Chapter 81: The Saintess’s Guild Creation Plan! (2)

“This… this… sob… sob…”

In the end, the vampire cried.

Sob sob.

Not like a child or anything.

“Hey, he’s crying. Succubus, what are you doing? Hurry up and comfort him!”

“You made him cry, and now you’re asking me? Fine. Lower the mace!”

I pulled it out just to scare the vampire, but if she’s going to handle it, then fine.

I’ve got other things to do.

“Alright then, let’s figure out the positions for the next four hours.”

“If we create a guild, who’s going to take on the combat roles? We need to assign positions, right? Even low-tier guilds have consultants, combat roles, support, and brains.”

Neipir added a good point.

Well, we should assign roles.

It’s time to show the world what a returnee guild capable of taking down hunters looks like.

Isn’t the attack squad already decided?

“From what I’ve seen at our gatherings, it seems like me, Cheonma, Bat Man, and Android would make a good attack squad. Support should be Pixie and the fish.”

I glanced around at the returnees.

This seemed like a good lineup to crush the hunters.

“You’re not referring to us as the fish, are you?”

The mermaid and the siren said.

Are there any fish here other than the mermaid?

“Well, ‘fish’ is in your name, so you’re fish, aren’t you?”

“Humm…”

The two fish couldn’t argue back.

Yeah, fish should just live like fish.

“Succubus, you’re support. Now for the brains of the guild?”

“I’ll do it with the revolutionary.”

The Slender Man pointed at the revolutionary, who had just escaped being roasted on a spit.

That works.

“Are you alright with that, Revolutionary?”

“Believe it or not, I spread the Blue Wave across the entire world of the 24th Earth. I’m good with words.”

“What does that mean?”

Is it something like the Communist Red Wave?

“That world was a strange mix of feudalism and communism. I spread the wave of freedom.”

So, unlike our history, this world had deeply rooted communism, and he was a pioneer of spreading freedom.

His ideology is a bit questionable, but it’s not bad.

“So that’s why you’re called the Revolutionary.”

“Pretty much.”

The revolutionary said, lighting a cigarette.

“With that kind of experience, you can definitely handle the hunters.”

“I can take on a support role too.”

Meaning he’s good at persuading people with words.

There’s a saying that a mouth can be scarier than a weapon.

So the revolutionary leader is needed.

“Good. You’ll do that, and as for transportation, Harpy will handle it.”

When I think about hunters, I see them riding around in armored vehicles.

They’re not even soldiers, but considering the black masses outside Seoul, I guess it makes sense.

Honestly, I’m a little envious.

So, I decided Harpy would be the transport.

“I’m busy with work! Do you know how many chickens I fry in a day?”

“You fry your own relatives without a second thought?”

Neipir asked Harpy, clearly taken aback.

Well, it’s understandable, but still…

“But they’re delicious! And my mom wouldn’t just stand by.”

Yeah, sure.

I can’t argue with deep-fried chicken.

“Don’t worry. We’ll only call you for transport when we really need it, like placing a chicken order.”

“Oh.”

“Are you okay, Overweight Orc?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. You can put me in the attack squad or something.”

The Overweight Orc is pretty strong, so that seems like a good idea.

“What about the Date?”

“I decided to live alone.”

“So, in the end, you chose a life of solitude?”

The lone wolf play isn’t bad either.

After all, an orc is still an orc.

That solitary life suits him.

“Yeah, it seemed more convenient.”

“So, what was the reason for the breakup?”

“She said she couldn’t handle me in bed.”

Now that the centaur is castrated, the orc has become the biggest deal in the group.

I bet the centaur is jealous.

“That damn orc! He’ll be hiking all the mountains now!”

The rocking centaur grumbled angrily.

He shook so much that his wooden head turned bright red.

Anyway, I’ll just ignore that for now.

“So, is everyone in agreement with this plan?”

“Yeah, that’s why we’re all here, right? Can we really handle the hunter issue?”

I can’t be sure, but that sister of mine would probably do whatever I ask, even play dead.

“Yes, I’ve got a useful pawn.”

“I’m a bit uneasy whenever she says someone is ‘useful.’”

Bat Man gave me a worried look.

What do they take me for?

If someone is useful, they’re just useful—nothing more, nothing less.

“I feel the same.”

“It should be fine, don’t you think?”

Wow, these people are rude.

Don’t worry, no matter what, I won’t do anything unnecessary.

With that, the returnees’ briefing on guild creation came to an end.

***

Later that night, I made a phone call.

The person on the other end was a loyal follower, Yoo Jeong.

Park Yoo Jeong, my former younger sister, but now a devoted follower of the Kanora faith.

“Faithful follower?”

[“Yes, Karina.”]

Her voice was so polite, I liked it.

Time to give her a real task.

These things need to be planned in advance.

The core of this plan is to carefully prepare and block any interference.

“I’m planning to create a returnee guild to show people the power of this Saintess. Can you help me? This is the Goddess’ will to treat people equally.”

In other words, I’m telling her to help me, not really asking.

-Uh, that’s not quite right.

But broadly speaking, it is.

After all, she is the Goddess of Death.

I should probably phrase it better.

[“Can you clarify what you mean?”]

“There’s a group that resents the returnees for receiving special treatment despite not fully adapting to society.”

A truly horrible group.

I mean, I’m just trying to live well with some money!

Who are they to judge?

