Lee Taeseong blinked several times as he stared at the mission success notification.
Base reward: 10,000 score.
Additional reward: 20,000 score.
Including the points for defeating the warlock Theo and the minor hibernating undead, the total had all been credited.
As a result, he had earned over 40,000 points from a single mission!
Yes, it was definitely a great result.
It was good, but… “They actually ran away? Weren’t they supposed to be powerful warlocks?”
The tip had clearly warned him to run away if he encountered them.
But when they actually met, it was the warlocks who had fled.
Thinking about it now, the mission must have been designed that way from the start.
Originally, the veil that restricted the mission area was something even monsters couldn’t escape.
Wasn’t that how he had managed to burn everything down during the first mission?
The fact that 20,000 score points were given as an additional reward meant that making the warlocks flee was also considered a method of success.
“It couldn’t be helped, but…”
It felt like he had left something unfinished, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.
It would have felt much better if he had defeated both warlocks and swept up all the points.
He couldn’t let himself dwell on this feeling.
If he had a bad experience in one mission, he just had to do better in the next one.
“Join mission,” Taeseong muttered.
-Ding! [**Would you like to participate in a mission?**] He had used a fair amount of mana in the previous mission, but he still had plenty left. It was more than enough to go again. Let’s see how much I can do.
-Ding! [**You have participated in the mission.**] That day, Lee Taeseong successfully completed four missions in a row.
*** The next day. After a good night’s sleep, Lee Taeseong opened his status window.
[**Status Window**]
Name: Lee Taeseong Owned SC: 191,510 After succeeding in four consecutive missions last night, he had gathered a score of over 190,000.
Last time, he had participated five times in a row and earned 130,000 points, but compared to then, he had participated fewer times and earned much more.
‘The more missions I do, the larger the score I earn becomes.’
Veteran Hunters who had participated in missions dozens or hundreds of times would probably earn an astronomical amount of score.
Of course, the very fact that they were still alive and doing missions meant they were incredible Hunters, and there weren’t many such people.
Anyway, with the score he had gathered, Taeseong purchased the items Manager Song Sang-yeop had mentioned.
These were products the Taeseong Guild would supply to various domestic and international companies.
He scraped together everything from the Score Shop that only Hunters could purchase.
‘I’ll be doing missions often anyway, so I’ll invest everything without keeping any reserve points.’
Even so, it wasn’t enough.
That was how many orders had come in.
For now, he prioritized large clients and cleared out the expensive and rare items first.
He poured in a staggering 100,000 points in one go.
At the same time, there was something he was looking forward to.
The Dream Shop.
========= – Dream Realization Rune (Current Stock: 4) – ??? – ??? – ??? =========
The status of the Dream Shop had not changed since last time.
Last time he spent 100,000 score, the stock was replenished once, and he expected something similar this time.
If he included this purchase, the cumulative total would have surpassed 200,000…
“So this isn’t enough? Fine. Let’s see just how much you need.”
He felt a surge of stubbornness.
Taeseong smiled slightly.
He was curious about what the next items would be, and he wanted to buy more Dream Realization Runes to bring items from the game back to reality.
“I’ll buy three Dream Realization Runes.”
He had spent 100,000 out of 190,000 points, and with the remaining 90,000, he bought the runes.
[**Dream Realization Rune**]
[**Allows you to bring items from a dream into reality.**]
[**However, realization may be impossible depending on the item’s grade.**]
[**Required SC: 30,000**]
They cost 30,000 score each.
A total of 90,000 score vanished, and three runes appeared in Taeseong’s hand.
He had used this twice so far. One was the Red Heart Nectar.
The other was the Magma’s Fang.
The Red Heart Nectar had saved a high-ranker in the United States and allowed the Taeseong Guild to take a solid first step, while the Magma’s Fang provided stability during real-world missions.
‘Both performed roles far beyond the score spent on them.’
The Score Shop had all sorts of mysterious things, but even so, there were things it didn’t have.
