"Why an umbrella?"
Jina took the umbrella and looked up at him. It was still early morning and dark, but the sky was fairly clear.
"Doesn't look like it's going to rain?" "Take it." "It's heavy." "Still, take it. It's a folding umbrella, so it's not that heavy. Where's the attitude coming from?"
Clang. Jin-Woo shut the door.
"Damn... he's so bossy."
Jina lightly kicked the door in protest, then placed the umbrella in an empty spot in her bag and turned to leave.
'Wait a minute...'
She just calculated the height difference between her and her brother. It was weird. His eye level was definitely higher than before.
"Do men keep growing past twenty?"
Nah, no way. Jina shook her head again and hurried her steps toward school. Click. Jin-Woo locked the door and stepped inside, then called up his inventory.
"Storage."
Warehouse, invent, inventory. After a few experiments, he'd learned that as long as the command's meaning was clear, the exact word didn't matter. It was the same when opening his message window—commands like 'open,' 'open up,' 'open it' all worked as long as they contained the idea of opening. Jin-Woo shoved the umbrella he'd just gotten from the random box into the digital storage space before him.
"No luck again today."
Four days had passed since he'd last gone into the instance dungeon. He'd kept opening random boxes, hoping an instance dungeon entry key might drop, but it wasn't something that came easily. Unfortunately, he still had nothing to show for it.
'Pity is just pity.'
Jin-Woo went into his room and sat on the edge of his bed. Today, there was a decision he had to make.
"Stats."
[Stats] Strength: 48 Endurance: 27 Agility: 27 Intelligence: 27 Perception: 27 (Available stat points: 12)
Four days' worth of stat points had piled up untouched. He'd done his Daily Quest without missing a single day. And of course, he'd received all his rewards like clockwork. But he hadn't been able to allocate his stat points. The problem was...
"...It's difficult."
That's right. Making the decision was just too difficult. Strength. A good stat. He'd never once regretted his early investment in it. Agility. Also a good stat. It didn't matter much against weak enemies, but as their level rose, it would become increasingly necessary. Speed is relative, after all. And then there was Endurance and Perception. Endurance was the higher, the better. Perception had also proven to be incredibly useful, even more so than he'd expected. Intelligence. ...That was the problem. It was the only stat whose function he couldn't figure out. Even though his level had risen quite a bit, he didn't feel any smarter. His memory hadn't improved, nor had his calculation speed.
'I feel like it might be a magic-related stat...'
Maybe it was a stat he didn't need yet. So, he was left with only four: Strength, Agility, Endurance, and Perception.
"...Still, it's difficult."
Narrowing it down to four choices hadn't made it any easier. He wasn't confident. He knew Strength and Agility synergized well. No matter how high a damage output he could manage, it was useless if he couldn't land a hit. Conversely, landing hits perfectly was pointless if he couldn't deal any damage. So, Strength and Agility were a set.
'Since my Strength is higher now, I should raise Agility to match it.'
If he was going to raise Agility, then Endurance had to take a back seat. Agility and Endurance didn't mesh well. While Agility increased the chance of avoiding enemy attacks, Endurance only shone when he actually took damage.
'Of course, I need at least some Endurance...'
Raising both Agility and Endurance at the same time seemed wildly inefficient. After much deliberation, he set his priorities. First was Agility, second Perception, third Endurance. He'd invested enough in Strength already, so he'd hold off on it. Since he planned to raise Agility, he'd prioritize Perception over Endurance. Having made his decision, Jin-Woo put 2 points into Strength. Ding.
[Stats] Strength: 50 Endurance: 27 Agility: 27 Intelligence: 27 Perception: 27 (Available stat points: 10)
He wanted to at least get his Strength stat to 50. That was just human nature. Then, he spent 8 points on Agility.
[Stats] Strength: 50 Endurance: 27 Agility: 35 Intelligence: 27 Perception: 27 (Available stat points: 2)
His reasoning wasn't much different here. He wanted the last digit to be a 5.
'Numbers just look cleaner when they end in a multiple of 5 instead of some odd remainder...'
Strength at 50 and Agility at 35. Seeing them line up perfectly as multiples of 5 gave him a faint sense of satisfaction over something so trivial.
'And the final 2 points.'
Jin-Woo invested both remaining points into Perception. With that, all his points were allocated.
[Stats] Strength: 50 Endurance: 27 Agility: 35 Intelligence: 27 Perception: 29 (Available stat points: 0)
Not being able to round Perception off to 30 was, if anything, a fly in the ointment.
'But there's nothing I can do about it now that I'm out of points.'
Otherwise, everything was fine. He figured Endurance and Intelligence would be adequately covered just by the additional stats from leveling up.
"Is this enough then?"
It's hard to be one hundred percent satisfied with any decision. Still, he was generally content, knowing these choices were made after careful consideration. Just then, the doorbell rang from the living room. *Toorrung, toorrung—*
'Is that from the Hunter's Association?'
If this were the past, Jin-Woo would have dragged his feet and avoided being called out on a raid at all costs. But now, his body practically itched to test his improved stats against some magical beasts. Jin-Woo quickly picked up the receiver.
