Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: 7. Threads of Fate (4)
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It was an utterly bewildering situation for Jung Min-hyuk.
Kang San.
Why on earth was that name coming up here?
And with a recommendation from Jeong Chan-woo, son of a top Heavenly Firmament executive, no less.
As he hesitated to make a snap judgment, the man who had been the team leader at Castle Management added some unwelcome commentary.
"If I remember right, his skills back then were a total mess. That's why we dropped the recruitment push, wasn't it? How could someone like that reach a level where Heavenly Firmament wants him in less than half a year?"
'Damn it.'
That last remark.
Jung Min-hyuk was cornered.
If he agreed to recruit Kang San now?
As the team leader said, flipping his decision after just half a year would make him look like an incompetent fool. Think about it. E-Rank back then, still E-Rank now. It wasn't enough logic to prove that the guy he'd sharply criticized had suddenly become Heavenly Firmament material in such a short time.
There was only one answer.
Oppose it.
Given the lukewarm atmosphere toward Kang San, killing the recruitment wouldn't cause any issues.
And he was confident himself that the guy wasn't up to par.
"Ahem. As I mentioned back then, it's true that Kang San showed promise in his E-Rank promotion exam. But that's all there is to it. As you can see from his profile, he barely scraped an F-Rank from his acquired awakening the year he turned twenty. He essentially has no talent as a hunter, and it took him years after that to even reach E-Rank. If we were some run-of-the-mill small management agency, sure, we could recruit him just to pad numbers. But he doesn't match Heavenly Firmament's standards at all."
"So his skills were lacking from the start?"
"Yes. And beyond skills, he's got no sense of his place. It's already unusual for an E-Rank hunter to be managed by a 'management agency,' but when Castle Management approached him, Kang San acted extremely arrogant. He turned down our offer like he didn't need help from any agency. Probably rejected Heavenly Firmament for the same reason."
"Huh? Then there's zero reason to recruit him. Why the hell did you even recommend a guy like that?"
The 5th team's leader scowled.
"So you'll reflect my opinion and reject him?"
For a moment.
Jung Min-hyuk's eyebrow twitched.
"Reflecting my opinion" meant less valuing it and more shoving the responsibility onto him.
He was still a high executive's son, after all.
Jung Min-hyuk didn't want to aggressively override Jeong Chan-woo's view.
With no other options, cornered as he was, he had no choice.
"Yes. If someone like Kang San gets recruited under Heavenly Firmament's lead, it'll tarnish our reputation."
He went on the offensive instead.
No matter the reason for the recommendation.
If Kang San's skills were subpar, Jung Min-hyuk was certain no problems would arise from this.
The meeting ended.
Shin Jeong-geun immediately contacted Jeong Chan-woo, who reacted exactly as expected upon hearing the result.
[No way, seriously. I told you, Mr. Kang San is worth recruiting. I should've just put a body cam on him or something. If your manager had seen the battle unfold, you'd have agreed with me in a heartbeat.]
Whatever he blabbered.
The outcome was already set.
Shin Jeong-geun could respond lightly now.
"I agree with you, but what can we do? We can't force it after the team unanimously rejected it. Let's wrap this up, unfortunately."
[You'll regret passing on him. Just look at Jang Deok-bae from Taesan. Who could've predicted he'd become such an amazing tanker while stuck at E-Rank? Back then, the small agency Shield spotted his talent and recruited him, and now they're one of Korea's top ten guilds. Mr. Kang San is exactly like that. I'm certain. And especially since he's a tanker—not some other position—it's worth investing in his future, right?]
"...Yes, yes, I suppose. But there's no way to reverse a decision that's already been made."
In the end.
Kang San's recruitment fell through.
Even Jeong Chan-woo's name couldn't salvage it—Kang San's profile was just too dismal. Sure, there was his feat of escaping the ant nest, but Shin Jeong-geun chalked that up more to the efforts of 'D-Rank hunter Yeon Woo-bin' than Kang San.
Click.
He hung up.
Staring at his phone, Shin Jeong-geun sneered.
"Clueless punk. Born with a silver spoon, doesn't even know what Heavenly Firmament is like, recommending an E-Rank nobody. Tch, kid. If he was that great, would the entire 5th team oppose it so fiercely?"
Unanimous rejection.
Not a shred of hesitation left.
He'd wondered if Jeong Chan-woo's insistence meant some hidden gem they didn't know about, but all the battle-hardened managers opposed it. Especially the 5th team's newbie, who knew Kang San personally and attested to his awful personality and skills—no room for dissent.
The right call.
For a massive organization like Heavenly Firmament to move forward correctly, they couldn't indulge every fool's whim.
"Parachute hires are always the problem."
Thud.
He tossed the files in the trash.
He'd pulled an all-nighter investigating Kang San, but now that recruitment was dead, there was no point carrying that crap around.
And so Shin Jeong-geun drifted away.
