The Fallen Legend's Gift
The guild that shone as Korea's fifth: Advance. It had once stood in the glory of second place, a prestigious house that had conquered the Tower's highest floors. And now, Advance's Support Team Leader was frowning.
"A parachute hire? What parachute hire?"
"I know, right. Guess our guild's really hit rock bottom."
"Hey — keep it down. Someone might hear you."
Faded as it might be, Advance was still one of the top ten guilds in the country. Every hunter and ambitious young person still dreamed of joining it, and that alone was proof enough.
But a parachute hire, at a guild like Advance? The Support Team Leader found the news thoroughly distasteful.
"So... whose line is he on? Don't tell me he's the Guild Master's secret love child."
"Team Leader, please. The actual son might hear you."
"Relax. That little terror never leaves the training room. So whose parachute is he?"
"Looks like Mr. Do Hyeoncheol put him in."
"Huh? Do Hyeoncheol? You mean the fallen legend?"
The Support Team Leader's eyebrows twitched with genuine confusion.
"A guy who's about to retire is planting a parachute hire?"
"Right? He can barely hang on as it is."
"Barely hang on? He's already gone. His retirement was finalized yesterday."
"Ah... so they finally threw him out."
"Tsk. I told you to watch your mouth."
That only made it stranger. The man no longer had any power left in the guild's political wars. Even if he planted a parachute, it obviously wouldn't last — and the legend himself would be walking on eggshells the entire time. The Support Team Leader pulled up the profile.
"Strange. He's not the type to... wait, huh?"
"He's probably just lashing out because he's getting kicked out. How does a man who was once a legend end up like this?"
The Team Leader's eyes flew wide as he stared at the profile. He didn't even hear his subordinate.
"Hey, you idiot!"
"Whoa — you scared me."
"You looked at this profile and didn't even notice?!"
"Sir?"
"The applicant's name is Do Hyeonseok! Do Hyeonseok!"
"What's wrong with the name... wait. Do Hyeonseok... Do Hyeoncheol?"
His subordinate flinched, finally catching on. How had he missed that?
"That's his son! And if he's dropping in out of nowhere as a parachute hire, what else could it mean?!"
"You don't mean... a successor? Inherited ability?"
"What else could it be?!"
If that were true, it would be huge. Injury had brought him low, but the man had undeniably been a figure they called a legend. And if that power were to be reborn in a successor's hands...
"Hot damn! The old man is leaving the guild one hell of a parting gift!"
"Wow, founding heroes really are built different. With talent like that, he could've sent the kid to a higher-ranked guild."
"There's a reason he was the Guild Master's comrade."
The Support Team Leader broke into a wide, eager grin.
"Should I prep the support gear?"
"Make it top-tier. Have it ready the moment he walks in tomorrow!"
The support team bustled into motion, preparing to welcome a new legend.
What was that message window supposed to mean?
The message that had appeared when I stared at my father. In the end, I still hadn't figured out what it meant.
The gap with the target is too great. Information cannot be accessed yet.
A notification about my ability, most likely. Something I'd have to figure out as I went. And that thought alone set my heart pounding.
I'd admired hunters since I was a kid. They were the uppermost crust of society — heroes who protected humanity and the nation. Especially since I'd grown up watching my father be praised as one of them.
But the blessing of Awakening had never come for me. I'd become just another ordinary guy, playing hunter games in the corner of his room. As recently as last night, I'd been forced to face that reality.
And now... here I am, wondering what my ability even is.
It felt like I'd been given a present.
A childhood memory surfaced. The gift box my father had brought home. What kind of toy was waiting inside? That little heart that used to hammer with a child's wonder was now pumping wildly with passion and romance.
For now, focus on the guild. I can't let him down.
Day one. I met my boss right away.
"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Song Byeongsam, Support Team Leader."
The Team Leader himself had come out to greet me. Meeting someone that high up from the very start, my body snapped to attention on its own.
"Yes, sir. Do Hyeonseok. I look forward to working with you."
"Oh, no, no — you don't need to bow like that."
A smile so bright it was almost startling. He looked like a genuinely good person. The Team Leader coming out to greet a new hire, the atmosphere that didn't feel all that stiff... I guess the top-tier guilds really were different. What a relief.
"Wow, even as a hunter, you've got that first-day humility dialed all the way up. The team is going to be so moved. Haha."
"Pardon?"
Did he just say hunter? Wait — how did he know? I'd been trying to hide it like Dad said. I hadn't even registered yet.
"No need to be so tense. We're the ones supporting you, after all. Anyone watching would think you'd walked in as a regular new employee. Haha."
I should deny it, right? Dad told me not to go around talking about it. Plus, delaying registration was illegal. If this got out, even Dad would be in serious trouble.
"I-I am a new employee, actually."
"Excuse me?"
"I was told I'd be working on the support team..."
But he just looked bewildered. The Team Leader had clearly been certain I was a hunter.
How did he know? Do rookie hunters just... give off a vibe?
Was I Awakened written across my face or something? The Team Leader frowned.
"That's odd. That can't be right."
It didn't seem like the kind of atmosphere where I could keep lying, so I hastily changed tack.
"W-well, did you perhaps hear about it from my father?"
"...Could you explain in more detail?"
"I don't know if you're aware, but I'm currently in a position where I have to hide the fact that I'm a hunter..."
"Ahhh...!"
