A Public Servant Hunter Who Exploits Skill Combinations – Chapter 7

Translated by: Hanzo

Chapter 7: Connections (1)

"Alright, take this first."

"This is…?"

[The Ogre's Gloves]

By current standards, it was a B-grade item.

However, in the future, it would drop to a common D-grade.

Made from ogre hide, it was comfortable to wear, durable, and resistant to wear and tear.

Even when worn, it felt like you were not wearing anything, making hand movements effortless. It also had great ventilation, preventing sweat buildup.

Most importantly, it was a special item that increased strength, making heavy objects feel lighter.

"You probably don’t know the price, since it’s your first time seeing it, right?"

‘At least 32,890 won.’

Was it about two years before I regressed?

I recall seeing it sold as part of a set on a home shopping channel while looking up skill combination formulas.

I don’t remember the price from this era, but I’m certain it was well over a few million won.

And yet, the principal was boasting.

“It’s not that expensive, so don’t worry about it.”

It probably wasn’t expensive to him.

“By the way, do you know how impressive I was when I caught that thing? Ogres are massive monsters. To behead one in a single blow, I had to…”

I had to endure his story about hunting the ogre for a full ten minutes.

‘It’d be perfect if he just talked less.’

Still, he seemed in a good mood, likely because I was reacting enthusiastically.

“Here, take this as well.”

The second item was a sword called [Rekka’s Sword].

‘Rekka? Rekka’s Sword? I know Rekarte (a "soccer" player), but what’s Rekka?’

As I reached out to take the sword the principal handed me, my arm almost popped out of its socket.

“Ugh?”

“Is it heavy?”

“Huh? Why is it so heavy?”

“Hahaha!”

‘It looks like a one-handed sword, so why is it so absurdly heavy?’

Despite knowing the names of most swords, I had never seen this one before.

It seemed like I’d need to activate my mana and increase my strength to use it properly.

“That sword was something I kept for the first student to exceed 1,000 mana points.”

“…I need to retest…”

Principal Hong Pal-gwang shook his head.

“You scored 1,004.”

“….”

“Anyway, it’s already in the database, so changing it now would be too much hassle.”

In short, he was saying it’s a bother, so let’s not bother.

It seemed like the old man had made a bet, and he was afraid of losing if my score turned out lower upon retesting.

He might have already bragged about it everywhere, so asking to retract it would be humiliating.

Either way, it was a gain for me—I got items I hadn’t even anticipated.

“I awakened at an old age.”

‘But faster than anyone else at the time.’

Though it was around the same time, he was one of the quickest to grasp mana.

A natural-born hunter, so to speak.

Though his retirement came earlier due to his age, even now, he was not lacking compared to the current active hunters.

His official retirement was for the sake of the younger generation, not because he was lacking—I knew that well.

“Hunting monsters for the first time was so much fun.”

‘I felt the same way.’

Another ten minutes passed listening to his blabbering.

Principal Hong Pal-gwang’s final request to me was this:

“I don’t know how great of a hunter you’ll become, but never grow arrogant and always think of others first. Before becoming a hunter, it would be good if you became a decent human being. Someday, I hope you become someone, like me, who can invest in the future ahead.”

‘Doesn’t emphasizing “like me” make you feel embarrassed?’

I gave an answer that didn’t reflect my true thoughts.

The atmosphere was too serious to make a joke.

“Yes, understood.”

“Alright, off you go now.”

He had kept the sword for the first person with a mana score over 1,000, intending to give it to them.

As I left the principal’s office, I glanced at the sword in my hand.

‘Maybe this sword wasn’t originally meant for me.’

Who cares who the first to surpass 1,000 was?

Now, this sword is mine.

***

The next morning, a large notice board was posted in the auditorium hallway.

It displayed the records from the two-day mana measurement test and divided students into classes.

Naturally, no one surpassed my score.

It was a kind of ranking chart.

When the nationwide results came out, my name was proudly displayed in the top position.

‘First in the nation….’

“Whoa, Tae-sung, you’re first place!”

At Jun-hyuk’s words, everyone began murmuring and turned their gazes toward me. I could hear their whispers.

“Is that Angel Jung Tae-sung?”

“Yeah, it’s him.”

“Up close, he’s really handsome.”

Did I look ugly from afar?

I wouldn’t say it myself, but I’m not someone who’s lacking in appearance.

On top of that, I now had the glowing aura of being first in the nation.

‘…This is a bit overwhelming.’

“You are in the special class.”

At Jun-hyuk’s comment, I made a disingenuous reply.

“Yeah, it would’ve been nice if we were in the same class. Too bad.”

“I need to hurry and raise my mana score to get into the special class too.”

‘…Uh, no, you won’t.’

He ended up in Class 10 until graduation.

A guy who wasn’t much different from me.

Though he got a bit lucky toward the end.

After checking our assigned classes, we headed to our classrooms.

Throughout the walk, the whispers about me never left my ears.

***

The special class curriculum was slightly different.

After all, it was made up of students who had already mastered the basics.

When I opened the classroom door and entered, all eyes focused on me.

Looking around, I noticed that a few students were already grouped together, whispering as if they'd known each other before.

'It’s all going to be familiar material anyway, so there’s no need to sit at the front, is there?'

I was heading toward a seat in the back when a student sitting nearby caught my attention.

'To think I’d be in the same class as Seo Ye-rin.'

Sitting next to her was Ma Tae-ho.

'Tch.'

Back when I was in school, I’d heard rumors that those two were dating.

It made sense that they’d stick together, but I wasn’t interested in other people’s love lives, so I didn’t dig any deeper.

I settled into the seat next to Moon Jung-ho.

