Changing the Signboard
“Let’s get one thing straight first.”
Go Juhee nodded.
The trace of amusement had vanished from her face, replaced by a sharp, calculating gaze that sought to probe my true intentions.
“You don’t actually plan to destroy the GR Guild, do you?”
At my words, Go Juhee’s eyebrow twitched imperceptibly.
“What you want is real power over the GR Guild.”
Driving out the rats and taking their place.
“Am I wrong?”
“…To some extent, yes.”
I let out a dry chuckle at her response.
“To be more precise,”
“…”
“It’s to make the GR Guild entirely yours, isn’t it?”
“…”
Just as I thought.
She didn’t deny it.
Rather than being flustered, her reaction suggested she didn’t care if I knew.
“Of course, as for me…”
“…”
“I don’t care whose hands the GR Guild ends up in.”
Once again, Go Juhee’s eyebrow twitched.
It must have stung to hear me dismiss something she was risking her life to obtain as something I ‘didn’t care’ about.
“But from where I stand…”
Go Juhee was now waiting for my next words with a look that said, Let’s see how far you can go.
“I think you’re making a very foolish choice, Ms. Go Juhee.”
“Mr. Lee Taepyeong.”
Unable to hold back this time, Go Juhee frowned and cut me off.
“Hear me out first.”
“Nothing has been decided yet. So you should watch your—”
“Even if a house is incredibly expensive,”
“…”
“Can you really live in it if it’s so rotten that it’s on the verge of collapsing?”
Go Juhee fell silent for a moment.
“A rotten house is still a rotten house, even if you remodel it.”
Under Go Juhee’s intense, unwavering gaze, I simply shrugged.
“Isn’t now the perfect time to do what you people do best?”
“What do you…”
“Redevelopment.”
“…”
“Let’s change the signboard.”
Had she not thought this far?
A flash of bewilderment crossed Go Juhee’s face.
Indeed. She had only thought about beating down the GR Guild and swallowing it up. She had no intention of killing the GR Guild itself.
“If I reject the contract as you planned, the GR Guild will naturally fall.”
“…That’s true.”
“So taking it over will be easy for you. But…”
“…”
“How are you going to stand it back up after that?”
“…”
“It’s not like your brothers are going to help you.”
Of course they wouldn’t.
They would do everything in their power to snatch the GR Guild once Go Juhee had neatly prepared it.
They would drag up corruption that had been buried until now, setting up a trap to force Go Juhee to resign after she took over.
And then?
One of the siblings would greedily swallow the GR Guild whole. Or they would split it amicably among themselves.
And Go Juhee wouldn’t even get a single crumb.
“That’s why I’m saying we should change the signboard from the very beginning.”
“…”
“Instead of keeping the sign of a failing noodle shop, let’s change it to a pasta place.”
At that moment, Go Juhee’s eyes wavered.
“…Does that mean,”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
Go Juhee was smart. So by now, she must have realized what my ‘plan’ was.
“As I told you from the start, I don’t need the GR Guild.”
“…”
“I’m going to establish a guild of my own.”
“A guild…”
Go Juhee let out a dry, hollow laugh.
But the calculations in her head must have already finished. Because she was a clever woman.
“The choice is yours, Ms. Go Juhee.”
I didn’t bother extending my hand. Instead, I quietly added:
“Whether to change the signboard…”
“…”
“Or to inherit a rotten noodle shop.”
The car pulled up in front of the Association headquarters.
“Get in safely.”
I nodded at Go Juhee’s words. There was no need to ask what would happen next. The next steps were already set in stone anyway.
Before I got out of the car, Go Juhee added,
“Don’t worry, no one will know about our meeting today.”
“Right. I won’t worry.”
“This will be recorded as a personal schedule at the Association too, right?”
“Just a quick trip to the convenience store for some ramen.”
“Perfect.”
Go Juhee smiled warmly.
“Thanks for the ride. Have a safe trip back.”
“Have a good night, partner.”
Huh? Partner?
Before I could even ask,
Clack.
With the sound of the door shutting, the car immediately drove off.
“Hmm…”
I scratched the back of my head, watching the car recede into the distance.
Partner, huh? Well, technically speaking, was she wrong?
I returned to my quarters. Since I had said I was just going to the convenience store, no one asked any questions.
“Ah, I’m exhausted.”
Was it because I had used my brain too much? I took a shower and closed my eyes the moment I lay down on the bed.
And the next morning.
Bzzz.
My phone vibrated before my alarm could go off.
It was a short text. But the meaning was clear.
I stared at the screen with a half-asleep face, then let out a chuckle.
That was faster than I expected.
The idea of creating a guild had only come up yesterday. While it was something I had been planning for a while, from Go Juhee’s perspective, it meant rewriting her entire plan.
Instead of taking over the GR Guild, she had to build a new one from scratch. There must be countless issues arising from that decision. Yet she was already bringing up the ‘name’.
It meant she had spent the whole night sorting out her thoughts. It meant we could move straight to the ‘next step’.
Well, that works out great.
