“Why? Manager Cha?”
“Ha… Our department is in big trouble.”
“What’s wrong?”
“We can’t play around anymore. The good times are over. Hunter Lee Sooah is going to work us hard.”
He set down the enormous stack of documents he was holding.
“What’s all this?”
“Dungeons we have to handle.”
“Huh?”
Everyone’s expression turned to one of confusion.
“Uh… Isn’t this the level of Hunters Class 1 and 2 combined?”
“Yeah. That’s right. So it seems.”
Manager Cha looked as if he had reached a state of enlightenment. At the same time, all of Class 6 was looking at me.
‘Why? What did I do?’
It felt like everyone was looking at me as if I were the root cause of this situation.
“Ha~ No way, Baek Jihoon. Seriously, what did you do last night? Why did you make Hunter Lee Sooah angry?”
‘Angry?’
“No, nothing happened.”
“What are you talking about? Something must have happened. It’s definitely a relationship issue. I might not look it, but I’m extremely perceptive, you know?”
Manager Cha placed his hands on his hips and spoke confidently.
“What on earth did you do, Jihoon? Spill what happened last night. We need to know to brace ourselves. What is this? How are we supposed to handle all this?”
He pointed at the mountain of work piled on the table.
“Haha… I can’t really talk about what happened last night…”
‘You know, Lee Sooah, Yoo Hana, and Chae Suhyeon all ended up at my place? They were fighting over me.’
I knew exactly what kind of reaction that would elicit.
“Huh? Jihoon, were you out of your mind? You should probably head to a mental hospital, huh?”
That exact response would definitely come.
It paints me perfectly as someone who might be suspected of having delusions.
Honestly, this current scrutiny was preferable.
Everyone was looking at me like I was the enemy of Hunter Class 6.
“Ha… I thought it would be easier with you on board, Jihoon, but what’s this?”
“Even if you raise the pay, this is too much. You have to give us more.”
“No way. I can’t do this. This is insane. Even if you pay me more, I can’t handle this. Are you kidding me? You’re asking us to do the work of both Hunters Class 1 and 2 at the same time? Are you out of your mind?”
Everyone was airing their grievances.
“No, Manager. But how could you just accept this? Isn’t this too much? You should have fought for us!”
“Exactly. Are we really supposed to manage this? We’ll all be dead…”
The complaints from the team members were loud and clear.
They seemed taken aback by the sudden downpour of catastrophe that had struck from the morning.
“Oh, but I forgot to mention this.”
“What is it?”
“Our Team A is being restructured.”
“How so?”
“Our Hunter Class 6 is now the main focus, and the Hunters Class 1 and 2 will support us.”
“????”
Everyone had a puzzled look on their faces.
“What does that mean? I can’t even comprehend this…”
“It means Hunters Class 1 and 2 will back us up~ Do you think I brought this up without reason? I’m Manager Cha!”
“Huh…”
Hearing such outrageous news, everyone jumped up.
“Ahhhhh! Manager Cha!!!!”
They hugged and went wild.
“Wow, Jihoon. I knew we could count on you. Good things are happening now that you’re in our department.”
“Of course, it’s Jihoon. I’m always rooting for you.”
“I don’t even know what you did yesterday, but it’s incredible!”
The dynamics within Team A were slowly shifting.
The once long-standing bottom-tier department, Hunter Class 6, was on the rise.
“Wait, Manager Cha. What exactly did you do?”
While the people of Hunter Class 6 cheered, the managers from Classes 1 and 2 approached.
“Heh heh… Managers Kim and Park.”
Manager Cha smiled as he looked at his colleagues.
It was common knowledge that they had been overshadowed by their peers for years.
“I don’t understand. We’re supposed to back up Hunter Class 6? Isn’t there just junk here?”
“Excuse me? Junk? Manager Kim, that’s a bit harsh.”
“Ha. But if you look at the Hunter ranks alone, it’s true they’re just junk…”
That was a factual statement.
Hunter Classes 1 and 2 were seen as elite groups, while Hunter Class 6 had a more general feel.
“Ha. We’ll show you we can do well from now on. Just wait and see. We have Baek Jihoon with us.”
Assistant Manager Kim pointed at me.
‘Ha… Why me?’
I didn’t want to get dragged into a conflict I didn’t ask for.
Already, dealing with Lee Sooah, Yoo Hana, and Chae Suhyeon was giving me a headache.
And now, it felt like I might get caught up in a war between Hunter Classes 1, 2, and 6.
