Chapter 38
Getting a seat in the front row of a superstar’s concert the day before was an easy task.
-I want to have a party tomorrow but I want Justin Bieber to be the MC. As for the outfit, wouldn’t a beaver outfit be good? Don’t I have good fashion senses?
-He is holding concerts all week...
Yes. I know. Cancel it and make him come. Kidnap him if you have to.
-......
‘This jerk!’
Of course, this was only the case for star hunters A-grade and above.
Hunters without that rating were already satisfied just having a manager. In addition, not all A-grade hunters were jerks. There were also good-natured hunters who got along with their managers and developed together. However, for the suffering managers, such a hunter was as rare as a unicorn!!
-Let’s not give up. Maybe there is such a hunter somewhere!
-Most of them already have managers, but...!
-... Bad guy.
There weren’t just A-grade hunters in the world. There were also A-grade managers who were just as famous in the industry as A-grade hunters. A great manager who systematically managed numerous promising hunters! One of the A-grade managers was Aine Lawrence, Chairman Hwang’s daughter.
***
“I can’t do this! Damn, I can’t do it!”
The young hunter furiously threw the artifact he was holding to the ground.
“Hold the artifact again. There’s an hour left.”
“Is this a joke? I’m a C+ grade hunter! There’s no reason for me to keep repeating this 1st circle magic!”
The young C+ grade hunter, Wagen, screamed agitatedly. C-grade likely didn’t seem great at first glance, but it was actually a very great position. A hunter’s brilliant life started at C-grade! From there, they could receive full-scale treatment from the government, receive all types of treatment, and get access to various lucrative jobs.
Why else would tens of thousands of D and E-grade hunters persist and do dangerous raids? It was because they knew they could turn their lives around if they climbed up to the C-grade one day.
“Do you know who I am?”
“Wagen Terrenz?”
“I was immediately scouted by the ‘New York Fires’ clan!”
Scouts from famous large clans would come for hunters once they had reached C-grade onward.
Wagen. He was a great rookie who received a C+ rating in his first hunter rating measurement at the age of 20. He was a talent that any clan would covet! Wagen was well aware of that, which was why he was even more arrogant.
“I know. It was the New York Fires clan that asked me to do this in the first place.”
“Then why do you keep making me use 1st circle magic?!”
Light Ball, the 1st-circle magic. It was a very simple spell that created and maintained a shining ball. Even a D-grade hunter could use it. That was how simple it was.
“Light Ball is one of the best spells for basic training. Maintaining its shape, increasing its light intensity, increasing its number, and even moving them. All of those will help you when you use higher circle magic.”
“I can use stronger magic right now. You probably don’t know how much magic power I have, but I am a C+ hunter!”
Generally, C-grade hunter could use even 4th-circle magic somehow. 4th-circle magic was significantly more powerful than lower-circle magic. They had the power to stop a monster’s breath at once, unlike 1st to 3rd-circle magic!
“Ah. This is really annoying... Then just try it yourself.”
Aine threw the sword she was holding. Wagen received it, clearly bewildered.
‘An artifact!’
These rare dungeon items were hard to obtain even with money! It had various types. There were magic books that taught specific spells and weapons and armor with built-in magic...
In modern society, they were treated as important strategic materials, just like a monster’s core. A-grade artifacts were treated as state secrets. Even just verifying their existence was hard. The artifact that Wagen received now was a sword with the 3rd-circle magic ‘Wilsgen’s Wind Arrow’ engraved in it.
“You think I can’t do it? Watch!”
Wagen grabbed the sword and infused it with magic power, making him feel the magic sleeping in it. Soon after, he opened his eyes and activated the magic. The amount of magic power it required aside, using magic itself was very difficult. It couldn’t just be practiced.
Some hunters even described it as the ‘feeling of handling a new 3rd or 4th arm!’ If they lacked control, they could still fail even if they met its magic power requirement.
‘She’s making fun of me!’
However, Wagen was confident.
‘Let’s see if 3rd-circle magic was difficult...!’
“Hiyaaaah!”
Inside the enclosed training room, a fierce wind blew and took the form of an arrow.
“Look! This is my strength... Cough!”
As he was shouting triumphantly, Wagen suddenly coughed up blood and knelt down. One of the arrows he had created disorderly bounced to the other. The rest lost their shape and scattered. The user had failed to control the amassed magic power.
“Cough, cough...”
The magic power flowed back to him, and his vision violently shook, almost as if he was suffering from strong motion sickness. At the same time, Wagen witnessed an arrow flying toward the woman called Aine.
‘N... No!’
It was a big accident! The magic arrow was powerful enough to tear a person to shreds. However, it soon disappeared, having been blocked by Anne with a wave of her hand.
Aine walked in front of the fallen Wagen.
“You’ve never properly trained or fought, and you’ve probably just used 1st or 2nd-circle magic on the training field. Your skill rank should be below D. Just because you have a lot of magic power doesn’t mean you can immediately use higher-circle magic, stupid. If you don’t train properly, your spells will just keep failing like that. Your magic power will also backlash.”
“S... Save me...”
“You won’t die. It’ll be extremely painful, though.”
Aine opened the door of the training room and went out.
“That hunter doesn’t deserve training. I don’t want to take care of him.”
“I’m sorry! Aine, I should’ve educated him better...”
“Bah. I asked you to hide it, so it isn’t your fault.”
