Fate's Prank (4)

Corporate tycoons monopolized wealth and fame.

At first glance, it looked like a life anyone would envy. But when it came to freedom, did it really hold up? One careless remark, one drunken slip-up, and your face was plastered across the headlines while the public tore you apart for days on end. On top of that, a conglomerate owner couldn’t decide everything alone; he had to keep an eye on the shareholders and mind their moods.

By contrast, what about the man who ran a small company? You could compare him to the chief of a tiny tribe. It was a pitiful little village, sure, but he still held real power in his hands. Just look at the former boss. He spent half his life drifting in and out of bars and almost never worked properly after showing up at the office. Whether he was at the golf course or shopping with a hostess at a department store, nobody stopped him. His stake was effectively his alone, nearly one hundred percent, so he had no reason—or desire—to go public. Bottom line, being the boss of a small company was the sweet spot.

Under the warm sunlight, I stretched as I walked through downtown. I was skipping work in broad daylight, and I didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty about it. I wasn’t planning to go shopping with some hostess, either. From here on out, I was going to build my own kingdom bigger, stronger, and more magnificent than before.

I stopped and looked up. A government building sign near Gwanghwamun caught my eye.

Awakeners were, in principle, required to complete registration with the Hunter Association. Anyone who could handle mana was classified as valuable manpower, so the government kept track of them at the national level.

But in practice, if you weren’t at least C-class, there wasn’t much benefit to it. Anyone below D-class was no different from a trained civilian, and in a fight against monsters, they were little more than baggage.

If you judged me by raw stats alone, I might not even be able to take down a single Big Lava, let alone a goblin.

That was why people in my kind of vague, in-between position didn’t bother registering with the Hunter Association in the first place. The idea of having the government meddle in your business was just too annoying.

“Hey. Don’t block the way. Move.”

A sharp voice came from behind me.

I turned around to find a big man glaring at me, with a long-haired guy and a bleached-blond guy standing on either side of him.

“Oh dear. Why are you trying to scare him?”

“Excuse us, could you make a little room for us?”

I couldn’t sense it as clearly as Lee Yu-seol could, but I still felt it in a vague sort of way.

Awakeners.

Faint mana leaked from their bodies.

I said nothing, only stared at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the brute.

“What are you staring at? You little bastard.”

“Take it easy, hyung.”

“Tone down that temper, will you?”

The big man shoved himself toward me as if he was about to pick a fight, while the other two scrambled to hold him back.

Suddenly, Go Ju-hun came to mind—the duel we’d fought on the rooftop.

That bastard’s mana surged explosively the entire time he fought. It was like watching a volcano erupt.

The moment I thought of Go Ju-hun, the three guys in front of me looked like fresh-faced chicks.

I let out a snort and a crooked smile tugged at my lips.

“You laughing? You son of a bitch. Come with me.”

“Whoa now! Hyung!”

“Come ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on, let’s go already!”

The two lackeys dragged the still-raging brute into the Hunter Association Bureau.

The reason I’d come here was simple: I was going to register as a Hunter properly.

“Hey, slit-eyed bastard. I remember your face. Watch yourself.”

The brute tossed out his threat and stomped inside.

Yeah, sure. Keep talking.

I was about to follow them when my phone rang. The moment I checked the caller ID, my mood warmed right up.

She told me not to come, but the truth was obvious enough: she was waiting for me with a heart that was practically stretched to breaking.

And I wanted to see her, too.

I ended the call and slipped the phone back into my pocket.

“Let’s get this over with.”

I stepped into the massive gray concrete building.

“Mr. Choi Yongki. Your registration is complete.”

The Hunter Association Bureau clerk, expressionless, handed me a document envelope.

I took it and checked the contents at once.

Inside was an A4 sheet with my ID photo attached.

The bottom line was still blank.

The Hunter Association Bureau had a machine that could estimate a target’s growth potential. It wasn’t one hundred percent accurate, but based on a few criteria, it could predict the highest rank a person might eventually reach.

When I took over the factory, I’d taken on debt from the bank. I could have covered it easily with the cash I already had, but I intended to treat the loan as part of my assets and pay it back slowly, piece by piece.

Once you became a high-rank Hunter, you didn’t just get a fat salary—you also enjoyed a wide range of benefits.

“Please go up to the second floor and receive your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠expected-rank assessment there.”

The clerk pointed toward the stairs.

The expectation-rating machine didn’t just show future growth potential. There were always shady bastards in this world looking for loopholes in the law.

Sometimes people disguised themselves as Awakeners just to become Hunters.

The machine also had a function for exposing those fake Awakeners.

If the assessment detected no mana at all, the Hunter license was automatically canceled.

