The Association President Wants a Date
Kang Yujin — the youngest S-rank Hunter in the history of the Republic of Korea.
Unlike the vast majority of Hunters, she was a natural awakener. Word had it she'd received her first S-rank evaluation back in middle school.
And that person was waiting for me?
"Don't just stand there staring. Have a seat."
"Ah — yes…"
I sat obediently where the Association President indicated, and she settled into the seat across from me. Sliming, parked beside me, was just a bonus.
Honestly, I was more nervous than I'd been facing the Shooting Association's president. I couldn't say why. The shooting president looked the more rough-and-tumble of the two — but something about Kang Yujin threw off an aura I couldn't quite put my finger on.
My mouth was going dry when she spoke again.
"I'm not a bad person, so there's no need to be so tense. Suyeon, would you bring us some coffee? Three cups."
"Yes, Madam President."
The Association staffer who'd escorted Sliming and me closed the door on her way out.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Do Jinwoo. My name is Kang Yujin."
The Hunter Association President offered her greeting along with a handshake.
"Hello… I'm Do Jinwoo."
"To think I'd get to meet you in person. I've actually been a fan for a long time. When you announced your retirement, my heart nearly stopped."
"I'm not an athlete anymore — I'm a Hunter. Though it looks like I'm about to have my license revoked."
License revoked. Meaning no more climbing the Tower.
Whether she already knew my rank or not, the Association President gave a quiet little laugh, her shoulders shaking.
"That's actually what I called you here to discuss."
I knew I could count on you, Association President…!
When she'd said she was a fan, I'd assumed she just wanted an autograph. I let out a breath of relief and looked at her.
"So my license is safe, right? It is, right?"
"Of course. You're ranked number one on Floor One. Even I couldn't strip a license over something like that."
Maybe it was because we weren't far apart in age, but talking with the Association President felt surprisingly easy.
Just as that thought crossed my mind—
"However…"
"However?"
She smiled at me, slow and sly.
"I need you to accept the conditions I'm about to offer. Do that, and I'll make sure your license is protected — specially. I'll even reclassify everything related to you as classified information and give you treatment befitting an S-rank."
The Hunter Association President was asking me to meet her terms.
Rewards tempting enough that you didn't even need to know the conditions. Just keeping the license would have been more than enough — and on top of that, converting my personal information to classified status and granting me S-rank treatment. Even people who didn't care about Hunters would have jumped at an offer like that.
"What are the conditions?"
"Heh. I had a feeling you'd ask."
She adjusted her posture and continued.
"First — I want you to sign the merch I own."
"That's easy enough. What else?"
"Fight for me."
"Fight who? Sliming?"
"No."
She handed me a monster profile.
"The name is… Arachne?"
"What?! Arachne?"
Sliming clearly knew what an Arachne was.
"Sliming, what's an Arachne that you're freaking out like that?"
"…You don't know what an Arachne is?"
"I don't."
"What do you even do with your life?"
"I watch your streams."
"Pass."
Sliming cleared her throat and launched into an explanation.
"An Arachne is one of the S-rank monsters. It's a spider-type. Those sticky webs of theirs… ugh, just thinking about it gives me goosebumps!"
Right. Got it. So the Association President wanted me to take one down.
"Well? You'll do it, won't you? Knowing you, Jinwoo, I'm sure you will~"
"Of course I'll do it. Are there any other conditions?"
Having come this far, I doubted there were more — but I asked for form's sake. In most stories, conditions came in threes.
At my question, the Association President seemed to hesitate for a moment.
…Maybe I shouldn't have asked.
Her body language screamed, I hadn't thought of anything else, but if you're going to offer…
Apparently landing on a third condition, she clapped her hands with a bright little "Ah!"
"Once you've completed the first two conditions, treat me to a meal."
"…Excuse me?"
"What kind of condition is that?! You're just trying to satisfy a personal crush!"
At Sliming's protest, the Association President only smiled with a knowing glint.
"I named it as a condition, so it's a condition. You'll do it for me, won't you, Jinwoo?"
"Well… I already said I would…"
"I can't wait. A meal from you, Jinwoo."
Home cooking is the best, though…
The place the Association President led us to was somewhere I'd been before.
The E-rank exclusive examination room. I was almost glad to see it — and my whole body broke out in goosebumps at the same time.
"You've been here once before, haven't you, Jinwoo?"
"Yes… A place where some unpleasant memories are buried."
"Actually, this isn't an E-rank exclusive examination room."
"Huh?"
I was less shocked by the room itself and more by the fact that a beautiful noona had lied to me.
