The First Recruit (2)

"You want to recruit me. That's it, right?"

"Yes. Having watched your performances closely for some time now, I believe your potential for growth is still virtually limitless. And that potential is exactly what our guild—"

"Ah, hold on."

"?"

"…"

Yoon Sol crossed her arms and sank into thought for a moment.

"…There's something I want to ask."

"Of course. Ask away."

"Are you actually handling the scouting yourself? You're the one who looked into me and decided to recruit me?"

"That's right. Talent acquisition is entirely my responsibility. My secretary assists with the general legwork, of course."

"How many employees does your guild have right now?"

"Me, and my secretary. Two. You'd make three, plus one hunter once you sign on."

"…"

Her expression grew even more complicated at my answer.

"Ha… Let me be honest with you."

Yoon Sol stared at me with an unreadable look and began tapping ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the table with her index finger.

"First off, it took you a while, but I appreciate that you came all the way here to apologize in person. Now that I've met you, you actually seem like a decent guy."

"I see, thank you—"

"But."

The tapping finger stopped.

"That's one thing. The recruitment is another. Honestly, from where I'm standing, your guild… uh, what was it, Leverage?"

"Revenant."

"Right. Anyway. There's zero benefit for me in joining this guild you've built."

"May I ask what grounds you're basing that judgment on?"

"No. Think about it. It's blindingly obvious. I've already got offers from other famous guilds on the table. For someone who only just made B-Rank, the terms are frankly absurd."

"Famous guilds, you say?"

"Ah, is it okay to name names? …Taehyeon, Black Sword, Alein. Those are just the big ones everyone knows—add in the rest and I've got more than ten recruitment offers."

All three were colossal guilds that would sit comfortably in any list of the industry's top five.

On top of that, Taehyeon and Alein were each backed by corporate groups ranked fourth and sixth in the nation.

If the major conglomerates were circling her this greedily, Yoon Sol really was a prize prospect.

"But here's the thing. Out of nowhere, this third-generation chaebol brat who's done nothing but crash and burn his way through the tabloids shows up, says he's started a guild, and asks me to join. Then when I get curious why a promising heir to a chaebol family would go pound the pavement himself and ask about the company, turns out his entire staff is one secretary."

Tap. Yoon Sol knocked on the table again.

"If you were me, would you accept your own offer?"

"I imagine that would be difficult. Judging purely by the conditions you've described."

Haah. She let out a long sigh and drained the rest of her iced americano in one go.

"Well, that settles it. I'm declining your offer. Sorry about that."

Yoon Sol moved to stand up.

The meeting was one step from dead in the water.

But I had anticipated everything up to this point. Why would a hunter on the rise join some brand-new guild with nothing to its name?

All right. Now the real game begins.

"Sorry to have dragged you out here. In return, well—give me a call if you ever need something. If it's within my power, I'll see it done."

"That's it? You're letting me go?"

"Of course. The conversation's over, isn't it?"

"What a shame."

"Don't take it too hard. I'm sure you'll find plenty of other good talent."

"No. Not my position, Ms. Yoon Sol. Yours."

Yoon Sol, halfway turned away from the table, froze mid-step.

"…What did you just say?"

"It seems you're about to make a very unfortunate choice. If you walk out of here, turn down my offer, and sign with another guild… you'll regret it. I guarantee it."

"…"

In an instant, her expression turned glacial.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"Because I know, you see. Ms. Yoon Sol's fatal weakness."

"Hey."

"…!"

Anger sharpened her voice.

And at the same time, the tiniest thread of mana—leaking out because she could no longer contain her fury—began to warp the air around us.

"You little bastard. Did you dig into my background? So you could grab some pathetic dirt on me and blackmail me? Ha… I should've known. The second you showed up all sweet and apologetic, I should've smelled it. It was all an act."

Oops. Quick to blow her fuse—exactly the same ten years from now as she is today.

Maybe I should stop poking the hornet's nest here.

After all, by this point, whether she liked it or not, she had no choice but to focus entirely on my words.

