Kang-hyeok let out a small sigh, the picture of innocence.
"I have never met Teinen Guild's S-rank Hunters. I met Hunter Kim Min-chan only once, and the only thing we discussed then was a recruitment offer."
"Then, while you were in the dungeon, were you ever attacked by anyone other than monsters?"
"No, I wasn't. Aside from the monsters...... though, come to think of it, I did feel a human presence among the monsters at one point......"
"Excuse me?"
"We used loudspeaker sirens to draw the monsters in and hunt them. When A-rank monsters appeared, I dealt with them myself using slashes, so......"
Kang-hyeok furrowed his brow slightly.
"You don't suppose...... one of them was caught in my slash? Hunter Kim Min-chan is an S1-rank Hunter, after all. In any case, I never once left the dungeon the day I entered it. You're welcome to check all the CCTV in the surrounding area. And if you suspect I held some grudge against Hunter Kim Min-chan, I'll submit my smartphone as well."
Faced with Kang-hyeok's poised manner, the Association executives could only fluster.
"Ah, no. That won't be necessary......"
"We're already reviewing the CCTV. It really may be that Hunter Kim Min-chan entered an unverified dungeon......"
Kang-hyeok cooperated earnestly with the Association's investigation, then went straight home.
Had they heard the news?
The moment he got home, his parents called.
[We saw the news. Are you all right?]
"Yes, I'm fine. Honestly, I only met Hunter Kim Min-chan once...... and even then we only talked about his recruitment offer. There's no way he'd have followed us into the dungeon we entered...... and if he really brought S-rank Hunters along...... anyway, I don't know what to make of it either."
[Goodness, what on earth is going on......]
"I was just questioned by the Association. Since I'm the only one in Korea who could take down an S1-rank Hunter, they may suspect me. But even I would have a hard time facing all of Teinen's S-rank Hunters at once. Same goes even if my guild members joined in."
[Yes, of course we believe you. Why would you ever attack Teinen Guild's S-rank Hunters in the first place? It's just that people keep posting things on social media doubting you.]
"Just ignore it. It'll all come out soon enough."
[Right, it will, won't it?]
Kang-hyeok reassured his mother, then spoke with his father.
After that, Yu-na called too.
[Oppa, you're really okay?]
At Yu-na's worried voice, Kang-hyeok gave a small smile.
"Of course I'm okay. Don't worry. If the people of Korea keep blaming me over nonsense and making my life hard, I'll just naturalize to Japan or somewhere. I'm a State-Power-Class Hunter — what's there to worry about? I earned 100 million won from this one dungeon alone."
The net profit, of course, was over 800 million.
"Honestly, I only made 100 million because I was focused on training the guild members. If I put my mind to it, I could earn a billion won in a single day. Don't worry about me — just focus on starting university. Text me if your allowance runs short. Actually, I'll send you another 10 million right now."
[What?!]
"Before you start college, treat your high school friends to something good. Don't go pinching pennies."
[No! I've still got over 9 million left in my account!]
"You'll need to buy a laptop. Get the latest smartphone, too. And look into a tablet while you're at it."
[No, what......]
Kang-hyeok deposited 10 million won into Yu-na's account.
"Listen to Mom and Dad, and don't fall in with bad friends. Got it?"
[What am I, a child?!]
"Of course you're a child. You're a freshman who's only just starting college. Anyway, mind your father and mother."
[......Fine. And you come home once in a while, Oppa.]
"I will."
Kang-hyeok gave a small laugh and hung up.
Before Yu-na's entrance ceremony arrived, GH Guild entered dungeons several more times to hunt monsters.
They also bought up two more commercial buildings and, through illegal remodeling, converted them into studio units.
After that, GH Guild's official membership grew to 500.
Every one of them was an otherworlder who had obtained Korean citizenship.
A guild formed by otherworlders gathered around Park Kang-hyeok.
The press took note of GH Guild and ran all sorts of articles.
The disappearance of Teinen's S-rank Hunters remained a mystery.
Since Kang-hyeok's alibi had already been established, the rumors gradually began to die down.
CRASH!
"Fuck! Why...... why do they keep covering for that bastard?!"
The one who had started the rumors was none other than Teinen Guild's S3-rank Hunter, Lee Seong-ho.
He scanned the comments and seethed.
It was certain that Park Kang-hyeok had killed Kim Min-chan.
Because he'd been there on the scene.
But he couldn't say so.
Doing so would only reveal that they had tried to kill Park Kang-hyeok.
That Dungeon Gate had already been reserved by GH Guild.
If he admitted he'd been at that scene, he'd be cornered a hundred percent.
"......Should I spin the story a different way?"
Cast himself as a witness, and build a narrative that Park Kang-hyeok had murdered Kim Min-chan's party.
The problem was evidence.
Park Kang-hyeok had been in an A-grade dungeon.
Evidence that he'd left the dungeon and killed Kim Min-chan......
No — more than that, would anyone even believe his testimony?
Kim Min-chan wasn't the only one who vanished.
Other S-rank Hunters had too.
He'd need a story explaining why they'd all gathered in one place.
"Fuck!"
