Full-Time Hunter
Dept Head Choi came back from her site visit to an office that did not feel right.
What is all this noise?
"Assistant Manager Jeonghwan! Just calm down a second! I think you've misunderstood—!"
Manager Kim was beside himself. Assistant Manager Jeonghwan was already walking out.
…What?
"What's going on?"
"Ah—Dept Head Choi! Assistant Manager Jeonghwan got into it with Manager Kim over the work, and he walked out saying he quits!"
"What? He quit?"
What kind of nonsense was that? Why would Assistant Manager Jeonghwan suddenly— That cannot happen. Her mind went blank.
What had he been to this place? One of the pillars of Team 2, a man who had carried more of the work than she had. And that man had just walked out. Who was going to manage the hunter roster? Who was going to look after them? Who was going to put out the fire when something went wrong?
Her gaze slid across what was left of the team. Team Leader Park, already scheduled to resign. A handful of associates besides him. That was all. She was finished. There was no one left to do the work.
This had always been a small company. The headcount had never been much to begin with, and Assistant Manager Jeonghwan had been the one filling every gap that left. Now that man was gone, and this had never been part of her plan. Of all people, Jeonghwan? He wasn't supposed to have anywhere else to go.
"Hey—hey! Manager Kim! What on earth is this? I'm asking you why Assistant Manager Jeonghwan walked out!"
Manager Kim squirmed.
"I—no. Dept Head Choi, you and Team Leader Park and Team Leader Seo, all of you are leaving, aren't you? So I redistributed the work. For the sake of what comes next."
"…Redistributed the work?"
"Yes. I told him to turn Team 2's hunter management roster over to us. I thought things would run more smoothly that way."
"Wh—why would you do that out of nowhere?"
"I had my reasons. All of them. But the moment he heard it, Assistant Manager Jeonghwan just said he was quitting."
Dept Head Choi stared at him as if she couldn't believe a person had produced those words.
What the hell is this bastard saying?
She had known he was incompetent. That was why she had stuck him with the dirty work, and he had taken it with a smile.
This asshole is blowing everything up before I even get to quit?
Her plan had come apart. She was a woman who liked things perfect, and her resignation was supposed to have been perfect too—framed as a departure she couldn't help, a beautiful exit, and then a fresh start. That was what she had wanted.
If I walk out in the middle of this, I'll just look like I dumped everything and ran.
She shook. She could already see the people cursing her name, and the picture of it made her so furious she could hardly stand it. Stay behind and clean the mess up, then? No. That was impossible too.
"The company's situation isn't good. At this rate, it may not be long before we go bankrupt. The CEO has been borrowing money here and there, but honestly, I think even that is getting difficult. So I'm preparing to resign as well. You should think it over too, Dept Head Choi. In an atmosphere like this, even severance could become hard to pay out."
That conversation with Finance. The late paychecks had not been an accident. It was why she herself had meant to leave.
I made them outrageous offers just to keep the rest of them from quitting, and this is what I get.
She had even offered up the department head's seat. Lied that she would see to their incentives. Planted the expectation that every one of them would be promoted. All of it, of course, was a lie. If they walked out in a rush, severance would be delayed—and hers was the large sum. She might never collect it. So she had laid all the groundwork in advance, and now this.
Something had started to tangle. Dept Head Choi hurried back to her desk and quietly contacted Finance.
Damn it. This was going to be tight.
So what, I quit right now too?
She couldn't. She wouldn't allow it. But staying put like this—her head was too full to think.
Eleven in the morning, and the sunlight came down warm. It felt good.
By all rights he should have been at his desk. He was on his way home instead.
Grab lunch, loaf a little, then go pick the kids up?
They were at daycare. He had never once done drop-off or pickup—the hours had never lined up with his commute. That was no longer true.
The lock gave its little chime, the latch clicked, and he stepped into the stillness of an empty house. He dropped onto the sofa.
He sent it to his wife. Once, he never could have. Quitting out of nowhere? It wouldn't even have been a conversation. But things were different now. He had made real money as a hunter, and more was still coming in.
A chime.
The reply came back positive, just as he'd expected.
Right. She said the same thing even before I became a hunter.
She had always believed in him. She would probably take his side even if he committed a crime. That was the heart he had married.
Another chime. A second message.
He read it, and something caught in his throat before he knew it was coming.
…Why does "it must have been so hard" go straight through me?
