Seoul Hospital
... broke life... what does Mr. Ahn mean by this.. also he's recruiting again. This person must be extraordinary for Mr. Ahn to head hunt himself.
"Can I see Mr. Jin-Woo, he should be a patient at this hospital."
Ahn asked the front desk. Putting on a winning smile, or it should be. He's a handsome man, she should even escort him down to the room... okay he has got to stop thinking this is some cheesy Chinese webnovel before he ends up saying some very embarrassing things.
[Yes Host. You are not in a Chinese webnovel. Also why were my lines cut in the last chap..]
Shut up you useless system!! I was ignoring you.. so of course your lines were cu...
(AN: Both of you shut up or I will sell you to highest bidder in China for this story.. see how you like being written as a young master supported by the author so it looks like he isn't a useless MF with a mile wide sex addiction...)
[Sorry sir!!]
My bad bro....
(Ahem.... moving on....)
"Yes, he was just brought in actually, apparently there was a double dungeon that led to his injury. It's all over the E to B Rank news outlets."
The front desk clerk was clearly a civilian, so any hunter no matter the rank would put her on edge. It wasn't uncommon that some hunters were rather rude to those who weren't awakened. Ahn himself didn't know this till he came to this world, but while civilians weren't outnumbered, they were most certainly outgunned when it came to the hunters. Even an A Rank hunter could pose as a severe threat to a city, luckily most hunters got their bloodlust taken care of by hunting inside gates. But there was no way to completely curb that itch and fighting inside the gates can even increase said bloodlust, which was why so many hunters no matter the trauma and toll that they took inside those gates, continued to go back into said gates.
"Thanks, may I know what room he is in?"
"Um... I'm not sure if I'm allowed to let anyone see him that isn't his family."
"Well considering his mom is also in this hospital long term and the closest person he has is a high schooler, I wanted to check on him since we go a bit back. I don't want to impose but can you let me see him...."
Ahn put on his most charming smile, trying to appear as unthreatening as possible.
[Lying LVL 1 -> Lying LVL 4]
That skill was overdue for an upgrade, he'd been lying this whole time technically since he wasn't the original Ahn...
[Host, although your soul is different, by this worlds calculations you are considered the genuine Ahn now]
That makes sense, no powerup from a sudden realization of being who I am then huh... sad.
"Well, ummm.... I guess its alright then. Though I will need you to umm.. check in, please?"
The poor girl was already terrified of the handsome individual that came in all of a sudden, so even doing her job was making her nervous. Their hospital didn't cater to high ranking individuals, so having anyone above C rank come into their hospital was already rare, B ranks and higher were very scarce, maybe a family member, but that was the limit. They were located more on the outskirts of Seoul meaning that those who lived around there were not that affluent, unlike the major hospitals in the center of the city that received and catered almost exclusively to high ranking Hunters.
"Sounds good. Hyun, make sure you fill the paperwork out, I'll be going ahead and seeing if our little gold mi... I mean, our hunter coworker is awake."
Boss....
Being left with the paperwork wasn't bad, but spilling the fact you are here to recruit isn't something to be said out loud.
"Okay, I'll be heading up then, thanks for your help miss.."
"..Jun-Ah"
The receptionist said, feeling a bit shy all of a sudden. Usually no one asks her name, let alone someone that was high ranking.
Boss is so cool...
Hyun was looking at his chief with stars in his eyes.
Why is everyone so weird today... sheesh
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Getting up to the third floor, Ahn was walking towards Jin Woo's room when he saw the two members from the Hunters Association walk towards him. They both looked a bit dissapointed by something, though one of them was looking a little too self important.
Hmm.. that first sequence must have already happened. This will make things a little bit more complex when Jin-Woo gets stronger, but by the time I reveal him, he won't have anyone that will contend with him... hehehe
"If it isn't Mr. Ahn Sangnim, how's Baek treating you?"
Even though Woo Jinchul focuses on his role of being the Chief Inspector in the HA(Hunters Association) that doesn't mean he won't head hunt talents from any source he can get, including guilds themselves.
"Hahaha, Mr. Woo, like I have said before, I am not looking to shift careers. How can I bite the hand that has fed me for so long."
While in the manhwa, it wasn't clearly shown, the reason all the guilds feared the HA was because of Go Gunhee. Besides the fragment of light that he possess, when gates first came out, he was the first S rank that Korea got. From there Korea was put on the map, that type of respect isn't something that just goes away over time. All the hunters had Go Gunhee to thank for not being turned into human nukes used by the government to deal with gates like some other countries. Before him they were well on their way to being used as such, but through his abilities he turned the country around. So any guild that came about and wanted to throw their weight around would basically be jumped by the other guilds and the public itself, which is very bad for business.
