Chapter 5: Registration

I was in my workspace for 5 years, fighting for my life, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

I had to keep on forcing myself to fight death with a sword. Day by day, I start to lose hope, of ever getting out of there. But I can't go on like this, giving up won't kill that beast. When your back is up against a wall, and the enemy in front is too powerful, there's nothing else to do, but fight. Giving up on fighting won't come back at you calmy, fear will always haunt you, down in hell or up in heaven. If death is the only way out, then you might as well fight that fear and die fulfilled of overcoming it.

Today is the day, I'll see how the fruits of my effort of fighting that fear over and over again will taste. Seeing the same scene over and over for 5 years is tough, everyday another corpse is on top of the pile of corpses. The fear of seeing that those corpses are me, and the urge of not adding another one, are what drove me to not give up. I don't fear death, but I fear of dying a meaningless death.

*CLICK*

"Ah, may I help you?"

"Yes, I would like to register myself as a hunter."

It's time to see if...

"Please come with me to the examination room. You may wait for your examiner there."

"I understand."

...my 5 years of fighting...

"Miss Park! Please, I'll take it from here..."

...was worth dying repeatedly for years.

.

.

.

"CHAIRMAN?! W-w-why would you...?!"

"Miss Park, this man right here is on another caliber. Ordinary tests won't do!"

"O-okay, Chairman Go, I'll take my leave now..."

Hmm? Chairman Go? Are they related?

"Ah, I'm pleased to meet you. May I have your name?"

"Seok Jinwoo"

Something is definitely not right here...

"Ah, forgive me. I am Go Seolbok, the chairman of the Hunter Association."

"Oh! Are you related to Go Bokcheol-nim?"

Their face is similar too...

"You've met my brother?"

"Yes. I had him make me a sword, and we're business partners now as well."

Ah, I knew it!

"Haha, I can't believe it all came true."

"Hmm? What did?"

"Ah, forgive me. Back when I was in the void, there was a bright purple screen that said that I will meet the 'Master of the Void', and that I might come to shock that he is my brother's acquaintance."

"Ah, I see."

That bastard, X!!

"I was given the skill of determining a hunter's potential. The purple screen said that the Master will have the most frighteningly enormous amount of potential that I shall ever see."

"..."

I KILL YOU X!!

"Mr. Jinwoo, I must tell you...that you are the one I'm speaking of."

"Huh?!"

THAT DAMN PSYCHOPATH! I'LL DEFINITELY KILL HIM!!

"Mr. Jinwoo, please follow me."

"..."

I'M GONNA KILL HIM! I'M GONNA KILL HIM! I'M GONNA-

"Mr. Jinwoo, do you see that sword over there? The purple screen said that only the Master can pull out that sword. Please try pulling it out."

"Ok."

Now what?!

But when I grabbed the handle, the fear I felt when I saw my pile of corpses, the pain of dying, the worst memories of my seclusion, in a second, they all ran back to me. But-

"Mr. Jinwoo?! What happened?!"

"*huff* *huff* ... I'm okay."

*SSSSSHING*

Ah, I pulled it out...

"Oh! So you are the Master!"

"*huff* *huff* ...X!!"

*PING*

"You rang? Maaasssteeerrr? Hihihi"

Hmph! What's the meaning of this?

*PING*

"This is to leave a mark on Seolbok, he will help you. Also, keep the sword."

A mark? You mean as the Master of the Void? I thought you said-

*PING*

"Yes, but it will be easier if someone acknowledges your capabilities so that the rest would come up smoothly. Besides, he won't speak, he knows your power."

Sigh, you might've scared him, you know?

"Mr. Jinwoo, concerning your credibility as the Master of the Void, would it be fine to categorize you as an S Rank?"

"Ah, yes, that would be-... Eh?! S Rank?!"

"Yes, I find it suitable for your caliber, but looking at your reaction, is it too low for you?"

I can't be an S Rank, I might catch some troublesome attention.

"No, A Rank would be fine."

"Ah, avoiding the attention, eh? I will comply."

Why is he so formal to me? Just what did you tell him, X?!

*PING*

"Don't worry, 'Master' has a nice ring to it. Teehee~"

"Anyway, should I take the physical exam now?"

"It would be unnecessary, but if you insist, I will allow it."

"Yes, please let me take a proper examination."

"Please come this way."

Chairman Go took me to the physical examination room, where I saw some pretty advanced equipment. It had technology that can measure grip strength, mana capacity, endurance, and agility. Unimaginably, I broke them all...though I'm sure Chairman Go said that it's made of alloys that can even hold up to the top ranking hunter.

"To be broken this easily, truly magnificent" is what he said though, as if it's more beneficial than a waste of good technology.

But I did make sure that what happened will stay between us. This might mess up the ranking of hunters, if they hear that some newbie A Rank destroyed measuring equipments supposed to endure the top ranking hunter.

But since not everything can be covered up, the Association had to at least record me as an A Rank. But news spread that I was personally assessed by the Chairman, which of course, brought unnecessary attention from the press. I just hope this won't slow me down.

Later, I told Bokcheol-nim that I met his brother, amd as expected he jumped out of shock. He had high hopes for me too. I told my family too, no unexpected reactions, just another shocked-down-the-nerve montage.

In actuality, A Rank is a good rank for me, this can give me enough authorization to regularly hunt monsters. Business will be booming with Bokcheol-nim, I also got the Hunter Association to sell Bokcheol-nim's equipment, which I augmented to increase the market value, so that Bokcheol-nim, the Association, and I would profit. All that I'll need to do now is level up.

My dungeon raiding adventure starts here!