7

A PROPOSAL

Jinho was trembling. His face was extremely pale. It was the natural reaction to witnessing eight people getting killed in a flash before his very eyes.

One of the most effective tools used to control people is fear. So Jinwoo decided to apply a little of that in this situation.

“Why should I spare you?”

Eeeek! It was like he could physically hear Jinho’s heart drop.

Was that too much?

He didn’t regret his approach for long.

“If y-you need money, I’ll tell my fath—”

“Is that how you see me?” Jinwoo scowled at him.

He’d been poor all his life, but he would never stoop so low as to hold someone hostage for money. If he did, he’d be no different than Dongsuk.

“I’m s-so sorry.”

Jinwoo would’ve smacked Jinho on the back of the head if the newbie hunter didn’t appear frightened out of his mind. Jinho looked like he’d have a heart attack if that happened, so Jinwoo did his best to restrain himself.

Jinho swallowed nervously as he took in Jinwoo’s hard expression.

Dongsuk also offered him money…… Has he thrown away his materialistic desires and chosen the path of blood and slaughter?

Jinho’s mental image of Jinwoo was becoming more distorted. But it was too soon to draw any conclusions.

But then why did he pack all those essence stones?

Jinwoo had searched every inch of the spider’s stomach for essence stones earlier. Essence stones were highly concentrated energy sources and raw materials for making magic tools and other such things, but to hunters, essence stones equaled money.

The gears turned quickly in Jinho’s head.

That’s it!

Those essence stones were blood money. He’d had no problem searching the spider’s stomach because the essence stones were the rightfully earned fee for the blood on his hands. He was a zealot who showed no mercy to his enemies but had no interest in rewards he didn’t earn.

I tried to buy his mercy with money, so of course he’s mad.

Jinwoo didn’t want his father’s money—he wanted a “rightfully earned fee” for sparing him. Jinwoo still seemed to be in a bad mood when Jinho peeked up at his expression.

Jinho quickly told him, “Boss, I’ll give you all the profit from this dungeon if you spare my life.”

“Hmm?”

As predicted, this piqued Jinwoo’s interest.

“Please consider it, boss. Don’t you think people would be suspicious if you were the sole survivor out of ten and hogged all the rewards?”

Jinho was certain that Jinwoo was a false ranker. Worse, he was convinced Jinwoo was a very high-rank false ranker who enjoyed killing! Therefore, he assumed that Jinwoo had to care about what other people thought of him.

“So?”

“But if both you and I leave here alive, all the essence stones from this dungeon are mine according to the contract. No one would suspect you of killing all the members of the strike squad because you had no claim to the stones.”

Of course, there was no way people would be suspicious of Jinho, either. He was the son of the president of a large construction company. The profit from selling the essence stones would be peanuts to him.

“The money is yours to take, boss. You killed Dongsuk’s squad and saved me from them, so it’s rightfully yours, no?”

Jinho put special emphasis on the word rightfully.

He’s not wrong……

What Jinho was suggesting was the safest way for Jinwoo to obtain the essence stones. No one else had a claim to them. As greedy as Dongsuk had been, he couldn’t bring them to hell with him. Only one person had a right to the essence stones now.

But Jinho was willing to give them to Jinwoo.

He refused to force Jinho to give up the stones, but……

I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

Besides, if it wasn’t for Jinwoo, Jinho would’ve been killed or taken hostage. With that taken into consideration, it made sense to say they were rightfully his.

As Jinwoo’s expression softened, Jinho concluded that he’d guessed correctly.

I knew he wouldn’t say no to the essence stones as an exchange for the blood of Dongsuk and his men on his hands.

Jinwoo and Jinho meant completely different things by “rightfully,” but neither realized that.

“Fine.”

Jinho perked up at Jinwoo’s agreement. He was starting to respect Jinwoo a little more, because he was sticking with his convictions.

But Jinwoo’s face turned expressionless yet again. “But how can I trust you?”

He asked this question because he remembered the real reason he was doing this. He wasn’t using fear to get paid 2,000,000 won. He was doing it to avoid any trouble later.

“How can I betray you? You saved my life a few times!”

“You could break your promise and tell people what happened here, no?”

Even if Jinho did, it wouldn’t be a big deal for Jinwoo. Killing Dongsuk’s squad had been in self-defense. All eight of them had been fully armed, and they’d attacked Jinwoo first with a powerful magic spell. The law had changed since the advent of hunters, so Jinwoo would be acquitted for sure.

Still, he wanted this incident to go away quietly without any trouble. To do that, he needed Jinho’s full cooperation. Even though his method for securing that cooperation was problematic, it was definitely effective.

“Well?” Jinwoo stared hard at Jinho as if demanding an answer.

The novice hunter was determined. “I’d never do such a cowardly thing. Especially to someone who saved my life.”

Wait……

The look in Jinho’s eyes was familiar. It was the same as when he’d refused to be an accomplice to Dongsuk and his men.

This guy…… He’s telling the truth.

Give-and-take. Jinho had chosen Jinwoo in a life-and-death situation. He’d trusted Jinwoo and gone against eight other hunters. So Jinwoo decided to trust Jinho this once.

Of course, not right away…… He’d give him a bit of a wake-up call first.

