With the monsters near the secondary defense line finally cleared, the B-rank Dungeon Break that had put South Korea on edge came to an end without any significant casualties.
And now…
“Mr. Seong-jun. I was truly surprised. I was certain you were an Irregular, but you were even more incredible than I imagined.”
“Ahem, nice to meet you. I am Choi Tae-seok from the Paehwang Guild. What I saw earlier was amazing. Any interest in joining the Paehwang Guild? We’ll give you the best treatment.”
“Hey, Choi Tae-seok. You can’t just cut in like that. Nice to meet you. I am Lim Jae-hun from Garion. If you come to Garion, we will offer you a more exceptional package than any other guild in the country.”
“Tsk, tsk. Do you think all the top ten guilds are on the same level? Listen, Kim Seong-jun. It might be fine if you only want to play in this small Korean pond, but if you want to go out into the wider world, you should at least join a guild that has an S-rank hunter. Come to our Changcheon Guild.”
Representatives from the nation’s top ten guilds, including Yu Se-hyeon, swarmed around Seong-jun.
Seong-jun’s performance today was truly incredible — enough for him to be called a one-man strategic weapon.
Because of this, everyone was feverishly trying to recruit him.
“Hehehe, S-rank? Even so, they can’t clear an A-rank dungeon alone anyway. But with Kim Seong-jun, the story changes. That buff, that healing ability… and with that much offensive power, he’d make clearing A-rank dungeons possible in an instant for any guild here. Ah! Of course, I can’t guarantee a boss clear yet.”
Even the massive entities known as the top ten guilds had not yet successfully cleared an A-rank dungeon on their own.
Frankly, even clearing a B-rank dungeon alone was no easy task, so how could they possibly tackle an A-rank one?
However, with Seong-jun’s buffs, it was a different story.
They might not know about the boss yet, but at the very least, they would be able to handle ordinary monsters.
And that alone was guaranteed to bring immense profit to a guild.
Of course, the person in question, Seong-jun, had no particular interest in those things.
“Some of you already know this, but I’ll state it clearly here. I have no intention of joining anywhere for at least one year. I plan to spend my time hunting comfortably with my party members here. Whether I join a guild or not is something I’ll consider after one year.”
Once he underwent the Re-awakening Test, his status as an A-rank would be confirmed.
Then, not just domestic guilds but overseas guilds would likely send him invitations.
Even so, Seong-jun wanted to give himself a one-year grace period.
Originally, he had planned to consider joining a guild after becoming an A-rank, but he had changed his mind.
Though he didn’t know if he would take additional Re-awakening Tests by then, he judged that in about one year, he could look forward to reaching at least SS-rank or even SSS-rank.
In all honesty, no matter how much of an Irregular Seong-jun was, he wasn’t in a position of absolute power yet.
He still felt lacking compared to S-ranks, who were called one-man strategic weapons.
Furthermore, while the top ten guilds were acting humble now to recruit him, they were types who could flip from being the underdog to the dominant party at any moment.
But by then, Seong-jun would be an absolute existence capable of maintaining the upper hand in any situation.
Most importantly, he thought that by then, he might even be able to clear an A-rank dungeon just by taking Gwang-taek and Yu-seon with him.
“One year. Well, it’s long if you think it’s long, but it’s also a short amount of time. Fine! Our Paehwang Guild can wait that long! So, enjoy your freedom to the fullest and come to Paehwang after one year! Hahahaha!”
“What are you talking about? Do you think an S-rank will just appear in Paehwang because a year passes? He should obviously come to our Changcheon, which already has an S-rank as its Guild Master. Kim Seong-jun, the doors of Changcheon are always wide open. If you’re worried about coming alone, we’ll give the other two the best treatment as well, so come together.”
ToOne year wasn’t that long of a time for them.
If they could bring Seong-jun in after waiting one year, there was no reason they couldn’t wait.
Furthermore, if Seong-jun decided to join somewhere now, the remaining guilds would have to just suck their thumbs and watch.
But since a one-year grace period had been established, they could now take their time and slowly win him over.
For them, a one-year timeframe was by no means a bad condition.
Then, Yu Se-hyeon, who had been quietly watching, approached Seong-jun.
“Ah! Mr. Seong-jun. We shouldn’t be doing this here. Shouldn’t you be heading to the Sinduri shelter right away?”
At Yu Se-hyeon’s words, Seong-jun looked troubled as he spoke.
“I should, but the cleanup here isn’t finished yet.”
Since the number of monsters was so large, it looked like it would take a considerable amount of time just to organize everything.
