A sudden notification for the Dream Shop appeared.
‘0.1% of the SC used by a guild member…?’
Tae-sung immediately opened the Dream Shop to check.
-Dream Realization Rune (Current Stock: 1)
-???
-???
-???
=========
An item he hadn’t seen before appeared at the bottom.
Dream Shop Exclusive Score.
The score Kang Woo-ju had earned in the previous mission was approximately 17,000 points.
Since he hadn’t achieved a Perfect and it was a party mission, that was all he could earn.
He had used those points to purchase items needed for the Taeseong Guild, and 0.1% of that had been credited as exclusive score.
Lee Tae-sung stroked his chin.
‘This is too little.’
Seventeen points.
It was incredibly stingy.
Even if Lee Tae-sung achieved several Perfects in a row, he couldn’t earn 200,000 points, and 0.1% of that would be less than 200 points.
Furthermore, Lee Tae-sung was a special Hunter.
Ordinary Hunters considered going on missions to be an extremely difficult and arduous task, so going even once a week was not easy.
It was common for them to go once every two or three weeks while handling the preparation process and post-mission management.
In other words, even if he recruited a fairly great Hunter, he wouldn’t be able to earn many points for the Dream Shop right away.
‘I guess I’ll have to recruit many guild members.’
It would be ideal to have high-quality guild members like himself, but realistically, that wasn’t easy.
Pushing forward with quantity wasn’t a bad idea either.
If he had hundreds of Hunters under his command, he would earn a quite meaningful score.
However, that didn’t mean he should accept just anyone.
Hunters with ambiguous skills and poor character would surely hinder the growth of the guild and hold it back.
‘They say managing people is the hardest part. I wonder how it’ll go.’
For now, he decided to proceed.
***
Lee Tae-sung resumed the interviews after that.
The interviewers were Lee Tae-sung… and Kang Woo-ju.
“I’m ready, Guild Master!”
Next to him, Kang Woo-ju, who had somehow changed into a suit and horn-rimmed glasses, adjusted his glasses and spoke.
“…What’s with those clothes?”
“I’m an interviewer now, aren’t I? I prepared an outfit suitable for the role.”
“And the glasses?”
“They’re to hide my sharp gaze as an interviewer.”
“……”
The gaze gleaming through his dark circles was indeed subtly hidden by the frames.
Kang Woo-ju had become the first member of the Taeseong Guild and was immediately appointed as the Vice Guild Master due to his skill and the character reference provided by the Blue Dragon Guild.
“Hehe. I will devote my entire body to ‘our’ Taeseong Guild from now on!”
Kang Woo-ju grinned as he announced his bold ambition.
“But are you sure you don’t want to get paid? Let’s just consider what we said before a joke, and I’ll give you a reasonable percentage.”
A Hunter belonging to a guild purchases items from the Score Shop and hands them over to the seller through the guild.
Most of the resulting revenue goes back to the Hunter.
The guild only takes a small commission.
Otherwise, what Hunter would join a guild?
They would just operate alone.
Kang Woo-ju had said he would work for nothing if he lost to Lee Tae-sung.
Although they hadn’t fought directly, he had been utterly crushed in the mission, so he was in a situation where he had to provide free labor.
However, since he couldn’t just use such a talented person for free indefinitely, Lee Tae-sung tried to ignore the bet and take care of him properly.
“A man’s word is his bond! How can I go back on what I said?”
But Kang Woo-ju shook his head.
“Besides, my family is rich. My father runs a big business. I live on an allowance.”
“Ah… a silver spoon?”
“Something like that.”
Only then did Lee Tae-sung understand.
Hunter work wasn’t for the money; it was a hobby for him.
The interviews continued.
They met a total of three hunters.
After hunting together in a party and asking appropriate questions, several hours passed in a flash.
“They all seemed to have decent impressions. What did you think, Woo-ju?”
Lee Tae-sung asked, hiding his true thoughts.
To be honest, the three hunters he had interviewed were disappointing.
Kang Woo-ju was the top rookie of last year, so he was an exception, but the others didn’t show any particular uniqueness.
Watching how they proceeded in the party mission, their skills were merely average.
Far from a Perfect, they barely managed to clear the mission.
One person even almost failed, requiring Lee Tae-sung to step in and help slightly.
‘It can’t be helped.’
No matter how much media attention Lee Tae-sung had received recently, it was still a newly formed one-man guild.
Ah, it was a two-person guild now.
Under such circumstances, great Hunters wouldn’t be transferring over.
Kang Woo-ju was a unique case.
“In my opinion, two of them are acceptable enough to take in.”
“Two? Then what about the other one?”
“Mr. Choi Chan-gi. That person is a no-go.”
*Tap, tap.*
Kang Woo-ju said, tapping on a document.
Lee Tae-sung tilted his head in confusion.
All three hunters he had interviewed were about the same, but Choi Chan-gi was actually slightly better.
So, if he were to pick someone, he thought that person would be first…
“Why is he a no-go?”
“His face looks untrustworthy.”
“……”
“It’s true! That Choi Chan-gi guy. He looks suspicious for some reason.”
Lee Tae-sung looked at Kang Woo-ju with an incredulous expression.
He would have understood if he had provided a logical reason, like something being off during the mission execution or the Q&A session.
What was this about his face?
But Kang Woo-ju was confident.
“You have to trust me, Guild Master! My mother is a famous shaman, so she’s incredibly good at reading faces! I grew up watching that since I was a kid, so I know a thing or two!”
“…Uh… well…”
Since he had brought up his mother, Lee Tae-sung couldn’t really say anything and was choosing his words carefully.
Just then, the door to the interview room opened, and Manager Song Sang-yeop walked in.
“Hunter Lee Tae-sung! I’m sorry. There was a slight oversight.”