At that moment.
Not just him, but the entire 5th team of Heavenly Firmament was convinced they'd never hear Kang San's name again.
At that same time.
Oblivious to his name becoming a hot topic, Kang San checked his gains from this trial.
The sixth trial.
As reward for clawing his way out of the ant nest, Strength, Agility, and even Divine Power had risen by a whopping 5 stats each.
The trials' rewards were undeniably sweet.
Raising even a single stat took immense effort and time, yet one trial had boosted him by 15 total. Still, it wasn't entirely welcome. Recalling the moment he'd fallen into the ant nest and fought for his life, goosebumps prickled his forearms.
'This trial was different from the others. There was no way I could've survived the ant nest on my own.'
The previous trials.
They'd been limited to personal ability.
Kang San had shown enough skill to succeed on his own, but the sixth trial's difficulty was hellish. If Yeon Woo-bin hadn't awakened her powers, it would've been an automatic fail. That was a variable beyond Kang San's control, and with the condition to save everyone, he couldn't have escaped alone—he'd have been torn limb from limb by the ants.
'Trials factor in complex elements. Like how Yeon Woo-bin was in the raid party—if a disaster hits during a trial, uncontrollable variables could arise. To protect this special power, I need to be even more thorough.'
Give up?
Not even a consideration.
The trials' rewards were the sole lifeline illuminating his bleak life, and no risk was too great to grasp what was in his hands. The cost of quitting would be greater misfortune than his past days. Besides, having tasted hope, he knew he could never go back to his old self, even in death.
However.
There was a dilemma.
Whether solo or in a party.
The fundamental question of whether it was right for him—who had to risk his life every time—to form a party.
'The reason this party survived the ant nest was entirely my ability. If I hadn't held the front properly, Yeon Woo-bin wouldn't have had time to unleash her magic. But does that mean I saved them? They survived because of me, but they faced hardships they couldn't handle because of me. Without me, they wouldn't have fallen into the ant nest at all.'
It was a matter of precedence.
Both sides made sense, plunging Kang San into deep thought.
He couldn't operate solo forever.
Even with the mighty Blood Demon Sword Art, he had clear limits as a tanker compared to Yeon Woo-bin's firepower. His skills were optimized for protecting others. Forming a reliable party seemed ideal, but that party would inevitably face the same ordeals as him.
That said.
Would going solo lower the trial difficulty?
No.
From the trial patterns, even alone, variables like Yeon Woo-bin's awakening would arise.
For example, a trial amid a mass attack where he had to team up with on-site survivors.
He chewed his lip.
An unsolved worry.
That's why he couldn't fully accept Yeon Woo-bin's group's gratitude.
No matter how much he pondered, it wasn't something he could resolve right now.
That was when it happened.
He received a text from Kim Myung-min.
The call was brief.
A little over a minute, but Kang San's expression was tangled with complex emotions as he hung up.
"...What do I do with this."
The gist was.
It concerned a Ranger mission.
Kim Myung-min had recently returned to his Ranger team and mentioned that a link isolation incident had occurred thirty minutes ago.
Link isolation—trapped in the Backside World, unable to escape.
People inside had sent a rescue request, and Rangers were typically dispatched for such cases. For Kim Myung-min, it wasn't a tough mission. The link isolation was in a D-Rank hunting ground, and his B-Rank-led 'Ranger team' had the firepower to clear even B-Rank grounds effortlessly. That's why he'd reached out.
[Why not join for the experience? The Ranger role offers benefits even for mercenaries after just one mission. It'll give you a clear idea of what Rangers do and the real rewards involved. Since it's a D-Rank hunting ground link isolation, it shouldn't be an issue.]
He hesitated.
Ranger.
A proposal he couldn't refuse.
He knew it was inevitable, but Azmun's trials showed no reaction to Kim Myung-min's offer.
Meaning he had to choose for himself.
If mercenaries had freedom of choice, sacrifice felt unwelcome, but as Kim Myung-min said, it seemed like a decent opportunity. He had to do a Ranger mission eventually. Learning exactly what Rangers did and the caliber of Kim Myung-min's team would help his future plans.
Besides.
'It might solve the problems I'm wrestling with now.'
Trials.
Disasters.
Familiar terms to Rangers.
Like Kang San embracing Azmun's trials, they threw themselves into danger with a noose around their necks. That's why Ranger perks were substantial. Most died as national heroes rather than retiring, so their context mirrored his own.
He wanted to experience it.
The recurring risks.
How he should live knowing them.
Digging tunnels alone to survive, or teaming up while gaining the strength to protect them.
A choice was essential.
Unlike his past life where he disregarded lives, Kang San valued them and hated seeing anyone die because of him. That was human dignity. Without reflection on life beyond instinct, humans wouldn't have built civilization.
Kang San made his decision.
The text he sent Kim Myung-min.
Soon after, he received coordinates from Kim Myung-min.