Field Expansion (3)
‘Vitality?’
Sangwoo opened the status window.
──────────────
[Abilities]
Strength: 0.709 → 0.710
Quickness: 0.515
Stamina: 0.663 → 0.665
Endurance: 0.553 → 0.554
Magical Power: 0.13
Vitality: 0.300
── ─────────────
Under the existing ability, the ability called vitality was added.
‘Oh great! Just hearing the name sounds good.’
When I searched the internet for exactly what kind of ability level it was, it was said that vitality refers to the power to live and move, and it is a level of ability that is involved in all physical activities.
There is no separate way to acquire it, but I got it by luck.
‘Is it because I pushed my alter ego to the limit?’
Suddenly, such a thought crossed my mind, but it was only a guess. Still, after gaining vitality stats, Sang-woo felt that blood circulation was good in his body and that he was more energetic than usual.
Is that why? Even at a time when he would normally have slept, Sang-woo did not feel tired and roamed the Internet until dawn in search of information.
* * *
The next morning, Sang-woo visited the Hunter Center.
It was to take the Hunter certification exam.
Hunter.
what is a hunter
2000.
Simultaneously, portals appeared all over the world, and monsters poured out from them.
It was a ‘cataclysm’.
At first, humanity was pushed so badly that more than half of the world’s population died.
The end of mankind seemed imminent.
However, at the same time as the cataclysm, superhumans with special abilities began to appear in the world.
They displayed supernatural powers and joined forces with an armed army to protect humanity from monsters.
In the end, the world won against the monsters and succeeded in regaining most of their lives from the monsters.
And now as of 2023.
There were people who hunted the remaining monsters, so they were the ‘Hunters’.
Hunters, who were mostly awakened but also included ordinary people, needed a nationally recognized license in order to officially work.
Since there was a permit for possession of weapons such as guns and swords, many hunter aspirants tended to obtain a hunter license.
‘Is this…?’
Sang-woo, who entered the Hunter Center, looked around.
Inside, various hunters and people who seemed to be related came and went, but most of them were dressed in combat suits made of light and hard materials.
Sang-woo, who was alone in a training suit, felt awkward.
‘Are there not many people who came to take the certification exam?’
After asking at the information desk, he was able to go to the test center one floor down.
Hundreds of people, including office workers, students, and elderly people, were sitting at small desks crammed together, waiting for the exam.
Sang-woo also sat down in an empty seat and took out his smartphone.
What he was looking at was a genealogy of theory problems in preparation for the written exam.
The current Hunter certification exam was simple. There were three types of tests: a written test and an aptitude test. There were a few things to memorize, such as dungeon and field precautions, weapon safety rules, and the characteristics of frequently appearing monsters, but it was a level to check the really basic level, and the aptitude test was at the level of a middle school moral test.
And finally, the practical test.
In the practical test, a score of 70 or higher in both pistol shooting and rifle shooting was a pass, but Sang-woo had never fired a gun since he was born.
So, when I was worried about whether I should prepare for shooting practice separately
– I give people who have never used live shooting a chance to practice before taking the test.
I visited the center blindly after reading the article.
At first, Sang-woo questioned, ‘Why is the test so poor?’ The reason is that the country actively encourages hunter training, so the entry barrier has been lowered so that anyone can become a hunter.
In fact, during the cataclysm when monsters suddenly started appearing, wasn’t it because you had a hunter’s license to catch the monsters? The hunter license was literally a certificate that verified the minimum qualifications that this person would not cause controversy in society as a hunter.
Because of this, there were many cases where, like Sang-woo, he came on the same day to take the hunter test and obtain a license.
While Sang-woo was studying for a while, supervisors came in.
“The test begins. Everyone, please turn off your phones.”
Soon after, the test began.
The test was easy. Literally, it was a level that anyone could guess if they had reasonable judgment.
───────────────
Q. Choose one that is not characteristic of cadaver dogs.
① The outer skin is rotten like a corpse.
② If you give them food while barking, they act cutely.
③ It is sensitive to sound and attacks everything that makes a sound.
④ Its main force is fast enough to be compared to that of a fierce dog.
───────────────
Of course, the correct answer is number 2. Most of the problems were like this.
Rather, it feels like studying while taking a test.
Thanks to that, Sang-woo was able to finish the written test safely.
Because it was a computer-based method, scores were also calculated on the spot.
[Exam No. 30982 Jeong Sang-woo. Written pass]
I passed without even looking at it.
