CH 3

“So, what’s her name?”

Yoo Ji-an stayed silent. They didn’t really talk inside the gate, so he obviously didn’t know what it was.

Han Seok-hyun sighed as if he had already expected such an outcome. “You need to know at least something about her.”

“The woman… had long hair.”

And with that useless tidbit of information, Han Seok-hyun finally gave up on asking Yoo Ji-an and took out his phone.

“Ah, hello? Yes, I’m Han Seok-hyun of the Sun Guild. Thank you for your hard work. There’s…”

Yoo Ji-an looked away and fell into deep thought again, his eyes twinkling.

‘It was certainly that person.’

***

Park Seo-ah stood at the entrance to the hospital, staring blankly.

It was a series of misfortunes. Yesterday, it had been the gate, but today, it was her brother’s diagnosis.

“For now, the only long-term option is a liver transplant. Chemotherapy can only go so far.”

It was a bolt from the blue.

They used to think it was, in the worst case, appendicitis,  because he was crumpled up in pain because of a stomachache. After he underwent more and more tests, Seo-ah’s anxiety worsened.

Fortunately, they discovered his real illness—liver cancer.

“Park Geon-hoo, you brat. You should have told me right away when you started to feel something,” she murmured angrily.

She was the only family he had left, and even then, her liver was not a match for his.

And if he did find a donor, money became the problem.

Monthly rent, previous loans, and now cancer treatment…

That was a lot of money.

How would she be able to pay for the surgery?

Seo-ah was a psychology student, but she had taken a leave of absence due to a lack of funds to pay for her tuition. In addition, she no longer had a part-time job as of two days ago. As such, returning to school was a luxury she could not afford.

She crossed an intersection with a gloomy heart. When she looked up, there was a dazzlingly handsome man on the electronic display of a building.

Yoo Ji-an, her savior.

“He really is a good-looking guy.”

And he was very strong, too, so much that it was unfathomable to her. How much money did that person make?

Shaking off her idle thoughts, she realized something.

‘Technically, I’m also a hunter… Although I’ve never participated in a raid before…’

Seo-ah opened her status window.

[ Park Seo-ah (21). Position: Healer (E-class), Supporter(!) (S-class/Locked). Title: None. Life: 10/10. Mana: 12/12. Stats: Insignificant and cannot be displayed (Values below 1 are not displayed). Stamina: 3. Mental Strength: 10. Active Skills(!): Recovery (Lv. 1), Locked(!) ]

[ If you don’t activate your capabilities as an S-class supporter within the given time period, you will die! (D-99) ]

[ Mission 1: Touch the Hunter ]

She really had a hard time comprehending the information.

‘I’ve never heard of that position before. It must be one of those rare ones.’

In any case, she couldn’t use her skills since they were locked, which meant they were of little relevance to her at the moment.

Seo-ah sat on a bench by the roadside and took out her phone. She cringed and accessed Hunter Community for the first time in ten years.

< Hunter Job Search Section >

It felt awkward and she didn’t like it. When she had first awakened, she wasn’t interested in this line of work at all. And then when both her parents died inside a gate, she hadn’t even come close to doing anything related to being a hunter.

“C-class damage dealers, AOE damage dealers, tankers…” She scrolled down the bulletin board and clicked on a listing that specified a healer.

[ I’m looking for an experienced healer, D-class or higher. ]

Seo-ah sighed. It was rare for E-class healers to be taken in as party members, especially those who only had low-level ‘Recovery’.

At best, they were only hired to treat the hunters exiting the gate. Consequently, the pay was paltry compared to that of the members who actually entered.

Ding!

She had just left the page when she received a text notification.

< Happiness Bank Loan Interest Delinquency Notice >

[ Park Seo-ah’s interest from one loan product was not transferred today due to insufficient account balance. ]

‘Ugh, fine, I got it.’

She stood, fed up with all the bad news.

It seemed that she had to figure out her current status first.

[ If you don’t activate your capabilities as an S-class supporter within the given time period, you will die! (D-99) ]

That was quite urgent.

‘Will I really die in 99 days?’

Eventually, she found herself at the Hunters’ Guild, a place she often saw when she was changing buses. She entered hesitantly.

“Welcome!” greeted the information desk staff. “What brings you here?”

“Well, I…”

“Please speak comfortably.”

“I’m here to get to know myself,” she blurted out, regret washing over her immediately at the awkward, childish line.

The employee also looked bewildered.

She retracted her statement immediately, “Oh, well, I mean—”

“Are you a hunter?”

“Yes? Ah, yes.”

“May I have your name?” Fortunately, they hid their expression professionally and put their fingers on the keyboard.

“It’s Park Seo-ah.”

“Ms. Park Seo-ah—ah! The daughter of the late Park Woo-chan and Lee Jae-in.”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

Unexpectedly, Seo-ah heard the names of her parents.

Though in hindsight, there was no doubt that the Hunters’ Guild knew who they were.

Since their deaths inside a gate, she and her brother had been living on a small pension provided by the guild. Even then, the amount had been halved when she turned 18.

“But what brings you here? I don’t recall you taking any job as a hunter.”

“Oh, I came because I wanted to find out what kind of work I could do as a hunter with my rank.”

“I see. Then, I’ll guide you to the consulting office.”

Hunters usually remained the same rank as they were after awakening. However, depending on individual effort, their stats and skill levels could be raised, and vice versa.

Of course, there were limits, but she’d heard of rare cases wherein a diligent C-class hunter could beat a lazy B-class one.

In front of the consulting room was an employee who seemed like a hunter.

He held out a hand. “I’m Oh Hyun-soo, the consultant.”

There was a marked difference in the quality of his clothes—he was definitely one of the more powerful hunters she’d seen.

As soon as they shook hands, something flashed in Seo-ah’s head.

[ Mission 1: Touch the Hunter (1/10) ]

‘Huh? Is it because he’s a hunter too? I guess the mission isn’t referring to anyone specific.’

Seo-ah, still struggling to comprehend the new development, followed Oh Hyun-soo to the room.

On the floor was a gleaming disk with geometric patterns underneath. Seo-ah stood at the center.

“Well, let’s start with a simple measurement. Please don’t move from there.”

Whir.

The pattern spun clockwise for a few moments.

Whatever measurements came out, those were used in consultation and included in the registration.

Hunters themselves could rattle off the values on their status window, but most of them were reluctant to give detailed figures.

“Okay, you’re done. This way, please.”

Oh Hyun-soo looked at the results sheet and sighed quietly.

[ Healing System (E-class). Average Stats: 1.2. Active Skills: 1 (Lv. 1). ]

Quickly realizing how rude that was, he immediately put on his ‘business’ face. “You’re a healer, aren’t you? The stats are… Well, you don’t seem to enjoy exercising much.”

“No, not really.”

In fact, Seo-ah came here for a different reason.

‘As expected, the position of supporter did not appear since it’s still locked.’

“What types of positions are there? My status window says I’m a healer, but there it’s written as ‘healing system’.”

“Yes, the information displayed from the measuring instrument shows the rough categorization the guild uses. The combat system, magic system, healing system, and auxiliary system are the usual categories for now.”

“Does that mean there are other unusual positions?”

“On rare occasions, we get production and research hunters. The rest of the details can only be found in the individual status windows.”

“Ah…”

So what were supporters? From the name alone, they seemed to be under the auxiliary system.

As he laid the results sheet on the table, Oh Hyun-soo spoke very seriously. “For example, your parents were research hunters.”

“I see. I didn’t actually know the details.”

In hindsight, her parents had never directly participated in raids. They’d only followed along with the ones they deemed worthy of research.

But even so, they had been caught in an accident.