Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Episode 8. Public Entry Team

“Yaaawn.”

Jinho had barely slept at all.

He had forced himself to close his eyes several times. But whenever he was about to fall asleep, the orphanage came back to him. The Minolac’s enormous body smashing through the wall, the shadow filling his vision just before its hoof came down, and the translucent system window that had appeared afterward...

Whenever he remembered it, his body would flinch, his shoulders would tremble, and his eyes would open.

Strangely, though, he did not feel bad. If anything, he felt excited. Like the night before a school trip when he was young, as though he needed to go out right away, as though something real was about to begin.

It was a feeling the Jinho from only a few days ago could never have imagined.

[Today’s Menu: Iron-Hoof Boar Mala Stir-Fry]

[Time Remaining: 18 hours 21 minutes]

Jinho stared at the still-floating words for a long time. No matter how much he searched, he could not find anything about a penalty. It did not seem like he would suffer any penalty even if the remaining time ran out.

Still, the reason he had decided to do this today was because today was one of the few days he actually had off.

Iron-Hoof Boar.

Naturally, this monster really existed. It was a common monster that occasionally appeared in F- to E-Rank gates.

After searching, Jinho found a gate where Iron-Hoof Boars were said to appear. The gathering point was even a public parking lot only a few bus stops from his home. Every condition was perfect.

Except for one problem.

[Ilsan West District 7th Gate Public Entry Team][Advance Registration Closed]

- On-site registration available only for remaining slots.

- Hunter ID inspection required.

Jinho read the last line several times.

Hunter ID.

An identification card issued once a hunter registered with the Hunter Association.

There was no way someone who had only just awakened would have one.

“I’ll just go and see what happens.”

If things did not work out, then he would just be some idiot who had gotten up early for nothing on his day off. So what?

‘If they say no, I can use the chance to look around the Association.’

He had nothing to lose anyway.

So he picked out some clothes from his closet that looked reasonably easy to move in. A black T-shirt, black pants, black sneakers, a black cap...

Once he had put everything on, a suspicious-looking person was staring back at him from the mirror.

“...”

After staring silently at his appearance for a while, Jinho separately grabbed a black mask he had stuffed into a drawer.

Then he left the house.

___________

The gathering point only looked like an event venue from a distance. One corner of an old commercial parking lot on the outskirts of the city had been surrounded by temporary fencing, while Association vehicles, tents, and folding tables were lined up nearby.

But the closer he got, the more different the atmosphere became. The faces of the people standing in line showed fatigue and irritation before anticipation, and there was no consistency whatsoever in their equipment.

Old protective vests, iron pipes, cheap hunting knives, work gloves.

There seemed to be far more low-rank hunters desperate for money and awakened people scraping by than proper guild personnel.

Jinho blended naturally into the crowd. Beyond the fence, something like a black curtain rippled faintly. It was the gate. Even before he approached it, the air felt strangely damp. The smell of an old sealed basement and wet iron rode on the wind.

“Next! Hunter ID and registration details.”

The employee at the registration desk repeated the words mechanically. Because the advance-registration line and the on-site-registration line had not been separated, the line moved extremely slowly. People muttered complaints among themselves.

“On-site registration in this day and age?”

“That’s what failed-bid gates are like.”

“Just deal with it. It’s a government project, at least.”

Failed-bid gate.

Jinho’s ears perked up at the phrase.

He had seen something similar in the information he looked up. Gates judged to be low-rank sometimes failed to receive bids.

Such gates were jointly managed by the local government and the Association, which recruited low-rank hunters and operated them as public entry teams.

That was what this was.

Of course, if you looked at the reality of it, it was less like a stable government-backed project and more like the Association cleaning up jobs the guilds had thrown away because they were not profitable.

After waiting for a while, Jinho’s turn came. Without even properly raising his head, the employee held out a hand.

“Hunter ID and registration details, please.”

Jinho shook his head.

“I couldn’t register in advance. I’m here for on-site registration.”

Only then did the employee look up.

“Your Hunter ID?”

“I don’t have one yet.”

“Then tell me your awakened registration number.”

“Uh, about that...”

The employee’s expression immediately stiffened. Irritation rose on his face.

“If you don’t have a Hunter ID and don’t even know your registration number, how are you planning to enter?”

“No, it’s just...”

He could hardly bring himself to say that he had not registered as a hunter at all.

