Happy Settlement Time

With the boss monster down, it was time for the best part—settlement.

I glanced back over my shoulder.

"Take everything."

"You sure about that?"

"We already got the SSS-class clear reward, after all."

Well, fine by me.

A single polite offer was enough for etiquette. Lucky for me I was stuck with people who still had some sense of shame in a free-for-all clear.

Defeating the Twin Living Armor had netted two items.

First up was the axe the thing had been swinging.

Oh.

The slash amplification was on par with a Rare-grade effect. Sure, there was the little downside of possibly going berserk yourself mid-swing—but it would still fetch a decent price on the market.

"There is one more," Isra said, holding out a yellow stone.

"Oh. A lottery ticket."

"A lottery ticket?"

"Official name is Split Soul Stone, but everyone just calls it that."

Use it on an ordinary item and you might get an enhancement effect, supposedly.

"Usually it's a dud, though," one of the hunters said with a laugh, then glanced sideways at me.

Hmm.

From the look of it, these options weren't showing up for them.

This thing was no ordinary lottery ticket.

A portion of a soul was actually dwelling inside it!

Like the options on corpse byproducts, this was something only I could see.

Kehehehe.

Lucky me!

Right—better tidy things up before we left.

"So, everyone. You all rode the bus thanks to me, correct?"

"Y-yes, sir."

"Outside, it's going to be a circus over the SSS-class clear."

"We don't know a thing."

They didn't have to go pale over it. At this rate, anyone watching would think I was about to silence witnesses.

I had no intention of hiding my skill forever.

Still—Isra's performance upgrades, the potential of bone metallurgy, the improved skills. Enjoying the fame could wait until I'd fully grasped the true value of what I'd strengthened.

If these hunters kept the secret, it saved me a headache. If they didn't, the damage wouldn't be that bad.

"So we're secret friends now?"

"Y-yessir!"

Everybody smile. Someone watching would think I'd threatened them.

The Challenging Realm was a fairly well-known gate.

Instance type. Five possible patterns.

It made for an excellent training ground to hone a hunter's capabilities, and the rewards were solid enough that plenty of people came and went.

That said—

"An SSS-class clear?"

Reaching the highest grade was never easy.

Less than an hour after Minho cleared the Challenging Realm, every major guild had already received word of the SSS-class clear.

Including, for example, a certain high-ranking figure at one of the domestic Big Five—Chilseong Guild.

Director Baek Seonghyeon.

"The Challenging Realm randomly spits out one of five patterns, correct?"

"Yes. This SSS-class clear was the corridor type."

"Corridor is the most ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠troublesome pattern, isn't it?"

Baek Seonghyeon tipped his gaze upward, as if retrieving something from memory.

"Living Armor. Boss is the twin type. Am I right?"

"As expected of you, Director."

"I came up through HR. Of course I'd know that much."

He dismissed it as nothing special. The head of HR swallowed hard.

He's been an executive for years, and he still knows the field details like someone who runs the gates himself. That's the strange part.

Seoul alone had hundreds of fixed gates. Being able to rattle off the patterns of a single D-class gate wasn't ordinary. A fresh HR hire might need to look it up—but the HR director himself would have struggled to pull it up that fast without checking.

Baek ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Seonghyeon read through the hastily compiled report several times before slowly parting his lips.

"This can't be a coincidence."

"Sir?"

"An S-rank at Seungcheon Tower. And now an SSS-class clear."

The two hunters were very likely the same person.

No—better to move on the assumption that they were.

"Director, that gate requires a party of five."

Baek Seonghyeon frowned.

"I trust you're not about to suggest all five are candidates."

"I-I'm sorry."

"Have you found any witnesses?"

"We're making inquiries."

"So you haven't found any."

"It's a high-traffic area, so…"

The HR director floundered. Baek Seonghyeon let out a short sigh.

"HR needs to tighten up a little."

One sharp remark, and the director's mouth snapped shut.

How many years had it been since an S-rank came out of Seungcheon Tower? The hunter had just promoted from E-class to D-class—so of course they'd enter a D-class gate next. Monitoring every D-class gate across the country should have been standard procedure!

"Back in my day, nosebleeds from monitoring were just part of the job."

Baek Seonghyeon clicked his tongue. The HR director was sweating bullets.

That brand of "back in my day" talk was common enough among office workers. But the man in front of him was different.

A non-awakened. A regular employee with nothing special on his résumé—who had climbed bare-handed all the way to director at a giant like Chilseong.

An eye for spotting hunters with real potential. The kind of tenacity that would use any means necessary to win a target's favor. Even when he failed to recruit someone into the guild, he kept in touch, earned their goodwill, and made sure they became a direct or indirect asset to guild operations.

