Chapter 281 – Part 2 – Conscription Order

“Who could it be at this hour?”

While the family looked puzzled at the front door in the middle of their meal, only Seong-min showed no change in expression.

Because this was something he had expected.

‘Has what was supposed to come finally arrived? But it came faster than I thought.’

Thump thump thump-!

At the sound of urgent knocking demanding they open quickly, his mother approached the door.

“Wh-who is it?”

“We’re from the Hunter Association, so open the door quickly.”

“Th-the Hunter Association?”

When she opened the door, several burly men rushed in without even taking off their shoes.

Before anyone could say anything in surprise, the men surrounded Seong-min and grabbed both his arms.

“Wh-why are you doing this to our son!”

“Orders came from above to forcibly conscript F-rank hunters. The directive from headquarters is to bring them by force if they resist.”

“B-but…!”

“Let’s go.”

The men grabbed Seong-min’s arms and headed out.

Seong-min, who had no intention of resisting in the first place, followed them obediently.

“Seong-min!”

“Oppa!”

Looking at his family who were trying to follow him out, Seong-min shook his head.

“Don’t worry and stay home. It won’t be anything serious.”

Speaking with a calm face as he went outside, the men sneered.

“Hah, nothing serious? You’re screwed, you bastard.”

“……”

He had said it to reassure his family, but even that seemed to annoy them.

“Get in!”

Pushed into the chartered bus, it was already packed with people.

They were F-rank hunters who had been captured like Seong-min.

‘They all look anxious.’

Like livestock being dragged to slaughter, they were listless and trembling with anxiety.

Well, that was understandable.

They had no idea what was about to happen to them.

But Seong-min knew.

‘Because I heard it from God.’

-What actions will the authorities take when dungeons open?

When he had asked that, God had told him.

That there were directive protocols for when dungeons opened.

‘It’s top secret, but even that can’t escape God’s eyes.’

The country had already made plans for how to act when dungeons opened.

One of those was the forced conscription order for F-rank hunters.

‘It’s a simple plan to capture all F-rank hunters and use them as farming slaves.’

Soon they would round up all F-rank hunters regardless of status and cram them into dormitories.

Then under the pretext of training, they would send them into dungeons and exploit the dropped items.

‘F-rank hunters would only get runes. All other items would be confiscated by the supervising hunters as soon as they dropped.’

In other words, it was no different from using them as farming slaves.

Because F-rank hunters were the most manageable among hunters.

After working them like that, they could only be discharged once they became strong enough to reach E-rank, according to the directive protocols.

‘Even after that, they’d still be exploited to some degree, but escaping F-rank is the most important thing first.’

Fortunately, Seong-min had already risen to E-rank.

But revealing that an F-rank with 0 combat power had risen to E-rank in just one day wouldn’t be good for anything.

‘When rankings are updated in a week, it’ll inevitably be revealed that I’m E-rank.’

Until then, it would be better to live in the dormitory pretending to be F-rank.

‘First, I need to remove all items from my equipment slots. If I wear E-rank equipment carelessly, problems could arise.’

Seong-min moved the E-rank equipment from his equipment slots to his inventory.

These were agility-focused equipment he had bought from the shop, which would give him 77 agility when fully equipped.

‘It’s a shame, but it can’t be helped. I’ll have to hold off until I officially become E-rank in a week.’

Still, he had no regrets about the purchase since he had prepared it in advance for situations like this.

‘I’m glad I was able to get the skill books I wanted too.’

Seong-min opened his skill window to examine the skills he had purchased this time.

[Skill – Slash]

-Rank: E

-Effect: Low chance to cause unconsciousness.

-Damage: Basic attack + 200% of Agility

-Cooldown: 3 seconds

-Usage Restriction: E-rank or higher

-Description: Deals strong physical damage.

[Skill – Dagger Throw]

-Rank: E

-Effect: Throws a dagger.

-Damage: Basic attack + 150% of Agility

-Cooldown: 5 seconds

-Usage Restriction: E-rank or higher, dagger required

-Description: Throws a dagger to deal physical damage. Can hit targets up to 15m away. Thrown dagger is recovered when it hits the target.

[Skill – Sprint]

-Rank: E

-Effect: Movement speed increases by 1.5x.

-Duration: 10 seconds

-Cooldown: 1 hour

-Usage Restriction: E-rank or higher

-Description: Allows fast running.

‘Two attack skills and one support skill isn’t a bad composition.’

The Slash skill was essential for its high damage, and the Dagger Throw skill was needed to fill the gap in ranged attacks.

‘The Sprint skill can also be used in dangerous moments or when ambushing, so it’s definitely good to learn.’

Though Seong-min had been a one-handed sword warrior and magic swordsman, he also had some knowledge about assassins.

‘For assassins, the ideal ratio is 1:1:2 for Strength:Health:Agility.’

Magic power was never increased.

Because it was completely useless.

‘Since they basically deal physical damage in close combat, they need some Strength and Health as well as Agility.’

The reason for increasing Agility wasn’t just for evasion rate and skill damage, but also because it increased accuracy, making it essential.

‘For assassins who need to precisely strike vital points, accuracy is essential.’

That’s why assassins were also good at throwing and hitting targets.

Seong-min had learned Dagger Throw for that reason.

While he was familiarizing himself with the skill information, the vehicle eventually stopped.

“Get out quickly, you slugs.”

Listening to the Association staff’s harsh words, the F-rank hunters who got off the bus trembled with fear.

“Wh-where is this?”

“There are only trees everywhere?”

The place they had been brought to without knowing where was surrounded by trees on all sides.

It was wide like an open field with only a small platform prepared at the end.

