Chapter 58

Suho was taken aback.

'Baek Miho... The woman I ran into in Magok?'

After returning from Magok Field, he had looked her up on HunterNet.

Baek Miho. An A-rank hunter and the Baekho Guild's deputy guildmaster, she was quite famous in Korea.

Being the deputy guildmaster of one of Korea's leading guilds was part of the reason for her fame, but her parentage played an even greater role. Her father was none other than Baek Yoonho, the Baekho Guild's guildmaster.

And who was Baek Yoonho?

The Baekho Guild's guildmaster and one of Korea's foremost S-rank hunters, he possessed the Magic Beast Transformation skill, an advanced version of Beast Transformation. With that exceptionally powerful, rare skill, few hunters anywhere in the world could rival him in hand-to-hand combat.

His Eyes of the Beast, in particular, was an invaluable skill that allowed him to accurately gauge an opponent's strength and even identify promising subordinates.

Of course, had that been all, he would have been just another ordinarily(?) famous S-rank hunter.

What had earned him exceptional respect even among S-rank hunters was his decision to leave the Reaper Guild and establish a new guild where he could act on his own convictions.

After founding the Baekho Guild, Baek Yoonho had taken a path diametrically opposed to that of the Reaper Guild, which was obsessed solely with making money and expanding its power.

He gathered hunters with Beast Transformation skills from across the country and began clearing even unprofitable dungeons, one by one, truly living up to the name of magic beast hunter.

"If you're a hunter, act like one and hunt magic beasts!"

His actions earned him fame and the respect of countless hunters.

His daughter, Baek Miho, had inherited all his talent and charisma and stood proudly as the Baekho Guild's successor. She was no mere privileged heiress riding on her father's reputation. She had proven her own abilities and earned the recognition of the guild's members.

'... And someone like that wants to see me?'

Honestly, Suho had plenty of reasons to feel uneasy. Their eyes had met as he was leaving Magok Field after acquiring Rakan’s Fang, for one.

'You can learn a lot more from smells than you'd think.'

After letting the Beast King's power possess him several times, he had learned that using a Beast Transformation skill sharpened the senses far beyond anything he had imagined.

Perhaps Baek Miho had smelled something on him back then and noticed something. His clothes had been drenched in Arachne's blood, after all.

'And now I've even picked up that weird nickname, Beast King Crow or whatever.'

Feeling needlessly guilty, Suho swallowed hard and continued his phone conversation with the Baekho Guild employee.

"What does Ms. Baek Miho want to see me about?"

* * *

The Baekho Guild.

Suho was entering its building.

'So this is what it was about...'

Numerous other C-rank hunters had gathered at the Baekho Guild. Most were freelancers like Suho, unaffiliated with any guild.

The reason the Baekho Guild had suddenly summoned them was none other than the newly emerged A-rank villain, Lee Minsung.

"I heard that vice president of the Reaper Guild is hunting hunters now?"

"Yeah. The bastard's completely insane."

"Damn it, if he's become a villain, he should just get out of Korea! Why hurt us when we haven't done anything?"

Listening to the hunters talking nearby, Suho calmly surveyed his surroundings. Despite everything, it had only been two days since he had become a C-rank hunter, so he didn't recognize a single face in the crowd.

["An A-rank hunter becoming a hunter of hunters. The wretch truly has nothing better to do."]

And the vice president of a major guild like the Reaper Guild, at that.

"But why is he doing it?"

Now that he had been designated an A-rank villain, Lee Minsung might never see daylight again if he was caught and imprisoned.

But these new attacks had made his crimes even more serious. He was no longer merely a target for imprisonment, but someone to be killed on sight.

That made it all the harder to understand why he had abandoned escape to do something so senseless.

Just then, Beru's eyes flashed as he watched a news report about Lee Minsung on Suho's phone. There was something strange about Lee Minsung's appearance in the CCTV footage of the attack.

["Wings?"]

Something resembling wings was attached to the back of the swiftly moving Lee Minsung.

Suho looked at Beru's reaction.

"What? Is he a friend of yours?"

["Kieek! How could I be friends with such an insignificant wretch? You wound me!"]

"His wings look like yours."

["Those are not ant wings."]

"Then what are they?"

["Hmm. A bee's?"]

Beru studied Lee Minsung in the grainy CCTV footage and continued.

["I cannot be certain, but he appears to be a flying insect with a venomous stinger."]

"Then he is your cousin. Ants, bees, same difference."

["Kieeeek!"]

Just then, the hunters' chatter suddenly died down.

'Hm?'

Suho looked up at Baek Miho, the Baekho Guild's deputy guildmaster, who had just stepped onto the podium.

"Thank you for accepting our invitation on such short notice. My name is Baek Miho."

She dispensed with elaborate greetings and went straight to the point. That was how urgent the situation was.

