The shadow of a god

Chapter 8: A new future

After the fight with Choi Jong-in, Rimuru had to quickly get reappraised.
As a B-rank hunter, she'd still shackled by the government and whatnot.
But if she were an S-rank hunter then the shackles would get released and she'd be able to walk away scot free.

Rimuru came to get reappraised and by coincidence, encountered Sung Jin-woo..
"Yo, Jin-woo, you're back," she greeted the man.
"What's up, Rimuru?"
"You didn't tell me you were gonna be back so soon!"
"I was about to call you." The two chatted with one another, making the man at the desk quite irritated.

"This is not a room for chit chat. So kindly pay the cost and make your way to the re-evaluation room."
"My bad, jeez." Rimuru scratched her head and went her way with Jin-woo, guided by the lady at the desk.

They waited right outside the door of the evaluation room.
"It hasn't really changed since more than a year ago, huh.." Rimuru mumbled.
"It hasn't, not even the slightest bit," Jin-woo laughed.
He looked at Rimuru.

"Why did you get reappraised?"
"Let's say I sort of did something really bad and I need an S-rank title to help me walk away scot free."
"What did you do so bad?"
"I sort of fought with two hunters and, uhm, destroyed some property..? It was really minimal damage, though!"
".. What property?" Jin-woo already had an idea of it, but god he didn't want it to be true.
"Our apartment building.. ahaha.."
Jin-woo just sighed. What else could he do? It was already destroyed.

"What happened to Jin-ah?"
"She slept over at a friend's house, so she's fine."
Rimuru held up a peace sign so Jin-woo wouldn't get absolutely furious.

"I leave you alone for what, less than a week?" Jin-woo flicked Rimuru's forehead.
"I'm sorry.." Rimuru was about to say something more, but it was time for her evaluation.
"Wanna come with, Jin-woo?" She held her hand out to him.
He took the hand and went.

The lady looked at the two.
"You're gonna get reappraised together? There's nothing stating that you can't, but most would like to be private about it."
"Uh huh," Rimuru answered.
Rimuru pushed Jin-woo to the orb, telling him to go first.

"Please place your hand on the black crystal and wait." The lady said.
She looked at the screen and was confused.
"An error?.. Uhm, can the other person go to the black crystal?" She asked and Rimuru went.
"Error again? Huh? This has never happened before. I'm sorry, I'll try again," she sweated.
She kept making Rimuru and Jin-woo go back and forth.

"What's wrong with this machine?!"

The manager from earlier walked towards her.
"What? Where is Chang-shik and why are you alone?"
"He left for a washroom break."
"So, what's the problem?"
"There's something wrong with the detector.." She showed her boss.
"Look, I keep getting an error." The manager's mouth was agape.

"Which one of them did you evaluate?" He asked.
"Them both..?" She was confused.
"How long have you been working for?"
"Six months exact."
"Go and get Chang-shik."
"I don't understand why..?"
"This isn't an error, it's immeasurable. Do you not understand what it means?! It means that our detector is incapable of measuring their magic power!"
"What? Then?"
"Those two are Korea's 10th and 11th.." The lady's eyes widened.
"That's right. Those two are S-ranks."

The manager led the two hunters out the room.
"Our current detector is unable to measure hunter Sung Jin-woo and hunter Rimuru Tempest's magic power. I need to get permission from the higher ups to use a more precise detector. Can you two visit us after 3 days?"
"Sure.. I guess?" Rimuru and Jin-woo walked away, feeling the gazes of the people looking for hunters to recruit.

Walking towards them was none other than..
"Choi Jong-in." Rimuru glared.
Choi Jong-in looked at Sung Jin-woo who was beside Rimuru.
"I knew Rimuru had a reason for sticking beside you." He put his hand on Jin-woo's shoulder, making Jin-woo glare at him.

Choi Jong-in put down his hand and looked at Rimuru.
"I guess you won't be going to jail now," he laughed and handed Rimuru and Jin-woo a business card, though unfortunate for him they ignored it and went their own way.

Right as the two left, Baek Yoon-ho appeared like he was in a hurry.
"You're too late. They already left." Choi Jong-in said.
"You're still trying to recruit Rimuru Tempest? Even with the incident earlier?"
"She's too good of a catch to let go."
Choi Jong-in licked his lips at the thought of Rimuru.
"It's a shame Sung Jin-woo left. Either one of them would've been a great asset."

『.....』