Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: An Unjust Start (3)
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[Hey, just let me live this once!]
The booming voice of Kim Jun-hyeong blasting through the speaker made me grimace slightly as I pulled the phone away from my ear. I placed it back lightly and spoke.
"Jun-hyeong, I really want to help, but I'm in terrible shape today. I'll help you later."
Kim Jun-hyeong hesitated for a moment on the other end before asking cautiously in a much quieter voice.
[Are you... really okay?]
There was.
A huge issue: the friends I'd lived with like family for ten years had abandoned me.
"Yeah."
[Ugh...]
Kim Jun-hyeong let out a low groan, as if pondering deeply, then spoke calmly, as though he'd come to understand my situation.
[...Alright. I won't ask what happened. But... this is really urgent for me too. There's no one else I can ask but you.]
'What the hell is going on?'
Kim Jun-hyeong was a bit carefree, but he wasn't the type to ignore someone else's troubles and push his own requests first. He had loyalty.
For him to beg like this meant it was that important.
Even if he was a fictional character who never appeared in the novel, he was still my old friend.
"What's up?"
In the end, unable to betray that loyalty, I asked about his situation.
[Well... the city hall suddenly decided to form a hunter team out of nowhere...]
"A team?"
And I unexpectedly got to hear the story.
The next day.
I left the house for the first time in two days, hoping work would soothe my heavy heart, and headed to city hall in central Seoul.
"Ji-hyeok! Over here!"
Kim Jun-hyeong, whom I met at city hall, waved both hands enthusiastically, genuinely thrilled to see me. Feeling a bit embarrassed by his antics, I approached without much fanfare, pretending not to know him too well.
"Thanks for really coming! You're the only one I can count on...! I'll buy you Hanwoo beef after work!"
"It's not even your money..."
"It's my taxes, so it's my money! Let's go in!"
After exchanging light greetings with the excited Kim Jun-hyeong, I followed him into the city hall building and asked for more details.
"So, why are they suddenly making a team?"
"No idea. It hit me like a bolt from the blue too..."
The story was this.
With elections coming up, the mayor needed some achievements to brag about, so he pushed for a hunter team project. And the higher-ups dumped it on Kim Jun-hyeong.
"They tell me to make it happen somehow, but they give me zero support... This place is unbearable."
"Tough break."
I patted Kim Jun-hyeong on the back appropriately while pondering why the mayor had suddenly set his sights on a hunter team business.
The author of the original story must've been an idol fan, because hunter team operations in the world of Supreme Expert resembled the modern idol industry.
Hunter units managed by guilds.
It felt just like entertainment agencies and idols.
Like modern idols, hunter teams brought in massive money. Successful ones had no revenue ceiling, and breaking into the top 10 rankings—commonly called the Power Ranking—skyrocketed their added value to astronomical levels.
Last year, Queens hit number one on the Power Ranking and pocketed nearly 10 digits just from renewal fees, so you can imagine.
Of course, with great scale came great costs for normal operations.
Teams usually had 3 to 5 members, up to 9 at most. Each member racked up enormous management fees, plus a ton of support staff, and sky-high maintenance costs.
In this information age, there's no way the mayor was clueless about all that...
'He wants to skim a hefty cut.'
Pouring tax money into an uncertain hunter team venture meant using project costs as an excuse to pocket some cash.
"Every Tom, Dick, and Harry is piling on."
"That's why I brought you, so I'm not one of them. Do Ji-hyeok, Lead Producer of Queens...!"
I waved off Kim Jun-hyeong's cheeky remark and, as we stepped into the elevator, got to the most important point.
"So, the team members?"
Obviously, the core of any hunter team was the members.
Like celebrities in entertainment.
Or soccer players in soccer.
No matter how rich the parent company or how big the guild, if the field players sucked, it was all for nothing.
"It's a government project, at least... Minimum B-rank, right?"
"Don't freak out when you see them. They're historic...!"
Kim Jun-hyeong flashed a meaningful smile and boasted quietly.
'What's he so confident about?'
Harboring faint expectations, I looked at him.
Around the time Do Ji-hyeok arrived at city hall and exchanged brief greetings with Kim Jun-hyeong's superiors.
At the same time.
Queens' office.
Unlike the office's stunning view and vibrant interior, a heavy, dim atmosphere hung in the air.
"Now that we're all here... let's get to the point."
Cheonhwa Guild Leader Gu Seok-il swept his gaze over the three Queens members with a strange expression and broached the topic.
"First off... we've decided to quietly bury the thing with Ji-hyeok. Stirring it up won't do anyone good..."
