2 – Renewal

And so… I was kicked out.

Officer Dan, wearing an expression similar to that of a wife looking at her husband who’d mixed up his ex-girlfriend’s birthday with her own, said…

—Don’t even think about coming back until you renew your Hunter license!!!

Nee-eng.

I was kicked out.

All I had left was this pitiful yet beautiful body, a single suit, and the Ego Violin that was still nagging beside me today….

“Officer Dan is too much….”

No, but when I think about it, it’s unfair.

What did beautiful me do wrong?! -You did a lot wrong.-

How, how could you do this to me!

How could you unleash such terrible anger on someone as pretty as me!

You enjoyed the right to admire my beauty from the closest proximity, and now you’re just shutting your mouth and pretending you don’t know me!?

Really, humans are always shameless, no matter the world!

Ah, Officer Dan Ah-yeon, who ruthlessly and viciously chased me, who was living peacefully and humanely…

This is like a beautiful Cinderella being abused by her stepmother, weeping pitifully and sadly.

It’s really too much.

‘Ugh, stop it. Stop it.’

Actually, it’s my fault.

I completely forgot about renewing my Hunter license, which is my lifeline, my source of life, and directly connected to my mental stability.

For other financial and administrative procedures, Officer Dan could handle the work as my agent and lawyer, but for matters related to Hunters, it was a principle that I had to do it myself.

Awakened and Hunters basically exist to protect the world by blocking and repelling Rifts and Monsters, Weirdness, Gates, and Dungeons that come from the Otherworld.

The Hunter Association divides these Awakened into grades and gives them Dungeon entry qualifications, which can be seen as a kind of advocate for their rights. And since many lives can depend on a single Hunter, who else but the Hunter themselves could handle such a Hunter license?

For reference, this was also one of the principles written in blood.

‘There were quite a few cases in the past where people used proxies to get Hunter qualifications, right? I know that the son of some high-ranking official even forged a B-grade Hunter license just because being D-grade was embarrassing.’

For reference, that grade-faking criminal was no longer of this world.

I heard that his limbs were cut off and he was used as a human shield by a Black Goblin Knight, and although the rescue team saved him, he released all the Mana barrier in his body during treatment and jumped off the hospital rooftop to commit suicide.

How unfortunate~

That’s why you should only be reckless in moderation.

If monster hunting and Dungeon raids could be done with money, as the high-ranking official thought, the world would already be peaceful.

Anyway, in the past, low-grade Hunters often gave money to Hunters higher than them to take the promotion test on their behalf, receiving a higher grade than their actual skill.

In fact, in the early days, the government and the Hunter Association thought, ‘If you get a higher grade than your own qualification, the risk of losing your life is high due to the nature of Dungeons and Rifts,’ and that no sane person would have a reason to get a higher grade than their own by using illegal methods.

‘But that was underestimating human stupidity too much~’

And in human society, the Hunter license was something more than just a qualification that implied many things.

An ID card, a badge of honor, and the right to earn a huge amount of money the higher the grade.

Even without any achievements, just having a high-grade Hunter license brings in higher salaries and better contract offers. And if you’re B-grade or higher, you can get the title of high-ranking Hunter, so honor naturally follows.

Then, when a Rift bursts and Monsters flood out, the documents say that 30 B-grade Hunters went to protect the citizens, but in reality, a party of useless Hunters consisting of 11 C-grades, 18 D-grades, and 1 F-grade has to take responsibility for the safety of the citizens.

It’s obvious, but someone’s complacency and greed called for the blood of innocent people who had nothing to do with it.

And not just one person’s blood, but the blood of many people.

In conclusion, in modern times, a rule-oriented order system has been established regarding Hunter licenses, where you must do it yourself and go through a strict screening process and procedures without compromise, no matter who the other party is.

So, although the government and public institutions are not trustworthy, the Hunter Association’s credibility is quite high even among ordinary citizens.

So much so that it’s more trustworthy than the post office.

Anyway, and so… I arrived at the Hunter Association!