Skills the Hunters wanted, elixirs, or treatments like the one used for Ryan.
Since such things could exist within the Dream World, these runes would become Taeseong’s own powerful weapon.
At the same time, he was very curious about the items in other shops that would be unlocked later.
To achieve that, he needed more score, and the guild needed to grow further.
‘I have to grow the guild and also search for what items to bring back from the Dream World… I’m busy. Everything is busy.’
The work to be done was a mountain, but he only had one body.
What could he do?
He just had to move diligently!
***
The Taeseong Guild got off to a great start right from its founding.
It wasn’t a guild created without any attention; at the very least, hadn’t it started by making a big name for itself in the media?
Besides, he had connections in the United States and China.
The future was solid.
‘The problem is right now.’
Orders were pouring in from various corporations and businesses, but there was a limit to the score Taeseong could earn from missions.
Unless he performed significantly more missions later and earned an astronomical score per mission, he needed more Hunters to support him now.
Additionally, he needed staff to handle administrative work.
Taeseong left his house and headed for the National Hunter Association headquarters.
< I’ve sent the list of Hunters who want to join the guild. They said an interview is possible anytime, so where should I send them? >
It was a text from Manager Song Sang-yeop.
Since he hadn’t moved yet and his house was cramped, it would be awkward to call them there.
And it would be strange to meet at a cafe for an interview.
Since there was no place as familiar and comfortable as the Association, Taeseong said he would go there himself.
On the way in a taxi, he thought.
‘To think I’d end up interviewing someone. It’s fascinating.’
Back when he was struggling to get a job at a company, he could never have imagined such a day.
He had already decided on the interview method.
‘Coincidentally, the next mission will be my fifteenth. That’s when participating in a party becomes possible. It’ll be best to go in together and see what kind of Hunter they are.’
This was information he had heard in advance in the United States.
From the fifteenth mission onward, it was possible to enter missions with companions.
Originally, he hadn’t intended to do that.
Even if you participated as a party, the difficulty of the mission didn’t increase much, but the success score would be split.
He thought it was better to do it alone in that case.
However, interviews were an exception.
It would be best to personally enter a mission with them and see what kind of person they were.
He heard that other guilds also conducted interviews in this manner.
“Welcome, Hunter Lee Taeseong.”
Manager Song Sang-yeop had come outside the Association and approached as he saw Taeseong get out.
“You should have stayed inside. Why did you come all the way out here?”
“Haha. Of course I should come out since you’re coming. Rather, I’m sorry I couldn’t pick you up at your residence.”
“That’s a burden for me. Please don’t be like that.”
Exchanging pleasantries, Taeseong headed inside.
As he passed through the first floor toward the elevator, he felt glances coming from all over.
Normally, Hunters frequented the Association, so they weren’t particularly interesting, and the staff usually ignored them.
But they were glancing at Lee Taeseong.
The best rookie born this year.
A Hunter who had made a significant contribution to a national-level negotiation, and even someone who had formed a bond with a ranker from the United States.
Since he had caused such an uproar that the entire nation likely knew about him, they were looking at him with curious eyes.
Since this attention wasn’t bad, Taeseong straightened his posture and walked alongside Manager Song Sang-yeop.
“I think you can conduct the interviews here. How is it?”
“It’s good.”
Song Sang-yeop guided him to a large conference room that had been turned into a temporary interview space.
As Taeseong sat in the interviewer’s seat, documents about the interviewees were placed in front of him.
“This is the list of interview candidates.”
“There aren’t many.”
A while ago, he had said there were many people who wanted to come because of the Taeseong Guild’s fame.
“Yes. There were many more applicants, but I filtered them. They weren’t exactly great Hunters.”
“I see.”
He could understand that.
Whether there was a problem with their skills or their personality, Taeseong didn’t want to accept mediocre Hunters either.
Taeseong checked the document placed at the very top.
It wasn’t a newly awakened Hunter, but one who wanted to transfer from an existing guild.
Name: Kang Woo-ju.
Mission experience: twenty times.
