76 Chapter 75 (2/2)

Set effect 2: (locked)

'All of my Stats rose up by 5 points.'

He only managed to unlock one set effect, yet he received a boost similar to levelling up five times. And then, he still had one more unknown effect to go, the one he'd receive after gathering all the accessories.

'The Demon Sovereign's Ring….'

When considering the possibility that the last unlocked set effect from all three accessories being in one place should be even greater than the individual parts on their own, this really was already an amazing performance.

However, acquiring accessories rated at S was only a part of the harvest he enjoyed after entering the Demon's Castle. The real profit was his level jumping up so high.

Jin-Woo stared at his level that had climbed up to 77 and smiled in content.

'I levelled up 16 times inside a week.'

Such a levelling up speed was unthinkable when entering rank C dungeons. He had definitely extracted suitable compensation for going through hell (?) for seven days.

He still had some unfinished matters there, but well, this week's conquest of the Demon's Castle should be called a roaring success, regardless of what.

'Just that….'

Except for one – there was one thing he couldn't really figure out yet.

Jin-Woo let the light from the lamp fall on the object that came out of the cursed random box.

'Just what the hell is this thing?'

It was a pitch-black key that seemed to absorb all light. No information popped up in his view, either.

'This is the first time seeing an item with absolutely no information….'

The keys to instant dungeons could be seen as pretty common, since he got them from random boxes every now and then. But this guy here, he had never seen anything quite like it.

'Where am I supposed to use this?'

Perhaps because it came out of a box named Cursed random this-and-that, he couldn't help but think that there was this ominous aura circling around the key.

He acquired this key through so much hard work, so he couldn't even throw it away.

'Well, I'm sure I'll get to use it sooner or later.'

The Cursed random box was supposed to give him something that he needed, after all.

Jin-Woo stored the mystery key back inside his Inventory and got up from the bed.

He needed to purchase a few artefacts if he wanted to completely conquer the Demon's Castle.

'And, I've got something to sell, too.'

However, there was a problem. And that was – things would become quite complicated if a rank E Hunter wanted to buy and sell high-ranked artefacts.

Who wouldn't suspect something was off when a low-ranked Hunter – no, someone right at the bottom – tried to sell an item that even the top Hunters found hard to acquire?

It was the same story if he wanted to buy something.

As long as the title of rank E followed him around, there would always be questions regarding the sources of his income.

'And, it'll be hard to answer when someone asks me about what I'm planning to do with expensive artefacts, too.'

Several troublesome situations would unfold at this rate.

”Which means, I should….”

Time to stop pretending to be a rank E, then.

Time… to get the rank reassignment test.

It was now time to get the rank that matched his current set of abilities.

Jin-Woo's expression became serious.

'With my current level, surely I won't get jerked around by someone else.'

That was his original aim, to begin with.

In order to avoid situations where he was being under the thumb of someone stronger, he continued to act as a rank E, while taking on all the inconvenience that came along with it.

However, what about now?

He didn't even falter slightly when Baek Yun-Ho, the Guild Master of the White Tiger, stood in front of him. Hell, he was pretty confident of not cowering no matter who stood in front of him now, be that Baek Yun-Ho or anyone else.

He saw no reason to hide his powers anymore.

Thump, thump, thump….

When he made up his mind to finally get rid of that irksome rank E tag for good, his heart began beating faster and faster.

'….But, before that….'

There was something he had to confirm first.

Jin-Woo switched on his Hunter-only smartphone. It was his first time powering the device on in a week, so naturally, there were quite a lot of missed calls and messages waiting for him.

The majority of those numbers he failed to recognise. It was an unfortunate thing for those callers, but well, he didn't have the time to manually check each and every one out.

'If they are in a hurry, I'm sure they'll contact me again.'

Thinking coolly like that, Jin-Woo scrolled down the list of contacts and eventually located the number he wanted. He dialled this number.

[Lalala~♩♪]

The bright, energetic pop song didn't even get to play for a second longer, before the other side hurriedly answered the call.

”Hyung-nim!!”

….Maybe, Jin-Woo stayed inside the dungeon for far too long?

Because he was surprised by how nice it felt to hear the kid's voice again. A smile spread on Jin-Woo's lips as he spoke.

”Did the talk with your father go well?”

”Yes, hyung-nim! It went very well!”

'Oho?'

Now that was a good piece of news to hear.

Jin-Woo made this call to confirm, because he couldn't go ahead and do the rank reassignment test if Yu Jin-Ho hadn't made a deal with his father yet.

However, if the matters of that side were taken care of, then there really was nothing holding him back at this point.

He guessed the good news just from hearing the kid's excited tone of voice, but now that he got the confirmation from the horse's mouth, Jin-Woo was feeling really happy as well.

”Hyung-nim! Actually, I wanted to come and speak to y….”

