First Day at the Guild
Monday morning.
The rush-hour streets were packed.
The roads were jammed solid with cars, and the subways and buses were crammed shoulder to shoulder with people.
I sat in a taxi, spacing out on my way to work.
Korea Hero Academy had one particularly odd system: during vacation periods, students were required to work at the Association or a guild.
'So once classes end, I have to clock in.'
What a truly horrifying school.
Once we cleared the gridlocked streets, the building where I'd be starting work today came into view.
The building had an unusual design. Two cylindrical structures twisted around each other like a whirlpool, forming a single tower. It stood five stories tall, but the interior was wrapped in subspace magic, making it far larger than it appeared.
"We're here."
"Thank you."
The moment I stepped out of the taxi, eyes locked onto me from every direction. Not that it was because I was a devastatingly handsome young man... or, well, not only because of that.
"Is that him? The rookie everyone's been trying to snag this year?"
"I heard the Sun Guild and the Comet Guild masters nearly came to blows over signing him."
Stares bore into me from all sides.
Honestly, with the academy events continuing one after another, I'd been a constant topic of conversation among hero-related circles. My old phone had been flooded with so many texts I'd had to buy a separate one just to cope.
"Look at his gait. His balance is impeccably dialed in."
"Forget that, look at the physique showing through his clothes. Beautifully built. Most muscle-heads wouldn't even dare hand him their business card."
I slipped inside quickly. Waiting near the reception desk were a staff member, Kim Seohyun, and Park Unhyeok.
"Lee Seoha...!"
"Right on time, Seoha."
Park Unhyeok gave me a guarded look, while Kim Seohyun broke into a wide grin and came over.
"Hah, so you ended up here too."
"Well, yeah. You two got here early, though?"
"Yeah. I was the first to arrive."
I looked the two of them over.
Park Unhyeok wore the same outfit as me — black slacks and a white short-sleeved shirt — while Kim Seohyun had on black jeans and a blue button-down.
Just then, I sensed someone approaching. I turned to see a pleasant-faced man in a black suit striding toward us.
"Hello. I'm Lee Sungchan, and I'll be guiding you all starting today. Pleasure to meet you."
Lee Sungchan said this, then turned his gaze to me. I felt something odd in that look.
A moment later, his expression twitched. Very, very slightly.
"...The top students at Korea Hero Academy really are on another level, aren't they?"
By any measure, Lee Sungchan belonged to an exceptionally elite tier himself — one good enough that Cheongyeon had once wanted to take him as a disciple.
"Shall we start with the tour, then? The first floor is reserved for external guests. This is where we showcase the byproducts of dungeons cleared by our Cheonryu Guild, as well as the achievements our guild has accumulated."
After that, Lee Sungchan gave us a brief rundown of the guild building.
Basement level two was the training hall, layered with so many protective spells that even a sparring match between Transcendents would only leave a faint scratch.
Basement level one, he explained, was a warehouse for storing the byproducts harvested from hunted monsters.
The second floor held leisure spaces for guild members — lounges and training rooms.
The third floor currently served as the main office, the fourth held the conference room and meeting rooms, and the fifth was reserved exclusively for the guild master and vice-master.
"That covers the general layout of the Cheonryu Guild building. Any questions?"
I glanced around.
Kim Seohyun, who studied magic under the Wizard of a Thousand while attending Cheonryu Guild, obviously had nothing to ask, and Park Unhyeok was the scion of a great house. As the son of the Sun Guild — Cheonryu's archrival — he'd visited guilds every vacation before even entering the academy, and was on friendly terms with the members.
'I don't really have anything I'm curious about either.'
"Normally, we'd introduce you to the hero who'll be leading your team right now, but something urgent came up and they're away at the moment. It's a bit early, but shall we go grab some lunch?"
"Sure."
"Sounds good."
We headed out for lunch.
"Seoha, want anything in particular?"
"Not really."
I slipped a hand into my pocket, thinking. I wasn't especially hungry, so I figured I'd just eat enough to fill the hole in my stomach.
"I was told the way to judge a guild is to look at its benefits. It's our first day, so the cafeteria should be a decent start."
At Park Unhyeok's suggestion, I nodded. Going out of my way to leave the building sounded like a hassle.
"Shall we head to the cafeteria, then?"
The cafeteria was quiet.
It was still too early for the lunch rush.
I scooped a generous serving of stir-fried pork onto my tray and sat down.
"So why exactly are you here, Park Unhyeok?"
"Because my father is the master of the Sun Guild."
Park Unhyeok cut a piece of steak with dignified precision, put it in his mouth, and continued.
"At the Sun Guild, I could live comfortably. I'd get perfect marks even if I coasted — but that would stunt my growth, which is why I came here. Besides, I believed Cheonryu had more to teach me than the Comet Guild, so I applied here."
"Oooh, that's actually pretty admirable."
