Chapter 84

Suho nodded.

“So I'll need two more people.”

“Right. Finding them will probably be a little tricky. Your father had the same problem. You'll need hunters who'll fill out the numbers without actually doing any hunting.”

Yoo Jinho seemed deeply nostalgic about this conversation.

'He's probably planning to run dungeons alone with just his shadow soldiers, like his father.'

“I'd love to join you myself, but if I got involved, the reporters would come swarming in with a gleam in their eyes.”

Jinho himself was, after all, an awakened D-rank hunter. Of course, when he'd mentioned wanting to try entering a dungeon after awakening, his employees had repeatedly lectured him until he'd given up.

Perhaps putting hunters in his new game was his way of satisfying that pent-up desire.

Someone suitable suddenly came to Suho's mind.

“I do have one person in mind.”

“Who?”

“A demon named Esil.”

“Someone who's like a demon?”

“No. An actual demon.”

“... Is this a demon you can trust?”

Suho's answer made Jinho hesitate for a moment. It was Beru who answered his question.

[I can vouch for that. Esil was lackey number two whom my liege used to bring along. Just like you.]

“That's impossible.”

Jinho objected with the utmost seriousness in his eyes.

“He couldn't possibly have another little brother like me.”

[... Don't compete over something like that.]

In any case, unlike Gray, the descendant of the Monarch of Fangs, Esil was a free being, unbound by the system. But she also feared the Shadow Monarch more than anyone.

She had witnessed Sung Jinwoo thoroughly exterminate every demon except her clan, from beginning to end. After all, hadn't she survived this long precisely because she'd betrayed the Demon Realm early on and sided with him?

“Anyway, if she isn't human, we'll need to get her identification before registering her as a hunter. I'll take care of the necessary arrangements.”

Jinho wrote “foreign worker” on his notepad and circled it. Then he looked back at Suho.

“What about the last person?”

Just then, Suho's phone vibrated.

BZZZ.

His face had appeared on the news once, and now everyone seemed determined to contact him. His phone had been going crazy for a while.

But when he checked the caller's name, a curious smile appeared on his face.

“I think I've found the last person, too.”

[Teaching Assistant Im]

Im Dogyun, a teaching assistant in Hankuk University's painting department.

He was a freelance E-rank hunter who worked full-time as a university teaching assistant and took mining jobs on weekends for extra income.

“H-hello? Suho! Are you all right? You're alive, aren't you?!”

The instant Suho answered, words poured out of the phone like machine-gun fire.

“I just saw the news! What on earth happened? How did you end up following them somewhere so dangerous? Haven't I told you over and over? A hunter should play it safe and live a long life...!”

Suho couldn't help chuckling at the endless stream of worried nagging.

'He's the first to run when there's real danger, but once it's over, he's always the one who worries about me the most.'

For all that, Dogyun was simply a terrible coward—afraid of his own death and of other people's, too.

Perhaps that was precisely why he'd managed to keep working as a hunter without serious injury despite being E-rank. How devoted to running away did an E-rank hunter have to be to acquire such a high-caliber running skill?

'That makes him even better.'

What Suho needed right now wasn't a comrade, but a fleet-footed porter. Someone who could also retreat as quickly as possible once combat began, rather than getting in the way up front.

“Anyway, here's the thing.”

After unleashing a torrent of nagging, Dogyun finally got to the point.

“Your market value must have gone way up after this. You'll probably get plenty of contract offers from guilds.”

“Yes. They've been all over me since this morning.”

“What? Already? Don't you dare rush into signing with just anyone!”

Suho had thought the lecture was over. It wasn't.

“You have no idea how many hunters suffer for years because they joined the wrong guild, do you? Make a full list of the guilds that contacted you and their contract terms, and let me check everything before you sign! Got it?”

“...”

As he listened, the corners of Suho's mouth slowly lifted. Dogyun really was his senior from university; every word of that lecture was brimming with concern for him.

“And if all you've attracted are weirdos, turn them all down! I'll find you a better guild. I've been collecting tons of business cards lately because I'm looking to join one myself.”

“Huh? You're joining a guild, too?”

“Yeah. After this incident and everything else, freelancing is just too dangerous. Besides, guilds have started hiring even E-rank hunters like me as permanent employees lately.”

“...”

Hearing that left Suho with a strange feeling. Wasn't that an awfully convenient coincidence?

That trend must have arisen because of the incidents he'd experienced recently. With hunters dying one after another these days, guilds had found themselves suddenly short-staffed. That must have led them to start managing even lower-ranked hunters directly in earnest.

“Anyway, that's why I've been looking into guilds lately. Once I find the one with the best terms, I'll let you—”

“Never mind that.”

Suho cut him off and got straight to the point.

