A Fallen Champion
"Wait, something like that actually happened?!"
When I told Kang Mina about what happened the day before, she flew into a fiery rage.
Slam!
She didn't look the type, but she was always sharp as a razor when it came to things like this. Was it that civil servant spirit?
"You should have contacted me immediately!"
"It's not like I'm an elementary schooler..."
"Still! The GR Guild is notoriously sleazy!"
"Well, I gave them a thorough warning."
A warning as spicy as kimchi fried rice. I wondered if Kim Jesik delivered it properly.
"If they contact you again, you must tell me."
"Got it."
"I won't let them get away with—"
"By the way, Ms. Kang Mina."
"Yes?"
With an awkward look, I pointed to the person standing behind her.
"Weren't you going to introduce me to that gentleman?"
"Ah, right!!"
The razor-sharp civil servant vanished instantly, and Kang Mina reverted to her usual, slightly unreliable self.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Harim!"
Huh? Harim?
"It is fine," the middle-aged man replied in a gloomy voice.
"Hunter Lee, this is Baek Harim..."
"Are you really the Baek Harim?"
I stared back and forth between Baek Harim and Kang Mina in sheer disbelief. No, he was way too different from the Baek Harim I remembered!
"O-Of course he is!" Kang Mina stammered, flustered.
"Wow..."
But those dark, heavy circles under his eyes. Those hollow, sunken eyes. The messy, unkempt hair, the scruffy beard, and that utterly depressed expression!
This was not the national representative Baek Harim of my memories.
The Baek Harim I knew was proud! Confident! Sporting a dashing smile! He was a true national hero!
The national athlete who swept every sportswear commercial and stood as the very definition of health and vitality... was this gloomy, middle-aged man?!
"I suppose I have changed quite a bit."
Baek Harim spoke calmly, as if he was entirely used to this reaction.
"Hunter work is quite different from sports, it seems."
Hunter work changed a man that much?!
"I-I'm sorry. I was just so surprised..."
"It is fine."
"I was a huge fan, Mr. Baek..."
Any citizen of South Korea would have been. Baek Harim was the pride of the nation, sweeping every championship and Olympic gold medal in existence.
To my younger self, he was an absolute idol.
He brought home gold every single time. Who in the country wouldn't be a fan?
Of course, after the Babel Tower appeared, global interest in sports had dwindled significantly...
"I-I'm Lee Taepyeong."
"Nice to meet you. I heard you are exceptionally skilled..."
"Ah, no. I'm only on the 30th floor."
"We are similar, then."
Baek Harim said, accepting my handshake.
"Except for the fact that I am in my fifth year, and you haven't even hit your first."
Is... is that a compliment?
"I look forward to working with you, Taepyeong."
"Likewise, Mr. Baek Harim, Ath—"
"You can drop the 'Athlete.' I am no longer one."
Ah, my mistake.
"Right. Mr. Harim."
Wow. I never imagined I'd be working with a national representative, let alone an Olympic gold medalist.
Hearing about it from Kang Mina was one thing, but meeting him in person felt completely different.
Actually, he really was very different.
His past bright and cheerful demeanor was nowhere to be found; he looked more like someone suffering from severe depression.
Is it because of the tower...?
Still, to think a person could change this much in just five years.
Baek Harim listened as Kang Mina explained various details.
I stole a few glances at him, but I couldn't find a single trace of the national champion I once knew.
"Then, shall we have you officially join starting next week?"
"Yes. Understood."
Baek Harim left the room, his posture still draped in gloom.
"He's very different from what I remember."
At my comment, Kang Mina let out a deep sigh.
"Sigh..."
"Do you know something about him?"
"Not the full details, but..."
"What is it?"
Kang Mina hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"You know he recently left his guild and returned to the Administration Office, right?"
"Yes. You mentioned that before."
"That guild was the GR Guild."
"The GR Guild?"
I had no idea.
Then again, all news of Baek Harim had vanished after he became a hunter.
Probably because while he was a brilliant archer, he wasn't a particularly outstanding hunter.
"If he didn't leave because of his skills, then why..."
At my murmur, Kang Mina lowered her voice.
"I heard there were financial issues."
"What?!"
"Shh!"
"Don't tell me... crypto?"
"No!"
"Then, gambling...?"
"I said no!"
Kang Mina waved her hands frantically.
If it wasn't crypto or gambling, what on earth was it?
Hunters rarely ran into "financial issues."
If you belonged to the Administration Office, climbing the tower just once or twice a year was enough to make a decent living.
Sure, you couldn't take baths in caviar, but you could live comfortably.
The Administration Office offered "stability," while the guilds offered "money."
Yet Baek Harim, who belonged to a major guild, had money problems?
"If it's not crypto and it's not gambling, then what is it?"
"Well, you see..."
Kang Mina glanced around before continuing.
"The GR Guild is quite notorious for exploiting its hunters."
"Exploiting hunters?"
Like a black company?
But the GR Group was a massive conglomerate. A place like that exploited hunters?
"You know the GR Group was quick to form a guild when the Babel Tower first appeared, right?"
"Yes. That's why they're one of the top five guilds in the country."
The GR Group had absorbed awakened individuals at an incredible speed, almost as if they knew the Babel Tower would appear.
