A Feast of Misunderstandings

Jo Youchan had cleared the twenty-first floor with an SS-Rank.

It was the first time such a thing had happened in Korea in roughly a decade — eleven years, to be precise.

Youchan's case had been a peculiar one. Difficulty had never been what stopped him. His skill, Thunder Finger, had gone wrong in the middle of evolving, and his combat power had been completely gutted. Without that botched evolution, he would have had more than enough ability to keep climbing well past the twentieth floor.

And then it had evolved into Heavenly Exploding Strike — a high-tier skill certified by Hyeonseok himself. As if that weren't enough, he had awakened an entirely new skill on top of it. Among every hunter currently operating in the twentieth-floor range anywhere in the world, he was unquestionably the strongest. An SS-Rank Clear was a metric that carried exactly that kind of weight.

And the Vice Guild Master knew it better than anyone.

"…What?"

He thought he must have misheard.

"SS-Rank…? Our Youchan?"

"Yes."

The Vice Guild Master's mouth split into a grin so wide it nearly tore his face.

Heaven is on my side!

How could this be happening? The prey that had already walked into his mouth had suddenly turned into a Michelin three-star meal.

If things go like this, the whole plan accelerates. Ahh!

The image shimmered before his eyes — Advance Guild, sitting right there in the palm of his hand.

Knock, knock.

"Vice Guild Master, it's Jo Youchan."

"Come in!"

The Vice Guild Master scrambled to greet him. His secretary rushed in behind with tea and refreshments.

"Ah… sorry to barge in like this. I wanted to move the contract up. I figured my market value is probably at its highest right now."

There was no telling whether another SS-Rank Clear would even be possible on the next floor, after all.

"Of course, of course! A man has to look after his own rights. That's a very mature attitude."

Sure, he could pad the percentage as high as Youchan wanted. What mattered were the rights clauses — the ones that would bind Youchan to the Vice Guild Master's hand. At this point, the Vice Guild Master would have found Youchan adorable no matter what he did.

"Oh, right, Vice Guild Master — about these clauses here."

"I'm sorry, but those aren't negotiable. They're all for your treatment—"

"I'm completely healed!"

"…Excuse me?"

He'd cured the poison? The Vice Guild Master listened to the explanation. A new skill had appeared, and it had burned every last drop of toxin out of his meridians.

"That's…… wonderful. Congratulations."

"Thank you for looking out for me as well, Vice Guild Master."

From that point on, the Vice Guild Master sat there like a man whose soul had left his body, getting dragged through the rest of the contract. The timing, as it happened, could not have been worse.

Of all times to renegotiate — right when his market value is at its absolute peak.

He had bought in at the very top.

"Wow… am I really allowed to sign this? This is actually my contract?"

"…"

"Thank you! I'll work hard!"

Jo Youchan left the Vice Guild Master's office. It had been a negotiation that hit like a storm.

And then a thought crept in.

…Fuck. I'm going to look like an idiot in front of Do Hyeoncheol.

He should have pushed that man's retirement date even sooner.

"……Prepare a celebration dinner for Youchan."

"Yes, sir."

The drinks were going to go down easy tonight.

The beef restaurant was packed with guild people. Hunters and office staff alike. Not everyone could make it, but the support team had been given a special pass to attend in full.

Man… so this is how a top-ten guild does dinner. Fancy.

Our family used to eat meat like this all the time when I was little and we still had money. It had been a while. It really was delicious.

"All right, all right, listen up! Our SS-Rank hunter, Jo Youchan, is going to give the toast!"

"Whoooo!"

Everyone filled their glasses. Every eye in the room swung toward him.

"Ah, I said I don't want to…!"

"Come on, you're the man of the hour! On your feet!"

Jo Youchan stood up, fidgeting. The guy was surprisingly shy, when you got down to it.

"Uh… well, I'm not much of a speaker. I'll keep it short."

He thanked his father. He thanked the Vice Guild Master. He thanked this person and that person.

"And lastly…"

His gaze swung in my direction. Wait. Hold on. I can't handle ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this kind of thing either.

"For the past two years, I never would have made ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it this far without the support team's backing."

Our team leader flicked a glance at the Vice Guild Master. The Vice Guild Master smiled back, all teeth.

