Chapter 22: Hunter Han Sungyeun (2)

After neatly laying out all the items.

I tested the tower’s commands one at a time.

I was optimistic that the commands might work since the items I bought with points transferred over as well.

But—

“Yeah, of course they don’t work.”

Trial, info, community, marketplace, inventory…

Nothing worked so I soon gave up.

‘Well, it would have been weirder if any of them worked.’

Even if only the inventory worked, the benefits would have been enormous.

I cut my losses and picked an outfit from the closet.

There was no way I could stand the stench and filth coming from myself anymore.

‘I’m surprised that I lasted this long.’

It was something accomplished after I set out to conserve as many points as possible.

I jumped into the shower and turned the dial to the hottest temperature.

Squeezing out every bottle within my reach, I scrubbed my body to get the dry blood off.

Even after two hours, the distinct aroma remained.

After the wash, I dried my hair with a towel and stared at myself in the mirror.

The muscles that were previously hiding behind the layer of fat were now in the spotlight.

The changes to my stats manifested into these marble-sculpted muscles.

“Hm, so this is what I look like.”

It was hard to tell since I could never get a good look at myself, but it was bizarre to see it in person.

I was already a veteran hunter appearance wise.

…Although in reality, it was built with a series of short battles.

‘At least it looks good.’

I felt a little self indulgent as I dressed myself.

It wasn’t luxurious in any way, but this bed was so much better than the one in the waiting area.

And frankly, this alone made the 500 points worth it.

‘Wow, I’ve never been more comfortable in my life.’

Even if it was just taking a shower and laying on a cushy bed.

I was never able to relax to this extent in the tower.

I’d be satisfied by just laying here and eating all kinds of delivery foods.

But this wasn’t enough to break my will.

Even if it was dangling in front of me like a carrot on a stick, I knew how to control myself.

‘Let’s organize everything I need to do first.’

Still laid back, staring at the ceiling, I started formulating a plan.

There were three major reasons why I came back to Earth.

One, to relieve some psychological stress and take time to charge back up.

Two, to get my refund from the player training center.

Three, to prove my qualifications as a hunter and get a better standing in life.

‘Technically, the third one is the most important.’

The third reason I came back was to take the hunter exam.

To get the license to go into dungeons and hunt monsters.

That’s what I came to get.

It was the only thing that drove me for the past 7 years.

Plus, just getting the license would be helpful in general.

‘I can definitely pass the exam right now.’

I beat the challengers who used to be hunters, and the exam shouldn’t be any different.

The question was what rank I’d be placed in.

In the hunter exam, the highest one could be ranked was C.

‘I’m also curious to see where I rank…’

There were also a lot of benefits that came along with it.

I’d be able to officially put my items for sale and get access to gates.

If anyone asked if this was important enough to come back to Earth for, I’d answer immediately.

‘I wasn’t the only one who was summoned to the Tower of Trials.’

There were other players, civilians, and even professional hunters.

Since there were more people reaching the 5th floor, more information about the tower would be revealed.

It would be nice to be a hunter before all of that goes down.

Hunters had access to so much more information in every aspect compared to a normal person.

‘The association would overflow with applications by then.’

If enough civilians survived, they would all be eligible hunters.

That was inevitable.

‘I need the hunter license to at least sell all my items.’

When ordinary people try to sell hunter items, there tends to be a lot of fees and they get scammed a lot.

But hunters didn’t have that kind of disadvantage.

Why?

‘Because no one knows more about these items than hunters.’

To begin with, they were treated differently.

If a trainee was to put something up for sale, there was a big chance of getting scammed.

And even if they didn’t, the high fees would take away most of the profits.

‘I’ll apply to the hunter exam online first…’

Then I contemplated what to do next.

Grrrwl.

“….Oh yeah, I have to take care of this too.”

I smiled at the noise coming from my stomach and got up from the bed.

I was sick and tired of eating jerky.

Since I was presentable enough, nothing was holding me back from going out.

“There’s a bunch of things I wanted to eat once I got back here anyway.”

***

Chicken, soda, pizza, burgers, Korean barbecue…

There were so many things I wanted to eat in the tower.

Human beings are gluttonous by nature, so it was no surprise that that’s where my attention went.

