Choi Gi-woo said he came to see me because of the Ant Nest incident.
While I was making coffee for us, I glanced at him sitting on the living room sofa.
Hunter poachers are one of the most serious social issues these days.
Recently, more Hunters have died at the hands of poachers than have died in the Gates themselves.
As a result, the number of people giving up on becoming Hunters is also on the rise.
Some even say it’s shaking the very foundation of Hunter society.
Even so… would a team leader from the Association come in person to see a mere D-rank Hunter?
Choi Gi-woo, who was watching me make coffee as he sat on the sofa, let out a small chuckle.
Why is he suddenly laughing?
“Looks like the reports were true. You really do like it.”
“Huh?”
“The game. The smartphone game.”
“Eh? What do you—Mother, you startled me!”
Startled, I instinctively called out for my mother, who had passed away when I was a child.
My right index finger was busily tapping away at the smartphone on the dining table.
Sprout must have sensed my gaze, because its three leaves shook vigorously.
“Wh-When did I start doing this?”
“…You’ve been doing it ever since you greeted me at the door.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Choi Gi-woo looked at me as if he couldn’t believe it.
I couldn’t believe myself either, so I gave an awkward laugh.
“Yeah, that’s right. I like games this much. Ahaha!”
I tried to brush off the situation with a weird remark, but it didn’t work.
Choi Gi-woo’s gaze, fixed on my awkward smile, was not pleasant.
He was looking at me like I was a hopeless gaming addict.
“…….”
“…….”
I get it.
Right now, I’d like to look at myself the same way.
Letting out a deep sigh, I took the coffee and walked into the living room.
I put my smartphone away in my pocket.
It’s not polite to play games in front of someone who came for a serious conversation.
“Ahem, ahem!”
Seeing me put my smartphone away, Choi Gi-woo also slipped his into his pocket and cleared his throat a few times.
It was to change the mood.
Naturally, we sat facing each other with serious expressions.
We no longer looked like two pathetic men trading pathetic glances.
“Let me get to the point.”
With that, he began to explain why he’d come.
First, it was about the Ant Nest clearing quest.
He said everything had been verified, and that as a completion reward, I’d get 3 million won and the quest restriction would be lifted.
It was only an E-rank quest, so the reward was nothing special.
No wonder there are no Hunters wanting to do the quest when the reward is only 3 million won.
That’s all I could think.
He then talked about the reward for capturing the Hunter poacher Kim Jung-chul and his gang.
“According to Hunter Kim Jae-sik, it was Hunter Baek Do-un alone who captured Kim Jung-chul’s group.”
Huh?
So he’d talked to Kim Jae-sik before coming here.
“He insisted he did nothing and couldn’t accept any reward. So we decided to give all the rewards to Hunter Baek Do-un.”
“Eh, is that really okay?”
“Of course. Hunter Kim Jae-sik agreed to it.”
He could’ve just taken his share…
Why did he go and say it was all thanks to me? Grateful, though.
“Since all of Kim Jung-chul’s group were C-rank Hunters, Hunter Baek Do-un will be promoted to C-rank as well.”
“Nice, that’s one less annoying thing to deal with.”
“And as for the reward for catching the poachers—well, in fact, there was no bounty on Kim Jung-chul’s group at the time, so there’s no bounty reward.”
“Oh, so there’s no reward at all?”
“No, that’s not the case.”
Choi Gi-woo shook his head with a faint smile.
“We decided in the meeting to give you the basic bounty.”
“Oh.”
“If we don’t give rewards just because there’s no bounty posted, people might not bother catching poachers when they find them.”
“That makes sense.”
He was right.
I nodded in agreement.
The bounty I’d receive: 100 million won for the leader Kim Jung-chul, and 50 million each for Kwon Oh-seok and Han Gi-hae—a total of 200 million won.
As a bonus, I’d also get all the cash and items the three had on them.
Choi Gi-woo added that those were worth about another 100 million won if converted to cash.
So, by catching Kim Jung-chul’s group, I’d become a C-rank Hunter and make a total of 300 million won.
