‘The building is quite large, isn’t it?’
I stopped for a moment in front of the building, having found the address written on the business card.
It was the Awakened Center, recommended by Yerin Jeong.
She said it was influenced by the Fire Bird Guild and would provide many conveniences.
“Let’s go, Maru.”
I had Maru, who was beside me, wear a robe and mask to avoid drawing people’s attention.
Even so, Maru, being a Skeleton, was bound to stand out. But I had chosen the best method I could.
As I entered the center, a spacious lobby unfolded.
Dozens of people were waiting in front of the reception desk.
‘There are so many people today.’
It’s not just newly awakened individuals who come to the Awakened Center.
There were also people like me, who wanted to have their rank re-measured. And is that all?
‘Not necessarily.’
There would also be scouts from various guilds, looking to recruit newly awakened Hunters.
So, having so many people here wasn’t strange.
I immediately headed to the information desk with Maru.
“Hello, I’m here to apply for Hunter rank measurement.”
The receptionist at the information desk responded with a blank expression, clearly looking exhausted.
“Please draw a number and wait. The estimated waiting time is currently about 3 hours.”
‘3 hours?’
Even with so many people, that’s too long to wait.
This wasn’t the kind of ‘convenience’ Yerin Jeong mentioned.
“Um… I’m from the Fire Bird Guild.”
Just in case, I informed them that I was from the Fire Bird Guild.
At my words, the receptionist’s expression changed instantly. Her eyes widened as if surprised, and then she offered a gentle smile.
“Ah, I’m so sorry. Could you please wait a moment?”
The receptionist scanned the documents, searched for something, and then looked at me.
“May I confirm if you are Mr. Kanghyeon Lee?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“I apologize for my rudeness just now. I will guide you immediately.”
“Oh, it’s alright.”
There was no rudeness, really.
I didn’t feel offended at all.
The receptionist got up from her seat and guided me to a corridor behind the desk.
All eyes were focused on us. Everyone in the lobby turned to look at me.
“Why is that person going in just like that? I’ve been waiting for two hours!”
“That’s unfair! We all have urgent matters too.”
Another woman also voiced her displeasure. Her eyes were full of unfairness.
A few people complained, but most simply looked at me with a mixture of curiosity and envy.
As we passed, a low murmur filled the lobby.
“Who is that person?”
“She said Fire Bird Guild earlier. Must be a guild member.”
Regardless, I followed the receptionist to a private elevator. As the doors closed, the noise from the lobby was shut out.
The receptionist maintained her smile, but a subtle tension could be felt behind it.
“We received a call from upstairs. They said to guide you immediately, Mr. Kanghyeon Lee, if you arrived.”
The elevator stopped at the 15th floor. When the doors opened, I saw a sign that read ‘Special Examination Room’.
In front of the examination room, a tester was waiting for us.
“You are Kanghyeon Lee, correct? I am Tester Ji Hye Park. I received word from the Fire Bird Guild.”
She greeted me warmly and led me into the examination room.
Unlike the place where I had my measurement done before, the special examination room was spacious and comfortable.
It was equipped with all sorts of the latest equipment at first glance.
“Let’s see… your trait is Necromancer? That’s a very rare trait.”
Tester Park said, checking her tablet.
Even though she said so, Necromancer isn’t a particularly good trait.
They are usually relegated to support roles rather than main damage dealers, and most of them act as meat shields.
However, the tester seemed to be speaking cautiously because she thought I belonged to the Fire Bird Guild.
“We received a request from the guild, so the examination will proceed quickly. Please let us know immediately if you have any objections.”
“Understood.”
“Is your familiar already summoned?”
She asked, pointing to Maru. Maru was still hidden by his robe.
“Yes, this is my familiar.”
As I spoke, Maru took off his mask. Then, his skull-like face was revealed.
“Interesting, you can summon familiars continuously. It shouldn’t be sustainable with normal mana…”
The tester’s eyes sharpened. She closely examined Maru’s face and then hurriedly operated the equipment.
“First, let’s measure your mana, Kanghyeon Lee.”
As I stepped into the equipment, rings of light formed around me.
The blue glowing rings slowly began to revolve around my body.
A warm yet cool sensation brushed against my skin.
The tester, who had been casually looking at the screen at first, soon began to change her expression.
Her eyes widened gradually until finally, she gaped in disbelief.
“This… this…!”
Her finger pointed at the screen and stopped.
“I-I can’t believe it. Your mana level alone is A-Rank. No, it might be even higher…”
She trailed off. After taking a deep breath, she looked at her tablet and then back at me.
A mix of awe and suspicion was evident in her eyes.
“Mr. Kanghyeon Lee, were you perhaps intentionally maintaining a lower rank?”
I replied with a somewhat awkward expression.
“I just got lucky and obtained a fortunate encounter.”
When I vaguely brushed it off, the tester nodded.
After all, there was a request from the guild, and she didn’t seem inclined to probe further.
Besides, there were cases where ranks jumped due to fortunate encounters, so my words weren’t entirely untrue.
“Next, let’s measure your familiar as well.”
As Maru also stepped into the equipment, blue rings of light formed around him, and his mana level began to be displayed on the screen.
“Mana level… B-Rank?!”
The tester stared at the screen with surprised eyes.
“It’s extremely rare for a Skeleton to have B-Rank mana. No, it’s practically unheard of!”
She wore an expression of shock.
“This is beyond believable for a familiar of a typical F-Rank Hunter. Ah, but you aren’t exactly F-Rank yourself, are you, Mr. Kanghyeon Lee?”
