Chapter 2455 – 2455. Seventier
Recently, the whole world was in an uproar because of one Awakened. If you turned on the TV or went online, you could easily find stories about this Awakened.
-An ordinary person in their 40s Awakens in the US! What’s the reason?!
Awakening usually happens in the late teens when physical growth is complete. At the latest, it’s around the early 20s. Even I Awakened in my early 20s.
Even if you don’t Awaken, you can find out if you have the potential through a potential test.
In other words, all Awakened are identified before their 20s, and they can choose their path. They can become monster hunters called Hunters, or they can live as ordinary people. These days, they choose the former. It’s dangerous, but it’s safer than it used to be, and the income level is higher than that of ordinary people. There’s also the fact that they can be admired by ordinary people.
-How did Mason, who had no potential at all, Awaken?
The fact that he Awakened despite having no potential was so unusual that even I was surprised. Even I, who Awakened later than others, had potential. Thanks to that, I was able to enter the Hunter Department of the National Cheon University without even taking the college entrance exam.
‘Was there an error in the potential test? I’ve heard that errors sometimes occur.’
Even if there was an error in the potential test, it doesn’t matter. If you have potential, you’ll eventually Awaken around your 20s.
-Mason was an illegal porter. He illegally forged his identity and entered dungeons even though he wasn’t a Hunter!
It’s obvious, but ordinary people can’t enter dungeons. Dungeons are places where even Hunters can die if they’re careless, so you can’t just put ordinary people with no abilities in there. It’s natural that they’re controlled. That’s why the association staff control the entrances to dungeons. To prevent ordinary people from entering.
For that reason, all porters are also Hunters. The lowest-ranked and least-connected F-rank Hunters do porter work. Once they gain experience, they move on from porter work and start hunting monsters. That’s the standard route.
It’s not like Hunter training centers or Hunter academies exist for no reason. They’re all there to learn combat skills as quickly as possible so they can become hunters instead of porters.
-Mason said, “My livelihood became difficult three years ago, so I started working as a porter by forging my identity. That’s when I started entering dungeons. I went in 2-3 times a week, and at some point, I Awakened. I believe that ordinary people can Awaken if they consistently enter dungeons. It’s unfair that ordinary people can’t enter dungeons because they’re dangerous. The Hunter Association is taking away the opportunity for ordinary people to Awaken.”
It’s not an entirely impossible story.
There’s more about dungeons that hasn’t been revealed than what has. Most dungeons have a higher mana concentration than Earth. There’s a possibility that the mana Awakened Mason.
‘The association is screwed.’
Most ordinary people admire Hunters. In other words, it also means they’re jealous.
Just because they were lucky enough to Awaken, they earn money more easily than others, use mysterious and convenient abilities, and live long lives without suffering from minor illnesses. It would be strange if they weren’t jealous.
Until now, they’ve just suppressed it because there was no way. Hunters fight for their lives, so they couldn’t easily mess with them.
‘If ordinary people can become Awakened, the story changes. They won’t hate Hunters, but they’ll hate the Hunter Association for monopolizing dungeons under the guise of managing them. Of course, ordinary people will demand to be allowed to enter dungeons as well.’
The Hunter Association will refuse for safety reasons. Ordinary people could die even in F-rank dungeons. What about Hunters escorting ordinary people? Why would a Hunter do that? Does that make more money than hunting monsters? If an ordinary person dies, who’s responsible?
‘Even I’m thinking like this, so how much more would other Hunters be? It’s going to be noisy for a while.’
After experiencing various things, I could see how things would turn out.
Brrrrr.
My smartphone vibrated. The caller was Kang Seok-soo.
The master and representative of the Seventier Guild.
Of course, I was also a master of the Seventier Guild. There are a total of seven guild masters in Seventier, including me and Kang Seok-soo. The representative of Seventier is chosen every two years through a vote and meeting among the masters.
“It’s me.”
-You still answer the phone strangely.
“Whatever. What’s the matter?”
I’m just a name on the list in the Seventier Guild.
I’m not very interested in guild activities. Guild support? I have my own fun, so why bother. If I wanted a proper force of my own, I would have created and run my own guild.
The reason I put my name on Seventier was to block other guilds from bothering me.
-You know that Seventier has become known to the public. Taking advantage of the momentum, we’re recruiting guild members this time.
“Is it a problem that no one wants to join Seventier? Well, who would join a no-name guild?”
-No, it’s the opposite. Too many people are flocking to us. Even those who were previously in the top 10 guilds have subtly conveyed their desire to join Seventier to me.
“Really? I don’t know what they believe in to join Seventier. Was your popularity that good?”
-What are you talking about? It’s because of you. S-rank candidate Sung Yu-jin. If you become an S-rank Hunter like Han Ah-young, Seventier’s leap will be comparable to the top 10 guilds. Those who are fed up with the existing top 10 guilds are looking forward to a new change called Seventier.
It’s natural that Seventier’s stock price is going crazy just because there’s an S-rank candidate. Even though Seventier isn’t a listed company.
“Can’t you just accept them all?”
-I’d like to if I could, but if I do, it’ll be unmanageable. And the top 10 guilds won’t stay still. I don’t want to provoke the top 10 guilds right now.
“Hmm. So? What’s the real matter?”
-This time, we’ve decided to film a program introducing Seventier on cable TV. Of course, I’d like you to appear. They say strike while the iron is hot, so we need to strike properly.
Do you think I’d do something like that?
I was about to snap back, but I stopped.
“…Are there any celebrities coming? I saw on the guild introduction broadcast last time that celebrities came and were like, ‘Wow, amazing!'”
