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I Alone Level-Up: Chapter 76: Wait, What's Going On ?'
I Alone Level-Up: Chapter 76: Wait, What's Going On ?'
Just what was happening? Jung Gisoo ended the call with Baek Yoonho and tilted his head. It
was amusing enough that an E-rank Hunter was here for a retest, and now, Baekho’s
Guildmaster was coming here to learn that Hunter’s results.
If the B
aek Yoonho was being this serious, perhaps there was something really going on? But
the deputy quickly shook his head.
‘Eh, no way.’
The Awakening after Awakening was not a phenomenon you saw every day.
Was it few months ago? The entire Association was thrown into chaos when a potential
Reawakening candidate appeared, but nothing came out of it. The confirmed cases of the
phenomenon were incredibly few, but there were a lot of mistaken cases.
‘Plenty of deluded people came here for a retest and wasted our resources...’
Baekho must’ve been thoroughly mistaken about something. Still, thinking about maintaining a
good relationship with Baekho, Jung Gisso could not refuse Baek Yoonho’s request.
Building B was the occupational language used in the Association for the building with the
magic power measuring equipment. It was where the evaluation of the Hunters’ rankings
occurred in.
“Alright, understood.”
“Yes, sir.”
Even as he kept thinking “Reawakening my ass…” in his head, Jung Gisoo imagined Baek
Yoonho’s face and headed toward Building B.
Jinwoo sat down on a chair at the end of the waiting room. There were three others waiting for
their testing. Their faces were filled with nervousness; Jinwoo fully understood their feelings.
‘After all, the results of the test will determine the course of their lives.’
Jinwoo was the same the first time he waited in this place. He recalled how he had hoped to
become a high-ranker back then. The young man four years ago dreamt about B-rank, A-rank
and even deluded himself as far as becoming an S-ranker. Receiving his E-rank shocked him
and destroyed his dreams. Remembering that day four years ago, Jinwoo smiled in nostalgia.
‘Why is he smiling?’
‘How could you smile at a time like this?’
The others waiting stared at Jinwoo strangely, but the man remained carefree.
The spirits of the others were lowered by Jinwoo’s confident attitude. They turned their heads
and looked at each other.
Jinwoo also remembered this. Waiting here filled you with nervousness, and people would look
at each other, interested in the other’s results. Still smiling, Jinwoo looked around the building.
Just like the people, the building itself had not changed. Since the Hunter Association was only
ten years old, the building looked relatively new. The interiors were as he remembered.
However, one thing was different,
As Jinwoo stared at the group of well dressed men and women across the room, the man next
to him struck up a conversation,
“Guilds?”
“Yeah. Hunters don’t exactly go looking for small Guilds to join. So instead, they send
representatives here to try and recruit the fresh rankers.”
It did look like the people in the group were giving off a cold vibe to each other.
“Just in case you don’t know, you shouldn’t join those Guilds.”
“Why’s that?”
“From what I’ve heard, small Guilds engage in dangerous Raids and lose a lot of Hunters.”
Jinwoo nodded. That made sense. The small Guilds were probably not in a good position.
Raiding low-level Dungeons like private parties wouldn’t result in a good income, and at the
same time, they did not have enough power to properly raid high-level Dungeons. Because of
that, small Guilds’ affairs often resulted in incidents.
And that resulted in these small Guilds coming to the Association’s building for recruitment.
“Ah.”
The man who struck up a conversation wiped away the sweat gathering at his brows with a
handkerchief. The man carefully held out a hand to Jinwoo,
“Since we met in a place like this, shall we introduce ourselves? My name is Yoon Junghoon.”
“Next person.”
The measuring room was wide open, so people were able see the expressions of the
employees and the tested person. The person who just got tested did not look good.
‘Must be E or D.’
As if reaching the same conclusion as Jinwoo, the people from the Guilds did not show any
interest. It was a rather honest reaction. Jinwoo wondered if they had a way of knowing the
exact results somehow.
“Next person.”
Another result came out. It seemed like this one was also a dud. The man walked out with
heavy footsteps. Well, it made sense.
For the average person, even receiving a C-rank was a great thing. They could earn a lot
through a private party, and if they were lucky, they could even enter a large Guild. Even
Baekho’s new recruits had four C-rank members. If you succeeded in entering a large Guild,
you’ll earn an income comparable to a doctor or a lawyer. The man next to Jinwoo struck up a
conversation again,
“I heard that the signing bonus for large Guilds are incredible.”
“To be honest, I actually in a bit of debt. Have to live away from my daughter, you see. All this is
making me more anxious.”
The man realized he was speaking a little too freely. He quickly lowered his head to Jinwoo,
“Sorry, what am I saying to a stranger... how embarrassing. I get a little talkative when I’m
nervous.”
“It’s alright.”
Jinwoo smiled and also bowed his head. Another Awakened Being left the testing room.
It was the man’s turn. However, the sweating man suddenly held and shook Jinwoo’s sleeves.
Was he sick?
“No, nothing like that… Er… Do you mind going first? I’m feeling too nervous right now.”
The man’s eyes were pleading. Well, if he was going to give up his spot, Jinwoo had no
reasons to refuse. Jinwoo happily agreed. He understood the man’s feelings; after all, the few
minutes in that room would determine the fate of your life. Anyone would be shaking.