‘Oh. He has three consecutive perfect experiences and was called the best rookie of last year?’
His specs were impressive.
However, the next part was the problem.
Taeseong’s expression became troubled.
Kang Woo-ju was currently affiliated with a large guild, and it was a place Taeseong knew well.
[**Affiliated Guild: Blue Dragon**]
He belonged to the Blue Dragon Guild!
‘What’s with this guy?’
A transfer from the Blue Dragon Guild.
Was it okay to accept someone like this?
It wasn’t just some random guild, either.
The Blue Dragon Guild siblings were the ones who had helped Taeseong since the moment he first awakened.
If he recklessly took their people, it would be awkward to face them.
As he was feeling slightly troubled… *Knock, knock.*
The door was tapped, and a head peeked inside.
“Hello?”
“Huh? Hunter Lee Ye-ji?”
“It hasn’t been long since I last saw you, but you’ve become such a big shot!”
Lee Ye-ji walked in with a beaming smile.
“But what brings you here… Ah, do you have another meeting like last time?”
“No. I heard you’re conducting interviews. I’m here to see them too.”
“Pardon?”
“Taeseong Guild. If I join now, will you give me the vice guild master position?”
“…Haha. Of course. If you’re willing to come.”
Taeseong realized that Lee Ye-ji’s words were a joke and chuckled.
In the first place, there was no way she, who had built the Blue Dragon Guild from the ground up, would come to the Taeseong Guild.
Lee Ye-ji said while resting her chin on her hand.
“Hmm. This is quite tempting. I’ll tell my brother later. I’ll tell him to be careful because if he keeps working me like a slave just because I’m his sister, I might actually go to the Taeseong Guild.”
“Hey, hey. When did I ever work you like a slave? You should treat your Guild Master properly before saying that.”
At that moment, Guild Master Lee Jeong-woo entered from behind.
Both of the Blue Dragon siblings had come.
After pushing his sister aside, he walked up to Taeseong and grabbed both of his hands to greet him.
“Hunter Lee Taeseong. Thank you so much.”
“For what?”
“Thanks to you, our guild is expanding properly in China. Haha!”
His face was brightly lit without a single worry.
It seemed the Blue Dragon Guild was growing after he introduced them to Zhang Xuan and established a proper *guanxi*.
“Of course, even so, it seems the Taeseong Guild’s recent fame is better.”
Looking at just the past week, the frequency of the Taeseong Guild being mentioned in the news was higher than that of the Blue Dragon Guild.
That’s how much the name of Lee Taeseong, who had created the Charles Agreement, had spread.
“Is the reason you both came here perhaps because of the person transferring from the Blue Dragon Guild? Haha… but…”
Taeseong changed the subject with a laugh.
At that, the two siblings looked awkward.
“Well, yes. That’s true.”
“If you’re worried about headhunting, that wasn’t my intention. I only just found out about his original guild.”
“That’s fine. Transferring is up to the individual. It’s just… we wanted you to know that he isn’t a bad guy.”
“?!”
“His personality is a bit peculiar, but he has no malicious intent. He’s a good person. And he’s skilled.”
Guild Master Lee Jeong-woo added a word from the side.
“His skills are definitely top-notch. We worked together for a few months, and there were times we almost misunderstood him, but he really isn’t a bad person.”
The explanation was getting long.
Taeseong sent a look asking what they were trying to say.
Then Lee Jeong-woo nudged Lee Ye-ji’s side, and after muttering, “Why do you always make me do these things?”
she carefully opened her mouth.
“It’s just… he has a lot of confidence in himself. He was called the best rookie of last year and actually has the ability, so he’s quite like that. Mr. Woo-ju is… he’s openly saying that he’ll work under Hunter Lee Taeseong.”
“If he loses in a fight with you, he’ll work for free.”
“???”
The best rookie of last year.
Currently affiliated with the Blue Dragon Guild.
‘A talent like that would work for free?’
Taeseong nodded his head.
“Let’s proceed with the interview immediately.”
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