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The news of the Hunter's Association spread like wildfire. The newly established 10-story building with high-tech equipment stands out from the rest. Over time, the crowd becomes so large that the newly hired guards of the Association have to step in.
The Three A-Rank Hunters, consisting of Kang Min-Seok, Yuri Takeda, and Kim Ro-Hwa, oversaw whether someone was causing trouble.
A small batch of people gets called in every 30 minutes, and all of them were excited to be called Hunters.
However, even though everyone has their own System, most aren't strong enough. The average power levels at present are just barely above a strong normal human. In the New Era, these power levels are the bare minimum for a person to stay alive.
"Next!"
The Evaluator Lady calls the next person.
A scary-looking person entered the room. The Lady was a bit overwhelmed by his natural appearance.
"Mr. Park Do-Hyun, right?"
"Yes..."
"Please put your hand on this Soulflux Prism."
"Is this the reward that every country received?"
"Ah, yes, it's that one."
(Touch)
"Is this alright?"
"Yes, now just wait for a few seconds."
In the next few seconds, the Soulflux Prism measured the energy within Do-Hyun and sent the details to the Association's computer screen.
"What? Wow! Congratulations, Hunter Park Do-Hyun, you have been evaluated as an A-Rank Hunter; your overall battle power exceeds 1000. That's almost touching the S Rank."
"Really? I'm that strong?"
"Yes! It's true."
"Can you please wait outside for a few moments? We are required to report the discovery of a new hunter of A and above Rank."
"That isn't required anymore!"
"You are..."
A young person, wearing a red suit, came in. From the looks, he seemed to be quite a strong one, but his slender build said something else.
The Evaluator Lady was quite surprised to see the person.
"Mr. Jang Hyuk-Soo," what are you doing here?
"I'm just trying to scout a newbie in my Guild, is that wrong?"
"No... but, we are still in between the Evaluation."
"You can't fool me, Miss Evaluator. I know you just finished and are about to report to the Chairman. But, I won't let you take away such a good seedling."
"Haah... Do as you like..."
"Do-Hyun was it? Join my Guild, you'll receive your own luxury apartment and a monthly salary of 100 million won per month, what do you say?"
"100 million won? Are you kidding me? Why are you giving out such a huge amount like it's nothing?"
"That's cause I'm gonna earn way more than that by hiring you. The only conditions are that all the loot and the Monsters you are going to slay in the future will belong to the Guild."
"I agree..."
"Mr. Jang Hyuk-Soo, isn't that a bit..."
"Don't worry, Miss Evaluator, the person himself has accepted my offer."
"Haah..."
"By the way, what's your Rank, boss Jang Hyuk-Soo?"
"Ughh! You don't even know that? Surely, people nowadays don't go beyond the top 10."
"I'm Jang Hyuk-Soo, Rank 17th S-Rank Hunter."
"Wow, you were a real S-rank Hunter? I'm so lucky!"
"Heh-Heh, it's good you know that."
Meanwhile, outside of the Hunter's Association, among the crowd, two hooded people were not lined up and walked straight towards the Association.
Some people didn't like that at all. They raised their voice. One of them, a scrawny-looking person, stopped them.
"Hey! Where do you think you two are going? Can't you see this line?"
"Yes-Yes, how selfish can you guys be when we are waiting here for hours?"
The people were quick to pick a fight. Maybe because the heat was going through their heads. They didn't want someone unknown to have an advantage over them.
The Three Guards arrived in an instant; they didn't want to see someone causing a commotion.
At that time, Kang Min-Seok approached them, asking both to join the line like everyone else.
Until... They removed their hood and glasses; they were none other than Hao-Yun and Park Evelyn.
"We are not here for Evaluation."
Kang Min-Seok, being a former Squad Leader of one of the Expedition groups, remembered how Hao-Yun stopped them when they just came out of the portal to investigate if someone had brought things from another world. He remembers how scary that moment was, and how insignificant he felt.
More importantly, next to him is Park Evelyn, the 14th strongest person in the world.
He didn't want to offend these big shots and said something in his colleagues' ears.
"You're cleared for entrance."
The Three told them they could enter, there's no problem, but... The people didn't agree to it.
The crowd exploded with anger.
"Bullshit! They're taking bribes!"
"Association corruption is at its finest!"
"Why do they get such privilege!?"
"Why can they enter, and we have to wait? Isn't that playing favorites?"
"That's why I don't like rich people, they just try to solve everything with money."
"We won't allow this! They also have to wait like us. We want Justice!"
"Get in the line!"
"We demand Justice!"
"Everything should be fair!"
The noise grew.
Then, the air pressure shook.
SILENCE!
A heavy, invisible force crashed over the area like a wave.
Choi Sang-Min had stepped out from the upper balcony of the building, dressed in a white shirt and black pants, arms crossed.
His presence alone commanded fear.
He released a fraction of his aura, enough to press down on the crowd like a crushing weight.
None dared speak, except for Hao-Yun.
"Hmmm... So he selected you after all."
Every head snapped toward him. The panic faded into confusion. The people were curious, who is this person to call Choi Sang-Min, the 9th strongest person in the world, in such a way?
However, unlike them, Choi Sang-Min didn't mind his words.
He didn't call their names. He didn't want to expose who was walking through the doors. He didn't need to. Since Hao-Yun could become Korea's trump card that way.
"If you want justice… become stronger."
"If you want privilege… become stronger."
If you're just here to whine, then get the hell out of here. This is the Hunter's Association, not a charity."
No one dared speak after that.
The crowd remained frozen; All they could do was watch as Hao-Yun and Evelyn walked through the doors without looking back.
The entrance was shut behind them for a few minutes.
When both went directly to the 2nd floor, the doors were open again, and they stood silently waiting for their turn to come.
From a corner, Jang Hyuk-Soo was watching. He didn't know why Choi Sang Min said those things to these two unknown people. He was as curious as others, but unlike them, he had the power and authority to investigate and see for himself.
"Do-Hyun, you stay here for a bit, I'll go check something."
"Yes, boss!"
Jang Hyuk-Soo followed both of them; he maintained quite a distance, believing that neither would notice him.
"Hao-Yun, someone is following us." Evelyn noticed instantly.
"Let them do as they want as long as they are not hostile towards us."
"Hmm..."
The two intentionally chose the stairs route to reach the 10th floor. It was their way to push away Jang Hyuk-Soo. But, they didn't know he was also an S-Rank Hunter. Walking up the stairs was no big deal for him.
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