Life Reversal With Random Skills - c8
Title: Life Reversal with Random Skills! Episode 8
Inspector Lee Geunwoo had recently fallen into a drinking habit.
Until just before joining the Hunter Association, he didn’t even touch alcohol. The reason he became addicted to alcohol was simple: the mundane daily life. He felt tremendous stress from the daily grind, like a hamster wheel endlessly spinning.
In fact, until his job search days, Lee Geunwoo had a great romanticized image of the Hunter Association. Hunters, a new profession emerging in the 21st century. The fact that he could meet them every day seemed like a big dream to Lee Geunwoo.
However, after passing difficult exams and joining the Hunter Association, Lee Geunwoo’s dream crumbled to pieces. Contrary to the excitement and creativity he expected, the actual work was more like simple labor. All he did was lower the target for practice shooting or mechanically explain the exam procedures.
This fact gave Lee Geunwoo an overwhelming sense of ennui. “Ah, I didn’t join to do such mundane tasks.”
Lee Geunwoo, a graduate of a prestigious university, felt regret.
He wanted to quit his job or go on a trip right away. A bomb ready to explode at any moment. That was Lee Geunwoo’s heart.
And today.
His heart, which felt like a time bomb, faced a situation that seemed about to explode for real. It was all because of a question from Hunter applicant number 119, Ha Minwoo.
“However, if that target is destroyed, how will the score be calculated?”
Applicant number 119, Ha Minwoo, standing inside the examination room, asked.
What if that target is destroyed?
“Yes?”
Lee Geunwoo, sitting in the control room, responded. He didn’t ask because he couldn’t hear. It was because he couldn’t believe it.
“Why are you asking such a question?”
“If you have any questions, you said to ask, didn’t you?”
“No, but… Look, don’t worry unnecessarily. Just take the exam. Even if you hit it with all your might as an applicant, you won’t even leave a scratch on the target.”
Anger surged.
He was irritated.
Already feeling disillusioned with this job, he became annoyed when an applicant blabbered nonsense.
It seemed that the inspectors nearby felt the same way.
“What’s that guy saying?”
“Is he worried he might break that target?”
“Seriously, is he insane? Since the establishment of the Hunter Association, no one has even made a scratch on the target, let alone breaking it. He’s completely crazy, that guy.”
“Be careful with your words. There’s someone with him.”
“…Ah.”
The inspectors who were gossiping about Ha Minwoo turned to look behind them.
There stood Heo Yeeun, and the inspectors who had thought she was Ha Minwoo’s lover closed their mouths.
Heo Yeeun glared at the inspectors, displaying her discomfort.
Of course, Heo Yeeun didn’t understand Ha Minwoo’s words.
“Why is Oppa saying such things?”
Heo Yeeun cocked her head.
Through the wallet Ha Minwoo had picked up, they had formed a connection. Despite the age difference, they got along well. So Heo Yeeun had shared a lot about herself and felt a human connection with Ha Minwoo.
But his current behavior didn’t make much sense.
Ha Minwoo, who had promised to show his skills, was asking irrelevant questions.
“The inspectors’ expressions are a bit rude, so that’s why I said that. It wasn’t really wrong to say…”
The inspectors showed a response of disbelief to Ha Minwoo’s words.
They even used swear words while speaking.
Heo Yeeun felt uncomfortable with the inspectors’ hasty judgment of Ha Minwoo, but objectively, what the inspectors said wasn’t wrong.
As far as Heo Yeeun knew, she had never heard of the target being destroyed.
“I understand what you’re saying, Inspector. But still, please explain about the scores. Just to satisfy the applicants’ curiosity.”
“Ugh, you’re really annoying. Yes, I understand. If you destroy the target, I’ll judge it as 100 points at the discretion of the inspector. Got it?”
“Alright. Thank you for your understanding.”
“Yes, yes. Now, as you wish, let’s begin the exam over there.”
Inspector Lee Geunwoo said irritably, then turned off the microphone.
Next, he raised the switch for the target.
Now, it was a situation where they had to watch as applicant number 119 cast a spell.
But Lee Geunwoo just stared at the ceiling.
“Ah…”
He sighed deeply, unable to bear it anymore.
“What should I do? Should I quit now and try to get into a big company? Or should I take the civil service exam? Or maybe even get a motorcycle and do delivery?”
Lee Geunwoo was desperate to quit his job.
Normally, he would have endured somehow.
He would have gritted his teeth or thought about having a beer after work.
