It was an ordinary afternoon.
And just like any other day, Sae-Jin came to the Monster Store
to unload the Monster materials when, out of the blue, the lady
government official demanded to see his Hunter Licence.
"Here, please take this newly issued Hunter Licence."
After the official did this and that with the new card, he
noticed that there were new and different words from before
added to the front of it.
"The Heavenly Gifted Hunter...? What is this?"
Sae-Jin asked, his head tilting slightly.
"Ah, that is what you call a Title.... It's just a nice, simplified
way to describe your current set of abilities."
"Eh?"
"Didn't you bring in Monster carcasses worth 23 creatures
within your first month as a Hunter, Mr. Kim Sae-Jin? Because
you satisfied the conditions, a prefix was added to your job
description. Overflowing with a great talent, that's what the
title Heavenly Gifted means. It's really a rare and wonderful
Title, you know. You can't receive it if you've been a Hunter for
over 6 months, and also, the Knights Orders actually do prefer
this Title over the likes of The Seasoned Pro or The
Distinguished Individual." (The latter one was something called
"관록있는" I've no idea what this is, and Google was no help
either, so, I made stuff up. Oh well...)
The government official explained with ardent fervor and
zeal, but Sae-Jin showed little interest as he lightly nodded his
head. After all, this wasn't a very helpful tale for someone like
him who could only maintain his Human Form for 80 minutes a
day.
"...Thanks, I guess."
"Ah....wait!!"
When Sae-Jin turned around to leave, the government official
shot up from her seat and lightly held onto his sleeve. As he
frowned and stared at the official with questioning eyes, she
quickly pushed forward a paper at him while her cheeks
reddened in a bashful manner.
"This... Please take a look at this!!"
"....Huh?"
A government official's trying to sell me something? Even
though Sae-Jin was slightly speechless, he ended up finding the
shy female official twisting her body in embarrassment,
objectively speaking, rather adorable in his eyes.
There was still... 66 minutes left.
"What am I reading here?"
He asked out aloud as he checked out the writings on the
paper. The large words "Public Recruitment for Hunters by
Pabaek Knights Order" were written on top, and below that
were some fine prints detailing what's what.
"Pabaek is a government-owned Knights Order with its
headquarters located in our neck of the woods, and currently,
they are looking to hire capable Hunters. Of course, it's true
that only the ranks of Mid Tier or higher can possibly apply,
but.... I'm sure that Mr. Sae-Jin's Title will receive a favourable
consideration in this case! Besides, the plan was to upgrade your
ranking to low Mid Tier or higher as soon as Mr. Sae-Jin
satisfied the required amount of hunting experience, you see."
To clarify, the widely accepted definition for a low Mid Tier
Hunter was "Can hunt a Low Tier Monster if three people with
similar skill sets gather". And for a low Mid Tier Knight, it was
the exact opposite – "Can deal with more than three Low Tier
Monsters at the same time, alone."
That's why Sae-Jin's existence was a little, no, very special to
the eyes of this lady official. In most cases, Hunters formed
parties of three or more when moving about, yet here was a
man that always came in alone, and always left by himself as
well.
"Well, are you... interested in taking this opportunity? If you
want, it's possible to apply right here and now. Mr. Sae-Jin will
be accepted right away when you submit your application, I'm
sure of it! In the past, Hunters with the Title Heavenly Gifted all
got scouted by the famous Knights Orders even before they've
been active for less than a year. Heck, some even went and
converted their professions and became Knights in the end, you
know!"
She became slightly desperate and her grip on Sae-Jin's sleeve
got a little stronger.
He was going to decline right away, but then, he found it a bit
regretful too, looking at the lady official's round, clear and
sparkling eyes. It was a sight of a woman actively pursuing him,
something he had never experienced before in his life yet.
A man's worth was indeed judged by his abilities, thought Sae-
Jin. To see a cute woman, a well paid government employee to
boot, acting so aggressive like this.... It was indeed a mystical
yet somewhat difficult new world for him to tread in. If it
weren't for his Trait of being a "Monster" he wouldn't even
have a chance to do so, but at the same time, he couldn't really
go around boasting his achievements either, precisely because
of his condition as a "Monster"...
".....Is that so?"
When Sae-Jin's lips wiggled and formed an indecipherable
smile, she mistakenly thought the talk was proceeding
swimmingly, and so she smiled happily and added a bit more to
the sales pitch.
"Yes, of course!! Hehe... By the way, there's... a favour I'd
really, really love to ask you related to this..."
