Chapter 229. Low Self-Esteem (2)

Sambangan. An intense gaze where the lower part of the iris doesn't touch the bottom eyelid. In physiognomy, it is often called the eye of an ambitious person, and is said to indicate someone born with a strong drive for success and a fierce desire to win.

However, when you observe that 'man' up close, there's an atmosphere that feels oddly disconnected from the physiognomic conclusion. It's not about winning or losing; he exudes a calmness that suggests he wouldn't even care if a large number of scars suddenly appeared on his face. Although he's an S-rank hunter at the top of the food chain, his mental strength always stands out more than his physical strength.

'A hunter you can't help but respect.'

Actually, if you look at his age alone, there isn't much of a difference, but isn't this industry originally a place where skill is the most important?

Kim Giryeo seemed like someone born for hunting. He didn't bat an eye at most things. And his private life? It was as clean as could be. Except for those ridiculous school violence rumors from the past, there was nothing to catch, no matter how much you tried to dig.

Some might say that his uniqueness was due to the lonely childhood he spent alone, but Ahn Yoonseung didn't think so. From what he had seen up close, Kim Giryeo's abilities were far beyond the influence of such trivial environmental factors.

A truly innate talent. That man was the embodiment of a realm so far beyond reach, no matter how desperately an ordinary person might struggle.

'Strength, strategy, mentality. Honestly, as a Hunter, he doesn't fall short in anything.'

However, the Hunter who had always seemed flawless one day showed an extremely rare behavior. For a brief moment, his hand trembled, and his expression sank—as if he had no time to compose himself. From Ahn Yoonseung's perspective, it was a shocking sight. It felt like watching a well-preserved cultural artifact shatter right in front of him—something deep inside seemed to cave in. There was no need to dig into the distant past; wasn't it this very fourth-ranked S-class who, during the recent [Thornbush Forest] incident, had unhesitatingly taken a hit in place of an acquaintance to protect them?

In fictional works, villains are often portrayed as charismatic figures. But in reality, it is those who uphold ethics that tend to draw people in. Moreover, that Hunter isn't just generous to his acquaintances!

[ Hunternet < Free Bulletin Board ][m***: Wow ㅠㅠㅠ so touching ㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

[??*: As expected, a true top-tier doesn't even harbor petty jealousy towards their partners. Instead, because they have so much, they try to give and share first.]

[****: Just brushing against those thorns is incredibly painful, how did he hunt it alone?]

During the Thornbush Forest dungeon break suppression. The internet was in an uproar after testimonies from employees of Sunhwan Bank who had escaped the dome spread online. It was because those very statements were what made up the testimonies.

And also, Hunter Kim Giryeo insisted on taking down the final boss all by himself.That's right!He said, 'If I'm going to suffer anyway, I'd rather do it alone...'

Even after enduring that intense pain piercing directly into his nerves, he voluntarily took on all the work.

'So when he blocked that attack meant for me... he must've hidden the pain because he was worried his younger sibling might get scared...'

Yoonseung felt a renewed sense of respect. The one who had willingly taken on the thornbushes alone for the sake of other Hunters. Seeing such a remarkable Awakened now seemingly struggling with a sudden bout of poor condition—how could he possibly ignore that and just move on?

'A person shouldn't just keep receiving like this.'

If one receives a favor, it's only right to know how to repay it. Once again, Yoonseung genuinely wanted to be of help to the 4th-rank S-rank Hunter in any way he could. And just like that, an unexpected opportunity had finally presented itself.

[Seonhan Daily]

[[Dungeon News] Perhaps We Are Already 'Doomed', [Read More]]

...It was an incident of such scale that it felt a bit hesitant to say it was a good thing.

***

The era of machines has arrived! In reality, it's not quite to the level where they can say this has become an issue yet. However, the phenomenon that started on the 6th has been enough to stir up the capital.

In this world, it's not uncommon for certain monsters to appear more frequently in gates at irregular intervals. Unfortunately, this time the target happened to be 'golems.' It's as if someone had filled a claw machine entirely with just one specific prize.

Before long, most of the A-rank gates in Seoul were replaced by nests of inanimate creatures. The probability of dungeons where Golems appear suddenly increased drastically.

[ Hunternet < Free Bulletin Board ][m***: Golems drop infinite power cores in boss fights though. Doesn't mean that it's actually a good thing since we can farm them like crazy now??]

