Ranked second among the Five Great Guilds of the Republic of Korea.
Orpheus.
Its Guild Master, Jin Seo-yoon, sighed as she watched the stock price fall.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have kidnapped him after all?”
If she had stayed put, the Management Bureau would have lent her some S-rank Gate Raid Rights.
Instead, she had gone and scratched at nothing until she raised a sore.
SLURP–
Jin Seo-yoon lifted her head slightly as she drank her coffee.
Kidnapping.
She would have had to do something similar either way.
Something as trivial as the Management Bureau’s S-rank Gate Usage Rights meant nothing.
Not compared to possessing Hunter Lee Ji-hoon.
“I’m telling you, I don’t have any evidence, but I’m certain.”
“Is that not why we said we would help you?”
Eden was another of the Five Great Guilds.
Its Guild Master, Yoon Do-ha, smiled.
“Orpheus’s money and marketing prowess. Eden’s technology. If we combine them, we will be able to uncover the cause of the Gate anomalies.”
And then.
Yoon Do-ha pointed at Lee Ji-hoon on the screen.
The Returnee Training Camp Project.
The screen showed camera footage of the people attending it.
“So we should verify it here.”
Whether he really was the cause of the current situation.
Or whether it had been a coincidence.
That was when it happened.
THUD, THUD–
The door flew open with the sound of knocking.
“Jin Seo-yoon, Yoon Do-ha. What are you doing here?”
“Oh, our Branch Director is here?”
Jin Seo-yoon greeted him cheerfully.
Her arm was still wrapped in bandages.
“…Are you really in a position to greet me so cheerfully?”
“Oh, come on. What’s with you, Hunter Baek Kang-hyeon? We’ve been fighting together since we were snot-nosed kids.”
“Haa…. In any case, you must not make any mistakes during this Training Camp. Especially.”
Baek Kang-hyeon looked at the screen Yoon Do-ha was watching with drool running from his mouth.
“Just try harassing Hunter Lee Ji-hoon. I will use the Management Bureau’s power to pound you nice and fine.”
“I won’t, I won’t. Our Branch Director worries too much for his own good. Right?”
“The fact that a mad scientist like you is an S-rank Hunter gives me all the more reason to worry, Guild Master Yoon Do-ha.”
At those words, Yoon Do-ha maintained his genial smile and shrugged.
“We’re really only going to examine things like mana patterns and characteristics. And who knows? There might be someone here whose talent transcends their rank.”
Just as Yoon Do-ha had said, HR teams from several small and mid-sized Guilds were also participating in this Training Camp as observers.
They were there to recruit any promising talent they might find.
“Then….”
“If you try anything, I really will kill you.”
“Seriously, you worry too much. I don’t do that anymore.”
“Anymore?”
Yoon Do-ha cocked his head. Jin Seo-yoon waved a hand, saying it was nothing, and left the control room.
***
The Returnee Training Camp Project.
RTC for short.
The objectives of this project were as follows.
First. Give the suddenly growing number of Returnees a chance to demonstrate their abilities, as they had never had such an opportunity.
Second. Teach Returnees basic knowledge of Earth’s changed norms because they were unfamiliar with them.
Third. Grant those who achieved excellent results the benefit of joining a Guild of their choice as interns as soon as they completed the camp.
Those were its three objectives.
Every single one was bound to set the hearts of Returnee Hunters ablaze.
Moreover, there were no separate restrictions on who could apply.
It presented a new opportunity even for Returnee Hunters who were already active.
And so, to put it kindly, the applicants were ordinary.
To put it bluntly, they were a motley rabble.
To put it even more harshly, everyone and their dog had applied.
Every last person who called themselves a Returnee Hunter was there.
“Wow… This place….”
Kim Ji-eun, an ordinary Hunter from the Republic of Korea, stared with eyes wide open.
The Hunter Training Center, which she had only ever heard about and which was said to be reserved for high-rank Hunters.
She had never imagined in her life that an E-rank Hunter like her would come here.
‘I’ve got a chance too…!’
She had not been abducted(?) to another world for as long as the other Returnees.
Still, the backbreaking labor she had done in another world finally had a chance to shine.
Coming to her senses, Kim Ji-eun slapped her cheeks—SLAP, SLAP.
“Let’s have just one sip before I go in.”
Kim Ji-eun pulled an unusual water bottle from the bulging backpack she had packed to the brim.