"Heh. You look like you're thinking hard. This is a training room. It doubles as an E-rank examination facility."
"Ah… I see."
No sooner had she finished speaking than the training room door sealed shut.
"Watching on a monitor would be boring, so I'll observe from behind you. I'm just a delicate young lady, so you'll have to protect me properly, all right?"
"…Madam President, you're an S-rank."
"What are you talking about, Sliming? Right now, I'm a delicate young lady."
While Sliming and the Association President bickered back and forth, a spider monster forged from holograms took shape before us.
Chiaeek…
The Arachne made a sound every bit as unpleasant as its appearance.
Eliminate the S-rank monster, Arachne.
The moment the speakers announced the Arachne's extermination order, the Association President was already pressed right up against my back.
"Kyaa~ I'm so scared, Jinwoo. Hurry and save me!"
Not a shred of actual desperation in her voice. Some people might have found it cute. Looking at her, I just sighed. She felt like a little sister who never listened.
I leveled my Avid at the Arachne's head.
Holding that stance, I felt it — mana sweeping through every corner of my body. Once I'd finished concentrating every last drop of mana into a single point—
"Think I can end it in one shot again?"
My current mana was fifty. No idea if it'd be enough.
Bang!
You never know until you try, right?
I fired a bullet packed with every scrap of mana I had. The recoil was clearly weaker than last time — but even so, it still defied imagination. Good thing the Association President was holding onto me. Without her grip, I definitely would have gone flying again.
The shot struck the Arachne dead center in the head. Before it could even scream, its head was completely gone. More precisely — its head and part of its torso.
A-Arachne eliminated. Clear time… unmeasurable.
While everyone else was still reeling—
"That's our Jinwoo!"
I turned around to find the Association President even closer than before.
"Haha… I'm a little wiped out, so would it be all right if I rested for a bit?"
The Mana Return skill apparently didn't work on holograms. My legs were on the verge of giving out; I was barely staying upright as it was.
Then the Association President suddenly spread both arms wide.
"Would you like to rest in my arms before you go?"
"I'll pass. The floor is fine."
I brushed off her offer lightly and plopped down on the ground.
The thrill is nice, but dumping all my mana still wrecks me.
I was zoning out when the Association President spoke up.
"As promised, I'll protect your license. And I'll be looking forward to that meal?"
"Haha… yeah."
"Stream a little more often, too. You always leave me waiting so desperately."
She had a point. At most I streamed three times a week — usually just once. To be fair, my content was Tower clearances, so there was a hard limit. You could only climb the Tower once a week.
"I'll think about it."
"Don't just think about it — do it! Promise."
"Yeah. Promise."
I could feel a burning stare from the side, but it definitely wasn't aimed at me. That's what I told myself as I hooked my pinky around the Association President's.
Meanwhile, Eun Hayoon had managed to reach the Hunter Association.
"Where the hell is Do Jinwoo…"
Of course, she hadn't come looking for him for no reason. Today was the day of her Hunter aptitude test.
I was going to drag him along with me…
But some strange woman had snatched him away first.
"Unforgivable. That fox-faced witch!"
She bit down the urge to grab someone by the hair then and there, and went to find an Association staffer.
"I'm here for my aptitude test today."
"Could I have your name, please?"
"Eun Hayoon."
The staffer flipped through the day's examinee list and found her name soon enough.
"Yes, confirmed. Right this way."
Eun Hayoon followed the staffer into the First Mental Image Check Room — a space containing nothing but a single chair. She flinched for a second, then sat down without a word.
A moment later, another staffer entered, dark circles heavy under their eyes.
"Hold this orb and close your eyes."
"Okay."
Darkness without a single pinprick of light. Within that darkness, Eun Hayoon found a glowing sphere slightly larger than her hand.
"There's something here."
"That is your mental image, Miss Eun Hayoon. Reach your hand into the sphere. If you grab something, hold onto it and open your eyes."
She seized it.
Something heavy and solid filled her grip. When Eun Hayoon opened her eyes, she was holding a rifle that looked weighty at a glance.
"You've passed the first aptitude test. Follow me."
The second gate. Jinwoo had mentioned this was where they measured your actual stats.
"Place your hand on the black orb."
She did as instructed — and a cacophony of noise erupted as the staffer completely lost it.
"O-oh…! Holy—!"
"…Excuse me? Is something wrong?"
"N-no, nothing's wrong! P-please check your status window…!"
Where the staffer was pointing, a status window hung in the air.
"S-rank…?"
In that moment, South Korea's tenth S-rank was born.