The New York Fires clan had asked Aine Lawrence, who had a reputation as an outstanding manager and had a formidable background, to work as a manager that would train their new rookie. If she liked Wagen, then his life as a hunter would be assured. However, Aine proposed a condition.
-I don’t mind training him but don’t tell him about my identity.
-Huh? Why?
-Do I have to tell you why?
-No. As you wish, Aine.
Hunter Izidor realized why Aine had offered such a condition. It was to get a grasp on Wagen.
‘That guy kicked away a blissful life.’
“Gasp gasp gasp...”
After recovering, Wagen came out of the training room breathing heavily. He then cursed.
“Fuck! What is up with that woman?!”
Rather than answering, Izidor hit Wagen in the abdomen with a punch imbued with magic power.
It was always the same. Every time new rookies were scouted to join a large clan, they thought the world belonged to them. However, the reality was harsh. Those who couldn’t figure that out wouldn’t last long. This meant...
The rod of love!
“Cough... Cough!”
“Be polite, newbie. She isn’t someone you can treat arrogantly.”
“S-Senior... What is this... !”
Bam! Bam!
Izidor kicked the fallen Wagen. None of the surrounding staff or hunters helped Wagen. “You thought you could be anything, but guys like you are all over the place. Don’t be so cocky, newbie. I’ll be watching.”
“Cough, cough...”
Aine Lawrence. One of Dragon Hwang’s daughters. As a special A-rank manager, clans that wanted to raise their rookie as a gem found it hard to contact her.
She was also a big shot and a B+ hunter.
***
‘Is this the arena for the qualifiers?’
A building that looked like a large amphitheater. The area was full of people that looked like hunters. Some of them were dressed so shabbily that they could be mistaken for homeless people, while some had plastered themselves with luxury goods and arrived in a sports car.
Choi Yeonseung smiled. Hunters did the same thing now as they did in the past.
“It is a C-grade League qualifier, but there are quite a few D and E-grade hunters here.”
The UHC was divided into hunter grades instead of weight classes.
The A-grade League was for hunters who were A-grade or higher. The B-grade League was for B-grade hunters. And the C-grade League was for C-grade or lower hunters. There were naturally many D and E-grade hunters aiming to make a fortune in the C-grade League qualifiers.
“A, D, or E-grade hunters can only use magic below the 3rd circle. Isn’t this too disadvantageous?”
“Surprisingly, even D-grade hunters can sometimes perform well. There are rarely any E-grade hunters. After all, they’re fighting against people, not raiding a dungeon.”
“Indeed. I can defeat anyone below C-grade in one shot.”
Choi Yeonseung nodded at the words of Hwang Gyeongryong’s secretary. During a raid, powerful magic was required to break through a monster’s defense and damage it. Meanwhile, weak magic was fine if the opponent was a person. It was because humans weren’t as strong as monsters! If they had magic or skills that were useful in man-to-man combat, then even a D-grade could beat a C-grade. Even a C-grade hunter would stumble when hit by 1st or 2nd-circle magic and could even be defeated in one shot.
“Are they going to filter out those guys in the qualifiers here and let the winners become UHC pros? Is there anything else I need to know?”
“Umm... First of all, you will have to fight quite a lot of matches in a row, so you should be prepared.”
Fighting in a virtual space meant their body would remain unscathed, but their mind could still receive damage. If a fireball directly hit a person in the face, they would inevitably tremble.
Choi Yeonseung laughed bitterly at the words. Coming to Earth from the Abyss felt like he was playing house. In the Abyss, there were many cases where he risked his life and fought for a few decades in a row...
“Thank you. I will keep that in mind.”
“This isn’t the only opportunity, so there’s no need to overdo it. Think of it as experience...”
“I understand, I understand.”
How would this secretary react upon witnessing Choi Yeonseung fight?
“Stop playing that game, Odaigon. I’m going now. Is Gold Run that interesting?”
“Ah, no.”
Odaigon came to his senses and looked up. For some reason, it felt like the area below his eyes was puffy.
‘I think the number of characters has doubled?’
***
“Choi Yeonseung. Oh. C+ grade. I’m looking forward to it.”
Upon seeing Choi Yeonseung’s rating, the examiners’ expressions brightened. Since he also had a record of clearing C+ grade dungeons, he was clearly a hunter who had experienced real combat. That made him a talent that was several times better than hunters that came without any experience! His matches were worth looking forward to.
“He just needs to build up more performances and get a higher rating—Ah. He’s a martial artist…”
“No way. Martial artists still exist?”
There was a stir! Based on his rating alone, they thought he would be okay. However, he was a martial artist. They never even thought of it.
“Isn’t this okay?”
“What?”
“Martial artists are very rare. Won’t he get some attention when he gets in?”
“How can a martial artist get in? He has to win in order to get in. How disadvantageous do you think his situation would be?”
While other hunters could choose and use dozens of spells, a martial artist believed in and attacked using only one martial art. Anyone could tell that the martial artist was at a disadvantage.
“In addition, you know that the C-grade League qualifiers are very competitive these days. The hunters who came here are prepared to fight people, not monsters.”
“That is true...”
Those hunters wanted to enter the UHC and enjoy the riches it could offer rather than risk their lives raiding dungeons! There were more of them now.
“The times have changed.”
An old examiner shook his head. There were quite a few martial artists in the past, but they had become really rare these days.
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