Did he come off as superficial or hypocritical? That could be the case. Since Jiho hasnât done anything to protect someone yet.
âI understand if you do not believe me. After all, I havenât done anything for others yet.â
âN-No! I wasnât thinking that⊠Just, just surprised.â
âBy what?â
âMost people put their own needs first⊠The hunters I have seen so far, usually put money, first⊠Ah, not that thatâs bad! Just, just⊠that they do. Thatâs usually their goal, and so is mineâŠâ
Jiho glanced over at Hojin who admitted simply that he was the same.
Although Jiho doesnât know a lot about Hojin yet⊠Hojin doesnât seem like the type of person to put his interests on top like he says he does. And he said he joined the guild because of Jiho, too.
Though Jiho feels like he has another motive too⊠instead of calling that out, Jiho quietly listened to him.
âBut Guildmaster-nim⊠this, this might sound out of line since Iâve only observed you from the side for a bit of timeâŠâ
âI wonât think that way. You can speak comfortably. As long as itâs not cursing.â
âWhy would I curse⊠A-Anyways, when I look at Guildmaster-nim, I can tell that you are not running the guild for money. So I actually thought that, Guildmaster-nim, was being a hunter to⊠regain glory? or something like thatâŠâ
âYes, wellâŠâ
Jiho tapped his finger on the steering wheel as he trailed off. He regretted saying such showy words for no reason. Even though, of course, all of the words he said to Yang Hojin were true.
Seeing how red the tips of Jihoâs ears were, Hojin spoke.
âE-Even if I look like this, Iâve met a lot of people. Iâm⊠pretty good at reading people.â
âAh, I see.â
â⊠You donât believe me, right?â
Truthfully, Jiho couldnât.
Instead of giving a straight answer, Jiho sent an ambiguous laugh.
âNo, itâs just that Hunter Yang Hojin is still young⊠After all, I am young too, but youâre even younger than I am.â
Since heâs around Jihoâs age, how many people could he have possibly met? Hojin laughed bashfully at Jihoâs unconvinced attitude.
âBut I really, met a lot more people than you think⊠I know a bad person when I see one. Thereâs, a lot of bad people in the world. Though thereâs a lot of good people too⊠like Guildmaster-nim.â
âIâm not that goodâŠâ
âYou donât have to be so humble!â
Hojin, who shouted loudly, turned beet red.
âI-Iâm c-complimenting you so⊠I hope Guildmaster-nim will continue to live while thinking that way.â
âAh, y-yes⊠Of course.â
Facing Hojin, whose eyes sparkled as he spoke, Jiho answered awkwardly.
Even though itâs only the middle of May, the inside of the car is very hot. Jiho turned the air conditioner on for no reason and changed the subject.
While talking about training and Heo Soriâs condition, they soon reached Hojinâs house, which isnât far from the guild and training center.
Hojin got out of the car with a face much more flushed than the one he had when he first got in. He bowed.
âThen thank you for today, Guildmaster-nim.â
âYes. See you tomorrow.â
âAh. And, Guildmaster-nimâŠâ
âYes?â
âI donât think Guildmaster-nimâs luck is very good today. So please donât overwork yourself today and go home and rest early. Please.â
Hojin spoke seriously. Jiho looked at him blankly.
â⊠Do you have a fortune-telling skill?â
âNo, I just look at fortunes for fun. But theyâre usually right.â
âAh, yesâŠâ
âDonât brush this off. Please listen carefully.â
Jiho nodded earnestly. He nodded his head to Hojin, who had closed the carâs door and was sending him off. Reckoning that Hojin believes in all sorts of things, Jiho turned his car around.
Jiho doesnât believe in fortune-telling.
When he was young, his mother held his hand and took him to a shaman, who said that Jiho has great luck.
That the reason Chungram did so well was because of Jiho, that it will do even better because of Jiho, and that Jiho himself attracts good fortune and will succeed in everything he does.
The result.
Chungramâs stocks that had been running just fine fell to the ground for a moment, both the parent company and guild are constantly being dragged down by Jiho, and Jihoâs life is far from the definition of success.
âMaybe Iâll succeed from now?â
Jiho laughed at himself for his sudden thought. People who believe in fortune-telling force their narrative to fit what they want to believe.
âI just have to work for it myself.â
Itâs true that Jiho was born with good fortune. He was born in a good house, and he even acquired a new skill now.
All thatâs left now is to work hard.
âTo do that, the first thing I need to do is⊠work.â
It looks like heâll be working overtime today too. Itâs impossible to go in early like Hojin told him to.
Jiho soon returned to the guild office. After entering the guildmasterâs office, he was about to get started on the large pile of papers when the vice-guildmaster, Lim Seung Joo, came to find him with something in his hands.
âThese are documents from Apollon Guild.â
âAh, thank you.â
It seems like the data he requested from Seon Tae Woong a few days ago arrived.
Because the data requires a bit of security, it arrived sealed by mana instead of being sent by email. Jiho entered the mana password he received earlier and broke the seal.
There were more documents than Jiho expected. And the data was quite detailed, unlike what he would expect from Seon Tae Woong.
Since Seon Tae Woong doesnât really seem like the type of person to sit and look through data⊠it looks like Seon Tae Hui went through it too.
