The Hunter's Promise
Early morning.
Baek Chul stared at his grandson Do-ha, his face gone rigid.
They had been eating breakfast when, out of nowhere, this bolt from the blue had dropped on him.
"You're going to become a hunter? Absolutely not."
Anything else, he could have allowed.
If Do-ha had said he wanted to be a celebrity, Baek Chul would have walked every broadcasting station in the country playing manager. If he had wanted to open a shop, Baek Chul would have sold his own organs to scrape together the money and set him up. Hell, if Do-ha had said he just wanted to loaf around like a wastrel for the rest of his life, Baek Chul would have clapped him on the back and told him to go for it.
But a hunter? Never.
Turn on the news and you heard about hunters dying overnight. Some killed each other over rankings. Others died fighting monsters. And he was supposed to send his grandson into that world?
He could never allow it.
"This old man cannot bear to see you get hurt. No—getting hurt would be the lucky outcome. Most of them end up dead. So I will not permit it."
For the past ten years, after losing his grandson, how much raw agony had he lived through? Every single day he had regretted it, blaming himself—he should have been the one to stay behind in Paju and sent Do-ha to Seoul instead.
And then, yesterday.
He had finally gotten his grandson back.
"Grandpa. I'm already an Awakened."
"Even if you are an Awakened, this grandfather of yours still will not allow it."
"Then how am I supposed to repay the hunters who took care of me all that time? The ones who saved me when I lost my memory and nearly died—I have to repay that kindness, don't I? Besides, I've already been working with them. Mana stone recovery, sure, but it was still hunter work."
Do-ha was lying.
His grandfather believed he had spent those years living without his memories, so he had no choice but to invent a story like this.
"I'll find some way to settle the debt with them myself, so…"
"Grandpa."
Do-ha took Baek Chul's hand and held it tight.
"I know what you're worried about. So I'll be careful. I won't get hurt, and I won't die."
"…"
"And more than anything—you know I inherited your stubborn streak, right?"
"You little…"
Do-ha smiled faintly, and Baek Chul let out a long breath.
No one knew his grandson's temperament better than he did.
That's why I came down hard from the start…
They said no parent ever truly beat their child, and with Do-ha asking so quietly, so gently, Baek Chul's resolve kept softening. If the boy had just announced it like a done deal, he could have gotten angry enough to stop him. Why did he have to ask like this—soft and low…
"Haa… Fine. But you make me one promise."
"A promise?"
"Promise me that the moment you get hurt even once, you quit hunter work that very day. Do that, and I'll allow it."
"…"
"If you can't manage that, then from the start—"
"Okay. If I come home hurt even once, I'll quit being a hunter."
Do-ha looked at Baek Chul and nodded.
Truthfully, he had been about to agree right away, then deliberately hesitated and pretended to wrestle with it. If he had said yes too quickly, his grandfather would probably have made the conditions even stricter.
If I get hurt, I just Heal myself before I come home.
And if the injury was so bad Heal couldn't fix it, he would simply fully recover and walk through the door.
Heh. There's a loophole in this promise with Grandpa.
"Looking at that face of yours, something feels off…"
Baek Chul narrowed his eyes. The corner of his grandson's mouth had twitched—barely, but a grandfather was not about to miss it.
"Come on, no way. I promised, didn't I?"
"Ugh… Fine."
In the end Baek Chul sighed deeply and nodded.
He had no idea whether this was the right thing to do. If his grandson got badly hurt later, he was going to regret this choice.
"By the way—did you really Awaken?"
"I Awakened a while ago."
"My grandson, an Awakened… So what kind of ability do you have? On the news they spit fire, make ice, all sorts of things."
"I'm just really strong."
"Weren't you always like that?"
His grandson had been born with the build of a natural powerhouse. There hadn't been a sport he couldn't handle since he was little.
"Let's just say I got a lot stronger."