Looks like we could expect a performance bonus. A blossom of a smile bloomed across the team leader's face.

Thank god. It wasn't the kind of speech I'd been worried about.

But I was wrong.

"And the real last thing — Hyeonseok-hyung, who was a huge help when I was at my lowest. Thank you so much. Without Hyeonseok-hyung, this really would have been impossible. Hyeonseok-hyung is the number one reason I succeeded."

Aaaagh!

He actually did it. Every gaze in the room locked onto my face. Eyes that said, What the hell did that kid do for him to talk like that?

"I-I just did my job as a member of the support team… yeah…"

"Whooooo!"

One of the seniors jumped in with a cheer to cover for me.

"Then — to Advance, and to my dad's guild — cheers!"

"Cheers!"

The alcohol started to hit. A lot of people came over asking what that had been about. It was a lot of pressure, but I can't say it felt bad.

And more than anything…

I pretended not to, and snuck a glance sideways. Father was looking this way with a warm, proud smile.

"Ahem."

I hastily pointed my eyes somewhere else.

An unfamiliar sense of fulfillment rose in my chest. It was a feeling I'd never known back when I was unemployed.

I should sober up a bit.

I got up from my seat and slipped into a bathroom stall.

"Enter."

I entered the Tower.

Ugh. I'm drunk.

Nothing sobers you up like a game.

In the old days I would have fired up the game. But now I'm a hunter myself. The Tower is my game.

The tenth-floor range is where humanoid mobs show up — elves. A lot of hunters take a real psychological hit from that.

But that's old news.

Kids these days get taught from early on. The monsters in the Tower are just monsters. They aren't human. It had become such a social issue that human rights groups had protested and the whole country had gone completely insane over it for a while.

I used to only read about this place in textbooks. And now I'm actually here.

I approached the elves. And then—

"Hup!"

An arrow came flying straight at my eye. I jerked aside, startled.

Okay, that's more vicious than I expected.

Not a great time to be taking it easy. I charged at full speed and swung my fist.

KRA-KOOM!

Heavenly Exploding Strike at Level 4. Four elves within range were reduced to chunks of meat.

"Yikes!"

An arrow hissed past my side.

Whish!

I leaped instantly. Clearing ten floors will do that — my body was flying. Several meters of distance vanished in a single bound. The elves tried to open the gap. Not a chance.

KRA-KOOOOOM!

Tsk… I really shouldn't be climbing drunk.

Killing them is easy enough, but if I end up with a hole punched through any part of me, Father will chop off my arms and legs and keep me tied up at home.

I wish I had a utility skill for evasion, something like Youchan's Supreme Heavenly Movement.

Your life is what matters most, after all. And if I'm wishing, I might as well wish for something cool.

Ding!

By the time I got back to my seat, the hunters were all snapping their heads up toward empty air in unison.

"Whoa! A Master Clear just dropped!"

"Right now?"

"Man, that guy never stops."

"Plenty of people fold on the eleventh floor. Must be mentally tough too."

"Who even is that?"

The restaurant erupted into noise all at once.

Can't they get rid of that announcement system?

It's too much pressure, seriously. I was about to sit down when the team leader called me over.

"Hey, Hyeonseok, over here!"

His face was flushed red, and he was rambling at full volume. He'd clearly had more than a few.

"Hey, our Hyeonseok! He and I, we just clicked from day one, you know? I had him pegged from the start! Right, Hyeonseok?"

"Haha."

So this is what an office dinner is like.

I want to go home and play games.

Instead I sipped my drink and snuck peeks at the hunters' status windows. It was surprisingly fun. Felt a little like playing a game, even.

Oh, that one could climb higher. That one… huh?

A familiar skill caught my eye. Whoa. He's actually got that?

But why is he only at the thirty-second floor with a skill like that?

And it was exactly the skill I needed right now, too. All right. You're next.

I grabbed the team leader and asked.

"That gentleman? He's a former department head at Hunter Management Headquarters."

"Ah. That explains why he looks a bit older. But what's someone like that doing here?"

"Got squeezed out in a political fight."

"…Is that so?"

It didn't feel like someone else's problem. It made me think of Father.

"Though that wasn't the only reason. His promotion got blocked. To even run for Headquarters Director, you have to be a hunter who's cleared at least the fortieth floor."

