The Black-Haired Girl's Ghost Story of the Guild
It had already been half a year since the northern ancient species incident.
Throughout that time, the hunter world had undergone many changes.
After the Great Calamity a hundred years ago, there had been no shortage of cases where ancient species awakened, yet this disaster had occurred after human society had reached a level of stability that made it, in essence, the first of its kind.
The eyes of the entire world had been fixed on South Korea.
While the hunters' casualties could not be called minor, the nation had still managed to hold back the awakened ancient species in a manner that deserved praise.
A few videos had been released depicting the battle, but all of them had been recorded from a distance.
In those videos, one could clearly see a figure in flowing black robes waving like a banner.
The individual who ultimately defeated the ancient species had been none other than a single black-clothed hunter.
A shower of countless meteors that simply tore through the ancient species' power barrier. After that, the black-clothed hunter had vanished without a trace.
What every hunter in the world had come to agree on after seeing the video was only one thing:
'No matter how strong an S-class hunter might be, they could never display such divine might.'
Was the person who had single-handedly slain the ancient species the first S-class upper hunter to appear in human history?
Everyone had been curious about their identity, yet no information had emerged regarding whether that hunter had ever appeared in official records.
The hunter guild's policies had also undergone quite a few changes.
The five major guilds had launched a full system inspection in preparation for the possibility of additional ancient species incidents. This was based on the prediction that, since at least one ancient species had awakened, the others might enter sudden activity phases.
Of course, the place with the greatest amount of change was Seoul.
First, the activities of the Jeokpung Guild, which had been accused of triggering the ancient species incident, had been temporarily suspended. As a result, the Jeokpung Guild's growth trajectory, which had been steadily expanding for the past decade, had come to a halt.
Admittedly, the power of the Jeokpung Guild was such that it did not need to worry about the Association's recommendations, yet the scale of the intervention had still been immense because all five major guilds in the nation had taken part.
Second, several guilds that had lost their masters in the ancient species battle had collapsed. As a consequence, a large number of veteran hunters had flooded the transfer market.
Normally, these were the very people who would have been pulled into the Jeokpung Guild. But since the Jeokpung Guild was currently taking a step back, other guilds had opportunistically gained strength. The most prominent example was the Sorim Guild led by its master, Han So-rim.
And, taking advantage of this chaotic period, a new wave of emerging guilds had begun to rise to prominence.
***
"Among them is one called the Shingyo Guild."
"Huh? The guild branch is enormous. Just four buildings? The main hall and training dome are big, but the medical center and welfare center are even bigger."
"It was recently relocated, but this place has always been a hunter guild branch. The Shield Guild, you know? The master died in the ancient species battle and the guild collapsed."
"Ah, so this is the former Shield Guild branch? The damage to the combat personnel must have been severe. It was one of Seoul's top five guilds, and now it's a tragedy."
"Still, the good news is that most of the remaining guild members have continued to live within the Shingyo Guild."
Yang Tae-seon and Park Dong-hwan crossed the spacious guild branch while exclaiming in admiration.
A-class hunter Park Dong-hwan.
A-class hunter Yang Tae-seon.
Both men in their late thirties were long-time veteran hunters who had spent years living as free hunters.
The reason they had now come looking for a guild to join was that they had long engaged in treasure hunting, raiding gates that eluded the radar and monopolizing the profits that came from them.
"These days, the Shingyo Guild has found every remote gate, so the income is anything but great."
"Even if we dig deep into the mountains to find them, there have been more than a few times when control hunters from both Sorim and Shingyo were already waiting at the gate entrances."
In this era of actively employing the half-forgotten method of treasure hunting and thereby generating substantial profits, the Shingyo Guild had become so successful that independent treasure hunters across the country were now dying out.
The fact that A-class hunters like them, who could receive high respect even within the five major guilds of the nation, had decided to apply to this emerging guild was partly out of awe for the potential of a guild that had severed their own livelihood.
The interview would probably end up being a formality. These men were hunters of sufficient skill.
"But we have our afternoon interview scheduled, don't we? It's still morning. Did we really need to come so early?"
"Does it feel like a tour? Still, since this is going to be the guild we'll be living in from now on, it makes sense to check it out beforehand."
"Besides, I heard the welfare facilities are quite good."
Their first destination was the welfare center.
The lower floors housed commercial spaces like a café, while the upper floors featured a gym and other fitness facilities.
"...Huh?"
Yang Tae-seon's gaze fell on the view through the floor-to-ceiling glass of the café.
Rustle, rustle.
The backs of two fluffy white-and-black pom-poms swayed in a dance.
Given their small stature, they appeared to be children around ten years old.
On the table sat a strawberry parfait, and across from it were female hunters smiling with maternal warmth.
"Park Dong-hwan, look over there. Kids inside the guild?"
"Eh?"
Park Dong-hwan's gaze also turned that way. He nodded as if it were nothing.
"Well, I guess they're here to see their families who work here."
"Hm, that makes sense since it's the welfare center."
Their strange experience did not end there.
As Yang Tae-seon and Park Dong-hwan toured the welfare center and headed to the sports facilities floor, they encountered yet another strange sight.
With the laughter of young girls echoing, two girls slid down a ball pool slide.
Splash.
