Leveling Up From Rank F

r>I know you have a lot of questions, but I don’t think I can answer much.
Besides, if he’s that important to you, he’ll live.
I’ll also pray for his survival.”

“…”

“Okay, I will guarantee it.
He’ll live.” Im Jeong emphasized but Jiwoo didn’t buy it.

Yongha called him on his way to the lab.
He said he couldn’t fall asleep so he went to Jiwoo’s house without saying anything as usual but was shocked to see strangers swarming around his house.

“Hey, dude! Where are you right now? Why would you follow them? How do you know if what they say is true? Huh?”

Jiwoo tried to explain the situation to Yongha, but the more he tried, the more futile it became.

It was wrong of him to think that Yongha would understand if he said, “A swamp appeared in my house and I dipped my arm in there, then I got a tattoo.
So I became a Hunter and I’m on my way to a lab.”

In the end, he decided to tell him later and hung up the phone after getting an earful of nagging.

“Other people will be congratulated when they become Hunters, right? They won’t be treated as though they’re crazy?”

Im Jeong nodded at his question.

“If memory serves, I think I was congratulated.
I would congratulate others too if they became a Hunter.
Congratulations on becoming a Hunter, Ahn Jiwoo.”

“Thank you.”

Jiwoo felt awkward and looked around.
He asked if the lab was still far away.

“We’re almost there.”

After running for a long time, the two reached the front of a large building.
The lights were all shut off.
At the entrance, there was a fountain and a large parking lot.
The lobby looked extravagant and the building had a sophisticated design.
It seemed like it was built with high-quality materials.

Although it was dawn, not a single room was lit inside the extremely tall building.

Jiwoo was pondering about how many of the monsters’ corpses went inside the building.
But then he saw Im Jeong’s embarrassed expression.

“Is something wrong?” He asked her.

“Is today May 20th?”

“Is it? Ah, I guess so?”

“It’s closed today.”

“Wow…”

“Today’s the first day of the Hunter exam so no one is inside.
That’s why I said I would clean up the main building while it was empty.
But I forgot.”

“I’ll go home then and come back here tomorrow.
Nevermind, they’re still at my house.
I’ll go to the convenience store and let my boss and coworker know what happened.
I’ll come tomorrow.”

Im Jeong looked apologetic and repeatedly asked if he was okay with doing that.

Jiwoo couldn’t figure out why he expected something like this would happen.
He simply didn’t trust her from the start.
It was not because he thought she was going to betray him.
He just felt it was difficult to entrust her with the work.
The greatest factor playing into that was her appearance, she looked too young.

“Still, it’s a relief.
It’s nice to have a day to fill others in.” Jiwoo comforted her.

“I’m sorry.”

“No.
No.
It’s okay.
I don’t mind.
Rather, today is already May 20th.
I hope there will be a lot of Hunters this year.”

“Yes.”

After exchanging some words back and forth, they finally went their separate ways when they ran out of things to say.

Jiwoo enjoyed the day to his fullest since it was perhaps the last day he would spend as an ordinary person.

***

In the beginning, he thought life in the lab would be fun, but it was nothing like Jiwoo expected.

It was the same daily routine, he couldn’t tell how much time had passed.
There was a series of tests everyday.
Various absurdly expensive and high-tech equipment scanned his body.
Jiwoo followed the orders he received from the control room.
He laid down and would turn his body around as they instructed him to.

Jiwoo wanted something good to be discovered from his body.
The image of enthusiastic people admiring him popped up in his mind.
But it didn’t take long for his hopes to be shattered.

The Hunter Association held expectations for Jiwoo at the start.
It was a good sign for them if people suddenly awakened even though they didn’t when they took the Hunter exam.
They naturally believed more people could become Hunters and be put into raids if they found out what the awakening conditions were.

However, as time passed, those expectations disappeared.
Jiwoo was not a great Hunter.
His attack and defense correlated to the level engraved on his tattoo.
He didn’t have remarkable physical strength either.

Im Jeong thought Jiwoo was too stressed from being cooped up at the lab so she allowed him to go out for the first time in two weeks.

Although it was a short outing and he had to return by evening, it was more than enough for him.

When he called his parents and Yongha, they all wanted to see him.
But Jiwoo told them he had to visit Kijeong first.
Yongha was disappointed to hear his answer.
It was because he was dying to see Jiwoo’s tattoo.
However, he had no choice but to accept his decision.

Jiwoo went to find Kijeong.
Fortunately, he was recovering quickly.
As Jiwoo entered the hospital room, Kijeong’s face twitched.
He appeared as though he had a lot to say to him.

“You did something unnecessary.
I was going to talk about it even if you didn’t come.” Chun Kijeong said.

It was obvious that he was going to nag him about the medical expenses.

Jiwoo took the fruits, drinks, and flowers he bought and organized them.

“Unnecessary? Who? Me?” He said as he took a seat on a folding chair.