Jinwoo picked up the shield that Dongsuk had thrown on the ground.

“My back still hurts from getting stabbed by Dongsuk.”

He inspected the shield before throwing it at the wall with his full strength.

BAMMM!

More than half of it lodged in the wall. Jinho broke into a cold sweat and swallowed hard.

“My little bro won’t disappoint me, will he?”

“O-of course not, boss.”

Right then, the dungeon shook hard again.

RRRRRUMBLE.

They were out of time. Jinwoo never had any intention of harming Jinho, so he thought that was enough.

He ordered, “Pack up all the essence stones. We’re leaving the dungeon.”

“Thank you, boss!” Jinho stood up and gave a deep, ninety-degree bow. A smile returned to his face.

Jinwoo searched Dongsuk’s pockets while Jinho retrieved his bag.

Can’t forget my payment.

His fee for the day was 2,000,000 won. He didn’t want to leave even one cent.

There were a few dozen 50,000 won bills in Dongsuk’s wallet. He counted a total of forty-five bills. It was a little over 2,000,000 won.

Dongsuk had promised he would pay Jinwoo right after the raid, and it looked like he’d had the money ready. After all, sometimes there was no need to cut the tail.

“Thanks for the money.” Jinwoo said a last farewell that wasn’t heard by anyone and went on ahead.

Jinho belatedly returned, clutching the bag of essence stones.

“Boss?”

All he saw were the corpses of the hunters killed by Jinwoo.

“Eek!” A pale-faced Jinho ran to catch up to Jinwoo, hoping not to lose him.

A member of the Surveillance Team of the Hunter’s Association arrived at the scene.

The procedure was simple whenever hunters died in a raid. Deaths were reported, hunters were questioned, and that was it.

The investigator this time was a strict-looking middle-aged woman. “Your names, please.”

“Jinwoo Sung.”

“I’m Jinho Yoo.”

An investigation was no more than a formality, since hunters died so often. It was just for records’ sake.

Unless, of course, there was something suspicious.

“……So all the C-rank hunters were killed, but a D ranker and an E ranker survived; have I got that right?”

The investigator adjusted her glasses as she interviewed them. Her eyes narrowed.

Normally, the victim is the weakest in the group……

She was carefully looking them over when she spotted something, and she let out a squeal.

“Oh my!” Her eyes twinkled as she approached. “Isn’t this Kalion, the newest sword from Maya Inc.? Oh wow, and this is a Royal-series shield made by the craftsman Gredos, right?”

Jinho’s face lit up. “You know your weapons!”

“Oh, I don’t know them that well. I just keep up with what’s new. Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!”

The sword cost 700,000,000 won. The shield cost 500,000,000 won. These weapons were made with an exorbitantly expensive essence stone along with other valuable elements. They were powerful tools that could make a D-rank hunter more powerful than a C ranker.

A theory automatically formed in her mind as to what had happened in the dungeon.

With these weapons……

Defeating the magic beasts would be possible even if all the C-rank hunters were killed.

And that E ranker was probably able to save himself because he hid somewhere.

It was the complete opposite of the truth, but that was the conclusion she’d drawn. It was highly unlikely that anyone who could purchase pricey weapons like this would betray his colleagues for a few essence stones. And the E-rank hunter couldn’t have done anything to harm multiple C-rank hunters, so the deaths of Dongsuk and the seven other hunters had to have been accidents.

“Okay.” The investigator looked satisfied and put away her notebook. “With this, the case is closed, and you’re free to go. It must have been a tiring day, so thank you for cooperating with the investigation.”

“Thank you.” Jinwoo spoke for the both of them.

The investigator left the scene as quickly as she’d arrived.

“Good work, boss.” Jinho bowed deeply again. His impeccably good manners remained even outside the gate. It looked like he was really scared of Jinwoo.

Jinwoo tutted internally.

“You too.”

“No, I didn’t do anything. You did all the work. Here are the essence stones, boss.” Jinho politely handed the bag over to Jinwoo.

The bag was filled with essence stones. An essence stone from a C-rank dungeon could be worth up to 10,000,000 won. Even a small one could cost several million.

Jinwoo roughly counted the essence stones with his eyes and tried to contain his excitement.

How much is all this worth……?

He did his best not to laugh out loud.

Suddenly, drops of water fell inside the bag.

Plip.

Plip.

Jinwoo looked up. The sky had gradually gotten cloudier all afternoon, and it now started raining.

……Good thing I made Jinah take an umbrella.

A small smile came across Jinwoo’s face at the thought of his sister.

Later that night, Jinwoo summoned his stat screen as soon as he got home.

“Stats!”

[Stats]
Strength:	53
Stamina:	30
Agility:	38
Intelligence:	30
Perception:	32

(Available ability points: 10)

He had ten points that he’d received as a reward from the urgent quest. He was itching to use them. They were equivalent to the rewards for three daily quests plus one more point, or for leveling up twice.

First agility. Then perception.

He invested seven points in agility and the rest in perception.

[Stats]
Strength:	53
Stamina:	30
Agility:	45
Intelligence:	30
Perception:	35

(Available ability points: 0)

“Excellent.”

