The World’s Spotlight
The silver chariot of Hwarang leading a mountain of plants and a legion of spirits, commanded by the Mountain King.
The black star astride a tiger, leading a cavalry of skeletal knights.
The Sword Master and the Genius. Blitz and Specter. Horus and Lee Hye-jung.
And finally, the climactic scene in the center where Kang Mal-sook, wearing the Diablo suit, linked with Park Su-bin’s Gigant, completely reversing the desert battlefield.
Now all that remained was to finish it off with one last flourish of elegant cursive script…
The main banner now hanging prominently at the Bureau headquarters is complete!
The still image alone was spectacular, but when you hovered the mouse over it, each character lit up with a flash. The Bureau’s affection (and budget) practically oozed from every pixel.
It was an extremely unusual occurrence. And an absolutely shocking one.
Not the Korean branch — the Bureau headquarters itself was openly featuring a single match like this?
The Guild War League was a supranational sport and global content.
Precisely because it was the headquarters that oversaw the entire league, they never hung banners lightly. Especially not for a specific guild’s match.
Countless interests and political entanglements from around the world were intertwined. Giving a banner to one particular match could easily be seen as favoritism.
Therefore, this was clearly a departure from the Bureau’s usual stance.
And yet.
Despite all that, the Bureau had ignored every controversy and placed this Korean match on their main banner!
These were the same people who wouldn’t move unless it involved the Champions League!
This meant the Bureau was officially guaranteeing it as a masterpiece match. It meant the game was important enough to risk controversy. And because of that, every league across the world had no choice but to watch it.
That’s right.
Once again, the entire world was in an uproar!
If China was eating red pills and suffering an identity crisis…
While Japan was trembling with rage…
The American weebs had been knocked unconscious.
And so, this match completed its grand world tour while thoroughly feeding Korea’s national pride TV, and finally met the owner who would analyze it most properly.
Le Point du Chasseur.
Meaning ‘The Hunter’s Perspective,’ it was France’s leading analysis channel where former hunters appeared and discussed matches.
“Then let’s move on to the main topic. The Bureau has made a shocking move. They put Korea’s competitive conquest match on their main page. There’s been a lot of talk about it. What do you think?”
“What more needs to be said? Impeccable!”
“I agree. It was shocking in many ways. The level of play was shocking, and the fact that there are still so many idiot morons causing controversy even after seeing that level of play with their own eyes was even more shocking.”
“Thank you, Leon. Clara is as intense as ever today. And Jules… are you looking at your phone during the broadcast?”
“Hold on. I’m searching to see if there’s a word in world history that can properly express this emotion.”
“Hahaha!!”
Unanimous, unequivocal praise.
Unlike other countries where some controversy still lingered, the reason France was showering such extreme praise was simple: this match contained every essence of the ‘defensive battle’ they loved so much.
Weightiness over flashiness. Solid posture over dazzling formations.
The intricate details of walls and shields. And on top of that, perfectly timed strategies that created maximum efficiency.
There was nothing to throw away.
Every French person, fans and hunters alike, took off their hats in respect. That was how outstanding it had been!
“First, I’ll share my impression. What I felt while watching this match is that the level of the Korean league is much higher than I thought.”
“Agreed.”
“No room for doubt.”
“And it’s not just because it’s a super team. That kind of tasteless talk is for those Tommy boys in England. We are France. And France is defense. And defense is…”
“Teamwork.”
“Teamwork. What more needs to be said?”
There was no country as lukewarm toward super teams as France.
Because, as already mentioned, France’s roots began with defense, and defense was not something an individual did alone — it was something a team did together.
In that sense, the teamwork of both the Mir Guild and the Taeyang Guild was flawless.
“Did you see the Guardian’s judgment when they aimed for the second base on the first day?”
“Exactly. And what about Mir Guild using trolling to create a board advantageous to themselves?”
“An excellent commander and strategies that perfectly fit the team’s style. The perfect role distribution and the speed with which they responded when variables popped up — Superbe!”
