Yuri's Office (1)

In that office, a hunter shouted.

“Why aren’t we ranked first in our guild? We have the exact same number of B-rank dungeon clears. How is this possible?”

Team Leader Seo observed the scene with keen interest. His gaze drifted toward a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠digital display board in the corner of the office.

On the screen, the evaluation results for this intern expedition had just appeared.

And Team Leader Seo added, “As expected, we came out on top. I expected it, though.”

The hunter who had been fuming was an intern from Chronic, Korea’s largest corporate guild. The pride in his voice was unmistakable.

She must be seething after losing to us.

His gear gleamed with fresh polish, as if freshly issued for the occasion. The equipment was clearly high-grade, but anyone with real hunter experience would see nothing but an untested rookie through it.

Other interns from the big guilds had gathered around the display, venting their frustrations as well.

“It’s all just B-rank dungeons. No B-plus or double B, no special extra clears. So why is the score gap so massive?”

“It has to be Yuri Tarkovskaya, the Snow Maiden. Her behind the scenes pull. She’s the daughter of the Flame Guild’s chairman, Grand Duke Andrei.”

The complaints soon turned directly toward them.

Every intern who had returned to the office now wore a guild-name badge around their neck. They had recognized ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Flame team.

“That’s the Flame interns, right? Haven’t seen faces like that before.”

“Looking at their gear, they don’t even have a proper dealer. They must have bribed the Association.”

Team Leader Seo let out a soft chuckle.

“The ones who bought bribes are the guild, not us. How amusing. Of course, new hires at those mega-corporations are usually arrogant. Most of them are just fireworks that fizzle out after a while. I’ve seen plenty like that at Chronic.”

Team Leader Seo was right. With such a huge raid team to run, those interns rarely shone.

If they were real prospects, they would have skipped the intern program and jumped straight into the main team.

Among the group glaring at them, one young hunter suddenly pointed straight at Lee Minsu.

“Wait. The guy with the operator badge. Is that Lee Minsu?”

The hunters’ gazes locked onto him.

“Lee Minsu? There’s more than one Lee Minsu out there.”

“Hold on. That face looks familiar. When I was at the academy, I remember seeing him in a tournament.”

“Lee Minsu? The flame mage? Wait, no way…”

Then something shifted in their eyes.

“That flame mage who teamed up with Yuri Tarkovskaya in the national exchange tournament a few years ago? He won the whole thing. Eins Academy.”

“I remember that too. The Snow Maiden’s team made it to the finals undefeated and stole all the spotlight.”

Memories long buried in Lee Minsu’s mind resurfaced. Third-year at Eins Academy. The national exchange tournament representing the academy.

He and Yuri had teamed up and taken first place.

“But why the operator badge now? Yuri Tarkovskaya became an S-rank hunter, yet the flame mage who paired with her back then never heard a word about it.”

“Come to think of it, that was a huge scandal. The Chronic elite raid team even came to watch the match.”

“They were both from Eins, right? Wait, I heard there was a major accident at the academy’s graduation ceremony back then. What exactly happened?”

“Doesn’t matter. Becoming a joke is nothing unusual in this industry. Probably ended up at a bottom-tier guild instead of making it to a corporate one. Besides, isn’t it time to file an objection about those scores?”

The group kept muttering as they stared at him, blatantly ignoring the Flame team. Soso’s expression darkened.

Arin’s cheerful face had turned cold.

It bothers me too, but they’re right to feel that way.

Lee Minsu moved first before either of them could act. He strode straight toward the Chronic interns in front.

He stopped directly in front of the dealer-looking intern from Chronic, who seemed to be throwing every bit of hostility his way.

“What’s your problem? Why are you looking at me like that? Got a complaint?”

The intern tried to speak in a threatening tone, but Lee Minsu crossed his arms and replied calmly.

“Did you rent the entire office? It’s not the market floor. Keep it down. If you have a complaint, bring it up with the Association staff. No need for pointless nitpicking. Man.”

The atmosphere around them shifted instantly. Mana moved. The air grew sharp, like a blade aimed directly at him.

It pressed down on him like a threat, though not a direct one. For non-combat personnel, it was nothing short of intimidation, and the arrogance of a Corporate guild intern was unmistakable.

Lee Minsu ignored it completely. The real beasts remained silent until the moment they bit.

Arrogant hunters who talked big were something he had grown tired of seeing during his illegal side jobs at the academy.

He answered the guy’s next words with a flat tone.

“Stop rambling. If you’re that angry, file a formal objection with the Association. Or are you just that unsure of yourself?”

“What…? This bastard really—”

Just as the hunter reached for his weapon, Soso and Arin rushed to his side. Lee Minsu raised a hand to stop them.

