Chapter 11: Rank Advancement Exam

The Rank Advancement Exam.

It’s the test Hunters take to advance to the next rank, excluding E-Rank.

To qualify, you need to hunt multiple Demon Beasts of your current rank or take down a boss.

I’d had the qualifications for a while, but I deliberately didn’t apply. I hadn’t even checked my Artifacts for a while.

If Irene saw it and signed me up for the advancement exam on her own, that’d be a problem too.

Of course, I was itching to get it done.

But if I did, I’d likely draw unnecessary attention.

I didn’t want that.

This comes from experience — too much interest and attention just breeds annoyance and irritation.

‘Back in my old body, I kept breaking the record for fastest rank advancement.’

To be honest, back then I was an attention whore.

Getting people’s interest and envious looks made me feel high.

As a result, I had to deal with guys constantly showing up to recruit me into their guilds and reporters asking for interviews.

At first, I liked the attention, but that only lasted a day or two. I realized too late that dealing with people is a pain in the ass.

‘But this time’s different.’

The advancement exam from E-Rank to D-Rank.

Taking it in a month is fast, sure, but it’s not that outstanding.

Most promising Hunters with B-Rank potential or higher shoot up quickly right after their debut.

In other words, all eyes won’t be on me.

And every exam usually has at least one genius.

I’ll just have to hope that bastard draws more attention than me.

* * *

When I arrived at the entrance of the exam venue, I couldn’t help but frown at the familiar sight.

A massive crowd. Not just Hunters here for the exam, but quite a few spectators too.

And among them were groups holding cameras and sharp-dressed slick types in suits.

The camera crews were probably reporters waiting to interview Hunters who passed the exam.

The sharp-dressed slick types were likely Hunters from guilds.

Their goal was to recruit Hunters who passed today’s exam into their guilds.

And there wasn’t just one or two of those groups. A quick glance around showed quite a few.

‘Everyone’s dead set on finding promising talent.’

E to C-Rank are common enough to make up over half of all Hunters, but from B-Rank — the entry point for High-Rank Hunters — the numbers drop exponentially.

Plus, most B-Rank and above Hunters with proven skills are already affiliated with a guild.

Poaching members from other guilds is considered morally wrong, so they go out of their way to find promising talent here.

They recruit Hunters who look like they have potential to grow big. An unscratched lottery ticket still has a chance of winning, after all.

Even if a Hunter stops growing at D-Rank and never goes higher, they’re still not bad to keep as a regular combatant.

The exam footage is broadcast on the monitors over there.

After watching the exam process, if they like what they see, they’ll recruit on the spot regardless of whether the Hunter passed or not.

Well, if they’re satisfied, that’s basically the same as the supervisors being satisfied, so it’s as good as passing.

But I have no intention of joining a guild. Being under someone doesn’t suit my temperament.

If the day ever comes when I join a guild, it’ll either be a solo guild or only when I’m the guild master.

Of course, setting up a guild costs a fair bit, so first I’ll have to pay off all my debt to Mr. Luca…

I went inside the exam hall, got assigned a number tag, and sat down in an empty spot in the corner to wait my turn.

The inside was just as packed with people as outside. The exam cycle only comes once a quarter, so everyone must’ve applied without missing the chance.

People’s expressions were split into two types. Those who couldn’t hide their anxiety before the exam, and those who looked relaxed as if they’d already passed.

Most faces leaned toward the former.

As for which one I was—

‘Heh heh heh.’

Obviously the latter.

I mean, D-Rank Hunters are fucking trash!

Getting the qualifications to take the advancement exam isn’t that hard.

But most people fail their first attempt.

The exam content is simple: take down a Demon Beast prepared by the Association all by yourself. The method doesn’t matter.

If you ask what Hunters whose abilities aren’t suited for combat, like priests, are supposed to do when told to take down a Demon Beast alone, of course the Association adjusts for that.

The important thing is, since this exam is taken entirely alone, the so-called ‘bus’ method is impossible.

Hunters who earned their Rank Advancement Exam qualifications by clearing dungeons with the help of party members, without real skill, mostly fail here.

But I’m different.

‘I’ll pass this easily.’

I did before, and I will this time too.

*

Konrad Harbork, one of the supervisors for this Rank Advancement Exam, was quite a well-known figure among Hunters taking the exam.

Though, for a bad reason.

Konrad stared at the screen on the monitor.

On the monitor, the Hunter taking the Rank Advancement Exam in the testing grounds and the Demon Beast created from the Association’s data were displayed.

‘Fail.’

Click.

