Chapter 37
“Have you seen enough of how strong your son is?”
“Yeah… It’s impressive.”
Today’s training was a sparring session observed by Mom.
Mom, who had been curious about just how amazing her son’s skills were to cause such a stir in the world, immediately said she would come along.
After watching the spar with Sui, Mom had no choice but to acknowledge it.
“I didn’t realize it from that short video I saw last time, but he’s truly incredible.”
“Right? Your son is really strong.”
“Yena, who was watching next to me, was also flustered. She said she had no idea he had gotten this strong.”
In truth, the most surprised one wasn’t Mom, but Yena, who had come to watch along.
The last time she had seen him fight in person was when Joo-hyuk barely managed to win against a B-rank opponent.
Seeing Joo-hyuk now, after consuming the Dream Phantom Grass and even visiting the Training Room, it was only natural she was astonished.
“By any chance… was your goal to show off for me?”
“What else would it be?”
The conversation was veering off in a strange direction again.
It was easy to predict what was coming next.
“I thought maybe my son wanted to show off in front of a girl.”
“I told you, Yena and I aren’t in that kind of relationship.”
“Why not? She’s pretty, kind—there’s no reason not to like her.”
“That’s true.”
She was pretty and kind enough to visit my mom in the hospital every day.
In a way, falling for someone like that seemed almost inevitable.
“But I don’t like her.”
Of course, for me, those kinds of feelings hadn’t sprouted yet.
Was she just one of the people I was grateful to for helping me out in various ways?
‘If she weren’t involved with Hunters, maybe it’d be different, but since she’s from that world, I don’t think romantic feelings are developing.’
Even though I received personal help from her, ultimately, we met through work, so strong feelings didn’t really arise.
At best, she was a reliable partner I could trust with work?
To go further, she was someone you could attach the modifier “pretty” to.
“Tsk tsk, for a boy to have such poor taste in women…”
Mom clicked her tongue at her son’s stubbornness.
All the way home, I had to listen to a truckload of nagging about relationships and when I was going to get a girlfriend.
Finally arriving home, I took a shower and came out to find a missed call on my phone.
[Hunter Association Management Staff]
‘What’s this about?’
It was a call from the staff member I had met last time.
Wondering why he was calling this time, I dialed his number.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Joo-hyuk? Are you available to talk now?”
“Yes, I am. What’s the matter?”
His voice sounded urgent.
Thinking something big must have happened, I asked, and he replied.
“It’s regarding the A-rank Gate dispatch request you submitted this time.”
After he said that, a brief silence followed.
The staff member continued after about two seconds.
“This must be an administrative error, right?”
“No, it’s the one I submitted.”
Sigh…
The staff member let out a deep sigh.
It seemed he was lamenting greatly that the very situation he had worried about had actually occurred.
“Mr. Joo-hyuk, I acknowledge you are impressive for an F-rank, but an A-rank is still too much for you now.”
“Then I’ll come by tomorrow.”
“Pardon?”
“Arguing about it noisily won’t solve anything.”
This was a development I had anticipated ever since I asked Yena about the A-rank Gate.
I didn’t expect it to be the Association, but in a way, it was good they contacted me.
“Tomorrow, I’ll come and clearly demonstrate whether or not I have the skills to enter an A-rank Gate.”
[…]
A flowing silence.
The staff member was momentarily taken aback by the sudden turn of events, but soon, after grasping the situation, he seemed to realize this was the quickest and most accurate solution, and he acquiesced.
“I don’t know where you get such confidence, but very well.”
Tap tap tap (Sounds of keyboard typing)
“We’ll prepare on our end. Please come to the building you visited last time by 2 PM tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
With that promise made, the call ended.
I tossed my phone aside and lay down on the soft bed.
‘He did say I could even beat an S-rank, right?’
Today’s spar gave me a rough idea.
With my current enhanced physical abilities, I could definitely fight better than before.
However, it’s still difficult to know my exact capabilities.
‘That’s because, even in today’s spar, I had to hold back significantly and couldn’t use my full strength.’
The gap between me and Sui has become too wide now.
If I don’t control my strength during sparring, it’s hard to have a proper match.
‘If someone a bit stronger comes, I’ll be able to tell for sure.’
At least an A-rank.
To measure my qualification for entering an A-rank Gate, they’d probably bring in another A-rank.
Honestly, with my current body, it seemed like I could easily beat an A-rank too, but…
‘Overconfidence is dangerous.’
There’s no greater disgrace than getting cocky and getting beaten.
Joo-hyuk calmly controlled his mindset and waited patiently for tomorrow to come.
“Ah, this is driving me crazy, really.”
“So it wasn’t a mistake…?”
“Yeah, he said he’d come by tomorrow to prove it himself.”
Joo-hyuk, who had defeated a B-rank combatant and proudly proved himself.
Wondering if he had gotten arrogant, he now applied to join a party for an A-rank Gate, insisting he wanted in.
“Honestly, maybe we shouldn’t have given him that Irregular status.”
He must clearly know the limits of his own magic power.
Why on earth was he throwing a fit, insisting on going to an A-rank Gate?
