AWOST 04

Chapter 04

Perhaps it was because everything was synchronized?

I was able to experience the killing intent and presence that Rakis sensed.

I couldn’t see anything.

But through Rakis’s senses, I could clearly feel that something was there.

It was fascinating.

Was this what the senses of experts who could detect hidden enemies felt like?

For someone like me, who had always been forced to rely solely on my eyes for visual information, it was a unique experience.

― First Special Forces Specialty! Detecting those damn assassins from the Belkan Empire!

Judging by his wording, it seemed that the Arslan Empire’s rival was a nation called the Belkan Empire.

An enemy that couldn’t be seen was bound to be the most dangerous kind.

He must have gone through hellish training to detect such enemies.

Some time later.

Rakis returned proudly.

I was simply grateful and relieved that this guy was a summoned beast who served me as his master.

Honestly, I felt like my body would be torn to pieces if Rakis so much as flicked the tip of his sword.

Knowing that such a summoned beast was absolutely loyal to me made me feel incredibly reassured the more I thought about it.

‘Let’s not just sit back and ride the bus without thinking.’

The thought suddenly occurred to me.

I wanted to become a master who could make wise use of a capable subordinate.

Of course, I would have plenty of fun just putting Rakis to work as I had been doing.

But.

It felt like a waste.

If his potential was 100.

And I was only utilizing less than 10 of it.

It meant that my future would change depending on how far I could push Rakis to his limits as his master.

Figuring out how to do that seemed much more interesting.

Having only me benefit from appraisal.

Honestly, that was freaking amazing.

“Here are the spoils!”

Rakis handed me the fruits of his victory.

One axe.

And two rings.

Regardless of what came out of the appraisal, the axe wasn’t a weapon I could use right away, so I decided to postpone appraising it.

I only had two appraisal attempts left out of the three I had gained.

So I decided to examine the two rings first.

An 8th-grade item normally sold for around 100 million won on the market.

“Get some rest. I think I need to do some appraisals.”

“Yes! I’ll check whether the assassin who was following us earlier is still nearby!”

“Keep up the good work.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

It was the first time I’d ever seen someone be happy after being told to work hard.

Judging by his constant grin, he seemed to be enjoying the situation.

That made sense, too.

His life during the Arslan Empire era had already ended with his death.

Now that he had been given the chance to live a new life, perhaps he was even more satisfied than he had been in his previous life.

“One boosts mana, and the other boosts health.”

The two rings belonged to different categories.

The mana ring caught my attention.

One of the biggest chronic problems for Hunters was insufficient mana.

If I broadened the scope a little, I could also include the lack of mana recovery.

Swick. Scrub. Scrub.

I first wiped the mana ring clean with a handkerchief I had brought along.

It was one of my gaming routines.

I would tidy up the item I was about to appraise and then proceed with the appraisal in a reverent state of mind.

The appraisal was completed shortly afterward.

[Appraisal complete!]

[* A mysterious change has occurred, preventing the ring’s luster from fading even after being worn for a long time.]

‘Well, that’s the result I expected.’

I wasn’t particularly disappointed.

If every item had a hidden option, there would be no reason to call them ‘hidden’ options in the first place, right?

Even in the game I played, the probability of an item’s composition changing through appraisal always hovered around 25%.

In other words, it wasn’t a common event.

‘The Orc King’s ring might be the same.’

I turned my attention to the ring with the health-boosting option.

Even if I was disappointed by the mana ring, I could immediately secure 100 million won by selling it on the market.

That was the advantage of appraisal.

The value of an item I owned could never decrease because of it.

I immediately proceeded with the next appraisal.

Once this appraisal was finished, I wouldn’t be able to appraise anything else until midnight.

Besides, there wasn’t much time left until midnight, and the fact that I was tired from going outside for the first time in a long while also played a part.

I wanted to finish the final appraisal quickly.

Soon.

[Appraisal complete!]

[You have discovered a hidden option and unlocked the ring’s power anew!]

“Oh!”

The result was completely opposite to the previous one.

There had been a valuable hidden option.

Even more surprising.

“…6th grade?”

The item’s grade had changed as well.

In terms of simple value alone, an item worth 100 million won had suddenly become an item worth 10 billion won!

One appraisal.

One simple click.

And so much had changed.

[Spring of Healing]

Grade: * 6th Grade

Health +20

Health +80
Can use the ‘Healing Magic Circle’ skill.

The display was much more intuitive.

The Health +20 was the option the ring had when it was 8th grade.

The content that had been added afterward with the * symbol was the hidden option unlocked through appraisal.

This only applied to me.

If another Hunter wore this ring, only the options without the * symbol would apply.

‘With 100 health added, I suddenly feel like I’ve gotten a full night’s sleep.’

Now I understood why Hunters were so obsessed with stats.

The difference was tremendous.

I also put all 29 bonus stat points I had gained from leveling up into mana.

No matter what kind of skill I wanted to use in the future, I would inevitably need mana.

I checked my status window as well.

Hunter: Lee Yeon

Level: 30

Class: General (* Appraiser)

Strength: 3 Agility: 3

Health: 103 Mana: 32

Physical Resistance: 1 Magic Resistance: 1

My stats were displayed clearly.

It seemed that only I could see Appraiser under my class.

