Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I need you.

Back home, I stripped off the stinking clothes, showered, and lay down on the bed for a deep sleep.

When I opened my eyes around the time the sun rose the next day, I could feel that my overheated head had cooled. It seemed I had slept a full day. Come to think of it, I had skipped work without leave.

And how was I supposed to handle having walked out during work hours without permission.

I was lying in bed with only my eyes open, staring blankly at the ceiling with that worry, when a notification sounded from my smartphone.

-Ding!

"Hm?"

When I checked, it was a text from the guild. I read it with a pounding heart.

[Sender: Team Leader Kim Min-su

No need to come in. Thanks for your work.]

"Ha!"

A single text. Two sentences. That was the sincerity the guild I had devoted seven years to showed me.

From the start I had contracted as a hunter, not a regular employee, so it was a notice they could well enough send.

Even so, we had been together for seven years. Too much.

"They used to bow and scrape like that at the beginning."

After Kim Seol-yeon and I awakened together, we worked as a pair without belonging to a guild. Back then, the need for a guild had not yet stood out.

The two of us could clear gates on our own. Then, little by little, the importance of guilds came to the fore, and around the time we too felt our limit, we met the guild master of Deungcheon.

The man who had been bowing and scraping beside the guild master then was Team Leader Kim Min-su, the one who had sent me the text.

'You never know what's inside a person.'

The partner I believed I would spend my life with had betrayed me in a way I never imagined, and Team Leader Kim Min-su, who had acted as if he would do anything for me, had pushed me out with a single text.

Ten years of devotion, seven years of guild life. All that remained at the end was the deposit on a tiny one-room studio.

"Haha."

A laugh came out of me on its own as I looked up at the yellowed ceiling. Not joy. It was full of an empty feeling.

"Haa."

More than that, what do I do now? I don't have much saved, so I have to work.

'Like a fool, I gave it all away.'

We help each other until we become S-rank hunters. For that promise, I spent every bit of money I earned on Kim Seol-yeon's gear and her health.

Of course an enormous amount of money went into it, so all I had saved was the deposit on the one-room I was living in now.

I was staring blankly at the ceiling, worrying over what came next, when other guilds I had been in contact with before came to mind.

"Hm..."

Most of them had approached me for Kim Seol-yeon, but a very few had shown interest in me.

I picked up my smartphone and dug through the old messages. Hm. Not this one. Not these either. Here?

[Sender: Saebit Guild Master Lee Mi-seon.]

"...Who was this again?"

No matter how many times I thought, I couldn't place her. I had spent ten years in the hunter industry, so there were a few old ties, but still, there was no way I wouldn't remember someone who was a guild master.

Even so, I read the message, if only to jog my memory.

[Si-u. The offer I made before is still valid, so contact me anytime. Saebit Guild always welcomes your visit!]

The message was remarkably warm. Which was why a bitter smile settled at my mouth.

'Must have been a new guild.'

There were guilds like this now and then. Ten years of experience. Kim Seol-yeon's partner. They made the offer after seeing those two things.

But I never had a choice. Kim Seol-yeon always decided. Knowing that, they changed their attitude and turned their backs. That was familiar by now.

Most of the contacts that came to me were like that. Usually they poked once, and after that they didn't reach out again.

'There are plenty of ways to contact Kim Seol-yeon besides me.'

If it works, good. If not, whatever. That was exactly how the hunter industry treated me. But this person was different. There was a history of her texting me several times.

[Sender: Saebit Guild Master Lee Mi-seon

We want you, Si-u. Of course Hunter Kim Seol-yeon is outstanding as well. But your clerical ability, your smooth communication with public officials! We want to put the know-how you've built over ten years to active use in our company!]

"Hm...?"

Back then I only had eyes for Kim Seol-yeon, so even a text like this didn't stir any particular thought. I wanted to make Kim Seol-yeon an S-rank hunter as quickly as possible, without any noise.

That was the kind of heart I had.

But now it was different. In ten years of working in this industry, it was the first time I had heard something like this. Scouting me, not Kim Seol-yeon? There was no reason to go that far.

Only now, with time passed, did I grow curious about this text.

'There are plenty of people with ability like mine.'

The one thing I had taken even a little pride in was granting Kim Seol-yeon the Polarity skill. And, because of that, the fact that I had contributed even a little to her success.

Aside from that, my ability was utterly ordinary. Which was why I had been treated like leftovers even inside the guild.

"Huh. Really."

Was that why. Not Kim Seol-yeon's partner. Not a kept husband. Not a parachute hire. This text, which evaluated only my ability, felt deeply welcome.

"It's a bit late, but should I at least talk?"

My first day out of the job. I set my feet moving again, to tie a thread with a new company.

**

- Ding!

[Sender: Deungcheon Guild Lee Si-u (★)

I'd like to talk.]

"Oh? For real?!"

Lee Mi-seon, president of the corporation guild, looked at her phone and broke into a wide smile. She had left a text long ago, just in case, and today a reply had come out of nowhere.

"What do I do? What do I do? When are you free? Huh? Mi-seon, focus! This is a rare chance!"

Lee Mi-seon paced in circles around the office of barely five pyeong, writing her reply. As her muttering said, Lee Si-u answering a conversation like this was a truly precious chance.

'Why that iron wall of a man?'

She had next to no connections worth mentioning as a new guild, so she doubted this luck for a moment.

