Ch.8989. A Feast Without a Host

The day after Kim Suhyun logged in.

The [SSS+ Rank Farmer Hunter] channel literally blew up.

– Did you see this?

– Is he really SSS+ rank?

– Yeah, even a B-rank could do that

ㄴ Lol, B-rank? You know nothing about hunters

ㄴ I’ll give you 10 billion if a B-rank can do that

They say promising channels blow up on their own without needing to be discovered, but this channel was even promoted by Seo Hyoju, an S-rank hunter.

It wasn’t direct promotion, but when she left such an attention-grabbing comment with her verified account, viewers immediately spread it across community forums.

Especially since Seo Hyoju’s fan base is beyond imagination.

With looks worthy of a celebrity, the title of a third-generation chaebol heir, and on top of that, an S-rank hunter.

– Is this the channel with Seo Hyoju’s officially approved ideal type?

– He is good-looking though;;

– Wow, but what is this? This is insane.

As views and subscribers exploded, the single video rose to the trending page, and the more people watched it, the more attention it received.

Seo Hyoju was just the starting point.

Later, more people were debating the authenticity of the video.

– Where could this dungeon be?

– If those are goblins, wouldn’t that be D to C rank?

– Just another video of farming weak monsters~

– The skills seem too good to be just farming though?

And amid all this attention, as official accounts of famous guilds began appearing in the top-rated comments, the controversy gradually subsided.

– This is XX Guild. If you haven’t joined a guild yet, we’d like to offer you excellent terms.

– You seem like a good fit for our guild. Please contact us.

Comments from no-name guilds disappeared without even getting likes, while comments from well-known guilds dominated.

Of course, many people thought these guilds were just taking a shot in the dark, assuming he was a high-ranked hunter regardless of the truth. But what was clear was that this single video—a channel created just days ago—had ridden the wave to surpass 100,000 subscribers.

By now, the person receiving all this attention should have come forward to satisfy people’s curiosity, but instead, they went silent, making everyone even more anxious.

The same was true for Seo Hyoju.

“Why isn’t he answering my calls?”

At first, it was just a joke.

When she left the comment, she thought they would meet again anyway, and she could pretend it was a coincidence, saying, “Oh? It was you?” while emphasizing their connection.

That’s why she left the comment and tried to contact him.

But he wasn’t answering.

Even though her comment became the top comment and still firmly held first place, he neither contacted her nor replied to her comment.

After several days, Seo Hyoju even swallowed her pride and contacted Kim Sujung, but even she wasn’t checking her DMs.

Why?

She couldn’t understand.

No matter how perfect a woman she was, she knew that not everyone in the world would like her.

But no one had ever rejected(?) her to this extent.

Even Kim Sujung had seemed like she would reply within a second if Seo Hyoju contacted her first and would help bridge the connection.

Both of them ignoring her messages.

“…”

You’re the first man to treat me like this.

Seo Hyoju hated such clichéd drama-like developments.

She definitely hated them, but…

Now she understood why female leads in dramas acted like empty-headed fools.

It wasn’t simply love.

Curiosity. Interest. Possessiveness.

It started somewhere among these three, but when what she had casually scattered with expectations didn’t come back to her, Seo Hyoju found herself clinging, tripping over her own feet, and doing strange things.

“Hah…”

Even knowing this, she couldn’t avoid it.

Seo Hyoju rang the doorbell.

“Oh my. You’re the one who came before…”

“Yes, ma’am. Hello. I’m Seo Hyoju.”

“Ah, Hyoju! Oh my, what brings you here?”

“Is Mr. Kim home?”

“Honey!”

It would have been funny to call ahead.

On a weekend.

So she didn’t.

Coming without notice was also funny, but she decided to reduce the embarrassment from twice to once.

Seo Hyoju didn’t even know what she was saying.

“Actually, I recently bought a gray wolf leather jacket at the Gwangjin Distribution auction.”

“Haha, so that was you?”

She made up a plausible reason for her visit before getting to the main point.

“I didn’t know, but have you seen this YouTube video that’s trending these days?”

“Ah, yes. I was quite surprised myself.”

“It seems your son has awakened as an extraordinary hunter.”

