Chapter 60

[It’s often dangerous, and we get a lot of flak. But it has to be done.]

The sneak peek ended with a final shot of Seong Yo-han’s handsome face.

The producer, sitting in a chair in the editing room, casually asked.

“How’s the reaction?”

“It’s insane. Want to see?”

The head writer of the talk show handed over the tablet she had been staring at intently.

-Seong Yo-han is a true hero of our time.

-Without Seong Yo-han, South Korea would have collapsed long ago.

-That’s not it. What an exaggeration;;

-It’s not an exaggeration, it’s true. We should be grateful that Seong Yo-han and Jung Hye-in are in the Association. If he had left the Association for money, we wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly.

-When does this air?

-The wait is killing me.

“It hasn’t even been an hour since we posted it, and it’s already surpassed 100,000 views. At this rate, we won’t even need to pay for viral marketing on community sites.”

The chuckling writer asked the producer suggestively.

“By the way, how did you manage to snag Seong Yo-han? I heard that guy plays hard to get.”

“It’s the Association’s open recruitment season. He said he came on for promotional purposes, which is a thank you for us.”

“We’ve been getting flak from viewers lately for being too one-note, but this is a huge hit. The trailer alone is about to hit number one on the trending videos list.”

The atmosphere in the editing room warmed up. Just as they were about to celebrate and ramp up preparations for the main broadcast, the door burst open.

The program’s assistant director entered, his face pale.

“We’re in big trouble!”

“Did you see the trailer too?”

“No! That’s not it!”

The assistant director held out his phone.

-The birth of another S-Rank Awakener.

The head producer, looking at the screen, tilted his head.

“Huh. His face looks familiar. Who was this guy again? Choi?”

“Choi Gi-woong!”

“Ah, right. Where did I hear his name? But why are you making such a fuss?”

His indifferent eyes moved to the bottom of the screen.

1 hour ago, 300,000 views.

It was an excessively high number of views for a short interview of about five minutes.

The head producer, with a serious expression, tapped on the video.

-I’ll ask you directly. What is your current Rank?

-A-Rank.

In response to the reporter’s question, Choi Gi-woong on the screen answered with a smile.

The reporter held up a piece of paper and said.

-This is the result of Choi Gi-woong’s Status Window examination as of yesterday. Surprisingly, both his Stats and Rank came out as F-Rank.

-Yes.

-And you’re still certain that you’re A-Rank?

-Yes.

-I didn’t believe Mr. Choi Gi-woong’s words either until I saw the video. Let’s take a look.

The screen changes.

It shows the ground from the air, as if filmed by a drone.

-Where is this?

-This is a slum in Incheon called the Underpass.

-It looks like a battle is taking place below.

-It’s a Demon.

-There are five of them, aren’t there? Seeing a whole house get blown away, their Rank seems quite high.

-The post-mortem examination revealed they were A-Rank. All five of them.

One of the Demons on the screen was sent flying.

If it hadn’t been in slow motion, it would have been difficult to distinguish the movements.

Kwoong!

No sooner did Choi Gi-woong’s palm touch a Demon’s chest than another one was sent flying.

-A Demon flies dozens of meters, kicking up a cloud of dust. No further explanation is needed to prove that Mr. Choi Gi-woong is A-Rank.

The screen changed again.

The reporter asks with a hardened expression.

-Mr. Choi Gi-woong. What is your Potential Rank? Not what’s on your Status Window, but what you think it is.

-For now, it’s S-Rank.

-For now? That sounds a bit strange. Do you mean it could become higher than S-Rank?

-Hmm. Well. I hope it does.

Having watched up to that point, the head producer turned off the screen.

A sudden cold wave swept through the once-warm editing room.

“Hey. This is a problem.”

The producer, breaking the silence, said, biting his lip.

“The reaction. What are the comments like?”

The assistant director, swallowing hard, opened the comments.

His face soured.

“It’s split fifty-fifty. From ‘Who would believe that?’ to ‘There’s evidence, why can’t you believe it?’ and ‘Let’s wait and see,’ and so on.”

“So, is it real?”

At the producer’s question, the writer shook her head as if sighing.

“That’s what’s driving people crazy, because they don’t know. It would have been better if it was all praise. Since nothing has been clearly revealed, they’re getting antsy.”

Just then, the assistant director spoke as if he were suffocating.

“Producer. The atmosphere in Seong Yo-han’s comments section is…”

“What? Why! What’s going on!”

