Going Public
Things were going incredibly smoothly.
"Thank you for your hard work!"
Once Baek Harim joined and our four-member party was complete, climbing the tower became ridiculously comfortable.
We cleared all the way up to the 35th floor on our first try without a single failure.
Perhaps because rumors had begun to spread, both Cha Yerin and Baek Harim started receiving scout offers from all over.
"I told them I have no plans for the time being and rejected them all," Cha Yerin said.
"Same here," Baek Harim added.
Fortunately, both of them had rejected every single offer.
They both said they wanted to focus on their growth for now.
"I didn't get anything..." Woo Jumin muttered beside them, his face gloomy.
"You're a minor," I pointed out.
"Still..."
"Just wait until your nineteenth birthday. You'll collapse from the sheer weight of the business cards you receive."
At my words, Baek Harim nodded in agreement.
"Even now, there are probably plenty of guilds keeping an eye on you, Jumin."
"...Really?" Woo Jumin's eyes sparkled.
I gave him a light flick on the forehead.
"Look at you. Are you planning to run off the moment you get a call?"
"N-No! Of course I'll stay with you, Hyung...!"
"You looked like you were ready to sign right away!"
"I really wasn't! It's just, since I'm the only one who hasn't heard anything..."
"Since you haven't heard anything?"
"I was worried I might be useless..."
Look at this kid.
His self-confidence plummeted again in an instant.
I ruffled Woo Jumin's hair vigorously.
"How could that be? They're just playing a game of chicken, waiting for the right moment."
"But..."
"I bet someone is just waiting for the chance to slip you their card."
"Eek..."
And the moment they do, I'll report them and drag their guild straight to hell.
"Well, don't worry too much."
"Hearing you say that actually makes me worry a lot more, Hyung..."
"Hey. Your Hyung will be watching over everything."
Even if I didn't, the Hunter Administration Office was probably already watching him with hawk eyes.
Now that they knew Woo Jumin was a highly capable healer.
They were probably monitoring him secretly even now.
Kang Mina hadn't said anything specific, but my guess was likely correct.
But I decided not to tell Woo Jumin.
Knowing his personality, it would only make him anxious.
"Jumin, getting a lot of scout offers isn't necessarily a good thing," Baek Harim chimed in, backing me up. "There are good guilds, but there are also many bad ones."
Having experienced it firsthand, his words carried a heavy weight.
"See, kid? Don't worry about it and just focus on building your skills."
"Okay."
"Then, naturally, good offers will—"
"Hunter Lee!"
Just as I was about to dish out some serious brotherly advice, Kang Mina burst into the waiting room.
"What brings you here at this hour?"
Lately, Kang Mina had been busy with various matters.
Something about the restructuring of the Administration Office...
I had heard her mention it, but I couldn't remember the details.
"Whew, I have something to tell you!"
She looked quite out of breath, as if she had run all the way here.
"We'll head out first," the team members said, leaving the room naturally as they always did.
I handed Kang Mina a bottle of water and asked, "Is this something we can talk about here?"
"No, it would be better to move to a different room."
Oh.
Must be something important.
I followed behind Kang Mina.
We headed to a meeting room on the high floors of the Talent Management Team.
As if they knew I was coming, tea and refreshments were already set out on the table.
Crunch.
I popped a snack into my mouth and sat down in a chair.
She looks pretty serious...
Kang Mina, who had guided me to the meeting room first, was talking to a colleague through the glass wall with a tense expression.
They seemed to be in a hurry.
Sip.
Well, it wasn't my concern.
After drinking about half of the warm Solomon's seal tea, Kang Mina opened the door and walked in, looking like she was suffering from a massive headache.
"What's going on?"
"Sigh..."
She let out a deep sigh right off the bat.
What could it possibly be?
"I'm sorry. So many things have been piling up all at once..."
"Just tell me the most important thing first."
Kang Mina rolled her eyes and hesitated for a long moment before finally speaking.
"China has announced the results of the special floor raid."
"Pardon?"
Didn't they say the special floor raid was classified?
I set down my teacup and looked at her.
"Why?"
"Well..."
World No. 8.
The pride of China.
Jang Wonryong's death.
To explain his death, they had no choice but to announce the special floor raid.
If they kept it hidden, it would have caused a massive backlash.
From various speculations to wild conspiracy theories, the Chinese government couldn't afford to let that slide.
That was why they had announced the results of the special floor raid.
"So, your information, Hunter Lee..."
It got leaked.
My name was definitely on the participant list.
South Korea's top hunters:
Choi Muryeong.
Ban Haeyeong.
Han Sion.
And alongside those three, a name everyone would be hearing for the first time...
Lee Taepyeong.
My name.
"Because China announced it first, there was nothing we could do."
"I see."
"We tried our best to block it, but..."
Hmm.
It wasn't something I had anticipated, but it wasn't shocking enough to make me lose my mind either.
I knew exactly what happened when one became famous, so I wanted to live separated from the public eye...
Well, I never expected that to last forever anyway.
