Episode 15. Association President
Korea’s Hunter Association President.
She had countless epithets, but the only one Sin Dae remembered was iron-blooded.
It was a brutal epithet born from both the sight she had shown in the 9-Star [Dokkaebi Mine] and her original personality..
Sin Dae couldn’t help but swallow a groan as he looked at Yu Jaehyeon, who was watching him with an air of interest at his side.
‘Why do I feel like I’ve only been running into big shots lately....’
Not long ago, he had encountered another S-Rank, Cha Yerin, yet this time, he found himself walking alone with Yu Jaehyeon—something he could only find astonishing.
“First, congratulations on making it back alive. You must have suffered greatly in there....”
“Yes.. well, anyway....”
The truth was that Sin Dae had grown tremendously by eating the monster corpses brought to him by the demon race, but he simply nodded.
“Did you really suffer that much?”
Yu Jaehyeon suddenly looked at him with peculiar eyes.
Sin Dae couldn’t help but let out a hollow breath.
‘Huh... could she smell monster on me?’
After all, he had eaten nearly ninety monsters over two days in that place, so it would be stranger if his breath didn’t smell.
When Sin Dae subtly glanced at Yu Jaehyeon’s reaction, he could feel her looking at him with a smile in her eyes.
“For an F-Rank like me, it was still a bit difficult....”
“F-Rank.....”
Sin Dae spoke, emphasizing “F-Rank.”
Most Awakened would lose interest upon hearing Sin Dae say he was F-Rank, so he had spoken thinking Yu Jaehyeon would do the same.
“Is that so?”
However, Yu Jaehyeon looked at Sin Dae as if he were even more interesting, and even a strange smile formed at the energy she sensed from him.
‘This is surprising... this is D-Rank... absolutely not F-Rank...’
Already knowing Sin Dae’s rank, Yu Jaehyeon thought she had come in person upon sensing his energy directly.
“But what about the others?”
“For now, there are three confirmed fatalities. There are ten survivors who were found before you, Sin Dae.”
“Three...”
Yu Jaehyeon looked at Sin Dae with peculiar eyes once more as he repeated the number of dead before that of the survivors.
She opened her mouth again to subtly probe Sin Dae.
“Among the deceased was Team Leader Bak Hyeonsik.”
“T-Team Leader Bak!?”
Just a few days ago, Team Leader Bak had been laughing and talking with him, so at the news that he had died in the dungeon, Sin Dae’s face turned pale.
‘Good heavens... Team Leader Bak...’
“Still, don’t worry. The number of survivors is increasing. And the boss monster is being cornered as we speak.”
“I see....”
Sin Dae thought that with an S-Rank Awakened participating, this incident would be resolved before long.
“By the way, shall I tell you an interesting story?”
Having reached the dungeon entrance before he knew it, Sin Dae tilted his head and looked at her when Yu Jaehyeon spoke.
‘An interesting story? At a time like this?’
Sin Dae thought this wasn’t something a woman who was the Association President should say when an incident with three casualties had just occurred.
But his thoughts apparently didn’t matter, as Yu Jaehyeon continued to speak.
“Have you heard the saying that special beings cause special incidents?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It’s just that. This place was normally known as a 7-Star dungeon, so isn’t it strange that a rampage phenomenon suddenly occurred?”
When Sin Dae looked at Yu Jaehyeon as if he didn’t understand, she let out a snicker.
“For a dungeon that the Osiris Guild had managed perfectly well for the past three years to suddenly rampage... anyone can see it’s a strange situation.”
“What are you trying to say....”
Sin Dae gradually began to understand Yu Jaehyeon’s hidden meaning.
She was talking about a special being right now.
That is, she was concluding that Sin Dae was the cause of this incident.
‘What is this woman saying...’
Special? Me? Sin Dae wanted to voice the words swirling in his mouth, but could only let out a sigh inwardly instead.
Special.
By Sin Dae’s standards, “special” was a word that applied to people like Yu Jaehyeon before his eyes—S-Rank Awakened who slaughtered monsters with blades forged from the blood of thousands or tens of thousands.
It was not a word that applied to an F-Rank Awakened like him who simply ate meat to raise his stats.
“Well, I just said it for fun. Don’t read too much into it.”
Yu Jaehyeon smiled with her eyes, trying to change the subject.
Sin Dae was beginning to find her increasingly uncomfortable.
“Also, I’ll adjust your Awakening rank a bit, Sin Dae.”
“My Awakening rank?!”
Sin Dae exclaimed in surprise at the words that she would adjust his rank.
The fact that she would adjust his rank from the lowest F-Rank meant only one thing: it was going up.
“It’s not that big a deal. In fact, some Awakened do have their ranks adjusted.”
“I can’t believe that was possible...”
To Sin Dae, who had believed that Awakening ranks were determined by the degree of one’s growth level, this was somewhat surprising news.
“Let’s see... I think it would be good to promote you to around D-Rank, Sin Dae.”
‘D-Rank....’
Being promoted to D-Rank was a huge benefit to Sin Dae.
‘If I’m D-Rank, I can enter many more dungeons alone.’
