A mundane morning.
As Jeonghyun walked down the alley in casual attire, someone in a suit approached him.
Of course, Jeonghyun was aware of his approach, but for some reason, he wore a sullen expression.
The man in the suit, who quickened his pace as he got closer to Jeonghyun, finally blocked his path and spoke.
“Hey, are you Han Jeonghyun, the hunter?”
“Oh, no, I’m not.”
But without even making eye contact, Jeonghyun passed the man with ghostly body language.
It was the result of deploying the combat sense of E-grade and the body language of D-grade to full power.
To the man in the suit, who was not a hunter but an ordinary person, Jeonghyun’s passing might have seemed like he didn’t even notice him properly.
However, the man didn’t give up and reached out his hand.
“No, wait, we’re—”
“I don’t believe you.”
Without giving any room for doubt, Jeonghyun lightly used stealth to evade the situation.
“Huh?”
Of course, to ordinary eyes, even stealth of E-grade seemed like wearing a transparent cloak from a movie.
Lately, there had been an increase in people around Jeonghyun’s house who seemed like either con artists or cultists.
Despite their neat suits, weren’t those people who usually scam others perfectly fine?
Moreover, they even knew Jeonghyun’s name.
It was frustrating not knowing how much personal information had been leaked in this era.
“Ugh, annoying.”
If it happened once or twice, it might have been bearable, but it was becoming a nuisance even when going to the convenience store in the morning.
“Hey, are you Han Jeonghyun, the hunter?”
“Ugh, come on! I said I’m not!”
“That’s not what I—”
Even during the pre-dawn exercises, they sneakily approached, which was just downright irritating.
“How do they even know I’m a hunter? Where are the hunters in this kind of studio apartment village anyway?”
Moreover, seeing different faces each time hinted that there were more than just a couple lurking around.
Ultimately, those who persistently bothered Jeonghyun only fueled his resentment.
Lately, there had been an increase in cults targeting hunters, which seemed so fanatical that it was inevitable with such earnest business tactics.
In Jeonghyun’s mind, those in suits who had fallen into mere propagators of emerging cults.
Ordinary people might think, ‘Why would those almost hunters believe in cults?’ but the actual amount of damage was increasing significantly.
First and foremost, they targeted hunters with little social experience in their younger age groups, and there were quite a few who stumbled in without knowing any better.
Moreover, hunters were generally high-income individuals.
It was said that even catching just one out of a hundred could make a profit.
Thanks to that, on HunterNet, stories of colleagues who seemed to be doing just fine turning out to be cultists could be found easily.
Associations and guilds were actively conducting campaigns to prevent damage caused by cults.
Although not affiliated yet, as someone who was diligent in understanding such matters, Jeonghyun wanted to block their access altogether.
Meanwhile, the suit man who had been persistently ignored by Jeonghyun.
With a disappointed expression, he took out his phone from his pocket and made a call.
“Hello, Team Leader?”
– Oh, Yunghoon. What happened?
“This isn’t working at all. We need to at least start the conversation to explain who we are, but he just disappears?”
– Ugh, what can we do? Is it linked with another guild already?
“I don’t think so. We’ve been watching for a few days, and all the other guild members seem clueless too.”
In fact, they were all personnel from various guilds’ HR departments.
No, recently, those who had been bothering Jeonghyun were all employees of the same guild, to be precise.
For low-level hunters, it could be considered a dream job.
Since it wasn’t common for cultists to roam around such a secluded studio apartment village as it was.
Although they had come this far with some hints from Jongwoo, since Jeonghyun didn’t show any signs of vulnerability, it was frustrating.
Eventually, the team leader on the other end of the line seemed to make a decision and let out a deep sigh.
– Okay. Come back to the company for now. We’ll assign Sin Pil-joong from tomorrow onwards.
“Sin Pil-joong?”
Sin Pil-joong.
He was one of the few hunter-turned-employees in the HR department.
His specialty was the remarkable movement speed of D-grade.
It wasn’t particularly useful on ordinary occasions, but wouldn’t it be helpful in situations like this?
