Chapter 85

For E-rank hunters, the work and pay were much the same no matter which guild they worked for. Their main jobs were mining and collecting corpses, after all. Their contracts paid incentives based on how much work they did, so whichever guild employed them, they could earn only as much as their hard work merited.

Even so, they preferred to join a major guild whenever possible for one reason: safety. While the mining team extracted mana stones inside a dungeon, and while the collection team butchered dead magic beasts, how reliably could their guild's raid party protect them up ahead? That was what mattered to the lowest-ranked hunters.

In that respect, although Dogyun had been quite taken aback at first, he eventually signed the contract Suho offered him. It was only natural. He had already seen Suho fight with his shadow soldiers and had long since realized there was something different about him compared to other hunters. Besides, Suho wasn't the sort to use him up and throw him away like a major guild would.

'They're even offering me the highest pay for an E-rank. I'd be crazy not to take it.'

Having signed the contract, Dogyun offered a handshake to Suho, his future guildmaster.

"Well, I'm counting on you, Suho."

[You, the newest recruit! How dare you speak so casually? I shall personally tear you limb from limb and beat some discipline into—!]

"I-I'm looking forward to working with you, Guildmaster!"

With Beru gripping him by the collar, Dogyun hurriedly corrected himself.

Suho chuckled.

"Likewise, Teaching Assistant Im. No, Dogyun."

* * *

"Then take care of that for me."

"Yes, sir."

Yoo Jinho had his secretary begin preparations to lease one of his buildings to Suho's guild.

"I'd left it empty because I was planning to tear everything down and renovate it. But putting up a new building would take too long, wouldn't it? It's a little shabby, but use it as it is for now."

"Thank you, Uncle. That alone is more than enough."

"Of course. After all..."

Jinho chose not to add that Suho would probably only use it for a little while. If he had inherited his father's talent, making money would be only a matter of time.

'The building isn't what matters. He won't be taking in any more guild members anyway.'

He was exactly right. Suho already had the vast expanse of the Shadow Dungeon beneath his feet.

"But, Suho."

Jinho looked at him seriously.

"You've gathered all three members now, and I'll handle the paperwork, so everything is ready. But we're missing the most important thing."

"And... what's that?"

Seeing Jinho's solemn gaze, Suho grew serious as well.

"Your qualifications."

"My qualifications?"

At the word “qualifications,” Suho's expression grew grave. Jinho was the only person who knew how powerful his father was. His eyes seemed to be saying:

—Are you truly qualified to lead an army?

Suho swallowed. More solemn than ever, he waited for Jinho's next words.

Jinho spoke.

"Yes, your qualifications. Only a hunter who has completed at least twenty dungeon raids can become a guildmaster."

"... Oh. That's what you meant."

Suho nodded, looking deflated. After all, he was still just a rookie hunter whose experience amounted to a handful of field dungeons.

'I'm going to be pretty busy.'

It seemed he would have to take care of this first, before accepting a guild office from Jinho.

* * *

"You started a guild?"

When Suho stopped by the Shadow Dungeon, Esil received an unexpected offer.

"Yeah. You're a member too. From now on, you'll be going into dungeons with me."

"Me too? I'm not even human. Is that possible?"

"That's actually why I'm here. Let's take a picture of you. We need to get you an ID as a foreign worker."

"A foreign worker?"

Esil tilted her head in puzzlement.

"Okay, smile."

"H-huh?"

CLICK.

Suho took a picture of Esil's face with his phone.

"That's it?"

"Yep. That's it. An app can handle the rest."

Suho opened a photo-editing app and retouched Esil's face to make her look as “human” as possible.

'Good thing Esil looks pretty human for a demon. She doesn't have horns, either.'

There were a few minor peculiarities, of course, such as ears slightly more pointed than a human's, but those could be passed off as effects of her hunter skills.

'Some hunters turn into beasts. This is nothing compared to that.'

Still, some hunters with extremely keen senses would be able to tell that Esil was something other than human.

'We just have to avoid running into them.'

But that wouldn't be a problem either. His guild would remain a three-member operation indefinitely.

"Ooooh! What is this? I'm getting prettier and prettier! Could this be my true appearance...?!"

"Yeah, no."

Esil had gone beyond admiring humanity's highly advanced photo-editing app to being deeply moved by it. Suho hadn't done anything particularly remarkable, but the app's default retouching effects had worked wonders.

"Hmm. Good. Appropriately exotic. The cover is a foreign worker of mixed heritage, so this should do."

"Aw!"

When Suho turned off his phone, Esil, who had been eagerly watching her photo beside him, smacked her lips regretfully. Then she gave him a hopeful look.

"Suho, could I maybe have one of those too...?"

"You want a phone? Earn some money and buy one yourself."

"Oh! You're going to pay me too?"

"Of course. You're a guild member now, so you'll earn money based on how much you hunt. But from now on, you buy your meat with your own money too."

"Okay!"

