Fate’s Prank
Lee Ji-jun shook my hand, then let out a long sigh.
“Tch. So I have to go home now?”
There’s always a loser when there’s a winner.
Since I’d beaten Lee Ji-jun, he was all but out of the running in the recruitment test.
It was just the way the ruthless world of competition worked.
Still, it’d be nice if he came along too.
Lee Ji-jun was a national-level hunter with the potential to grow as high as SS-class.
It’d be a waste to send him back like this.
I turned to Na Sang-min.
“Judge. Does that mean Lee Ji-jun is eliminated?”
I was asking because I wanted to help if there was any way I could.
But unexpectedly, Na Sang-min shook his head.
“Not yet. The second exam isn’t over.”
What the hell was he talking about now?
Na Sang-min went on.
“Everyone here will now face one another in pairs. Not a tournament—a full round robin.”
At his words, every face in the room stiffened.
A 12-man round robin.
One-on-one matches.
Just the time it would take was going to be ridiculous.
“You mean we have to fight eleven times each?”
“That makes no sense!”
“Are you trying to beat us to a pulp?”
“No—why are you only telling us this now?”
As protests broke out from all directions, Na Sang-min forced a smile.
“Ha. Ha. Ha. My, my. Did I make a mistake? This is my first time judging, so please bear with me if I’m a little inexperienced.”
Kill intent rose again from his body.
When that silent pressure rolled over the room, everyone shut up.
I can’t exactly blame him.
I was here as a candidate, not as someone in charge.
If I couldn’t change the system, I had to fit myself into it.
Just then, one of the Dio Guild staff members hurried over and whispered into Na Sang-min’s ear.
He seemed to be relaying something urgently.
“Mm.”
Na Sang-min looked dissatisfied, but he nodded.
“An order just came down. Good news for all of you, I suppose.”
He pointed at the CCTV cameras mounted on the ceiling.
“For the sake of player safety, let’s cut it down to three matches each.”
When hunters fought hard, injuries were unavoidable.
Na Sang-min compromised with a practical solution.
“All right, that settles it?”
At his words, the hunters nodded.
“Quit talking and let’s get this over with. Let’s see... Hunter Kim Hyun-sung, Hunter Lee Min-woo, step up!”
From there, people were called out two at a time, exactly as he named them.
It seemed the power to assign pairs rested entirely with Na Sang-min.
Maybe hunters of the same estimated grade would be matched together.
Or maybe, like me, someone could be paired against a much higher grade.
In other words.
Luck of the draw.
The sturdy hunters faced off and tossed out their hands.
“Rock, paper—”
“Scissors!”
The winner got to choose the game.
Some of the choices were things like mental arithmetic contests or reciting pi, games that had little to do with a hunter exam.
But no one objected.
It was the only way a lower-ranked hunter could beat a higher-ranked one.
Then it occurred to me.
Why was a test like this even necessary?
Why not just choose the hunters with the highest estimated grades?
Well. If they’d done that, I’d have been eliminated on the spot.
If the cut had been based on estimated grade alone, I, an F-class, wouldn’t even have been allowed to apply.
Then I guess it really is connected to that.
When I checked the Dio Guild notice, there’d been a line in red letters at the bottom.
- Preferred qualification: not only strong future growth potential, but also the ability to perform in the field right away.
Mana efficiency, yes, but also judgment, reflexes, strategy, and more.
The Dio Guild evaluated hunters from every angle.
Na Sang-min raised someone’s hand high into the air.
“Ha Se-na, victory!”
She was the only female hunter who’d made it to the second round.
Her hair was tied back in a tight ponytail, and though her frame was slim, it was solid with muscle.
The game she’d just proposed was “balancing on one foot and sitting and standing without letting the other foot touch the ground.”
The fat man across from her collapsed almost immediately.
“Yes!”
She clenched both fists with a sharp little cheer.
Her face was youthful, but she looked fiercely competitive.
She’s pretty cool.
The matches kept going.
Maybe thirty minutes had passed?
