episode_0228

Everyone knows this, but there are some absolute laws in this land called Korea.

Things like, ‘A bowl of rice should never cost more than 1,000 won and should always be served in a silver stainless steel bowl,’ or ‘The weather must be bad on the day of an important exam.’

Of course, among the ones mentioned above, the former one almost broke at one point for one reason or another, but the latter one could be said to have never been broken, literally something close to absolute.

This has been proven through the example of the Scholastic Ability Test, or so-called College Scholastic Ability Test, which is held every November.

Haven’t we all experienced it at least once?

It was definitely a cool fall day until just yesterday, but as the day of the college entrance exam arrived, the weather got so cold that it was difficult to endure without wearing a ghostly thick padding.

Of course, I have never seen anything like the CSAT.

This is because they have lived a different life than typical high school students.

Nevertheless, the reason why I know that the weather gets cold on the day of the college entrance exam is because when kids of the same age as me were leaving the exam room with a relieved heart, I was in front of them handing out flyers with the name of a college for college entrance exams printed on them.

Now that I think about it, it’s really ironic, but it was still okay as a punishment.

If you work in the cold for just a few hours, not all day, you get paid an amount that is incomparable to ordinary part-time jobs.

Anyway, why is he suddenly saying this…

“No, isn’t it still October? But does this weather make sense?”

I don’t know if he was mistaken about the date, or if he wanted to claim that the Hunter License Test was just as important as the College Scholastic Ability Test, but that damn law had brought a cold spell several weeks early.

“No matter how late it is at the end of October, it’s minus 5 degrees… This is Korea, this is Northern Europe.”

“Hey, you know what?”

“What.”

“A strong wind warning was issued about 5 minutes ago.”

“What…?!”

No, it’s still this cold and the wind is blowing here…?

“They even said it was going to rain in an hour.”

“Are you sure?”

“If you don’t believe it, check it yourself.”

“You’re crazy…”

You may be asking what the exam has to do with the weather, but it has a relationship with the hunter license exam, even if it doesn’t apply to other exams.

This is because, unlike the CSAT, which is held indoors from start to finish, all subjects except the written exam for the Hunter License Exam are taken outdoors.

I understand that this happened naturally because a huge number of test takers gathered each time a test was held, and even if it was broken down into as many pieces as possible, it was difficult to find facilities that could fit all that many people…

It might already be cold, but the wind is strong enough to warrant a gale warning, and it’s even raining?

How many people would be able to demonstrate their skills under such adverse conditions?

“The association won’t take any action this time, right?”

“Maybe so? In the first place, the association’s position is that all such things are part of ability.”

“From what I’ve seen, it seems like it’s just because I don’t want to work.”

“I also tend to think that way… but you are also a hands-on person and must have fallen into the cracks often, so you know that, right? It’s not just wrong.”

“···That’s right.”

In the first place, the space called a crack can be said to be an unknown itself.

Although many cracks have been exploited by hunters and some information has been accumulated, this is still the case.

Although it is possible to predict the approximate grade of a crack or what monsters will appear using the intensity of the waves emitted from the entrance of the crack, it is virtually impossible to even predict the environment inside the crack.

Therefore, one of the most important virtues required of hunters is consistency, which allows them to demonstrate their best abilities in any environment.

But the weather is a bit cold and rainy and windy, so you’re whining?

If there were such a person, wouldn’t he be cut from the position of examiner in charge of managing the test site?

“Ha, man… I’m so nervous about this.”

“Why? Are you afraid it will be very cold? Then, you should stop by a supermarket or something right now and pick up a hot pack or something.”

“No, that’s not it…”

“Then?”

“Rahee, you know. My goal this time is to be in the middle, no more, no less.”

Of course, I was talking about the middle of the successful applicants.

If you are in the middle of all applicants, you won’t even be able to get to the bottom, let alone pass.

“But the weather is like this, so I have no idea where to start controlling my strength and how to achieve that goal. What does that mean?”

“That’s right.”

“Ugh… I’m out of luck.”

I said it in a very serious way, but from Rahee’s perspective, it felt like nothing more than a surprise brag.

Rahee, who had taken the driver’s seat instead of me, shook her head, clutching the steering wheel tightly with her hands, telling me to rest a little longer since I was taking an exam.

“No, you say that, but don’t drink it. Isn’t this also important in its own way?”

“Well, I guess so.”

