Chapter 9
Yoo Ah-rin.
South Korea's greatest Appraiser.
She had grown up in an orphanage with no family or background.
She was completely alone in the world.
No matter what crisis came her way, she had to overcome it by herself.
She had started life with nothing.
People born into wealthy families could challenge life again and again even after failure.
But for Yoo Ah-rin,
every challenge could be her last chance.
That was why she had always been obsessed with perfection.
After Awakening as an Appraiser, that perfectionist nature became focused entirely on Appraisal.
Now, she possessed more than enough status, money, and connections.
But her obsession with perfect Appraisal had never changed.
It was her pride.
Her greatest source of confidence.
And now,
Crack.
A fracture appeared in that pride.
The man standing before her.
A handsome man who would make anyone turn around for a second look if they passed him on the street.
Baek Cheon-myeong.
A single herb he had brought had cracked Yoo Ah-rin's pride.
"Ha, haha?"
A hollow laugh escaped her lips.
There was something dark and almost frightening inside that laugh.
"I'm sorry. I'll try again."
Her expression turned serious, and she used Appraisal once more.
But naturally,
[Name: Moonlight White Flower (月光白花)]
[Classification: Elixir / Mystical Plant]
[Rank: S Rank, Rare]
[Attributes: Moon (月) · Purification (淨化) · Life (生命)]
[Description:]
[A pure white flower that blooms while absorbing moonlight.]
[It fully blooms only on nights when the full moon ■■■.]
[Long ago, it was used as an elixir, sacred offering, or powerful recovery material.]
[Effects:]
[• Removes impurities in the body's mana and ■■■ toxins.]
[• Smooths the flow of the Mana Circuits, Meridians, increasing training efficiency for a certain period of time.]
[• Reduces the chance of developing a Heart Demon.]
The result was the same.
Yoo Ah-rin's expression cracked.
She untied the hair she had carefully styled that morning.
Then she tightly tied it back.
"I'll try again."
She activated Appraisal once more.
The result was the same.
"Again."
Same result.
"Again."
Same result.
"Again."
And the result...
was still the same.
"That's enough."
Yoo Ah-rin slowly raised her head.
Her face looked completely broken after having her pride crushed so thoroughly.
There were even faint tears gathering around her eyes.
"What you have already found is sufficient."
"...But."
"I don't have enough free time to keep accompanying you through this challenge."
Challenge.
Yoo Ah-rin closed her mouth.
A challenge.
Yes.
So this had been a challenge.
Her fist clenched and trembled.
"...I apologize, Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong. It seems my abilities are insufficient to fully interpret this item."
In the end, she acknowledged her failure.
What?
Kang Ha-min was equally shocked.
Even Yoo Ah-rin, the best Appraiser in South Korea, couldn't fully appraise it.
Just what kind of place was the Heavenly Spirit Medicinal Forest where Baek Cheon-myeong had once trained?
And once again, Ha-min was amazed that the Tower could perfectly recreate such a place.
"However."
A fierce determination burned within Yoo Ah-rin's eyes.
"Next time, I will succeed. I sincerely ask that you allow me to handle your next appraisal as well."
It was a genuine request.
Her pride as an Appraiser was on the line.
Kang Ha-min felt slightly moved by her determination.
He couldn't help admiring someone who took their work this seriously.
"Very well."
Baek Cheon-myeong, however, remained completely uninterested.
"More importantly, the price?"
The important thing was the money.
The money he had to bring back to Kang Ha-min.
Yoo Ah-rin realized this as well and politely lowered her head.
From this point onward, she was no longer acting as an Appraiser.
She was the Chief Administrator.
"Yes. Although the appraisal was partially incomplete, I was still able to obtain most of the information. We will purchase the Moonlight White Flower for 300 million won."
Huh?
This time, Kang Ha-min froze.
What did she just say?
Three hundred million won?
An office worker taking home three million won a month would have to save one million won every month for thirty years just to reach 360 million won.
And now,
Yoo Ah-rin had casually said 300 million won.
Baek Cheon-myeong, who had no understanding of modern prices, didn't change his expression.