"No—what on earth are you talking about? Background research?"

"?"

"Why would I stoop to something so petty?"

"Then what was all that about a weakness?"

"I'm not talking about something personal to you, Ms. Yoon Sol. I'm talking about your ability."

"…My ability?"

"Yes. To put it precisely—your lightning ability has a fatal side effect."

"…"

She frowned in confusion for a moment, but quickly scoffed, as if to dismiss the whole thing.

"Hey. Your play is painfully transparent. You wanted to hold onto me so badly you'd stoop to lying? Stop clinging and just—"

"Doesn't it go numb? Your hands and feet. As if… electricity is running through them."

"…!"

Yoon Sol's eyes flew wide open in shock. Bullseye.

"…Ha. What, are you training to be an herbalist now? Numb hands and feet, whatever…"

But she still didn't look ready to come clean, so I decided to press harder.

"The symptoms first appeared, I'd guess… about six months ago? In the beginning, it was probably just a strange lingering feeling in your fingertips after using your ability for an extended period."

"!!"

"At first you brushed it off as nothing, but the symptoms kept getting worse. Am I wrong?"

"…"

"The numbness started at your fingertips and crept up your hands—by now it's reached your forearms, and lately it's even begun in your feet. The intensity has grown, too. Early on, it only showed up after long sessions of using your ability; later, even a light discharge of electricity was enough to trigger it. And most recently, I'd imagine, you've reached the point where occasional stabbing pain shoots through your hands and feet even when you're doing nothing at all."

"…"

"Am I wrong?"

"How did you—how do you know all that…"

Yoon Sol's face was painted with disbelief—she'd even forgotten to be angry.

Everything was unfolding exactly as I'd predicted.

"Shall we talk a little longer, you and I?"

"…"

Wrestling with herself, Yoon Sol seemed to weigh her options—then sat back down across from me.

"Who are you? How do you know all of this?"

"Are you confirming it?"

"Confirming, denying—I never told a soul, and you somehow know anyway. Even a background check couldn't have turned this up."

"Have you seen a doctor?"

"When it was mild, I figured it was just some ordinary illness and went to a regular hospital. Obviously it didn't get better. It was only after the symptoms got serious that I realized it had something to do with my ability."

"Did you tell the scouts from the other guilds when they came to recruit you?"

"Why, did you think I'd hide being sick just to sign a contract? I'm not that kind of woman. Of course I told them everything."

"And what did they say?"

"They all promised that if I signed with them, I'd get treatment at their affiliated hunter-specialized hospitals. Taehyeon and Black Sword went so far as to brag they'd treat me like VVIP at hospitals they run themselves."

"Oh?"

"…But none of them seemed to have any idea what the symptoms were, or what was causing them."

"And searching on your own, I take it, turned up nothing useful either."

"Seriously, what are you? Some kind of precog?"

"I'm unawakened. Someone at your level, Ms. Yoon Sol—I'd know at a glance whether they were awakened or not, wouldn't I?"

"…Fair. Even now I can't sense a speck of mana off you. But… if you don't have some special ability, none of this makes sense."

"…"

Instead of answering, I simply met Yoon Sol's eyes with a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠smile.

She fidgeted, restless. The initiative had shifted entirely to my side of the table.

"You said earlier that I'd regret it if I just walked away. Do you actually know what this condition is? Is it serious? Really serious?"

This is the classic fortune-teller's gambit.

Blurt out to a walk-in customer that they must be carrying all sorts of troubles, and the customer startles—how did you know? Then they start believing in the fortune-teller's powers, drop every last shred of guard, come begging for help, and spill their entire heart.

The only difference between me and a street psychic is that they hedge their bets with vague generalities and hope something lands—whereas I know exactly where my target's weakness lies, so I can drive the needle straight into the precise point.

And the reason I can do all this is simple: the Yoon Sol of the past handed me the answer sheet herself.

"Hey! Quit smiling and answer me! Do you… do you know a cure, too?"

