CH 152 At The Gate

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Today's meme is here. [ ]

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'I want to see her with my own eyes and collect some dangerous beasts.'

Even though they think all the monsters inside – except the boss, of course – were dead, he knew the real deal was still playing a waiting game.

'Well, I'll be entering one sooner or later.'

Knowledge was indeed power. However, there would always be a limit to learning from books and internet articles. Didn't the newbies of the White Tiger Guild meet with a huge misfortune simply because they had overlooked that crucial fact?

'If I wasn't there, none of them would have survived.'

Knowing something, and personally experiencing it, were two different things. When the opportunity arose, Jin readily applied to enter the mining team in order to just get around..

He did feel a slight pang of regret when holding that deeply-uncool pickaxe, but if it was for a beauty it was nothing then a mildly inconvenience for him.

'Looks like I've made the right choice.'

He still had some time left to kill until he restarted his grind again so what a good opportunity this was.

The 'chat' must've gone well, because the moustached ahjussi – no, the foreman Bae Yun-Sek, ran to where Jin was with a smile on his face.

"Let's go inside. They say they are ready."

While gripping the pickaxe, Jin smiled and nodded his head.

*****

Knock, knock.

"Here are the records you asked, sir."

"Come in."

Woo Jin-Cheol entered the Association President's office.

As if he had been waiting a while, Goh Gun-Hui welcomed him as his expression brightened considerably. As soon as Woo Jin-Cheol handed over the file, a familiar youth's face could be seen.

It was none other than Sung Jin-Woo.

But this time it was about his latest activities.

As looked at it he saw that when Jin's phone connected with the network it showed the location around Jin's new house then he moved to the location of the hospital where his mother was admitted.

But reading the next information shocked him even more as at the same night His mother woke up with a disease for which there is no cure. Eternal Slumber.

But again he was reminded of resent miracle he did not only witnessd but also was the receiver of it.

The memory of it was still fresh in his mind as it had just a few minutes ago. As he placed his hand on his heart and felt heart beats that didn't have any abnormalities as just few days ago he was gone through his routine check ups which he usually misses but this time it was on time.

And when the doctors looked through the checkup results they were so shocked that they asked him if they could do it again while saying their could be some default in the machines.

But stopped them by saying there is no error in machines. What they see is right. The shook look on their faces was just out of the world.

So now his mother waking up is not that shocking anymore.

As he soon nodded as he remained of the recent conversation he had with the young hunter and he told him it was a big day for him.

So it makes sense of that big thing was mother wearing up had to be around his family.

"Tsk."

He smacked his lips a little and flipped the page, and eventually, arrived at the last one. Feeling satisfied now, Goh Gun-Hui closed the file folder.

"Thank you. This was informative."

"Thank you, sir."

Woo Jin-Cheol took the files being handed back to him and turned around to leave, only to stop and open his mouth, apparently in some difficulty.

"Excuse me… President, sir."

"Mm?"

Goh Gun-Hui raised his head.

The look of hesitation could clearly be seen on Woo Jin-Cheol's face.

'….Why would Chief Woo make that kind of face, when normally, he looks hard enough to chew on rocks for breakfast?'

Was there a difficult matter to discuss?

Goh Gun-Hui's curiosity had been stoked for good now.

"What's the matter?"

Woo Jin-Cheol hesitated for a while before he finally replied.

"There is something you should know, sir….. The truth is, I received word not too long ago that Hunter Sung Jin-Woo had entered a raid team earlier today."

"Already? Wasn't he supposed to be with his family, Okay, so whose team are we talking about here?"

"It's the raid team from the Hunters Guild."

"Hmm… Hunters, is it?"

Sung Jin-Woo had chosen the Hunters. But the air around him doesn't feel like a man who will even let anyone order around him. Not only that, just after his mother woke up, too.

Goh Gun-Hui's expression hardened.

'Could he have been just all talk, he wasn't busy at all, no if that was the truth he doesn't have any reason to lie and the young man could outright deny his request and he won't be able to do anything.

