The Test Results Are Not Normal
After the waiting period ended, the ability holder examination—including the blood test—concluded quickly. The machine, which resembled an MRI scanner, could instantly measure the examinee’s mana activity level.
Occasionally, even after awakening, a person’s mana activity would register too low. In those cases, they would administer special medications, and the test would usually produce accurate results. It was a situation that had nothing to do with Han Yujin.
However.
Once all the tests were finished, he was made to wait an unusually long time. Watching people who had arrived after him enter the consultation rooms first, he couldn’t help but think to himself.
‘My test results must not be ordinary.’
In truth, he had roughly guessed as much the moment he learned how the examination worked.
Checking mana activity essentially meant measuring how deeply the body had been influenced by mana.
And he had diligently trained both his body and soul using the exceptionally stable Hoe-won Gong in the Primordial Forest, a place where spiritual energy was nearly ten times richer than here.
It was unlikely that a mana scanner could analyze the state of a soul that had partially sublimated into a Dharma Soul. Still, since body and soul were not separate, he could roughly estimate how far his physical vessel surpassed that of newly awakened individuals.
‘At the very least, there should be a tenfold difference.’
A short while later, as he was lost in thought—
“Mr. Han Yujin?”
The counter staff member who had briefly disappeared inside approached him directly.
“Yes?”
“Sorry for the long wait. Please come this way.”
The noticeably kinder attitude was clearly not his imagination. Following the staff member, he opened the door to what appeared to be a consultation room. Inside sat three men: two who looked to be in their mid-to-late forties and one in his mid-thirties.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Yes, nice to meet you too.”
Since the other party greeted him first with courtesy, Han Yujin returned the greeting politely and took the seat they indicated.
As the staff member left the room, he casually glanced at the ID badge hanging from the neck of the youngest-looking man—the one in his mid-thirties.
‘Ability Management Bureau, Administrative Officer, Oh Tae-min.’
A government official from the so-called Hunter Management Agency.
‘What rank would an administrative officer be?’
While he was pondering, the man in his forties seated in the middle manipulated the computer, bringing up the test results on the monitor. The screen was angled so that Han Yujin, sitting across the desk, could view it comfortably.
“First of all, congratulations on your ability awakening.”
“Thank you.”
“Shall we start with the blood test results?”
The man—who was clearly a doctor, judging by his white coat—continued with a general explanation. Liver values, cholesterol, kidney function, blood sugar, thyroid hormones… every piece of physical information obtainable from a blood test indicated perfect health.
“That’s enough about the bloodwork… Now, if you look here, this is your mana activity level.”
The number the doctor highlighted with the mouse cursor was 2,477. The average value displayed beside it was a mere 80.
“Your mana activity is more than thirty times higher than average, Mr. Han. This is truly… even active veteran hunters rarely score this high. Are you certain you only awakened a few days ago?”
“Yes.”
“And you haven’t been feeling ill or anything unusual?”
“No, nothing at all.”
It seemed the doctor suspected some new type of ability-related illness. As a physician, it was a natural line of thought and something that needed confirmation, so Han Yujin simply smiled briefly and answered.
“Then let’s move on. I’ll take a look at the aptitude questionnaire you filled out earlier.”
The doctor operated the computer again, pulling up another screen. It was the very aptitude test form he had completed outside.
The other man in his forties, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.
“You wrote that your awakened ability is ‘knowledge related to mana.’ Does that mean you’ve gained knowledge on how to manipulate mana?”
“Yes. To demonstrate… would it be all right if I show you right now?”
“Please do so as safely as possible.”
Han Yujin nodded to indicate he understood and raised one hand, releasing his spiritual energy. He added a single simple incantation. A small shape of light appeared, then suddenly split into nine separate orbs. They began to rotate slowly, each chasing the tail of the one before it.
