Chapter 156. Together, Hanshin

"You're two years older than me."

"Really? Wait, no. More importantly, I never mentioned my age—how do you know that?"

"These days, you can find everything on the internet. Ugh, anyway, I don't think I can go to places where you grill mea t yourself anymore. All that smoke going straight into my lungs..."

Gryeo set aside the flustered Haseong and admired the new ingredient—pork skin.

But at that moment, a massive surge of power suddenly swept into the shop where they were. A dark and heavy sens ation that could easily be felt as discomfort.

In Korea, she's the only one who exhibits this type of magic.

"Is it from outside?"

Gryeo sensed someone's magic and instinctively turned his body. Through the window, he saw the white wings of a fl ight magic device known as the [White Bird].

Whoong.Soon after, someone gently descended from its back. Judging by those drooping eyes, it was unmistakably the very H unter who had just come to mind.

"Esther-ssi?"

Since he was already nearly full, Gryeo left a word for Haseong to keep eating and stepped out of the restaurant for a moment.

The person he met there had a distinctly different atmosphere. She usually wore a relaxed smile, but now, there was n o smile; instead, her brow was furrowed tightly.

"A, as expected, it seems that story was true after all..."

Trembling.

Esther muttered something under her breath, clenching her fist tightly. The magic surrounding her began to take on a fierce and menacing aura. To have a curse caster this enraged... He doesn't know who that person is, but they won't b e able to live comfortably in the future.

"Hunter Kim Gryeo?"

"Yeah?"

But at that moment, Esther suddenly called someone's name loudly.

"I'm really sorry for showing up at your dining spot like this. But there's something I need to hear an explanation for, ri ght now."

"Yes?"

She narrowed her sharp, bloodshot eyes and slowly approached.

"I actually heard a rumor today, you know? That you and Garion's guild leader are going to form an official team?"

"Ah."

"But surely that information that you started team discussions without me is not true, right?"

Of course, it's not true. I'm planning to break that promise. However, in this situation, it's uncertain whether my head w ill stay attached until I finish explaining.

"CEO, please calm down."

Sssk.

Gryeo first showed the Earth-style gesture of surrender. He raised both arms so that his palms were visible.

***

A moment later, I finished paying and stepped out into the alley near the restaurant. After slightly distancing myself fro m Jung Haseong, I said this.

"Hunter Esther, could you lend me your ear for a moment?"

The other person still wore an expression of displeasure, but nonetheless, she agreed to listen to such a request. Esth er put on a slightly indifferent expression, as if to say, "Go ahead and explain." However, as time passed, this expressi on gradually shifted into one of surprise.

"First of all, don't worry. I don't know where you heard the rumor, but I have no intention of working with that S-rank o ver there anytime soon."

"Really?"

"Yes. I had suggested teaming up with Jung Haseong under certain conditions."

"Conditions?"

"Esther-ssi, a few years ago, you were caught up in Jung Haseong's abilities while dealing with a dungeon break, wer en't you?"

I mentioned a certain incident I had found while browsing the internet. The guild leader of the Magic Tower had also b een exposed to the unique problems that S-rank individuals tend to have.

Just like how we sometimes step on insects at our feet without noticing, the top-tier awakeners here, with their innate strength, often caused unintended secondary damage.

Therefore, I explained the significance of the relationship in connection with the issues these S-rank individuals face.

"This is a secret, but I'm currently teaching Jung Haseong a method to control his abilities, so that what happened to y ou before doesn't happen again."

"...?"

"And once that know-how proves effective, I was planning to contact the Magic Tower right away."

Esther's eyes were wide open and she was looking up at me.

"I apologize for only telling you now. Anyway, I never meant to disrespect you."

"I, I see."

When the topic of the guild came up, Esther stood on tiptoe and whispered into my ear.

"Then, does that mean you're not currently affiliated with Garion, after all?"

I'm not sure how she came to such a suspicion, but I can confirm one thing for sure.

"As I mentioned before, I don't join guilds."

I made it clear that I had never joined Haseong's guild. At that, Esther's face noticeably brightened.

"Oh my!"

It seemed that this was the main reason she had been upset. Indeed, for the owner of a major guild, losing a hunter to a small guild like Garion might have felt humiliating.

"Goodness, I'm so sorry, what should I do? I jumped to conclusions too quickly..."

