Chapter 14 When Will It Be My Turn?

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Translator: Hiro02

Editor: Taochaidee

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A month flew by like an arrow.

The first thing Do-joon did was to copy the option of the Tier 3 Labyrinth Key.

[ You can copy one of the options of “Key to the Labyrinth: Tier 3 Collapsed Temple” to “Kim Do-joon.” ]

[ Copyable Options ]

Enter the ‘Labyrinth: Collapsed Temple’.

After copying it safely, Do-joon entered the labyrinth with a light heart.

However,

[ Corrupted Devotee ]

Fit rate

– 37%

The fit rate of the monsters that appear was slightly higher. He was able to kill one or two of them, but the ones that were gathering behind them were a problem.

In the end, Do-joon retreated. It seemed that it would be easier to start attacking only when his fit rate would be higher than it was now.

One month left until the exam.

So far, Do-joon followed a regular routine.

Morning.

– Good morning~

He woke up in the morning to the sound of his alarm. With puffy eyes, he turned off the alarm and did a light wash.

Changed into sportswear and went jogging.

His jogging had a destination, not a roundabout return.

A training center about 20 kilometers away. It was a new business that had appeared with the advent of the Hunters, a place that rented out private training centers at different times of the day.

About 20 kilometers was enough to properly warm him up now.

Breathing lightly, he entered the training hall. At the entrance, he saw a college student chewing gum as she stood at the counter.

“Welcome~”

She greeted him with an expression that he couldn’t tell if she was sleepy or just annoyed. She told him once that she was on vacation and that she was helping her father with work and getting some pocket money for it.

Contrary to her languid appearance, she seemed to have a fairly steady personality. It’s not easy to be out from 7 in the morning.

After a proper bow, Do-joon entered one of the training centers underground.

The floor was covered with mats and the walls on all sides were made of a very hard material. However, the walls had been scratched wildly.

It may seem hideous at first glance, but on the other hand, it was evidence that many people had been training.

And on one side, there were a few instruments, one of which measured the amount of impact. It is said to be a machine that was often used for Hunter tests in the old days.

Do-joon used this machine to practice swinging his weapon more strongly.

The axe he mainly uses is a weapon where a heavy blow is more important than any flamboyant technique.

Thwack!

[ Ta-da~! 3564 points! Best score ever! Congratulations! ]

“Oh.”

The sound of the machine ringing cheerfully.

Sometimes when he updates his best numbers like this, he tries to remember what he just did. Allocation of force, timing of foot stretch, speed of arm swing.

Just swinging around without thinking is not an effective way to train. In order to improve his skills, he constantly needed efforts to identify and explore himself.

Although little by little, Do-joon’s movements were becoming more and more refined.

If he does practice a variety of exercises, such as swinging a training axe, throwing a knife, or shooting a crossbow, it would be lunch time soon.

Afternoon.

He came back home when it was time for lunch. Of course, he ran a distance of 20km again.

Food was always delivered at the door when he arrived. It was a service that delivers lunch with a different menu every day and costs 180,000 won a month.

Originally, he used to make everything to save every penny and eat it, but now every minute and second is more precious than every penny.

“Today is pork cutlet?”

As he was quite hungry after my workout, he was quite happy to have such a hearty menu. After washing off the sweat he had shed while showering, he ate a refreshing meal.

After eating, he took a rest for a while. He lays down on the sofa and rummages through the news on his cell phone and rests his body.

After resting like that, it was time to make potions, which was his main job.

He kept my store closed most of the time, but he did make enough to deliver to the guilds.

It would be much better to sell the materials and items obtained from the labyrinth with his eyes closed, but he still has a steady, fixed income, and without it, the affordability of his mind would be of a different size. In the first place, all the items obtained from the labyrinth were used for copying.

Once the client was cut off, it was not easy to pierce it again, so the delivery of supplies had to be continued.

Evening.

“Daddy~”

After finishing potion work, he went to the hospital to see So-eun.

“My So-eun, were you good today?”

“Yeah!”

While playing with So-eun, he will copy any item he gets in the labyrinth to her that increases the vitality rune. Of course, the heart of the glass snake was included.

However, the only way Do-joon can still receive items is through a random box that you get by clearing the Elemental Island once every ten days.

If there was an item that boosts vitality, it was copied to So-eun or to himself.

[ Kim So-eun ]

Fit rate

– 0%

[ Additional Options ]

– Vitality +11Lv

– Cold Resistance 9%

He could feel that So-eun has become much healthier these days. She used to be bedridden most of the time, but now she can go out once a week.

The two of them have dinner together and he stays next to So-eun until she sleeps. And when he gets home, it’s about 9 o’clock.

After that, it was time to train again in the mountains behind where there are no people nearby.

