Fencer Jeong.
No matter how often I heard it, it was a wonderful title.
Thinking that even that Awakened Hunter who breathed fire had called me that made me feel twice as good.
“Actually, this is the first time we have had someone with this level of experience, so the standard for converting it into Training Points is a little unclear.”
“Yes.”
“How many medals have you received so far? Olympic gold, Asian Games gold……?”
Hong Si-yu raised the end of her sentence as she asked.
“I won gold medals at the Olympics, Asian Games, and World Championships. I also have multiple gold medals from the Fencing World Cup and Fencing Grand Prix.”
“And the total number?”
“Ten.”
“Then your career credits alone already exceed thirty points. That is truly impressive!”
Her voice became noticeably brighter at my answer.
“It is an unrivaled score. You will be able to choose wherever you want to go.”
Was it too charitable to think she was happy that she could give these points to me rather than the others?
“Shit. Where did someone like that come from?”
Up ahead, that gangster action leader, Kim Gang-o or whatever his name was, glared at me.
I did not care.
How dare a thug like him.
More importantly, I needed to find out precisely what the points I would receive were worth.
“Hunter Hong, may I ask how good thirty-five points are?”
I raised my hand and asked clearly.
“Ah, I suppose you would want to know. Hmm. Since it came up, I will show you this first.”
Snap!
Hong Si-yu immediately snapped her fingers.
“These are the Guilds and organizations currently participating in our Rehabilitation Hunter Service Conversion Program.”
Three categories appeared on the slide.
In order, they were public institutions, major corporations, and quasi-major corporations.
“Public institutions include the police, the Korean Armed Forces, and the Gate Management Ministry.”
[1. Public Institutions (Safe Range: 80 Points)]
“The pay is modest, but the death rate is low. Once your mandatory service period ends, you are automatically appointed. Oh, and your mandatory service period counts toward your pay-grade steps as well.”
Hmm. Even if we were model inmates, the police using prisoners like us meant there truly must be a shortage of Awakened.
I was apparently not the only one thinking that, as the other model inmates around me wore strange expressions too.
“Major corporate PMCs mostly handle facility security and container ships.”
[2. Major Corporate PMCs (Safe Range: 90 Points)]
“Most people try to go this route. The money is good, even if it is not as much as at quasi-major corporations. The death rate is low, even if it is not as low as at public institutions. And the business cards look impressive.”
The major corporate PMCs were all familiar names.
Samjeong, Hwahan, Mirae, GL……
Those corporations had controlled South Korea even before the Gate Opening Incident.
As Hong Si-yu said, everyone seemed to want in. I heard people swallowing all around me.
The Safe Range score was high as well, at ninety points or more.
“Of course, most of you will end up here.”
[3. Quasi-Major Corporate PMCs]
-[Saetbyeol (Safe Range: 85 Points)]
-[Murim (Safe Range: 60 Points)]
-[Mage Tower (Safe Range: 50 Points)]
-[Ironblood]
-[Angel]
.
.
.
-[Destiny]
Hong Si-yu gave a crooked smile.
“The official name is ‘Nationally Recognized Private Military Organization-Type Special Security Cooperation Association,’ but everyone calls them Guilds. It is the term used in official documents too, so just think of them as Guilds.”
The excitement that had filled the room until then rapidly cooled.
“Fucking hell.”
“Why? I like it. They pay a lot.”
“Are they not just telling us to go die while catching Demon Beasts?”
“I would rather eat hearty prison food in a safe cell than go somewhere like that.”
Kim Gang-o, the third-dan kendo practitioner up front, was trembling all over.
“They pay very well. The base salary alone is over ten million won, and if you catch enough Demon Beasts to earn incentives, you could buy an imported car every month.”
Even so, I could not understand the poor reaction.
The famous and powerful Hunters shown on the news all belonged to Guilds like those. Should not the Guilds have the highest admission cutoffs?
But the scores were the opposite.
Only Saetbyeol, where Chae-ha was working now, had a somewhat high admission cutoff. The rest were around fifty points.
Nothing below third place was even displayed.
“To be honest, I was told that the previous cohort tried to hide this and it went badly. Yes. Artificial Awakened who join a Guild usually lose about a third of their number in three months, and about half in six months.”