"Oh, there's a system like that? That's good. A Headquarters Director ought to understand things from a hunter's point of view."

"But he's been stuck on the thirty-second floor for six months. Stagnation like that, you might as well call it over. And it's not even a Guardian Floor."

"Why'd he get stuck?"

"The usual story, right? No talent. His awakened skill is just that trash."

Is that so? But that's not how it looked to me. A grin spread across my face all on its own.

"Team Leader, could we bring that hunter onto our team?"

"Huh?"

Now what kind of strange request was this kid coming out with?

"What, is that a problem?"

"Well, if you're the one asking, I can make it happen. Guy's got no shot at climbing any further, so our team's performance numbers would take a hit. But you just filled several years' worth of results in one go, didn't you?"

"Hehe. Thank you."

"But why?"

Hyeonseok hesitated, thinking it over.

"Uh… what was it again…? Ah! I heard it from Youchan. He said he's a decent ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠guy."

"Ah, that tracks — you heard it from Hunter Jo Youchan? Yeah, if there's one thing you can count on with that man, it's his reputation. He looked after Hunter Jo Youchan plenty when things were hard for him."

"Sorry? He did?"

"Hm? You said you heard."

"R-right, yeah."

Team Leader Song laid it out for him.

"Hunters with a gap in their careers, like Jo Youchan. He walked them through all the support programs that exist for people like that, and he even used his Headquarters connections to look into Thunder Arts sects for him…"

"Wow, he's actually that good a person?"

"He's a righteous man. He grew disillusioned with the Korean hunter scene and wants to change it."

Team Leader Song felt the same way — the Korean hunter industry was a complete shitshow. Which made his assessment come out even more favorable.

"He was someone the Guild Master was truly fond of. If he'd just broken through the fortieth floor, he would have been the next Director of the Awakening Headquarters — and a huge asset to the Guild Master as well…"

"The Guild Master values him? Then who squeezed him out politically?"

"Who else? The Vice Guild Master sitting right over there."

The Guild Master's absence. The Vice Guild Master had used that opening to cast aside more than a few people.

"He's got to be carrying a serious grudge against the Vice Guild Master."

Team Leader Song had no fondness for the Vice Guild Master. The man had been weeding out hunters Song had grown attached to while supporting them, picking and discarding them to suit his own tastes. He was running the guild the Guild Master had built straight into the ground.

"Anyway, people with that many enemies… ah."

Team Leader Song caught himself. Right. This kid was Do Hyeoncheol's son. The poster child of everyone the Vice Guild Master had thrown away.

He quickly checked Hyeonseok's expression. Had he upset him?

…He doesn't know? Right. His father wouldn't have told his son about something like this.

That was what he thought. Right up until Hyeonseok grinned, looking thoroughly satisfied.

"…!"

"I didn't realize there was that kind of history. Does that make him harder to bring over? I'll help."

The attitude of a kid who didn't care about any of that and was simply going to get what he wanted. The sheer assertiveness of someone who had a concrete reason to bring that man in. Team Leader Song reeled internally.

He knows everything.

But if he knew… then why this man, specifically?

Wait. Don't tell me this is something Do Hyeoncheol is running in secret…

The reason he'd kept his hunter identity hidden all this time — to keep the Vice Guild Master in check?

Ah…! That's why he pushed Jo Youchan, of all people.

Because he was the Guild Master's son. To put weight behind the Guild Master's faction.

And if they raise this man too, and make him the next Association President the way the Guild Master originally intended…

The Guild Master's influence becomes overwhelming. Strong enough that even in his absence, he won't lose ground to the Vice Guild Master.

Only now did every piece of the puzzle click perfectly into place. Do Hyeoncheol had planted his secretly raised son in an entry-level position, all to take back the guild of a friend still suffering on the front lines.

And it wasn't even a far-fetched plan. Results had already come in — in a form nobody else could ever match. The production of an SS-Rank.

…Is the guild coming back to life?

It was as if the alcohol had burned right out of him.

"Think we can bring him over?"

Gulp.

That's right. A guild should be run like a guild.

If you wanted to survive, you had to pick a side somewhere. Then he might as well choose with his own hands.

"Leave it to me. I'll… handle this properly."

"Huh? Did you just sober up? Anyway, I'm counting on you."