Had he been worn thinner than he'd ever admitted to himself? His wife's comfort undid him without asking.
He let the breath out. But this wasn't the end. It was the start.
If he was doing this, he was going to do it properly. Become a hunter who went down in history.
All right. Time to work.
The rewards came first. That part mattered.
Opening event reward.
Enhances a chosen skill with an Advanced option.
"Okay. Nice!"
Not Normal. Advanced. Fewer kills, and the reward was still better. Had Floor 7 scored him higher? Either way, he used it on Sinkhole at once.
Three options surfaced. Entirely different types, as expected.
"…Damn. These are all good."
The one that pulled at him was the third. Mana back, scaled to the number he dropped. A single cast usually took them out by the thousands.
Use it once and I'd be sitting on a full mana bar the whole time?
No resisting that. He took it on the spot.
◈ Creates a massive sinkhole in the ground.
◈ Type: Targeted area
◈ Mana cost: 2,000
The new option locked in at once. Now he could really use the thing.
Next reward, then. The event monster reward. A Hidden-item material ought to come out of that.
Opening event monster reward.
Oh, yes. Exactly what he'd wanted. Three of them, right on cue. So where did that leave him?
◈ King's Fangs(3/1)
◈ World Tree Wood(0/50)
◈ Taigar's Core(3/1)
◈ Flame Rubies(0/10)
◈ Alejandro's Blood(2/2)
Three of the five materials, done. Two left: World Tree Wood, and Flame Rubies. Except the Flame Rubies…
I already have what I need for those.
Flame Essence, the key material. He had brought plenty of it back from Floor 7. He opened the crafting bench at once.
Crafting Flame Ruby...... (1/10)
Crafting Flame Ruby...... (2/10)
Crafting Flame Ruby...... (3/10)
···············
···············
Crafting Flame Ruby...... (10/10)
Okay. The rubies were done. One material left.
Once this is finished, everything changes.
The heart of it was an absurd well of mana. Equip this alone and his pool would jump—and he was already strong. This would make him stronger still.
At this rate I could set a record on Floor 10 too.
That was why he cared about items. Every tenth floor was nothing like the ordinary ones. The monsters that came out were a different grade, and so were the hunters who walked in. A kind of battle royale. Floor 10 had room for exactly one at the top, the entry window was fixed, and every hunter gathered for it. Once they were all there, the fighting started, and it did not stop until a single person remained.
And boss-grade monsters run wild in there too, from what I heard.
A complete free-for-all. Only the last one standing could climb to Floor 11. Past the tenth floor, the difficulty was simply different—and fair enough, given what you had to survive to get there. He could feel that he needed to get stronger too.
Lucky I took those Heroic-grade items off the Chinese bastards this time. Walked away with a shield, at least. But why did items suddenly start coming in? It wasn't like that at the start.
The question surfaced on its own. Thinking back, it really hadn't been. Since when, exactly?
…Right. Since I learned Sinkhole.
The first day he used Sinkhole, a bag had come in along with the kills. Trinkets, mostly, which was probably why he hadn't thought much of it.
The condition was killing them with overwhelming force, wasn't it?
He turned it over. Kill the opponent with overwhelming power. Fire Rain was strong, but that one killed them slowly. Sinkhole, though…
Because the ground caves in and finishes them all at once?
Yeah. That felt right. The write-ups said as much—they hadn't even known why they died. Hell. This was good.
So then.
From here on, if I kill them with Sinkhole, I take everything?
That was a pretty clean hustle. Especially those Chinese bastards. They had money, didn't they? A Heroic-grade piece had already come off them this time.
The corner of his mouth lifted on its own. A very good idea had just occurred to him. If he was going to kill them anyway, he might as well take the items—while he was at it, aiming straight at the rich ones.
Anyway. Last reward.
One left. The event reward itself. He opened it at once. And then—
Checking event monster reward.
Checking cumulative event-clear reward count.
Record renewed — 2 consecutive times.
Reward grade has been enhanced.
Huh?
The count stacked? He hadn't known that. He checked at once.
"Whoa. This dropped?"
Something outrageous had come out of it. The thing had to be worth a fortune.
The next day, China turned upside down.
"What—what the hell! Why is that bastard JUNE doing this!"
"How many times is this?! Why won't he leave!"
"He's insane! He's a demon, he has to be!"
"Stop! Stop! Aaaaaagh!"
JUNE was hunting the Chinese down.