Chapter 124

SMH 124

Chapter 41 – South Korea’s First (1)

TL: Boko

Editor: Frost

He would’ve been slapped by other Hunters if he told them this, but there really was a limit to how much money he could gather from soloing A-rank dungeons.

He was able to acquire all of the magic stones and then sell them, but the amount of money he’d gain from an A-rank dungeon was around $500,000 – $20 million, which wasn’t enough for him to gather a large sum in a short amount of time.

‘I should get reexamined,’ Sung Joon thought. It wouldn’t be good to draw excessive attention to himself, but it couldn’t be helped. He would only be qualified to solo S-rank dungeons by becoming an SS-rank Hunter.

An S-rank dungeon was a lot more difficult than an A-rank dungeon, as well as taking much longer to clear, but if one is successful in their attack, they would receive at least $20 million; therefore, one would be able to gather a large sum of money in a short period of time.

Sung Joon took out his phone and input in Hyun Sung’s number.

“Are you planning on requesting a reexamination?” Rishubalt asked. He knew about what Sung Joon was thinking about.

Sung Joon said, “I have to.”

“You should be well aware as you’ve assaulted S-rank dungeons as a party before. They’re all different, but in general, they’re either similar in difficulty to the Awakening Dungeon or higher. It’s impossible to attack them continuously without rest,” Rishubalt advised. Even now, Sung Joon would have to rest after assaulting an Awakening Dungeon due to the severe strain. But because that rest period was still much shorter than other Hunters’, he retained the nickname ‘Unlimited Power’.

“I won’t always assault the dungeons on my own. Efficiency is important, so depending on the situation, I’ll make a temporary assault team.”

“Are the candidates Park Jang Hoon and Yoo Shin Chul?”

Kang Hoon’s and Shin Chul’s abilities were superb, even when compared to other A-rank Hunters. If they assaulted an S-rank dungeon with him, they would be really helpful in taking care of the unimportant monsters.

“Yeah,” Sung Joon affirmed.

“I’ll have to split the rewards, but you should know about this by now. Your share is reduced if your rank is lower than the dungeon you’re attacking,” Sung Joon said. Rishubalt nodded his head and opened his mouth.

“I’m aware.”

“They won’t be able to take much of the rewards.”

Contrary to Sung Joon, Jang Hoon and Shin Chul definitely possessed a finite limit to their mana and stamina; therefore, he couldn’t always take them with him, but he planned to bring them with him as much as possible.

Sung Joon was absolutely sure that they’d be helpful.

“This is Kang Sung Joon.”

Sung Joon checked the inputted number, called Hyun Sung, and brought the phone to his ear. He heard the dialing sound for a short while, and Hyun Sung soon picked up his phone.

“This is Kim Hyun Sung.”

“I’d like to request a rank reexamination. I’ll go to the Hunter Bureau right now, so please have it ready.”

“Already? It hasn’t even been long since you were promoted to S-rank.” Hyun Sung was astonished. Like he said, it hadn’t been very long since he had been promoted. Sung Joon thought that perhaps he was drawing too much attention to himself when he heard Hyun Sung’s overly agitated reaction, so he briefly pondered whether he should go through with this or not, but soon shook his head.

He had already decided to go through with the rank reexamination, so he would follow through.

“I just wanted to check the quantity of mana.”

“I understand. You can come by immediately. We’ll get everything ready for you.”

The conversation ended. Sung Joon went straight to his car, and drove to the Hunter Bureau. Like always, Hyun Sung was waiting for Sung Joon in the Hunter Bureau’s parking lot.

“Mr. Kang Sung Joon.”

Hyun Sung, who noticed Sung Joon exiting his car, waved his hand to him while sporting a joyous expression. And they went up together to his office.

“The examiner is waiting for you,” Hyun Sung said. He had called an examiner just as Sung Joon had requested. Regardless of when a Hunter’s last examination was, the Hunter Bureau was obligated to accept any request for a rank reexamination.

However, just because one requested a rank reexamination didn’t mean that an examiner would accept right away. Normally, the Hunter would have to schedule an appointment and wait, but because the Hunter Bureau had accommodated Sung Joon up until now, he was an exception.

As soon as he arrived at the office, Hyun Sung opened the door for him. The Investigation Team members were diligently working inside and the examiner was waiting for Sung Joon in the corner of the office.

“You’re here?” the Examiner stood up and said. In order to finish this examination quickly, he took his measuring tool out of his bag.

“I’ll measure your mana right away. Is that alright with you?” the Examiner asked.

“Of course.” Sung Joon nodded his head and replied.

“Then, I’ll get started.”

The Examiner waved the measuring tool around Sung Joon’s body, measuring his mana.

A short amount of time passed, and the measuring tool emitted a mechanical beep, signaling that it was finished.The Examiner’s face stiffened when he looked at the measuring tool’s screen.

“SS-rank…”

He was witnessing history in the making.

“SS-rank? I’ll check as well.”

Because the Examiner’s muttering voice wasn’t soft, Hyun Sung, who was beside him, was able to hear him. As soon as he heard ‘SS-rank’ from the Examiner, he immediately snatched the measuring tool from him, raised the measuring tool, and checked the screen.

And he saw it.

The clear letters ‘SS’.

“H-How can this be… Examiner. There’s absolutely no way the measuring tool is wrong, right?” Hyun Sung asked. His question was only natural; after all, it hadn’t even been one year since Sung Joon had become an S-rank. The Examiner opened his mouth with an expression of disbelief.

“The measuring tool is never wrong. Still, you never know, so would it be alright if I measured your mana one more time?”

“That’s fine with me.”

Sung Joon willingly nodded his head at the Examiner’s request. He was sure nothing would change even if he was measured again.

