I Am The Anti-Mage - Chapter 155: Confusing Everyone

The Main Mana Detector emitted a bright blue light, illuminating the evaluation room.

Chairman Yu and Chief Yoon had serious faces watching the process. Meanwhile, Chief Yang and his staff were busy controlling and monitoring the main engine.

Ji-soo, Jo-hyun, In-ah, and Dal-soo, who just came into the room, witnessed what happened.

Ji-woo was in front of the machine as if being baptized by god because of the blue light. He stood up straight and felt the Mana Core starting to erode. After a while, he shook his head. He still didn’t feel anything in his inner body that should be there to check his Mana capacity.

The reason Ji-woo bothered to get re-evaluated wasn’t because he wanted to pursue the privileges that the top-ranked hunters had. However, he desired to know why the Portable Mana Detector declared him an E-rank hunter and possessed Mana. He also thought it had something to do with the Portal Gate he could enter even though there was a Mana restriction at each tier.

Ji-woo only wanted to know how this world and the Portal Gate determine his existence.

In the Magical World, Ji-woo’s existence was not unusual. Many creatures were strong without having Mana. Some were with Death Energy or Spheres. Those two things were examples of how one could get powerful and fight a Mana user without it.

Moreover, Death Energy clearly didn’t exist because it came from the negative auras of the dead that chaotically merged with the beasts to become a forbidden hybrid. Apart from that, many other things had the same situation as Ji-woo.

After a few minutes, Chairman Yu was the first to notice the strangeness of the Mana measurement process. He got followed by Chief Yang, Chief Yoon, and Dal-soo, while the other three, namely In-ah, Ji-soo, and Jo-hyun, have not been sensitive to the situation. That was because the three women were rare and not very familiar with the Mana detection process of the main engine.

Dal-soo approached Chairman Yu and opened his mouth. “I still don’t feel the Mana from Ji-woo.”

“I know. It doesn’t matter how good a magic item can hide Mana or use its own technique to cover it. Mana will definitely get felt when evaluated. Even ArchMage can’t conceal their Mana when detected with the main engine. Moreover, Apex-ranked and below it.

“That’s because the rule is to check Mana against Mana. Especially if we estimate that Kim Ji-woo is an S-rank hunter equivalent, Mana should have started emitting around Ji-woo’s body from the start.”

Dal-soo nodded his head, agreeing with what Chairman Yu said. He was already familiar with the evaluation process with the main engine. So, what was going on with Ji-woo was surprising.

Five minutes had passed since the main engine measured and detected Ji-woo’s Mana capacity. It was way too long than it should have been, which generally only took three minutes even for an ArchMage.

All the Main Mana Detection Machines in the Hunters Association were of the same quality worldwide to avoid ranking measurement errors. So, the possibility of the machine having the error was non-existent. But just in case, Chief Yang and his staff became more busy paying attention to the engine. They worried if there really was a problem there.

It finally got noticed by Ji-soo, then followed by In-ah and Jo-hyun. They start to feel the strangeness happening on where Ji-woo was standing.

There was no Mana at all!

The three women only felt the presence of Mana that was getting thinner and lessened. But, it was not from Ji-woo’s body.

“It’s been too long. What happened!?”

“Very strange!”

“Why hasn’t the notification sound been heard yet?!”

Suddenly, the Mana Core used in the main engine got completely drained. And instantly, the blue light shining on the object dimmed, bringing the room’s brightness back to its original state.

Of course, this was not a common occurrence. All the hunters in the room widened their respective eyes, except for Ji-woo. They couldn’t believe what they were witnessing.

Chief Yang was the first to break the awkward silence. He felt it happened because of his fault.

“Ah! I’m sorry! I’ll be right away…”

Beep!

The sound of the main engine once again took everyone by surprise. Even Ji-woo got shocked, not knowing what was going on too.

“T-This i-isn’t…, what’s r-really going on!”

Chief Yang’s voice immediately woke up the audience that got still dumbfounded by the incident. Chairman Yu and Chief Yoon approach the main engine, followed by Dal-soo. Ji-soo, Jo-hyun, and In-ah also follow behind them.

