Korea’s greatest appraiser, Yoo A-rin.
She had come from an orphanage with no background to speak of.
An orphan alone in the world, who had to face any crisis by herself.
A life in which she possessed nothing.
Those born into abundance had countless chances to challenge life.
But to Yoo A-rin, every challenge was her last opportunity.
That was why she had become obsessed with perfection.
After awakening as an appraiser, that perfectionist nature had transferred whole into her appraisals.
Now, she possessed more than enough status, money, and connections.
But her perfectionism in appraisal had not changed.
It was her pride and her dignity.
But now.
Creeeak—
A crack appeared in that pride.
The man before her.
Baek Cheon-myeong, whose striking looks would make anyone turn to look if they passed him on the street.
The single herb he had brought had cracked her pride.
“H-Haha?”
A hollow laugh escaped Yoo A-rin’s lips.
That laughter held something gloomy and unsettling.
“I am sorry. I will try again.”
Her expression turned serious as she appraised it once more.
But naturally.
Name: Moonlight White Flower (Moonlight White Flower)
Classification: Elixir Herb / Mystic Plant
Grade: S Grade (Rare)
Attributes: Moon (Moon) · Purification (Purification) · Life (Life)
Description:
A pure white flower that blo■ms bathed in moonlight.
It fully blooms only on nights when the full moon rises.
It was long ago used as an elixir herb, a sacred offering, or a powerful restorative material.
Effects:
— Removes impure mana and toxins from within the body.
— The flow of mana circuits (meridians) becomes smoother, increasing training efficiency for a period of time.
— Reduces the chance of a Heart Demon arising.
The result was the same.
A crack appeared in Yoo A-rin’s expression.
She let down the hair she had styled that morning, then tightly tied it back up.
“I will do it again.”
Her hand attempted the appraisal once more.
And the result was the same.
“I will do it again.”
The result was the same.
“Again.”
The result was the same.
“Again.”
The result.
Was the same.
“That is enough.”
Yoo A-rin slowly raised her head.
Her face, with its pride so brutally trampled, was shattered to the point of being difficult to look at.
There were even faint tears at the corners of her eyes.
“What you have now is enough.”
“......But.”
“We are not so free that we can indulge your challenge.”
Challenge.
Yoo A-rin closed her mouth.
A challenge. Yes, this was a challenge.
Yoo A-rin clenched her hand into a fist, and it trembled.
“......I apologize, Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong. It seems that, due to my lack of skill, I could not interpret it perfectly.”
In the end, she acknowledged her failure.
‘What?’
Kang Ha-min was shocked as well.
Korea’s greatest appraiser could not interpret it perfectly?
What kind of place was the Heavenly Decree Herb Forest where Baek Cheon-myeong had trained?
And it was astonishing anew that the Tower could recreate it exactly.
“But.”
However, fierce determination burned in Yoo A-rin’s eyes.
“I will succeed next time. Please entrust the next appraisal to me as well.”
It was an earnest request.
Her pride as an appraiser was at stake.
Kang Ha-min was somewhat moved by her determination.
Someone who was so sincere about their work naturally inspired admiration.
“Very well.”
But Baek Cheon-myeong himself remained indifferent.
“More importantly, what is the price?”
What mattered was the sale money.
The money that Kang Ha-min would take home.
Realizing this, Yoo A-rin politely bowed as a professional.
From this point on, she was not an appraiser, but the Chief Administrator.
“Yes. Although I partially failed in the appraisal, I was still able to obtain most of the information. We will purchase the Moonlight White Flower for 300 million won.”
Huh?
This time, Kang Ha-min froze.
‘What did she just say?’
Three hundred million won?
Even if someone earning a net salary of three million won saved one million won a month for thirty years, they would only have 360 million won.
And yet.
Yoo A-rin had just named 300 million won outright.
However, Baek Cheon-myeong, who did not know the value of modern currency, showed no change in expression.
“Ah, I apologize. It appears I named too low a price.”
But Yoo A-rin interpreted Baek Cheon-myeong’s reaction differently.
“We will purchase it for 330 million won. Hunter trade items are partially tax-exempt, so you will receive almost all of it after deductions.”
Thirty million more had been added.
And she said he would receive almost all of it.
“......I understand if you distrust us because the appraisal was not complete, but based on the information we have uncovered, any higher price would be difficult for us.”
‘Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong, it’s enough. Tell her it’s enough!’
As Yoo A-rin showed signs of backing down, Kang Ha-min screamed in alarm.
“Then do so.”
330 million won.
It was money he had never earned even once in his life.
Yet he had earned it by selling a single herb.
‘Ha, heh, heh heh.’
It did not feel real enough to truly sink in.
And the problem was that he had only sold one herb.
Kang Ha-min’s gaze slowly shifted behind him.
There was still a mountain of herbs piled up in the room.
What would happen if he sold all of them?
Would it not easily exceed three years of sales for an average small or medium-sized business?
Kang Ha-min felt dizzy.
A world where everything revolved around money.
He knew better than anyone how great the value of having that much money was there.
‘My father’s knee can completely heal now.’
Would he not be running around as though he had wings?
His mother and father should quit working, and he should send them on overseas trips instead.
“Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong, there is one thing you must do before we make the purchase.”
Ah, was something still left?
As Kang Ha-min tensed a little, Yoo A-rin smiled gently.
“You must register as a Hunter before you can trade.”
***
Hunter registration.
For that, Baek Cheon-myeong sat waiting.
At that time, Kang Ha-min was considering how to explain things to his parents.
‘If I tell them I am a Hunter, Father will probably leave the hospital with that knee of his and make a scene.’
The most plausible explanation would be stocks or cryptocurrency.
