Chapter 54

[54] Oppa, I’m in a Good Mood Today

Right after giving Go Yuna a lesson under the pretense of a spar,

Sia felt wonderfully relieved. A long-standing worry had finally been settled all at once.

That fox of a woman had been flirting with Minjun for some time, and she’d always been a thorn in Sia’s side. But now, she’d managed to get Yuna out of the picture for good.

As expected, after the spar Yuna hurriedly left, making the awkward excuse that something urgent had come up.

Sia had made herself perfectly clear with Dragon Fear. Unless Yuna had a death wish, she wouldn’t go anywhere near Minjun again.

Oppa must’ve been having a hard time because of that woman.

As far as Sia could tell, Minjun had a soft spot, and Yuna’s sly behavior had been so subtle that he hadn’t been able to shake her off.

Minjun had already made up his mind the day before and firmly rejected Yuna, but Sia didn’t know that yet.

In any case,

Sia was still bothered by what had happened at the gathering of dragons, but after giving Yuna such a satisfying smackdown, she felt a little better than she had the day before.

Now that she’d gotten rid of a major nuisance,

Sia called Minjun to celebrate.

“Oppa, have you eaten?”

[No, I was just about to have a hamburger. What about you, Sia?]

“I hadn’t decided what to eat, but now that you mention it, I think I’ll have a hamburger too.”

Unlike yesterday, when she’d sounded somewhat down, today Sia was back to her usual energy, happily chatting with Minjun.

And Minjun noticed the difference.

[You seem to be in a much better mood today.]

“Do I?”

[Yeah. I know I’m saying this late, but you seemed pretty worried yesterday. I’m glad you seem cheerful today.]

Minjun smiled brightly at her, saying he could finally feel a little more at ease.

His radiant smile made Sia’s heart flutter. She gave him a shy smile.

“I guess it really shows.”

[You know, sometimes you’re not very good at hiding your feelings. Did something good happen today?]

At Minjun’s question, Sia smiled and gently pressed her index finger to her lips.

“It’s a secret.”

***

They say a rumor can travel a thousand miles.

Certain topics are bound to spread from person to person, regardless of whether the people involved want them to.

Minjun’s recent rank reassessment was one such case.

It was unusual enough for him to come in for a reassessment less than a month and a half after his last one. But to come out of it two ranks higher?

The staff member who had handled Minjun’s reassessment and the receptionist who had checked his evaluation paperwork told their acquaintances about the astonishing thing they’d witnessed. Within just a few days, rumors about Minjun had spread far and wide.

They reached ordinary people with no connection to the hunter industry, reporters and YouTubers who were always chasing stories like this, and even guild officials.

At the Hanbit Guild, one of the ten largest guilds in South Korea,

“Did someone spice up the rumor along the way? Maybe he only went up one rank in a couple of months.”

Jung Taeseong, an S-rank hunter and the guild master of Hanbit Guild, questioned Lee Rowoon, the vice guild master who had brought him the news.

“That would still be surprising. Why would anyone embellish it? I cross-checked it and looked into it from several angles. It’s unlikely the rumor has been exaggerated.”

“Come on. Does it make any sense for an ordinary D-rank hunter to become a B-rank hunter in a month and a half?”

“I know. But apparently, that’s what happened.”

They had encountered all sorts of hunters while recruiting talented people.

Even so, neither of them had ever seen anyone climb two ranks in less than a month and a half.

Why did the Hunter Association require hunters to pay a separate fee if they requested another reassessment within three months of their last one?

Because ranks weren’t expected to change that quickly, the Association had no reason to waste money on another test.

“Could he have been holding back when he took the previous test?”

“A villain might do that. We’d need to investigate more, but apparently, he’s likely just an honest hunter.”

“Hmm.”

There was a lot about the situation that didn’t make sense. That only made Taeseong more eager to learn about him.

If the hunter wasn’t a villain, and there was no dangerous secret behind his explosive growth—if he simply had overwhelming potential—

there was no reason not to recruit him.

In fact, they absolutely had to.

Even if he already belonged to another guild, they should be willing to pay a huge transfer fee.

They never knew when another top prospect like him might appear.

If they missed this opportunity, they couldn’t be sure when they’d find someone of his caliber again.

“Is that hunter affiliated with a guild?”

“He isn’t now, and he never was. Still, shouldn’t we look into him first?”

“Find out everything you can. Whatever it takes, use every means available.”

Taeseong knew that if the other top-ten guilds had heard this rumor, they’d be entering the race to recruit that hunter without hesitation.

A B-rank hunter was nothing unusual for a large guild. But the rank itself wasn’t what mattered.

A hunter with that kind of growth rate was bound to reach S-rank someday.

And there was a good chance he could surpass it and become an SS-rank hunter.

It was all speculation for now, but perhaps one day he might even become an SSS-rank hunter who represented South Korea.

Taeseong knew the other large-guild masters would be thinking the same thing.

That was why waiting until the hunter’s story appeared in the news would be too late.

They had to move quickly if they wanted to recruit him.

The other guilds would be rushing to act as soon as they heard the news, too.

“Tell the HR team to start preparing the offer immediately. Make sure the signing bonus is generous enough that no other guild can outbid us.”

“I knew you’d say that, so I already told them.”

Act first, report later.

Lee Rowoon had also decided that they’d have no chance unless they moved even half a step faster. So as soon as he heard the news, he’d already given the HR team their instructions.

