Founding the Guild (2)

"Th… that's all true?"

"I told you it is! What do you even take Tae-hyun hyung for!"

After hearing Shin Min-woo's impassioned explanation, Shin Yeon-hee covered her mouth in shock.

"Min-woo, you really beat Park Sung-chan?"

Shin Min-woo silently nodded, and tears welled up in his large, round eyes.

Of course he felt that way. How bitter it must have been—to watch the man who stole his dream walk around without a care. To end someone's life as easily as swatting a fly and never face a single consequence.

'Forgiving your enemy is the truest revenge'? Please.

That kind of spineless platitude is nothing but an excuse to run away.

"But what if they retaliate against you…?"

"You don't need to worry about that."

I'd gotten ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a thorough lesson this time in just what a piece of garbage Park Sung-chan's personality really was. Trash like that usually goes one of two ways: realizing where they stand and crawling into a hole to hide, or baring their teeth and lunging instead.

Either way, I had no intention of taking it lying down.

"Min-woo is a member of my guild now. Have you ever seen a guild master leave his own people in danger?"

"I… see."

A relieved smile spread across Shin Yeon-hee's face. Her eyes crinkled, and the tears that had been trembling there finally spilled over.

"Thank you. Truly… truly."

Her head dipped even lower than before. Drops of water pattered softly onto her knees.

"And I was rather rude to you earlier, wasn't I…?"

"Not at all. Anyone would react that way out of love for their sibling."

If our positions had been reversed, I would have chewed her out just as fiercely. Given the slightest excuse, I might have stormed that guild myself and torn the place apart.

"But you're saying your sister is joining the guild? What do you mean by that?"

Shin Min-woo couldn't hold back his curiosity and cut in.

"Exactly what it sounds like. Founding member—we've still got an open slot, don't we?"

"You want that slot for Noona?"

There was no reason not to. Being unwell didn't disqualify her from being a hunter. Naturally, she could join a guild like anyone else.

"That's right."

"M-me, receiving a guild scouting offer…!"

Life sparked in Shin Yeon-hee's eyes. Becoming a guild-affiliated hunter had been her lifelong dream. She must have pictured this very moment a thousand times over the years.

And then, just as quickly, darkness fell over her face again.

"It's a kind thought, but I'll have to decline."

"Why?"

"…You know why."

She smiled bitterly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and looked down at her own legs.

"A body like this would only be a burden. I can't even enter a gate."

That was, unfortunately, reality. Inside a gate, where split-second reactions decide everything, legs that won't move are a fatal flaw. And Shin Yeon-hee was an archer—swift repositioning was the non-negotiable core of her craft.

"Hmm. So that's the whole problem, is it?"

"What? I… I suppose, yes…?"

"Then this conversation is over."

My words must have sounded like a refusal, because Shin Yeon-hee pressed her lips shut, sorrow written across her face.

"Stamp it."

"…?"

"You've passed. Welcome to the guild."

I pushed the guild contract forward in front of her.

"Whaat?! What are you saying?!"

"Your legs. I'm going to fix them."

"Fix… them?"

"Yes."

I made the promise flatly, without fanfare.

"I can make you walk again."

The dream she had lost.

"That's impossible… My legs have already been declared beyond recovery. There's no hope."

"…Noona."

Something must have boiled up in him at that, because Shin Min-woo blurted it out like he was coughing it up.

"Noona… you're always looking things up. Recovery items, healing skills, all of it."

"How do you…?"

"How would I not know? It's not like we've only been living together a day or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠two."

Not once, not a single time, had Shin Yeon-hee ever stopped picturing it. The moment she could walk again. herself, standing tall and working proudly as a hunter.

"But realistically it's impossible. I know better than anyone."

"No. It's possible."

If we won this guild war—

"I will make you walk again."

"…Ugh."

Shin Yeon-hee shrank back from my unyielding tone.

"Every doctor, every healer I've ever seen… they all told me I'd never walk again."

"I'm sure they did."

"They said I couldn't work as a hunter either. That no guild on earth would take someone like me."

Her shoulders trembled.

"But you're telling me the opposite. That I can walk again… that I can be a hunter…!"

"I'm only stating facts."

"Then… I'll do it. I'll be a member of Tae-hyun's guild."

Shin Yeon-hee picked up the pen.

Swish— her signature carved onto the page like she was painting it.

"If I can truly walk again, I will devote my loyalty to you, Tae-hyun."

"Then you'd better brace yourself."

Shin Yeon-hee's name sat squarely on the contract. The longer I looked at it, the wider my smile grew.

"I'm a bit of a slavedriver, you know."

And with that, every foundation was in place.

Among the information I'd obtained through Lee Si-hyun had been training materials for public release. In them, I'd seen Shin Yeon-hee as she was before the accident.

[Grab that woman!]

[Hah, hah…! I can't catch up… ugh!]

[Arrows! From the right—gaaah!]

She'd toyed with multiple hunters of the same A-rank and cut them all down with nothing but a single bow. No matter how impossible the angle, every arrow she loosed struck home as if the targets were pulling them in.

[Hit them all this time too…! Thank god.]

Skill worthy of the title Divine Archer.

'So the All-Master's blood runs thick, huh.'

The sister's talent was every bit as extraordinary as the brother's—talent that, before my regression, had withered before it ever bloomed.

'A hunter of this caliber, on these terms? There's no way I'm letting her slip away.'

This time would be different.

"Then let's get you packed."

"Packed?"

"Yes."

Her full activities would wait until her legs recovered, but the moment she'd signed that contract, she was already my guild member.

"Time to enjoy your employee benefits."

