"Please make your decision carefully, sir."
"..."
The receptionist's explanation completely shocks Shuku. He expected something dark, maybe violent or shady, but the way she speaks and lays everything out makes him realize this isn't some low-level job. It's important. Vigilante work. Dangerous but necessary. A role that demands sacrifice to keep the country under control. His excitement and hesitation now clash in his mind, both fighting for control over one of the biggest decisions of his life.
After finishing her speech, Ama steps back and gives him space, letting him decide whether he's ready for something this risky, yet righteous.
'So manhunters are the ones who keep the country stable, fighting corruption among powerful magic users. Pretty good for a vassal and secondary country.'
He admires the idea for a moment, but quickly shifts back to the main issue.
'This job won't be easy. Killing and hunting missions mean trouble, one way or another. The other manhunters are probably more skilled and experienced than a newbie like me. The targets won't be simple either. If I get captured, tortured, or injured... yeah, I can't die, but it's still going to hurt like hell. And I'm trying to stay low. A peaceful life, if possible.'
The receptionist continues to watch him, polite and patient, but her expression reveals nothing.
'Not to mention, if I get excommunicated for any reason... then I'll be hunted down. No place would be safe. All manhunters have the right to kill an excommunicated one, even inside forbidden zones. Damn...'
He keeps reading the contract silently.
'But if I want to train, sharpen my skills, in case they find out who I am, or if something bad comes my way, I can't just sit still. I need real combat experience. Whether I like it or not, I'll have to be ready when the time comes.'
"..."
The receptionist is still waiting. The silence stretches, becoming more awkward with each passing second.
"...I made my decision." After a full minute of silence, Shuku finally speaks, breaking the stillness.
"I will sign the contract."
'After all, I can't die, so why worry? And the rules say I can still take freelance jobs, just with lower privileges. I won't have to be killing people constantly. I can choose.'
"Very well, sir. Here's what you need to write." She hands him an ink pen and points to specific spots on the contract laid out in front of him. "Your real name and date of birth go here at the top. Next to that, fill in today's date. And here is where you write your Hunter Name."
She taps her finger lightly on a blank line beneath the real name section.
"This will be your codename for all quests and missions you take. It'll be used in records and for public reference. You can choose anything you like. Most hunters pick something that matches their appearance, reputation, or just something that sounds cool.
Your real name, however, is kept strictly hidden in the guild system as part of our worker protection protocol. Unless, of course, you're excommunicated or you choose to use your real name as your Hunter Name. It's the least we can do to protect manhunters."
Shuku listens closely, then looks down at the empty Hunter Name line. He starts tapping the pen on the paper as he thinks carefully about what to write.
'Hunter Name... something that fits my appearance... appearance...' He glances at himself: Black coat, hood up.
Then he looks around and notices that almost no one else is dressed like him. As more time passes, the silence makes him feel awkward, the receptionist is still waiting, and the pressure builds. Anxiety creeps in, and no other ideas come to mind, the answer seems obvious.
'...Black Hood. Yeah, that should do.'
He hesitates for a moment, then writes "Black Hood" clearly in the Hunter Name space. He quickly moves on to fill out the rest. He writes his real name at the top without pause, now that he knows it won't be made public. His birthdate comes next, calculated by subtracting his current age of 18 from the current year of this world, followed by today's date.
Finally, he slides the pen down to the bottom of the paper and signs his name with a quick, smooth, curvy stroke. It comes out more dramatic than needed, forming an unnecessarily elegant signature.
"Alright." He finishes and starts handing the contract back across the counter, but Ama stops him by raising her hand and tapping the lower corner of the paper.
"You haven't finished yet."
"???"
"The blood fingerprint," she says, pointing at a small red square labeled Blood FingerPrint on the front side of the paper.
"Oh, that..."
He noticed it earlier but assumed it wasn't important since she hadn't mentioned it until now.
"The blood fingerprint is standard for Manhunter contracts," she says, calm and clear. "Freelancers don't use it, but for Manhunters it's required. It's for magical identification, binding, and guild recognition. It prevents impersonation and tampering, and it's linked to both your real and hunter identities. The system won't activate your membership without it."
She turns the pen in his hand and shows him the back end, which is sharp and needle-pointed.
"You can use this to prick your finger. Just one drop is enough."
Shuku sighs lightly, a little disturbed and concerned by this somewhat devil-like ritual. The sting from the small prick isn't much, but he still clicks his tongue slightly in pain as blood surfaces on his index finger.
He looks at the red square again, hesitates for a moment, then presses his finger down.
The moment the blood touches the white paper, the fingerprint glows bright, shiny red, almost unnaturally vivid. For a few seconds, it pulses softly like a magic seal being activated. Then it fades, leaving behind the print in solid blood, perfectly preserved on the contract.