When he focused on the postures of wielding a weapon and all that in the personal training area, this was the place where he could simulate it in his mind and move his body accordingly.

Four types of battle patterns that have been experienced by him so far.

When he fought a crowd of skeleton warriors, wizards and archers mixed together.

When he had to dig into an overwhelming volume of more than 300.

A group of snakes that tormented him in various ways, including surprise attacks from the ground.

And even a fierce battle with a cold ice snake.

It was only two labyrinths, and in terms of time, it has now only been a little over a month.

However, his experience was more dense than those of Hunter, who had been around for several years.

Hunters usually party in a thoroughly calculated combination and chop monsters like machines that are easy to deal with. It was more of a work than a hunt.

Of course it is not a bad or good thing. If the fit rate goes up like this, then it would help them become stronger sooner.

However, it is also true that in terms of the density of each battle, there is no comparison to Do-joon.

How many new hunters have jumped into the middle of a crowd of 300 monsters? And that too alone.

Although it was not quantified in terms of a status window, each of these experiences was an irreplaceable asset for Do-joon. So he trained himself by simulating the events of those times.

What would have happened if it had been like this back then? If he had moved like this, it would have been easier to break through.

If he thought of a better move, he would try it out in actual combat. In the labyrinth, Elemental Island, that he was entering when the cooldown period rolls around.

He went into the labyrinth three more times in a month. The attribute resistance leather achieved an average of about 20%, and the heart of the boss, Glass Snake, has been getting copied to So-eun ever since.

For your information, the skin of the glass snake was just kept in the inventory. It would be okay to sell it, but he thought it might be useful in the future.

After spending a full month like that, the exam day eventually approached.

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Translator: Hiro02

Editor: Taochaidee

╚══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ══════╝

⋘ ──── ∗ ⋅◈⋅ ∗ ──── ⋙

On the morning of the exam.

“Hello.”

“Jia?”

When he got ready, he found Lee Ji-ah standing in front of the store. Lee Ji-ah greeted Do-joon, who was looking at her curiously.

“I’m here to pick you up.”

“The test site is in Gangwon-do?”

“I know it well.”

Today’s test will be held not in Seoul, but deep in the mountains of Gangwon-do. Assuming it’s really that far, it should take no more than three hours… … …

“This is what a person in charge does. Like a manager. Hurry up and get in.”

Do-joon was a little confused but he got into the passenger seat.

Vroooom.

The car made a low roar and took off. When Do-joon smelled the slightly nauseating odor characteristic of automobiles, he fastened his safety belt.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine.”

“Do-joon, I don’t think you’ll have any problems in passing the test. It was amazing to see you kill those goblin riders back then.”

In fact, it wasn’t that great, it was brutal, but Lee Ji-ah said nothing to that extent.

“Was it?”

Do-joon answered while scratching his cheek.

“I’m sure you’ll pass. The problem is potential rating.”

Potential rating evaluation.

In general, Hunters start at F level, no matter how good their skills are. It is a common structure to start with F-level and increase the fit rate through hunting, while simultaneously improving and upgrading their skill performance.

However, this does not mean that there are no advantages based on skill performance.

On evaluating how powerful a candidate’s skills are and how good he or she is, prediction and evaluation is done to what class he or she can grow in the future.

That was the potential rating.

“Is the potential rating really that important?”

Do-joon asked, glancing at the traffic light that had just turned red.

Potential ratings were not absolute. Depending on the individual’s efforts, he could rise higher than the potential rating he received the first time, or he could never even reach a rating that he got.

Moreover, Do-joon was in a special situation compared to other hunters. The more variables there were, the more he remained aloof about his potential rating.

However, Lee Ji-ah, who did not know this, was different.

“Of course. First impressions are always the most important thing in anything, right? Guilds are very sensitive about that.”

“Hmm…….”

Do-joon, who had no particular interest in guilds, was still skeptical.

After that, a small chat followed.

Just over two and a half hours later, the two arrived at their destination.

<National Beast Research Institute>

As the name suggests, this is a research facility developed to study magical beasts and monsters of all kinds. Typically, only researchers and employees have access to this place, but twice a year, some sections are opened for hunter exams.

In the north, a forest was formed along the mountain, and in the south, various buildings, including the headquarters building, were located.

Do-joon and Lee Ji-ah arrived in front of the Hunter Test headquarters building. The place was already crowded.

“I’m sure you’ll pass.”

“Don’t be nervous, just do what you normally do.”

“Son, you didn’t leave anything behind, did you?”

Candidates raised by private training centers, academies, or guilds. The seniors cheered for applicants, those of which had nervous expressions.

In addition, many others appeared, even family members. All of these families seemed very worried.