On top of that, for a hunter, physical condition is the number-one priority. There is nothing a hunter fears more than suffering serious damage to their body.

A problem with a hunter's body is, in effect, a wall slamming down across that hunter's entire future.

Good. Everything's in place.

"—And I don't see any reason to tell you more than I already have."

"!"

"…"

"…"

"…You scheming little— stringing me along until I'm dying of curiosity…!"

"You're not a hunter under my guild, Ms. Yoon Sol. Naturally, I have no obligation to provide care."

"Ugh, seriously…! You're driving me insane. So let me guess—if I want to know, I have to join your guild?"

Yoon Sol deliberated for a moment.

"…No. No matter how you slice it, that's a step too far. If a proper hunter-specialized hospital examines me thoroughly, there's a good chance they'll find a treatment. There's no reason to shake hands with an unproven guild over one problem…"

"No—you don't need to accept my recruitment offer at all."

"…?"

"The only reason I brought this up is that I wanted to make you a different proposal."

"A different proposal?"

"I have no intention of forcing a contract on you. But if you truly want to know what that condition you're suffering from actually is—and how to cure it…"

I pulled a card case from my pocket and slid a single business card across to her.

"What's this?"

"My business card. The address printed at the bottom is our guild's headquarters building."

"And…?"

"Do you happen to have a free day coming up soon? Come visit us at the guild."

"Mm… the building's in better shape than I expected."

Arriving at the address on the card, Yoon Sol tilted her head back and looked up at the building in front of her.

A clean, well-kept building, fifteen stories or so.

"Revenant… the name on the front entrance matches, so this is the place."

She moved to go in through the main doors, then hesitated right in front of them.

"Ha, damn it… Something about this feels like I'm being reeled in. By that Baek Do-hyun guy, whoever he is."

No matter how she turned it over, it left a bad taste in her mouth. Like a fish swimming straight into his trap.

"…Whatever! I've come this far, no point turning back now. If I get a bad vibe in there, I'll just bolt. Simple as that."

Yoon Sol took one deep breath, shoved the door open, and marched inside.

The first-floor lobby was impressive too. Interior finishing that wouldn't lose to any major corporation's headquarters.

Except the reception desk, which should have had a staffer posted, stood empty.

No—before that, there wasn't a single trace of a human being anywhere in the building.

Thrown off by how strangely hollow the place felt, Yoon Sol was glancing around in mild confusion when she heard the crisp click of footsteps approaching from up ahead.

She turned her eyes in that direction—and saw…

…She's actually gorgeous?

A young secretary in a perfectly pressed office suit, beautiful enough to have stepped straight out of a painting.

"A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Yoon Sol. We've been expecting you. I'm Yoon Seo-hyun, Chief Secretary of Revenant."

"Ah—yes, hello…"

"Right this way, please. We'll move now."

The two of them stepped into an elevator tucked in one corner of the lobby.

Seo-hyun pressed the button for the seventh floor, and the elevator began to rise.

"…This entire building belongs to the guild?"

The silence didn't last long before Yoon Sol asked the question that had been nagging at her ever since she'd set foot in the building.

"Yes. It's the building Guild ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Master Baek Do-hyun purchased to serve as the guild's headquarters. The grounds included—the whole thing."

"Wow. Chaebol brats really are built different… Uh, I actually looked into him a bit more afterward, and apparently he works as an executive director at an insurance company, Baekmyeong Life? Is moonlighting even allowed?"

"Since Revenant has not yet been formally ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠announced, he's retaining his existing position for reasons of confidentiality. Once our operations are up and running, he intends to devote himself entirely to guild business."

"I see…"

With every answer she heard, Yoon Sol's curiosity about Baek Do-hyun only grew.

Why would a man sitting comfortably on an executive director's title at a major corporation suddenly decide to build a hunter guild?

And why, of all the ways to begin, would he go to such lengths to recruit her—not some other famous hunter?

While Yoon Sol puzzled over it, the elevator had already arrived.

"Step out, please. The Guild Master has finished his preparations to treat you and is waiting."