Thief [10]

"Hey sis, I've gotta go handle some work, but I'll be back later, alright?" Jin-Woo laid a soft hand on his sister's shoulder, shaking her softly.

Jino slowly groaned as she slowly woke from her unconsciousness.

"Hey, I've gotta go, but I'll be back later, cool?" Jin-Woo repeated himself, receiving a soft nod from his baby sister.

"Be safe, alright?" Jino suggested, snuggling up to her pillow after the E-Rank Hunter gave her a small nod and smile.

Jin-Woo made sure to gently close the door behind himself, but not before he looked back and made sure his sister was alright one last time. Now confident he wouldn't have to worry about Jino, Jin-Woo left his home and started his trek towards the re-examination center.

After a lot of careful thinking, he decided that getting a re-examination was the smartest decision for the time being. He doubted that it would bring much attention to him if he didn't awaken to the S-Rank.

Julie was a B-Rank for years before becoming an A-Rank, and that didn't receive any media coverage at all.

"As long as nobody's looking my way, I should be fine. I may have some light rumors flying around because I can't absorb mana crystals, but if I fly under the radar, I should be fine," That was Jin-Woo's line of thinking.

He arrived at the re-examination center within a matter of minutes, and because it was so early in the day, it wasn't very busy. Jin-Woo entered to see a woman behind the front desk with a tired expression. There were a few small guilds around, arriving early to wait out any possible high rankers that may want to join their guilds.

But there weren't any Hunters for them to speak to, so they were just standing around awkward and tired.

There was only one other person. He was one young foreign man with wild, light brown hair and purple-colored eyes. He was looking around and met Jin-Woo's eyes, nodding softly to him. He twirled the Jack of Hearts on his finger, humming softly.

Jin-Woo could sense mana from the man, but it was nowhere near the level of a possible threat. Jin-Woo estimated it was near C-Rank, and even then, it was on the low end of the spectrum. Jin-Woo noted this man's name as well, although it didn't stay with him much longer than any other random persons did.

Jin-Woo approached the woman at the front desk with a smile. He saw her name over her head but didn't pay it much mind.

"How can I help you…?" She asked slowly, her yawn only proving what must've been drowsiness.

"I'd like to take a re-examination test," Jin-Woo smiled at the woman.

The woman, Choi Yoo-Ra, was an Awakened herself, although she wasn't a Hunter. Yoo-Ra had a habit of reading over the mana of the individuals she was supposed to re-evaluate, but when she looked at Jin-Woo, she hesitated to believe he was even an Awakened at all.

There was certainly something that wasn't like Unawakened humans about him, but Yoo-Ra could only chalk that up to his eerie presence.

That eerie presence hung over him like a drape of death. It wasn't forceful, and because Yoo-Ra was an awakened herself, she could easily ignore the energy due to her own.

But it was still there, ever looming.

He was standing in front of her, smiling, and he spoke his mind without stuttering or being awkward. He also wasn't particularly unattractive either, although he hadn't quite caught onto the physical changes the System put him under.

Despite all of that, Yoo-Ra didn't want anything to do with Jin-Woo. She couldn't sense his presence, despite looking directly at him. That alone was enough to set her other senses into overdrive, and those senses were telling her that Jin-Woo wasn't the type of person she wanted to be around.

Her senses were being constantly stabbed with reminders of things that irritated her, like past exes and annoying siblings.

She bit her tongue.

Barely maintaining her professionalism, she nodded, "Of course, if you could write your name and current rank, I'll bring you to the re-examination room."

She slid a paper with an empty list on it and a pen towards Jin-Woo. He quickly jotted in the information requested of him. He slid it back, Yoo-Ra looked over it, and she gestured for him to follow him into another room. Jin-Woo did so, and walked into the re-examination room, a surprisingly large area with a large mana crystal in the center of it.

Jin-Woo glanced around the room, softly smiling, 'I remember coming here three years ago. It's been a long journey alright.'

Yoo-Ra stepped behind a small desk, looking at the computer before looking up to Jin-Woo. "Please lay your hand on the mana crystal within the center and we'll have your results in no time."

As Jin-Woo followed her directions, Yoo-Ra silently sighed, 'But based on that almost unidentifiable mana signal from him, I doubt there'll be any change. Why is it always the E-Ranks that believe they've Reawakened? After Hunter Alnair a few years ago, it seems like they all believe they'll be the next S-Rank.'

