I rubbed my eyes and looked again at the message.
[Would you like to replace the skill? (Target: Yoon Si-ae)]
1. Silver Wings (S)
2. Feather Sword (A)
3. Veil of Light (A) [Currently Selected]
4. Temporary Gate (A)
5. Choose Another Person
So that's it. Now I get it.
This lets me swap skills around.
'…This is broken, isn't it?'
I tried selecting the bottom option, "Choose Another Person."
[All available targets are currently in use.]
Well, makes sense. Yong Sang-jae, Jung-hoon, and Yoon Si-ae were all already active. I just wanted to check.
'If I can swap them out whenever….'
Feather Sword is just a follow-up skill linked to Silver Wings, so that's out.
Temporary Gate did catch my attention, but even Yoon Si-ae, with her high mana stat, was barely able to manage it.
No matter how I looked at it, there's no way I could use it properly right now.
'Not to mention I saw her suffering from that severe mana depletion firsthand.'
It's basically a one-shot skill with suicidal risk. Nope, not for me. I'm not trying to die just yet.
'Alright, then let's go with this.'
I moved my gaze to "Silver Wings."
Honestly, I'd always wanted to try flying.
Just once, I wanted to know what it felt like.
The [Currently Selected] marker next to Veil of Light disappeared in a blink and shifted to Silver Wings. Then the list reset back to the main skill window.
Name: Baek Kang-hyun
- Fortuitous Encounter (Rank Pending)
- Observation (Rank Pending)
- Frost Shaping (S)
- Unyielding Will (A)
- Silver Wings (S)
- Empty Slot
I was left speechless.
It actually swapped over?
Wait—this means I can swap skills in and out whenever I want?
'Then what if I tried it with Yong Sang-jae's Frost Shaping…?'
That one was insanely powerful.
But honestly, Sang-jae's other skills are just as good. Something like Frost Spike—I wanted to try that too.
Just like I did with Yoon Si-ae's skill, I focused on Frost Shaping this time.
But then—
[You have used up all available Skill Swap attempts (1/1)! (71:58:47)]
A message blocked my vision.
'72 hours….'
So I can only swap once every three days.
That could've been bad if I'd wasted it.
Still, shouldn't there at least have been a warning message like, "Are you sure you want to proceed?"
Why is this system always so unfriendly?
'Tch, well, that's just how it is.'
It's not like it was ever any different. Nothing new.
My fault for not being careful.
'Still, even with just this much….'
The ability to swap one skill every three days is a huge advantage.
If I ever use it in a critical moment, it could easily turn the tide.
Just then—
"Kang-hyun, aren't you eating that apple?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I am, I am. Ah, it's good."
I hurriedly shoved the apple into my mouth with an awkward smile. I'd been too lost in my own world. My bad.
"Something bothering you?"
"Mm? Ah, it's about Yong Sang-jae."
"Sang-jae? Why?"
"I was just wondering how to wake him up. He's hard to get out of bed."
Ugh, too much to think about.
I'll worry about skills later.
Leaving Jung-hoon's house, Sang-jae and I headed back to Mok-dong.
We were planning to take the subway, but he just called a taxi instead.
Kid's actually pretty decent. Saved me a bunch of fare.
"See you later, Baek Kang-hyun."
"Yeah. Get home safe."
Half-asleep, Sang-jae nodded.
Right, he's always been weak at night.
I glanced down at the Polygon uniform in my hand.
Suddenly, I couldn't stop grinning.
"Lululu~."
A tune slipped out of my mouth.
Today had been incredible. Best day ever.
'But… just going home now feels wrong.'
I'd passed the Polygon entrance exam.
Got a uniform from Sang-jae.
Hung out at Jung-hoon's place with good food.
And yet—
'Something's missing.'
Yes, something was missing.
What was it?
Oh, right. That was it.
'I haven't celebrated properly.'
I hadn't congratulated myself yet.
How could I forget? This was important.
One thing I'd learned in life: nobody celebrates me better than me. If I don't do it, who will?
'And besides, I'm getting hungry again.'
I'd eaten so much, but as the night crept into early morning, I was hungry all over again.
That's just human nature—we live to eat.
'Late-night snack time.'
I headed straight for the convenience store.
My debit card should still have some money left.
Once I join Polygon, they'll cover living expenses anyway, so what's a little indulgence now?
"Welcome~."
The clerk greeted me as I grabbed a basket and walked toward the shelves.
I already knew exactly what I wanted.
This wasn't my first midnight snack party.
Journalists live on all-nighters, after all.
Then—
"Oh."
A magazine caught my eye.
The title was simple: Hunter Monthly.
There'd always been talk about how the hunter profession was commercialized like celebrity culture.
But the truth was, until my return, Hunter Monthly had always been a massive hit.
'Right, so this is the era when it first came out.'
A little nostalgic, I picked it up.
The content was predictable.
This hunter's skills, that hunter's hobbies….
Then I noticed something.
