Assuming someone was an ordinary person with no particular combat ability, what was the most effective and destructive weapon they could use?
Those of us living in the modern age could answer that question without even needing to think about it.
“Guns are the best. What more is there to say?”
One shot could kill you, and one shot could kill me.
Guns treated everyone in the world equally.
And assuming a bullet penetrated the head, the same was true even for monsters.
Hae-jin had also completed his military service, so he had no difficulty using one.
However, there was a good reason he had not used such an excellent weapon until now.
'I guess it's finally time to get a Hunter Registration Card. If I want a gun, I can't put it off any longer.'
Regardless of the reason, anyone who wanted to purchase a firearm was required to present an official Hunter Registration Card.
Possession of firearms was illegal in South Korea to begin with, so naturally, they could not simply sell guns to ordinary civilians.
Although it had already been nearly three months since Hae-jin began working as a Hunter, he had never actually registered as one.
Strictly speaking, that meant he had been hunting illegally all this time.
Of course, he had been selling his catches discreetly through connections in the Hunting City, so it had not caused any major problems so far.
But if the scale of his activities grew any larger, an unlucky mistake could easily expose him.
And now that he intended to hunt a Basilisk, he needed an official registration card more than ever.
'I can't delay it any longer. I might as well go get one right now.'
Strike while the iron was hot, as the saying went.
Without wasting any time, Hae-jin headed to the Hunter Registration Office in the Hunting City.
Hunters were divided into two types.
'Regular Hunters, who are basically ordinary mercenaries, and Awakened Hunters like me.'
The terms meant exactly what they sounded like.
Regular Hunters were people who made a living hunting monsters while armed with various firearms and other weapons.
Awakened Hunters, on the other hand, were people with special abilities who had undergone awakening, like Hae-jin.
For Regular Hunters, obtaining a registration card was an extremely demanding process.
They first had to pass a Physical Fitness Test involving running, push-ups, and various other exercises.
After that, they had to pass a notoriously difficult Marksmanship Test, one that even people who had completed their military service were said to commonly fail two or three times.
Only after passing a Practical Combat Test, in which they hunted an actual monster under the supervision of an instructor, would they finally receive their registration card.
'But Awakened Hunters? We don't have to go through any of that.'
There was a reason the government regarded Awakened Hunters as “national assets” and closely managed them.
They did not need to go through any of those complicated and difficult tests.
As long as they could prove that they had awakened, their registration card was issued immediately.
That was why Hae-jin confidently declared the moment he entered the Hunter Registration Office.
“I'm here to register as a Hunter. As an ‘Awakened’ Hunter, that is.”
“Ah, yes. You've awakened. Congratulations. Please fill out these forms first. And what Job Name did you receive?”
The employee behind the counter responded smoothly.
Hae-jin felt slightly dizzy from the barrage of questions fired at him in rapid succession, but he answered properly.
“God Landlord.”
“Pardon? I didn't hear you correctly.”
“God Landlord. As in, a landlord above even God.”
“How can a Job possibly be called God Landl— Ah, my apologies. Yes, you've been registered as God Landlord.”
“……”
For some reason, Hae-jin had the distinct impression that the employee was desperately trying not to laugh.
It had to be his imagination.
The name might sound ridiculous, but the Job itself was absurdly overpowered.
“Then we'll proceed directly to measuring your Mana. Could you spread your right hand flat and place it here?”
The employee brought over a device resembling a scanner.
When Hae-jin placed his right hand on it, a blue light swept back and forth across his palm, causing it to feel slightly warm.
Faintly, he could feel Mana circulating through his entire body.
'Hmm. I've been curious about what rank my Mana Capacity would be too. My abilities can pull off this much, so at least C-rank? No. Maybe even B-rank.'
Mana Capacity was one of the most intuitive indicators of a Hunter's strength.
Naturally, Hae-jin waited for the result with his heart pounding.
“Hunter Lee Hae-jin? Your Mana Rank has been assessed as F-rank.”
“Pardon? I didn't hear you correctly.”
“F-rank. F, one level below E-rank.”
“……”
It felt strangely like the exact conversation from a moment ago had replayed itself with the speakers reversed.
Damn it.
He had feared the possibility, but F-rank?
Seriously?
'This is ridiculous.'
Perhaps he should at least consider himself fortunate.
Despite receiving the lowest possible F-rank, his Hunter Registration Card was issued without any problems.
No matter how low his rank was, he was still an Awakened Hunter, someone who existed on a level Regular Hunters could not reach.
'Right. This is enough. Who cares about rank? I've already made more than one hundred million won, and I've already raised my Level this much. I'm getting stronger fast.'
Those stupid letters were nothing more than standards imposed by this filthy, unfair world anyway.
The moment he thought of it that way, his gloomy mood improved instantly.
'Wait. Isn't this actually better? If I had gotten a high rank, the government would probably start following me around and pestering me about what I should and shouldn't do. This is a benefit. This is better!'
Self-justification so extreme that even God would have to concede defeat!
Perhaps one needed to reach this level before the will of the universe itself became impressed enough to grant an awakening.
Hae-jin accepted his registration card with a bright smile and walked out of the building.
The Association official who had seen him off with an ordinary expression thought to himself.
