My First Piece of Gear

"Kang Arin really is total trash at this."

Yoo Sumi said with a huge grin plastered across her face.

"How can a B+ rank hunter with three years of experience lose to a newbie who only awakened two weeks ago?!"

"You're a disgrace to all B-rank hunters, Arin. Just break your bow and retire already."

When Kim Seohwa joined in on the teasing, Kang Arin clenched her fists tightly.

"No, I won on total points. I only lost because of the bet rules."

"Wow, Arin, you're really out here twisting a little kid's wrist and still saying 'but I won'… Of course you'd win like that."

"And that winning margin was only twenty points? Wasn't that basically a hard-fought victory? Yeah, it was a hard-fought victory. Look at all the sweat on your face."

"Just shut up, you guys…"

The three of them were the same age, had the same amount of experience, and were the same gender—fellow hunters who often fought back-to-back. After saving each other's lives multiple times, it was normal for them to tease one another and throw around casual insults.

But claiming there wasn't even 1% of actual annoyance would be a lie.

That 1% of annoyance could just be paid back later by teasing the other person even harder, so it wasn't a big deal.

Anyway, Kang Arin's irritation level was slowly rising. The one who approached her was Lee Jiyun, with a face as pure and angelic as a heavenly messenger—cute, kind, and good-natured.

"Great work today, Arin unnie! I learned so much!"

Jiyun said while holding out her small hand.

Kang Arin thought to herself that such incredible talent could come from such tiny hands.

Yeah. Having one pretty junior was just a good thing in itself.

She had a pretty face, a pretty personality, and teaching her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was genuinely fun.

"You worked hard too, Jiyun. It'd be nice to see you often while working as a hunter."

"Next time we meet, I'll put you first in line for my buffs. Once you taste my buff, you won't be able to escape it."

"What a kind heart. So different from those two sly ones over there."

Kang Arin took Jiyun's hand in hers.

***

With the bet finally over, we headed to the equipment shop inside Nest.

It was smaller than the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠state-run professional equipment shops, but it still had everything you could need.

The moment we stepped inside, dazzling pieces of gear greeted me.

"Hieeek…"

Armor, shields, swords, bows—even firearms—were neatly categorized and displayed along the walls.

So I was supposed to pick one of these.

But how? I didn't know anything about equipment.

"Take your time and look around first."

Following Kang Arin's suggestion, I headed straight for the archer section.

A ridiculously cool bow with a mix of gold and black hung on the wall.

"Whoa!"

And the price was 92 million won.

"Wow…"

I immediately took a step back.

No matter how generously they were offering to buy me equipment with no strings attached, I wasn't shameless enough to ask for something that expensive.

Besides, I already had a bow.

There was no point picking up something like that when I had the Bow of the Great Tree. It wouldn't feel right in my hands and would probably be hard to use.

I'd briefly borrowed Arin's bow earlier, but it was so heavy I couldn't even draw the string. Just lifting it was difficult.

So… maybe defensive gear or support equipment would be better?

There were quivers too, but those were for primitive archers who couldn't use magic arrows.

Combat uniforms? Leg guards?

Ugh. I really didn't want to pick something too expensive…

My head was starting to spin.

"If it's hard to choose, want me to recommend something?"

Kang Arin asked as she walked over.

"Yes, please! That would be great."

What did I know? It seemed smarter to just take whatever she recommended. She was an archer too, after all.

"Since you summon your bow with a skill, you won't need another one. Armor isn't that important for you either. Archers need to be fast, and you snipe from the very back. Plus, since you also have to heal, equipment that helps with mana recovery would be good."

"I see…"

"How about an accessory that speeds up mana recovery a bit?"

Kang Arin led me to a display filled with necklaces, rings, earrings, and similar items.

"Mana recovery… that sounds good, but I've never really felt like I was short on mana before."

"Hmm…"

Kang Arin went to the counter and spoke with the staff for a moment before returning with a device that looked like a card reader.

"This measures the user's mana capacity against an accessory's mana recovery rate and shows the efficiency. Can you put your finger on it?"

When I placed my index finger on it, the machine beeped.

After I removed my hand, she placed a necklace on it.

Beep. Beep. Beep—

Once the measurement finished, the result appeared on the screen.

"Huh?"

"Less than 1%… what does that mean?"

"It means that even after wearing this necklace for ten minutes, the amount of mana recovered is less than 1% of your total capacity. Why is it like this? Is the machine broken? This necklace should give at least 5%."

She called the staff over again and talked with them.

They said that less than 1% was basically unmeasurable.

My mana pool was so enormous that recovering it with a necklace was like trying to fill a dam with a bucket of water.