“No way…”
The surprised exclamation came from the man affiliated with the Ability Management Bureau. In truth, Han Yujin had been quietly observing him as well; he had sensed spiritual energy from the man at first glance.
With his Spirit Eye technique, he could instantly tell whether someone was an awakened individual, but he had deliberately refrained from using it. Now, it seemed there was no need.
If the man had never handled mana despite being an ability user himself, he wouldn’t have reacted with such shock.
“Did you just use a glyph?”
Glyph was the Earth term for a dharma inscription. One could think of it as the runes commonly found in fantasy novels.
As a side note, the reason “rune” had not been adopted as the international standard like “mana” was because actual runic characters from ancient Northern Europe still existed as intangible cultural heritage in those countries. The concept of mana, being entirely abstract, was a different matter altogether.
“Yes.”
“You’ve never learned this before, correct? You don’t have any connections in that field…?”
“None at all.”
Han Yujin found the man’s astonished reaction extremely satisfying. He had to make a conscious effort not to break into a wide grin.
“Can you show us anything else?”
“Here?”
“Ah.”
The man seemed to snap out of it and gave a meaningful glance to the middle-aged man beside the doctor. It was a clear gesture telling him to continue with his duties—an attitude only a superior could display so naturally.
The middle-aged man smoothly returned to the aptitude form and resumed the conversation.
His role was to verify the contents of the form, explain to newly confirmed ability users what they needed to do next, and introduce the various welfare benefits available to them.
Of course, awakening an ability did not immediately make someone a hunter. Far from it—they wouldn’t even receive the most basic certificate required to use their powers.
This place was simply a facility to confirm whether someone had truly awakened. Han Yujin would now need to visit another section of the center to prove that he could use and control his abilities without issue.
Only then would he receive the “Ability Possession and Aptitude Certificate,” commonly called a basic qualification. With that, he could pursue other certifications or attend the preliminary hunter education course.
Once the middle-aged man finished his explanation, the administrative officer from the Ability Management Bureau immediately stepped forward.
“Shall we go get your basic qualification right away? I’ll help you through the process.”
“I’d really appreciate that.”
Han Yujin didn’t know exactly what rank an administrative officer held, but it was clear the man wasn’t a low-level employee. Having someone of his position personally assist him was an obvious sign of special treatment—something anyone would recognize.
After bidding farewell to the doctor and the middle-aged man, he followed the officer toward the first basement floor.
“Awakening specific knowledge isn’t an unheard-of case, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone handle glyphs with such proficiency. Could your exceptionally high mana activity be related? Did you discover some special cultivation method?”
The question cut straight to the core. Han Yujin saw no reason to deny it and answered openly.
“Yes. I also learned a kind of training method for refining the mind and body.”
“Hah… Still, no matter how you look at it, you only awakened a few days ago… What other abilities do you possess?”
Once again, Han Yujin hid nothing and listed every basic spell he could perform.
‘There’s no point in playing the weakling who hides his power.’
In most media, protagonists hid their strength and pretended to be weak in order to protect themselves from unknown threats that might exist. It was the principle of “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.” As a bonus, it could also mislead potential enemies about one’s true capabilities.
‘I have no intention of doing that.’
It wasn’t simply that his personality didn’t suit playing the hidden powerhouse. There were clear reasons.
First, he saw no necessity for it. Second, in order to gather Karma, he would have to act proactively anyway.
Having heard the full extent of his abilities, the administrative officer from the Ability Management Bureau stopped in his tracks for a moment and stared at him.
“…Telekinesis, barrier, pyromancy, teleportation, observation, stealth, healing… is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“And you can use all of them not as innate awakened powers, but by learning them as knowledge?”
“That’s right.”
“Could other people learn them too?”
“If they can sense mana, then probably.”
After all, that was how he would obtain Karma. Not many people would be able to master them in a short time, but in the long run, there was no better source of Karma.
One should not hoard knowledge.
