I'll strengthen them fast."

Oh.

Ooooh!

"So it doesn't have understanding—it just strengthens with rank."

That will help expand our forces.

Shall we make some magic-type undead this time?

Hey. Kids.

I'm the one who makes the undead. Just because the Death Space is empty doesn't mean they pop into existence and fill the slots, you know?

Excellent. Raise your understanding of corpse processing and crafting while you are at it. Make them quickly.

Son of a—

Blacksmith's Soul?

"I've heard of this."

Victor Ormahr, one of the Twelve Heroes—blacksmith and warrior both. As a pure fighter he lagged behind the other heroes, but the custom gear he forged for himself, further amplified by Blacksmith's Soul, had pushed his combat power up another full tier until it was worthy of a hero.

Not bad.

"Sir. That reaction is way too lukewarm."

This was a hero's ability!

I am concerned.

Now what is your problem?

I worry Master will pick up a weapon and charge the enemies himself.

Monsters are dangerous. My Lord should remain still.

You little—

When a good ability falls into their master's lap, subordinates are supposed to figure out how to use it. Instead they were already planning to leave me rotting in the rear?

I clicked my tongue inwardly and checked the last reward.

Artisan's Breath. The option was straightforward.

"They say the simpler the option, the better."

Eheheheheh.

Good. The rewards this time were more than satisfying.

Under no circumstances must you charge ahead and swing a weapon yourself.

Ah.

I said I won't!