Chapter 13 - A Proper Hunter (1/2)

Chapter 13, A Proper Hunter

Akira spent his days by training and exploring the ruins.

The rumour of the unexplored territory filled with priceless relics where even a small kid could go, had already died down. After all, Alpha a.n.a.lyzed the market price of the relics and adjusted the quality and quant.i.ty of the relics that Akira brought to the Exchange Centre.

Akira also got better equipment for himself. He no longer looked like an unarmed amateur kid bringing relics into the Exchange Centre. So the rumour died down quickly and the Hunters immediately stopped coming to the Kuzusuhara ruin which was the source of the rumour.

Thanks to that, Akira was able to go relics hunting without any problem. But in contrast, he was not able to earn enough money. After all, in order to avoid the spreading of similar rumours, he was only able to sell half of the relics that he gathered and had to hide the other half.

In order to adjust to his worsened financial condition, he moved from 20,000 Aurum per night inn to a 4,000 Aurum per night inn. He was staying in 4 tatami mats wide room with no other amenities other than a shower.

Even so, it was way more comfortable than sleeping in the slum city’s alley. But Akira could not deny that he was also missing the lifestyle where he could take a bath in a bathtub every day. It was not easy to lower his life standard when he had experienced a better one before. As such, Akira frequently wondered when he would be able to get back to that lifestyle.

Alpha only smiled like usual trying to soothe Akira. She also told Akira that once he got enough skill and position, no one would doubt him if he brought expensive relics to the Exchange Centre. Then he would be able to quickly return back to the lifestyle where he could take a bath in a bathtub every day.

Behind her ever-present smiling face, Alpha kept a close watch on Akira.

Akira’s daily ch.o.r.es of training and exploring the ruins changed after Akira brought relics to the Exchange Centre for the 10th time. After he finished the transaction as usual and was about to go back home, Nojima suddenly called him.

“Wait for a second. Take this with you.”

Nojima gave Akira a map drawn on a piece of paper and a plastic card. It was a map of the city boundary and there was a marker on it.

“There’s just a little bit of something that you need to do, but you only need to show this card to whoever is there. Well then, good luck out there, Ajira.”

“…My name is Akira.”

Ajira was the name that was mistakenly written on his Hunter ID. Nojima laughed when he saw Akira was annoyed.

“Your name was submitted as such in the database, you know. Did you mistakenly submit the wrong name? Who the heck is the guy who did your application, that d.a.m.n guy! Anyway, you can correct your name there, so get going.”

After saying that, Nojima just cheerfully sent Akira off.

The outer wall that surrounded the middle district of Kugamayama City was frequently boasted for its durabilit. It could keep the inner part safe and sound even if it was a.s.saulted. That thick and tall wall which physically, economically and socially separated the inner and the outer side was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with power, so much that it would awe anyone who saw it up close.

There was a big tall building along the wall called Kugama Building. It was a checkpoint that connected the inner and the outer part of the city and it was a very important building for the city.

There was a Hunter Office inside that building and it handled a different kind of function compared to the Hunter Office where Akira applied as a Hunter. It was an office that managed all the Hunter activities around Kugamayama City.

Akira looked at the building, its intimidating appearance showcased the authority, financial power and military power that it held. It was just simply too much for a small kid from the slum.

The marker on the map led to the corner where the Hunter Office was located.

“This is the place, right?”

“Yep, let’s go in.”

“Uhhh, yeah.”

Akira nervously followed Alpha who already entered the building. If Akira was alone, he would have hesitated and it would have taken some time before he could enter the building. But it was thanks to Alpha’s presence that he could muster little courage to immediately enter the building.

Akira was frozen in awe by the appearance of the huge hall filled with decorations and the Hunters who were present there. Some of them were carrying a gun bigger than their own body, some of them were using high grade enhancing clothes and some of them even had metallic skin, a common trait of cyborgs. All of them looked so much different compared to Akira, a small boy who just finished his Hunter application.

“Akira, they’re not your enemies. It’s not like they’re going to attack you, so calm down.”

“O-okay.”

“There’s nothing you can get from just standing there, let’s finish what we came here for. You do know what you should do, right?”

“N-nope.”

“This way then.”

Akira who grew up in the slum had no idea what he should do here, it was thanks to Alpha’s support that he was able to proceed without any trouble. The reception counters of the Hunter Office were located on the first floor. He headed to an unmanned reception machine that functioned as a ticket printer, he used the card that he received from Nojima to registered his name on the waiting list. He then moved to a corner to wait for his turn so as to not bother anyone else. When his name was called, he moved to the counter and showed his ticket and card to the girl who was working behind that counter.

“I was told to show this, but…”

The girl showed a formal smile. Her expression and fake smile were suddenly shaken when she saw the card that Akira was showing. But she immediately remembered her position as an office worker and regained her composure. She then took the card and used her terminal to read the card.

“Please let me confirm it, are you Ajira-sama?”

Akira answered back nervously.

“Ah, yes. Wait, no. My name is Akira, the name submitted into the database was a wrong name.”

The girl then bowed and apologized.