'He's a nobody. An absolute first-rate nobody, at that. Good grief. At least he seems happy.'
It had not exactly been intentional.
But somehow, the Hunter registration Hae-jin had been putting off had ended up going precisely the way he wanted.
Hae-jin headed straight from the Registration Office to a gun shop and picked up a particularly useful weapon.
Then, the very next day.
Hae-jin opened the door of the temporary structure he had built on the front line near the border and stepped through.
“Let's do this.”
Today was the day his long-awaited operation would begin.
No matter what happened, he would successfully hunt the Basilisk today.
Of course, that did not mean he intended to start fighting immediately.
'One step at a time. One step at a time.'
Hae-jin was extremely greedy, but he was never the sort of person who became blinded by greed and ruined things by rushing ahead.
If anything, he was an extreme believer in safety and self-preservation, the kind of man who would test even a stone bridge before crossing it.
So today as well, he started by making preparations.
He connected a door from his newly purchased mansion to the temporary structure.
Then he diligently carried over the materials he had ordered in advance.
Far more wooden boards and nails than before soon lay piled high around him.
He intended to use them to expand the temporary structure.
'If the house gets larger, the area I can fight within increases too. Strengthening my foundation comes first. If I'm unlucky and the Basilisk's headbutts actually make this thing collapse...'
The moment the house came crashing down—
The Basilisk would undoubtedly crush Hae-jin's head between its jaws, just as it had been desperately waiting to do.
He would rather die than become that damned lizard's meal.
BANG-BANG-!
He was beginning to get the hang of carpentry.
Perhaps humans truly were creatures capable of improvement.
Adding boards, hammering in nails, and fastening them with a staple gun—
He completed the construction he had planned far more easily than before.
“Whew... This looks pretty good!”
Hae-jin slowly inspected the finished structure.
Since expansion had been his main goal, the temporary structure had grown from roughly 6.6 square meters to around 16.5 square meters.
He had paid particular attention to the size of the entrance.
He had made it large enough for a truck to pass through.
'At this point, it's closer to a simple house than a temporary structure. Ha!'
This would do.
Now it was finally time to begin the hunt.
WHOOSH-!
SIZZLE!
He lit the grill and began cooking meat.
This time, he had brought freshly slaughtered pork from that very morning, without even draining the blood.
A raw, metallic smell far stronger than before spread rapidly through the air.
'Let's see you resist this smell.'
Sure enough—
“WOOF! GRRR... WOOF WOOF!!”
“There it is!”
Less than five minutes after he started the fire, Guard began barking fiercely.
The brush rustled.
By now, Hae-jin could tell instinctively.
It had arrived.
-SKREEEEEEEE!!
As though it had been waiting for him, the Basilisk emerged.
Now it openly glared at Hae-jin while licking its lips.
THUD- THUD-!
Its mindless headbutting began once more.
Apparently enraged by the invincible barrier it simply could not break through, the monster seemed to be rampaging even more violently than last time.
Fortunately, thanks to Hae-jin's careful reinforcement work, the house shook far less than before.
At this point, there was no need to worry about it collapsing.
“What? You think I'm going to stab you with another spear? Not a chance, you bastard.”
CLICK!
Hae-jin loaded the gun he had quietly hidden behind him.
A black piece of steel that was the pride of Korea, one he had fired until he was sick of it during his military service.
“Have a taste of the K2.”
He shoved the muzzle toward the mouth of the Basilisk as it violently slammed its entire body against the barrier.
Semi-automatic fire?
Not a chance.
He had bought plenty of ammunition and intended to use every last round.
Hae-jin flipped the fire selector to full-auto and opened fire.
-SKREEEEEE!!
-KRRRGH! KREEEEGH!!
“That's definitely better!”
Its reaction was completely different from when he had been jabbing at it like a caveman with a spear.
He could feel through the weapon that the rounds were inflicting solid, effective damage.
'But it's still not enough.'
By luck, several scales around the monster's head had been torn away by the bullets.
Hae-jin had also pumped dozens of rounds into its mouth.
Even so, the Basilisk merely staggered while spilling blood.
The K2 alone did not seem powerful enough to deliver a decisive blow.
'That's fine. I knew this would happen, so I came prepared.'
Good.
This was exactly what he had expected.
Hae-jin dragged forward the massive piece of metal he had mounted behind him.
An NTW-20 Anti-Materiel Rifle.
It was a monster of a weapon designed to tear apart enemy armored vehicles.
The used rifle and three rounds of ammunition had cost him a staggering twenty million won.
It was an enormous expense.
But if it allowed him to kill the Basilisk, it would still leave him with a tremendous profit.
Especially now that the monster's value had skyrocketed.
'If I can kill it.'
An investment of this size was more than worthwhile.
Hae-jin loaded a massive 20 mm Armor-Piercing Round, closed one eye, and held his breath.
The Basilisk seemed to have grown somewhat exhausted, but it continued its desperate assault while panting heavily.
'Whew.'
Hae-jin lined up the sights with the monster's head.
He steadied the trembling of his body and placed his finger on the trigger.
Then, at the exact moment the suffering Basilisk opened its mouth—
'Now!'
Fire.
BAAAAAANG--!