SWNOVELXO Chapter 156. Together, Hanshin
“You say you’re two years older than me.”
“Really? Oh, wait. I never told you my age, how do you know?”
“These days, you can find everything on the internet. Ugh, by the way, I can’t come to a place where they grill the meat directly anymore. What’s with all this smoke filling my lungs…?”
Gi-ryeo overlooked the flustered Ha-seong and admired the new dish called pig skin.
But then.
A sudden wave of immense power rushed into the shop they were in. It felt dark and heavy enough to be unpleasant.
In Korea, the only person who displays such magical power is that woman.
‘Is it coming from outside?’
Gi-ryeo sensed someone’s magic and unconsciously turned his body.
What he saw outside the window was the white wings of the flying magic tool known as [Hayangsae].
– Whoosh!
Soon after, someone gently descended from it. Looking at those droopy eyes, it was undoubtedly the hunter he had just thought of.
“Esther?”
Since his belly was already nearly full, whatever. Gi-ryeo left a note to Ha-seong to keep eating and stepped briefly outside the shop.
The person he met there had a vastly different atmosphere.
She usually wore a relaxed smile, but now, there was no sign of a smile, and her forehead was creased all over.
“So, it was true…”
Shiver.
Esther muttered something while clenching her fist tightly.
Moreover, the magic surrounding her gradually transformed into a frightening momentum.
To provoke a Curse Mage to this extent, whoever it is will have a hard time living comfortably in the future…
“Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter!”
“Huh?”
But at that moment, Esther suddenly shouted someone’s name loudly.
“I’m really sorry for coming here while you were eating. But I have something I want to know right away.”
“Y-Yes?”
She approached slowly with sharp eyes resembling a wolf’s.
“Actually, I heard a certain rumor today? That you and the guild master of Garion are going to form a regular team?”
“Ah.”
“But, surely, the info about starting team discussions without me isn’t true, right?”
Of course it’s not true. We’re planning to break that promise.
However, in this situation, it’s uncertain whether my neck will still be attached by the time I finish explaining.
“Representative, calm down.”
Swish.
Gi-ryeo first displayed a gesture of surrender from Earth. He raised both hands, palms facing upwards.
*
A little while later.
I finished paying and stepped out into an alley near the restaurant.
Then, I said to Jeong Ha-seong while maintaining a slight distance.
“Esther Hunter, could you lend me your ear for a moment?”
The other party still looked displeased, but she still obliged this request.
Esther had a haughty expression, as if to say I should explain.
But this expression gradually changed to one of surprise as time passed.
“First of all, don’t worry! I don’t know where you heard that, but I have no intention of working with that S-Class over there!”
“Really?”
“Yes. I only suggested some conditions to work with Jeong Ha-seong.”
“Conditions?”
“Esther, a few years ago, while resolving a Dungeon Break, you got caught up in Jeong Ha-seong’s abilities, right?”
I mentioned a certain incident that I found out about while browsing the internet.
The head of the Magic Tower had also faced specific issues inherent to S-Classes.
Like when we accidentally trampled on the bugs at our feet.
The top-tier Awakened here have such powerful innate abilities that they can unintentionally cause secondary damage.
So I explained the significance of our relationship by linking it to these problems faced by the S-Classes.
“This is a secret, but I’m currently teaching Jeong Ha-seong how to control his abilities. So that what happened to you before doesn’t happen again.”
“…!”
“And if that know-how proves effective, I’ll obviously be contacting the Magic Tower right away.”
Esther was now staring at me with wide eyes.
“I’m sorry for not telling you sooner. Anyway, I wasn’t trying to neglect you.”
“Ah, I see.”
When the topic of the guild came up, Esther stood on her tiptoes and whispered in my ear.
“So, in any case, does that mean Gi-ryeo isn’t a part of Garion right now?”
I have no idea how she came to suspect that, but I can certainly affirm this part.
“As I said before, I don’t belong to any guild.”
I firmly stated that I had never joined Ha-seong’s guild.
Then, Esther’s face brightened noticeably.
“Oh my!”
It seems this was the main reason she felt offended.
Surely, if the owner of a large guild were to lose a Hunter to a small shop like Garion, it would be quite humiliating.
“Oh, my goodness, I’m so sorry! I jumped to conclusions too quickly…”
Esther smiled and straightened her posture.
“Thank goodness a useless bloodshed didn’t happen.”
Then, as the decibel level returned to normal, she said,
“I thought I was totally being disregarded at first. Haha. So, actually, I was thinking of showcasing my skills here today.”