-I heard that celebrities are needed for the fun and progress of the broadcast.
“Hmm. It’s not bad to appear on TV. It’s not like it’s my first time on TV.”
It was also a good thing for the growth of Seventier. If I cooperate, Seventier will grow faster.
-Good. I’ll send you the schedule later by message. We can adjust it to your schedule, so please contact me.
“Okay. By the way, Kang Seok-soo, your feelings when you recruited me into Seventier haven’t changed, right?”
-Of course. My goal is to break the order formed by the existing top 10 guilds.
At first, I wasn’t very interested in Kang Seok-soo’s goal. But after various things happened, the story changed.
“I’ve also started to dislike the top 10 guilds. Especially the Suwol Guild. I’m planning to crush the Suwol Guild if I get the chance.”
-……The Suwol Guild? Ah, I know there are bad rumors about them. But Han Ah-young, an S-rank Hunter, is there.
“Ah-young noona is on my side.”
-In that case, there’s nothing to worry about. If the Suwol Guild falls, the Hunter world will change greatly. But not right now. Seventier is still lacking in power.
“So you mean you’ll help me if I have enough power.”
=Breaking the order of the top 10 guilds is the same as antagonizing them. I’ve already made up my mind.
“What are the other guild masters’ opinions?”
-What are you talking about? They became masters of Seventier because they have the same goal. Just like you.
“……”
Certainly, when I was offered by Kang Seok-soo, I heard about the purpose. I was full of thoughts of using Seventier, so I didn’t think it was that important.
Unlike me, who does things half-heartedly, the other guild masters must have agreed with Kang Seok-soo, which is why they became guild masters of Seventier.
I changed the subject for no reason.
“Is Jung-mi noona doing well?”
Yoo Jung-mi.
Kang Seok-soo’s childhood friend and girlfriend. I had sex with Yoo Jung-mi.
-We broke up.
Kang Seok-soo’s voice was gloomy.
“Oh, really. I didn’t know. But why did you break up?”
-She said she had another person she liked.
“Hmm. To dump Korea’s genius magician. Who does Jung-mi noona like?”
-…It’s not a Hunter. It’s a black man on a business trip from a foreign company. He probably has charms that I don’t know about.
A black man?
I imagined what the black man’s charm might be. I felt sorry for Kang Seok-soo for no reason.
“Uh, well. Cheer up.”
-It’s okay. Jung-mi and I just weren’t meant to be.
It seems that even Korea’s genius magician has a hard time with love.
• • •
The Seventier Guild headquarters was a large building in Gangnam, Seoul. I heard that most of the money Kang Seok-soo received from investors went into this place.
It could be called a waste of money. But for Hunter guilds, this kind of showiness works quite well. Looking wealthy makes it feel like the support for Hunters is substantial.
It was my first time coming here, but the entrance on the first floor was quite crowded. Since I entered through the back door instead of the main entrance, it was easy to avoid the crowd. The guards also bowed their heads and greeted me as soon as they saw me.
“Welcome, Guild Master! We heard you were coming!”
“Hmm.”
I nodded solemnly.
‘Kang Seok-soo has trained them well. I like it.’
There were personal offices for the guild masters near the representative’s office. There was also an office with my name on it.
‘What is this? There’s nothing but a desk and a chair inside. Did they just make it look good for now?’
The other guild masters’ offices were the same.
I opened the door to the representative’s office without knocking.
“It’s me.”
Kang Seok-soo wasn’t very surprised. He’s also an A-rank Hunter. He must have known with his senses that I was loitering around the guild master’s office. If he didn’t, I’d be disappointed.
“Okay. Thanks for coming as promised.”
“The other guild masters aren’t here?”
“They’re as unruly as you are. Some of them will come in the afternoon. Some of them might ask you for a duel. If you refuse appropriately, they’ll back down.”
“It seems like there are some belligerent guys. But why do you look so down?”
“…You know how noisy the first floor was when you came in.”
“Aren’t they people from the broadcasting station? Today’s the day we’re filming the broadcast.”
“The problem is that it’s not just people from the broadcasting station. There are ordinary people and promising Hunters from the top 10 guilds.”
“Did they come to cause trouble in another guild? Why are the ordinary people here, let alone the top 10 guilds?”
“Do you know Mason? As the hypothesis that ordinary people can Awaken in dungeons became known, they gathered here. They’re asking to join the guild so that we can help them Awaken. Other guilds are also having trouble with this issue.”
“So they’re just throwing a tantrum to get accepted. But a hypothesis? Hasn’t it already been proven?”
“There are no cases of ordinary people Awakening in dungeons except for Mason. It hasn’t been proven, so it’s a hypothesis. More importantly, it’s the guys from the top 10 guilds. These guys will 100% pick a fight with you while the cameras are rolling.”
“With me? Those guys have lost their minds. They should already know that I’m an S-rank candidate.”
“It’s because you’re an S-rank candidate. Not an S-rank yet. And you only became an A-rank recently. They’re trying to humiliate you through a duel under the guise of an exchange. If you back down, you’ll be called a coward.”
It would damage Seventier’s image. If I’m humiliated, my popularity will naturally decrease.
“The top 10 guilds are acting petty.”
“In other words, that’s all they can do. You’re being watched not only by the Korean Hunter Association but also by the World Hunter Association.”
“Surely, you’re not trying to stop me, are you?”
“No. I’d like you to crush them thoroughly if possible.”
“That’s my specialty.”
I had no doubt that I would lose to those who weren’t even S-rank.
