Chapter 109
Chapter 109
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: Guild Rankings Live
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That night.
I finished getting ready and turned off the light in my room.
It was my alone time.
Well, not entirely—Na Baek-ho was with me, and Gong-gi was in one corner of the room too.
"Ahh, this feels good."
I wriggled under the thin summer blanket, and sleep seemed ready to pour over me any second.
But it was too early to drift off.
I still had one thing left to do.
"Alright, time to pop in the earphones."
Living with hunters who had sharp ears meant earphones at night were a must.
With all my preparations perfectly complete, I opened NewTube.
'Guild ranking announcement live stream... here it is.'
The Awakener Association announced guild rankings every week at midnight, as Thursday turned to Friday.
The rankings lined up guilds based on Merit Points, which factored in a bunch of elements.
Difficulty of cleared gates, boss monster threat levels, number of monsters defeated, lives saved from harm, and so on.
'This time, we've got a real shot at something good.'
In just a few short months, we'd racked up quite a few achievements.
Plus, our merits from clearing the Gangneung guerrilla gate were bound to be huge.
That incident ticked every box in the merit calculation—no exceptions.
'Rankings start from 200th place, huh.'
There were about 400 officially registered guilds in the country.
With a high number of Awakeners per capita, plus plenty of foreign guilds basing themselves here, that made sense.
'Still, 150th place feels within reach, right?'
The thought slipped into my head unbidden, and I let out a chuckle.
Not long ago, Justice Guild was drowning in debt, on the brink of collapse.
Now here I was, thinking we could hit 150th?
Greed was the enemy.
Denial wouldn't help.
'Okay, maybe 180th?'
...Dreaming was free, at least.
I shook my head and tapped into the real-time comments.
Over ten thousand people were already there, chanting their favorite guilds' names as they waited for the reveal.
'I still haven't gotten used to this.'
But at the same time, I got it.
Hunters were the ones keeping people safe, no matter their internal drama.
And most of them were above-average in looks, to boot.
It was an environment where you couldn't help but become a fan.
"Oh, it's starting."
The countdown ended, the live stream kicked off for real, and the comments heated up even more.
Justice Guild supporters seemed to be mixed in there too.
It made me a little happy, and I thought about dropping a comment myself—but right then, an explanation of the ranking reveal format popped up.
Classic Association move.
It was a bunch of complicated jargon, but the gist was: the crucial top 10 would come last, while they'd reveal from 200th up in batches of 20.
And just like that, 200th to 180th places were unveiled.
"...No sign of us."
I quickly scanned the packed chart on screen, but Justice Guild wasn't there.
It'd be a lie to say I wasn't disappointed.
The Gangneung guerrilla gate had been so dangerous—I really thought we had a shot this time.
Was I off the mark?
Justice Guild's tiny fan squad thought the same, apparently.
We hadn't done anything wrong, but I felt bad anyway.
Meanwhile, the screen moved to the next batch.
I scanned the chart again just in case, but still no Justice Guild.
"Sigh, might as well sleep."
I lay back on the bed.
My body felt relaxed enough to drop off right away, but my mind was restless.
'We've got that alliance raid proposal too. We'll just do better next time.'
I soothed myself like that, and as higher rankings dropped, my eyes grew heavy watching the comments flood in faster.
It was their festival anyway—nothing to do with me.
But then.
"Eong?!"
I nearly yelled, clamping my mouth shut as I bolted upright.
'135th?!'
There it was.
Justice Guild's name, tagged with '135', standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the others on the chart.
'Insane, insane, insane.'
My brain could only scream "insane" despite all the richer Korean exclamations out there.
135th place!
I'd thought 150th was greedy!
135th!
Some were shocked by Justice Guild's chart debut, others thrilled—but yeah, there were haters too.
Words that bounced right off me.
"Heh heh heh."
Jealous much?
Green with envy?
Should've been a Justice Guild fan then.
I was thrilled.
Then one comment from earlier resurfaced.
Yeah? Watch us.
With me around, Justice Guild's rankings were only going up from here.
In the dark room, I stroked Baek-ho and grinned.
The next morning.
Kang Han was watching Nayeo-ju in the seat beside him.
She usually devoured a hearty breakfast that seemed impossible for her frame.
But not this morning.
She ignored the food in front of her, glued to her phone.
'Didn't sleep well?'
He'd heard her giggling late into the night—thought it was her usual sleep-talking.
Guess not.
Kang Han slid a plate with a sandwich toward her, her slightly red eyes fixed on the screen.
No reaction.
His straight brows furrowed ever so slightly.
But he didn't give up.
Skipping breakfast on an empty stomach could lead to stomach trouble at lunch.
He pushed the sandwich aside and slid a warm latte in front of her instead.
Jackpot this time.
"Ah, why isn't it here yet..."
She mumbled something and took a sip of the coffee.
'This works.'
Seemed drinks didn't interrupt her phone time.
Kang Han silently cut the sandwich into bite-sized pieces.
It was her favorite ham-and-cheese.
Then he quietly swapped it for the latte cup.
"Hm?"
Her hand reached for the coffee but met something else; she glanced over.
Spotted the neatly cut pieces and popped one into her mouth.
Eyes still locked on her phone.
Confirming that, Kang Han started slicing the second piece without a word.
She'd polished off about half the third piece, oblivious to being cared for like a pet, when—
Nayeo-ju suddenly shot up from her chair, pumping her fists in victory.
"Yes! It's here!"