First, I settled her outstanding hospital bills in one lump sum, then moved her straight to Cheonseong's intensive hunter care ward. It was the country's finest hospital, complete with every rehabilitation facility imaginable and specialized treatments using mana and all manner of items.

'Not that any of that really matters.'

The single biggest reason I'd brought Shin Yeon-hee here was—

"Whoa!"

—this, exactly this.

A facility built specifically for the rehabilitation of archer-class hunters, designed around an archery range and fitted with all sorts of extra apparatus.

"Think of it as your aptitude test."

I selected a suitable bow and handed it to her.

"Give it a shot."

"Yes…!"

When I activated the apparatus, a swarm of targets rose ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into the air. Near ones, far ones, moving ones, flying ones. Dozens of targets scattered dizzyingly through the air, and—

Krrrk—

without a moment's hesitation, she nocked an arrow to the string.

"Hoo…"

The instant that single breath left her lips—

Tudududung!

Dozens of arrows tore loose in rapid succession.

Crack! Smash!

Every last target was shredded to pieces. The accuracy and power were enough to raise the hair on your arms. If not for her legs, she could have held her own as a first-team member of a major guild without question.

"Ah… it's been so long. This feeling."

Apparently it had been quite a while since she'd last even held a bow.

What is with all these insane monsters.

"Why did you take off your glasses?"

"Oh, these?"

I hadn't even noticed. Somewhere before drawing the bow, she'd removed them and set them on her knee.

"I normally wear them to dull my eyesight. Otherwise the world is just… too sharp. I can see things as fine as the hairs on an insect's back, and honestly, it frightens me."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Would you like to try them?"

I accepted the glasses she offered and put them on. Instantly my vision went hazy, every outline blurring and smearing. It wasn't simply a matter of the wrong prescription.

'The glasses themselves are suppressing my eyesight.'

"It's an item, you see. It's called World of the Blind—it reduces the wearer's vision to less than half."

…If that's the case, warn a guy first.

I hastily handed the glasses back.

'And she functions in daily life while wearing that?'

Just what the hell was her natural eyesight?

"Anyway, feel free to use anything in this facility."

"Um… why are you going this far for me?"

Shin Yeon-hee fidgeted with her lips, unable to let it go.

"I told you. Employee benefits."

"You're covering all my hospital bills and now you're letting me use a place like this? What kind of benefits package is this?"

"Mine has it."

I intended to work her to the bone soon enough—treatment like this was only fair.

"And this isn't free, mind you. Once you've recovered, Yeon-hee, I'm reclaiming every bit of it."

After she recovered—once she stood as a hunter in her own right—I would bill her for everything I'd given. So for now, the priority was simple: get back on her feet.

"Yes! Thank you, Guild Master."

She gave a smile of pure, unfeigned happiness.

She wanted to keep shooting a while longer, so I left her to it and headed out of the center first.

"So?"

"What?"

"Our new guild member. Her skills."

Baek Seo-ha answered curtly from where she leaned against the wall by the entrance.

"…Not bad. With a bow."

"Hrk! Noona, holding a bow again…"

Simply watching from a distance had apparently been enough to overwhelm him—Shin Min-woo was already bawling.

"Thank you so much, hyung!"

He scrubbed at his eyes, then grabbed my hand firmly.

"I, Shin Min-woo, will follow you, hyung, to the very depths of hell!"

"You think I'm going to hell?"

I planned to claw my way up to heaven, thank you very much.

"But is it really possible? Noona's legs."

"I don't make promises I can't keep."

Shin Yeon-hee's legs were, in truth, well within recovery.

"In exchange, though, there's a condition."

"What is it?!"

"Winning the guild war."

"What does winning the guild war have to do with Noona's legs?"

"Everything."

Because the grand prize of this guild war was none other than a national treasure—the Bronze Bell.

When I told them, both of their eyes went wide.

"A national-treasure-class item as a prize?!"

"Is… is that true?"

"Of course. Solid information."

National treasures were vanishingly rare in Korea. Among them, the pieces known as the 'Bronze Series,' or the Cheonbuin—the Three Divine Relics. A bronze sword. A bronze mirror. And a bronze bell. The one staked as this guild war's prize was the Bronze Bell.

Its effect: perfect restoration and repair of the body. With the power of the Bronze Bell, even a man knocking on death's door could be returned to the picture of health.

'There are limits to its use, of course.'

But once—for the sake of a future ranker—it was well worth spending.

"Which is why we win. No matter what."

"…Yes!"

"Understood."

So much rode on this fight now. Baek Seo-ha, to reclaim her Sword Sect. Shin Min-woo, to restore his sister's dream.

'And me…'

For the survival of Korea's hunter industry itself.

"Hyung, think this over. Please."

"……"

"No matter how you slice it, this is too far…"

"I'm with him on this one."

Baek Seo-ha and Shin Min-woo barred my path on either side.

"You dare defy your guild master's will? Do you not understand this is insubordination?"

"This isn't insubordination, it's a legitimate protest."

"That's right. Forcing this through is tyranny."

I genuinely could not fathom their objection. After everything I'd given them, to think I couldn't have even this much my own way.

"Move. We're proceeding as planned."

"Not if you kill us first."

"Give it up, Lee Tae-hyun."

"Tch…!"

What was the problem, exactly? This was my guild, built by me!

"Out of the way. Final warning."

"Even so, hyung!"

Shin Min-woo wailed.

"Naming the guild 'F-Rank Guild'! That's just not okay!"

"I'd rather die than belong to anything better."

What can I say?

Sounds pretty good to me.