Esther smiled and straightened her posture.

"That was close; we almost ended up with an unnecessary bloodshed."

But why did she say that as soon as the decibel level returned to normal?

"I honestly thought I was completely being left out at first. Haha. So, to be honest, I was thinking of showing off my ski lls here today."

"..."

"If I can prove that I'm an Awakener who's not inferior to the #1 in the rankings, I think Giryeo-ssi will let me join the te am~"

Esther spoke in her usual soft tone, but the problem was that she was an expert in curse magic.

"Of course, the number of S-ranks might have decreased a bit during the process of making my appeal... but well, hav ing four of them in this small land was excessive, so one less wouldn't hurt."

The only curse magician in Korea just smiled and looked at the two men one by one.

I'm scared to death. What Esther was essentially saying now was that if she were left out of the official team formatio n, she'd create a spot even if it meant taking out one of the S-ranks.

"Mom."

I swallowed dryly and subtly stepped away from Esther as naturally as possible. I needed to get out of here before any thing unnecessary happened.

"A, anyway. Where on earth did you hear about us teaming up, Esther-ssi?"

Just before leaving, I casually asked the question I was most curious about. But I never expected this kind of answer.

"The gray-haired man behind you told a guild staff member that. I just happened to hear it from them."

Well, I suppose I never explicitly told Jung Haseong to keep that part a secret.

***

Afterward, once the blonde awakener disappeared, only two S-ranks remained in the alley. The sleepy-eyed Master o f the Magic Tower and the pyromancer.

"By the way, it's been a while since we saw each other like this, hasn't it?"

Esther watched the back of Gryeo as he walked away and casually spoke. If it were before, he would have responded with a curt, short answer, but Jung Haseong wasn't pressed for time anymore, so he responded with sincerity.

"Yes. How have you been?"

What followed was an unexpected sentence.

"Of course, I haven't been doing well."

Esther, who was pretending to be angry, snorted lightly.

"After rejecting my sincere invitation, our Haseong doesn't even care about Garion and won't give it any attention, so now I can't even eat properly."

"Hmm."

"What's the matter with that? I heard that the arrogant guild leader is following a certain hunter around these days."

She wore a mischievous smile.

"How does it feel to be rejected by Hunter Kim Gryeo for a scout? Do you understand how I feel now?"

The man with a straight face only made a troubled expression at this question. However, even without an answer, Esth er's mood remained undisturbed.

There was a time when she mistakenly thought the young man's attitude was a sign of him looking down on her, being the number one in the rankings. However, now that she had a rough understanding of who Jung Haseong was, she he ld no ill feelings toward the overworked hero. Therefore, the following remarks were nothing more than casual greetin gs to a colleague in the industry.

"Well, anyway, it was nice meeting you."

"Yes."

"Ah, I'm jealous. I wanted to be the first to receive tips from Gryeo, but then again, I must have been too busy with ma naging the guild to find the time for it..."

The guild leader of the Korean Magic Tower continued the conversation with a cheerful voice, then paused for a mom ent.

"Oh, right."

It seemed like she had just remembered something she had forgotten, as her eyes suddenly widened.

"Hunter Haseong, come to think of it, what happened to that?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Since we're also leading the magical power development consortium, we gather a lot of information from various sou rces."

"Yes."

"I think I heard it last week? That Garion decided to merge with Hanshin."

When a certain word was mentioned, Haseong's eyes quickly showed that he understood.

"Ah, Hanshin."

However, the sentence that followed was dull.

"That plan was canceled due to some unexpected changes during the deliberation period."

What Esther had mentioned had long since been turned into a blank sheet of paper.

***

A sunny afternoon.

Boom!

Someone slammed the mahogany wooden desk with force. This is a building of a small to medium-sized guild located in Gwanak-gu, Seoul. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

[Together, Hanshin]

To be precise, this was the headquarters of Hanshin, which had once been embroiled in a scandal due to the Flower B aron's mismanagement. However, how lenient were the laws of this country when it came to corporations? Hanshin ha d only been fined a few hundred in penalties for the dungeon break incident. At the time, as time passed, the public out cry had quieted, and the guild was now operating smoothly.

"Ugh!"

But Hanshin's guild leader was angry with a face that had turned red and blue since early in the morning.

"Dammit! It was almost done!"