When Jinho hesitated, the employee let out a deep breath. He looked like he was forcing himself not to get angry.

“You’re not unawakened, right?”

“Ah... Right.”

“Then I’ll issue you a registration slip. Go behind me, take an awakening-response confirmation test, get the verification form, and then enter.”

“So I can still go in?”

“You can only participate at the rear as an observer, and you have no rights to the loot. Naturally, we can’t take responsibility if an accident happens either.”

No rights to the loot.

Jinho mulled over those words.

For an ordinary hunter, that would be a fatal condition. There would be no reason to go in if someone who came to make money could not receive a share of the loot.

But Jinho was different.

He had not come to sell anything to the Association.

He only needed Iron-Hoof Boar meat.

The employee pointed toward the tent beside them.

“Awakening-response verification is over there. If you don’t pass, you go straight home. Next.”

Jinho moved to the tent beside the registration desk.

Inside was a small piece of equipment bearing the Association logo. There was a plate for placing a palm on, a heart-rate monitor, and a small crystal-like sphere.

An employee in a white coat took the paperwork and spoke with a tired expression.

“Put your hand on it. Don’t hold your breath. Relax your body.”

Jinho did as instructed.

The plate was cold.

At first, nothing happened. Jinho’s heart beat hard once.

‘Don’t tell me the system shows up, but I don’t actually register as awakened.’

Before the thought even finished, a faint light spread inside the sphere. It was very small. Small enough to miss unless someone looked closely.

The employee glanced at the monitor.

“There is an awakening response, but the output is low. Hard to confirm a combat type.”

Without much interest, he stamped the paper.

“Temporary entry is possible, but you need to wear a yellow band, settlement is restricted, and leaving the designated route is prohibited. Understood?”

“Yes.”

“Even if you didn’t understand, you have to say you did if you want to enter.”

The employee took a yellow plastic band from a drawer.

Click.

The sound of the clasp locking around Jinho’s wrist seemed unusually loud.

Small letters were printed on the surface of the band.

[On-Site Verified Participant]

[Hunter Qualification Unregistered]

[Loot Settlement Restricted]

Jinho stared at the last line for a while. The employee added dryly.

“Acquired items, byproducts, and mana stones are all excluded from settlement. Even if you bring them out, they’re subject to confiscation. You’ll also be fined.”

“What about monster meat?”

“...Why would you even want to bring that out? Anyway, of course. It’s a monster byproduct.”

‘How are they supposed to catch me if I put it in my inventory and leave? And what does he mean, why would I take monster meat?’

Sensing that their conversation was somehow misaligned, Jinho left the tent instead of asking more questions. Inside the fenced area was a makeshift stall. Things that could be used as weapons, disposable gloves, small flashlights, and cheap protective gear were scattered across it.

“Yellow band. First time here?”

The merchant at the stall spoke the moment he saw Jinho’s wrist.

“Is it that obvious?”

“It’s a yellow band. Unregistered, expired registration, paperwork issues? Most of them don’t make any money and just gain experience. If they’re unlucky, they gain hospital bills too.”

‘Then why does this system even exist?’

No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like a system with nothing but disadvantages. Yet they had deliberately created it?

Jinho asked about it.

“Officially, it’s to let chicks ‘practice making it out alive.’”

The merchant snickered.

‘Looks like there are some adult circumstances behind it.’

Losing interest, Jinho looked over the knives on display.

“What do they do with the meat after killing monsters?”

“It gets sent to research or food-processing companies sometimes... But it’s not worth much. There’s no demand.”

“Why not?”

The merchant looked at Jinho as if the question were strange.

“You’ve never eaten monster meat? Well, of course you haven’t. You’ve got a yellow band.”

“...”

Jinho kept quiet.

“It’s tough and fishy... Some of it is poisonous too. Ordinary people can’t eat it. Iron-Hoof Boars may have ‘boar’ in the name, but nobody treats them as food ingredients. Maybe the hooves, tusks, and mana stone are worth something.”

Jinho quietly listened.

‘Monster meat tastes bad?’

That was strange.

The Minolac had not tasted that bad.

‘Was that individual special, or was there another reason?’

At that moment, the merchant pushed a cheap dismantling knife toward him.

“If you still want to buy something, take one of these. Yellow bands don’t need expensive gear. You’re not going to be standing on the front line anyway.”