“I’ll share my impression at this timing. I think the Mir Guild’s foundation is much more solid than people realize.”
What was the general perception of the Mir Guild in Europe?
A young star legion centered around the greatest strategist, Maestro, and the Mountain King.
“The vigor of youth, fast and dynamic operations, a bouncy match style. I never expected solidity or firmness from this guild.”
“That solidity isn’t referring to defense or sustain, right?”
“Of course not. Anyone who knows anything knows the Mir Guild is strategically complete. Look, they have the Mountain King. In my opinion, what’s truly impressive is the squad that can draw out the strategies inside that Mountain King’s head.”
“Hmm, is that so? That was already said last season. That it was the season where the Mountain King held the most weapons in his hunter career.”
“Come on. Don’t you know there’s a difference between ‘a lot’ and ‘perfect’?”
It wasn’t just the rankers like Blitz, Genius, Hwarang, and Colossus.
There was Princess for sustain, Lee Hye-jung for scouting, and now even Kang Mal-sook had appeared as a proper tanker.
Hunters who became the key for each strategy had emerged, forming an eerily perfect puzzle that put the final period on the Mountain King’s tactical strategies.
“Each and every one of them holds a key. This one fits here, that one fits there, and when these two combine, another beautiful picture emerges. Bravo! Isn’t it amazing? Now I’m even curious! If another strategy comes out, who will be holding the new key next?!”
“It really is astonishing.”
“Indeed.”
“Want to hear something even more surprising? Every single one of them was picked by Lee Shin during last season’s Stove League.”
“……!!”
“That’s right?! They completely overhauled the squad that achieved promotion and rebuilt around the starting members.”
“Are you saying he prepared from back then? Representative Lee Shin?”
“With a very, very high probability.”
“Oh… that’s actually a bit scary.”
“Come on, isn’t that too much of a stretch?”
There is no such thing as perfect recruitment. A perfect squad is an illusion.
Ability, personality, compatibility, chemistry, ego, personality differences, team chemistry, and so on.
No matter how thoroughly vetted the recruitment, it remains uncertain until they actually play together. That was the established theory in this industry. Yet he was supposedly picking them up like children’s building blocks and completing a perfect picture?
If that was possible, Lee Shin had surpassed even the category of genius. It was impossible.
So when the two panelists were trying to laugh it off, the quiet Jules finally spoke.
“No. Clara might be right. No, she is right.”
“!!”
“Jules?!”
“I was thinking about my impressions, but thanks to you, Clara, my thoughts have cleared up.”
There was no need to complicate it.
Lee Shin’s past actions. The achievements he had accomplished. And the legends that continued even now.
Just as it was. Without any flowery rhetoric, he said it plainly.
“Lee Shin is even more marvelous than we imagined.”
* * *
Mir Guild headquarters.
Lee Shin was, as always, buried in work.
“So injections are much more effective than potions. Confirmed. Barricades should be reinforced a bit more. The Taeyang Guild wants to purchase Ohtani beds… check the quantity and place the order. Next is Diablo repairs… whoa! The maintenance cost is no joke?”
The moment he flinched at the string of zeros in the maintenance cost column.
Immediate restraint came from behind.
“Representative?”
“You mustn’t move.”
“Ah, sorry.”
It was the stylists.
People he normally wouldn’t see.
He usually didn’t use them because he was confident in his natural charm and thought it seemed too fussy, but.
Today was different, as you could see.
For an important schedule coming up soon, Lee Shin had entrusted himself to professionals for the first time in a while.
While feeling the stylists’ hands, Lee Shin continued handling the waiting tasks. Before long, the business team leader approached with a report.
“Hmm, this is the Mal-sook version of Diablo, and this is the new version of Hye-jung’s sticker seal.”
Lee Shin turned the sticker seals over in his hands, examining them from every angle.
An SD character of Kang Mal-sook wearing the War Machine Diablo. The charming point was apparently the openable head section.
Next to her was Hye-jung with night spirits and a dokkaebi face in the background. The somewhat ninja-like feel was pretty good.
