Chapter 5: Hunter License

In the remote mountains of Gangneung, where few people tread,

the bus service had long been discontinued.

Leaving the empty bus stop behind, Obiwan walked along the road.

Even hitchhiking would require passing cars, but none seemed to come.

After about 30 minutes of walking,

an old sedan finally appeared.

Obiwan quickly waved his hand.

Screech!

The car screeched to a halt.

It even reversed to stop in front of Obiwan, and the passenger window rolled down.

The familiar face belonged to Kim Namhyuk, a sales representative from Choyeol Corporation.

"Would you give a ride to a big guy waving his hand like that? Get in quickly."

Phew, Obiwan placed his backpack in the back seat and sat in the passenger seat, speaking up.

"If it wasn't you, I would have walked all night. What a coincidence."

"I was also surprised to see you, sir. So, you just came down from the Hwangbyeong Dungeon?"

Obiwan nodded, and Kim Namhyuk tilted his head.

"Are there any hunters there?"

"Two beginner hunters, maybe?"

"I told you. You must have wasted your energy."

I gained energy, not lost it. Obiwan smiled and brushed it off.

Kim Namhyuk said he was on his way to Seoul for work. Meeting him was as fortunate as his awakening as a hunter.

"I was thinking a lot at a sauna near the terminal. Really, thank you."

"Buy me a drink sometime."

"Of course."

Three hours to Seoul. Plenty of time for conversation.

"You said you wanted to join Naru Corporation, right?"

"That's what I said. Why? Are you hiring?"

"No, I want you to join instead of me."

You've gained abilities, why work under Team Leader Kim? I was planning to quit Naru Corporation.

Kim Namhyuk chuckled.

"Really? I'm not quitting."

"I told you, Team Leader Kim is a real bastard."

"True, it's hard to endure under such a person. I'll just stay at my current company. By the way, what will you do after quitting?"

"I'll look for something. How about Choyeol Corporation?"

Kim Namhyuk laughed and shook his head.

"The salary is low, and there are only four employees."

"Perfect for me. I'll have less stress."

Of course, I have no intention of becoming a sales representative again.

"If you have nowhere to go after quitting, just let me know. It's easy to join our company."

"Wow, you can hire me just like that?"

"Would we refuse someone with experience from a large corporation?"

"Then I can quit without any worries."

On the way,

we stopped at a rest area, had some udon, and drank coffee. By the time we reached Obiwan's house, it was dawn.

"Thanks for today. I'll contact you."

"Remember to keep your promise to buy me a drink! I'm off!"

It felt like we had known each other for a long time, even though we only met for a day. After Kim Namhyuk's car disappeared, Obiwan turned to look at the apartment behind him.

The light on the top floor, the fourth, was off.

It was 2 AM. He quietly climbed the stairs.

Click.

He opened the front door, checked his shoes, and placed his backpack in the small living room.

There were two rooms. One was used by his younger sister.

When he opened the remaining room, his youngest sister was sleeping on her back. Obiwan smiled as he covered her with a blanket.

*

"Even though you said you came back at dawn, why are you cooking? Aren't you going to work today?"

His younger sister, Oh Nayoung, asked while drying her hair with a towel. Obiwan was preparing breakfast in running gear for his siblings who were going to school.

"Bro, you didn't get fired, right?"

The youngest, who had just woken up, also came out of the room and asked.

"It's not like that, just eat quickly."

"Bro, he came back after midnight yesterday. Who has he been hanging out with lately?"

"Shut up."

"Talking back to your sister like that, do you want to die?"

Maybe because they were born a year apart, they always bickered. Normally, Obiwan would have joined in, but he just smiled it off.

"Bro, something's off. Your shoulders seem wider, and your posture is straighter... Wait!"

His younger sister's eyes widened as she looked at the tattoo on Obiwan's arm. He hadn't noticed it.

"What is this?"

"Looks like a pickaxe, doesn't it?"

"No! This is a tattoo? Bro, are you crazy?"

"It looks like a pickaxe. Bro, did you join some organization?"

"Just a pickaxe..."

He summoned the pickaxe in the bathroom. After confirming it had disappeared, his siblings nodded.

With school time approaching, they quickly finished their breakfast. The youngest, who went to the bathroom, screamed in shock.

"Whoa, what a surprise! Bro, what's with the pickaxe?"

"Oh, I'm taking it to work..."

