twojebook Chapter 127 : Chapter 127
Chapter 127 : Chapter 127
Chapter 127 : Hunter Bureau Ranking
"Did you get a good haul?"
Cooper smiled as he eyed the backpack in Chatfield's hand.
Before Chatfield could answer, Cooper pulled out inspection tools and prepared the inspection table.
"Come on, don't be shy, show me what you harvested!"
Chatfield placed the first backpack next to the workbench with a smile, but kept the second one in his hand and set it down further away.
Cooper's expression didn't change as he laughed leisurely.
"Negotiations might be tough, but it's better than nothing. How was this friend? Everyone seems to have returned safely."
Sal tried to force a smile, but his facial muscles wouldn't budge, drained of all strength.
Chatfield spoke up for Sal.
"He cleared it solo. Not bad."
Cooper adjusted his glasses, his eyes sparkling.
A smile spread across his lips.
Sal felt like Cooper was staring right through him.
Finally, Cooper tapped the temple of his glasses and laughed.
"My goodness! You must have really worked hard. Your stats have gone up quite a bit. Oh, you even grabbed some Void Metal? Excellent."
Cooper focused on the loot again as he organized the various pieces Chatfield had brought from the dungeon.
Meanwhile, Sal looked at Cooper with eyes full of surprise.
He knew the visor's Analysis ability could provide various information, but it was hard to believe that his stats had risen from a single dungeon run.
"Um, Mr. Cooper?"
Sal approached him, speaking awkwardly.
Cooper looked up at Sal without answering.
"You said my stats improved quite a bit? What does that mean? Are you talking about my Hunter Bureau ranking?"
Cooper smiled and shook his head slowly.
As if waiting for Sal to put the puzzle together himself.
Sal didn't have the energy for such complex thoughts right now, but he tried to understand.
"I know the Analysis ability tells the threat level of people and monsters. Does it mean my threat level has been confirmed to have risen to you, Mr. Cooper?"
Cooper clapped his hands, dropping his tools and the Void Metal to the floor.
He looked at Chatfield with excited eyes.
"This friend has the Analysis ability? Why didn't you tell me sooner? I could have given you so much more information from the start!"
Chatfield shrugged and gestured for Sal to explain.
Instead of explaining, Sal took out the visor and placed it on the desk.
"I made this and this."
Sal placed the revolver next to the visor and took a step back.
Fatigue from days of crafting combined with the events in the dungeon weighed on him, but Sal didn't care whether Cooper knew he was a Mythos Crafter or not.
Upgrade and Chatfield hadn't reacted negatively to his actions, so Sal felt no need to feel guilty.
He wanted an answer about the stats, and he judged that showing Cooper the equipment that enabled the Analysis ability would save a lot of time and explanation.
Cooper picked up the visor and looked straight at Sal.
"Can I try it?"
Sal nodded as if to say go ahead, but pointed at the revolver.
"This gun activates the visor. It's calibrated to me, so it might not work for you, Mr. Cooper."
Sal actually wasn't sure if it would work.
Seeing Chatfield wear a Concept visor that mimicked the design, Sal thought Cooper might be able to use it too.
Without any special preparation, Cooper took off his glasses and put on the visor.
Contrary to Sal's expectation, the visor glowed red and activated, and Cooper laughed with delight.
"Amazing."
Cooper said, looking around.
"This is brand new. There's almost no information. Should I put in some data for this to process?"
Everyone was surprised by those words, and Sal found it hard to understand exactly what that meant.
On the other hand, Chatfield grasped the situation precisely and answered for Sal.
"Yes, please. That's a really good idea."
Sal looked at Chatfield quizzically, but Chatfield just gave a thumbs up in response.
Upgrade looked amused.
It seemed Sal was the only one who didn't understand.
Cooper pulled out cards similar to the one Sal had received earlier from his chest pocket.
He rummaged through another pocket and took out a small Core.
If Sal hadn't been so tired, he would have appraised it.
"Now, let's see... Most of the data is related to materials. Truly befitting a Crafter! And dealing with only expensive materials at that... These aren't easy to come by."
Cooper muttered to himself as he scattered his gaze here and there.
"Good, this will be a good start. Then let me tell you where you can find those materials."
Sal took a step back as the visor glowed intensely.
Cooper shook his head and smirked.
"This is truly incredible. Honestly, I deliberately poured in a chunk of data as a stress test... but it didn't crash at all. Instead, it swallowed it greedily and is now asking for more. Monster data, behavioral analysis, location scans, threat analysis, even predictive algorithms... A greedy friend, I'll admit."
Sal watched with fascinated eyes as new data was added to the visor every time Cooper flipped a card.
Cooper chuckled as if lost in thought.
"I got ahead of myself. No Hero-related directory in here? Just how new is this visor?"
Chatfield cleared his throat, and Sal felt eyes focused on him.
Sal wondered why Chatfield wasn't answering for him this time.
Sal took a step toward Cooper and attempted to explain himself.
"Both were made yesterday. I needed an Analysis skill to figure out the optimal materials for crafting. I used it for the first time in the dungeon and read the stats of the Vampires inside. It detected materials too, but that's about all I've done with it."
Not knowing how much to reveal, Sal shrugged at Chatfield.
Cooper smiled.
"A weapon calibrated to you, made by you. Both have Mythos Crafter Essence as a core material, right?"
Sal felt his blood freeze in an instant.
He looked at Chatfield with panicked eyes.
But neither Chatfield nor Upgrade showed any sign of worry.
Cooper smirked at Sal's reaction.
