The Scout
Shin Jiyu's raid party was a textbook example of a well-balanced team. With Jeon Chaseok as the tank leading the way, it featured dealers like Shin Jiyu, Kim Pilseok, and Han Jia, along with the healer Kim Heeyeon. Everyone except for the B-rank healer Kim Heeyeon was either C-rank or D-rank, but they were strong. Shin Jiyu and Kim Pilseok were technically C-rank but operated close to B-rank, while Han Jia was a D-rank hunter who performed at nearly C-rank levels. That was why they could clear gates that would normally take other parties three or four hours in just two and a half.
Of course, even for a party considered the top among C-rank groups, they had their worries. One of them was the miner teams they hired on a daily basis.
“Don’t the miners we hired this time seem a bit problematic?”
The comment about the temporary miner crew they always used came from Kim Heeyeon, her face full of dissatisfaction.
“The guys who show up on weekends are always the worst of the bunch,” Kim Pilseok chimed in, echoing her complaint with a scowl. “That Han Junho guy in particular looked like he’d be the most useless. All he’s got going for him is a pretty face.”
“What does his face have to do with anything?” Kim Heeyeon snapped, clearly annoyed by how Kim Pilseok kept derailing the point.
Kim Pilseok was a recent addition to Shin Jiyu’s party. His skills as a dealer were outstanding, but his personality left a lot to be desired.
“You know what they say—looks can pay the bills. A man should be built solid like me. Not some pretty boy who looks like he belongs in a host club.”
“Oh, so ‘solid’ means looking as scary as you do, Mr. Pilseok!” Shin Jiyu, who had been quietly listening, tilted her head and replied with perfect innocence.
“Pfft!”
“Cough…”
That was just the kind of person she was. Whether she was close to someone or meeting them for the first time, if she had something to say, she said it straight. That didn’t mean she had any malice. She simply lacked much of a filter.
“Ah, haha! Our party leader is so cute even when she’s joking!”
“I wasn’t joking, though.”
Shin Jiyu was petite in both height and build. Her short black hair was styled in a cute S-curl perm with bangs that emphasized her small frame. Her pale skin contrasted beautifully with her dark hair, and her puppy-like, kind eyes were accented by freckles that looked like little beauty marks. On top of that, her figure was far more glamorous than her small stature suggested. At first glance, she gave off the impression of a sweet, adorable girl with a killer body.
But after spending any amount of time with her, people quickly realized she wasn’t just cute.
“C-come on… you’re joking, right?”
The fact that her seemingly teary-eyed words were dealing continuous damage to Kim Pilseok was something everyone except Shin Jiyu herself understood perfectly.
In the end, after taking that relentless barrage from her, Kim Pilseok shrank back and shut his mouth.
“Anyway, getting back to the point, we always have problems with the weekend miners, don’t we?”
“It’s because it’s hard to find good people, so we end up taking whoever we can get,” Jeon Chaseok shrugged, clearly agreeing with Kim Heeyeon.
“Even when Jia unnie goes in as supervisor, she doesn’t say much and just docks their pay later, so everyone slacks off.”
Just as Han Junho had expected, they didn’t simply send the miners into the gate without any oversight.
“Other guilds and parties openly assign supervisors.”
“We’ve been trying to ease their burden by doing it this way, but it’s clearly reached its limit.”
Since the daily miners weren’t officially part of any team, the burden on the party was even greater. They had to deal with new environments and new party members every single time. The arrangement had been a consideration to create at least a slightly more comfortable working environment, but even Shin Jiyu had been feeling the seriousness of the issue more acutely lately.
“I’ve actually been thinking about that very issue.”
If the miner team didn’t do their job properly, the miners only lost pay. But for the raid party, it meant reduced shares, lower salaries for on-site staff, and even increased costs for managing equipment. It was far too serious a problem to simply overlook.
“I think we should put together a regular team.”
“A regular team?”
“Finally!”
Even for independent raid parties that weren’t part of a guild, most parties that earned as much as Shin Jiyu’s usually had at least one official miner crew. The reason they had put it off until now was…
“Of course, I’m not the best at judging people, so it might take some time to find the right person.”
It was because none of them had a good eye for character. Excluding Kim Pilseok, the other party members were all incredibly kind and good-natured, but they had zero ability to read people. They had delayed the decision over and over for that very reason, but now they had concluded they could no longer put it off.
“That’s why I’m worried. It would be great if we could find someone talented enough to be the team leader.”
While everyone was lost in their concerns, a voice cut through the tension.
“Why are you all making such serious faces?”
Even though it wasn’t yet time for the miners to finish, Han Jia—who had gone into the gate as supervisor—walked into the tent.
“Huh? Unnie? Isn’t it still too early?”
“Ah, I came out for a bit because I had something to tell you. Today… it doesn’t seem like we’ll have anything to worry about.”
“What do you mean, no worries?”
Kim Pilseok, who had been anxious about whether he would get his proper share again today, jumped forward and asked.
“Get that burdensome face out of here.”
Han Jia shooed Kim Pilseok back to his seat, then continued with a highly excited expression.
“It looks like our share today won’t be a problem at all. No, problem? It seems like it’s going to be overflowing.”
When the party members looked at her as if asking what she meant, Han Jia began to explain in detail what she had seen inside the gate.
The story started with the usual scene of some miners working hard while others slacked off.
“Even after some time passed, it was still the same, so I thought today was a bust too…”
That was when Han Junho had suddenly stepped up.
He had stepped forward, persuaded the miners, skillfully divided up the tasks and assigned positions, and even taught them the proper way to mine mana stones in detail. Then he took the lead in handling the monster corpse cleanup—a task that would have been difficult for complete beginners.