"Ah, I apologize. It seems the offer was too low."
Yoo Ah-rin misunderstood his reaction.
"We will purchase it for 330 million won. Hunter-related sales also receive certain tax exemptions, so you should receive almost the entire amount."
It went up by another thirty million.
And apparently, he would receive almost all of it.
"...I understand if you don't trust our offer because the appraisal wasn't perfect, but based on the information we were able to confirm, offering more than that would be difficult even for us."
Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong, tell her that's enough! That's more than enough!
The moment Yoo Ah-rin showed signs of drawing a line, Kang Ha-min shouted in panic.
"Very well."
330 million won.
It was more money than Kang Ha-min had ever earned in his entire life.
And he had just earned it by selling a single herb.
Ha, huh, hahaha.
It felt so unreal that he could barely understand what had happened.
And the real problem was that they had only sold one herb.
Kang Ha-min slowly looked behind him.
There was still a mountain of medicinal herbs piled up in his room.
What would happen if they sold all of them?
Wouldn't it easily exceed the three-year revenue of a decent small company?
Kang Ha-min suddenly felt dizzy.
This was a world where everything revolved around money.
And he understood better than most just how much power this amount of money carried.
Dad's knee can finally be completely treated.
At this rate, maybe his father would be running around like a young man again.
He should make both his mother and father quit working.
Then he could send them overseas on vacations.
"Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong, there is one thing you need to do before we complete the purchase."
Ah.
Was there something else?
Kang Ha-min became slightly nervous.
Yoo Ah-rin smiled gently.
"You need to register as a Hunter before we can complete the transaction."
Ah.
Right.
Hunter Registration.
Baek Cheon-myeong was currently sitting down and waiting for the registration process.
Meanwhile, Kang Ha-min was thinking about how he would explain everything to his parents.
If I tell them I'm working as a Hunter, Dad will probably storm out of the hospital with that bad knee and cause a scene.
The most believable excuse would probably be stocks or cryptocurrency.
The Public Service Ethics Act would also make it easier to explain why I quit my government job.
[Public Service Ethics Act, Article 2, Paragraph 2]
[Public officials must not improperly use information acquired during their employment for personal gain, nor allow others to improperly use such information.]
In simple terms,
a public official wasn't allowed to use information obtained through their job to gain unfair profits.
If he mentioned that while explaining why he had left the civil service, his parents would probably understand.
Technically, unless I worked for financial supervision, the Korea Securities Depository, the Bank of Korea, or something similar, it wouldn't really apply to me.
Those restrictions were mostly aimed at senior government officials or employees in related fields.
But recently, there had been public controversy over government employees making money through real estate deals.
He could just say he had been worried about getting caught up in something similar.
My parents don't know much about the law anyway.
If Kang Ha-min, who had actually worked as a civil servant, explained it confidently, they would have no choice but to believe him.
He could say he had quit and was going to start a business using the money he had earned.
While Kang Ha-min was thinking through the details,
he heard some noise from outside the room.
Click.
The door suddenly opened, and a large man entered.
He had a clean-shaven jaw, as if he had shaved that very morning, and wore a neat business suit.
He couldn't hide the exhaustion in his eyes,
but he still forced the brightest smile he could.
"Oh, Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
The moment he saw Baek Cheon-myeong, he bowed deeply.
"You have good manners."
"Hahaha! I hear that often!"
Mr. Baek Cheon-myeooooong!
Unlike the horrified Kang Ha-min, Baek Cheon-myeong looked pleased.
Behind the man stood Yoo Ah-rin with a slightly troubled expression.
"Department Head Shin, I understand that we work closely with the government, but I would appreciate it if you stopped barging in without warning."
"Ahahaha, Ms. Yoo Ah-rin, I'm always grateful for everything you do!"
The middle-aged man, Department Head Shin, laughed loudly.
But there was another meaning hidden behind his words.
I have a lot to discuss with him, so shouldn't an outsider leave now?
Unfortunately for him, Yoo Ah-rin was also famous for being as cunning as a viper.
"Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong will likely be doing business with us regularly from now on, so I hope his registration goes smoothly."
