Hunter of Mysterious Creature

Chapter 898: Chapter 121: Hunter Organization Selection

A trace of hesitation flashed through Cheng Ming’s mind.

The headhunter hadn’t been wrong about one thing: he was a stranger here, and if he wanted to get to Nanhua Town, the best way was to move together with the main group.

So whether he was looking to form a team or find another guide, nine times out of ten he’d still have to deal with these agencies. And this guy in front of him claimed to be a headhunter for the Bai Group; with a big company like that as his backing, he ought to be more reliable than those shady agencies that paste scam ads on power poles, right?

Cheng Ming pulled out his phone and searched online for "Dragon City Bai’s Military Industry." A flood of information popped up at once—judging from the search engine results, the Bai Family really was one of the three great families of Dragon City, and Bai’s Military Industry really did handle most of the Dragon City Defense Army’s weapons and equipment orders... At least so far, everything this headhunter had said was true.

"The Bai Group you mentioned, is it this Bai Group?" Cheng Ming pointed at the search results on his phone screen.

"What other Bai Group could it be?" The headhunter shrugged with a smug look. "Plenty of people run businesses and open companies in Dragon City, but there’s only one Bai Group, no knockoffs!"

"Oh." Cheng Ming nodded, then typed "Bai Group hunter regiment recruitment Hunter" into the search bar. As soon as he hit confirm, the page jumped straight to the Bai Group’s official website. On the top news banner of the site, a headline was prominently displayed: "Dubhe Tower Large-Scale Mysterious Creature Hunt, Second Phase Free Hunter Recruitment for the Joint Hunter Regiment of the Three Great Families."

"If I want to sign up for the hunter regiment, do I just fill out the application form directly on the Bai Group’s official site?" Cheng Ming asked.

Hearing that Cheng Ming was about to fill out the form, the headhunter panicked. "Bro! Bro, wait—don’t fill it in yet! Seriously, do not rush to fill it in!"

"What’s wrong?" Cheng Ming was puzzled. "Didn’t you want to drag me to the selection? Why won’t you let me fill out the application now?"

"Ah... I’ll level with you, man. If you fill out that form yourself, it counts as a direct application. But if I take you to the selection, then I’m your referrer. I’m begging you, help me out here, okay? It’s really not easy to hit my KPI these days! How about this, I’ll treat you to a meal; once we’ve eaten our fill, we’ll go do the selection. Whatever you want to eat, you pick... as long as it’s under, uh, under three hundred per head, anything goes!"

"You headhunters, how much commission do you get for recommending one person?" Cheng Ming asked.

"If I only bring you to the selection, that just counts toward my basic quota. I need to bring in ten Hunters to get the base salary," the headhunter said. "But if the Hunter I recommend passes the selection and officially joins the hunter regiment, then I get an extra bonus—five thousand per head!"

...

Cheng Ming didn’t take the chance to bleed the headhunter dry; he just picked a cheap little diner by the roadside and casually ordered a few dishes.

Maybe feeling guilty for treating him to such a cheap meal, the headhunter ran next door and bought several dozen skewers of barbecue, then went to a convenience store and lugged back two big bottles of iced soda.

"If we didn’t have to go to the selection this afternoon, I’d have grabbed beer... Barbecue really goes best with beer!" The headhunter eagerly filled Cheng Ming’s glass to the brim with soda. "Next time we get a chance, I’ll definitely make it up to you—proper food and proper booze!"

"It’s fine. I don’t drink," Cheng Ming said as he picked up some freshly served stir-fried pork with green peppers. The meat was fried a bit dry, soaked in heavy oil and dark sauce, salty on the strong side, with a thick hit of spices.

But aside from cumin, Cheng Ming couldn’t identify any other spices by smell.

"Then next time we’ll hit the night market for hand-grabbed mutton—Dragon City’s specialty! Chang’an has it too, but it’s definitely not as authentic as ours!" the headhunter said.

Cheng Ming: "Speaking of which, I still don’t know your name."

"Lee Ming—’Li’ as in wood, ’Ming’ as in sun and moon, super common name." The headhunter Lee Ming chuckled. "Just in the Hunter agency business here in Dragon City, there are three guys with the same name as me. Luckily in our line we rarely use real names; we mostly go by nicknames, so there’s not much chance of mixing people up... So, what’s your name?"

"Cheng Ming."

"Also the ’Ming’ with sun and moon?" Lee Ming raised his glass. "Now that’s fate! Say no more, we gotta clink to that!"

In silence, Cheng Ming picked up his soda-filled glass and clinked it against Lee Ming’s.

"You’ve been tailing me for quite a while, haven’t you?" Cheng Ming suddenly asked.

"Uh... *cough cough cough*!" Lee Ming, mid-sip, choked hard on his soda. He grabbed a couple of napkins to wipe the stains off his shirtfront, then said awkwardly, "Mr Cheng, your ability is detection-type? You can even pick up on that?"

"If you hadn’t followed me all the way from the station, how did you confirm I was a Hunter?" Cheng Ming shot back. "I’m wearing long sleeves; my Hunter wristband isn’t visible."

"Heh..." Lee Ming scratched his head. "I mean, you’re not wrong, but it wasn’t that hard to guess... Those two big bags you’re carrying—judging from the shapes bulging against the fabric, they should be tools commonly used for hunting mysterious creatures. And that bulky lump at your waist is obviously a gun holster... Aside from soldiers and Sheriffs—the official muscle—anyone who can legally carry a gun, other than properly registered mercenaries, is basically just Mysterious Creature Hunters. Your identity’s written all over you. Besides, at this time of year, any out-of-towner rushing over like you, Hunter or merc, is obviously here for this big hunting operation!"