TRGBH 03

Chapter 3

As I got closer to Yeouido Station, more and more people appeared inside the subway, as if they had written ‘I’m an awakened’ across their foreheads.

Although the morning rush hour had long passed, the train soon became so crowded that there wasn’t even room to put your feet down.

“Ah!”

“Ah, come on!”

‘Now this is a real hell train. If someone loses their temper and activates their trait, this place will turn into complete chaos in an instant.’

Fortunately, what I had feared didn’t happen.

Perhaps because everyone recognized each other as awakened, there was an unspoken atmosphere of caution.

Of course, there were people who didn’t act that way.

Thud.

I was walking with the crowd heading toward the selection evaluation center after leaving Yeouido Station.

Someone roughly shoved my shoulder from behind as they passed.

The so-called ‘shoulder check.’

I staggered and almost fell, but I barely managed to keep my balance.

When I raised my head, a huge man who looked to be well over two meters tall was looking back at me with a mocking smile.

“What? What do you want?”

The big guy spoke as if he was picking a fight.

There wasn’t even the slightest sign that he intended to apologize.

Rather, he looked like he would happily accept a fight if I wanted one.

Kids these days…

A hunter should know how to properly judge their opponent’s level before anything else.

Yet this guy was picking a fight without thinking.

Then again, with a body that size, nobody in his neighborhood probably dared to mess with him.

And now that he had awakened, it was understandable that his confidence was reaching the heavens.

I used the [System Observer] trait to view his status window.

As expected, neither his trait nor his Performance Score was anything special.

I didn’t even need to check.

That kind of face was clearly meant for a supporting character.

“No. Just go on your way. I’m fine.”

“Scared?”

The big guy snorted and turned his head before continuing forward.

That’s right, kid.

It’s good to show off your strength, but…

Please don’t die. Become a great hunter.

On high-level stages, it wasn’t uncommon to see your comrades’ limbs being torn off from all directions.

After experiencing that kind of tragedy a few times, something like what had just happened would feel like nothing more than children’s play.

That’s the mindset of an adult.

Absolutely.

Just then, I heard a chattering voice from directly behind me.

“What the hell was that guy doing?! He hit you first! Why are you just letting him go? Want me to go teach him a lesson?”

Maybe he was in a good mood because it was his first day as an adult.

It was a short boy with bright yellow-dyed hair.

He was an exceptionally handsome boy, with deep double eyelids and a sharp, well-defined nose.

However, because he was unusually short, he looked much younger than his actual age.

Naturally, this kid was nineteen too.

Today’s hunter selection evaluation was for Korean citizens who were nineteen years old and had awakened within the past forty-eight hours.

I shrugged as if it were nothing.

“Forget it. If you react to every little provocation like that, you won’t last long as a hunter. Remember this too. Hunters shouldn’t pick fights with other hunters, and they shouldn’t accept them either. If you have energy to waste on something like that, it’s much more productive to spend it developing your own abilities.”

The blond boy looked dumbfounded.

“What kind of old man’s advice is that? Didn’t you just turn nineteen and awaken too?”

He had a point.

Not knowing what else to say, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“My trait… makes me a wise and kind person…”

Even I thought it sounded ridiculous.

But apparently, it was good enough for the boy.

“Wow, really? There’s a trait like that? That’s so cool! Then I’ll tell you mine too. My trait is called Flame Summoner!”

This time, I was the one staring at the boy with a dumbfounded expression.

This kid had absolutely none of the basic knowledge required to be a hunter.

Revealing the name of your trait as an awakened was practically taboo.

It was sensitive information that was only shared with completely trustworthy comrades, people close enough to entrust their lives to each other on the battlefield.

Of course, there were exceptions.

If someone was overwhelmingly powerful and beyond anyone’s ability to deal with, they didn’t need to worry much about revealing their trait.

In fact, their trait itself could become their symbol and even serve as the reason they gained worldwide fame.

‘But he said his trait was Flame Summoner?’

The trait called Flame Summoner that the boy mentioned was exactly the same as the trait possessed by a famous hunter I knew very well.

Flame Summoner Lee Hasol.

Twenty years in the future, he would become an A-rank hunter in South Korea.

And not just any A-rank hunter.

He would be one of the very best A-rank hunters, the one most likely to advance to S-rank.

‘Could this kid really be Lee Hasol? He was in the same generation as me?’

I had never met him even once in my previous life.

Then again, I remembered that there had been more than five thousand participants in this evaluation alone.

Running into each other like this was actually the surprising part.

Unable to resist, I checked Lee Hasol’s status window.

——————————

【Lee Hasol】

【Level】: Unable to Confirm

【Traits】

└ [Summoning] Flame Summoner (LV Unable to Confirm)

【Corruption Rate】: Unable to Confirm

【Ranking】: Unable to Confirm

【Performance Score】: 25,000

——————————

What…?

This was real!

He was only level 1, yet his Performance Score was 25,000?

Even though I had regressed and possessed two traits, his score was almost the same as mine.

Was this the power of a top-tier trait?

In my previous life, he had already become a national star hunter.

I had never met him personally, but I often saw him on television.

But still…

‘Was he really this short?’

