Chapter 23 - Hunter Han Sungyeun (3) (1/2)

Chapter 23: Hunter Han Sungyeun (3)

The White Lotus training center’s office.

“Fucking lunatic, does he think he’s some sort of genius?”

White Lotus’ manager, Hwang Manho, was annoyed for the first time in a while.

This was due to a certain out-of-the-blue phone call.

“Taking the hunter exam instead of getting the refund? What the fuck is that?”

Hwang Manho thought back to the man silently concentrating on training.

The man who had been eating away at the White Lotus brand for years.

‘Han Sungyeun.’

Stats, skills, innate ability… Not one thing was ordinary for this man.

Stats comparable to those of an athletic layman, and skills that didn’t form even after completing all of the prerequisites.

Yeah, he was a special case.

There wasn’t a single player weaker than Han Sungyeun.

But—

The fact that he was still dedicated to training even after 7 years, and being the living embodiment of hard work not always paying off, had always rubbed him the wrong way.

‘Fool, why hasn’t he given up even after having no talent?’

To Hwang Manho, Han Sungyeun had no potential to become a hunter in this lifetime.

And it bothered him that despite that fact, Han Sungyeun refused to give up.

In the beginning, he was satisfied with sapping some money off the lad but…

‘I didn’t think he’d keep this up for 7 years.’

More than just determination, Hwang Manho felt almost a certain obsession from the man.

Like a man who’d die if he couldn’t become a hunter.

The obsession didn’t sit well with him, but money was money.

And to be honest, he didn’t even really teach him well.

After finding out his lack of talent, he basically just left him alone to train.

Hwang Manho thought that he would quit after a couple months of that.

But Han Sungyeun stuck around to become infamous among the trainees.

In the end, Hwang Manho determined that he wasn’t good for the brand and chased him out of the center.

And that’s where he thought his relationship with Han Sungyeun ended.

But not even a month later, Han Sungyeun called him to make a deal.

It was arrogant.

He was planning to give back at least half of the money if he asked for a refund.

But to ask to take the exam out of the blue?

‘I didn’t know that this is what he’d call for after all this time.’

Maybe he was just trying to save face for the last time.

Normally, you could only take the hunter exam a day or two after applying for it.

As long as they were a player.

Even if Hwang Manho vouched for him, he’d just be skipping the paperwork and written tests.

‘But that’s not a good enough reason to give up all that money.’

He was probably just doing this as a ‘fuck you.’

But he still had questions.

How was he expecting to pass the practical exam?

‘He has no stats, skills, nor has he unlocked his innate ability.’

He didn’t even know what weapon he’d use during the exam.

There could be one possibility though.

‘What if he unlocked his innate ability…?’

That would explain his newfound confidence.

But no matter how superior the ability was, his stats were still below average.

‘Whether it’s strength or mana…’

It was low enough to completely bury the benefits of a good innate ability.

Even if he did unlock his ability, there wasn’t anything he could have achieved with it.

Most hunters have to go to a dungeon to get stronger.

‘There’s no way a mere trainee could develop their skills.’

They wouldn’t even be able to get into a gate.

No matter what happened, it wouldn’t change the outcome.

“Cocky bastard dug his own grave.”

Hwang Manho grabbed his coat and prepared to head out.

He’d have to accompany him as a supervisor if he wanted to skip out on the paperwork.

‘What could have possibly changed?’

Those who were meant to succeed were born differently.

Some people were meant to be heads, and Han Sungyeun didn’t even have the ability to be a tail.

“I guess I’ll make some preparations.”

Hwang Manho took out his phone and started typing out a text.

Exam manipulation, a goto move by famous guilds and training centers.

Typically, they donate massive amounts of money to raise the placement ranks of their preferred candidates.

‘But this should be enough to fail a no-name trainee.’

Hwang Minho had some connections to the Hunter Association and he was planning to use that to get rid of Han Sungyeun.

There was no other reason other than that he was annoyed with him.

As long as he wasn’t negatively affected in any way, Hwang Manho was fine with these malicious acts.

It was a feeling similar to jealousy but something completely different.

Hwang Manho realized how unethical this was but he wasn’t very concerned.

No one would care about a random trainee with no one to support him.

After making the necessary preparations, the corner of his mouth rose.

The Uijoenbu city’s hunter association would be the last place Han Sungyeun would act as a player.

***

Uijoenbu city’s hunter association. I stood in front and gave off a bitter smile.

It felt weird to come back here after almost a year.

“It’s been a while.”

There was a time when I came here with dreams of becoming a hunter.

It obviously didn’t work out.

‘I passed the written exam but my practicals were just not up to par.’

The examiner said that I was competing for the top spot in the written exam but my practical was enough to completely destroy my score.

I heard the same for all following exams.

The only thing that changed was that the examiners asked why I was so passionate about taking the test.

Of course, they stopped asking after I told them about my parent’s death.

‘It took damn so long to get here.’

I felt all the emotions I had bottled up in the tower trying to spill out.

But there wasn’t any time to look back and reminisce.

“I see you’ve arrived early Han Sungyeun-nim.”

I slowly turned around at the sound of the familiar voice.

A man with a crew cut, wearing a gray coat, and distinctively sharp eyes stood there.