Hunter Bureau Annex - Measurement Room.
Beep—! Wheeeng—
A new employee entered the dark hallway, using his ID card to open the door.
As soon as he entered, the ceiling lights automatically turned on, revealing a man with dark circles under his eyes, looking exhausted.
<Deputy Choi Seunghyun of the Hunter Bureau Subjugation Division>
The ID badge swayed on his chest.
As soon as Choi Seunghyun entered the annex measurement room, he clasped his head with both hands and silently screamed in despair.
A little earlier...
He had gotten home after work, taken a shower, done some house chores, and finally crawled into bed in his pajamas.
Just as he was about to drift off to sleep...
Wuuuu—!!
His phone rang.
<Manager Choi Jiwoo>
It was a call from his superior, Choi Jiwoo.
Choi Seunghyun tilted his head in confusion.
Since he joined, Choi Jiwoo had never contacted him after work.
A strange sense of unease filled him.
He quickly answered the call, and his anxiety turned into reality.
It was an emergency shift.
The Hunter Bureau Director had ordered a private assessment.
A late-night shift, when he should have been resting.
Choi Seunghyun wanted to deny the reality, but his body was already heading to the Hunter Bureau.
However...
Even after arriving at the Hunter Bureau, the questions remained unanswered.
He had no idea who would be undergoing the private assessment, nor did he understand why he, from the Subjugation Division, was included in the observation.
Most confusing of all was that he was the only one assigned to this task by the Director. Thankfully, it seemed like he wasn’t the only one who had been contacted.
As he entered the measurement room, still holding his head in frustration...
Wheeeng—
“Hmm? Deputy Choi, didn’t you leave earlier?”
“Huh, Manager? Have you been working late?”
The Personnel Manager entered as the door swung open.
Unlike when he saw him in the morning, the Manager now looked a little scruffy and tired.
Choi Seunghyun quickly fixed his disheveled hair and greeted him.
This time, the Personnel Manager messed up his own hair and said.
“Ah, you came back to work. What is this sudden disaster, so early in the morning?”
<Personnel Manager Park Seongjun of the Hunter Bureau>
With a hint of irritation in his voice, the Personnel Manager’s ID badge swayed wildly around his neck.
Normally known for his gentle personality, Park Seongjun couldn't hide his annoyance at having to work late.
At that moment, Choi Seunghyun widened his eyes and asked.
“Did you come because of the private assessment too, Manager?”
“...That’s right. Did you come in for the same reason?”
“Yes, I got a call from Manager Choi Jiwoo. She said the Director ordered a private assessment... and they need observers.”
“I also received a call from the Director. Good grief, how important must this person be to have a private assessment in the middle of the night... Deputy Choi, do you know anything about this?”
“No, I haven’t heard any details.”
As they continued their conversation, both Choi Seunghyun and Park Seongjun’s faces grew darker.
Who could be the person requiring such an urgent, late-night private assessment?
The two of them were getting more and more stressed about this unknown person when suddenly, someone appeared to explain things.
“Well, well. You’ve all had a hard time. I really appreciate you coming out so late.”
It was Hunter Bureau Director Go Kyungseok.
Wearing his official Hunter Bureau uniform, he walked down the dimly lit hallway and entered the special measurement room.
Choi Seunghyun and Park Seongjun immediately relaxed their frowning faces and saluted.
“It’s nothing, Director! I couldn’t sleep, so I’m glad I could come out.”
“Director, don’t you have a breakfast appointment with the President this morning? We can handle the private assessment, so you don’t need to stay. You can go ahead.”
“No, no. I asked for this to be done, so I need to see it through.”
“But... may I ask who is undergoing the private assessment?”
“It’s confidential, so I couldn’t discuss it over the phone. It’s Hunter Kang Hyunsoo.”
At Park Seongjun’s question, Go Kyungseok handed over the file in his hand.
“Kang Hyunsoo? That name sounds familiar...”
“This person...! Oh! He’s the mercenary hunter who fought Babylon’s masked hunters alongside the Samcheon Guild in a dungeon!”
