CHAPTER SIXTEEN !
───re-evaluation, part two.

JINWOO WAS GOING TO TAKE A RE-EVALUATION TEST AT THE Hunter Association. He didn't feel like going through the back entrance to avoid the reporters. 'It's not like I did something wrong,' he thought. He pushed through the crowd of reporters and made his way to the front door.

As he approached the entrance, a large man blocked his path. "Who are you? Do you work for the Association?" Jin Woo didn't back down and met the man's glare. The man was Lee Minsung's manager.

The manager tried to push Jin Woo away, but Jin Woo didn't budge. The manager was surprised and took a step back. Just then, two luxury cars arrived at the parking lot. Baek Yoonho from the White Tiger Guild and Choi Jong-In from the Hunters Guild got out of their cars.

The reporters rushed towards them, asking questions.

"Are you here to scout Lee Minsung?"

"What do you think about his potential retirement?"

"What do you think his rank will be?"

Baek Yoonho and Choi Jong-In frowned. "We're not here for that," they said.

After the reporters left, Baek Yoonho and Choi Jong-In met each other's gaze. Baek Yoonho mentioned that the Hunters Guild almost got into trouble the day before. Choi Jong-In said that Lee Minsung had signed up with the Reapers Guild.

Lee Minsung emerged from the Association building, surrounded by reporters. Jin Woo was still outside, unable to enter. The reporters were confused and started asking questions.

"Who is that man? Why is the Association President greeting him?"

Baek Yoonho and Choi Jong-In were still arguing when Lim Tae-Gyu, the Master of the Reapers Guild, arrived. He saw the two Guild chairmen growling at each other and smiled.

"What's going on here?" he asked.

The manager tried to push Jin Woo away again, but Jin Woo didn't move. The manager was embarrassed and raised his voice. "You can't pass here, so leave!" Jin Woo glared at him, and the manager's face turned pale.

Just then, Go Gunhee, the President of the Hunter Association, appeared. "This gentleman is my guest," he said. The reporters were shocked, and the atmosphere cooled down.

Go Gunhee spoke up, "I hope you haven't forgotten who gave you permission to hold a press conference here, Mister Lee Minsung."

Lee Minsung recovered quickly and replied, "O-of course, sir."

On his first day as a Hunter, he fell out of favor with the Association President and lost the location of the press conference - Lee Minsung couldn't afford to suffer such a humiliation when there were so many eyes watching him right now.

Lee Minsung frowned and quickly signaled his manager; the burly guy bowed slightly to both Go Gunhee and Jin Woo and voluntarily stepped aside.

"Please, follow me, Hunter-nim Sung Jin Woo."

Even until Jin Woo disappeared into the Association building under the guidance of Go Gunhee, the gathered reporters couldn't hide their confusion at all.

"What was that all about?"

"Who was that man, and why is the Association President personally coming out to greet him?"

"Does anyone know who that man is?"

Reporters felt frustrated and raised their voices, but there was no one answering them.

"Please, come this way."

Jin Woo stepped up to the middle of the examination area. Its interior layout much resembled an indoor gymnasium commonly found everywhere.

If there was one thing different from those gymnasiums, then it'd be the fact that one could sense powerful fluctuations of magic energy coming from the walls as well as from the floor. Magic had been utilized to reinforce the structure in case something went wrong.

The examiner asked Jin Woo.

"What kind of ability can you use?"

The Association President Go Gunhee didn't return to his office immediately and, while standing in the far corner, stared at the examination process with a great deal of interest.

This was the reason why he came to guide Jin Woo personally. He wanted to confirm Jin Woo's powers with his own eyes as quickly as possible.

"Well, I can do this."

Jin Woo called out a single Shadow Soldier.

"Heok?!"

The examiner was greatly taken by surprise.

Seriously speaking, how could anyone stay composed when a soldier decked out in jet-black armor suddenly rose up from the ground?

Jin Woo deliberately chose the lowest-leveled one out of his regular Soldiers, but still, the dude emitted intense pressure that most normal people found hard to endure.

"This.... Is this your summoned creature? You can control a summon?"

The examiner's voice was trembling noticeably.

Jin Woo had half a mind to helpfully explain that his Soldier was definitely not dangerous, but....

