Hunter Registration

I opened my eyes slowly.

Silvia lay beside me. The thought of how much she must have suffered made my chest ache, and I reached out to stroke her hair.

"Mmm?"

Silvia's eyes fluttered open. She stared at me through a haze of half-sleep — then her face went scarlet as the situation hit her.

"Wha—!? T-Teo? What is this…"

"Sleep well? Remember what happened yesterday?"

"Yesterday? What happened yester— ah."

"Heh. Looks like it came back to you."

"Teo, that… yesterday's events, could you not simply forget them? No — I do not mean I am unapologetic, it is just that, well…"

"You mean the part where you cried loud enough to shake the room? You were so cute. How could I ever forget that?"

"Uuuugh. Forget it! Forget!"

Silvia pounded her fists against my back.

"Anyway… what do we do now?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Look around you."

Only then did Silvia take in her surroundings. Her eyes went wide.

"Where is this place? And what are those strange things?"

"That's a refrigerator, and that's a fan. The truth is, I originally lived here. I was summoned to the world where you all were."

"I… heard as much from the Goddess."

"The Goddess?"

"After you vanished, the Goddess appeared and told us you had returned to the place you came from… so I begged her to let me see you again!"

"Is that so. Then I have the Goddess to thank for seeing you again. I nearly spent the rest of my life resenting all of you."

At those words, Silvia's expression darkened. I smiled at her.

"We leave the past behind and live for what comes next. I've always said that, haven't I?"

Silvia's smile returned.

"True. You always were that sort of man. Thank you once more. It seems I am forever in your debt."

"Debt? Please."

I gave a short laugh.

"But what manner of world is this? Is it so different from the one we knew?"

"Ah, well, about that…"

"Carriages that move without horses? Without magic? Does that make any sense?"

"With this alone, one can hear news from across the entire world? Remarkable!"

"A world without social rank… it is far stranger than I imagined."

Silvia listened to my explanations with open wonder. More than anything, the absence of social class seemed to delight her. She had been a slave, after all — her feelings toward rank could only have been bitter.

"Then what do you intend to do here?"

After her excitement had run its course, she turned the question on me.

"Apparently, after I left this world, monsters started appearing. People called Hunters make a living hunting them down."

"Monsters? Those damned creatures exist here as well?"

"Well… they weren't here originally. They just showed up out of nowhere. There's something called a Status Window, too."

I opened my Status Window and showed it to Silvia.

"You should have one too. Try saying it."

"Hmm. Like this, then? Status Window."

The moment Silvia spoke the words, a window appeared before her.

An Intelligence of ninety-nine. Far beyond anything I could match. Stats worthy of the Hero Party's Divine Archer.

"Then… can I become one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of these Hunters as well?"

"Do you want to be a Hunter?"

"I will do whatever you wish. Teo — what do you want to do?"

"Hmm. I…"

There was no real need to become a Hunter. My companions might not want that life either — they had already suffered enough fighting the Demon King. And yet… perhaps some of that heroic sense of justice still remained in me. Or maybe I simply couldn't bear to watch people suffer any longer. Whatever the reason, the desire to become a Hunter won out.

"…I want to be a Hunter."

"Then do it. Is there some problem?"

"More companions will join us eventually, and I don't know if they'll want to be Hunters too. That's all."

Silvia snorted a quiet laugh.

"Teo, you think of us far too much. Is it not time you did something for yourself as well? Do not concern yourself with us."

Whatever lingering worry had clung to Silvia vanished completely.

"Is that so… All right! Then let's go get registered."

"A fine decision. Where must we go?"

"First stop — the Korean Hunter Association."

"Whoa. It's even bigger than I expected."

The Hunter Association towered so high it made every neighboring building look squat by comparison. Its glass exterior caught the sunlight and flashed brilliantly, the peak lost somewhere behind low-hanging clouds. I'd heard it was built using an A-class Hunter's hardening ability — the fact that something this tall still stood was remarkable in itself.

The automatic doors parted, revealing a vast lobby. The ceiling soared five stories overhead, and dozens of people hurried back and forth across the open floor. We made our way to the reception desk at the center.

"We're here to register as Hunters."

"Hunter registration is on the second floor, in the testing rooms. Identity verification will be handled there."

"Ah, got it."

We headed upstairs at once. Climbing the stairs and pushing open the door, we found a space that looked like an enormous gymnasium, divided into separate zones. A female receptionist with an exhausted expression approached us.

"Here for registration?"

