Chapter 914: Hope City Guild, Open for Business (1)

January 1st.

In other words, the first day of the new year.

As the day to start a new year, the first day of the year often coincided with various events and festivals.

Things like store opening ceremonies, festivals in special tourist cities, or events on internet sites.

And this year’s January 1st was scheduled to be the most special day for me.

Because today was scheduled to be the first anniversary of Eun & Ok Co., Ltd., Hope City Branch.

‘…So it’s finally come to this.’

It was a deeply moving thought, considering I had reached a level where I could open a guild in less than two years since officially starting my hunter life.

Of course, age-wise, I was almost on par with hunters for about 5-6 years. It’s just that my awakening was delayed, so I started my hunter life a bit later.

Still, I spent such a densely packed time over the past two years that it’s incomparable to ordinary hunters; I felt like I’d practically lived through 10 years’ worth of hunter life.

I’ve already caught dozens of S-class monsters, which one might only encounter once in a lifetime, and resolved two monster waves that I either blocked or cleared in the process.

There were even two or three near-death crises during that process. Somehow, I managed to resolve them all, which is why I’m standing here today.

I think this is enough to not be ashamed of the past Sung Taekyung, the boy who lost his parents helplessly in this town without being able to do anything.

…If they were alive, they both would have been proud.

“…Hoo.”

As I was about to transition from Hunter Sung Taekyung to Guild Master Sung Taekyung, a surge of emotion welled up inside me.

Especially since it was starting in the old Chuncheon City, now Hope City, which was practically my hometown as ‘Hunter Sung Taekyung’.

The place that made me decide to become a hunter, and where the monster I once aimed for resided.

Also, the place that elevated me to an S-class hunter and the place that made me the Guild Master of a hunter guild.

Looking down quietly from the hunter guild building, filled with various meanings, I could see reporters and many other people already gathered in front of the guild building.

-Knock, knock, knock.

“I’m coming in, Master.”

“Yes, Eunbyul.”

Eunbyul entered the CEO’s office after three knocks. She, dressed in a suit different from her usual maid uniform, approached me.

“Your suit looks good too. I’ve only ever seen you in your maid uniform.”

“Thank you, Master.”

“…You know you shouldn’t call me Master outside, right?”

“I know. But it’s not time yet.”

Eunbyul replied cheekily with a smile.

Recently, she had been gradually preparing for her activities as ‘Geum Nari’. Not only was she slowly taking over the internal affairs of Geumhyang through Geum Dallae, but she had also completed her registration as a hunter who would be active in this ‘Eun & Ok Co., Ltd., Hope City Branch’ that I was establishing.

Of course, although she registered as a hunter, her primary role would realistically be my secretary. She herself said she preferred that anyway.

“The others are also waiting outside the door. It looks like today will be a busy one.”

“It will.”

Although the thought of a tiring day already filled my mind, it’s the path I chose, so I just have to accept it.

Pushing my arms into the suit that felt awkwardly tight, as if constricting my body, I left the company representative’s office.

Because starting today, I had to be ‘Guild Master Sung Taekyung’, not ‘Hunter Sung Taekyung’.

Eun & Ok Co., Ltd., Hope City Branch.

The building, mostly called ‘Hope City Guild’ by omitting the long full name of Eun & Ok Co., Ltd., Hope City Branch, was approached cautiously by a young girl.

‘Can I… really come here…?’

It seems there might have been some misunderstanding; wouldn’t it be better to turn back now?

No matter how I think about it, I don’t think I’m the kind of person who would be invited to this guild.

However, Hong Sera was too soft-hearted to refuse the summons from her senior alumni, who was like a great mentor to her, so she had no choice but to warp gate all the way to this distant Hope City following her call.

“M-maybe she was just saying that…. If not, there’s no way they’d hire someone like me as a hunter….”

Hunter Han Min-ah, a great senior whom I met at the regular guild briefing session where each guild dispatched hunters just before graduation.

Why did she, the top output of beast-type hunters who was the first to break through the S-class threshold despite being a beast-type hunter, specifically tell me to visit the Hope City Guild after graduation?

Hong Sera couldn’t help but question it from that day on.

If it were me around the first year of high school, I probably would have accepted such an invitation from a guild as a matter of course.

Because back then, I possessed physical abilities far superior to others.

