I Became a Mythical Hunter After Killing the Golden Goblin - Chapter 8

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

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Chapter 8. Association
Three days had already passed since I arrived in Seoul. Despite my resolve to grow stronger by entering the Abyss or dungeons immediately, I spent those three days resting comfortably, as if rewarding myself for the efforts of my previous life.
In truth, I had no choice. A license issued by the Association was essential to enter dungeons or the Abyss, and I didn’t have one.
So for three days, in a house so vast it was difficult to navigate, I repeated the cycle of eating, sleeping, and bathing alone, dedicating myself to organizing all the large and small matters from before my regression.
“Fortunately, I’ve finished organizing everything on schedule.”
After carefully placing the ten notebooks I had organized into my inventory, I quietly arranged my plans for the future.
‘First, I’ll pass the Hunter license exam at the top, then immediately take the tutorial.’
The license acquisition exam begins in sync with the Abyss tutorial entrance period for new recruits, which opens once a month.
Newly awakened Hunters can only enter the Abyss during that specific time.
And that day is today.
Of course, I won’t be foolish enough to re-enter the Zone 11 tutorial I had entered before my regression and search for the Golden Tower’s hidden stage again.
There’s no way two hidden stages could exist, let alone ones that granted such insane power and even allowed regression.
Here’s one crucial detail!
‘I must enter the tutorial in Zone 7.’
Many tutorials exist in the Abyss. As if designed to help weak humans adapt well to the Abyss, there are exactly fifteen tutorials, each with different monsters and difficulty levels.
Before my regression, Zone 11—the forest terrain I entered—was mid-to-low difficulty.
Zone 7—the desert zone I plan to enter in this life—is clearly a tutorial boasting the highest difficulty.
Zone 7 is a half-abandoned zone. With its intense sun, heat so severe there’s barely water to drink, fewer monsters than other zones, and difficult prey, it’s avoided by many.
But I know one fact that no one else in the world knows.
‘A year and a half from now, a promising prospect discovers a massive hidden stage in Zone 7.’
That mad prospect, seemingly missing a screw and enjoying suffering, was determined to catch all the monsters beneath the desert under Zone 7’s sun when he discovered the hidden stage.
It’s called the 【Ruin Where the Most Brilliant Sun Sleeps】—a ruin where a Divine King-class constellation’s sacred relic was discovered.
‘And I’m going to take it.’
Since hidden stages can only be entered once, I need to prepare thoroughly, but I’m not particularly worried.
I don’t think I’d be weaker than that prospect who received substantial support from guilds.
‘If worst comes to worst, I can use equivalent exchange.’
If I pour money into enhancing my stats, it should be possible.
Having thought that far, I rose from my seat, showered, put on a tracksuit I’d bought from a department store, and left the house.
The sun was just rising in the early dawn. I visited the Hospital to greet my younger sibling whom I wouldn’t see for a while, thanked the attending nurse for taking care of them, and headed toward the Association.
***
The crowd roared with a deafening murmur.
Since the Hunter License Examination was held only once a month, the front of the Association was packed with countless people—aspiring Hunters and their families, journalists, YouTubers, and more.
“Sigh… How am I supposed to push through that?”
The entrance, suffocating just to look at, brought my footsteps to a halt. I drew a deep breath and charged forward anyway!
“Ahhh! Who’s pushing?!”
“Hey! You bastard! Stop shoving! I said stop!”
“What damn fool is pushing?! You want to die?!”
Curses erupted from all directions, but I pressed on silently, trying my best to navigate toward the less crowded areas.
Yes, that was the plan. To slip in unnoticed, drawing no attention whatsoever.
But fortune was not on my side this time either.
〚A mischievous and impish misfortune spreads excrement across your path and prepares to laugh!〛
The moment the message appeared, my foot suddenly stepped on a discarded ice cream cone and slipped, sending my body careening off balance.
Despite possessing Mythic-tier stats as a Hunter, I tried desperately to regain my footing, but it was too late.
It happened in an instant. As I found myself sandwiched like a condiment between the surging crowd, someone appeared as if they’d been waiting.
“Kyaaaah!!! It’s Lee Ji-hyung!”
“Oppa!!! I love you!”
“L-e-e J-i-h-y-u-n-g!”
“Hey! Take pictures! Hurry up and take them!”
“There! There he is, Lee Ji-hyung! Come here!”
I was swept away helplessly by the tidal wave of humanity.
“Ugh…!”
No matter how much of an Awakened One I was or how high my Mythic-tier physical stats were, I couldn’t fight against the current of hundreds of people. More than that, if I used my strength, I’d be sued for assault. I couldn’t risk it.