“Wait here until all personnel have gathered.”

At the staff member’s words, the F-rank hunters waited in confusion.

‘They’re like new recruits dragged to army training camp without knowing anything.’

If he hadn’t heard the information in advance, Seong-min might have been as confused as the others.

Screech-

After waiting a bit, several more buses arrived.

And hunters who had been dragged here just as clueless got off the buses one after another.

The number gathered this way easily exceeded 300.

Then a man wearing splendid armor appeared, and the Association staff rushed over and bowed.

“You’ve arrived!”

“Mm, are they all here?”

“We’ve completed conscription of all 320 F-rank hunters planned for today.”

“Good.”

The hunter who appeared to be the commander picked up a microphone.

“Everyone, attention!”

When the crowd focused, the commander opened his mouth.

“I’m B-rank Hunter Yang Jo-young. I’m in charge of your training.”

“Tr-training?”

Among the confused hunters, Seong-min smirked.

Because he knew that while they called it training, it was actually farming slavery.

“Quiet!”

At the B-rank hunter’s booming shout, the F-ranks shut their mouths as if they had become mute.

“From now on, you will live in dormitories and train by entering dungeons to catch monsters. Don’t think about returning home. No one will be sent back until they advance to E-rank.”

“……”

“There are no exceptions for commoners or merchants. Regardless of status, no one can be discharged until becoming E-rank. This is a directive from the Great Hero, so I hope you follow the training well. If anyone shows insincere or subversive attitudes……”

Tssss-

A hammer appeared in the B-rank hunter’s hand.

Crash!

When he struck the ground, dirt flew up with vibrations.

“I’ll beat you to a pulp, so keep that in mind.”

“……”

Yang Jo-young, who had stepped down from the platform, walked toward his villa without looking back.

Leaving behind the F-rank hunters paralyzed with fear.

Of course, only Seong-min had composure in his expression.

Enough to search for Yang Jo-young in the ranking system.

‘Yang Jo-young. Combat power 160,000, world ranking 9,000… Pretty strong for a B-rank.’

That was the end of his assessment.

He felt no fear.

Because he was someone who had reached combat power of 50 million.

When Yang Jo-young left, the most muscular man among the Association staff stepped forward.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Park Chang-seok. I’m a D-rank hunter affiliated with the Association and the instructor who will be responsible for you from now on.”

Unlike the previous world, the Hunter Association here was entirely composed of hunters as staff.

‘The Association here plays a role like the military.’

Perhaps because it was a world where strength meant power, the Association’s influence was much stronger than in the previous world.

That’s why no one thought to resist even when the Association forcibly conscripted them.

Park Chang-seok swept the crowd with sharp eyes.

“There may be merchants and commoners among you, but anyway, you’re all F-rank. Think of yourselves as comrades and get along well without fighting each other. Anyway, when you become E-rank, you’ll all be discharged with equal status. Kek kek.”

“……”

“Then I’ll escort you to the dormitory. Everyone follow me.”

Following the instructor up the mountain path, buildings appeared before long.

“This is a dormitory that can accommodate up to 7,000 people. There are nine more facilities like this nationwide. What does that mean? It means there will be many more batches coming in besides you, so there’s no need to feel wronged.”

There were 200,000 F-rank hunters worldwide.

Of those, Eastland alone had 70,000, so the 320 entering today were just a drop in the bucket.

“New hunters will enter the dormitory every single day from now on. So I hope you follow this instructor’s control well.”

“Yes……”

“Look at those voices. Where are mosquitoes flying around? Do you need to get beaten to death to come to your senses?”

“N-no sir!!!”

“The dormitory houses eight people randomly per room. And the form of address is unified as ‘trainee.’ When your name is called, come forward. Trainee Kim Gyu-seok, Trainee Go Do-hwan……”

Eight hunters whose names were called came forward with tense faces.

“You eight are Team 1. Use room 101. Next, Trainee Suzuki, Trainee Cheol-hwan, Trainee Seong-min……”

Seong-min, whose name was called, belonged to Team 2 out of 40 teams.

‘Lucky. The earlier the team number, the sooner they enter dungeons.’

But there was an unexpected person in the same team.

“Oh? Seong-min!”

‘Gwang-jin?’

To see Gwang-jin, his colleague from when he joined the Hunter Management Center, here.

And in the same team at that.

“Hey, good to see you. I never thought I’d see you in a place like this?”

‘Well, this guy is also an F-rank hunter, so he would have been conscripted too.’

Even though Gwang-jin showed pleasure at seeing him, Seong-min maintained an expressionless face.

“Hey, aren’t you glad to see me?”

“……”

“Why no answer?”

Seong-min even turned his gaze away, ignoring Gwang-jin.

“This bastard is completely ignoring me now? Do you have something against me?”

“……”

“The person who should be upset is me right now. Do you know how much I got chewed out because you didn’t come to work today? The boss only grilled me for no reason, and I was so pissed I almost……”

“Hey, you there!”

The instructor looked at Gwang-jin and beckoned with his finger.

“M-me?”

“Yeah, you. Come here quickly.”

Gwang-jin, who had been walking hesitantly, immediately got hit on the back of the head.

Smack-!

“Ahhh……”

“I told you to come quickly, when did I tell you to walk?”

“S-sorry……”

Smack-!

Gwang-jin, who got hit one more time, fell face-first to the ground.

“And who told you to chatter while I’m assigning rooms? Do you want to die?”

“S-sorry. Sorry……”

“This won’t do. You wait right here. This instructor will give you special character education.”

At that moment, one word came to Gwang-jin’s mind.

‘I’m screwed.’