Guild Member Recruitment

Elementals were something I’d already hunted countless times in my previous life, and I’d even helped people clear them more times than I could count. But not only that—I was taking them down now with Mika fully transcended? Honestly, with a little exaggeration, I could probably do it blindfolded.

“So I’d appreciate your continued support as we keep going with Shining Parade’s guild member recruitment.”

“Yes. I look forward to working with you, Haruru. I should probably head out now...”

“Mone-nim is our sub-guild master now, so why don’t you sit in as a judge with me and help with the interviews?”

“Do you happen to be busy?”

“Not at all. I’ll do that, then.”

“Yes. I’ll put it toward whaling.”

Then the next person applying for guild membership came in. A rough, somehow comforting voice boomed through the room.

“Yes, pleasure to meet you.”

His nickname fit him perfectly: Ulsan’sPrideJeongyong.

“Why is everybody going ‘whoa’? Is he some famous guy or something, Jeongyong-hyung?”

“Looks like you’re just reading the nickname out loud.”

Neither Mone nor I knew anything about it, so it really did seem like the viewers were just reacting to the name and the voice for no reason.

“Ah, I see. Please introduce yourself.”

“Yes, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I live in Ulsan, and I’m thirty this year. My name’s Lee Jeongyong, just like my nickname says.”

“Gang member? Watch your language. But seriously, you’re not, are you?”

“Yes. I tend to sound a little harsh, so people misunderstand me a lot, but that’s just a Gyeongsang-do accent.”

“That’s what he says. But, if you’re from Ulsan, the city’s famous for industry and whales... are you a mega-whale whale-whale-whale-whale-whale whale?”

“Was that not funny? Sorry about that.”

“That’s not it... and now that every donation trigger means I’ve gotta kick in an extra 70% from my own pocket, this is a loss for me...”

Maybe because it was fun watching him chat with the viewers, he chuckled heartily and cleared his throat before saying, “I’m not a hyper-whale, but I can probably manage the mid-tier whale class. Isn’t that good enough?”

“Aha~ More than enough.”

“Would your job be all right, though?”

His class was Guardian of Space. People shortened it to Guardian, or Gaos, and so on.

It was a tank class that protected allies with shields made from cosmic energy while drawing enemy aggro.

A tank.

Oddly enough, that role is harder than it looks, and if all you do is take hits, it can get boring. He might even quit after a while. That was why I asked—but he veered off into something completely different.

“Yes, well, my company’s shift work is pretty rough, but they take good care of us for it...”

“No, no! I meant your game class.”

“Ah.”

“People are pretty split on whether they like tanking...”

Truthfully, “split” was putting it kindly. There were far fewer people who actually liked it. Worried, I asked, and he answered with a booming laugh.

“That’s fine. I’ve only ever played tanks in every MMORPG I’ve touched, and even in OXwatch, while everyone else went for troll picks, I was the only one quietly picking tank and pushing the payload.”

“And if I get bored, my bosses at work just chew me out anyway. Games are a gentleman’s pastime by comparison. I’ve gone numb to it all by now.”

“It’s only been two days since I started broadcasting. Why am I famous for my personality already?”

“Yes, well, what?”

“The viewers are saying that when it comes to games, they just want to hear my cute voice and get healed by it.”

“Then I’ll announce the pass/fail results now...”

“Oh, wow. This suddenly reminds me of my company interview days, and I’m getting nervous.”

He seemed like a decent enough guy from the conversation, but there are a lot of people in this world who only seem decent. I used Insight right away.

Nice. Those two and it was over. I whispered to Mone, and a reply came back almost immediately, saying she liked him too and was happy to approve him.

“Good. Jeongyong, you can join us... let’s go.”

“Whoa! Thank you. I’ll work hard. I’ll even try to pull an SSS-grade Mika!”

“No. Don’t do that. Stick to B-grade or something...”

Before the next interviewee came in, there was a little time left, so I made small talk with Mone.

“Healer, tank. We’ve already picked up all the good classes.”

“Looks that way. It wasn’t planned, but I guess we’re just lucky.”

Was this also the Goddess of Luck’s Blessing? Or was it the human connections I’d never had in my previous life finally kicking in now? Whatever it was, good was good, so I wasn’t going to think too hard about it.

“I already said this before: Cobl is a class that wins when you go all the way to the end.”

“You’re really going all the way with it? Going to the end with Cobl sounds harder than raising a tank or healer...”

