CHAPTER 11: GETTING READY FOR SEMIFINALS
Two days have passed since Kaito departed for the dungeon. During this time, several events unfolded. Firstly, a dungeon break occurred in Seoul, prompting the deployment of numerous rankers and the emergence of a new Nation-level ranker, World Master Karateka Ji-hye Park. The dungeon break coincided with Kaito's departure to the infected dungeon and was contained within a day, thanks to the heroics of people and the sacrifices made by rankers from all over the world.
The following day, an organization was established to manage dungeon breaks and potential future incidents, named The World's Hunter Association. It was named hunter association instead of rankers association because individuals who had awakened were mostly becoming Hunters or not doing anything. Consequently, 'Hunter' was set to replace 'Ranker' as the term of choice. Additionally, all individuals who had undergone the awakened ranking test were demoted by one rank due to the fact that the fact that 'S' rank was the strongest rank when the awakened first appeared and the association deemed that the creation of another rank, the Nation rank, was a mistake, leading to the demotion of all ranks except E-ranks. Thus, Kaito, Nakamura, Ayaka, Ryota, and Ji-hye were demoted to S-rank, and all S-rankers were demoted to A-rank.
The association quickly established branches in most countries, operating within the existing associations, with its main headquarters in Japan, home to the majority of the world's strongest hunters.
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At his residence, Kaito took a nap to recharge for the upcoming event. Upon awakening from his nap, he learned of the recent developments and received a notification from the event organizers. Reading the message, he felt a sense of relief. It read, "Greetings, Mr. Kaito, this message is to inform you that the event will be extended by three days due to the unfinished repairs and also to inform you about other two things, the first being, the semifinals and finals will be a three days instead of 1 and the second being, your match will be happening on the first day and it will be against Mr. Nakamura. Good day to you."
Kaito thought about resting for the 3 days and doing mana training because he found out that if he leaks a little mana to his dagger it take. He also thought of getting his dagger sharpened and he thought about Haruto, he thought that since Haruto was all alone, why doesn't he come work for him as he will need a person to repair his weapons if they get dull or broken.
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Kaito went out for a walk in the afternoon and to give his weapon to Haruto and to ask him, if he wanted to work for him.
Kaito enters the rundown workshop and looks around and he finds Haruto at a corner looking at a photo of someone, his brother which Kaito didn't know. Kaito decided to knock on the counter as if he had not seen anything and Haruto looked startled and looked to the counter. He saw Kaito and hurried to the counter.
"Oh you're back, what can I help you with" said Haruto sincerely because this was the first time he ever felt needed after his brother's death.
"Yeah, well can you sharpen my dagger, it's not that worn out, but I still need it for the competition" said Kaito handing him the dagger
"What happened in 2 days for you to make the dagger this worn out, it's not that worn out as you said but still, this at least takes 3 weeks to a month."
Kaito remembered that the time he spent in the dungeon was only two days in the real world and he didn't know what to answer so he tried to change the subject by saying, "Well anyways, will you come work for me as my black smith, I will provide you with materials you need and including food and a place to live"
Stolen story; please report.
Haruto knew Kaito was trying to change the subject and didn't pressure him much but he thought the idea that Kaito told him was a good opportunity for him as he had nothing to do here but still, he lived in this place since he was a child so he didn't want to leave the shop all alone and wanted to negotiate with Kaito.
"Ok, I agree to your offer but I want to negotiate"
Kaito thought that this guy was not only a skilled black smith but he had a not bad mind as a normal person in his situation would agree to his deal without even thinking and with little study he could also help him in his work and maybe even become a good hunter according to his skill level and so, he didn't want to lose this kind of guy so he was open to negotiation.
"Ok let's hear it"
Haruto thought that this was a god sent opportunity if Kaito agreed to his ideas and even if he didn't he could just accept the first deal as so he said, "First of all, if I work for you I will need a workshop and the workshop I want is this one and for that if possible, I want you to repair this workshop...", Kaito thought that this idea was not a bad one as his house was also near the shop and even though it contradicted his first idea of making him live with him this idea was better. Haruto continued, ".... and secondly, I know your one of the most strongest hunters in the world, so I would like you train me in fighting". Haruto was thinking of getting revenge on the people that betrayed his brother. Kaito also was thinking of training Haruto so he was willing to accept the deal that Haruto had given him as it would also benefit him.
They both agreed on the terms they laid out and shook hands to seal the deal. Kaito gave the dagger to Haruto and told him that he needed the dagger after two days and that the re construction will begin after the event ends and Haruto said that he can take the dagger back at evening because he didn't have any other work and that the dagger will be easy to repair.
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3 days passed in a flash and the day of the semifinals arrived and Kaito arrived in the place of the event and as usual there were a lot of people but they were more than the other days of the event and by a lot. Kaito trained basic stances and moves on his dagger which increased his progression by 2% and made it 92%, he also trained his mana and increased it capacity by 5 and made it 40 and for his other stats, strength increased by 1, stamina by 1, intelligence didn't increase and both reflex and sense increased by 5 and they increased in an unpresented way as reflex increased while he was playing dodge ball and sense increased while he was asleep and could hear small animals like ants even though they were outside his room.
Kaito arrived at the waiting room and he saw the competitors who were participating and the competitors who got eliminated the other day. He went into the room and sat on one of the chairs looking at the stadium and people getting in. Kaito was a little unconfident he could win this but then Aya came and sat behind him, she seemed happy and enthusiastic. Kaito laughed at himself for worrying about winning the whole thing as he saw Aya's enthusiasm.
"Woah, Kaito what did you do, I can feel that you have gotten very strong maybe even stronger than my master, but how did you do it in 2 days?" asked Aya
"Oh, I raided a dungeon"
"Whaat! A dungeon? Are you sure? How did you clear it in two days?"
Kaito thought it was okay to tell her about what happened since she was a player and he explained it to her. Aya was very shocked as she didn't know any of this things about the system and to Kaito surprise it seemed like no one knew about the system's function except how to make the screen appear. Moment's later one of the staff of the event came and called out Kaito and Nakamura. Kaito said goodbye to Aya and went to the door and so did Nakamura.
They both went to the tunnel and as they were walking to get out of the tunnel Nakamura spoke up, "So you are the new player, you seem a lot stronger than when I first saw you but I don't think you can beat me because you lack experience, well anyways good luck, try not to die" in a way that implied that he was looking down on Kaito and Kaito stopped walking and said, "Thanks for the thought, but I don't need luck, I will beat you" getting his dagger out of his pocket that Haruto made for him. Nakamura smirked and said, "Well try your best" and walked out first and Kaito followed.
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They both went onto the stage and got in a fighting stance and the referee blew his whistle and said, "Let the first match of the semifinals, begin"
CHAPTER END