Telling a Disgraced Hunter Like Me to Tutor?

Korean Hunter Academy chief graduate. Top promising stock of the year TOP 1. Fastest ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠A-rank dungeon clear. Talent to lead Korea's future hunter world. Shadow Mask. All those were epithets for me.

Yeah. Were. I put it in the past tense on purpose—because now, none of those countless titles belong to me anymore.

With that one sentence, all my hard-earned hunter credentials turned to bubbles and popped.

Kim Siu, 27 years old. I, once a promising hunter with a bright future, had been demoted back to an ordinary awakener.

The reason was simple: conflict with the Daesung Group.

To break up the current state where a tiny handful of hunter guilds monopolized everything, I rolled up my sleeves—but what I got in return was a license suspension.

They branded me a criminal with blatant lies. They trotted out a former colleague I'd clashed with as a witness and bribed the police and investigators to pressure me. Evidence appeared out of thin air, and my position grew precarious.

On the day of the trial, a Daesung executive showed up.

"If you quit being a hunter and never mention the guild again, we'll drop the legal charges against you, Mr. Kim Siu."

I had no choice but to accept. The game was rigged from the start.

I reached out to the second-largest guild after Daesung, but those guys, already in bed with each other, weren't about to help me. From the beginning, I was public enemy number one to the major guilds—the guy trying to eat into their profits.

My hunter career, spent making enemies of the mega-guilds, ended right there.

Can't a license-less awakener just keep hunting? Don't be ridiculous. One slip, and you're a villain.

'I don't fancy living under constant pursuit by the hunter enforcement squads.'

Going abroad wasn't an option either. There was the World Joint Accord, forged by the absolute rulers of each region. A hunter criminal or villain in one region was one everywhere.

Of course, I wasn't a villain. Just a suspended hunter. But the accord's proposer was Korea's absolute ruler, Choi Woo-sung, Daesung's founding chairman. With Daesung's influence over international agreements, they could squeeze me anywhere—even in America—if they wanted.

That was what kept me from fleeing overseas.

'I was too naive.'

So I quit. I didn't want to watch those damn hunter bastards feast among themselves anymore.

But after quitting for real, I realized the only thing I knew how to do was hunt. I'd regretted not learning a trade, but hey, no one says I have to die.

I leveraged one of my skills to land a decent job and was clocking in steadily.

"Hey, Kim! Customer's here."

"On my way."

After quitting hunting, my new gig was appraiser. Simple work: check the items hunters bring in and assess their value.

One of my many skills.

The state doesn't care if you use skills for a living. Plenty of non-hunter awakeners make bank that way. As long as you don't dungeon-dive or commit crimes, they won't slap a villain label on you.

I checked the status window floating before my eyes.

15 years ago, gates opened and monsters poured out.

Yeah, that's right. The gates you see in all those stories. Guns worked fine on weak monsters, but the real threats shrugged them off. And then the awakened appeared—people with status windows and unique powers.

Humanity called them awakeners.

With the awakeners' meteoric rise, humanity pushed back the gate threat. Five years later, to prepare for greater dangers ahead, they needed to forge stronger hunters from these awakeners.

Enter the academies.

Getting into one required meeting tons of criteria, but the basics boiled down to this status window—the line between ordinary human and awakener.

Doesn't this floating window perfectly symbolize our transformed world?

Those were all my skills. At minimum, SS-rank Appraisal and SSS-rank Growth Assistance.

If anyone else saw them, they'd gape and shout that they were insane skills. The ranks were nuts, right?

Nah.

'How come there aren't any active skills?!'

Active skills—skills you actively use—were valued one or two tiers higher than passives. A single A-rank active could outshine even an SS-rank passive, maybe even SSS.

Simple reason: To kill monsters immune to bullets, you need massive damage output, and actives excelled at that.

'Passives are just filler.'

Nice to have, but you won't miss 'em much. They looked impressive at SS and SSS, but felt like mid-tier A to S skills. And neither directly boosted combat.

I nearly flunked out of the academy because of it. Got ignored until I graduated top of my class.

But those skills got me that chief graduate spot. They were my golden geese—stats skyrocketed thanks to them, letting me claim first place.

Hit A-rank in one stat, and you're an A-rank hunter. I hit A in all of them. Charisma? SS.

Worldwide, only five hunters besides me had SS+ stats: the Saintess in Europe, Mr. America in the US, China's top dog the Martial Alliance Leader, Japan's island ruler Musashi Miyamoto, and finally, Korea's Daesung founding chairman, Choi Woo-sung.