“After he beat you back then, he became too full of himself.”
“…S-sorry.”
“No, I’m not blaming you. It just happened that way.”
There was nothing she could do about her loss.
It wasn’t like she didn’t do her best; Joo-hyuk just showed perseverance unbecoming of a rookie and snatched victory from a disadvantage.
“If he gets properly beaten by an A-rank this time, maybe he’ll come to his senses.”
He might have managed to beat a B-rank somehow, but starting from A-rank, the tier itself is completely different.
She was about to contact the available A-rank combat personnel to schedule a time right away when…
“But, Manager-nim.”
“What.”
“What if he wins?”
“…Hunter Joo-hyuk beating an A-rank?”
The manager paused momentarily at the unexpected question, unable to hide his surprise at the new employee’s unbiased way of thinking.
“Do you think that’s possible?”
“Well, it’s just that…”
The junior staff member hesitated for a moment before continuing in a slightly subdued tone.
“E-even if he doesn’t win, if he puts up a decent fight, he might just get more determined and think he can do it…”
“…”
Even if he couldn’t beat an A-rank in a spar, if he managed to put up any resistance at all, it could just fuel his stubbornness.
It was a valid point.
Joo-hyuk wasn’t just any B-rank; his magic power was at F-rank level, making it impossible to gauge his true strength.
It was hard to say for sure that there was no chance an A-rank might let their guard down and get hit in a weak spot.
‘If his magic power were measurable, we’d have a rough idea of his strength, but since it isn’t…’
This is why Irregulars are such a headache.
If they were only as strong as their magic power suggests, it’d be one thing, but they often display skills surpassing their inherent abilities due to hidden factors.
For the management department, dealing with them was the most troublesome part of the job.
“Should I just call him back and tell him to forget about the spar and just not come?”
“If he gets resentful and goes and connects with an illegal Hunter organization because of that, what would we do…?”
Even if he didn’t seem the type, if resentment towards the Hunter Association built up, it wasn’t an impossible scenario.
Gently handling and appeasing problematic Hunters to prevent such unfortunate incidents was the management department’s role.
Especially since Hunter Joo-hyuk was a case who had shown very low grades since his school days before achieving rapid growth, the possibility of him holding grudges against society was not small.
Therefore, rather than taking a hardline approach, they needed to move in a direction he could accept.
“Tch, I don’t know. Let’s just call any A-rank and tell them not to go easy on him.”
“…”
There was no better plan than this.
They had no choice but to call the most veteran A-rank and ask them to crush him.
Just as the manager opened his phone to contact an acquaintance…
The junior staff member made a new suggestion.
“What about making a request to the Association President…?”
“The Association President?”
“Yes, the President is also an Irregular, isn’t he?”
Ahn Eui-jun, the Hunter Association President.
His magic power was only B-rank, but he had experience honed over long years as a Hunter.
His polished swordsmanship made his skills incomparable to a typical B-rank.
Because of this, he was the first person in South Korea to be classified as an Irregular and was currently under consideration as a resource deployable even to S-rank Gates.
“If he gets soundly beaten by another Irregular, wouldn’t Hunter Joo-hyuk become a bit more humble?”
Even as an Irregular himself, if he were utterly crushed by a stronger opponent, he would surely reflect on his own position a little.
Furthermore, the chance of Joo-hyuk putting up a proper fight against the Association President was close to zero.
“But would the Association President agree to that?”
“Lately… he’s been sitting in the lobby, grabbing passing employees and bothering them. I think he’s probably very bored.”
The manager knew about it too.
Just this morning, when he came to work, he saw him sitting in the first-floor lobby, grabbing employees and chatting about this and that.
“Ugh, I really don’t get why that old man is like that.”
If he wanted to slack off, he should go to a golf course and swing clubs with National Assembly members or something.
But instead, he kept grabbing young employees under the pretext of ‘communication’ and rambling on about his heroic tales.
He was the Association President, so it was hard to say anything, and whoever got caught had to abandon all their work for the whole morning and suffer through it.
“So, actually, I think if he hears about Hunter Joo-hyuk, he’d immediately offer to teach him a lesson.”
“That makes sense. If it’s the Association President, someone of Hunter Joo-hyuk’s level would be instantly annihilated.”
If he were defeated by another Irregular without even being able to put up a fight, his arrogant mindset might be corrected a little.
It was better for his future to have a surefire person crush him once rather than call some middling A-rank and risk unexpected problems.
‘Sigh, I’ll have to go to work early tomorrow morning.’
The Association President, lurking around the lobby like a hyena from the morning.
To catch him, I’d have to arrive at work an hour earlier than usual tomorrow.
“Come to work an hour early tomorrow.”
“Pardon?”
Of course, he meant his junior staff member.
“The Association President grabs the employees who come to work early first. We need to catch him before he grabs someone else and disappears.”
“But why do I have to…”
“If you have a problem with it, get hired earlier than me then.”
“…”
The junior staff member stared blankly at the manager.
For a brief moment, she felt the urge to stomp on her own foot, just like when she had sparred with Joo-hyuk.