Did they offer him a huge amount of money and he got tempted by the massive contract signing fee of the Hunters…?'

If so, what a disappointing turn of events this was. Well, he was feeling genuinely moved for the first time in a long, long while after meeting a Hunter worthy of that job title.

However, when thinking back to the attitude the youth carried from a week ago meeting, as well as the information Goh Gun-Hui had read in his profile and the last words he spoke before leaving, Sung Jin-Woo definitely did not look like someone who'd change his mind with a flip of his hand or would lick anyone's boot just for some money.

There must be some other reason.

Such as…

"For sure, if he wished to combat truly powerful monsters, then the Hunters Guild should suit him the best."

Goh Gun-Hui was ready to accept this explanation. Too bad, because Woo Jin-Cheol quickly tackled him off that thought process.

"It doesn't sound like that's the case, sir."

"Have you heard of something?"

"It has been confirmed that he…. Hunter Sung Jin-Woo didn't join with the main raid team, but actually with the mining team, instead. Sir."

Goh Gun-Hui shot up from his chair.

"What did you say? The S rank Hunter applied to become a miner??"

His voice accurately conveyed his disbelief. As was the expressions on his face.

In all honesty, Woo Jin-Cheol reacted the same back then. That was why he confirmed it several times to make sure, but the result didn't change no matter what.

'That's why I hesitated about telling him about this matter….'

Just what was Sung Jin-Woo thinking?

Cold sweat trickled down Woo Jin-Cheol's face as he spoke.

"Yes, sir. He has indeed done so."

Goh Gun-Hui plopped down on the chair and began chuckling in helplessness.

"What a hard to understand young man he is."

***

After putting on the distributed hard hat and the miner's overall, Jin followed after the foreman Bae Yun-Seok. He found a fairly large group of Hunters wearing hard hats like him near the Gate itself. Around twenty or so?

Their gazes focused on Foreman Bae. And the moustached man introduced Jin to everyone.

"This here is Mister Sung, and he'll be working with us from today onwards."

"Hello."

Jin lightly shook his head and tried to read the overall atmosphere of the mining team.

"….."

Their reactions were indifferent. But, that was understandable.

'Of course….'

On one hand, he was a temp who may or may not show up tomorrow. And on the other side, they were Hunters who had signed formal contracts with the Guild to become full-time members of the mining team.

From their perspective, there was no reason to get particularly friendly with Jin.

"Gee whiz…. These guys. He's a colleague who's going to work together with you, you know."

Foreman Bae smiled awkwardly and pointed at a guy with pretty scary facial features standing far back the usual character archetype.

"Mister Sung, please stick with Mister Mok over there, and if you're curious about something, learn from him. Mister Mok might be a silent type, but he's the most experienced out of everyone here."

"…Why not."

Jin didn't say anything else and stood next to Mister Mok. When their gazes briefly met, Mister Mok spoke in a voice small enough to miss it.

"It's Mok Jin-Su."

"I'm Sung Jin-Woo."

The introduction ended with that. Before long, Mok Jin-Su's gaze had shifted to the foreman.

'….What an amiable guy.'

Jin also shifted his gaze.

The foreman was conversing with a regular person who must've been the Guild employee in a location a bit of a distance away, looking rather serious. When Ji concentrated a little harder, he could hear the contents of that conversation.

"…The raid team hasn't come out yet? Didn't you say they were finished already? How many minutes ago was that?"

"They said that they are almost finished for real, this time. Please be patient for a little while longer until all the monsters inside are taken care of. This is all for the safety of you and your team, you know."

"I've heard the exact same thing three times already."

"Eii~. Mister Foreman, you know as much as I do how complicated it'll become when we don't do a thorough job, and a hidden monster pops out during the mining operation."

When the male employee who was young enough to be his son smiled and went on a charm offensive, Foreman Bae could no longer stay angry anymore. The moustached man turned around with a smirk on his lips.

"Okay, okay. I got it."

"Oh? Mister Foreman, you're not angry anymore?"

