Chapter 28
Hunter rank assessments don't work like in manga, where you touch a magic crystal and bam-pow, it flashes that you're a ridiculously overpowered national-level hunter.
Instead, they combine all kinds of measurement results, and for the Summoner class, it tends to depend on the combat power of the summons you can call.
So there is a separate measurement method made specifically for summoners.
“Then Ophelia is the one fighting?”
“Yes, that's correct. For now, I'm the unit most skilled in combat.”
“I see.”
“But measuring just me isn't enough.”
“Huh? Then what?”
Ophelia came up behind me, deftly took off my coat, and neatly folded it on the bench beside us as she spoke.
This is the Hunter Rank Evaluation Center in Yongsan. More specifically, the integrated combat-data training room. On the sturdy walls, protected in real time by mana flowing through them, there were also rows of something like cannons.
The wall was also lined with those moving human-dummy mannequins I'd only ever seen in photos, arranged neatly in rows.
“As a rule, Your Highness's combat power also has to be measured, so I'll help you change clothes first and do some stretching.”
“M-me too?! I already did a ton of gymnastics today!?”
“Huh? Eve, you did gymnastics?”
“Yes! Not Pinkfong... I mean, I did some super tough exercise...!”
“Pfft, ah... really?”
Yoo Chaerin nodded while barely holding back her laughter at my words, but no matter how I looked at it, it wasn't working on me at all. If I was going to have to move around here too, I should've just rested at home. Why was I getting made to exercise even at home...!
My arms and legs already hurt!
“Don't worry, Eve. We're only going to do a light measurement at an easy difficulty.”
“Re-really..?”
“Of course~ And after Eve does some stretching first, you can rest. Minyum and Suri will go first, then Ophelia and Eve.”
Yoo Chaerin nodded, operated the control pad installed by the entrance, opened the door to Test Room 1, and called Minyum and Suri over.
“Minyum? Shall we go into Test Room 1?”
ㅡClack!
When Yoo Chaerin heard what she said, Minyum turned its head toward me. It was probably asking if it was okay to just go along like that?
“Go, go, Minyum. Do your best!”
ㅡClack!
Minyum gave me a thumbs-up and nodded. It already had titanium alloy and some rare metal mixed in now, and I'd even loaded it up with all the magic stones we found while running through the Lizardman swamp last time, so it should be ridiculously strong by now.
You could see Minyum inside the test room through the super-strong glass window installed in the wall.
“Minyum! Don't get nervous, just do your best!!”
Even beyond the test room, Minyum could faintly hear my voice. It nodded and solemnly gripped a single sword in its hand. That was a rare-metal sword prepared by Nova. Probably similar to the one Han Dohee gave me, or maybe with slightly better specs?
“Then... let's begin.”
The test room, finished on all sides with white metal, had the square tiles that fit together tightly begin opening one by one with a whirring sound, and the mouth of something like a baseball-cannon machine appeared, firing soft balls with bang-bang-bang sounds.
ㅡSlash!
At first they were a little slow, but before long the balls were flying in at a pretty fast speed. The white ones could be dodged, or if you could slash them down with a sword or withstand them, you could block them too.
As the difficulty kept rising, red balls that absolutely must not be blocked or cut down started pouring out in bursts. Then black balls made entirely of solid steel also began appearing, and if you blocked those, the impact was huge.
Next came blue balls that had to be caught, and Minyum, carefully dribbling them with its left hand—the one not holding the sword—or with its feet, gathered the blue balls and sunk them in perfectly like a basketball shot.
“U, uoooh..!”
“Your dynamic vision is good too, and your reaction speed to objects is excellent. It's a little disappointing that the class is low... but if it gets bigger, I think it'll be fine.”
“Right?! Minyum's amazing, right!?”
“It is. Eve, you're amazing.”
“A-hem...”
Minyum is like my own little baby that I made. Getting praised makes me feel happy too.
ㅡWhirr
One by one, the lights in the test room went out, and with a hiss the door opened. Minyum came out from the room with balls scattered all over the place.
“Nice. Overall, it's showing reaction speed on the level of an A-rank bruiser. Unfortunately the output is lacking, so the force looks like it's around C+ or B- grade, though.”
“Hmm.”
In other words, it's like a veteran brawler without a high-output attack skill. But there are various ways to raise output, including magic stones, so the missing hair dryer probably plays a part too.
“Let's take a look at Suri next.”
Suri went into a huge test room with something like complicated train rails laid out everywhere. Vertical human upper-body scarecrows stuck out from the walls and moved along the rails, and Suri just had to fly around and destroy them.
Originally this was a test room for hunters specialized in ranged attacks to hit targets, but flying summons are tested here too.
“I'll begin.”
ㅡClunk!
As soon as the test started, dozens of targets emerging from the walls began moving along the constantly changing rail paths. Stage 1 has 10 targets moving at a slow speed. Stage 2 has 15 targets moving at a slightly faster speed, and there are 10 stages in total.
“Suri? Why aren't you moving?!”
“Could there be some kind of problem?”
Suri was only slowly moving its wings on one side of the high-ceilinged test room, without making any real move to attack. After waiting a bit like that, just as the targets' paths were overlapping in a roughly straight line...
ㅡWhoosh!
In an instant, Suri dropped from the sky and used its wide wings to smack through a lot of the targets, plowing right past them.
“Definitely... Suri seems to have high combat intelligence. It looks like it's calculating attack efficiency and even the danger of exposing its presence to enemies.”
“R-Really?!”
“Yes, Princess. Suri was trained for royal hunting activities, so it has high combat intelligence.”
“Wow... I see...!”
Even as the test difficulty went up and the impact needed to knock over the targets, as well as the targets' speed, increased...
