Chapter 518: Meeting Minutes (3)

The promotion statement that came out of Boss-nim’s mouth was enough to surprise me.

“A promotion, did you say?”

“Uh-huh, a promotion.”

…Promotion.

Of course, moving up to a higher rank was something I wouldn’t mind, but moving up this quickly was an unexpected development even for me.

That’s because less than half a year had passed since my last promotion date.

I transferred from the guild to the company around the end of October last year.

Counting from the day I took the promotion test, it was a promotion in about 4 to 5 months.

For reference, promotion tests, even at the earliest, can only be taken once a year according to company rules. The same goes for retakes after failing once.

So I had practically given up on promotion until the end of this year.

Could it be that the Boss would bring up my promotion first? Anyway, that was something I hadn’t considered.

“…It’s faster than I thought.”

“That’s true, but you’ve achieved that much. Keeping you stuck at B-rank like this is more of a waste.”

“I do think so too.”

“Being full of confidence is good.”

The Boss rummaged through the documents on the desk, looking them over.

Looking at the roughly written contents, they were documents detailing my activities at the company over the past 4 months.

“First of all, the overall efficiency has increased quite a bit since you started working at Sky Blue Shield. Honestly, it’s increased to the point where even I didn’t expect it to go up this much.”

“Is it that much?”

“Well, you might not know since you only saw things after you started working, but originally, catching about two Queen Spiders in the Crystal Spider Cave was the highest efficiency your party could achieve. How about now?”

“If a White Crystal Spider Queen is included, it’s three; otherwise, it’s usually about four.”

“That’s almost double! Of course, your awakened ability is useful in all directions, but still, for adding just one person, it’s an absurd efficiency.”

“…That would be true.”

The existing 4-person party had nearly doubled their performance, so in terms of efficiency, it was naturally an absurd increase.

Moreover, being able to tackle the White Crystal Spider Queen’s nest was largely because I joined.

They had also mentioned failing after trying several times before.

Of course, the synergy created by how well I and the other party members meshed in many ways also played a part, but even considering that, double the efficiency was definitely a leap in growth.

…Of course, combat ability from ‘party activities’ wasn’t the only factor in Sky Blue Shield’s growth.

“Besides that, you seem to be working hard in the company’s recovery room lately. Other hunters are praising you quite a bit. They say your wounds truly heal as if washed away, even though you’re a male healer.”

“Well, I only treat wounds that I can treat.”

“So, although it’s a bit early, I’m thinking of just promoting you straight to A-rank. Honestly, if it were up to me, I’d want to promote you to A+ too, but you know you can’t jump two ranks because of regulations, right?”

“I know that, but according to the original rules, shouldn’t I not even be able to reach A-rank? Less than half a year hasn’t passed since I was promoted to B-rank…”

“Yeah. That rank was achieved as ‘Kim Sungchul’ from the ‘Hunters’ Autonomous Union’, right? When transferring to the company, you joined as B-rank Hunter Sung Taekyung from the start. Strictly speaking, it’s not a violation of regulations, so it doesn’t matter.”

“…That’s true.”

There’s no reason to include the promotion test taken before the transfer in the company regulations.

As expected, because they’re the boss running the whole company, they were adept at using the loopholes in the regulations the best.

As for me, there was no reason to refuse. Becoming a higher-ranked hunter was always welcome.

…Anyway, the first time I manifested my awakened ability was only around June last year, I think.

Although I used a little trick, reaching A-rank Hunter in less than a year anyway was an unusually exceptional promotion.

In the first place, according to company rules where promotion tests can be taken once a year, it was an impossible promotion through normal means.

“Normally, moving up from B-rank to A-rank is done through a test, but your performance is so good that we’ll just make do with a simplified test.”

“…Still, you’re giving me a test.”

“Since it’s you, with your abilities, you’re bound to pass anyway, so you don’t need to worry. You probably might not even need to hunt?”

“What? It’s a promotion test, is that okay?”

“I said it’s simplified. And while it wouldn’t be okay for anyone else, it’s fine for you to do it this way.”

“I can do it this way…?”

Maybe I thought they might be giving me special treatment because I’m the only male hunter, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

Well, the meaning of giving special treatment was correct, but it was a bit different from the special treatment given because I’m a male hunter.

It was closer to giving special treatment regarding one type of my awakened ability.

“Do you know what day next Friday is?”

“Um… The day before next weekend?”

“…It’s the Integrated Management Day for the shared B-rank Dungeon, ‘Abandoned Village’.”

“Ah.”

…Right, I remembered.

That periodically, an integrated management occurs in the shared dungeon ‘Abandoned Village’ to reduce the monster population.

As I mentioned before, Abandoned Village was a type of shared dungeon managed jointly by Korea’s top 3 guilds.

Eun & Ok Co., Ltd.

Hunters’ Autonomous Union.

And even the international guild, Ariel Foundation, although not a Korean company.