“It’s been completely taken over by talk of Choi Gi-woong!”

-Seong Yo-han-nim. Is it true that Choi Gi-woong’s Potential Rank is above S-Rank?

-You think that’s real? It’s just a show.

-According to someone I know at the Association, his team members were originally D-Rank, but now they’re C-Rank.

-It’s hard not to believe it, because just six months ago, Choi Gi-woong was officially F-Rank. He was completely ignored when he was dispatched here, but later, Ilseong was turned upside down because of his Buff Skill.

-How do you know?

-Because I work at Ilseong. Is that answer enough for you?

-Seong Yo-han must have said something about Choi Gi-woong on the main broadcast.

The writer frowned.

“Producer. This is… not good. If there’s no mention of Choi Gi-woong in the main broadcast, the viewers’ reaction will be… Producer?”

“I remember now.”

“What? What do you remember?”

“Where I heard Choi Gi-woong’s name. The Association once asked if we wanted to have Choi Gi-woong on our program.”

“A-and so?”

“…It was after we had already filmed with Seong Yo-han, so I turned them down, saying we didn’t need him.”

“Ah.”

The atmosphere in the editing room sank even lower.

A team member who had been staring intently at his phone for a long time finally managed to part his lips.

“Uh, well…”

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“No. It’s not that something happened, but.”

The team member glances at me. A variety of emotions are tangled on his face.

Bewilderment, surprise, resentment…

Frustrated, Seong Yo-han snatched the phone.

“What is it? Is the reaction bad?”

Soon, Seong Yo-han also froze.

He lifted his head. The expression with which he looked at me became identical to the person next to him.

Seeing that, I realized. It had really blown up.

At the same time, my phone began to ring loudly.

Calls and texts were pouring in like a bombing, from numbers I knew and numbers I didn’t.

It felt like it would explode if I just left it, so I turned my phone off.

I put it in my pocket and raised my head.

As if he had been waiting, the team member next to Seong Yo-han gestured at me with his chin.

“Choi Gi-woong. Did you do an interview?”

“Yes.”

“There’s such a thing as common courtesy. Why did you time it like this?”

“Timing? What timing are you talking about?”

“The timing that overlaps with our Team leader’s. If you do this…”

He stops mid-sentence and shuts his mouth.

He had no choice.

If he said any more, it would be admitting that Seong Yo-han had been upstaged by me.

“I’ll be on my way now.”

I bowed my head and walked past them.

He supposedly hates having his spotlight stolen, and Seong Yo-han’s expression was as foul as if he’d chewed on shit.

At first, I wondered what kind of childish act this was, but seeing that face makes me think I did the right thing.

I should use this often in the future.

Im Han-na, who opened the door without knocking, tilted her head.

“What’s this? Why the long face like you’ve chewed on shit?”

“Chewed on shit… You brat. Your disrespect for me is getting more and more out of hand.”

Head of department Kim Yoon-joong clicked his tongue and said.

“There are no people, no people. There are no people in the Association. The work keeps increasing, but the number of people keeps decreasing.”

“But isn’t it open recruitment season soon?”

“Yeah. We’re already accepting applications.”

“How’s it looking?”

“Don’t even ask. The HR Team said it seems like we won’t even get 60% of last year’s numbers. And apparently, no one is even applying to our department.”

Head of department Kim Yoon-joong, scratching his head roughly, seethed.

“What’s so wrong with the Association? Where else can you find a job like this?”

“The pay is peanuts, it’s so dangerous you never know when you’ll die. You risk your life for your job, and no one even acknowledges it.”

“……”

“Places like Ilseong and Daehyeon pay a lot and are safe. Plus, you rarely have to risk your life fighting there.”

“Hey. For us, the higher your rank, the more honor you get, and the more power you gain. Don’t you know the Hunters outside can’t even make eye contact with us?”

“Besides things like that, the current trend is good benefits while maintaining a work-life balance.”

At Im Han-na’s sharp words, Head of department Kim Yoon-joong shut his mouth. Every single word was true, so he had nothing to rebut.

Im Han-na, who had been chuckling while watching him, threw out a word of comfort.

“Still, didn’t you get a great promotional effect this time because of Seong Yo-han and Choi Gi-woong? The portals are in an uproar about it. Did you see?”

“I saw. The reaction was insane. The HR Team leader even said he wanted to buy Choi Gi-woong a meal. He said it was thanks to the scene of Choi Gi-woong fighting the Demon that the application rate even reached 60 percent.”

