F-Rank Secretly Becomes Stronger - Chapter 37

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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37

“Did you see enough of how strong your son is?”

“Yeah… that’s amazing.”

Today’s training was observation sparring with Mother.

Mother, who was curious about just how amazing her son’s skill was to cause such a commotion in the world, immediately said she would come along.

After watching the sparring match with Sui, Mother had no choice but to acknowledge it.

“The video I saw before was so brief that I didn’t know, but this is really incredible.”

“Right? Your son is really strong.”

“Yena next to me was also flustered, saying she had no idea you’d become this strong.”

Actually, the most surprised person wasn’t Mother, but Yena who came to watch together.

The last time she saw him fight in person was Jung Juhyeok barely winning after fighting on equal terms with a B-rank.

Seeing Jung Juhyeok after taking the Dream Herb and even visiting the Training Room, she couldn’t help but be amazed.

“Could it be~ that showing off to me wasn’t the purpose?”

“Of course that was the purpose.”

The conversation was flowing in a strange direction again.

I could predict what would come next without even watching.

“I thought my son wanted to look cool in front of a woman.”

“I told you Yena and I aren’t like that.”

“Why not? She’s pretty, kind, and there’s no reason not to like her, right?”

“That’s true.”

A pretty person, and kind enough to visit our mother for check-ups almost every day.

Coming to like such a person was, in a way, a natural thing.

“But I don’t like her.”

Of course, for me, such feelings haven’t emerged yet.

One of the people I’m grateful to for various favors?

‘If she weren’t someone related to hunters, I might feel differently, but since she’s from that world, it seems like romantic feelings don’t develop.’

Although I’ve received personal help from her, since she was ultimately someone I met through work, I don’t develop strong feelings.

At most, a business partner I can trust with work?

Beyond that, she just gets the modifier “pretty” attached to her.

“Geez, how can a man have such poor taste in women…”

Mother clicked her tongue at her son’s stubbornness.

On the way home, I got a truckload of nagging about relationships, asking when I would get a girlfriend.

After finally arriving home and coming out of the shower, there was a missed call on my cell phone.

[Association Hunter Management Staff]

‘What’s this about?’

A contact from the staff member who came to see me last time.

Wondering what he was calling about this time, I called him back.

“Hello?”

[Jung Juhyeok? Are you available to talk right now?]

“Yes, I’m available. What’s this about?”

An urgent voice.

When I asked if some major incident had occurred, he answered.

[It’s about the A-rank Gate dispatch request we confirmed this time.]

After finishing that statement, a brief silence followed.

The staff member continued speaking after about 2 seconds.

[This must be an administrative error, right?]

“No, I’m the one who submitted it.”

[Sigh…]

The staff member let out a deep sigh.

He seemed to be greatly lamenting as his feared scenario actually came to pass.

[I acknowledge that Jung Juhyeok is remarkable for an F-rank, but A-rank is still too much.]

“Then I’ll come visit tomorrow.”

[Excuse me?]

“There’s no point in making a fuss with words.”

This was a development I’d already anticipated since asking Yena about the A-rank Gate.

I didn’t expect it would be the Association, but perhaps it was actually better that the contact came from here.

“I’ll come tomorrow and clearly show you that I have the skill to enter an A-rank Gate.”

[…]

A flowing silence.

The staff member was momentarily flustered by the sudden development, but after a short while, having grasped the situation, he seemed to realize this was the fastest and most accurate solution and readily agreed.

[I don’t know what kind of confidence you have, but understood.]

He spoke along with the sound of typing on the keyboard.

[We’ll prepare everything on our end tomorrow, so please come to the same building as last time by 2 PM.]

“Understood.”

With that arrangement made, the call ended.

He tossed his cell phone aside and lay down on the soft bed.

‘They definitely said I could beat even S-rank, right?’

Today’s sparring gave him some idea.

With his currently enhanced physical abilities, he could certainly engage in much better combat than before.

However, it was still difficult to know his exact capabilities.

‘Even in today’s sparring, I couldn’t use my full strength because I was holding back.’

The gap between him and Sui had now grown too wide.

During sparring, if he didn’t control his power, it would be difficult to maintain proper sparring.

‘If someone a bit stronger comes, I’ll know for sure.’

At least A-rank.

If it’s to measure qualification for entering an A-rank Gate, they’d probably bring another A-rank.

Honestly, with his current body, he felt like he could easily beat an A-rank too, but…

‘I mustn’t be careless.’

If he got overconfident and ended up getting beaten, there would be no greater embarrassment.

Jung Juhyeok calmly practiced mind control while quietly waiting for tomorrow to come.

*

“Ah, this is really driving me crazy.”

“That wasn’t a mistake…?”

“Right, he says he’ll prove himself and is coming tomorrow.”

Jung Juhyeok, who had defeated a B-rank combatant and proudly proven himself.

Perhaps his pride had grown, as he now applied to join a party saying he would enter an A-rank Gate.

“Really, maybe I shouldn’t have given him that irregular rating.”

He should clearly know the limits of his mana capacity.