My question was immediately answered.
There seemed to be a considerable gap between natural Awakened who could wield supernatural powers and ordinary Awakened like us, whose physical abilities had simply improved.
Even so, a third dying within three months and half within six months.
Before the Gate Opening Incident, it would have been an absolutely absurd black company.
Apparently, that was not the case now.
“They pay an enormous amount, and the chance of naturally Awakening is high. Even if you do not naturally Awaken, catching a hundred Demon Beasts and absorbing mana will help you survive just fine. In particular, no one who caught more than twenty-five in their first month has died yet. They have all settled well into the industry.”
Were they not saying something like that openly in a system jointly promoted by the government and the Awakened Association?
“If you Awaken—meaning, naturally Awaken—and gain supernatural powers on top of your physical abilities? If you become B-Rank or higher? The scale of money you receive will change entirely. Keep working steadily at that level, and you can be treated like a national hero such as Senior Hunter Ban Hae-jin, appearing in major corporate advertisements and living that kind of life.”
Well, for me, it was not entirely bad news.
From the sound of it, public institutions and major corporations did not catch many Demon Beasts, while I had to catch many to recover my leg.
“Most Guilds operate regionally. If you have ties to a particular region, we recommend joining a Guild active in that area.”
I was gradually getting a sense of how this Hunter industry worked.
Was it not almost identical to the sports and arts industries I had been part of?
One. With mediocre skill, you could not even make a living.
In sports and the arts, people left the industry because of financial hardship. In the Hunter industry, they left by dying.
Two. If you were reasonably skilled, you could work in the public sphere, such as a municipal team or the national second division.
Just as in sports and the arts, getting a job at a public institution or major corporation was the greatest success an average Hunter could achieve.
Three. If you were truly skilled, you became a star and made a name for yourself.
Just as I had in the past, when major corporate advertisements and luxury sponsorships lined up and the spotlight of the entire world shone on me.
I decided where I would apply.
[Saetbyeol (Safe Range: 85 Points)]
I looked at the renowned Saetbyeol Guild.
The first and greatest Guild founded by S-Rank Hunter Ban Hae-jin.
It was the only Guild with a Safe Range above eighty points.
I had to catch Demon Beasts for my leg rehabilitation anyway, and if I was going to wield a sword, I wanted to stand somewhere important.
If I became the best Hunter at the world's greatest Guild, I could gain even greater honor than I had with my Olympic gold medal.
If I intended to live an ordinary life, I would never have become an athlete.
***
“All right. I will now answer the question Fencer Jeong asked earlier. These are the education scores at our training institute.”
After finishing a few more explanations, Hong Si-yu answered my question.
[Attitude Score: 30 Points]
[Practical Skills Score: 30 Points]
[Theory Score: 30 Points]
[Social Adjustment Education: 10 Points]
[Total: 100 Points]
“On top of that, there are several ways to receive additional points. One of them is your career before Awakening.”
I had waited a long time, but it was information worth waiting for.
“You receive one point for a martial-arts rank certificate, two points for placing in a domestic competition, and three points for placing in an international competition. Fencer Jeong, you won ten international competitions, so you received thirty points. Does that answer your question?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Thirty additional points was an enormous score.
It was enough to aim for one hundred points even if I completely failed one of the practical, written, or attitude evaluations.
With only fifty more points, I would be within Saetbyeol's Safe Range.
Thinking that the career from those radiant days I had believed long gone was still being recognized made my chest swell.
Of course, I had no intention of becoming complacent.
One mistake in life was enough.
I would do my best until I reached eighty-five points, and I would not let down my guard even after that.
“Wow. That is fucking easy.”
“Fuck. I only get three points at most, so why does that guy get thirty?”
“If you are jealous, you should have won an Olympic gold medal too.”
Murmurs spread as the score chart appeared.
Looks of envy and jealousy poured in from all around.
I leisurely crossed my legs and raised my chin.
I had experienced it often.
“Huh?”
At that moment, I spotted Kim Gang-o below.
The man who claimed to be third-dan in kendo was staring straight at me.
When I stared back, he lowered his gaze first.
Then he ground his teeth as though his anger was boiling over.