“Hmm, not bad at all.”
“Sorry?”
Choi Gi-woo looked a bit flustered, maybe thinking I’d be happy.
A while back, making 300 million won would’ve had me grinning from ear to ear.
But right now, I had 5 billion won in my account from collecting Udahm flowers.
I gave Chairman Woo a small commission for the introduction from Lee Sung-hoon, but it wasn’t a significant amount.
Adding what I had before, I still had 5 billion won at my disposal.
Money’s always good, but at this point, it’s not really the kind of reward that excites me.
“Are you unhappy with the reward?”
Choi Gi-woo asked, looking troubled.
He’d brought what he thought was a reasonable sum.
It was only natural for him to feel uneasy.
He might even be worried I’d demand more.
“There’s something I’d rather have than money.”
“Something you want, you mean?”
“Have you considered letting me take over the Ant Nest?”
“…The Ant Nest?”
He repeated, sounding skeptical.
“Yes, the Ant Nest.”
“So, you want exclusive rights to the Muju Ant Nest?”
“Exactly.”
At my prompt answer, Choi Gi-woo frowned.
He seemed unable to understand my unexpected request.
The E-rank Muju Ant Nest dungeon is a place with nothing to gain as a reward.
Yet you have to hunt hundreds of giant ants—an utter pain.
It was only natural he’d look at me in disbelief when I asked for exclusive rights to a dungeon everyone avoided.
If I didn’t know I could use Sprout’s soil and the giant ants’ corpses to make A+-grade fertilizer, I wouldn’t have wanted exclusive rights to the Ant Nest either.
Even if they offered, I’d have told them to take it away.
“Is it a difficult decision? If so, you can come back another day.”
I didn’t know how much authority the Association’s Hunter Management Team Leader had.
No matter how lowly the dungeon, he probably couldn’t just give away exclusive rights to it on a whim.
Choi Gi-woo rubbed his jaw with fingers that were covered in calluses.
Was he originally a Hunter?
“To be honest, this is outside my authority.”
“I thought so. Then next time—”
“But even so, I can give Hunter Baek Do-un the exclusive rights to the Muju Ant Nest at my discretion.”
“What?”
“Up above, they’ll probably even praise me for it. Glad to be rid of a troublesome spot that’s been a headache.”
He said that and looked me straight in the eye.
His gaze seemed to say, “Muju Ant Nest is nothing more than a useless spot the Association wants to be rid of, so think carefully.”
That’s fine.
It may be nothing but a nuisance to them, but for me, it had a definite use.
I could use it to supply fertilizer for Sprout’s growth.
I smiled warmly at Choi Gi-woo, who’d thought of me.
“I’m fine with it.”
“Are you really sure? You do realize that if you take the exclusive rights, you’ll be responsible if anything goes wrong in the Ant Nest, right?”
Of course I know.
Exclusive rights come with responsibility.
“Yes, I’m really sure.”
“Whew, understood. Then, instead of the reward I mentioned earlier, Hunter Baek Do-un will receive exclusive rights to the Muju Ant Nest.”
And that’s how I got exclusive rights to the Ant Nest.
Sprout, are you watching?
From now on, your big bro can supply you with fertilizer on the regular!
[The World Tree’s Sprout dances to express its joy!]
“Please request a Hunter rank reassessment for me.”
Before leaving, Choi Gi-woo said this and handed me a letter of recommendation.
The so-called letter of recommendation was just a piece of paper with “Hunter Association Management Team 3 Leader, Choi Gi-woo” written on it.
I thought it would be treated like a scrap of doodled-on paper, but since it had the team leader’s seal, it was effective enough as a recommendation.
After submitting it, the staff at the assessment center looked flustered and immediately guided me to the “Tower of Trials” warp gate.
“I never thought I’d come here… It feels new somehow…?”
The Tower of Trials is one of the Gates exclusively managed by the Association.
Unlike other Gates, there’s no danger to life—the monsters that appear are virtual, tailored to the level of the entrant.
