Rating
Solo Leveling Novel Chapter 50 Average 5 / 5 out of 1
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75th, it has 2 monthly views
Summary
Ten minutes prior, in front of the Hunters Association building.
When it clearly became impossible to take his rank evaluation test ahead of schedule, Rhee Min-Seong sensed the looming crisis, and in the end, decided to drop a bombshell.
“Excuse me, I, Rhee Min-Seong, will retire from the entertainment industry regardless of the test result, and I shall pledge my service as a Hunter for the betterment of the public!!”
This was his last hurrah at reviving the atmosphere of the press conference that had cooled off from the sudden entrance of Goh Gun-Hui. Its effect was immediately noticeable.
“What?!”
“Rhee Min-Seong is going to retire?”
“Regardless of what his rank is?”
Right away, the atmosphere became frenzied.
Click, click, click!!
Countless cameras were now pointing at Rhee Min-Seong, and questions from excited reporters poured down on him non-stop.
“Mister Rhee Min-Seong!! Please look this way!”
“Are you telling us that you’ll abandon the title of Asia’s top movie star and choose the life of a low-ranked Hunter if need be?”
“Are you willing to give up on everything you built up as a successful actor?”
‘Yes! Very good!’
Rhee Min-Seong was pleased as punch at all the attention being focused on him again.
“Even if the result is bad and I end up with a low rank, I wish to repay all the love everyone has shown me by fighting the monster threats.”
Of course, he was lying through his teeth.
Just two years. He was thinking of helping out with the Reapers Guild’s public image as its most famous rank A Hunter for only two years, while enjoying the sky-high annual pay package.
This was the best method to silence those voices raising issues with him avoiding the draft with his father’s help, as well as a few distracting noises rising up here and there recently, all in one fell swoop.
Climbing down from the summit to protect the ordinary citizens while risking his own life!
This was the greatest opportunity for him yet, to achieve that often-talked about ‘lifetime guarantee against criticism’ status.
Enjoying the taste of everything finally going according to his plan, Rhee Min-Seong continued on with the press conference.
“And, with the Master of Reapers Guild, Chairman Im Tae-Gyu, who shares my wish, I….”
And so, as the gathered reporters were listening to Rhee Min-Seong’s future aspirations….
Ringggg….
Someone’s phone suddenly went off. The surrounding reporters glared at the phone’s owner, and he quickly killed the phone before lowering his head in apology several times.
Thanks to that, the press conference was slightly interrupted, but fortunately enough, it was not a permanent interruption in the end. Rhee Min-Seong also pretended to not hear it and continued on.
However….
This time, someone else’s phone went off.
“Argh, what the hell?”
“Whose phone was that?!”
“Isn’t is a common sense to switch it off before a conference?”
“Turn it off, now.”
Thinking that this might be a good chance to earn himself some extra brownie points, Rhee Min-Seong beamed brightly and spoke up.
“I’m fine with it, so why don’t we continue after you answer your urgent call?”
Hahahaha….
Rhee Min-Seong’s spontaneous response elicited jovial laughter from here and there. But, who knew that was merely the beginning?
Buzzzz….
Vrrrr…..
Seemingly from everywhere, mobile phones were singing out in a messy chorus of noises.
“What’s this?”
“What the hell? Even me?”
The first reporter who switched his phone off first realised that something was very wrong. Meanwhile, the eyes of the reporters were growing extra wide after confirming the contents of the calls.
“You got a call from the Association??”
“Why are you only telling me this now?!”
Reporters present hurriedly accessed the Association’s website. It was then, they discovered the new rank S Hunter’s photo and his name being uploaded there as if everything had been prepared beforehand.
The announcement date for that person’s evaluation result just so happened to be today.
‘Wait, but didn’t they say something about the measurement room not being available in the morning?’
‘It wasn’t because of Rhee Min-Seong?’
‘In that case, the reason for the measurement room being emptied out wasn’t because of Rhee Min-Seong’s rank evaluation, but this new rank S Hunter?’
