[2] Solo Leveling

Chapter 244 | Side Story 1

1. I am an employee of the Hunter's Association.

When you're taking a stroll on a street, ask this question to any student you run into. Ask them what kind of job they would like to have in the future.

A hundred times out of a hundred, you'd get one of these three answers.

One, a famous Hunter; two, a staff member of a major Guild; and three, an employee of the Hunter's Association.

If a kid you talked to was a bit slow in the head, he or she would end up wasting each day wishing to become a famous Hunter.

A kid smarter than the above example would want to get a job in a major Guild that paid you according to one's abilities.

The smartest cookies of the lot would choose to become an employee of the Hunter's Association, where one would still get paid as much as the large Guilds while being treated as a quasi-government official which lessened the danger of getting unceremoniously fired from the job.

Me? I was a smart cookie.

A very smart one, to boot.

And perhaps that was why when I announced my intentions to join the Hunter's Association, both Mom and Dad were saddened somewhat, which was a bit different than how other parents would have reacted.

Dad wanted me to become a prosecutor, and Mom preferred to see me become a doctor. Of course, as the only son in the family, it wasn't as if I didn't know my parents' wishes of seeing me follow after their career choices.

However, I too had my own dream. And that dream played a big part in me choosing to become an employee of the Hunter's Association.

– Why do you wish to become a member of the Hunter's Association?

Those words were thrown my way by none other than the Chairman of the Association, Goh Gun-Hui, as I sat in the interview room with a stiff-as-rock face.

I was busy scolding myself for messing up almost all of the questions asked by the interviewers because of how nervous I had been. But, when I heard that question piercing into my brain and waking me up in an instant....

The light shining in my eyes changed.

At least, I remembered replying to that question with a determined look flashing up on my face.

– Even now, Hunter-nims are risking their lives to protect innocent civilians in many parts of our nation. In that case.... Where are those people who risk their lives for the sake of Hunter-nims?

My voice rose up while saying that I wanted to become a member of the Association and stand on the side of those people that protected Hunters.

Was I mistaken back then when the still-nervous me heard the soft gasps of "Wow" coming from my side and to my front?

But, one thing's for sure – I distinctly remembered seeing a nearly-imperceptible smile on the face of Association Chairman Goh Gun-Hui as the corners of his lips arched up slightly.

That was how I became an employee of the Hunter's Association, a job that others would certainly die for. Putting my parents' slightly lonely farewells behind me, I set off from the hometown that I grew to love and came to Seoul, where the HQ of South Korea's Association was located.

I felt totally over-the-moon because I'd successfully taken my first step in fulfilling my dream of becoming a member of the Association that protected Hunters.

I even had this vague expectation clouding my mind, wondering if everything was going the way I wanted them to.

Unfortunately for me, though, my beautiful image regarding the Association was shattered into a million little pieces on the first day of work. My thoughts of something still remaining that only I could do for the sake of Hunters was completely wrong.