The smile on Head of department Kim Yoon-joong’s face, which had been wide, vanished again.

“Why, what are you unhappy about now.”

“I’m not unhappy, I’m anxious.”

Head of department Kim Yoon-joong said in an uneasy tone.

“Have you seen the sparring match between Choi Gi-woong’s trio of team members and some other kids recently?”

“I saw it. They fought well.”

“Is that all? Was there nothing strange about it?”

“Hmm.”

Im Han-na, who had been thinking deeply, answered.

“Their Stats are C-Rank, but their Skills are a bit shoddy?”

“…Right?”

“But what’s so strange about that? If they were D-Rank until recently, they might not have learned any Skills yet.”

At that, Head of department Kim Yoon-joong let out a sigh.

“I heard you had a match with Choi Gi-woong recently.”

“Yes. I pestered him late at night… More importantly, how did you know?”

“Is there anything in the Association that I don’t know? Anyway, who won?”

“Of course, I won.”

Im Han-na said proudly.

She even remembered feeling relieved, thinking he was not yet her match.

“Was there nothing strange?”

“Oh, now that you mention it…”

Im Han-na trailed off and paused.

Head of department Kim Yoon-joong nodded with a troubled look on his face.

“That’s right. Choi Gi-woong, his Stats are A-Rank, but his Skills are B-Rank.”

“That’s strange. He’s good at catching Demons, though. What is it?”

“I’d like to ask the same thing. But the problem is, the fact that he confidently declared ‘I’m A-Rank’ on broadcast makes me very uneasy.”

Im Han-na’s face grew serious as well.

“This makes him a perfect target for criticism, doesn’t it? For being a half-assed A-Rank.”

Skills and Stats have a complementary relationship.

It means that if one falls behind, it’s difficult to be recognized at one’s proper Rank.

There are even people who value Skills, which are visible, more than Stats, which are not.

“Now that he’s already claimed to be A-Rank, they’re going to make a fuss, telling him to prove it properly.”

Head of department Kim Yoon-joong said with a sigh.

“I don’t know if that guy has a plan for this.”

“I told you I have a shop I go to.”

-I’m telling you, just give it a try.

-The owner here is so good at picking things out. I don’t even want to take you, but I’m forcing myself to.

At the enthusiastic attitude over the phone, the man narrowed his eyes.

“Did you guys get something out of this?”

-If we got something, do you think we’d bother dragging you along?

“Anyway, I have no intention of buying anything, so do whatever. Skills are so important, you’re going to pick one from a tiny little shop like this? New Awakening? The name is tacky too.”

The man who hung up the phone grumbled as he entered the store.

“Welcome. What are you looking for?”

“I’ll just look around.”

“Yes. Please do.”

The man, who was scanning the store with a bored gaze, said with a dubious expression.

“Well, it’s well-organized.”

The Skill Books were meticulously organized by Rank and type.

The man, letting his guard down a little, nodded once more as he approached the C-Rank section.

“The items also seem… pretty good. Oh. Outstanding Strength? Why is this here? This is hard to get.”

“Are you a Warrior class? Would you like me to help you with a custom build?”

“A custom build?”

“Our CEO, he can tell what would suit you perfectly just by looking…”

“That’s alright.”

The man refused with a stern face.

Entrusting your Skill rebuilding to someone else is the same as entrusting them with your back.

To entrust a task you wouldn’t even give to a decent Hunter coach to the owner of a hole-in-the-wall shop?

It was unthinkable.

But then.

“Then please take care of these kids.”

A familiar voice came from behind.

Turning around, he saw someone he’d never seen before.

One young, handsome face, and three people fidgeting behind him.

‘What? I’ve never seen him before. Why does his voice sound so familiar?’

“Mr. Choi Gi-woong!”

The female employee bowed her head in welcome.

Ah, Choi Gi-woong.

“Ch-Choi Gi-woong?”

The man’s eyes widened to the size of saucers.

This was the person causing a huge stir right now, both online and in real life.

Of course, Ilseong was no exception. People who had received his Buff and those who hadn’t were divided and engaged in heated debates.

While the man was still in shock, Choi Gi-woong pointed to the trio next to him and said.

“These three, please set them up with some Skills. And while you’re at it, some Items too.”

“Of course. We should. What Rank should we aim for?”

After a moment of thought, Choi Gi-woong said with a grin.

“All of them, A-Rank.”