"It's fine."
I had always figured my information would be revealed to the world eventually.
It just happened a bit sooner than expected.
But it didn't really matter.
"It's just going to get a bit annoying."
"D-Don't worry! Our Administration Office will absolutely protect you...!"
Kang Mina was rambling on, but her words went in one ear and out the other.
What mattered right now was that my identity had already been leaked to the world.
A hunter who had awakened less than a year ago entering China's special floor...
Even from my perspective, I was the perfect target for everyone to prey on.
"So, my information from now on..."
"As you requested, the Administration Office has kept your information to a minimum and controlled it, but since it's only the 'minimum'..."
"Then what happens?"
"Soon, the media and the guilds will piece together the public information and..."
"They'll find out everything about me?"
"...Probably."
Sip.
I finished the rest of the lukewarm Solomon's seal tea.
Tasted savory.
"How long will it take?"
Kang Mina hesitated.
"Be honest with me."
At my words, she squeezed her eyes shut and answered.
"It won't even take a day."
"Hmm..."
"Probably by tomorrow morning..."
As expected of the 'hurry-hurry' nation.
I fell into thought for a moment.
And then,
"Then, why don't we just announce it ourselves right now?"
[Breaking] A New Rookie Appears?! Shin Kiyoung Joins Hands with GR Guild!
Shin Kiyoung: "Climbing to the 10th floor wasn't hard if you keep at it!"
GR Guild Denies Abuse Allegations... Successful "Generation Shift" with Shin Kiyoung?
"What is this 'abuse allegations' nonsense? Are they kidding me?"
Han Myeongjin frowned as he scrolled down.
"Do they have any idea how much money we poured into this..."
Indeed.
It was impossible to estimate just how much money they had paid the media outlets to cover up those 'abuse allegations.'
"Tsk."
Despite the rampant unfair contracts and abuse of power, the reason GR Guild had managed to maintain its number two spot was simple.
'Money.'
Even after the Babel Tower appeared, money was still useful.
Especially for issues like this.
Although they couldn't raise their ranking from 9th, their wealth allowed them to protect the GR Group's reputation.
Even if nasty rumors had started circulating about the GR Guild among hunters.
To salvage their image, they planned to change the guild's name and replace the master soon anyway.
The start of that rebranding was none other than recruiting the new rookie, the star hunter Shin Kiyoung!
Although he had received help from the GR Guild's hunters, it was no ordinary feat for a rookie to break through the 10th floor.
Furthermore, Shin Kiyoung was a former idol with a decent fanbase.
Though there were rumors of school bullying, that was something they could easily cover up.
If they could just build him up as their new star, shedding the image of unfair contracts and power abuse would be a piece of cake.
Just like they had done with the archery star, Baek Harim, ten years ago.
Useless bastard.
Han Myeongjin had hoped Baek Harim would bring in some money since he was a magic-class hunter, but in the end, he had only loitered around the 30s floors before his contract expired.
Because of his mental issues, they couldn't even use him for promotional purposes.
Would this former idol be free of such issues?
"Hehehe..."
If things went well, this was Han Myeongjin's chance to secure a major position for himself.
He didn't even dream of becoming the guild master.
His ultimate goal was to settle for vice-master and then secure a comfortable spot in the GR Group, where he could handle even larger sums of money.
The number of colleagues, seniors, and juniors he had sold out to reach this goal was countless.
Baek Harim was just one of them.
"Team Leader!"
It was then.
One of Han Myeongjin's subordinates burst through the door.
"You bastard, learn to knock!"
Han Myeongjin immediately reached for the ashtray on his desk.
But before he could throw it, the subordinate shoved a tablet in front of him, knowing that delaying this news would incur far greater wrath than failing to knock.
"Take a look at this!"
"What is it all of a sudden..."
What appeared on the screen was a live broadcast.
The Administration Office...?
Why was the Administration Office broadcasting?
"Ah."
Han Myeongjin nodded as if he understood.
Was this a response to China's announcement of the special floor raid results?
Even without this, the media was already buzzing, trying to figure out the identity of the remaining participant besides Choi Muryeong, Ban Haeyeong, and Han Sion.
If it wasn't South Korea's top healer, Park Geumja, then who on earth was it?
Once it was announced, that person would...
It'll be the start of another scouting war.
GR Guild was also planning to recruit the mysterious hunter.
Usually, in these cases, there was a high probability they had already signed with a guild, but you never knew.
"Is the proposal ready?"
"We've only set up the general framework. We still don't have their exact identity..."
"Just throw money at them first."
Most people could be bought with money.
It was even more likely if they were a 'rookie.'
Han Myeongjin stared at the screen with a wide grin, as if he had already secured the contract.
Following the spokesperson's dry announcement, just when it seemed like it was over—
A plain, yet somehow familiar face appeared on the screen.
'Where have I seen him before...?'
The man wore an awkward suit, looking as if he had borrowed his uncle's clothes.
Yet, his expression showed not a hint of nervousness.
Standing before the camera, the man adjusted his tie.