The Hunter Association's website doesn't list hunters' addresses either. All you can find are names and grades. Hunters can add personal information voluntarily, but Jin-Woo hadn't left behind even the most basic contact details. Yet here they were—not only knowing his phone number but staking out near his home. It was clear they'd done their homework.
'Ah, come to think of it...'
A thought suddenly crossed his mind.
"So it was you guys I kept sensing staring at me all day?" Jin-Woo's voice dropped to a low, cold tone. The other party promptly relayed an apology in a polite voice.
—I'm sorry if we caused any discomfort. We simply wanted to verify the facts. If we'd intended to do anything that would harm you, Hunter, we wouldn't have reached out in the first place. Once you hear us out, I'm sure you'll find it to your liking. After a brief moment of deliberation, Jin-Woo opened his lips.
"...I'll head over soon."
***
"Hunters, Death, Knights, Fame, and of course, our Baek-Ho. You've probably heard of all five at some point."
Ahn Sang-Min listed South Korea's five major guilds one by one. Among them, the number one was Hunters. But Hunters hadn't always been the top guild. That spot originally belonged to the Death Guild. However, when Baek-Ho split off from Death, the number one position changed hands. They called it the student surpassing the master, didn't they? Baek-Ho Guild, having gone independent from Death, had long since outpaced its former parent. And now it was gunning for the top spot that Death once held. Ahn Sang-Min was certain. The man sitting across from him, Sung Jin-Woo, would be a tremendous asset in restoring Baek-Ho's former glory. Ahn Sang-Min slid a business card across the table.
_Baek-Ho Guild, Second Administration Division, Section Chief Ahn Sang-Min.
"I'm Ahn Sang-Min, Section Chief of the Second Administration Division at Baek-Ho Guild, one of those five major guilds, responsible for recruiting and managing new hunters."
If it had been any other hunter, they would have bowed their head ninety degrees before the business card even reached their hands. Unless you were a top-tier S-rank or A-rank, Baek-Ho Guild was an object of aspiration. Ahn Sang-Min had inwardly expected as much. But Jin-Woo was different. Without any particular reaction, he calmly asked what he wanted.
"If you work for Baek-Ho Guild, why did you have me investigated?"
Ahn Sang-Min flinched.
'He didn't flinch even after hearing the name Baek-Ho Guild.'
They'd barely exchanged a few words, yet he already had a gut feeling that recruiting Sung Jin-Woo wouldn't be easy. At the same time, it made him all the more determined to bring Jin-Woo into the guild. A little boldness in a new recruit wasn't a bad thing.
'Right. You need at least this much backbone to be useful anywhere.'
Ahn Sang-Min steeled his resolve once more.
"Let me be direct. We want to recruit you, Sung Jin-Woo. We'll guarantee you double whatever conditions Yoojin Construction offered—no questions asked."
Ahn Sang-Min smiled. Yoojin Construction, it seemed, was still in the middle of testing Sung Jin-Woo.
'What a foolish move.'
The time it took him to clear a C-rank Dungeon, the advertising value of being a Reawakened Hunter, the composure he displayed in situations like this—there was no reason left to test him any further.
'They clearly don't know his worth, so there's no way they offered a proper price.'
That was why Ahn Sang-Min was confident he could guarantee double—or even more—no matter what conditions Yoojin had proposed. But then Jin-Woo's gaze suddenly turned icy.
"How did you find out about that?" "Wh-what?"
The reaction was the complete opposite of what he'd expected, and Ahn Sang-Min, despite being a seasoned recruitment specialist for a major guild, began to stumble over his words.
"How did you know and come looking for me?"
If words carried physical weight, that single sentence might have crushed him flat.
'What is this pressure?'
The other party had apparently judged him an enemy. Well, fair enough—he'd had Jin-Woo tailed and then unilaterally demanded a meeting. From Jin-Woo's perspective, it was perfectly reasonable to see him as hostile. Ahn Sang-Min quickly tried to explain.
"No, no—I didn't deliberately have you investigated. We received word that someone was clearing C-rank Dungeons in our guild's territory far too quickly, so we looked into it, and that's how we learned about Hunter Sung Jin-Woo." "..."
Jin-Woo withdrew his gaze.
'So that's how it happened.'
Contrary to his worries, it didn't seem like the other party had known everything from the start and launched an investigation. He'd simply drawn attention by clearing many Dungeons in a short amount of time.
'They don't seem to have any real malicious intent either.'
Jin-Woo's expression softened slightly. The tension between the two eased a notch.
'Phew.'
Ahn Sang-Min exhaled in relief. But they were still right back where they started. From here on, he needed to earn Jin-Woo's good graces.
'There's no better way to earn favor than sharing information.'
Ahn Sang-Min, the recruitment specialist! He wiped the flustered look off his face and quickly restored his trademark smile.
"This is top-secret, but we're aware that a certain prominent chairman is trying to create a new guild." "..."
Jin-Woo neither confirmed nor denied it. Ahn Sang-Min continued.
