Civil Servant Hunter's S-class Resignation Log – Chapter 1
The soulless gaze typical of office workers during business hours was fixed on the monitor.
It wasn't just Yoon Se-ra. Exhaustion filled the faces of everyone in the office.
As civil servants under the Korean Awakener Management Association, they had to rush out whenever and wherever a dungeon broke, so being worn out to the bone was par for the course.
Just like right now.
"A gate just broke near Yeoksam Station! It's green! Dungeon break!"
Aaaaah! Screams erupted from all over.
"It's almost quitting time, and of all things, a dungeon break!"
"Third straight night of overtime confirmed..."
"Team 2, we're heading out. Yeoksam Station's near the Noeul Guild headquarters, right? Get in touch and ask them to send some hunters."
The field dispatch squad from Dungeon Management Team 2 jumped up and bolted out the door.
Since Yeoksam Station was Team 2's jurisdiction, the other teams could clock out without issue. That included Yoon Se-ra from Team 1.
...If it were before.
She would've rejoiced that it wasn't Team 1's area, sent a quick prayer of thanks heavenward, and gotten ready to head home in high spirits! But the face of Se-ra, who had spent the whole day dreaming of quitting time, looked unusually grim.
Forget the unease of it being a dungeon break instead of a regular dungeon.
Just looking at this message, it's no ordinary matter.
Se-ra stared glumly at the system message floating before her eyes.
A green gate has generated near Yeoksam Station. Prepare for danger.
The game-like interface was visible to any awakener, of course.
But Yoon Se-ra was certain. She was the only one seeing this message right here and now.
Ah! There goes clocking out on the dot today too! This is exactly why I need to quit ASAP!
In the end, the moment six o'clock struck, Se-ra scattered tears as she left Association headquarters faster than anyone. She didn't even hear the laughter from behind about her eyebrow-raising speedy exit.
If something went wrong for Team 2, no one in this office would be laughing come morning.
* * *
"Knew it."
Standing on the rooftop of a mid-rise building near Yeoksam Station, Se-ra clicked her tongue. Monsters had already burst out of the gate, turning the area around the station into a total mess in no time flat.
At least the boss monster hadn't shown up yet...
"Ogres, of all things. Talk about bad luck."
Ogres, which mainly appeared in 4th-grade dungeons out of the 1st-to-7th-grade spectrum, were on average less than B-rankway beyond what Team 2 could handle. No sign of guild hunters arriving yet either, from the looks of it. If this kept up, the station area was doomed to become a warzone.
And she'd end up pulling an all-nighter tomorrow.
Yeah. No way in hell.
Yoon Se-ra opened her inventory and pulled out a pitch-black sniper rifle, assuming position. The moment her hand touched it, the barrel flared red for an instant.
Through the scope, seven ogres came into view. Pinpointing their positions, she pulled the trigger without hesitation.
"Bang bang."
Mana bullets instead of regular rounds spewed out, popping each ogre's head in succession. Terrified civilians and the civil servants trying to hold back the monsters alike were thrown into panic.
Even in the chaos, Se-ra unerringly picked off only the rampaging ogres, squeezing the trigger repeatedly. Pop! With the satisfying sound of heads exploding, all seven ogres crumpled to the ground.
"Ah, the bitterness of losing my on-the-dot clock-out is finally starting to fade... Yeah right, like hell it is. Give me back my clock-out!"
Once they were all down, the grief over her sacrificed clock-out came rushing back. Sure, handing it over had nixed tomorrow's overtime too, but the heart wants what it wants.
Se-ra smacked her lips as she watched her relieved Team 2 colleagues and the tearful survivors celebrating their lives.
Yeah, yeah, all's well that ends well. Everyone survived, and her identity stayed hidden. Good enough.
"The monsters still coming out of the gate? The guild folks'll handle it."
She could sense guild hunters rushing over from that direction. About six of them. No top-tiers from the feel of their energyjust mid-to-high ranks at best. No way they'd sense her presence.
Se-ra stowed the rifle back in her inventory and stood. That's when a system message popped up.
"..."
Se-ra's face hardened coldly.
The community was one of the things the system ran on its own. Any awakener who could see the system screen could post...
But notifications for new posts never came separately. The fact that one appeared now meant someone was dying to show it to her.
"What now? What do you want me to see?"
Glare at thin air as she might, the community window appeared before her eyes.
"..."
The title alone spelled trouble.
Headbang.
The word made Se-ra gloomy. What a tacky nickname. They call themselves a humorous nationwhy saddle her with that moniker?
Okay, sure, she mostly shot monsters in the head! But that's their weak spot for any monster, right?!
I'm innocent!
Then a new message floated over the community window. It seemed like a pat on the back or something, but it rubbed her the wrong way.
"You showed me this just to mess with me, didn't you?"
She shot a suspicious glare, and another message appeared.
"Knew you were messing with me!"
"Hey!"
Her rage-filled fist flew toward the system window. But the punch that could one-shot a B-rank monster didn't even graze the messageit passed right through.
And right on cue, a new message popped up.
Emojis clearly saying 'hit all you want, it won't work' danced before her eyes.
Overwhelmed by injustice, Se-ra clenched her fist tight, her whole body trembling.
She knew she couldn't hit it, but couldn't it at least pretend to take the hit? Did it have to troll her like this to feel satisfied?!
"Spamming one-sided emotes like this. It's so unfair!"
Se-ra flopped face-down on the roof like a defeated soul, lamenting her plight. Then her forgotten civil servant ID, which she'd neglected to tuck away in her rush, dangled and swayed before her eyes.
Korean Awakener Management Association
Management Office Affiliation
Dungeon Management Team Yoon Se-ra (F-rank)
F-rank.
At that word, Se-ra's fury toward the system fizzled out in an instant.
Right. Until recently, she had definitely been the lowest of the lowan F-rank hunter.
So how did she take down seven B-rank ogres in one go?
All thanks to that rowdy system.
From F-rank straight to S-rank awakener.
That was what Yoon Se-ra had gained by becoming the System Administrator's contractor.
And she was the only one in the entire world.
...If she'd known the System Administrator was this weird, she might've thought twice a hundred times.
Se-ra thumped her chest in lament.