Yu Se-hyeon smiled and said, “Don’t worry about that. While we’re cleaning up our share, we’ll take care of what your group caught as well. We’ll even finish the settlement calculations neatly and send it over.”
Since Glory was the first support team to arrive, the number of monsters they had hunted was not small.
Nevertheless, Yu Se-hyeon offered to handle the monsters hunted by Seong-jun’s party while they processed their own.
He even offered to handle the financial settlement perfectly.
“Would you really do that? Then I’d be grateful.”
“Haha, don’t worry and go ahead. Your uncle and aunt must be waiting. Oh! And you haven’t forgotten our lunch appointment for tomorrow, right?”
When Yu Se-hyeon asked as if to confirm, Seong-jun nodded and replied.
“Of course. Then I’ll trust you with this, Guild Master Yu Se-hyeon, and head out first. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yes, I’ll visit the pension you told me about earlier tomorrow.”
Yu Se-hyeon said this while flashing a triumphant smile at the other guild masters.
He was openly showing them that Glory was at least one step ahead of them.
Ultimately, Seong-jun left the scene cleanup to Yu Se-hyeon and departed with Gwang-taek and Yu-seon.
***
In front of the Sinduri shelter.
As soon as the Dungeon Break ended, the tightly closed iron gates were opened, and the people inside the shelter could finally come out.
Before opening the gates, the safety of the area had already been secured, so there was no need to worry about any potential incidents.
People poured out and headed their separate ways, but Lee Seon-jae and Yu Mi-ran stayed in place.
It was because they believed their nephew, Seong-jun, would come here.
After waiting for a long time…
“Uncle! Aunt!”
The Seong-jun they had been waiting for appeared.
“Seong-jun!”
As soon as they spotted Seong-jun’s group, Lee Seon-jae and Yu Mi-ran ran over instantly.
They checked every inch of Seong-jun to see if he was injured anywhere.
“Are you hurt anywhere? And you! You said you would hide nearby, so why did you go to the scene? What were we supposed to do if something went wrong!”
Since the situation on-site was being broadcast live, they could see what was happening even while in the shelter.
And when Seong-jun’s group appeared at the main defense line, Lee Seon-jae and Yu Mi-ran couldn’t describe how shocked they were.
How could he go to such a place?
Of course, they were later left speechless by the performance of Seong-jun, Gwang-taek, and Yu-seon, but as his family, they couldn’t help but worry.
“I planned to do that, but after thinking it over, I felt it would be more dangerous if the main defense line collapsed. A situation we couldn’t handle on our own might have occurred. Besides, at least several hundred hunters were gathered there. I judged that fighting alongside hundreds was safer than the three of us fighting alone.”
Perhaps finding some logic in Seong-jun’s words, the expressions of Lee Seon-jae and Yu Mi-ran softened slightly.
“I have eyes, too, so I know how amazing you are. But a hunter is still a person. If you’re cut by a blade, you bleed; if you’re hit by an iron pipe, your bones break. So you must be careful and careful again. Got it?”
Looking at Lee Seon-jae, who spoke with a worried expression, Seong-jun smiled.
“Yes, I’ll be more careful from now on. Safety first! Safety second! Hahaha.”
Seeing Seong-jun joking around, Lee Seon-jae shook his head.
“Always with the jokes. Oh! And someone has been waiting since earlier to thank you once you arrived. Ms. Ji-yeon! Please come over.”
As soon as Seon-jae finished speaking, the mother and children for whom Seong-jun’s group had given up their spots approached cautiously.
“Thank you so much for earlier. I was so anxious that something might happen to my children. Thanks to you giving up your spots, I was able to stay safe with them.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the children each chimed in.
“Mister! Thank you!”
“Th-thank you.”
Looking at the children, Seong-jun smiled and stroked their heads.
“I only did what I should naturally do as a hunter. And you little ones! Listen to your mother and don’t get into trouble. Got it?”
At Seong-jun’s words, the boy who appeared to be the older brother spoke with a determined voice.
“I saw you on TV! The camera kept focusing only on you! So I told my mom earlier! I’m going to grow up and be a hunter like you!”
At the boy’s words, Seong-jun looked at him and said, “Is that so? Being a hunter is great. But do you know? To be a hunter, you have to be really good at studying. Is our little guy good at studying?”
The boy then asked hesitantly, “St-studying? How good do I have to be?”
“Well… I was in the top ten of my class, and I only barely became a hunter. So shouldn’t you be in the top ten too?”