“It was seriously amazing. To lead that ragtag bunch like that!”
Everyone’s eyes widened in disbelief, but when they thought about it, there was no reason for Han Jia—who had gone in as supervisor—to lie about a random temporary worker she had just met.
“You all look like you don’t believe me. Just wait until you see the amount of mana stones and byproducts they bring out. Your minds will change.”
And Han Jia’s words were proven true shortly after when the miner team emerged with their haul.
Kim Pilseok, who had been badmouthing Han Junho earlier, looked slightly dizzy, but Shin Jiyu’s eyes were sparkling.
“We have to scout that man as the miner team leader!”
The eyes that had been sparkling while listening to Han Jia’s story were now shining so brightly that not even the stars in the night sky could compare.
“So that’s what happened.”
I nodded as if it all made sense while watching the party leader in front of me flap her hands excitedly as she explained. I had wondered what could possibly make her offer a team leader position to someone she had only known for a single day. But just as I had expected, it was because she had seen me leading the others.
“Yes. So if you’ll take the team leader position, we’ll treat you very generously.”
Double the salary plus double the incentives was indeed very generous treatment. Of course, that also meant I would have to take on the corresponding responsibility and work hard as the leader, so it felt like a fair exchange.
Since I had been planning to join a regular team anyway, there was no reason to hesitate.
“Understood. Then let’s start by writing up a proper contract.”
From now on, I decided I would make sure to get proper contracts wherever I went and leave evidence that I had been there. That way, if any problems arose later, I would have something to fall back on.
“Great! I’ll have it printed out by tomorrow. Our office is right here—could you come by?”
“What time should I visit?”
“Whenever is convenient for you.”
I received a business card with the party leader’s contact information and the office address, and we agreed to meet the next day. After that…
“Then, could you pay me today’s daily wage first?”
I made sure to collect the unpaid daily wage and incentives.
“Ah, yes! I’ll transfer it right away!”
After hearing that the money had been deposited, I went home and checked. Sure enough, I had received 100,000 won more in incentives and daily pay than the others.
If someone asked whether that was a small amount considering I had taken the lead and guided everyone, it might seem that way—but I hadn’t discussed it with anyone beforehand.
Since I had done it on my own, I decided to just let it go. Once I officially became the team leader, I would be earning double anyway, so I had no real complaints.
“First of all…”
Although I had accepted, I obviously wasn’t going to rush into signing a contract without doing my due diligence. I planned to gather as much information as possible about the party, evaluate it thoroughly, and immediately cut ties if anything seemed off before looking for another regular team.
My information network wouldn’t be as strong as when I was vice guild master, but my information processing skills hadn’t gone anywhere.
“The reviews are pretty decent.”
I started by checking the party’s reputation, focusing mainly on the miner community. Since they hired a lot of temporary workers, there were quite a few shared reviews. The overall feedback was good, and many people said they had returned to work with them multiple times.
After getting a decent sense of their reputation, I moved on to the hunter community to check how they were viewed by actual hunters rather than just miners.
“The building is quite large.”
I verified whether the office building was properly registered and looked into the party members’ activity records.
“Overall, it looks really good.”
Aside from one person named Kim Pilseok, the others had virtually no controversies or issues. Only after confirming all of that did I finally turn off my computer.
“This should be fine to work with.”
I felt confident. The party leader seemed decent, and the other members had good images too. Kim Pilseok’s reputation was a bit concerning, but as the saying went, every group had its weirdo.
“As long as he doesn’t pick a fight with me, it’s all good.”
Having made up my mind to sign the contract, I lay down on my soft bed. Today had been quite a tiring day. Not just today—the entire past month had been exhausting. But maybe the physical strain had helped my mental state recover a little.
If I kept living this busily, someday—someday I might be able to forget everything.
With that thought, I closed my tired eyes.
The morning came.
Normally I would have washed up and prepared to head to the morning work site, but today was different. I would be taking a small loss for one day, but starting tomorrow I would begin receiving a regular salary as the leader of an official miner team.
“It’s been a while since I’ve worn clothes like these.”
For the past month I had simply grabbed whatever comfortable clothes I could find and called them work attire, but today I took out the semi-formal suit I used to wear at the guild and put it on.
“Still, it’s our first contract meeting. I can’t just show up dressed sloppily.”
When I even put on dress shoes, I felt strangely out of place. I used to go to work dressed like this every day. It had only been a month, yet it already felt a little awkward.
“My hair has grown a lot too.”
Before heading to the office, I stopped by the hair salon I used to frequent and got a neat trim. I should have felt good, but for some reason my mood sank.
The face I saw in the mirror looked the same as back then. Maybe it was because I had changed too much.
“…This isn’t the time to be like this.”
I forcefully shook off the gloomy feeling and headed to the building Shin Jiyu’s party leader had told me about.
Knock knock—
I entered the clean office building and knocked on the door with the number I had been given.
“Yes, who is it?”
The friendly-sounding voice I had heard yesterday answered from inside.
“This is Han Junho. We agreed to meet today.”
As soon as I finished the brief introduction, the door opened as if they had been waiting.
The scene inside felt less like a typical office and more comfortable and relaxed overall.
“Is that you, Mr. Junho? Wow, you look like a total office worker!”
Ah, well. I was wearing a semi-formal suit with my hair neatly combed back, so I couldn’t exactly argue with that.
“You look great!”
“Whoa, is that the guy from yesterday?”
“Wow~ He’s handsome!”
The loud barrage of compliments made me feel a bit embarrassed.
“Handsome? Please. He’s nothing special.”
I thought I heard some grumbling as well, but whatever. I hadn’t come here to be a face model. I decided to just ignore it.
“Thank you. Um, may I come in?”