Those regional absolutes, world strongest titles? Meanwhile, I wasn't even hunting anymore—just appraising items.

Reason? Simple. My SS stat wasn't Strength or Agility—it was Charisma.

'Still no clue what this stat even does.'

The standard five: Strength, Intelligence, Stamina, Mana, Agility. That's what most hunters had.

Me? I had a sixth: Charisma.

Never came in handy during my hunter days. Useless like my unused Mana, thanks to no actives.

Didn't help in straight fights. Cool judgment saved my skin sometimes, but combat? Nah.

So I hid it. Passed as a slightly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠special prospect. Still graduated top.

Overwhelming stats let me outfight skilled peers without skills. But limits hit.

'Couldn't grow past A-rank.'

A-rank ceiling etched in like a limiter. No training broke it.

That was the skills' limit.

'If only I'd had one active skill...'

Wouldn't have been booted just for beefing with Daesung. The association would've taken me in.

Appraisals by the association only revealed skill name and rank. Details and stats? Private unless you share.

Who'd blab their full build? Even martial artists hide thirty percent.

So I kept quiet. Cost me my hunter career.

"Water under the bridge."

Thought I'd forgotten, but nope—not completely. Keeps creeping back.

"Guess it's 'cause I still remember thrashing around to graduate top."

No regrets, though. Hiding my SS Charisma. Defying Daesung. All my choices.

Muttering complaints, I headed to my workstation. Time to appraise as an appraiser.

If a customer came for me, I'd give my all.

Six months into this job, I was settling in.

Work was straightforward: Hunter brings item, I appraise, get paid based on accuracy.

Some appraisers fudged for profit, so cross-checks happened. Get caught lying? Lose a hand.

Hunter world's rule: Mess around, lose the hand.

Easy gig. Appraisal guaranteed accurate. SS-rank ain't kidding.

Company ace in six months flat.

Could've flashed my academy cert from hunter licensing, but Daesung feud got all my records wiped.

So I proved it with skill.

Settled in now, but not thrilled. Sitting appraising triggers hunter itch sometimes.

Have to endure. No choice.

Not like the frustration's gone...

"Whatever. If I can't climb higher, best not look."

Unless I wanna go villain.

Sighing deeply, I headed to the office.

"There you are."

A familiar face waited. Not exactly welcome.

"Long time, sunbae."

"Whoa, why so stiff?"

Scruffy beard guy. Short-cropped hair, thick caterpillar eyebrows, glaring eyes, bulbous nose—perfect match for his prickly personality.

My academy second-year sunbae, Jeong Bong-sik. Quit hunting for business now.

"We're both ex-hunters—gotta call you sunbae forever?"

"We weren't that close."

"Harsh. I thought we were battlefield brothers who shared blood."

"Brothers? More like you leeching off me."

"Positive symbiosis. Heh."

"Parasite from my end."

"Calling your sunbae a parasite? Savage."

How much grief did I go through saving this guy's ass in dungeons?

"Items I missed saving you? Easily ten billion market value."

"Guild would've snagged 'em anyway."

"True."

That system's what made me quit.

"Anyway, what's up?"

"Appraisal from an appraiser. What else?"

Jeong Bong-sik pulled out a small dagger. Gem-encrusted hilt—looked pricey.

I took it, caressed the grip gently. Tapped the gem, drew the blade, ran fingers along it.

Edge was razor-sharp. No ordinary piece.

"Hooh."

Full inspection done, I whistled despite myself.

"Minimum S-rank dagger. Could push S+ with luck."

"Heh, skills haven't dulled, huh."

"You knew?"

"Kinda."

Test, then. Felt off, but he had reasons. Not the type for empty gestures.

"Did you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠really need to go this far?"

"Siu, how long you gonna stick with this?"

"Huh?"

"Remember I said I started a business?"

"Yeah. Fire sales or something? This from there?"

"Nah, this one's got history. Folded the fire sales."

"Folded?"

"Started education biz recently."

Bad vibes.

"Thought about it—future's here. Wanna team up?"

"What's that got to do with this appraisal?"

"Duh. Teach kids, you gotta know their state. You appraise current status and potential with your skill, I train the promising ones. Deal?"

"Starting your own academy?"

"Nope."

Jeong Bong-sik's eyes gleamed as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he spoke.

"Tutoring. We'll do tutoring."