Na Sang-min glanced my way, then spoke.
“Hunter Choi Yongki, step up.”
So it was finally my turn.
Since each person had three matches in total, I still had two left.
My opponent was...
“And Hunter Bang Su-hwan.”
Was this fate’s little prank?
Or was it Na Sang-min’s scheme?
Yesterday’s ally had become today’s enemy.
After Lee Ji-jun, Bang Su-hwan—the teammate who’d been on my side during the first test—was called up too.
I faced Bang Su-hwan.
He scratched his head.
“I didn’t want to end up fighting you, hyung-nim.”
He’d vaguely guessed the scale of my strength.
But he’d never actually gone up against me.
Was that why?
At the same time, he still looked strangely relaxed.
“Hah. Sorry, hyung-nim. I’ve got my own circumstances, so I can’t go easy on you either.”
We played rock-paper-scissors while he stood there grinning.
Bang Su-hwan won.
“Heh heh. I can’t possibly lay a hand on hyung-nim, so let’s settle this like gentlemen.”
He dragged over a desk and chair, sat down, and rested his arms on the tabletop.
“What event?”
“Arm wrestling.”
I sat across from him and locked hands with Bang Su-hwan.
At a glance, his forearms were at least twice as thick as mine.
“For the record, I’ve even placed in arm-wrestling competitions. I’ve trained specifically for arm wrestling, too. Heh-heh. In my own way, I’m practically a pro at it...”
Bang!
It was over before I could even blink.
Bang Su-hwan’s hand slammed onto the table.
Since I’d used Judgment of the Superhuman, I’d ended it in an instant.
“Ah, sorry. You hadn’t started yet, had you? Want to go again?”
“……”
Bang Su-hwan lowered his head with a dazed expression.
“I lost.”
* * *
“I’ll now announce the second-round results.”
Out of twelve, six people survived.
Exactly half.
Along with wins and losses, Na Sang-min’s subjective evaluation was added in to determine the final score.
“I’ll read them in order. First place, Ha Se-na. Second place, Bang Su-hwan. Third place, Lee Ji-jun...”
My score was barely enough to scrape by.
“Fourth place, Choi Yongki.”
I’d barely made it onto the second test.
I’d gone head-to-head with Lee Ji-jun and Bang Su-hwan, even made a flashy entrance, but then I’d lost absurdly in the third match.
My opponent had been Ha Se-na.
The game she’d chosen after winning rock-paper-scissors was...
...jacks?
I’d almost never played it in my life, so I lost pathetically.
Anyway.
“The six people I called will only need to take the aptitude test tomorrow.”
Out of the hundred or so applicants, twelve remained.
And now six.
The aptitude test was passed by most people unless they were suffering from a serious mental illness.
In other words, it was basically the same as passing the final round.
Bang Su-hwan shot one massive arm into the air.
“Hooray! Hyung-nim, you worked hard!”
Lee Ji-jun came over and held out his hand.
“Congratulations, F-class hero.”
“You too.”
I took his hand without thinking, and Lee Ji-jun groaned.
“Urgh.”
His hand was still bandaged from our match earlier.
The bandage soaked with blood turned red again.
“Sorry.”
“Nah. A few potions and I’ll be fine.”
Then someone approached us.
The girl whose ponytail suited her so well.
Ha Se-na.
“Give me your hand.”
She said it to Lee Ji-jun.
“No thanks.”
Lee Ji-jun jutted out his lower lip.
He must still have some resentment because he’d lost to her too.
The game they’d played had been see who could endure spicy food longer.
Apparently Lee Ji-jun couldn’t handle heat, because he’d bitten into a cheongyang chili and given up immediately.
Come to think of it...
Ha Se-na had three wins out of three.
An undefeated streak.
And not a single scratch on her.
No wonder she’s number one.
“Are you a child? Stop pouting.”
Ha Se-na took Lee Ji-jun’s hand anyway.
Then she unwrapped the bandage and pushed mana into his palm.
Fwoosh.