That's how a regular employee becomes a director.

A legend among ordinary staff. With a man like that, even the HR director had no choice but to tread carefully when the latte-talk started.

"Director Kim."

"Yes."

"Let's be a little more thorough."

"Understood."

"D-class gates. Prioritize the capital region for monitoring."

He wanted to tell them to scour every gate in the country. Baek Seonghyeon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bit back the urge.

He knew all too well that today's employees didn't work themselves raw-eyed the way he once had. His fingers itched. He found himself craving the cigarettes he'd quit three years ago.

"Director Kim."

"Yessir."

"Find the hunter who pulled the SSS-class clear, and the whole HR department gets an incentive."

"…!"

"So I'm counting on you."

"Understood."

If you crack the whip, you hand out a carrot as well.

That should put them on edge.

Baek Seonghyeon tipped his head back against the chair. The soft cushion should have eased his mind, yet his thoughts kept spinning taut.

It's been five years since an S-rank promotion in this country.

Every hunter who hit S-rank had gone on to stand out in their field. The one before Minho had been no exception.

A low grade? That was no flaw. It meant limitless room to grow.

If there was a lottery ticket that paid out every time you scratched it, not buying one would be the stupid move.

So—

We have to find them before the other guilds.

For Chilseong's future. A hunter who absolutely had to be recruited. And even if talks fell through, they needed continuous care so the hunter wouldn't walk away with a grudge against Chilseong.

Since becoming an executive, he had preferred to set the overall direction and stay out of the weeds. This case was the exception.

I can't leave this entirely to Director Kim.

When was the last time he had pounded the pavement to recruit a single hunter? This one was worth it.

By now, the other domestic Big Five would already be scrambling to snatch up the nameless S-rank promotee. From here on, it was a race against time—who moved faster, who prepared the stronger hand sooner. That would decide whether the first S-rank promotee in five years ended up on their side.

The only notable trait so far is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that they seem uncomfortable with attention.

An S-rank promotion. An SSS-class clear of a D-class gate. Achieving either one alone was dinner-table bragging rights for a lifetime. Just announcing the record would have major guilds rolling out the red carpet.

And yet they were still quiet—which meant they either disliked fame or were being careful.

Fine. Talent shows itself eventually, no matter where.

An awl in a bag—a gifted hunter left traces even when they tried to hide. The hunter who promoted to S-rank five years ago had been the same. Baek Seonghyeon had been the one who pulled that hunter into Chilseong's fold, and it had been the decisive achievement for his own executive promotion.

First, find out who this new S-rank promotee is.

A spark of fire flickered in Baek Seonghyeon's eyes.

After leaving the gate, I headed straight for the Hunter Market.

"Ninety-five D-class mana stones."

"Commission is ten percent."

"Fine."

Mana stones, like gold, shifted in price on a schedule. The D-class average sat around five hundred thousand won. Factoring in the commission, I'd gotten a slightly better rate than usual.

"Keheheheheht!"

"I would ask that you refrain from that vulgar laughter," Isra said.

"You're going to nag me over how someone else laughs?"

"As my lord—mine, Isra's—one ought to possess dignity by rights."

What dignity nonsense was this? I let her complaints slide in one ear and out the other.

"Shall we return now?"

"I'm going shopping first."

Corpse Crafting had risen to D-grade. The undead I could create had diversified, and higher-tier byproducts could now be used as materials.

"What if one simply used parts from a strong monster, unbound by grade?"

"The performance doesn't come out right."

It wasn't as if I hadn't considered the point Isra raised. Months of savings had once gone into ogre muscle for an undead experiment, after all.

Watching an ogre thigh muscle I'd paid over a hundred million for come out performing like orc material had been enough to make me give up.

"I've promoted, so higher grades should be fine now."

"Will you strengthen this body as well?"

"That's on hold."

"Huuuh."

"Don't get the wrong idea."

Undead crafting wasn't just about slamming in the strongest parts. It was delicate work in its own way.

"Remodeling you comes after my skill has risen a little more."

"Hahaha! Then I shall look forward to it."

One moment she was lobbing sharp questions, the next she was laughing. Really—this knight was far too simple.

"Then what do you intend to make?"

"A Zombie Warrior."

With the Corpse Crafting grade increase, I'd obtained blueprints for several undead types.

—Zombie Warrior.

—Skeleton Fighter.

—Skeleton Mage.

—Undead Cavalier.

Four in total. The first attempt would be the Zombie Warrior.

"Is there a particular reason?"

"I'm used to it."

With Spirit Eye active, I bought this and that at the Hunter Market.

Alright.

Time to get to work.