The Final Piece
『 Personally, when it comes to uniqueness and entertainment value, no country can match the United States. The league structure split between East and West with no promotion or relegation is truly distinctive……
……
The highest value driving this American league is money. That makes it incredibly realistic—and incredibly dirty. We, born in a Confucian country, could never even imagine the extent of it……
……
Tampering is standard. Bribery with drugs, backroom deals, and honey traps are commonplace. Guilds even exploit hunters' weaknesses without hesitation. Forget manners or morality. In the land of the free, the absence of lines is simply part of being American. 』
— From Professor Lee's Essential GM Guide for Beginners, 'Nationality (USA)' section
* * *
Did you know?
Despite the buzz created by the active representative appearing as a firefighter, most Americans hadn't expected Lee Shin to achieve anything particularly dramatic.
This wasn't because they looked down on him. It was purely based on realistic statistics.
'America is different.'
The United States is the founding nation of the Guild War League and the country with the largest scale on Earth.
Though threatened by the terrifying gold rushes of China and the Middle East, its ranking has never once changed, no matter how much it wavers.
With such an enormous scale, the economy that runs within it defies imagination, and the magnitude of operations operates on an entirely different dimension.
But that wasn't always a good thing.
'The scale of various incidents is different too.'
Media manipulation hits harder than a hurricane, and hunter-related accidents and scandals are wildly unpredictable.
Corruption scandals like the one Lee Shin exposed years ago unfold in every major city.
That's the kind of scale you get in the land of opportunity.
That's why people couldn't afford to be optimistic.
'Getting nitpicked over a single glance, having your soul stripped bare, hunters staging mass protests, trying to fix corruption only to lose a game of chicken and get forced out—nine out of ten end up ruined.'
In reality, despite the land of opportunity attracting representatives from many nationalities into American guild management positions, the number who actually succeeded could be counted on one hand.
So naturally, people didn't expect much from Lee Shin.
Success in a tiny country across the ocean wouldn't translate here, they thought.
However, the ones who were mistaken were this country and its people.
Selena had seen it clearly from up close.
The competence of the Korean-born genius representative. And the true power of Korean-style madness.
'……He reorganized the front office in a single day. Cleared out the raid teams like lightning. And handled every single process without a single complaint.'
If someone's work looks easy, it's because they're exceptionally good at what they do.
Was there a better way to describe Lee Shin?
The Lee Shin Selena witnessed handled tasks that seemed complicated with effortless ease.
'Three minutes. Never more than three minutes.'
Every question, including work matters, was resolved in under three minutes.
And those three minutes weren't spent deliberating. They were spent delivering conclusions and knocking the other side down.
Business issues were handled at lightning speed.
Equipment and supply problems were resolved immediately.
Even the potion division—which the previous CEO had completely mismanaged—was boldly terminated despite warnings that the league was ongoing, and replaced with supplies from Korea's 'Choi's Pharmacy Association.'
That alone was impressive enough.
'But the real highlight was the raid team and recruitment.'
He made the analysis team look like fools in strategy meetings, and even the hunters were left speechless by a Lee Shin who seemed to understand them better than they understood themselves.
When it came to handling hunters, calling Lee Shin a genius felt inadequate.
A visionary? A prophet? The path he walked became the path itself.
Some couldn't adapt to the radical changes and cried out for more time, but Lee Shin showed no mercy.
Selena would never forget what he said at that moment.
His first words had been something like, 'Looking good, you guys!'
— "When the guild was on the verge of collapse, you kept your mouths shut. But now that you're the ones struggling, suddenly you speak up? Impressive! Seriously, that thick skin of yours is something else!"
— "Listen, I love this guild. I love it so much that it gives me this kind of happiness—I can't stand it. Hm? What I'm trying to say? If you're not sincere like me, then at least put in the effort. Just follow orders without complaining."
It was a perspective Selena had never encountered before.
It wasn't about knowledge or persuasion. It was about how genuine one's commitment to the guild truly was.
From then on, Lee Shin moved without hesitation.
'He compiled a scouting report covering high school, college leagues, and hunters working part-time jobs—all in a single day.'
'He traded away the existing starting members and created openings—in just two days.'
'He visited each one personally, persuaded them, and recruited them.'
And so, building the new starting roster took only six days total.
It was an astonishing pace.
Only now did Selena understand why Lee Shin was so capable.
'This man loves the guild—more than anything.'