And then, the face of a certain man flashed by in the heads of all the reporters present.
Could he have been?
That young man who followed Association President Goh Gun-Hui into the building! He was the only one to have accessed the measurement room today.
If they all go inside now, wouldn’t they be able to take that man’s pictures?
“E-everyone?!”
With their eyes now resembling those of a starving predator, reporters ignored Rhee Min-Seong and rushed towards the Association building.
Rumble….
When Woo Jin-Cheol signalled with his eyes, Hunters from the Monitoring Division spread out their arms and formed a human barricade.
“Let us in!!”
“A rank S has emerged, right? Aren’t you supposed to announce this ahead of time?”
“Just get out of the way, will you?!”
Reporters violently pounced forward, but they couldn’t overcome the wall created by the agents of the Monitoring Division, where every single member was a Hunter.
“W-what the hell is this??”
Having been forgotten by everyone in an instant, Rhee Min-Seong and his flustered face ran over to his burly manager. Mister manager pushed forward the screen of his phone with what he discovered only a second ago.
“….A rank S?!”
Rhee Min-Seong became completely dazed.
“A rank S showed up today, of all days?!”
He wanted to receive the attention and adulations of the world by becoming a rank A Hunter. But, to think that a rank S Hunter would pop up out of nowhere and ruin everything….
Rhee Min-Seong shook his head, hard.
‘No, wait. Something doesn’t feel right here.’
Seriously now, a rank S wasn’t a cup of instant coffee one could buy in a vending machine with a couple of change, now was it? Maybe, these reporters knew something about what was happening right now?
It was at that point that Rhee Min-Seong spotted a reporter still talking to someone on the phone while belatedly climbing up the steps. He was none other than the exact same reporter who sought out Rhee Min-Seong’s opinion regarding tomorrow’s headline earlier.
“Excuse me, Reporter Im?”
Even though Rhee Min-Seong’s voice sounded urgent, Reporter Im simply walked past while responding in haste.
“Ah, Mister Rhee Min-Seong. I’ll get in touch a little bit later, okay?”
“Excuse me? Reporter Im!! Wait!”
Rhee Min-Seong got to eavesdrop on the contents of the call as the Reporter Im’s back gradually distanced itself away from him.
“….That’s right. I’m telling you to go with the headline of ‘Tears of rank E, now joys of rank S’ for tomorrow.”
Rhee Min-Seong scanned his vicinity with energyless eyes. There was no one around him now. He fell down on his knees.
“What…. what is this….”
While he remained on the ground muttering to himself in dejection, the front entrance to the Association was abruptly pushed open wide, and South Korea’s tenth rank S Hunter revealed himself.
Click, click, click, click, click, click, click….
Jin-Woo’s eyes opened up super-wide.
‘What the heck is this?’
The camera lenses captured in full Jin-Woo standing in front of the entrance, and behind him, Baek Yun-Ho with a rueful expression and Choi Jong-In and his bitter smile.
It was now lunch time.
The Hunters of the mining team had ended the morning’s operation and were sitting around to enjoy their lunch.
Mining might have been their main role, but, since there was no threat of rockfall or cave-in, the mood of the team was rather carefree.
Some Hunters were lying on the floor resting, having gobbled up their meals in the blink; some Hunters were busy giggling to themselves while checking out their phones; a few Hunters were even enjoying cold alcoholic beverages while sharing snacks among themselves.
“Huh??”
One of the Hunters playing with his phone cried out in surprise and hurriedly raised his upper body up.
“Hey, isn’t this Mister Seong??”
Lee Seong-Gu’s ears perked up.
“Hey, it is him!”
“Mister Seong’s on the news.”
Indeed, Lee Seong-Gu hadn’t heard wrong.
“I knew it.”
With his face considerably flushed red after ingesting three cups of alcohol, Lee Seong-Gu ran to where his colleagues were as if he had been waiting for this. Even while he was doing that, his mouth continued to operate without rest.