In fact, lately, all the guilds that had attempted to approach Jeonghyun had reached a similar conclusion.
To deal with hunters, you needed hunters after all.
But.
“Hello, Mr. Han Jeonghyun! I’m not a weird person. First, let me explain—”
“Ugh, seriously! Now even hunters are coming after me!”
Ultimately, their ambitious plans resulted in irreversible consequences.
A few days later.
After running away with all his might, Jeonghyun finally snapped when he saw Sin Pil-joong sticking to him with a smile on his face.
Moreover, judging by the atmosphere, it seemed like the cults had adjusted their strategies, and there were quite a few hunters around.
“Ugh, ugh, why do I have to go through this just to go to the convenience store?”
Finally managing to shake off Sin Pil-joong, Jeonghyun furrowed his brows deeply.
So far, he had kept quiet, thinking, ‘What can I do anyway?’ but mobilizing hunters was crossing the line.
Jeonghyun immediately took out his phone.
‘I never thought I’d have a reason to make a call like this.’
– Director Cha Yerin
In such a situation, isn’t it natural for powerless citizens to rely on the authorities?
Though it was a bit early, Yerin immediately answered the phone.
– Hello?
“Ah, Director Cha Yerin?”
– Yes, this is Cha Yerin.
‘What kind of concept is it today?’
A strangely normal reaction.
Well, it was much better than usual burdens.
“That’s not it-”
– But who is this?
“Ah.”
Only then did Jeonghyun realize that he had never personally contacted Yerin before.
He had her number since he received her business card, but she hadn’t saved his.
“I’m Han Jeonghyun.”
– Yes, I actually knew that.
“Oh-.”
– Yes?
“How fortunate! You knew my number.”
Jeonghyun almost blurted out harsh words, but he swallowed them forcibly.
Anyway, he was the one who needed help right now.
– Did you and Hunter Dan go hunting well?
“Ha… Yes, it was good.”
– That’s what it seemed like. You seemed quite angry these past few days.
Come to think of it, he had forgotten amidst the daily hustle, but wasn’t there another debt piled on Yerin?
The memory of going to the orc dungeon was still disgusting.
“Well, that’s not important right now. Um, do you investigate cults as well, Director Cha?”
– Cults? Ah, the cults targeted by the hunters?
“Yes, that’s it! No, it’s just that there’s been quite a commotion near my house these days.”
– Hm. Strictly speaking, it’s not under Division 3’s jurisdiction. Are they indeed cults?
Jeonghyun nodded in agreement while holding the phone at Yerin’s question.
After Yerin asked about their appearance and way of speaking, she hung up.
– It seems it’s not a cult, but I think I can handle it. Thank you for the tip, then.
“Yes, please do take care of it.”
‘Not a cult? Then are they just hustlers?’
Jeonghyun tilted his head once, then the next day, the annoying suits that followed him disappeared.
Whether they were hustlers or cultists didn’t matter much.
Yerin’s influence was undeniable.
***
“Thanks for all the hard work, everyone!”
“You too, Sunhyung.”
The atmosphere at Sunhyung’s party was still great.
But Jeonghyun, who followed along at the end, had a somewhat ambiguous expression.
‘Level 3 is getting boring, as expected.’
This time, they were at the Level 3 gate, “Atarok Goblin Stronghold,” with Sunhyung’s party.
Despite its name, it was just a gate with regular goblins as opponents.
Even when he went in with a two-person team, goblins weren’t a problem, so there was no need to mention it with Jeonghyun’s specs now.
Moreover,
[Current coin count: 7]
Even after hunting all day, he only earned six coins.
‘I didn’t expect the probability to be this low, I mean, the first time I encountered a Tandan Orc, I didn’t know, but I didn’t expect it to be this low.’
After hunting in the goblin stronghold, he found out that the average probability was roughly in the early 20s to mid-20s.
When he didn’t know the probability, he just accepted what he got, but now that he knew, it felt like a severe loss.
Still, since he had hunted the most with Sunhyung’s party, he joined in again this time, but Jeonghyun felt his limit approaching.
With other hunters growing in skill level, the gap between them and Jeonghyun could only widen rapidly.