But.

-Ding!

[Then I'll come now.]

When she confirmed the reply that Lee Si-u was coming to the office right away, Lee Mi-seon's eyes went round.

"Jackpot!"

His skill had not been confirmed, but as far as Lee Mi-seon was concerned, it didn't matter. In the past she had worked as a gate officer for Deungcheon Guild.

Back then she had clearly confirmed Lee Si-u's ability to handle incidents.

'Flexible incident handling. The communication to win over stiff-necked officials, and meticulous clerical ability.'

Those three alone were reason enough to headhunt Lee Si-u. On top of that, he was an official hunter recognized by the Association.

What hunter in the world would take on office work like this as well.

'This is a chance!'

Lee Mi-seon, who had quit the civil service and founded a hunter management company, now stood at a fork of two roads.

One was bankruptcy. She didn't know why, but there was no work. There were so many gates in the world!

On top of that, the growth limit of her affiliated hunters had come far too soon. And they had only learned two skills.

And the other was bringing in Lee Si-u. For a company short on hands as it was now, Lee Si-u, who could handle paperwork and fill a supporter role as well, was a top-tier talent.

A talent who also held the connections to bring in the work they lacked.

'And he's been doing support work for ten years.'

Lee Si-u had been at Kim Seol-yeon's side while she grew from F-rank to A-rank. It was also a chance to obtain that know-how.

'There's a rumor he isn't a hunter.'

Ten years ago. Back when the system for hunters had not yet been put in order. There was a rumor that he had taken advantage of the chaos and obtained a hunter qualification illegally.

But Lee Mi-seon had belonged to the Hunter Association, so she could only snort.

'The Association President took notice of him. There's no way he's fake.'

When she had just shed the label of new hire and taken a manager's post, Lee Mi-seon had roughly grasped it by feel.

During the gate rampage incident, someone had quietly supported Lee Si-u while he handled it.

That had clearly been the Association President.

The Association President, fair and square, who cherished talent to the extreme, had supported him in secret? That settled it. Lee Mi-seon filled her mouth with a smile and looked around the office.

'It's tidy.'

With no employees it looked empty, but that was better than dirty. Lee Mi-seon waited for Lee Si-u to arrive, a wry smile on her face. Then.

-Creak.

With the creak peculiar to an old building, the sound of someone coming up the stairs reached her. Not a man. Judging by the light footsteps.

"Guild Master."

"Hm?"

A hunter of Saebit Guild who, with no work, had to wait in the dorm. Kim Eun-ji opened the door and came in with a strange expression.

"What's the matter?"

"I'm hungry. Please at least let me do a part-time job."

"...The president will order delivery, so stay on standby. No part-time."

In times like these, a hunter was no different from an idol. An affiliated hunter, not clearing gates or doing broadcast work, out doing a part-time job?

The malicious comments condemning the agency's incompetence would pile up enormously. This was not a problem for the company alone.

In the end a bad evaluation would follow for the affiliated hunter as well, so Lee Mi-seon had no choice but to refuse her request.

"We have an interview today with a new staff member who's going to help us, you know? If we just have this person, we can get a lot of work. So can you wait a little?"

"...Then I want to see too."

"Hm?"

Lee Mi-seon looked at Kim Eun-ji with a flustered face. A black bob, and beautiful purple eyes changed by the influence of her skill. Eyes half-lidded. A straight nose and snow-white skin.

A face that could take the center spot in any ordinary idol group.

But she was someone with no interest outside of work as a hunter, so Lee Mi-seon could only be flustered.

"I'm curious how trustworthy a person this is. And this month is the end of the recontract period. If there's no work, I'll go to another guild."

"...Alright."

Kim Eun-ji was the only hunter in Saebit Guild whose talent was blooming. She could not hold off offers from other large guilds forever.

'I picked her first!'

By Lee Mi-seon's instinct she had noticed that Kim Eun-ji had tremendous potential, and she had succeeded in contracting her when no one yet knew her talent.

But a new guild with few connections had no way of receiving gate-clear requests.

Two years, only as a secondary standby team in a backwater region that didn't even pay. She had wasted the contract period with Kim Eun-ji for nothing.

"Hoo."

Which was why this time was truly the last. The moment she brought Lee Si-u in, she had to put out contacts everywhere and bring in as many gate-clear requests as she could.

If even Kim Eun-ji left, Saebit Guild might as well have no future.

-Knock knock.

"It's Lee Si-u."

"Come in!"

At last the Lee Si-u she had been waiting for opened the door and came in. Messy black hair, gentle eyes, the corners of his mouth slightly raised. A kind-looking impression, just as the rumors said.

Lee Mi-seon rose from her seat and indicated the sofa.

"Sit comfortably."

"Ah. Yes."

Lee Mi-seon glanced for a moment at Kim Eun-ji, who was standing beside her. She was curious, after all, how Kim Eun-ji would evaluate him. But.

"Hup!"

Kim Eun-ji, the quiet type who usually didn't speak and only immersed herself in training, had her eyes wide and her mouth covered.

'Huh?'

Lee Mi-seon was flustered by a side of her she was seeing for the first time, when.

"H-hello! I'm Kim Eun-ji, a second-year hunter!!"

Kim Eun-ji, flushing red like a girl fan who had seen the celebrity she longed for, and asking for a handshake.