“I knew it from the moment that bstard glared at me! Let me see for myself what horrible things that insolent bstard committed now!”
Perhaps Lee Seong-Gu’s voice was too loud?
“Mister Seong did what?”
“Did Mister Seong commit a crime or something?”
Including Foreman Bae, all of the mining team’s Hunters in the near vicinity gathered in one spot.
Jin-Woo’s face filled up the palm-sized screen of the mobile phone, and just below that, large subtitles flashed by.
[….Following after Hwang Dong-Seok and Cha Hae-In, South Korea’s tenth rank S Hunter, Mister Seong Jin-Woo, has just now…]
“Heok?!”
Having ‘discovered’ Jin-Woo, Lee Seong-Gu’s eyes began trembling.
In front of the private office of Yujin Construction’s chairman.
Standing in front of the door, Yu Jin-Ho let out a short sigh.
“Fuu….”
He opened the door, and as it smoothly glided inward, he also raised his head to spot his father busy going through several documents, not bothering to even turn his head this way.
“Come inside.”
Even though he made his ‘reply’, Yu Myung-Hwan continued to scribble his signatures on the documents.
Yu Jin-Ho stood next to Yu Myung-Hwan. The father briefly raised his head to confirm the son’s visage, before continuing on with his work.
‘Dad’s still the same, I see.’
In the past, Yu Jin-Ho would’ve been suppressed by his father being like this and run off, utterly unable to say what he wanted to say. However, it was different now.
“I’d like to speak to you about something, Father.”
“Is it regarding Hunter Seong Jin-Woo?”
“Yes.”
Yu Myung-Hwan finally raised his head up.
“Alright. So, what happe….”
It was then.
Yu Myung-Hwan’s phone suddenly went off.
Vrrrr…
“Hold on.”
Yu Myung-Hwan raised his hand and stopped Yu Jin-Ho’s words. Checking the message on the phone’s screen, Yu Myung-Hwan’s eyes grew wide just a little.
‘My dad can get surprised too?’
Yu Jin-Ho tilted his head slightly.
“…There’s something you should see.”
“Pardon?”
Rather than providing an answer, Yu Myung-Hwan operated the remote and switched the giant TV mounted on one of the walls, instead.
A breaking news piece immediately came up on the screen.
[Yes, it has been confirmed just now. The Hunter who was evaluated as rank S earlier today is a Re-Awakened, someone who has gone through the secondary Awakening process after his initial one. His name is Mister Seong Jin-Woo, who used to work for the Association as a rank E previously.]
The reporter’s excited voice easily conveyed the current atmosphere of the location. Yu Jin-Ho had been listening disinterestedly, but when he heard the name ‘Seong Jin-Woo’, he was taken greatly by surprise.
‘Heok!”
The screen changed after that. It was now showing the emotionless face of someone he was quite familiar with, busy surveying the immediate surroundings.
It was none other than his hyung-nim.
‘I’m sure of it. Hyung-nim is feeling irritated right now.’
Thanks to Yu Jin-Ho sticking around hyung-nim for a while, it became pretty easy to tell what he was thinking about simply through his expressions. But, besides all that – he was a rank S?
Yu Jin-Ho was well aware of his hyung-nim being great, but that greatness had far exceeded his own imagination.
At the same time….
‘Even though he possesses such incredible power, he enters dungeons every day to train himself even further?’
A sense of awe rushed in, fast. As a person who used to guard his side, Yu Jin-Ho’s heart swelled with pride as Jin-Woo’s name got continuously mentioned on the TV.
Beep….
The TV was switched off and hyung-nim’s face also disappeared from the view. Yu Jin-Ho formed a wistful expression.
“Okay, continue.”
Father was telling Yu Jin-Ho to continue with what he wanted to say.
As he had practised beforehand, Yu Jin-Ho bowed down hard and spoke.
