Ch.236236. SS-Class Guard

In truth, while my absolute growth is important for keeping the farm safe and quickly developing the Rift Dimension, the best approach is securing an absolute majority of personnel.

With multiple teams of people, we can form several expeditions to tackle biomes from various angles, allowing us to explore the Rift Dimension, develop biomes, and expand the farm’s scale many times faster.

Having many people around makes it easier to deal with unexpected variables whenever and wherever they arise, and at the very least, we won’t face problems caused by lack of manpower.

I already realized this when bringing in staff to handle daily life at the farm. Since I mainly handle the hunting content myself, and I’ve given Soo-jung combat abilities, I thought I could postpone this issue for a while. But I’ve been thinking that it’s time to increase the farm’s scale.

That’s why I recruited Kelin.

“So after leaving the SAINT guild, I join Farming Company and work as a guard at this farm place?”

“Yes. And being part of an expedition team to explore biomes is also one of your main duties. Once we have enough people for at least two expedition teams, we can rotate shifts.”

Kelin and Clay looked at me with interest at my confident proposal.

“What benefits do we get from this?”

It’s a reasonable question, when you think about it.

If I asked Kelin and Clay what they needed, they already have everything that can’t be obtained on Earth.

Money. Fame. Power. Ability. Looks.

They’re in a position to achieve whatever they want. How could I possibly offer something they don’t already have and convince them to grant my request?

Of course, it’s true that Kelin has some affection for me, and if I asked, she might temporarily help me once or twice.

Whether it’s affection, curiosity, or whatever, at the very least, I’m the person who saved her father and have the ability to save him again in the future. So I have value in filling a gap in her life.

But that’s only for favors she might grant in her spare time.

When I’m asking her to give up everything she has now and come to the farm to start an agricultural life, her immediate response would naturally be “Why should I?”

So not only is there no reason for her to do so, but if I want her to even consider it, I need to offer compensation worthy of her consideration. That’s my situation.

Just because Kelin treats me nicely doesn’t mean I should mistake her for someone who would dedicate herself to me.

Of course, I wasn’t counting on that when I made this bold move.

“First, I’ll give each of you one SSS-rank ability selection card. You can add any ability you want to your current ones. You know that Soo-jung now has SSS-rank fire magic and SS+ ice magic, right?”

“…That was possible, Soo-hyun?”

“I’ve already made deals with the Chinese martial arts leader using SS-rank ability selection cards.”

“I knew about that, but I never thought it was actually possible…”

Both Clay and Kelin were too shocked to continue speaking for a while.

The moment I officially acknowledged it, the common sense that hunters had maintained for over ten years was shattered.

Innate ability equals talent.

An unchangeable spoon class.

Everything that Kelin had achieved at the top with just her SS-rank ability could now potentially be overturned by my hand—this was no longer speculation or conjecture but reality.

Kelin must have already heard information about Kim Soo-jung.

After all, Soo-jung immediately rushed to register her SSS-rank and SS+ rank abilities with the Hunter Association and uploaded videos on YouTube.

I wonder what Kelin thought about that.

She might not have felt particularly threatened.

After all, the time she’s invested isn’t something that can be caught up to overnight just because someone has an SSS-rank ability.

The gap would close quickly, but…

Kelin might have thought she could just advance even faster.

But what’s certain is that eventually, things would flip.

Being an SS-rank hunter herself, she knows how powerful abilities above SS-rank are.

Even the single wall between SS+ and SS creates an insurmountable ceiling, so what about an SSS-rank ability that doesn’t even exist in reality?

“Can I really become SSS-rank too?”

“Someday I might even be able to give you SSS+ rank. I can’t promise that for certain, but I can tell you the possibility exists. But this is really something I’m only planning to give to the head guard of our farm.”

“SSS+ rank… Soo-hyun’s ability…”

Kelin was already lost in fantasy.

Clay seemed to be thinking more realistically and calculating, but I knew this would happen.

Kelin isn’t a practical person.

It makes sense since she doesn’t need to be practical.

She has money to burn and can buy anything she wants.

Her power allows her to control everything with a finger from the highest penthouse in the center of New York, and having everything, she now aims for the unknown world.

She aims to be the best in dungeons where she isn’t already the best.

She spends trillions of won to increase her stats and invests time to become stronger.

Because she’s that kind of person, I was confident she would fall for my proposal.

The Rift Dimension.

This place is on a completely different level from dungeons.

A higher dimension than dungeons.

In the highest dimension, the Rift Dimension, endless possibilities for growth are open.

Money aside, equipment from the Rift Dimension would make her stronger and able to farm more items.

“I’ll do it.”

“Kelin.”

“I’ll do it with Clay. But Soo-hyun, don’t expeditions require a party?”

“They do. But not just anyone will do. Only verified people can enter the farm.”

Increasing personnel isn’t difficult.

With the conditions of Farming Company, people would line up if we announced we were recruiting.

And not just random people—even S-rank hunters might drop everything to join.

But what I need isn’t just high-ranked hunters.

I can grant hunter abilities myself if needed.

What’s more important is the ability to use those abilities.

Experience in dungeons and similar areas matters more.

People who can improvise and handle crisis situations while conquering biomes without my constant supervision.

Hunters who have always challenged difficult dungeons, cleared them, achieved greater accomplishments, and returned.

And people I’m confident won’t harm the farm.

In that sense, when recruiting Kelin, having her bring her party would be the best approach.

I might not trust them, but Kelin would.

Anyway, once I’ve decided to increase the farm’s personnel, it’s right to accept some level of risk.

“Kelin. If there are people you absolutely trust, you can propose this to them. But tell them they won’t get the same conditions as you. For now, I’ll only give SSS-rank abilities to you and Clay.”

“Okay. I’ll ask around. Anyway, I only have three party members I’d trust to watch my back.”

Regardless of their skills, I’m not sure about their personalities, but we’ll separate living spaces and prepare various countermeasures.

Above all, I’m not certain they’ll all come.

Even with good conditions, once they learn about the differential treatment compared to Kelin, it might not be so attractive to them.

Anyway, the proposal was concluded that way.

That very evening, Kelin gathered her party members to ask their opinions.

The deadline was three days.

There was no point in prolonged deliberation anyway, and I decided to only accept those who could make a firm decision.

After spending the final night and packing lots of luggage again, we headed to the farm.

“Wow.”

I heard Kelin’s exclamation.

Looking around, she seemed to like the farm.

“Where do we live? Can I stay with you, Soo-hyun?”

“…It’s not that kind of place. I’ll make separate quarters nearby for Kelin’s expedition team. You’ll live with your expedition team.”

“They can stay there, but can’t Clay and I… or at least I stay here?”

“Well… I don’t mind, but are you sure? It might be uncomfortable.”

“Not at all! I’d love to sleep with Soo-hyun.”

“…That’s not happening.”

I had temporarily built quarters for Kelin’s expedition team near the farm, but due to Kelin’s insistence, she would take a room on the second floor of the cabin, while Clay would stay in the quarters near the farm with any party members who might come.

Currently, Kelin’s expedition team’s purpose is to prevent monster attacks and later to conquer biomes.

It makes more sense for them to do their work near the farm rather than living noisily in the cabin.

Although I’m preparing to expand the cabin into a mansion, it could get noisy with people coming and going.

As for Kelin… well, she’s trustworthy, and there might be moments when immediate defense is needed at the cabin.

The event welcoming Kelin and Clay soon unfolded.

[First monster attack begins.]