Chapter 27
I let out a soft hum.
"Just a moment, please. I'm getting on in years, so my eyes aren't what they used to be."
The Association President fished out the glasses hanging from his breast pocket and put them on, only to tilt his head again with a puzzled frown.
"This is..."
"It's the real me," I said.
"You saw my awakening class was Elf, right? I used to look like this, but after I awakened, I changed into what you see now."
For good measure, I pulled off my hoodie.
"Hmm... I've never heard of anything like this before. But I suppose such things can happen. How remarkable."
The President kept glancing back and forth between me and the photo on my phone's mobile ID.
"Even seeing it with my own eyes, it's hard to believe. No wonder you seemed more mature than you looked. Alright then, what would you like me to do for you?"
"Please remake my identity."
Standing before the Hunter Association President, I spoke with complete confidence.
"After I awakened looking like this, my whole life changed. I went from someone with zero abilities to awakening as a Unique class. I gained power I never even dreamed of before, and now I'm making an absolute fortune."
"Go on."
"Somehow I ended up getting really close with Sumi-noona, and I've started building connections with other hunters too. None of them, including Sumi-noona, know about my past. They just see me as a talented young girl who awakened. But if things stay like this, sooner or later my old life is going to come out."
I started talking without even pausing for breath.
"The old me is gone, but I like who I am now so much more. As a person, I've gained looks that I'm not ashamed of and a healthy body. As a hunter, I'm a Unique class with talent no one else can touch. Awakening completely opened up a brand-new path in my life. I want to walk that path now. I want to live this new life together with Sumi-noona and the friends I've made."
Once I started talking, the words just kept pouring out endlessly.
I wasn't usually this articulate. Maybe these were feelings I'd been bottling up inside ever since I awakened.
The desire to live a new life.
"...I see."
The President slowly nodded, his voice low.
"Um, is that... difficult?"
I started to feel a little anxious. No matter how powerful the President was, arbitrarily messing with someone's identity couldn't be easy...
"No. It's not difficult. It'll be complicated, but it's within my power. Very well. I'll take care of it."
"Th-thank you!"
I jumped up from my seat and bowed deeply.
"Oh, no need for that. An adult should at least grant a young person's small wish. Especially when that young person is a talented hunter. There's nothing I wouldn't do. Let's get right down to discussing the details."
Right there, I began going over everything with the President.
How exactly we would change my identity.
We'd keep the same name but alter the hanja characters that made it up.
And for my age...
"Fifteen should work. Korean age, please."
"Understood. What about your birthday?"
We changed the month and day too. It wasn't like anyone had ever celebrated it or cared about it before anyway.
From now on I'd be living with a new identity and a new birthday.
"Ah, I should have asked this first. Your parents...?"
"I don't have any. I grew up in an orphanage."
"I see. We'll need to change your address as well. Once your identity changes, there will be issues with your current residence contract. Are you sure you don't want to move into a much larger apartment?"
"No. I want to buy my own place with my own money. Could you help me find a studio—no, a two-room apartment near Sumi-noona's place? I'll pay for it myself."
"Very well. And from now on, the Hunter Association will act as your legal representative for any legal matters. It's fairly common for young awakened without parents to entrust legal representation to the Association."
"Yes. Please do that."
"Then there's your bank accounts, phone registration... There will be quite a few things to take care of."
After going over all those little details...
"That should about cover it. The changes will begin immediately once today passes. No regrets?"
"None at all."
I nodded firmly.
"Then I'll be the only one who knows about this. How would you like me to treat you? We'll be seeing quite a bit of each other from now on. Do you want me to continue treating you exactly as the young girl you appear to be?"
"Huh? What do you..."
"When you get old, people treat you like an old man. When you're young, they treat you like a child. Would you prefer I forget about your past as well?"
I nodded again.
"Yes. Please do that."
"Then I'll be counting on you, Miss Jiyun."
The President extended one of his massive hands that looked like a pot lid.
In comparison, my hand was barely a third the size.
The two of us shared a brief handshake.
"Once your new identity is ready, what do you plan to do? Will you register as a hunter officially?"
"Of course!"
The President smiled and nodded.
"Good. Once the identity adjustment is complete, I'll call you back in. We'll do a proper ability assessment too."
"Mwahaha. When you see what I can do, you're gonna be shocked."
"I'm looking forward to it! Haha."
With that, my meeting with Association President Yoo Taejin came to an end and I left his office.
There was a conference room a short distance away, and Yoo Sumi was sitting in one of the chairs, nodding off.
She was an awakened with sharp senses, yet somehow she slept like a log. Even when I walked right up to her, she kept dozing.
I let out a little laugh, then plopped straight down onto her lap.
"Mmph?"
Yoo Sumi woke up with a weird little groan.
"What are you doing, noona?"
"Ugh. I was sleepy so I took a quick nap. What are you doing?"
"Waking you up, obviously."
Yoo Sumi immediately wrapped her arms around me from behind and squeezed tight.
"This little brat dares to seduce me?"
"Eeeeek—!!!"
She started mercilessly tickling my sides.
No matter how much I flailed, there was no escaping her.
After all, she was a close-combat physical awakener.
I got tickled until I could barely breathe.
"Ughhh..."