Judging that it wasn’t worth watching any longer, Konrad pressed the button in front of him, and the Demon Beast inside the testing grounds dissolved into particles and vanished.

The Hunter, startled by the sudden disappearance of the Demon Beast before their eyes, turned their gaze toward the camera.

Konrad spoke into the microphone in front of him.

“Thank you for your effort.”

[ Huh? Already? ]

“The exam ends here. Results will be announced tomorrow.”

It was a formal statement. The examinee probably knew they had failed too. They left the testing grounds with a dejected expression.

“Konrad, don’t you think you decided too quickly?”

While waiting for the next examinee, Hui, another exam supervisor beside him, asked Konrad with a smile.

“This examinee, you saw it too, didn’t gain the upper hand against the Demon Beast’s data even for a single moment.”

In response to Hui’s question, Konrad calmly explained the reason he ended the exam.

“Even if an examinee like that gets lucky and passes, they’re highly likely to quit or lose their life before long.”

Unlike other exam supervisors, Konrad was famous for ending the exam before the examinee even took down the Demon Beast.

If they met his standard, they passed even without defeating the Demon Beast; if not, they failed even if they did defeat it.

Many advancement candidates harbored complaints about this unusual exam method, but no one taking the exam could argue with Konrad.

Whatever the process, he was a fair person. In fact, there was one common trait among the examinees Konrad failed: none of them had gained the upper hand against the Demon Beast’s data prepared in the testing grounds. Even the ones who managed to defeat it were heavily influenced by luck.

Konrad had one belief.

Dungeons are places you must enter risking your life. If you go in with mediocre skill, you’ll lose your life to the Demon Beasts, so he thought it was better for him to be resented than for them to lose their lives. That was also why he ended the exam midway without even seeing the result.

“The next examinee is… wow, they look really young, don’t they?”

“…Young?”

At Hui’s words, Konrad’s eyes narrowed.

Konrad checked the next examinee’s documents.

‘Yoschua Verdi…’

As Hui said, the girl in the photo looked like she was at most a middle school student.

‘Is someone this young already going into dungeons risking their life?’

Konrad stared at the girl’s photo with mixed feelings.

Usually, unless there were special circumstances, underage Awakened Ones aspiring to be Hunters would prioritize enrolling in the Hunter Academy. They would enter the Academy, gain sufficient education and experience, and only walk the path of a Hunter after graduating and becoming adults.

Or, if they showed talent from a young age, they’d be recruited and trained by a large guild.

Either way, they’d receive training before seriously walking the Hunter’s path.

But this girl had no guild and had already qualified for the D-Rank Hunter Rank Advancement Exam.

‘She even has a record of taking down a Boss-Rank Demon Beast.’

Two of them, at that. And one was handled alone.

‘It doesn’t sit well with me, pushing such a young child into a life-or-death situation…’

Konrad knew why the Hunters who resented him didn’t protest the exam results.

Because although he was a ruthless supervisor, he always made fair choices.

So if he took pity on this girl and failed her despite her process being excellent, there would definitely be people complaining.

Can’t be helped.

“Next examinee, please enter.”

Konrad’s calm voice echoed through the microphone, and shortly after, the girl he had seen in the photo appeared on the monitor he was watching.

“Whoa…”

“I’ve never seen such a pretty kid before.”

“Thought she was an idol.”

The supervisors let out exclamations of their own accord at the sight of the girl. Her rare silver hair and ruby-like red eyes were so striking it was hard to believe she was really the same kind of person as them.

She was a girl so beautiful that it naturally made one wonder if she was a walking doll or the goddess of beauty disguised as a human.

Konrad was the only one among the supervisors who remained silent. He quietly looked at the girl on the monitor and thought.

‘…Seeing her in person, she looks even younger—’

That was when it happened. The moment he belatedly saw the girl’s face, even Konrad was briefly captivated by her aura. She was a girl with such a mysteriously enchanting atmosphere that it made one feel dizzy.

And this was just from seeing her on a monitor, not even face to face.

Even Konrad, who had personally met several S-Rank Hunters in the past, had never experienced anything like this.

But Konrad did not forget his duty.

He cleared his throat to put force into his voice and spoke again.

“Ms. Yoschua Verdi, that is you, correct?”

[ … ]

Instead of answering, the girl nodded at Konrad’s words.

“Then we will begin the exam.”

As Konrad finished speaking, he pressed the button in front of him.

Immediately after.

Particles gathered in front of the girl on the monitor, and soon they molded into a single living creature.

[ KYURURURURURUT!! ]

Letting out a strange shriek, the creature that fully revealed itself was a giant plant-type Demon Beast — a Mandragora.