Another Guild (1)
Briana let out a pitiful whine, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. Yet her disguise was utterly flawless.
A white cap hid her striking silver-blonde hair, and over that she wore a beige hoodie pulled low to conceal her pointed ears and jade-green face. Her hands stayed tucked inside the hoodie's oversized front pocket, keeping her green fingers out of sight. Below, she had on blue hot pants that barely deserved the name, paired with completely opaque black tights that left not a single inch of skin exposed. The outfit was stylish, practical, and hid every goblin trait she possessed. Beneath it all—though no one could see—she wore a seductive light-purple wire bra and its matching lace panties. She was a stunning woman, dressed impeccably from the inside out.
“Whoa… dressed like that, she really does look like any woman you’d pass on the street.”
“Doesn’t she? Hehe.”
Shin Jiyeon beamed with pride, clearly pleased with her handiwork.
“But…”
Park Jihun pointed at Briana’s lower half, a note of complaint in his voice. “Wouldn’t normal long pants have worked? Those hot pants are totally your taste, aren’t they?”
Jiyeon flashed him a playful grin. “Hehe, what do you think, Sunbae? They’re way sexier and nicer to look at than skinny jeans, right?”
“……”
Jihun had no comeback. He simply shut his mouth.
Watching him, Jiyeon began gathering the mountain of clothes and lingerie scattered across the floor and folding them back into the closet.
“I bought plenty, so we can rotate them. Dress her up in different outfits every day.”
Every single piece was expensive—at least a hundred dollars each. Some of the lingerie cost over a hundred and fifty. All told, she had easily dropped more than two thousand dollars. The casual way she’d swiped her card made Jihun’s eyes widen.
So this is what a B-Rank hunter can afford.
He felt a twinge of envy.
“Uuuuugh!”
Briana’s voice came from behind him. When Jihun turned, he saw her squirming uncomfortably, twisting her body this way and that. The unfamiliar sensation of underwear, a cap, and tight-fitting clothes was clearly driving her crazy. Even though she had obediently let Jiyeon knead and dress her per Jihun’s orders, and hadn’t tried to rip anything off, it was obvious she would need time to get used to it.
“Briana, if you want to live comfortably in this world, you have to wear clothes like these. I’m sorry.”
Jihun thought it would be nice if there were something like a personal subspace just for his familiars. Then they could stay comfortable whether they were dressed or not.
“Alright, that’s everything put away.”
By the time he finished that thought, Jiyeon had already finished organizing the clothes.
“You need new clothes too, Sunbae. Want me to pick some out for you? I have great taste.”
Her eyes sparkled with excitement. Jihun shook his head.
“Nah, I’m good.”
The mental image of being stripped and dressed like a doll while a beautiful woman ran her hands all over his body flashed through his mind. For a second he reconsidered.
…Wait. That actually sounds pretty nice?
Being manhandled and dressed by a gorgeous woman? That wasn’t a chore—it was a reward. The thought made him pause.
“…Maybe next time.”
Leaving the door open, he watched Jiyeon nod happily, a bright smile on her face.
“Shall we head out, then?”
“Hm? Where to?”
For a moment he wondered if she was dragging him off for more dress-up games, but she answered brightly.
“What do you mean, where? We have to get you officially contracted with our guild.”
“Oh.”
Only then did Jihun remember that he had promised to join Jiyeon’s guild and form a party with her.
So that’s why she went all out dressing Briana up.
They were going outside, after all.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
“Yes! Let’s hurry!”
And so Park Jihun, Briana, and Shin Jiyeon headed for the office of Another Guild, the guild Jiyeon led as its master.
The trip to the guild office was made in Jiyeon’s car. As expected of a hunter, it was a seriously nice ride—an imported luxury model worth around a hundred and fifty thousand dollars at current market value. She mentioned she had been driving it for a while and was planning to upgrade soon. Jihun nearly asked if she would sell it to him cheap when she did, but he held back. After all, he was her sunbae; he had to maintain some dignity.
The guild office was located in a massive building in the Gasan Digital Complex.
“We’re on the sixteenth floor of Building B. It’s not the entire floor—just enough space for about twenty people.”