Do-ha pulled a frying pan from the kitchen drawer and sat down in front of Baek Chul. Then he curled his middle finger against his thumb—
and flicked the bottom of the pan.
THUNK!
CRACK!
"Good heavens!"
A hole punched clean through the frying pan, and Baek Chul nearly jumped out of his chair. That solid pan, holed by nothing more than a finger-flick…
"First time I've ever seen an Awakened's ability up close… Remarkable."
"That's how strong I am."
"Hmm… A very you kind of ability to end up with."
Baek Chul turned the perforated pan this way and that and let out a dry laugh.
Sorry for lying to you all day, Grandpa.
Watching him, Do-ha managed an awkward smile.
The night before, he had already formed a single circle around his heart and built out his dantian. Then he had circulated his energy straight through until dawn—he was already at the second circle, with twenty years' worth of internal energy stored in his dantian.
But he couldn't say any of that out loud.
He wouldn't believe me anyway.
Beep-beep-beep.
"Oh my, look at the time…"
His wristwatch alarm went off. Baek Chul set the pan down and stood.
"Where are you going?"
"Time for work."
"What??"
At the word work, Do-ha's brow furrowed.
His grandfather was seventy-five. He should have retired ages ago.
"You rest, Grandpa. I'll bring the money in."
"This old man is still perfectly healthy. Don't treat me like some dying fossil. Besides, sit still just because you're old and you rot even faster. A man like me needs to keep moving."
"…"
"And just so we're clear… if you overdo it trying to earn money on my account and get yourself hurt—you know what happens, right?"
"I know."
Do-ha shrugged, a little stung on the inside. In the world of Belhart he had mastered expression management to an art form—so why did he keep slipping in front of his grandfather?
"See you later."
"Have a good day."
Do-ha forced a smile and watched Baek Chul's back as he left.
Whoosh.
"Welcome to the Hunter Associ—"
The automatic doors slid open. Someone in a mask covering the lower half of their face stepped inside, and the receptionist in the lobby momentarily lost the rest of her sentence.
A robber? Here? At the Hunter Association…?
"I'm here for a rank measurement."
Black mask over nose and mouth, black cap pulled low—the robber. No. Do-ha stated his purpose to the receptionist, who was still standing there blankly.
I need a hunter license issued.
To enter a Gate, you first had to have your rank measured. In short, they had to determine whether you were an ordinary person or an Awakened. After that, if you were confirmed as Awakened, you decided whether to register as a hunter or pursue some other path.
"Ah—could I see some ID first?"
"I'll fill out an activity application."
"An activity application??"
The receptionist, hand already half-extended, stared at him in shock.
An activity application was exactly what it sounded like—consent to operate, with no personal information entered at all. The catch was that anyone who hunted that way received none of the benefits.
"Yes. I want to operate under an alias. Register me as A."
"Um… in that case you won't receive any of the various benefits. Is that all right?"
Shop fee waivers. Hunter-exclusive communication devices and coverage. Automatic rank adjustment systems. Manager assignments for broadcast appearances. Year-end tax filing services. Free hunter-only flights. Full medical coverage—and more.
Without a real-name registration, all of it was stripped away. And those benefits extended not only to the hunter but to their family as well.
"Yes, that's fine."
"…One moment, please."
The flustered receptionist entered the information. She had worked at the Hunter Association for six years, and this was the first time she had ever actually processed an activity application.
Losing the benefits was one thing. Hunters lived for wealth and fame first. Hiding your identity was the same as throwing both of those away.
"It's entered. Please go up to the twentieth floor."
"Got it."
Do-ha took the stamped activity application and headed straight for the elevator to the twentieth floor.
Whoosh.
Ding!
Rumble.
Huh. Why are there so many people?
The elevator doors opened onto a floor packed wall to wall, and Do-ha felt a flicker of surprise. The Hunter Association building was enormous, yet the twentieth floor was completely full. Were all of them new measurements? Or hunters here for re-measurement to raise their rank?
At least there's a seat.
