Chapter 02
Welcome to HunterHunting, the nation’s largest hunter recruitment application!
Today, Ms. Yeom Yea-ah, your profile and résumé have been viewed 12,498 times, an increase of 147 compared to yesterday!
Your total views are now 3,946,895, and it has been 227 days since your résumé was first posted. A total of 1,341 guilds have checked your profile, 107 interviews have been conducted, and the number of successful hires so far is… zero.
Currently, 12 guilds are keeping an eye on your résumé—162 fewer than yesterday.
Since yesterday’s incident, even the number of people skimming through my résumé had dropped.
The guild I visited yesterday was a promising one, the type that only held open recruitment once a year. But word had spread like wildfire across the entire guild circuit—about a healer who knocked out an interviewer during such an important process.
That interviewer, even at the very least, was ranked A-class. The fact that I could floor him in one strike said everything.
Afterward, I was detained by the guild and subjected to what was essentially an interrogation.
“I never imagined someone could be this tone-deaf. Calling it tone-deaf doesn’t even begin to describe it. The moment I heard that song, my ears rang, my head split, and I nearly vomited. This isn’t just tone-deafness.”
Those were the interviewer’s first words upon regaining consciousness.
Because of him, I was tested to see whether my singing carried some kind of curse-like debuff.
Naturally, the results showed nothing.
Only after enduring a long ordeal did I get to leave—with a small apology fee. Small for them, but for me, living alone in poverty, it was an entire week’s worth of expenses.
“Status window.”
They say that with enough practice, one doesn’t even need to say it aloud to summon it. But would that day ever come for me?
This is a Ragnarok-free zone. Calling up Ms. Yeom Yea-ah’s assigned service manager.
【Liri: Hello, Yea! What brings you here today?】
It wasn’t until I awakened that I learned each awakened individual had their own assigned service manager. Something to do with the system that appeared in this world, apparently.
They say if you build up enough rapport, it’s like a mini-summon dating sim—you can even use them like familiars. Part of a service provided by Valder.
But since I had failed to get into any guilds for an entire year, I hadn’t been able to enter a single dungeon. All I could do was chat.
My service manager, Liri, was gentle and affectionate, and worked tirelessly to cheer me up in my endless job hunt.
“I think I’ve failed again this time too, Liri… Maybe I should just switch to another manager.”
【Liri: Don’t say that, Yea! There are still plenty of guilds you can apply to. Yesterday’s incident was unfortunate, but that only happened because the interviewer couldn’t meet the conditions for your specific skill.】
“I’ve been hearing that for a year now. Isn’t it just because I’m too tone-deaf?”
【Liri: No! Objectively speaking, yes—you are indeed extremely, hopelessly tone-deaf, to the point where variety show panels would faint on the spot if you appeared. But still! What happened yesterday, someone actually fainting, that was clearly the effect of your skill. After all, before your awakening, no one ever passed out from hearing you sing, right?】
Her words were both cruel and kind, the perfect mix of poison and medicine. But what could I say in response?
“…Yes, you’re right.”
【Liri: It’s complicated, but the main issue is that you haven’t been able to enter a gate yet. To do that, you need a guild. To join a guild, you need to handle your skill. And to handle your skill, you need a gate…】
【Liri: Oh.】
Even Liri sighed as the circular trap became obvious.
Others might laugh it off, but to me, this was a matter of survival.
If only there were someone who trusted me enough to take me into a gate anyway.
But with recent scandals involving private firms monopolizing gates through hunters, you couldn’t even step inside without belonging to a registered guild.
If only my casting medium wasn’t music. If I could heal using anything else, I’d probably already be living a fast-paced, VIP life somewhere.
【Liri: Still, don’t lose hope. There could be someone out there who can withstand your… condition. Or maybe someone wealthy enough to hire you just to see what happens.】
As expected, Liri wasn’t very good at comforting. Whenever she worried too much, her words tended to spiral endlessly. I could usually guess her mood from that alone.
I let out a bitter laugh. Maybe it was better not to talk at all.
That was when a phone notification popped up. I instinctively braced myself for a reminder about overdue credit card bills or loan interest. But then I saw the icon.
【HunterHunting: You have 1 new interview request.】
【Guild Once is requesting an interview with Ms. Yeom Yea-ah!】
…Once.
The top guild in the country.
So exclusive that rumors spread it only recruited through blood ties, school ties, or connections. No real information on its hiring had ever leaked.
I had heard whispers of it recruiting in secret, but I never thought it would appear on a public job site—much less reach out to me.
I blinked in disbelief and tapped the alert. The app instantly connected me to the interviewer.
The username was simply “.”. Suspicious, despite the guild’s official emblem displayed alongside it.
.
Hello
Hello.
.
I am
a member of Guild Once.
Yes.
This clearly wasn’t a PR department employee. Maybe they really did recruit personally, one by one. Or perhaps…
【Liri: Yea! Look at the screen!】
.
This is Guildmaster Jung-hwan.
Ms. Yeom Yea-ah,
I want to hire you.
He didn’t seem very familiar with typing.
I blinked slowly.
Guildmaster Jung-hwan of Once. No one knew if that was his real name or his hunter alias. His age, too, was a mystery.
It was said that when he entered a gate, the entire guild mobilized to control the entrance, and even he himself went in under disguise.
Thank you. Could you please let me know when and where the interview will be? I’ll visit immediately. Thank you again!
I wasn’t without suspicion.
HunterHunting was managed by hunters with online-related abilities, so scams were supposed to be impossible. But falsifying identity? That seemed within reach.
Even so… Whether it was really Jung-hwan or not, the fact that Once had extended me an invitation was something to be grateful for.
.
I’ll send you the details
through the app alert.
Messaging is… difficult for me.
Yes, understood. Thank you!
Some instinct told me that dragging out the conversation would only test my patience.
Only after the read receipt appeared did reality sink in. My hands began to tremble.
All my life, I’d agonized over this month’s rent, next month’s groceries, the rising price of movies and gas.
Even after awakening as a healer—one of the most valuable roles in the world—I hadn’t managed to change my life at all.
But now… finally, I felt as though a ray of light had broken into Yeom Yea-ah’s dim existence
