When they opened their eyes, they were deep inside the forest.
"Uuuugh...."
"Where is this...?"
"Where the hell are we...?!"
After coming to their senses, the Hunters of the Kaiser Guild were horrified by the state they were in.
"Gaaah...! Wh-what is this...?!"
Because they were tied to trees completely naked, with honey smeared all over their bodies.
"W-we're going to... get murdered too...! By these unknown creatures...!"
"Uuuugh...! Dammit!"
"How is something like this a low-grade dungeon...?!"
They panicked.
Having fainted from the enemies' mental attack without even putting up a fight, they had woken up to this hell.
"......."
Trudge, trudge.
Just then, a man wearing a black mask walked up in front of them, holding a sword.
"All of you, tell me the truth."
"A-about what...?!"
It felt as if they had come face-to-face with a reaper of death himself.
With terrified voices, the Hunters faced the fear of death.
"Was it really the Phantom Guild that ordered you to ruin the Gladius Guild?"
"Wh-what did you say...?!"
"I asked if it was the work of Yoon Chan-ho from the Phantom Guild."
Bugs were swarming at a terrifying speed toward the honey smeared over their bodies.
Furthermore, ropes were looped around their necks.
"If you want to live, speak up right now."
"Gaaah—! Y-yes...!"
In a situation where they felt they could be murdered at any moment, the truth spilled effortlessly from their mouths.
"It was those bastards...!"
"That's right! The Phantom Guild bastards made us do it!"
"Especially that... Y-Yoon Chan-ho...!"
At that, the man wore a satisfied smile and took off his black mask.
"...Good. Then I'll give you bastards one piece of advice."
He turned off the voice recorder hidden deep inside his robe, which had recorded their testimony.
"I'll save you, so if you don't have the skills, just stay out of the way and cower. That's easier."
"Aaagh...! Y-you're...?!"
He returned the exact arrogant advice he had heard from them right back.
Then he took a combat stance.
"L-Lee Gyeom-shin...?!"
Because before they knew it, the most dangerous monsters in this forest had arrived right before their eyes.
<Kekekekeke!>
The shape of ghosts.
At first glance, those monsters had the form of people, but they were not human.
<Kekeke!>
They wore something like white, translucent blankets and held axes or scythes.
Ding!
That was why people called this place a land swarming with ghosts full of resentment.
However....
['Analyzer' has been activated.]
In fact, these bastards were not even ghosts.
「 Monster Name: Ghost
Grade: C0 / Level: 100
Type: Ghost / Attribute: Darkness 」
Strictly speaking, they were monsters.
And Level 100 ones, at that.
"Gh... Ghosts...!"
"Wh-what are those things now...?!"
"Those rumors... were true?!"
The Kaiser Guild Hunters were trembling all over.
Because those bastards were exuding a terrifying bloodlust that evoked death itself.
"Don't tell me... those bastards did this to us...?"
The Hunters had seen those Ghost-type monsters right before fainting as well.
So they thought those bastards were the culprits who had reduced them to this state.
'...Well, that's half right.'
However, it was half right and half wrong.
What had knocked the Hunters unconscious was certainly the monsters' mental attack, but....
'Since I'm not the one who knocked them out.'
The one who had tied them to the trees and smeared honey all over their bodies was Gyeom-shin.
Along with looping the ropes around their necks.
'...Well, there aren't many Hunters like me for whom crazy stunts are an everyday thing, so it's only natural they'd mistake it for those bastards' doing.'
It was simply an act tailored to fit the famous ghost story of this forest.
Because if he did not scare them at least this much, they would not obediently confess.
'A horror experience has to be at least on this level.'
Appearing with a robe pulled over his head on purpose was also aimed at making them confuse him with those bastards.
The result was a massive success.
Because he had obtained an important recording.
"S-save us, Lee Gyeom-shin!"
"Th... That's right, we already spilled everything about Yoon Chan-ho!"
"F-for now, we're on the same team...! We're on a joint mission, so save us...!"
At best, these guys were merely veteran-level Hunters.
"The bastards who were trying to ruin our guild are... what? Asking me to save them?"
Since they had not fought mid-grade monsters like these very often, it was only natural for them to be terrified.
"Just how many iron plates did you layer over your faces?"
