Chapter 4: Hunter Community(1)

An empty office.

In the center, a desk with a nameplate bearing my name. I naturally sank into the wheeled chair.

“President, good work today.”
“Thanks as always. Any trouble lately?”
“Nothing major, but something came up a few hours ago.”

Im Sera, my secretary and vice-president, flashed an intriguing smile and handed me a laptop. On the screen was CCTV footage.

I asked for reports on issues, and this is what she shows me. What’s her intent?

“…I’ll take a look.”

The footage played, showing a rank testing room with a staff member and a shabbily dressed girl.

The girl followed the staff’s instructions, sitting near the mana stone and placing her hand on it. A standard rank test so far. I could only guess Sera’s purpose.

The emergence of an S-rank hunter.

She wouldn’t show me something as mundane as a routine test.

An S-rank appearing is good news for Korea, but not for me. They’ll likely flee to another country, unable to endure the government’s unfair treatment.

Finding talent is great, but failing to manage or control it means losing it to others.

With these bitter thoughts, I watched the footage.

—Crash!

A sharp sound rang out, and I couldn’t help but sigh.

“The mana stone… shattered…?”

The video ended with the girl panicking beside the broken mana stone, the staff equally at a loss.

“What do you think?”

Sera closed the laptop, pulling it to her chest with a sly grin. Only one person in Korea has ever shattered a mana stone during a rank test.

We call those who break mana stones something else.

“…A national disaster-level hunter.”
“You think this girl is one, President? It’s not confirmed yet…”
“The moment she touched it, the mana stone shattered. It’s on a different level from Jin Seyeon.”

This girl might surpass even America’s Andrew or Ian, or Japan’s Hayato in power.

Sera showed me the girl’s identity report. Reading her name, origin, and details, I couldn’t hide my shock.

“A returnee… and listed as F-rank…?”
“Likely a cover-up. She probably doesn’t want her power exposed.”
“…I see.”

I understood her mindset. If her power became known, countries worldwide would scramble to claim her.

After watching the footage, urgency gripped me.

“Should we make contact first?”
“No, hold off.”

Approaching recklessly could ruin things. She might be hiding her power or avoiding attention. Plus, with the Red Knight Guild’s master backing her, she’s no easy target.

“Just monitor their movements for now. We don’t want a conflict with the Red Knight Guild.”
“Understood.”

Sera, laptop in arms, bowed politely and left the office. Even after she was gone, the footage lingered in my mind.

‘How does someone shatter a mana stone in an instant?’

After pondering for a while, I lifted my head from the chair.

“An F-rank returnee… quite an intriguing character.”

Feeling refreshed after the rank test, I left the awakened registration center with Manager Park. Outside, Sihyun and Sohyun waited by the car.

“Oppa!!”

Sohyun ran to me like a kid, burying herself in my arms. Her face nuzzling my chest stirred an odd feeling.

“Mmm… no matter how many times, I can’t forget this feeling…”

Sohyun kept rubbing her face against me, muttering strange things. I couldn’t grasp her intent but brushed it off as sibling affection.

“Hyung, what’s your rank?”
“F-rank.”

F-rank is just a bit stronger than a normal person.

I put on a slightly disappointed act, and Park patted my shoulder. Sihyun looked a bit bitter too but quickly shrugged it off.

“It’s fine. Just coming back safe is enough.”
“Still… after all those grand stories I told you…”
“Not all returnees have high ranks. They tend to be high, but… it’s not a big deal.”

I was a bit disappointed, but seeing Sihyun try to comfort me meant I succeeded.

‘Perfect.’

By intimidating the rank assessor, I rigged an F-rank result and set the mood to emphasize my weakness to Sihyun and Sohyun.

No need to deceive family, but it’s insurance for unexpected situations. To fool enemies, you start with allies, right?

With this, my background setup is complete. Now, it’s about finding a job and living peacefully with my siblings.

Living off Sihyun crossed my mind, but that felt too leech-like, so I scrapped it.

“Let’s cheer up and head home.”
“Yeah.”

As I climbed into Sihyun’s car, I thought to myself.

With siblings this great, even F-rank can be happy.

Back at Sihyun’s house, I was stunned by what I saw.

“This is your room from now on, hyung.”
“This amazing place… for me alone…?”

They said they’d been furnishing this empty room for a while, but it was far too grand for one person. Sihyun started the computer and logged into a site.

“Hyung, come here. You’re an official awakened and hunter now.”
“Hunter…?”
“Once you register as an awakened, they issue a hunter license matching your rank. Since you registered today, it’ll arrive in about a week.”

From what Sihyun said, not many registered hunters are active. Low ranks don’t even dare enter gates.

After a few clicks, Sihyun called me over with a satisfied look.

“Look, this is the hunter community. It’ll be useful for you to know.”

Hunter Community.

A site used by all Korean hunters for job postings, equipment trading, and networking.

The homepage alone showed various chat rooms prominently displayed.

[C-rank large gate party recruitment.]

[Looking for Red Gate party members. Preferably B-rank or higher due to mutation.]

[C-rank tanker seeking work. Take me anywhere.]

“So this is how modern hunters handle gates.”
“It’s a system introduced a few years ago. It took off because of high user engagement.”

Sihyun had already set up my account, and the screen showed a prompt to choose a nickname.

“You pick the nickname…”

Mid-sentence, Sihyun’s phone rang. His face darkened as he answered and exchanged a few words.

After hanging up, he called Sohyun.

“Sohyun, dungeon break.”
“…What?!”
“Grab your gear and come on.”

Amid their sudden rush, Sihyun left me with one instruction before disappearing.

“Hyung, if anything happens, call Manager Park. His number, along with mine, Sohyun’s, and guild contacts, is in the phone on the desk.”
“Sorry, oppa, we’ve got an urgent situation…!”

Sohyun and Sihyun rushed out without time for goodbyes. I felt a bit let down, but it seemed serious.

With no choice, I sat at the desk, picked a random nickname for the hunter community, and logged in.

Exploring the site was novel, but with only job postings and trade rooms, it wasn’t exactly fun.

Current community users: 1,203,048.

Nearly a million people—why do they bother? Oh, right, some do it for survival, not fun.

Bored, I propped my feet on the chair and scrolled rapidly with the mouse. Yawning as I skimmed endless chat rooms, something caught my eye.

“Hm…?”

Among the bleak job postings, I found an intriguing room.

[Let’s chat and chill at the dead of night.]

The shady title and vibe screamed something unusual, stirring the internet gremlin inside me from before I became a returnee.

—Click.

Alright, this is the one.