Jin-Woo tapped a knuckle against the large mana crystal, noting its soft glow as it sensed his mana.

Yoo-Ra tapped her fingers against her desk before the computer suddenly showed Jin-Woo's development.

It displayed his last test results, then it displayed his current test results.

[Sung Jin-Woo: E-Rank (10 Mana Points Identified) -> E-Rank (5 Mana Points Identified)]

Yoo-Ra blinked at the results. From what the machines were saying, Jin-Woo Sung's mana was two times weaker than it was several years ago.

'I… stand corrected. There definitely was a change, but it certainly wasn't the type of change he must've wanted,' Yoo-Ra thought before shaking out of her stupor, she had to tell Jin-Woo the results after all.

"You're currently an E-Rank," She spoke, deciding to leave out any unnecessary details. Even if Jin-Woo was eerie and she didn't want anything to do with him, it didn't mean that she wanted to crush his future hopes.

Jin-Woo was surprised by the results. Even if he only raised his level by so much, with the feats he accomplished, he was almost positive that he'd be at least a C-Rank by now. If not a C-Rank, a D-Rank.

But to still be an E-Rank confused Jin-Woo.

He gave the woman his thanks and left the re-examination center, his mind searching for answers he wasn't sure he'd find.

"The System has made me stronger, there are no doubts about that. I wouldn't have ever been able to win against those two bosses if I hadn't gotten any stronger. But despite that clear increase in strength, I was still identified as an E-Rank…?" Jin-Woo tapped his chin, losing himself in thought.

He pulled up his stats, and his eyes landed on his level, which was going into the negatives rather than rising higher, like normal RPGs would do.

"Could this be the cause of it…? Is it a way for the System to keep my abilities under wraps?" Jin-Woo hummed to himself, suddenly bumping into a man. "Ah, sorry."

Jin-Woo looked away from his status screen, noticing that he bumped into the brown-haired foreigner from a little bit earlier. It was only then that Jin-Woo realized that this man wasn't in the re-evaluation center after his assessment.

This time, Jin-Woo kept the man's name in mind.

[Fanzer Leblanc]

If the physical appearance didn't make it clear he was a foreigner, his name did. Jin-Woo was 100% certain that the man wasn't Korean at all. For just a flicker of a moment, a question flashed through Jin-Woo's mind.

'Why does something feel so… off about this guy? Why does he remind me of that royal guy…?'

"Oh, no, no! It's my fault, sorry, I should pay more attention. I really hope I didn't dirty up your clothes or anything!" Fanzer backed away after softly patting Jin-Woo's shoulders down as if to get the dust off them. Jin-Woo and Fanzer locked eyes and suddenly, Fanzer softly palmed his fist. "Ah, you're the Hunter I saw in the examination building! I hope you had good results!"

Jin-Woo slowly nodded, giving Fanzer a somewhat awkward smile.

"Well… I certainly got… interesting results," Jin-Woo desperately felt like he'd be missing something if he didn't continue the conversation, so he pushed forward. "How about you? You arrived before me but seemed to get out after me."

The brown-haired man didn't hesitate between Jin-Woo's question and his response. He smiled, "Ah yeah, I was actually getting evaluated for the first time here! I'm visiting Korea, so I wanted to see how their evaluation system varies from some other places on the globe. It's a smooth system if I must say so."

For a moment, Jin-Woo felt proud. A foreigner coming from all over the world, but still being impressed by Korea's system was something he didn't expect but had no qualms with. However, that pride was quickly overshadowed by suspicion creeping into his mind.

Jin-Woo felt his eye twitch, thinking, 'This guy… he's saying everything I want to hear, isn't he? He didn't want to dirty my clothes, he acknowledged that I'm a Hunter, and now he's complimenting Korea. Maybe I'm being too suspicious, but this entire situation seems too… odd to take at face value.'

Fanzer suddenly looked back, holding his hand over his eyes, and nodding once. "Actually, there's a raid I'm supposed to be participating in that's happening in 15 minutes, so I've gotta dash! Have a good day though!"

Fanzer quickly turned on his heel and started speed-walking away. Jin-Woo looked at Fanzer's back getting smaller and smaller in the distance before he opened his Inventory, about to grab his phone to check any new raid openings that an E-Rank could participate in.