Data that went through both the guildmaster and vice-guildmaster.
This was basically a sign that Apollon Guild decided to work with No Name.
Feeling pleased for multiple reasons, Jiho flipped the documents over, but instead of leaving, Lim Seung Joo asked a question.
âMay I ask what the documents are about?â
Jiho looked at Lim Seung Joo with round eyes. It was the first time that Seung Joo, who usually only does what he has to do, asked Jiho about something he didnât tell him to do.
Jiho, who was surprised, answered easily.
âIâm planning to recruit new guildmembers. Since, as you know already, a lot of guildmembers are going to be changed around this time.â
âRecruit new guildmembers?â
âYes. It will probably be easy to recruit C-ranks and lower, but itâs hard to recruit B-ranks or A-ranks. I was thinking about sending an offer through the guild to people that seem likely to join. Wouldnât it be easier to negotiate with them if I already know what they want?â
The data he asked from Seon Tae Woong last time was a list of new guildmembers he could recruit and basic information about them.
Instead of acting independently as a guild, Apollon tends to split into teams and aid other guilds.
Seon Tae Woongâs ability is fire. Because he can be as powerful as an S-rank depending on the dungeonâs attribute, heâs highly sought after.
Since he usually works with Korean guilds, Seon Tae Woong has a lot of connections.
Thatâs why Jiho asked Tae Woong to give him a bit of information on hunters that might be interested in No Name.
Although he could borrow Chungramâs information network⊠Jiho doesnât want to get so much help from them. Not only did he promise his sister that he would succeed independently, but in order to catch up to Joo Yiwon, he canât depend solely on Chungram.
If he relies on Chungram, neither No Name nor Jiho will ever stand on their own.
Of course, once Jiho gets promoted to S-rank, he will probably contact them first to negotiate with better conditions. For now though, he plans to use the data Tae Woong gave him as a starting point to investigate the hunters himself and narrow the list down.
Thinking that he has a lot of work to do today as well, Jiho started flipping through the documents when he realized that he didnât hear Seung Joo leave. Lifting his head while holding his pen, Jiho was met with Seung Jooâs shocked face.
âIs there a problem?â
âAm I one of the hunters who will be replaced as well?â
At the serious question, Jiho stopped what he was doing and looked straight at Lim Seung Joo. Lim Seung Joo looked at Shin Jiho with a face more sincere than ever before.
What is he thinking while saying that? Jiho slowly leaned back on his chair.
âFrom what I know, Hunter Lim Seung Joo still has two years left on his contract. Do you perhaps want to leave? You will have to pay the fee, but I canâŠâ
âNo, no. I donât have the thought of leaving.â
Because the blunt answer was surprising, Jiho frowned slightly. Lim Seung Joo used to make it very obvious that he wasnât pleased with No Name.
But why did he suddenly change?
Although Jiho thinks he knows the reasonâŠ
Jiho observed Seung Joo for a second before asking straightforwardly.
âWhy do you suddenly feel differently? Hunter Lim Seung Joo used to hate me and our guild.â
Not expecting Jiho to ask so directly, Lim Seung Joo faltered.
Even though they were guildmaster and vice-guildmaster in name, Lim Seung Joo was always higher than Jiho.
Jiho has never been so frank with Seung Joo. Not that he didnât, but that he couldnât.
But Lim Seung Jooâs presence isnât as needed as before. Naturally, itâs better if he can hold onto Seung Joo, but itâs not impossible.
âThe reason I didnât like the guildâŠâ
Lim Seung Jooâs voice had a slight tremble to it. Embarrassed, he cleared his throat once.
â⊠is because I wanted to raid dungeons.â
âHm⊠raiding dungeons definitely brings in a lot more money.â
âNot because of money⊠Itâs because I canât grow just by taking care of monsters coming out of fissures.â
âThatâs trueâŠâ
Thereâs a lot of limitations when it comes to fighting outside of dungeons.
For unexpected fissures, you have to fight while minimizing the effect on the surroundings. For fissures that were expected, you still have to control your strength in order to not destroy the barriers.
On top of all that, itâs very rare that a strong monster comes out of a fissure. Even if one does escape, itâs the job of big guilds like Chungram or Heaven, not No Name.
But for dungeons that return to their original state after a raid, you can use as much strength as you want. Thereâs plenty of strong monsters, and itâs easy to grow while fighting those.
Itâs been three years since the fissures appeared.
Thereâs a lot of hunters who have reportedly gotten much stronger since their first fight. Although thereâs no hunter whoâs gotten strong enough to advance a rank, everyone believes that itâs only a matter of time.
âIsnât No Name going to start raiding dungeons now?â
âYes, that is the plan.â
As the vice-guildmaster who has been closely watching Jiho reorganize the guild, thereâs no way he wouldnât know. Since Jiho admitted it plainly, Seung Joo nodded firmly.
âThat is why I donât have the intention of leaving anymore. I want to participate in dungeon raids as No Name from here on out.â
âI see⊠But that doesnât answer my question.â
Jiho pointed out with a smiling face.
âIf you want to raid dungeons, you can do that in other guilds, canât you? There should be better guilds; why are you sticking to No Name?â