#263. So, What Do You Call It?
Call My Name's counterattack, re-equipped with gate raid gear, was ferocious.
"Don't worry about the gear breaking—throw your bodies at them! Don't let those muscle-packed wasp bastards push you around!"
Expedition Leader Taylor barked an order that would have made anyone from a mid-sized guild gasp in horror.
The expedition members sighed heavily and charged forward.
"Gonna get an earful from the guild master again."
It was only natural for them to react that way.
Typically, an expedition team's gate gear was the guild's ultimate weapon. For a major guild like Call My Name, it was mostly equipment that could handle even red gates.
It was that expensive, and its performance justified the price. Most guilds couldn't even afford the maintenance costs.
"Leader, the guild master warned me—if I wreck my gear again, I'm out of the expedition."
"I'll take responsibility. Even if it turns to rags, go wild."
"Well, if you're vouching for it."
Weapons and armor weren't indestructible. The stronger the monsters, the more they fought, the more likely they were to crack and shatter. Higher-grade items lasted longer before durability ran out, but hunter gear was fundamentally consumable.
"The leader's really pissed this time, huh? The guild master doesn't hand out gate packages lightly, but he did right away."
"Less pissed and more... these wasp bastards are seriously tough. Not to be underestimated."
A team member battling a 5th-generation carnivorous wasp tanker responded to his comrade while hurling his massive frame into a charging monster in a body slam.
Once full power was committed, the front line shifted from stalemate to hunters overwhelming the enemy.
They were 5th-gen, but things had changed since Botswana's fall.
Gear had advanced further, and hunters' base stats had leveled up across the board.
It wasn't as desperate as the chaotic early days, but hunters had progressed in skill usage and tactics.
With gear supplementing firepower and defense, the 5th-gen carnivorous wasps retreated as if their earlier momentum had been a lie.
"Yeah, if they were pushovers, we'd have handled it with standard gear."
Guilds were money pits. Inefficient organizations that bled cash just existing. To break even, they had to hunt that much more.
But the problem was, the more you earned, the more you spent. The US, despite flashy metrics, had the worst efficiency in this regard. They spent big and hunted big to match.
So guild masters and their business aides obsessed over minimizing expenses over maximizing revenue.
Guild Master Huntington, watching the expedition from the rear, wore a dissatisfied scowl despite gaining the upper hand.
"Not that I should say this as a hunter, but hunters have zero economic sense—like they were born without it in their mother's womb. Do they have any idea how much it'll cost to repair today's wrecked gear and replace the scrapped stuff?"
"Can't send them out naked to die, can we?"
Call My Name's chief manager, Dimitri Shaw, soothed the fuming Huntington.
Huntington sighed.
"Might as well jump off a building myself."
"You'd walk away fine from the Empire State Building."
"That's how desperate it is. Shareholders up my ass. How am I supposed to squeeze out more net profit? They think more sales means more profit without a clue about hunting. No idea that more hunts mean more costs."
"You always say that."
"What, fight naked? Crazy bastards. Hunters aren't gods. Against monsters, one more piece of gear isn't enough—'go die and make money' my ass. I'd love to shove a knife in those shareholder skulls."
"Hold back on that. If the CEO gets arrested, stock plummets and crime risks rack up costs. If you must, make sure you don't get caught."
"Damn. Even guild masters aren't free from money woes. Regular hunters have it better."
"Wouldn't take your spot even if you offered."
"What about Taylor?"
"Has Taylor taken a bullet to the head?"
"He wouldn't die from that. Might take it."
"Correction: Would Taylor stick his head in a dragon's mouth willingly?"
Calming his agitation with half-hearted guild master succession jokes, Huntington pulled out a prepped map to check the newly opened passage.
"Looking at the overall hive structure, the queen's chamber isn't far. Gate gear earns its price, alright."
"Heard Gunpowder got pushed back by their expedition too. We're neck-and-neck for the core."
"No point rushing in first to get beat. What about Joo Se-ah? Her party's position."
"Not like us—they didn't run cables into the tunnels for data sharing. Hard to pinpoint. But no big worry. Behind on progress, just one party. Not enough firepower for much."
Huntington shook his head.
"Even late to the party, she's S-rank. Ever seen one up close?"