Overall, his abilities had increased significantly. Agility was almost equal to strength, and perception was at thirty-five points now. He was thinking of investing points in stamina once strength and agility were at a similar level. He wanted to balance all his stats except intelligence, which he still didn’t know how to use.

“Should I check out today’s achievements?”

[Name: Jinwoo Sung]
[Job: None]
[HP: 2,600]
[Fatigue: 0]

[Level: 21]
[Title: Wolf Assassin]
[MP: 390]

[Stats]
Strength:	53
Stamina:	30
Agility:	45
Intelligence:	30
Perception:	35

(Available ability points: 0)

His eyes zoomed in on his level, which had risen three times, and then on the newly acquired Murderous Intent skill. His stats were also in great shape, thanks to the ten points he’d just distributed.

All these things were remarkable accomplishments, but that wasn’t the end.

The daily fee alone was 2,000,000 won.

And he had a bag filled to the brim with essence stones. Jinwoo counted them.

Eleven essence stones from the spider and thirty-eight essence stones from Dongsuk’s team.

Forty-nine in total! Even if each stone was worth only 5,000,000 won, he’d still have over 200,000,000 won.

“I can’t believe I made two hundred million won from just one raid…”

It was a lot of money because he’d taken the shares of ten people all for himself. He’d unexpectedly gotten to have his cake and eat it, too.

All I need to do is sell these.

Selling essence stones wasn’t hard. They were snatched up as soon as they hit the market because there were so many buyers.

The problem was how he wanted to go about it. It was more common to sell to another hunter in a private transaction, but sometimes a guild or a company bought stones as well. Jinwoo was leaning toward a specialty store instead of doing private or online sales, since it was a big haul.

Can’t I just sell these in the shop?

It would be convenient if the shop in the system bought essence stones at a fair price. Jinwoo shoved the bag in a corner as he pondered.

He suddenly remembered something else he’d accomplished.

I can purchase something from there now, can’t I?

He summoned the shop right away. It wasn’t much, but he still had all the gold he’d collected from the instance dungeon at Hapjeong Station.

“Purchase.”

Ping!

Endless items for purchase showed up with the familiar chime. From cheap potions and miscellaneous accessories to expensive protective gear and fancy weapons, countless items were being sold for gold in the shop.

It was a given, but the better the item, the more expensive it was. The most expensive cost 1,000,000,000 gold.

“Wow…one billion gold.” Jinwoo had only 112,000 gold. It was way too little to buy anything good, but he wasn’t in any rush.

There was plenty of time.

So I can buy this stuff if I save up enough gold, right?

Jinwoo started humming as he continued checking out the expensive items. Now he had another reason to raid instance dungeons.

He couldn’t wait for the Mystery Box reward after tomorrow’s daily quest.

It had been three days since Jinwoo returned from the C-rank gate.

Jinah came home early because it was Saturday. She kicked her shoes off as she sniffed the air at a familiar scent.

“What, you ordered fried chicken?”

“I asked for it to be delivered for when you usually come home.”

“Wow!”

Jinwoo waved Jinah over from his seat at the table, and she beelined toward him.

“What’s up? Did something good happen to my stingy brother?”

“Hey, put your bag down first. No need to rush.”

“Whatever. It’s not heavy at all!”

Hadn’t she complained a few days ago about a mere folding umbrella being too heavy for her? Jinwoo raised an eyebrow at her but couldn’t stop smiling.

Did something good happen?

Of course. His bank account balance had gone from 800,000 won to 180,300,000 won. He’d gotten 180,000,000 won after selling the essence stones and had already paid the landlord 500,000 won for the rent.

180,000,000 won! Jinwoo had made 180,000,000 won from a single raid. He’d been working as a hunter for four years, but he finally felt like he was a real one, since, these days, people equated hunters with big money.

He vividly recalled the face of the employee from the essence stone shop.

“D-did you get all these by yourself?”

“Somehow I did.”

“Oh my…… That’s incredible.”

Forty-nine C-rank essence stones. They were evaluated at a little over 300,000,000 won initially. Who knew the tax was so high!

“Tax is forty percent?”

“Yes, the tax is forty percent for individuals and ten percent when a guild sells them.”

“Why does the guild pay less tax?”

“Because, unlike squads, guilds have to respond to calls for mobilization.”

When Jinwoo thought back to the double dungeon, he remembered hearing that the Surveillance Team and White Tiger Guild had arrived at the scene together. As much as guilds got special treatment, they had to cooperate with the Hunter’s Association and the government.

He thought about it a little bit.

Should I hang on to these essence stones and sell them after joining a guild?

But he soon gave up on that idea. By the time he joined a guild, he’d be working on A- or B-rank gates. Essence stones from those would be incomparably more valuable than the ones from a C-rank gate.

Currently, he needed every cent he could get.

And I can’t sign a contract with any random guild just to pay less taxes.

“Understood. I’d like to exchange these, please.”

The remaining amount was 180,000,000 won.

The fried chicken and beer were indeed for celebrating, just as Jinah had asked.

“Thanks for the food!”

Jinwoo flicked Jinah’s forehead with his finger when she tried to sneak a can of beer.

Tak!

“Ouch!”

“This is yours.” He passed Jinah a soda.

