Civilian Livelihood Support Funds (1)
In that short time, Cheon I-hwa had clearly gotten a full makeup refresh. She looked every bit the successful CEO in her polished outfit.
“Why are you looking at me when you don’t even know your place? What if you die? You made it seem like I’m the one who went easy. It’s annoying.”
She opened with a sharp rebuke and kept grumbling right after.
“Hmph. And hiding your skills? What a weirdo.”
Kim Yeo-ul glanced at me with a flustered expression. Cheon I-hwa stepped closer.
“Who are you looking at? I’m talking about you, Kim Yeo-ul.”
“M-me? You mean me?”
“Who else is here? You deliberately scored only two points in the first test because you didn’t want attention, right?”
“No, I really wasn’t hiding anything…”
“Lies don’t work on me. I already know you one-handedly crushed a level-27 tanker in the second test.”
“Ah…”
He couldn’t exactly tell her it had been his other personality, Yacha, who did that.
“The strength you showed during our spar was honestly shocking. A trait that prevents you from taking damage from your own skills, right? Probably A-rank. And that flame magic that broke through my protective aura is obviously A-rank too.”
She was completely misunderstanding. It had all been thanks to my buffs.
The moment I opened my mouth to correct her—
“That’s the mana—”
Squeeze.
I pinched his waist from behind. Kim Yeo-ul instantly changed course.
“Your manicure looks pretty.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“I-I just noticed it.”
“Anyway! You should feel honored. I can count the hunters whose names I remember on one hand, Kim Yeo-ul.”
“……”
An awkward silence settled over us. Cheon I-hwa, arms still crossed as she waited for a reply, finally exploded.
“You’re not going to say thank you?”
“Th-thank you.”
“Take care of your body. You’ll be working under me eventually anyway.”
“I’m sorry, but I came here to become an official hunter…”
“I know that. And… Chae Mu-jin.”
Suddenly called out, I answered in a slouched posture.
“We’ve only seen each other a few times. Why are you speaking so casually?”
“We’re the same age. Stop acting like an old man.”
“Sigh. So what do you want?”
“You’d better brace yourself too. Hehe.”
Thud.
With that meaningful remark, Cheon I-hwa left. Of course I knew exactly what she meant.
The extrajudicial organization jointly funded by the Hunter Association and the government—Ameosa. It was already being prepared.
Creak.
The door opened again. Cheon I-hwa stuck just her hand through the gap.
“Kim Yeo-ul, don’t you dare go easy on me again. I’ll really get angry next time.”
Whoosh!
“Eek!”
Something bead-like flew at him. It was so fast Kim Yeo-ul couldn’t even think of catching it; he just squeezed his eyes shut and screamed. I snatched the object out of the air instead.
It wasn’t a bead at all.
Rapidly restores stamina, energy, and mana.
Permanent Effects: Stamina +1, Mana +1, Mana Regeneration +0.01
Temporary Effects: Stamina +3, Mana +3, Mana Regeneration +0.1
It wasn’t on the level of the Bijeongmudan Cheon Mu-jong had given me, but it was still an elixir. The stat boost was tiny, yet just as the name suggested, it was a special medicine that quickly replenished spent stamina, energy, and mana.
“Their spending habits really are identical.”
I placed the Vitality Pellet in Kim Yeo-ul’s hand. The moment he confirmed it was an item, he flinched hard.
“Wh-what is this? I’ve never even heard of an item like this!”
“Put it in your mouth. The effect disappears the second it touches air.”
It was a lie, but Kim Yeo-ul scrambled to his feet anyway.
“Huk! Water—where’s the water?”
“Do you think an elixir is some vitamin pill? Just swallow it.”
“It smells like herbal medicine though…”
“Next time I’ll ask for strawberry flavor.”
“What does strawberry even taste—ugh!”
I snatched the pellet back and shoved it straight into his mouth. The elixir melted like snow the instant it touched saliva and slid down his throat. Kim Yeo-ul’s face crumpled inward as if he’d bitten into a lemon.
“Why is it so sour? Ueeeh…”
“Things that taste bad are usually good for you. Stand up.”
“Huh?”
His body, which had felt heavy and achy like he was coming down with a cold, rose with surprising lightness. It was as if he had slept twelve straight hours, woken up, and taken an ice-cold shower—both body and mind felt clean and refreshed.
“Refreshing, right?”
“Yes!”
“Then let’s go. We’re going to be late.”
“Where to?”
“We still have the second round. You’ve been lying here for forty minutes.”
“Ah…”
And so Kim Yeo-ul headed back toward the sparring arena for round two.
The spectator seats in the arena were packed to an unusual degree. Kim Yeo-ul tensed up, assuming the crowd had come because his opponent was someone famous like Cheon I-hwa. In reality, it was his opponent who was nervous.
“P-please go easy on me.”
“Huh?”
His second-round opponent was a warrior ten levels higher than him.
Ah. They think the result after receiving my buff was my own power.
I almost felt sorry enough to tell him the truth—that he wouldn’t be getting a buff as strong as the one Cheon I-hwa had received.
Before the match began, I gave him the strategy.
“I won’t be handing out as powerful a buff as you got against Cheon I-hwa. Just follow the plan I gave you and you’ll win easily.”
The strategy itself was almost embarrassingly simple. I wondered if it was really okay to win this easily.
―[00:00]
The instant the countdown ended, four fireballs formed above his head. The warrior tensed and prepared to dodge. Ignoring him, Kim Yeo-ul launched two of them simultaneously.
They were slow enough to be seen and avoided, so the warrior dashed forward—only for the fireballs to slam into the ground.
Boom!
Shockwaves and flames erupted. The oncoming heat clearly rattled the warrior. In that opening, the remaining two fireballs flew in.