Since it was a single desk, it wasn’t as though we were too close to each other.

Just then, the door opened, and the teacher walked in.

“Hello, everyone. I’m Bang Sung-tae, and I’ll be teaching the Introduction to Monsterology course.”

This teacher had a famous story tied to him.

When gates first began appearing, he was the one who discovered mana stones by dissecting the corpse of a green monster—commonly known as a goblin.

After that, he gave up hunting and dedicated himself to researching monsters, eventually earning the position of professor.

Although everyone here called him "teacher," he insisted on calling himself "professor."

He claimed it was because he was an expert.

“For the past 20 years, there hasn’t been a monster I haven’t seen. In fact, I’ve named over ten species of monsters myself. You should consider it an honor to take my class.”

To put it nicely, he was passionate about his field. To put it bluntly, he was inflexible and overly self-assured, always believing his perspective was right.

“Today, since it’s the first day, I’ll go over the characteristics of monsters found in F- to D-rank gates. I trust everyone brought their books?”

“Yes!”

“Who didn’t bring their book?”

He was clearly referring to Mun Jung-ho’s empty desk.

I discreetly handed my book to Jung-ho.

Mun Jung-ho would eventually become an S-rank hunter, rising even higher than his father, Mun Man-choon.

Even if I ended up as a public servant hunter, it would be wise to get on his good side now.

Connections like this were priceless.

'Though all I’m spending is a single book.'

Jung-ho looked at me with surprised eyes, as if to say, “Why?”

I shrugged and raised my hand.

“I forgot to bring mine.”

“…Are you the student named Jung Tae-sung?”

It seemed my name was already well-known at the academy.

“Even if your mana score was 1,004… you dare come to my class without your textbook?”

“Sorry.”

“How dare you skip bringing the textbook to my class!? Do you think you’re that great just because you have a high mana score? Fine, then. Let’s see what you can do. Come up and teach the class.”

“Pardon?”

“Get up here and teach. Let’s see how much you know since you’re so confident you don’t need the book.”

It seemed like he was trying to humiliate me to knock me down a peg.

In fact, this teacher had a habit of nitpicking and making students teach on the first day.

I didn’t know it back then, but in hindsight, it was incredibly petty.

'Not like I can’t do it, though.'

I walked up to the board, grabbed a pen, and wrote:

[F: Nothing special.]

The teacher’s face visibly contorted, but I ignored it and began explaining.

“In F-rank gates, weak monsters appear.

You can punch them, kick them, or stab them with a knife—they’ll die easily.

You don’t need to know their patterns or weaknesses. As long as you don’t get scared, you’ll win.”

It was a simple explanation.

Bang Sung-tae stared at me in disbelief, but I continued unbothered.

“Next is D-rank. From here, you need to be a bit careful. If you zone out…”

I drew a line across my neck and made a dramatic slicing motion.

“Snip.”

I thought I heard a few students gulp.

“Now, goblins… you know, the green monsters.

Some of you might have already seen them if you’ve followed your parents to a dungeon before. They’re especially common in field gates.”

Ma Tae-ho’s eyebrow twitched.

“I’ll tell you something you might not know. Goblins can occasionally be dangerous. Why? Because some goblins are spellcasters. The problem with those is they attack from a distance, firing magic missiles.”

Judging by their expressions, none of the students had yet achieved physical enhancement.

“Once you activate mana and enhance your body, you can take one or two hits and still survive. It’ll hurt, but you won’t die.

The key is to close the distance quickly. If you hesitate and keep getting hit, you might die.”

A student raised their hand.

“What’s a field gate?”

“Ah, a field gate?”

It seemed this student hadn’t learned much beforehand.

The fact that they made it to the special class despite that probably meant they were talented.

“A field gate is the kind where monsters come out. A dungeon gate, however,  doesn’t have monsters spilling out, but you have to go in and clear it. You’ll learn more about this in the Introduction to Gateology class. Moving on.”

I figured most of the students already knew this, so I didn’t elaborate too much.

Next, I wrote down “Orc.”

“Orcs, you know? Pig-headed monsters. The thing to watch out for is… their smell. They reeks. Pinch your nose when you fight them.”

The mere thought of their stench was enough to make me mimic holding my nose.

“If you don’t block your nose, you might lose your sense of smell.”

This kind of practical advice wasn’t in textbooks—it came from experience.

“That’s why there’s a job called gate porter. They’re the ones who extract mana stones. But dealing with the stench often makes them gag.

The smell’s like it’s been 100 years since they’ve bathed, piercing your nose and lungs… so bad you’ll wish you didn’t have a nose—”

“…Enough!”

Professor Bang Sung-tae couldn’t take it anymore and interrupted the lecture.

“What kind of student are you?”

“…Me? Just a normal one?”

The professor stared at me for a moment before turning away.

“Bring your textbook next time.”

“Got it.”

“Today, just share with the student next to you.”

“Understood.”

As I returned to my seat, the students all blinked in surprise.

Ma Tae-ho, on the other hand, scowled at me like I’d stolen his thunder.

I slid my desk closer to Mun Jung-ho’s and whispered.

“Hey, was I too much like an old man?”

“…No, not at all.”

“Ah, I should’ve explained more suavely.”

“Thanks for the book…”

I smiled at him.

“No need to thank me. Friends help each other out.”

“You’re a good guy, huh?”

“Indeed I am.”

I leaned in closer and whispered to him.

“But don’t forget—my name’s Jung Tae-sung, not ‘you.’ Remember it well.”

“Yeah. I’ll remember.”

Because I’d be collecting on this favor, and potentially other favors, with interest later. 

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