77 Chapter 76 (1/2)

'Wait a minute. This, just what on earth is….'

What happened just now?

Manager Jeong Ki-Soo ended the call with Baek Yun-Ho and tilted his head.

It was already a pretty surprising thing that a rank E Hunter stepped forward to get re-evaluated, yet the Master of the White Tiger Guild wanted to find out about the result of that test right away as well.

'Maybe, there is something going on for real here…'

It wasn't just anyone but that Baek Yun-Ho. And he was being quite serious, so Jeong Ki-Soo couldn't help but wonder if something big was about to happen.

But soon, he shook his head dismissively.

'Eii…. There's no way.'

The phenomenon of 'Re-Awakening' was a very rare occurrence.

How many months had it been?

There was this incident a few months ago when the whole Association had been in an uproar over a potential candidate who had gone through a Re-Awakening. Of course, it was all a big fat nothing.

That just served to illustrate how rare the real thing was, and plenty of so-called 'Re-Awakening' all turned out to be nothing more than just simple misunderstandings.

'I mean, it's not just one or two kids who come here mistakenly believing that they had gone through a Re-Awakening, only to walk out of here after paying the cost for the test out of their pocket….'

Perhaps the White Tiger Guild was seriously mistaken about something here. Still, considering Jeong Ki-Soo's 'relationship' with that Guild, he just couldn't refuse outright to humour the Guild Master Baek Yun-Ho's request.

”Hey, listen. I have to go somewhere for a little while.”

”Pardon me? Where are you going, Manager Jeong?”

”I just remembered this little thing I gotta take care of in the Block B.”

The term 'Block B' was a sort of code word used by the Association employees to refer to the building where the magic power evaluation took place.

”Okay, I understand.”

”If something happens, call me right away.”

”Yes, Manager.”

Even though Jeong Ki-Soo was thinking 'Re-Awakening, my a*s', he nevertheless headed towards Block B while picturing the face of Baek Yun-Ho, who should've left the Guild offices by now.

Jin-Woo parked his butt on the very last spot available of the waiting room's bench. Currently, there were three people waiting for their turn here.

All of them looked quite tense, nervous.

Jin-Woo could sympathise with what these people were going through inwardly at this moment.

'Well, the directions of their lives would be decided with the results of today's evaluation, after all.'

The first time Jin-Woo came here, he was thinking about the exact same things as these people.

….What if I was a rank A, no, even a rank B – or, could it be, I'm a rank S?

Swimming in a happy daydream, only to be shocked to the core after receiving the evaluation of rank E.

Thinking back to that day four years ago, Jin-Woo couldn't help but smirk slightly.

'What is he smiling about?'

'How can you even think about smiling here?'

Others waiting around sent him weird looks, but Jin-Woo didn't pay them any mind.

'Was he born with a steely heart or something?'

'Maybe, he's not feeling nervous at all.'

Seeing Jin-Woo's undaunted attitude, others became a bit sheepish and tilted their heads this way and that, before shifting their gazes away.

'Nothing much has changed since then.'

Jin-Woo also remembered something similar happening back then.

Back then, he started paying attention to the person sitting next to him for no reason, and he also became curious about what other people's evaluation was going to be like.

Jin-Woo continued to smile while slowly studying the interior of the waiting area. Just like the people waiting inside, the building didn't change much, either.

The Hunter Association itself was established less than ten years ago, so perhaps unsurprisingly, the building was still clean and neat as if it opened its doors only yesterday.

The interior layout was pretty much the same as back then, too.

If there was one thing different, then it'd be….

'Those people over there.'

When Jin-Woo quietly stared at a contingent of men and women decked out in clean-cut business suits across from where he was, an ahjussi sitting next to him opened his mouth. (TL: ahjussi = 'uncle', or older man)

”They are all from various Guilds, apparently.”

”Various Guilds, is it?”

”Yes. Well, Hunters don't usually seek out smaller Guilds, so they resorted to sending people over here and set up camp, just so they can sweet-talk Awakened like us after we're done with the evaluation.”

Indeed, there was a certain chilly, unfriendly and competitive air circulating among those folks.

'And, the way they are looking in this direction is pretty predatory, too.'

Well, there was a reason for that, of course.

”I'm telling you this because it might help you, but you see, it's better not to sign up with Guilds like theirs.”

”Why not?”

”From what I hear, smaller Guilds take on lots of dangerous raids, and their Hunter fatality rate is far higher than average, too.”

Jin-Woo nodded his head in agreement.

At the end of the day, the circumstances of smaller Guilds would always remain a bit ambiguous.