"So the moment we saw his second son, Yoo Jin-Ho, making contact with you, Hunter Sung Jin-Woo, we understood. The Yoojin side was trying to recruit a Reawakened Hunter—Sung Jin-Woo."
As expected, Ahn Sang-Min believed him to be a Reawakened Hunter.
'I'm grateful they think of me that way.'
It meant he didn't have to come up with any cover story. Ahn Sang-Min quickly added.
"Before you signed a contract with Yoojin, I felt I had to reach out to you first—so I contacted you unilaterally like this. If you found it rude, I sincerely apologize again." "It's fine."
As long as they hadn't approached with malicious intent from the start—which clearly wasn't the case—there was no need to get angry when they were apologizing this politely.
'More important than that is...'
What to do next. While Jin-Woo was deliberating, Ahn Sang-Min proactively posed a question.
"Have you perhaps already finished signing with Yoojin Construction?"
Seeing him hesitate with the answer, Ahn Sang-Min must have jumped to that conclusion. Jin-Woo shook his head. The face of Ahn Sang-Min, who'd looked slightly on edge, instantly brightened.
'Great! He's still a free agent!'
This was a chance to snag a man capable of full-clearing a C-rank Dungeon solo in thirty minutes. To be precise, he'd dragged along a D-rank Hunter who wasn't much help, but for anyone B-rank or above, that kind of partner was more baggage than a companion.
'If Sung Jin-Woo joins Baek-Ho and undergoes a grade reassessment—and comes back as at least A-rank!'
Ahn Sang-Min kept smiling involuntarily and found it hard to compose his expression. Jin-Woo scratched his chin.
'This guy... he's drinking the Kool-Aid already, isn't he...'
Well, Baek-Ho wasn't a bad option. It was one of the five major guilds, and it had the potential to contend for the top spot. But he had no desire to join a guild right now.
'The higher my Level, the better the terms I'll get.'
And whether it was a distant future story, or perhaps something that might never be possible at all—
'What if, one day, I could clear B-rank and A-rank Dungeons solo, just like I do C-ranks now?'
The income from higher-tier Dungeons was beyond imagination. That was the reason major guilds had grown to rival large corporations. Expensive mana crystals, magical beast carcasses, Dungeon minerals, and on top of that, rune stones and artifacts. An astronomical amount of money changed hands. When he could keep all of that profit for himself, why would he need to share it with other guild members?
'As long as my Leveling doesn't stop, it's not impossible.'
So joining a guild was premature. The corners of Jin-Woo's mouth curled upward. Ahn Sang-Min, interpreting it as a sign of goodwill, smiled in return.
"Have you made your decision?" "You did promise double the conditions, correct?" "Yes. That's right. If the conditions seem too stingy relative to your abilities, it could be even more." "Then how much is the building Baek-Ho Guild occupies worth?"
Ahn Sang-Min's face stiffened for a moment.
'Is he... doubting Baek-Ho Guild's financial power?'
No, no need to get riled up—this was a chance to advertise the guild. There was nothing to hide, no reason he couldn't say it. In fact, it was a good thing.
"The appraised value is around fifty billion won. We don't use the entire building, but the registered owner is Baek-Ho Guild."
Ahn Sang-Min said it proudly. It had originally been a building they rented, but once the guild established itself, they bought the whole thing. The entire process had taken only a year. It was a glimpse into how much money a major guild could generate. He would have been willing to go further and explain the guild's revenue or net profit if asked—but Jin-Woo let fly a single line that left him completely speechless.
"Can you hand that building over to me?" "Excuse me?"
Ahn Sang-Min's eyes went wide. He couldn't believe his ears and asked again.
"I-I'm sorry, what did you just say?"
Jin-Woo kindly explained.
"Yoojin promised me a building worth thirty billion. If Baek-Ho Building is worth fifty billion, then double would be a little short, but I think we can work with that." "Th-thirty billion?"
Ahn Sang-Min couldn't close his gaping mouth. Sung Jin-Woo's career spanned four years—but that was his career as an E-rank Hunter. He'd only recently started drawing attention. The word was he'd likely undergone a Reawakening not long ago. And yet, how remarkable did his abilities have to be for the famously shrewd chairman to promise thirty billion? Before he'd even undergone a grade reassessment at that.
'Is he bluffing because there's no way for me to verify this?'
Ahn Sang-Min shot him a skeptical look. And then, as if reading Ahn Sang-Min's mind, Jin-Woo pulled out his phone and quickly dialed somewhere. Ring ring. Click.
—Yes, hyung-nim.
It was the evening hour, inside a quiet café, and Jin-Woo deliberately turned his call volume up to max.
"Jin-Ho. Let me ask you something." —Anything at all, hyung-nim.
Jin-Ho? Yoo Jin-Ho? Ahn Sang-Min swallowed hard.
'Is he going to tell Yoo Jin-Ho about what we discussed?'
But Ahn Sang-Min's expectations were wrong. Jin-Woo brought up a different topic.
"That building you mentioned passing over before. What did you say the price was again?