However, upon opening his Inventory, he immediately noticed Legacy missing. In Legacy's spot was a single card with a gold coin on it. The card had no other distinguishable factors other than that individual coin, but Jin-Woo had an idea who the card might belong to. Jin-Woo looked at the card for a moment before he started racing down the street, leaving dust shooting up in his wake.

"Hey! Give me back my dagger!" Jin-Woo roared, a sudden bout of rage striking him. The card's description was still open in the corner of his eye.

[Fanzer's Calling Card]

[Rank: S]

The calling card of Fanzer Leblanc, the nameless thief who's amassed an infamous reputation over the last ten years. These rare cards are left behind at the scene of every crime, even if that sometimes means within a personal protected space. This calling card would sell extremely well.

"Hey, it's not my fault you don't have any barriers over your subspace! Besides, that card'll pay twice as much if you sell it!" Fanzer jumped up before bursting out into a sprint of his own. Purple lightning flickered from the bottom of his feet, barely visible to anyone but an Awakened. "What dagger, huh?! What do you mean?! I don't see any black daggers, do you?!"

"Then how did you know it was a black dagger, huh?! Give me back my dagger, you damn thief!" Jin-Woo's voice echoed through the streets of Seoul, which were beginning to grow excited with people of all shapes and sizes on their ways to various destinations. Jin-Woo's words were enough to momentarily stop of the people on the sidewalk with a passing fear that a thief could be among them.

That fear was very quickly washed away as they saw Fanzer running from Jin-Woo, the former looking absolutely terrified out of his wits while the latter looked several steps beyond angered.

The crowd moved to make a path for Fanzer and Jin-Woo, although they couldn't help but look as the two bickered with one another. Within the crowd, a woman with sharp green eyes and vivid red hair noticed Jin-Woo chasing after Fanzer.

"Is that… Sung Jin-Woo…?" An interested light flashed in the woman's green eyes before she cleared her throat and started rushing after the E-Rank Hunter.

"Move it!" Before the crowd closed again, the redheaded woman dashed through the crowds, the only footsteps the Unawakened could hear out of the sprinting trios'. The path closed, and the crowd was quiet.

"Were… were those Hunters?" A young man asked, his head still craned back to where the Awakened were once standing.

"I… I don't know. The first man looked like a foreigner, and that lady looked Japanese so…."

There was sweet peaceful silence before the bustling of Seoul's everyday life continued. While a situation like the bizarre trio may not have happened a lot, the Unawakened trusted in their Hunters to do what was right. The Hunters Guild was nearby anyways, which guaranteed that the trio would have to quiet down or face the might of an S-Rank.

Fanzer barreled down the sidewalk, approaching a little girl and elderly woman with smiles on their faces. It seemed like they were enjoying themselves before the older woman was roughly knocked aside by another man running by, grabbing her purse.

"Th-Thief!" The elderly woman cried out, and Fanzer let out a small sigh between one step and the next. He glanced behind him, noting Jin-Woo approaching him at an unsettlingly fast speed. At Fanzer's whim, purple lightning started to race around his body.

Just as the thief stepped in front of Fanzer, a card appeared between two of his fingers.

"Card 37: Anti-Gravity," Fanzer activated his skill, causing his card to transform into purple mana in an instant. The card's mana swirled around the thief and before he knew it, he was floating in the air, unable to take even a single step forward.

"Huh…? Huh? Huh?!" The thief flailed about in the air, his head flicking back and forth between Fanzer rushing towards him and the elderly woman he just stole from.

"Don't steal from the elderly; it shames all the decent thieves around the world! Don't you have standards?!" Fanzer smirked, leaping over the man, and shaking his head. He landed on the ground softly and gave the elderly woman a small bow. He held her purse in his hand, despite not even visibly touching the other thief.

He tossed the purse towards her, allowing it to softly plop at the feet of the younger girl. He snapped and gave the girl a small thumbs-up.

"Take care of the granny!" Fanzer yelled before turning on his heel and dashing off.

Jin-Woo dashed around the flailing criminal, slamming a frustrated hand into the man's nape, knocking him unconscious. Jin-Woo huffed as he took off into a sprint again.

