Aptitude Reassessment

I'd thrown my clothes on in a hurry when she told me to come outside, at least.

"…How exactly is she planning to find me?"

She hadn't said she was coming to pick me up in so many words, but "come outside" amounted to the same thing, didn't it? I'd never even given Slimming my home address.

I stepped out of the apartment building reluctantly—and there she was.

"Hi."

Slimming had pulled up in a red-painted sports car to meet me.

"Are you a stalker or something…? How did you even know where I live?!"

"Heh-heh. That's a secret. And why are you wearing a mask?"

She was right—I had the Night Mask on.

"I'm kind of famous, you know."

"That mask doesn't look famous at all."

"Ah."

Fair point. I was absurdly famous—as a retired national athlete, and now as a Hunter. My celebrity punched a hole straight through the sky.

"Just get in. I don't have time. You've got a Tower run to do too, don't you?"

Today marked one week since I'd cleared the first floor. That meant I could finally attempt the second. But… honestly, I wasn't sure about anything. If they revoked my license today, I'd have to climb the Tower illegally. My only real option was to beg them not to take it.

"Excuse me."

It was my first time riding in a sports car, and it should have felt fantastic—except the person sitting next to me wasn't someone I was particularly close with, and she'd just casually dropped a nuclear-grade bombshell. The car barely registered.

Slimming revved the engine like she was showing off, the exhaust barking loud and proud, and was about to hit the gas when—

"Do Jinwoo! Where do you think you're going?!"

From far down the street, Eun Hayoon came sprinting straight toward us. I had no idea why she was even here. The distance between us closed in seconds—her form flawless, her breathing perfect. At that point, she should have been a track athlete, not a shooter.

Her eyes flicked over me, then locked onto Slimming in the driver's seat. The look she gave her was pure contempt.

"Where are you two ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠going?"

"Hunter Association. They want me for a retest."

"I'm coming too."

Slimming pointed at the seats and flashed Hayoon a smug little smile.

"Oh no, what a shame~ It's a two-seater. Nowhere for you to sit~"

"I'll just sit on Jinwoo's lap."

"Sadly, that would be a traffic violation~ Take the bus, sweetie!"

"Wait—!"

Before Hayoon could finish, the red sports car peeled out. Watching her shrink into the distance, I felt a full-body tremor run through me.

"Is… is that going to be okay?"

"Hm? Is what?"

"Eun Hayoon…!"

"You're not even dating. It's fine."

That… was technically true. But by that logic, Slimming and I weren't dating either, were we?

The sports car that had been roaring its exhaust arrived at the Hunter Association in no time. It was ridiculously fast. If I'd had a driver's license, I would have bought one on the spot.

"Well? Killer, right?"

Slimming leaned against the wheel, grinning.

"Yeah… it's fast. I'll give it that."

"That's it? Sigh… whatever. Let's get out."

Walking in side by side with Slimming, we found a whole crowd of people waiting. Every last one of them was almost certainly a Hunter—and every last pair of eyes locked onto us at once. A popular streamer and a rookie shattering Tower records. The lobby erupted.

Part of it was that people recognized me even with the mask on.

If I take this mask off, I'm genuinely screwed…!

A rumor had already circulated once equating the Eastern Gunslinger with Olympic gold medalist Do Jinwoo. Right now, I needed my identity buried. My name, birthday, and entire family were already plastered all over Blackwiki. If people confirmed that I was Do Jinwoo… nothing good would come of it.

"Eastern Gunslinger, sir! This way, please."

"Ah—yes."

I followed Slimming, but a question kept nagging at me. All those Hunters in the lobby were here for retests too, so why were we being waved through first?

I finally couldn't hold it in.

"Slimming, why are we the only ones going in first?"

"Curious?"

"If someone isn't curious about that, they're not a person. They're a robot with no feelings."

"A very important someone happens to be a fan of mine. They said we could go first."

Of course. Famous people got perks for even the smallest things. I was just starting to think streamers really were the hope of the future when—

"We'll conduct the retest here."

The Second Gate was waiting—the same checkpoint every Hunter had passed through once before.

"Would you like to go first, Eastern Gunslinger?"