“I apologize. Well then, Akira-sama, congratulations on your promotion to a Rank-10 Hunter. Please allow me to reconfirm the registered information and reprint the card. Shall I give you a guide for the reissuance of your Hunter ID and the steps to correct the wrong information?”

“Eh, ah, yes, please.”

“With pleasure.”

Looking at how Akira was behaving, the receptionist thought that he was not really knowledgeable about the process. As such, following her duty as a receptionist, she politely offered her help to Akira and continued to give an explanation about what he should do.

***

The Hunter Office sorted the Hunters by their ranks. The lowest was Rank-1. People would regard Hunters with a high rank in high regard.

In order to climb the rank, you would need to do business in the Exchange Centre affiliated with the Hunter office or accept quests from the Hunter office or the companies affiliated with it. In short, the more contributions you offer to the Eastern district Corporate government, the higher your rank would be.

If you climbed to a high enough rank, you would be able to access and gather relics from ruins that were restricted under the authority of the Corporate government. The higher your rank, the more priority you will be given in the waiting list.

You would also be able to get your hands on high tech weapons, those that normally would not be offered for sale to low-rank Hunters due to its cost, size and firepower. You might even be allowed to handle forbidden guns.

There were some quests issued by the Hunter office and the companies affiliated to it also had a rank restriction. Only high ranking Hunters were able to take quests with a high level of privacy and restriction, after all, lower rank Hunters would not even know the existence of these quests.

Other than these benefits, many Hunters were climbing the rank for popularity and honour.

Akira was at Rank-10. It was the starter rank for those Hunters who registered their name with their company employee ID or citizens.h.i.+p ID. In short, it was an amateur rank for commoners.

Slum citizens who did not even have a personal ID would start as Rank-1 Hunter when registering themselves as a Hunter. They usually registered their name using a piece of paper with their name written on it. Then after they brought relics to the Exchange Centre for a certain number of times and earned a certain amount of money from those relics, they would start getting recognized as someone who was motivated and had the skill to be a Hunter. Then eventually the Hunter office would recognize them as someone with potential and rank them up.

And after reaching Rank-10, the Hunter office would finally recognize them as a Hunter.

The card that Nojima gave to Akira in the Exchange Centre was a proof that Akira was already raised up from Rank-1. Not many people could get that since most of the people would just give up or get killed midway. Then among those who were ranked up, some were seen as very potential Hunters and got special treatment. One of them was a free first reissuance for their Hunter ID.

***

After finis.h.i.+ng her explanation, the receptionist gave Akira a small booklet, it was made with high-quality paper with the logos of the Eastern Corporate government and the Hunter office printed on its cover. It was filled with all kinds of information about Hunters and everything related to it.

She then continued Akira’s registration process.

“Akira-sama. Since your request was to fix your registered name, can you please tell me your correct name again?”

“It’s Akira.”

Akira answered back with a puzzled look. The girl asked again with a serious face.

“Akira-sama, the registration today is different compared to the temporary registration that you did before, the information registered today will be forwarded as a full registration and basically added as a complement to the missing information. Moreover, we will accept today’s change in the registered data taking into account the fact that we had mistakenly registered your name. From now on, any request for change will need a thorough inspection and depending on your reason, your request might even be rejected, so please remember it. The name registered in your Hunter ID will be the name used to identify you and anything related to you such as your family, land, country, cla.s.s et cetera. With that in mind, are you sure you want to change your registered name to Akira?”

Akira could not immediately answer that question.

Akira had no relatives at all. He had no family and not even a record about his family. When he first began understanding the world around him, he already found himself in the slums of the Kugamayama city. He even had no love for the slums. He stayed there just because he had no ability to get out from the slum, so it was not like he felt any sense of belonging or anything.

He also did not belong to any faction inside the slum city. He was always alone. If someone asked him to identify himself, he could not say anything else than his name. That was why, when he thought that he could change his name here, he realized that he actually had no restriction whatsoever in changing his ident.i.ty. Changing his name now would not cause him any kind of inconvenience. After all, there was no one who was using his name for calling him, of course save for Alpha who was a special case.

After a short silence, Akira said with a serious look.

“Akira, my name is Akira. Please register me with this name. If I want to change it, I’ll just change it later. But if my request is refused, then it might mean that I should not change my name after all.”

“Certainly.”

After operating the terminal, the receptionist handed over a new Hunter ID to Akira.

Akira kept staring at his Hunter ID that he just received. It changed from a cheap-looking piece of paper into a card made of hard plastic. There was a deep meaning in the change of material.

“Please be careful not to lose it. Another reissuance would require more money and another inspection. And in the worst-case scenario, all of your past achievements might even get erased and your rank might be revoked back to Amateur.”

Then the girl smiled and bowed.

“That will conclude your registration. I sincerely pray for your success ahead.”

Her politeness was just a formality. But it also meant that he was finally regarded as a real Hunter. Akira smiled back and left the place.

He exited the Kugama building while happily looking at his new Hunter ID. Looking at his action, Alpha smiled and congratulated him.

“Akira, you finally became a Hunter. Congratulation!!”