I remembered him looking quite tall on screen.

‘He should be past the age when he can grow taller… Did he use shoe inserts? That much? No way…’

While I was lost in pointless thoughts, Lee Hasol continued chattering beside me without a break.

“Hey, do you know this? When I checked my status window, I saw that there were all kinds of sub-traits underneath Flame Summoner. Flame Resistance, Flame Forging, Mana Release… Mmph!”

I covered his mouth with my hand.

“Keep your mouth shut. There’s nothing good about going around listing all your traits. Every awakened has their own traits, but you can roughly guess what someone’s abilities are just from the name. We’re not only fighting the monsters provided by the system. There are countless beings in this world who target hunters. From now on, don’t tell anyone about your trait information unless you trust them one hundred percent. Even the instructors don’t directly ask us about our traits.”

I’d talked a little too much.

I had nagged him out of concern.

Was I sticking my nose into something that wasn’t my business?

Anyway, in my previous life, I had been just another ordinary B-rank hunter, while Lee Hasol had risen to become one of Korea’s top-ranked hunters, aiming all the way for S-rank.

Even if I didn’t give him all this advice, he’d probably do just fine on his own.

Still…

Watching him cheerfully list even his sub-traits with those bright eyes, I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

Lee Hasol gently pushed my hand away from his mouth.

Then he stuck himself right next to me.

“Oh, I see. Then I guess I have to trust you one hundred percent from now on?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Haha, I know. Still, thanks for telling me. I live in a small island town, so I was the only one who came to Seoul to become a hunter. Nobody ever explained things to me in this much detail. There actually isn’t much proper information about hunters on the internet. It’s mostly weird nonsense.”

As he spoke, Lee Hasol suddenly held out his hand for a handshake.

“I’m Lee Hasol. Let’s be friends. You’re my first awakened friend.”

The future top-ranked hunter, Lee Hasol, was refreshingly straightforward.

I took his hand.

“I’m Kim Darum. Being your first friend is an honor for me.”

“Pfft. What’s with that? You sound like an old man.”

What the hell was this kid…

Knowing Lee Hasol’s future, it would be difficult to say that everything I was doing now had no ulterior motive whatsoever.

But it was also true that I genuinely liked the kid.

I was also curious about how someone this innocent and clueless would eventually rise to such a high position.

We headed toward the evaluation center while asking each other all sorts of random questions.

We hadn’t walked very far when I saw a crowd gathered in a circle ahead.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Lee Hasol squeezed his way inside.

I followed behind him without thinking much of it.

“You skinny little anchovy-looking bastard. Do you want to die?”

“If you’re going to keep bumping into people because you can’t even see where you’re going, I’ll rip those eyes out for you.”

It seemed the big guy who had bumped into me earlier had found another person to pick a fight with.

And this time, his opponent didn’t seem willing to let it slide like I had.

I looked at the new opponent standing boldly in front of the big guy.

He was indeed a slender man who deserved to be called an anchovy.

Interestingly, his skin was so pale that he could have been mistaken for a white person.

His sharp, upward-slanting eyes also made him look like the perfect example of a nasty personality.

The ‘anchovy’ was clearly over 180 centimeters tall, but the giant standing opposite him was simply enormous.

Anyone looking at them would think he had no chance.

‘But he’s not intimidated at all.’

Just then, someone among the spectators seemed to recognize the man who had picked a fight with the giant.

I heard whispers.

“I heard he’s Sa Je-il…”

“Who the hell is Sa Je-il?”

“You idiot. He’s the son of the guild master of Death Sentence Guild. I heard he was participating in this year’s evaluation, but I guess it was true…”

“So what? Everyone here has been awakened for less than two days. I think the big guy will win.”

“Really? The difference in size is huge.”

Sa Je-il?

Sa Je-il from Death Sentence Guild?

That guy was Sa Je-il?

I looked at him carefully again.

Now that I heard it, I could see it.

That sharp look on his face was unmistakable.

More than ten years from now, Sa Je-il would succeed his father as the guild master and become the head of Death Sentence Guild, one of the five largest guilds in South Korea.

I remembered watching TV and lamenting that someone my age was already a guild master.

But that wasn’t even the reason I was so surprised.

Sa Je-il was a hunter infamous throughout South Korea for being the most brutal and merciless of them all.

Yet because of his overwhelming ability and influence, even the government couldn’t treat him carelessly.

He was practically a necessary evil.

Two legendary-level hunters were already in the same generation as me.

It was even more amazing that I had managed to complete my training in my previous life without ever encountering either of them.

Then again, I had been practically at the bottom of the rankings back then and barely managed to graduate.

Maybe that’s why I never crossed paths with them.

Anyway, there was no way I could resist now.

I checked Sa Je-il’s status window.

——————————

【Sa Je-il】

【Level】: Unable to Confirm

【Traits】

└ [Condition] Blood Sword (LV Unable to Confirm)

【Corruption Rate】: Unable to Confirm

【Ranking】: Unable to Confirm

【Performance Score】: 19,000

——————————

As expected, it was Sa Je-il.

His Performance Score was already 19,000…

Hmm.

Still, I’m stronger than him, aren’t I?