Lee Taeseong followed Manager Song Sang-yeop into a temporary meeting room partitioned off by makeshift walls.
“If you find it uncomfortable here, we can move to a nearby cafe,” Song Sang-yeop said, looking embarrassed.
After all, he was guiding a top-tier rookie—someone who had appeared after a very long time—into such a cramped, humble space.
“No, it’s fine,” Lee Taeseong replied, his eyes roaming the surroundings.
He had been here once before, but the place was worlds apart from the crappy small company he used to work for.
‘The quality of the interior materials alone is on another level.’
Unlike his previous dark and gloomy workplace, just sitting here made him feel refreshed.
Although the National Hunter Association was technically a public institution, it operated almost like a private corporation because various capitalists and hunters were shareholders.
Perhaps because of that, the company’s atmosphere and vibe felt even better than those of a free-spirited IT firm.
“Haha. I’m glad you feel that way. I wanted to take you somewhere nicer, but since this was a last-minute appointment, this was the only meeting room available.”
“This is more than enough.”
A moment later, Song Sang-yeop brought over some coffee and sat down across from him.
“Please, try some. Our department head is a coffee enthusiast, so the machine and the beans are top-notch. That machine costs tens of thousands of dollars.”
“Wow… I don’t know much about coffee, but the aroma is great.”
He took a light sip after smelling the fragrance. It was definitely different.
‘I used to want to work for a company like this.’
Back then, his dream was to build up experience, get more certifications, and transfer to a company with great benefits and a nice work environment.
Of course, that was just a dream from the past.
Now?
‘I have to succeed as a hunter.’
A path much better than working for a company had opened up for him.
Since he had already started down this road, Lee Taeseong intended to see it through to the very end.
The life he lived until a few months ago—acting as just another replaceable part of society, day after day…
He didn’t live like that because he wanted to.
He did it because he had no choice.
Because of that, Lee Taeseong felt desperate about this second chance he had found.
For the first six months, he had cursed the skill ‘Dream.’
But with this, the future he had only ever imagined would unfold!
“Well then. First off, could you tell me about this mission?”
Song Sang-yeop opened his laptop and turned on a voice recorder.
After hunters completed a mission, they usually recorded the details like this.
Although every mission a hunter experienced was different, there were always overlapping elements—the types of monsters, the traps within the mission, and so on.
There was knowledge that was clearly beneficial to know.
Naturally, they didn’t force anyone who was reluctant to talk, but they usually asked for help for the sake of junior hunters and the nation’s future.
Lee Taeseong had no reason to refuse.
Having lived an average life until now, he actually wanted to brag about this!
“First, what was the score you earned in this mission?”
“It was about 8,000 points.”
“…Pardon?”
For a moment, Song Sang-yeop thought he had misheard. 8,000 points?
Wasn’t that the kind of score only earned by veteran hunters who had cleared dozens of missions?
There was only one thing he could guess.
“Did you… did you achieve a Perfect clear again?”
A Perfect.
It was a rank achieved not just by clearing the mission, but by handling every single occurrence within it flawlessly.
One could clear a mission without doing so, but if achieved, it naturally yielded a massive amount of points.
“Please, tell me the details! Three consecutive Perfects! I want to record this and even include it in the manuals.”
Song Sang-yeop spoke with excitement.
Lee Taeseong’s mouth had been itching to talk anyway, and these words were just the push he needed.
“Haha. Well, how it happened was…”
From then on, Lee Taeseong began to explain what he had experienced step by step.
He described the mission location with a path through the reed fields.
How moving forward cautiously would have cleared the mission, but instead, he immediately turned and entered the reed field…
“Wait, wait a second.”
Song Sang-yeop interrupted him.
‘Is he crazy?’
The path to clearing the mission was clear, so why would he do something like that?
He even said the mission description gave a tip to distract the monsters.
That meant it was a survival mission, not a combat mission.
Yet he ignored all that and went into the reed field anyway?
“…Did you… did you really do that?”
“Yes.”
“You shouldn’t have!”
Song Sang-yeop said, trying his best to manage his frantic emotions.
“Of course, you can have confidence in your skills. But the most important thing is your life.”
A hunter who ignores their own life just because they have a bit of skill cannot last long.
This had already been historically proven.
An arrogant hunter is bound to die in an unexpected mission eventually; one must always prioritize survival and focus on simply clearing the task first.
Song Sang-yeop lectured him on these points for a long time, but Lee Taeseong spoke as if to tell him not to worry.
“I understand what you’re saying, but I value my life very much. I wasn’t being arrogant or prideful. It’s just that I happen to have a movement skill as well. Naturally, I intended to run if things got difficult.”
Lee Taeseong had made all his preparations before entering the third mission.
From equipment to skills.
That was why he was able to make the bold choice to move solely for the points.
However, what surprised Song Sang-yeop was…
‘He had another skill besides that flame-spewing sword?’
If that was the case, the story changed.
It meant he had acted according to his capabilities.
From that point on, Lee Taeseong slowly laid out what he had done.
The more Song Sang-yeop listened, the more horrified he became.
He had intentionally entered the reed field to set it on fire, and when dozens of Swamp Reapers rushed him, he fought and killed them all head-on…
‘Is he lying?’
The monster he said attacked was the Swamp Reaper.
It was a monster Song was familiar with.
According to other hunters, they were small, fast, and had considerable cutting power, making them very difficult to deal with.
Unless a hunter had area-of-effect skills, they were usually creatures to be avoided.
Of course, they did have the weakness of extremely low defense.
Even a basic-issue dagger could kill one if it hit. Right.
*If*
it hit.
