Choi Jian (1)
Choi Jian had been running toward the Association for her Awakened rank evaluation when she collided with a man.
Ugh, I keep thinking about what that guy said...
Take the necklace off, he'd told her — it wasn't compatible with her. On any other day she might have shrugged it off and gone on her way, but hearing those words today of all days, she couldn't get them out of her head. It felt as though if she didn't remove the necklace, she was bound to walk out of the evaluation with a terrible result.
Perhaps colliding with him today had been fate. How else could he have taken one look and known the necklace was an Artifact?
Thinking about it that way, throwing the necklace off was clearly the right thing to do. And yet—
"No, but..."
It was an Artifact that boosted her mana stat — an incredibly rare one at that. And they didn't even prohibit wearing Artifacts during rank evaluations. Utilizing Artifacts was part of a hunter's ability, after all.
Jian pulled a miserable face, at a complete loss for what to do.
"Ugh, if I take this off my attacks are going to get so much weaker. I don't have much mana as it is. I had such a hard time getting this..."
And it wasn't just in her head — Jian's mana really was on the low side. High for an F-Rank, but not quite enough to make E-Rank a sure thing. That was why she hesitated to take the necklace off. If she did, she might get judged F-Rank all over again.
"Ugh, what do I do."
"Awakened number 394!"
"Hah— yes!"
Her number was called. Jian jumped up in surprise and raised her hand.
"Please head inside. We'll start the rank measurement."
"Yes, yes!"
Wavering until the very last second, Jian ultimately walked into the evaluation room with the necklace still on.
"So your goal is promotion to E-Rank! Just attack the target you see in front of you. Do it like you always do — don't be too nervous."
"Yes!"
"Whenever you're ready, fire away~"
Jian nodded at the official's kind words, drew one long breath, and then—
"...Hhhup!"
She stretched a hand into the air and began forming ice crystals.
Ice Crystal
S-stay calm. If I just do it like always, I'll be fine.
An ice crystal imbued with her desperate will went flying toward the target.
First Attempt
F-Rank
"Alright, your first measurement result is F-Rank. You still have one more attempt, so why don't you take a deep breath and try again?"
"Ah, yes, yes...!"
Following that advice, she took a breath and was about to form another ice crystal when—
"...W-wait, just a moment!"
Just in case. Really, just in case — because maybe, just maybe, what that man had told her was actually right.
"Ugh..."
...This is fine, right? Jian squeezed her eyes shut and carefully unclasped the necklace.
"Um, could you hold onto this for a moment?"
"Ah, of course. No problem at all."
The official took the necklace and stepped back. Jian drew another deep breath.
Ice crystals formed in her hands once more.
"...Huh?"
The change was impossible to miss. Even though she'd done everything exactly as she always did, the ice crystals seemed ever so slightly larger.
C-could it actually be...?!
No — she couldn't conclude anything from this alone. Jian swallowed hard, then launched the ice crystals at the target.
Ice Crystal
Output: Increased
A sound that seemed a little bigger than before. At the same time, the official's voice reached her, tinged with admiration.
"Oh..."
He glanced at the machine beside him, then turned to Jian with a smile.
"Congratulations. We'll issue you an E-Rank Awakened license, so please wait a moment."
"R-really?!"
"Yes."
"I-I did it...!"
Jian, who had been watching him with a face taut with anxiety, finally broke into a radiant smile and bowed her head.
"Th-thank you!"
"You're the one who did well. Congratulations. Here, I've updated your license."
"Y-yes!"
"We look forward to seeing more from you. And here's the Artifact you left with me earlier."
"Ah, thank you...!"
Taking the necklace, Jian stared down at it for a long moment.
...Was it really because of this?
Incompatible with the Artifact. Did that mean the Artifact had actually been getting in her way?
Whatever the case, she had a feeling she needed to see him again.
"When I find him, I have to thank him...!"
Leaving the Management Bureau, she clenched her fist and made a silent vow. Then she remembered she'd given him her number, and pulled out her phone with a flicker of hope that he might have gotten in touch.
"......"
Of course, there was no message that looked like it had come from him. Instead, the only things waiting for her were a pile of texts from her mother.
