I Am The Anti-Mage

Chapter 40: Preliminary

Chapter 40: Preliminary

Last night, an announcement from the Hunters Association made many government officials have a relentless night. They were busy trying to call the related personnel to inquiry more about the new policy. They also try calling some of the hunters from Shadow, Demigod, and Artates Guilds. To make them reject the arrangement.

However, in the morning, the public favor fell heavily supporting the new policy. It made the government quiet and not voice any rejection toward the Hunters Association’s new rule. Silently accepting the money dividend from tier-1 and tier-2 Portal Gate would get reduced from before.

It didn’t matter how influential the government was in leading the country. If citizens united to voice their opinions, the government could only comply with the public’s wishes.

Especially now, the era of hunters. Making ordinary people with high social status displaced and fell from the top of the hierarchy of society.

Despite all the media outlets broadcast about the new regulations as well as the government’s response. All That meant nothing and didn’t affect Ji-woo’s life at all.

Currently, Ji-woo was already an official hunter and could work to earn his bit of money. He needed partially 10 million won at hand to have a short break. And start to pursue his true power.

And only a Guild fitted the criteria as a place to work with it.

Becoming a lone hunter required a lot more effort and patience. It took hundreds of millions won to be able to buy a Portal Gate. And even then, if a low-rank hunter bought a Portal Gate, it would raise suspicion.

In the end, a lone hunter could only wait for a call from the Hunters Association to close the portal gates or become a mercenary for the Guild that was short of hunters.

“Good morning, mom. Where is Ji-won?”

Ji-woo asked while looking around the place.

“She already goes to the school after eating breakfast.” Ji-woo’s mother answered while preparing Ji-woo breakfast.

Nowadays, Kim Ji-won has behaved nicely. She hadn’t missed breakfast since the incident that happened to her mother. She also never yelled at her mother anymore. Although, she rarely came out of her own room when she was home. She also never stayed outside overnight and always came back in the evening.

Even though it was not a long conversation, Ji-won sometimes talked with her mother too.

But, Ji-won’s actions toward her brother were complex. She completely ignored him, like he didn’t exist at all. Well, somewhat, she was not cursing him like usual, and it was still better than before.

When Ji-woo’s mother turned back and put the breakfast on the table, she noticed something.

“Where are you going today? Dressed neatly. You’ve even cut your hair.”

Ji-woo wore a blue long sleeve shirt and gray pants. His outfits were like someone going to a job interview.

Ji-woo didn’t respond to it and waited until his mother sat on the opposite side of him.

“I-I’m going to apply for a job.”

Ji-woo spoke without looking at his mother.

“Where? What is the job?”

Ji-woo was quiet for a moment. Then replied, “I will tell you when I get the job, mom. No need to worry. It is not a strange or obscure job.”

Ji-woo’s mother frowned.

“Are you sure? Can you handle it, Ji-woo~ya? It hasn’t been that long since you came back here. Eomma is scared you get scammed.

“If you worry about our finances. Eomma can still work and earn a living. Also, the food stall will be ready in a few days.”

Ji-woo sighed and got up from his seat after eating a bit of breakfast. “Mom can relax and put some trust in me. I will be fine.” He said with a subtle smile.

Ji-woo’s mother closed her eyes and prayed. She only hoped that everything was fine, nothing more.

—- —-

Ji-woo stopped in front of the Demigod Guild headquarters and got off the bus. He used to go everywhere by bus as transportation. It was cheaper than a taxi in Ji-woo’s own financial circumstance.

Ji-woo walked over and wasn’t surprised to see many people at the entrance to the building. He already felt the Mana from those people when he got off of the bus.

Ji-woo then looked around from behind, trying to figure out what was happened. After a few minutes of looking around, he was getting impatient. Fortunately, one of the people who looked like a member of the Demigod Guild came to him.

“Hello, I’m sorry. Are you here to become a member of the Demigod Guild?”

Ji-woo nodded.