“Thank you… So I wasn’t a Hunter all this time, huh?”

“You were just a self-proclaimed Hunter all along. Sadly enough, you’ll only get laughed at if you showed that piece of paper and say that you’re a Hunter.”

As Akira was looking at his new Hunter ID, he made an expression as if he just realized something.

“You’re right.”

The name written in this Hunter ID was his correct name, Akira smiled when he read it.

“This means that I finally can actually call myself a Hunter, huh…”

This Hunter ID also functioned as Akira’s ID. Although if he showed that card to the shops, they would only regard him as an amateur, even so, this card was more useful as his ID. Akira felt that it was a huge improvement. At least, he was no longer a denizen of the slum city with no identification.

People would say that one was able to reach success as a Hunter only after they piled up achievements and made their Hunter ID a revered Hunter ID. Having a revered Hunter ID would carry a lot of meaning. And on this day, Akira finally took his first step to reach success.

Noticing Akira, who might just spend all his time staring at his Hunter ID if left alone, Alpha made a bitter smile and warned him.

“How long are you going to keep looking at it, just put it away already, you’ll look suspicious if you keep doing that.”

The area around the Kugama building was well maintained compared to the other places inside the lower district. If Akira got caught here because he looked suspicious, it would be far more troublesome compared to if he was arrested in other places. As such, Akira immediately put away his Hunter ID in panic.

“Now then, you have registered as a common Hunter. So let’s immediately go buy the thing that a common Hunter like you must have.

“A thing that I must have? What am I going to buy?”

“An information terminal.”

Hunters usually bought, sold, shared and exchanged useful information such as the location of ruins, the map of ruins and the details about the monsters who live in the ruins on the internet. It helped them to effectively work as Hunters, bring back a lot of relics and make the eastern district prosper.

The widely available information terminal was the foundation of the information network. When the Tatsumori Manufacturing finally completed their cheap but advanced product for the livelihood of the Hunters, the information terminal quickly spread among the Hunters. Even now, the market for Hunters specialized goods was monopolized by Tatsumori Manufacturing, as such, the Tatsumori Manufacturing had risen up in power and now is one of the companies in the Corporate government.

Moreover, the information terminal produced by Tatsumori Manufacturing is regarded as an important product in the eastern district because of its influence, as such, for the benefit of the eastern district, the information terminal was ma.s.s-produced and sold cheaply. So even someone like Akira is able to buy one for himself.

Since the information terminal had completely a.s.similated in the Hunters’ life, companies and the Hunter office usually sent their request through the information terminal. Even now, they said that the information terminal was an absolute necessity for Hunters.

Akira then went to an information terminal specialist shop near the Hunter office and bought an information terminal by following Alpha’s instructions. Akira spent almost all the money he earned for buying the information terminal. And also, the terminal was actually a simple information terminal made especially for amateurs. Akira had no idea to set up the terminal, so he had the shop clerk set it up for him.

While the shop clerk was setting up his information terminal, he said to Akira that he would need Hunter ID to finish the setup. Akira thought that a chance to use his new hunter ID had finally come and happily showed his Hunter ID.

After returning back to his narrow room, Akira started thinking seriously. He had calmed down after getting his new Hunter ID and information terminal. So, he started thinking that he would work hard in the future since he had become a common Hunter now, but then he suddenly realized something and got worried about his current condition.

“Alpha. I’ve used all my money to buy the information terminal, so I don’t even have any money to pay for the room tomorrow… Are we going to be okay?”

Akira thought that Alpha must have thought of something and expected a rea.s.suring answer from Alpha. But Alpha just smiled and said.

“Nope, we’re not, that’s why we’ll go hunt for relics tomorrow.”

Akira was a bit shocked and looked at Alpha, but she returned back with a smile and they just kept staring at each other for some time. Akira then let out a sigh and ended the silence.

Akira knew that he could not win if he argued against Alpha. Since he spent almost all of his money on the information terminal, he could only a.s.sume that the information terminal was worthy of that money. He thought that he would be able to accept her argument if he decided to ask Alpha the reason anyway.

Moreover, exploring the ruin took a lot of stamina, as such, rather than spending his energy trying to argue with Alpha, Akira thought that he should quickly get rest instead. And so, although he had a lot of questions, he just decided not to ask them.

“You still have some ammo left from before, so I think you’re alright for the ammo.”

“…You’re right.”

“Starting from tomorrow, you’ll use the information terminal for exploring the ruin. So give me a hand in setting the terminal.”

“Hm? Didn’t we finish that in the shop before?”

“It’s the setting frequently used by a common Hunter. Now we’re going to set it to suit your need, Akira. We need to completely overwrite the setting so that it’s easier for you to receive my support. But I can’t operate the terminal, so you’ll have to help me with it.”

“So basically, the information terminal will be set such that it’s easier for me to use, right? I understand.”

“It might take at least until midnight, so give your best, okay?”

“Eh!?”

Akira was surprised and looked at Alpha. He could see that Alpha just smiled as usual but she was not joking. As such, he suddenly felt so tired and his face loosened.