CHAPTER 114 The Silence Before The Storm

A Typical Tsundere

Roses are RED

Violets are BLUE

Kitsune

sometimes you're BAKA,

but AISHITERU.

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Aishiteru: I love you

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Go check out my new fic "Chronicles of the Waifu Summoner" Samus Aran is the first summon with Night Fury and next summon will be Emma Frost.

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[Let's kill this lov.~??]

The bright, energetic pop song from Black Pink didn't even get to play for a second longer, before the other side hurriedly answered the call.

– "Hyung-nim!!"

….Maybe, I was gone from this world for far too long?

Because I was surprised by how nice it felt to hear the kid's voice again. A smile spread on my lips as I spoke.

"Did the talk with your father go well?"

– "Yes, hyung-nim! It went very well!"

'Oh, ho?'

Now that was a good piece of news to hear.

I made this call to confirm because I couldn't go ahead and do the rank reassignment test if Yu Jin-Ho hadn't made a deal with his father yet.

As the deal between us is also the reason I waited so long. However, if the matters on that side were taken care of, then there was nothing holding me back at this point.

I guessed the good news just from hearing the kid's excited tone of voice, but now that I got the confirmation from the horse's mouth, I was feeling really happy as well.

– "Hyung-nim! Actually, I wanted to come and speak to y…."

Click.

'….What was that?'

The phone call abruptly came to an end, and when I checked, the battery in his phone was flat.

'Oh, right….. Even before getting out of this world, it didn't have much charge left, did it?'

Well, at least I got to confirm what I wanted to confirm, and I already know what he wanted to say and what his father must have told him to do, so that was a relief.

"Esdeath, are you ready yet?" I called her out while fixing my clothes as I already told her what we are going to do, and prepared to leave.

 … 

The main building of the Hunter's Association wasn't too far from here. I should be able to go through the reassignment test pretty quickly.

It had really been a while since I last came to the Awakened rank evaluation application kiosk. It should be four years already? Or maybe it was close to five now? My expression was full of reminiscence as I stood with Esdeath in front of the employee manning the reception kiosk.

I had already told Esdeath about this process, what she has to do, and how she should and shouldn't kill unless they do something truly inappropriate. The employee didn't even bother to look at me and spoke, "Please jot down your identification and contact details, and give them to me."

I clearly remembered most of the process, so I had prepared them before coming here. While I was in a section of the building with the evaluation facility, Esdeath was on the other side of the building where new hunters register. It's a long and time-consuming process, so I had her wait in the car, as I didn't want to test her patience by leaving her alone in a place where people don't even know some manners.

I am sure she would at least kill a few if she entered that place alone since she demands respect from equals and weaker individuals, and they should kneel in front of her. Many may be dead if they even tried to look down on her. Only my sister could survive that, no matter how much she looked down on Esdeath. If she weren't my sister, she would stab her with an ice sword by the time she questioned our relationship. That's why when I introduced both of them, I put pressure on the world to see her as one of the most important people in my life.

And I don't know anyone who has the same fate if they balk to do something she doesn't like; she is someone who kills without a thought. I have to keep that in mind until she gets used to the world, and I am sure that once she becomes an S-rank Hunter, people will keep in mind not to approach her. If they do, they will remember their manners and maintain some distance.

I shook my head and got out of my thoughts as I readily presented both my identification and contact details.

'Mm?'

The employee's head tilted this way and that after taking one look at my choice of identification.

"Isn't this a Hunter license?"

"It is."

The employee formed a confused expression.

"If you are unhappy with your assigned rank, you should head over to another department…."

"No, it's not that. I wish to take the reassignment test."

"Ehhh?"

The employee continued to alternate his gaze between the Hunter license and my face, before raising a trembling finger in the air.

"P-please, wait for me here."

POV Switch

The employee then quickly ran over to a middle-aged man with a scowl on his face sitting somewhere behind him.

"Manager? A Hunter-nim wishes to take a reassignment test."

"A reassignment test? What's that person's rank?"

"It's an E."

The manager craned his neck out and took a look at the waiting Jin's face over by the reception desk. He then reverted back to his previous posture.

"There are guys like that every now and then. Hunters who are not satisfied with the reality of their situation and swim inside daydreams, before coming back here hoping against hope."

"So, is that guy also….?"

The manager nodded his head.

"Reawakened, my foot…. Others are busy raking in the dough as Hunters, getting famous and all that, but well, he drew the short straw, and he ended up as a nobody. So, he's just trying to escape from reality."