"This is pretty rare…"

When the staff member started looking at me suspiciously, I desperately pretended I had no idea what was going on.

Anyway, whether it was necklaces, earrings, or rings, none of them showed any efficiency, so we gave up on accessories.

"Your mana capacity must be insanely large. You're really something, Jiyun."

"I only just found out too… hehe."

I had discovered that my mana pool was absurdly huge.

Even then, Overflowing Vitality still ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠felt like it consumed a burdensome amount of mana. Just how much mana did that skill eat?

Now that we knew accessories were pointless, we moved on to support equipment.

"These items help with mana manipulation. They increase mana output and efficiency. Even though your mana pool is huge, your output doesn't seem that strong yet, so let's look at these."

There were lightweight gloves, arm guards, arm sleeves, and even consumable items like wrist wraps.

I picked up a glove that extended all the way to the wrist.

"Good choice. These gloves focus on greatly increasing mana reaction speed to reduce skill cast time. They're great for archers who need to launch rapid attacks, and they'll help healers too."

"I see…"

"......"

But this price was no joke either.

If I added the after-sales insurance package on top, how much would it even cost?

"M-maybe we should look at something else…"

"Is it because it's expensive? It's fine. I said I'd buy it for you. And Jiyun, you're someone who deserves this level of support."

"R-really?"

"If it feels too burdensome, just think of it as an investment. In return, just hang out with unnie sometimes later. Haha."

Kang Arin said with a bright smile.

…Seriously. For a second my nose stung and I almost cried.

"Th-thank you so much…"

I bowed deeply at a perfect ninety degrees.

Unregistered Awakened faced restrictions on owning weapons, but support equipment like gloves wasn't considered a weapon, so the rules were much more lenient.

The glove was beautifully packaged with a shiny certificate of authenticity and placed into a shopping bag.

We decided to head straight back to the training room to test it out.

Yoo Sumi, who had been fidgeting restlessly while watching the whole scene, finally spoke up.

"J-Jiyun. Should unnie buy you something too? Is there anything else you want?"

"Huh? Oh, no. I'm good for now…"

"Don't put weird pressure on the kid, Sumi. Why do you keep trying to make her feel indebted?"

Kang Arin neatly returned the exact words Sumi had said to her earlier.

Anyway, we went back up to the training room with the gloves.

I slipped the brand-new, sparkling glove onto my hand.

It had felt a little loose at first, but when I channeled mana into it, it shrank perfectly to fit my hand.

"Wow…"

"It looks good on you. Now try using your skills."

I summoned the Bow of the Great Tree, fired some magic arrows, and used Multishot and Rapid Fire several times.

It was clear that skill casting was faster and mana consumption felt slightly lower.

It was like I'd received a balance patch that reduced skill delay by 20% and increased attack speed by 10%.

"It's definitely faster! Mana control feels smoother and easier too."

"Glad it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠worked. You have to work hard as a hunter while using those gloves, okay?"

"Yes!!!"

After that, we stopped by a nearby café, had some drinks and snacks, then headed home.

I hugged the shopping bag tightly the whole way back.

Even after getting home, I spent a long time fiddling with the gloves—putting them on, taking them off, over and over.

These were my first hunter equipment.

They were so luxurious, cool, and lovable.

I wanted to wear them and jump straight into real combat.

Maybe I should ask Yoo Sumi and Kim Seohwa to go to a gate together?

Kang Arin said she was busy leading small strike teams for her guild, which was a shame.

Trolls, ogres, bring them all on.

If I rapid-fire headshots and neck shots, they'll stagger, right?

Then I'll dash in and finish them off with a Multishot shotgun blast.

"Kyaaahang. So freaking cool."

I was so excited I kept hopping in place.

Still riding that wave of happiness, I logged into the hunter gallery like usual.

I was going to brag about how my cuteness had scored me 5 million won worth of gear.

But then—

"Eeeeh?!"

All three of them? Coming to Korea?

The three S-rank female hunters who basically represented Europe. From France, Germany, and Italy respectively. They were always grouped together as a trio.

Individually, their combat power was in the mid-S-rank range, but the reason they represented Europe was simple.

Their visuals when the three of them appeared together were just too overpowered.

Claire was the tank, Lena was the ranged dealer, and Emma was the healer—their roles fit together perfectly. On top of that, all three were stunningly beautiful, so their combined IP popularity was the highest in the industry.

And Claire Moreau was my second favorite hunter…!!

"This… I have to go!!!"

Looking at the details, ticket sales started in five days. No matter what it took, I was going to get a ticket.

I needed to make more money too.

I was going to buy 5 million won worth of merch.

Time to hit the gates right away!!