“They turned out well. Good work. Is the stock sufficient? When can we start supplying them?”
“Thanks to your instructions to prepare in advance before the match even started, we can begin supplying them as early as tomorrow.”
“Just releasing them feels a bit plain. We’re launching new menu items, right? That… uh…”
“Kkang Potato Soup and the energy drink Night Walker.”
“Ah! Potato and energy drink. Let’s release the sticker seals together with those. Take some clean photos of Mal-sook and Hye-jung too. You know the vibe, right?”
Next.
The business team leader bowed and withdrew, and the next person stepped forward.
“As you instructed, Representative, we conducted medical checkups for Team 1, who participated in this conquest battle.”
“See? I was right, wasn’t I?”
“Yes. Just as you said, the decline in condition was more severe than expected.”
“I knew it. That’s the medical report, right? Hand it over.”
The overall condition graph had plummeted.
As expected.
Lee Shin nodded.
They had gone through a hellish battlefield that could break even machines. If they were perfectly fine, that would be terrifying in its own way.
Nevertheless, the raid team stubbornly insisted they were perfectly healthy and could participate in the next match.
The front office had been about to let it slide, but Lee Shin had seen it at a glance — they were drunk on the heated atmosphere.
“Only believe half of what hunters say when they claim they’re fine. You must not assume they can be objective about their own condition. Understood?”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“Let’s see… Mal-sook had to handle that technique, so this much of a drop is understandable. Tsk, but Hye-jung overdid it. I told her it was fine to take it easy. She really is stubborn.”
“At least the main members of the rivalry matches and Hunter Seo Ye-na are in relatively good shape.”
“As expected, our princess is beautiful because she’s so sturdy.”
It was decided that next week’s conquest battle would rotate in Team 2, with the Mountain King and two main members in good condition.
With that, all the team leaders who had come for approvals disappeared. However, the real work was still far from over.
Knock knock.
Without even time to catch his breath, a knock sounded immediately, and the person who entered was Chae Dong-ha.
Dressed in an unusually neat outfit, he alternated glances between his watch and Lee Shin.
“Are you still not done? I thought it would be finished by now.”
“S-sorry…”
“I-it’ll be done soon.”
“Tsk!”
At that moment, Lee Shin’s reflection in the mirror widened its eyes.
“This is all because I’m handling approvals while getting this done. Why are you giving me that look, hyung? Why? Are we short on time?”
“A little?”
“So what if we’re short on time? Tell them to wait. I’m the main character here. It’s a business I earned with my own money, so can’t they wait a few minutes?”
It’s fine. Take your time.
When Lee Shin winked at the stylists, they nodded repeatedly. Their blushing cheeks were a bonus.
Chae Dong-ha looked utterly dumbfounded. He was now openly flirting.
“An interview request has come in from a French channel.”
“Oh, for me?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, I really have gone global now.”
“They say they’ll adjust 200% to our schedule.”
“200%? Heh, that’s funny.”
“Yes, they said so themselves. How should we respond?”
“Obviously we decline.”
If he had time to spare, he could at least do a phone interview, but as mentioned earlier, Lee Shin currently had several very important schedules ahead of him.
Schedules that might be just as important as the league itself.
A short while later, after his hair and makeup were finished, Lee Shin stood up.
Porcelain-white skin and silky flowing hair.
With a touch of makeup around his slightly drooping eyes, the mirror reflected a Lee Shin who looked a bit more decadent than usual.
“Not bad. Let’s get dressed.”
His clothes were put on over his bare body with swift movements.
Black pants, a navy shirt, custom-made shoes and watch…
“Give me that one.”
“This one?”
“Yeah. The kids gave it to me as a gift.”
A limited-edition black Rolex.
He put on the watch that the three Children of God had pooled their money to buy him. Finally, as always, Chae Dong-ha draped a suit over his shoulders, and it was done.
Let’s go.
A short while later.
Chae Dong-ha and Yun Cho-a stood on either side, opening the main building’s doors.
Lee Shin ran a hand through his hair as he stepped out of the guild.
“Nice weather for building something big.”