Chapter 34: Just trust me

“How is it?”

Seohyeonji looked at me haughtily, crossing her arms.

“It’s excellent.”

“What’s this? Compliments so readily given?”

Seohyeonji seemed to enjoy my praise, her lips curling up and down repeatedly.

“You should focus on control during practice, Seohyeonji.”

Honestly, I had thought she was useless.

I figured she cared only about her appearance, not training. But surprisingly, she trained diligently.

Spirit Summoning consumes less mana when affinity is high. And to increase affinity, you need to communicate with the spirits.

Since she’s a busy modern woman who can’t just take a stroll in nature, it’s crucial that she summons spirits during her breaks as often as possible to build that bond.

“Oh, right. I have something for you.”

“For me?”

For Seohyeonji to train as much as possible, she had to use and recover mana steadily.

The best way to recover mana is sleep, but with her irregular sleep schedule, that was difficult.

I showed her a thin gold necklace.

Seohyeonji looked at me upon seeing it, a bit flustered.

“Uh, why are you giving this to me?”

Was she happy because a teammate was giving her an item?

She seemed genuinely pleased—rare enough to blush faintly.

I knew that feeling well. When you run out of potions in a dungeon, and a usually stingy teammate lends you some, it feels truly thankful.

Sometimes, even a small item can move you.

“I said I had something for you. It’s a necklace that helps with mana recovery.”

“Mana recovery?”

“I was still looking for the matching ring, but it has a recovery effect, so it should help.”

“No way.” I smiled to ease her disappointment, but her expression was ambiguous—half-smiling, half-not.

“Can I put it on now?”

“Of course.”

“What are you doing? I should help.”

Why help? She has hands and feet, no need for me to touch her.

The only time I touch someone is during sparring.

“Just kidding.”

She said that as she fastened the hook on the necklace, then glanced at herself in a mirror.

It’s an item, but the design wasn’t bad, so she probably wouldn’t toss it aside.

“What about us?”

Seeing her receive an item, Kim Taeyang spoke with a hint of jealousy.

Of course, I had prepared items for Kim Taeyang and Kim Inho as well.

“Of course I did.”

“Oh? Really? Our team leader is the best.”

I handed the gift to Kim Taeyang, hoping to see him happy.

But his joyful face quickly turned cold and dead.

“What is this?”

“It’s a gift.”

“This?”

Kim Taeyang looked down at the handcuffs on both wrists and then met my eyes.

“Does this have a mana recovery function, too?”

“No. It’s to prevent you from running away during training.”

“No, why?”

“Why else? Because you keep skipping training and trying to run off.”

Seohyeonji trained whenever she could, and Kim Inho practically lived in the training room.

Kim Taeyang slacked sometimes but managed to follow the curriculum.

What I was making the two of them do was brutal training fit for martial artists.

After about a week of pushing them hard, they had started to endure it well.

Seohyeonji was out of training due to filming, leaving only Kim Taeyang and Kim Inho.

I gathered the two.

“Now, it’s time to add other training.”

Kim Taeyang and Kim Inho’s pupils dilated at my words.

“It’s training focused on your abilities.”

“Abilities?”

“Abilities are the talents you gain through Awakening, the factors that define a Hunter’s traits.”

The talents you gain upon Awakening are somewhat like skills but different.

Talents can grow infinitely.

“Kim Taeyang’s ability is Regeneration Enhancement. Kim Inho’s is Proficiency Enhancement. From now on, I’ll forcibly open ability sockets.”

“Huh?”

The two blinked at my statement.

“In other words, I’m going to expand additional ability sockets to upgrade your powers. Think of it like plastic surgery that makes your face better.”

“That analogy’s a bit off, but… it actually upgrades you?”

“Dual Hunters have two abilities. But what I’m asking of you two is different. To strengthen your existing abilities, you’ll create support skills through training.”

The Hunter Era has only just begun, about ten years in.

Much about the system remains secret.

Abilities symbolize a Hunter’s characteristics. Enhancing and modifying these is possible through Rune Skills.

And Rune Skills can be unlocked under certain conditions.

“You just need to trust me. The basic training is mostly done, so shall we start the real training?”

Having reached the pinnacle in another world, I knew how to unlock Rune Skills. Probably the only one who did.

“Baek Juhwan, you keep losing the boss fights.”

“Sorry.”

Baek Juhwan of the Fighting God Guild had been summoned—or rather dragged—to the Head of HR’s office.

Kim Shin. He was only in his thirties but held an executive-level position as Head of HR.

He called Baek Juhwan because of the guild’s recent poor performance.

“Losing to the Noble Guild is one thing, but also to Hanul Guild?”

“I’m ashamed.”

Noble Guild and Fighting God are rivals. Noble Guild used to be second, Fighting God third, but aggressive talent recruitment recently put them on par.

But Hanul is different. Supported by a conglomerate but ranked outside the top twenty.

“Plus, it was just one person.”

“Hanul stole the mobs…”

“Look at this, Baek Juhwan. Do I look like a fool to you?”

Kim Shin’s cold words stiffened Baek Juhwan’s face.

“I’ve already seen the reports, confirmed witnesses. Even if you’re biased, did you expect to protest with such weak reasons? Who did you want to embarrass?”

“S-Sorry.”

Kim Shin frowned when he saw a name in the report.

Lee Hyunbin.