“Geez…… I was just joking……”

While Jinah rubbed her red forehead, Jinwoo cracked open a beer and took a swig. As soon as he did…

Ping!

Jinwoo tensed at the chime.

Why the sudden message?

Detoxing a harmful substance? Is the system talking about alcohol?

Jinwoo finished the rest of the can and opened another one right away.

Gulp, gulp.

He received the same message.

He’d finished two cans of beer in the blink of an eye, but he didn’t feel drunk at all. The effect or buff or whatever it was called worked really well.

What is this?

Jinwoo cocked his head. He’d never met a hunter who could’ve placed the buff on him before. Most hunters with that kind of special ability worked in a guild. He’d never encounter any as a member of the association.

In any case, if someone put the buff on me secretly, the system would’ve told me.

So there were two possibilities. He’d gotten the buff either when he’d been unconscious or way before the system had been activated. He personally thought it was more likely to be the latter.

“What’s wrong? Heartburn? You should’ve been more careful.” Jinah became worried at his serious expression.

“I just remembered something urgent. You keep eating.”

He went to his room. He thought back, combing over every single memory in case he’d missed anything.

Oh.

Something suddenly occurred to him.

Every quest so far had rewards. Even a penalty quest had them. But there’s one quest I haven’t checked the rewards for.

Jinwoo quickly opened the inbox.

He’d brushed this off because he’d known nothing about the system, rewards, and so on, but he’d definitely received a message about completing the requirements at the time.

His heart started racing. He found the message at the very bottom of his inbox.

Jinwoo’s voice shook.

“Check.”

Ping!

Just as he surmised. There was a mention of rewards.

When he’d heard the voice in the dungeon for the first time, it had said that.

The secret quest had also been one of the quests. But he’d never checked the reward. He’d thought he was hearing things back then.

Yes.

Ping!

It all added up now.

So my severed leg……

The leg he’d lost was normal again because of the secret quest reward. He also couldn’t get drunk because of it.

Wait, I’m immune to all poisons?

Jinwoo’s eyes went wide.

Then maybe that thing, too……?

Jinwoo rushed to retrieve an item from his inventory.

If strength is damaged by the poison, won’t the detoxing buff counter it?

There was only one way to find out. Jinwoo squeezed his eyes shut and drank the elixir in the pouch.

Gulp, gulp.

Sticky liquid trickled down his throat. It tasted gross and gamy, but he drank it all.

The more bitter the taste, the better the medicine……

Once he swallowed all the poison, a message appeared.

“Yes!” He pumped his fist.

He summoned the stat screen to make sure.

Stats.

[Stats]
Strength:	53
Stamina:	30
Agility:	53
Intelligence:	30
Perception:	36

(Available ability points: 0)

Physical damage reduced by: 20 percent

As expected, his muscular strength hadn’t decreased. His stat was still at fifty-three, and he now had the ability to reduce his damage. Even though it was limited to only physical damage, 20 percent was a significant amount.

“Nice!”

As he celebrated the new stats, Jinah’s voice came from the living room.

“Do you know a guy named Jinwoo Yoo? There’s some guy named Jinwoo Yoo asking for you.”

“His name probably isn’t Jinwoo Yoo……”

Jinwoo went to the living room and grabbed the phone from his sister.

“This is Jinwoo.”

“Boss, it’s me, Jinho Yoo.”

He’d figured. The voice on the phone was familiar.

“……How’d you get my number?”

“I know someone from the association. You didn’t answer your cell, so I had no choice but to call your home number.”

“What for?”

“Oh! Sorry, boss, but this isn’t something I can tell you over the phone…… Can I talk to you in person?”

Jinwoo cocked his head.

Does he really want to see me again after what happened?

“I’d really appreciate it, boss.”

Jinho was quite a unique one for sure.

Because Jinho was so persistent, Jinwoo decided to give him an hour. They promised to meet in a popular café franchise across the street from Jinwoo’s apartment building.

Because it was right after lunch, there were a lot of people inside the café despite it being a weekday.

“Boss, over here!” Jinho brightly greeted Jinwoo.

Jinwoo had increased his perception to the max before coming in, but he hadn’t detected any other hunters. Jinho wasn’t here for revenge, at least, not that he remembered doing anything to cause the newbie hunter to harbor any bitter feelings toward him in any case.

He sat across from Jinho. “I didn’t think I was going to see you again.”

Jinho’s unfinished ice cream sat on the table. He stood up and asked Jinwoo, “Did you order anything? Do you want some coffee?”

“No thanks. I’m fine.”

Jinho sat down looking disappointed.

Jinwoo spoke first. “So what did you wa—?” He was interrupted.

“He really did it! That’s insane!”

Jinwoo looked to the side. Three large, rough-looking jocks sat with three girls one table over, causing a racket.

Jinwoo tried to focus on Jinho. “What did you want to ta—?”

“Jerk! When did I do that? You’re exaggerating ’cause the girls are here!”

“……Talk—”

“You did! Yo, you want me to show them the pictures? Should I show them the evidence, huh?”

Both the boys’ voices and the girls’ laughter were invasive.

“……” It was getting hard to have a conversation because of them, so Jinwoo had no choice but to quietly walk over to their table.

