Chapter 4: A Hunter’s First Step

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That evening.

I ordered Eunbyeol’s favorite chicken.

Two of them, no less.

“Wooow! Chicken! Chicken! Two chickens!”

“Haha, Eunbyeol. You like it?”

“Ung! Super like! Daddy, but why did you order two chickens?”

Eunbyeol tilted her head and asked.

“Ahh, Daddy had some good news today.”

“Good news? What is it?”

“I’ll tell you later. Let’s eat the chicken first. It won’t taste good if it gets cold.”

“Ung! Got it! Daddy, Eunbyeol will go wash hands! Eunbyeol is a good kid!”

I smiled warmly watching Eunbyeol churring to the bathroom.

After Eunbyeol washed her hands and came back, we started eating the chicken.

The menu was seasoned chicken and soy sauce chicken.

Seasoned for Eunbyeol’s favorite, soy sauce for mine.

“Eunbyeol, here.”

I gave her a drumstick wrapped with tissue around the handle.

Eunbyeol took the drumstick and tore into the chicken with red sauce dripping down.

“Mmm! So delicious!”

“Haha, tasty?”

“Ung ung! Really tasty! Chicken is the best!”

Eunbyeol said, sticking out her thumb.

“Good. Then shall Daddy try some too?”

After giving chicken to Eunbyeol, I picked up a soy sauce chicken drumstick.

Last time, I held back to save money even though I wanted to eat, but this time was different.

I didn’t have money right now, but from now on, I’d have tons of it.

A whole lot.

“Mmm! Wow, really delicious.”

Taking a big bite of the drumstick, I felt happiness.

The salty soy sauce flavor unique to it, and the tender chicken meat.

That perfect combination turned my mouth into heaven.

While eating chicken and chatting with Eunbyeol.

I looked at her and opened my mouth.

“Eunbyeol-ah.”

“Ung? Why, Daddy?”

“Earlier, Daddy said he had good news, right? I’ll tell you what it is.”

“Ah! Really? What is it? I’m curious! Super curious!”

Eunbyeol asked, even putting down her chicken.

Eyes sparkling brightly.

She seemed extremely curious about what happened to me.

Hoo…….

I took a deep breath inwardly.

I was about to say I’d gotten my hunter license and would do hunter activities from now on, and it made me nervous somehow.

Even though Eunbyeol liked the skeleton soldier, she might hate me doing hunter activities.

In fact, while there are people who respect hunters, there are also those who see them as barbarians.

“Um, so…….”

Even so, I started explaining everything to Eunbyeol.

No matter how young Eunbyeol was, she was family.

You shouldn’t hide from family what you do.

……For these reasons, Daddy plans to do hunter activities from now on. 

What do you think about this, our Eunbyeol?

In the end, I poured out everything.

And asked for Eunbyeol’s feelings.

Honestly, if Eunbyeol hated hunter activities, I wasn’t going to do them.

No matter how high the income from hunter activities, I didn’t want to live doing something my daughter hated.

But……..

“Wooowaah! So coool!”

Eunbyeol immediately cheered.

“Huh? Y-You like it?”

“Ung! Really the best! A hunter! My daddy is a hunter! Super like! Totally the best!”

Eunbyeol jumped up and hopped around shouting.

Dumbfounded, I asked her.

“No, Eunbyeol-ah. Really okay? Even if Daddy does hunter activities?”

“Ung ung! Totally okay! Super good! Hunters are cool! Fighting monsters like pow pow!”

Eunbyeol said, throwing nyang punches in the air.

“I see. Daddy was worried you might oppose it.”

“Why would Eunbyeol oppose! Eunbyeol just thinks it’s good! Wooow! So exciting! Gotta brag at kindergarten tomorrow!”

Eunbyeol said, grinning from ear to ear.

Dumbfounded, I scratched my head.

Well, if Eunbyeol likes it, that’s what matters.

I was a bit flustered, but it was fortunate things worked out.

Like that, receiving Eunbyeol’s congratulations and cheers, I resolved.

To become a great hunter from now on.

Getting the hunter license was truly joyful.

But soon, a sense of blankness washed over me.

The reason was simple.

I had become an official hunter, but I didn’t know what to do next or how.

But the day after, I realized it was unnecessary worry.

My phone was blowing up with contacts.

「Hello. This is Susung Guild. We contacted you because we’re interested in Hunter Seo Juwon…….」

「Greetings! I’m Choi Jung-gyun, sales team leader of Baekgwang Guild. We have a good proposal for Hunter Seo Juwon…….」

「We are the small elite crew Dolphin. What we offer to Hunter Seo Juwon…….」

「Hello. Reload Guild here. Please contact us as we have questions. Our Reload Guild contact is 010-3384…….」

Countless text messages pouring in.

Including phone calls, dozens of places contacted me a day.