What a joke.
“……All right, orientation is over. We will move now.”
Afterward, Hong Si-yu further explained how to use the facilities, the map, and the rules.
“Turn on the phones you were given and check your personal numbers and schedules. Missing training will cost you points, so you need to manage your own schedules.”
I picked up the smartphone I had been given and tried to check my number.
First, I needed to enter the app and verify my identity……
Damn it.
I did not understand any of it.
Chae-ha used to help me with this.
‘Oppa. You say you are a genius, but you cannot even do this? You really are helpless. I will have to stay by your side and keep doing it for you.’
‘Do not make that fish-gasping sound.’
She teased me for being technologically hopeless so much that we often fought when we were young. Now, I wanted to see her again even if she teased me all day.
“Excuse me.”
After wandering around for a long time, I asked the person in front of me for help and barely managed to find out my number.
[213]
It was a number like a place on the podium, so I laughed.
After looking more closely, I got a sense of how the training would be conducted.
The thousand or so Hunter candidates were divided into groups of two hundred and rotated through the training facilities.
While numbers one through two hundred attended theory classes, numbers two hundred one through four hundred learned swordsmanship, and numbers four hundred one through six hundred learned shooting.
[201~400: Anti-Demon Beast Swordsmanship Practice]
I was in swordsmanship.
***
Anti-Demon Beast Swordsmanship was held in a gymnasium several times larger than the auditorium from before.
Even with two hundred people inside, it looked empty.
“Look at those swords. They are vicious.”
“I heard you cannot use greatswords like that in real life.”
“There are axes too. Hey, did you not kill someone with an axe?”
The gymnasium's atmosphere was as rough as the auditorium before Hong Si-yu entered.
“Fuck. Why does fencing deserve thirty points? What kind of martial art is a sport where kids poke, poke without any defensive techniques? Am I wrong?”
Kim Gang-o was here too, surrounded by his gang as he insulted me.
“Y-yeah.”
A delicate-looking man with dark-brown curly hair near them awkwardly agreed.
Hmm. I knew fencing was subject to such misconceptions in terms of practical combat effectiveness.
Having learned various sword arts in addition to fencing, I agreed that modern fencing lacked sword-wrestling techniques.
But saying fencing was not a martial art was simply laughable.
What else could a technical system that taught you how to knock aside an opponent's sword and thrust their torso be called but martial arts?
Once a torso was pierced through, sword wrestling had no meaning at all.
“Attention, attention! We are starting!”
Hong Si-yu descended the stairs leading up to the stage with a brown-haired man.
“All right. We will begin Anti-Demon Beast Swordsmanship Practice. Please give a round of applause to C+-Rank Earth Mage Hunter Ji In-hwi, who will help us today!”
Like Hong Si-yu, the man had a faint glow in his eyes.
“Nice to meet you, everyone. I am Ji In-hwi.”
Ji In-hwi began speaking amid applause.
CRACK! CRAAAACK!
But our attention was taken not by his mouth, but by the shadow rising behind him.
“My specialty is golem crafting. I will do my best to ensure that you safely and thoroughly learn the characteristics of various Demon Beasts.”
Nearly three meters tall.
A giant head resembling a Halloween pumpkin.
A wooden body made from clumps of pumpkin leaves and thorny vines.
Four vine arms made of thorny vines.
THUD, THUD, THUD.
The Jack-o'-Lantern we had learned about earlier walked up and stood beside Ji In-hwi.
“I have perfectly reproduced the pumpkin bastard's physical abilities, but it is a Golem rather than a real Demon Beast, so rest assured. You may sustain some injuries during training, but they will not be life-threatening, so do not worry.”
Everyone stared upward with their mouths wide open at that Demon Beast—no, the Golem modeled after a Demon Beast.
“Ah, if anyone would like to face a Jack-o'-Lantern before receiving instruction, you may step forward. I will give you five Attitude Points.”
At that moment, Ji In-hwi smiled in a vaguely strange way and held up five fingers.
“I heard there are several people in this group who raised their hands earlier because they had martial-arts rank certificates. Are there any volunteers? I will take exactly three.”
The moment I saw that smile, I realized.
This was a trap.