008. F-Rank Hunter Choi Kanghyuk

When Kanghyuk opened his eyes that morning, the quest window was floating in front of him yet again.

"Ugh..."

At the sight of it, his whole body trembled uncontrollably. Yesterday's pain came flooding back as if it had never left.

"Never... I am never going through that kind of pain again."

Having barely steadied himself, the first thing to catch his eye was a single word: ten minutes.

"Are you insane! It got longer? Five minutes already felt like dying—ten minutes will flat-out kill me."

Determined to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠finish the training no matter what, Kanghyuk choked down a half-hearted breakfast and started with the run.

I watched my past self quietly as he began his training, desperate to dodge the penalty.

"What's wrong, Constellation?"

"I don't think this is going to work."

"Why not? He's training hard right now."

I kept tapping my Core as I spoke.

"Right now he's only training to escape the pain. If the will doesn't come from within, he'll break down eventually."

"Well, he doesn't know what's coming, so of course his motivation is thin."

"Exactly. Which is why I wish something would happen to give him a reason."

"Handing out something incredible as a reward would be difficult, though."

"I don't exactly have star power to burn."

"Didn't you want something when you were his age? What was it?"

I turned it over in my mind, but nothing came.

"Hard to say. It's all too far back now. I suppose I just wanted to make a lot of money, or be born with talent better than everyone else's. Things like that."

"That's a far cry from saving the world from destruction."

Watching Ping brood over it with her chin in her hands, I suddenly remembered something and asked.

"By the way, you told me before that when the Constellations of Ruin lose, they flip the board. So what actually changes? Why do you talk like the end is already scheduled?"

"They flipped the board, so they won't simply sit still."

"That much is obvious. What about the constellations on our side?"

"For one thing, constellations don't particularly care whether humans survive."

"Ours included?"

"They care about winning. Saving more humans doesn't interest them in the slightest."

Hearing Ping say it out loud, my fury at constellations who treated humanity like playthings boiled up all over again. I tightened my grip on Breaker until my knuckles ached.

"And yet they still want to win?"

"Say the Constellation is playing a game for fun, and the other side starts betting everything they own like a desperate gambler. Would the Constellation fight tooth and nail to win? Or would they stall, letting the opponent burn through their entire fortune? For what it's worth, the constellations don't get along with each other, either."

"So our side's plan is to force one of the Constellations of Ruin to burn through as much star power as possible?"

"Yes. They'll all behave almost exactly as they did last time."

"Meaning they'll just stand there and watch while the Constellation of Ruin does whatever it wants?"

"Yes. If the game looks like it'll end too quickly, they might intervene a little more, but that's about it. Which is why your role and Kanghyuk's matter so much."

Ping patted my shoulder as she went on.

"Unless you and Kanghyuk grow strong together, stopping the Constellation of Ruin will be nearly impossible. A future unlike anything you knew is about to unfold."

"Honestly, making my past self train hard feels harder than training to get strong myself..."

"Then hurry up and think of a way to make him give ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it everything he has!"

"Wow. I thought this training was completely insane, but the more I do it, the more I'm adapting again?"

On the first day, he'd had to pour every waking minute outside of mealtimes into the regimen just to finish within a single day, but as the days passed, he found himself finishing with a little room to spare.

"No. Wait. If I make it look too easy, that demon might just pile on more training. Better not to finish too fast. Today I'll pace myself."

And so, exactly as the constellation Kanghyuk had feared, his past self was holding back.

"You've got three billion won sitting there—why won't you spend it!"

"Ah. Right. Taxes... wait, no! How do you know even that? Are you actually a constellation? Anyway, what's this? No quest today?"

"There it is, training again tod... huh? Hunter rank measurement? Training exemption?!!"

Kanghyuk lit up with joy at the sight of a day without training for the first time in ages.

"Today I'm finally meeting up with my friends. It's a real exemption, right?"

Not a minute to waste, Kanghyuk headed straight for the nearest Hunter Association.

"Hello, and welcome to the Hunter Association 3rd Branch."

"I'd like to get my rank measured."

"Rank measurement is handled in the annex building around back."

Kanghyuk was already starting to feel like a real hunter.

"Whoa! The rank measurement center is this big?"

Before him sprawled a building of overwhelming scale.

"I heard it was big, but not this big. It's enormous. I could get lost in here."

The Hunter Rank Measurement Center occupied grounds far larger than the training field he used every day, though the building itself stayed low to the ground—presumably a precaution against accidents during testing.

"Hello, are you here for a hunter rank assessment?"

"Yes. Where do I go?"

"Could you fill out this paperwork first?"

The form asked for far more than his trait: main weapon, secondary weapon, and any other details that might prove useful when hunting monsters. Aside from his trait, though, Kanghyuk had almost nothing to write in any of the fields.

"Once you're finished, proceed to Measurement Room 15."

Inside the room sat a single hunter, wearing an expression of profound boredom.