“Haha.”

“Our Golden Guild is also doing our best to nurture talented individuals.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell my son what to do.”

“Of course. I’ve come, at the risk of being rude, to ask if you could arrange a meeting.”

In the end, she stooped to using the Golden Group’s name.

Is this really necessary? she wondered, but seeing what had happened in just a few weeks since meeting that man, Seo Hyoju decided to follow her instincts.

She couldn’t just ignore him like others might mockingly suggest.

SSS+ rank hunter.

There might be exaggeration, but there was definitely something there.

She decided it was worth investing, even at the risk of being deceived, until she confirmed whether that “something” was exaggerated bluster or not.

“But, well… my son is currently in a dungeon, so I’m not sure when he’ll be back.”

“Ah, so that’s why he’s not answering.”

“Yes. When he goes in, he usually stays for about a week… I’ll tell him to contact you as soon as he returns.”

“Thank you.”

He didn’t seem to be lying.

But something was puzzling.

While many parties spend days in dungeons, staying for a whole week?

What rank of dungeon would require that?

Her curiosity only grew.

And so did her impatience.

– This is Kim Jinhyeop, Team Leader at the Dungeon Association Headquarters. Suhyun-nim, we’re waiting for a positive response to our previous offer.

Now even a Dungeon Association team leader had appeared in the comments.

No hunter was unfamiliar with Kim Jinhyeop.

An S- rank tanker.

For people living in Seoul, he was someone they had seen at least once during dungeon backflows and owed their safety to, making him quite popular.

He had an official YouTube channel for the Dungeon Association with many subscribers.

The significance of this comment was that it served as an official mark that the “SSS+ Rank Hunter” channel name wasn’t just clickbait.

– What, is this for real?

– What’s the Dungeon Association offering?

– Could it be a scouting offer?

– Wait, the Hunter Association is scouting a hunter?

– The Hunter Association is even more aggressive than guilds lol. It’s their privilege to snatch up promising hunters as soon as they spot their rank.

It might not be easy after all.

Seo Hyoju bit her plump lips.

She made a commitment that she might need to try harder.

————————

Kim Jinhyeop was also on edge.

“Why is he creating a channel?”

It made sense.

High-ranked hunters who weren’t affiliated anywhere would naturally test the waters, waiting for better offers—it was their right and privilege.

But the Hunter Association’s offer, which he had secretly heard about, was so generous that such testing wasn’t necessary.

Even Kim Jinhyeop felt envious when he heard it.

“Is that what an SSS+ rank gets?”

“Well… it’s also a newly established rank. There’s an eight-rank difference between you and him, Team Leader.”

“Hmm…”

When put that way, he wondered if they should offer even more. Regardless, from Kim Jinhyeop’s perspective, they couldn’t afford to lose such talent.

He couldn’t just wait after making a decent offer, so he pressured his superiors to propose better terms.

The funny thing was that such proposals usually didn’t pass easily.

No matter how much the Hunter Association had improved and made fewer blunders these days, budget-related issues still became prey for politicians.

But this one passed.

His superiors even pushed Kim Jinhyeop.

“We have intelligence that the Americans are trying to make contact.”

“How would they even know about him?”

“The Hunter Association sent them the information.”

“Those bastards with no business ethics.”

“We must secure him at all costs. We’ll provide whatever budget necessary.”

“How can we outbid America with money?”

“That’s why! Use whatever means necessary!”

Leaking personal information from the Hunter Association was punishable, but the funny thing was that in America, which was essentially the headquarters of the Hunter Association, they openly poached hunters from other countries using such information.

Of course, there were protests, but there was never any evidence, and thanks to the hunters they had poached, America remained the undisputed number one hunter nation.

Even apart from that, Kim Jinhyeop wanted to have a reliable hunter on his side to make his job easier.

That’s why, despite people mockingly asking if they were really conducting recruitment wars through YouTube comments, he left a comment belatedly.

He had tried to contact him directly but got no response, and he was worried that major guilds—or worse, the Americans—might make contact and whisk him away to the United States.

“Where is he and what is he doing?”

Many people were beginning to take an interest in Kim Suhyun’s life, which had previously gone unnoticed by anyone.