Episode 1: Retirement (2)

With one look at the name written on the screen, he frowned. To add to his foul mood from earlier, he just had to be disturbed by a phone call, from a contact named Problematic Dumbass' Assistant no less.

"...what is it?" Clicking his tongue, Jace answered, asking in a blunt tone the next moment.

"Ace? Ace??? You're alive?!" From the other side of the call, a man's voice could be heard in response, almost seemingly in tears. "Thank god! You were unreachable the entire night! I thought you were dead!"

"Tch... Is that what you called for?" Upon being greeted by utter nonsense, Jace began moving his phone away from his ear, preparing to end the call without hesitation. "I'm hanging up then. Goodbye."

"E-Eh...?! W-Wait a minute! There's something important I need to tell you! So don't hang up!" At the realization of what Jace was about to do, the assistant cried out.

"Then get straight to the point," Jace bluntly stated.

"A-Ah... D-Did you get off the wrong side of the bed today?" Hearing Jace's annoyed tone of voice, he shrieked back. "T-Then I'll cut right to the chase! Ahem. So you know how the guild leader is having a conference today? W-Well... He wants you to attend it with him."

"...hah?" Jace raised his brow, his mood becoming fouler upon hearing what the assistant had to say. "Is that all you called about?"

"Y-Yeah...! He says that since you cleared the S-ranked Gate with him, it's only right for you to show your face during the conference. I mean, not literally taking off your mask, of course!" he reasoned. "H-He just wants you to show up."

"No." He declined without hesitation.

"H-Huh...?! A-Ace, hear me out, would you? Soren will be the one to handle everything! You'll just be sitting there, answering hassle-free questions! So, please reconsider—" As the assistant was attempting to further explain himself, he was completely interrupted by the other side.

"If Soren can handle everything, then I'm not needed," he said, moving his finger to the tempting red call button on his screen. "End of story. Don't bother me about this again."

"A-Ace...!!"

[ Beep. ]

The call ended the next moment.

...

As the phone call came to an end, Jace's back slid further down from his chair as he tiredly sighed. "Hah... Way to go Soren. You've successfully made this a great morning."

From the shocking revelation of his class change to the sudden call from Soren's assistant, Jace was given little to no break all morning. With the turmoil that had ensued, he was left with absolutely no energy to function the rest of the day.

"Ugh... Can I just sleep and deal with this later?" And so, it was as if he had become one with his chair, dazedly staring at the ceiling whilst contemplating life. "This is all too bothersome... Why did this even have to happen to me?"

In the first place, this entire situation wouldn't have happened if not for that one dungeon run last night. If Jace had never stepped foot into the gate, everything would have been fine. But unfortunately, irreversible damage had already been done.

"Man. Maybe I should've just ignored the association's cry for help and just let that stupid dungeon burst. Sigh. Why did I have to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?" He grumbled, still staring at the ceiling with his towel hanging by his shoulder.

Jace had received a sudden emergency message from the Hunter's Association right after coming home from clearing the S-ranked Gate with Soren. Without much to say, he had accepted it due to it being an emergency. But who would've known that the association's neglect would've caused this many problems for Jace?

From being forced to perform a solo raid by himself to the gate's ranking being defined wrong, everything had gone downhill the moment he had accepted the request from the association. To add to his dismay, he had not taken the S-ranked Core with him, which was an extremely valuable material.

"Hah... What to do... What to do..." At this point, Jace was already out of energy, unable to even lift a single finger. "I have to report to the Hunter's Association about the gate and also have to finally accept the fact that I'm now a Synergist... But..."

Despite all the problems that had occurred, there was more to come.

"...the biggest headache of all is my identity as Ace..." Mustering up his non-existent energy, he glanced towards the white mask lying on the table alongside his neatly folded black cloak. "If I'm no longer a Marksman... Then everything I've built up so far as Ace is completely useless..."

The "Ace" that the public knew was a brilliant and lazy sniper that would never miss his shots. He was well known in the hunter scene as being one of the few S-ranked Hunters who hid away their identity.

For what reason did Jace hide away behind a mask? It was for a simple reason. He had thought that revealing his face and name was a hassle; so he resorted to wearing a mask in public. Though, it was even more of a hassle than just having his face shown. After all, there were many busybodies in the world that would bother Jace to no end regarding his identity.

But now, it was all useless. Even though it was a hassle to hide his identity before, now there was no point. He was a Synergist. A support. How on earth would he be able to perform the role of a Marksman now?

"Sigh... This really is too bothersome to think about..." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "It would be great if I could just get rid of Ace by retiring—" As his thoughts went astray, a sudden realization hit him. "This...!"

Without wasting any time, Jace released himself from the clutches of the chair as he then grabbed onto his phone that was thrown on the table. In the next moment, he rang up a certain person that would make his life much easier.

[ Calling "Problematic Dumbass' Assistant"... ]