“There's a better guild here. Would you like to come over now?”

“... What? Where?”

* * *

“Gasp...!”

A short while later, Dogyun arrived at Ahjin Soft and found himself unable to breathe.

“C-CEO Y-Yoo Jinho?!”

“Haha. A pleasure to meet you.”

G-good heavens.

What on earth was happening?!

At the sight of Jinho offering him a handshake with a kindly smile, Dogyun went rigid like a broken toy. The CEO of Ahjin Soft, whom he'd only ever seen in gaming news, was shaking his hand right now.

“H-hello, sir! I-I'm...!”

“Suho has already told me a bit about you. You're close with our Suho, I hear?”

“Gasp.”

He'd said “our Suho.”

“I'm not here as the CEO of Ahjin Soft today, just as Suho's uncle, so don't be so nervous.”

“...!”

Despite being told not to be nervous, Dogyun froze up even more. Suho had given him a rough explanation on the way over, but hearing CEO Yoo Jinho confirm it himself doubled the shock.

Suho handed him a contract.

“We drew up the contract while you were on your way.”

To be precise, Jinho's secretary had drafted it, not Suho. As Suho opened it, Jinho personally explained its contents.

“As you heard on your way here, the guild you'll be signing with has absolutely no connection to Ahjin Soft. I'll be funding it entirely out of my own pocket. Incidentally, we've set your compensation at the highest rate in the industry for E-rank hunters, so don't worry.”

“What?! Thank you!”

Dogyun immediately bent at the waist in a ninety-degree bow. Jinho waved his hands dismissively.

“Thank Suho, not me. He seems to think very highly of you.”

“Sniff. Suho...!”

Deeply moved, Dogyun turned to look at Suho. Jinho continued his explanation.

“But don't get your hopes up too much. Tax issues mean I can't simply throw huge sums of money around, either. I only intend to lend you one small building to use as a guild office, rent-free, without overdoing it.”

“A whole building, rent-free?!”

Dogyun's eyes nearly rolled back again.

“Haha. In the old days, I would've simply given you the building. But since Suho happens to be related to me, that would create all sorts of complications involving inheritance and so on. This is the limit of what I can do while keeping everything strictly legal.”

Jinho smacked his lips regretfully, wishing he could do more.

Then something occurred to Dogyun.

'Huh? Wait. He can't give us the building because Suho is family? What does that...?'

Suddenly noticing something odd in Jinho's words, Dogyun turned to the side with an uneasy look. He glanced at Suho, who was calmly drinking coffee beside him, then looked back at the CEO seated in front of him.

“Um, sir. The guildmaster of this new guild wouldn't happen to be...?”

“Oh, haven't you heard that part yet? Why, naturally...”

[It's our Young Monarch.]

Beru abruptly thrust his face forward with a meaningful grin, and Dogyun turned to stone.

'Ah. I knew those terms were too good to be true.'

He'd rushed over as soon as Suho contacted him, only to learn the most important detail now. If Suho, who hadn't even been awakened for a month, was the guildmaster, who on earth were the members?

Even if CEO Yoo Jinho was funding the guild, this was something he had to clarify.

“Suho, can I ask you something before I sign?”

“What is it?”

“The other guild members—how many...?”

“Guild members? There are plenty.”

“Oh! There are?”

Dogyun's face instantly brightened. But it turned ashen just as quickly.

“Arise.”

“...?!”

WHOOOOSH!

Without warning, black shadows surged up from the floor and surrounded Dogyun.

[Kyaaagh!]

[Kieeeah!]

“...”

Black Mummies, black vapor billowing around them.

The vicious-looking shadow magic beasts surrounded Dogyun and began shrieking in greeting.

But these creatures were merely temporary workers hired for a single day. In their midst, Quay, the sole permanent employee, shoved his menacing face toward Dogyun and issued a warning.

[Always remember. I am Master's first subordinate. You are second.]

“...”

No, don't compete over something like that...

Dogyun now looked as though he'd died in his chair. Scraping together what little strength he had left, he asked Suho a question.

“Besides these things, are there any humans?”

“Oh, we're the only two humans. And we always will be.”

“... Right. I see. So that's how it is.”

Dogyun mulled over Suho's answer with a hollow expression.

Still, disconcerting as the situation was, he'd already seen Suho fight firsthand. Thinking about it rationally, this might actually be better.

Not only would there be no office overhead, they could save on labor costs, too.

“Well, all right. I've heard the Association counts summoned creatures toward a raid party's minimum personnel requirement. But Suho, you know you need at least three humans to establish a guild, right?”

“Yes, I know.”

Suho answered with a meaningful smile.

“That's why I've lined up someone who looks human.”

“Looks human...?”

That sounded ominous.