The Last Boss
Lee Shin set down cups of coffee in front of a startled Lee Hye-jung and Park Jeong-seok, then took a seat across from them.
“Calling it a fight feels a bit off. It’s competition. Pure competition.”
“……”
“……”
“Are you two really that surprised? That I offered you both the vice-captain position?”
The pair exchanged glances before speaking carefully.
“A little… Actually, a lot.”
“Still, it’s the vice-captain spot. Offering it so casually like this…”
“Well. It was my unilateral decision, but I think it’s a pretty solid one.”
Lee Shin took a sip of coffee, rinsed his mouth, and smiled brightly as he continued.
“The vice-captain role is actually quite ambiguous.”
It was commonly known as a position that supported the raid leader.
Someone who listened closely to the team’s grievances, lifted morale when spirits were low, and calmed things down when the tension ran too high.
“It’s an important middle link, but like any second-in-command, the actual authority it carries varies wildly depending on the environment and circumstances.”
A prime example: if the manager, coach, or administrator held real power, the second-in-command’s authority became purely nominal.
Authority depended on who was above you and how rare the position was. Once you had three or more people in similar roles, it basically became a meaningless title.
Similarly, in guilds with fully established systems, the vice-captain’s role diminished.
The vice-captain position wasn’t one that could be strictly defined as ‘do this!’ That’s why discretion and adaptability mattered. A perfect system, however, started by focusing—or to put it bluntly, limiting—individual discretion.
“But here’s the thing. If the role can shrink that much, it also means the vice-captain’s authority can rise far beyond imagination depending on the environment, conditions, and situation, right?”
Like in our Mir Guild, for instance.
“As you both know, the first thing I did after becoming the representative of Mir Guild was tear everything apart. Starting with a complete personnel overhaul, then the defeat-poisoned mentality, the rigid systems, the utterly useless suppliers, and so on. I’m still cleaning house even now.”
“And what do you think I cleaned up first? That’s right. The raid team.”
No one could deny that the raid team was the core of any guild.
That was why, on his very first day, Lee Shin had replaced the entire raid team—including that Yang guy. Without changing the raid team, the guild itself could never change.
And the raid team that emerged from that transformation could now be called completely new.
“There’s nothing. No proper managers like supervisors or coaches, no special systems or regulations.”
“All we have is our dignified, benevolent, and great Mountain King, and one very talkative representative. Now that I say it out loud, it really is nothing, huh?”
A perfect blank slate.
What would be drawn on it would be decided from this moment forward.
“Any organization treasures its early members. Even if they’re just part-timers. Because they leave footprints. In other words, the first members get to clearly stamp their mark on the future that will develop.”
“And luckily, our dignified, benevolent, and great Mountain King isn’t authoritarian either? Oh my god, what a miracle!”
A completely blank system. A non-authoritarian superior. Stats that were soaring through the roof.
“Ah, I almost forgot. It’s small, but I’ll make sure to provide incentives too. Roughly around this much.”
And on top of that, eye-popping incentives that were absolutely not small.
“Do you understand now? This is the kind of opportunity that’s been placed before you.”
There was no other golden rope like this in the world.
Was this a golden rope or a diamond one?
A chill ran down Lee Hye-jung’s spine. Sweat broke out in Park Jeong-seok’s palms.
This was an unconditional Go. Backing out now meant they weren’t even hunters.
The two of them already stood out the most within the guild. They had naturally become rivals, and even if Park Su-bin was too young to count, neither wanted to lose to the other no matter what.
That little punk is going to be vice-captain? I’d rather die than see that.
That crazy bitch as vice-captain? For the sake of the raid team, it has to be me.
Lee Hye-jung glanced at Park Jeong-seok and spoke first. Park Jeong-seok refused to back down and met her gaze as he opened his mouth.
“What exactly are we competing for?”
“What do we need to do to become vice-captain?”
Satisfied with their reaction, Lee Shin nodded.
Now he could see the eyes he wanted. The eyes of beasts fighting over the alpha position.
“First, let’s set the conditions. These must be met without fail.”
“Is it a new record race?”
“Record maintenance, actually.”
“Excellent. This is exactly why I like people with quick wits.”
The condition that they had to complete the new record race to the very end had to be met for the competition to be valid, and that competition would—
Lee Shin raised four fingers.
“Cleanly taking MVP. Whoever wins the overall League 4 MVP wins. Simple as that.”
League 4 Overall MVP Competition
🏆 Winner receives the Vice-Captain position of Mir Guild’s First Raid Team
🎁 Additional massive incentives provided
“……!!”
“……!!”
The year-end awards ceremony. It was all but certain that Mir Guild would sweep every award League 4 had to offer.
All or nothing.
The one who claimed the flower of all flowers—the League MVP—would take everything.
“Do you agree?”
At Lee Shin’s question, the two glared at each other and nodded.
“I accept.”
“Understood.”
Stirring up the competitive spirit between the two.
