Hyperspace Operation VVIP Porter

“To get to the association…”

Yoojin quickly started a navigation app and found a route.

“I think we can take the subway but we have to change buses twice.”

But there was a better route.

“Yeah, at that rate we’ll get there next month. Let’s take my car.”

“Can three people ride your car, oppa?”

“Hey, what’s wrong with you? It’s small but it’s definitely a four-seater.”

Seungho rides a small electric car, a really cute visual contrasting his “hyung” image.

It was a four-seater, but it was smaller than a gasoline minicar.

After a thirty-minute drive, they saw the magnificent building of the Hunters’ Association in the distance.

The 80-story building was so high that they couldn’t see the top floor no matter how much they stretched their necks.

Yoojin put her head out the window and looked up.

“Wow, this is so cool. I’ve never seen the association building before. It’s so high.”

“Really? You live in Seoul but have never seen this?”

“I haven’t been to this neighborhood.”

The association building was located in a fairly busy downtown area, so parking was difficult.

The parking at the association building was already full, even the surrounding towers too.

We drove about two laps around the association, waiting for a paid parking lot along the road.

“Hyung, just put the car in front of the association. Let’s put the car in my subspace.”

“What? My car? This car is a four-seater, you punk. It’s a full 3100 mm.”

“Still. My space doesn’t have anything in it. The vehicle itself might not be very bulky if we disregard the space inside.”

Eventually, Jihoo’s stubbornness led Seungho to drive the car right in front of the entrance of the association.

The three of them alighted and someone with a whistle immediately came running at them.

It was obviously a no-parking zone.

Fweeeet!

“Hey! You can’t park there. There’s a no-parking sign right there and… what the!”

The guard who came running to warn them staggered and almost fell.

The car disappeared like a mirage before his eyes.

“Yes, yes, we’re sorry. We took it out right away.”

Jihoo and the others bowed to the security guard and entered the building.

“You’re something else. Haha, that was crazy…”

Seungho shook his head.

Entering the association building, a huge and wide hall unfolded before them.

Looking at the information board, they confirmed that the mana test and hunter registration are on the second floor.

“It’s on the second floor. Let’s go up.”

“Wow, look at this oppa.”

Yoojin pointed at the ‘Domestic Hunter Distribution Status Board’

The flashy LED panel showed the current status of domestic hunters.

“Only 0.1% of the population had an awakening… Only five people in SR-class in the country… These people are more famous than celebrities. But it says there are more than 50,000 hunters in Korea. Wow, the number’s smaller than I thought. I didn’t know there were so few. Is it because it’s too close?”

“A lot is a lot, and a little is a little. Let’s go up now.”

* * *

Only the examinee could enter the examination room, so Yoojin and Seungho decided to wait at the cafe on the third floor.

Jihoo applied for a re-examination and was already in the waiting area.

The cold-faced female employee told him it would be about a thirty-minute wait.

“Mr. Yoo Jihoo.”

“Here.”

“You’re here for a reexamination. I’ll tell you in advance, but 99% of re-examinees get the same result as the first time. Don’t expect too much.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Have a seat here. Hold this in your left hand. Put your right hand here. You can let loose of your strength.”

Following the instructions of the staff, Jihoo sat in front of a large measuring instrument the size of a water tank.

He held a stick with one hand and put his other hand on a square panel.

The unnecessary tension made him take a deep breath.

At that moment, he felt mana escaping from his body.

After a brief measurement, the employee looking at the monitor raised his head with an expressionless face.

“Mana, 18 units. F-class. Same as your previous results. Next, Shin Minha, you can come in!”

“Uh… t-that’s impossible. Uhm, excuse me. Hold on.”

“I told you in advance. 99% of the time it’s always the same results. I’ll call the guard if you keep refusing.”

“That can’t be though… Is there any other test? Other than the mana test.  Some other…”

In a hurry, Jihoo stood up and shook his hands, and the employee pulled herself back and pushed a button on the desk.

“There’s none. Security, there’s a non-compliant here. Please come to Laboratory 2.”

The woman’s frowning face showed hostility and annoyance.

In a hurry, Jihoo touched the measuring instrument and recalled his subspace.

Hwaaak!

The huge measuring instrument suddenly disappeared.

“W-what the!?”

The shocked employee jumped from his seat.

She ran to where the instrument was placed, but nothing remained in the huge space.

Even the power cords were neatly removed.

“Did you… did you do this? What did you do?”

“Yes… I told you. Something’s changed with my powers. I’m asking you to check again.”

“A-alright. Could you bring back the measuring instrument first?”

“Of course.”

Ddoong!

Just as it suddenly disappeared, the huge measuring instrument was produced out of thin air.

Everyone who witnessed it had their eyes popping out.

The security guards soon appeared.

“Security. Who’s the non-compliant?”

“N-no. I’m sorry, it was a misunderstanding. You may go. I’m sorry.”

