If the Body Is Strong, the Mind Does Not Suffer.

Despite various twists and turns, Cha Eui-jae succeeded in registering as an awakened being, creating an alibi, and solving Lee Sa-young's request. However, he recently faced a new problem.

The automatic self-bar for kimchi and side dishes, which consumed magic stones instead of electricity, was highly cost-inefficient, but it gave Cha Eui-jae a bit of free time.

By simply stacking empty bowls next to the self-bar, hunters would order hangover soup and set their own kimchi, radish kimchi, and cheongyang peppers. Cha Eui-jae only had to cook the hangover soup and take out the rice from the warmer. This ultimate automatic self-bar was said to have ground down the engineers of the Pado Guild like whole peppercorns, and it wasn't just a rumor.

So, what did Cha Eui-jae do with the little bit of free time he gained?

"…"

Cha Eui-jae sat at the counter, scratching his temple with a ballpoint pen. It was a common sight when he was managing the prepaid ledger, but unusually, a look of irritation was evident on his normally expressionless and tidy face. Instead of a ledger, thick books were piled like a hill in front of him.

Hunters eating hangover soup whispered among themselves.

"Does anyone know why the part-timer looks like he's about to kill someone?"

"Yeah, I want another bowl, but he looks so pissed off I can't even ask."

"Uh, can we cook it ourselves?"

"Mmph, mmrph."

"What are you saying? Gross. Finish your food before talking."

"The part-timer is studying for the basic hunter education and qualification exam."

Upon hearing this from a recently awakened hunter, the faces of the surrounding hunters turned pale. A middle-aged hunter with a scruffy beard muttered incredulously.

"Wow… They still haven't gotten rid of that shitty basic education?"

A hunter in his mid-twenties grimaced and added.

"He must be really busy. That's gotta be such a pain… How many hours of mandatory education is it these days?"

"I think it's 60 hours. 30 hours offline and 30 hours online. If you're too busy, you can submit a reason to the Awakened Management Bureau and switch to online. But even after completing the education, you still have to pass the test. If you don't score over 70, you have to retake the exam until you pass."

"Yuck. They should just get rid of it, but instead, they increased the hours."

"I'll confess something. I took the hunter exam four times."

"Four times? That's actually pretty good. Only crazy people pass it on the first try. It's fine."

"Guys, let's be quiet. Let's create a study-friendly environment for our part-timer."

The hunter who had taken the exam four times gagged. Cha Eui-jae, who had been listening to their conversation, also felt like throwing up a little. The white paper and black text looked like worms drawn by Park Ha-eun.

Over the past few days, Cha Eui-jae had fully understood why Park Ha-eun drew worms on her worksheets.

Every awakened being in South Korea must go through a registration process at the registration center according to the Special Law for Awakened Beings. After registration, an Awakened Registration Card with their name and grade is issued.

Cha Eui-jae was also pleased to receive his stiff D-grade registration card. Despite being four grades lower than his true grade, it was precious to him because he had endured all kinds of hardships and adversities to get it. Uncharacteristically, he even subtly bragged about it to regular customers.

However,

"Wow, congratulations on getting your registration card, part-timer."

"Now you have to prepare for the exam… Good luck. I have some past exam questions if you need them…"

What came back were somehow pitying looks.

It wasn't a look of disdain for being a D-grade. The regulars at the hangover soup restaurant weren't the kind of hunters who discriminated based on grade. So, what was the meaning of those lukewarm looks? Cha Eui-jae was puzzled, but he didn't have time to investigate further as he had to head out to Incheon Port for an investigation every dawn.

However, after the Incheon Port incident was resolved, a rumor seemed to have spread in that short period. On his way back from finishing his meal, Bae Won-woo handed Cha Eui-jae an old problem book with a rather solemn expression. Cha Eui-jae looked at the book with a puzzled face.

"…What's this?"

"This is not a gift. It's your precious human right."

"Excuse me?"

"You'll understand soon enough. Today's hangover soup was delicious. I'm off!"

The next morning, Honeybee also came early and plopped a thick, spiral-bound textbook on the counter.

"I heard the news, Cha Eui-jae. You're preparing for 'that', right?"

"What is 'that'?"