“Stay calm. Arin, you too.”

They both froze instantly, as expected. Moments later, office staff arrived and pulled the hunters away.

“Disruptions inside the office are strictly prohibited! Stop it! Do you not remember what kind of place this is? The Association’s office!”

“But the score difference—”

“We will explain that right now. Please look at the display board.”

The staff in suits then gave a detailed explanation to the interns, especially those from Flame, based on the records of the dungeon they had cleared.

When the explanation ended, other interns murmured in disbelief.

“What the… Flame really did that? With just a tank and a healer, they cleared four B-rank dungeons?”

“They didn’t even clear the first one. Or maybe they couldn’t. There were no other B-rank dungeons left besides the ones they took.”

“So they managed four more in the remaining two days? And their skill level was…”

“Perfect.”

The records left no room for doubt. Not only were the dungeons the same rank, but Flame’s clearance speed and efficiency had been far superior.

“A small party like that, yet they were faster. And they found every hidden warehouse inside the dungeon too. They earned extra points for that alone.”

“Even the boss fight. Only a tank and healer, but they exploited every single weakness. That’s why they got those scores…”

“All because of that operator?”

By now the Chronic interns had nothing left to object to. Even the hunter who had started the argument had closed his mouth.

Why waste more time provoking them? It would only humiliate them more.

The Association staff then announced loudly,

“Therefore, for this first intern expedition, the Association will provide additional rewards to all guilds ranked third or lower. Please collect your rewards and vacate the premises after.”

Lee Minsu and his team received their rewards.

Surprisingly useful.

He examined the items with genuine satisfaction. Many of them were exactly what he needed right now, even though he couldn’t obtain them immediately.

As they were about to leave the office, Tanker Dong-hyuk chuckled.

“Minsu, you haven’t changed. The operator had no fear. That kind of provocation wasn’t even worth it; I could have handled it for you.”

“Yeah, well…”

Team Leader Seo smiled at Dong-hyuk’s words and replied instead.

“That’s not exactly fear. It’s cunning.”

Dong-hyuk listened to the rest of Seo’s words with visible interest.

Days later.

Yuri Tarkovskaya sat in her office.

It was still January, and winter was in full swing. The northern hemisphere’s Seoul was bitterly cold, and the wind that swept through the skyscraper was especially fierce.

Yet Yuri had left the window open. As an S-rank cryomancer, she felt no chill.

And the moment she saw the documents left by Managing Director Maria, her entire body burned with fever. She unbuttoned a few more on her shirt.

“What… why did you bring this?”

Yuri sighed. Of course she had been sighing a lot lately. If things continued like this, the first-quarter guild evaluation would surely be poor.

She had maintained S-rank thanks to last year’s performance, but now even that was precarious. The absence of their main dealer had severely limited Flame’s missions.

She had pushed herself anyway, but no matter how great an S-rank hunter she was, her body and mind had limits.

And if her guild evaluation fell to A-rank, many of the special privileges offered by the Association would be restricted.

Including the very ones needed to track Red Lake.

“Huu…”

But this sigh had a different meaning. The document Maria had placed on her desk was not Flame’s current status or performance report.

Yuri glanced at the title on the cover once more.

This document had nothing to do with Flame’s work and seemed suspiciously fabricated somewhere.

What does this even mean? I’m already overworked. Why did Maria bring this…

Yet, against all expectations, Yuri read every single page and every word with serious concentration.

Given her longtime personal assistant Maria, she had surely sensed Yuri’s inner turmoil perfectly.

Yuri had never dated anyone. Maria would know that. Still, the reason for bringing this book was obvious.

It was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠clearly meant for the Yuri who sighed every day because of Lee Minsu.

And after reading the document, Yuri finally had to admit that Maria’s intuition had been right.

Yes. I want to go back to Minsu somehow… just like before.

That relationship with him had always been more than friends but less than lovers. It had ended before it could go further.

But when thinking about a normal man and woman, Yuri could not deny that she and Minsu were closest to “exes who broke up.”

And she collapsed onto the desk in despair.

“Why… why did you do that…?”

Her cheeks burned. Even in this cold office, it was her body that had grown hot.

That was because, according to the book, she had recently done something unforgivable to Minsu.

But she had already done it.

Several days ago, she had gifted him a crescent-shaped necklace. And that necklace…

Is exactly the same as the one I’m wearing right now…

The necklace Minsu had given her on White Day during his academy days.

Yuri had searched the Incheon free-trade district for hours to find something with that rare design.

Even… I made Minsu come with me.

She could no longer hold back the curse that rose from her throat.

“You bastard!”

Just as she was wallowing in frustration, a knock sounded at the office door. Yuri jumped in shock.