“My apologies, father. I couldn’t change hyung-nim’s mind.”
Yu Myung-Hwan’s expression hardened.
“…..Okay, what did Hunter Seong Jin-Woo say while rejecting your offer?”
“Well, hyung-nim said…..”
Yu Jin-Ho hesitated slightly, but he slightly raised his head and spoke.
“He wants to make his own Guild, so if I was interested in the Vice Master spot, I should come over, instead…..”
Yu Jin-Ho thought that father would get angry or ignore that suggestion altogether, but instead, his expression was solidly frozen up.
And then….
Grin.
Yu Myung-Hwan chuckled without making a sound.
Someone widely known for his poker face, Chairman Yu Myung-Hwan had actually revealed a change of expression in front of his own son.
‘What is my dad doing?’
Yu Jin-Ho couldn’t dare to ask what was happening, so all he could do was to avert his gaze this way and that.
Yu Myung-Hwan spoke, that smile now erased from his lips.
“Do you know why I’m trying to establish the Yujin Guild?”
“Isn’t it because…. there’s money to be made in the Hunter business?”
“No, it’s not.”
Yu Myung-Hwan’s tone of voice was resolute, unwavering.
“We have more than enough money right now. You think I’ll try something that could put us at odds with other large Guilds just for the sake of chasing after a couple more bucks?”
Was he trying to imply that money wasn’t the reason?
Yu Jin-Ho’s eyes widened.
“But, if not that, then….?”
Yu Myung-Hwan carefully put the pen down.
“It’s in order to protect ourselves.”
Yu Myung-Hwan’s serious, dignified eyes caused Yu Jin-Ho to swallow his dry saliva in nervousness.
“Hunters are growing in power every day. And it’s not uncommon to see a single person possessing enough power to rival a country’s military might.”
For instance, the world’s most powerful Hunters, seen as already on the level of exercising power equal to that of a country’s government.
Yu Myung-Hwan was talking about those people.
“I hear that some Hunters already rule smaller nations like kings. How long do you think that the rule of law and governmental authority will keep us safe under the current situation?”
Yu Myung-Hwan’s voice was getting heavier.
However, as Yu Jin-Ho was listening to this explanation, it suddenly dawned on him that he was actually feeling happy at the moment.
Why was that?
‘….Ah.’
That was because, his father included him too and said ‘We’, instead.
Indeed, Yu Jin-Ho felt happy because he thought he got to glimpse for the first time another side of his father.
Yu Myung-Hwan’s explanation continued on.
“I wished to establish a Guild and gather trustworthy Hunters to our side. Not because I needed more money or that I am searching for talented individuals, but it’s all to find those Hunters who we can trust as fellow human beings, as well as for us to rely on their strength.”
And then, a nearly imperceptible smile formed on Yu Myung-Hwan’s face again.
“Looks like you already found someone like that, haven’t you?”
“Yes, Father.”
Yu Jin-Ho replied right away. It was a bit hard to tell where his father was going with this, but well, it was true regardless that Yu Jin-Ho could trust and rely on his hyung-nim.
Yu Myung-Hwan nodded his head.
“Very good.”
“Yes?”
“You pass.”
What did he pass just now? Yu Jin-Ho belatedly raised his bowed head.
“I shall entrust the Yujin Guild to you.”
“Pardon me?”
“Do your best to develop the Yujin Guild. Make those trustworthy and reliable Hunters ‘your’ people. In the future, they will no doubt become even more valuable assets than any form of wealth.”
Yu Myung-Hwan spoke with abundant certainty in his voice. And, just as his certainty was great, so was Yu Jin-Ho’s delight.
Would this be the first time since his birth that Yu Jin-Ho was acknowledged by his father?
“Thank you very much, Father!”
With an ample smile blooming on his face, Yu Jin-Ho bent his back forward 90 degrees. Yu Myung-Hwan looked on at that sight with a content expression.
Unfortunately, what Yu Jin-Ho said next went completely against Yu Myung-Hwan’s expectations.