Perhaps that’s why Jeonghyun’s expression wasn’t so good.
“Hyung, is something bothering you?”
Sangsoo approached and asked.
“Huh? No, what would bother me?”
Despite agreeing to drop honorifics because they found it uncomfortable before, Sangsoo still called him “hyung.”
When Jeonghyun shook his head in denial, Sangsoo subtly smiled as if he understood everything.
“Feels like we’re not on the same level, right?”
“Ah…?”
Unexpectedly, he was caught off guard by the sharp comment.
“It’s okay. We’re not kids anymore. To be honest, lately, even I’ve been doing Level 4 gates with the guild. It’s a bit tough, though.”
“Really?”
Sangsoo nodded.
He was the only D rank in the party.
After recently reaching Level 3, he even attempted Level 4 gates.
And now he realized.
‘Hyung isn’t even a match?’
Compared to Jeonghyun’s current form, even those self-proclaimed C ranks were below average.
Moreover, when he asked his fellow rookies, they said it was a dream to be sent support from the guild for hunting with a fixed party like Jeonghyun’s.
‘Hyung is actually quite remarkable, isn’t he?’
Actually, it would be strange if he wasn’t.
Moreover, his skills seemed to improve differently every time they hunted.
By now, even those with no sense could tell that Jeonghyun wasn’t an ordinary unregistered hunter.
“Are you doing well these days, Jeonghyun?”
Even the HR team leader, Cha Junwon, asked Sangsoo that much when they met.
Sangsoo chuckled and replied.
“If you want to go to Level 4 gates, just say so. I think the HR team leader will arrange something.”
“No… There’s no need to go that far.”
He had felt this way for a while, but Jungjin’s support felt burdensome.
Jeonghyun declined, shaking his head.
He wanted to avoid accumulating too much debt in one place if he couldn’t handle the situation with his own strength.
As he returned home, Jeonghyun collapsed on the bed after pushing his equipment carrier to the corner.
He didn’t feel tired despite hunting goblins all day; instead, he felt lethargic and sluggish.
“Am I unable to be satisfied unless it’s Level 4 or above?”
And then, amidst his regrets, a sudden thought occurred to him.
“Oh, by the way, they said HunterNet got updated.”
I haven’t been checking HunterNet lately, so I didn’t know, but from what I’ve heard, it was chaotic.
Apparently, there’s a new rating system for hunters.
“Let’s see… My Page… Oh, it’s really here.”
As I logged in as instructed, there were indeed ratings for Jeonghyun.
The rating system on HunterNet was designed to reward polite hunters and avoid villains (not the criminal kind, though).
Only hunters whose hunts were verified through the association’s gate reservation system could participate in the evaluation.
While there seemed to be some side effects, it was generally well-received by most hunters.
First and foremost, it was beneficial for filtering out fraudulent hunters.
“My rating is 4? Was there some flaw?”
Among them, Jeonghyun’s rating was 4 out of 5.
It wasn’t a low score, but considering Jeonghyun always did his part whenever he participated, it didn’t make sense.
When he expanded the detailed information of the ratings, Jeonghyun could see the ratings according to the gates he had entered.
Most were perfect scores.
But there were two gates with an average of 3.
“‘Cursed Castle’ and ‘The Ruined Campsite of the Tandan Orcs’? Ah, those.”
Even without seeing who gave the ratings, it was obvious.
Park Sangjoon at the ‘Cursed Castle,’ and Dan Jongwoo at the ‘The Ruined Campsite of the Tandan Orcs’ must have caused trouble.
“Anyway, those with no skills are the most diligent in criticizing others.”
Looking at the evaluation list, it was clear that only one person from each party gave a rating of 1.
Interestingly, just like in the old mini-homepage days, if someone rated themselves, you could see their rating too.
– zlSwordMasterJun: 2.3
– TodayIStillHowl: 1.1
Just by looking at their nicknames, it was obvious who they were, and naturally, their ratings were miserable.
“Why bother using nicknames like this? Just write down your real names.”
Jeonghyun chuckled as if he didn’t care.
Anyway, they were amusing people.
