Hunter

Hunters are Awakened people licensed to use their skills and other abilities to attack dungeons and fight the monsters that come out of them. Due to the ease of being qualified as a Hunter (and therefore licensed to raid dungeons), the term "Hunter" is often used synonymously with "Awakened person". However, not all those certified as Hunters actually participate in dungeon raids, depending on their specialties.

Qualifications
Awakened people qualify as Hunters when either their stats or skills are E-ranked or higher. This limitation is due to the fact that growth is impossible for F-rank skills, and stat F-ranks have about the same strength as an ordinary human, making them too weak to safely attack dungeons. Having either stats or skills that are higher than F-rank makes up for this weakness; therefore, only FF-ranks are unable to become Hunters.

Basics training program
Upon registering as an Awakened person, individuals are automatically assessed for meeting the Hunter qualification requirements. If they are qualified, they must first complete a basics training program (also known as a novice Hunter training program), after which they may be issued a Hunter license and be allowed to enter dungeons. A standard basics training program is usually hosted by the Hunter Association of the country, and can host several hundreds of people at a time. Most programs include a theoretical component discussing dungeons and Awakened people, and a practical training component for combat situations. The Korean Hunter Association's practical classes arm novice Hunters with fake weapons and have them target people dressed up as monsters.

Guilds also host their own basics training programs; these are noted as generally being higher quality than the Association-hosted programs. The largest guilds often take on very few novices at any given time, a far cry from the hundreds hosted by the Association. Hunters may skip the Association program and directly gain their licenses by providing a guarantee of basics program completion from a guild they have already joined or are scheduled to join.

Hunter license
A Hunter license is a certification granted to individuals when they meet the requirements to be a Hunter. This license allows them to participate in dungeon attacks. The license itself is the size of an ID card, and has the Hunter's photograph, serial number, rank, and name.

Specializations
Hunters' skills often follow similar themes, focused around one of three styles: combat, defense, or support. Combat-specialized Hunters have primarily offensive skills, defense-specialized Hunters have primary defensive skills, and support Hunters have supporting skills such as buffs. Support Hunters also include healers, whose skills include or are focused around healing others.

Guilds
Hunters frequently come together to form coalitions known as guilds. Being part of a guild allows a Hunter special privileges, such as specialized and personalized novice Hunter training; access to guild-managed dungeons; free/discounted equipment such as potions or weaponry; and mundane benefits like housing, training facilities, and other amenities. They also gain connections to other Hunters of equal or greater rank, allowing them to form long-term teams for dungeon raiding purposes. Naturally, the degree to which these benefits are offered is dependent on the state of the guild itself, which are just as prone to corruption or exploitation as any human organization.

Guild-affiliated Hunters do not necessarily participate in dungeon raids; through personal exemptions, or based on the role they were hired for and their rank, they may have a non-dungeon-related job to do.

Notable guild-affiliated Hunters include Han Yoohyun, Bak Yerim, and Sung Hyunjae.

Freelance Hunters
Freelance Hunters aren't affiliated to guilds, but rather form short-term contracts with governments or guilds to cooperatively handle raids or other matters. High-ranking freelancers can form contracts even internationally. All the S-ranks who aren't guild leaders or government-affiliated are freelancers.

Notable freelance Hunters include Riette Luire and the Dokkaebi.

Government institutions
Some Hunters choose to align themselves with the government instead of a guild, finding employment in their country's Hunter- or Awakening-related institutions. The primary such institution is generally the Hunter Association, though it may take different names or forms in various countries. There may also be separate institutions for Awakened people who don't enter dungeons, such as the Awakened People Office of Korea.

Other affiliations
Hunters may also be affiliated with other Hunter-related institutions, such as Han Yoojin and Noah Luire with the kiseungsu rearing facility; be self-employed, as Do Hamin is with the Hamster Detective Agency; or simply continue working in regular jobs unrelated to their Hunter status.