Unlike privately-organised freelancer-led raid parties, clearing low ranked dungeons wouldn't satisfy them financially, but then again, the skills of the Hunters signed up with them wasn't quite good enough to clear higher ranked dungeons.

So, 'accidents' happened frequently during their raids.

'Which means, recruiting new Hunters becomes doubly important for them.'

And so, they arrived at a point where they had to follow the potential newbies right into the Association building and prey on them.

”Ah, right.”

Ahjussi dabbed the sweat drops away from his wide-open forehead with a handkerchief, and cautiously extended his had towards Jin-Woo.

”Well, it's fate that we meet like this, so how about we introduce each other? My name is Yun Jeong-Hoon.”

”I'm Seong Jin-Woo.”

Their introduction was kept to a minimum, and they quietly waited for their turns.

”Next, please.”

Since the location for the evaluation itself was wide open, one could easily read the expressions on those who finished the test, as well as the employees performing the said test.

And the expression of the guy who had taken his test just now didn't look so good.

'I guess, it's either a D or an E….'

Those folks from the smaller Guilds must've thought about the same thing as Jin-Woo, because they showed no interest whatsoever even when an Awakened walked right past them.

Wasn't that too honest a reaction from them?

Jin-Woo even began wondering if there was another, more discreet way to find out one's evaluation result or not.

”Next up, please.”

Yet another result came out.

This one also must not have been so good. The steps of the Awakened walking out of the building seemed heavy. But, that was par for the course, really.

'Well, if high-ranked Hunters appeared frequently, they wouldn't be paid big bucks, anyway.'

For regular citizens, even being a rank C would be a huge jackpot.

One could still earn a fair bit of money by entering freelancer raid parties, or if one's luck was good, then entering large Guilds was a viable option, too.

Indeed, there were four rank Cs among the White Tiger Guild's new recruits, weren't there?

If one successfully managed to enter a large Guild, then it was pretty much guaranteed that you'd earn an annual salary similar to what doctors or lawyers made.

Ahjussi next to Jin-Woo spoke again.

”I heard that you'd get a ton of money upfront when signing with a large Guild.”

Ahjussi's hand, still holding the handkerchief, trembled softly.

”Actually, I… I owe some money, you see. Because of that, I had to separate from my little girl and must live alone for the time being. Maybe it's because of that, but I… I'm feeling really nervous.”

Ahjussi mumbled to himself, before flinching grandly and bowed his head to Jin-Woo in a hurry.

”Aigoo…. Saying something unnecessary to a stranger I've just met…. I'm a bit of disgrace, isn't it? I end up talking a lot when I'm nervous, you see.”

”No, it's fine.”

Jin-Woo smiled gently and lowered his head, as well.

Ahjussi continued to take deep breaths, as if to reinforce the notion that his earlier declaration of feeling nervous wasn't an exaggeration.

Meanwhile, another Awakened walked out, and….

”Next up, please come this way.”

…And, it was the turn of ahjussi.

However, ahjussi cautiously shook Jin-Woo's sleeve, his face full of cold sweat. Could he be feeling ill somewhere, thought Jin-Woo.

”Are you feeling okay?”

Jin-Woo asked, his voice sounding worried.

Ahjussi shook his head.

”No, no. It's not that, but…. Uhm, do you mind going ahead first? I'm, I'm too tense right now, you see…..”

Ahjussi looked really desperate.

Was there a reason to refuse when someone wished to give up his spot in the queue? Jin-Woo quickly accepted the proposal.

Anyone would be feeling nervous if these few minutes determined the rest of their lives.

Jin-Woo stood up instead of ahjussi and walked over to the Association employee.

The employee spoke in a business-like manner.

”What is your name?”

”It's Seong Jin-Woo.”

”Mister Seong Jin-Woo…. Right. Please place your hand on the black-coloured panel over there and wait for a little while.”

Following the instruction, Jin-Woo walked over to the measuring device and placed his hand on the black panel.

'….Uh? This guy's already been evaluated as an Awakened ranked E?'

The employee took a look at the documentation and glanced at Jin-Woo with a mystified expression. Just why were almost all the Hunters coming here to retake tests all rank E?

The employee's expression changed to that of apathy, as he activated the measuring device.

SFX for a button being pressed

Bzzzz…..

The magic energy measuring device buzzed noisily, and a short while later, it stopped its operation. The results appeared on the display monitor.

'Huh? What's going on here?'

The employee tilted his head this way and that, before speaking to Jin-Woo, as the latter was about to take his hand off the panel.

”Hold up, please.”

”Yes?”