"Aha."

"Dealing with guys like that will only tire you out. So, just tell him that he'll be paying the fee for the test and send him on his way to the measurement room."

"Roger that."

The employee no longer looked like he was suffering from abdominal pain and returned to his seat.

Meanwhile, the manager alternated his gaze between the employee and Jin, clicked his tongue as he saw Jin had his eyes closed as if he was thinking of something, before shifting his attention back to the computer monitor in front of him.

However….

The fingers of the manager stopped typing on the keyboard.

The name written on the Hunter license… why did it feel like he had heard that name before from somewhere?

'Where was it?'

Once the young Hunter left for the building with the measurement room in it, the manager sneaked in closer to the employee and asked him, "That rank E Hunter just now, what was his name again?"

"It's Sung Jin-Woo. Do you know who he is?"

"No, it's not that. But…."

But he just couldn't get over this feeling that he had heard that name before, for sure. The manager did his absolute best to jog his memories, and then, his eyes widened as something did enter his mind.

'….Ahh!!'

'That man' asked for a favor, didn't he?

'That man' asked the manager to give him a call if a Hunter named Sung Jin-Woo ever showed up there. Why couldn't he remember that sooner?

The manager sought out a deserted corner and hurriedly pulled out his phone.

Ring…. ring….

– "Hello, it's Baek Yun-Ho speaking."

"Ah, hello there, Chairman Baek. I'm calling you because of the Hunter you spoke about the last time, the man named Sung Jin-Woo. He really came here today. But, how did you know that he might appear here?"

– "Did you just say that Mister Sung Jin-Woo came there?"

"Yes. He was here just now, applying to get a reassignment test."

– "….."

The conversation came to an abrupt halt, and an awkward silence pervaded the line. However, only a short while later, an urgent voice came out from the phone's speaker.

– "Even if it's only for a short while, can you somehow delay the measurement process? I'm on my way over there right now."

The manager began tilting his head.

Did he just mishear that?

The Master of the one-and-only White Tiger Guild was speaking with an anxious voice?

'Well, I'll be.'

Besides all that, though – the evaluation process was out of his hands already. The manager could only sheepishly reply while scratching the side of his head.

"That man must've entered the measurement building by now."

…

In a bustling city, Esdeath was sitting in a car outside the grand Hunter's Association building, which was a huge building with many small parts in it.

She had a book in her hands, the book had the title of "How to Be a Good Wife." From her facial expressions, it seemed like she was enjoying the book.

…

'Wait a minute. Just what on earth is….'

What happened just now?

Manager Jeong Ki-Soo ended the call with Baek Yun-Ho and tilted his head.

It was already a pretty surprising thing that a rank E Hunter stepped forward to get re-evaluated, yet the Master of the White Tiger Guild wanted to find out about the result of that test right away as well.

'Maybe, there is something real going on here…'

It wasn't just anyone but Baek Yun-Ho. And he was being quite serious, so Jeong Ki-Soo couldn't help but wonder if something big was about to happen.

But soon, he shook his head dismissively.

'Eii…. There's no way.'

The phenomenon of 'Re-Awakening' was a very rare occurrence.

How many months had it been?

There was this incident a few weeks ago when the whole Association had been in an uproar over a potential candidate who had gone through a Re-Awakening. Of course, it was all a big fat nothing.

That just served to illustrate how rare the real thing was, and plenty of so-called 'Re-Awakening' all turned out to be nothing more than just simple misunderstandings.

'I mean, it's not just one or two kids who come here mistakenly believing that they had gone through a Re-Awakening, only to walk out of here after paying the cost for the test out of their pocket….'

Perhaps the White Tiger Guild was seriously mistaken about something here. Still, considering Jeong Ki-Soo's 'relationship' with that Guild, he just couldn't refuse outright to humor the Guild Master Baek Yun-Ho's request.

"Hey, listen. I have to go somewhere for a little while."

"Pardon me? Where are you going, Manager Jeong?"

"I just remembered this little thing I gotta take care of in Block B."

The term 'Blocks' are sort of code words used by the Association employees to refer to every part of this huge building, and 'Block B' refers to the building where the magic power evaluation takes place.

"Okay, I understand."

"If something happens, call me right away."

"Yes, Manager."

Even though Jeong Ki-Soo was thinking 'Re-Awakening, my a*s,' he nevertheless headed towards Block B while picturing the face of Baek Yun-Ho, who should've left the Guild offices by now.

