The World's First and Only (3)
When Park Jihun finally passed out after an all-night marathon of ferocious sex, the Hunter Association—which had just received permission to announce his abilities—sprang into action without missing a beat.
They quietly leaked the news that a hunter with a taming skill had appeared, along with a blurry photo of Park Jihun and Briana. The rumor spread like wildfire.
The story dominated every corner of the internet.
“Check this out. Some trash tabloid is saying a hunter who tamed a monster just appeared in our country.”
“What? Didn’t they say that was impossible? I swear the Americans ran tests and officially gave up on it.”
“Yeah, but they’re saying it actually happened? In Korea?”
It was the same on the streets. No matter where you went, that was the only thing people were talking about.
In a world where hunters, gates, and mana stones dictated everything, even the smallest hunter-related gossip became headline news. Who was dating which hunter, who got married, which hunter entered what gate and what incident happened inside—it was all fair game. They received more attention than celebrities from the old world. Far more.
This frenzy was the perfect storm of ordinary citizens dying to know more about the new protagonists of the world, the media that eagerly catered to those desires, and the professional attention-seekers who fanned the flames.
People already gossiped about hunters’ love lives and scandals. So the appearance of the world’s first and currently only hunter capable of taming monsters was bound to ignite their curiosity. And the fact that this hunter was Korean? For a nation famous for its intense national pride, there couldn’t have been more exciting news.
“Whoa, the nationalism is hitting different. World’s first? Come on.”
“For real. Even the Americans gave up on monster taming. And now we’ve got one?”
“Holy shit, is Korea finally about to surpass China and the US to become the undisputed hunter superpower?”
Korea already boasted an impressive ratio of A-rank and higher hunters despite its small landmass, and the number of S-rank hunters was on par with Japan, a country with more than twice the population. Their policies and benefits for hunters were excellent. By every metric, Korea deserved to be called a hunter advanced nation.
Yet China still held the top spot in sheer number of high-rank hunters, and America maintained its status as the eternal superpower, now reinforced by possessing the world’s strongest hunter, Eagol. Korea simply couldn’t compete at that absolute peak.
Even though Korea’s strongest, S-rank White-Haired Sure Shot Kim Dojin, was formidable, he still fell short of the global ceiling. That was why the citizens had been desperately longing for one thing: a single symbol that could stand toe-to-toe with the world’s best.
The rumor now spreading like wildfire—that the world’s first tamer hunter had appeared—presented the tantalizing possibility of that very symbol.
Of course, it was all complete bullshit.
Park Jihun had said he didn’t particularly care if his identity was fully revealed as long as their deal was honored, and the Association wasn’t actually protecting him. They would send people to his house after the announcement to block guilds and media outlets from digging into his background, but that was about it. The claim of “protecting his identity” wasn’t entirely false, but the core purpose of this broadcast was something else entirely.
It was pure theater. A show designed to prove that the Hunter Association was closely connected to the world’s one and only tamer hunter. As if they had discovered him themselves and maintained an intimate relationship with him. That way, the citizens would praise the Association and celebrate their achievement.
Public opinion flowed exactly as the Hunter Association had intended. A huge number of people praised the Association for discovering the so-called Tamer Hunter.
But in the end, everyone’s curiosity converged on one single question.
Who the hell is he?
The identity of the owner of the world’s first monster-taming skill, who had appeared in their country, became the center of attention for the entire nation—no, the entire world.
The Tamer Hunter had begun drawing an overwhelming amount of attention. And it wasn’t just ordinary citizens who were interested. In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they were the ones pouring every resource they had into uncovering his identity.
Guilds.
Organizations where hunters gathered for mutual profit. The larger guilds possessed such immense power that even the government and the Hunter Association had to tread carefully around them.
Among them, the absolute giant that had held the title of Korea’s number one guild for three straight years in every category—total members, high-rank hunters, gates cleared, and public approval ratings—was the Yongwang Guild.
“Guild Master, have you seen this?”
“I already know what you’re going to say.”
The Guild Master of the Yongwang Guild was so famous that not knowing his name in Korea would mark you as an alien. The nation’s top S-rank hunter, also known as White-Haired Sure Shot. Kim Dojin.
A sharp-featured man in his early thirties, with dark hair that carried a slight brownish tint and was slicked back perfectly, sat in a luxurious chair with his back to the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking Seoul. When the Vice-Guild Master, Lee Jeonghyeon—the S-rank hunter known as the Berserker—approached with an amused expression, clearly wanting to show him something, Kim Dojin simply shook his head and raised a hand in refusal. He already knew what it was about.
“You’re talking about the hunter with the taming skill… the so-called Tamer, right?”
The Tamer. The being the Hunter Association had officially recognized and whose existence had spread through every rumor mill. The relationship between the Yongwang Guild—Korea's top guild—and the Association had always been somewhat adversarial. It was natural; both sides benefited from each other, which made them extremely sensitive to each other’s gains and losses. As a result, the guilds and the Association frequently clashed over interests, and the Yongwang Guild, holding the greatest power in Korea, was at the center of it all.
In other words, if the Association maintained a close relationship with the world’s first and only hunter, and especially if that hunter ended up affiliated with the Association—
“Public opinion will swing in the Association’s favor, and ultimately they’ll gain more power than our hunter guilds. That’s what you wanted to say, isn’t it?”
Possessing the world’s only hunter—one who had succeeded at monster taming, something the entire world had attempted and failed at—would obviously give the Association the upper hand in both public sentiment and real influence. That was clearly bad news for the guilds.
Even if the Association tried to squeeze more commission fees under the pretext of “protecting the hunter,” the guilds would find it difficult to push back once the Association had both public opinion and power behind them.
“Well, that’s about right. Which is why…”
Vice-Guild Master Lee Jeonghyeon grinned playfully as he made his suggestion.
“Why don’t we recruit him into our guild? The Tamer.”
“......”
Recruiting the Tamer was, of course, something Kim Dojin had already considered. If they could bring him into the Yongwang Guild, they could flip the power balance in their favor. And most importantly—
“The Yongwang Guild will receive worldwide attention.”
The guild that possesses the world’s one and only Monster Tamer. It was an incredible promotional title.
There was nothing but profit in recruiting him. With the Yongwang Guild’s intelligence network, they could identify the Tamer quickly, approach him with attractive terms, and secure him.
Yet the reason Kim Dojin still hesitated was—
“Every other guild is probably thinking the exact same thing.”
Other guilds would undoubtedly have the same idea. In fact, they would be even more desperate, eager to overtake the current number one guild and claim the top spot for themselves.
“If the guilds start fighting each other and collapse, the Association might swoop in and reap all the benefits.”
He was worried that an internal guild war would allow the Association to profit without lifting a finger. Lee Jeonghyeon shook his head as if to say there was nothing to worry about.
“Foreign recruitment offers will be blocked by the Association the moment they try to leave the country. As for the domestic guilds… I’ll handle them myself. Don’t worry.”
Lee Jeonghyeon left after making that bold declaration, but Kim Dojin’s expression only grew more concerned.
That guy Jeonghyeon is talented and does his job well, but… his personality is a bit… off.
A hedonist, to put it simply. He never quite crossed the line, but he loved dancing dangerously close to it. That was the kind of unease Kim Dojin felt about him. This whole Tamer business seemed to excite Lee Jeonghyeon purely because it looked fun. That was exactly why Kim Dojin was slightly worried about what he might do.
Still… he hasn’t crossed the line yet, and he’s led the guild well so far.
Setting that aside, Lee Jeonghyeon was also his most trusted subordinate. So Kim Dojin decided to leave this matter in his hands.