With a good word to the Association, it was a rank that allowed one to enter 4-Star dungeons alone.
Sin Dae, who had raised his stats excluding mana to 200 in this incident, felt a surge of excitement at the thought of being able to enter 4-Star dungeons begin to stir within him.
“Anyway, it was a pleasant talk. I feel a little sorry for holding up someone who must want to rest quickly.”
Yu Jaehyeon handed him her business card.
Sin Dae watched her departing figure as she turned to leave, then began walking toward his studio apartment.
***
Yu Jaehyeon watched Sin Dae’s retreating figure.
Recalling his appearance, a snicker escaped her.
It was uncertain whether he had gone to that place and returned.
After all, if that man had gone there in his current state, he would clearly have been killed by the demon race dwelling there.
‘I came here out of needless worry... but he’s not as bad as I thought.’
While it still wasn’t certain whether he was an Awakened with king-class abilities, Yu Jaehyeon smiled as she recalled the moment she had been surprised by the energy she felt from Sin Dae.
‘He’s different from some other Irregulars... but still interesting.’
Other Irregulars who were well aware that they were special.
That was why they naturally stood out with even a little attention, making them easy to observe from the Abyss she belonged to.
‘Still, since I adjusted him to D-Rank, he’ll be easier to keep an eye on than before.’
She let out a snicker and began organizing in her head what she would report to her superiors.
***
“Kkokko, Daddy’s home!”
Sin Dae returned to his studio apartment after three days.
He couldn’t help but stiffen his expression at the foul odor wafting from the studio.
‘What the hell...’
A smell so strong it could overpower the chicken he had bought.
Sin Dae quickly identified the source of the smell.
“W-why is this like this?”
The griffin leather had definitely been glossy before he left.
But now, decaying griffin leather was before Sin Dae’s eyes.
“A-ah, is the egg safe?”
Worried that something might have happened to the egg, Sin Dae hurriedly approached.
When Sin Dae lifted the griffin egg, he fortunately noticed it wriggling.
“The egg seems fine, so why is this happening?”
Sin Dae tilted his head, as the egg was actually smoother than before he left.
Wondering if some change had occurred, he examined the egg’s condition and his eyes widened in shock.
[Griffin]
[Hatching Rate 2%]
[Absorbed the characteristics of Griffin Leather.]
[Probability of being born with golden fur has increased.]
“It absorbed characteristics?!”
It was a situation where an ability similar to his unique skill, Predation, had manifested.
Lost in thought, Sin Dae stroked his chin and then caressed the griffin egg once more.
‘I can only see this as a phenomenon caused by a reaction to Predation.’
Since no research on unique skills had been conducted yet, it was clear that this happened because of his Predation skill.
“Then... won’t something different from a normal griffin come out?”
Just as different prenatal education led to different children, he felt anticipation that his griffin would also show different traits.
Sin Dae quickly cleared away the rotted griffin leather, took out ogre leather from his bag, and placed the griffin egg on top of it.
Soon, Sin Dae’s eyes began to widen in astonishment as he watched quietly.
“O-ogre leather is rotting?!”
Ogre leather was used to make armor due to its high durability.
This expensive ogre leather, traded at high prices for such characteristics, was gradually rotting in reaction to the griffin egg.
“I can’t believe this....”
When he glanced at the status window, Sin Dae’s astonishment doubled.
[Absorbed the characteristics of Ogre Leather.]
[Probability of a griffin with tougher hide being born has increased.]
Sin Dae broke into a broad smile as the griffin’s characteristics were added.
He looked at the leather in his bag and licked his lips.
‘I wonder what kind of guy will come out of this?’
Although the hatching rate was still only 2%, Sin Dae looked forward to the griffin that would eventually hatch.
***
[20 million won has been deposited from the Association Headquarters.]
Days later, Sin Dae, who had been swapping out various leathers for the griffin, let out a bitter smile at the message that condolence money had been deposited from the Association Headquarters.
‘Collection work will be difficult for the time being, won’t it?’
The Osiris Guild had incurred many expenses while resolving this incident.
Having received word that they couldn’t afford to hire daily workers for the time being, Sin Dae sighed in regret.
“It can’t be helped...”
He could make up for what he lacked with the collection work from Cha Yerin and the meat he would obtain from dungeons.
With various thoughts on his mind, Sin Dae hurriedly left home to head to school.
***
“Alright, that’s it for today’s class!”
With the major course called Introduction to History over, Sin Dae had finished all his classes for the day.
He was quickening his steps to go home and swap out Kkokko’s leather.
“Huh, didn’t you drop out?”
A voice drawled as it looked at him.
To Sin Dae’s memory, there was only one person at school who would say this to him.
‘Did that hyung just return to school?’
A figure with horn-rimmed glasses smirking at him.
It was Byeon Beomsu, a year above Sin Dae.
“You’ve returned to school, hyung.”
“You’ve returned to school, hyung? Haah... you’re still as tactless as ever?”
Byeon Beomsu.
From what Sin Dae remembered from before his military service, he was a typical condescending senior.
‘Sigh... I really didn’t want to run into him.’