As his head began to throb, Seong-ho spat out a string of curses and gritted his teeth.
While Seong-ho holed up at home, Teinen Guild descended into chaos.
With Kim Min-chan gone for two whole months, the guild members fell into confusion.
The S2-rank Hunter who took over as acting master, Lee Su-jin, exchanged calls with business partners and heaved a sigh.
"Haah......"
Teinen, once hailed as one of Korea's Three Great Guilds, was watching its standing plummet.
"Meanwhile, GH Guild is rising fast."
Short on numbers it might be, but GH Guild as it stood could stand shoulder to shoulder with the massive guilds.
Every Hunter in the guild held an S-rank Hunter license, after all.
Meaning every one of them had reached the level of a Sword Master.
"GH Guild might just take Teinen's place and become one of Korea's Three Great Guilds."
Su-jin recalled Park Kang-hyeok's face, which she'd seen at the Gwanggyosan Dungeon Gate.
He was fairly handsome, the boyish type.
Over 180 centimeters tall, too.
And now that he'd gained power on top of it, countless women might come courting him.
Lost in idle thoughts, Su-jin began adjusting the guild members' schedules.
With all their S-rank Hunters gone missing, a serious problem had struck Teinen Guild's income.
What should she do to keep the damage to a minimum?
'......There's nothing.'
There was no way.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't produce the same income as the same month last year.
"Unless we absorbed GH Guild, maybe."
Su-jin heaved a sigh and laid her hands on the keyboard.
At that hour, Kang-hyeok had cleared his whole schedule and attended his sister's entrance ceremony with their parents.
"If they knew GH Guild's master was right here, they'd lose their minds, huh?"
At Yu-na's murmur, Kang-hyeok let out a small laugh.
"Quiet."
"More importantly, Oppa, you've really got a knack for it. How are all your guild members otherworlders?"
"I made a few connections when I went down to Jeolla."
"They're trustworthy, right?"
"Yeah, I checked every one of them myself, so don't worry. Study hard in college. If your grades are good, I'll take you into GH Guild."
"I'm not even a Hunter, so how......"
"You think a guild is only Hunters? As it happens, we're short on office staff and were about to start hiring. We'll be taking in more otherworlders soon, so we'll need to keep hiring office workers too. By the time you graduate, GH Guild will be quite large, so the salary will be pretty good, too."
"Ooh......"
For Yu-na, it lifted a great weight off her mind.
One of the biggest worries for university students was landing a job.
Plenty of students couldn't find work even after graduating.
And here he was, guaranteeing a job on grades alone?
"If you ever want to date, tell me. I'll introduce you to someone decent from the guild."
Far better than some random guy.
And they'd throw their very lives on the line for his sister's sake.
His parents looked at Kang-hyeok as if the idea wasn't half bad.
"That does sound nice."
"You said GH Guild is made up entirely of S-rank Hunters, right?"
"Yes, that's right. Our guild members are all exceptionally talented — a good number of them could aim for S2-rank. And their personalities are all fine, too. Good-looking, as well. Especially their strong sense of responsibility — they'd throw themselves into the fire for family......"
At Kang-hyeok's words, his parents felt the strong pull of the idea.
Yu-na, however, did not.
"I'll handle my own love life, thanks."
Kang-hyeok nodded.
"All right, understood. But if you ever want to meet someone decent, just say the word. Some of our guild members are in their early twenties, too."
She could meet a good person at university as well.
Still, more options never hurt.
While Yu-na settled into university life in earnest, Kang-hyeok toured A- and B-grade dungeons with his guild members, disposing of Mana Stones and monster by-products.
The guild members grew at a rapid pace, and the guild's income soared as well.
At the same time, with membership climbing sharply, Kang-hyeok relocated GH Guild's headquarters to Gwanak-gu.
GH Guild purchased a thirteen-story building in Gwanak-gu, along with ten officetel buildings of over a hundred units each.
The GH Guild members could live in the officetels free of charge.
With a thousand members now on the rolls, a large office staff came to work at GH Guild headquarters.
For reference, the wages paid to guild members were all managed by the master, Kang-hyeok, himself.
Teinen Guild, meanwhile, sank into financial trouble and carried out staff cuts, and as a result, its experienced personnel found employment at GH Guild.
"Who would've thought Teinen would fall like this?"
"I hear it's only running at a bare-minimum scale thanks to Hunter Lee Su-jin."
"They say all of Teinen's business partners came over to GH Guild......"
"Don't tell me that rumor was actually...... no, surely not?"
"What reason would the master have to harm Teinen's S-rank Hunters? On top of that, at the time he'd only just Re-Awakened as an S1-rank. You're saying he attacked Teinen's S-rank Hunters while still adjusting to his own power? Does that even make sense?"
"Fair enough......"
Despite Lee Seong-ho mobilizing comment-troll armies, the suspicion toward Park Kang-hyeok quickly subsided.
Because the Hunter Association officially announced that the rumors about Park Kang-hyeok were false.
If anything, the factions who had blindly slandered Park Kang-hyeok got hit with a mass lawsuit, and countless trolls found themselves reporting to the police station.