"Finally, Dr. Ameier has a rival. I'm looking forward to what you'll achieve in the future. Just one request, don't become a self-centered jerk like that guy!"
Before Sal could clarify that he was working in secret, Cooper continued.
"I've put in the Hunter Bureau database and United Guild Association records. Now you can check which organization a hero belongs to when you meet them. I added the government directory as a bonus since it's public data. Criminal and ex-convict records will also pop up."
Cooper grinned, took off the visor, and placed it on the desk.
"About the stats you asked, actually, the notation method varies from person to person. Some use star symbols to indicate potential or proficiency, others assign grades. Your system defaults to Roman numerals. Personally, I like tracking down to decimal points. Because you can see even small growth in detail. This visor is truly excellent equipment. You should be proud that you made it yourself."
Cooper put his glasses back on and smiled at Sal.
"When this equipment evolves, it will utilize the data I put in. Then you'll see what I mean more clearly. But to satisfy your curiosity now, I'll tell you what stats changed."
Sal looked at Cooper with anticipation.
'Did I really grow through the dungeon run?'
But there was no tangible change he could feel.
Cooper's smile faded just a little as he spoke.
"Your Mentality decreased by 1.146, and Agility went up by 0.214. Resilience increased by 2.642."
Sal couldn't be sure exactly what those numbers meant, but he could understand the situation.
"Are you saying my stats appear as numbers, and they actually changed by that much?"
Sal didn't want to believe that was possible, or that things like Mentality could be converted into numerical values.
Cooper shrugged, pointing to his glasses.
"This hasn't lied to me yet. But a piece of advice: since you just finished your first battle, don't let your Mentality drop further. Do something fun, spend time with friends, let yourself be happy."
Sal didn't know what to say, and Cooper continued.
"Agility is set to rise gradually as your movements settle into muscle memory. It will take time, but growing this much in a short period is impressive. If you continue shooting practice, your skills will improve over time, and you'll be able to draw much more from the revolver. Resilience is an essential ability in our line of work. You'll definitely need it to handle future tasks. Keep your mind sharp and your heart unwavering. Then your future will be bright."
"Thank you, Mr. Cooper."
Sal said sincerely.
He had not only gained vast information for his visor but also insight into his own growth.
The mention of Mentality bothered him a bit, but Sal didn't even know what it was.
He resolved to find out more about it later.
Cooper's characteristic laugh spread again.
He unpacked the remaining loot from the dungeon.
He sent a playful look toward Chatfield, or more precisely, his second backpack.
"What do you think is the value of the favor I showed your student?"
Chatfield laughed and handed over the second backpack.
"You're more than qualified. Salvatore kept a few things he got from the Dungeon Boss, but other than that, the rest is all yours."
Cooper frowned and pointed a finger at Chatfield.
"Haven't I told you a few times not to call them Bosses?"
Chatfield sighed and slumped his shoulders.
"Fine, Variants. Salvatore kept the loot from the Commander-level monster."
Cooper still looked disapproving, and Chatfield glanced at Upgrade hoping for help, but she didn't step in at all.
Eventually, Cooper turned on Sal.
"It's probably already loaded in your visor, but since the others seem to have forgotten, let me explain. We assign ranks to monsters to indicate danger levels. Among heroes, there's a tendency to call stronger individuals 'Bosses' instead of their proper rank. You can guess why this is a bad idea. By this logic, a Commander-level Variant gets treated the same as a Boss-level Variant. What you faced in the dungeon was closer to Soldier-level than Boss-level. Especially if it's the one that respawns on the train every time."
Cooper muttered the last part, but Sal was intrigued by the phenomenon.
"How can the dungeon be run repeatedly if I already killed the monsters inside? Wouldn't the next person just see corpses?"
Sal asked seriously.
Cooper burst into laughter.
"Uh, I'm surprised you didn't know that. Didn't you find it strange that the whole dungeon was just a short corridor with a blocked tunnel and a broken carriage? We've divided the subway into dozens of sections. Each section rotates with a set cooldown period to give monsters time to regenerate. Instead of connecting all tunnels to make a massive dungeon spreading everywhere, we separate sections and control the terrain to keep the dungeon at a low level. The quality of materials drops, but for Apprentice Hunters like you, it becomes a very valuable hunting ground."
"You mean Heroes, right?"
Sal laughed at his slip of the tongue, but Cooper shook his head.
"Now you've been given an HBR. Hunter Bureau Ranking, that is. Since that card already proves it, you'll soon receive praise and certification from them. The Hunter Bureau is a good organization to belong to. All they ask is that you continue fighting monsters. If Guilds are organizations excellent at team-based activities, the Hunter Bureau operates centered on powerful individuals. Top members of the Hunter Bureau possess power equivalent to an entire elite guild."
Sal's mouth went dry. That couldn't be.
'A single Hunter equals the power of an entire top-tier guild?'
"I wouldn't be surprised at all if you received a welcome gift. Especially since you cleared a dungeon solo in your debut."
Cooper laughed as he examined the materials with quick hands. His laughter grew louder, and he said with a playful smile.
"Or, you might even receive an invitation to the banquet?"
"Cooper."
Despite Chatfield's warning, Cooper was enjoying teasing Sal.
Cooper smiled nonchalantly at Chatfield and stared straight at Sal.
"The Hunter Bureau holds an awards ceremony for its top members. Dr. Ameier always attends, and he always brings his train. It would be good for you to run a few more dungeons and raise your stats. Because when you meet Dr. Ameier, everything you thought you knew about crafting will be turned upside down."