The Storm's Eye
The Giraffe of the Automotive Industry.
The Divine of Home Appliances.
The Sun of Distribution.
And the undisputed best of Ido Group.
Trends may fade, but class is eternal.
Though their exact positions shift with the tides of industry, these four conglomerates remain the pillars of South Korea.
And all four of them were now targeting the Mir Guild.
“……”
A pleasant silence settled over the conference room.
‘It feels like just yesterday we were panicking because the potion deal might get cut off…’
‘Heh… we really did it.’
The team leaders who had been with the guild since League 4, including the PR team, were filled with pride.
‘All four of Korea’s top conglomerates are reaching out to us?’
‘Is this even possible?’
The newer team leaders, like those from the broadcasting team, simply marveled in pure awe.
Lee Shin shrugged his shoulders with a theatrical flair.
“See? This is what we’re worth. Now you understand why I called us a super-tier powerhouse, right?”
A prestigious guild that had stood at the very beginning of the league.
They had achieved a monumental championship in their founding year, only to crash just as dramatically. After what felt like an eternity of suffering, they had been on the brink of disbandment. And yet, they had created a miracle.
They had shattered every record and dominated the Rift.
From the very bottom to the dream stage of League 1, they had suffered only a single set loss.
As one commentator had put it, it was a story so ridiculous that even if made into a movie, people would complain it was unrealistic.
Add in the players’ personal narratives, the fans’ stories, and the representative Lee Shin’s own legend… and it became impossible to hate.
As proof, the viewership for the final round 50 between Mir Guild and Dynasty ranked second overall for the entire season. For reference, first place belonged to the League 1 finals.
Who could look at a guild generating this kind of unbelievable hype and still dismiss them as a mere promotion team?
A storm that would sweep through the stagnant major scene.
That was the current position of the Mir Guild.
And Lee Shin stood at the eye of that storm.
“Alright, alright! Let’s wrap up the emotional moment here. We still have a long way to go. Let’s continue the meeting. So, about this…”
He wasn’t the type to let the atmosphere grow lax.
On the surface, his usual behavior seemed as light and fluttery as a feather, but when it came to guild matters, no one was more professional.
Lee Shin’s expression sharpened as he lifted a single sheet of paper. It was a proposal emblazoned with the Giraffe emblem.
“Why exactly is this here?”
“……”
Once everyone regained their composure, they tilted their heads at the name ‘Giraffe.’ Come to think of it, there was no reason for it to be here.
“We won the Korean league. We even beat India in the Asia League, didn’t we? There’s no reason for them to show interest in us. Let’s hear some thoughts.”
It’s to provoke us. To create a mood of reconciliation. Maybe it makes sense from a business perspective? But why approach a guild that’s doing perfectly fine on its own?
Opinions flowed freely, but they all reached the same conclusion.
Chae Dong-ha spoke up.
“Whatever their reason, we must absolutely not accept.”
“Yeah, the intent does seem a bit off, doesn’t it?”
“Considering our relationship with the Mountain King and Ido Group itself, even pretending to negotiate could cause problems. They might have thrown this out precisely to create that opening.”
“Director?”
“Th-the vice director is correct. The risks far outweigh any potential gains.”
“Good. This one is scrapped. Can I keep it to play with? Next.”
Humming a little tune, Lee Shin neatly folded the A4 sheet with precise creases.
Next came the Power Analysis Team.
They had quite a lot to say.
“…The Hunter Association has surrendered. This year, the Bureau has finally drawn its blade of reform.”
Raid: 20 rounds.
Rift: 40 rounds.
“From now on, Rift matches will be 40 rounds. Two games per opposing guild, one home and one away. The Raid rounds have been reduced to 20, but… the Bureau’s true objective is this.”
The Bureau had always wanted to increase the number of matches to revitalize the league.
In exchange for reducing the existing Raid schedule, they had reopened a long-forgotten hellgate.
Competitive Raid
📍 Added Rounds: 5
🎁 Format: Four guilds enter the same gate and compete in a raid
“Starting this season, League 1 will add five rounds of ‘Competitive Raid.’”
“No way, that rumor was real?”
“It’s actually coming back?”
While the older staff members felt their stomachs drop, the relatively younger ones simply kept tilting their heads in confusion.
“Competitive Raid? I feel like I’ve heard of it before…”
“Senior, what exactly is that…?”
“…You kids wouldn’t know. That’s a crazy format. It’s basically a real coliseum.”
“A coliseum?”
Competitive Raid.
In simple terms, it was a match where four guilds entered the same gate and competed through a raid.
Just looking at it, one could tell there would be countless problems. In fact, the reason Competitive Raid had been discontinued about twenty years ago was precisely because those problems had grown too severe.
“Unless the Bureau has gone insane, they won’t allow direct attacks on other guilds. However… they can still harass each other in various ways.”
Lee Shin smirked as he continued.
“You can lure monsters to screw someone over, interfere with their rest, or have three teams cooperate to isolate one. In the heat of battle, ‘indirect’ attacks become incredibly ambiguous.”
“Yes, exactly.”
For example, if you cast an area-of-effect spell at a monster and another team ‘happens’ to get caught in it, is that a direct or indirect attack?
The point was, simply being on the same battlefield created endless opportunities for interference.
What made it even more serious was that unlike Rift matches, this wasn’t an artificial gate designed as a ‘stadium’ where killing or injuring opponents was permitted.