It was right at this moment. Sae-Jin swallowed that
mysterious smile back down. His intuition, forcibly cultivated
by being subjected to many painful things at a young age, went
off like an alarm bell in his head. It said, don't listen to the rest,
just leave as soon as possible.
"So... when you are recruited, please, would you mention my
name, Kim Hye-Jin, as the person who recommended you....
What the, wait a second!! Please, just a second!! Mister Sae-
Jin!!" (Another Kim?! I'm telling you right now, there are other
surnames in Korea, too....)
Before she could finish her sentence, Sae-Jin was already
leaving the Monster Store at a walking speed that bordered on a
full-on sprint.
***
Hunting became a lot easier, after his Goblin Form morphed
from being what he previously thought of as a useless burden to
one of the most valuable assets in a single day. That was all
thanks to, of course, the Body Strengthening potion and its
effects.
After "doping", the Orc Form now exhibited strength that
equalled an Orc Warrior's. But as Sae-Jin went around with a
steel mace bought from the local Monster Store, when it came
to the matters of overall destructive power, he could easily
overwhelm an Orc Warrior that only knew how to wield a crude
weapon.
His doped Grey Wolf Form might have displayed a similar
level of increased destructive prowess, but unfortunately, the
Wolf's limbs strengthened so much that he couldn't fully
control the resulting speed boost so, for now, until he got more
familiar with the changes, he had to hunt in a form that most
resembled a humanoid shape – an Orc.
"Geuahahahah–!!!!" (WTF?!)
And the warcry he made just now before the battle, was
completely instinctual. When in the middle of the battle, the
rabidly-boiling fighting spirit made him feel like he was an
invincible warrior from some legends of the distant past, and it
became harder to endure the rapidly-mutating madness without
roaring out aloud. (Jesus on a pogo stick, this sentence was so
choke-a-full of tough Hanja characters my brain actually
imploded trying to TL this sh*t up. WTF, indeed.)
"—-"
But his opponent didn't respond at all. Par for the course,
really. Its entire body made up of bleached bones, this b*****d
was not much different from a corpse reanimated by a Lich
using Mana.
Kwaahahng!!
A dull-bladed scimitar collided with a steel mace. There was
no need to even confirm the end result. The forest shook
violently from the explosion of noise and the shockwave from
the collision, while the skull and the scimitar of the Skeleton
Soldier were literally blown into smithereens. Standing proudly
amidst the broken white bones scattering in the air, an Orc was
busy enjoying the wonderful taste of his victory.
[Condition Complete: Required Experience Points Attained]
► Trait Level now increased to 4.
► All Stats rise by 1, and all Stats related to Forms will be
adjusted accordingly.
And his happiness could only double while silently observing
the message window popping up into his view.
His elation couldn't last for long, though.
The tall grasses shook, and there were sounds of feet leaving
traces on the ground. He had sensed people's presence nearby.
They weren't close, but neither could they be described as far,
so Sae-Jin quickly assumed his Human Form. His survival
depended on it.
In truth, the most dangerous element for Sae-Jin in the
Monster field wasn't Monsters but fellow humans. With the
notable exception of Trolls, he could more or less contend with
the rest of the Monsters found in this Low Tier hunting ground,
but then, there were the existences called the "Knights" whose
powers were just too ridiculously beyond the realm of the
common sense. One mistake, and if he got spotted by one of
them, then it'd be curtains for him, just like that.
That's why he always maintained all five of his senses at the
highest possible state of awareness. The clothings he wore
during his Monster Forms were different from when he was in
the Human Form, and thankfully, when he changed, the clothes
changed along with him like magic, making it possible to pull
the ruse off rather splendidly.
"....Huh, it was just a person?"
Just in time, as Sae-Jin was relaxedly reaching down to grab
the Mana Stone from the fallen Skeleton's remains, a party of
Hunters emerged from the bushes. This 4-person party carefully
studied Sae-Jin's apparels for a bit before offering greetings
when they saw the mace in his hands.
"Ah, hello there!"
Hunters were not "friendly" with Mana, and as a result, their
bodies weren't as powerful, so they couldn't utilise close-range
combat weapons. The only remaining weapon of choice for
them was the type of guns that fired Mana bullets. That's why
these Hunters mistook Sae-Jin as a Knight instead. Plus, there
was that deafening noise earlier, so they assumed his Knight
rank was, at least, a Low Tier.
"Haha, what a coincidence. It's quite a rare thing to run into
other humans in a Monster field, see...."
A guy who seemed to be the leader of the party approached
Sae-Jin while carrying a disarming smile. But when Sae-Jin
showed no reaction and simply stared back at him, this Hunter
promptly produced a business card from his inner pocket and
handed it over.
