Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant

Chapter 10

‘Well, look at that.’

Suho hadn’t thought of skill doping for long before he came across a skill-doping user right in front of him.

He was certain that the woman seated ahead of him was using skill doping.

After all, every examinee here had handed over their belongings and changed into designated exam uniforms before entering.

‘And every test candidate here should be a level-1, unregistered hunter. There’s no way someone at level-1 could emit this kind of mana.’

Unless they were a unique case like Suho, of course.

Furthermore, unlike a driver’s license, once a hunter license was revoked, the person could never take the exam again, which only strengthened Suho’s suspicion.

Emboldened, Suho decided to check everyone around him.

It wasn’t a difficult task.

He just needed to sense the mana waves they were emitting.

Suho concentrated and started sensing the mana flowing from the people around him.

Sure enough, besides the woman in front of him, he detected unusual mana waves from others nearby.

At that moment:

[Your talent for sensing mana is exceptionally keen compared to others.]

[The system is evaluating your talent.]

[Congratulations! You have acquired the skill Mana Detection (B).]

All he did was focus a bit, and a new skill had emerged.

Well, it made sense.

Being able to distinguish mana in the air simply through concentration was indeed a mark of talent.

Perhaps because of that, the mana he had previously sensed vaguely became more distinct, thanks to the skill’s effects.

‘I knew it—she’s definitely using a skill.’

With the Mana Detection skill, he could clearly distinguish between mana waves caused by items and those caused by skills.

Suho let out a sigh as he detected abnormal mana waves from several other people in addition to the woman in front.

‘Even though it’s back in the old days, things are really a mess.’

However, there was nothing Suho could do about it right now.

He was just another test candidate, and they were in the middle of an exam.

Besides, there were too many cheaters to report them all individually.

But that didn’t mean he was entirely without options.

Suho looked toward the observation deck on the second floor, which was made of clear glass.

It was a place for monitoring examinees from above to prevent any potential cheating, and there was a familiar face watching him from there.

It was Jung Chulmin.

‘He really came to watch.’

Considering how blatantly he had been wooed, it would’ve been strange if he hadn’t shown up.

With a smile, Suho waved at Jung Chulmin.

Jung Chulmin responded with a quiet wave.

This should be enough for him to come over and say hello later.

Finally, the written exam began.

* * *

‘Good, he made it.’

Jung Chulmin had confirmed Suho’s attendance while going through the list of written exam candidates.

After all, Suho was an exceptional talent he hadn’t seen in a long time.

So, even though he knew it was a long shot, he hoped Suho would pass this exam.

But what’s this?

In the middle of all this, Suho spotted him and even waved.

‘The more I see, the more interesting this kid is.’

Seeing Suho go out of his way to acknowledge him, Jung Chulmin thought he might as well offer some encouragement.

Actually, he was hoping to leave a stronger impression and somehow bring him into the Korean Hunter Association.

Once the written exam ended and people began moving to the practical exam area, Jung Chulmin quickly approached Suho.

“Did you do well on the exam?”

“Yes, I think I did all right. But, Team Leader, what brings you here?”

“I’m here to help out. The Association is always short on staff, so on big event days, everyone pitches in, regardless of department.”

“That must be tough.”

“Haha, it’s nothing new. By the way, you didn’t have much time to prepare, less than a day, actually. I have to say, your confidence is impressive! I heard the questions were quite difficult this time.”

Suho chuckled at that.

“They were manageable. By the way, Team Leader, can I ask you something?”

“As long as it’s not about the exam, anything’s fine.”

“Well, it’s not entirely unrelated… but I noticed there’s no skill test here. Is there a reason for that?”

“Skill test?”

“Yes, they’re doing blood and urine tests, but I didn’t see any skill tests.”

At the mention of a skill test, Jung Chulmin looked puzzled.

As expected.

This was a time when the concept of skill testing hadn’t even been introduced.

But it seemed he wasn’t entirely clueless, as he furrowed his brow and lowered his voice.

“Why do you ask?”

“Just a thought. If you think about it, they confiscate items and make everyone change into exam uniforms to prevent cheating with items, so it’s strange there’s no measure against skill-based cheating.”

Hearing that, Jung Chulmin’s eyes widened slightly.

Then, he lowered his voice even further.

“…Did you see something?”

Suho smiled, and Jung Chulmin’s expression turned even more serious.

Jung Chulmin spoke.

“Report them to us, and we’ll handle it right away.”

“Haha, I’m not entirely sure myself… That’s why I mentioned the skill test.”

“I understand what you mean by a skill test… but it’s unlikely we can implement something like that immediately. The concept is new, and to solve this issue, we’d need a team to come up with countermeasures, which we can’t do right now. So please, if you’ve seen anyone suspicious, just report them.”