The building, which looked like a sparkling and streamlined work of art that seemed like it should host an EXCO, was the headquarters of the Hunter Association’s Korean branch.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been here~”

Has it been almost a year?

I don’t even remember exactly when I came.

For reference, all sorts of Protective Spells, traps, interception spells, and Mana mines were hidden around the Hunter Association.

It’s not like they’ve only received terrorist threats once or twice, and the Hunter Association building has actually been blown up entirely before.

The reason why the Hunter Association now has such a round and spiky strange shape is said to be because they’ve plastered it with Protective Spells that incorporate a kind of magical effect.

There’s no one there.

The time is already 11:29 PM.

It’s said that Hunters have no day or night, but usually, there aren’t many people at the Hunter Association at this time.

Of course, the Hunter Association is operating 24 hours a day because it always has to prepare for and handle emergencies.

I’m glad I came late at night when there’s no one around.

Actually, Officer Dan kicked me out around 1 PM, but since I was out anyway, I went to try the Kobold meat tanghulu that’s popular these days. I also secretly watched the newly released movie and spent some time before heading to the Hunter Association.

• Entry verification

• No license possessed

• Purpose of visit verification

“Hello~”

Instead of a person, what greeted me was a sleek metal body and a female-type doll with several arms and legs like a spider.

The doll’s name is Sarah.

It’s said to be made by injecting Hunter Association work data based on artificial intelligence into a mechanical golem.

Since Awakened are also people, there are some who cause trouble or inconvenience, and it was considered difficult for civilians with no power to deal with them, so it was deployed. In fact, the number of complaints at the Hunter Association has noticeably decreased since Sarah was deployed.

It’s also because Sarah, being machine-based, can’t make mistakes in the data.

If a Hunter does something rude or outrageous, Sarah is said to enter extermination mode.

For reference, Sarah was made by the first-generation highest-ranking Awakened, so she can even handle early A-grades?

So, Sarah is currently in charge of handling civil complaints, administrative work, and even security for the Hunter Association building.

For reference, Sarah is recognized as a sentient being, receives a separate salary, and even has separate vacations.

The disadvantage is… that she’s too mechanical?

She has no flexibility at all.

“You know me, right~?Response, Hunter license not possessed.

• Female, race…unknown, confirmed as Demonkind-based human based on external data.

• Checking data… none.

If you wish to register anew, please fill in the personal information section in the example.

“Aaaah, I’m sad. Even though you witnessed my beauty, you forgot it, even though you’re artificial intelligence….”

Look at this.

It’s really sad artificial intelligence….

You’ve seen me before, so how can you forget me?

Don’t tell me not to talk nonsense to artificial intelligence.

Don’t say things you don’t know.

Even artificial intelligence is often treated as a personality these days, and if humans or inanimate objects see beautiful me, my beauty will be eternally engraved in their cognitive abilities and retinas!

But this artificial intelligence forgot me because I didn’t visit for only a year… or maybe it’s been longer, but anyway, it hasn’t been that long….

This is misfortune, this is a curse, this is regret.

Ah, how sad.

“Sniff, poor Sarah, to forget beautiful me….”Response, I am not poor.”

• Please state the purpose of your visit to the Hunter Association.

Your friendly doll Sarah will guide you.

“Sarah, would you like to have a drink with me? I’ll take you to a good place.”Checking Article 3, Section 17 of the handling of troublemakers.”

There is a possibility that a forceful exclusion method will be adopted if continuous obstruction of work is attempted.

The complainant is requested to state the correct purpose of the visit.

“Hey, you still don’t understand the concept of a joke?”I don’t like it.”

Hmph.

I’m being rejected like this.

I’m so sad.

So sad….

‘Ah, should I just charm her?’

No. No.

I’m just here to renew my license today, so I shouldn’t do anything unnecessary.

“I came to apply for a Hunter license renewal. The name is Lee Jae Hee.Checking….

• Hunter Lee Jae Hee, confirmed. Hunter license has been revoked due to continuous lack of contact and inability to confirm Hunter activity.

