Chapter 7
It was an ordinary afternoon.
And just like any other day, Sae-Jin came to the Monster Store to unload the Monster materials when, out of the blue, the lady government official demanded to see his Hunter Licence.
"Here, please take this newly issued Hunter Licence."
After the official did this and that with the new card, he noticed that there were new and different words from before added to the front of it.
"TheHeavenlyGifted Hunter…? What is this?"
Sae-Jin asked, his head tilting slightly.
"Ah, that is what you call a Title…. It’s just a nice, simplified way to describe your current set of abilities."
"Eh?"
"Didn’t you bring in Monster carcasses worth 23 creatures within your first month as a Hunter, Mr. Kim Sae-Jin? Because you satisfied the conditions, a prefix was added to your job description. Overflowing with a great talent, that’s what the title Heavenly Gifted means. It’s really a rare and wonderful Title, you know. You can’t receive it if you’ve been a Hunter for over 6 months, and also, the Knights Orders actually do prefer this Title over the likes of The Seasoned Pro or The Distinguished Individual."(The latter one was something called "????????" I’ve no idea what this is, and Google was no help either, so, I made stuff up. Oh well…)
The government official explained with ardent fervor and zeal, but Sae-Jin showed little interest as he lightly nodded his head. After all, this wasn’t a very helpful tale for someone like him who could only maintain his Human Form for 80 minutes a day.
"…Thanks, I guess."
"Ah….wait!!"
When Sae-Jin turned around to leave, the government official shot up from her seat and lightly held onto his sleeve. As he frowned and stared at the official with questioning eyes, she quickly pushed forward a paper at him while her cheeks reddened in a bashful manner.
"This… Please take a look at this!!"
"….Huh?"
A government official’s trying to sell me something? Even though Sae-Jin was slightly speechless, he ended up finding the shy female official twisting her body in embarrassment, objectively speaking, rather adorable in his eyes.
There was still… 66 minutes left.
"What am I reading here?"
He asked out aloud as he checked out the writings on the paper. The large words "Public Recruitment for Hunters by Pabaek Knights Order" were written on top, and below that were some fine prints detailing what’s what.
"Pabaek is a government-owned Knights Order with its headquarters located in our neck of the woods, and currently, they are looking to hire capable Hunters. Of course, it’s true that only the ranks of Mid Tier or higher can possibly apply, but…. I’m sure that Mr. Sae-Jin’s Title will receive a favourable consideration in this case! Besides, the plan was to upgrade your ranking to low Mid Tier or higher as soon as Mr. Sae-Jin satisfied the required amount of hunting experience, you see."
To clarify, the widely accepted definition for a low Mid Tier Hunter was "Can hunt a Low Tier Monster if three people with similar skill sets gather". And for a low Mid Tier Knight, it was the exact opposite - "Can deal with more than three Low Tier Monsters at the same time, alone."
That’s why Sae-Jin’s existence was a little, no, very special to the e
yes of this lady official. In most cases, Hunters formed parties of three or more when moving about, yet here was a man that always came in alone, and always left by himself as well.
"Well, are you… interested in taking this opportunity? If you want, it’s possible to apply right here and now. Mr. Sae-Jin will be accepted right away when you submit your application, I’m sure of it! In the past, Hunters with the Title Heavenly Gifted all got scouted by the famous Knights Orders even before they’ve been active for less than a year. Heck, some even went and converted their professions and became Knights in the end, you know!"
She became slightly desperate and her grip on Sae-Jin’s sleeve got a little stronger.
He was going to decline right away, but then, he found it a bit regretful too, looking at the lady official’s round, clear and sparkling eyes. It was a sight of a woman actively pursuing him, something he had never experienced before in his life yet.
A man’s worth was indeed judged by his abilities, thought Sae-Jin. To see a cute woman, a well paid government employee to boot, acting so aggressive like this…. It was indeed a mystical yet somewhat difficult new world for him to tread in. If it weren’t for his Trait of being a "Monster" he wouldn’t even have a chance to do so, but at the same time, he couldn’t really go around boasting his achievements either, precisely because of his condition as a "Monster"…
"…..Is that so?"
When Sae-Jin’s lips wiggled and formed an indecipherable smile, she mistakenly thought the talk was proceeding swimmingly, and so she smiled happily and added a bit more to the sales pitch.
"Yes, of course!! Hehe… By the way, there’s… a favour I’d really, really love to ask you related to this…"
It was right at this moment. Sae-Jin swallowed that mysterious smile back down. His intuition, forcibly cultivated by being subjected to many painful things at a young age, went off like an alarm bell in his head. It said, don’t listen to the rest, just leave as soon as possible.
"So… when you are recruited, please, would you mention my name, Kim Hye-Jin, as the person who remended you…. What the, wait a second!! Please, just a second!! Mister Sae-Jin!!" (Another Kim?! I’m telling you right now, there are other surnames in Korea, too….)
Before she could finish her sentence, Sae-Jin was already leaving the Monster Store at a walking speed that bordered on a full-on sprint.
***
Hunting became a lot easier, after his Goblin Form morphed from being what he previously thought of as a useless burden to one of the most valuable assets in a single day. That was all thanks to, of course, the Body Strengthening potion and its effects.
After "doping
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