"As I'm sure you've all seen in the news, an A-rank villain is hunting hunters."

The assembled hunters exchanged glances.

"Hunters who aren't affiliated with guilds have suffered particularly heavy casualties."

The reason was obvious. Guild hunters usually traveled in groups of at least ten, sometimes twenty or more. Even an A-rank like Lee Minsung would have trouble recklessly attacking so many hunters at once.

By contrast, the freelancers gathered here, particularly the C-ranks, operated in small groups, making them the easiest prey.

'B-ranks and above get plenty of offers, so most belong to guilds. Meanwhile, D-ranks and E-ranks mostly work as contracted mining teams or porters, so they travel in even bigger groups.'

In the end, the C-rank freelancers gathered here were the ones caught in the most awkward position.

"So you're worried about us and want to let us join the Baekho Guild?"

"Whoa, seriously? That's amazing!"

The hunters murmured, their faces full of anticipation. Among them, Suho frowned slightly.

'That would be a problem.'

If he joined a guild, people would start finding it strange that he kept growing stronger as he leveled up.

And above all...

["Young Monarch, I object."]

Beru abruptly thrust his face in front of Suho's.

["I will not see the great king's son suffer the disgrace of serving under another until I am dead and bur—mmph, mmph...!"]

"Oh, be quiet."

["Mmmph!"]

Suho clamped a hand over Beru's mouth and forcibly stuffed him into his shadow.

The C-rank hunters' chatter subsided as Baek Miho spoke again.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but as you know, our guild only recruits hunters with Beast Transformation skills."

"Then why did they call us here?"

Her superhuman hearing caught someone's quiet mutter. With a slightly rueful smile, she continued.

"Given the circumstances, you're all currently at risk. That is why we would like to offer you our protection for the time being, until Lee Minsung is caught."

'What?'

Suho looked surprised. Everyone else reacted much the same way.

"Wow, you're going to protect us?"

"Does that mean you'll come hunting with us too?"

"Amazing. That's the Baekho Guild for you."

No other guild would have received such a response. Had this been the Reaper Guild or some other organization, the hunters would never have accepted the offer so readily.

But the Baekho Guild's track record was more than enough to earn their trust. Besides, having its Beast Transformation users accompany them meant their keen hearing and sense of smell could immediately detect Lee Minsung if he came near.

"Um... Will you come into dungeons with us, then? And how will we split the earnings?"

When someone tentatively raised a hand to ask, another Baekho Guild member standing beside Baek Miho gave him a disapproving glare.

The C-rank hunter flinched under that gaze and hastily lowered his head.

But Baek Miho smiled ruefully again, reined in her guildmate, and answered the hunter's question.

"Naturally, we'll split the earnings at the going rate. We certainly won't be demanding protection money."

"Oooh!"

Once again, the C-rank hunters exclaimed in admiration.

"That's seriously amazing. In gaming terms, aren't they offering to carry us?"

"Hey, it's not that extreme. We're still C-ranks. We're not so weak that we have to trail along behind someone."

"Still, having steady party members for a while will be great. Freelancing's all well and good, but putting a team together is always a headache."

"Exactly. Get stuck with some weirdo and you end up working your ass off for nothing."

"But does the Baekho Guild have that many people? How are they going to follow every one of us around?"

Hearing that last comment, Baek Miho answered the hunter immediately.

"That's a fair point. So we'd like you to form parties here today that you can stay with for the time being. We'll assign two hunters of B-rank or higher from our guild to each party."

"Oooh."

This really was incredible. Two B-rank hunters represented a tremendous amount of firepower.

Even against an A-rank villain like Lee Minsung, a party of C-rank hunters with two B-ranks among them would be able to hold its own. Victory might not be guaranteed, but at the very least, they could fight back or escape!

'At least I'll be able to stay alive!'

'So we're supposed to pick party members from this group?'

No sooner had Baek Miho finished speaking than the hunters began looking over those standing beside them, their eyes gleaming.

"Hey, Kim! How about we team up again? It's been a while!"

"Why not? I know I can count on you!"

Most were experienced freelancers who knew better than anyone how important party members were. Besides, even among C-ranks, their abilities could vary greatly depending on their skills.

One person had a useful skill. Another had a rotten personality. Someone else's skills didn't mesh well with their own...

In the blink of an eye, the hunters had gathered into little groups of their own.

"Uh...?"

As everyone suddenly began moving about, Suho found himself left all alone.

Even though he had readily dealt with attacks from the overwhelmingly powerful Ammut and the Venomfang Sand Centipede, this time there was nothing he could do.

"I've never seen that hunter before. Anyone know him?"

"Me neither. Is he new?"

Suho had never felt intimidated by any enemy, but he couldn't help feeling the pressure of the gazes now turning toward him.

["Young Monarch... Of all the trials you have faced thus far, this appears to be the most difficult."]