“Oh…”
Jihun had never heard of Another Guild on the news or online. No offense to Jiyeon, but he hadn’t expected much since the guild master was only B-Rank. Twenty people, though? That was bigger than he’d imagined. Since not every hunter affiliated with a guild stayed in the office full-time, that number likely referred to support staff. Even if the space was a bit larger to accommodate hunters coming and going, it still meant at least six or seven employees.
That’s actually a pretty solid mid-tier guild, isn’t it?
Truly small guilds operated at the scale of one or two raid parties and usually had no staff or only one or two. Once you had ten or more support personnel, the workload required separate departments. That spoke to a guild of considerable size. At that point, it was considered fairly large. Real major guilds had at least twenty administrative staff and two to three hundred affiliated hunters. Because the total number of hunters in the country was so low, even a three-digit headcount qualified as enormous in a small population country like Korea. The Pine Guild, said to have the most hunters regardless of rank, only had around four hundred. If this guild had six or seven regular employees, it likely had about fifty hunters on its roster. That was more than enough to be called a mid-tier guild.
“Hello, everyone!”
They took the elevator up and stepped into the guild office.
“Oh, the Guild Master’s here.”
“Welcome back, Guild Master!”
“You’re a bit late today, aren’t you?”
About seven staff members in the spacious office greeted Jiyeon warmly. Several hunters wearing modern armor reinforced with thick composite plates and alloys—who were obviously hunters—also rushed over.
“Guild Master! We cleared a D-Rank gate today!”
“Hey, wait a second!”
A half-dozen hunters crowded around her, all trying to speak at once. They seemed to be members of Another Guild.
“Ah, just a moment. I have some urgent business to take care of first today.”
Jiyeon calmed the excited hunters and gestured toward Jihun standing behind her.
“…?”
“Who’s that?”
Every eye in the room—hunters and staff alike—immediately locked onto him. Their gazes also shifted to the hooded woman beside him.
Wow, what a figure.
She’s short, but those proportions are killer.
Just as everyone was thinking along those lines—
“Kyaarrrgh!”
The woman suddenly lifted her face with a hostile scowl. Her green skin and pointed ears were completely exposed.
“U-ugh?!”
“G-Goblin!!”
The hunters and staff recoiled in shock. The hunters instinctively drew their weapons and leveled them at Briana.
“S-stop! Everyone, stop!”
The situation was on the verge of exploding. Jiyeon jumped between them and calmed everyone down.
“The reason I said I had business to handle is because of these two. You’ve… heard about the ‘Tamer,’ right?”
“Huh? The Tamer?”
“Wait… no way.”
“For real? The one that’s been blowing up online lately?!”
The moment the word “Tamer” left her mouth, the atmosphere in the room changed completely. The hunter with the unique taming skill who had become an internet sensation—the one who had appeared first in Korea and was believed to be the only one in the world. That very hunter was standing right there.
“That person…?”
The crowd pointed at the man standing behind Jiyeon, watching the situation. Jihun.
“Mm.”
Jiyeon gave a proud nod.
“Then that goblin… you don’t mean…”
One hunter pointed at Briana, who was still growling. Jiyeon nodded again, looking immensely satisfied.
The one and only hunter in the world with the taming skill. The very first monster to ever be tamed by a human. Both of them were standing in the Another Guild office, brought there by the guild master herself.
The realization threw the room into a completely different kind of chaos.
“What the hell?! Why is he here?!”
“Is this real? For real?!”
“Is this some kind of prank? Hidden camera?”
“Holy shit… How did you even bring her here?”
Jiyeon watched their frantic reactions with a delighted smile, clearly enjoying the uproar. But if she let this continue, they would never get anything done. Jihun finally stepped forward.
“Jiyeon and I went to the same high school—she was my junior. She offered me a spot in her guild, and I accepted.”
He didn’t forget to add, “And just so you know, this isn’t a prank. She really is a goblin. Her name is Briana.”
“……”
“……”
After Jihun finished speaking, everyone stared back and forth between him, Jiyeon, and Briana with completely dazed expressions. No one could form words. Their brains simply couldn’t keep up with reality.
In the heavy silence, one of the regular staff members finally muttered:
“This is insane… Fucking jackpot.”
It perfectly captured how every single person in the room felt.