“Yes?”
“The investigation into Hunter Choi Chan-gi was a bit lacking. It turns out he’s been involved in illegal gambling for a long time. He’s also deep in debt. We tried to investigate beforehand, but we were a bit late in discovering this.”
“!!!”
Lee Tae-sung looked at Kang Woo-ju with a shocked expression.
‘He really saw that through his face?’
Kang Woo-ju burst out.
“I mean!! How could such an illegal gambler try to join our Taeseong Guild? Let’s kick him out immediately! Throw some salt too! *Ptui, ptui!*”
Kang Woo-ju was stomping his feet in front of the interview room door as if to push out the evil energy.
***
In the end, two out of the three hunters were accepted.
Including Kang Woo-ju and Lee Tae-sung, the Taeseong Guild became a four-person guild.
There was Guild Master Lee Tae-sung, Vice Guild Master Kang Woo-ju, and two regular guild members.
‘I’ll have to work hard.’
On the way home, that thought naturally occurred to him.
It had been similar when he first registered the business and established the guild, but now that he had guild members under him, the weight on his shoulders felt even heavier.
He felt a sense of responsibility.
If the guild didn’t grow, wouldn’t his guild members’ careers be ruined as well as his own?
*Hiss— *
Returning home, Lee Tae-sung lay inside the capsule.
A way for the guild to grow?
That, too, was in the Dream World.
‘I have three Dream Realization Runes right now. I should think about what to bring back first.’
The event that had made the Taeseong Guild famous was the treatment of the Ranker.
It was because he had purchased and brought back “Red Heart Nectar” with a **[Dream Realization Rune]**.
Lee Tae-sung had three more realization runes he had purchased, and he intended to use them to bring back something useful.
If he hit a jackpot like the Red Heart Nectar again, the guild’s reputation would soar.
‘Should I visit the Red Magic Tower?’
Red Heart Nectar wasn’t just a simple medicine.
It was an elixir that strengthened the heart and increased the amount of mana one possessed.
It was the kind of item that would make Hunters’ eyes spin.
Perhaps if he went to any country, not just the US, grabbed a Hunter of Ranker level, and asked, “How much will you pay for this?”
there might be someone who would give him their entire fortune.
‘Of course, finding something like that again won’t be easy… but it’s not entirely impossible.’
Red Heart Nectar was an elixir made with secret techniques, so it wasn’t easily granted to outsiders.
However, if he received something like a designated request, he might get it as a reward.
This was why one needed connections with large factions.
Once again, he was glad the Flying Dragon Sect was a labor-dispatching sect.
As his skills and achievements accumulated, he could form connections not only with the Red Magic Tower but also with other large factions.
‘Or should I use my contribution points to bring out some of the Flying Dragon Sect’s martial arts?’
It would have to be martial arts easy enough for Hunters to learn, but if he looked, there would surely be something good.
After pondering over various things, Lee Tae-sung woke up in the training hall upon logging in.
Since it was late at night, it was quiet.
He decided to visit the Red Magic Tower as soon as it got light in the morning.
Lee Tae-sung was about to sit cross-legged and begin his training since he hadn’t been able to practice much today due to the interviews.
It was then.
“Hahaha! If it isn’t the pride of our Flying Dragon Sect!”
Elder Dam Ho-pung approached and gave Lee Tae-sung a sudden hug.
Staggering legs, a flushed face.
He reeked of alcohol.
Alcohol didn’t just drift from his mouth but from his entire body, making it clear how much he had poured down.
“Elder. It seems you’ve had a few drinks.”
“Yes! I had a drink! Because I’m so happy!”
“Did something good happen?”
“It’s all thanks to you! Do you know how high I’ve been holding my head lately?”
“Me?”
“Yes! The member of our Flying Dragon Sect with a 100% request success rate! I’ve been watching you since long ago because you seemed promising, and you didn’t disappoint my expectations. You’ve been a huge success in everything I’ve assigned you!”
From the designated request of the Red Magic Tower to the round-trip request of the Flying Dragon Express.
In particular, bringing back Morusted’s armor after purchasing it was a tremendous achievement even for the entire Flying Dragon Sect.
Because it was the gear of a Master Blacksmith, it carried a premium, and as a result, it had generated significant sales.
Thanks to that, the General Manager and Elder Dam Ho-pung, who were close to Lee Tae-sung, were able to save face among the Sect Leader, Vice Sect Leader, and other elders.
“It’s all thanks to the good guidance I received from you, Elder. I look forward to your continued guidance in the future.”
“Hahaha! How can you speak so nicely? As expected of you! No. What do you mean ‘you’? From now on, call me Brother!”
“Brother!”
“Hahaha! Yes, little brother! Ah, right. I was drinking with some people from the ‘Golden Crucible’ earlier today. They say they need some help there right now. Do you want to go see them?”
“!”
Lee Tae-sung was surprised.
When a drunk person suggests becoming brothers, there’s a very high probability that things will become awkward the next day.
That’s why he had just played along, but a designated request?
‘If it’s the Golden Crucible… it’s an alchemy-based school.’
It was a power that comprehensively made elixirs, pills, potions, and so on.
Naturally, as they were sought after by all sorts of factions, it wasn’t easy to form a connection with them, but for an opportunity to come like this.
If he went there, he might be able to see if there were any items worth bringing back with a **[Dream Realization Rune]**.
“If it’s your word, Brother, of course I must go. I’ll set aside everything else and pay them a visit.”
“Right. They must have heard the rumors about you lately, too. And if you say you were sent by me— hahaha! They’ll welcome you warmly, so go see them when it gets light.”
“Yes! I’ll do that! I’ll escort you to your quarters, Brother!”
“Yes, yes. Oh, I feel great!”
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