"We're Hunting Team 1, from the Taereung Knights Order.
My name is Kim Ji-Han, a upper Mid Tier ranked Hunter, and
these guys are... well, it doesn't really matter. They are just still
young hatchlings, after all." (OMG. Another Kim?! I swear, this
author hates other surnames. Has to be it.)
On the face of this rather expensive-looking business card, the
letters "Upper Mid Tier" were embroidered in gold ink. It
seemed like that a veteran Hunter employed by the Knights
Order brought along a bunch of promising eggs on a
demonstration hunt for the express purpose of educating the
young 'uns.
"Is that right."
"Yeah, hahaha. These guys here somehow managed to hit the
rankings of lower Mid Tier within 2 years, but the fact they are
still clueless hatchlings, that haven't changed at all... Oh, if it's
not much trouble, may I inquire which Knights Order you're
affiliated with...?"
Kim Ji-Han asked in a friendly voice. He figured that making a
friendly connection with a Knight would never be a bad thing
and only prove advantageous for him in the long run.
Of course, that was only if Sae-Jin was a Knight in the first
place.
"...Ah, I think you're mistaken about something here... I'm
not a Knight."
Sae-Jin replied while pocketing the business card.
At the unexpected answer, Kim Ji-Han's head tilted slightly
while carrying a confused expression on his face. Then his gaze
drifted towards the scattered remains of the Skeleton Soldier on
the ground. To utterly annihilate a Skeleton like this
singlehandedly, and to claim he wasn't a Knight?
".....So that means..."
"Ah, I'm also a Hunter. Good to make your acquaintance. My
rank is a Low Tier."
Ignoring the flabbergasted expression of Kim Ji-Han, Sae-Jin
offered his hand for a shake while smiling amiably. Somehow
grabbing hold of the offered hand, Kim Ji-Han continued his
disbelieving expressions.
"Ah... well, that was a joke... right? Haha, well, your sense of
humour is pretty good, I must say. But, you know it's not
permitted, right? A Low Tier Hunter isn't permitted to hunt in
the Low Tier hunting ground alone. I mean, if a Low Tier rank
can chase down a Monster alone, then why stay as a Hunter and
not become a Knight instead, right? Ahahaha!!"
"Haha... is that so? But it's the truth."
Sae-Jin could now maintain his Human Form for 90 minutes
thanks to his level up just now, but that was still not enough. He
quickly pulled out his Hunter licence and showed it to Kim Ji-
Han.
"Uh? This is a real Hunter licence.... eh?"
Ji-Han's eyes and mouth widened as he discovered something
incredulous on the card after he examined it back to front.
"The Heavenly Gifted...? Could this be..."
Ji-Han momentarily stopped talking and simply studied the
man in front of him. The Heavenly Gifted – this was one of the
greatest Titles available among the Hunters, only granted to
those who could, within the space of half a year from the
beginning of one's career as a Hunter, kill over 20 Monsters in a
month.
Those possessing this Title were all invariably got scouted by
the biggest Knights Orders and it was a common occurrence to
see many of them switching their profession to that of a Knight
instead.
At the back of the licence, there was Sae-Jin's hunting record,
and as expected, it was quite a remarkable thing. Maybe it was
all down to the difference in talent. 23 Monsters in a month, and
to top it off, all self dismantled and disposed of. This record was
so overbearing that, even though Kim Ji-Han knew this guy's
ranking was two tiers lower than his, he found it impossible to
say anything about it.
"...This..!!"
As Kim Ji-Han studied the licence some more, his eyes lit up
brightly all of a sudden. He finally noticed the space for
"Affiliation" was blank.
Regular Hunters hunted in either one of two ways. One was to
form a temporary party with other Hunters, and the other was,
like Kim Ji-Han here, to become a Hunter employed by a
Knights Order and hunt in a designated team.
But it wasn't a given that the former was a worse choice than
the latter, and that the latter option wasn't always a better of
the two. There were enough Hunters out there choosing the
first option simply because they didn't enjoy being in a strict
group environment and all its accompanying rules and
regulations, even though they possessed enough skills and
abilities to enter a Knights Order.
"You're not affiliated with anyone yet?!"
"....Ah, yeah. Somehow, it's like that, but I like moving solo.
I'm not thinking of joining anyone."
Sae-Jin was adamant, but Kim Ji-Han thought that he was
clearly the latter case. So, with a smile on his face, he presented
Sae-Jin with another business card.
This time, it was for the "Taereung" Knights Order.