Hitting Them Hard Right from the Start
Joo Se-ah couldn't respond.
Kang Moo-hyuk, sensing her inner turmoil, spoke up.
"The guild master doesn't know either, huh."
"I've never even thought about it. I've had no interest outside of the guild and hunting. I only found out through you that my existence was pouring fuel on Taeseong Group's succession fight."
Kang Moo-hyuk empathized with her position.
She was a woman who had made slaying monsters her life's goal. Reality like chaebols and group chairmen felt less real than a black gate opening smack in the middle of Seoul. Even if such an opportunity arose, she was the type who wouldn't spare it a glance.
He retraced the current situation once more, as if laying it out clearly.
"Chairman Tae Jin-seong decided on his eldest son, Tae Su-cheol, as successor over ten years ago. He hasn't started full succession procedures, but it's common knowledge in business circles."
"That's what I thought too."
"But then one day, the chairman suddenly starts sidelining Tae Su-cheol. Right when it's time to prepare for succession. He even halted the stock transfers he was planning. And while giving him the vice chairman title to make him look like the group's face externally, ironically, he pulled him from all major business operations. It's a vice chairman title in name only—an honorary position with no real power."
"That was definitely odd. But what does it have to do with the guild? Sure, we're still under the group, so it's not entirely unrelated."
"It coincidentally lines up with when you joined Taeseong Guild."
Joo Se-ah knew this too, but hearing it from Kang Moo-hyuk made it sound different. It felt like the Taeseong Guild master position the chairman had offered was bait to reel her in.
Kang Moo-hyuk continued.
"After that, the chairman didn't stop at getting you into Taeseong Guild. He wanted to bring you into headquarters. He even tried changing your surname to Tae and officially adding you to the family registry."
"I refused. I didn't want the same surname as that man."
Joo Se-ah thought of her biological father. He hadn't shown his face once after her mother died. After the funeral, he sent a single attendant to take her in. Even that decision was because she'd awakened as a hunter.
Because she seemed useful, at least.
She'd shown results in training, and he'd helped her join Slayer Guild. Only after racking up achievements in multiple raids and earning the label of next-gen S-rank did he acknowledge her as a Taeseong daughter and parade her before the world.
'He treated me like I didn't exist before that. I really hate that guy.'
Joo Se-ah sneered inwardly.
Pretending not to notice her sour mood, Kang Moo-hyuk said,
"Adding you to the family registry is just a formality. But when it's a chaebol family registry, that changes everything."
"How so?"
"You officially become a Taeseong Group successor candidate. A very strong one."
Joo Se-ah frowned, shuddering as if the very idea gave her chills.
"I'm barely keeping the guild afloat as it is. Without you, I might've already tanked it. Things are a bit better now, but that's just for the guild. I'm a total outsider when it comes to corporate management. If it were the second son or eldest daughter of the Tae family, maybe."
Joo Se-ah shrugged dismissively.
Kang Moo-hyuk shook his head.
"It's not that simple. In the end, second son Tae Su-man and eldest daughter Tae Su-young were sidelined by Tae Su-cheol ten years ago. The chairman is ruthless. He doesn't put losers back in the ring."
"Still better than me, who's spent half her life as a hunter."
"I don't know what's in the chairman's head, but something about you appealed to him as successor material."
"That's too much speculation, isn't it? Even if I had management talent, ditching a perfectly capable eldest son out of nowhere doesn't make sense."
At Joo Se-ah's point, Kang Moo-hyuk snapped his fingers with a click.
"Exactly. That's the key. The reason the chairman had to turn to another child. There must've been some conflict. Figuring that out and how to use it could be the key to the guild's independence."
"All media outlets and personnel, please board the assigned buses according to your ticket numbers. We must verify identities precisely, so do not sit anywhere other than your designated seat."
Over a hundred people grabbed their bags at once, following the guidance of Iron Will Guild's communication team lead agent Oh Jeong-yeon.
They were participants in the one-night, two-day Hunter Village experience event ahead of North Pocheon's opening.
With the opening imminent on a Christmas holiday, there was plenty of grumbling, but no one skipped out on touring the hottest guild's headquarters in Korea.
Of course, the reporters who had to cover it couldn't help complaining.
"Man, Guild Master Joo is really something. Give us a break on a day like this. Do it at New Year's or something. And picking such a weird opening date, just like her."
Veteran hunter beat reporter Kim Dal-pil of Korea Newspaper grumbled as he boarded the bus.
"Why'd they tell us to bring cameras anyway? It's a special activity zone—no photos because of mana."
"Beats me."
"But you've got history with Guild Master Joo since Slayer days, right, Kim? You got that exclusive interview on the affiliation ground last time. Hear anything?"
His photographer colleague prodded, but Kim Dal-pil hadn't gotten a single heads-up from Joo Se-ah, unlike usual. Maybe that irked him more than the holiday coverage.
"Special zones suck anyway. Entry procedures are a hassle, and articles are all text—no pics, just writing your ass off."
"Foreign media gets special gear support. We're way behind."
"Their ad rates are different. Hunter entertainment market's tiny. No wonder there's paparazzi chasing celebs. Even those are ex-hunters. Tsk! Chasing hunters instead of monsters."