I only had a vague notion of creating a new guild. I knew next to nothing about the actual administrative work. But right on cue, Go Juhee had appeared.
A ‘partner’ whose interests aligned perfectly with mine.
The Guild Master would be me. The Chief Operating Officer would be Go Juhee.
One of the reasons I chose Go Juhee was that she wasn't a hunter. A professional manager who wasn't a hunter. Someone who could skillfully handle contracts, distribution, and various public relations.
Sure, it would be great if I could do it all myself, but realistically, that was impossible. I had neither the time nor the talent for it.
In that sense, choosing Go Juhee was an excellent decision. She would be adept at dealing with the GR Group, which held a tight grip on the tower byproduct processing industry.
Once the GR Guild collapsed, the GR Group would naturally look for a new supplier of byproducts, and they would have no choice but to reach out to Go Juhee.
In other words, by partnering with Go Juhee, the distribution of byproducts would be solved naturally.
On top of that, Go Juhee was the director of foreign cooperation for the GR Group. Naturally, she would be highly skilled at handling troublesome media responses. She was bound to be helpful in many ways.
A guild name...
I hadn't decided on one yet. I should start thinking now. As long as it wasn't something tacky like the GR Guild, anything would do.
“Taepyeong Guild...?”
No. Naming it after myself felt a bit too self-absorbed.
“TP...?”
No, let's not use English when we have our proud Korean language. Then, what would be good?
As I pondered, something caught my eye.
—Typhoon No. 25, “Winter Typhoon,” has formed... What is its projected path?
The weather report was playing on the TV in the living room.
“Typhoon...”
It sounded similar to my name, sounded powerful at a glance, was concise, and caught the eye!
“...This is it.”
I quickly picked up my phone and replied to Go Juhee.
Ha. Now that I had named it, it finally felt real. Of course, actually establishing the guild would take some time. But as they say, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
“Let’s do this!”
With an energetic shout, another day began.
During the few days remaining before the general meeting, Go Juhee gathered trustworthy people while preparing to establish the new guild.
While the administrative side was running smoothly, the lack of actual hunter recruitment seemed to worry Go Juhee quite a bit. I pondered for a moment before sending a reply.
“Hmm…”
Would that even be a problem?
Of course, it wasn't that I couldn't think of anyone at all. Starting with Cha Yerin, Woo Jumin, and even Baek Harim. I could easily pitch the idea to my current teammates. However…
Is it really necessary right now?
They were already doing perfectly fine at the Association, and they didn't seem to particularly need a guild. Besides, Baek Harim had just escaped the clutches of the GR Guild; asking him to join another one right away felt a bit insensitive.
She was right. But she was only half right.
It wasn't that we needed a large number of active hunters, but rather that the volume of tower byproducts brought in by the guild's hunters had to be massive.
I feel like I'd be more than enough on my own...
I wasn't just boasting. I entered the tower almost every day, and the number of mana stones I obtained per run was several times that of ordinary hunters. Even more so when I entered solo instead of in a party.
Though I couldn't be sure, I probably brought in as much as five decent hunters combined. Well, I suppose I'd just have to prove it with numbers.
I'll have to compile the data and show her sometime.
“…”
I didn't bother replying this time.
In truth, unlike Go Juhee, who wanted to pull in hunters from all over, I had no intention of doing so.
Establishing the guild would inevitably stir up controversy. Since we were essentially stabbing the GR Guild and GR Group in the back to set it up. For the time being, there would definitely be constant noise from all sides.
I didn't want to drag the people I cared about into that mess.
It won't be too late to ask them once everything settles down.
No, in fact, that was the right way to go about it.
I put my phone away and headed to the kitchen. Do Sangjin was preparing breakfast, as usual.
“I'll have it ready in just a moment.”
Come to think of it, once I establish the guild and leave the Association, I won't be able to eat the meals Do Sangjin cooks for me anymore.
...I really don't like the sound of that.
If nothing else, the thought of losing Do Sangjin's home-cooked meals truly broke my heart.
“Hunter-nim?”
“Ah, yes?”
Do Sangjin called out to me as I stood there dazed.
“What did you say?”
“I was asking if you would prefer poached eggs or fried eggs.”
“Fried. Hard-fried today, please.”
“Understood.”
Would it be rude to ask Do Sangjin to work as my personal secretary? He was a civil servant, the ultimate symbol of job security…
Tsk. What a waste.
I'd better eat as much of his home-cooked food as possible before leaving the Association.
“Thank you for the food!”
As I devoured double my usual portion,
“It seems today's meal was to your liking.”
Do Sangjin smiled proudly.
“Yes, it's delicious. You made the tteokgalbi yourself too, right, Sangjin?”
“Haha, yes. I'm glad you appreciate it.”
“I'll be eating all my meals here for the time being, so please prepare three meals a day.”
“Of course, Hunter Lee.”
Unaware of my situation, Do Sangjin beamed.
Somehow, it felt a bit bittersweet. While I was still at the Association, I was going to enjoy this home-cooked food to the absolute fullest.