Lee Shin poured every ounce of his talent into making the guild he cherished shine brighter.
That chosen genius.
And so—
·
·
They had reached this point.
"This is your final prime, Catherine Hamilton. Wouldn't that be enough to pull off some behind-the-scenes maneuvering?"
Rank 8, the Destroyer—Catherine Hamilton.
Selena was looking at the final piece Lee Shin had envisioned for Mets Guild.
"We'll need alcohol. Something strong."
"Aah……!"
Lee Shin grinned.
"I knew you'd say that."
Get ready, sis.
* * *
A short while later, Lee Shin's lips curled mischievously.
"F**……"
"God damn……"
Both Selena and the usually serious Catherine couldn't close their mouths at the sight before them.
Because a mountain had been built on the table.
A mountain of glass cups.
"First time with K-drinking, right?"
Let's start with a bang.
Lee Shin spun the beer in his hand stylishly, then pierced the cap with chopsticks and sprayed it out.
Chiiik! Beer poured into the glass while Choi Ji-min rhythmically filled the soju glasses.
Once everything was set, Lee Shin smiled brightly.
"This is from Lee Shin, dedicated to the troubled Destroyer."
He slammed his head onto the table.
Thud!
Clatter-clatter-clatter――!!
At the same time, the stacked soju glasses dominoed down, completing the soju-beer bomb that bubbled furiously. The two Americans were speechless at the spectacular performance.
Hmph. Behold. This is the drinking culture of Korea—the nation of company dinners, drinking, singing, and dancing!
"Alright, let's drink. When you're feeling down, nothing beats this. Selina, this is your first time drinking with me too, right? Go on, drink up. Don't hold back. That's it, that's it."
The two, swept up in Lee Shin's pace, raised their glasses with skeptical eyes.
"……What?!"
"I-It went down fine?"
The smooth, sweet, and refreshing swallow was exceptional. It felt less like alcohol and more like drinking cream soda from childhood.
"Not bad, right?"
"Y-Yeah, it is."
"Boss, this is actually really good!"
"This is the K-bomb shot! This is what K-drinking is all about. Come on, let's drink. We can talk business while we drink. The alcohol's going in, the alcohol's going in, how long are we gonna keep dancing with our shoulders……"
Thanks to Lee Shin's one-man show, the heavy atmosphere lightened considerably.
Catherine, who had lost her composure after being betrayed by someone she trusted, began to regain some clarity after the incredible performance and a few glasses of the soju-beer bomb.
"Thank you. The alcohol's helping my head clear up."
"No need to thank me. I'm just buttering you up so you'll look after us."
"And that 'looking after us' means a contract, doesn't it? Wouldn't it be better to sign while I'm still emotional?"
"Like your guild and manager did?"
"Uh…… You really go straight for the throat."
"Hah, that'd be too cheap. Even so, I'm the representative of Korea's number one guild. I can't bring shame to it."
"Hah, the more I see, the more interesting you are, Representative Lee Shin."
"Heh, I hear that a lot."
"Then let's hear your proposal."
The price for resolving her son's issue had been this very 'meeting.' Lee Shin had never intended to use it as leverage for recruitment from the start.
She was a ranker. A professional among professionals.
Approaching her with half-baked methods would be poison. In that sense, her guild and manager had played the worst possible hand—and thanks to that, Lee Shin had gained his opportunity. He was personally grateful for it.
Lee Shin emptied his glass and straightened his clothes.
"First, let me be clear. We currently have nothing."
!!
Revealing your hand first in a recruitment negotiation?
Catherine and even Selena were surprised.
"Incompetent managers and the wrong people were in charge, and the raid teams were steeped in laziness. There are many reasons. Personally, I think the drug-like glamour of New York played a part."
What Lee Shin had spent the past few nights doing with barely any sleep was correcting the decades of mistakes and corruption in this guild.
"This is me bragging, but without me, it would've been impossible. Decades sounds like a long time, but it was a real cesspool. Anyway, I finished cleaning it up and even polished it shiny, but now there's a problem."
"Oh? Nothing left?"
After all that cleaning, there wasn't even a pot to boil ramen in or a gas stove. An absurd situation.
"I don't know if I should be proud of my cleaning skills or if this cesspool of a guild is beyond saving. Either way, Mets Guild currently has nothing. No leadership, no core, no rules, no systems, no culture…… Nothing at all."