I don’t know how they got my contact, but there were so many I couldn’t tell good from bad.

Even internet searches had limits.

So I decided to act as a freelance hunter for the time being.

Thinking that as I build experience, a good guild would contact me.

“This is the place.”

A park in Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do.

I came here to clear a gate I applied for on HunterNet.

After showing my hunter license to the Hunter Association staff, I waited a bit.

Since I took down an orc, goblins should be easy.

Today’s gate was a goblin gate.

Goblin.

A monster with light green skin, child-sized.

It was considered the lowest-grade monster.

So I felt a bit relieved.

Since I was the one who took down an orc.

Plus, I leveled up a ton from the orc.

There was another thing I could rely on.

The levels I gained from taking down the orc during the hunter qualification exam.

The stats that rose with level up.

And even better, the number of skeleton soldiers I could summon increased to ‘three.’

One was already strong, three goes without saying.

I recalled the skeleton soldier that displayed elegant swordsmanship and diced the orc.

With three sturdy guys like that, there was no need to worry about a goblin gate.

By the way, what the heck is EX grade?

My thoughts kept branching out.

What was the EX grade on the Skeleton Soldier Summon skill.

No matter how much I searched the internet, nothing came up.

Hmm.

The skeletons are strong, so it doesn’t seem like a bad grade, but it can’t surpass S-grade…….

“Everyone gather! We’re entering the gate!”

Then, the Hunter Association staff shouted loudly.

People who had been passing time around grabbed their weapons and headed to the gate.

I too snapped out of my thoughts and headed to the gate.

Eunbyeol-ah, Daddy will do well and come back.

Recalling my beloved daughter’s face, I entered the blue gate.

It was finally the moment of my first gate raid.

***

The moment I entered the blue gate.

A grassy scent brushed my nose, revealing a dense forest.

Trees towering as if reaching the sky.

Me and the hunters entered there.

Maybe because we were all freelance hunters without guilds?

The 10 people quickly got friendly.

I also dropped formalities with someone nearby, calling him brother and such.

“Juwon, right? Be careful not to trip. The vines in gates are tough.”

The middle-aged man who introduced himself as Kim Kwanseop said.

“Ah, thank you, Brother.”

“Yeah. Looks like it’s your first gate raid. Right?”

“Haha, yes. It shows, huh.”

“I see. Ask me if you have questions. My level’s low, but I have lots of experience clearing lowest-grade gates like this.”

“Yes. Thank you, Brother. I feel relieved thanks to you.”

Paired with Kim Kwanseop, I continued through the forest.

The others also walked chatting casually like they were out for a stroll.

That’s when it happened.

Rustle rustle!

Bushes as tall as me shook, and something burst out.

“Kirruruk!”

“Karuk! Gyarak!”

“Kiyaaak!”

Light green skin, child-sized height, and daggers in hand.

They were the goblins, masters of this gate.

“It’s out!”

“Alright, time to warm up?”

“Let’s go!”

“Waaah!”

With the lead hunter’s shout, everyone charged.

Kim Kwanseop beside me too.

“Alright. I can’t miss out.”

I took out bones from my inventory.

Not chicken bones.

These were monster bones I bought with money from the hunter shop.

Skeleton Soldier Summon.

Throwing the three bones into the air, I immediately cast the skill.

Then, the three small bones I threw wriggled and grew.

Clack! Clack!

In an instant, skeleton soldiers were summoned, guarding in front of me.

A sturdy feeling like having escort warriors.

I ordered them to charge.

Clack! Clack!

The skeleton soldiers ran off right after the command.

They slipped between the hunters and slaughtered the goblins.

With their incredibly sharp bone swords.

After successfully taking down about 20 goblins, Kim Kwanseop said.

“Haha, Juwon, you’re pretty strong. I was quite surprised.”

“Thank you. The skeletons fought better than expected.”

“Yeah. I’ve partied with a necromancer before, but their skeletons broke easily.”

Kim Kwanseop smiled and praised my skeletons.

“Really? Ah, right. Brother, I have something to ask.”

“What?”

“Do you know what EX grade is?”

“What? EX grade?”

“Yes. My Skeleton Soldier Summon skill has EX in the grade field. Do you know what it is?”

“Hmm, no idea. First time hearing it.”

Kim Kwanseop tilted his head.

From his reaction, he really didn’t know.

Kim Kwanseop said.

“I’ll ask around my acquaintances after we exit the gate. But it doesn’t feel bad. Somehow seems like a good grade.”

“Ah, thank you, Brother. If you find out what grade it is, I’ll buy you a meal.”

“Haha, meal? Even if you buy, I should be the one buying. Anyway, let’s hurry. The others already left.”

“Yes, brother.”

I smiled happily and walked through the forest with Kim Kwanseop.

What the heck is EX grade.

I’ll probably find out soon.