Bright light flared, carrying a warm, comforting heat with it.
Fresh flesh quickly began to grow over the hole in Lee Ji-jun’s palm.
That speed was no joke.
So that’s what a healer at this level can do.
Ha Se-na
- Estimated grade: C
For a C-class, that was astonishing power.
Lee Ji-jun flexed his hand open and closed.
“Hmph. Not bad.”
“I’ll take that as your way of saying thank you.”
Ha Se-na drew in a rough breath and wiped sweat from her forehead.
As expected, recovery types burned through a lot of mana.
Why had she suddenly stepped in to help?
“Lee Ji-jun. Not long ago, you were demoted after crippling a civilian at the scene of a monster fight, right?”
Vandalism and assaults on the scene often got brushed aside.
But Lee Ji-jun had gone too far.
It’s lucky he got off with just disciplinary action.
He’d probably been able to settle it because he’d belonged to a major guild.
Of course, he’d likely been kicked out because of that incident.
Anyway, now I knew why he’d been demoted.
“So what?”
Lee Ji-jun frowned.
At first glance, he wasn’t much different from Seo Gwang-pal.
I was curious why he’d acted that way.
“That civilian was the owner of the building. He told you to get lost because he didn’t want his building damaged, right?”
Lee Ji-jun snorted.
“Yeah. Cerberus had grabbed some kid by the leg and run off. If it had gone wrong, the kid could’ve lost the leg. But the bastard building owner blocked the road and started acting up, so I taught him a lesson. And he’s not crippled. That asshole’s a total fraud. I even saw him running around recently.”
Ha Se-na said expressionlessly,
“Good. The direction the monster ran in was where my little sister’s kindergarten was. If it hadn’t been for you, things might have gotten a lot worse.”
Lee Ji-jun fell silent for a moment, then went on.
“That’s a relief. Be good to your little sister. Don’t end up regretting it like I did.”
He patted Ha Se-na on the shoulder and started to leave.
“See you next time.”
Ha Se-na gave me a quick glance, then turned away without a word.
That left just Bang Su-hwan and me.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“Hyung-nim, my stomach is sticking to my back.”
By the time we left the Dio Guild building, it was already pitch-dark outside.
A luxurious golden sign caught my eye at the building entrance.
<< Dikaiosyne Guild >>
The Dikaiosyne Guild—the guild of justice.
Bang Su-hwan followed my gaze and spoke.
“Hyung-nim, why did you apply here of all places?”
He wrinkled his nose.
“I mean, I’ve got my reasons. But there are probably better places for you, hyung-nim.”
“I’m F-class. No one else would take me.”
“Well, that’s true enough, but...”
He trailed off.
He still didn’t sound convinced.
I pointed at the sign.
“Su-hwan. What do you think justice is?”
“Justice? Hmm. I’m not that smart, so I don’t really know.”
Same here.
Bang Su-hwan had been bullied, then punished his tormentor and ended up in juvenile detention.
Lee Ji-jun had injured a building owner while trying to save a child.
Were they evil? Were they unjust?
Was I evil? Unjust?
A hero needed a creed of his own.
Just like Jin Shark had.
I’d been reborn, and with the money I’d saved over a lifetime, I’d gained the ability to purchase hero powers.
After that, I’d decided to become the strongest hero in the world.
I killed Seo Gwang-pal, a Dio Guild member who made a habit of cruelty, and his leader, Go Ju-hun.
And before I knew it, fate had led me back here again.
Until now, the Dio Guild had been a gathering that represented dishonor.
But now that I was joining it...
I’ll change this place completely.
Not into a fake justice.
Into a group that pursued real justice.
As I quietly hardened my resolve, my stomach rumbled loudly.
“Hyung-nim. Looks like we’re on the same team now.”
“Yeah. You and me. We’re family from today.”
“Heheh. Hyung-nim, how about braised short ribs and rice in a pot? I’m suddenly craving it like crazy.”
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, sir!”
Under the moonlight, the two of us crossed the city together.