"…No. Slimming can go first."

"How gentlemanly~"

Gentlemanly, my ass. I just didn't want anyone finding out I was E-rank.

Slimming stepped onto the testing platform ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with a sly little fox's smile. Same procedure as last time. The moment she set her hand on the black orb, her stats filled a massive screen.

Slimming's mana sat at a full 250. Cross 300 and you were S-rank territory—meaning the gap between her and an S-rank Hunter wasn't all that wide.

She hopped lightly down, and the staff member who'd run the test approached.

"Alright, you're all set. You're free to go."

"Oh, I'll stick around until I see my companion's stats. That's okay, right?"

"Well… I don't see why not."

"Thank you~"

Listening to the two of them, my soul left my body entirely.

Excuse me? Does the actual person involved get a say?

While I stood there looking completely blank, the Association staffer who'd tested Slimming walked over.

"Mr. Do Jinwoo, please step onto the platform."

Here it came. I glanced sideways—Slimming was watching with pure anticipation written all over her face. There was no way out of this now. I climbed onto the testing platform with all the enthusiasm of a man walking to the gallows.

I set my hand on the black orb the same way she had, and the feeling that hit me was exactly like getting caught with a report card you never wanted your mother to see. My status window filled the giant screen in full, merciless detail.

This was worse than having a catastrophic report card posted for everyone to see. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Wearing the Night Mask had bumped my Agility and Mana a little, but the rank that actually mattered hadn't budged. Even if it had, I'd only be D-rank—still grounds for license confiscation. Meaningless either way.

Even I have a limit to how much shame I can take…!

I hung my head in despair—and then I noticed the staffer's voice was trembling in a way it hadn't before.

"E-rank…? You're saying he's E-rank?"

How much did this guy hate the weak for his voice to shake like that? I felt like a monkey in a zoo. To be fair, it was probably fascinating. I was the only E-rank around. He'd likely never seen one in his life.

I let out a sigh and stuck out my lower lip.

"Yes… so if we could stop highlighting that, I'd appreciate it."

"Uh…? This isn't right…?"

"What isn't right?"

"Could you wait just a moment?"

Unable to hide his panic, the staffer hurriedly made a phone call, then vanished somewhere entirely. The testing room fell dead silent in an instant. In that endless quiet, Slimming grinned from ear to ear.

"Aww, what? So you really were E-rank~? And you still one-shot a C-rank monster?"

"Haha…"

"Be honest. Even I can't one-shot a C-rank. What's your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠secret?"

Slimming was the one who'd figured out on her own that I was a Hunter who grew stronger. With someone like that, I could probably tell the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠truth.

"Avid-exclusive skills."

"What kind of skills?"

"Roughly an aim-assist skill, and one that multiplies my output by ten relative to my mana."

"…Huh?"

For a split second, Slimming's voice cracked completely out of pitch. Fair enough. Re-awakenings happened every now and then—very rarely—but a Hunter who grew steadily stronger the way I did was unheard of. An Avid was just a device that let you discharge the mana built up in your body. Growing stronger through one was news to everyone. And even with my low mana, a tenfold multiplier meant I effectively already met S-rank standards.

"Jinwoo, you're scarier than I imagined…. And that mask—your stats go up at night, right? What's your mana at night?"

"Around 150, give or take."

"You're insane."

While Slimming and I were talking, the staffer who'd left earlier came rushing back, dripping with sweat.

"Mr. Do Jinwoo, Ms. Han Chaewon. Please follow me."

That was all he said after bolting back in—follow me. I looked over at Slimming.

"What do you want to do?"

"Obviously we go, don't we?"

Yeah. We probably did. We weren't about to walk in there and get our licenses confiscated… right?

I nodded toward the staffer.

"Lead the way."

We followed him to the lobby elevators and rode up. Waiting for the elevator, I already had a pretty solid gut feeling that something serious was about to happen. Hunters were normally only allowed on the first floor. Everything above that was Association offices—and this building had a hundred floors. At the top of them—

"We've been waiting for you, Mr. Do Jinwoo."

The Chairman of the Korean Hunter Association was waiting for me.