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Golems were actually one of the most avoided types of monsters. Unlike beast-types, they could keep moving even after taking damage (immune to bleeding), and on top of that, their defense was absurdly high—just cracking their outer shell usually took forever. (Physical defense)

[ Hunternet < Free Bulletin Board ][Jeon***: Aren't golems basically just core one-tool? =_=]

[??*: That's right. The loot value from regular monsters is so low that if you can't get the core in a golem dungeon, the team's share is quickly ruined.]

If things went wrong, they might end up suffering without making any profit, only breaking even due to potion costs. Everyone wanted to pretend the sudden surge in golems wasn't happening. However, from the perspective of national authorities, ignoring the situation was not an option. The A-rank golem dungeons that started spreading across Seoul were appearing at similar times, and if they meant to force adventurers into them, there was a high chance of simultaneous dungeon breaks happening.

"Such a headache. How long has it been since the new chairman's inauguration, and we're already dealing with incidents like this?"

"Shall we start by issuing a mobilization order for the A-rank Hunters?"

"Now? It's far too early for that."

"But if we leave it up to the hunters to act on their own, I feel like something terrible could happen..."

Murmur.

The Hunter Association's conference room grew noisy.

"Haa."

The most suitable individuals to resolve the situation smoothly were those with S-rank awakenings, but unfortunately, summoning them was no easy task.

1st place, Jung Haseong. He was expected to be busy for quite a while, dealing with the [Winter General] dungeon break that occurred in the Jeju region.

2nd place, Seo Esther. She was not even outside the dungeon, but inside it.

At the regional branch of the Korean Magic Tower, an A-rank awakening was injured and trapped inside a dungeon. To resolve the issue, the guild leader, Esther, personally visited Cheongju, and the dungeon that the team was attempting to clear had an average clearing time of 3.8 days due to its massive size and complexity, and so on...

And after that, the next in line was none other than Kang Changho. No response. At this point, the association had no choice but to pin their hopes on the last S-rank hunter.

9th place.

However, according to what the former president, who left along with the previous association president, had heard, 1 his hunter had once warned the institution that if they failed to protect his personal information, he would never allow himself to be forcibly summoned.

'J, just asking should be fine, right?'

Just as they were about to attempt a gamble that was bound to fail.

Tiring, Tiring, Tiring, Tiring.

One of the staff members checks the continuous alerts ringing from the computer and opens his mouth in shock.

[New Raid Application - The Hand of the Giant (A) - Applicant: Neo Sisters Corp.]

[New Raid Application - The Hand of the Giant (A) - Applicant: Neo Sisters Corp.]

[New Raid Application - The Hand of the Giant (A) - Applicant: Neo Sisters Corp.]

How did this happen? Suddenly, multiple Golem Gates are being reserved all at once.

***

The appearance of the Golem-type monster den, [The Hand of the Giant], which Hunters tend to avoid. Yet, in this situation, only one A-rank Hunter rejoiced.

"This is it!"

A gift that could excite the joy of Korea's fourth S-rank Hunter, Kim Giryeo? Ah, of course, there would be no choice but. 'The safety of the citizens.'

'As expected from our Hyung-nim...'

Giryeo. That hunter, perhaps tired of the pervasive hatred and constant battles in this society, initially hid his rank and lived a quiet life when they first met.

However, as a born righteous person, he couldn't stand by and watch the threat that had come, and eventually revealed his true identity.

[[Breaking News] South Korea's 4th S-rank Hunter Appears]

And after it was revealed that he was an S-rank, it seemed he decided that since the cat was out of the bag, he might as well act actively participate in every major event and crisis.

Peace. No matter how much he thought about it, the only topic that the Hunter might find interesting was something as s outdated and yet noble as this. So, with a firm resolve, Yoonseung spoke to his colleagues.

"Are you saying we should monopolize the Golems that appeared in Seoul? What does that even mean?"

Even if it means sacrificing overtime and giving up holidays, they wanted to quickly resolve this situation no matter what. Of course, the appearance of a large number of Golem-type monsters was no light matter. So, while other guild members from Neo Sisters had subtly been thinking about hurting the Golems, throwing people into such a crunch schedule all of a sudden was a bit too much.

"That's the problem! The truth is, I want to resolve the situation before the association calls in the S-rank hunters..."

The regular team leader of Neo Sisters maintains a listening posture. After hearing the story, it seems that the 9th-ranked hunter in the Korean hunter industry recently showed signs of exhaustion, breaking his usual tough facade. Because of this, it appears that Ahn Yoonseung, worried about the 9th-ranked hunter's burden, had decided to take the initiative in hunting down the golems to alleviate some of the pressure.

