Chapter 283 – Part 2 – Elite

“What? Too boring?”

The first to burst into laughter at Seong-min’s words about it being boring was Gwang-jin.

“A guy who was cowering in the back just watching like a coward says it’s boring? Pfft, you should know when to stop showing off.”

The other team members also seemed to agree, smirking at the corners of their mouths.

Well, it was natural for them to laugh when a fellow F-rank hunter was speaking so arrogantly.

“Hey, Seong-min. Get a grip. They might look cute, but do you know how strong horn rabbits are? A guy who hasn’t even faced one directly is talking nonsense.”

Instructor Park Chang-seok, who was listening, was equally dumbfounded.

“Trainee Seong-min.”

“Yes.”

“Do horn rabbits look easy to you?”

“In my eyes, yes.”

“Then try catching one by yourself.”

At the instructor’s order, Gwang-jin laughed as if it served him right.

On the other hand, the other team members thought it was unfair and cautiously spoke up.

“Um, even so, it’s his first time hunting, so telling him to catch one alone…”

“Other trainees stay back!”

While the team members watched with worried eyes, Seong-min confidently walked toward the horn rabbit.

With just a dagger in his hand.

Kyuuung-

The horn rabbit spotted Seong-min and raised its head, showing its horn.

At that moment.

Thunk- Thunk-!

Seong-min stabbed the dagger twice under its jaw and turned around as if it was over.

“Danger…”

The team members who were about to shout about danger lost their words.

Because the horn rabbit had turned to smoke and disappeared.

‘What, what? He killed a horn rabbit that easily?’

Gwang-jin stared in disbelief, but with the corpse having disappeared, it was definitely dead.

‘Amazing…!’

The instructor who watched Seong-min’s movement was inwardly impressed.

‘He struck the weak point very precisely and concisely.’

It was clean movement that was hard to believe from an F-rank.

“Can I keep catching them?”

At Seong-min’s question, the instructor nodded, and soon a massacre began.

Thunk- Thunk-!

Kyuuung!

Thunk- Thunk-!

As if killing the horn rabbit wasn’t a coincidence, Seong-min brought down every one he saw with two dagger strikes.

It was unbelievably fast and concise movement.

“H-how can he move like that…”

“I-is he really the same F-rank?”

Watching him dodge horn rabbit attacks as if he expected them and stab with his dagger, he looked like a veteran who had been through everything.

“Trainee Seong-min.”

“Yes.”

“Have you caught horn rabbits before?”

The instructor regretted asking as soon as he said it.

Because he had checked Seong-min’s ranking just yesterday.

‘Having 0 combat power means he’s never fought before.’

It was a stupid question, but Seong-min answered calmly.

“No. This is my first time catching them.”

“Right, of course.”

Park Chang-seok’s gaze toward Seong-min changed.

‘To kill them so cleanly even though it’s his first time…’

Just knowing the weak point doesn’t mean you can kill them that easily.

‘To kill with two dagger strikes, you need to stab the exact spot with sufficient force.’

But Seong-min was instinctively realizing this fact and putting it into action.

And with clean movement that was hard to believe from a beginner.

‘Is he a genius? Or an S-rank trait?’

Whatever it was, he was definitely talented.

Seong-min smiled inwardly at the instructor’s suddenly sparkling eyes.

‘I think I’ve achieved my goal of catching the instructor’s attention.’

He would probably think of him as a genius with an S-rank trait.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to kill horn rabbits this easily.

‘If he asks, I should lie and say it’s an S-rank trait. Oh, it’s not really a lie since I do have S-rank ones.’

In the past, Seong-min had succumbed to Nam-gi’s threats and revealed that his trait was F-rank.

Nam-gi had been busy spreading rumors about it to colleagues and superiors to put him down.

‘If they investigate the Hunter Management Center, they’ll find out my trait is F-rank, but it doesn’t matter. I can just say I lied because I was worried about jealousy.’

Anyway, there was no way to verify traits, and most importantly, combat power was what mattered, so there wouldn’t be a problem.

‘Actually, I could kill horn rabbits in one hit, but if I go too overboard from the start, it’ll raise suspicion.’

If he showed himself gradually getting stronger day by day within believable limits?

‘When I become E-rank in a week, they’ll be surprised but won’t be suspicious.’

That’s why he could afford to be a bit more arrogant.

After all, he had decided to maintain the concept of being a genius with an S-rank trait.

“Instructor.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s too boring, so aren’t there any stronger ones?”

* * *

Knock knock-

“Come in.”

At the answer from inside, Instructor Park Chang-seok opened the office door.

B-rank Hunter Yang Jo-young, who was in charge of overall training, was waiting with his chin propped up.

“Did you call for me?”

“Sit down.”

When Park Chang-seok sat on the sofa at attention, Yang Jo-young chuckled.

“Relax. I didn’t call you to scold you.”

“Ah, understood.”

“You’ve been busy with training lately, haven’t you?”

“No sir.”

“Come on. Anyone can see there aren’t enough instructors compared to trainees.”

“…It is a bit overwhelming.”

“Of course it is. Over 300 trainees come in every day, but the number of instructors is fixed.”