He pulls his hand back, a strange uneasiness creeping in from the whole process. Still, he keeps his face neutral and hands the completed contract to the receptionist. Ama gives it a final look, checking every part, then nods slightly.
"Congratulations. You are now officially a registered Manhunter. Now, I'll process this and prepare your membership card. Please wait here just a moment."
With that, she turns and walks calmly toward the wooden doors behind her, slipping inside and disappearing into the guild offices to deliver the contract to the registration department.
Shuku watches her go, then glances down at his finger where the blood has dried.
'...Black Hood, huh. Guess that's me now.'
And so he waits...
"..."
and waits...
"...Yeah, I'm gonna sit down," he says, then walks toward one of the spinning waiting chairs behind him.
Most of them are empty since it seems to be a slow hour, so he has plenty to choose from. He picks one of the chairs and sits down, slowly spinning left and right, almost like a kid playing. It feels oddly relaxing.
"...huh?!" As he turns around mid-spin, something catches his eye, something he hadn't noticed before.
On the same wall as the entrance door, there's another questboard. It looks similar to the one he saw earlier on the left side of the hall, but this one seems more carefully placed, hidden from outside view. At first glance, it looks the same, but when Shuku looks closer, he starts to notice the difference, the faces printed on it.
"Damn..."
This board is filled with wanted posters, each one showing a detailed drawing of a human face, down to the smallest feature, almost like photographs. Men, women, even teenagers... or slaves. Crimes listed range from murder and rape to robbery. Bounties start as low as $100 for a teen thief and go up to $10,000 for a serial killer.
"So these are the quests that manhunters do," he mutters, standing up to get a better look.
"...Rape, murder... Wanted Dead..." he reads, skimming through a few of them. Soon he realizes, most of the quests require the target to be killed for the mission to count.
Shuku blinks slowly, finally grasping just how brutal the legal system in this country really is. It doesn't matter if the target is young or old, man or woman, if the poster says "DEAD," that's exactly what's expected.
And looking closer, these aren't just random thugs. Most seem dangerous, clever... but some just look like ordinary people. The kind you'd pass on the street without thinking twice.
He keeps scanning, eyes moving across the posters. The bounties aren't low, a thousand dollars for a basic murder charge, some even higher. The easier ones? Already gone. Posters for low-reward crimes are missing, probably grabbed by rookies eager to earn quick money or lazy veterans looking for low-risk work.
'So this is the kind of people I'll be dealing with from now on...' Shuku thinks grimly.
Then something catches his eye, one quest still pinned up, untouched for two weeks. He steps closer, the details feel heavier, darker.
Wanted: DEADName: Sinard ReynardBounty: $1200Status: IncompleteGender: MaleAge: 40Crime: Serial Rape & Murder (3 victims confirmed, 1 murdered)Background: Divorced, ex-combatant with close-quarters experience, skilled with knives and mid-tier magic, currently works as a combat and sword tutor, known for a volatile temper and pushing students too hard.Manhunters Onquest: 0Post Date: [2 weeks ago]
The man in the drawing has the stance of a soldier, grey hair slicked back, face tight and clean, his eyes cold and sunken. Not ugly, not handsome, just an average muscular man, but there's something in his face that feels off, as if it's hiding something beneath the surface.
What unsettles Shuku isn't just the expression, it's the details. Three victims. The poster says three confirmed, but only one murdered. That means two were raped and survived, at least for a while. He doesn't need to imagine too much. Maybe they were too afraid to speak, maybe they stayed quiet, then the third one, she probably resisted harder or tried to report him, and he killed her for it.
Only then was he exposed.
For a bounty that size and a direct "DEAD" order, it should have been taken care of already. Two weeks with no takers?
'What the hell? Is it too disturbing? Or is he just that hard to track down?'
He leans in closer, frowning. As he thinks deeper about the mysterious quest, his mind starts to wander. The word rape on the poster slowly and unconsciously pulls him back to the past, to his little sister's smiling face flashing in his mind, before she jumped off a building.
Just a few weeks ago, before he was teleported into this world, Shuku's sister was raped. Possibly by a group of high school students. Since then, she had been drowning in silence, her shame quietly crushing her spirit.
Shuku, her brother, didn't even find out until that night, when she had been missing for hours. When he finally found her on the roof of their apartment complex, she was already there, standing outside the fence, ready to end her suffering once and for all.
"Don't do it!"
Shuku came too late. As soon as he saw his sister standing dangerously outside the fence on the roof, barely holding on with her weak hands, he rushed forward trying to pull her back before it was too late.
She turned to him, smiling. Not with anger or hate, but with an apology. Her eyes held sorrow and peace in that final moment.
Then, she jumped.
Shuku immediately blocks that memory because he can't bear to replay the moment she fell. If he thought about it any longer, he would collapse. It is the most terrifying nightmare that haunts him still, even more than everything he's been through since coming to this world, the pain burns like a scar that refuses to heal, deep inside his heart with no sign of fading.