While others were comforting themselves that passing this test will turn their lives around. Their families were nervous about whether they would get hurt in this dangerous test.

Some were hopeful, some were worried.

Either way, it was a human scene.

Do-joon is a self-taught man, so there were no colleagues to learn from, no seniors to encourage him, and no family to worry about since he only had a daughter in a hospital room.

While he was inadvertently smiling bitterly.

“Take this.”

Lee Ji-ah tapped him on the shoulder and handed him something. When he received it, it was a small candy that read, “Good luck.”

Do-joon smiled at the cute candy.

“You said I’ll pass.”

“Still, with this you’ll feel better.”

With her usual blunt expression, she gave Do-joon candy, placing it into his hand.

“Then I’ll be waiting for you at the cafe in front of you.”

Leaving with such a remark, she turned around and left.

Do-joon peeled the candy wrapper, tossed it in his mouth, and headed inside the headquarters building.

The building was full of rooms and devices that he had never seen before, he wondered what kind of research they were usually used for.

Following the arrows on the floor and walls, he made it to the first test site.

The first test was conducted in a place similar to a large auditorium, simply to verify that the candidates were capable or not.

When he arrived at the auditorium, he sat down in a suitable place and waited.

“From now on, we will begin the ability test. When your number is called, you can come out and demonstrate.”

There were three large machines placed in the auditorium. One staff member in front of each of them. Probably to verify results.

The machine analyzes power output and characteristics of a skill by reading its mana. The measurement was quickly carried out, it wasn’t a time-consuming test.

In the midst of all that.

“Wow…….”

“Impossible.”

Everyone in the auditorium turned to face a brazen young man.

His appearance was ordinary. He looked like he was in his early to mid 20s, there was nothing special about him except for his large figure, and his face was neither handsome nor ugly, to put it bluntly.

In his hand was a spear of light, 2 meters long.

<Estimate Fit Rate> 20~24%

<Output> 974~991

<Attributes> Light, Implementation

People began to murmur at the result that appeared on the screen. What became particularly noisy was where the managers of guilds gathered.

“Is that man, him?”

“Yes. It’s the man who happened to awaken while working as a porter.”

“It’s been a long time since we had that level of output actually… … . But why is his fit rate so high?”

“They say that he went into the dungeon as a porter and did some hunting.”

“Isn’t that more than just a little bit?”

Originally, it was a principle to get a Hunter license and then start killing beasts and monsters, but in this case, there would be some exceptions.

Porters and collectors are allowed to enter dungeons even without a Hunter license, so there are many cases where they used it to raise the fit rate in advance.

In fact, rather than being the exception, many people have used such methods to increase their fit rate in advance. It’s to the extent that dungeon experiences are part of the formal curriculum at various schools and academies.

But even then, it’s rare that they would reach more than 20 %.

“Are you done?”

“Yes? Oh, yes. It’s confirmed. You may go now.”

“Huh.”

The young man snorted and returned to his seat. In a way, he seemed confident and, at the same time, somewhat arrogant.

The attention poured on him. Managers were mostly staring with greedy eyes, and the same applicants glanced at him with jealousy.

While this was happening, all Do-joon thought was.

‘When will it be my turn?’

He didn’t think of anything else.

It was the same when Lee Ji-ah talked about it, but now that he had seen his skills in person, he had no interest. Perhaps it’s because what he’s been through so far was several times more shocking.

“Number 58, please come on out.”

After waiting for a while, it was Do-joon’s turn. The employee read the chart he was holding.

‘The skill is the ability to strengthen the body, and age is…35 years old? This isn’t some kind of civil service exam, what’s going on at this age… … .’

The employee shook his head inwardly.

Hunter is a profession where physical ability is paramount. It is true that the Yggdrasil system has transcended them beyond those of ordinary people, but that system does not prevent aging.

It is often said that the heyday of Hunters is around the age of 40.

If you are 35 years old, you will be going downhill after 5 years. It takes at least two to three years to join a guild as a newbie and become a full-fledged member, so the amount of time you can actually be active is even shorter.

In fact, most of the applicants here were in their teens and 20s. Even the big young man mentioned earlier was in his early 20s.

“An uncle, what?”

“At that age, when are you going to get a license and be active…….”

“Continue the work that you were doing.”

Some of the applicants whispered. Other applicants didn’t seem interested at all, nor did managers.

The researcher conducted the inspection. He put several electrode patches on Do-joon’s body and operated the machine.

“Try your skill.”

“Yes.”

Do-joon put his will into the mana core in his heart. Then the cold mana began to stir and flow through his body.

Soon, a cold aura appeared around Do-joon’s body.

“Huh?”

The staff who read the text floating on the machine opened his eyes wide in surprise.