“Why don’t you think about it? What happens if I suddenly ace the exam this quarter?”

“What is that…”

Because the signal changed at that moment, Rahee’s words couldn’t continue until the end, but honestly, it was obvious what would happen next.

First of all, the article will appear.

Mr. Yoon, who took the test at an exam center in Seoul, took the top spot in this quarter’s hunter license test.

And once the article is published… it won’t take a few hours for my identity to be revealed.

There are people everywhere who like to talk about what they know, and people who took the test at the same exam center as me will spread information related to me here and there.

“If my name is revealed like that, it will soon be revealed that I am the ‘Yoon Soo-hyun’ who was bullied by the entire nation in the past, right?”

“Umm···.”

“A promising star who was thought to have fallen returns to the public after hard work? This is a story that people are bound to like.”

“···So?”

“But seeing as they all ganged up on me and beat me up in the past, I guess they just like me like that?”

If people had a conscience, it would be so.

Well, I already know that there are a lot more people in the world who aren’t like that.

“It will be quite difficult for the association as well. In fact, the guy who was used as a throwaway came back with a talent that was useful enough to take the top spot in the notoriously difficult licensing exam.”

The association is always thirsty for new faces.

But what if the guy you thought was a capable newbie turns out to be a used newbie, and you don’t have any good feelings towards them?

“Oh no, you must be crying. On the day that I suddenly become a naturalized person somewhere, many people who have trouble with their conscience in one way or another will see this as an opportunity and try to blame everything on the association.”

Even if I don’t know anything else, I can be sure of that one part because it is much easier to ‘blame someone else’ than ‘my fault’.

There’s no way the association’s leaders wouldn’t know that fact, so they’d probably try to appease me somehow before the situation escalates to the worst.

“But I don’t like that.”

To be exact, I didn’t want to see that happen.

The people who put people in the mat and beat them up with excitement are now saying that it’s all the association’s fault and acting as if nothing is their fault. The association that was used as a throwaway for their own convenience when they were at an age when they should have been protected has now come to an end. I didn’t want to see him bowing down to me either.

“If we look at that, it seems like everything that is left in this country will be wiped out.”

“···.”

I told Rahee that I had no intention of immigrating, but you never know.

If I see something like that, my thoughts might change a bit.

“So, I hope that among the successful applicants, only the middle of the rankings go… but the weather is not helping.”

No, even in times like this, if I get some help, will it be worth it?

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Rahee, who listened to me in silence with a slightly stiff face, dropped me off in front of the exam room and left.

It was a bonus to be told that I would come pick you up at the end of the exam, so I should call you right away when it’s over and don’t go somewhere else.

And so, leaving Rahee off, I entered the testing room and started taking the test…

First of all, the written test was passable.

I wonder if the lectures I took in college were in vain, because the only questions I knew were the ones I knew.

Thanks to this, it wasn’t that difficult to manipulate the scores as I wanted.

The problem arose in the practical exam, not in the writing.

In the physical fitness test, which was the first subject of the practical exam, I succeeded in adjusting myself to just the middle range after watching other people do it.

I ended up making a mistake in a subject called the destructive ability test among students.

Kwaang!

‘No, fuck…’

No matter how cold the day was, who would have thought that there would be thin ice on the floor of the exam room…

As soon as I stretched out my fist, I was so embarrassed that my body began to jerk and slip arbitrarily, and without realizing it, the inner energy I drew from the Danjeon book wrapped around my fist and was emitting a cold blue light.

The scarecrow that had come into contact with my fist was rolling around on the floor of the exam room, torn to pieces, as if it had suffered some kind of ecstasy.

And the other test takers who seemed to be possessed by the meerkat as a group, perhaps startled by the sudden loud noise… and even the examiner’s face, which clearly showed a look of confusion.

The moment I saw all of that, I wanted to slap my forehead with my hand.

“Uh… is this really this easy to break?”

“···No. Regardless of what it looks like, it is an item that not only has increased durability but also has a self-repair function.”

“Ah, what a defect. Well then!”

“···?”

“I guess the scarecrow was defective. Haha… Since it was defective, can I try it again?”

I tried to accept the opportunity to try again as naturally as possible, but I didn’t know that the examiner in charge of the B sector assigned to me would keep his mouth shut and open.

“···It won’t work, right?”

“Yes, because there is only one opportunity per applicant.”

“Ha···.”

I’m so tired of this.