30. The Test to Cross the Wall

* * *

The Hunter Association headquarters dwarfed even the Blue House in scale. As I gaped at the structure, a sharply dressed woman approached.

“First time seeing it, Eun-ha?”
“I’ve heard much about you from my brother, Vice Chairwoman.”

The word “brother” tasted foreign, but necessary. Jung Na-yoon lived up to her reputation as one of Jin-seok’s heroines – stunning with her elegant black hair. A future conquest, perhaps.

“Really? Then you know why we called you here?”

I’d anticipated this summons. Chairman Choi Cheol-sik soon joined us, toothpick dangling from his mouth like every middle-aged boss I’d known in my corporate life.

“Khem. Long time since you were this small, Eun-ha.”
His gleaming bald head nearly made me laugh. Was “Solar Fist” his ability? He kept mopping sweat from his scalp.

“We met when I was young?”
“Very young. No injuries from Jae-su?”
“None. Though Si-woo the Divine Sword wielder…”

I couldn’t exactly mention his gender transition. The androgynous form still needed…development.

“The Association wishes to recruit you.”

Becoming a villain while pretending to join? Tempting, but no.

“I plan to consider guild offers after graduation.”

A safe answer – most top guilds were run by Jin-seok’s former lovers anyway. Their rivalries made cooperation impossible.

“Quite blunt, aren’t you?”
“I’m pretty, powerful, and worth it. Guilds are already courting me.”

Half-performance, half-truth. My arrogance attracted admirers regardless of gender.

“What would change your mind?”
“Let me cross the Wall.”

The quarantine barrier isolating Incheon and other corrupted zones. Their expressions twisted.

“That’s lawless territory!”
“I want to survey the contaminated areas. Find hidden gates, harvest mana crystals.”

These “Erosion Zones” remained unmapped since the cataclysm – perfect havens for monsters and fugitives. Unauthorized crossing branded one a villain instantly.

“Very well. Prove your strength first. Baek Cheong-gang of White Tiger Guild will test you.”

* * *

The training grounds held two figures: a middle-aged man in white martial arts garb and a black-haired girl sucking candy.

“Ah, Jin-seok’s sister! Gorgeous. You’re my little sis now.”

Baek Cheong-gang – “Iron Fist” – looked decades older than his 20s. Beside him, Seo Ji-yeon, the “Photographer of Death,” played with magical gadgets despite being my age.

Her terrifying ability? Framing reality within hand-made rectangles to erase or incinerate whatever she “photographed.” Strong opponents resisted deletion but could be dragged into her mental world. And she was cute, despite her speech affectations.

“Show me what you’ve got,” Baek said, mana coiling around his fists into tiger heads – his signature White Tiger Fist technique.

I assumed a taekwondo stance, drawing chuckles.

“Thought you used swords?”
“Pretty girls master everything.”

Rather than dodging, I took the S-rank punch head-on.

*CRACK*

The blow halted against my draconic durability. Baek’s confusion was priceless.

“Adamantine defense?”
“Not quite.”

Grabbing his arm, I unleashed White Flame – not absorbing his mana but incinerating it.

“My energy’s draining?!”
“Pfft. Getting mana-drained at your age?” Ji-yeon mocked.

As Baek collapsed, Ji-yeon interrogated me:

“You burned it away completely? Can you purify the miasma beyond the Wall too?”

Chairman Choi’s bald head gleamed with excitement. “White Flame purifies and destroys?”
“Precisely.”

With Ji-yeon’s endorsement, approval was inevitable.

“You’ll have your pass. Just avoid Jin-seok.”

Baek, now groaning on the floor, made a last pitch: “Join my guild after graduation? Three billion won contract…”

I declined. Even a dragon has standards – no tacky martial arts guilds for me.