But Ha Minwoo’s nonsense made Lee Geunwoo feel like he wanted to get up and leave right away.
It was too uncomfortable for an elite like him to be tolerating the nonsense of such an indecisive person.
That’s when it happened.
“Huh…?”
The female inspector sitting next to him made a strange noise.
Why is she acting like that?
Did she doze off?
Anyway, she’s not in her right mind either.
Lee Geunwoo clicked his tongue.
But it wasn’t just the female inspector making strange sounds.
“What’s that?”
“Wait, this is a bit weird, isn’t it?”
“What’s with that person?”
Even the other inspectors standing behind were making strange noises.
What’s going on?
What is it?
What in the world is happening that’s causing such a commotion?
Lee Geunwoo, who had been blankly staring at the ceiling, adjusted his posture and looked straight ahead.
“Huh?”
And the moment he grasped the situation…
He too reacted similarly.
“What, what is that…?”
Lee Geunwoo’s eyes, nose, and mouth widened in shock.
As someone who despised making foolish expressions as an elite, he didn’t have the luxury to think about such things now.
Shoosh!
Beyond the glass wall, something was gathering in front of applicant number 119, Ha Minwoo.
Red.
Blue.
And yellow.
Beads shining in various colors were rapidly gathering in front of Ha Minwoo’s hands.
“Wait, those are elemental energies, aren’t they?”
Lee Geunwoo seemed to have some idea about the identity of this mysterious magic.
Red, blue, and yellow.
Those were clearly the energies of elemental magic.
Red was fire.
Blue was ice.
And yellow was lightning.
The problem was…
“How are they gathering all at once like that?”
It was a strange phenomenon.
Normally, you can only use one type of elemental magic.
If it’s fire, it’s fire.
If it’s ice, it’s ice.
If it’s lightning, it’s lightning.
It was common for individuals to absorb only one type of elemental energy for the magic they use.
However, the types of elemental energy being drawn into Ha Minwoo’s hands were different.
It wasn’t just one, but a total of three different elemental energies gathering simultaneously.
“This can’t be real. Not just two, but three. How is this possible…?”
Lee Geunwoo forgot even to blink as he focused on Ha Minwoo’s casting.
Ha Minwoo’s actions reignited Lee Geunwoo’s dry heart.
After a few seconds passed…
Kugugugugu!
Just as it seemed like all the mysterious light was being absorbed, the interior of the examination room began to shake.
It was as if there was an earthquake-like tremor within the building.
The faces of the inspectors turned contemplative at the unnatural trembling within the building.
But the real surprise was yet to come.
Kwaahh!
Ha Minwoo’s hands flashed, and an enormous amount of Qi was fired.
A projectile, shining with red, blue, and yellow flashes, spun in a spiral pattern as it shot out.
A gust of wind-like energy, accompanied by flashes of red, blue, and yellow, engulfed the examination room.
Crash!
The glass wall between the control room and the examination room shattered.
The tremendous flashes of light, the swirling wind, and the sharp glass shards engulfed the people.
Instinctively, Lee Geunwoo raised his arms to protect his head.
“Ugh…!”
Lee Geunwoo trembled as he lay on the floor.
He glanced one last time.
The light of three different elemental energies rapidly spinning and enveloping the target.
Shuuuu…
Thick smoke filled the control room.
A high-pitched noise, like a whistle, sounded in everyone’s ears.
From their parched throats, coughs continued to erupt.
As the smoke dispersed, Lee Geunwoo slowly lifted his head.
The shattered glass wall.
The broken devices.
Even the scorched walls from the explosion and smoke.
The control room was in complete disarray.
It looked as though it had been hit by missiles and bombs.
“What in the world…”
Struggling to regain his composure, Lee Geunwoo staggered to his feet.
Unconsciously, he looked beyond the space where the glass wall had been, trying to see what had happened to Ha Minwoo and the examination room.
“…!”
As he grasped the situation, Lee Geunwoo’s pupils shook.
For now, Ha Minwoo seemed unharmed.
That was why Lee Geunwoo was surprised.
“The, the target disappeared…”
Ma Jeong-seok, the hardest mineral in the world.
The target specially crafted using it should never be destroyed.
But at this moment, Lee Geunwoo realized that statement was wrong.
The Ma Jeong-seok target in front of Ha Minwoo.
It had disappeared, not even destroyed.
Lee Geunwoo, shocked beyond measure, could only stutter without saying anything else.