‘The Public Service Ethics Act makes it easy to explain why I left too.’
[Public Service Ethics Act, Article 2, Paragraph 2.]
Information acquired during employment must not be improperly used for personal gain or improperly used by another person.
It meant that one must not gain improper benefits using information learned through work.
If he cited that while explaining why he had quit being a civil servant, his parents would understand.
‘It does not technically apply unless you work in financial supervision, securities depository services, or the Bank of Korea.’
It was a restriction imposed on high-ranking public officials or people working in related fields.
But there had recently been a commotion over civil servants trading real estate.
So he would say he had left because he might have found himself in a difficult situation related to that issue.
‘It is not as though my parents know much about the law anyway.’
They had no choice but to believe Kang Ha-min, who had been a working-level official.
After quitting, he would say he had started a business with the money he earned this time.
As Kang Ha-min thought through one thing after another.
A somewhat noisy sound came from outside the room.
Clunk—
Then, with the suddenly opened door, a large man appeared.
A man in a neat suit with a clean-shaven chin, as though he had shaved that very day.
He could not hide the fatigue in his eyes.
But he smiled as brightly as possible.
“Oh, Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong, it is good to meet you!”
The moment he saw Baek Cheon-myeong, he deeply bowed his head.
“Your manners are proper.”
“Haha, I hear that often!”
‘Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong!’
Unlike Kang Ha-min, who was horrified, Baek Cheon-myeong seemed satisfied.
Behind him, Yoo A-rin stood with a slightly troubled expression.
“Director Shin, we do work with the government, but I would appreciate it if you stopped barging in without warning.”
“Ahahaha, Ms. Yoo A-rin, I have always been grateful to you!”
Director Shin, a middle-aged man, laughed roughly.
But there was another meaning behind his laughter.
“I am always at ease thanks to Ms. Yoo A-rin.”
(There is much to discuss from now on, so could unrelated people please leave?)
But Yoo A-rin was a woman famously known as the Viper.
“Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong will likely be conducting business with us closely in the future, so I hope he completes his registration safely.”
(I have already finished speaking with Baek Cheon-myeong, so do not fill his head with nonsense.)
A taut battle of nerves continued between the two.
But they could not continue their standoff forever.
“Then I will be on my way.”
Yoo A-rin had finished what she needed to do today.
Since she needed to make a good impression on Baek Cheon-myeong from now on, she could not keep pushing.
More than anything, she did not want to wrestle with the government for no reason.
“I’ll set it up!”
Meanwhile, a brown-haired woman hurried into the room.
She swiftly laid documents out across the table.
As Baek Cheon-myeong looked down at them calmly, Director Shin smiled.
“My introduction is late. My name is Shin No-seop, and I serve as a public official at Hunter General Administration Headquarters.”
He respectfully offered a business card with both hands.
As Baek Cheon-myeong casually accepted it.
Kang Ha-min’s face froze.
‘Wait, what did he just say?’
Shin No-seop of Hunter General Administration Headquarters?
Through Baek Cheon-myeong’s eyes, Kang Ha-min’s gaze fell on the business card.
The moment he confirmed the name again, his face stiffened once more.
Grade 3 Senior Executive Officer
Director, Hunter General Administration Headquarters
Shin No-seop
He was a person with real power, positioned immediately beneath the Head of Headquarters.
Kang Ha-min belonged to a lower department under Hunter General Administration Headquarters.
Naturally, he knew Shin No-seop’s name.
Why was this man here?
‘Why did a director from Hunter General Administration Headquarters come in person?’
[Ask him directly.]
Kang Ha-min did not even have time to stop him.
“Why did a director of Hunter General Administration Headquarters come in person?”
Kang Ha-min rolled across the floor.
‘Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong!’
On the other hand, Shin No-seop raised the corner of his mouth.
It was a social smile he had learned after devoting his life to public service.
“Well, every Hunter is working hard for our country. We cannot simply sit behind desks, can we?”
A lie.
You never move in person unless it is a major matter.
But there was no way Kang Ha-min could say that.
Like a Shih Tzu standing before a massive beast, he shrank back in fear.
‘Was the herb we sold really that valuable?’
Unfortunately, Kang Ha-min did not know exactly what achievement he had set.
He had established a new achievement for Floor 1.
But he lacked the knowledge to understand how major that was.
The importance of the Floor 1 record was known only to high-ranking Hunters or specialized professionals.
Kang Ha-min had worked in the Hunter Department, but he was ultimately only an ordinary civil servant.
He could not grasp everything.
At that moment.
‘Hmm.’
Behind his smile, Shin No-seop was judging Baek Cheon-myeong.
Just like Yoo A-rin, he had an exceptional eye for people.
‘I have seen many S Grade Hunters until now.’
But this was another type he had never seen before.
‘He does not feel newly awakened at all.’
He felt like a martial artist who had trained for a long time.
Or someone who had repeatedly undergone comparable training.
‘He is not an easy opponent.’
Shin No-seop was someone who had spent his entire life in public service.
He had realized that there was nothing to gain from trying to hide anything before Baek Cheon-myeong.
‘More importantly, he does not seem like the type who enjoys empty flattery.’
The sharp eyes studying him.
Those eyes seemed to hold a sense that could see directly through a person’s very character.
And that was why.
‘He is more suitable than anyone to be a Hunter representing South Korea.’
Shin No-seop found it difficult to hide his excitement.
Yes, exactly.
An S Grade Hunter needed to have this much presence to be an S Grade Hunter!
If he had been an ordinary, unassuming man, Shin No-seop would have worried all day.
But someone like this could be trusted!
Behind him.
‘Why is everyone paying so much attention to me?!’
There was an estrogen man screaming, but no one had any way of knowing it.