After taking a sip of water, she felt her nerves ease.
She then entered the training hall.
She began to spot people who had arrived before her.
Kim Ji-eun took a seat in a corner and mustered the courage to speak first to the person beside her.
“Hello?”
“Ah, yes…. Hello.”
The person sitting beside her was a man who seemed shy.
For some reason, he also seemed wary of her, but Kim Ji-eun did not let that discourage her.
There was only one reason Kim Ji-eun had come here.
‘I’m definitely making a friend before I leave!’
Because she wanted to escape her life as a loner Hunter!
Kim Ji-eun smiled brightly once more and asked him a question.
“Um, you came alone, right? I don’t have any Hunter acquaintances either….”
“Ah, yes. I did come alone.”
“What a relief! I actually wanted to make some Hunter friends here. We don’t have much time, but let’s get along.”
The man gave an awkward smile as Kim Ji-eun chattered away.
Thank goodness! He doesn’t seem to mind. And so, the two began making small talk.
“What rank are you?”
“Ah, I’m F-rank.”
“I’m E-rank myself. We’re pretty close! It’s hard living as a low-rank Hunter, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it certainly is. Did you come today to join a Guild too?”
“You too! Yes, I’m looking forward to it. Joining a Guild as a low-rank Hunter is as hard as plucking a star from the sky. There’s actually a Guild I like….”
Kim Ji-eun stopped mid-sentence, realizing something, and asked him a question.
“Oh, right. I never asked your name. What’s your name? I’m Kim Ji-eun.”
The man seemed to consider it for a moment before speaking.
“Lee Ji-hoon.”
Kim Ji-eun clapped her hands in delight.
“I’m an E-rank Spirit Mage. I can only summon Low-Grade Spirits, and only Water Spirits at that…. But the water I create provides a small, immediate mana recovery effect.”
Kim Ji-eun held up the unusual water bottle she had drunk from earlier and shook it.
“Ah, so you’re a Spirit Mage. I do something similar.”
“What do you do?”
“I’m a Tamer.”
Kim Ji-eun cocked her head at the word Tamer.
“Does that mean you commune with animals and things like that?”
“Hmm… Yes, something like that.”
“Then are those little ones friends you’ve Tamed?”
Kim Ji-eun pointed at the little bird and little bear playing beside Lee Ji-hoon.
“Wow, they’re so cute!”
The little bird and little bear tried to reject Kim Ji-eun’s touch.
“You have to be niiiice, riiight?”
At their master’s words, they quietly closed their eyes and worked hard to swallow their fury.
“So cuuute… I actually have a cat. That’s why I’m kind of jealous that you can commune with animals.”
“Because you can tell when they’re sick and things like that?”
“Oh! How did you know? Do you have a Pet too, Ji-hoon? I knew it! That’s why you became a Tamer! Tell me all about it!”
Just as an excited Kim Ji-eun moved closer to Lee Ji-hoon,
“It has been a while, Hunter Lee Ji-hoon.”
“Ha… I guess S-rank Hunters are joining too?”
“H-H-H-Hunter Jin Seo-yoon?!”
Kim Ji-eun’s mouth fell open.
What was more, Jin Seo-yoon was gazing at Lee Ji-hoon with eyes dripping honey.
Why would an S-rank Hunter look at F-rank Lee Ji-hoon that way?
“Oh my, oh my. Don’t tell me you two—oh my. That’s not it, right?”
“It’s not like that, so please be quiet. Hunter Jin Seo-yoon, could you please just leave me alone?”
I’m saying I’ll act like the F-rank I am.
Lee Ji-hoon whispered the rest under his breath and frowned. Jin Seo-yoon, on the other hand, raised the corners of her lips and moved closer to him.
“Come now, is Ji-hoon any ordinary F-rank Hunter? You were so rough with me that time….”
Ji-hoon leaned close to Jin Seo-yoon’s ear and whispered angrily.
“Do you really want me to expose everything that happened that day?”
“Ahahaha, sorry, sorry. Thank you for coming today.”
Jin Seo-yoon offered a perfunctory greeting, thanking him for what he had done at the previous Gate as well.
“The Orpheus Guild has not given up on you, Ji-hoon. Show us even more during this camp.”
“Even if you don’t tell me….”
I’m not going to show you anything.
Ji-hoon said the rest quietly.
[Big Brother, if you speak like that, that woman cannot hear you.]
[True. Big Brother, are you a man who’s weak with women?]