Since then, he has always regretted why he didn't pay more attention or notice the signs and her changed attitude toward him, why he focused so much on his own suffering from bullies and forgot about his only family.
Why did it have to be the day after he found out the truth from her classmates? Shuku's regret and anger burned even more fiercely because of his own helplessness. Even if he had known earlier, he couldn't have done anything to change it. He had no parents, no money, and no one powerful enough to help. Even if he found the culprits, he wouldn't have been able to harm them, he had no power, no strength, and no skills.
So his vows of vengeance, though not spoken directly, were no longer just for himself. They were for anyone innocent, anyone who had been hurt and trapped by the cruel rules of the world, unable to defend themselves. Now that he had power, strength, and skills, he would do everything he could to stop such tragedies from happening again to anyone.
He catches his breath and stares at the poster again, the fire in his eyes burning even brighter.
'If no one will take care of this monster, then I will.' He promises himself he will bring justice to monsters like this.
Even though it's only his first day and his membership isn't finished yet, Shuku has already made his decision and chosen his first target. With fiery determination, he clenches his fist and turns around—
"Your Manhunter ID card is done, sir."
Shuku startles, almost jumping out of his skin. Ama, the receptionist, stands right behind him holding a polished metal tray with a rectangular brown card and a scroll of paper, both professionally laminated and placed neatly.
She presents it like a ceremonial item, her expression calm and composed.
"Here is your Manhunter Identification card. Welcome to the Guild, Mister Black Hood."
Shuku quickly calms himself after the startle and slowly takes the brown card from the metal tray, and reads it.
---------Guild Identification Card---------Name/Alias: Black HoodTitle: ManhunterStatus: ActiveRegistration Date: [Today]Registered Region: Mildura City
In the bottom right corner of the card, a red stamp with the guild logo serves as an official seal, proving the card is real and not fake. At the bottom center, there is smaller text, likely a legal disclaimer from the Guild's office.
This is all the information printed on the card. Other details are kept hidden inside the Guild's secure database.
The card feels warm and rigid, as if it just came out of the printer—which it did. Shuku couldn't help but admire the material and the satisfying feeling of holding this official document. It was his first in this world and marked his belonging to something important.
Then he looks down and finally turns his attention to the second item on the tray that Ama still holds.
"What is this?" Shuku asks as he picks up the paper scroll on the tray. Now that the tray is empty, Ama places it under her arm and starts speaking before he even reads the scroll.
"That's a copy of the poster you were looking at earlier. The exact same details for the quest to hunt down Sinard Reynard. I saw you studying it closely, so I thought you might want to take that quest as your first one."
"Hmmm…" Shuku listens while reading the scroll. It's exactly the same as the poster, down to the smallest detail. Nothing new to say about it.
"Okay? I thought manhunters just pick quests from the board and go straight to work?"
"No, sir. The quest board is just for public info. When a manhunter wants a quest, they register at reception first. Then we give them a copy of the quest so they always have the details while working. If you want this one, I'll put your name on the record and you can start your first hunt."
Shuku looks back at the poster, thinking for a moment. He knows he wants this quest, taking down this monster as his first job is certain. He wonders why he's even hesitating? Then he turns to Ama with sharp eyes.
"Yeah, let's do it."
"Very good, sir. Please follow me back to the counter."
...
...
...
The whole process took longer than Shuku expected. After signing up for the quest, Ama showed him the location of a weapons shop where new manhunters get a discount if they show their ID card with the recent registration date. He didn't need anything now but will keep it in mind.
Then she asked if he wanted to take a free magic attribute test for new manhunters. He agreed. After all, he wanted to know if he still had the black magic attribute of magicless people, despite all the powers he had gained.
Ama led him to another female employee who took him to a private room for the test. The room was simple, just wooden walls and a transparent magic sphere on a stone pedestal in the center.
Shuku already knew what to do. Before the employee could say anything, he stepped forward and placed his right hand on the sphere. It glowed blue, unlike the pure black glow he remembered from the King's castle. This made sense since he was no longer magicless.
The employee explained the colors: red stands for energetic magic, green for space-time manipulation, and blue for matter control. Other colors are just combinations of these three, for example some people could have the magic attribute of teal or cyan, which means hybrid magic that can manipulate both objects and space-time.
Shuku understood why his magic was blue. His power controls blood, which is liquid matter. So his magic is purely matter manipulation.
After finishing the test, Shuku said goodbye to the employee and Ama, then opened the main doors and stepped outside the Guild building.
Before going in, he had felt hesitation, fear, and worries about what might come next. Now, all those fears were gone, replaced by a burning excitement and eagerness to finally serve justice.
With the poster of his first quest in hand, Shuku looked at it once more to remember the face of the man he was going to kill. Then he folded it away, set his jaw with fiery determination, and started his first hunt, the beginning of his Manhunter career.