Last January. Do you know what kind of treasure the cataclysmic event, where a new breed of monsters appeared in l arge numbers, brought to humanity?

He looks down at the crimson armor on the table.

[Efreet's Armor]

[Efreet's Gauntlets]

[Efreet's Greaves]

This armor, called the 'Efreet Set', showed fire resistance that was incomparable to previous equipment when worn in five parts. The leader of Hanshin, after experiencing the effects of the armor, thought to himself. If he equipped the str ongest hunter in his guild with the Efreet Set, surely they would be able to withstand the flames of any S-rank hunter.

"Uggh."

That's right. At the center of all these events was Jung Haseong.

Hanshin spent a fortune acquiring all the newly appeared Efreet armor pieces. With the flame-resistant hunter they cr eated as bait, they attempted to recruit Jung Haseong.

It was a plausible plan. In fact, Jung Haseong's reaction had been positive. That S-class had been looking for a Korea n companion who could handle his abilities for some time, and with the appearance of the Efreet set, he had finally me t the requirement. Hanshin hadn't held a chance, but succeeded in bringing the number one ranked hunter into their gui ld, their status would have been completely different by now.

Yeah. With this one successful scout, they could have gone beyond being a small guild and become a globally renown ed company...!

"Kaaaght!"

To reveal the result first, Hanshin failed.

Their plan only worked if Jung Haseong showed interest in a flame-resistant companion, but suddenly, some unexpec ted interference disrupted everything.

"Kim Gryeo, you damn b*stard!"

The guild leader of Hanshin muttered to himself, recalling the appearance of a certain hunter.

"Why is he causing such a fuss now, when he himself said there was no way he'd team up with Jung Haseong!"

They had spent so much money for the Efreet set. They paid even more than the market price, giving extra bonuses ju st to monopolize the armor pieces that were released. This place, although the scale of the guild itself was not large, a s it was a company split off from a well-known group, its capital was plentiful.

But due to someone's interference, all that effort was wasted.

"A while ago, Hunter Kim suggested that we consider working together on a regular team in the future. So, unfortuna tely, the contract you mentioned will no longer be considered..."

Jung Haseong had already fallen for another temptation before the formal discussions even began.

"My money!"

If he had known this would happen, he should have been more cautious when purchasing equipment.

Hanshin's greed led them to believe that by persuading Jung Haseong, they could absorb not only him but also the pe rsonnel from the guild he founded, Garion. They were hasty and unlucky. In a situation where nothing was certain, the y made an excessive investment and ended up suffering losses.

"Oh my, I've already bragged to everyone around that we were going to merge with Garion, and now this... What on ea rth happened?"

"Come to think of it, have you tried contacting Hunter Kim Gryeo?"

"Ugh, don't even mention it. I swear, after one call with that guy, I have to go get my blood pressure medication toda y."

What's even more frustrating is that this wasn't the end of it. Even after the scout failed, Hanshin didn't give up and st arted new negotiations. They explained the situation to the Hunter Kim Gryeo and begged, asking if they could temporaril y add one of Hanshin's guild members if they were to form a new team.

"What's worse, he wasn't even asking for money but was offering conditions on our terms."

Anyway, once they earned the reputation of withstanding Haseong's flames, they'd have achieved their intended goal. But do you know what kind of response they got from the other party?

"No matter how much equipment you have, an A-rank is still an A-rank. I'm sorry, but that's not possible."

Not only did Gryeo smash someone else's dream head-on, but he also rejected Hanshin's request by citing the lack of qualifications.

"Anyway, they're just lucky to have been born as S-ranks!"

In reality, Kim Gryeo had no intention of forming a hunter team, so he had politely declined their request as best as he could... However, for Hanshin, it was a matter of pride. Yet there was no one he could complain to. It was only natural for an S-rank to look down on other awakened individuals.

"Guild leader."

But at that moment, only one person in the room showed a slightly different perspective.

"I have a good idea. Do you want to hear it?"

"What?"

"Honestly, we didn't just decide to team up with S-rank for no reason. We had everything prepared, so why should we put up with this kind of disrespect?"

Cho Sangoh, the star hunter of Hanshin Guild. He confidently asserted that his abilities were not inferior to those of S- rank hunters. In recent years, the hunter industry had experienced rapid growth, surpassing even Moore's Law in the semiconductor market.