006. The Promising Prospect
Hunters League was searching for the next star to lead its future... Nice words, but 'Is the first round really a document screening? For real?'
He'd never paid attention to it before regression, aside from turning down an offer to be a judge. He'd assumed it was like a Hunters League match—just kill, capture, dominate, and win. But looking at the questions, there wasn't much he could highlight anyway.
Basic info like age, height, physical stats, and even affiliation. Academy kids must be thrilled. They were practically verified amateurs, so it was unavoidable...
Question 1: Before awakening as a hunter, what occupation did you work in, and describe what you did to overcome hardships in that job.
This question existed because there was no age limit, and plenty of older folks chased their dreams. Naturally, post-regression, he hadn't done jack, and hardships? As if.
Question 2: Describe an experience of conflict during group activities and how you resolved it.
Group activities? Post-regression, he'd skipped all school crap, and pre-regression, he'd trained his team to follow his orders blindly. Hmm... This one's a bust.
He'd thought just entering guaranteed a win, but who knew about this ambush... Still, what could they do about his answers? Hunters League wasn't won with words—it was raw skill. There'd be a practical round to make up for it.
Mulling that over, he eyed the last question.
Question 3: Please click "here"
Here... It was underlined in blue like a hyperlink. What the hell? Did application forms even have links?
Curious, he clicked Question 3's link—and something incredible happened.
Awakened skills usually stemmed from personal experiences or quirks. 'So what the hell do you have to do daily to get a power like this?'
He wasn't in his room anymore. The moment he clicked the blue underlined link, the scenery shifted to a stark white chamber.
Teleportation or hallucination—some spatial ability like that. At least it wasn't kidnapping or ambush.
Question 3 is a semi-practical: [Clone 3-Minute Time Attack]. Prove your skills by destroying endlessly spawning clones within 3 minutes. Any weapon you imagine will manifest.
A calm mechanical voice explained the rules from the white room. They needed to gauge skills and combat sense for hunters, but with too many applicants, this filtered efficiently.
God hadn't totally abandoned him. He recalled his pre-regression favorite: dual pistols via Magic Engineering Weapon Conversion.
His thought became reality—a blue spark danced over his hand, forming pistols. Mana-bullets as ammo, his signature weapons pre-regression, rarely used now.
'Weapons from imagination... do skills apply?'
He channeled mana through his hand, but nothing. Probably illusory, not true Magic Engineering.
Then, the voice boomed again.
Ready? Evaluation starts. 5—4—...—1! Begin!
A starting horn blared with upbeat music—whose taste?—as clones spawned from all directions.
Clones: featureless humanoid robots. Straw dummies that charged. No tank-level defense.
'Even so, 10 at once isn't easy.'
But their low AI was key. Smart applicants would herd and AoE like a game hunt.
Lee Chang-hyun had no such plan.
'Looks efficient, but the real efficiency is this.'
Bang! A precise mana bullet pierced a clone's core—heart area, integrated circuit. A finger-sized hole formed; it froze and vanished.
Pinpoint weakness hits. That's true efficiency here. Herding 10, AoE-ing, repeat? Tedious.
But he skipped it all.
Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang! Dual pistols spat fire endlessly, each shot nailing a clone's weak point. One trigger per clone.
'Easy.'
Standing still, slowly turning, Piercing Eye guiding shots. This was the foundation of his pre-regression moniker: [Legendary Sniper].
But it didn't stay easy. As clones spawned and died, spawn rate exploded geometrically. Patterns shifted too.
'Remote difficulty adjustment?'
Or preset for skilled players. No big deal.
'People or clones—walking or running, same to me.'
The judges were swamped from day one.
Even filtering low-issue paper apps left thousands each.
"Don't you think there's a flaw in this setup, Su-hyuk?"
"We could nitpick, sure."
Jo Ah-ra griped about passing an applicant.
"This isn't what we intended."
The test gauged abilities, reflexes, crisis response, weapon handling. But this guy bypassed it entirely.
"Anyone could clear clones spraying bullets. Total cheese. And this applicant..."
Question 1: Before awakening as a hunter, what occupation did you work in, and describe what you did to overcome hardships in that job.
Applicant Response: Student. Life's too easy; no real hardships.
Question 2: Describe an experience of conflict during group activities and how you resolved it.
Applicant Response: To avoid conflict, let me make all decisions.
"Totally half-assed. And this is normal?"
Indeed. Most wrote pages per question earnestly. This guy's brevity and attitude mocked them.
Couldn't send this upstairs. Paper round cut to 100, then on-air judging. A slacker cheesing through? Badmouthing applicants and judges.
"Ah-ra's got a point."
"Right, Min-seok sunbae!"
"Guns aren't hunter weapons anyway. League bans 'em outright; monsters too."
Why so few ranged in League? Simple: mana dissipates post-release from body. Weak impact, can't pierce mana-reinforced bodies.
'Unless loaded with massive mana, it scatters mid-flight.'
Guns? High fire rate, but hard to infuse each. "Civilian slaughter tool" for fragile clones only. Never used in Korean League; un-awakened vibe.
Question 3 tested skills, talent, physique, technique—real hunter combat. Gun luck didn't count.
"But why am I more intrigued by this guy?"
"Sunbae!"
"Ah-ra-ssi, I agree with Min-seok sunbae. It shows he pierced the rules' loophole."
Jo Ah-ra scowled; Jin Su-hyuk pressed on.
"Luck or not, he exploited and succeeded. Means don't matter—hunters prove by results."
"...Su-hyuk's right. Not finals anyway; cut if needed."
Two of three agreed.
"Maybe his thinking differs from ours."
"How so?"
"Dunno."
Not certain, but plausible. Test intent clear.
'Maybe he thinks guns work in Hunters League.'
Or proved guns viable vs. simple clones. Far-fetched, maybe.
Lee Min-seok imagined: a skill making guns viable in League.
'Impossible.'
Modern guns vs. primitive blades? One-sided slaughter. But he'd fizzle out. Changing entrenched League paradigms? Tough.
'Still, hope he shows something.' Like a lottery ticket.
"Last applicant? Don't take it personal, Ah-ra."
"Not mad—just thought others'd feel cheated. Whatever, drop it."
Jo Ah-ra zipped her mouth, sorted papers.