Miso walks in a daze. He staked his entire life on this. He wasn't particularly smart or talented at anything, pretty average at everything. Everyone has an ability that improves their base stats and ultimately raises the bar for "average", which actually makes him below average at everything remotely useful.
Being a hunter was the only choice he had. But to now be told that he sucks at this as well.
Tears well up in his eyes and he cover his face while trying to find the hospital exit. Thankfully, no one notices him, and he finds the exit at last.
He shivers from the cold and start walking towards his home. His disgusting, cramped home where the heater doesn't work and the plumbing is a mess. Where cockroaches hang out and the electricity doesn't reach half the time.
Living like this sickened him. Just two years ago he lived a normal life, with parents still alive and his ass still above the poverty line.
'Stupid me' he thinks, 'I shouldn't have expected a way out. I'm stuck in this shitty life, forever.'
As he walks towards his home, he sees a police station.
The police are practically useless. The private Hunter organizations take care of most monster attacks.
The police-hunters are practically a joke in this country. All the strong people join the private organizations. The pay and respect is higher there.
"Heh." He says to himself. "Stop hoping. They won't give you a job. No point going inside to ask."
He went inside to ask.
"Ummmm…" Miso enters the hunter section of the police station through the glass doors and immediately get greeted by a blast of comfortable warm air. That feels good.
The inside was really pretty.A huge ceiling and a beautiful deep blue and white interior. Small food stalls. Comfy couches and a quiet atmosphere. Obviously, not many people are around see the police for hunting (the private sector apparently does it better), so the hunter section is near empty. There were two civilians speaking with the receptionist.
"What the hell is a kid doing here?" There was someone behind Miso.
Miso twirls around and see two people. They look at him confused. "Did the monsters do something to you?"
"Umm..no." Miso replies.
"Why are you here then?" They look at him with hardened gazes. They look really big and scary, and are emitting a threatening aura. They're wearing the hunter uniform.
"I was just wondering if….if I could..get a job here?" Miso stutters, clearly intimidated by these men.
They look confused, "Well…we don't have any part time jobs at the moment but…you have to be at least 13 to work here as a janitor or receptionist. Are you even that old?"
"No." Miso says, "I just came from the doctor's office with info about my abilities and apparently, they're not very good. I just want to know if I can work here when I grow up."
The scary aura returns and they look at him angrily, "Oh, I get it. You think that the police are so useless and desperate that there's a low bar to pass? You think that we're that desperate for any hunter, no matter how trash their abilities are?"
"Uh-no. Of course not!" Miso lies. They were spot on.
"Pfft." The policemen look at each other and try their best not to laugh. The scary aura immediately subsides.
"You're right! The government is desperate for more police-hunters. Jimmy here-" he points at his friend, "and I failed like 5 courses in hunter university! BWAHAHAHA!"
The two of them start laughing at their terrible uni result.
Miso looks very confused.
"You're right." They say. "As long as you can kill the F tier monsters, you can be a police hunter. The pay isn't bad either. 40k per year, you can live decently with that money."
"FORTY THOUSAND?!!"
"Shhhh…quiet, kid." They look at him disapprovingly. "Give me your report paper. We'll see if you can join the force or not."
"O-okay." He hands them the paper.
Both of them look at it, and their eyes grow wide. They stare at it for quite some time.
They finally hand the paper back. "You have practically no defense." They tell him.
"I know." Miso looks down in embarrassment.
"Practically like Yaroslav." They say.
"Who?"
"Do you think we should take the kid to him?" One of the policeman asks the other.
"The kid is retarded enough to want to join the police for hunting, might as well tell him how exactly to do it with his ability." The other replies.
"Fair enough. The kid does look really desperate to join the police force."
Miso's eyes brighten, flowers bloom, the sun breaks through the clouds and birds start chirping.
"Do you-do you think I have a chance?" He asks them eagerly.
"Maybe." One of the policeman replies. "One of our colleagues has a similar ability to yours, but his defense is a bit higher than yours, and he had to try really hard to get into the police force. He can probably help you."
"Oh.So there IS a chance, right?"
"Yes, yes. There's a chance, blah blah. I'll take you to him."
He waves goodbye to the other policeman and takes me to a door.
"This is Yaroslav's office." He opens the door without knocking.