But the surprise didn’t end there.
“…!”
Turning his gaze to the left, Lee Geunwoo’s jaw dropped.
He couldn’t help it.
The wall where the Ma Jeong-seok target had been was pierced through.
“Could it be that the wall was destroyed by that three-elemental magic from earlier…?”
Lee Geunwoo made a wild guess.
But there was no other explanation for this situation.
That’s when it hit him.
Lee Geunwoo suddenly remembered the words he heard before the start of the exam.
“But if the target is destroyed, how will the score be determined?”
Before the exam started, Ha Minwoo had said.
What happens if that target is destroyed?
At that time, Lee Geunwoo had snorted dismissively.
He thought it was just nonsense from an ignorant hunter applicant.
So he brushed it off casually.
But that was the wrong response.
Ha Minwoo’s words weren’t nonsense.
They were a valid question.
Realizing that it was him, not Ha Minwoo, who had made foolish remarks, Lee Geunwoo looked pale and muttered while looking at Ha Minwoo in the examination room.
“…That’s a monster.”
* * *
The test to prove awakening abilities had ended, but I couldn’t leave the examination room.
I was frozen stiff from the overwhelming shock.
“This is insane…”
I kept muttering curses to myself, still too dumbfounded.
Insane.
“How did this happen? This is way too much.
No matter how powerful an S-grade skill is, this is just excessive.
‘I thought the skill name was unfamiliar, so it wouldn’t be anything special…’
The moment the test began, I cast the only skill I had.
Random Skill Draw.
This S-grade skill once again shone brilliantly, presenting me with a single skill.
And the name of that skill was as follows.
[Elemental Storm]
Elemental Storm?
The name seemed unfamiliar, and I didn’t think it would be anything remarkable.
I had a feeling it might be something weak and unimpressive.
But as soon as the skill was cast, I realized how wrong I was.
Various colored energies emerged in the air.
Gathering in my hands, they emitted tremendous energy waves representing fire, ice, and lightning attributes.
The trembling as if an earthquake had struck.
Blinding flashes that could blind you.
A typhoon-like pressure.
And even a burst of light that seemed to annihilate everything in its path.
The unfamiliar name ‘Elemental Storm’ turned out to be incredibly powerful.
It was leagues beyond the Fireball I had used at the Hunter Hospital before.
‘I didn’t realize how terrifying “random” could be…’
I thought ‘Random Skill Draw’ simply meant casting a skill at random.
But the word ‘random’ didn’t just refer to the type of skill being cast.
It also applied to the ‘power’ of the skill.
The difference in damage between Fireball and Elemental Storm was proof of that.
‘But what now? I destroyed something again.’
After being amazed by the skill’s power, worry flooded in.
Due to the excessive power of Elemental Storm, it ended up destroying the wall behind the Ma Jeong-seok.
The wind entering through the gaping hole.
Feeling the refreshing breeze, I sensed that I was in trouble.
Not only would repairing the Hunter Hospital building cost a fortune, but now the repair bill for the Hunter Association building would also fall on me.
“Oppa!”
Then it happened.
The door to the examination room creaked open, and Heo Yeeun rushed in.
“Oppa, are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere?”
Rushing to me, Heo Yeeun scanned me up and down, concerned.
“Ah, yeah. I’m fine. I’m not hurt.”
It wasn’t a lie to reassure her.
I really wasn’t injured.
Perhaps because I was the caster of the magic, I didn’t seem to take any damage.
“Yeeun, are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. But oppa, what was that magic just now? I’ve never seen anything like it before. Did you really awaken just a while ago?”
“Well, yeah…”
I trailed off, scratching my cheek.
How should I say this?
Should I tell her that I received an S-grade skill?
“S-grade skill that only ten people in the world possess?”
I felt awkward as I looked into Heo Yeeun’s eyes, which seemed to be burning with curiosity.
“Mr. Ham Minwoo…”
At that moment, a voice came from the direction of the door.
As I hesitated to respond, I turned my head.
There stood a prosecutor.
It seemed like the person who had informed me of the test format through the broadcast.
The person who had been annoying me with various irritations.
“Ah, yes.”
I responded with a bit of hostility.
I was worried if that person would nitpick or perhaps demand repair costs for the damaged wall.
But that was unnecessary worry.
Because the prosecutor’s intention was not that.
“Since you destroyed the Ma Jeong-seok target, as promised, I will award you 100 points. You have passed. Congratulations.”