“However, Father, I don’t think I can accept your offer.”
“Mm?”
Yu Myung-Hwan’s brows quivered slightly.
The financial wherewithal of the Yujin Construction was more than enough to put the soon-to-be-established Yujin Guild on the fast track.
Already, talks with a few rank S Hunters had advanced into a more concrete stage, as well.
The Yujin Guild becoming South Korea’s best, biggest Guild was already a foregone conclusion.
Yu Jin-Ho must’ve known this, too.
‘That’s why my son wanted to become the Master, wasn’t it?’
However, now that he was about to hand the Guild over, why was his boy declining it? Did he get scared in the meantime?
Yu Myung-Hwan did his best to suppress his disappointment and rage towards Yu Jin-Ho, and managed to say something.
“….What is your reason?”
Yu Jin-Ho raised his head at that prompt, and while still carrying a happy-looking face, he spoke without holding anything back.
“I’ve decided to work for hyung-nim’s Guild.”
Finding himself surrounded by a wall of reporters, Jin-Woo became quite flustered.
‘Why aren’t these people taking pictures of Rhee Min-Seong like they were supposed to, instead of blocking my way??’
Wondering if Rhee Min-Seong was standing behind him, he took a quick glance, but he could only see Baek Yun-Ho and Choi Jong-In there.
It was then, his thigh began vibrating.
Vrrrr…. Vrrrr….
It was his mobile phone inside the pocket.
‘Why would Jin-Ah call me at this time of the day?’
As soon as he tapped on the ‘Answer’ icon, his little sister’s urgent voice exploded out from the speaker.
– “Oppa! Oppa, you’re on TV!!”
But, that was obvious. Just how many TV cameras were present here? You would still get roughly the same picture regardless of which TV station you tuned into.
He got momentarily tense after his sister, who was supposed to be still in school, suddenly called him up but was able to breathe a sigh in relief.
“Mm…. So, nothing in particular happened, right?”
– “Nothing in particular?? How can you even say that?! What’s this about Re-Awakening? And this rank S thing, too???”
From her voice, it was quite obvious that the girl was feeling really shocked at the moment. Unfortunately, his current circumstances meant that he couldn’t explain everything to her in detail.
“Right now, I’m a bit occupied so…. Okay, I’ll tell you everything once you get back home.”
– “Oppa?! Oppa!”
Despite his sister’s anxious voice calling out to him, Jin-Woo ended the call.
Click.
And at the same time, he got to figure out how the current situation came to be.
‘….There was a message, huh.’
The Hunters Association used a dedicated app to deliver important information in real time. Most of the time, the app alerted the users to the locations of rank A or higher dungeons, or where dungeon breaks were about to occur, but it was a different story today.
‘….Huh.’
After confirming the contents of the message, Jin-Woo quickly accessed the Association’s website. And sure enough….
The ink on his rank S Hunter licence wasn’t even dry yet, but the list of the highest ranking Hunters in South Korea had been updated already.
[Seong Jin-Woo, rank S, Mage-type]
It was as it was written on his licence.
‘….They are unnecessarily fast on things like this.’
Shoving the phone back in his pocket, Jin-Woo redirected his gaze back to the front.
“Mister Seong Jin-Woo! Are you really the rank E Hunter once affiliated with the Association?”
“You are now a very rare Re-Awakened!! How are you feeling right now?”
Reporters writhed and struggled desperately in order to capture a bit more of Jin-Woo’s face or his voice with their cameras. However, Jin-Woo found their explosive attention towards him simply annoying.
‘I gotta get out of this place first.’
Asking them politely to make way wouldn’t going to work.
Jin-Woo’s brows quivered. Should he just summon his Shadow Soldiers to carve out a path and leave?
“Over here! Mister Seong Jin-Woo, please look over this way!”
“Mister Seong Jin-Woo! The whole country is watching, so how about a smile for the viewers?”