"Well, it's understandable you'd want to escape reality. I get it. Anyway, I got the past questions used for HB Guild's new recruits from Team Leader Han. Use it well. Got it?"

"Honeybee, the reporters are all gathered at the dungeon entrance!"

"Those bastards are quick. Well, I have to go tackle a dungeon now."

After several such incidents, Cha Eui-jae was at his wit's end.

Based on the hunters' conversations, it seemed that nowadays, to become a proper hunter after completing the awakened being registration, one had to pass some kind of test. Registering had been tough enough, but now a test? What kind of test? When Cha Eui-jae was active as J, there were no such rigorous registration systems and tests!

That night, after closing the shop, Cha Eui-jae dove into an internet search.

"Hi, Nexby. Search for hunter qualification exam."

—Searching for information on the hunter qualification exam.

—Hunter qualification exam sucks

—When is the next hunter qualification exam?

—I can't become a hunter because I keep failing the hunter qualification exam despite being awakened

—Who made question 30 on the January exam? That bastard

⤷It's Nam Woo-jin, who else?

⤷Nam Woo-jin, let's fight fair and square without titles

—I've taken the hunter qualification exam eight times, ask me anything

⤷Isn't it better to quit trying to be a hunter at that point?

—Hunter qualification exam, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die

The search results were shocking. As a hunter from 11 years ago, Cha Eui-jae stared into space, unable to believe the reality.

'Ah, I'm… not a hunter yet?'

That was it. Cha Eui-jae had only received the awakened being registration card, but he wasn't a hunter yet!

The registration card issued after completing the registration process at the center was merely to certify that he was an awakened being. That was it. Ordinary people who knew nothing, like Cha Eui-jae, thought they could start working as hunters as soon as they got the card. However, the law had changed, and one couldn't be certified as a hunter with just that. In other words, it was just an empty card.

'I went through all that trouble for an empty card?'

Cha Eui-jae looked at the shiny D-grade registration card with a hollow gaze. But that was not the end of it. The following information was even more shocking.

To escape from the empty card and be recognized as a formal hunter, one had to complete the 'Basic Hunter Education Program' and pass the 'Hunter Qualification Exam'. Passing the exam would grant a formal hunter license, allowing access to hunter markets and other benefits. It was all so excessive.

Especially notorious was the 'Hunter Qualification Exam,' a written test known for its hellish difficulty! It was called the hunter's college entrance exam, the hunter's bar exam, and other names associated with tough tests. Just searching for the hunter qualification exam would automatically bring up 'hunter qualification exam difficulty' in the suggestions.

Cha Eui-jae pulled at his hair.

'Why is it so hard to become a hunter?'

The Basic Hunter Education Program was introduced five years ago. Initially, it wasn't this rigorous.

At first, it was designed to impart essential survival knowledge to newly awakened hunters, focusing on core information and covering basic topics like the ecology of 10th and 9th grade monsters and dungeon ecosystems.

However, as time passed, the number of awakened beings increased.

[Rising crime rates among awakened beings… Is public safety at risk?]

[Hunters' unjust abuse of power, where does it end?]

The number of hunters who oppressed the weak and ordinary people by abusing their power increased. Even though the Awakened Management Bureau rigorously cracked down on them, cases of awakened beings flaunting their power and recklessly abusing it continued to arise.

Eventually, the government abolished the system where one automatically became a hunter upon awakening and implemented a policy where one had to complete basic hunter education and pass a qualification exam to be granted hunter status.

After completing his search, Cha Eui-jae clasped his hands and cursed.

'If you awaken, you should be fighting monsters, not harassing ordinary people…'

Moreover, further research revealed that hunters scouted by guilds could skip the qualification exam by submitting a Guild Leader's certification document. It was a kind of endorsement. What a dirty network society. Among Cha Eui-jae's limited connections, there was only one Guild Leader he knew.

Lee Sa-young.

But Cha Eui-jae didn't want to ask Lee Sa-young for the certification document. It was a matter of pride. If the number one hunter in South Korea couldn't even pass such a qualification exam on his own, it would be embarrassing…

'Let's study and give it a shot.'

So, Cha Eui-jae began studying for an exam he had never expected to take.