“King…!”
Zero flinched at Siul’s instruction to hide its mana.
It had realized a moment too late that it had made a mistake.
Zero immediately suppressed its mana.
‘Good. Its presence is completely hidden now.’
Zero was naturally quite skilled at concealing its mana.
Even Park Jung-gi, an A-Rank Hunter, could not detect Zero while it was invisible.
“Isn’t there any good armor around here…?”
Siul feigned nonchalance as he watched the security personnel out of the corner of his eye.
Pretending to browse the display cases, he glanced around to see whether any of them were approaching.
“Didn’t the mana spike over here just now?”
“I don’t see anything. Maybe it was just a sensor malfunction?”
Fortunately, the security personnel only looked around for a moment before deciding that nothing was amiss and returning to their posts.
“Good grief, my heart….”
Siul sighed as he rubbed his pounding chest.
Beside him, Zero apologetically brushed Siul’s shoulder with its tail.
“You have to be careful. If you do that again….”
Just as Siul was about to lecture it—
“Excuse me.”
“Y-Yes…!”
An unfamiliar voice suddenly came from behind him.
Startled, Siul reflexively answered and turned around.
“Right? You’re Hunter Kim Siul.”
It was not one of the security personnel.
A young man with blond hair hanging down around his face and long, narrow eyes stood there.
He approached Siul and spoke as though he knew him.
‘Who is he?’
Siul stared at the man in confusion, unable to recognize him.
“Don’t you remember me? We met at the Association when you received your medal.”
A medal?
There had only been one time in Siul’s entire life when he had received a medal: after dealing with the Wyvern Goblin.
The memory of receiving the medal and taking commemorative photographs with Jang Jin-young in the lobby on the first floor of the Hunter Association flashed through his mind.
“Ah!”
Siul finally remembered the young man’s face.
“You were the promising Hunter being trained by the Great Tiger Guild back then….”
“Yes, that’s right. You remembered me?”
Do I-hyeon.
He was the promising Hunter whom Jang Jin-young had proudly introduced to Siul.
A nineteen-year-old A-Rank Awakened who was training under the sponsorship of the Great Tiger Guild and hoped to become a Special Hunter in the future.
“Wow, you were looking at some really expensive equipment.”
Do I-hyeon exclaimed in admiration when he saw the S-Rank weapon display in front of Siul.
It was an innocent reaction befitting his age.
“As expected, Hunter Siul, you use high-end equipment like this?”
Judging by Do I-hyeon’s tone, he also seemed to believe that Siul was a Special Hunter, just like Jang Jin-young did.
Siul had already more or less realized as much.
‘Why else would he have introduced this kid to me? He probably meant, Our boy wants to become a Special Hunter too, so please look after him.’
It was one troublesome misunderstanding piled atop another.
Siul merely smiled and pretended not to notice.
“Haven’t you been doing Dungeon Raids lately? There were a lot of rumors about you.”
…Rumors?
“People were saying that some outsourced team was clearing B-Rank Dungeons with top-tier results. I wondered what kind of team it was, so I checked the records. Once I saw your name listed there, Hunter Siul, I understood why their results were so good.”
This was the first Siul had heard of it.
“There were rumors like that?”
He knew that Min Hyung-sik’s team had grown in reputation, but he had not realized they had become famous enough to be talked about throughout the industry.
He certainly had not expected anyone to go through the records and find his name.
‘Have I been drawing too much attention to myself?’
With every day being precious to Siul, however, it had been unavoidable.
“I still raid Dungeons from time to time. Though I parted ways with that outsourced team not long ago.”
“I thought so. I was wondering why someone like you, Hunter Siul, would be running B-Rank Dungeons with an outsourced team.”
Do I-hyeon glanced around before lowering his voice.
“You joined them because of a mission, right?”
“…….”
He seemed to have firmly convinced himself of that misunderstanding.
“I guess I asked something I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry for putting you in an awkward position.”
“It’s fine. I should get going now, so I’ll see you next time.”