***

Jin parked his butt on the very last spot available on the waiting room's bench. Currently, there were four people waiting for their turn here.

All of them looked quite tense, nervous.

Jin could sympathize with what these people were going through inwardly at this moment.

'Well, the directions of their lives would be decided with the results of today's evaluation, after all.'

The first time Jin came here, he was thinking about the ways to bend the rules of the world, something entirely different from these people.

….What if I were to create a skill that could merge my skills? Like, currently, I don't need so many types of arrows - fire, water, lightning, earth, mana, ice, acid, poison, and so on. What if I just combine them into a rain of arrows or elemental arrows, creating a much stronger skill like Phoebus Catastrophe? Summoning a Rain of Arrows, each having a different effect?

As of now, these don't do much damage, and for every few arrows, I have to think of more arrows.

The same goes for my elemental armor that I recently created, the same with blades, balls, and bullets.

I also practice my magic casting on a subconscious level.

But it won't be possible just by the fact that I have so many spells in my arsenal.

Soon, I will have around 100 spells, and I am confident that by the end of solo leveling, I would have created over 1000 magical spells.

As soon as I will be focusing on recreating spells not only from Overlord but also from Marvel, DC, Redo Of Healer, Fate, Seven Deadly Sins, DXD, HP, Black Clover, Wheel of Time, David Eddings, and many more.

So it's not going to be impossible, but I have to practice every spell casting on a subconscious level, which could take days if not weeks for every spell.

It's time-consuming. A lot of time will be spent sitting in a place doing nothing, which will be a massive waste of time.

I'd rather create more powerful spells that do this, even if it becomes a massive weakness of mine.

I can't just do that. But there is still a way; I have to find a way to get or recreate the skill called Parallel Minds.

No… no, that skill is too much; having multiple personalities will be too much, I have seen Shiraori and what it does.

I mean, talking to yourself sounds too much for me. By having each of these other selves take over a specific body function or task, it is too much, even if it's just a second me.

I don't want Multiple Wills.

So I need something else, something better, and that's Parallel Processing. Something much more powerful and useful than Parallel Minds without turning into weird shit.

Parallel Processing: The user's mind is capable of carrying out multiple calculations and thought processes at once. 

The ability to carry out multiple thought processes at once. Something used by likes of BRAINIAC, Ultron, Accelerator, and even Mewtwo, so it's not like it was out of my reach. I just need a strong mind with a high IQ and decision-making.

And because my intelligence stat not only correlates with my mana but also my actual intelligence and by the fact how much I have, I can be sure I am the smartest person on this planet.

And somehow, once I have the skill, I can also master my subconscious mind, making me that much more effective in direct battle, both magical and physical.

While also granting me a super-buff version of multicast. As I would be able to think of hundreds of spells in mere moments, and they will be the best spells for the situation.

Swimming in a happy daydream, only thinking of ways to make himself more op that could end worlds in mere seconds while also able to problem solve in mere moments.

Thinking of ways to transform his powers into much more dangerous and powerful, Jin couldn't help but smirk slightly.

'What is he smiling about?'

'How can you even think about smiling here?'

Others waiting around sent him weird looks, but Jin didn't pay them any mind.

'Was he born with a steely heart or something?'

'Maybe, he's not feeling nervous at all.'

Seeing Jin's undaunted attitude, others became a bit sheepish and tilted their heads this way and that, before shifting their gazes away.

So how can I gain the skill Parallel Processing? I could just wait and let the system handle it; I am sure it will happen at some point, like when my INT stat is 400 or 450, 500.

No, no, that would take too long, and I am not even sure if I will gain the skill. It could be anything; there is no certainty.

And in recent events, I also realized that investing my stat points in my INT is now more of a waste of stat points.

As one INT point grants me around 180 points of mana, and I gain much more just by using Drain Life on 4 A-rank or even B-rank monsters.

And it comes with both HP and a random stat point for every use of Life Drain...

So I am not even sure I can gain the skill through the use of the system.

The next best path is trying to multitask in hopes that I could trigger the specific requirements to gain the skill, and if that doesn't work out, I also have a few more ways.

Multitask: the user can perform multiple separate tasks at once, as their brains can process multiple independent trains of thought/function at the same time, and their bodies are able to perform them without interfering/overlapping with the other actions.

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Go check out my new fic "Chronicles of the Waifu Summoner" Samus Aran is the first summon with Night Fury and next summon will be Emma Frost.