"This is Hunter Sung Jin-Woo." -Oh, you're finally picking up, are you?
It wasn't a call from the Hunter's Association. He felt an inexplicable sense of disappointment.
-Student Jin-Woo, why have you been so hard to reach lately?
The voice on the other end was familiar. Even though it had been four years since Jin-Woo graduated high school and shed the "student" tag, his landlord, who had watched him grow up, still insisted on adding "student" after his name.
"I'm sorry, landlord. I was in the hospital because of an accident." -Tsk, tsk, so that's what happened. I wondered. Anyway, about that... student Jin-Woo... This month's rent hasn't come through yet, so I was wondering, if it's tough right now, I can wait a month or two? "No, I'll put it in your account shortly." -Alright. Don't push yourself too hard. You're working hard taking care of your mom and little sister. Money is good, but take care of your health first. "Yes. Thank you for your concern."
The call ended like that. Jin-Woo took out his bankbook from a drawer and opened it. The balance was 800,000 won.
"Hoo."
A sigh escaped him. After paying 500,000 won in rent, he'd have only 300,000 won left for living expenses this month. Even that 500,000 won rent was only possible because his apartment was old and shabby, located on the outskirts of town, and his landlord had frozen it years ago out of pity for their situation. Nowadays, it was hard to find an apartment for 500,000 won a month. Living on 300,000 won a month was even harder.
"First, I need to earn some money."
Jin-Woo set his immediate goal. He was no longer the trembling wreck from a few days ago who couldn't even properly take down a single E-rank magical beast.
***
How does a Hunter earn money? Catching magical beasts is the best way. The top S-rank or A-rank Hunters got sponsorships, did commercials, and appeared on TV shows, scraping together money that would put a chaebol to shame, but they were the minority. The extreme minority. Aside from those top-tier few, most Hunters earned money in dungeons. The higher the rank. The greater the experience. Income was determined by individual capability. For Jin-Woo, whose officially recognized rank was E-rank and who had zero experience in C-rank Gates or higher, those were harsh conditions. Jin-Woo's brow furrowed.
'Putting the conditions aside, it'd be nice if I could at least get into a raid party...'
He checked the Hunter site's job board and made several phone calls, but they were all dead ends. No one wanted to take on an E-rank Hunter. Hunters using the recruitment board were mostly individuals who had to protect their own lives, so they were extremely cautious when forming a team or joining someone else's. People whose skills weren't good enough for a guild but whose rank was too high for the Association. They were all in that awkward middle ground.
'Even those Hunters make over ten million a month, I hear.'
High risk, high return. When your life was on the line, the payout had to be substantial. It was no wonder Hunters were objects of envy. For Jin-Woo, it was infuriating.
'Should I just get reassessed and dramatically raise my rank instead?'
Jin-Woo shook his head. No matter how he looked at it, it was a stupid move. An E-rank Hunter suddenly becomes a high-ranking Hunter! Whether that was A-rank, B-rank, or even C-rank, it didn't matter. A reawakening would definitely make headlines. The public loves gossip, and Hunters make for great conversation pieces. They say five mouths have ten eyes. The more people talked, the more eyes would be watching. His stats would keep increasing, and it would only be a matter of time before his unique constitution was exposed.
"A Hunter who can increase his stats?" "He gets stronger over time?" "Who is this Hunter?" "How is that possible?" "What do I have to do to become like him?"
Many people would certainly be interested. There had never been a Hunter like him before. And among those showing interest, there would undoubtedly be those who tried to use him or harbored ill will.
'If those kinds of people have significant power...'
Just thinking about it was terrifying. He was still too weak. Until he was confident he could protect himself, he didn't want to reveal himself. A rank reassessment was out of the question.
'But I still need to earn money.'
On the other hand, he couldn't just take a normal part-time job. The Association could call at any moment. Going to a dungeon let him earn both money and experience, so he couldn't let that chance slip for a few measly bucks. As he was pondering this, a noticeable post appeared on the board.
-Need one person, any rank, available to come right now! Urgent!!
Jin-Woo's eyes lit up. It was a freshly posted ad. He quickly checked the details, and it happened to be not too far from his house. Jin-Woo immediately picked up the receiver. The other party must have been really desperate; they answered before the first ring even finished.
-Hello?
After quickly outlining his purpose, Jin-Woo calmly awaited the other person's response.
-Oh, you said you're E-rank?
The reaction wasn't as bad as he'd expected.
-That's fine. Just come and fill a spot in the party. But since it's a C-rank Gate, you won't be able to join the actual hunt. We'll handle the loot division ourselves, but instead, we'll give you 2 million won in cash. How does that sound? Can you come right now?
Two million won per day! For a job that was basically just showing up, it was a pretty good amount. It was a decent offer. He was a bit disappointed about not getting a share of the dungeon's profits, but if he pushed for that too, he might lose out on the 2 million won altogether.
'Let me put out the most urgent fire first.'
Chances like this didn't come often. 2 million won was more than enough for a month's living expenses. Jin-Woo accepted the offer.
"I'll be there within 15 minutes."