The boys focused on Jinwoo.

“Could you please lower your voices? There are other customers here, too.”

One of the boys rubbed his neck and bobbed his head up and down. “Oh, yeah. We’ll be quiet. Soooo sorry.”

The girls giggled at his antics.

“……” Jinwoo looked at them in silence for a moment before moving to leave.

But something hit the back of his head as soon as he turned around. A crumpled-up paper napkin fell to the floor.

“Bwa-ha-ha-ha!”

“Hee-hee-hee.”

“Hey, don’t do that!”

The boys roared in laughter, and the girls pretended to chide them.

Jinho’s face froze as he watched the exchange. “B-boss……”

Jinwoo picked up an unused spoon beside Jinho’s ice cream and walked over to the counter.

“Look, look. He’s gonna tell on us.”

“Mommy, they’re so loud! Please stop them. Ha-ha-ha!”

They continued making fun of Jinwoo.

He approached an anxious female employee.

“How much is this spoon?”

“I’m sorry, sir. We don’t sell the spoons at our store.”

“It can’t be more than ten thousand won, right?”

“Pardon? Oh, uh, probably not……”

Jinwoo placed a 10,000 won bill on the counter and turned around.

“Sir? Um, sir?”

Jinwoo ignored the employee and went straight to the table of jocks. The boys stood up, sensing from Jinwoo’s expression that something serious was about to go down.

“What’s up? Huh?”

Everyone in the café was focused on them.

Jinwoo showed them the spoon he was holding.

……?

……?

As the boys stared at it, perplexed, Jinwoo began crushing the spoon. The utensil lost its shape in his hand.

The blood started draining from their faces.

Tak.

What was rolling on the table was no longer a spoon. It was a crushed ball of steel.

“Whoa!” They swallowed nervously.

That’s not normal!

H-he’s a hunter…

They exchanged glances, and then the boy who had thrown the napkin at Jinwoo bowed first.

“I’m so sorry.”

The other boys bowed as well.

“I’m sorry.”

“We made a mistake. I am so sorry.”

The now-pale-faced boys bowed several more times in apology and then ran out of the café with the girls.

Whoa! The other customers were thankful because they’d also been inconvenienced by the loud teenagers.

Jinwoo sat down again. Jinho gazed up at him with respect in his eyes.

“You’re so cool!”

“Forget that.” Jinwoo went back to the topic at hand. “Why did you want to see me?”

“So…… I thought about it a lot. I thought about it again and again. I really need to tell you something, boss.”

Jinwoo raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“Actually……” Jinho blushed, and he looked shy but eventually summoned up the courage.

“Actually, I’m going to form a strike squad……”

Jinwoo answered without hesitation. “No thanks.”

Jinho looked dumbfounded. “Boss, you’re saying no already?”

“I don’t need to hear any more.” He was firm.

It wasn’t like Jinwoo didn’t like Jinho. He might be a little strange, but he seemed pleasant and loyal. He was different from the stereotype of the superrich seen in the media.

But Jinwoo had no intention of humoring the little master playing hunter.

“If you don’t have anything else to say, I’m gone.”

“B-boss!” Jinho hurriedly grabbed at Jinwoo when he made to stand up.

“Boss, just twenty times! No, please go with me nineteen more times!”

“Where? Dungeons?”

“Yes! I’ll make sure to compensate you well.” Jinho sounded desperate.

Jinwoo cocked his head.

There are two main reasons for being a hunter—money and a sense of duty. Jinho wasn’t doing it for either of those reasons. Maybe he thought being a hunter was like an extreme sport with a little more danger?

That’s the image Jinwoo had of Jinho. It was surprising to him that Jinho wanted to form a strike squad even after what had happened in that dungeon not too long ago.

Well, I guess it takes all types.

It wasn’t far-fetched to assume there was at least one spoiled, rich kid who had a fetish for danger. Yet Jinho’s eyes were too determined to dismiss him as such.

Or does he have something else in mind?

Jinwoo was more interested in what he meant by “nineteen times” than “compensation.” The gears in his mind began turning.

Wait…… If the last raid was his first, and he’s asking me to do nineteen more……

No way. Was he…? Jinwoo quickly arrived at an answer.

His expression was incredulous. “Are you planning to get a guild master’s license?”

“Yes!”

Good thing he hadn’t ordered coffee. If he’d been drinking, he would’ve done a spit take.

“You want to be a guild master?”

“The thing is… It’s a little complicated.” Jinho flushed even redder than he had earlier. “Please at least hear me out, boss.”

“……” In the end, Jinwoo’s curiosity won him over, and he sat down again. “All right, I’ll hear you out.”

Besides, Jinwoo had given him an hour, and it wasn’t done yet. He should at least listen to his story.

Jinho quickly sat back down across from Jinwoo.

“Like you said, I want to get a guild master’s license.”

It wasn’t difficult for someone to acquire a guild master’s license. A hunter just had to participate in at least twenty raids. After that, they could get a license once they passed a simple written test.

Of course, no one would want to join a guild created by an untalented guild master, and the guild wouldn’t last if it didn’t maintain the minimum number of members.

