Examination

"Here I am, the Hunter Centre," Lee Seung said, staring at the top of the skyscraper. He held his backpack tightly as he moved forward.

Just like at the Awakening Company, Hunter managers were scattered around. Lee Seung thought, 'I want to be approached by one this time around.'

As he got into the company, a sense of panic gripped his heart. He was only sixteen yet was attempting something dangerous.

Becoming a hunter?!

People his age were either at tutorial classes or helping their parents out at home.

He glanced at a counter tagged as Vanguard Venture, which was few metres away from where he stood. And different sets of weapons were displayed, such as swords, snipers, shotguns and so on.

Lee Seung sighed, and watched a lady testing one of the guns. In no time, he would actually need one of those.

He sighed again and glanced around. "Where is the examination room? Oh, there is the waiting spot."

He walked to a space where he had seen a screen displaying For Applying Hunters. Although no one was there, he sat. A few minutes later, he was led to the front of a room by one of the examiners.

"The examination will begin in a few minutes; please go and wait inside."

Lee Seung hesitated, fearing what he might encounter inside. Would he have to fight real monsters to be qualified as a Hunter? Or be shot with lasers to test his resistivity?

'Oh hell, let's see how it turns out to be in the end.'

With high force, he opened the door to the room..

Phew....

Lee Seung swallowed hard. He bit down on his lips.

"Come inside, please," a thick masculine voice said to him. Seung, on the other hand, tried as much as he could to cover his fright, but the fierce faces present couldn't let him.

'So many people!' he thought, shivering as if the people were monsters.

The room was crowded with people of different origins. Some looked as fierce as hell, some had scars all over their faces and others were calm, though looking the most frightening.

'Taking this exam should have been the last thing I would have thought of. What if I am asked to fight one of these people? I....'

"Mister, go and have your seat!" A man wearing black suit said fiercely, slamming the table before him. Lee Seung's heart raced just by hearing him speak. The man then said, pretending to be nice, "Have a seat, will you?"

* * *

"Good day, everyone. I am Yoo Soohyun, a B-rank Hunter and I am your examiner for today," the man began to address the crowd in the room. His eyebrows furrowed as his gaze lifted.

One of the men beside Seung whispered to him, joked, "Oh man, why is he so cold and tempting? Crybabies like you will almost wet their underpants just by hearing his voice."

Lee Seung just looked at the Hunter speaking. Nevertheless, he knew what the other man said was the right manner to describe how he was feeling at that moment.

"All of you should listen attentively to what I am about to say, because I won't accept any question," the Hunter said. "This examination is divided into two sections; writing section and speed-thinking section. You will be tested basically on fighting experience in writing section while your ability to think fast will be tested in the other section. Note, your overall grade determines the class of Hunter you make. Most importantly, I don't tolerate cheating — go against ME and you will never get the chance to be a Hunter!"

Tense atmosphere...

"Now, the examination will begin."

* * *

At Star High school.

"I believe everyone of you gained a lot from the excursion. Didn't you?"

"Yes, we did, Miss Kim," the students chorused.

"I am happy you did," the teacher said as she smiled, packing her notes. At the moment, she saw a vacant seat at the end of the class. She knew immediately who the absentee was. She asked, "How long has it been that Seung didn't come to school?"

'I don't know.'

'Who knows?'

'Why would she ask us that?'

Murmurs went on around the class. Then Kang Jinhu said out loudly, "It seems no one can voice out their words to you, Miss Kim. We don't know since it's just like Seung doesn't exist in our class."

The teacher said nothing to the troublesome student and left the class. She thought, 'It's unlike him to skip class.'

------

Lee Seung's gaze fixated on the question paper, his pen rolling idly in his hand, as he grappled with a complete lack of answers.

The examination had began for almost ten minutes yet he hadn't been able to answer one question.

He looked at the first question again,

In a dense forest, you encounter a wounded animal. Describe your approach to assessing the situation and deciding whether to intervene or not, considering factors like safety, ethics, and conservation."

Second question,

You stumble upon a hidden cave rumored to house a rare and dangerous creature. How do you proceed in investigating the cave while ensuring your safety and minimizing harm to the creature and its habitat?

Lee Seung dropped his pen, placing his head in his hands on the table. He typically had no experience in fighting.

Next was the fast-thinking section. He almost took the examination for a farce as the two sections didn't differ from each other. The only difference was that one was writing while the other was oral type.

'Poof, I couldn't answer one question.'

Later on, all of them returned to the waiting room. He became very scared on being left alone with the tough rookies, and prayed the examiner could return on time.

Thankfully, they did.

"When you hear you name, please step over here."

...

"Lee Seung..."

His heart beat fast. He walked up to the man, and then he was given a malachite bracelet. The display on the bracelet was...

'F-rank Hunter?!' Seung shouted in his mind.

Back in the lobby, he threw the bracelet in his bag. He wasn't too disappointed because he knew what he wrote in the exam.

Then, on getting outside, just like he wanted, as if heavens was on his side, a hunter manager approached him with a business card.

"Hello, I am Choi Minho. I don't know if you are interested in joining my new guild," a golden haired man said, wearing his hair in chestnut style. The most specific feature Seung saw in him at first sight was that the man was a humble type.

Of course, he would like to work with someone like that.

Seung took the card, bowing his head a little, "Ye-yes, sir. I am interested."

"When would you like to meet up with me?" The man asked, only to see a confused figure. He explained, "We have to meet in order to sign the contract. Oh, what about tonight....?"

"Okay, tonight will do."

"Sure, it's nice meeting you. Would you mind giving me your contact info?"

As Seung spelled his number out, the man typed and then, saved it.

"I will text you the venue shortly," the manager, Choi Minho, said.

"Okay, thanks," Seung said and walked away.

He decided to walk home today, testing if he was really prepared for challenges ahead. Walking a few kilometres was the slightest of it all; in the nearest future, as a slayer, he might find himself in the stomach of a monster.

'Whether I like it or not, I have already chosen this path. Won't be a crybaby anymore, nor will I be bullied. I have become a.....HUNTER!'