If I struck them with my full power, they’d all suffer at least serious injuries!
‘Damn it!’
I twisted and tried to slip away with technique, but my body had already escaped my control, swept along by the tide.
Finally, my body was flung from the crowd like a projectile, hurtling through the air toward someone.
Thud!
With a sharp, dull impact, my body collided with someone and crashed to the ground.
“Ugh!”
“What do we do!”
“Is he insane?”
As shocked voices erupted around me, the misfortune that had befallen me burst into laughter.
〚The mischievous and impish misfortune clutches its belly and laughs!〛
〚The dormant good fortune stirs at the loud laughter, opening its eyes halfway before closing them again.〛
〚The mischievous and impish misfortune prepares another prank!〛
〚The good fortune, annoyed at being disturbed from sleep, waves its hand to interfere with the misfortune!〛
〚An unpredictable fortune descends upon you!〛
“What damn bastard!”
Just as I was trying to push myself up from where I’d been thrown, a harsh curse erupted from behind me—from the person I’d collided with.
He shoved me back down before I could stand, then shot to his feet.
“Are you insane? We’re paying you to stop bastards like this, so what the hell are you doing right now?”
In my eyes, a handsome delinquent—no, a celebrity—was hurling curses at the suited bodyguards.
“Inferno Demon, Lee Ji-hyung?”
The moment I saw that damned handsome face, a piece of forgotten information flashed through my mind.
An A-rank Mage who would later be called Inferno Demon, a Hunter with anger management issues and a fiery temperament who caused scandals constantly and was called a plague by the public. A piece of trash who ultimately abandoned his humanity, committed crimes, and became a Demon.
A man who had succeeded as a famous idol and actor, yet without hesitation wielded tremendous talent to become a Hunter—a man who had reached a position I could never dare to look up to before my regression, when I was just scraping by at the bottom.
“Inferno Demon is spouting nonsense, is he crazy? What, did you think if you threw your body around like that, you could squeeze something out of me? Anyway, these stalker bastards are the real problem.”
His furious curses poured out relentlessly, but I could only stare at him in a daze.
Because something far more shocking than the fact that he was Inferno Demon had surfaced in my mind.
Eventually, Lee Ji-hyung’s anger reached its breaking point. True to his fiery nature, he abandoned all patience and swung his foot to kick me as I lay on the ground.
But he never landed the blow.
〚An incomprehensible luck takes effect!〛
The moment I saw his foot flying toward my face, my hand moved to push myself up, and it slipped smoothly like water, striking his only supporting leg instead.
“Huh…?”
From the recoil, he crumbled helplessly. Unable to maintain his balance like the Mage he was, he fell toward me and struck the leg I had raised to push myself up,
“Ugh!”
With a bizarre cry, he went limp and lost consciousness.
‘What the hell?’
What is this?! I really just wanted to take the test quickly and enter the tutorial to grab the hidden piece, but everything’s already fallen apart from the start.
〚A playful and mischievous misfortune laughs at the unexpectedly good result!〛
〚Destiny, tired, falls back into slumber.〛
This is all because of that damned misfortune! It’s strange enough that my unique ability has a consciousness like some divine power.
“Damn it.”
Thinking of the misfortune that must be laughing at this situation, my teeth grind and irritation surges.
“Ugh! Because of you, everything’s ruined.”
I tossed the unconscious Lee Ji-hyung to the bewildered bodyguards and quickly got to my feet.
But it was already too late. Countless reporters who had grasped the situation moments ago bombarded me with questions and thrust cameras in my face, while Lee Ji-hyung’s fans—for whom he was a god and religion—hurled insults at me that were painful to even hear.
Worst of all, the guild staff members who had been watching from a distance with amusement suddenly rushed over in a panic when their promising prospect collapsed because of me, and their piercing gazes cut right through me.
‘I’m done for, completely done for.’
I really have no luck. I sighed and wondered how I could escape this situation and think clearly.
But there was no way thinking would provide an answer. Just as I was about to lose my mind surrounded by all these people,
Screech!!
A luxury car pulled up right behind the crowd as if it had been waiting, and a person stepped out.
“Ah…!”
With my gasp of admiration, all the attention that had been focused on me instantly shifted to her.
“Is she…a woman?”
“Was that rumor actually true?”
“Wow! Our chaebol princess has everything, absolutely everything!”
“Insane! Lee Ji-hyung, Seo Mi-na, this generation is absolutely crazy, for real!”
A beauty that stood out even beside a celebrity who lived off their looks, a composed and restrained haughty gait, and finally, golden eyes that seemed indifferent to everything in the world.