"Haha, always to the point. Are you here to visit the hunter involved in the double dungeon incident?"
Well duh you underrated side character.... Note to self: Use filters when speaking.. for now at least.
"Ahhh, you saw right through my intentions, no wonder you made Chief Inspector at a young age Mr. Woo. Are you also here for the same thing?"
"You would be right. But a little advice, one Chief to another, don't waste your time. He barely has enough juice in him to register as a hunter, fact of the matter is that I might advise my boss to increase the level requirement from what I just saw, considering the fact we are seeing higher level gates every year, it might not be worth the lives lost."
"Hmm... I'll take that into consideration Mr. Woo, though who knows, he might have talent else where. We still need someone to carry material out of gates and other types of odd jobs, anyone that can survive a double dungeon gate is worth a serious look."
Ahn then looked at his watch as if he was on a time crunch (he's not).
"Well, as much as its nice catching up, I do need to make this quick, you know time waits for no one."
"Of course, I will see you some other time Mr. Ahn! Say hi to Mr. Baek for us from the HA when you see him next will you!"
"Sure, till next time"
Ahn was definitely not saying jack to Baek about meeting the HA. That half man half beast gets irked just thinking about his competition, let alone when they try to scout his talents, the guy is waaaay too territorial for Ahn's liking.
Maybe I should tell him just to see his hair go white automatically from stress... hehehe, though its not advisable for my health currently.
Making his way to the door that led to his target of acquisitions room led him to catching sight of one of the characters that would be the cause of misunderstanding between Jinho and Jin-Woo a couple of times... Han Song-Yi, the E rank that thinks she can skip school since she was a hunter.
This meant that Jin-Woos' sister also made it here. How Jin-Woo let Jinho date and marry his little sister will never make sense to him, maybe it was a cultural difference but where he's from the little sister is always off limits. Maybe basically being almost 40 or 50 by that time would make anyone shift ideas about what is on or off limits.
Walking past the pretend hunter, not sure if she even ends up going back to gates after that one red gate or even if she is a hunter yet, Ahn walks up to the open door to catch Jinah man handle, or is it woman handle, her older brother into submission while telling him off about the dangers of hunting. Considering they lost their father to gates, Jin-Woo should have had a little bit more consideration for her feelings. At least towards the middle to end of the story he does, but Ahn definitely didn't think so highly of the 'I have to put myself in mortal peril to give you opportunities,' a good enough reason, considering the fact that he could have worked as an excavator with a bit more cash flow then just being a hunter that barely makes ends meet.
"Cough.."
"Is this a bad time?"
Both Jinah and Jin-Woo stop and look at the open door like deer caught in headlights.
"I can come back later.. if it is."
This time Jinah lets her brother go with a shove and starts to leave the room.
"Take care of yourself bro, I don't wanna get another notification of hospital visits. I'll be going, then."
Jinah was smart enough to realize whatever the finely dressed man wanted from her brother was serious, so she took her leave to let them have their talk in private. She already had too much to worry about with school and her idiotic brother to add whatever bs was going to come out of this guys mouth.
"Are you also from the HA, Mr..."
"Ahn, Ahn Sangmin. And no I am not with the HA. I come from a guild and saw the report of what happened, double dungeon incidents are harder to cover up, though the HA did try their best on this one."
"Ummm.. what would a guild want with an E rank hunter.."
Jin-Woo's suspicions were being raised, outside of the weird holograph that now took over a large portion of his vision, something that not even his sister could see, there was nothing new about him. He was still the weakest hunter by far, so why would a guild representative come out to see him, was the question of the day.
"Well, you see Mr. Jin-Woo, I realized that no matter what anyone thinks, those who survive a double dungeon always get something.. whether that is a quick and straightforward powerup - or something a little bit more subtle."
Wait... can he also see the holograph... no way right.. not even those two from the HA could see it...
"What.. what do you mean by that Mr. Ahn?"
Ahn at this point let his A rank power seep through his control, the whole day since he awakened his ability, he's been focusing internally to figure out a way to hide his magical capabilities. It wasn't that hard to figure out, he just though of his magic being compressed and through his Akashic Record skill, he was able to form two abilities that helped him suppress it. Otherwise he would end up forced to become a registered hunter at the A rank when upper management found out, but he wanted to wait till he was at least S rank so that he could make a clean break from the Tiger Guild.
At this moment, Jin-Woo started to sweat a little from the pressure mounting inside the room. In front of him laid a hunter that far surpassed him, making him feel like prey before a wild animal, one that was ready to pounce and shred him apart.
"I think we both know you got something Mr. Jin-Woo... or is that holograph something we both imagined up..."