“Ohh, that hunter!”
Both Park Seongjun and Choi Seunghyun immediately recognized Kang Hyunsoo after seeing the file.
Just recently, the incident where Babylon attacked the Samcheon Guild hunters in a D-rank open dungeon had caused quite a stir within the Hunter Bureau.
However...
“Why would this hunter be having a private assessment...?”
“He was a low-tier hunter, wasn’t he? I remember he was strong, but not to the point of requiring a private assessment...”
Their questions were not resolved, but instead grew deeper.
They knew that Kang Hyunsoo had defeated Babylon’s masked hunters and was about to undergo a grade reassessment soon, but they didn’t think he was someone who would require a private assessment.
Just then, as Choi Seunghyun and Park Seongjun questioned further...
Thud- Thud- Thud-
Footsteps echoed through the dark hallway as someone approached.
“Hmm...?”
A young man stepped into the measurement room.
He appeared to be in his early 30s, wearing a blue jacket and beige pants.
The sudden appearance of this person caught them off guard.
“Who... are you?”
Choi Seunghyun, cautious, approached and asked.
The man wasn’t someone they recognized from the Hunter Bureau, and from the looks on the Director’s and Personnel Manager’s faces, they seemed to be just as puzzled.
The young man said nothing.
But soon, the truth was revealed.
“It’s Hunter Kang Hyunsoo. He was checking to see if he was being followed, so he was a bit late.”
Following him, Choi Jiwoo stepped in and explained.
“Kang Hyunsoo...?!”
Choi Seunghyun widened his eyes in disbelief, looking from the young man in the blue jacket to the file in his hands.
The young man in front of him didn’t seem to match the face in the ID photo attached to the documents at all.
It wasn’t just Choi Seunghyun—Park Seongjun and Go Kyungseok were also confused and exchanged puzzled looks.
“Manager Choi Jiwoo, is this really... Hunter Kang Hyunsoo?”
“Yes, it’s him. Why do you ask?”
Even after Manager Choi Jiwoo confirmed it, Park Seongjun asked again.
“He looks so different from the photo. Are you sure this is really Hunter Kang Hyunsoo?”
Go Kyungseok also approached the young man, still skeptical, and asked him directly.
In the end, Kang Hyunsoo had no choice but to step forward himself.
He gave a small bow to Go Kyungseok and spoke.
“Nice to meet you, Director Go Kyungseok. I’m Kang Hyunsoo. It’s common for people not to recognize me after I’ve lost so much weight.”
“Hmm, so you’ve lost a lot of weight, huh... I can see a bit of the old look in the photo.”
“I understand your doubts. Then, how about we start the assessment right away? The machine has a fingerprint recognition feature, after all.”
With the atmosphere full of questions, Kang Hyunsoo quickly offered a solution.
It seemed reasonable enough, and Go Kyungseok immediately agreed.
“You’re right. Then, let’s begin the assessment.”
“Sure, I’m ready.”
With that, Go Kyungseok turned around, and the process quickly proceeded.
Choi Seunghyun and Park Seongjun switched on the lights and activated the precision measurement machines in the room.
Then...
“Please step onto the scale-like device with bare feet, and hold the handles with both hands.”
“Alright, thank you, Hunter Choi Jiwoo.”
Choi Jiwoo kindly guided him.
Kang Hyunsoo took a deep breath, then took off his shoes and socks, stepping onto the measurement device while gripping the handles with both hands.
From there, everything proceeded smoothly.
“Now, starting the measurement. Please hold on until the end announcement is made.”
With Choi Seunghyun's instructions, the machine emitted a confirmation message:
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<Starting measurement. Do not move.>
The measurement device began its operation.
Kang Hyunsoo quietly focused on the machine.
After a moment, his status window appeared on the monitor.
But...