"Who told you to seduce me?"
"That wasn't seduction..."
"So how did it go with the President? What did you talk about?"
"I just straight-up told him I'm a Unique class. He said if I wanted, he'd give me a house, a computer, a phone, gear, everything. Jealous, right?"
"Wait, seriously?"
"But I turned it all down. I want to earn that stuff myself."
"Yeah. That's the right call. If someone else hands you everything for free, you lose all sense of purpose and motivation."
"Still, if there's anything you want, just tell me. I'll pass it straight to the President for you."
"This little brat...!!"
I dodged left and right as Yoo Sumi tried to tickle me again.
She might have had the strength advantage, but my agility had already caught up to hers.
In the end she gave up trying to catch me.
We took the elevator back down to the parking lot.
"And I've decided to officially register as a hunter now. I'll come back later for a proper measurement."
"Whoa, for real? What rank do you think you'll get? You think it'll be B-rank?"
"Come on, noona. I'm a Unique class. Why would I only get B-rank?"
"When did Jiyun suddenly get so smug? Did you catch the Kim Seohwa virus from hanging out with her?"
"I think I'll get exactly A-rank."
"A-rank on your first measurement? No way. No matter how much talent you have, it's really hard to break past B-rank on your first test. They don't hand out high ranks easily the first time, even if you have the ability. Don't get cocky."
"Wanna bet? Whether I break past B-rank or not?"
"If you get past B-rank, I'll go on the gallery and post fifty different praises for the Healer Royalty cutie, plus hand out fifty vouchers."
"You promise?"
"But if you don't, you have to stay at my place for two days, eat and sleep there, and keep me company."
"Eww..."
"Weren't you so confident?"
"F-fine, whatever."
Could I actually break past B-rank?
I got a little nervous and quickly looked it up.
What Yoo Sumi said was mostly true.
No matter how outstanding your talent was, the Management Bureau rarely gave anything above B-rank on a first measurement.
It was partly to keep people from getting arrogant, but also because even if you had A-rank potential, you usually couldn't show everything you were capable of due to lack of experience.
Of course there were exceptions. Hunter Han Jiyeon, currently S-rank and the guild master of the Defenders, had received A-rank on her first measurement. A few other active A+ rank hunters had also gotten B+ or A-rank on their first tests.
...What should I do?
When you thought about it, aside from my buff skills, I didn't really have any explosively impressive abilities, did I?
Well, I did have Hawk. I could do ranged damage with a bow too. And my barrier was ridiculously strong.
After digging a little deeper, I found that if you had a wide variety of skills and versatile abilities, you could apply in multiple categories at once to raise your score.
For example, a Paladin class could both tank and provide some healing, so they could get measured in both tanking and supporting categories.
That meant I could apply in three fields: ranged attack, supporting, and summoning...!!
If they acknowledged this versatility and growth potential, A-rank wasn't impossible.
No, I had to get it.
If I had to stay at Yoo Sumi's house for three whole days, my chastity might be in danger...
A little while later the elevator reached the parking lot.
As we got off and headed for the car...
"Oh right, Jiyun needs her hood."
Yoo Sumi reached over and pulled my hood up for me.
But I shook my head and took it off again.
"I'm not wearing the hood anymore. I'm going to officially debut as a hunter anyway. As of today, I've been reborn. I'm going to show myself proudly."
"Whoa."
"If I didn't have confidence in my looks, the whole world would have to cover their faces..."
"Wow..."
After that, Yoo Sumi and I stopped by a nearby café, scarfed down some sweet stuff, and headed home.
I flopped onto the bed, stared blankly at the ceiling for a while, then opened the gallery on my phone.
The title might raise some questions.
"What do you mean~? Haven't you been doing genius-level, super capable things this whole time~?"
"Wait?!? So you weren't actually a cute girl this whole time?!"
That kind of thing.
Of course I'm still an insanely cute middle-school-aged girl.
But somehow...
Today's me feels a little different, you know?
Like... I've finally become my true self?
Ah, I don't know.
Anyway, that's how it is.
"Phew."
Another day, another post from me that turned the hunters' brains into slushies. But how could I not enjoy it?
Block duration: 3 hours / Reason: Go die
"Aaaagh!!!!"
What the hell did I even do to get blocked?
Want me to show you my 108th level clone technique or something?
"No. I have to endure."
I wasn't some pathetic gallery troll. I was going to become the nation's officially recognized Unique-class Healer Royalty.
Time to go work out like a proper person.
After working out hard, taking Hawk for a walk in the mountains, and coming back home, it was already around 5 PM.
I played some games, ate dinner when the time came, then played some more before taking a little break to look at my flowers.
Lately I'd picked up a new hobby.
It was growing the flowers I'd brought back to life with healing on the day I first awakened.
I watered them every now and then, and they'd grown incredibly big, multiplied like crazy, and become stunningly beautiful.
They brightened up my dreary studio apartment enough to make it feel almost cheerful.
The flowers had become so vibrant it was hard to believe they were Earth plants. At this rate I might end up becoming a named user on the plant gallery.
That sense of responsibility, along with genuine affection, had grown in me.
"Hehe. Grow up nice and strong, okay?"
I poured water over the flowers, then started getting ready for bed.
Good night.