"I said I got it. So get going already."

"Yes, sir. As soon as the raid team exits from the Gate, I'll definitely run over to you right away without a moment's hesitation. Oh, by the way. You still remember that we're all having a drink after today's operation, yes?"

"Aigoo. I know. I know! So get going, young man."

Fortunately, the conversation came to an end without any potential problems developing. That employee's responses were quite excellent, indeed.

'Most folks would think that, once you start working for a large Guild, you become more arrogant than before no matter where you are, but….'

The truth was, most of the Guild's administrative staff were regular people, while those operating out in the field were mostly Hunters – those who had Awakened.

There were many things requiring the touch of an Awakened, but there would always be a finite number of them.

In other words, it was impossible to hire and fire Awakened at will as if they were parts of a factory machine that could easily be replaced. That was why all Guild employees did their best to mind the Hunters and their moods.

And it was true even for weakest rank hunters, the E rank hunters.

From others' perspective, they might seem like they had made it in life, but the employees of large Guilds all had to go through trials and tribulations that only they knew.

It was then.

'…..Mm?'

Jin was focusing on the conversation between the foreman and the employee, but out of the blue, he could also hear the whisperings coming from his side.

"Did you hear that? The newbie joining us today is supposed to be a rank E."

'Are they talking about me again?'

Sometimes, Jin couldn't help but resent his excellent sense of hearing the part of overall super senses. They were mostly headaches in his normal life.

'Still, doesn't mean I'm gonna give up any one of them or cover my ears or anything….'

While he bitterly smiled to himself, other Hunters were cautiously whispering to each other.

"What? A rank E?"

"A rank E has been selected?"

"That's right."

Jin-Woo could sense the sharp glares boring down on the back of his head.

"What the heck. What is the foreman thinking of, hiring a rank E and all?"

"Does a rank E even have enough strength, I wonder?"

"Yeah, I wonder about that, too."

"Huh, can we even finish today's operation on time?"

Worried voices could be heard coming from here and there.

Still, they kept their voices low, perhaps in consideration of the new guy. Too bad, such actions were meaningless in front of Jin, though.

Jin could only keep his chuckles down.

'There was another reason for their reactions not being so welcoming, huh.'

As expected – a rank E would receive cold shoulders no matter where they went. He already didn't care about how people looked at him and mattered little to him. this, so it didn't faze him.

'Well, it's not like I'll be seeing them for long, anyway."

But then, something else happened.

Noisy, noisy….

Suddenly, the front of the Gate became rather noisy.

"The raid team has come out."

"Looks like they are finally finished."

The tired expressions of the Hunters in the mining team, restless from all that waiting, brightened one by one. Foreman Bae had been observing the situation until then, and he gestured at his team.

"Okay, okay. Everyone, let's get going."

Hunters in the mining team checked their equipment and slowly shuffled towards their destination. Jin blended in and went along with them.

"Thank you for your hard work."

"Thank you."

"You all worked hard, everyone!"

The Hunters Guild employees stood in front of the Gate and welcomed the raid team members as they made their exit one by one.

The term raid team as used in the field seemed to refer to the members belonging to the Guild's main assault force.

'So, these people are…. the country's best assault force.'

Studying the faces of each and every upper rank – no, the very highest ranked – Hunters walking by, Jin's eyes sharpened considerably but not their power as he was looking for someone else.

He spotted a familiar face among them.

'….Choi Jong-In.'

The leader of the Hunters Guild, and a rank S mage-type Hunter.

Jin pulled the hard hat lower to hide his face, figuring that things might get complicated if Choi Jong-In recognised him here. Thankfully, there were many Hunters wearing a similar get-up as him nearby. So, Jin was able to blend in just fine.

And so, as he stood amidst the miners and silently studied the members of the country's very best assault force, Jin began thinking that…

'…..Are they really the true elites of the Hunters Guild?'

He was feeling quite incredulous inwardly.

Quite contrary to his initial expectations, it was hard to find a single Hunter with a really powerful aura.