First, since Haseong had always wanted to collaborate with that blonde S-rank Hunter, there was no reason to refuse the proposal. However, there was one lingering question on his mind.

“Excuse me, but may I ask why you suddenly changed your mind?”

Last winter, didn’t Kim Giryeo reject the top-ranked hunter’s proposal to work together with these words?

“Thank you for the offer, but wouldn’t that be difficult? It seems like there’s too much of a gap in our levels…”

Of course, Kim Giryeo was well aware by now how his own slip of the tongue had been misinterpreted. What he had meant by “gap in levels” was that his own abilities were far below Jung Haseong’s, but somehow, the public had taken it the other way around.

But at this point, claiming that wasn’t what he meant would be a bit much. To reveal the truth behind his slip of the tongue, he would have to reveal the true face of a conman.

“That’s difficult.”

At this point, it was time for a reversal of thought. Giryeo decided to make use of the misunderstanding that had arisen back then.

“...The reason I changed my mind? It’s a bit awkward to answer if you put it like that.”

“Yes?”

“Sorry, but I haven’t actually changed my mind. I still think your skills are lacking.”

Jung Haseong flinched at the other person’s words.

“But if there’s one thing that has changed… After thinking about it over the winter, I suddenly felt that I had been too overly obsessed with you for no reason.”

“Ah.”

“If your skills are lacking, you can just work hard to improve them. Sorry, I didn’t think things through.”

Giryeo explained with a kind tone while sipping on barley green tea. It was shameless for someone of his caliber, who was just a low-tier pretending to be an S-class, but to pull a con on a big shot like Jung Haseong, this level of courage was essential.

“So today, I came to make you a proposal…”

Giryeo took a sip of the green tea, then promptly presented the bait he had prepared.

“Haseong-ah, if there was a way to make your awakening ability much stronger, what would you do?”

This is an irresistible temptation for anyone standing at the forefront of evolution.

“As I mentioned before, you’re not even using half of your own power right now. And I can solve that for you.”

Right. The archmage had come to Garion today in search of a new disciple.

***

The archmage’s proposal was simple. If the person could master the secret technique he would teach and raise the control of their awakening ability to a certain level, only then would he agree to become their teammate.

“If you become strong enough for me to acknowledge, I’ll gladly team up with you.”

This was an offer that allowed Jung Haseong to catch two birds with one stone. Improving his skills and fulfilling his long-held wish.

“But even I can’t offer this kind of training for free. I need to earn my keep for meals and travel expenses, you know.”

The problem was that there was a small price to pay for this.

“So, let’s start by setting the fee at just 3 billion won.”

“In cash?”

“Yeah, in cash.”

Giryeo was currently in need of funds to purchase new magic tools—an astronomical sum of 3.48 billion won, an amount so immense that the average person could labor their entire life without ever coming close to it.

“Damn it, hundreds of millions—that’s not even a dog’s name in some household.”

Up until now, he had avoided using his knowledge to make money as much as possible. However, with an unknown to reign summoner showing up out of nowhere, Giryeo decided he couldn’t afford to be picky about his methods anymore. That’s why he decided to bring out his carefully guarded strategy.

Magical education. This would allow him to control the scope of information leaks by limiting the number of disciples, and there would be some kind of ‘additional benefit.’

‘In the early days of my reincarnation, I had to tread carefully around Ahn Yoonseung and couldn’t even bring up money casually. But now, I’ve developed a decent sense of financial management, and with the status of an S-rank Hunter, demanding a teaching fee is no big deal…’

It wasn’t exactly the kind of work he preferred, but trapped in the body of an F-rank, there weren’t many options available. He needed money, and no one understood better than him that a certain degree of flexibility was necessary to achieve that. That’s why he had come all the way here.

“Hmm.”

Giryeo lifted his head and looked at the young man in front of him.

The number one hunter in South Korea, a national hero who firmly maintained his top rank. The reincarnated being from another world had to minimize the number of people to whom he passed on his knowledge due to personal reasons. If he became famous through his magic lectures, the kidnapping he had been so worried about would actually happen.