While the camera lenses and mics were gradually inching closer, Jin-Woo spent the next two seconds earnestly pondering whether he should summon Shadow Soldiers like ‘Tank’ or ‘Fangs’ or not.
Meanwhile, behind Jin-Woo…
Choi Jong-In looked at Jin-Woo’s back as the youth stood there, unable to go anywhere thanks to the cordon of reporters blocking his way.
He approached Baek Yun-Ho and spoke.
“Looks like my new recruit Hunter-nim is feeling a bit troubled from the excessive attention, no?”
“And just who gave you the permission to call Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim ‘your’ new recruit now?”
“Can’t I even make a joke? It’s just a joke.”
Two men began their war of nerves once more. In the end, though, Choi Jong-In took a step back first. He sighed before speaking up again.
“In any case, it’d be the same thing as giving other Guilds a chance if we waste any more time here.”
Baek Yun-Ho agreed with that assessment. Not just the Reapers Guild’s Master Im Tae-Gyu, who just so coincidentally was present here today because of Rhee Min-Seong, but the other remaining super-large Guilds would be desperately trying to get in touch with Hunter Seong Jin-Woo right about now.
Baek Yun-Ho scanned the crowd of reporters.
“So, Chairman Choi, what you’re suggesting is….”
“Before flies come rushing in from the smell, let us escort Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim to his residence. While we have a chat with him regarding this and that.”
Meaning, the two of them should pool their resources first, and prevent more potential rivals from appearing.
Didn’t matter what kind of abilities Hunter Seong Jin-Woo possessed, he’d still need a Guild’s aid if he were to attack high-ranking dungeons. So, if they played their cards right, then either the White Tiger or the Hunters Guild could find themselves with another rank S in the roster.
Choi Jong-In was utterly confident of the Guild he led, the Hunters, and….
“Alright.”
….Baek Yun-Ho too didn’t feel that this was a bad suggestion, either.
The White Tiger might not have been as big as the Hunters, but it still was a Guild with great future prospects.
‘Besides, our Section Chief Ahn and Deputy Hyun are familiar with Mister Seong Jin-Woo from a while ago, too.’
At a bare minimum, he knew for sure that they had a closer relationship than the Hunters Guild.
And so, the interests of these two men lined up rather nicely. They exchanged a few suspicious gazes at each other, before turning around to approach Jin-Woo.
The first one to engage the young man in conversation was Baek Yun-Ho.
“Hunter-nim.”
Jin-Woo looked behind him.
“Yes?”
Choi Jong-In inwardly clicked his tongue after losing the initiative, but since they made a tacit agreement to cooperate, he didn’t interfere. Baek Yun-Ho formed the brightest smile he could manage and continued on.
“Are you feeling lost with all these reporters around? We can safely escort you back to your house, so how about going with us? We are pretty good at dealing with these sorts of situations, you see.”
Although a bit of exaggeration was mixed in there, what he said wasn’t an empty promise at all.
This event was something any rank S Hunter would experience at least once. Not only that, these two men also learned how to deal with people’s attention while managing their respective large Guilds, too.
Choi Jong-In provided support fire from the side.
“Let’s head out together. Also, there is something we’d like to discuss with you, as well.”
Too bad for them, Jin-Woo simply formed a polite-enough smile to reject them.
“I’ll be alright.”
He then pulled the hood attached to his top and hid his face.
“I actually do have a place I need to stop by first.”
“Excuse me? But, how will you get out of here, what with all these repor…..”
Choi Jong-In couldn’t get to continue with the rest of his sentence.
Swish-!!
Because, Jin-Woo turned to face the reporters and then, jumped up tens of metres in the air before landing on the other side of the crowd, that’s why.
“Uh, uh???”
Even before the flustered reporters could respond, Jin-Woo blended into the crowd and disappeared from the view.
Choi Jong-In was left speechless. Now that was a movement he couldn’t even react to in time, even though he was a rank S. It was quite obvious that the reporters, who were all regular people, wouldn’t be able to follow that with their naked eyes.