“The reason Competitive Raid was abolished in the past was for the safety of the hunters. No matter how much they revise the rules, similar issues are bound to arise.”
“Then why bring it back?! It’s dangerous!”
“It’s simple. It forces guilds to hire more hunters.”
“Ah…?”
All eyes turned to Lee Shin, who had provided the answer.
“The Bureau wants to increase the number of matches. The Hunter Association represents the interests of the hunters. The win-win solution for both is to increase matches while expanding squads. In that sense, Competitive Raid is a masterstroke.”
Of course, they would have prepared safety measures. They wouldn’t have simply revived the old, problem-ridden coliseum without changes.
Still, stamina issues and injuries were unavoidable, meaning guilds would have no choice but to expand their squads to keep up with the league schedule.
“Double squads, right?”
“Yes… This is also why the Hunter Association conceded. The hiring restrictions have been lifted. League 1 guilds must now employ a minimum of thirty hunters. Let me repeat: this is not a recommendation. It is mandatory.”
“!!”
A typical guild operated with around twenty hunters. Five starters for Rift, ten for Raid, and three or four reserves.
The Mir Guild had operated the same way, but now they needed thirty.
Ten additional bodies might not sound like much, but the support staff required… The team leaders’ heads began spinning.
“I’m saying this carefully, but we may have joined at the worst possible time.”
“Ha, running two separate teams… We’ll need separate team leaders for each, and… Do we have any candidates? Su-bin is still too young. Park Jeong-seok, Lee Hye-jung…”
There were too many variables to consider. It felt like his head might explode.
They had taken the Bureau’s reform right in the face.
Was the Bureau crazy? Had they lost their minds?
Everyone muttered, unable to comprehend the Bureau’s decision.
However, Lee Shin, who understood the full situation, calmly quieted the room.
“Quiet. Power Analysis Team Leader, anything else? If you’re done, let’s give a round of applause.”
Clap, clap.
“Alright. Now it’s time for today’s main character.”
They thought the other team was burning up, but it turned out their own team was the one on fire.
A team that had given up on going home for the foreseeable future. A team that could easily afford to advance a full month’s worth of overtime pay.
And the person who had perhaps taken the reform’s punch even harder than the Power Analysis Team.
“Recruitment Team Leader. You’re up.”
“…Yes.”
The Recruitment Team Leader walked to the front with a grave expression. The lights dimmed, and a presentation appeared on screen.
“This is the Recruitment Team Leader. Our team has quite a lot to discuss.”
* * *
This Stove League had been a full-blown drama even before it officially began.
And whether by coincidence or fate, the drama had started with the Mir Guild.
With Mir Guild riding a flower palanquin straight into League 1, all that remained was a muddy dogfight among those left behind.
From 2nd to 4th in League 2.
From 18th to 20th in League 1.
A total of six teams fighting for two promotion spots in the promotion/relegation playoffs.
— “This promotion series is going to be incredibly exciting. Frankly, all six guilds are made up entirely of major-league hunters.”
— “I’m cautiously predicting this will be the most intense promotion series in history.”
— “Dynasty has two rankers! Two!”
The key point of this promotion series was League 2, which had been forced into unprecedented investment because of a certain hellish mouth.
Not a single player among the six teams’ Rift starters was from outside League 1. How was that even possible?
This was why Dynasty fans hadn’t lost hope despite their painful defeat.
But there was one fact outsiders didn’t know.
The wound Lee Shin had inflicted on Dynasty’s teamwork was far more fatal than they realized, and it was not something that could be healed in just a few days.
— “Alright, let’s observe their movements and… Warrior? Warrior! What the— AAAAAAHH!! Death! It’s Warrior Death! Emergency!!”
— “What kind of strategy is this, Dynasty? Are you trying to buy time? Or are you just lying down and taking a nap? What exactly are you trying to do?!”
The result:
— “Oh my god… I can’t believe it. Dynasty has lost. 3:2. Dynasty falls at the threshold of promotion once again!”
— “…There’s no excuse for this defeat. If they win after playing like this, that would be the strange outcome. The Dynasty players owe Hwarang an apology. And as for Warrior, I have serious doubts he can remain a ranker next year.”
To cut to the chase, not a single League 2 guild, including Dynasty, managed to promote.
And with that outcome, the critical problems that had been lurking beneath the surface began floating up one after another.
Exactly.
The bubble Lee Shin had created had finally burst, and the guilds’ finances were melting down along with it.
The League 2 guilds that had tried to pay off their debts were now on the verge of literal bankruptcy, and misfortune refused to leave them alone. The detonators exploded one after another.
The first was:
Dynasty, who had fought Mir Guild most fiercely for second place, was effectively disintegrating, accelerating market anxiety.
And then came the decisive blow.
A new wave had arrived.
Strictly speaking, this wasn’t a decision made overnight.
Every year, there had been a tug-of-war between the Bureau and the Association.
Number of matches, rules, scheduling, distribution, hunter welfare, and so on.
So everyone had simply brushed it off as more of the same, only to be hit with the ultimate backstab in the form of ‘Competitive Raid’ and ‘mandatory squad expansion.’
And so…
1. League 2 guilds struggling financially due to the bubble.
2. League 1 guilds in desperate need of hunters due to Competitive Raid and squad expansion.
When these two conditions met?
A transfer war even more intense than last year’s—no, it had to be even worse—had officially begun.
* * *
And then.
Even the Mir Guild could not escape the chaos.