‘People of Earth, please just ignore that…’

Considering the various factors, this extraterrestrial being had no choice but to target the top hunters of the planet as prey. These individuals were capable of delivering the greatest rewards on their own. Furthermore, the blueprint he had in mind included a plan to improve the skills of South Korea’s S-class from the beginning.

Giryeo continued, recalling the value of the pyromancer, and proceeded with his explanation.

“By the way, if you accept my offer, you’ll need to make sure to set aside time twice a week.”

“Are you saying I should clear two whole days?”

“That’s right. And I expect that it’ll take about three months of consistent learning without skipping to see any noticeable changes.”

Sssk.

He extends his index, middle, and ring fingers, performing a simple hand gesture.

“By the way, you know that the 3 billion won tuition fee needs to be paid monthly, right?”

Rent, tuition fees, electricity bills. On this planet, it’s common to use a monthly period when paying for something, so the duration itself isn’t strange. The problem, however, lies in the scale of it.

“3 billion per month?”

Just now, it was mentioned that it would take about three months to master, which means, in other words, that the price for learning skill control is a staggering 9 billion won.

‘If you round it up, it’s almost 10 billion.’

No matter how much of an S-rank Hunter one is, hearing such an amount naturally causes a pause in their thoughts.

“Moreover, how is someone with a defense-type awakening planning to teach me, someone with a fire attribute…?”

Jung Haseong couldn’t help but harbor doubts. Of course, Giryeo was also an S-rank—at least, that’s what Haseong believed—so the chances of him pulling a scam were exceedingly low. Still, it was such a sudden story, and wasn’t it a ridiculous proposal?

“Why? Could it be that it’s too expensive?”

But for some reason, Kim Giryeo maintained an odd sense of composure throughout the conversation.

“Rather than expensive… It’s just that, for some reason, it feels hard to believe.”

“Then, just pretend to be fooled for a month and learn. If you’re not satisfied, I’ll refund the full amount later.”

“Yes?”

“Honestly, this is the first time I’m teaching an S-rank, so I won’t sure how things would go. I was prepared to refund at any time anyway.”

The man, who had been crushing the empty paper cup of green tea, slowly leaned forward.

“But if there’s even the slightest result within that one month, you’ll probably be the one wanting to pay me from then on.”

And Haseong’s response to that…

***

A few days later. It was Wednesday again.

“Hello.”

I found myself facing the number one ranked Hunter in the country at a certain gym in Seoul. To cut to the chase, Haseong accepted my offer. With a pledge from the press to keep the details of the training confidential, I had successfully brought in a new source of income… no, a valuable disciple.

The first training period lasts about three months. The tuition fee is a whopping 3 billion per month!

It was as expected.

That top-ranked hunter had been wanting to collaborate with Korea’s fourth S-rank, who possessed an unknown ability, for quite some time. If I pressed this point intentionally, it seemed unlikely he would refuse.

‘Right. There’s no way someone as powerful as an S-rank hunter would give up on their goal just over a few bucks. Alright! Let’s start by giving them a 3-month trial period and then raise the tuition later.’

Heh heh heh.

Anyway, even if I end up scamming S-ranks like this, I’ll still be rich. If I had my way, I’d get Esther involved and make a lot of money on the tuition with team lessons.

As I mentioned before, this is my first time teaching an S-rank, and when I think about it, I don’t have much experience teaching anyone at all, so I’m relatively weak when it comes to handling variables. So for now, I shouldn’t be too greedy. It’s better to take things slow and use Jung Haseong as an experiment to really get a feel for teaching.

I hid my sinister intentions and glanced around. What I saw was an expansive space, so wide that it was hard to take it all in with a single glance. The walls, reinforced with yellowish dungeon-like stone, immediately explained the purpose of this place.

“It’s wider than I expected.”

We are currently standing in an indoor training ground exclusively for hunters.

####################

Gym Facility Rules

Article 1. These rules are intended to regulate the matters necessary for membership registration and facility use of the Awakening-only Gymnasium.

####################

So, I visited the Hunter Association recently and printed out the relevant regulations. Since I will be training regularly with Jung Haseong, if the location happens to be inside a dungeon, it would fall under a different contract.