Choi Jong-In let out a wry chuckle.
‘As soon as registering as a rank S, he’s already playing the part of Superman?’
How was he supposed to be a Mage-type with that sort of physical ability? As a fellow Mage-type, it sure riled him up a bit.
But, in that case, how would a rank S melee-type Hunter think of that?
“Just now, he….”
Choi Jong-In turned towards Baek Yun-Ho in order to ask a question, but he flinched and reflexively took a step back.
“Chairman Baek, your eyes??”
He was so surprised that he even forgot to add the honorific title.
“Ah….! M-my apologies.”
Baek Yun-Ho hurriedly covered his eyes with his hand and turned around. When he opened his eyes again a short while later, they had reverted back from the monster-like irises to those of a normal human being. However, just because his eyes changed back to normal, that didn’t mean his shock had worn off.
‘How can this be…..??’
Baek Yun-Ho trembled on the spot.
Just now, when Jin-Woo gathered strength on his legs to prepare for that jump, he very briefly released his magic energy he’d been concealing until then.
No matter how skilful a Hunter was, it was nearly impossible to detect anything in such a short period of time. However, that incredible magic energy still caused Baek Yun-Ho to instinctively activate one of his abilities, the Eyes of the Beast, and those eyes successfully detected Jin-Woo’s hidden power.
‘He’s strong.’
Baek Yun-Ho already knew how strong the youth was. However….
‘No, that’s not important.’
Back when they had gotten into a bit of confrontation in front of the Red Gate, Baek Yun-Ho also activated the Eyes of the Beast inadvertently. Jin-Woo’s strength was clearly imprinted in Baek Yun-Ho’s mind back then.
Back then, the youth was very strong. Even if it was Baek Yun-Ho himself, he would not have been able to win without sacrificing an arm.
However, that was all.
If he was willing to sacrifice that much, then he’d be able to win at any time.
But now….
What was the meaning of this difference in strength? He detected magic energy incomparably greater than before. That youth was so much stronger now.
So, so much stronger than back then.
His Re-Awakening process should’ve been over a long time ago. So, how could this be?
In that instant, an implausible theory popped up in Baek Yun-Ho’s head.
‘Could he… be able to grow stronger?’
Possibly, not through Re-Awakening process, but through growing stronger that he…..
Just as his thoughts arrived at this point,
“Excuse me, Chairman Baek? Are you alright? Your complexion is….”
….Choi Jong-In worriedly asked him.
Baek Yun-Ho rubbed his face and shook his head, hard.
“I was suddenly feeling a bit dizzy just now. I’m okay.”
“You’re still young…. You should be more careful.”
While conversing with Choi Jong-In, Baek Yun-Ho continued to stare in the direction that Jin-Woo had disappeared to.
‘He’s already transcended the regular rank S, but if he could continue increasing his strength, then…’
Shudder.
Baek Yun-Ho’s entire body shuddered from goosebumps.
***
“Taxi!”
After successfully shaking off the reporters, Jin-Woo caught a taxi on a deserted road.
He now possessed the rank S licence that he so wanted. Him levelling up and clearing dungeons were all good and nice, but right now, the most important thing was curing his mother.
‘The Divine Water of Life….’
He didn’t know if this item called ‘Divine Water of Life’ could really heal his mother.
‘However, if there is a one in a thousand, no, even if it’s one in a ten thousand chance, then I…..’
He wanted to clear the Demon’s Castle as quickly as humanly possible and collect all the ingredients so he could craft this ‘Divine Water of Life’. And in order to do that, he needed to find an artefact that could protect him from the overwhelming heat of the Demon’s Castle.
Jin-Woo settled down in the backseat of the taxi and told the driver his destination.
“To the Korean Hunter Auction, please.”
The taxi driver took a glance through the rear-view mirror and grinned brightly.
“Well, you must be going there to sell something good, am I right? I hear that the minimum trading price starts at around tens of millions of Won.”