However, with a sharp decline in skills starting in the second year and only being able to use average-level awakening abilities from the third year onwards, it seemed strange no matter how I thought about it that a guild would specifically call out to me, someone who barely scraped by with graduation scores and just barely qualified as a hunter.

Especially since it was the ‘Hope City Guild’, which had recently become famous for various reasons, calling for me.

Until just 10 years ago, South Korea had three guilds, known as the ‘Big Three Guilds’, holding about 80% of the nation’s hunters and dividing the hunter industry’s pie.

The guild that completed standard education through Hunter Training High Schools and was deployed into practical combat after thorough training, Eun & Ok Co., Ltd.

The Hunters’ Autonomous Union, where anyone could join if they wished, even men without awakening abilities, but with minimal protection or support facilities, requiring members to prove their skills solely on their own.

And the Ariel Foundation guild, so inaccessible to ordinary people that famous figures from political and business circles passed through it, and it was operated primarily by their children.

…And while these three guilds held the positions of the Big Three firmly in a tight balance, another guild suddenly emerged in Hope City.

Although initially considered just a branch of Eun & Ok Co., Ltd., no one now thinks of the Hope City Guild as merely one of Eun & Ok’s branches.

It’s understandable, as the Hope City Guild has incredibly rapidly increased its value over the past 10 years, accounting for about 10% of the performance of hunter guilds nationwide.

While 10% might seem small in terms of sheer performance volume, that’s purely based on revenue; it was an achievement impossible for a small-to-medium guild with only about 100 affiliated hunters.

Compared to the Big Three guilds, their revenue was slightly lower, but their net profit surged forward, absolutely keeping pace.

An absurdly high internal evaluation, with employee satisfaction consistently topping the charts for 10 years straight.

And a mysterious hunter recruitment structure where official hiring never occurred, only opening paths through internal employee scouting.

It was already a well-known story that a senior who graduated top of her class from Hunter Training School last year rejected the offers from the other three guilds and submitted her resume to the Hope City Guild, which hadn’t actively sought her out.

Dokyung Group had long been an official investor in the Hope City Guild, and rumors suggested connections to the company’s representative, Seo Ok-hee, or even President Park Hee-sun….

-Rumble, rumble rumble….

“W-what if they ask why I came here after I go in…. This doesn’t seem like a place someone like me should be…”

“Oh, who are you? I haven’t seen you before?”

“Hieek?!”

What stopped Hong Sera, who was hesitating and dithering at the guild entrance, was a black-haired female hunter clad entirely in a black full-body suit.

Seeing her appearance, which bore a strange resemblance to the shield-wielder currently appearing frequently in the media, she cautiously spoke her name.

“A-are you Hunter Kang Hye-eun…?”

“Hm? Hye-eun?”

“A-aren’t you Hunter Kang Hye-eun…?”

“Ah, you must be the one coming for an interview today? Seeing as you still mistake me for my daughter.”

“…What? D-daughter…?”

The mother of Hunter Kang Hye-eun, the S-class shield-wielder… could this person possibly be…

“M-might you be Hunter Kang Eunyoung…?”

“Surprised? Honestly, it’s a problem even after living the hunter life for so long. I don’t seem to age at all, so many people keep mistaking me for my daughter.”

“I-I’m sorry! P-pardon me….”

“It’s okay. Anyway, if you mistake me for Hye-eun, it means I look young, which is a compliment for an ahjumma~. Ah, but don’t mistake me for an ahjumma in front of my daughter, okay?”

It really was Hunter Kang Eunyoung. Hong Sera had mistaken her due to her appearance, which showed no signs of aging despite the years.

I had heard that she was active at the Hope City Guild recently after reversing her retirement 10 years ago, but I never expected to actually meet her.

And her appearance, which hadn’t aged at all compared to her prime. Who would imagine she’s a 50-something ahjumma looking at her now?

While such thoughts ran through her mind, Kang Eunyoung grabbed the arm of the flustered Hong Sera and dragged her straight into the guild without giving her a chance to resist.

-Grasp.

“Hieek?!”

“Don’t linger outside the guild, come on in. You can decide whether to actually join the guild after seeing the atmosphere inside.”

“Y-yes?!”

With those words, Kang Eunyoung pulled her arm and entered the building.

The grip was too strong for Hong Sera to break free as it pulled her body into the Hope City Guild.