“I’m Lee Dong-hyun, the Demigod hunter. I will help you with the procedure. Can I see your hunter ID, please?”

Ji-woo took out and gave his hunter ID to Dong-hyun.

Dong-hyun looked back and forth at Ji-woo and the hunter’s ID card. The picture was different from Ji-woo’s appearance in front of him.

The ID picture had Ji-woo with long wavy hair. Where Ji-woo, in front of the Demigod member was had short hair with long 4/6 bangs parted hairstyle that invoked an air of mystery as it slightly covered the eyes. With this style, Ji-woo looked a bit cool and mysterious without going over the top.

Thankfully, Ji-woo’s face still clearly showed in the hunted ID picture.

Ji-woo’s proportional body, coupled with casual style and a new hairstyle, made him look like a model.

Dong-hyun then shot him with envious eyes while giving the hunter ID back and registration form to Ji-woo. He was also a handsome man but shorter than Ji-woo.

“What happened?” Ji-woo then asked Dong-hyun about the crowd.

At the same time, wait for Ji-woo to fill the form. Dong-hyun looked at the crowd and replied.

“It’s because of the new policy. These E-rank and D-rank hunters think there will be no chance anymore in the future to join South Korea’s top three Guilds other than today. So, they are rushing to come here. The other two Guilds should have the same situation too.”

Ji-woo gave back the registration form after filling it in.

Dong-hyun received the form and saw the confused look from Ji-woo. He knew that Ji-woo definitely didn’t watch the news on the way here. He tried to describe it a little bit.

“We don’t have tier-1 and tier-2 Portal Gate anymore from hereon. That means Shadow, Demigod, and Artates Guilds are not necessarily needed to recruit E-rank or D-rank hunters. They only need to nurture their Guild’s members rather than invest in new lower-ranked hunters.

“Or the three Guilds might have a new requirement as C-rank as the minimum of hunters that can join us later.”

The reason Dong-hyun bothered to explain to Ji-woo was to emphasize that newcomers like them didn’t really matter to the Demigod Guild. The top three Guilds were the foundation of hunters in South Korea. Their standards were, of course, high, putting quality over quantity first.

“Oh, right. Our Training Center is over there. The next step will get informed at that place. Err, K-Kim Ji-woo~si can go and wait first.”

Dong-hyun continued after finding Ji-woo’s name on the registration form.

—- —-

The Demigod Training Center was not far away from the headquarter building.

Ji-woo abruptly stopped his steps at the entrance of the Training Center. The entire building seemed to have got enveloped in Mana from within the walls. Although, he felt it faintly.

It was very unusual for Ji-woo not to be able to feel it properly. Especially as someone who was sensitive to Mana.

“Interesting. I think the Mana that covers this whole building serves to make it sturdy and not easily broken. It is the perfect place for hunters to practice. Hmm, how much does it cost? It must be exorbitant.”

Ji-woo also wondered what material might have this kind of attribute. At first, he thought about the Obelisk Sphere. However, it would take hundreds of thousands of Spheres to build a place of this size. And he doubted if there was one kind of Sphere that has much of the quantity.

Ji-woo then knocked on the wall and smiled wryly. “Well, at least the current me can’t destroy this construction for sure.”

Ji-woo continued his steps going inside the Training Center. There were already many hunters who seemed to have the same purpose as him. He estimated that the number of hunters wishing to join the Guild would reach 200.

After seeing the many hunters who had gathered. Made Jiwoo remember the first time he joined the army in another world. Back then, he was just a clueless teen who was still confused about where in the world he was living.

At that time, Ji-woo and many other young men assembled to get tested. Which child had the potential to become a troop commander,

Of course, Ji-woo failed the test. He still didn’t know about the Nullifier’s existence within him. So, he just thought that his body was powerful and fought by relying on physical strength alone. Alas, that was not enough at all.

Suddenly, Ji-woo stopped reminiscing about his past. He realized that all the hunters in front of the Guild headquarters earlier were heading to the training center.

“This is not like what I thought, isn’t it?”