Jinho continued. “Truth is, and it hasn’t been announced to the public yet, but my father plans to form a guild.”

“Yoojin Construction is starting a guild?”

“Yes.”

Yoojin Construction was one of the top construction companies in Korea. It had grown rapidly by expanding to other areas, and Jinwoo had heard that it had recently made a fortune venturing into hunter-related businesses.

Now they want to maintain their own guild?

Jinho elaborated excitedly because Jinwoo was showing interest. “My father wants to form a large guild by signing up strong hunters and continuing hunter-related businesses under the it.”

If a company wanted to conduct hunter-related business, cooperation with guilds was absolutely essential. The strength of large guilds was necessary in order to collect treasures from A- or B-rank gates, such as essence stones, remnants of magic beasts, and mana stones.

“So he wants to create a self-sufficient company.”

“That’s exactly it, boss!”

It wouldn’t be a problem for Yoojin Construction to form its own guild, since it had the funding. The problem lay in who would be in charge.

“My father wants to run the guild like a company by hiring an S-rank hunter as the guild master and appointing my older brother as the vice master, but……”

Jinwoo caught on to what Jinho was saying.

A guild structured that way would be volatile. The guild master has the highest authority in a guild. Even if the guild master was an employee hired by the vice master, it would be possible for the guild master to take control if a conflict ever arose.

Therefore, there was only one way this could work. Hire a guild master who would never betray the employer. For example, a brother or a son.

For Chairman Myunghan Yoo, it was a son—Jinho Yoo.

“My older brother has made a name for himself, so it’ll be difficult for me to be appointed the guild master. The company earned a lot of money from my brother’s idea to expand into hunter-related businesses.”

Jinho’s brother was already a successful thirty-one-year-old businessman.

On the other hand, even though he had awakened as a D-rank hunter, Jinho was still just a twenty-two-year-old university student.

The chairman wanted his eldest son to run the guild. Although Jinho’s brother couldn’t be the guild master because he wasn’t a hunter, he understood the business well and had already proven himself.

The chairman was clearly willing to take the risk.

“And you want to persuade your father to make you the guild master?”

“Yes, that’s right, boss.”

Jinwoo understood why Jinho was trying so hard to include him in his plan. If he hired a high-rank hunter and got the guild master’s license, it would look like he’d just bought his credentials. But if he got the license while working with a purported low-rank hunter like Jinwoo?

He could potentially change his father’s mind. His father would recognize that Jinho could lead the hunters.

That was Jinho’s scheme.

Once he became the guild master, all he’d have to do was scout an S-rank hunter as the vice master and bring other talented hunters to the guild. Others would feel safe and join the guild as long as either the guild master or the vice master was powerful.

To accomplish this, Jinho needed to complete twenty raids.

“Please help me, boss! You’re the only one I can count on!” He bowed his head.

If it hadn’t been for Jinwoo, he could’ve died on his first raid. First by the spider, second by Dongsuk, twice in total.

He needed an ally he could trust.

I can trust him.

Jinwoo was a true man who was strong enough to kill his enemies without batting an eye, but he was also fair and didn’t carelessly harm weaker people or reap any rewards he hadn’t earned.

He was the ideal hunter for Jinho’s plans.

But Jinwoo didn’t need Jinho. So Jinwoo had to ask, “What’s in it for me?”

Jinho lifted his head with a hopeful expression as he took out a large envelope. Inside was a blueprint of a building.

He handed it to Jinwoo. “This is the building we’re constructing as the guild’s offices. It’s expected to have a market value upward of thirty trillion won.”

There was always a possibility that magic beasts could escape from dungeons even with the association managing the gates, so real estate near a branch of the association or a guild was always hot because there was nothing more important than lives.

Even having a small guild nearby meant that safety would be ensured for the people in the area. And if there was a large guild nearby?

Say no more.

“If I become the guild master, I’ll only use the building for a year until the guild is settled in and then transfer the deed to you. Of course, I’ll have it notarized so no one can say anything later.”

A 30,000,000,000,000 won building for nineteen C-rank raids……

Jinwoo grinned. “Are you saying it’s a win for you as long as you can be the guild master?”

“That’s correct, boss.”

With his first raid, Jinho had learned that anything could happen in a dungeon. If he hired an incompetent hunter, he could lose his life. If he hired a famous hunter, his father wouldn’t trust him.

But Jinwoo was different. He was an E-rank hunter who had managed to defeat a C-rank boss and several C-rank hunters without any injury to himself.

Boss has to be at least a B rank…… Possibly even higher.

Nineteen C-rank raids would be no problem if Jinwoo was on his side. If he could become the guild master, it would be totally worth 30,000,000,000,000 won.

All he needed was a yes from Jinwoo.

Will he refuse even this proposal?

Jinho peeked at Jinwoo’s expression nervously. What would his answer be?

Jinwoo was lost in thought.

30,000,000,000,000 won. That was an incredible amount of money. Considering how the first prize in the lottery was 1,500,000,000 won, you would have to win twenty times in a row to receive that much money.

To top it off, the value of the building would keep going up. This incredible scenario would have a typical hunter signing the contract immediately.

But Jinwoo was far from typical. He was the only one of his kind. He was the sole hunter capable of upgrading his abilities. He could reach S rank or even higher if he continued undertaking quests and leveling up.