Maru is precisely a Skeleton Priest. However, his appearance is no different from a regular Skeleton, so it’s natural for her to be surprised.
‘Well, even if I told her Maru was a Skeleton Priest, she wouldn’t believe me anyway.’
A Skeleton possessing Holy Power.
It would be a miracle if they didn’t dismiss me as a lunatic.
There was no need to correct their misunderstanding, though.
I had no intention of drawing attention here.
“N-Next, let’s test how strong your familiar is.”
Park Ji Hye instructed another staff member beside her to bring something.
A short while later, the staff member returned, pulling a small cart. On the cart sat a black stone.
“This is a special test material. It’s called Obsidian, found only in the deep parts of the Minotaurus Dungeon, and it’s one of the hardest stones known to man.”
‘Oh, so there was something like that in the Minotaurus Dungeon.’
Tester Park continued her explanation with a proud expression.
“Even most A-Rank Hunters struggle to cut this. It’s the optimal material for measuring a familiar’s attack power.”
The Obsidian was about 1 meter in size and had an irregular shape. Its surface was black and shimmering, like the night sky.
“Maru.”
At my words, Maru drew out a sword, previously hidden by his robe.
It was a Demonic Sword.
Maru slowly raised the sword and then slashed through the air. His movement was incredibly fast.
“……!”
As Maru swung his sword, the Obsidian was cleanly split in two.
* * *
“Wh-what…”
Park Ji Hye had no idea how to comprehend the situation.
The Obsidian was perfectly cut in half. She touched the cut surface with trembling hands.
Even the surface was flawlessly smooth.
“Hmm…”
The examination room was filled with utter silence.
“Th-this is impossible!”
Park Ji Hye’s voice trembled.
“Even A-Rank Hunters find it difficult to cut like this, let alone with a single strike…”
And this power was displayed by a Skeleton summoned by a Necromancer.
There had never been a summon with such results among Necromancers until now!
‘The first in the country… no, perhaps the first in the world.’
Such was the prejudice against Necromancers being inferior. But here stood someone who would break that prejudice.
If so, what did that mean?
It meant the familiar’s rank was A-Rank or higher.
Then, Kanghyeon Lee, who summoned that familiar?
Her gaze shifted to Kanghyeon Lee.
Kanghyeon Lee snatched the sword from his familiar and was now swinging it at the Obsidian.
Clang – Clang – Clang –
“……!”
Although not as clean as the familiar’s cut, the surface of the Obsidian was being chipped away bit by bit by the sword.
‘I-It can’t be!’
Even though he couldn’t cut it, this was normal.
Most A-Rank Hunters were like this.
The rough exterior of the Obsidian was due to the difficulty in mining it, and the fact that Kanghyeon Lee’s familiar, who cut it cleanly, was abnormal.
‘He must be A-Rank.’
Park Ji Hye’s hands trembled as she picked up her tablet. Her fingers moved rapidly across the screen.
‘But why was he hiding his power?’
Usually, villains registered as fugitives often hid their ranks, but the man before her, Kanghyeon Lee, was someone the Fire Bird Guild had contacted.
In other words, he was a Hunter whose identity was confirmed.
It could only be explained by him having obtained a fortunate encounter through sheer luck.
“Mr. Kanghyeon Lee, we will conclude the examination here.”
Further examination was meaningless.
The opponent was already a full-fledged A-Rank Hunter.
* * *
– Congratulations, Kanghyeon.
From the other end of the line, Yerin Jeong offered her congratulations in a delighted voice.
The results of the rank measurement came out quickly.
A-Rank.
Originally, I had no intention of standing out and thought B-Rank would suffice, but thanks to Maru’s performance, I unexpectedly received A-Rank.
“Thank you.”
Listening to Yerin Jeong, I realized the convenience she had arranged was the rank adjustment itself.
She had apparently made arrangements to allow me to have my rank lowered by one level, regardless of the measured result, for my sake.
‘She went to such lengths for me.’
I was a little touched.
However, her efforts were in vain as I ended up receiving A-Rank.
Because Maru cut the Obsidian.
A report had to be made about that, leading to the A-Rank determination.
In the end, I became an A-Rank Hunter of Korea.
– Now you can officially access all Dungeons, can’t you?
A-Rank Hunters can access all Dungeons.
They are practically the nation’s top power.
I could see how happy she was just by her voice.
Of course.
An A-Rank Hunter serving as an advisor to the Fire Bird Guild and also as Yerin Jeong’s confidant?
For her, it was like gaining a tremendous ally.
‘With this, there will be no one within the guild who suspects me.’
Of course, there might be some who oppose me, but that’s none of my concern.
‘Yerin Jeong will handle it all.’
Something else was more important.
Didn’t I discover a certain existence during the examination just now?
‘Obsidian.’
The hardest stone, Obsidian, found only in the Minotaurus Dungeon.
And I possess the Minotaurus Dungeon.
“Um, Yerin, are you perhaps thinking of collecting Obsidian?”
– Huh? Obsidian?
Yerin Jeong asked in surprise at my words.
“You have the Minotaurus Dungeon in your guild, don’t you?”
– We do, but only a very small number of Hunters can cut Obsidian…
Come to think of it, even A-Rank Hunters had trouble cutting Obsidian, she said.
Naturally, that was irrelevant to me.
I have Maru, after all.
And since the Dungeon was already mine, there was no risk involved.
“Shall we do some business together?”