Instead of a reply, Jin-Woo simply formed a thin smile.
Gulp.
The driver swallowed his saliva.
By saying that he wanted to go to the Hunter Auction to sell something, that youth was declaring that he was a Hunter; and the driver needed to be extra careful when dealing with Hunters.
There were more than a few among the Hunters possessing somewhat of ‘particular’ personalities that were just as strange as their powers. If the driver made a mistake and got on the bad side of this youth, a big incident might break out.
‘Well, this young man doesn’t look like one of those people, but still, it’s better to be on the cautious side, no?’
The driver remained mindful of Jin-Woo’s moods and kept his mouth shut, and thanks to that, the interior of the taxi was left largely quiet during the drive. Jin-Woo used this part of the trip to search the internet.
Various articles, social media sites, as well as portal communities etc., were all filled with the discussion regarding the new rank S Hunter. Rhee Min-Seong used to be the number one most-searched-for topic until this morning, yet his name could no longer be seen in the top 10 now.
‘Tsk.’
Jin-Woo clicked his tongue.
‘I didn’t expect it to be this crazy, though.’
Sure, he did expect some amount of attention, but he definitely didn’t believe that it’d become such a hot trending topic at all.
Then again…
There were only ten in South Korea.
If one were to exclude two who died or had emigrated to elsewhere, then there were only eight rank S Hunters in the country, so how could the response of its citizens not be feverish?
‘Wait, why was it quiet back when Cha Hae-In became a rank S?’
Because the ninth rank S Cha Hae-In was almost never exposed to the media, Jin-Woo thought his case would be similar to that. But when he searched this and that, he eventually discovered that, once Cha Hae-In had become a rank S, she requested the Association to keep most of her details confidential.
‘Just by requesting the Association, both the media and Guilds can’t even rely on laws to approach you.’
If there was such a convenient method available, why didn’t the Association President tell him about this?
‘….Ah.’
Jin-Woo recalled the question he got just as he was about to enter the examination area. Back then, the Association President asked him this:
“Have you thought of a Guild to join?”
“No, not yet.”
Did he ask because of that?
If he were to request confidentiality, then Guilds wouldn’t have been able to approach him, so it was likely that the Association President deliberately hadn’t said anything.
‘Well, that’s that, I guess.’
Jin-Woo requested confidentiality from the Association while online, and rang up the Korean Hunter Auction.
Click.
– “Welcome to Korean Hunter Auction.”
“I’d like to get an artefact appraised. I’m on my way there, but will it be okay?”
– “Yes, of course. However, what type of an artefact would you like to get appraised?”
“It’s a bead containing an amplification effect on one’s magic.”
– “Ah. A magic tool that can amplify….. By the way, seeing that you’re already aware of the artefact’s effects, you must have had it appraised elsewhere?”
“Indeed I have, but they weren’t really all that trustworthy so I wanted to get the Hunter Auction’s opinion.”
– “Hahaha. You made the right choice. There is no one out there that can correctly estimate the value of an artefact better than us.”
The conversation was halted for a moment as if the other party was jotting something down, but it soon resumed.
– “So, may I ask, what was the amplification percentage detected from the previous appraisal?”
“It was 100%.”
– “Pardon me?”
“It was a one hundred percent amplification effect.”
– “….”
The voice over the phone came out after a short pause.
– “My apologies, but may I ask if you’re a Hunter?”
“Yes, I am.”
– “In order for the smooth appraisal process, we require the identity of the seller. Can you provide us with your rank and your name, please?”
The corners of Jin-Woo’s lips arched up.
‘I knew this would happen.’
Would the Hunter Auction even talk to him if he wanted to sell this nonsensical artefact when he was still a rank E Hunter? It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he got re-evaluated precisely for this moment.
Jin-Woo confidently declared.
“It’s rank S. Name’s Seong Jin-Woo.”
< Chapter 50 > Fin.
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