If I become S rank or higher, 30,000,000,000,000 won would be nothing.

An S-rank hunter could fetch a contract worth mid-to-high twelve figures. Even celebrities and star athletes couldn’t match the signing bonuses S-rank hunters received. This was an era where a nation’s power was measured by how many high-rank hunters were in the country. The recognition of S-rank hunters was beyond imagination.

So Jinwoo’s current priority was leveling up, not making money. It was easier to level up on his own.

It’s better to have fewer variables.

If he hunted with other people, he’d get less experience, and besides, it was harder to do anything when he was being watched. Jinwoo’d had to threaten Jinho so the newbie hunter wouldn’t be a problem later on, even though he hadn’t wanted to.

Scheduling would be a challenge, too. All in all, the cons outweighed the reward.

I can make money anytime.

Although he felt a little disappointed, he was about to refuse the proposal when…

Wait.

Jinwoo thought of an idea that would let him kill two birds with one stone.

If I do it this way……

Jinwoo looked up at Jinho, who was extremely tense. He spoke carefully.

“I have one condition.”

Jinho’s face lit up.

“Anything you want, boss!”

Would he still be smiling after hearing what Jinwoo had to say? Jinwoo had to stop himself from grinning.

“Only you and I go in.”

“Pardon?” Jinho was caught off guard. “B-boss, sorry, but…… Did I hear that right? You’re saying you and I will clear C-rank dungeons alone?”

“Exactly.”

Jinho’s face turned ashen.

Jinwoo had killed the spider boss by himself, so Jinho could leave the bosses to him. He had trouble breathing, though, when he imagined it being only the two of them near the entrance of the gate when the bugs had swarmed at them.

“……”

Jinho was at a loss for words. Jinwoo’s face made it clear that he’d expected this reaction.

Still, this is the best way.

He could kill two birds with one stone. It was very difficult joining a strike squad as an E-rank hunter. Jinwoo had painfully realized that on the first day he’d decided to make money. He would have to either give up freelancing or form his own strike squad. But thankfully, Jinho said he would assemble a team himself.

Wasn’t this an opportunity?

“B-but, boss! In order to raid a C-rank dungeon, you have to have a minimum of ten mem—”

“A line will form if you’re paying people just to reach a head count.”

They’d need to borrow a tactic from Dongsuk’s playbook. Hunters who didn’t want to risk their lives fighting but needed to make money would apply for the job with a fire in their eyes.

Jinho looked like he’d be sick from thinking about it. “You’re not saying……we’d have to kill everything from beasts to the boss by ourselves?”

To be precise, Jinwoo would be doing all the work, but…

“That’s exactly it.”

This way, Jinwoo didn’t have to lose out on any experience, and he also wouldn’t have to watch out for other people, since he and Jinho would be the only ones there.

Then maybe my level will explode.

Having an amazing building when all the raids were over would be the cherry on top.

Now he just had to persuade Jinho. Jinwoo figured, correctly, that the young man would be trepidatious.

“B-but wouldn’t that be too dangerous, boss?”

“You have to look at both sides of the coin.”

“What?”

Jinwoo waved at him to come closer, so Jinho leaned in.

“If we’re the only two hunting, then nobody will get hurt as long as neither of us gets hurt, right?”

“R-right.”

“You just tagged along for the first raid, so there was nothing you could do about the accident. But think about successfully finishing nineteen raids safely without anyone getting hurt.”

Jinho’s eyes widened.

That’s right……! If they could pull that off, it would be a lot easier to persuade his father. After “D-rank hunter” on his résumé, he could then add “strike squad leader who led nineteen raids in a row without any accidents.” He would be more than qualified to be a guild master. It would be the best PR he could have.

Jinwoo wore a self-satisfied smile as he witnessed Jinho’s expressions.

This guy…… He’s hooked.

Jinho was the desperate one out of the two, after all. Even without him, Jinwoo could use the association or rewards from mystery boxes to raid dungeons. Meanwhile, despite being a little scared, Jinho had a lot to gain if Jinwoo’s plan was successful.

He recalled Jinwoo’s combat abilities and figured they were more than good enough to dismiss any insecurities he had.

He finally made the call.

“Let’s do this, boss. I’ll recruit the members.”

“Good.” Jinwoo nodded.

They understood each other’s needs.

Jinho was still nervous in Jinwoo’s presence, but he was now able to display a big smile.

Boss has my back.

He wasn’t worried about future raids anymore. Jinwoo was a trustworthy comrade, and with him by Jinho’s side, it’d be easier to form the strike squad. Based on the conditions Jinwoo proposed, people would be lining up around the block to join the squad.

I’m one step closer to becoming a guild master.

Jinwoo also smiled.

I can wipe out C-rank dungeons by myself and level up quickly.

They both left the café with looks of satisfaction on their faces.

Jinwoo ran home after sending Jinho off, as he didn’t know when the association would call him. It had been more than ten days since he’d been discharged from the hospital, so it wouldn’t be strange for a gate to open nearby at any time.

Normally, the association summoned hunters two to three times a month to clear gates in their area. The reason he’d given Jinho only an hour was because he was expecting a phone call from the association at any moment.