“Ah, it's moving.”
Suri, slowly calculating the battlefield as it moved, managed to knock down every target within 30 seconds of starting its first attack.
“Normally I calculate the timer right after the start, but I think Suri needs to be judged a little differently.”
I've never seen such a smart summon. Suri really might be the strongest in the world.
“Then next is...”
ㅡBeep!
“Huh? What is it?”
The short little sad beast puppy had climbed up on top of Minyum's head and was watching Suri's battle earnestly. Now it was Ophelia's turn, but it looked like the puppy wanted a turn too, because it was wagging its butt wildly.
“Ddaengdaeng wants to try too? But you can't fight, though.”
ㅡBeep!! Beep, beep!
Hmm, you've got spirit, at least.
“Ahaha, then how about Ddaengdaeng...? Should your friend have a turn too?”
“Is that okay?”
Yoo Chaerin nodded and said there was no reason it couldn't, but in fact it wasn't okay. I was told it costs a ton of money just to run the test room, so we shouldn't be using it recklessly. I think she was probably being considerate of me.
“Go on, in you go!”
ㅡBeep!
The sad beast puppy with no arms went inside as soon as I opened the test room door for it, sticking its butt out and growling. Short-legged as it was, it sure had picked up some things.
The test itself was the same version as Minyum's. Dodge or block the balls when they fly at you, and catch the blue balls and put them in a specific spot, and that's it.
“Then... shall we begin?”
Just like with Minyum, the softball cannon emerging from the wall lowered its barrel toward Ddaengdaeng with a whirring sound. Before long, a white ball was fired.
ㅡCrash!!
“D-Ddaengdaeng—!!!!!”
The softball, about the size of a kids' dodgeball, hit Ddaengdaeng squarely, and the little puppy's light body went boing—flying off into the air. Sure, this was only stage 1, but it was a test for Awakened people, so there was no way something made from nothing but a cellphone and weighing only a few hundred grams could withstand it.
ㅡShake-shake
ㅡShake-shake
Suri and Minyum shook their heads and paid their respects to Ddaengdaeng. We stopped the test right away, and when I went into the test room, Ddaengdaeng was rolling around on the floor.
“Sob sob... Ddaengdaeng... I won't forget your sacrifice...”
Actually, it hadn't really sacrificed anything. It wasn't even dead. But when I saw Ddaengdaeng's desperate fighting spirit, I couldn't help but mourn it. It wanted to fight for me even with a body like that.
Or maybe it just wanted to play ball.
“You little rascal! Did you have fun?”
ㅡBeep!
Still, it looks like it liked it. Its expression is bright. Even if it is just a text emoticon.
⌯⦁⩊⦁⌯ಣ
“What's this thing next to it? A V sign?”
ㅡBeep
“Cute.”
* * * * *
ㅡWhoosh....
“Good work, Ophelia. Overall, it's a similar feeling to Minyum.”
There isn't a high-output attack, but its combat proficiency is extremely impressive. In fact, the high-output attacks the test room calls for are something like wide-area destructive power, since it's focused on taking on giant monsters and the like.
Ophelia's actual attacks do show tremendous cutting power, but later on there are plenty of enemies that don't stay cut, and plenty that heal right back up even after being cut.
“I'm sure it'll come out as A-rank.”
“Is that so.”
“You're amazing, Ophelia...!”
Ophelia during the test was insanely cool. She just went shashashak and then wababak and smashed everything to pieces. I should've read more books normally; I don't have the words to describe it.
“Then... lastly, it's Eve's turn. You can do it, right?”
“W-what kind of test is it?”
“We'll be doing a combat evaluation too, but let's start with a physical examination first.”
“A physical exam...!”
Any adult Korean man would immediately think something bad. I'm not one right now, but either way, it doesn't feel good.
“Okay, from here on we'll do it in order one by one. Got it?”
“Ah, yes.”
ㅡTap
A machine device lightly passed over the top of my head. The number recorded on its side was a whopping...
“128.4 cm, huh. For the average 10-year-old, that's just a little on the small side?”
“Gasp...”
“Your weight is... 25.7 kg. Even taking your height into account, you're a little on the skinny side compared to average.”
“Eek.”
“Your eyesight is good. Left and right came out at 1.2 and 1.5. Your hearing and reactions are excellent too.”
“Yay.”
After finishing the simple tests one by one, it was finally time for the combat evaluation.
“What is this.”
In front of me was something like a scarecrow with moving arms, holding a sword in its right hand and a shield in its left, but why am I doing this test?
“Now, Eve? If you underestimate it, you could have a very scary experience. For all its looks, it's really strong, you know?”
“Really..?”
“Yes, really. See this sword here? It has a soft cover on it, so it won't hurt too much, but you still need to be careful. The shield will move slowly, but it'll block as it moves, so let's try dodging it well and attacking.”
“A-alright!”
Even if I've ended up in a body like this, there's no way I'd get hit by some scarecrow's sluggish sword or have my attack blocked by a sluggish shield. I'll show you my EX-rank skill, Wild Slashing.
“Then, shall I start it up?”
“Yes!”
With the countdown, the scarecrow's eyes lit up. How dare it stand in front of the princess—it's practically begging to lose its life.
“Hyaah!”
ㅡCrash!
* * * * *
[ERROR]
“Ah... Team Leader Yoo, why is this happening?”
“Hmm, this is the result value that comes up when it's judged to be a non-awakened person. Just put in an F value and print it out appropriately.”
“Yes, understood.”
ㅡWhirr
The paper printed out from the printer was handed to Ophelia.
“Princess? The results are out.”
“Ah, um...”
“I don't think I need to look...”
I fell over, so what results are there? I'm going home to cry.