[“Oh, I’m aware of that.”]

“So, I’m thinking of creating a returnee guild focused solely on dungeon raids to showcase the abilities of returnees.”

[“But the issue is probably your hunter status, right?”]

I’m glad we’re on the same page.

She’s more aware now, unlike in the past.

“Yes.”

[“Well, I’m not sure since I’m more on the administrative side.”]

“Oh, so you don’t know, then?”

[“But Si-yeon unnie might know!”]

Si-yeon?

Ah, Park Siwoo’s girlfriend.

She could be useful as my second follower on Earth.

“Hmm, I’ll meet her then.”

[“I’ll arrange the meeting.”]

“What are you doing now?”

[“The angel is teaching us the Kanora faith’s doctrine.”]

“Got it, I’ll stop bothering you.”

I ended the call.

Yes, as the Goddess’ first follower, it’s important to learn the doctrine properly.

But what exactly is this doctrine?

It’s the teachings I reversed from what I learned from the Goddess of Death, Kanora!

The Goddess said nothing, though.

I could hear her softly crying—she must be quite satisfied.

***

Thanks to Yoo Jeong, I got to meet Lee Si-yeon after a long time.

She looked pretty healthy—guess she’s been living well.

“Oh, long time no see.”

“Yes, I heard about this from the first follower.”

She must have heard from Yoo Jeong.

So, what’s Si-yeon’s plan?

“Ah, right. I heard.”

“What do you think?”

Say something reasonable, and I’ll consider it.

“The condition to create a guild is that you need to be a hunter, but there are ways around it, like really becoming a hunter.”

Wait, what is she talking about?

Why would I want that?

If I wanted to be a hunter, I would’ve done it by now.

“That’s not really our aim.”

“I know. If you wanted that, you wouldn’t be asking me.”

“Yes, exactly.”

Now we’re finally understanding each other.

“So, the second way is to ask a high-ranking hunter to create the guild for you and then step down.”

“Is that possible?”

Is something like that really doable?

Why would someone create a guild and then just leave?

“Well, it’s a ridiculous loophole, but it’s something some crazy people use to take advantage of hunter benefits.”

People taking advantage of hunter benefits?

Why is that considered a perk?

“Hunter benefits?”

“Yes, if you have hunter status, you get discounts on pretty much everything. Of course, it’s more of a guild benefit, but since guilds can have civilians as members—though they mostly do menial work—it still applies.”

What kind of scam is that?

Wait, are the discounts that substantial?

“Are those discounts really that significant?”

“They’re not life-changing, but they help. You get around 25% off almost anything.”

That’s not bad.

Actually, it’s a scam!

If you’re friends with a hunter, there’s no downside at all.

“Isn’t that basically a scam?”

“Which is why they monitor it sometimes, but as long as there’s a hunter listed as the guild master, it’s fine. Even if the hunter doesn’t actually participate in the guild, as long as they’re on the roster, it counts. However, if there’s no performance, the guild will be disbanded.”

“In short, it’s a temporary guild privilege.”

So, while a civilian can obtain that privilege, they lack the ability to maintain the guild’s performance, meaning they can’t keep it up forever.

Surprisingly, they’re strict about that.

Even after the Great Cataclysm, the country still seems to have its act together.

Is that how it is?

“Besides, not just anyone can create a guild. Like I mentioned before, you need a high-ranking hunter. And, I forgot to mention, returnees are practically banned from being hunters. Specifically, people from fantasy worlds like you.”

They really need to stop discriminating against fantasy returnees.

“Practically banned?”

“Yeah. Since they’re all skilled, for a returnee to become a hunter, they need connections with influential people.”

So, my choice was right after all.

Not becoming a hunter and breaking the hunter society instead — that’s the ultimate goal.

But that means I’ll need a high-ranking hunter to create the guild.

“Hmm. But do we really need to create a guild? Can’t we just unofficially say, ‘We’re a guild!’ and leave it at that?”

Honestly, I’ve been clearing the Tower of Destruction by myself all this time.

I’ve gathered returnee comrades, so why not just keep it like this?

“That’s not a bad idea, but it’ll still cause problems.”

“What kind of problems?”

I really hate anything complicated.

Should I just break everything?

“They’ll probably try to stop you from above. There were plenty of people trying to stop you from entering the Tower of Destruction. The government can always find a way to block you under the guise of protecting civilians. But if you have a guild, the government has no justification to block you.”

“So, they can legally stop civilians, but they can’t stop a guild since other hunters are involved?”

“Exactly. If it escalates to the level of guilds, there’s the International Hunter Federation, and the Korean government alone wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

That makes sense.

As a civilian, the government has the excuse of protection, but for hunters, it involves risking the lives of other hunters.

If things get to that point, having a guild would prevent obstacles down the line.

So, a guild is the answer, huh?

“Hmmm.”

Is that really the best approach?

Even though I hate troublesome things, I’m not sure how far this loophole will work.

“If you only consider the Tower of Destruction, you were barely managing. But if you want to destroy the ecosystem, you’ll have to fight other top guilds. If they ask the government to make it illegal for civilians to enter dungeons, all the progress you’ve made could be for nothing.”

“Hmmm.”

I see.

I get it.

I glanced at Lee Si-yeon.

She looked at me with a gaze as if to say, “Use me to create the guild.”

It seemed she wanted me to make her a part of it.