“Among those who passed the written test, those who are taking the practical test right away, please move down one floor.”
After the supervisor’s guidance, most of the people got up and rushed downstairs.
There was an indoor shooting range.
Those who had already shot went straight to the live shooting test, and those who hadn’t tried it went straight to the practice range.
There were two types of equipment prepared, a pistol and a rifle. After receiving a brief safety training from the supervisor, they learned how to disassemble and combine equipment, combine magazines, aim, and shoot.
And when Sang-woo tried shooting, he felt that it was really simpler than he thought.
Aim the target with the sight, shoot and that’s it.
The difference between a pistol being short and difficult to aim and a rifle being easier to aim?
Sang-woo, who got a good feel for the practice shooting, passed 15 shots from the pistol and 19 shots from the rifle out of a total of 20 shots.
After passing the practical test, the supervisor told the successful applicants to go downstairs, complete a physical examination, and receive a license.
downstairs again. There was a search platform that I had seen in the Awakening Program.
“All successful applicants can come here, scan once, and get a certificate.”
The procedure was no different from when participating in the awakening program.
Wait in line, explore, check your skills, and you’re done.
Sang-woo, who finished everything, finally got the qualification as [F-Class Hunter].
And that hunter license was engraved as data on the identity bracelet on Sang-woo’s left wrist.
“Finally, you’re an F-class hunter.”
After about 3 hours of testing, if it was short and if it was long, Sang-woo became a hunter.
It was when he was going to the exit with a somewhat depressed heart.
At the exit, I saw a group of people handing out business cards to people.
Sang-woo also received a business card from one of them.
[JM Agency / Agent Junmo Kang]
“What is this?”
“Congratulations on getting your Hunter license. But it’s your first time, so you don’t know where to go to hunt monsters? If you contact me when introducing hunting grounds and selling items, I will reward you with the best service for a small fee.”
While saying that, Kang Jun-mo, who appeared to be in her early to mid-thirties, grinned, revealing her white teeth.
“Ah yes… I’ll contact you.”
“Yes, please contact me-!”
Sang-woo didn’t know what to do, so he took a business card.
# First Hunt
“Yes yes. I will definitely deposit it by this month. yes yes. Please wait a minute. Boss, it’s not like I’ve been on this floor for a year or two…”
Kang Jun-mo, who had been on the phone for a long time and was bent over while driving, roughly hung up the phone.
“Ha damn I’m going to die.”
Kang Jun-mo, a hunter manager who was a member of the Hyeseong Guild, a large guild, and was popular in the past.
However, he fell into the abyss when he whistled on the settlement corruption issue that was prevalent inside the guild.
The whistleblowing wasn’t particularly because he had a sense of justice. Somehow, at a drinking party with Hunter, he unknowingly spit out internal corruption while drunk.
However, aside from being fired from the guild, because of that single mistake, rumors spread throughout the industry and the road to re-employment was completely blocked.
‘Let’s start a company like this.’
At first, he saw this rather as an opportunity. It seemed that if transparent settlement and a high settlement rate were guaranteed, he would be able to attract many hunters to his unit. Besides, the hunters who believed in him and followed him said they would do it together if they set up a company.
However, after bringing the hunters out like that, the reality was different.
It was almost difficult to find a hunting ground due to the interference of the Hyeseong Guild, and rumors spread throughout the industry that hunters were reluctant to work with Kang Jun-mo’s company, JM Agency. Hunters whose contracts had expired or new hunters signed a contract with Kang Jun-mo’s company, and the only hunters who signed a contract were F-class hunters with zero possibility who knew nothing.
Because of this, the company has been in the red ever since its establishment, and the debt has been gradually tightening Kang Jun-mo’s neck. Hunters who had already believed in him and followed him had all turned their backs on him a long time ago.
Kang Jun-mo was seriously thinking about closing the business these days because the future was impossible to see.
Just when Kang Jun-mo was sighing at the dark reality, a call came through his smartphone.
I glanced at the screen and saw an unknown number.
Kang Jun-mo answered the phone, suspecting that it was a dunning call.
-hello. Is this the JM agency?
“Your agent, Kang Jun-mo. What business did you contact me for?
-hello. It’s nothing else, I want to hunt, but I don’t know what to do, so I want to get counseling.
Seeing that he doesn’t even know the hunting grounds yet, he’s a F-class hunter.