It was a fruitless effort, but Sung Joon allowed him do so as it would confirm his SS-rank status to the Examiner.

“I’ll measure you now,” the Examiner said anxiously. Eventually, the measurement was completed and together with the mechanical beeping sound, the Examiner was shocked once more.

“T-That’s impossible! He’s really SS-rank!?”

Just as Sung Joon anticipated, the result didn’t change.

“Are you saying that he’s really SS-rank?” Hyun Sung asked.

“I’ve measured him twice, so I’m absolutely sure!” the Examiner replied. Because his voice was so loud, all the workers in the wide office focused on him.

The Examiner did his best to calm down, and opened his mouth.

“It’s a moment of history. South Korea’s first SS-rank Hunter has been born. Also, South Korea has become the seventh nation to possess an SS-rank Hunter.”

The Examiner recorded something. Eventually, his attention turned to Sung Joon.

“Congratulations. You’ve become the eighteenth SS-rank Hunter in the world.”

Sung Joon smiled. He had expected this, but as the evaluation had been finalized, he felt great.

* * *

South Korea’s first.

It was the emergence of the eighteen SS-rank Hunter worldwide.

It was enough.

The news was enough to shock all. This joyous news was relayed to the Bureau Director first.

“Are you sure?” He looked at Ahn Seo Hyun, a B-rank Combat Hunter, as well as being his secretary, and asked.

“It’s true. Kang Sung Joon received a rank reexamination and has been judged SS-rank. The examiner in charge extracted the data from his measuring tool and sent it to us, so we’re absolutely sure. Kim Hyun Sung, of the Hunter Bureau’s Investigation Team, also sent us his testimony agreeing with the results,” Seo Hyun replied.

“Hoh.” Seung Tae reclined in his chair with an astonished expression. He had already asked twice, and gotten the same response, but the news was difficult to believe.

“To think that an SS-rank Hunter would appear in South Korea…” he muttered softly. It was an emergence of the eighteen SS-rank Hunter. America wanted him when he was an S-rank Hunter. Now that he was an SS-rank Hunter, it was highly likely that China or Russia would begin to move.

‘And Kang Sung Joon is much too young.’

Sung Joon was only in his mid twenties. Because he wasn’t even thirty yet, he could be seduced or enticed by outside sources.

“It hasn’t even been half a year since he became an S-rank Hunter, yet he has been promoted to SS-rank. This growth rate is quite peculiar. I believe there’s a 99% chance that Kang Sung Joon will become an SSS-rank Hunter within ten years,” the white garbed, gray haired middle aged man corrected his glasses and said. He had taken notice of Sung Joon’s growth rate since he became an A-rank Hunter, and he was the Director of Research, Lee Gun.

“The problem is that Russia or China will make their move. America might even make another move,” Seo Hyun said. They were obligated to record Hunters’ personal details, and it was impossible to cover up the information, so Russia and China would know soon that Sung Joon was judged an SS-rank Hunter. At earliest, Russia or China would obtain the corresponding information by tomorrow morning.

“I understand what you’re both concerned about Mr. Lee Gun, and Mr. Ahn Seo Hyun. Please take your leave. I need to report this to the President,” Seung Tae said. It would be disclosed eventually, but if that’s how it was going to be, they might as well try to slow down the spread of information as much as possible.

And they had begun controlling the spread of information with that goal in mind. The only one who had gotten the report that Sung Joon was judged an SS-rank Hunter was Seung Tae alone.

‘I have to report this to the President immediately.’ Seung Tae was urgent. Russia’s eyes and ears were everywhere. The worst case scenario would be that they were spying on the President as well.

“Then we’ll be take our leave.”

“I have to go back to the lab.”

Seung Tae had chased them off, so Seo Hyun and Lee Gun returned back to their respective workplaces. Seung Tae confirmed that they had left, went into a tiny secret room connected to his room, and turned on the monitor.

The dialing sound continued. And then, the President appeared on the screen.

“Director Lee Seung Tae? You’re using the emergency line to contact me… What’s the matter?” the President asked with a grave expression. There were barely any times that Seung Tae had used the emergency line to contact the President. Excluding this time, there had only been around three other times when he had contacted him this way, and all of them had been to inform him of an emergency situation.

For example, Seung Tae had used the emergency line to contact him about the S-rank Hunter, Park Kyung Seok defected to America. Now that Seung Tae thought about it, whenever he used the emergency line, the President would feel on edge.

“Kang Sung Joon received a rank reexamination and has judged SS-rank.”

“Are you sure?”

The first emotion that came to him was ‘joy’. Now, South Korea was the seventh country that possessed an SS-rank Hunter.

But the second emotion was ‘fear’.

Would a country like South Korea be able to handle an SS-rank Hunter? Several thoughts mingled together and the President nodded his head with a complicated expression.

“China and Russia won’t just sit still. America could make their move as well.”

“Indeed.”

“America won’t do anything excessive, but China and Russia will be different. They’ll send agents.”

Just like Seung Tae said, Russia or China won’t be amicable to them. Because the President agreed with his opinion, he nodded his head.

“The Blue House won’t spare any expense. Hurry with the establishment of the armed intelligence agency, ‘White Tiger'[1].”

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“We don’t have any Hunters who can lead it. Didn’t Kang Sung Joon reject our offer?”

“I think we could temporarily entrust leadership to Na Joon Yeol. He’s a patriotic Hunter, so he can lead the organization even while continuing with his Armed Policemen work.”

“Then, the first task is…”

“Protect Kang Sung Joon from all of the agents from China or Russia.”

[1] One of the four symbols of Chinese constellations. You might be familiar with it be calling Bái Hǔ, Byakko, or Baekho. It is used prominently in fantasy stories in China, Japan, and Korea.