The mood in the leader's office grew even heavier the moment Do Ji-hyeok's name came up.
Hong Yu-ra and Seol Ju-hee's faces twisted in despair.
Im A-rin spoke up worriedly.
"Then... what about Ji-hyeok now...?"
Gu Seok-il answered Im A-rin's question firmly.
"He'll probably find another team."
"!"
A new team.
In other words, Do Ji-hyeok was leaving Queens.
"......"
Hong Yu-ra closed her eyes as if it was inevitable, while Im A-rin hung her head in dejection.
It was the first departure since Queens formed.
In truth, the three had come together, exploded with potential at a young age to reach the top ranks, and even meshed despite clashing personalities—all thanks to Do Ji-hyeok.
One could say Do Ji-hyeok had made Queens—and their success—possible.
But...
Now that it was revealed he'd schemed it all with malicious intent, no one could defend him.
"...This can't be..."
Im A-rin, who'd been holding back tears, finally broke down, hiding her face in grief.
Seol Ju-hee, who'd been silent, shot back with a displeased glare.
"Is that it?"
"!"
Hong Yu-ra and Im A-rin startled and looked up at the sharp remark.
"Shouldn't we sue or something?"
"J-Ju-hee..."
"Seol Ju-hee. You..."
The two tried to stop her, but she glared at them fiercely.
"Get a grip. That bastard deceived us for ten years and even sold our info!"
"Ju-hee, even so..."
"Hong Yu-ra. You haven't forgotten what that scum said, right?"
"That was..."
Hong Yu-ra was at a loss for words.
Do Ji-hyeok's belittling, insulting voice lingered vividly in her heart.
Seol Ju-hee glared at Hong Yu-ra knowingly, grinding her teeth as she laid down the law.
"The fact that I ever valued trash like him makes my skin crawl. I won't... I absolutely won't let this slide."
Hong Yu-ra and Im A-rin grew slightly worried at Seol Ju-hee's vengeful fury.
They had no idea what she might do in her rage.
However...
They couldn't stop her.
They were victims too.
As in most hunter stories, Supreme Expert used a standard ranking system.
From the highest S-rank down to the lowest F-rank.
The same ranks applied to items, monsters, and ability users. The original protagonist, Seol Ju-hee, was an unmeasurable Ex-rank.
Excluding outliers like Queens—with its unprecedented Ex-rank and two historic S-ranks—typical hunter teams mixed B- to S-ranks...
'Is this a joke?'
Handed the candidate list from Kim Jun-hyeong, I stared at the roster far removed from common sense in disbelief.
"This right?"
"Historic, right?"
As Kim Jun-hyeong said, Seoul City Hall's recruits were historic.
Their average rank: D.
The lowest? F.
'Unbelievable.'
E- and F-ranks were basically civilians.
I couldn't believe they planned to form a team with these, so I slammed the binder on the desk.
"You're kidding? Wasting tax money on these kids? Spit my taxes back, you punk!"
"Hear me out...! You think I picked them on purpose?"
"What?"
Turns out, Kim Jun-hyeong had initially aimed for at least B-ranks.
He figured since the job was dumped on him, he'd do it halfway decently.
But...
"The bosses kept pushing for cheap, low-rank hunters... What power do I have? If they say jump, I jump."
Higher-ups had ordered a low-rank team.
'They're really out to line their pockets.'
Recruiting such low-ranks from the start meant zero investment planned.
"I'm not working for a team like this..."
More dismal than expected, my enthusiasm leaked out. I leaned back crookedly in my chair and glared at Kim Jun-hyeong.
"Ji-hyeok, I'm begging... If you don't help, I'll get demoted to the boonies...!"
Over his shoulder, I spotted the civil servants outside the meeting room.
They probably shoved this doomed project on him to dodge blame.
No other reason to dump a massive venture on a low-level guy like Kim Jun-hyeong.
"Ji-hyeok, please help...!"
Softening a bit at his desperate plea about facing reassignment, I clicked my tongue, pulled back the tossed resume.
'D-rank, Lancer. E-rank, Fighter...'
As I skimmed the resumes again...
"...?"
A rare profile caught my eye.
[Name: Bang Han-na Rank: D Specialty: Shield]
'Shield? Not even sword and shield, just shield?'
Specialties usually listed weapons or abilities.
But pure shield user? First time.
'Typo?'
I brushed it off and flipped past, reviewing the rest for interviews.
And then.
"I'm Bang Han-na. My specialty is shield arts!"
'No way this is real.'
I jolted in shock at her arrival—wielding nothing but a tiny shield.