That's Good

Lee Dohyeon stood before the Hunter Association Seoul Branch in a suit pressed so crisp it might have held its shape without him.

He had awakened at twenty and lived seven years as an awakened, yet this was the first time he had set foot in the Hunter Association since the day he registered.

"What am I even nervous for..."

A few days earlier, he had applied to the inaugural session of the newly opened Government-Funded Crafter Training Program. The summons to come in for an interview had followed almost at once, and that was why he was here.

"Hyung tells me to call before the interview, and then he doesn't pick up."

The grumble had barely left him when his phone gave a short buzz. Dohyeon checked the name on the screen, let out a breath of a laugh, and answered.

The assistant manager brought in to succeed him must have finally shown up for work. Park Byeongsu's voice was wrung dry.

It was a common enough type. Dohyeon wasn't surprised.

Standing blank among people hurrying every which way felt strangely off.

Byeongsu's warmth had embarrassed him, so Dohyeon grumbled for no good reason. Byeongsu, if anything, seemed glad to hear it.

Byeongsu had come out of the same orphanage, one of the few older boys who had stepped into the world ahead of Dohyeon. It was his introduction that had gotten Dohyeon through the door at Cheongeun Workshop. He had only meant to give the kid a little interview practice, and when Dohyeon actually got hired, Byeongsu spent a long while unable to take a drink without singing his praises.

For five years Dohyeon had run without a break, and he had hung the title of assistant manager on himself while he was still young. The sudden resignation had left him feeling betrayed, hands and feet shaking, though at the company he thought he had played it calm enough. He simply hadn't fooled Byeongsu's eyes.

The tightness that had been sitting in his chest before the interview eased, just a little.

"Lee Dohyeon, you may come in."

"Yes."

Three interviewers were seated in the conference room the staff member showed him into. Dohyeon bowed and took his chair, and the interviewer in the center looked down at the file.

"Five years at Cheongeun Workshop. Quite young for a record like that."

"I joined at twenty-two, right after I was discharged."

"Assistant manager on the enchanting team, and you resigned not long ago."

The corner of the interviewer's mouth lifted, as if the career pleased them.

The interviewer to the side, turning pages, seemed to have caught an interest and put a question to him.

"Enchanting rank, C-rank... unique skill, Keen Eye."

"Do you have any separate experience making equipment?"

"No."

"Even so, you worked on-site. The equipment itself should be familiar?"

"I was on the floor right up until I resigned."

The second interviewer nodded before long.

Dohyeon had answered without thinking much of it, but the three of them were warmer than he had expected. Unlike a hiring interview bent on digging up some disqualifying flaw, they seemed to be confirming something.

"Someone like you, Mr. Lee—we have high hopes as well."

"...For me?"

The third interviewer, rather than asking anything, began to explain.

"More precisely, our hopes are high for a student worth the teaching. Someone like you."

At Dohyeon's puzzled look, the interviewer smiled, kind and unhurried.

"An enchanter with five years on the floor, if he also learns to make the equipment—the synergy would be considerable."

"Aren't you expecting rather a lot before I've even started learning?"

"Haha. Isn't education the work of drawing out a person's potential?"

It was pleasant to hear, which only made it more suspicious.

Are they laying it on because they're afraid I won't take the course? I did figure there wouldn't be many applicants.

A few people on Hunternet had been tempted after seeing the curriculum, but more of them had clicked their tongues, remembering the Twin Blades Incident. If Dohyeon himself had still been doing fine at his old job, he wouldn't have given the thing a second glance.

"What plans do you have after you complete the course?"

"...I'm thinking of opening a small workshop."

He had nearly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tossed off a vague answer, then thought a moment and told the truth.

"Oh—you're considering starting a business?"

At his words, the light in all three pairs of eyes changed.

"What form do you have in mind? Depending on the case, there may be grant funding."

"I mean to build on what I did at my last workplace. If I can both make equipment and enchant it, I should be able to sell enchanted gear at a fair price."

"Well, now. Someone headed into business really is a different sort. You've thought this through."

"Cheongeun Workshop was a company that grew by handling both equipment production and enchanting in-house. If you have that know-how, I expect you'll go far."

The interviewers poured out their approval. The one in the center checked something on the documents and nodded.

What exactly is so good about it...

After the talk of starting a workshop, a few more perfunctory questions followed.

That was all.

"Finally—do you have any questions?"

"When will the results be announced?"

The three interviewers looked at one another and traded a glance. Then the one in the center smiled and spoke.

"I don't believe you'll need to wait on anything separately, Mr. Lee."

"Pardon?"

"We can't give a firm answer before the official announcement, but you're safe taking this positively."

"...Is that so?"

"Yes. That is—hmm..."

The interviewer clearly had more to say, but took a moment choosing the words and did not answer at once.

"There aren't as many people as you might think who arrive with a concrete plan to enter the field. You have experience on the floor, and your plans after completion are clear, so our view of you is a positive one."

All Dohyeon had meant to do was follow Byeongsu and someday hear someone call him boss. To the interviewers, it had apparently looked rather good.

"Thank you."

"There will be a brief orientation in a few days. We'll send the details by text, and we'll see you there."

At that, Dohyeon rose, bowed, and stepped out of the conference room.

The latch clicked. The door shut.

Silence held the conference room for a moment. The interviewer in the center looked down at Dohyeon's application once more.

"With an applicant like this, we hardly need to worry about the budget for the second session, do we?"

One interviewer spoke as if the résumé were a reassurance, and another stretched, long and slow.

"Haaah—we've got about ten minutes until the next interview, haven't we? Let's rest a moment. But doesn't this take far too much work for the budget they set?"

"It can't be helped. Securing hunters of A-rank or higher in the relevant trades as instructors, certifying the practical facilities, linking graduates to jobs and startups... This isn't the old sort of project, where you book a classroom, gather bodies, and call it finished."

After the government-funded dual-swordsmanship course had failed in spectacular fashion five years ago—the Twin Blades Incident—the Association's standards for reviewing vocational programs had been sharply tightened.

"Haah, I'm exhausted just hearing it. There used to be nothing easier than a government-funded course if you wanted to look busy and take the credit. For it to have become this demanding..."

Under the public's cold eye and a strict review, the Association had succeeded, after five years, in opening a new course.

"It took far too long to place hunters of A-rank or above in the relevant trades as instructors. If not for that single provision, we would have opened the course last year."

At those words, another interviewer drew out a document with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a photograph of a stubborn-looking old man pasted to it.

"We were saved this time because a retired workshop master happened to be available. Craftsmen usually stay buried in their workshops, swinging a hammer, even after they retire. We were lucky."

"The climate helped as well. It mattered a great deal that the assembly members saw China's example and chose to back us, just in case."

With the course confirmed and the interviews nearing their end, the interviewers looked lighter, as if a weight had come off their shoulders.

"It would be nice if we could give Trainee Lee Dohyeon a little extra attention."

"The content of the lectures is at the instructor's discretion, so there isn't much we can do. I'll try raising it, carefully, but that's all."

Picturing the cranky old man who would be coming in to teach, the interviewer waved a hand lightly, as if to say not to expect much.

"...Either way—employment rate or startups—something real has to come out of this first cohort, or there won't be a next one. Let's be careful about who we select."

As the time for the next interview drew near, the interviewers gathered themselves again and began to prepare.