Among them, they focused heavily on recruiting awakened athletes with exceptional physical abilities.
And Baek Harim was one of the big fish caught in that net.
"Why didn't he sign with the Administration Office instead..."
"In the early days of the Babel Tower, the Administration Office wasn't what it is today."
The current Administration Office was created by hastily restructuring an existing government department.
Naturally, they were in complete disarray at first.
Since they approached the tower with extreme caution back then, the perks and privileges hunters took for granted today didn't exist.
Because of that, far more hunters signed with guilds rather than the government in the beginning.
Once it was discovered that tower byproducts like mana stones could be used for various industries, shady guilds began popping up like mushrooms after rain...
But the GR Guild wasn't some fly-by-night operation, was it?
"In some ways, they might be even worse."
Kang Mina sneered, a rare expression on her face.
"Back then, proper laws hadn't even been established, so many people took advantage of the loopholes."
"Don't tell me..."
"Yes. The GR Guild was an exceptional case of that."
Though not well known to the public, the GR Guild had apparently forced awakened individuals into all sorts of unfair contracts.
Since no one really understood what the tower or awakening meant back then, people blindly signed contracts spanning ten or twenty years.
The signing bonuses offered by the GR Guild might have seemed massive at the time, but considering the value of tower byproducts and the sheer danger involved, it was practically minimum wage.
And so...
"That's why Mr. Baek Harim joined the Administration Office the moment his contract expired."
"But still, is it really possible to end up in debt while working as a hunter?"
When he wasn't even a crypto bro or a gambler?!
"There are plenty of ways."
The most common was the cost of treating injuries sustained inside the tower. I knew that one well.
Even Kang Dakyung had lost her arm and kept climbing the tower just to get it back.
Other major sources of debt included equipment rental fees and the extortion of tower byproducts.
They would squeeze money out of hunters under the guise of renting gear, or the contracts would state that all tower byproducts belonged entirely to the guild.
In those cases, it was safe to say the hunters were left with absolutely nothing.
While such predatory contracts were rare nowadays, the early awakened had been repeatedly swindled because they didn't know the true value of what they brought back.
Was it the same for Baek Harim...?
Having spent his entire life focusing on sports, he might have been particularly vulnerable to those kinds of schemes.
"Is that why the GR Guild doesn't have any prominent hunters?"
"Exactly. They never had any intention of nurturing talent in the first place."
Kang Mina clicked her tongue.
"If Mr. Baek Harim had received proper support from the beginning, he might easily be clearing the 50th floor by now..."
But currently, he was stuck on the 30th floor. And he had been for several years. A bitter taste lingered in my mouth.
"Well, it would be best to ask Mr. Baek Harim himself about the deeper details."
Kang Mina held her tongue. I supposed anything beyond this was personal.
Indeed. Rather than digging behind his back, it would be much better to share a drink and talk it out.
Especially if I wanted to run this team smoothly moving forward.
A week passed.
Today was the day Baek Harim was scheduled to join us.
After introducing him to Cha Yerin and Woo Jumin, I planned to do a light run of the 30th floor.
And then, we're having a team dinner. Beef, preferably!
"Hello."
Just like our first meeting, Baek Harim arrived looking thoroughly depressed.
"Hello."
Cha Yerin, who was around my age but similarly failed to recognize him, greeted him politely.
"Ah, hello..."
Woo Jumin, who had no idea who Baek Harim was in the first place, gave a timid greeting.
"This is Hunter Baek Harim."
"W-Wait. Baek Harim?"
The moment she heard the name, Cha Yerin showed the exact same reaction I had.
Her jaw dropped as she stared at him, before she quickly bowed her head.
"I'm sorry!"
"...It is fine. I am used to it."
He truly looked used to it. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say he looked resigned.
"Is he really the athlete Baek Harim?" Cha Yerin whispered.
I nodded.
"Doesn't seem like the right time to ask for an autograph, does it?"
"Definitely not..."
An autograph from Baek Harim! I really want one!
Pushing my disappointment aside, I began the briefing.
Even though everyone had run the 30th floor multiple times, coordinating as a team was a different story.
"Mr. Baek Harim is a support-type mage. In our team, you'll be moving alongside Jumin..."
Indeed. Baek Harim was not a powerful damage-dealing mage, but a support-type.
His role was to provide utility while dealing ranged damage.
Because it was a somewhat ambiguous position, he had remained stuck in the 30s despite being a ten-year veteran.
Well, it didn't matter. I could handle the damage output myself anyway. As long as he provided decent support, I'd be grateful.
"Shall we head out, then?"
With the brief meeting concluded, we entered the Babel Tower.
Whoosh!
Except for Woo Jumin, who still looked a bit awkward, everyone landed safely.
Grrrr...
The skeletons growled, their presence almost welcoming by now.
"Yerin, take your position."
"Yes!"
"Jumin, you too."
"Got it!"
Without needing instruction, Baek Harim quietly stepped up to stand beside Woo Jumin.
Was it because he was a veteran? He found his position perfectly.
"I'll be in your care."
I whispered to Baek Harim, offering him a grin.
"..."
He had absolutely no idea what lay ahead.