Looking at them, Jian's expression darkened for a moment.
"...Ah. Someone's talking about me."
My ears had been itching for a while now.
"Good work. Anything happen today?"
"Nothing much. Oh — I bumped into someone on my way in and took a spill."
"Yeah? Hospital?"
"I don't think I need to bother."
"Alright, good work. Head on home."
After a perfunctory handover I stepped outside to find it was already midnight.
"Still no contact."
At this rate, I was probably being written off as a scammer, or something in that neighborhood.
"Maybe I should grab a beer on the way home..."
I didn't drink often, but today I found myself wanting a cold can of beer. I didn't feel like walking back into the convenience store I'd just clocked out of. If I spotted another convenience store or a mart on the way, I'd grab one there.
I was walking along when I spotted a familiar face coming from the opposite direction and stopped in my tracks.
Choi Jian?
The woman who'd collided with me that afternoon. She was walking down the street, glancing around as if searching for something.
"......Uh, uhh?!"
As if on cue, she spotted me as she scanned her surroundings. Her eyes went round, and she came running.
"I-it's you, right?! The one who bumped into me this afternoon...!"
Wait. Wasn't this a little too happy to see me?
The sheer delight on her face caught me so off guard that I answered a little awkwardly.
"Yes. But... is something the matter?"
"Ah, well...!"
She rummaged in her pocket, pulled something out, and held it up as if showing it off.
"I did what you told me — I took this off, and I passed the rank evaluation...! I was so grateful for your advice, I wanted to at least say thank you, so I've been looking for you!"
"...Looking for me. On this street."
Did that even make sense? How would she know a man she'd met for the first time today would come walking down this street again?
"Weeell... hehe."
Choi Jian laughed, sheepish.
"Of course that's not why I was out here. I just had something to do, and I was walking, and..."
"Ah, I see."
"Oh! I never even asked your name. What's your name? I'm Choi Jian!"
"Lee Yeonwoo."
"Ah, would Yeonwoo-nim be alright?"
"Just Yeonwoo is fine."
Being called nim over a single piece of advice was a bit much.
"Um, how did you know about the necklace?"
Choi Jian asked, her eyes sparkling.
"I, I almost stayed F-Rank by a hair, you know. But I remembered what you said, so I took the necklace off and tried, and I actually went up to E-Rank. How on earth did you know?"
"I just... saw it."
"Wow, I knew it!"
Honestly, I didn't know either. Afterward I'd been curious about my ability, so I'd tried shouting Status Window and even staring down customers, but nothing like a status window had appeared again.
Ding!
Status Window activated.
Right then, the same status window I'd seen when I bumped into Choi Jian appeared before my eyes again.
...Does it only work on certain people?
That seemed possible. While I was at it, I looked over Choi Jian's status window again and saw that her mana stat was lower than it had been that afternoon.
I dropped my gaze. The note in the Improvements section about needing to remove the Artifact was gone, and a new sentence had taken its place.
......Hmm?
......Looks like she was carrying something serious.
That said, I had no intention of jumping in with unsolicited advice. Never mind whether Choi Jian would even believe me — as long as there was a chance my ability was the real thing, this was far too valuable. Information that might let me raise a future SSS-Rank. Its value went without saying.
If I confirm my ability works on other Awakened too, I might even be able to sell it...
Or then again, thinking about it that way, successfully training Choi Jian first might be the priority. I'd need proof, wouldn't I?
As if she'd read my mind, Choi Jian spoke up carefully.
"Um, I'm sorry, but could I ask you for a little more advice...?!"
"Advice?"
"Yes... um, could we sit down and talk...?"
Choi Jian hesitated, pointing to a nearby bench.
"I know this might be a really rude thing to ask, but I don't have anyone else I can go to for help with this kind of thing..."
I thought it over for a moment, then nodded. Helping her first seemed like the better play.
"...Alright, then."
"Ah, really?!"
Choi Jian's face lit up.
"Thank you!"
"In exchange."
I smirked and pointed at the convenience store across the street.
"Buy me a beer. I'm thirsty."
"Ah, yes...!"