Why on earth was he throwing a tantrum saying he’d go to an A-rank Gate?

“After beating you back then, he got too cocky.”

“…I’m, I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m not blaming you. It just turned out that way.”

Her losing couldn’t be helped.

It wasn’t that she didn’t give her best effort; Jung Juhyeok simply showed patience uncharacteristic of a newcomer and seized victory despite being at a disadvantage.

“If he gets properly beaten by an A-rank this time, he’ll come to his senses.”

He might have somehow beaten a B-rank, but starting from A-rank, the class itself was completely different.

There would probably be at least one A-rank combat personnel free tomorrow, so she was about to contact them to schedule a time when—

“But Deputy Manager.”

“What.”

“What if that person wins?”

“…Hunter Juhyeok against an A-rank?”

The Deputy Manager paused momentarily at the unexpected question.

She couldn’t help but be amazed by the unbiased thinking of the new employee.

“Do you think that’s possible?”

“Well, the thing is…”

The junior staff hesitated for a moment.

She continued speaking in a somewhat cautious tone.

“E-even if he doesn’t win, if he shows somewhat decent results, I think it might just make him think it’s worth trying.”

“…”

Even if he couldn’t win against an A-rank in sparring, if he managed to hold his own even a little, it might just fuel his stubbornness.

It was certainly a valid point.

Jung Juhyeok wasn’t just any ordinary B-rank, and since he was someone with F-rank level mana capacity, his skill was unpredictable.

It was hard to say there was absolutely no chance of the A-rank being careless and getting caught off guard.

‘If I could measure his mana amount, I’d roughly know how strong he is, but since I can’t even measure his mana amount…’

This is why irregulars are such a headache.

It would be fine if they were only as strong as the mana they possess, but they show skills superior to their original abilities due to other hidden factors.

For the Management Department, dealing with them was the most troublesome.

“Should I just call him back and tell him not to come for the sparring or anything?”

“What if he gets upset about that approach and makes contact with an illegal hunter organization…”

Even if he didn’t seem like that type of person, it wasn’t impossible if dissatisfaction with the Hunter Association accumulated.

The Management Department’s role was to properly soothe and appease problem hunters to prevent such incidents.

Especially Hunter Juhyeok was a case who showed quite low performance during his school years but then achieved rapid growth, so there was a considerable possibility he harbored dissatisfaction with society.

Therefore, rather than taking a hardline approach here, they needed to move in a direction he could accept.

“Tsk, I don’t know. I’ll just call any A-rank and tell them not to go easy on him.”

“….”

There was no better solution than this.

The only option was to call the most veteran A-rank and ask them to crush him.

Just as the deputy manager was opening his cell phone to contact a staff member he knew.

His junior staff made a new suggestion.

“How about we suggest this to the Association President…?”

“The Association President?”

“Yes, the Association President is also an irregular.”

An Uijun, the Hunter Association President.

Though his mana amount was only B-rank, he had experience forged through many years as a hunter.

His refined swordsmanship gave him skills incomparable to B-rank.

Therefore, he became the first irregular in South Korea, and was currently considered personnel deployable even to S-rank gates.

“If he gets badly beaten by a fellow irregular, wouldn’t Hunter Juhyeok become a bit more humble?”

Though they were both irregulars, if he got miserably crushed by someone stronger than himself, he would surely reflect on his position somewhat.

Moreover, the possibility of Juhyeok having a proper sparring match with the Association President was close to zero.

“Would the Association President allow that?”

“Recently… he’s been sitting in the lobby bothering passing staff members, so I think he’s probably very bored.”

The deputy manager knew this too.

This morning when he came to work, he saw him sitting in the building’s first floor lobby, grabbing passing staff members and chatting about various things.

“Sigh, I really don’t know why that grandfather acts like that.”

If he’s going to slack off, he should go to the golf course and swing with the National Assembly members.

He keeps grabbing young kids under the pretext of communication with staff and rambling about his heroic tales.

Since he’s the Association President, it’s hard to say anything, and whoever gets caught has to be tormented all morning, abandoning all their work.

“So, if he hears about Hunter Juhyeok, I think he’ll immediately step forward to teach him a lesson.”

“That makes sense. If it’s the Association President, Hunter Juhyeok would get instantly killed.”

If he loses to a fellow irregular without even being able to fight back, that arrogant mindset would be corrected somewhat.

Rather than calling a mediocre A-rank and risking potential problems, calling someone reliable to crush him once would help his future.

‘Ha, I’ll have to come to work early tomorrow morning.’

The Association President, like a hyena prowling the lobby from morning.

To recruit him, he’d have to come to work an hour earlier than usual tomorrow.

“Come to work an hour early tomorrow.”

“What?”

Of course, he meant his junior staff.

“The Association President grabs whoever comes to work early in the morning, so we need to catch him before he grabs someone else and disappears.”

“But why do I have to…?”

“If you don’t like it, get hired first next time.”

“….”

The junior staff stared blankly at the deputy manager.

She felt the urge to stomp on her own foot, just like when she briefly sparred with Juhyeok.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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