“Just as I thought.”

After confirming that the recruitment process for Minjun was underway, he began flipping through the files containing the contract terms they’d offered other promising hunters.

As befitted one of South Korea’s top ten guilds, the contracts offered terms that most mid-sized guilds could only dream of. But he knew even those terms wouldn’t be nearly enough to land this hunter.

I wonder how quickly his value will rise.

A bidding war mattered, but Rowoon decided that the race against time mattered even more.

With growth that explosive, the media would soon start chasing the story as soon as word got around.

They would probably run feature after feature, building up expectations for the promising young hunter.

And as more articles came out, his market value would skyrocket accordingly.

Rowoon’s prediction was right.

Most of South Korea’s top ten guilds, along with other major guilds, were already taking an interest in Minjun.

The news had also reached the media. Reporters were starting to write articles, and scrambling to find Minjun’s contact information so they could request interviews.

It was the calm before the storm.

But Minjun himself was spending an ordinary day, completely unaware of all this.

After ending my video call with Sia, I was finally able to relax.

Yesterday, she’d seemed to be forcing herself to smile so I wouldn’t worry about her. But the smile she’d shown me today had been genuine.

I didn’t know what had happened between yesterday and today to put her in such a good mood, but I was glad to see her smiling again.

I’d been worried she might still be down today, like she was yesterday.

Anyway,

I’d just finished my call with Sia and was about to take another bite of my hamburger when my phone suddenly rang.

Who could that be?

The number wasn’t saved in my contacts.

I usually didn’t answer calls from unknown numbers, but for some reason, I had a feeling it was okay to pick up this one.

“Hello?”

[Am I speaking with Hunter Yoon Minjun?]

“Yes, this is he.”

Not “Mr. Yoon Minjun,” but “Hunter Yoon Minjun.”

That was when I started to get the feeling that something was different from usual.

[Hello, I’m Min Yunseo, a reporter with NBS. I’m calling about your recent—]

I knew what this was about before she could finish.

News of my rank reassessment had started spreading.

I hadn’t told anyone besides Sia and Rokan, but it was bound to get out eventually.

It had happened a little sooner than I’d expected, though.

In the past, I probably would’ve agreed to an interview right away, thinking about how it might raise my profile.

I would’ve been focused on using that attention to get better terms from a prestigious guild.

But things were different now.

Would joining a guild really be the smart choice?

Probably not.

And becoming famous by appearing on TV wouldn’t do me much good, either.

Even as I tried to sort things out, the reporter continued speaking.

[...So, if you’re willing, we’d like to interview you. Just let us know what time and place would be convenient for you, and we’ll come to you.]

“I’m sorry, but I’m not interested in doing interviews.”

I politely declined and was about to hang up.

But then—

[Have you perhaps already arranged an exclusive interview with another network?]

“...Excuse me?”

What was she talking about?

“Oh, I only wondered because you turned us down. I thought you might already have an exclusive interview lined up somewhere else.”

“I don’t have any interviews scheduled, and I’m not planning to do any in the future. I’d like to live quietly. I’m going to hang up now.”

After ending the call, I went back to my lunch.

But—

Just when I thought I could finally eat in peace, the phone rang again.

It hadn’t even been long since I hung up, and once again, the number was unfamiliar.

Still, for some reason, I already had a feeling I knew who it was.

“Hello?”

[Hello, is this Hunter Yoon Minjun? I’m Choi Jaewook, head of HR at Hanbit Guild.]

The first call had been from the media. This one was from a guild.

And not just any guild, but Hanbit Guild, one of South Korea’s top ten.

[The reason I’m calling is that if you’re not currently affiliated with a guild, we’d like to invite you to join ours. I apologize for contacting you so directly.]

They wouldn’t have approached me with no information at all. They must have heard about my rank reassessment somewhere.

But no matter how good the offer was, joining a guild—even one of the top ten in Korea—would only hinder my growth.

Unlike other hunters, I could only grow stronger by awakening the dragon’s power sleeping within me.

Neither clearing gates nor a guild’s hunter-training program could ever help me reach my goal.

I felt a little awkward, but I turned down the offer too.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not planning to join any guild right now.”

[Have you already received an offer from another guild? Please hear us out first. If our terms don’t suit you, we can do our best to tailor them to what you want.]

Maybe it was just my imagination, but the way he spoke reminded me of the reporter who’d called earlier.

They both seemed determined to secure me by any means necessary.

I wasn’t used to getting this much attention, and it felt a little strange.

Still, that was that.

As before, I politely made it clear that I wasn’t interested.

“For personal reasons, I’m not planning to join a guild right now. I’m sorry.”

[...I see. If you change your mind, please feel free to contact us anytime.]

After hanging up,

I tried to finish my lunch and get back to what I’d been doing.

But from that point on, my phone kept ringing nonstop.

Whenever I answered, the calls were always either interview requests or recruitment pitches from guilds.

At first, I was surprised that people were reaching out to me at all. But after getting so many similar calls, I was starting to get tired of them.

I even considered turning off my phone for a day or two, but that would cause its own problems.

If Sia called while my phone was off, she’d probably worry that something had happened.

Wait.

Since I was thinking about Sia anyway, why not call her?

At least while I was on the phone with her, nobody else could call.

Exhausted by the barrage of calls, I called Sia to take a breather.