If you passed the test, your expected rank was finalized on the spot.

I followed the arrow up the stairs.

As I followed the signs, I ended up in front of a steel door with writing on it.

This was where the machine for testing supernatural power was located.

In other words, SRI—Supernatural Resonance Imaging.

I knocked twice, then opened the door and walked inside.

Computers and several monitors came into view. Beyond the glass wall, a huge cylindrical testing machine stood waiting.

“Please wait over here.”

Following the instructions, I sat down in a chair.

Just then, I spotted the same trio I’d run into at the entrance.

The brute stepped into the SRI machine.

The other two pressed themselves against the glass wall and shouted at the top of their lungs.

“Hyung! Fighting!”

“Go for it with everything you’ve got!”

The brute stood inside the machine, grinning as he flashed a peace sign with his fingers.

The clerk finished the setup and spoke into the microphone.

“Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Then spread your arms.”

My old occupational habit kicked in, and I found myself imagining how the machine worked.

Is it using the protons in the hydrogen atoms that make up water molecules in the body? Then it would expose the body to a strong magnetic field and—

The clerk said, “We’ll begin now. Please release your mana.”

The brute suddenly tore his shirt off.

His bare, muscular upper body was exposed.

He bellowed with effort.

“Hrrngh! Hah!”

His whole body shook, and veins bulged across his forehead.

The graph on the monitor jumped upward slightly.

Outside, the lackeys went wild, clapping and cheering.

“Oh! That’s our hyung!”

“Just a little more, sir!”

By the time his face looked ready to burst, the clerk finally ended the test.

“That’s enough. You can come out now.”

The brute staggered out, panting hard.

He’d strained so much that his entire body was soaked in sweat.

“What? What did I get?”

“Exactly! I’m dying to know.”

“Hey! Hurry up and tell us!”

The clerk looked as if he’d seen this a thousand times already. Without a flicker of emotion, he raised the stamp.

“Expected rank: B+.”

With a heavy smack, a blue seal was stamped onto the empty rank field.

The brute and his two underlings burst into cheers.

“Yes! As expected of you, hyung!”

“What did I tell you? I said hyung was definitely going to high rank!”

“Hah. You idiots. Calm down.”

The clerk continued, “Your talent has been classified as SWWS—Strong Weak Weak Strong—with a detection-type base and some mutation-type traits mixed in.”

The SRI didn’t just quantify a Hunter’s abilities with letters; it could also roughly identify their talent.

SWWS?

For someone like me, who didn’t know much about Hunters, it wasn’t easy to understand at a glance.

The brute bragged as if he’d been waiting for this moment.

“That’s right! I analyze my opponent and change my strategy accordingly! This machine sure is accurate! Hahaha.”

The clerk shook his head.

“No. It’s less about strategy and more about the instinctive ability to gauge an opponent’s strength. You project intimidation toward those weaker than you, but when faced with someone stronger, you shrink back and can’t properly show your full ability—”

“Aren’t you busy? Hurry it up already. All right, next!”

The brute cut the clerk off naturally.

He was strong toward the weak.

Weak toward the strong.

A classic bully.

The long-haired guy and the bleached-blond guy who’d followed him into the room stepped into the SRI next.

“Hrrngh!”

“Uraaah!”

After giving it everything they had, the two of them received their results one after the other.

The long-haired guy’s expected rank was E-.

Partial Transparency

The bleached-blond guy’s expected rank was D+.

Sharp Nose

They all had low ranks and talents that weren’t worth much.

The clerk said in a dead, hollow voice, “You both worked hard. Please submit your performance reports once a year, and remember to renew your aptitude tests every three years.”

“Ugh. I wasn’t expecting much, but E? Partial transparency? Not even full transparency?”

“Tch. All I can do is smell things well. If I’d known this was all I was getting, I wouldn’t have registered.”

The brute seemed to be in a good mood now, so he thumped his underlings on the shoulders.

“Hahaha! You guys are men, and you’re already this discouraged? Straighten your backs!”

At last, it was my turn.

“Mr. Choi Yongki. Please come in.”

The brute, who had been acting smug for ages, finally noticed me and sneered.

“Oh? That slit-eyed bastard from earlier! You were an Awakener too?”

I ignored him and went into the SRI machine.

“That bastard’s really—”

The pure white machine was tall and large enough for one person to stand inside.

Oddly enough, there was even a monitor visible from within it.

There shouldn’t have been any radiation or magnetic field to feel, but for some reason my chest felt tight.

“Please release your mana.”

The clerk’s voice echoed through the speaker across the room.

“Hah.”

I drew in a breath and closed my eyes.

