TRGBH 12

Chapter 12

Following the staff members, I soon found myself inside a large room with a nameplate that read, “President’s Office.”

“Could it be that the President of the Hunter Association is coming?”

I asked one of the staff members who politely served me tea. He only gave me a faint smile and didn’t answer.

Just then, an unfamiliar voice came from the back of the room.

“Could it be? The President of the Hunter Association has already been waiting for you for quite some time.”

“…!”

Step, step.

An elderly man with a strong build and a thick white beard walked out from the back of the room.

At the same time, everyone else in the room quietly left, like the tide going out.

“There is a tradition where the top-ranked participant of the Hunter Selection Evaluation has tea with the President after the evaluation ends. If you don’t mind, could you spare me some time?”

“Yes. Of course.”

I whistled inwardly.

As expected, being first place really came with different treatment.

A private meeting with the President of the Hunter Association.

How much was this worth again?

Let me tell you a little story from the past.

I had already met the President of the Hunter Association in my previous life.

It was around the time my [System Observer] Trait reached Level 2.

At that time, I went around looking at the status windows of some of the strongest Hunters in Korea.

I had a baseless hope that perhaps another ability would unlock if I fulfilled some hidden condition.

Back then, I had been strangely convinced of it, as if I were under some kind of spell.

Then I got the chance to meet the President of the Hunter Association, who was considered one of the strongest Hunters in Korea.

[Having Lunch with the World’s Strongest President]

—I think that was probably the title.

At the time, the Korean Hunter Association was selling event tickets that allowed people to have a meal with the President for only 20 million won.

I heard that the profits were used to help retired Hunters who were struggling.

Apparently, the president of an investment company in America across the sea charged billions of won for a single lunch.

Compared to that, this was practically a bargain.

I desperately tried to convince myself of that and spent all the money I had saved to buy the ticket.

And so, for a little over an hour, I got to share a meal with the strong old man standing in front of me now.

Ah, of course, there were no hidden conditions or secret skills at all.

It took me nearly half a year of wasting money and time before I finally accepted that fact.

At least I got to see the faces and Traits of many of Korea’s powerful Hunters.

Anyway, perhaps because of that memory, it felt like the honor of being first place in the Hunter Selection Evaluation came with an extra 20 million won bonus.

I was very pleased.

“What are you staring at so intently?”

The President asked as he sat down across from me.

The President looked exactly the same as he did in my memories.

I wondered if he had some kind of Trait that prevented him from aging, but that wasn’t the case.

I already knew what Traits the President possessed.

“Ah. It’s just amazing to meet the President of the Hunter Association.”

I took a small sip of the tea in front of me while checking the President’s status window.

——————————

【Unique One】

【Level】: 127

【Traits】

┕ [Enhancement] Super Strength (LV 9)

┕ [Space-Time] Slowdown (LV 8)

┕ [Special] Gate Keeper (LV 1)

【Corruption Rate】: 45%

【Ranking】: 14

【Performance Score】: 770,698

——————————

Wow.

Even after seeing it again, those numbers were enough to make me speechless.

Level 127 and a Performance Score of 770,000…

But the numbers displayed on his status window weren’t much different from what I had seen in my previous life.

And that was more than ten years from now.

In other words, the President would remain at roughly his current strength for the next ten-plus years without much growth.

Put nicely, you could say that he had already reached his peak.

His Ranking proved that fact.

“I really like your eyes. They’re calm and deep for someone your age.”

The President suddenly complimented me.

I had apparently been giving him a strange sideways look while checking his status window, yet he said he liked my eyes?

I answered mechanically.

“Thank you.”

“May I ask how far you cleared?”

He already knew how many stages I had cleared.

The President’s [Gate Keeper] Trait was a Trait possessed by the administrator of a particular stage.

It was also known as an inheritance-type Trait.

It was an ability given to someone who possessed the object that served as the medium for a stage.

An Awakened with this Trait could open a specific stage and check the records of other Awakened who had entered it.

But all of this was classified information that a beginner Hunter who had only awakened two days ago could never know.

Officially, it was said that the participants’ evaluation results were processed entirely based on their own testimony.

So, for now, even the President had to ask me directly.

“Stage 20.”

“Oh.”

The President narrowed his brows and let out a low exclamation.

This old man was pretty good at acting.

“The highest record so far was Stage 15. From now on, your record will be a new Korean record. Congratulations.”

“Wow! Really? Thank you.”

On the other hand, my acting was terrible.

But perhaps my lukewarm reaction had stimulated the President in another way.

His voice became noticeably louder.

“You may not know this, but besides the Selection Evaluation, there are many highly skilled veteran Hunters who want to enter this stage. Yet none of them have been able to go beyond Stage 15. Even when they tried to go further, the stage was forcibly ended. My guess is that the highest stage cleared by an Awakened who received the Easter Egg effect becomes fixed as the highest floor of this stage.”

This was the first time I had heard this as well.

Naturally, genuine surprise appeared in my voice.

“Really?”

Perhaps he liked my reaction this time, because the President smiled and whispered.

“Yes. This is classified information that only a few people in the Association know.”

“Is it really okay to tell me that?”

“Of course. Because of you, the highest floor of the stage has now increased to Stage 20, hasn’t it? Naturally, I should tell you.”

“In that case, thank you for telling me. I won’t tell anyone.”

“I’d appreciate that. Our Kim Daram is quite mature for his age, both in skill and in his way of thinking. If I had a grandson like you, I wouldn’t want anything more. Hahaha.”

The President lightly patted my shoulder and laughed heartily.

I also gave an awkward laugh.

