As the old man speaks, my eyes keep scanning over his status in disbelief. I’ve never seen anyone with more than two skills besides myself. To top it off, he’s over level 700, has a 900% defense buff, and a 180% magic resistance item….

He’s a B-Class hunter, with multiple Legendary and Special Grade combat skills. Today I’ve met 3 people that could crush me in an instant… a mere C-Class is a very little fish in the grand scheme of things.

I’ve heard of people buying very rare items to add skills to their status. There have also been whispers of items that can force a skill upgrade. I guess the Association has bottomless pockets for a Regional Director like him.

I stay quiet while the old man continues to speak. He reaches into his shirt pocket and pulls out a small rectangular card.

“This is for you, I’d like to congratulate you on passing your rank-up exam. I made sure this one would be extra difficult, only 43 of you passed, can you believe that?”

Brutus lets out a chuckle while placing the small white card down on his desk with a firm thud. I shift my eyes to see my face and a large letter “C” along with the Association’s logo on my new Hunter’s License.

I nod and go to take the card, but the Director speaks up before my hand gets anywhere near his desk.

“Please, open your status for me, Jay. I’d like to see what we’re working with before moving forward.”

I tighten my lips and bring my hand back to my lap before opening my status. I’ve been using conceal this whole time, so no more changes are necessary. I flip the blue text screen toward him.

I’ve deleted any unique or suspicious items from my list, such as the contact lenses and Demon’s Core.

I don’t bother editing my level, showing that isn’t a huge deal. My skills, on the other hand, I only leave three visible:

Combat Magic [Advanced Fire Summoning]

Swordsmanship

Dagger Mastery

Rodrigo already told the Association I’m a fire user, along with being a multi-skill user. I have to make it somewhat believable that he would pick me of all people to show to the Association, but also not too unique.

I gulp as the director eyes my status. He grins, then presses a small white button on the side of his desk.

“Very good. Three combat skills and one of them is Advanced Fire Summoning. Fire is the most common combat magic, but those with the upgraded version don’t show their faces very often. I knew a few hunters with that perk back in my day. Those flames don’t go out easily do they?”

I shake my head as he laughs a bit and keeps babbling on.

“Well, according to your status and my full Appraisal, you have very naturally boosted speed and agility. A close combat fighter, and advanced magic user, you’ll definitely be a great asset to the Association.”

I tighten my gaze and frown a bit at his last statement, but before I can speak up, the elevator dings behind me. The director grins, pointing an open palm toward the back of the room.

“This is my assistant, Samantha. She’ll be helping us sign your contract today.”

Rodrigo gives me a side eye, then nods firmly. I’m not exactly sure what that means, but it can’t be good…

A tall blond woman with pale skin and a shimmering white dress walks over to us making light clicking sounds as her heels tap against the hard floor.

“Good afternoon Director, how can I be of assistance.”

He nods, pointing his head down toward me ever so slightly.

“I’ll begin the questioning, I’d like you to stand by and assist me as usual.”

She smiles while making her way behind the large desk to look me in the eyes.

“Very well, I’m ready to begin when you are.”

I use appraisal on the woman out of curiosity.

[Lv. 149]

Active Items:

[Amulet of Protection] +35% Defense

[Enchanted Platinum Ring] +50% Mental Strength

Active Skills:

Lie Detector[Special Grade]

My eyes shift back and forth while the seriousness of this meeting begins to sink in. She’s a walking lie detector…. I can only imagine what that skill does exactly, but I have a pretty good idea. I’ll have to choose my words very carefully from this point forward.

The Director begins.

“Well, first of all, I don’t think an in-depth physical exam is necessary. Your skills and stats are very straightforward, there isn’t much left up to chance with you. I like it.”

He shifts his gaze to Rodrigo.

“I was hoping you could bring me in a unique skill user today, so much for getting my hopes up.”

“Sorry Director, I thought an advanced fire user would suit your taste.”

Rodrigo’s face looks visibly confused. It makes sense… he saw me use over half a dozen skills back in the exam, yet the Director believes I only have 3.

Brutus continues.

“Also, It’s very unfortunate the labyrinth collapsed before you could reap its rewards. If there are any pop-ups in the Vice Region during the next surge, the core is all yours, you have my word.”

The A-Class nods.

“Appreciate it, Director.”

The old man turns back to me.

“You’ll be joining the Association today, and I hope you understand why.”

I stare forward but don’t respond. He continues.