The more widely he spread it, the more people who benefited, and the more influence he exerted, the greater the corresponding amount of Karma that would return to him.
Of course, he would have to manage it carefully so he didn’t get stabbed in the back.
“You should become a scholar or educator rather than a hunter.”
Whether the man was joking or serious, Han Yujin simply laughed it off.
Spreading knowledge didn’t require him to lead the effort personally. As long as he remained the source, the end result would be the same. Clearing rifts, however, was a different story.
Following the officer who had resumed walking, they arrived at a rather secluded area on the first basement floor. The atmosphere suggested this was not a place just anyone could enter.
“This is it.”
The officer stopped in front of an ability training room, naturally entered a passcode, and unlocked the door. Han Yujin followed him inside and let out a small sigh of admiration at the sight.
It was hard to believe they had excavated such a vast underground space without any supporting pillars. Leaving the structure aside, the materials forming the floor, walls, and ceiling were clearly far from ordinary.
The officer moved to a computer terminal on one side, powered it on, and began typing furiously. He occasionally asked for Han Yujin’s resident registration number and other details.
‘It feels like he’s skipping every official procedure.’
That was the impression, yet Han Yujin felt no discomfort. He knew full well that every part of this—including this room—was special treatment.
“Alright then…”
When the officer performed a few more commands, one of the metal cylinders embedded in the training room wall slid smoothly across the floor and came to a stop in the center. Its movement was eerily silent and smooth, as if floating.
To an ordinary person, both the location and the objects here would be completely unknown. It was only natural that Han Yujin, who had been an ordinary person until recently, would find it fascinating.
“Shall we start by testing your pyromancy? You must be curious too—how strong your offensive power actually is.”
“Yes, I suppose I am.”
In truth, he already knew exactly how strong it was and wasn’t particularly curious, but Han Yujin played along. For a normally awakened person, this would indeed be their first real opportunity to test their power properly.
Han Yujin stood quietly in the center of the training room, staring at the metal cylinder. Misinterpreting his hesitation, the officer spoke kindly.
“If it’s too far, you can move closer to attack. If anything feels off, please tell me right away.”
“Actually… how durable is that thing?”
“Ah.”
The officer chuckled, clearly amused.
“It’s made of Level 3 mana alloy. Ordinary attacks won’t even scratch it. It also has a composite armor structure, so feel free to attack without worry.”
“But what if it breaks by some chance?”
“That’s what taxes are for.”
Reassured by the bold claim, Han Yujin focused on the metal cylinder once more.
His Spirit Eye technique had activated at some point, revealing the density of spiritual energy within the pillar and allowing him to analyze its complex internal structure.
‘It’s probably going to break. I hope he doesn’t go back on his word like a cheapskate.’
Even if it did, once he began proper hunter activities, he would be able to repay the cost easily enough. It would create one unpleasant connection, though.
With that thought, he raised his right hand and cast the Flame Bullet spell at a perfectly ordinary level.
The moment the blazing sphere of fire shot forward like an arrow and struck the metal cylinder dead center—
BOOOOOOM—!!
A deafening explosion shook the sealed training room, accompanied by a scorching gust of wind. The startled officer’s gaze locked onto the point of impact and refused to move.
The object that was supposedly unscratched by ordinary attacks had turned bright red as if pulled from a blast furnace. More than half of it had melted and collapsed.
Even the floor where the pillar had stood was shattered, thick tiles cracked and gouged apart. If Han Yujin hadn’t deliberately held back, a large hole might have been punched straight through.
‘There didn’t seem to be a second basement level.’
He had been careful in case there were any unmarked mechanical rooms on the facility map.
The officer remained silent for over ten seconds. He simply alternated his gaze between Han Yujin and the ruined metal pillar, as if unable to believe what he was seeing.
“This… is at least A-rank power…?”
Hearing the mutter, Han Yujin thought calmly to himself.
As expected, the cultivation methods from the xianxia world really do break the power balance.