“……”
“If I can prove that I’m an Awakened who isn’t below number one in ranking, it’s likely that Gi-ryeo might let me join the team~”
Although Esther spoke in her uniquely soft tone, the problem was that she’s an expert in curse magic.
“Of course, some S-Classes might have decreased during the process of showcasing… but, well, it’s already excessive to have four on this small piece of land anyway, so losing one wouldn’t be too much…”
The only curse mage in Korea was smiling, but she coolly surveyed the two men in turn.
That’s frightening.
What Esther is saying right now implies that if she’s left out of the regular team, she’ll send an S-Class to the grave just to make room for herself.
‘Oh dear.’
I swallowed a dry gulp and tried to distance myself from Esther as naturally as possible.
I need to make a quick getaway before anything unnecessary happens.
“Oh, by the way. Where exactly did you hear that Esther and I are forming a team?”
Just before leaving, I casually asked the most curious matter.
But I didn’t expect the answer I’d get.
“The man with the graying hair behind you said that to a guild staff member. I just heard about it.”
Well, I didn’t specifically tell Jeong Ha-seong to keep that part a secret.
*
Afterward.
Once the blond Awakened disappeared, only two S-Classes remained in this alley.
The dozing head of the Magic Tower and the Fire Mage.
“By the way, it’s been a while since we saw each other like this, hasn’t it?”
Esther said as she watched Gi-ryeo’s retreating figure.
In the past, this would have received a curt response, but now, Jeong Ha-seong wasn’t in a hurry and responded sincerely.
“Yes. How have you been?”
The next line was entirely unexpected.
“I haven’t been well.”
With a slight huff, Esther feigned a sulky look.
“Since our Ha-seong has been outsourcing to Garion and hasn’t paid me much attention, I can’t seem to eat.”
“Well…”
“Interestingly enough, I’ve heard that lately, that haughty guild master has been following around some hunter, acting servile.”
She said with a playful smile.
“How does it feel to be rejected by Kim Gi-ryeo? Do you understand my feelings now?”
The well-mannered man only frowned in response to that question.
But even without a response, Esther was in a good mood.
At one time, she had misinterpreted the young man’s attitude as a sign of disrespect for being number one in ranking.
But now that she had roughly figured out what kind of person Jeong Ha-seong was, she had no ill feelings towards the overworked hero.
Consequently, her comments were just greetings to an industry colleague.
“Anyway, it was nice to meet you.”
“Yes.”
“Oh, I’m envious. I wanted to be the first to gather tips from Gi-ryeo. But then again, you’ve probably been too busy running a guild to fit me into your schedule…?”
The head of the Korean Magic Tower continued the conversation in a cheerful voice before suddenly pausing.
“Oh, right.”
Her eyes lit up as if she had just remembered something.
“Jeong Ha-seong Hunter, by the way, how did that thing turn out?”
“What thing are you referring to?”
“Since we are in charge of the magic power development consortium, we gather quite a bit of information.”
“Yes.”
“I believe I heard something about it last week? That Garion was going to merge with Hanshin?”
When the certain term was mentioned, Ha-seong immediately understood.
“Oh, Hanshin.”
But the following sentence was completely disappointing.
“That was scrapped due to some variables during the deliberation period.”
Since Esther had mentioned it, the matter had been off the table for quite a while.
*
On a bright afternoon.
Bang!
Someone slammed down on a mahogany desk with force.
This place is in a medium-sized guild building in Gwanak-gu, Seoul.
【Together, Hanshin】
Specifically, it was the headquarters of Hanshin, which had previously created quite a stir due to Baron Hwa-won’s mismanagement.
However, how lenient the laws in this country were toward businesses was astounding.
Hanshin had only received minor fines from that Dungeon Break incident. With the passage of time, the critical public opinion had also quieted down.
This meant that the guild was running smoothly.
“Ugh!”
Yet, the guild master of Hanshin was fuming with a reddened face early in the morning.
“Dammit! We were almost there!”
Do you know what sort of treasures a cataclysmic phenomenon with a new kind of monster has brought humanity?
He looked down at the crimson armor placed on the desk.
[Armor of Ifrit]
[Gauntlet of Ifrit]
[Greaves of Ifrit]
This set of armor, known as the ‘Ifrit Set’, provided flame resistance unmatched by previous equipment when all five pieces were worn together.
The representative of Hanshin considered the effect of this equipment.
If he could outfit the strongest hunter in his guild with the Ifrit Set, it’d surely be possible to withstand the flames of any S-Class hunter.
“Ughhh.”
Yes.
At the center of all these events was Jeong Ha-seong.