Then they climbed back up and slid down again.
"...Why is there a ball pool in the sports center?"
"Hm... I see."
"What's so strange about that?"
"This guild seems to have a lot of hunter parents. If that's the case, it's only natural to have facilities like this."
"Ah."
Guilds with a high proportion of female hunters or dual-income hunter parents who raise children often operate nurseries within their branches. Even so, to have such thorough welfare facilities, the guild must be of national five-major-guild scale.
"If we take it as meaning the guild takes its employees' welfare seriously, that would be appropriate."
"A guild with a commendable policy."
This time, both veteran hunters could not help but break into a sweat.
They had been wandering around the guild interior the entire time, having come to tour the training dome with permission, when...
"...That's her, isn't it? The black-haired girl."
"How did she get into the training dome? Why aren't the other hunters simply letting her be?"
A single black-haired girl walked around the central dome of the training dome with her arms crossed, constantly disturbing the hunters who were meditating in place.
Her voice reached them faintly, but the hunters paid no attention and continued their training as if nothing were happening.
As the interview time drew near, Yang Tae-seon and Park Dong-hwan entered the main building.
They were soon guided by the receptionist, an elderly hunter who appeared to be an office worker, to the waiting area at the end of the corridor.
Park Dong-hwan began evaluating the impression the Shingyo Guild had left on him.
"Did you see the welcome wreath at the guild relocation ceremony on the first floor? It even had one from Suryong Guild in Daejeon."
"Not only Sorim Guild, but there are ties with Kim Jin-seong's Suryong Guild as well."
"...Shingyo Guild, huh. If things go well, it might grow into a force capable of challenging the Jeokpung Guild."
"That's unlikely, isn't it? No matter how much the Jeokpung Guild is currently taking a step back, the master there is still Lee Myeong-won, right?"
"Hm, that is true."
As Yang Tae-seon had said, the power of hunter guilds ultimately depended on how many high-grade hunters they possessed.
Among them, S-class hunters were on an entirely different level.
A guild that possessed one S-class hunter who could not be reached without the blessing of a constellation was stronger than one that had ten skilled A-class hunters gathered together. That was why the masters of the five major guilds in South Korea were all S-class hunters.
Yang Tae-seon suddenly showed a shiver on his face.
"...Still, this guild feels weird somehow."
"You felt it too? It's strange, right?"
"The kids are roaming around the guild interior without any restrictions, and it's way too natural."
"Not just the welfare center. The training dome, the medical center... We saw them on the way in, didn't we? The black-haired and white-haired pom-poms we spotted at the end of the corridor when we entered—they're the ones, right?"
"...Could they be ghosts? Or do only we see them?"
"What is certain is that there is something in this guild's interior that we cannot understand."
"Heh heh, a black-haired girl ghost story?"
As the two hunters shared their experiences,
"A-class hunter Yang Tae-seon, A-class hunter Park Dong-hwan. Please come in."
The voice of the secretary hunter calling them echoed from inside the interview room.
They had expected a purely formal interview.
No matter how famous the A-class hunter Kim Do-yoon, who had recently risen to prominence as the master of an emerging guild, might be, he could not be expected to casually evaluate veteran hunters like Yang Tae-seon and Park Dong-hwan.
"...Park Dong-hwan hunter-nim, among A-class hunters, your mana detection ability is particularly outstanding. It is said that your reputation in the treasure hunting community was built on that power."
"Y-yes, that's correct."
"Although there are already staff in charge of the treasure hunting exploration division..."
"And Yang Tae-seon hunter-nim is skilled in swordsmanship, I see. ...Although there are also swordsmanship training instructors, of course."
Park Dong-hwan broke into a cold sweat.
Because his mana detection ability was so sharp, he could tell.
The blue-haired young man standing before them right now, the master of Shingyo Guild—Kim Do-yoon—was not an A-class hunter.
His ability had no limit that could be detected.
Why?
The hunter registration for Kim Do-yoon listed him as A-class, didn't it?
The two hunters, who had been suppressed from the very beginning, were no longer in the driver's seat.
Master Kim Do-yoon gazed at the two hunters with sharp eyes. He was stronger than they were.
And the golden-haired female hunter sitting beside him with her arms crossed also gave off a presence that was not greatly inferior to the two veteran hunters.
The more shocking thing was yet to come.
Knock, knock.
The door to the interview room opened, and the sound of small, light footsteps entered.
Park Dong-hwan and Yang Tae-seon could only widen their eyes in surprise.
"...Eh? That kid!"
A cute black-haired girl with a mischievous smile on her pretty face. Her height was just a little over 130 centimeters.
Without a doubt, the girl they had spotted in various parts of the guild during their tour.
Flop.
The girl lightly jumped onto the chair prepared between the two interviewers.
The golden-haired female hunter gently stroked the girl's hair.
"Heh heh, Yeon-ssi came to be the interviewer?"
"Since they are unusually skilled A-class hunters, it is only natural that this seat should evaluate them."
Yang Tae-seon and Park Dong-hwan could only fall into confusion.
What kind of existence was that girl that no one tried to stop her actions?
The girl smiled brightly.
"Nice to meet you, gentlemen. This seat is the Heavenly Demon Wiji Yeon."