This was Lee Shin’s answer to the condition problem.
* * *
And once again, Lee Shin’s answer proved to be nearly perfect.
·
·
Thanks to the spectacular performances of the two, Mir Guild kicked into another spurt.
The previous round where they had barely held the record by a three-minute margin now felt like a lie.
But the change wasn’t limited to that.
If they had been perfect carry machines inside the gates, outside the gates they displayed leadership according to their own personalities.
For example, Park Jeong-seok, who looked like a strict FM type on the outside, actually enjoyed casual ‘F-word’ conversations and knew how to take care of those around him. Instead of scolding the tank line juniors trying to sneak off to the club, he gently persuaded them.
“The league’s almost over, right? Just hold on until then and come train with me.”
“Once the league ends, I’ll take you to that damn club or wherever. Don’t you trust me?”
On the other hand, Lee Hye-jung, who seemed laid-back and fond of jokes, was actually an extreme ‘T’ type. Rather than gently persuading them, she came up with the solution of rolling them so hard they couldn’t even think about playing anymore.
“Alright, you’ve rested enough, right? Let’s do another 3v3. Where are Min-su and Hee-chul? Hee-chul? Huh? He ran away?”
“You call him. Tell our Hee-chul that if he doesn’t want to get killed by his sister, he better sprint over here right now.”
And of course, Lee Shin’s sincere lessons couldn’t be left out of this process.
“Hmm, Hee-chul’s problem isn’t lack of magic power. It’s actually his body balance. Training with a focus on strength for a while should show results. By the way, I’ve been wondering—why are your eyes like that?”
“Haa, you’re saying I can’t build muscle because I have magic power? That muscle training isn’t suitable for survival? Who said that? Again! I’m gonna rip those fucking YouTube bastards’ mouths off! Ah, I’m not mad at you, Hunter-nim. Really. Dong-ha hyung, cut the internet right now!! Immediately!”
Lee Hye-jung’s greed for money.
Park Jeong-seok’s greed for power.
Lee Shin’s greed for points and rewards.
These three greeds combined into a Trinity Force.
Kim Jong-pil expressed it like this.
“Hehe, they say three people together can create a tiger that didn’t exist, but when three people’s greed gather, they can even create the desperation that had been lost.”
The greatest motivation for a rookie, and a power only rookies could possess.
Desperation.
It seemed the raid team’s rookies had found the desperation they had lost somewhere amid their overwhelming results.
“Of course, that’s not all. By properly pitting Lee Hye-jung and Park Jeong-seok against each other, he breathed vitality into the entire raid team. That Lee Shin kid really is frightening when it comes to scheming.”
It was exactly as Kim Jong-pil had assessed.
Simple motivation alone could at best only restore the form that had dropped due to condition issues back to its original level.
However, Lee Shin didn’t stop there.
No matter how much of a maximum it was, it was still going from minus to zero. There was still a chance the record could be broken.
So he went so far as to make the two leaders compete, and as a result, the form that had been in the minus went beyond zero and temporarily entered the plus.
They began showing an even more overwhelming, heaven-shaking performance than before.
* * *
When he opened his eyes, a familiar ceiling greeted him.
“Ughhhhhh.”
Lee Shin yawned and stretched on the bed.
He checked the clock. Nine o’clock. He had slept a full five hours for the first time in a while. The ‘+999’ notifications that kept popping up were surely from Chae Dong-ha, who had stayed up all night waiting beside the broadcast team.
“I told you to sleep, tsk.”
Always making such a fuss.
After a quick shower, he entered the dressing room where a forest of suits revealed itself.
“It might be a bit chilly.”
Scratching his backside inside his underwear with one hand, Lee Shin took a step forward. Clothes instantly materialized onto his body.
Shirt, pants, suit, watch. When he exited through the other door of the dressing room, Lee Shin draped the coat he had left on a nearby hanger over his shoulders.
He stepped out of the elevator while roughly tousling his still-damp hair. The security guards bowed deeply. As always, Lee Shin bowed back.
“Fighting today, sir.”
“I’m a fan. I’m always cheering for you.”
“Haha, yes, yes.”
The security guards’ congratulations were only the beginning.
As soon as he left the apartment entrance, every person he encountered offered him congratulations as if they had promised to do so.
“Fight to the end!”
“I’m looking forward to today too!”
“I’m a Yongbung-i. Thanks to God Lee, this season has been the happiest one ever.”
Lee Shin made eye contact with each person and bowed.
“Thank you. Thank you. I’ll finish strong. And you there, Yongbung-i, could you come here for a moment? Yes, you, the young lady over there. You moved me. Here, take this.”
After generously providing fan service, Lee Shin got into the Rolls-Royce.
“Has it started?”
At Lee Shin’s question, the female secretary met his eyes in the rearview mirror and nodded.
“They just entered, sir.”
League 4, Round 38. The finale of the long journey.
The last boss battle was just about to begin.