Kang Jun-mo was a little disappointed, but this is also a situation that is regrettable.
“ah! You were a Hunter. Good contact. Your grade is F, right?”
-yes that’s right.
“Then there are safe hunting grounds for the first time I know. Let’s meet and talk. Where is your location?”
-This is Gangseo-gu, Seoul….
After the call, Kang Jun-mo took the address on the navigator and headed there.
* * *
Secluded cafe.
Sang-woo was talking to Jun-mo Kang.
“You say your skill is clone magic?”
“yes. It is a skill that creates an alter ego that looks just like me.”
“Oh, that’s cool. Could you possibly demonstrate?”
“It’s difficult now because the cooldown is long.”
Kang Jun-mo did not look disappointed at all when he heard the name of the skill.
Rather, it was an interesting response.
“Aha, so your skill is clone magic… and this is your first time hunting?”
“yes. I never did.”
“They say they’ve never had any experience in combat. Clone skill is good for aggro, but it’s not very powerful.”
Kang Jun-mo seemed to have mistaken Sang-woo’s alter ego skill for an illusion.
I would have been quite disappointed if it was a powerless illusion clone technique.
However, I couldn’t see anything like that in him.
Rather, do you feel like giving sincere advice?
As an agent trying to win a contract, he has a perfect attitude.
‘Because I’ll be the only one in the world with the Clone Magic skill. what.’
Sang-woo was going to explain the skill in detail, but he didn’t bother explaining it in detail because he didn’t know much about Kang Jun-mo yet.
Which hunting ground is good anyway, but it’s enough to know roughly.
“Is there a hunting ground you would recommend?”
“You probably know, but have you seen slime?”
“Slime? yes. It’s that liquid-like monster. I saw it a few times near the sewers when it was raining.”
“Yes, then it will be easy. As you can see, slime is very easy to catch because it moves slowly. So, most beginners do a lot of slime hunting. However, the by-product is the body fluid of slime, and the price is almost insignificant. Even if you hunt all day, you can get almost 200,000 won. Are you okay?”
“200,000 won? Are your earnings okay?”
“Oh, that’s all day long. When slime dies, it explodes and splashes acidic bodily fluids. Poison gas is also produced. So it is difficult to hunt for a long time even with dedicated equipment. Up to 6 hours a day at most? In fact, slime hunting is almost at the level of gathering rather than hunting, but the cost-effectiveness is not very good anyway.”
Hunting was easy, but the problem with slime hunting was that you had to keep replacing protective equipment due to the generation of poison gas, and it was difficult to hunt for a long time. Kang Jun-mo explains that by-products were also cheap, so considering the cost of replacing protective clothing and gas masks, there was little left.
However, the damage was not so important because Sang-woo was planning to make an alter ego, which he did not do.
“I guess that doesn’t matter too much. But even if you catch a slime, you can increase your mana, right?”
“yes that’s right. It’s because it’s a monster. Shall we recognize it as a slime hunting ground?”
“yes. I would like to proceed What should I do with the contract?”
“I have prepared a contract here. Please read it carefully.”
Sang-woo carefully looked at the contract Kang Jun-mo handed over. The basic contract period is 1 year, with the condition that it is automatically extended by 1 year if there is no separate cancellation procedure. There is no down payment, but the monster by-products or item trading settlement rate is F-class 80% E-class 83% D-class 86%… A-class 95% Hunter It was a condition that the settlement ratio increased with each grade increase.
No toxin clauses were seen at all.
It was exactly what Sangwoo found on the Internet. Of course, it was written that the JM agency had good contract conditions, but it was abandoned in the industry, so the contract was not recommended.
‘How are you? All I had to do was find a hunting ground, provide equipment, and make the payment transparent.’
Since he would have his alter ego hunt, Sang-woo chose a place with a good settlement rate.
In fact, Sang-woo tried to find hunting grounds, buy and sell items, and do everything by himself. However, I didn’t know too much about the hunter industry, and I felt so great that it was all ‘troublesome to learn’, so I ended up looking for a management or agency.
“It’s just what I found on the Internet. No poison clause. I will make a contract like this.”
Sangwoo finished the autograph on the spot.
Then Kang Jun-mo smiled brightly and asked for a handshake.
“Thank you for signing the contract. Jeong Sang-woo Hunter.”
“Thank you very much, Agent.”
Two people shaking hands firmly.
Kang Jun-mo did not know until then.
that you have had great luck.