But, Mr. President, aren’t you being a little too friendly for someone meeting me for the first time?

Of course, the President wasn’t acting this way simply because he wanted to become friends with me.

I could somewhat guess what he was really after.

“But do you know something? Our Hunter Association has a secret Awakened development program.”

I guess we were finally getting to the main point.

“An Awakened development program?”

“Yes. You can think of it as a program where we select Awakened with enormous potential like you, protect them, and provide them with full support for their growth.”

“I’ll be training at the Hunter Association for a year anyway…”

Before I could finish, the President interrupted me.

“Of course. But didn’t I tell you? It’s a program operated in secret. You can think of it as receiving additional benefits while training together with the other participants.”

“Ah…”

“There is also a signing bonus. A large amount of money, the kind that usually requires you to be at least a B-Rank Hunter to receive.”

“You provide full support and even give me a signing bonus?”

I asked while tilting my head.

The President flinched and cleared his throat.

“There is a condition that you have to work under the Association for a certain period to receive that support. It’s a position known as an Association-exclusive Hunter. As you know, competition for those positions is quite fierce these days. But if you join this program, you’ll automatically be guaranteed one of those positions.”

“Oh, I see. How many years is the contract?”

I asked without much emotion.

“Y-years? It’s not that long… About ten years? Hahaha. The cost of the full support I just mentioned is quite high, you see. We’re not exactly a charity organization. Still, you’ll only be thirty after ten years. That’s still quite young, isn’t it?”

“…”

When I gave no answer, the President continued with a serious expression.

“And do you know what percentage of Hunters who pass the Hunter Selection Evaluation end up dying or becoming disabled within one year?”

“…”

“It’s as high as 15%. Many young people enter this profession with dreams and hopes, but the reality behind it is never easy. Ah, this is also classified information. But if you join this program, I can guarantee that you won’t die or suffer any serious injuries. The Association will take full responsibility for managing and protecting you. What do you think? Are you interested? After completing the one-year training period, I’ll personally make sure that you can choose not only an Association-exclusive Hunter position but also your place of work.”

In other words, the President was basically trying to sell me on the program.

It wasn’t hard to understand.

If I were in his position, I would probably do the same thing.

After all, right in front of him was the first Awakened in the five-thousand-year history of Korea to break through Stage 20.

Of course he wanted me.

Normally, after completing the Hunter Selection Evaluation, Hunters would complete a one-year training course provided by the Association.

After that, they had many choices.

They could work under the Association, join a corporate Hunter Guild or a professional Hunter management company, or become freelance Hunters.

As the President said, becoming an Association-exclusive Hunter wasn’t a bad choice at all.

Even among Association Hunters, those with the title of “exclusive” received special treatment.

Usually, only a small number of people who ranked among the very best after completing the one-year training could obtain such a position.

However, becoming an Association-exclusive Hunter came with restrictions.

I would have to report whenever I left the country, and I would have to leave records every time I entered a stage.

That wouldn’t work.

I was a regressor who had many stages to enter secretly.

Before the President could continue any longer, I answered firmly.

“Thank you for the offer, but I will refuse.”

“R-refuse? Why?”

I couldn’t tell him the truth.

But if I made up some poor excuse, I felt like I would leave the President with unnecessary hope.

So I brought up a goal that I had made when I was in elementary school and had forgotten after reality got in the way.

A goal that was almost like a dream.

“I plan to enter the top 100 of the Awakened Ranking within ten years, and become the number one Awakened in the world within twenty years. And I plan to create my own Guild as soon as possible.”

“If I do that, I don’t think I can work under the Association.”

“Are you serious?”

When I first made this goal, I was certainly serious.

And it wasn’t until several years later, when I had grown more mature, that I realized how ridiculously unrealistic that dream was.

But…

Now that I was saying it out loud again, somehow it didn’t feel completely impossible.

My thoughts were long, but my answer was short.

“Yes. I’m serious.”

Had he seen the depth of my sincerity?

The President willingly backed down.

“All right. I won’t pressure you anymore. But if you ever change your mind, let me know. I will always keep this door open especially for you.”

The President emptied the cup of tea in front of him in one gulp.

Watching him, I suddenly became curious and spoke.

“President, may I ask you one thing?”

“Of course, of course. Ask me anything. The future number one Awakened has a question, so how could this old man refuse to answer?”

This old man seemed to have a little grudge after all.

“Who came in second place in the evaluation? If possible, could I know the name?”

“Hmm… The evaluation rankings are confidential by principle. However, the top-ranking participants will inevitably meet each other as part of the curriculum, so I’ll make a special exception and tell you.”

The President made sure to emphasize that he was doing me a favor before answering.

“The second-place participant was Lee Hasol.”

As expected, our Hasol!

Then was third place Sajil?

“If that’s the case, are you also going to offer the program you just mentioned to that participant, Lee Hasol?”

“Phew…”

The President let out a deep sigh before continuing.

“I already did. That friend also achieved an incredible record by clearing Stage 15.”

Stage 15?

That’s impressive, Lee Hasol.

“What did she say?”

“She refused without hesitation. Apparently, she said she had to go ask her friend first. Hey, Kim Daram. Aren’t you past the age where you should be so attached to friends?”

“Haha… I guess that’s just a matter of personal preference.”

I could only laugh awkwardly.

I had a pretty good idea who that “friend” Lee Hasol had mentioned was.

“If you happen to meet her later, try to persuade her for me. An opportunity like this doesn’t come often.”

“Yes. Well…”

President, I’m sorry, but I’m taking Hasol with me.

She’s really going to reach the top 100 in the Ranking within ten years.