Hmm.

Suho thought he’d given enough hints, but maybe he needed to spell it out a bit more.

He had no choice.

Suho spoke.

“You’re overthinking it. Do you really need a team to come up with a solution?”

“Huh?”

“There’s a skill called Mana Detection, right? Using that, you could easily identify cheaters.”

“Mana Detection?”

“Yes. Specifically, you can use Mana Detection to measure the amount of mana emitted from a person’s body. As you know from entering Gates, each player emits different amounts of mana when using skills or items, right? Since everyone here is a level-1 player, you could single out anyone with unusually high mana for further inspection.”

“Oh!”

Jung Chulmin’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s.

Suho had practically spoon-fed him the solution—if he still didn’t understand, he’d be an idiot.

Suho added a final comment.

“Of course, my mana levels might be a bit high. Unlike other players, I recently entered a Gate alone…”

“Oh, don’t worry, we’re well aware. Thank you so much for this suggestion. I would never have thought of it. And Mana Detection isn’t even a rare skill, so we can assemble a team quickly.”

“Then, will you apply it starting from this exam?”

“We’ll implement it for the practical exam right away. By the way, with your solo raid on the Unpredicted Gate and your advice here, I’d say you’re already a professional hunter.”

“Haha, not at all.”

“No, I mean it. Actually, there was some talk about hiring you directly, but then you applied for the exam the very next day… Haha, don’t worry. If you fail this time, I’ll try to arrange a direct hire anyway.”

A special recruitment for the hunter exam.

Suho laughed at the thought.

“No need. I’d rather pass through the proper channels. The same goes for the Korean Hunter Association’s public recruitment. It prevents any controversies.”

Hearing that, another wave of admiration passed through Jung Chulmin’s eyes.

“As expected of you, Suho…”

“Well then, I’ll head over to the practical exam now.”

“Yes, thank you. Oh, and Suho.”

“Yes?”

“Personally, I really hope you pass. And if possible, I’d love to work with you.”

Suho responded with a smile, then moved on to the practical exam area.

* * *

While Jung Chulmin hurriedly gathered the exam supervisors based on Suho’s hint, Suho arrived at the practical exam site, where he spotted several “dive capsules” set up around the area, triggering a sense of nostalgia.

‘Wow, that’s an old version. It’s been ages since I’ve seen one of those.’

The dive capsule was a virtual reality device developed collaboratively by research labs of major Korean corporations.

By entering the capsule and linking consciousness, one could send their awareness into a virtual world—a device you’d only see in “game fantasy novels.”

‘Back then, people used to say the world would change if virtual reality capsules were developed…’

But the world had already changed in a different way before that.

Nevertheless, virtual reality remained popular, and dive capsules were widely used as training devices for players.

Unawakened individuals also enjoyed virtual reality games.

Just then, the supervisor who had explained the exam process earlier announced an emergency notice.

“We have an announcement for all examinees! Due to an issue with the dive capsules, the practical exam will be delayed by two hours. During this time, please feel free to use the rest areas or training grounds within the exam hall.”

A sudden delay.

Suho looked around to see what was going on and understood immediately.

The “capsule issue” was just an excuse.

It was clear that Jung Chulmin was taking various measures based on Suho’s tip.

‘They must be planning to conduct mana detection before entering the capsules. As expected of Chulmin-hyung, he’s handling this well.’

The practical exam was postponed, but only by two hours.

The fact that he could mobilize a team to catch cheaters in such a short time was proof of his competence.

With some time to spare, Suho decided to observe the other candidates.

With the implementation of mana detection from this exam onward, a large number of cheaters would be caught, likely causing the pass rate to drop even lower than before.

‘They said there are about 1,200 candidates this time, right?’

Quite a crowd.

And with an average pass rate of less than 20%, Suho recalled that this particular cohort’s pass rate was said to be under 10%.

So much so that the exam difficulty was adjusted slightly the following year.

‘In other words, those who pass this exam will be genuine talents.’

For this reason, Suho took a careful look at the examinees.

If there was anyone useful among them, he planned to recruit them into the Korean Hunter Association… specifically, under his command, just like Guardian Kang Dae-han.

As he wandered around the training ground, Suho spotted someone unexpected.

‘Huh? That person… no, that guy?’

Thinking he might’ve been mistaken, he moved closer for a better look.

The practice weapon the man was holding confirmed his suspicions.

‘Park Yong… So that bastard is in this cohort?’

A man with droopy eyes, clutching his sword and dozing against the wall.

His name was Park Yong.

Despite his unassuming appearance, he was destined to become a notorious criminal in the future… no, a legendary serial killer who exclusively targeted hunters.