All eyes were on a small LED screen on the side of the Main Mana Detection Machine. They saw a dose of blue light that almost filled the small LED screen. Leaving only one bar missing, so the LED screen was not complete.

Chairman Yu frowned. He knew what the LED screen that was almost full meant. He then looked at Chief Yang with a face full of questions. Meanwhile, Chief Yang himself didn’t know what to say.

Dal-soo took his eyes off the small LED screen and looked at Ji-woo in surprise. Meanwhile, Ji-soo, Jo-hyun, In-ah, and Chief Yoon have still glued their eyes towards the LED screen.

The women in the room were surprised and did not expect the results displayed on the small screen. But then, their attention was immediately diverted when they heard Ji-woo’s voice near them.

“How did it go? Can you guys update me on the situation? And what are you guys doing around this machine?”

Chief Yang, who seemed hesitant to put into words because of being stared at by Ji-woo, couldn’t immediately come up with an answer. Instead, it was Dal-soo who started the conversation.

“The results are out. You are declared an Apex-ranked hunter.”

No one was surprised anymore at Dal-soo’s words. They already knew what meant the small LED screen was. They couldn’t help but take a deep breath, trying to calm and digest the strange incident.

But, unlike the reactions of the other hunters, Ji-woo tilted his head while raising one eyebrow. During the evaluation earlier, he estimated that he would get declared to have no Mana. And now? He was instead named an Apex-ranked hunter. Did that make sense? That obviously didn’t answer the mystery he had in mind.

‘It is the best tool to use that accurately checks the rank of hunters. But, declaring me a Mana user!? What a joke!!’

Chairman Yu opened his mouth and questioned Chief Yang about what really happened, while Ji-woo thought about what might have happened.

“Things like this never happened, did they? The Mana Core got used up until it got drained, and the results came out at the end.”

“T-That’s right, sir! Based on the available information, when the main engine gets used to measure an ArchMage, one Mana Core usually gets depleted. And the results won’t come out because the measurement hasn’t get completed. Then it will take another three Mana Cores to re-measure an ArchMage.” Chief Yang replied.

Chief Yoon chimed in on Chief Yang’s statement. “But now, the result has come out with one Mana Core drained, which shouldn’t have happened.”

“Well, that’s how it is. And from all the records of the Hunters Association around the world. The results always come out without having to use up the resources. And when the resources get used up, you need to add more to get the results. Tsk! It really shouldn’t be the case.”

Chief Yang panicked and moved his head left and right, looking at the main engine. He had to deal with it to the end as the chief of the management division.

Ji-soo, Jo-hyun, and In-ah heard the conversation. They sensed that there was something odd about Ji-woo’s evaluation. Meanwhile, Dal-soo tried to get closer to Chief Yang to calm him down. But, his steps got stopped because of Ji-woo’s voice.

“I want to ask for something. Can you help me with that? I want to do another evaluation now. However, this time it’s enough to only use one Mana Stone. If required, I will transfer the money for it.”

Ji-woo, who saw that the hunters did not give an answer or response, asked again, “Can’t?”

Chairman Yu then nodded at Chief Yang, ordering his subordinate to retrieve a Mana Stone. He was also curious about what had happened. The new Apex-ranked Hunter was definitely great news for him. However, he wanted to confirm and understand the situation.

“You can, and you don’t have to spend money on it. Please wait a moment. In the meantime, may I ask you a question?”

Ji-woo felt there was no harm in answering the questions that would get asked. After all, it was pretty boring for him in the crowd of hunters.

“Well, go ahead. But I’m not obligated to answer it, am I? If I don’t think it’s necessary.”

Chairman Yu wanted to reject it. However, he got nudged by Dal-soo into following Ji-woo’s wishes. He then sighed.

“I can’t sense Mana from you. Is it because of the magic item or your own ability to hide it?”

Ji-woo found the question amusing. However, he didn’t mind teasing the curiosity of those hunters.

“Neither.. Also, that’s the wrong question.”