Only then did Jinho realize he had forgotten something important.

A weapon.

He had nearly entered the gate empty-handed.

Jinho picked up the knife. The handle was plastic, and he was not even sure the blade had been sharpened properly. The price was not exactly cheap either. Still, it was better than going in empty-handed.

Just as he was about to pay and put the knife away, laughter came from beside him.

“These days even field-trip students go in carrying a knife, huh?”

Jinho turned his head.

The man stood out clearly from the others. Even his equipment was different from the rest of the public entry team. Black lightweight armor, wrist guards, a short sword at his waist. A small guild emblem was stamped on his shoulder.

Blue Wave Guild.

It was a mid-sized guild whose name even Jinho had heard before.

The man openly looked over Jinho’s yellow band.

“Unregistered on-site applicant?”

Jinho did not answer. The man laughed even louder.

“This isn’t a tourist attraction.”

The merchant cautiously intervened. He seemed to know the man.

“Doyoon, knock it off. Didn’t you get penalty points a few days ago for picking a fight too?”

“Picking a fight? I’m just worried. If someone like this goes in and gets hurt, who has to carry him back out?”

The man called Doyoon tilted his neck with an annoyed expression.

“But what are you doing here? Shouldn’t someone like you be at a B-Rank gate?”

“I didn’t think I’d be coming somewhere like this either. I asked why they needed me at an F- to E-Rank leftover dump, and they said something about external cooperation.”

“External cooperation?”

Jinho spoke for the first time. Doyoon snorted.

“It’s a low-rank hunter support project run by the government office and the Association. Sounds good on paper, right? In reality, you know it’s just a place to dump the gates the guilds didn’t bid on. But our guild’s management score is cutting it close this quarter. So if we send one person here and show our face, what happens? We make up some points. That’s what.”

He tapped the emblem on his shoulder with a finger. Quite the boast.

“Officially, it’s safety-management support. In reality, I’m just decoration to keep us from getting penalty points. I don’t know the exact details either. The higher-ups told me to come, so I came.”

His tone was openly irritated.

Jinho looked at Doyoon.

Since he belonged to a guild, he probably had some skill. At least more than the livelihood hunters gathered here.

‘No need to worry about him.’

Just as Jinho finished paying and stood up, Doyoon looked at the knife in his hand and laughed again.

“You’re planning to hunt an Iron-Hoof Boar with that?”

“I need to get some meat, at least.”

“Meat?”

Doyoon stared blankly for a moment, then burst out laughing.

“You’re insane. Hey, even dogs barely eat Iron-Hoof Boar meat. Why are you looking for something that tough and smelly?”

Several people nearby laughed as well.

Jinho did not bother explaining. He hung the knife at his waist and headed toward the assembly point.

At that moment, another man approached. He had dark circles under his eyes and was carrying a long iron rod that looked like a spear.

“Don’t mind those guys.”

Jinho looked at him.

“I’m Kwon Taesik. This is my thirty-third public entry.”

“I’m Kang Jinho.”

Taesik gestured toward Jinho’s wrist with his chin.

“Since you’ve got a yellow band, stay in the back if you can. You don’t even get settlement rights, so there’s no reason to put your body on the line. You’ve probably heard that plenty already, though.”

“Is it safe if I stay in the back?”

“Well... Your odds of dying first are lower.”

Taesik spoke matter-of-factly.

“First-timers are usually one of three types. The guy who gets scared and sticks to the rear, the guy who loses his mind when he sees byproducts, and the guy who thinks he’s special.”

His gaze rested on Jinho’s face.

“The last type dies fastest, so keep that in mind.”

Jinho could not answer.

For some reason, it felt like those words were directed at him.

A shout came from an Association employee inside the fence.

“Public entry team, prepare to enter! Leaving the designated route will restrict reentry!”

People moved all at once. Jinho followed the line.

As he approached the black curtain, his ears felt blocked. The air grew thick like water, and the world distorted as though a thin membrane stood between him and everything else.

The person in front disappeared into the gate.

Then the next person.

Now it was his turn.

Jinho looked down at the yellow band on his wrist.

[Loot Settlement Restricted]

‘Let’s just go.’

He took a short breath and stepped through the gate.

From beyond the dark passage inside the dungeon, the smell of wet iron and beasts drifted together through the air.