Other dungeons are left to the natural management of hunters, but why is Abandoned Village managed specially? It’s because that dungeon is an area that occupied part of Korea and became a dungeon.

Unlike other dungeons, if the monster population inside isn’t periodically reduced, they might break the barrier and monsters might leak out at any time; that was the reason.

Thus, the day designated once a year to reduce the internal monster population as much as possible was the ‘Abandoned Village Integrated Management Day’.

…To be honest, the dungeon itself isn’t a place with many good memories.

After all, I too was one of the victims who lost my parents due to the ‘Abandoned Village Dungeonization Incident’ 12 years ago.

As soon as I became a C-rank Hunter, I did manage to sort out my emotions to some extent by killing Treralodon, the enemy of my parents, with my own two hands, but still, it would take a little more time to completely shake it off.

But what’s the connection between the Abandoned Village Integrated Management Day and my promotion test, suddenly?

“Isn’t Abandoned Village a B-rank dungeon? What’s the connection between that place and my simplified promotion test?”

“Listen to me until the end. Integrated Management Day is a day to efficiently eliminate monsters rather than focus on individual performance, so it gathers people of the same job regardless of guild for group operation, you know?”

“Yes. I heard it from Hye-eun… the party leader before.”

“But even if all three guilds gather, what’s always lacking are recovery-type hunters like you. Especially the manpower for hunters who directly treat wounds-there are really very few applicants.”

“…That would be true. There are hardly any recovery-type hunters who like going directly into dungeons.”

“So the top 3 guilds gathered and agreed. Recovery-type hunters are essential, but they’re so hard to gather, so recovery-type hunters participating in the Abandoned Village Integrated Management Day will be considered as having taken the promotion test and will be given the reward of a one-rank promotion.”

“…Ah.”

“Now you finally look like you understand what I’m saying.”

As she said, I could now clearly understand what the simplified promotion test the Boss mentioned meant.

Up to B-rank, I proved my swordsmanship ability and raised my rank, but there was no need to prove my swordsmanship skills even when promoting to A-rank.

In the first place, from the fact that efficiency doubled after I joined Sky Blue Shield, my abilities as a combat member were already recognized.

Already in President Seo Ok-hee’s mind, she thinks of me as A+-rank Hunter level, so she must feel the promotion test itself is meaningless.

So, instead of going through the trouble of taking a separate promotion test, it must mean to use a little trick and quickly rise to A-rank.

I was a multi-awakened individual who could utilize my awakened ability not only for swordsmanship or magic but also for recovery.

“I’m fine with it because it’s convenient, but is it okay to get promoted using such a trick?”

“What’s wrong with that? Since I guarantee your skills anyway, it doesn’t matter. You can’t even misuse it in the first place. A hunter who is both a recovery-type and possesses combat abilities-their value is more than just A-rank.”

“…That’s true too.”

“If you understand, take this, fill it out, and submit it to the HR department. It’s an external activity report for recovery-type hunters. Except for your personal details, the rest has been roughly filled out; just fill in your name, resident registration number, and awakened ability roughly and submit it.”

“Ah, thank you.”

I immediately and concisely checked the contents of the external activity report I received from her.

As the Boss said, the blanks for external activity details or participation dates were already filled in with her handwriting.

Unlike her blunt and cynical attitude, seeing things like this makes me feel that she’s secretly a warm-hearted person.

“Then, is this the end?”

“Yeah. For reference, A-rank is the last Hunter rank you can achieve with this anyway, so don’t think about using tricks next time.”

“I wasn’t even thinking about it. You’d reject it anyway, even if I did.”

“You know well. Then take that and go in. If you don’t know while filling it out, ask Han Min-ah from your party; she’ll probably tell you.”

“Yes, Boss-nim.”

After folding the ‘External Activity Report’ received from the Boss in half and holding it in one hand.

Before finally leaving, I bowed 90 degrees to her and said my farewells.

“Thank you for your consideration in many ways, Boss-nim.”

“Yeah. Don’t make a fuss and go back quickly.”

“…Yes.”

Anyway, in many ways, she’s a really cool person.

Yet, seeing that she takes care of things like this external activity report personally and even considers promotions, it was evident that she’s definitely a good person.

Then, holding the external activity report received from the Boss, I went down to the Sky Blue Shield conference room and finished filling in the remaining parts.

Without delay, I submitted it to the 3rd-floor HR department right away and left work.

There was no reason to postpone things like this and submit them late.

“…Hoo.”

A-rank. An A-rank Hunter.

“…With this, I’ve finally reached an equal starting line.”

The other colleagues at Sky Blue Shield.

Especially to reach an equal level with Hye-eun, who grew up dreaming of being a hunter together with me since childhood.

It was a triumphant achievement obtained in less than a year from the day I officially manifested my awakened ability.

…Well, it’s not an official promotion yet, though.