Of course, I forced myself to survive on the beef jerky with pure willpower…

But—

‘There was nothing I wanted more than this.’

I stared at the tender chunks of pork swimming in the steaming clear broth.

It was a traditional gukbap* restaurant near my apartment.

Chicken and pizza all sounded good, but nothing could beat this.

‘I’d rather down a piping hot bowl of pork gukbap.’

Stirring the sauce into the bowl, I took a hearty bite of what could only be described as heavenly.

When the perfect combination of spicy and hot soup slid down my throat.

“Kaaaah….”

A moan of ecstasy inadvertently came out of my mouth.

Once I dipped a spoonful of rice into the soup and put it in my mouth, I couldn’t resist anymore.

My head went empty as I shoved down the rest of the bowl down my throat.

After two more bowls, I finally felt satisfied.

I felt myself slipping into a food coma, but I shook myself awake and took out my wallet to pay for the meal.

Oh, and the wallet I thought had disappeared when I was transferred to the tower was on the floor next to the bed.

Same with my smartphone.

The battery was a little low, but it was still usable.

“Phew, I’m so full.”

My thoughts were finally starting to organize themselves now that my stomach was full.

Hm, my next order of business is…

‘Going to the training center for my refund.’

As big of a name the center was, I poured a lot of money into there.

It would be a waste to not get it back.

But thinking about it a little harder, it might be more worth it to not get it back.

Of course, it wasn’t because of the little pride I had left.

‘Wouldn’t it be easier to make use of the gym’s name?’

Players in dedicated hunter training centers got a fast pass to take the exam.

This center was no exception.

Normally, you could only take the hunter exam a day or two after applying for it.

‘Then I won’t be able to utilize my time here as effectively as possible.’

But if I applied through a center, I’d be able to skip all the paperwork and the written exam and just take the practical.

Of course, you’d still need to show an impressive amount of skill to pass but…

I didn’t think that would be a problem for me.

“Hm, what should I do?’

There wasn’t a good reason to be desperate for the money now that I knew I could sell the items from the tower.

‘I don’t want to let the center keep my money but whatever.’

Like with necromancy, I was the only one who’d be hindered by not using it.

And time was a precious resource at this point.

I couldn’t afford to waste any more of it.

‘I’ll use everything in my arsenal to prepare to go back to the tower.’

Ring-ring.

After I decided my course of action, I acted fast.

A couple of rings later, a low voice answered the call.

I smirked after hearing the hostility in his voice.

“Yeah it’s me, do you remember me, manager?”

I sensed annoyance and contempt in his tone, but that didn’t matter.

“I changed my mind. I don’t need that refund anymore.”

“I’m not planning on it, but I want to ask for a favor.”

“Help me apply for the hunter exam.”

For a second, I thought the call dropped.

It was like he didn’t even know how to react to that.

All of the sudden, Hwang Manho replied in a voice full of laughter.

“…”

“I know.”

He didn’t say it outright, but he was telling me to know my place.

‘Yeah, that’s what I was going to do.’

Technically, he wasn’t wrong.

I didn’t know about anyone else, but I was considered to be the weakest of the weakest.

But that was a story of the past.

“So you can’t do that even if I give you the money?”

Hearing that I wasn’t aggravated, he calmly replied.

It was a little bitter to hear the amount of money I threw down the drain but…

I guess that just goes to show exactly how awful I was before the tower.

He was being an ass about it, but this was as close to an acceptance as I was going to get.

“It’s a deal then. I’d like to take the exam today.”

He didn’t seem too pleased at my confidence and made a sly comment.

A couple of days, huh?

To him, it must look like I was full of unearned confidence.

But I couldn’t deny that I did get a huge ego boost recently.

He wouldn’t understand why I was suddenly acting like I had something other than persistence.

It did make sense from his perspective though.

Stats, innate abilities, skills…

Like Hwang Minho said, I didn’t have anything that a normal hunter should have.

But I wasn’t the same person I was when I entered that tower.

I knew that for a fact.

This isn’t me being cocky or arrogant.

It was my rightly deserved self-assurance.

So I didn’t let him shove me around and gave a short answer.

If I was the trash trainee Han Sungyeun up until now…

“Yes, I did.”

It was now time for hunter Han Sungyeun.