Hanshin had invested a fortune to buy up all the newly appeared Ifrit armors.
They had planned to use this fire-resistant hunter as bait to recruit Jeong Ha-seong.
It was a plausible plan. In fact, Jeong Ha-seong’s reaction had been positive.
This S-Class had come looking for a Korean colleague capable of handling his abilities for a long time, and with the appearance of the Ifrit Set, he had finally met the minimum condition.
Had they succeeded in bringing the number one ranking hunter to their guild, Hanshin’s standing would have changed by now.
Yes.
Just one successful scout, and they would have transformed from a small guild to a globally recognized company…!
“Argh!”
To get straight to the point.
Hanshin had failed.
Their plan depended on Jeong Ha-seong showing interest in a colleague with flame resistance, but suddenly some mudfish had jumped in and overturned the board.
“Kim Gi-ryeo, that damn bastard!”
Hanshin’s guild master grumbled while recalling a certain hunter’s features.
“That jerk said there would be no teaming up with Jeong Ha-seong, why is he making a fuss now?!”
How much money had they poured in for the Ifrit Set?
They had monopolized the market by throwing ridiculous amounts of extra money to prevent other guilds from using the same tricks.
Although the size of the guild wasn’t large, they were a spin-off of a well-known group, so their capital was more than sufficient.
But their efforts were all in vain due to someone’s intrusion.
“Not too long ago, Mr. Kim said, how about we do some regular team activities later? So, unfortunately, the contract you mentioned is… void.”
Jeong Ha-seong had jumped ship to another temptation before serious discussions even began.
“My money!”
If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have been more cautious about the equipment purchases.
Thinking that if they just convinced Jeong Ha-seong, they might also scoop up the manpower he had established in Garion had made Hanshin overly greedy.
Rash and unfortunate.
They had made excessive investments in an uncertain situation, leading to losses instead.
“Oh no, I’ve already boasted to my associates that we’re merging with Garion, what the hell…?”
“By the way, have you contacted Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter?”
“Ugh, don’t even mention it. I have to go pick up my blood pressure medication thanks to that guy’s call today.”
And the angry points didn’t stop there.
Despite the failure of the scouting, Hanshin didn’t give up and had started new negotiations.
He explained the situation to the hunter named Kim Gi-ryeo and had requested if they could temporarily add one of Hanshin’s guild members if they were to form a new team.
‘And we wouldn’t even ask for payment, but put it under our conditions.’
Anyhow, if they could gain fame just for having endured Ha-seong’s flames, that would produce some results.
But do you know what the reply from the other party was?
– No matter how good the gear is, an A-Class is still an A-Class. I’m sorry, but that’s going to be difficult.
Not only did he smash the dreams of others head-on, but Gi-ryeo also used the excuse of it being an insufficient level to kick Hanshin’s request to the curb.
“Those who were lucky enough to be born S-Class!”
In truth, Kim Gi-ryeo had no intention of forming a hunter team at all, so he neatly declined their request.
This was merely a hit to Hanshin’s pride. But there was no one to vent to.
It was normal for S-Classes to look down on other Awakened.
“Gild Master.”
But then.
Someone at this table saw things a little differently.
“I have a good idea. Do you want to hear it?”
“What?”
“Honestly, we didn’t just suggest teaming up with an S-Class for no reason; we have everything prepared so why should we put up with this disrespect?”
Zoh Sang-oh, the signature hunter of the Hanshin Guild.
He confidently declared that he possessed capabilities not inferior to an S-Class.
In recent years, the hunter industry had shown a sharp growth surpassing Moore’s law in the semiconductor market.
The S-Class emerged as the next stage after A-Class.
Legendary items were introduced.
Now there were even cases where the offspring of conglomerates swept up artifacts and cleared high-level dungeons all by themselves.
‘Seriously, Kim Gi-ryeo, what a joke. Just one rank difference and they think they can ignore people like this?’
Zoh no longer believed that there was a significant gap between S-Class and A-Class.
Now, way too many variables existed in the world.
Especially compared to that messy blond who had abandoned proper gear by solely trusting natural awakening, he had always remained sharp and never skimped on effort.
“Guild Master, leave it to me. I’ll make that kid unable to speak arrogantly ever again.”
“Huh?”
“Anyway, since the merger proposal has fallen through, what can’t we do? Let’s show Jeong Ha-seong that when picking team members, one shouldn’t just look at ranks. We can hunt like true hunters!”
He leaned over the table and laid out certain statements.
Then, Hanshin’s guild master pondered for a moment, then deemed it not a bad idea and supported Zoh Sang-oh’s plan…