In the first place, anyone stripped naked and tied to a tree in a situation like this would be terrified.
Gyeom-shin picked his ear as if bothered and answered half-heartedly.
"W-we're sorry!"
"We didn't have a choice either!"
"Because we were dealing with that Phantom Guild...."
At that, they begged for their lives with half-crazed faces.
They had already arbitrarily convinced themselves that Gyeom-shin was not the culprit.
No, because their situation was so desperate, part of them simply wanted to believe that.
"Ah...? You're calling garbage like that an excuse?"
"S-save us...! Please, we're begging you!"
"In that case...."
After all, no matter what, no one would go so far as to pull this kind of crazy stunt just to make them spill the truth.
To the Hunters, Gyeom-shin's presence was instead their only hope.
Swish!
"I'll hear that excuse out."
In that case, there was no reason he could not save them.
"What...?"
Just bringing these Hunters back safely would more than double Gyeom-shin's merit.
"I said I'll save all of you."
"I-is that true...?!"
Moreover, just as they said, Gyeom-shin was currently on a joint mission with the Kaiser Guild.
That also meant if everyone died except for him, he would be the very first prime suspect.
"However... I don't like your attitude. So beg again."
He simply did not like their attitude.
Because even while in a position of begging for their lives, they did not seem to be reflecting on their actions at all.
"If your lives are precious to you."
Thoroughly breaking even the mentality of people like this into submission was Gyeom-shin's specialty.
"......?!"
"Come on, hurry up. Very sincerely. Put desperation into every single word."
Back when he was a Guild Master in his past life.
"Th-this isn't the time for jokes like this...!"
"...Does this look like a joke to you?"
"......!"
It was not for nothing that people had feared Gyeom-shin.
"S-save me...!"
"No, try again. You left out the honorifics, didn't you? 'Please save me, sir.'"
"P... Please save me, sir...!"
His combat skills were one thing, but there were also countless Hunters who could not endure this fucked-up personality and retired.
"That's right, yes. Good job. What about the rest of you?"
To goodwill, with even greater grace.
"Uuuugh...?!"
To malice, with even greater terror.
"Looks like you guys don't really want to live that badly?"
"N-no, sir! We want to live—!"
Paying it back multiplied several times over was Gyeom-shin's creed.
Smirk!
"...Good."
<Kekekekeke...!>
Just then, one of the monsters approached with its scythe raised high.
Perhaps thinking it had found an opening, it intended to swing its scythe right down and slash Gyeom-shin.
'Too bad, ghost, I've got eyes on the back of my head too.'
However, a move like that would not work.
"Where does this lowly monster bastard get off interrupting when a human is speaking?!"
SWISH—!
Gyeom-shin felt that faint presence.
And without even looking back, he cut the bastard down on the spot.
[Target has been afflicted with 'Combustion'.]
FWOOOOSH—!
<Kreeeeeek...!>
Blue flames flickered from Ades, instantly annihilating the monster.
As if paper were burning up in a fire, the bastard was reduced straight to a pile of ash.
It was not that Gyeom-shin was strong.
"P-please save me, sir!"
"Me too! I humbly beg of you!"
"I-I will never arrogantly step out of line again! Sir Gyeom-shin...!"
He simply knew the fact that Ghost-type monsters were weak to fire-attribute skills.
Seeing that sight, the Hunters must have grown even more terrified, as they begged frantically.
"P-please have mercy...!"
Their expressions were filled with despair, as though they were having a terrible nightmare.
"That's right, that's right. Yes, good."
Because to the eyes of the shivering Hunters, Gyeom-shin looked far scarier than the Ghost monsters behind him.
"Looks like you've gotten some proper mental discipline now."
***
"...Why? What? Is there handsome smeared on my face or something?"
When he finished the hunt and returned to the guild, everyone had dumbfounded faces.
"H-how did this happen...?"
"Y-you punk! How on earth...?!"
Da-hee wore an expression of disbelief.
Even though Jang-pil was speaking informally to Gyeom-shin in an official setting, she did not even have the presence of mind to caution him.
"What do you mean, how did what happen?"
Gyeom-shin had rescued the Kaiser Hunters.
The rescued Hunters had watched the entire process and reported it in detail to their guild.
"Why? Haven't you heard the saying that a bastard meant to succeed will succeed no matter what?"
