The strange woman returned to her seat and kept glancing at me.
I could hear her muttering to herself that she couldn’t believe it.
The meeting with Demon King Im Jaejoon didn’t last long.
“Team Leader Lee, you can go in now.”
The desk employee spoke to the man in the black hat and suit as well.
“Uh, could it be Seohyeonji?”
“Hello.”
The desk employee, usually professional, looked surprised when she saw the man in the black hat.
“You’re Seohyeonji from City of Murderers, right? Wow, no way! What should I do!”
“Please take good care of me from now on.”
“From now on? Wow! H-Hey, is this the guest who was supposed to come today…!”
The desk employee realized she was overreacting and covered her mouth, glancing around awkwardly.
Then she forced herself to calm down and said, “Sorry, I’m just a fan and forgot my manners for a moment. Let me guide you.”
“Thank you.”
The man in the black hat spoke softly while glancing at me.
His shoulders lifted slightly in pride.
Was he a celebrity? So what?
The man in the black hat tipped his hat slightly, then removed his sunglasses and smiled confidently.
“Would you like my autograph?”
“No.”
The black hat’s pupils flickered.
Why would he even offer an autograph?
Did he have some kind of obsession that he only felt popular if he gave autographs?
“Sorry to have kept you waiting. You must be busy already.”
Im Jaejoon, dressed neatly in a suit, greeted with a smile at the corner of his mouth.
“Team Leader Lee, introduce yourself. This is Seohyeonji, who just signed with our Hanul Guild. She’s quite famous these days, you know?”
“Not really.”
“My recognition isn’t that high yet, so most people don’t know her. But as she works with Hanul, she’ll become better known.”
Seohyeonji smiled brightly. Then she glanced at me and spoke again.
“Is this person going to be my manager?”
“Probably. Though he just became a team leader recently, his skills are outstanding.”
Im Jaejoon ruffled my face playfully.
“Is the contract condition I offered to Hanul still valid, President?”
“Yes. She’ll be the exclusive model for Hanul, and we’ll support her expanding activities.”
“Team Leader, I’m sorry for earlier. I thought you might be a fan of mine.”
“Oh, yes.”
Seohyeonji took off her hat and sunglasses and smiled brightly. She did look a bit like a celebrity now. Her face was very small. That probably lowered her chance of being targeted.
The man in a suit standing next to Seohyeonji frowned and spoke.
“President, I hate to say this, but many guilds were after Hyunji.”
“Yes, I know.”
“She decided to sign with Hanul because we promised support for her career as an actor-hunter. But…”
The suited man pointed a finger at me.
I really dislike being finger-pointed at by others.
Is it okay if I break that finger?
“I did some research on the team leader over there. Middle school graduate, and only just awakened as a Hunter a little over a month ago. Does it make sense for such a person to manage S-rank Hunter Seohyeonji?”
“Oppa, that’s a bit….”
“No, this needs to be clear. I have no ill will toward the team leader. Don’t misunderstand. You know how important this time is for Hyunji, right? She’s just starting to get famous thanks to the drama, and she needs wings, not shackles…”
I recalled when I went around for guild interviews in the past.
Including Fighting God Guild and other guilds, it was almost impossible to get even an interview opportunity.
The reason was my background.
Dragged into another world just before my senior high school exams, nearly ten years there made me a hero, but here I was just seen as a social misfit.
If only I could include my experience in the other world on my resume, I’d be considered a top talent.
The only fortunate thing was that the union chief knew about my past.
“I understand what you’re saying.”
Im Jaejoon nodded at the suited man’s words, then crossed his legs and raised the corner of his mouth in a smirk.
“The best Hunter in our guild right now, in my opinion, is Team Leader Lee Hyunbin. Of course, he’s an S-rank Awakened, and we wouldn’t entrust him to just anyone.”
“But… initially, we thought of Cho Jin-ho, team leader of Hanul’s first team.”
“He transferred to another guild a few days ago.”
“Ah…!”
The suited man’s face showed a hint of disappointment.
“There have been rumors that this team leader is a parachute recruit due to his gaps in career. But frankly, just looking at his record proves otherwise.”
Cleared lower-grade dungeons solo.
Even hunted down the boss that spawned by himself.
“This team leader was the one who defeated the office worker villain on his first day of Awakening.”
“The person who caught that villainous office worker was him?”
The villain office worker was well known, but I wasn’t famous for catching him.
“And the Hunters this team leader has trained over the past six months are all performing remarkably. You know Kim Cheolsu from Hwarang Guild?”
“Yeah, Mad Dog Kim Cheolsu.”
His nickname came from never letting go of an opponent once he had a grip.
That was how I earned the trust of the former team leader of Hwarang Guild.
At first, he was even worse than Kim Taeyang. It took a lot of work to train him.
“This team leader was the one who trained Kim Cheolsu.”
“Really?”
Usually, stories about training new Hunters don’t spread outside. I saw the suited man’s eyes shift slightly after hearing that.
“Ko Saeil from Goguryeo Guild is also this team leader’s work.”
“Human Weapon Ko Saeil, too?”
The list of Hunters I had trained came one after another.
It was a little surprising that he remembered all their names.
Seohyeonji stared at me quietly, her expression one of surprise.
“Though brief, his skills are well proven. I personally recognized all his authority.”
“If all that’s true…”
“I think you misunderstood me.”
There was a chill in Im Jaejoon’s voice.
“It’s a little disappointing to doubt my choice. What do you think?”
“Oh no, that’s not what I meant…”
“No?”