Click.

'….What was that?'

The phone call abruptly came to an end, and when he checked, the battery in his phone was flat.

'Oh, right….. Even before entering the Demon's Castle, it didn't have much charge left, didn't it?'

Well, at least he got to confirm what he wanted to confirm, so that was a relief.

Jin-Woo fixed his clothes and prepared to leave.

The main building of the Hunter's Association wasn't too far from here. He should be able to go through the reassignment test pretty quickly.

”Oh, hang on a second….”

Jin-Woo was just about to leave the apartment, but he hurriedly came back inside. He had forgotten all about his little sister.

Since she might get worried if her oppa left home again without saying anything, he scribbled a simple memo and placed it on the dining table. Well, he only came back home after a whole week of absence, after all.

I came home, but need to go out again. Sorry.

With a satisfied smile on his face, Jin-Woo turned around to leave.

It really had been a while since Jin-Woo last came to the Awakened rank evaluation application kiosk.

'Has it been four years already?'

Or, maybe it was close to five now?

Jin-Woo's expression was full of reminiscence as he stood in front of the employee manning the reception kiosk.

The employee didn't even bother to look at him and spoke.

”Please jot down your identification and contact details, and give them to me.”

Jin-Woo still remembered most of the process so he had prepared them before coming here. He readily presented both his identification and the contact details.

'Mm?'

The employee's head tilted this way and that after taking one look at Jin-Woo's choice of identification.

”Isn't this a Hunter licence?”

”It is.”

Employee formed a confused expression.

”If you are unhappy with your assigned rank, you should head over to another depar….”

”No, it's not that. I wish to take the reassignment test.”

”Ehhh?”

The employee continued to alternate his gaze between the Hunter licence and Jin-Woo's face, before raising a trembling finger in the air.

”P-please, wait for me here.”

The employee then quickly ran over to a middle-aged man with a scowl on his face sitting somewhere behind him.

”Manager? A Hunter-nim wishes to take a reassignment test.”

”A reassignment test? What's that person's rank?”

”It's an E.”

The manager craned his neck out and took a look at the waiting Jin-Woo's face over by the reception desk. He then reverted back to his previous posture.

”There are guys like that every now and then. Hunters who are not satisfied by the reality of their situation, and swim inside daydreams, before coming back here hoping against hope.”

”So, is that guy also….?”

The manager nodded his head.

”Reawakened, my foot…. Others are busy raking in the dough as Hunters, getting famous and all that, but well, he drew the short straw and he ended up as a nobody. So, he's just trying to escape from reality.”

”Aha.”

”Dealing with guys like that will only tire you out. So, just tell him that he'll be paying the fee for the test and send him on his way to the measurement room.”

”Roger that.”

The employee no longer looked like he was suffering from abdominal pain, and returned to his seat.

Meanwhile, the manager alternated his gaze between the employee and Jin-Woo, clicked his tongue, before shifting his attention back to the computer monitor in front of him.

However….

The fingers of the manager stopped typing on the keyboard.

The name written on the Hunter licence… why did it feel like he had heard of that name before from somewhere?

'Where was it?'

Once the young Hunter left for the building with the measurement room in it, the manager sneaked in closer to the employee and asked him.

”That rank E Hunter just now, what was his name again?”

”It's Seong Jin-Woo. Do you know who he is?”

”No, it's not that. But….”

But, he just couldn't get over this feeling that he had heard of that name before, for sure. The manager did his absolute best to jog his memories, and then, his eyes widened as something did enter his mind.

'….Ahh!!'

'That man' asked for a favour, didn't he?

'That man' asked the manager to give him a call if a Hunter named Seong Jin-Woo ever showed up here. Why couldn't he remember that sooner?

The manager sought out a deserted corner and hurriedly pulled out his phone.

Ring…. ring….

”Hello, it's Baek Yun-Ho speaking.”

”Ah, hello there, Chairman Baek. I'm calling you because of the Hunter you spoke about the last time, the man named Seong Jin-Woo. He really came here today. But, how did you know that he might appear here?”

”Did you just say that Mister Seong Jin-Woo came there?”

”Yes. He was here just now, applying to get a reassignment test.”

”…..”

The conversation came to an abrupt halt and an awkward silence pervaded the line. However, only a short while later, an urgent voice came out from the phone's speaker.

”Even if it's only for a short while, can you somehow delay the measurement process? I'm on my way over there right now.”

The manager began tilting his head.

Did he just mishear that?

The Master of the one-and-only White Tiger Guild was speaking with an anxious voice?

'Well, I'll be.'

Besides all that, though – the evaluation process was out of his hands, already. The manager could only sheepishly reply while scratching the side of his head.

”That man must've entered the measurement building by now.”

< Chapter 75 > Fin.