I don’t even care if it’s an E-rank dungeon……

He wanted to defeat some beasts so he could level up faster.

Who knew not having a cell phone could be so inconvenient? At least he’d receive a new one in a few days.

He opened the door and went inside.

……

The apartment was quiet. It was a weekday, so his sister was at school.

As soon as he confirmed no one was home, he opened the daily quest screen.

Gotta get today’s rewards.

He had already finished the daily quest before meeting Jinho, but he’d put off accepting the rewards because there’d been too many people around. He didn’t want people to see the blue light wrapping around his body or gift boxes popping up on the street.

Ping!

“Ye—No, no.”

Jinwoo was about to accept the rewards out of habit, but he stopped abruptly when he noticed something.

His eyes focused on the running counter.

His first reaction had just been to think, Oh, I did an extra kilometer. But something about it felt strange.

Why did it record the amount even after I reached the goal?

Jinwoo narrowed his eyes. Was it just a coincidence?

He got on his stomach and started doing continuous push-ups. His eyes were fixed on the screen, though.

Ping!

Ping!

That’s what I figured……

It wasn’t just running where the counter kept increasing. The push-up counter was noting the extras as well. Suddenly, Jinwoo wondered how high the numbers could go.

Veins were popping out on his arms by now. He couldn’t even feel his weight because of his increased strength ability. His body felt as light as a feather.

The count went from a hundred-something to two hundred in a flash.

Ping!

Ping!

The count stopped at two hundred. It didn’t go up any higher even though he tried a few more times.

Two hundred was the limit for sit-ups and squats as well.

No more and no less but exactly two hundred. The count wouldn’t go up infinitely, nor would it stop at one hundred.

Something was going on. He had a hunch. Would there be different results waiting for him if he hit all the counter limits?

Let’s find out.

Jinwoo was out the door in a flash. He quickly finished running nine more kilometers, and when he returned to his apartment building, he received a message.

Ping!

The title of the quest hadn’t changed, but the type had.

His hunch had been correct.

He swallowed nervously.

……Check.

Ping!

Three points for all abilities!

Jinwoo could only stare.

The rewards were very high, which was fitting for the completion of a hidden quest. Adding three points to every stat was the same as leveling up three times. In fact, it was even better to have the abilities increase while the level didn’t. After all, it would be easier to level up with increased abilities.

At the same time, Jinwoo was slightly disappointed. He had kind of been expecting to be able to change all the daily quests to hidden quests from now on, but…

If the rewards are this impressive……

There was a high possibility that this would be a onetime event. And if this hidden quest wasn’t going to come around again, he had to be even more cautious about reward three.

It was his first time seeing an optional reward. If he chose one, he’d most likely lose the other.

If I choose one, will I never get to see the other one again?

Going by the names, the choice was obvious. But that could be a trick.

“Accept reward three.”

Ping!

The explanations were simple. It made it even harder to choose. He would’ve chosen the blessed mystery box had there been no explanation, but now he would feel a little unsatisfied no matter which one he chose.

What I want or what I need……

Both sounded tempting.

But there has to be a trick.

“An item the Player wants” was probably something he wanted based on his current needs. But “an item the Player needs” probably wasn’t like that. He could end up with something he needed but wouldn’t necessarily want.

Like if he needed a weapon, a bomb popped out that eradicated the whole area, including him.

That’s probably why it’s called the cursed mystery box.

He’d go with the less risky one. If he had to choose between something where he didn’t know the outcome, it’d be better to choose the option where he wouldn’t regret whatever happened.

After thinking through it logically, Jinwoo came to a decision.

“Blessed Mystery Box.”

A small box appeared at his feet. He picked it up.

Could it be……?!

His heart started racing. The size of the box was familiar to him.

He ripped into it.

I was right!

His eyes widened.

Inside the box was a gold key. It was a key to an instance dungeon, which he’d been desperately hoping for.

Soon the information about the key popped up.

Ping!

“S rank?” Jinwoo’s voice squeaked.

There was no guarantee that the acquisition difficulty reflected the level of difficulty to clear the dungeon. But Jinwoo didn’t think they were unrelated, either.

The instance dungeon he’d accessed with the E-rank key had been as easy as an E-rank dungeon. What if the dungeon’s level really was S rank?

It was impossible to know if even a team of S-rank hunters could clear it. They’d have about a fifty-fifty chance.

The difficulty of gates increased exponentially with gates that were B rank or higher, and only a few S-rank gates had ever opened around the world.

And one of them opened on Jeju Island.

Humans could no longer live on Jeju Island after that incident, so it had become no-man’s-land.

Jinwoo stared at the key.

Is this what I want?

The good thing was that it said he could “enter” the gate with this key, unlike the other key that had said it would “take” him to the dungeon.

That meant he could retreat at any time. Even if the key disappeared, he had a teleportation stone in his inventory. He didn’t have to worry about being stuck in a place with invisible walls. He could decide whether to attack the dungeon after checking it out using his increased perception ability.

If this really is what I’ve been wanting, I’ll progress to new heights after this.

Jinwoo made up his mind.

He wanted to see with his own eyes if this key truly was what he wanted.