‘The problem is that they fly in so fast that a normal person can barely react.’
And he fought them directly with a sword and won?
It was hard to believe, but… he couldn’t lie about a score of 8,000 points.
Eventually, after hearing all of Lee Taeseong’s story, Song Sang-yeop picked up his phone.
‘I need to report this to the department head immediately.’
Ring, ring.
The call went through, but nobody picked up.
Only then did he remember that the department head said he was going into an important meeting.
However, Song Sang-yeop felt that delivering this news was just as important.
Since the boss would definitely complain about why such a vital matter wasn’t reported immediately, Song Sang-yeop summarized what he had just heard and sent it in a text message.
***
On a high floor of the National Hunter Association.
A large conference room next to Executive Director Choi Hyeon-woo’s office.
“Haha. To think the Blue Dragon Guild is starting another business. From the nation’s perspective, your guild’s existence is nothing short of a blessing.”
“That’s right. Having people like Hunter Lee Ye-ji and Hunter Lee Jun-cheol makes us feel very secure.”
A number of people, including Executive Director Choi, were showering the woman sitting opposite them with all sorts of compliments.
Decades had already passed since hunters were born and the mission and Score Shop system appeared.
While hunters possessed powerful individual strength and abilities, they became even stronger when united.
Naturally, guilds—interest groups formed by hunters—were born, and as they collaborated with various corporations, they became powerful forces in their own right.
The Blue Dragon Guild hadn’t been around for very long, but it had grown at a rapid pace to become one of the major guilds supporting South Korea.
This was possible because the siblings who served as the Guild Leader and Vice-Guild Leader were genius hunters.
Among them, the younger sister was Lee Ye-ji, who sat before them now.
Having cleared over a hundred missions by her late twenties and possessing numerous Perfect records, she was a talent the Association watched closely.
‘Lately, the US and China are frantic to poach talent by any means necessary…’
The era of hunters.
That was the current society.
The Score Shop contained all sorts of mysterious substances that didn’t exist on Earth, and it was only natural that the hunters who could buy them held important positions.
Naturally, every country was desperate to bring in outstanding hunters.
The National Hunter Association was a company with shares held by various entities, but it was essentially a semi-public institution.
Their role was to nurture and support hunters as much as possible.
They also helped improve treatment so that hunters wouldn’t emigrate to other countries and would continue living in Korea.
If a hunter like Lee Ye-ji suddenly announced she was naturalizing in the US, it would be a colossal loss for Korea.
That was why they met periodically to ask if there were any inconveniences and to check on her progress, making an effort to see her face often.
“Actually, I have something to tell you. My brother and I are planning to start a new business.”
“Oh. What kind of business is it?”
“New drug development. We’re planning to invest boldly.”
“Wow… That’s a difficult path…”
Manufacturing methods for new drugs also existed in the Score Shop.
[Unknown Drug Recipe]
[Required SC: ?]
[The recipe’s quality improves based on the amount of SC invested.]
Generally, it wasn’t a matter of buying at a fixed price, but a format where a new drug recipe would appear based on how much SC was put in.
Naturally, it wasn’t easy.
If you invested a little score, you’d get a useless, trashy recipe.
Even if you invested a lot, it didn’t guarantee something good.
Even if it was a truly good medicine, if the ingredients weren’t at a level that could be commercialized for profit, you’d just lose your score and that would be the end of it.
Because of this, it was a field many guilds had dabbled in, suffered heavy losses, and never touched again.
“The Blue Dragon Guild has recently joined the ranks of the large guilds, but we’re still lacking compared to the others. So, we’re going to dig deep into this area.”
“Aha. I see. No wonder. I heard you’ve been sending a lot of scout offers to hunters from other guilds whose contracts are nearing an end. You’re aiming for another leap forward.”
The Blue Dragon Guild wanted a clear advantage among the established, star-studded guilds, and so they had started this pharmaceutical business.
Other fields were already dominated by certain guilds, but pharmaceuticals were not.
Just as obesity treatments had once caused a syndrome in the past, if a miraculous drug emerged, they could become a world-class guild in one fell swoop.
Therefore, they were adopting a strategy of recruiting promising hunters with massive capital and pouring scores into the project.
“Then I suppose you’re here today because of issues related to guild expansion into the pharmaceutical field and patent registration procedures.”
“Yes. And tax exemptions on top of that.”
“I understand. While I’ll have to discuss the specifics with the President and consult with other agencies, I will do my best to facilitate this.”
The Association said what it had to say.
If the Blue Dragon Guild succeeded, it was good for the Association too.
Because of that, the meeting was consistently friendly.
However, Department Head Han, who was sitting next to Executive Director Choi, was repeatedly looking at something under the table.
‘Is this man serious?’
The corners of Choi’s eyes twitched.
This was such an important meeting, yet he was looking at his phone instead of focusing.
He gave Han a light nudge with his elbow as a warning.
Even so, Department Head Han didn’t put his phone away.
Just as Director Choi decided he couldn’t take it anymore and was about to speak up, Han cautiously showed him the text message he had just received.
“Director. Take a look at this…”
“What is it now?”
Choi’s gaze turned cold.
He’d have to have a stern talk with him later.
Acting like this in front of Hunter Lee Ye-ji…
Regardless, he looked at the phone.
It was a single text.
“Three consecutive Perfects from the start of his missions…
8,000 points in his third mission…
Hunter Lee Taeseong?
What is this…!?”
Executive Director Choi, who had been reading the text carefully, muttered in shock.
“Director. Could you share what you just said with me as well?”
Lee Ye-ji, her eyes sparkling with interest, leaned forward slightly.