Chapter 64: Doubt, Fixed!

After the brief conversation, the rest of the journey passed quietly and uneventfully.

Jackson was the kind of person who spoke as though words cost money. After noticing the disdain in Diana’s eyes, he had no intention of forcing a conversation with her or trying to win her approval.

The only reason he continued walking alongside the mother and daughter was Mrs. Lionheart.

She had shown him genuine kindness despite being strangers, and Jackson didn’t want to be rude to someone who had treated him sincerely without giving him a reason to do so.

Before they realized it, the three of them arrived in front of the massive Hunter Association building.

As always, the place was bustling with activity.

Hunters in various uniforms moved in and out of the building, while groups gathered around the entrance and corridors, discussing missions, monster materials, and other matters. The atmosphere was lively, yet there was an underlying sense of urgency that seemed natural for an organization whose members regularly risked their lives outside the safety of human settlements.

The three of them didn’t waste any time and headed directly toward the section responsible for hunter registration.

Soon, they arrived at a large, spacious hall.

A long line stretched across the room, with more than a hundred young people waiting patiently for their turn.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out why they were all here.

The Hunter Association was conducting registrations and assessments for newly awakened individuals.

Jackson casually swept his gaze across the crowd.

To his surprise, he recognized several familiar faces.

Some of his classmates were standing in the line.

The moment they spotted him, their eyes immediately lit up.

Most of these students had awakened ordinary talents. Based on their potential, they were generally considered more suitable for entering trade academies and pursuing relatively stable careers.

But they were young.

And like most young people, they weren’t particularly interested in accepting an ordinary life before they had even begun living it.

Rather than spending their lives processing monster materials or working in other stable professions, some had decided to become hunters directly after graduation.

The risk was enormous, but so were the opportunities.

"Hey, Jackson! You’re here too?"

A cheerful voice suddenly rang out.

"Let’s sign up together and form a team!"

Jackson turned toward the voice.

A young man with spiky yellow hair stood nearby, wearing a carefree smile.

Jackson immediately recognized him.

Albert.

He was one of Jackson’s friends from school. Before Grace had entered his life, the two of them had spent quite a lot of time together.

Jackson didn’t immediately answer.

Instead, his eyes swept across the crowd as though he were searching for someone.

"Albert, you’re here too? Where’s Jim?"

The moment he heard that name, Albert’s cheerful expression darkened.

"Don’t mention that coward."

He clicked his tongue before continuing.

"He left to join the Monster Academy..."

Jackson raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Jim had always seemed like an ordinary student who had awakened a relatively average talent.

Apparently, he had decided to join the Monster Academy instead.

The academy specialized in processing monster materials, including dismantling monster bodies, refining internal organs, extracting valuable materials, and performing various forms of post-hunt processing.

It wasn’t nearly as lucrative as becoming a hunter, nor did it offer the same fame or opportunities for rapid advancement.

Still, graduates of the Monster Academy could secure respectable jobs with relatively stable incomes.

For an ordinary Awakened, it was actually a sensible choice.

Jackson couldn’t help thinking about his own past.

If he hadn’t awakened the Golden Brush, he might have made a similar decision.

Perhaps he would have chosen a relatively stable profession, lived an ordinary life, and never imagined that one day he would stand among hunters capable of destroying entire armies of monsters.

Life had certainly taken an unexpected turn.

Before the conversation could continue, Mrs. Lionheart interrupted them.

"Enough with the chit-chat. There are already hundreds of people waiting. You’d better get in line, or someone else might take your spot."

Hearing this, Albert’s expression immediately became anxious.

"Right. We can chat later. You’d better join the queue first."

Diana didn’t need anyone to remind her. She was already standing in line, her expression as indifferent as ever.

By the time Jackson finished speaking with Albert, two other young men had already taken their places behind Diana.

When Jackson’s gaze landed on them, both young men immediately became nervous. Fear flickered in their eyes as they looked at him, clearly worried that Jackson might try to take their spots simply because he had arrived before them.

Jackson looked at the scene and couldn’t help finding it slightly amusing.

However, he didn’t bother arguing with them.

Instead, he turned toward Mrs. Lionheart and Albert.

"I won’t be joining the queue."

Both Mrs. Lionheart and Albert looked at him in confusion.

Diana, meanwhile, had already stopped paying attention to him.

"What do you mean? Hey, wait..."

Before either of them could ask further, Jackson had already moved.

Under their stunned gazes, he calmly walked past the long queue and headed directly toward the front.

The moment the young Awakened waiting in line realized what he was doing, their expressions changed.

"Look, another idiot trying to cut through the queue."

"Doesn’t he know what happened to the last person who tried to cut in line?"

"Hmph! He must be from some wealthy family. Does he really think the Hunter Association cares about his status outside?"

The complaints quickly spread through the queue.