"Mr. Choi Kanghyuk?"

"Yes!"

"Your trait is Sturdy, I see. What can it do?"

"Yes! My body doesn't tire easily, and I can keep exercising for a long time. I think I've gotten tougher, too."

"Mind if I fire a round into your body?"

Kanghyuk jerked back in alarm.

"I'm sorry—a gun? What kind of nonsense is that? How is a person supposed to stop a bullet?"

The hunter seemed to lose what little interest he'd had.

"Low durability. Would you try lifting that black iron block over there?"

Kanghyuk seized the block with both hands and pulled with everything he had, but it didn't budge an inch.

"What's wrong with this thing? Hold on!"

This can't be right. Is this thing rigged?

Only after straining until the veins in his hands bulged red could he raise the block a hair off the ground.

"Strength of an ordinary person who works out. Anything else you'd like to show me?"

"I can run fifty kilometers in three hours."

"Hunters don't enter marathons. You planning to outrun monsters?"

Under the hunter's flat, dismissive manner, Kanghyuk's confidence drained away by the second.

"Right. Nothing else worth seeing here."

The voice was bone-dry. The hunter typed something into his computer, stamped the paper on the desk with a thud, and slid it across to Kanghyuk.

"Take this to the building over there and they'll walk you through your rank."

Kanghyuk trudged outside, his footsteps heavy and lifeless.

"I think I just bombed my rank assessment. Constellation, did you send me here specifically to shave down my self-esteem? I've still got a long way to go, huh?"

"One look at me today and anyone can tell I'm F-rank. How much can a little training really change? I'll just spend my money and live comfortably."

The building was packed with people who had come for their own rank assessments.

"Let's see... here it is?"

Kanghyuk fell in line behind the others.

"Whoa! I'm E-rank!"

"Really? I'm F-rank."

"Hey, your trait's good, though. That hunter earlier said it's just because you awakened so recently—keep practicing and your rank will climb."

All around, people buzzed with talk of their results. The measurement center drew the freshly awakened, so most walked out F-rank, though the occasional E-rank surfaced.

"Yeah. I'm definitely F-rank."

"Mr. Kanghyuk?"

"Yes, that's me."

"Mr. Kanghyuk, your rank certificate is ready."

The result was F-rank, exactly as expected. But the real shock was the line written beneath it.

"No potential for development? Recommended role: porter?"

The confidence that had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠swelled after being chosen by two constellations collapsed like a badly stacked tower of blocks.

"Move it, trash."

He had been standing frozen, still reeling from the shock, and someone shoved past him, spitting the words over their shoulder. The remark hit Kanghyuk like a slap, and he couldn't swallow the surge in his chest.

"Hey. Isn't that a bit much? I wasn't blocking the path for that long."

He turned to find a middle-aged man holding the hand of a boy who looked to be in elementary school. The man glanced sideways at Kanghyuk's rank certificate and kept talking.

"F-rank? No potential. Porter? I called trash trash. You have a problem with that?"

"You—!"

The moment the enraged Kanghyuk stepped toward him, a crushing pressure descended from every direction at once.

"Wh...what is this?"

"D-rank. Telekinesis. Which means a piece of trash like you is the one who should be carrying my bags."

At those words, the bystanders retreated one step at a time, eager not to be caught in the crossfire.

"Grrah!"

Kanghyuk poured every ounce of strength into breaking free, but his body refused to obey. And slowly, inexorably, his knees began to buckle toward the floor.

"Aaargh, you son of a—ugh!"

He fought to scream, but the unseen force sealed even his jaw shut. It was as if his entire body had been wrapped, without a single gap, in layers of tape.

Damn it, damn it! You son of a—

It was humiliating. Watching his knees being forced down inch by inch, Kanghyuk chewed on his rage. This was a different species of pain from the penalty's. He wanted to move even if it shattered every bone in his body, but his flesh simply would not listen.

Blood dripped from his clenched fists, yet he couldn't even feel it. The world since the advent of the awakened wore the mask of a system, but he felt it in his bones now—before raw power, that world was nothing but thin ice, ready to crack and give way at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the first step.

"That's enough! Further disturbances will not be tolerated."

"Whoops. My apologies. My control is still a little rough."

When the measurement center's hunter intervened, the man offered his apology without releasing the telekinesis for even a moment—and drove Kanghyuk's knees the rest of the way to the floor.

"Next time, learn to read people before you pick a fight, trash."

Right up until the moment he turned, took the boy's hand, and walked out, the man never once looked at Kanghyuk as anything worth acknowledging.

"Minsu. Never, ever grow up to be a pathetic man like that."

Shaking with humiliation, Kanghyuk ground each word out between his teeth.

"Constellation. Really! Really—if I train hard, can I actually get strong? Can you make sure I never, ever have to take this kind of bullshit from anyone again?"

His rage burned so hot that the stares of everyone around him simply ceased to register.