As if someone had designed the Gate to help people grow through it.
Because of this peculiarity, there’s even a theory that the Tower of Trials was made by the gods.
Supposedly, it allows humans to overcome the ordeal of the Gates.
Well, I don’t know about proof of the gods or whatever.
To me, the Tower of Trials is nothing more than an assessment center for setting ranks.
Low-ranked Hunters aren’t allowed to use it, so as a D-rank Hunter, I’d never been here before.
“Hmm?”
Looking around, I noticed that people’s gazes were all focused in one place.
Following those looks, I spotted a familiar face among those waiting to enter the tower.
It was Woo Chae-yeon, the younger sister of Woo Yeon-hoo.
Looks like she’d come to take the test, just like me.
Unlike me, she showed no sign of nervousness; from her side profile, it was clear she was used to the Tower of Trials.
“Was her impression always that cold?”
Unlike how she was at the hospital, she looked incredibly cold.
Just sitting there, she radiated a chilly aura, like a warning not to approach.
Of course, in this world, there’s always one brave soul willing to push through even that coldness.
A fairly good-looking guy strode right up to Woo Chae-yeon.
People recognized him and began to whisper.
“That’s Ji Sang-wook…!”
“Ji Sang-wook? Who’s that?”
“You don’t know? The B-rank Hunter who just soloed the Hallasan Gate!”
“What? Isn’t that where the Red Manticores live?”
Red Manticores are monsters with the body of a red lion and giant bat wings.
They live in packs and can fly, making them a huge pain to hunt.
Or so Tae-chun explained to me after soloing the Hallasan Gate.
If someone really hunted that place alone, he must be an amazing Hunter. Tae-chun was, after all.
Amid the whispers, Ji Sang-wook stood in front of Woo Chae-yeon.
With a confident smile, he greeted her.
“Hello, Miss Woo Chae-yeon.”
Woo Chae-yeon slowly looked up at Ji Sang-wook with a blank expression.
People around, myself included, watched the pair with great interest.
“I heard you were ill. Are you feeling better?”
“…….”
She immediately lowered her gaze.
She had blatantly ignored him.
Ji Sang-wook realized he’d been ignored and his lips trembled slightly.
Yet he didn’t lose his smile even after being snubbed—impressive.
“Well, when someone asks you a question—”
“……!”
Just as Ji Sang-wook was about to snap, Woo Chae-yeon suddenly raised her head.
But she wasn’t looking at Ji Sang-wook.
Her face showed surprise and embarrassment.
Ji Sang-wook, about to retort, closed his mouth as she hurriedly looked up.
Woo Chae-yeon got up from her seat and walked right past Ji Sang-wook without even glancing at him.
Her indifference was so thorough that no one even dared laugh at Ji Sang-wook.
“Huh…?”
Woo Chae-yeon’s gaze and steps came straight at me, catching me off guard.
With her, everyone else’s attention turned to me as well.
When she reached me, she gave me a small smile and greeted me.
“Hello, Ji-on-nim.”
She called me Ji-on, not Baek Do-un.
That meant she hadn’t heard about my identity from Woo Yeon-hoo.
If she had, she would’ve called me Baek Do-un, not Ji-on.
But I wasn’t even wearing my mask—how did she recognize me?
“…How did you know?”
“It was your hairstyle.”
Woo Chae-yeon tapped the back of her head as she answered.
Seriously, can most people recognize someone they’ve only seen once just by their hairstyle?
As I was wondering, I heard people around me whispering, “Who the hell is that guy?”, “Why is Woo Chae-yeon acting like she knows him?”
[The World Tree’s Sprout sensed petty gazes.]
Petty gazes?
What the…
Ah, I get what it means.
Ji Sang-wook was glaring at me like he wanted to kill me.
Woo Chae-yeon’s the one who ignored you, so why are you staring daggers at me?
No wonder Sprout calls that petty.
[Sprout wishes to transmit its surrounding ‘rocks’ to Manager Baek Do-un.]
Rocks…?