'Oh, right. He was still active around this time.'
A man with sharp features, short sports-cut hair, and a scarf around his neck.
With a thumb raised confidently, the bold caption above read:
Sword Saint Kim Hyun-ho.
Front page cover.
No doubt—the most popular S-rank hunter of the era.
The article was an interview after his raid on the dungeon Tedd's Grave.
I skimmed through, amused.
I already knew all of this, but after years, it felt fresh again.
'Come to think of it… I wonder if I'll run into him someday.'
If I wanted to keep building Fortuitous Encounter, I'd inevitably need to meet more ability users.
Seeking out active hunters might be a good idea.
Impossible now, but once I got into Polygon….
'Yeah. With field training, it's possible.'
I couldn't deny the possibility.
I flipped through the rest.
Most of it was trivial.
Back in the day, I used to record every bit of this.
Even though I knew it was mostly useless, I thought it might help someday.
'Honestly, that might've been the most fun I ever had.'
Dreaming about what skills I might awaken with—it was never boring.
Only the crushing reality made it painful.
'But that's all in the past now.'
I have no regrets.
I've got Fortuitous Encounter.
With this, I'll reach the very summit.
First step: stop the Balrog Break.
'I can do it.'
I clenched my fist.
Failure wasn't even in my mind.
'Yeah. Purpose. That's what matters most.'
Nothing drives life like having a purpose.
And right now, my purpose was buying a late-night snack.
I picked up my basket again and went deeper into the store.
On impulse, I tossed the magazine in too. A small memento.
A woman sighed as she sorted through charts.
Her neatly tied black hair framed her exhausted face, and dark circles seemed ready to swallow her whole.
The nametag on her desk read:
Director Shin Da-hae.
"Ugh, I'm exhausted."
Her voice was sharp with irritation.
It was work that came every three years, but it never got any less draining.
Reviewing second-stage field exam footage for Polygon applicants—it was hell.
'Damn it, but I can't exactly skip it either.'
She focused only on the most promising candidates, yet it was still backbreaking labor.
But for the sake of talent scouting, it had to be done.
She chugged an energy drink, grimacing.
'And this year's bunch… why are the gaps so extreme?'
Some cleared the trials ridiculously fast.
Others dragged them out unbearably long.
It was worse than usual this time.
The fast ones were absurdly fast; the slow ones, painfully slow.
Among the standouts—
'Yong Sang-jae, Han Seung-hee.'
The hot pair of the year.
One was the boy hailed as the youngest S-rank ability user.
The other, a popular celebrity since her child-actor days.
Together, an ice mage with overwhelming control and a transformation mage who could fire dozens of projectiles at once.
'That was basically a movie.'
Sang-jae crafted ice sculptures; Seung-hee reshaped them into bullets and fired.
Their teamwork was dazzling—downright overwhelming.
They cleared Polygon's current highest-level dungeon, Phoenix's Cradle, in just 8 minutes.
Even factoring in their synergy, they stood out as undeniable protagonists of this generation.
'And then there's….'
Da-hae's eyes flicked to the screen she'd just finished watching.
'Baek Kang-hyun, Yoon Si-ae.'
Clear time: 2 hours, 46 minutes.
As long as a feature-length movie.
She'd almost skipped it entirely, but Yoon Si-ae's potential was too great.
Her skill list alone was irresistible.
- Silver Wings
- Feather Sword
- Veil of Light
- Temporary Gate
Offense, defense, and support—perfectly balanced.
And with her being identified as a blessing-type, once she broke her limits, she'd be a treasure beyond compare.
So Da-hae endured 2 hours and 46 minutes to evaluate the footage.
But then—
"What the hell is this kid?"
On the screen was a boy swinging an ice club.
Out of the 2 hours 46 minutes, nearly 2 hours 40 were just this Baek Kang-hyun beating monsters with it.
But that wasn't the real issue.
It was his skill mastery.
'How does he fight that well?'
According to records, Kang-hyun had only awakened a month ago.
But his technique and combat style? Absolutely not beginner-level.
Did he train in martial arts?
No records of that either.
'And his file says he only has one C-rank skill?'
She double-checked.
The only thing listed was Cold Weapon Shaping.
Nothing else.
And yet—he wielded it masterfully. Too masterfully.
Both the skill and the ice club he conjured—he maintained them flawlessly for 2 hours 40 minutes.
Maintaining a skill continuously consumes mana.
Without deep understanding, it's impossible.
And yet….
'A C-rank rookie, awakened just a month ago… pulled that off?'
Sure, the final blow against the Skull Drake had been Si-ae's Gate trick.
But without Kang-hyun holding the front line, it never would've worked.
'And he wasn't even intimidated by the Skull Drake.'
Despite his low rank and weak skills, his actions never faltered.
That left only two possibilities.
'Either he's a complete idiot… or he's hiding something.'
Da-hae smirked, tapping his photo on the chart.
She already knew the answer.
"This cute bastard… what are you hiding?"