"Of course it is. I'm the one saying it."
At Kim Seohyun's compliment, Park Unhyeok gave a haughty little laugh.
It was annoying, but it was a genuinely admirable line of thinking, so I quietly ate my pork.
"By the way, will we get to find out which hero will be leading our team today?"
"You'll be with Tak Yoonil, a Grandmaster."
"THE Tak Yoonil?!"
Park Unhyeok's eyes went wide.
Fair enough. Tak Yoonil, Grandmaster — a man so versatile with every weapon imaginable that people simply called him a master of the martial arts.
In a way, he was also the person best suited to teach us Heukshin-ryu.
"Oh dear. I was planning to surprise you, but you've already found out?"
A brash-looking man appeared, his voice as crisp and easygoing as his manner.
He wore a garishly colorful Hawaiian shirt, blue shorts, and loosely scuffed sneakers.
He looked like a sun-tanned, bleach-blond delinquent, but anyone who underestimated him had never lived to regret it — no, they'd been spared nothing.
"Ah, there you are."
"Yep. Sorry I'm late, by the way? Got an emergency call mid-way. Had to catch a Villain, so I ran a bit behind."
"No problem at all."
"Oh? So you're that famous top student, huh? And here I thought our... young master would be first in the class."
"Seoha really is incredible. I've never beaten him. Not once."
"Iiiis that so? No wonder. Losing sleep the moment I heard Lee Seoha was coming."
As they chatted, Tak Yoonil slid his sunglasses down and looked me over.
"I only saw you from a distance, but your body alone is no joke. What technique is that? It goes beyond the Muscle-Tendon Alchemy our young master studied."
"Right? I don't know what method he uses, but his muscle fibers are woven together at an insane density. Compressed muscle, maybe? Even if Seoha had trained external arts only, without using a drop of mana, he'd have ended up about like this."
"...Sorry about that. Our young master gets a little worked up whenever martial arts come up. You finished eating? Then let's start with a walk — light exercise to stretch our legs."
"You mean we're going on patrol?"
"Yep. Normally this wouldn't be our job, but the Demons have been moving suspiciously lately. The Villains too."
With that, Tak Yoonil ushered us outside.
I felt gloomy.
It felt like I'd joined a black- company workplace with barely any downtime.
***
The patrol was uneventful.
The only real "incident" was Kim Seohyun's face getting recognized mid-route, prompting a swarm of fans to beg for autographs.
"Shall we have a quick meeting, then?"
"A meeting?"
"Yep. A meeting about clearing a dungeon."
"...We're interns, though?"
Park Unhyeok said, looking flustered.
Even as interns, we wouldn't be deployed into dungeons or sent monster-hunting in earnest.
An internship, after all, meant getting to know the heroes first, learning their trade secrets, and studying how to respond when running into Villains or Demons.
"I get it. A botched dungeon raid could put intern students in real danger. But don't worry about that. Cheonryu Guild's elites will keep you safe."
"...He's serious about this."
Park Unhyeok said with a grave expression.
"He is. Honestly, we have no obligation to do this. But we can afford to raise people who aren't ours, you see."
Tak Yoonil said, looking at Park Unhyeok.
"Besides, dungeon raids are extremely dangerous. Traps can spring from anywhere, and you're under constant threat from monsters. I won't deny that Korea Hero Academy students are excellent — but dungeon clearing is a different animal entirely."
Tak Yoonil added.
"And yet we do it, because this is the will of the greatest hero of all."
"..."
"When the Boundary collapsed and beings steeped in 'Evil' invaded the Earth, when empowered Villains ran rampant and Demons tore order apart — one being raised order from the ashes alone, forged the ones who would be called 'Heroes,' and led them. We do this because of the words that being left behind."
The greatest hero in human history.
A hero so great, so magnificent, that every hero since has looked up to him.
"It was an era when human lives were worth less than food. The one called humanity's hope brought all of it to an end and ushered in peace. And he wanted to give every hero an equal chance."
That was why Korea Hero Academy was founded.
"Even after that, he labored for peace. He took on many disciples and founded guilds. He also established the Association to keep the guilds from running wild and the government from overreaching. Well, these days, Cheonryu is the only one carrying on his will."
The ideal is a beautiful one.
But reality is cruel.
"The other guilds don't do it partly out of convenience — but mostly because if students actually die, that's a genuine catastrophe."
The students who come as interns are the future of all heroes. In an age of peace, few are foolish enough to squander future resources.
Of course, that's only true for a very short window.
Once things reach the midgame and the Seven Evils step onto the stage themselves, students get literally shredded to pieces.
"So, the day after tomorrow, we'll hold our meeting on the dungeon raid."
Tak Yoonil flashed a wide grin at us.
I stared back at him with sunken eyes.
At Tak Yoonil — the Demon who would be the very first to grind students into paste.