Siul tried to leave as though fleeing the scene.
However, Do I-hyeon’s final remark stopped him in his tracks.
“If there’s a Dungeon you want, please contact me. Then you won’t have to keep looking for other outsourced teams.”
Siul halted and looked back.
“You mean… you can secure Dungeons yourself?”
At the question, Do I-hyeon smiled.
“I think I mentioned it briefly last time, but I’m sponsored by the Great Tiger Guild. If it’s for my training, they’ll secure any Dungeon I want immediately, regardless of its rank.”
The Great Tiger Guild’s Rookie Training Program.
It was famous enough to have already been featured by numerous media outlets.
On rare occasions, exceptionally talented children awakened as A-Rank or even S-Rank while they were still minors.
However, the law prohibited them from working as Hunters until they turned twenty.
Because they awakened so early, they paradoxically had to let their talents go to waste for several years.
The Great Tiger Guild’s Rookie Training Program was a sponsorship system established for children like them.
“Prospects like me are allowed to raid Dungeons as long as we’re accompanied by one other Hunter. Of course, only the accompanying Hunter is allowed to enter the boss room.”
With government approval, the Great Tiger Guild generously provided promising youngsters with equipment and opportunities to accumulate practical combat experience.
All so that once they reached adulthood, they could establish themselves as exceptional Hunters.
“I’d really be happy if someone as amazing as you, Hunter Siul, would be my accompanying Hunter. If you ever have the time… could I ask you to come with me?”
Do I-hyeon asked in a cautious yet cheerful voice.
“I don’t have much real combat experience yet. Hehe….”
Normally, Siul would have simply laughed off the adorable request from the young prospect.
But the current Siul was different.
‘Where did this little blessing come from…?’
A strange gleam entered Siul’s eyes.
He could not let this opportunity slip away, so he answered eagerly without bothering to play hard to get.
“Why don’t we go somewhere and have some tea?”
* * *
A café tucked away in a small alley far from the bustling district.
There were few customers, and only soft music filled the space.
It was the perfect environment for Siul and Do I-hyeon to discuss something important.
Siul glanced beneath the table.
He could feel the invisible Zero dozing with its body resting against the top of his foot.
“You want to gain more practical experience, right, I-hyeon? And for that, you need an accompanying Hunter.”
Siul spoke first.
“That’s right. Recently, the Great Tiger Guild’s contracted Hunters have been taking turns accompanying me, so I’ve been getting at least a little raid experience.”
Do I-hyeon explained his circumstances as he drank an iced chocolate.
“Who’s accompanying you now?”
“It changes every time. When it was a C-Rank Dungeon, a B-Rank Hunter came with me. When it was a B-Rank Dungeon, an A-Rank Hunter accompanied me.”
“So for safety, they send a Hunter one rank above the Dungeon?”
“Hunter rank isn’t actually the standard. By law, someone qualifies as an accompanying Hunter if they have previously achieved a Perfect Clear in a Dungeon of that rank.”
A Perfect Clear referred to a result in which a Dungeon was cleared within its projected completion time while earning twice the expected revenue from resource extraction.
For reference, with the exception of the Giant Golem Dungeon, Siul had achieved a Perfect Clear in every Dungeon he had raided.
‘So that’s why he asked me?’
Siul had assumed it was because Do I-hyeon mistook him for a Special Hunter, but apparently the boy had made the request after checking Siul’s record.
“What did you mean earlier when you said only the accompanying Hunter could enter the boss room?”
“That? Boss rooms always come with unpredictable variables, so prospects are legally prohibited from entering them for their own protection.”
“But the accompanying Hunter can go in?”
“Yes. Even if it’s for training, it’s still a Dungeon. It would be a waste to leave without clearing it. So usually, the accompanying Hunter goes in alone, kills the boss, and comes back out.”
The more Siul heard, the more perfectly suited the system seemed to his circumstances.
‘If I become this kid’s accompanying Hunter, I can enter higher-ranked Dungeons and monopolize the bosses.’