I was still a small vessel as an Awakener.

There was no doubt the result would be pathetic.

Still, let’s give it everything I’ve got.

I clenched my fist and forcefully unleashed all the energy in my body.

And then, unexpectedly, the graph on the monitor didn’t budge at all.

“……”

Through the glass wall, I could see the brute’s group laughing their heads off.

“Puhahaha! I knew there wouldn’t be a twist!”

“He was strutting around all full of himself, and he’s nothing special.”

“I wonder if he even makes D-rank?”

There was no need for me to become a nationally certified high-level Hunter.

My goal was a hero, after all.

If possible, I wanted to punish the wicked, save people from monsters, and never lose to any kind of evil.

I want to become the strongest hero of all.

So, as far as I was concerned, the formal title didn’t matter all that much.

“Sir, just tell him to come out. There’s nothing more to see.”

The clerk brought the microphone to his mouth with a blank expression.

“Yes. You may stop now.”

I frowned.

…This is annoying.

If it had been up to me, I would’ve liked to smash the entire SRI machine with Judgment of the Superhuman.

But I can’t do that.

I was irritated by the sight of them laughing their heads off, sure, but I couldn’t waste my power on something emotional like this.

Besides, one wrong move and my identity as the Purple Devil might get exposed. There was no need to draw attention to myself over something so pointless.

I had to hide my true strength completely.

But…

I am a little curious.

By ordinary standards, what kind of ability rating would a hero have?

I relaxed the fist I’d been clenching tight.

Then I raised just my pinky finger.

And with that, I lightly jabbed at empty air.

The balance didn’t decrease. It hadn’t been a valid hit.

“Mr. Choi Yongki? You can stop now and come out—”

Instead, the graph on the monitor turned red and shot upward violently.

It looked exactly like lava exploding from an active volcano.

“Huh?”

The clerk’s eyes widened.

The brute and his lackeys, who had been cackling just a moment ago, went silent as if someone had stuffed their mouths with cotton.

“W-what? Just now?”

“Didn’t the value spike all of a sudden?”

At that point, I stepped out of the machine as if nothing had happened.

The clerk looked back and forth between me and the printout, clearly confused, then lifted the stamp.

Smack!

The moment the result was finalized, the brute on the other side let out a relieved sigh.

“See? I knew it.”

“Sir clerk, that guy is definitely F-rank, right?”

“...Yes. There’s nothing wrong with the rank. It seems there was a brief error just now, though.”

The clerk tilted his head.

“One thing is certain, though. He has a very unusual talent.”

I slipped on my jacket with calm indifference, and the brute grabbed my shoulder.

“Hey. What’s your talent?”

It was an unwritten rule that you never asked an Awakened person about their talent directly. It was a matter of privacy, yes, but also because it could have a huge impact in combat.

“Hey?”

I looked the brute straight in the eye.

“You want to die?”

I wasn’t actually planning to fight him.

I was only trying to scare him a little.

But he flinched and immediately activated his ability.

So your specialty really is bullying the weak and cowering before the strong.

The yes-men at his side rushed to egg him on.

“Hey, what kind of attitude is that toward our hyung?”

“How dare some F-rank punk talk back to a B-rank?”

In an instant, the brute’s eyes went wide, and then he toppled backward onto his ass.

“H-Hiiik!”

He stared up at me like he’d seen a ghost and trembled all over.

“H-Hyung?”

“What’s wrong?”

The brute managed to stand again only by forcing his shaking legs to cooperate.

“Did you slip on the floor?”

“Hyung, let’s go teach this bastard a lesson.”

“N-no.”

“Huh?”

“I said don’t.”

The brute shook his head so hard his voice came out thin and pinched.

He looked absolutely terrified, which was pretty cute in its own way.

The slow-witted lackeys still hadn’t caught on to his intention.

“Do you even know who our hyung is?”

“Hyung, I’ll handle this for you. You, come over here.”

As the underlings moved toward me, the brute backed away step by step.

I wondered just how strong I looked to him through that bully’s special brand of weak-weak-strong-strong instinct.

“Hey. So how high would my ability—”

“I’m sorry! Please spare me!”

The brute bolted, running for his life.

Silence settled over the room.

His subordinates, left without their hyung, quickly became polite.

“We apologize for our rudeness.”

“Goodbye.”

Once they had backed away, the clerk looked at me and swallowed hard.

“Mr. Choi Yongki, your talent is special-type. It’s also an unregistered talent, so to speak. Just what in the world—”

I answered with a slight nod.

“Thanks for your hard work.”

Then I gathered up the papers and left the building.

“Phew. I almost got labeled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠S-class by accident.”