“But in theory, a Cobl pushed to the absolute limit becomes invincible and godlike. I think it’s worth it.”

Then the next guild applicant came in. It looked like he’d started Unknown Universe with yesterday’s broadcast too, because his character creation date matched mine exactly. And his combat power practically screamed “just advanced to first class.”

His voice sounded like an ordinary man in his twenties or thirties. His nickname was nothing flashy either: MayflyDanImda.

“Hello. I started Unknown Universe just yesterday because of you, Haruru-nim. My nickname is MayflyDanImda. Please just call me Imda...”

“Aha~ Thank you for starting because of me. Nice to meet you. Unknown Universe is fun, right?”

“Yes. It’s surprisingly fun once you get into it. So I spent 300,000 won on spirit pulls yesterday. I’ll have no food budget for a while, so I’m going to have to live on ramen.”

“Huh?!”

“S-so, did you get anything at least?”

“I did pull an A-grade spirit, but...”

“Well, that’s a relief. The expected value for an A-grade spirit is 500,000 won. You’re up 200,000.”

“Let’s see. Your class is...”

“Unemployed...”

“Why does everybody answer with their real-life job when I ask about their class... I’m asking about your game class. Are you ashamed of Unknown Universe?!”

“Ah... sorry. I’m a Warlock.”

“For the record, I wrote Cosmic Blade on Shining Parade’s application form too. Not a single lie. I can show you the form if you want.”

“How did I get accepted, you ask? Because I’m that fun, that cute, and that good at streaming~”

The chat looked suspicious, so I immediately turned the question back to Imda.

“Right? I’m fun, aren’t I?”

“Yes... I watch you faithfully all the time.”

Then he hesitated, fidgeting, before saying, “I don’t have much money, but I do have plenty of time, so I can play Unknown Universe twenty hours a day. Please pick me.”

“Y-you don’t have to go that far...”

“Haruru-nim. I’m not sure I should even say this, but I used to farm money in other games very hard... There was a time I did nothing but grind for twenty-four hours without sleeping.”

“Farming money,” in short, means trading in-game currency for real-world cash. But this was the first time I’d ever heard someone say they’d played a game for twenty-four straight hours.

He must’ve caught himself looking at the chat too, because he quickly reined in his words.

“That was a pointless thing to say. Sorry. I always get rejected in interviews, so I’ve never actually been accepted before... I’m nervous. Honestly, I feel like I’m going to get rejected again. I can’t breathe... pant, pant.”

“Take a deep breath.”

After talking things through a bit more, I learned he lived alone, made just enough each day to eat each day, and spent twenty hours a day gaming. For some reason, he reminded me of my previous life.

“No debt, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then, well, you’re doing better than I was.”

“If you can do twenty hours a day, then with not much spending you could keep up to a certain point. And since your class is a Warlock—a debuffer—the gear power threshold is lower than for straight-up DPS...”

I whispered with the sub-guild master. Okay, she said. Finally, I checked his abilities with Insight.

So why are you playing games with an S-rank level of persistence? If you’d studied, you’d probably be in some white-collar job by now. Anyway, he was exactly the kind of talent our guild needed on the road to the top.

“Imda... you can join us... let’s go!”

“Thank you very much. I’ll be a guild member who won’t bring shame to Shining Parade.”

And like that, I kept recruiting, lightly filling out the first day with about ten people.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

By then, I checked the time and it was already four in the afternoon. Had I been going full throttle for too long? My throat was already sore, and my whole body felt like it was starting to ache.

“Then I should probably...”

“I’ve been on stream since this morning and it’s already past four. That’s at least eight hours. Please have mercy. Then see you tomorrow~ Bye, Haruru.”

“Yes, yes. Look forward to the Elementals.”

I ended the broadcast.

“Phew~.”

That drained-out feeling. When was I ever going to get used to this? Probably never. I dragged my tired body out of the broadcast room. Once outside, I saw the president and Sally-senpai waiting there. On the first day, when I signed off, I’d been careful around the boss—but now things were different.

“Haru. In the meeting earlier, why? Did something happen again? You were doing fine on stream.”

Before answering, I gave her my most exaggerated, pumped-up grin.

“Sha-hahahahah. Shuhahahaha.”

“Yeah, I can see why I called. You look really bad. There, there. I’ll take you to the hospital.”

Then, holding up all ten fingers, I went on.

“I, um, got a one-million-won donation.”

“Huh?!”

“Really?!”

Both of their eyes went wide as saucers.