Esil was suddenly brimming with motivation.

"But you said there's one other member, right? Who is it? Are they strong?"

"Hmm."

Suho considered the question for a moment before answering.

"No, he's incredibly weak."

"Huh? How weak?"

"A little tap might kill him. So absolutely no picking on him, okay?"

"... That weak?"

Esil was bewildered.

* * *

The requirement of twenty dungeon raids to become a guildmaster was actually nothing extraordinary. Dungeons were springing up everywhere in the world, and hunters were rushing around just as frantically to clear them. They did it to make money, but also because leaving even one dungeon unattended could immediately lead to a massive catastrophe.

That was why the guildmasters leading those hunters played such an important role. If someone with no dungeon experience led them, valuable talent would die for nothing—and that, in turn, would lead to another major disaster.

In any case, Suho threw himself into dungeon raids with Im Dogyun and Esil to meet the required number. The one disappointing thing was that he barely leveled up in the process.

'These dungeons are too easy.'

There was no helping it. The three-person raid party of Suho, Esil, and Dogyun was too low-ranked to qualify for dangerous dungeons. That meant they could only enter field dungeons or dungeons in the final stages of being cleared. The magic beasts inside were too weak to provide Suho with any worthwhile experience.

But that was how Suho saw it. For Dogyun, things were different.

"Eek! E-Esil! Save me!"

"... You really are weak."

Esil looked with genuine pity at Dogyun, who hid behind her whenever he saw a magic beast.

Yet when she looked to the side, there was a doggy charging at the enemies with incredibly brave eyes, in stark contrast to Dogyun.

"Grrr! Rwoof!"

[The King of Beasts, the Monarch of Fangs, nods in satisfaction, saying that Gray is growing up strong today as always.]

[Gray Lv.17]

Fang Wolf

Regardless of Suho's own progress, Gray was growing steadily. Of course, half the experience Gray earned...

DING.

['Pet: Gray' offers 50% of his experience to his master as tribute.]

Even if the amount was barely a drop in the bucket, Suho did receive a share of the experience. In the long run, however, this was certainly an advantage. The stronger Gray became, the more experience his hunts would provide.

[Kahaha! Well done, our little Growly! Keep striving, and offer the Young Monarch even more tribute!]

[Beru uses 'Skill: Harsh Command.']

['Skill: Harsh Command' increases Gray's stats by 50%.]

[As a side effect of 'Skill: Harsh Command,' Gray is afflicted with the Curse of Madness.]

"Grrr...!"

Under Beru's Harsh Command, Gray howled. All the magic beasts scoffed at that cry.

Until he bit them.

CRUNCH!

"...!"

Small as Gray was, he was Rakan's rightful successor—a predator who instinctively singled out his enemies' “weak points” to sink his teeth into.

[The King of Beasts, the Monarch of Fangs, squeezes his eyes shut at Gray's cruelty.]

Magic beasts had males too.

"Rwoof!"

CRUNCH!

* * *

Section Chief Lee Youngho of the Hyunmoo Guild had been in a very foul mood lately. To be precise, it had probably begun that day—the day he returned from Ahjin Soft after being flatly rejected by CEO Yoo Jinho.

'Just you wait. I'll pay you back for this someday.'

Youngho ground his teeth.

Hyunmoo might not be on the level of the Baekho Guild or the Reaper Guild, but it was still a well-known major guild in Korea. Ahjin Soft, however, was also a major corporation with enormous influence in political and business circles. Besides, they were in entirely different industries. No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't come up with a suitable way to retaliate against Jinho.

'If only he were a fellow hunter, I'd have any number of ways to take my anger out on him.'

The simplest solution was force, of course. Hunters could get away with even murder inside a dungeon. Naturally, openly committing murder was illegal, but dungeon murders left no physical evidence, so no one could be held accountable.

"... Oh, what's that bastard doing now?"

Under the circumstances, it was only natural for Youngho's anger to shift toward Sung Suho.

"Find out what that bastard Sung Suho is up to these days. From what I heard back then, it certainly sounded like CEO Yoo Jinho was going to set up a guild for him."

"Yes, sir! Right away!"

"Hurry up, you idiot!"

SMACK!

"Ow! Yes, sir! I'm logging in right now!"

The subordinate, smacked on the back of the head by Youngho, hurriedly logged on to Hunter Net. He was the very employee who had flown a camera drone to Suho's house that day.

'You're the one who ordered me to do it in the first place. Why take it all out on me, damn it...?'

Silently grinding his teeth as he tracked down records of Sung Suho, the employee suddenly stopped typing and turned to Youngho.

"Huh? Sir, this Sung Suho guy..."

"What? Did you find something?"

"Looks like he hasn't been able to establish his guild yet because he doesn't meet the requirements. He seems to be running dungeons diligently these days to build up his experience."

"Really?"

At those words, Youngho's eyes gleamed.

"Find out which dungeon he's entering next."