Jackson remained completely unaffected.

If this had happened fifteen days ago, he might have felt uncomfortable under so many hostile gazes.

But fifteen days of life-and-death battles had changed him.

He had fought monsters capable of tearing humans apart in an instant. He had watched people die before his eyes and had personally stood on the edge of death more than once.

Compared to that, a few strangers’ complaints were hardly worth caring about.

At the registration desk, the commotion had already attracted the attention of the staff member responsible for processing the Awakened.

His name was Osman.

He was already exhausted from the overwhelming workload of the past few days. The number of newly awakened individuals arriving for registration had increased dramatically, leaving him with barely enough time to breathe.

What made matters worse was that there was always some wealthy young heir who thought the rules didn’t apply to them.

Every time one of them caused trouble, the entire registration process was delayed.

Thinking about it, Osman’s expression darkened.

Looks like I need to be ruthless this time.

He frowned deeply as he watched Jackson approach.

Without wasting any more time, Osman prepared to deal with him severely.

His hand was already moving toward the desk, intending to call security and have the troublesome young man removed.

But just as he was about to do so, the commotion outside suddenly disappeared.

The abrupt silence caught Osman off guard.

He paused and looked toward the entrance.

What happened?

The entire hall had become strangely quiet.

Before he could figure out the reason, a calm voice suddenly came from the booth beside him.

"Hello. I would like to apply for a rank upgrade."

Osman’s expression instantly froze.

The anger that had been building inside him vanished almost immediately.

His face turned slightly red from embarrassment as he slowly swallowed the words he had been preparing to say.

For a moment, he simply stared at Jackson.

Apparently, this wasn’t another spoiled young heir trying to jump the queue after all.

Meanwhile, outside the registration booth, Albert and Mrs. Lionheart stood there with incredulous expressions.

Jackson’s words were still echoing in their minds.

Applying for Bronze-Rank certification?

Albert’s eyes widened as a sudden possibility occurred to him.

"Don’t tell me he’s already at the Second Sequence..."

His voice wasn’t particularly loud, but in the suddenly silent hall, it echoed clearly throughout the room.

For a moment, the entire hall fell into a strange silence.

Then, like a stone thrown into still water, his words caused a wave of discussion to spread through the crowd.

Some people actually believed Albert’s speculation.

Most, however, looked toward Jackson with disdain and cold contempt.

"Sigh, he must just be an attention seeker."

"Does he even know that you need to reach the Second Sequence before you can apply for a rank upgrade?"

"He probably thinks saying it is enough to make it true."

The comments quickly spread through the queue.

Among everyone present, however, those words seemed to resonate most strongly with Diana.

Her opinion of Jackson had already been low.

Now, it dropped even further.

She didn’t consider herself particularly talented, but she had spent the past fifteen days cultivating as hard as she could. Even then, her spiritual force had increased by barely a single point.

Yet this young man was claiming that he had increased his spiritual force by a full ten points in roughly the same period.

What a joke.

Diana quietly shook her head.

She had already decided that Jackson was either trying to attract attention or had simply lost his mind.

Albert, meanwhile, hesitated.

He knew Jackson well enough to understand that something was wrong.

He had been there when Jackson awakened his talent.

He also knew how devastating that experience had been for his friend.

In Albert’s mind, there was only one explanation.

That incident must have affected him more than I thought.

Perhaps Jackson had been unable to accept his circumstances and had started pretending that he possessed incredible strength.

Albert couldn’t bear to watch his friend embarrass himself any further.

He gave up his place in the queue and hurried toward Jackson.

Leaning closer, he lowered his voice and whispered,

"Bro, what are you doing? You can’t act like a drunk man just because a chick dumped you."

Jackson’s expression stiffened.

Albert continued earnestly,

"Man, get a grip. You’ve got a family to feed. Stop acting like this."

Jackson stared at his friend.

For a moment, he genuinely didn’t know how to respond.

Albert’s words were obviously well-intentioned. The guy was trying to save him from embarrassing himself in front of hundreds of people.

Unfortunately, Albert had completely misunderstood the situation.

Just as Albert reached out, seemingly intending to drag Jackson away, a cold voice suddenly came from the other side of the registration booth.

"If the conditions aren’t met, the Awakened individual should prepare to waste their time at the Association."

The Hunter Association employee sitting there wore the same cold expression.

Clearly, he hadn’t believed Jackson’s claim either.

Jackson didn’t bother arguing.

He simply freed himself from Albert’s grip and took out his hunter license.

"I am ready for the test."

Albert froze.

His gaze fell onto the metal hunter license in Jackson’s hand.

For a moment, he simply stared at it.

His friend had already registered himself for the rank assessment.

That meant Jackson hadn’t been bluffing.

A strange possibility slowly surfaced in Albert’s mind.

Could it be that he really...