On a weekday morning,

Obiwan hummed a tune at home.

He finished the dishes, the laundry, and cleaned the house.

He ignored a call from Team Leader Kim.

There were 21 missed calls.

'Look at this obsession. This is madness, pure madness.'

Obiwan chuckled and made a cup of coffee mix. Then he searched online for how to obtain a hunter license.

The process was simple.

Visit the Hunter Evaluation Center in Yongsan, Seoul, and the evaluation would be quick. For F to D grades, you could visit any time on weekdays.

After gathering the necessary information, Obiwan finished his coffee and got ready to go out.

*

The Hunter Evaluation Center in Yongsan, Seoul.

The building looked like a dome-shaped sports arena.

Despite being a weekday, it was bustling with people from all over the country.

The interior resembled a bank's counter.

The registration process was similar. He drew a number and filled out a questionnaire while waiting.

The questions covered the date of awakening, ability values, skills, traits, and expected grade.

Every hunter has a status window that only they can see.

If an F-grade hunter claimed to be a D-grade, the only way to verify it was through a fight.

This is why an institution for objective evaluation was necessary, and that was the Hunter Evaluation Center.

'What should I write for my ability values...'

Obiwan's status window didn't show any numbers. It only displayed a 5.15% synchronization rate. Based on killing a goblin, he thought he might be an E-grade.

Actually, writing the ability values wasn't important. They would be measured anyway.

He roughly wrote F-grade and noted that he had no traits or skills.

Ding.

His number appeared on the display.

Obiwan approached a hunter in bulletproof leather, who was a guide here.

Following the guide down a corridor, he saw a changing room at the front.

"Change your clothes, put your valuables in the locker, and bring the key."

It felt like he was going for a health check-up.

The clothes were like a gi, not a hospital gown.

Men wore dark blue, women wore light pink.

Outside the changing room, a woman in a white coat with a chart stood instead of the guide.

"Are you Obiwan?"

"Yes."

"First, we'll do a mana sensitivity test. If you don't meet the standard, the rest is meaningless. You can just go home."

No refunds. This was to prevent anyone from rushing in for an evaluation.

Inside the room, a large mana sensitivity machine, similar to a CT scanner, and a female attendant were waiting. She attached several electronic devices to Obiwan's body and said,

"Lie down and close your eyes. If you see light, it can damage your vision."

He was slowly pushed into the cylindrical machine. Inside, the mana stone emitted light, reacting with the mana in his body to produce numerical values.

After five minutes, the light disappeared, and his body was pushed out of the cylinder. The attendant handed him a chart and said,

"You're done here. Go to the next room."

The next room measured strength and stamina.

Grip strength was measured by repeatedly squeezing and releasing a ball.

Arm and leg strength were measured by pulling on a belt, and full-body strength was measured by lifting a heavy metal plate with his feet while lying down.

Other tests included running, sit-ups, and jumping, similar to school physical fitness tests.

The last test was agility, which was new.

It involved dodging balls that popped out of holes in a wall, with the speed and number of balls increasing over time.

The test ended when a ball hit his body.

After changing back into his clothes, Obiwan sat at the license issuance counter, waiting for his grade.

A man in a suit approached and handed him a business card.

"I'm Kim Changdong, an agent from NY Guild."

A guild scout. Obiwan had no interest in joining a guild.

"I'm Obiwan, a sales representative at Naru Corporation."

Handing over his business card with a confident smile, the scout's expression twisted oddly.

"What, you're a sales representative?"

With a scoff, the scout moved on to someone else.

Guilds approach newly awakened individuals to sign them as trainees.

Trainees receive systematic training, mentorship, and support with artifacts and combat equipment.

But there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Training a single trainee requires a significant investment, and guilds extract both the investment and profit by attaching a drain to their backs. The 7-year contract period is to maximize the extraction of benefits.

Unless they advance in grade, inexperienced F-grade hunters often end up as guild slaves, a fact known to those in the know.

"Mr. Obiwan, please come to window 2!"

'They say one big break can change your life. I never thought it would happen in just one day.'

As Obiwan approached the issuance counter, his eyes naturally fell on the desk of the female staff. The black cover of the passport-like document with the word "Hunter" embossed on it was clear.

His heart raced as the staff said,

"Please make the payment first. It's 1 million won."

The hunter license was ridiculously expensive.

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