On top of that, he had a perfectly legitimate reason to do so.
Unlike before, this was not an opportunity gained by pretending to be a Special Hunter.
It was an opportunity he had earned through his recent outstanding Dungeon-clearing record.
There could hardly have been better conditions for Siul.
“Hmm.”
There was, however, one concern.
‘He’s a promising young Hunter who absolutely cannot be allowed to get hurt. On top of that, he’s an A-Rank Awakened, which is a higher rank than me. Can I really lead him properly…?’
Siul was afraid that his own greed might end up getting such a valuable young talent injured.
Unable to readily accept the offer to become his accompanying Hunter, Siul fell into thought.
After watching him for a moment, Do I-hyeon cautiously spoke.
“Could it be… that you’re worried I’m too inexperienced to bring along?”
Siul smiled and waved his hand at the straightforward but innocent question.
“There’s no way that could be true when Mr. Jang Jin-young praised you until he was practically hoarse. It’s just that I need Dungeons for my own purposes, so I feel bad about dragging you into something for my sake.”
Siul confessed what was on his mind and shared his concerns.
He did not want to lie to this promising young man.
“If that’s the reason, then it’s fine!”
Do I-hyeon suddenly raised his voice and leaned across the table.
“To be completely honest, the others are much worse.”
“…?”
Do I-hyeon hesitated, but in the end, he could not hold back his urge to speak.
“When an accompanying Hunter enters a Dungeon with a prospect, all of the profits go to the accompanying Hunter. Most of the people who volunteer to accompany us do it because they’re after that money.”
Apparently, the Hunters who had accompanied Do I-hyeon so far had neglected his training and focused solely on hunting the boss and mining Mana Stones.
One accompanying Hunter had even forced Do I-hyeon into such a dangerous raid that he had been seriously injured, resulting in disciplinary action against the Hunter.
“That’s awful.”
Siul frowned and clicked his tongue.
“Do those people have no shame?”
Seeing Siul get angry on his behalf, Do I-hyeon instead smiled.
“I understand how they feel. They’re giving up valuable time to raid Dungeons that are easy for them.”
Do I-hyeon added that he did not think the accompanying Hunters were necessarily bad people just because they wanted to make money.
“I’m grateful just for the opportunity to enter a Dungeon.”
The boy scratched the back of his neck with an innocent smile.
As Siul quietly watched him, he found himself wanting to support him.
‘He’s mature for his age. I like that he doesn’t complain and simply does his best with the circumstances he’s been given.’
That only made Siul feel even more responsible.
At the very least, he did not want to conduct a raid where he became so obsessed with his own goals that he neglected the boy.
“I’d like us to make a few promises. They’ll be my conditions for becoming your accompanying Hunter.”
Do I-hyeon’s eyes lit up.
“Really? You’ll actually go into Dungeons with me?”
“If you keep these promises.”
Siul laid out three conditions.
“First, your safety comes before absolutely everything else. If I tell you to retreat, you retreat immediately. If I tell you to run, you head straight for the exit without looking back.”
“Yes, understood!”
Do I-hyeon answered with tremendous enthusiasm.
“Second, I’m going into these Dungeons because I have my own objective. So this is a partnership. I’ll give you Dungeon experience and teach you what I can of my raid know-how. In return, I’ll take what I came for.”
At that, Do I-hyeon was inwardly surprised.
Never before had an accompanying Hunter so openly admitted their true objective to him.
“And third, this last one is the most important, so listen carefully.”
Siul lowered his voice.
Do I-hyeon leaned forward and listened closely.
“Everything you see inside the Dungeon stays secret. You must never tell anyone about it, and you must never ask me about it either.”
“Ah… Yes, understood. But what exactly are you talking about…?”
Do I-hyeon realized that his curiosity had slipped out before he could stop himself and hurriedly took it back.
“Sorry! I won’t ask!”
Seeing Do I-hyeon apologize with a stiff, disciplined expression, Siul smiled and gave him the slightest hint.
“Have you ever seen someone’s head burst open?”