At that, the Team Leader's eyes lit up. Then, as if he'd just figured something out, he nodded with an exaggerated gesture.
"That explains it. That's why the profile was filled out as a regular employee... It wasn't an error — it was intentional. Understood perfectly."
"Y-yes, sir."
"I won't ask for the details. We'll conduct ourselves accordingly."
"Thank you."
"Donghyeon! Come here a second!"
The Team Leader called over an employee standing behind him. The two of them stepped aside and whispered. I couldn't hear what they were saying. Thank goodness — we'd gotten on the same page in one go.
"...is what he's saying. Looks like we had it wrong."
"He's not a hunter?"
"That's what we're going with. He's an ordinary new employee. Got it?"
"So he really is just a parachute hire?"
"Hey! Don't go digging any further! Just treat him that way! Your mouth is always the problem with you!"
"Y-yes, sir..."
"You make sure to assist him well — no, to teach him well."
"Me?"
The Team Leader came back over with a suspiciously springy step and pumped my hand in a hearty handshake.
"It wouldn't look quite right for me to linger here. Well then, I just so happen to have remembered some urgent business, so I'll head up first."
"Yes, sir! I'll work hard!"
The Team Leader left. The man who was about to become my senior approached with a look like he'd just bitten into something foul. He seemed like a completely different person from the kind, easygoing Team Leader.
"Well... shall we? Let's get you introduced to the team and go over the work."
"Y-yes, sir."
Even during the introductions, my senior kept heaving deep sighs. So this was what they meant by the accumulated fatigue of modern life.
Is the support team that rough of a place?
Not that I had any intention of complaining. This position was more than I deserved — I just needed to work hard at whatever they gave me. The job briefing started immediately.
"The support team's primary duty is assisting the hunters who climb the Tower."
Support Team 3, the one I'd been assigned to, apparently handled a single hunter.
"Since we only have one hunter to cover, the work isn't that hectic — but it can be stressful."
"Stressful?"
"The hunter's personality is... a bit much. If I'm being generous, he's like a young master. And he actually is the Guild Master's son."
"Hah."
In other words, someone very important. Do not screw this up.
Soon enough, I came face-to-face with that hunter. More precisely, I watched him from the other side of a glass window.
"This is the Special Training Room. An AI analyzes the data automatically. You'll be spending most of your work hours here."
"Is that reinforced glass?"
"Yes. It will never break."
I watched the hunter train for a while. The session was surprisingly still — so still that the slicked-back hair, plastered neatly in place with a generous amount of wax, didn't so much as stir. He stood with his hand extended toward an iron plate in front of him, his entire body trembling with the intensity of his focus, as if every last nerve had been funneled into his fingertips...
"A-a flick? That's an unusual stance."
"He's training a skill."
The briefing began. Name: Jo Youchan. A hunter of the 20th floor. He looked younger than me, but even at a glance, he had the face of someone with a serious temper.
"Wait, that's Hunter Jo Youchan?"
"Yes. Sounds like you've heard of him."
"He was famous, once."
A prodigy they'd once called a rising star. His potential had been rated among the very best in Korea. Right after Awakening, with Advance Guild's full backing, he'd torn through the Tower at a blistering pace and become a sensation.
"And then he suddenly stopped climbing?"
"More accurately, he got stuck."
"I see..."
The impatience on his face was unmistakable. It had been about two years since news of him had gone quiet. So he'd been stuck this whole time. Then Jo Youchan, still locked in concentration, flicked his finger.
BANG!
"Hah?!"
I jumped at the enormous boom. I'd thought someone had fired a gun right next to my ear. With a single flick, a baseball-sized crater had been punched into the thick iron plate.
Even with that kind of power, Jo Youchan chewed on his lip like something wasn't good enough. He was going to draw blood at that rate. More importantly... I could've sworn the glass window just shook.
"Th-that glass really won't break, right?"
"It will never break."
My senior, clearly used to this, just kept going with the briefing.
"He absolutely hates being talked back to or having people meddle. He was raised being spoiled rotten, and he's a perfectionist bordering on obsessive-compulsive. If the hunter tells you to do something, do only that. Don't stick your nose in."
"Yes, sir."
"Especially lately. He's been extra sensitive."
"Yes, sir!"
Just as we were about to move on to the next task, I asked something I'd been wondering about.
"But how did someone who was doing so well end up stuck on the 20th floor?"
"His skill evolved, but they still haven't figured out the mechanism. They say he lacks the necessary insight."
That could happen, I supposed. Unlike in Hunter Management, reality didn't come with a status window. Even if you gained an ability, nobody kindly explained it to you.
Hell, I don't even know what my own ability is, so I can't use it.
Skills in reality, unlike in games, were a kind of technique. You had to study them, practice them — only then did they grow stronger.
"He still hasn't grasped that sliver of insight, so he's been stuck in place for two years."
"What was the skill before it evolved?"
"Thunder Finger. It's a unique skill, so apparently there's no one who can teach him."
Ah. That one. It was a skill in Hunter Management too. So that skill had been modeled after this guy.
The next tech for that one is supposed to be Heavenly Exploding Strike.
That was the tier-one path among Thunder Finger's various evolution trees. If you went that route, it stayed useful all the way into the extreme late game.
Of course, I didn't say any of that out loud. I wasn't some lunatic who couldn't tell a game from reality. I was quietly watching the training when a familiar message window appeared before my eyes.
Initiating.
Accessing information on Hunter 'Jo Youchan.'