If I ever had a reason to publicly reveal my class status window, other people would probably see ‘General’ instead.

General meant that I wasn’t assigned to any particular class yet, and that the system was withholding judgment on the Hunter’s primary specialty.

Someone who had consistently practiced kendo since childhood might be classified as a Swordsman.

Someone who happened to have exceptional mathematical ability might be classified as a Mage.

That was how class distribution worked.

Apparently, in the system’s eyes, I was still neither one thing nor the other.

When the time came, it would naturally determine my direction, so there was no need for me to force anything.

“I can place one magic circle, it lasts for one minute, and it restores 1% of health every second. So that’s 60% recovery.”

The skill’s configuration was insane.

Even by itself, this would be a healing skill that most raid groups would practically beg to have.

Even more amazing was the fact that ordinary Hunters couldn’t use skills belonging to classes other than their own.

But I could.

The options I obtained through hidden options.

As the only person who could benefit from them, I could use them without any restrictions.

‘If a class like this existed in a game, I think all the players would just quit.’

That’s how broken it was.

In any case, after what happened today, I had a clear understanding of Rakis’s level.

He was far more impressive than I had imagined.

It seemed there was a reason he had been given the title of a Legendary-grade summoned beast.

He was a summoned beast worthy of that designation.

Then…

I should become a master worthy of his dignity as well.

It looked like I was going to be very busy from now on.

On the way home.

I stopped by a nearby Hunter Association building that operated 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

I was there to get my license.

The entire process was automated from beginning to end, so the license was issued quickly.

All they had to do was verify that I was a Hunter, and once the measuring device confirmed my Hunter status, the procedure was immediately completed.

However, Rakis wasn’t officially a Hunter.

More than that, he was a being who had no records anywhere to begin with.

So, while trying to find a way to send only Rakis into dungeons through some loophole, I casually asked an employee a lie.

Of course, I’d already made absolutely sure Rakis kept his mouth shut before doing so.

“I have a really close American friend. If I guarantee his identity and take full responsibility for him, can I share the dungeon-clearance license issued to me by the Association?”

Could I really talk this much?

I was worried because it had been so long since I’d actually spoken to someone aloud, but the words came out more naturally than expected.

I usually chatted with users I’d befriended in games, so I rarely had any reason to use my voice.

If the method I’d just asked about was possible.

It would mean Rakis could go into dungeons without me having to go myself.

But.

“Sharing it is technically possible. However, your friend’s license would need to be verified several times during the initial procedure. There are so many forged licenses, you see.”

“Oh, I see. Then I’ll prepare everything and ask again next time.”

“Yes. If you show us the license issued by the American Hunter Association, we can verify it and connect you to the next procedure.”

“Thank you.”

It seemed that method wasn’t going to work.

There might be a way to resolve Rakis’s identity problem through some underground route…

But if I got caught doing that.

It wouldn’t just be my license that was in trouble. I could receive an aggravated punishment under the Special Hunter Act.

My life would be screwed.

Plan A—to send only Rakis into an Association-owned dungeon—was rejected.

I would have to think of Plan B.

On my way home, I stopped by the Hunter Market and sold the 5th-grade dimensional stone.

Suddenly, I had a huge sum of 1 billion won.

It really made me realize how the economic system of Hunters worked.

I also sold the mana-recovery ring that hadn’t changed much through appraisal.

Its options were simply too poor.

Rather than stubbornly keeping it equipped, I figured it was better to sell it for a reasonable price.

When I got home, my body felt sluggish.

Judging by my health status, I felt perfectly fine physically, but my mind was hazy.

My life had changed overnight.

Maybe it was because I hadn’t logged into the game I normally played and had gone outside when I usually never did.

I also had a huge pile of messages waiting for me.

Checking them wasn’t difficult.

But I didn’t feel like putting my attention into anything right now. There wasn’t an urgent problem anyway.

First, I figured I should deal with the matter of where Rakis would sleep.

“Rakis.”

“Yes! Arslan Empire Special…”

“Just stop at ‘Yes.’ You don’t need to mention your affiliation.”

“Yes!”

He really did listen well.

“Sleep in the small room. I’ll lay out the bedding for you, so don’t feel pressured or worry about inconveniencing me.”

“Sleep? That’s not necessary!”

“Don’t you need to sleep, too?”

“I’m still full of energy, so I don’t need sleep! Even if I do sleep, one or two hours is more than enough!”

“Can you really live like that?”

“The imperial family’s secret cultivation technique of the Arslan Empire contains a principle that allows compressed sleep!”

“…Can I learn that too?”

Good grief.

I slept eight hours a day and still felt like I was dying from exhaustion, and there was actually a way to be perfectly fine after only sleeping one or two hours?

“I’m sorry, but that isn’t possible! You need the naturally strong physique and bloodline of an Arslan person!”

“Then I’ll give up quickly.”

I couldn’t exactly turn something impossible into something possible.

In any case, it didn’t seem like I needed to force Rakis to sleep.

Of course, I intended to get proper sleep myself. I was tired.

Then.

“Rakis, come here for a moment.”

“Yes! Moving immediately!”

I called Rakis closer.

Then, after whispering what I wanted him to do.

“I shall carry out your command! I’ll be back!”

He immediately left the house.