15 Irregular

A faint light filtered through Hans' closed eyelids.

By a stroke of luck, the sole ray of light in the whole cave fell precisely on him, jolting him awake.

[..ou have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

The gate was about to close, leaving those left inside in an uncertain fate, nonetheless, Hans was sure it definitely wouldn't turn out to be pleasant.

Before departing, he grabbed the charred white snake's body by its tail, dragging it along as he made his way out of the gate.

All the smaller ones had been melted into oblivion by Hans's flames, leaving nothing behind, so this time, he would have to settle with just the boss.

Outside the gate, a truck was already waiting for him, ready to collect his spoils.

The team in charge loaded the snake's corpse on the truck and departed.

[You have closed the E-Rank gate: {Snakes' Den}]

[You have obtained the spell tome { Ice Spear}]

[Due to the gate's danger level being above the norm, you have been rewarded with an extra item: {Moonlight Python's Egg}(Rank-C)]

Only then did Hans feel a bit relieved and shed some of the stress that had accumulated over the day.

He had truly gone all out, but that feeling, the satisfaction of victory through his strength made it worthwhile for him.

Although it was only 6 p.m., the sun had already fallen.

It was October 27th, with winter approaching and bringing shorter days.

He returned home after taking the bus and was quite irritated by the fact that he had to wait almost half an hour before he could find one.

"I can't be going around in a bus my whole life, I should take my driver's license… and I don't even have anything better to do."

"I can clear about one Rank-E Gate every day if they all don't turn out like the last one, and for the rest of the day, I will have to wait for my mana to recover.

I might be able to stretch myself and clear two gates every day, but the fatigue would eventually accumulate and force me to take a break, so I'm better off not overexerting myself."

"Simply not fighting is enough to recover my mana, so I should make the most out of my free time."

With that, he started studying for his driver's license and spent the rest of the day reading books and searching for information about the awakened and the gates.

Since the egg showed no signs of change, he just left it unbothered.

Unfortunately, the normal books he had seemed to no longer help him in increasing his wisdom anymore, so he decided to start learning {Blizzard}.

After being exhausted from practicing the spell for a dozen hours just to cast it for the first time, Hans retired at 2 a.m. and after that, the temperature in his room remained cold all night.

He couldn't even warm himself with fire since he was afraid of burning down the building.

The following morning, he went to the association yet again because this time they had summoned him to discuss the materials they received from his previous day's hunt. Apparently, there was something that had to be discussed in person.

He asked for directions at the reception and was guided to a wooden door.

A couple of seconds later, the door opened, revealing a tall woman dressed in a suit.

She had dark hair and green eyes, her mere presence and stance radiated a feeling of comfort.

Smiling, she greeted him, "Good morning."

After sitting on the low glass table, the lady asked while picking up a porcelain cup, "Would you like some coffee?" 

Hans only shook his head to refuse and cut to the chase,

"What did you call me here for?"

Even if he was quite impolite, he didn't want to waste any of his time.

"Straight at the point I see," commented the lady before she introduced herself.

"My name is Emily David, I am the chief of the materials management department of the association's Chicago branch. I had something of importance to talk to you about, hence I called you here."

Emily paused before letting out a sigh and continuing, "That monster, no, the gate boss that you killed in the E-Rank gate, I won't ask how you did it, but we are in urgent need of information about it."

Hans's curiosity piqued as he tilted his head and asked, "Why would you need that?"

Leading the conversation back to the matter at hand, Emily began, "You see, the association, other than simply monitoring the gates and the awakened, pays heed to all the monsters that might pose a threat to the public."

"And the monster you vanquished, not to talk about being registered, hasn't even been spotted once."

Emily took another long pause and continued, "It's something we like to call an irregular: a one-of-a-kind monster that only appears once, just like the Banshee that appeared in China or the Basilisk that appeared in Europe."

"Even a C-Rank monster like the snake you defeated can help us grasp more about these kinds of monsters"

"Okay, I get the point… but there's still one thing I want to ask: you are not expecting me to hand over that information for free, right?!"

The young man's question caught the lady off guard, making her stutter for a moment even though she knew that it made complete sense.

After all, information is akin to power, and no one in their right mind would just give it away without expecting something in return.

'So it has come down to this, huh…' thought the well-dressed lady.

'If that's the case.'

"Of course not, the association will furnish you with an artifact crafted by the blood eye of the boss you defeated, free of charge, and we'll also lower the association's tax you are subjected to by 5% for two whole years," she proposed.

"Make it 10%." Hans plainly stated.

Without thinking for a moment, she agreed and the two shook hands, "Deal." 

Only then did it come to Hans' mind that perhaps he should have asked for more seeing how quickly the other side had agreed.

Meanwhile, Emily was pleased that she had managed to close a contract without taking up too much of her time.

Hans then started explaining.

He talked about the monster's attributes like its strength, and skill, and also about the little snakes that got melted.

However, he carefully avoided divulging too much of the specifics, to avoid revealing his class skill that allowed him to analyze the opponent.

As Hans walked out of the room after having said everything he needed to, the lady remained incredulous in the office as she stared at the door through which Hans had just walked out.

'I-If even half of what that guy said is true, it's far worse than what we could've ever imagined.'

'And the fact that he managed to defeat a monster like that… means that he is even more of a monster!' 

She thought as an image of Hans covered in blood while he held the snake's corpse crossed her mind, sending shivers down her spine.

Meanwhile, Hans leisurely made his way towards the exit, checking his phone for his next gate raid today but he suddenly bumped into someone.

It was a skinny boy, no older than fourteen with brown hair and eyes.

After bumping, the boy fell on his butt while the paper in his hands glided to the ground causing a big mess.

"Ah! I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," the boy apologized, saying it as if he had done something that was deserving of the death penalty.

"Here let me help you," Hans offered, feeling responsible for bumping into the kid since he was the one on his phone.

"Y-you don't have t.. well thank you for your help," the boy stuttered, quickly gathering the papers and hurrying away in Hans' opposite direction.

Out of habit, Hans activated his skill {Piercing Gaze}.

[Name: Aiden Everly

Age: 14

Class: Potion Brewer (COMMON)

Title: None

Lvl: 6

Strength: 2

Dexterity: 3

Endurance: 6

Wisdom: 19

Current Status: Exhausted and unhappy due to long working hours.

Description: Currently a candidate to become the holder of the unique class: {Master Alchemist}

Evaluation: An Rank-F Alchemist.

Has the potential to become a Rank-C without any special class, if he is to be chosen as the unique class successor, it would raise his potential to at least an S-rank.]

Without thinking twice, Hans grabbed the boy's arm and asked, "How about changing jobs?"

Intimidated by the question, the kid stood there.

"W-what do you mean sir, I didn't mean to cause you any trouble, please do not," he almost dropped to the floor and begged, fearing that he had pulled himself into some great trouble.

"Hey hey hey, get up, I didn't mean it like that…" Hans forced a smile and shook his head before proposing, "How about working for me?"

"A-are you joking?" the boy asked, incredulous.

Hans' face remained dead serious.

"What for? " asked the little boy, changing his attitude a bit.

"Would you believe me if I were to tell you that you have the potential to become a star," Hans tried to convince the guy.

"Just like those awakened you see every day online or on the posters."

"..." the boy stared at Hans blankly before answering firmly.

"No, I wouldn't!"

—————

{Unique Class: {Master Alchemist}

A class specializing in potion making, enhancing the holder's strength based on the potions created and consumed.

Condition to advance: Complete the brewing of a potion two ranks above your current without anyone's assistance.}