Soul Devourer Chapter 1 Episode 74 — Reappraisal and Special Treatment
I visited the Hunter Guild early the next morning.
Last night, a staff member contacted me and said that unless I had some urgent matter, I must come by the Guild.
“Good morning, Guildmaster.”
“Good morning. Thank you for coming on such short notice.”
“No, I didn’t have anything in particular to do.”
We sat on the reception sofa in the Guildmaster’s office and exchanged greetings.
“Let’s get straight to the point. I want you to show me the Fire Dragon materials you presented as proof of clearing the S-rank dungeon.”
“Understood.”
I took them out from my magic pouch one by one and lined them up on the table.
Once I finished arranging them, the Guildmaster picked up the large, bright-red magic stone and spoke.
“It’s about two sizes larger than an A-rank magic stone. And this red glow is beautiful.”
He picked up the materials in order, examining each with great focus.
When he was done, he gave instructions to the man standing nearby.
“Begin the appraisal.”
“As you wish.”
Just like the Guildmaster, the man picked up the materials and began appraising them in order.
“The appraisal is complete. The most important factor here, the grade rank, is Mythical-class S-rank.”
…Huh? Grade rank?
“Excuse me, what is a grade rank? I’ve never heard of it during any of the appraisals at the outpost.”
“I’ll explain. To put it simply: it’s the difference in the level of【Appraisal】.”
(E/N: You didn't explain anything…😒)
“I see, it’s a difference in skill level. Meaning, is he a former hunter?”
“No, he isn’t. It’s what you’d call power-leveling. He had active hunters help him level-up while he spent all his skill points raising【Appraisal】.”
“So that’s how it is.”
“No hunter prioritizes leveling the skill【Appraisal】.
…
They figured hunters would have trouble if they couldn’t understand the effects of the equipment they worked hard to obtain, so the Guild decided to raise official Appraisers instead.”
True enough — compared to skills like【Discernment】or【Subterfuge】, its priority would be low.
There are also magic-type and combat-type skills to raise, so no one would focus on maxing【Appraisal】.
“They have decent levels, but no combat experience or technique. Aside from【Appraisal】, they possess no other skills, so they’re not viable as fighting force.”
“Thank you for telling me.”
“It’s not classified information, so don’t worry. Now, returning to the subject — these materials have been confirmed as Mythical-class S-rank.
…
Therefore, Matsubara Hunter, you will be promoted to S-rank.”
Seriously!? Becoming an S-rank hunter after only one successful clear… well, I’m not complaining!
“When we finish here, don’t forget to complete the formalities downstairs.”
“Understood.”
“Next is the purchase price for the materials… After yesterday’s meeting, we decided on 1 billion yen per piece. You have twelve items here, making a total of 12 billion yen.”
I just earned around 5 billion yesterday, and now I’m getting 12 billion on top of that… this really is the Hunter's Dream!
“These materials can currently only be supplied by you, Matsubara Hunter. That’s why the purchase price is so high.
…
If other S-rank hunters become capable of obtaining them, the price may decrease. Keep that in mind.”
“I understand. I’ll sell everything.”
“Good. Now, regarding your special treatment.”
“Special treatment?”
“Yes. Having cleared an S-rank dungeon alone, other countries will use every means available to recruit you.
…
Not belonging to a clan makes the risk even higher.”
Even just after the stampede incident, big clans were trying to recruit me nonstop.
If I’ve now cleared an S-rank dungeon solo, foreign scouts are definitely going to come.
“You are a vital asset to our nation. To keep you here as much as possible, we’ve prepared a special benefits package.”
He handed me a sheet of paper.
━━━━━━━━━━
Special Benefits List
・Taxes
・Living expenses (rent, utilities, water, food)
・Goods expenses (daily necessities, phone bills, car)
・Medical costs, insurance
・Material purchase price × 1.1
All of the above are fully covered by the Hunter Guild.
━━━━━━━━━━
“Are you serious? I can receive all of this?”
“Of course. You’re indispensable to this country. If we want to prevent you from being recruited abroad, this is only natural.”
I didn’t originally plan on moving overseas, but with benefits like these, there’s no reason to reject the offer.
“I understand. I accept the contract.”
“Thank you. There are two copies, so once you’ve stamped them, please mail them back to the Guild.”
“Yes.”
“Lastly, we will hold a press conference with the media to announce your promotion. We’ll send transportation, so we’d like you to attend.”
Hmm… Standing in front of a large audience is embarrassing, and I want time to think about my next dungeon. I guess attending isn’t possible.
“I’m sorry, but I’ll have to decline.”
“I see… Then we’ll handle it with a photograph instead. Sorry to keep you for so long. That’s all.”
“Then, excuse me.”
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E/N:
Instant rejection! I mean I get it's an individual's choice to deny public exposure but now that he's S-Rank, if he doesn't show off a little in front of media, Yuito might get underestimated. Just my opinion!
Also, y'all might have noticed that【Appraisal】that I had included in Yuito's status was actually the wrong skill.
Since the skill itself told him the strength of the monsters or people, I had come to believe the author was lazy to not mention the stats of the enemies.
But now that GM has explained that【Appraisal】, the kanji is [鑑定] which means "to identify/analyse items/person", is the actual skill that the Guild Appraisers possess, and Hunters don't actually invest in this skill. In this case, the skill is item-specific.
Now, about the skill【Discernment】(formerly【Appraisal】, mistakenly). The kanji [çœ‹ç ´] means "to perceive, strength/malice/something similar". Since, Yuito "perceives" the strength of his opponents, thus the name of the updated skill.
Of course, detailed explanations will be given in Episode 75, so…
I hope that clears things up! Stay tuned! (4/4 chapters)
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