Status Window
[Lv 200. Kang Hyunsoo]
[Title: The Warm-hearted Swordmaster]
Stats
[Strength: 280] [Agility: 245] [Intelligence: 177] [Health: 275] [Mana: 183]
Talent Stats
[Sword Mastery: 182]
Skills
[Sky Cleave (S)] [Trust Armor (A)] [Appearance (A)] [Heavenly Blade (B)] [Raging Storm (B)] [Acceleration (C)] [Pashin (C)] [Charge (D)] [Counter (E)]
Talents
[Lv 2. Swordsmanship]
“Hmm...?”
Something felt off.
The status window displayed his level, stats, skills, and talents, but only those related to swordsmanship were listed.
Nothing about his beauty talent except for the title modifier.
Even the hidden talent of dual swordsmanship didn’t show up.
Of course, the others, apart from Kang Hyunsoo, didn’t notice anything strange.
“Level 200 with an S-rank skill...! Impressive!”
“A-rank and B-rank skills, too! Not long ago, this guy was supposed to be a low-tier hunter!”
“With stats like these, even though he’s level 200, he seems like he’s in the top 1% of mid- to low-tier hunters!”
Just from his swordsmanship skills and the abilities gained from hidden pieces, his stats were already at a ridiculously high level.
Choi Seunghyun and Park Seongjun's jaws dropped, and even Choi Jiwoo's eyes sparkled as she gazed at the information on the screen.
However...
“With what’s shown here... defeating Jin Seoyun and Andy seems tough. Also, looking at this title, it seems there’s more going on... Hunter Kang Hyunsoo, is this all the abilities you possess?”
Director Go Kyungseok's reaction was different.
Having seen the unusual status window and Kang Hyunsoo’s previous performance, he guessed that there must be more to his abilities.
A sharp point struck.
“.......”
Kang Hyunsoo didn’t say a word.
If he lied here and got caught, he could face prison time under the Hunter Law.
But he didn’t feel the need to reveal everything. There was no need to mention every hidden detail.
“Having trouble speaking about it?”
“Yes, that’s correct. My duty is solely to undergo re-assessment, so I don’t think I can disclose all my abilities.”
Under the Hunter Law of South Korea, all hunters must truthfully ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ state their talents and skills and honestly participate in the measurements.
But that's where it stops.
There’s no obligation to reveal every hidden piece or ability to the Hunter Bureau.
If a hidden talent or skill doesn’t show up during the measurement, there’s no need to mention it, and the Hunter Bureau doesn’t take it into account.
The reason is simple.
It’s impossible to verify if what the hunter says is true or not.
If a hunter manipulates their skill ratings or inflates their abilities with lies, it could cause harm, and the Hunter Bureau would lose its credibility.
So, if an ability isn’t revealed during the precise measurement, there’s no reason to bring it up.
And most importantly...
There were people within the Hunter Bureau who wanted Kang Hyunsoo dead.
Of course, that was something from years later, and whether it was true or not, no one could say for sure, but it was something to keep in mind.
However, it didn’t help him in the current situation.
At that moment, Go Kyungseok, sensing Kang Hyunsoo’s intentions, made a suggestion.
“Then, how about this? Let’s have a sparring match.”
“A sparring match...?”
“Yes. If you leave a scratch on my body, you won’t have to explain your special abilities in detail. But if I defeat you... then you’ll have to tell the truth about everything.”
“A scratch...?”
“If this ability you hold so dearly is truly valuable, shouldn’t you be able to back it up with the power to defend it?”
Go Kyungseok’s proposal was simple.
He wanted Kang Hyunsoo to prove his hidden abilities through a sparring match.
Normally, this would be an absurd suggestion.
“A sparring match...”
“I’ve never seen the Director propose something like this before. He must have an ulterior motive, right?”
“I... I don’t think he’s joking...”
Choi Jiwoo, along with Park Seongjun and Choi Seunghyun, looked at Go Kyungseok in disbelief.
On the other hand...
“Are you sure about this? You could get hurt.”
“It’s fine. Show me your skills.”
“Alright then. I’ll accept your challenge.”
Kang Hyunsoo smiled, raising one corner of his mouth in amusement, then walked out of the measurement room with Go Kyungseok.