He formed a pitying expression while making his reply.

"....Well, something like that."

"I-in that case, h-how many summoned creatures can you control?"

"..."

'Well, it will be useless to lie, so....'

Indeed, the number of eyewitnesses who saw his Shadow Soldiers yesterday was nearly twenty.

Jin Woo spoke up to a slightly reduced number of Soldiers sealed inside his shadow through his skill.

"It's around 100 or so...."

The examiner's eyes went wide at the number 100.

"A h-hundred?!"

"Yes."

On the other hand, Jin Woo remained nonplussed.

At the same time...

As he stared at the Shadow Soldier, Go Gunhee's eyes were glittering brightly.

'A hundred of those....'

At a glance, that 'soldier' possessed around the same amount of magic energy as a B-rank Hunter. If that young man could summon a hundred of those soldiers, then one simply had to concede that his powers had already exceeded a regular large Guild's combat force.

Truthfully, that was an incredible ability.

Jin Woo could feel Go Gunhee's passionate gaze burning up on his skin.

He breathed a sigh of relief after confirming the reactions of the surroundings.

'Well, if one regular Soldier can elicit this sort of reaction, then....'

He should thank his lucky stars that he didn't choose to call out the highest leveled soldier among his flock, 'Igris', or the boss-level creature he managed to poach yesterday, 'Tusk'.

Whatever the case may be, this was enough to prove the type of ability he possessed.

"In that case.... Hunter-nim Sung Jin Woo, you're a mage type."

The examiner studiously jotted down something on the recording document and raised his head up, while looking rather satisfied.

"We can now head to the measurement room."

Jin Woo held the newly issued Hunter license in his hand.

It said, 'Sung Jin Woo, S-rank, Mage-type'.

Even though his face was plastered on the photo box, he still found it hard to believe.

Jin Woo quickly shoved his new Hunter license inside his wallet. When he got to the end of the corridor, the waiting duo of Baek Yoonho and Choi Jong-In approached him.

And they're having a conversation.

"Japan has a new S-Rank..they already have 21 S-Rank and now they have a new one."

"Again? Wait let me see, what is his name?"

"It says Kim Hye–Ah! Mister Sung Jin Woo, can we have a chat?"

"Sung Jin Woo Hunter-nim, I....."

"I'm sorry. I'm pressed for time at the moment."

Jin Woo ignored them both and quickly walked towards the glass door.

"Uh? Uh?!" Baek Yoonho raised his worried voice.

"If it was me, I wouldn't use that exit."

'Is he trying to imply that the sweet deals he prepared for this occasion will make me regret walking out of this door or something?'

Jin-Woo wasn't interested regardless of what was being offered, so he continued to ignore Baek Yoonho's dissuasion and pushed the glass door wide open.

When that happened....

The reporters that had managed to climb up the steps to push and shove against the Monitoring Division's agents, began clicking their cameras non-stop, with flashes exploding brightly all around him.

'What the heck is this?'

Jin Woo became utterly speechless at this blinding explosion of lights.

As usual, Sung Jin-Ah stopped by the school tuck shop after the third period ended, and bought herself a pack of banana milk.

There was still around one hour to go to lunch. If she didn't fill herself up temporarily with something like milk, for instance, she'd be unable to concentrate during the class.

And sure enough....

Already, her remorseless stomach was noisily demanding for more fuel to be put in there. Jin-Ah rubbed her hungry tummy and was about to enter her classroom, but then, one of her friends grabbed her wrist, a shocked expression clearly visible on that girl's face.

"J-Jin-Ah!!"

"Wha-what?!"

With her friend shocked like this, even Jin-Ah got shocked alongside her for no reason.

"It's your Oppa! He's on TV right now!!"

"What?? Why is my oppa...??"

Jin-Woo felt her heart tumble to the pit of her stomach.

Did he get injured again? If not, could it be even worse....??

The friend dragged Jin-Ah by her wrist inside the classroom as if she didn't want to waste time explaining anymore.

Jin-Ah's eyes immediately shifted over to the large TV located next to the blackboard.

And there was....

"O.... oppa?!"

The moment Jin-Ah saw the TV screen, the banana milk in her hand fell to the floor.