He could no longer dodge with the same composure. The psychological pressure of being flustered, combined with his slightly broken stance, made him desperate.
Booom!
He moved anyway, but because he moved without thinking, he essentially ran straight into the fireball.
“Aaaack!”
What made fireballs terrifying wasn’t just the impact—it was the searing heat that inspired pure fear. The warrior rolled frantically across the floor trying to extinguish the flames. During that time, the arena lights turned red.
Kim Yeo-ul wins.
Even though he had won, Kim Yeo-ul still couldn’t believe it.
I won without a buff.
As if to prove it wasn’t a fluke, he won the remaining three rounds using nothing but the strategies I had given him.
“Tankers will always block with their shields. So pour every drop of mana into a single fireball and throw it.”
“The healer will probably forfeit. If they don’t, launch four fireballs at once.”
“The last one is an assassin who’ll hide the moment the match starts. Focus on your hearing—you’ll hear their footsteps. Fire a fireball diagonally toward the sound.”
Excluding the match against Cheon I-hwa, he had earned four wins and eight points total. As Kim Yeo-ul smiled with pure joy, I spoke seriously.
“Congratulations on the victories, but don’t fool yourself into thinking you can use any of this in real combat. I’ll teach you properly later.”
“Wasn’t this the proper lesson?”
“Not even close. I only taught you how to win a game. These aren’t real spars. They’re useless for actual growth.”
Right then, an announcement came over the speakers.
Group A’s matches have concluded. Group B’s matches will begin in one hour on the hour. Please check the bracket and schedule.
It was finally my turn.
If Cheon I-hwa had been the hot topic of Group A, I was the equivalent for Group B. The points of interest, however, were completely different.
For the daughter of the Association President and disciple of the Great First Sword, people wanted to see exactly how skilled she was and how quickly she would eliminate her opponents. For me, the unknown variable, the question was simpler: the buff might be powerful, but could I actually fight?
Public opinion was split exactly down the middle.
“If a supporter fights well, is he even a supporter anymore? It’s an automatic loss!”
“Sure, the buff might make attacks hit hard, but that’s the same as handing a loaded gun to a child.”
“Even a kid can fire a gun. They might not aim properly, but a lucky hit is still fatal, right?”
“Plus, Chae Mu-jin is the one who discovered Janus. Someone with that kind of eye for talent can’t possibly be bad at fighting!”
Here, Janus was the nickname the public had given Kim Yeo-ul. He looked timid and gentle on the surface, but became bold and aggressive in battle—hence the name. Of course, such titles weren’t handed out lightly. He had pushed Cheon I-hwa to her limit despite losing, then won every match afterward, which is why the name stuck.
While the spectators argued loudly, I—the person in question—had zero interest in winning or losing. The only thing that mattered to me was finding ‘S-rank talent.’
“So many hunters gathered in one place, yet not a single one catches my eye.”
Even while training Kim Yeo-ul I had been observing the other applicants, but they were all worthless chaff.
To deal with the magic girl who was stabbed a thousand times, I’ll need a decent physical dealer.
I wasn’t being that greedy. I only had two conditions: either they already possessed an S-rank skill, or they had the qualities to become an S-rank hunter.
“Not even one out of hundreds.”
I walked around the entire facility, quietly examining even the applicants who were keeping to themselves. All I saw were mediocre hunters.
Come to think of it, official hunters themselves carry the faint stench of “rice-eating hunters” permitted by the state. After all, they’re basically civil servants.
No one becomes an official hunter because they want to risk their lives. They come for the stable benefits and welfare. Maybe that was why most of the applicants here seemed so ordinary.
It was said that you needed to reach level 500 to become S-rank. That was half true and half false. You could obtain Authority without hitting level 500. The conditions were simply extremely secretive and difficult. What was certain, however, was that an ordinary person could never become S-rank.
There had to be madness. The kind of madness that treated one’s own precious life like trash.
But don’t people call that kind of person crazy?
Thinking back, every S-rank I had known had a few screws loose. They felt human, yet not quite human. Even Kim Yeo-ul had been the worst villain in the previous timeline.
So I was supposed to raise a bunch of lunatics.
Oddly enough, that was fine with me. It would make levying their skills feel far less like a guilty conscience.
Still, I can’t read every single person’s inner thoughts.
Buzz, buzz!
While I was lost in thought, my phone alarm went off. It was the one I had set for ten minutes before my match.
“Guess I should head over.”
I had no intention of becoming an official hunter, so there was no real reason to fight. I could forfeit right now and go home. Yet the single reason I still stepped into the arena was the faint hope that I might discover a lunatic whose madness couldn’t be seen from the outside.
The result was a complete failure.
Round one: a hard tanker who cowered behind his shield, shivering.
Round two: a sub-healer who burst into tears after one hit and forfeited.
Round three: a dual-wielder who spun his swords with perfect form and zero substance.
Round four: a supporter who immediately shouted out his account number, offering money if I would just lose.
Not even worth pulling out the Sword Ghost’s soul I took from Kim Ji-woo.
I beat every one of them with my bare fists and easily secured four wins.
Then came the final, fifth round. It was already past ten at night. Fatigue and disappointment had reached their peak, and I was seriously considering just forfeiting and leaving when—
Booom—!
The arena floor shook with a heavy vibration.
My drowsiness vanished instantly. I looked up with wide eyes.
“Hello? I’m the Civilian Livelihood Support Funds! Please call me Min-ji for short!”
A petite high-school girl wearing a school uniform blazer. In her slender hands she held a ridiculously oversized two-meter steel hammer. The girl smiled brightly as she rested the murderous weapon on her shoulder as lightly as a feather. The corners of my mouth slowly curled upward.
Found one. A crazy person.