Do-ha dropped into an empty chair. There were far more people than seats, but everyone seemed too tense to sit.
Creak.
"A?"
After roughly an hour, the door to Room 5 opened and a blank-faced hunter stepped out, calling Do-ha's name.
"Yes."
"Come in."
The hunter gave a brief wave and disappeared back into the room.
He really does not want to be doing this.
Do-ha entered Room 5 and studied the man's face.
Lee Woo-jin…
He read the name off the hunter's badge.
Worn down by life? Or just so thoroughly sick of the job that everything about him radiated apathy? It wasn't that he was scowling—his face was simply empty.
"Place your hand here. Light will come out of it—don't be startled, and even if you are, do not take your hand off the mana stone. We'd have to start over."
Association staff member Lee Woo-jin pointed to the measuring device installed in the center of the room.
"Any questions?"
"Everything learned in this room is treated as confidential, correct?"
"Yes, that's right. No matter what measurement comes out here, we cannot leak it elsewhere. And with your face covered and an alias on file, we couldn't identify you even if we wanted to."
"Good."
As soon as Lee Woo-jin finished, Do-ha set his hand on the round mana stone.
Shhhhhh…
Oh?
The mana stone lit up, and a foreign energy flowed into his body. Do-ha narrowed his eyes.
In Belhart he had put mana stones to countless uses. But never like this—never to measure another person's power.
So they can be used this way too.
For a moment he thought of Emilton, his comrade and friend. A fifth-circle mage and a scholar who researched mana itself. If she had been standing here, she would have interrogated them relentlessly about how the device was made.
Zzzzzzt.
Shhhhh…
"Uh…? Uh???"
As the mana stone began to glow in an unusual way, Lee Woo-jin's eyes—blank all day—blew wide open. A vein stood out on his forehead from the sheer force of his shock.
Awakened ranks were divided into eight color stages.
SS was gray. S was purple. A was red. B was green. C was yellow. D was sky blue. E was white.
And the highest standard rank—SSS—poured out golden light.
Th-that's… golden light!! Is this even possible? Could it be… a new Cheon-oe-cheon? Is Korea finally producing an SSS-Rank?!
In that instant—
SHHHHHHH!
—the steadily brightening mana stone erupted in a massive blaze of gold and finished the measurement.
"Ch-Cheon… oe…"
"…"
Leaving the speechless Lee Woo-jin behind him, Do-ha narrowed his eyes.
Why?
Why had he measured as SSS-Rank?
Didn't mana stones measure the power you possessed? He wasn't supposed to be SSS yet.
"Excuse me."
"…"
"Hey."
"Yes!"
At Do-ha's call, Lee Woo-jin—mouth hanging open, completely checked out—snapped his gaze back to him. Those once-blank eyes were sparkling now.
"Can we run the measurement one more time?"
"What? Why…"
Woo-jin tilted his head. It had come out gold—why did this man look so puzzled? Normally people were thrilled.
"We can't re-measure?"
"Ah… no. We can. Just put your hand on it."
Woo-jin stammered and reactivated the device.
Usually it was low-rank Awakened who asked for that—people who couldn't accept their result. An SSS-Rank requesting a re-measurement was a first.
Shhhhh…
"…Confirmed. SSS-Rank."
When the device blazed gold a second time, Woo-jin looked at Do-ha with absolute certainty. Two consecutive measurements, both SSS.
Hmm… Still no idea why it measured as SSS.
"Congratulations on ascending as a new Cheon-oe-cheon. Ah… A."
Saying the alias left a look of genuine regret on Lee Woo-jin's face.
Of all people, an SSS-Rank hunter under an alias…
As he had said earlier, everything that happened in this room was confidential. If the party involved gave permission, they could tip off a guild or the press—but without that, nothing could be disclosed.
"Um… would you… perhaps… your real name…"
"Keep it confidential."
"…Yes."
At Do-ha's utterly firm reply, Woo-jin shut his mouth tight.