“As I’m sure you’re quite aware, there was a pretty large surge recently. The increase in activity is rather troubling. Most private guilds have been ignoring the problem and leaving this mess in the hands of the Association. From seeing the look on your face, I can tell this may be a difficult conversation for us to have moving forward.”

I finally speak up.

“Yeah. I think it might be. What’s any of this have to do with me…? Why is this my problem?”

He nods and lifts my C-Class ID in the air.

“This. This is why it’s your problem. What takes most people a lifetime, took you just a few months to achieve. Plus, our very own A-Class examiner picked you out as the hunter with the most potential out of all the exam candidates. I even spoke to your friend Arie this morning, he was high on the list too. He spoke very fondly of you.”

I raise an eyebrow. Arie must have joined this morning like he said he would. Good for him, he’s taking on his own path to glory. On the other hand, I don’t exactly get to choose for myself, do I? This whole meeting feels totally off, if there’s any good way out of this, I’m taking it the first chance I can get.

The Director continues, and my heart skips a beat at the next line that comes out of his mouth.

“Now your sword. I’d like to see it.”

I gulp.

“My sword… why..?”

The old man puts both of his hands out on his desk.

“Don’t worry, I can handle it. Rodrigo filled me in on the details, apparently, you had it made over at Apollo’s in the Vice City mall?”

My mind starts racing. I look at the fair-skinned woman, then back to the Director. He continues.

“Element stones are regulated by the Association. We haven’t farmed any Firestones in quite a while, I was surprised to hear about your sword. Please, let me take a look at it.”

I gulp, reaching into my item box to take out the long dark Firestone-imbued sword. The director’s eyes light up as I place it into his open hands.

Flames begin erupting from the blade, but the old man just grins as the fire attempts to burn his hands.

“This is quite a sword. Who made it for you?”

Sweat rolls down my forehead as I think very carefully about the next words that come out of my mouth.

“I… talked to a craftsman at Apollo’s like you said. I- I- asked a short bald worker there to make my sword. Forgive me, I don’t remember his name.”

Still holding my burning blade without flinching one bit, the Director turns to his assistant. She nods.

A rush of relief comes over me, that must mean I’ve deceived her skill. I didn’t lie, just tiptoed around the truth… He continues.

“Do you have any other weapons or items that may be as unique as this one? Maybe you picked up a few things at the exam?”

I gulp, pause for a few seconds, then reply.

“I’m wearing most of my gear. Everything I own is on me right now… I- don’t have anything unique or valuable from the exam in my item box.”

The woman nods again and the Director hands me my sword back with a smile.

“Very well. This meeting was not as exciting as I thought it’d be. I think I’ll just assign you to the newly created close-combat extraction squad. A few of your fellow teammates from the exam will be on it too.”

He turns to his assistant.

“Make sure Tripp is available to give this new team the rundown. Call him to greet Jay when he finishes up here and bring him to the other team members.”

She nods.

“Of course sir.”

I gladly take my sword back, placing it in my item box, but immediately retaliate.

“Hey, hey! I still don’t get it, why is it mandatory for me to join?!”

Hearing the name of the dagger-wielding hunter “Tripp” from the association that I trained with during my break on the 11th floor of the exam doesn’t make me feel any better about this entire situation…

He sighs, placing a hand on my ID card, and pulling it back toward him.

“Sure. It’s not mandatory, it’d just be in your best interest to sign with us. I’m sure we could come up with a very reasonable contract. You understand how the dungeon system past C-Class works right?”

“… I guess I don’t.”

“Well, there’s a reason most hunters don’t level much further than the high 200s or low 300s these days. Normal dungeons begin to stop spawning around this level. Yes, of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, but those exceptions are often very volatile.”

Rodrigo looks over to me and nods slowly as the old man continues to talk.

“The only way for hunters to get stronger would be leveling in the labyrinths. All of the 8 major labyrinths in this country are highly regulated by the Hunters Association.”

He lifts my ID up in the air at my eye level.

“With that being said, we keep a close eye on hunters with accelerated growth. They’re known for either being very beneficial assets, or rogues that must be eliminated.”

He looks over at Rodrigo. He replies.

“That’s right. The Director is right.”

I stare at the ID in his hand, thinking about my options…

To a certain extent, everything he’s said so far does make sense. The Association has control over most of the dungeon industry. There’s no point in arguing a pointless matter, I might as well hear him out… He did give me the option to say no.

I bite my bottom lip, then reply.

“Fine. What would the terms of a contract with the Association consist of? I’d like to hear what you have to offer.”