“…”

“Don’t worry. I’ve already told the higher-ups, so instructors will be reinforced by today.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“By the way, how are the trainees? Are they following along well?”

“Yes. They’re all following orders well.”

“It’s been three days now?”

“Yes.”

“Then they should be getting used to the horn rabbit dungeon by now. The skilled ones should already be adapted.”

“That’s right.”

“If they can catch horn rabbits alone, put them in the next dungeon immediately. There probably aren’t any like that yet though.”

“Actually… there is.”

“Huh?”

“If you mean a trainee who can solo clear, there’s already…”

“Tell me in detail.”

Park Chang-seok explained Seong-min’s performance over the past three days without exaggeration.

“He graduated from the horn rabbit dungeon from the first day?”

“Yes. He’s currently hunting in the big-eared monkey dungeon.”

“What?”

The big-eared monkey dungeon was planned to be entered at least a month later.

But to think a talent capable of clearing it appeared in just three days.

“Haha, what kind of guy is that? What’s his identity? Is it an S-rank trait?”

“I actually asked the Hunter Management Center where he works, and they said it was an F-rank trait.”

“F-rank? What nonsense. It must be S-rank.”

“But the center said…”

“Think about it. An F-rank trait graduating from the horn rabbit dungeon in one day and catching big-eared monkeys on the third day? Is that possible by common sense?”

“…”

“Obviously that guy lied to the center about having an F-rank trait.”

“Why would he tell such a lie…”

“I don’t know that far either. Anyway, what’s important is that he’s an incredible talent, right?”

“That’s right.”

“So for now, exclusively mark that trainee named Seong-min and develop him as much as possible. The higher-ups seemed to want us to discover talent during training.”

“Understood.”

“Anyway, an amazing guy came in. If he can clear big-eared monkeys, that means his combat power already exceeds 1,000…”

“At this rate, he might be discharged early in four days.”

“Becoming E-rank in just one week? Haha! Do you think that’s possible when he hasn’t even learned skills? That’s quite a joke.”

The training center only lent F-rank items; they didn’t provide skill books.

“It probably won’t happen, but if that guy really becomes E-rank during this combat power update?”

Yang Jo-young grinned.

“If that happens, I’ll take responsibility for raising him myself.”

* * *

On the sixth day since entering the training center.

Even though it was past bedtime, the trainees were staring at the wall clock with wide eyes.

They were waiting for midnight.

Because it was the day of combat power updates.

“I’m telling you my combat power is 500! If you don’t believe me, just wait five minutes.”

“Hey, want to bet? Who has higher combat power?”

“Don’t be surprised when you see my combat power. Hehe.”

“I’ve been at 0 combat power for 10 years, but it’s finally changing!”

The trainees eagerly wanted their combat power to be updated.

They didn’t want to appear as 0 combat power forever.

Of course, they were also curious about other people’s combat power.

“What will Seong-min’s combat power be?”

“Yeah, I’m really curious.”

The trainees’ biggest interest was Seong-min’s combat power.

He was undoubtedly the elite of the training center.

“About 2,000, don’t you think?”

“I’m betting on 2,500.”

“That high? Aren’t you overestimating too much?”

“Then want to bet? Who can guess closer?”

Gwang-jin, who happened to overhear the murmuring in the corridor, smirked.

‘Idiots. 2,500 isn’t some dog’s name. At most it’ll be around 1,500.’

Gwang-jin alone was underestimating Seong-min.

Because he knew from his workplace supervisor that his trait was F-rank.

‘The instructor said last time that even at the fastest, it takes at least a month to reach 3,000 combat power and be discharged. But a guy who hasn’t even been here a week getting 2,500? No way. I bet 1,500 at most.’

Gwang-jin didn’t acknowledge Seong-min’s skills.

‘He was just lucky, elite my ass…’

Rather, he was busy putting him down.

He had to do that, or his own 400 combat power would look too pathetic.

“Guys, it’s time!”

“Midnight’s almost here.”

“Starting the countdown.”

“3… 2…”

“1…”

At midnight, combat power was updated.

Many F-rank hunters escaped from 0 combat power.

“What about Seong-min?”

“How much is our team’s elite?”

Team 2 members, who were on the same team as Seong-min, searched the ranking system.

The person in question was lying in bed sleeping as if uninterested.

“Huh? What’s this…”

781,531st – Choi Seong-min (20 years old) – Combat Power 3,011 (E-rank)

“His combat power is…”

“Over 3,000…?”

“E-rank? E-rank in just one week?”

Actually, he had been E-rank since entering, but in their eyes, it looked like a result achieved in one week.

“Th-that’s impossible!”

Gwang-jin’s face, which had been smirking, contorted like a tin can.

Seong-min’s team members all had blank expressions.

That’s when it happened.

Creak-

The door opened and Instructor Park Chang-seok entered.

“Trainee Seong-min.”

Seong-min, who woke up, rubbed his sleepy eyes and answered a beat late.

“Yes…”

“Follow me. Hunter Yang Jo-young wants to see you.”

‘Yang Jo-young, that B-rank hunter who uses a hammer?’

At the unexpected summons, Seong-min’s sleepiness completely disappeared.