When the female staff bowed, the security guards rattled back.

“Hunter Yoo Jihoo-nim, please wait a moment.”

And the staff ran somewhere to make a call.

“Yes, the mana units are the same but it’s different. Yes, yes that’s correct. Yes, a mana wavelength tester. I think we need it right now.”

After that, Jihoo was moved to the fifth floor and entered a room that he saw for the first time.

Inside were completely different types of machines from the usual hunter mana measuring device.

Everything was covered with cloth and quite dusty, perhaps not put to use for a long time.

It took time to remove the cloth and start the machine.

Soon after, the test began and when the result came out, the lab became busy again.

“We apologize, Hunter Yoo Jihoo-nim. Please wait a little longer.”

Somehow the employees became more polite toward him.

One of them made a phone call while the others ran around.

Several employees moved busily, making phone calls here and there, and soon, a middle-aged man who appeared to be in a higher rank appeared with the researchers.

He simply asked Jihoo a few things, then took notes with his head down.

And then he also left to make a phone call.

“Yes, President. That’s right. I think we’re sure. No, we are sure. Yes, yes. Yes. We’ll do that.”

‘President…?’ Confused, Yoo Jihoo had no idea what was going on.

As he waited with his head tilted in confusion, he soon began to grow tired.

That’s when a middle-aged man bowed his head politely and guided him somewhere.

“Hunter Yoo Jihoo-nim, please follow us. The president would like to see you.”

“What…? The president…? Right now?!”

Who’s the president of the association?

Well, after gates began to open and the world of hunters dawned, he founded the association that deviated the hunters from the direct control of the state.

The association, which neither the police nor the military can control, was an institution that even the president of Korea could go against. 

The authority of the president of the association was beyond imagination.

The state had an invisible distinction between hunters and civilians, and it’s only fortunate that the two complemented and balanced each other out.

It was the president of the association who made that possible.

Such a great and influential figure asking to meet him made Jihoo’s legs shake.

He was wearing simple sweatpants and a T-shirt since he thought it would be a simple test.

“I… I, uhm, I’m not dressed appropriately right now.”

“Haha, you don’t have to worry about that, hunter-nim. Please come this way.”

As if he would not take any objection, the man took the lead.

* * *

The president held out his hand with a bright face.

“Nice to meet you, Hunter Yoo Jihoo-nim. I’m Choi Kwonho. Please take a seat.”

“Yes, thank you.”

The president of the association sat down first, extending his hand and leading Jihoo to follow suit.

Jihoo also sat down.

Located on the top floor of the 80-story building, the president’s office was not only spacious, but the windows widely spread on all sides gave a panoramic view of the entire city of Seoul.

Never having been in such a luxurious room, Jihoo looked around with his mind almost dropping.

“It must be shocking to be invited here out of the blue, right?”

“Ah… yes, a little.”

The president spoke to a woman who seemed to be his secretary.

“Please prepare some drinks and snacks.”

“Understood.”

The woman politely bowed and left the room.

The president of the association, who was looking at Jihoo with a warm smile, slowly began to speak.

What he brought up was surprisingly an old story that everyone in the hunter world knew very well.

“As you know, a hunter’s class is based on the amount of mana. Whether physical or magical. Mana is classified from F to S.”

He then reached out one hand and pointed to Jihoo.

“And you are an F-class based on your mana, Hunter Yoo Jihoo-nim.”

Jihoo flinched. The president continued.

“But there are special hunters who don’t rely on mana. They are classified as Alpha class because they go beyond specification. Have you heard of it?”

Jihoo tilted his head.

“I have, but isn’t that just a rumor? I know it’s an imaginary story of people who don’t exist.”

“No. It’s true. The Alpha class is real.”

The president of the association was serious.

“I can’t say it definitively, but in terms of ratio, there is one awakening per 1,000 people. The S-class hunters appear once in every 10 million people. But the Alpha class is beyond that level.”

Gulp. Jihoo swallowed.

“Do you know how many people in the world are Alpha class, Hunter Yoo Jihoo-nim?”

Of course, Jihoo doesn’t know. 

Up until now, he thought it was just a mere rumor.

“Ni…”

The president showed his hand.

“Five.”

“What?”

The impossible number turned Jihoo dumbfounded.

“From the moment gates began to appear in this world, there have been a total of five Alpha class worldwide.”

…!

Jihoo blinked his eyes in surprise.

His heart began to beat faster and faster.

He was called to the president’s office after taking a mana test.

Jihoo guessed to some extent.

Was he perhaps an Alpha grade?

But there were many questions in his mind.

“Uhm… but why are Alpha class hunters so unknown?”

“Because their lives all ended in bad luck. Two of the last five have been killed, one is missing, and one is dead in a dungeon. The last Alpha class hunter to appear in the last three years has collapsed and is now in a psychiatric hospital.”

My goodness.