A name he had been hearing a lot lately.

He had rejected this guy during the interview. He was a high school dropout, had no social experience for over ten years, basically a shut-in. And yet, he called himself a hero—no need to hire him.

But a month ago, Lee Hyunbin had a very unusual Porter Awakening.

“Not just a Porter, but excellent in combat.”

Supporters usually just support and do basic attacks. But this Porter killed bosses alone.

Small- to mid-sized guilds can make money just by collecting Magic Stones in dungeons, but big guilds like Fighting God cannot.

You have to kill bosses. Securing the benefits from bosses lets you get ahead.

“I sent Kim Inho out and brought in a top B-rank. You need to produce results now.”

“Yes, I will make Fighting God proud next dungeon.”

Kim Shin’s mouth turned sour at the mention of Kim Inho.

Kim Inho had been sold to Hanul.

A trade proposal came.

From none other than Hanul Guild.

The Hanul strategic analysis team leader arrived with Lee Hyunbin.

Kim Shin was surprised to see Lee Hyunbin here—he wasn’t the kind to appear at meetings like this.

Lee Hyunbin wanted to trade Kim Inho. In exchange, they offered C-rank Hunter Jo Hanseon.

Kim Shin scoffed. Jo Hanseon was decent as a C-rank. Even if his behavior was a bit problematic, he had tanking skills. But Kim Inho was a promising talent, not worth giving up.

“I’ll throw in Cha Hyunsoo on top of Jo Hanseon.”

Kim Shin inwardly laughed at Lee Hyunbin’s words. The strategy team leader next to him looked stunned.

“W-Wait, Team Leader Lee…!”

“We have the Union Chief’s permission.”

A trade done without proper mutual agreement.

Kim Shin sneered.

Just because he’s a Supporter turned team leader at Hanul doesn’t mean he’s important.

Kim Inho was a prospect. A good talent, but an all-rounder rarely succeeds spectacularly.

Usually, if you’re a tanker, you stay a tanker. If you’re a dealer, you focus on that. Developing a clear specialty helps.

“That trade would cause too much damage to Hanul. They’re not exactly flush with resources.”

“That’s why they want to inject young, promising blood.”

Lee Hyunbin glanced nervously. Kim Shin saw through him instantly.

‘What a fool.’

With Jo Hanseon and Cha Hyunsoo, they could hunt with almost any party.

Consistent dungeon clearing is more beneficial than relying on promising talents who’ll soon reach their limits.

‘I guess the rumors were true.’

No one knew what magic he used, but Lee Hyunbin had caught the Union Chief’s eye and was parachuted in as Team 3 Leader.

Naturally, proud Hunters refused to accept an incompetent leader, causing conflicts.

He was said to have abandoned disobedient team members and gathered new recruits he could easily control.

“Fine. Kim Inho, it’s a deal.”

“Really?”

Lee Hyunbin beamed hearing Kim Shin’s words. Kim Shin smiled and continued.

“Normally, trading a competent guy like Kim Inho is unthinkable. But think of this as an apology for overlooking someone like Team Leader Lee before. Guilds will have to cooperate going forward.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

What a pushover.

Kim Shin chuckled silently.

“Uh, but don’t you think we’re at a loss here?”

“Of course… Team Leader Lee. Haven’t you seen the dungeon success rate analysis of Jo Hanseon and Cha Hyunsoo?”

The Hanul strategist’s face flushed, ready to grab someone by the collar once out of the office.

Lee Hyunbin scratched the back of his head and asked Kim Shin,

“Could you add some money? As a premium?”

“That’s not possible.”

“Please. I’m still new, so I need to bring something to persuade them. Trading one rookie for two veterans…”

‘No way, you idiot.’

Kim Shin smiled resignedly and asked,

“How much do you need?”

“Maybe just 1 billion more.”

Kim Shin pretended to think, then released the stiff Kim Inho from the guild along with the money.

“Damn it.”

At that time, I thought we had pulled a fast one on Hanul. The high school dropout was just dumb, I smugly thought.

But not long after, a massive scandal erupted.

The Winners Incident.

A rumor treated like an urban legend suddenly became reality.

It was revealed that Kim Kimon of Hanul, the Winners, and a mercenary guild conspired to traffic Hunters.

And some involved were from Fighting God.

Namely, Jo Hanseon and Cha Hyunsoo, recently traded in.

Now both were in prison.

“Baek Juhwan, this mid-rank dungeon run—no matter what, you must take the boss’s head. If you fail again, both of us could lose our heads.”

“Yes, the new recruit is so strong it shouldn’t be difficult.”

Though Baek Juhwan spoke confidently, Kim Shin felt an uncharacteristic unease.

Baek Juhwan led the party with the new top B-rank, Kimchiguk, to the Uiwang Railroad Museum Dungeon.

A relatively new mid-rank dungeon. Various guild parties were there to hunt the boss.

“This is Kimchiguk, the newly joined upper B-rank.”

“Kimchiguk.”

A man with carelessly grown long hair and sharp eyes gave a casual nod.

“This dungeon’s boss is ours for sure. No sign of Myth or Noble Guild parties, so they should be easy…”

“Uh, Hanul Guild is here too.”

At Go Hansol’s remark, Baek Juhwan immediately turned his head and frowned.

That annoying Porter Lee Hyunbin was there. But today, he wasn’t alone.