Behind them, the redheaded woman slid to a stop in front of the two victims.

"Make sure to call the police!" She was quick to continue dashing towards the other duo, racing through the streets of Seoul.

The grandmother and child looked at one another before letting out simultaneous sighs of relief. Even for all the oddities Seoul faced, that certainly wasn't one they expected. However, they simply moved forward, walking around the unconscious thief's body, and continuing about their days. The older woman did make sure to quickly phone a call to the nearby police station, doing as the redheaded woman recommended.

A middle-aged man was selling some kebabs on the side of the street, and he had a long line of customers.

"Raijanju Kebabs! Not only are they delicious, but they'll refill up even the toughest of Hunters! Come get them while they're still in stock!" The middle-aged man yelled, advertising his merchandise with a smile on his face.

Fanzer swept past him, taking one of the kebabs happily. "Thanks, pops!" Fanzer grinned.

Behind him, Jin-Woo huffed, completely ignoring the middle-aged man and moving faster to catch up to Fanzer.

Ichigo came by an instance later, taking four of the raijanju kebabs and downing them in no time. "Super amazing, thanks!" She dropped a hefty sum of money in the man's hands and continued, more energized than before. Her speed caused the man and his customers to look with silent gazes.

"I'm getting too old for this…."

With her newfound energy, the red-haired woman caught up with Jin-Woo in no time, running alongside him.

"Sung Jin-Woo! Why are you chasing that guy?" She asked, causing Jin-Woo to look over at her. Her aura was powerful, defiant, and unruly. Even then, it was still undoubtedly kind and caring.

For a moment, he questioned who she even was. She somehow knew him, but he didn't instantly recognize her.

He knew he'd seen her before, but he didn't know where else she could've been from. His eyes darted between Fanzer and this mysterious woman, and he didn't even consider which one was more important.

When remembering Julie, and the present she gave him, the question was solved incredibly easily. Jin-Woo looked over the woman's head, picking up her name.

[Ichigo Jin-Sol]

He was confident that he never properly met her before, even if he did vaguely remember her face. But in the moment, Jin-Woo wasn't sure if that mattered.

Fanzer was faster than Jin-Woo thought, confirming to Jin-Woo that he was hiding his abilities in the examination center. Even with Young Kitsune's Grace increasing his abilities, Fanzer was just out of his grasp. The Thief was getting away every passing moment, and Jin-Woo was positive that his chances of catching up were getting slimmer and slimmer.

And with his own skills proving that they weren't enough, Jin-Woo had two options. He could try to have Igris get the drop on Fanzer, or he could ask someone that he didn't even know for help. He wanted to see if his new Telekinesis would be able to stop Fanzer, but in his frustration, he hadn't tried it when Fanzer was close enough for it to be effective. Now, when he tried to use it, it wouldn't reach his target.

The first option was desirable, but if any civilians saw Igris and thought he was a monster, panic could ensue. Not only that, but Jin-Woo knew he held a speed advantage over Igris, so any chances of the summon catching up to Fanzer were quickly dashed.

The second option felt impossible to Jin-Woo. Even if this woman clearly knew him, he couldn't even remember meeting her. Asking her for help didn't even guarantee any solutions to his problem. Both options felt miserable.

But he sucked it up, setting aside pride or doubt or whatever it was that was stopping him. That dagger was worth more than whatever his worries were.

"He stole something really important to me. So could you―"

Suddenly, Ichigo's aura sharpened. In that instance, Jin-Woo felt that if Ichigo was set against five copies of Kabuto and five copies of Jill, the ten copies would only be able to beg for their lives. She was strong, far stronger than what he originally thought.

Ichigo nodded once, "I'll grab him since I owe you."

Jin-Woo could barely prepare before Ichigo disappeared.

"Huh?"

Jin-Woo's confusion was very quickly swept away as he was nearly thrown into the sky by the shockwave of Ichigo's simple dash. He stumbled back as the air swept him off his feet, something that average people certainly would've been injured by.

Jin-Woo was glad that they generally got away from the bulk of Seoul's morning crowd, because even the toughest of Unawakened couldn't handle being hit with such powerful winds at such a small distance.

Jin-Woo looked forward, seeing Ichigo approaching Fanzer at speeds he couldn't dream of, not yet anyway.

He blinked, "She… owes me?"