Truth be told, when I first laid eyes on Lee Ji-hyung, I’m sorry to say the first thing that came to mind wasn’t information about him.
A fellow Hunter exam passer from the same cohort as Lee Ji-hyung, yet a Hunter hundreds of times more famous than him.
‘That woman!’
The emergence of a woman who would later be called the Thunder Sovereign and become South Korea’s second SS-rank Hunter.
If the word perfection existed in this world, it was said to describe her—Seo Mi-na possessed everything.
A beauty that could rival any celebrity, the immense talent to become South Korea’s greatest, and the title of granddaughter to the chairman of Seohwa Group, South Korea’s premier conglomerate.
A woman who possessed money, talent, power, and authority—everything.
‘A human who lived a life completely opposite to mine.’
I cast a brief glance her way, then quickly realized all eyes had shifted away from me entirely, so I hurried into the Association.
As I distanced myself from her in that hasty retreat, I clenched my fists tightly.
‘But this time will be different.’
I will defeat her—the woman destined to become an SS-rank Hunter—and claim the top spot with confidence, revealing my true abilities.
With that resolve, I registered my information and entered the testing hall.
***
Murmur, murmur!
The interior of the testing hall I’d barely made it into was no different from the outside. Since the exam hadn’t started yet, the Hunter candidates seated at their assigned desks chatted idly.
“Hey there~ Taking it again this month? Money must be burning a hole in your pocket. Is this your fifth attempt?”
“Ha! Look who’s talking. Isn’t this your seventh attempt? At this rate, you won’t pass even if we cross into next year!”
Beginning with the awkward joy of reuniting with someone I’d met at a previous exam.
“Hello. Let’s both pass this time!”
“Let’s do our best!”
Occasionally, I could see the heartwarming sight of candidates encouraging each other to ease their tension.
“It’s nice to meet you like this. Seo Mi-na. I’m Lee Ji-hyung. I work as an entertainer, you know. Haha!”
“….”
There was also a trash who’d been pathetically knocked unconscious by me and now tried to hit on the woman.
I sat in a spot outside Lee Ji-hyung’s line of sight and quietly observed the situation.
‘If that bastard starts acting up, it’ll be annoying again.’
I’d suffered enough from misfortune’s pranks. It was a shame that fortune hadn’t aided me, but what could I do? I couldn’t rely on heavenly luck every single time.
‘When I catch whoever cursed me like this, I’ll repay them tenfold for everything I’ve endured.’
Just thinking about who could possibly harbor such resentment toward me and cast such a vicious curse made my teeth grind.
Then a candidate sitting next to me handed me a piece of chocolate.
“I’ll wish for your passing. Relax!”
Apparently, they’d misunderstood my frown as nervousness.
I bowed my head in gratitude, popped the chocolate into my mouth, and set aside my thoughts about the curse.
Once I relaxed my expression, the candidate seemed to find their voice and attempted conversation with me.
“By the way, there are more candidates like us than I expected! How many of them do you think will pass?”
“Only a very small number will pass.”
Out of nearly 300 candidates, those who pass will certainly be less than 10%.
It was inevitable. The written exam could be passed through repeated attempts and accumulated experience, but the practical exam would be difficult without being an Awakened.
“Over 80% of these people are non-Awakened. They won’t pass the practical exam.”
Rather than obtaining a Hunter License to hunt monsters in the Abyss or dungeons, these people were taking the test to become porters—hauling burdensome loads for Hunters who actually did that work.
Whether one became a porter or a Hunter, a License was absolutely necessary to enter the Abyss or dungeons.
Those over there, boasting miserably about how many times they’d taken the test, were exactly that type.
Since porters earned slightly more than manual laborers or part-time workers, they kept challenging the test endlessly.
“I see.”
“From what I can tell, you’ve awakened. Don’t be intimidated. If you stay calm, you’ll pass.”
“Thank you!”
In truth, that was exactly what the Hunter License examination sought to determine—whether one could kill monsters without fear.
Not long after our conversation ended, the Examiner entered. He frowned at the chaotic state of the testing hall and immediately shouted at the applicants.
“Silence!”
His cry, infused with mana, instantly blanketed the room in profound quiet.
“The written examination begins now. Everyone, take your seats. You have two hours to answer one hundred questions. After the exam concludes, lunch will be provided, followed immediately by the practical test. Once the practical examination ends, results will be announced at once. Successful candidates will receive standard-issue equipment from the Association and then enter the tutorial under my direct command. Any questions?”
Faced with such an efficient schedule, everyone remained silent.
“Then let us begin the written examination.”
The written test commenced, covering essential information for Hunter activities, and I completed all the questions flawlessly in merely thirty minutes, then rested.

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

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