Kim Dal-pil smacked his lips in regret. He'd begged his boss endlessly for gate filming gear, but the cost was astronomical. And where to get mana stones to power it? Endless nagging.
'Come to think of it, how'd Iron Will film their raids? Too pricey for a C-rank guild. And higher res than foreign stuff. Some new model I don't know about?'
The public was always thirsty for hunter news. Iron Will's orc horde raid video was like rain in a drought.
The water-sweep tactic was groundbreaking, and the lightning rider wolf assault was cinematic.
Intentional or not, it catapulted Iron Will from nobody to contender.
Just then, Oh Jeong-yeon, overhearing as she passed, hurriedly called them back.
"Sorry! Attention here, please! I forgot one announcement. The reason we asked you to bring filming equipment—there's a partial 'anti-mana zone' installed in Hunter Village! Note this and refer to the handouts for filming boundaries!"
The reporters buzzed at Oh Jeong-yeon's explanation. Totally unexpected.
"Anti-mana zone? For real? Iron Will installed that pricey stuff?"
"Any Korean guild with anti-mana zones? It's imported foreign tech."
"Only tier guilds."
"Even they can't run 'em 24/7. Maintenance is insane."
Holiday gripe turned to curiosity in the reporters' minds.
They were finally realizing North Pocheon was uncharted territory.
All they knew was it was a special zone and Iron Will's affiliation ground.
No one had seen or heard about it post two massive war raids that solidified their hold.
Veteran reporters knew C-rank limits, so low expectations were natural.
But dropping a bombshell right off the bat? Interest piqued.
'Guild Master Joo's hitting 'em hard from the start. Or the leader's doing? Either way, suddenly hyped.'
Kim Dal-pil gripped his laptop bag, itching to write.
Mr. Jo answered the phone irritably. The unwelcome wake-up from deep sleep was Kang Moo-hyuk.
"Leader Kang, you sane? Know what time it is? You ruined my sleep."
-8 a.m. Perfectly reasonable wake-up time.
"Holiday mornings are for sleeping in. National rule."
-It's 8 p.m. And today is the day before the holiday.
"Fuck. Still the 24th? Thought it'd be 26th when I woke. Curtains make day/night impossible. Tsk."
-Sleeping two days straight?
"Christmas is off-season for solos. Even hibernating bears look good. Sleeping's a chore."
-Oh? Mr. Jo's single too.
"'Too'? What's that? Pissing me off. Says the fellow solo. Tch!"
-Enough solo whining. Business. Can you look into Taeseong Group?
"What? Taeseong? Why?"
Kang Moo-hyuk summarized his talk with Joo Se-ah.
After hearing it out, Mr. Jo responded lukewarmly.
"So, Leader Kang wants me to dig into what went down between the chairman and vice chairman father-son duo."
-Not just public facts—anything behind the scenes too.
"Chaebol secrets? Birth scandals are the only fun ones. That's why they're drama fodder. Father-son fights? Boring. Dull and stale."
-You think so too, Mr. Jo.
"What? The staleness?"
-The fight itself. Hearing about Chairman Tae Jin-seong and Vice Chairman Tae Su-cheol, didn't you immediately think they clashed?
"Unless drunk brawling, fights are all the same. Love, money, relationships. Rich family fights? Usually money or people. But would a solid successor pick a fight with dad? Risk getting booted? That's iffy."
Mr. Jo's pro spy insight nailed it. Kang Moo-hyuk, who'd long questioned this, couldn't reply easily. He had to leave it fully to Mr. Jo.
-Check thoroughly with that sharp instinct. Call when you have something.
"End of year, and you dump this slog. Shouldn't have joined Titan. Dodged Seong Seon-je, ended up leashed to you."
-Meeting you was my greatest luck.
"Flattery gets you nowhere."
-Start investigation from when Guild Master Joo joined Slayer.
"That's over ten years ago? Might be too old for leads. I'll bill after scoping and quoting."
Mr. Jo hung up and checked the time.
"8:10 p.m.... Eve loosens even family men. Awake now. Let's dig into the eldest son's nightlife first?"
Christmas Eve.
The holiday was winding down, but year-end buzz showed no signs of fading.
Streets overflowed with people. After decades of rock bottom post-Great War, the economy had revived recently.
The world was finally regaining pre-gate vibrancy.
Hunters, like everyone, were off-season end-of-year. Unless urgent gates, they enjoyed the close.
Some under-earners hunted abandoned special zones or guild/gov quests to fill coffers, but most took guild holidays.
This year-end felt different. Hunters usually partying were glued to emerging articles and videos online.
Setting aside booze-ups, they buzzed in privates, work chats, and group rooms about Iron Will's Hunter Village.
Freelancers fixated on village perks and fees, while guilds eyed the affiliation ground itself.
Mid/small guilds largely agreed.
Affiliating a special zone betting the guild's fate? Insane.
All-or-nothing, but here "nothing"—or "backed into a corner"—seemed likelier.
Thus, all hunter eyes turned to North Pocheon for year-end.
And finally, December 26 dawned.