Because of that, the reputation of Gyeom-shin and the entire Gladius Guild had risen tremendously.
"Y-you amazing punk...!"
"This is... a joyous occasion for the guild!"
So their reaction was only natural.
Even though he had expected it, it was an amusing reaction.
"I heard about it. That you single-handedly achieved a tremendous merit in this joint mission with the Kaiser Guild."
Just as Da-hee said, it was a joyous occasion for the guild.
The effect of the tremendously risen guild reputation meant that requests would pour into the Gladius Guild in massive numbers from now on.
"To actually put the Kaiser Guild in our debt instead! Wow, does this even make sense?!"
Jang-pil was so overwhelmingly moved that he could not even continue his words properly.
Even though the guild he himself had belonged to until just recently was the Kaiser Guild.
"The Kaiser Guild, the 10th-ranked guild overall. Lee Gyeom-shin, y-you...!"
"Yeah, I did that."
To Jang-pil, it was a guild that had looked down on him so much and treated him like cold leftover rice.
That was why his emotions surged up even more.
"Until just recently, they were a faction trying to absorb our guild."
"Yeah, right. I know."
"Now that you have become their benefactor, it will be difficult for them to lay a hand on us anymore."
It was just as Da-hee said.
Because a guild's image was important, they generally could not recklessly proceed with an act that blatantly betrayed good faith.
This was also what Gyeom-shin had aimed for.
"Gyeom-shin, don't tell me... did you happen to hear anything from those bastards...?"
Before long, the question came from Jang-pil's mouth first.
"...About the Phantom Guild or Yoon Chan-ho, I mean."
The grave matter that any Hunter of the Gladius Guild cared about right now.
"Yes! The way those bastards operate in the shadows out of people's sight is truly vicious!"
Because Choi Sang-hyeok had also suffered harm and threats from those bastards, he was indignant.
However, since they could not dare fight the 1st-ranked Phantom Guild, they had compromised with reality and were in a state of having half given up.
"...It is frustrating, but they probably did not leave any evidence behind."
Because Da-hee knew their meticulousness well, she did not have high expectations.
"Well... that's true. However."
Yet the result was the exact opposite.
Gyeom-shin had hauled in a jackpot that could drastically change the Gladius Guild's position.
"They couldn't destroy the circumstantial evidence from a direct testimony, though."
Swish!
"Pardon...?"
Gyeom-shin held the new card that the Gladius Guild would grasp.
Click!
-I asked if it was the work of Yoon Chan-ho from the Phantom Guild.
-Y-yes...!, It was those bastards...!
Soon, when he played the voice recorder, the trembling voices of the Kaiser Guild Hunters flowed out along with Gyeom-shin's voice.
-That's right! The Phantom Guild bastards made us do it!
-Especially that... Y-Yoon Chan-ho...!
Click!
"Well, I got a confession like this."
"Huuuh...?!"
All the guild executives, including Da-hee, were astonished by the unbelievable situation.
After listening to this recording with faces that looked as though their souls had left their bodies, the guild members cheered.
"Ooooh...! Wh-what is this?! Is this really something that can happen in the real world...?!"
"Th-that is amazing...! Wow, you are seriously no joke, hyung-nim! Ah, no. Vice Guild Master!"
"Truly... I am surprised as well. To think you would achieve results of this magnitude in a single joint mission."
Only now had it regained its vitality.
The entire dying guild.
The result was not merely on the level of putting the Kaiser Guild in their debt, but a situation where they had even seized a fatal weakness.
"Now then, will you grant me just one more favor, Guild Master?"
"Yes, I will hear it out first... No, if it is something I can do, I will do anything for you."
"Good, it's simple."
At the same time, Gyeom-shin thought of a good way to draw out this guild's potential at top speed as much as possible.
"Let's change our guild's name a little from now on."
"The guild's... name...?"
Usually, he did not believe in superstitions like this.
But this was half superstition and half something meaningful.
"However, the guild name was chosen by my father, the previous Guild Master...."
"Don't worry. I'm not saying we should change it to a completely different name."
From now on, Gyeom-shin intended to build it properly.
"The Gladi Guild."
"Pardon...?"
A guild that would achieve the greatest, most unprecedented development in guild history.
"How about the Gladi Guild?"