As if the tension just broke, Im Jaejoon rinsed his mouth with tea.
“It almost sounded like you were ordering me around.”
“Oh no, me? How could you misunderstand like that?”
The suited man broke into a cold sweat and bowed deeply at Im Jaejoon’s words.
No matter how rare S-rank Awakened are, no one dared oppose someone chosen as Hanul’s successor from a chaebol family.
“Team Leader Lee, what do you think?”
“Could we see her ability?”
Seohyeonji used her ability as if it were nothing difficult.
A low murmur.
Around her, patterns formed in dozens of strokes automatically.
Whoosh!
The air in the lounge heated up instantly. A bird wreathed in flames appeared, burning the air itself.
Ifrit of Flames.
In this science-dominated world, supernatural phenomena were revealing themselves through the system’s help.
The flames quickly dissolved into the air.
Seohyeonji smiled confidently and said,
“I’ve contracted all Four Great Elements.”
“Honestly, isn’t Hyunji a masterpiece? Plus, she even summons spirits. This is the birth of an all-time great Hunter, isn’t it?”
Certainly, there was an S-rank Spirit Summoner in Hong Kong who controlled all Four Great Elements. But the spirit Seohyeonji just summoned looked even more dazzling.
“Can you summon spirits of other elements as well?”
“Do you think I’d lie?”
Seohyeonji answered after hearing me.
“How long can you keep them summoned?”
“Hm?”
“About five to ten seconds.”
“What are you talking about?”
Seohyeonji blinked, but before she could answer, the suited man beside her interrupted with a smile.
“Hyunji just finished a broadcast schedule today. She’s tired, so asking her to do this and that isn’t fair…”
“Will you ask her to come back later when she’s tired during a fight with enemies, too?”
I spoke dryly. A sigh slipped out naturally. Of course.
I thought I was getting a great S-rank Hunter on my team, but this is a complete mess.
“No, maybe your team leader doesn’t know yet. Hyunji’s profile is as both a Hunter and an actress…”
“You’re the one who doesn’t know. I get it. She’s trying to be different from others but isn’t selling well. She wants the world’s attention with the Hunter profile.”
“Hey, are you crazy?”
The suited man, probably Seohyeonji’s manager, blushed fiercely, glared at me, then looked at Im Jaejoon.
It was a look that said, “Please stop him,” but Im Jaejoon didn’t intervene.
After all, Im Jaejoon and I weren’t boss and subordinate but allies seeking mutual benefit.
“Let’s just evaluate the ability. It’s impressive. But her level isn’t high, her stamina is low, and without proper training, there are limits. Can you fill a soy sauce dish with water poured into it?”
Honestly, she had talent.
Definitely an S-rank Hunter. But a raw gem left unpolished will quickly fall behind.
“Isn’t Hanul also desperate for S-rank names?”
You need top-level Hunters for bidding on dungeons.
Im Jaejoon wanted an S-rank Hunter for the highest-level dungeon raids.
“I’m not interested in cleaning up mannequins’ messes. If you really want to get stronger, come then.”
S-rank or not, I didn’t need someone with no real intent.
“Go to another team. You’re not needed on mine.”
“Wow, unbelievable. Even their president stays quiet, so who does he think he is?”
Seohyeonji’s manager was outraged and loosened his tie.
“Good riddance. She can go to another team. Or better yet, cancel the contract and move to another guild.”
The manager was still fuming.
Seohyeonji’s popularity had been rising recently. The image of a beautiful Hunter working for justice was very profitable.
“How did you know?”
“Hm? Know what?”
“That her ability’s duration was short.”
Most others would be dazzled by the dazzling flames. But Team Leader Lee looked indifferent.
No, he looked down on the rookie. And he was only a C-rank Hunter himself.
“Must have just guessed.”
“I told her to come if she really wanted to get stronger.”
“Hm? What are you talking about?”
The manager was flustered by Seohyeonji’s sudden words.
Looking into Seohyeonji’s eyes, it seemed a switch had been flipped somewhere strange.
“Thinking about it, I got played.”
“Played?”
“Mad Dog Kim Cheolsu from Hwarang Guild is one of the top B-rank Hunters. For him to have gotten stronger under a newbie trainer who hasn’t even awakened—that’s just a lie.”
After discussing the guild’s future plans with Im Jaejoon, I headed to the team office.
I exchanged light greetings with the somewhat familiar yet unfamiliar guild staff.
“Why did you call us today?”
The staff of the third team came in with bright smiles and sat down in the meeting room.
Especially the talkative Jo Hanseon grinned broadly and crossed his legs.
“I heard you’re going on a mid-rank dungeon run. Is it because of that?”
Jo Hanseon asked with a teasing look.
As if asking what I planned to do alone.
I smiled plainly and handed everyone a folder.
“I’ll go into the mid-rank dungeon alone. You’re not ready yet.”
“What? You’re going into mid-rank alone?”
Jo Hanseon and the others showed surprised expressions.
Their confident faces breaking apart was quite amusing.
“What is this, Team Leader Lee…?”
Deputy Manager Kim Kimon looked puzzled after seeing the document folder I gave him.
“Forty million won…?”
“Thirty-five million…”
Each guessed a different amount.
But the attached contents were probably similar.
“It says twenty million here?”
Deputy Manager Kim Kimon said politely with a smile.
“This is the basic salary table. You’re not supposed to share this, but since we’ll need to negotiate anyway…”
The atmosphere in the meeting room froze at my words.
“This is the value I think you all have.”
I gave them a small smile.