"If we can't handle it at the A-rank level, that person will step in again. Someone like Hyung-nim would never ignore people's danger, right? Ugh, knowing his personality, he'll jump right in without showing any signs of difficulty..."

While the intention is certainly good...

"Hmm."

Still, they didn't want to voluntarily take on such a high-difficulty dungeon like the Golem one, especially when the profitability was questionable. Hunting isn't exactly some volunteer work, right? In the end, it's all about making a living, and there's no way they'd take on such a risky job for the sake of strangers.

"...That's a really good idea!"

There was a case where they actually saw it. Team Leader of Team 3 adjusted her crossbow and turned her head. Then, the youngest member of the team, Baek Jagyeong, who was standing behind, suddenly exclaimed with an excited face.

"Even someone like me, if I can be of help, I truly want to assist!"

"Well, well. Looks like we've got some Kim Gi-ryeo fans here~ At this rate, both of them might even end up joining <HunterLove> later."

"They don't accept Hunters there, though?"

Come to think of it, Hunter Baek Jagyeong had mentioned that she received help from Kim Giryeo, who had disguised himself as the 33rd guest at an epic-level auction where she had gone in place of the guild's sharpshooter. That must be why she was making such a heated argument.

"Team leader."

It was the moment when the team leader, usually composed, wore an indifferent expression. As the team leader of Team 3 got lost in her thoughts, Ahn Yoonseung threw a well-intentioned temptation toward him.

"Anyway... that the epic-level item that was supposed to be auctioned off. The crossbow with the unfamiliar design. And the stats are incredible."

"Wild Crossbow?"

"Yes! But weren't you worried last time because the starting bid for that was so high that you weren't sure if you'd be able to win it? Recently, you've even been eating at the company cafeteria because of your equipment replacement work..."

When there's something that must be done, it's a good idea to reflect on whether the resources you've invested have been sufficient.

"Team leader! I will give up my share of the distribution!"

Yoonseung immediately said firmly.

"I'll distribute all the profits that come to me evenly among the team!"

"Huh?"

"Furthermore, I looked into it, and it turns out that [The Hand of the Giant] has a higher chance of dropping cores than [Golden Fragrance]!"

"...!"

"Talking about the distribution money getting wrecked is only relevant if the cores don't drop. But if we reserve multiple dungeons and clear them all at once...?"

The probability of profit is not particularly unstable. That's what averaging is all about. Moreover, the youngest member of the team immediately chimed in after hearing Yoonseung's words.

"Me too! This time, I won't take my share of the settlement!"

"What?"

"I'm really grateful to Hunter Kim for that much. I mean, he once helped me without asking for anything in return, right? But it's not like I can just go and thank someone I don't even have contact details for. If I can show my support in a meaningful way like this, even if it's just through this opportunity..."

"No, really?"

"Yes! Really!"

The declaration of donations from two top-tier hunters was quite something. Then, what about the increase in the percentage of distribution money that the rest of the team would receive? And on a day when the number of cores that drop happens to be higher than usual...

"Ahem."

"Hmm."

The team members, who had been silent until then, suddenly began to clear their throats.

The first to speak up was the healer.

"Aren't these young folks quite thoughtful? It's rare to see such loyalty these days. Ah, considering the sentiment, should we all get together and gather it and give this time...?"

As the older one spoke with a solemn voice, the young male guild member beside him soon expressed his opinion as well.

"I'm fine with it too. Well, our team already has a vacation scheduled, so we might as well give it all and then rest a fewwards, right?"

The team leader, the crossbow shooter, briefly recalls the image of a certain item.

Two weeks later, at the epic-level auction, a new American-made artifact would appear. The elegant silhouette of a certain crossbow felt far more captivating to someone who had chosen hunting as a lifelong profession than a stylish supercar. However, even with her five years of industry experience, she lacked the confidence to claim that crossbow for herself. After all, an epic artifact with offensive capabilities carried an astronomical value.

Power, or safety, and similar concepts. That one item could completely change my life as a hunter. Moreover, the epic weapon that has appeared this time happens to be a crossbow, something that someone like me could wield very well. If I miss this chance, it would undoubtedly be a long time before another opportunity comes around...

Shaking. After a long period of contemplation, the team leader of Team 3 took out her phone with trembling hands.

"Mhm. Mom. It's me. I think I'll be coming home late for the next few days. So, please have dinner first... Make sure to order something really delicious with Dad..."

What followed was a tearful all-nighter domino effect of a typical office worker.