"Yes."

"We'll start with identity verification. May I see your ID?"

"Ah — I have mine, but this friend next to me is someone I summoned, so…"

"Summoned? Are you a summoner-type?"

"Uh… not exactly…"

"Ah…"

A flicker of pity crossed the receptionist's face. Hunters whose Class and Skills aligned possessed far greater potential — a Swordsman with sword skills, a Mage with magic skills. Occasionally an Awakened appeared whose Class and Skills had nothing to do with each ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠other. Those people struggled to grow, and their ceilings were notoriously low.

"Then… which type is your Class, if I may ask?"

"Swordsman-type."

"Ah, I see. Do your best. Identity confirmed — and I'll register the person beside you as a summoned creature."

"Understood."

Once the receptionist left, Silvia spoke.

"That one. Her eyes were insolent. Do we look so weak to her?"

"Eh, it's fine. She'll find out soon enough."

I didn't bother correcting her. We were about to be measured anyway — why go out of my way?

A short while later —

"Choi Tae-o! Please enter Testing Room Seven!"

"Coming!"

My turn had arrived. Silvia and I stepped into the testing room.

(Receptionist's POV)

The moment I heard that Choi Tae-o was a Swordsman-type, I felt sorry for the man standing in front of me. His Class and Skills were completely mismatched. People like that got dismissed by other Hunters constantly — growth was simply too hard.

He's pretty handsome, though…

He might have more skills, but those cases were vanishingly rare. Hunters with two skills made up maybe one percent of all Awakened. Three or more? Only about a hundred people in the entire world. And only America's Rank 1 Hunter, Oliver Brown, possessed five. There was no chance someone like that was standing in front of me.

I finished verifying his identity and moved on to the next person.

"Choi Tae-o! Please enter Testing Room Seven!"

The man from earlier walked into the testing room. For some reason I wanted to watch, so I peered in through the window.

"His summoned creature might be strong, that's all. Yeah."

It was definitely not because he was handsome.

I watched him as if spellbound — and after he finished the test —

"Holy shit. What the hell is that…?"

I couldn't close my mouth.

The examiner handed me a sword.

"Since you're a Swordsman-type, we'll start by having you swing a blade."

"All right."

I looked down at the long sword in my hand.

This is a pretty good sword. Are they really okay with me using something like this?

"What kind of sword is this, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Ah — that sword is an artifact recovered from a Rift. It has a self-repair function, so even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if it breaks, it'll restore itself quickly."

"Oh, I see."

So it was an artifact. No wonder it felt so fine. As I was admiring it, a training dummy appeared before me.

"Just cut that dummy."

The staff member said.

"All right — lightly, then."

The first form of the Teo Style: Dawn. A thrusting technique that concentrates twelve strikes into a single point. Of the five forms that make up the Teo Style, it is the only thrust — and the one with the highest piercing power.

Whik. Whik-whik. Shhk.

Barely a sound. I was looking at the finger-width hole punched clean through the dummy when the staff member beside me spoke in a dazed, broken voice.

"Y-yes? W-wait, this is… how, th-that, uh…"

"Excuse me?"

"Ah — yes?"

"Did the measurement go through?"

"Uh, well… just a moment, please!"

With that, the staff member bolted from the room. About five minutes later, he returned alongside a middle-aged man who looked considerably strong.

"Good day. I am Kim Seung-chul, an executive of the Hunter Association."

"An executive?"

"Yes. The Korean Hunter Association has seven executives, all A-class or higher. I myself am an A-class Hunter."

"Oh — A-class! One of the hundred or so in all of Korea?"

"Haha. That's right. They rather burden me with the title of Iron Shield."

Iron Shield Kim Seung-chul. One of Korea's finest tankers. With no tankers among the S-class, he ranked among the top one or two tankers in the country.

"But why would someone like you…"

"Would you mind demonstrating that sword technique one more time?"

"Ah."

"Word reached me that the skill appears to be S-class. This fellow here has a rather good eye."

Kim Seung-chul gestured toward the still-trembling staff member beside him.

"If that's all, sure."

Whik. Shhk.

I showed the technique once more. Kim Seung-chul's expression hardened — then, a moment later, he smiled.

"Haha. Well now. Looks like my ranking is about to drop another notch. A brand-new S-class, is it?"

He seemed to have gauged my level. But that skill wasn't the only one I had.

"Actually, I have a few more skills beyond that one."

"…Pardon?"

Kim Seung-chul's eyes went as wide as saucers.