Hmm, I was wondering, but it really has been completely revoked….

In fact, Hunters are a profession that always has death close by.

It’s not just the known Dungeons, but the unexplored Otherworlds, the unidentified Rifts that are explored every day, and the Weirdness or Monsters that can instantly kill people just by making eye contact are everywhere in the Rift.

So, it was only natural to treat Hunters who couldn’t be contacted as missing or dead for the sake of smooth Association administrative work.

Why not collaborate with government agencies to check resident registration, death reports, and missing person reports?

It was only recently that a major disaster occurred when the government held and shook the Hunters’ identities and personal information.

So, the Korean Hunter Association extremely refuses to hand over or request Hunters’ personal information to the government and its agencies.

Except for national disaster situations, it’s no exaggeration to say that it’s a very closed organization.

In fact, the Hunter Association is a place where all information is prohibited from being accessed by the government, agencies, politicians, and civilians, except for Hunters.

It was only natural that Officer Dan, who has a foot in the government, couldn’t handle my Hunter license-related affairs.

Anyway, usually, if a Hunter’s Dungeon entry isn’t confirmed for 2 weeks.

If they don’t respond to the Hunter Association’s contact, they’re treated as missing.

And if the missing period exceeds one month, they’re treated as dead and their Hunter license is revoked.

Of course, this is also a principle written in blood.

There were countless cases where an agency killed a sleeping Hunter and continuously received related subsidies.

There were many cases of all sorts of abuse that made the above case look like child’s play.

‘But my case is a bit special, right? They were so devoted that they sent hundreds of calls and texts. Hehehe, I’m so beautiful, after all.’

Anyway, let’s stop the self-praise about beauty here.

Just like water flows, wind blows, and clouds float, I’m beautiful, a natural and obvious fact, so even if I don’t constantly mention it, I’m beautiful, so I should focus on what I have to do today.

“What should I do if my Hunter license has been revoked?”Response, you must go through the license reapplication procedure.”

Your Hunter license reapplication procedure is….

-…

-…calculating….

—no cases.

“Oh my?”

There are no cases?

What does that mean?

• High-ranking Hunter ignored a total of 382 contact attempts

• The Hunter ignored 285 license renewal request texts.

-11 home visits also resulted in absence.

“Oh, um….”

Actually, this is because I had a slight misunderstanding.

I’m so beautiful that strange flies are always buzzing around me, right?

Grandfather seems to be meeting me almost once a week these days. Even if it’s not him, if I just go out on the street, people ask for my phone number every day. They beg me to date them….

Even today, while I was watching a movie, a man who was sitting next to his girlfriend suddenly asked me for my phone number….

Anyway, because of this, I have no choice but to ignore or turn away all calls, messages, and visitors who come to me unless they’re verified people.

There are no such cases for high-ranking Hunters.

Conclusion, after a total of 683 survival and qualification confirmation attempts, the Hunter is processed as missing and dead during Dungeon raid.

-But why did you come now?

• It’s impossible for a human to do this.

“….”

But I do feel a bit sorry that they tried to contact me 683 times.

Considering the above situation comprehensively, Hunter Lee Jae Hee avoided contacting the Association for fear of a grade decrease due to Superpower loss. Is that correct?

“Huh, no…?”If so, you deliberately omitted your existing qualifications and withheld license renewal in order to conceal that you do not have the qualifications of a high-ranking Hunter by falsely reporting achievements.” Is that correct?

“No….”Then I will ask for the reason.” I inform you that if the reason is not valid, your Hunter license may be permanently suspended.

“No, I just… forgot.”

-…?

Sarah’s eyes narrowed.

They’re definitely doll’s eyes, but they seem to have narrowed for sure.

It feels like I’m seeing a creature for the first time.

• Calculating, it’s impossible for a human to do this.

• It’s impossible for a human to forget something this important.

It’s impossible for a human to ignore all 683 contact attempts.

“….”

Human Lee Jae Hee.

AI judgment result: not human.

“No, well… you can forget, can’t you…”