A completely blank slate.
Most hunters would avoid a guild like this. It was a guaranteed failure.
"But for a ranker of your caliber, Catherine, the story changes."
At Lee Shin's signal, Choi Ji-min placed documents in front of Catherine.
What was this? Catherine checked the documents out of curiosity, and her eyes widened. It was a background investigation on her.
"I gathered this information after hearing rumors that you were preparing to leave."
"……That's awfully shameless for something you call 'investigation.'"
"Thanks to it, your son's issue got resolved, didn't it?"
Strictly speaking, Lee Shin had compiled the evidence because he already knew Catherine's story, but those unaware of that had no choice but to believe him.
"Anyway, it seemed like you wanted to join a guild where you could escape your rut and reignite your passion. I immediately began preparations."
"Wait a second…… You prepared for me?"
"Would you hear me out to the end?"
Mets Guild currently had no luxury for multiple options. That's why they needed the simplest possible answer.
Youth for the front office. Competition for the raid teams. That was why Lee Shin had insisted on nothing but 'passion' for this guild.
"Strategy is no different. We have to keep it as simple as possible. That's why I chose our Mir Guild's 'Volcano Operation.' The one that's been called K-roaming strategy a lot in the US lately."
They would build the squad around this single operation.
Not fitting the operation to the squad.
It was the same crazy logic as fitting people to clothes.
Concentration was just a nice way of saying all-in, a single pattern.
Even so, there had been no choice. The situation Mets Guild was in was that much of a dead end.
But Lee Shin thought differently.
"I thought about it in reverse. A single pattern? All the better."
Equipment, members, training, league schedule—everything about the raid team would be aligned to this.
"And if we refine the pattern to the point where even knowing it won't stop it, then in the end, it becomes……"
"……The guild's new identity."
"Heh, exactly."
That's the beauty of a blank slate. No matter what color you paint, it stays pure.
"And I've already placed you, Catherine—Destroyer—at the center of this unstoppable roaming strategy."
The extreme damage jungler, Destroyer.
She was criticized for weak ganking due to lack of CC, but when it came to dealing damage, she could chew up most laners.
"If we attach a supporter loaded with CC to support you……"
"……I can see the picture. You're saying you'll end the game early by attaching a supporter to my attack power."
"Correct! It's called the All-In Strategy!"
Instead of accumulating advantages and aiming for the late game, they would destroy the match within 25 minutes.
Break through and win. Fail to break through and lose.
A charming team where both victory and defeat rested in their own hands.
"I've already finished setting this up for you. Top, mid, bottom—I've filled them with the best members available, if not the absolute best. The supporter to assist you has low defense but high CC and activity. There's only one thing left."
All that's left is for you to say go. Right?
Once Lee Shin finished, Catherine voiced the question she'd been holding back.
"I have to ask. What exactly made you prepare everything centered around me? Did you mistake Mets for Mir Guild by any chance? That's the 20th place guild. Dead last! Realistically, what hunter would want to join a last-place guild?"
"Right, it's insane."
What did it matter if everything was built around her if she didn't come?
Especially since the opponent was last-place Mets Guild—the guild Lee Shin himself had just called a penniless blank slate.
Even so, Lee Shin was certain Catherine would find this proposal intriguing.
"On the contrary, it's perfect."
"……!!"
Since there's nothing, she could freely express her opinions.
Any color would work, and everyone had already been prepared with her at the center, ready to move for her sake.
An opportunity to fill an entire guild with her own color, centered around herself!
"Is there a better place for Destroyer's final challenge, where challenge and achievement matter above all else? I don't think so."
Catherine started to speak, then stopped upon seeing Lee Shin's confident eyes, and said something else instead.
"You seem to know a lot about me."
"Want me to share a secret?"
"What is it?"
Lee Shin raised an eyebrow and whispered conspiratorially.
"There isn't a single hunter in this world I don't know."
At this point, he drove the wedge in. Time to reveal the remaining cards.
"In that sense, may I make one more proposal?"
"What is it?"
Lee Shin glanced at the trait 「Motherly Love」 for a moment before speaking slowly.
"Do you like sweet ice cream? The flavor is called 'revenge.'"
"!!"
People say revenge is meaningless, but nothing is sweeter than revenge. And as proof—
"If you're interested, I'll buy."
"I'm liking you more and more."
Catherine was smiling.
Unlike before—brightly, and genuinely.