“Honestly, it’s too much of a hassle to report this to Kang Changho.”

Of course, if the work is done outside, rumors will inevitably start spreading. But that didn’t matter. For questions like why I meet with Jung Haseong every week, I can just make up some excuse, like we’re sparring as Hunters.

“By the way, it’s good to have a high ranking. Since it’s under Haseong’s name, places like this get rented out right away.”

“Ah, yes…”

I took a deep breath. I quickly stopped the training.

“Anyway, since it’s the first day, how about we start by testing your limits lightly?”

“Limit?”

“Hunter Jung Haseong. From now on, try firing your most frequently used skill at full power. Aim upwards.”

However, Jung Haseong’s reaction was far from favorable. After hearing my words, he hesitated greatly.

“Are you talking about the skill I use most often?”

“Hmm.”

“Is it not possible to show it gently?”

“No. You have to give it your all.”

“...If I do that, the ceiling will collapse.”

The black eyes, similar in color to my body but with a different glow, trembled violently.

“The association will take care of that much with the items you’ve collected and donated.”

However, I ignored Haseong’s reaction and let a bored expression show on my face. Then, the other party quietly started to draw up mana. Unable to overcome the pressure I was putting on him, he reluctantly started preparing his skill.

–Whoosh.

The temperature of the area gradually boiled. The immense fire attribute mana, capable of scorching a person just by the casting of magic, begins to heat up the surroundings.

“...If I were to be precise, I use this basic skill quite often.”

Whoosh!

Soon after, a pillar of fire shot up into the scene. The firestorm unleashed by Jung Haseong rushed wildly, turning everything it touched into ash in an instant.

Crack, thud!

Even the ceiling reinforced with dungeon materials and the barrier powered by an infinite energy core couldn’t withstand the impact of the skill and collapsed pitifully. However, I didn’t feel even a hint of admiration.

‘Compared to the stored magic power, the power is still far lacking.’

In fact, this was the biggest problem with Jung Haseong. The magician was so tightly constrained by his own power that he couldn’t even stretch his limbs properly.

‘As expected, the priority should be to teach him control over his power.’

Tak, tak.

Soon, all I could hear was the lonely sound of something burning. Using this sound as a background, I reviewed my schedule in my mind, when suddenly a new noise interrupted from across the way. It was Haseong’s voice.

“I…”

He looked somewhat flustered.

“Excuse me, but can I ask you one question?”

“Whatever you want.”

A moment later. What came out of his mouth was a fairly obvious question.

“Could it be that your hand was injured because of the skill I just used…?”

This side had suffered a second-degree burn in that brief moment.

“Yeah. I thought it would be fine since we were quite far apart, but when the wind direction changed, it caught me.”

I showed Haseong the wound I got from the sparks.

A red burn crossed the back of my hand. He, being the same awakened, would understand what this means better.

“You… got burned by that of kind ember?”

I found out later. In fact, the offer that Jung Haseong made to me to join the guild last winter had a meaning beyond my imagination. The company he founded had a pretty tough requirement for a hunter to join.

“I’ll be able to withstand the heat generated by the guild leader’s skills.”

I don’t know how he came to think that. Perhaps Jung Haseong had mistaken me for a sufficiently strong awakened being who could withstand his abilities. That’s probably why he immediately begged me to work with him. But now, how ridiculous it must be for a Hunter to be acknowledged to be like this by being lightly brushed by fire.

“Hunter-nim, I’ve been wondering since earlier, but why don’t you restore your awakening level to its original state?”

Haseong soon asked. As an S-rank, you should be fine with something like this. Why are you still suppressing your strength as if you’re still F-rank?

“There are no other ordinary people here, so why don’t you stop doing that?”

I felt a silent for a moment after hearing his words. Of course, I already had an excuse prepared. But saying it out loud felt a bit… guilty for my conscience…

But I can’t be weak-hearted now. If it weren’t for the ruthlessness of deceiving others, there was no way I could touch such a large sum of money with an F-grade body.

“Jung Haseong.”

With my resolve firm, I collected my breath and uttered a cold sentence.

“You still don’t understand my intentions.”

——Hah!

I straightened my neck stiffly and began to scold him.