"Briefly at an Association event..."
"Not an event—a hunt."
"Never faced one directly."
"Hope you never do. S-ranks aren't usually the safe kind. Dangerous to monsters and hunters alike."
No matter how recently Joo Se-ah ranked up, an S-rank was an S-rank.
No room for complacency.
"This raid's success hinges on securing that unique item. Need results even an S-rank can't complain about for smooth negotiations."
* * *
CRUNCH! THUD! CRACK! SCRAPE! KIIIEK!
A bizarre cacophony swept through, leaving only monster corpses in its wake.
Joo Se-ah grimaced while wiping blade fluids on her armor coat hem. A crack had formed on the sword edge.
Flicking it lightly with a finger, the crack spiderwebbed—then it snapped clean.
"Second one already. Just this one left."
Jang Deok-gu handed over the longsword from his back. He'd brought spares alongside his own for the frontline-fighting Joo Se-ah.
She took it with trembling hands.
"Ugh... seriously. If this breaks too, we're screwed..."
"Still, it's what Baekho Guild stashed in their vault. Top-tier even among rares—won't dull easy."
"Better as a spear than a sword. Awkward in these narrow-then-wide, unpredictable tunnels."
"Still a solid weapon sword-style. If you wanna baby it, infuse mana properly."
"No telling how long this hunt drags—with mana on every swing, even S-rank exhausts."
"That's why we need a unique weapon. Only then can you fight without durability worries."
"Feels real now without one. Slayer days were so comfy."
Joo Se-ah smacked her lips, recalling her custom Slayer weapon.
Her body was armor, limbs weapons. Since leaving Slayer, gear hadn't felt lacking because she hadn't tackled high-difficulty raids.
'Fights with Biwonjun or Tyrant weren't all-out, so fine... But watching Sim Wol vs. Kamenisky showed how uniques make the difference.'
She'd realized unique items' necessity more from S-rank duels than monsters. The gap was huge. With similar skill, it decided wins.
Sensing Joo Se-ah's frustration with weapon limits, Jang Deok-gu consoled carefully.
"Guild Leader Kang's scouring for uniques everywhere, but money alone won't cut it. Pyo Beom-hee's Poison Well was pure luck. Without the Federation, even seeing it would've been tough."
Pyo Beom-hee had snagged a unique before the guild master, somehow. Without her poison trait, Kang Moo-hyuk wouldn't have pushed for it.
So Joo Se-ah didn't envy Pyo Beom-hee's item much.
"Fight without if we must. If Guild Leader Kang foresaw me hitting S-rank this fast, I'd feel robbed. Predicting that? Near godlike. Custom gear comes with time anyway—no rush."
"Wise words."
Go Eul-ji, listening nearby, asked timidly.
"Guild master, uniques that hard to get?"
"Even in Korea, only a handful."
"Overseas top guilds all have a few, right?"
"They've dominated global hunter scene. Korea was dark ages awhile. Few big raids for uniques. While other powers chased high-grade gates abroad, we were swamped domestically. Gaining ground now, but long way off."
Go Eul-ji fidgeted, then pulled a hairpin from her bosom. The accessory she wore in big fights.
"This... unique grade..."
"Huh?" "What?" "Eh?" "Mamma mia!"
Seeing the party's startled overreaction, Go Eul-ji scratched her head sheepishly.
"Grandpa gave it for my birthday... Didn't know it was special. Gave it casually..."
The party's response to the unexpected unique was... unique.
"When did that old man stock this? Barely raids anymore. Embezzled from old guild?"
"Guild master, ten years as investigator. Smells like crime. Gotta shake down Chairman Han Byung-gu."
"Been detained—searches can seize as crime proceeds. Shall we?"
"Unique? Oh, mamma mia!"
Go Eul-ji instantly regretted revealing it.
'Shouldn't have said anything.'
She lacked unique awareness—Han Byung-gu had withheld it deliberately.
Fearing reliance would stunt growth.
Iron Will onboarding taught basics, but Kang Moo-hyuk focused on her skills, not industry lore.
"So, what do you call that hairpin?"
Joo Se-ah asked enviously.
'The witch envies me?'
Go Eul-ji puffed up, savoring rare—first?—victory.
"Dragon Scale Hairpin."