I've already established a relationship with Baek Cheon-myeong. Don't try putting strange ideas into his head.
An invisible battle of nerves unfolded between the two.
Still, they couldn't continue forever.
"Then I'll be leaving now."
Yoo Ah-rin had finished what she needed to do today.
Since she wanted to remain on good terms with Baek Cheon-myeong, she couldn't overstay her welcome.
More importantly, she had no desire to pick an unnecessary fight with the government.
"I'll set everything up!"
Meanwhile, a brown-haired woman hurried into the room with quick little steps.
She rapidly arranged several documents across the table.
As Baek Cheon-myeong silently looked down at them, Department Head Shin smiled.
"My introduction is late. My name is Shin No-seop, and I serve at the Korea Hunter General Administration Headquarters."
He politely offered his business card with both hands.
Baek Cheon-myeong calmly accepted it.
Meanwhile,
Kang Ha-min's face froze.
Wait.
What did he just say?
Shin No-seop from the Korea Hunter General Administration Headquarters?
Through Baek Cheon-myeong's eyes, Kang Ha-min slowly looked down at the business card.
The moment he confirmed the name,
his expression froze again.
[Grade 3 Deputy Director General]
[Department Head]
[Korea Hunter General Administration Headquarters]
[Shin No-seop]
He was a powerful official positioned directly beneath the Director General of Headquarters.
Kang Ha-min had worked in one of the lower departments under the Korea Hunter General Administration Headquarters.
Naturally, he knew Shin No-seop's name.
Why the hell was this man here?
Why did the Department Head of the Korea Hunter General Administration Headquarters come personally?
[I'll ask him directly.]
Kang Ha-min didn't even have time to stop him.
"Why did the Department Head of the Korea Hunter General Administration Headquarters come here personally?"
Kang Ha-min rolled across the floor.
Mr. Baek Cheon-myeooooong!
Shin No-seop, on the other hand, raised the corners of his lips.
It was the polite social smile he had mastered after spending his entire life in public service.
"Every single Hunter works hard for our country. As a public official, I can't simply sit behind a desk all day, can I?"
Liar.
You almost never move personally unless something extremely serious happens.
But Kang Ha-min couldn't exactly say that.
Like a Shih Tzu standing in front of a giant wild beast, he shrank back in fear.
Were the herbs we sold really that valuable?
Unfortunately, Kang Ha-min didn't fully understand the achievement he had created.
He knew that he had set a new First Floor achievement.
But he lacked the knowledge to understand just how enormous that accomplishment really was.
The importance of the First Floor record was something mostly understood by high-ranking Hunters and specialists.
Kang Ha-min might have worked in a Hunter-related government department,
but in the end, he had only been an ordinary civil servant.
There was no way he could know everything.
At that same moment,
Hmm.
Behind his friendly smile, Shin No-seop was carefully evaluating Baek Cheon-myeong.
Like Yoo Ah-rin, he also had an excellent eye for people.
I've met many S Rank Hunters over the years, but...
This was a type he had never seen before.
He doesn't feel like someone who only Awakened recently.
He felt like a martial artist who had trained for decades.
Or at least someone who had undergone training just as harsh.
He won't be easy to deal with.
Shin No-seop had spent his entire life in government service.
He quickly realized that trying to hide things from Baek Cheon-myeong would only work against him.
And he doesn't seem like the type who enjoys empty flattery either.
Those sharp eyes staring directly at him.
They looked capable of seeing straight through a person's character.
And because of that,
There couldn't be anyone more suitable to represent South Korea as a Hunter.
Shin No-seop found it difficult to hide his excitement.
Yes.
Of course.
An S Rank Hunter should possess this kind of overwhelming presence!
If the mysterious Hunter had turned out to be some ordinary, timid little citizen, Shin No-seop would have spent the entire day worrying.
But if it was someone like this,
he could trust him!
Meanwhile, behind Baek Cheon-myeong,
Why is everyone paying so much attention to us?!
There was an Estrogen Man screaming in terror.
And Shin No-seop had absolutely no idea.