“Shut up, you two!”
“Wow, you really can have conversations with them? Amazing, amazing. I can only manage the basics when I talk to my Spirits….”
As Kim Ji-eun and Ji-hoon chatted away, a staff member in a suit entered and instantly drew everyone’s attention.
‘Huh? That man is….’
Ji-hoon’s eyes widened when he recognized the staff member’s face.
“Hello, Returnee Hunters. Thank you for giving us your valuable time! I am Baek Kang-hyeon, Central Branch One Director of the Republic of Korea Management Bureau!”
WAAAAAAAAAH–!!!
The ace of the Management Bureau.
All the Returnees cheered at Baek Kang-hyeon’s introduction.
“First, allow me to briefly explain the purpose of this camp….”
After explaining the purpose of the camp, Baek Kang-hyeon looked around at everyone and spoke.
“…Over the next six nights and seven days, you will form teams and carry out team-based activities. This is so that we may observe your potential to the fullest, so I would appreciate your active cooperation with that in mind.”
Applause rang out—CLAP, CLAP.
“Does that mean Hunter Baek Kang-hyeon will personally grade us?”
“This is crazy. Hunter Seo-yoon was just here too.”
“I’ve seriously got to impress them. Getting into a major Guild or the Management Bureau would be a huge fucking win.”
S-rank Baek Kang-hyeon, a Branch Director of the Management Bureau.
S-rank Jin Seo-yoon, the Guild Master of Orpheus.
Their presence alone was enough to set the motivation of everyone attending the camp ablaze.
“I-I’m so excited! First Hunter Seo-yoon, and now Hunter Baek Kang-hyeon too! You’re excited too, right, Ji-hoon?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes. I’m very excited too.”
Ji-hoon, on the other hand, wore a vaguely uncomfortable expression.
Baek Kang-hyeon smiled faintly when he spotted him.
“Then, before we begin the official schedule, allow me to introduce the Camp Director who will oversee this camp and manage all of you.”
This feels like an elementary school morning assembly.
Ji-hoon yawned softly as he watched a man walk onto the platform.
“Hello, Returnees. I am Yoon Do-ha.”
This time, it was Yoon Do-ha of Eden!
The crowd’s cheers grew even louder.
Two major Guilds!
And the most powerful figure in the Management Bureau on top of that!
Could there be any greater motivation?
“Crazy, even Yoon Do-ha… I’m going to faint right here today.”
“Haa….”
Ji-hoon clutched his throbbing head.
He could not understand what all the fuss was about.
He had heard that Eden was counted among the Five Great Guilds, but still.
That was when Ji-hoon’s gaze moved to Yoon Do-ha’s eyes.
“…Poppy.”
[Yes, Big Brother.]
“Don’t that man’s eyes look similar to Abel’s?”
Poppy narrowed his eyes at those words.
[Now that you mention it, that does seem to be the case. He must have a foul personality.]
“I hope that’s all it is….”
Neither Poppy’s feathers nor Choco’s Spines had reacted yet.
Ji-hoon thought that nothing would happen and focused on Yoon Do-ha again.
“Please cooperate so that the camp proceeds smoothly. We are monitoring everything in real time—AHEM! Checking everything—so don’t worry if anyone gets injured.”
Yoon Do-ha then said he had forgotten one thing and clapped his hands—CLAP!
“Oh, and for the sake of balance, Hunter Baek Kang-hyeon will personally join one of the teams during this camp.”
MURMUR, MURMUR–
A team with Baek Kang-hyeon?
“Would that not make things too advantageous?”
“No. If anything, it will put that team at a disadvantage. Hunter Baek will examine every single thing. Closely. He will… assess the capabilities of those on his team.”
At those words, Baek Kang-hyeon’s eyes glowed turquoise.
GULP–
After he exerted tremendous pressure on everyone and filled them with tension,
“Then let us begin in earnest.”
Baek Kang-hyeon snapped his fingers.
RUMBLE–
The door opened, and large machines began rolling in on carts.
Every low-rank Hunter froze in an instant at the sight of the imposing magic devices.
“We will begin with a simple body search.”
Security was essential at this camp, after all.
Some reacted as though asking whether this was really necessary.
Ji-hoon, meanwhile, muttered that they had prepared every last annoying thing.
Behind them, some people.
‘Haa… Shit, I’m screwed.’
They were already clicking their tongues—TSK—because their plans had gone awry.