In reality, Seong-jun had been completely estranged from studying.
And studying had absolutely nothing to do with becoming a hunter.
It was simply a matter of whether one could awaken or not.
Despite that, he spoke this way because the children’s mother was right there, intending to mean they should listen to their mother and study hard.
“Gasp! Top ten! R-really?”
“Of course. So if you want to be a hunter, listen to your mom and study hard. It would be a shame if you managed to awaken but couldn’t become a hunter because you were bad at studying, wouldn’t it?”
“I-I get it! I’m going to study really hard starting now!”
As the brother spoke while clenching his fists, the girl next to him spoke softly in a tiny voice.
“I… I’ll study hard and become a hunter, too…”
Seeing the children like that, Seong-jun wore a satisfied expression.
“Right, you little ones. Study hard and be sure to become hunters later. And when you become hunters, come find me. I’ll give you each a gift to celebrate becoming a hunter.”
After saying that, he rumpled their hair with another stroke.
The mother then looked at the children and said, “You heard him, right? To become a hunter, you have to listen to your mom and study hard. Can you do it?”
“Yes! Mom! I’m going to study hard from now on and definitely become a hunter!”
“M-me too…”
Hearing the children’s responses, the mother then looked at Seong-jun.
“I’m truly grateful. You gave up your shelter spots, and you gave the children such good advice. I don’t know how to repay this kindness…”
The mother was sincerely grateful to Seong-jun.
Even though they wouldn’t have suffered a terrible fate since the monsters failed to break the line, that was only clear in hindsight.
At the time, no one knew how the situation would unfold.
Gladly giving up their spots for children was something that required great courage.
Even if, for Seong-jun’s group, it hadn’t particularly required any courage at all.
“Don’t call it kindness. There’s no need to think of it that way. Frankly, as a hunter, it wouldn’t look good for me to be taking up a spot in a shelter. Anyway, everything ended well, so all’s well that ends well. Hahahaha.”
Even if it hadn’t been for the children, Seong-jun had intended to head outside the shelter.
If an emergency occurred, it would have been easier to face monsters outside rather than from within the shelter.
While they were having various conversations outside the shelter…
“Hunter Kim Seong-jun?”
One of the shelter managers approached Seong-jun’s group.
“Hmm? Yes, I’m Kim Seong-jun.”
“Ah! Hello! I am Guk Jung-seong, the manager of the Sinduri shelter management team. I saw your performance vividly through the live broadcast. You were truly incredible.”
At the management team leader’s words, Seong-jun replied casually.
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
Seeing Seong-jun like that, Manager Guk Jung-seong spoke with a serious expression.
“Ahem, the reason I’m here is because I just received a call from the Association President. The President came to the scene personally, but unfortunately, he missed you because you had already left. That’s why he wishes to see you, Hunter Kim Seong-jun.”
Out of nowhere, the Association President?
Seong-jun asked with a puzzled expression.
“The President wants to see me? No, why?”
“W-well, I’m not sure about the details… Anyway, knowing that Hunter Kim Seong-jun’s family was here, he asked me to make sure I delivered the message if you came here.”
Though he didn’t know why the President wanted to see him, Seong-jun judged that it was too late and he was too tired for now.
“Well, meeting him isn’t difficult. But it’s very late now, and we’re tired. I already have a lunch appointment with Guild Master Yu Se-hyeon of Glory tomorrow. I’ll be going up to Seoul tomorrow afternoon anyway, so I’ll stop by the Association then. I can take the Re-awakening Test while I’m at it. Please convey that to him.”
He had been planning to take the Re-awakening Test anyway, so it seemed like a good idea to do it while heading to meet the Association President.
At Seong-jun’s words, the manager said he would convey the message.
Once the situation was roughly settled, Seong-jun moved back to the pension where they were originally staying with his uncle and aunt.
***
When Seong-jun’s group arrived at the pension, it was completely empty.
Both the owner and the staff were missing, likely having evacuated and not yet returned.
The fortunate thing was that they had the key, so there was no problem getting into the room.
In the end, they went to sleep without even properly eating the food they had prepared, and the day passed just like that.
And then, the next day at lunch.
“Mr. Seong-jun!”
Yu Se-hyeon visited the pension along with Vice Guild Master Kang Shin-woo.
“Guild Master Yu Se-hyeon. I’ve been waiting. This is my uncle and aunt.”
“Ah! I see. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Yu Se-hyeon.”
How many people in South Korea wouldn’t know Yu Se-hyeon?