Jinwoo got up instead of the man and headed to the employee. The employee asked with a
business tone,
“Name?”
“Sung Jinwoo.”
“Sung Jinwoo-ssi… Alright, place your hand on that black surface and wait.”
As instructed, Jinwoo walked up to the measuring device and placed a hand on the black
surface.
The employee looked at Jinwoo’s file and was amused. Almost every single Hunter that came
here for a retest were these pathetic E-rankers. The employee looked derisively at Jinwoo then
turned on the measuring device.
beep
woooong-
The machine made a noise for a moment, then completed its measurement. The results were
displayed on the monitor.
Jinwoo removed the hand, and the employee spoke to him in confusion,
“Hold on.”
“Hmm?”
“Oh, okay.”
‘Huh?’
This had never happened before. The employee’s expression darkened. Of all the days the
measuring device could be acting up… The employee apologetically spoke to Jinwoo again,
“...”
At the repeated instruction, Jinwoo just placed a hand on the machine and kept it there.
beep beeeeeep
The employee began to sweat. The people gathered outside realized something was wrong.
beep
“What the? Where did Changshik go? Why are you here alone?”
The employee turned around. The Deputy of the Reception Office, Jung Gisoo was standing
behind him.
“Deputy Jung!”
Anyways, it was a good thing that he had come here. With the senior employee missing, this
unlucky newbie was sweating profusely. This was the time for a veteran to step-up.
The employee stepped aside and showed Jung Gisoo the monitor showing the measurement
results. The deputy’s face froze.
“Sir?”
Jung Gisoo raised his voice. The employee flinched and asked,
“This is not an error! It’s saying ‘measurement impossible’! Don’t you know what that means?!”
Why were all the new hires so useless? Jung Gisoo moved his gaze from the employee to the
person being measured.
‘How could this be…’
Jung Gisoo kept his eyes on Sung Jinwoo and spoke to the employee,
“You moron, it means that our devices are incapable of measuring that man’s magic power.”
He said he worked here for six months? Forget six months, this had not happened in the past
two years. Of course the new hire wouldn’t know. Jung Gisoo replied with a shaking voice,
S-rank. Because of its widespread use to denote certain people’s rankings, it’s often mistaken
as an official power level. In reality, the S-rank was given to people whose powers could not be
measured by the limits of humanity’s measuring technology.
Confirming the information on the monitor, Kim Changshik’s face turned white. His eyes were
shaking as they moved over to Jinwoo.
Kim Changshik approached Jinwoo. The Hunter finally took his hand off of the measuring
device.
Kim Changshik realized who this man would become and quickly changed his tone,
“No, Hunter Sung Jinwoo-nim, it is impossible to measure your magic power. In order to use our
more accurate measuring device, we’ll have to obtain the upper management’s permission. Do
you mind coming back to the Association in three days?”
Kim Changshik had spoken as mandated by his training. It had been such a long time since he
had to read that script memorized in his head. He barely remembered the correct phrases.
As a man with knowledge about Hunters, Jinwoo understood what that meant.
‘Alright.’
A deferred measurement evaluation. In other words, if this more accurate measurement device
was also unable to measure him, it would mean that he would become an S-ranker.
‘Thank god.’
If he received an A-rank just now, he would have to return to the Association after becoming
stronger. But what would they think if he “Awakened” once more after Reawakening? The
Reawakening itself was an incredibly rare occurrence, but a third Awakening would raise a ton
of suspicion. Jinwoo was glad he did not need to be bothered by such attention.
‘Phew-’
“Huh?”
“Oh my, you’re a busy man. You didn’t have to come here yourself like this.”
“Nonsense, I’m here to meet the Hunter Association’s Director Park. How could I just give you a
call? I had to come see you face to face.”
As Choi Jongin smiled with his eyes and spoke with friendliness, the elderly Director Park
chuckled in response.
Who was this man in front of him? He was the man who led South Korea’s top Guild, “Hunters”.
The Strongest Soldier, Choi Jongin. The man’s words could move the country’s most powerful
raiding party. And that man was showing consideration for the elderly director, how could he
not feel happy?
With a lit cigarette, Choi Jongin was the fitting image of a carefree young man who had
everything in life.
“Building B?”
The director looked in the direction of the building. In reality, the director could not have heard
what was happening. However, Choi Jongin was an S-rank Hunter. The man’s five senses
were incomparable to an ordinary person. If that man was saying it was loud, something must
be happening over there. A valuable guest was here, how embarrassing. The director furrowed
his brows and spoke,
Choi Jongin dropped the cigarette and put it out with a foot.
Raising his head, Choi Jongin’s eyes were filled with light, and a smile appeared on his face,
“Let’s go together.”
Translator’s Notes:
[1]: I have to correct a mistake I made earlier. In chapter 59, I translated that Baek Yoonho only knew 10 S-rankers
born in Korea. Looking back on the original passage, the man’s thoughts are more closely translated as “I only know
of 10-ish S-rankers currently IN Korea”, not born. This could’ve meant that there were non-Korean S-rankers currently
at the time in Korea for whatever reason (never confirmed). Still, I was wrong, our MC Sung Jinwoo is the 10th
S-ranker born in Korea.