It was safe to say that most people knew the leaders of the top ten guilds, as they were frequently exposed in the media.
“My goodness! Yu Se-hyeon! To think I’d get to meet such a great person. It’s truly an honor!”
Even if one wasn’t an Awakened, things reported through various media outlets were bound to be known.
Lee Seon-jae and Yu Mi-ran were also well aware of how great and famous Yu Se-hyeon was.
At Lee Seon-jae’s reaction, Vice Guild Master Kang Shin-woo quickly stepped forward and spoke.
“Our Guild Master is indeed great, but Mr. Seong-jun and his companions are just as incredible. Especially Mr. Seong-jun; his performance was no less impressive than an S-rank’s, whom we call one-man strategic weapons. In terms of yesterday’s performance alone, he was far more amazing than our Guild Master.”
As Kang Shin-woo said, Seong-jun had performed more overwhelmingly than anyone else there yesterday.
Of course, since it was his official debut, he had intended to make it as flashy as possible, but even aside from that, no one else had performed like Seong-jun.
Perhaps Yu-seon was the closest?
But regardless of that, in terms of recognition, the leaders and executives of the top ten guilds, including Yu Se-hyeon, were still higher.
They had been consistently active for years, whereas Seong-jun was practically a rising star who had just appeared.
“Vice Guild Master Kang Shin-woo is praising me too much. No matter how great I am, could I really be more amazing than Guild Master Yu Se-hyeon? Haha, anyway, let’s head out to eat soon. I’ve been waiting since morning without eating anything because you said you’d buy lunch.”
Just then…
“Would it be okay if I joined you for that lunch?”
Someone suddenly interrupted and approached them.
Yu Se-hyeon turned his gaze toward him.
“Hmm? Who… Gasp! Ch-Choi Kang-hyeok! No, what are you doing here…?”
Choi Kang-hyeok.
He was one of only two S-rank hunters in South Korea and the Guild Master of Changcheon.
His class was a melee dealer, a Warrior, and his specific class name was Lightning Knight.
He was known to possess an incredible attack speed that was hard to follow with the eyes and could multiply his damage by forming lightning energy with his aura.
Among the seventy-five S-rank hunters in the entire world, he was ranked 32nd.
“I heard the news that a B-rank Dungeon Break occurred in Korea while I was unfortunately in the United States. So I pushed all my schedules aside and rushed back, but what do you know? The situation was already over. So I asked my Vice Guild Master, and he showed me the video. You’re Kim Seong-jun, right? You didn’t seem like an ordinary healer.”
Choi Kang-hyeok, who had gone to the U.S. at the invitation of the International Awakened Association, had returned to Korea immediately upon hearing about the B-rank Dungeon Break.
Though the Korean hunter force might have been able to stop it somehow, massive casualties were expected in the process.
However, upon arriving in Korea, the Dungeon Break had already been neatly dealt with.
There were no civilian casualties, and property damage was almost nonexistent.
Most importantly, the damage to the participating hunters was also very minimal.
How was this possible?
Even in the U.S., which possessed twelve S-rank hunters, it was impossible to suppress a B-rank Dungeon Break with such minimal damage.
So he looked into it and found that Seong-jun was at the center of it.
“Ah, yes. I suppose I’m not a typical healer. But even so, I’m not sure if I’m worthy of the attention of a great S-rank like Hunter Choi Kang-hyeok.”
“You underestimate yourself too much. People call us S-ranks one-man strategic weapons. It’s because a single person can influence the direction of a battle. And the battle I saw yesterday… its direction was determined by you alone, Kim Seong-jun. I don’t know exactly what your rank is, but you performed in a way that makes the term ‘one-man strategic weapon’ appropriate.”
As Choi Kang-hyeok said, it was a fact that the battle yesterday was won without casualties thanks to Seong-jun’s performance, and Seong-jun himself was aware of this fact.
In other words, Seong-jun wasn’t underestimating himself at all.
He was simply acting cautiously because it was ambiguous whether receiving the attention of an S-rank at this point was a gain or a loss.
“Thank you for the kind words.”
After saying that, Seong-jun immediately cast Deep Analysis.
‘What is it? Why would an S-rank hunter come all the way here to see me? It feels like there’s some other motive. I’ll have to check. Deep Analysis!’
He was fully aware of his great performance yesterday, but even so, for an S-rank to come all this way just to see him…
He couldn’t help but think this wasn’t simply out of curiosity, but for some specific purpose.
Therefore, he intended to confirm Choi Kang-hyeok’s intentions through Deep Analysis.