“Hm… You might be the root cause of this incident…”
The managers of Hunter Classes 1 and 2 stared at me intently.
As if they were feeling truly wronged and frustrated.
“No… I didn’t do anything…”
I stated clearly and firmly.
Did I ask for a restructuring of the department? Did I ask the guild to do anything for me? No.
I didn’t do anything, and suddenly things turned out this way?
‘Ha… Really…’
*
Squeak.
I had come to talk to Lee Sooah about the current situation.
She was focused and dealing with her work.
“Um…”
“Yes, Jihoon.”
She smiled brightly as she looked at me.
The serious demeanor she had just a moment ago had completely vanished.
“I heard about the department restructuring?”
“Yeah~”
“Are you saying that Hunter Class 6 is the main one and Classes 1 and 2 are backing us…?”
“Yeah~”
“Is this because of me?”
“Yeah~”
‘Aw, f*ck…’
“Why? It seems like there’s a lot of chaos right now. It looks like there’s a lot of dissatisfaction from Classes 1 and 2…”
“It’s fine. I’ll make sure to give them some other carrots so they don’t feel neglected. You don’t have to worry about it~”
Lee Sooah looked completely unconcerned.
“Jihoon?”
“Yes?”
“I’m planning to make the entire Blue Guild revolve around you.”
‘F*ck. What on earth is this about?’
“That way, you can’t escape anywhere.”
Lee Sooah suddenly had a scary expression on her face.
I could only quietly roll my eyes.
“Everyone in our Blue Guild is going to unite in solidarity. We’ll become the number one guild in the world. The Blue Guild will be number one, and I’ll be the top S-Rank Hunter. That way, it’ll work out, right?”
She then smiled sweetly.
‘What on earth is this situation…?’
“And I’ll be putting all resources into making sure Baek Jihoon also becomes an S-Rank Hunter. After a few years of hard work, you’ll be harshly pushed to become an S-Rank Hunter, whether you like it or not.”
She said such frightening things with absolute nonchalance.
Of course, I had planned to be promoted to S-Rank in four months. Since I had plenty of points, ranking up monthly wouldn’t be a problem.
‘Hyungseok was right; I shouldn’t use my points on anyone else…’
It seemed I needed to be clear-headed about this.
I would definitely rise to S-Rank quickly.
Nevertheless, the rapid movements of Team A were something I had to be bewildered by.
“Just accept it without any worries, Jihoon. Oh, and I’ll be strengthening the surveillance even more.”
“Huh?”
“See? Yesterday.”
Lee Sooah suddenly had a very scary, chilling expression.
“I told you, didn’t I? That other guilds would try to approach you?”
“Huh?”
“Look, yesterday, Yoo Hana and Chae Suhyeon approached Baek Jihoon, right? This is quite common in the Hunter community. I have no idea how the Baekho Guild learned about you and sent Chae Suhyeon over.”
Lee Sooah shook her head lightly, as if disapproving.
‘Ah, thank goodness. It seems Lee Sooah believes that Chae Suhyeon approached me to recruit me.’
Should I be glad about that?
“That’s why I prepared in advance. That’s why I insisted on the surveillance. All guilds are very attentive to protecting their key talents. Other guilds do this too, you know?”
“Yes… that’s true.”
I had somewhat heard about that.
“But… I want to withdraw the permission for the surveillance…”
I recalled the conversation I had with Hyungseok last night.
It seemed I had been too much of a nice guy, allowing everything and causing problems.
“No. You. Can’t.”
Her reply was very firm and cold.
“Actually, I think we need to strengthen the surveillance even more. We might even need to deploy drones…”
She appeared almost manic at that point.
“I believe my predictions from yesterday have been clearly proven. We confirmed that the Baekho Guild has its eyes on Jihoon. And as for Yoo Hana…”
She seemed like someone who wouldn’t let anything slide.
Rather, she argued for even more surveillance.
“We also need to add surveillance around Jihoon’s house…”
“No.”
This time, I firmly rejected it.
“To prevent Chae Suhyeon or Yoo Hana from getting too close…”
“No.”
It felt right to stick with Hyungseok’s advice.
I shouldn’t be too forgiving.
That just seemed to lead to accumulated problems.
“Ha… Miss Sooah?”
“Yes…?”
“If you keep insisting, I might just resign.”
“Gasp.”
Lee Sooah looked shocked and sealed her lips.
‘It works surprisingly well.’
Of course, I was just bluffing; I had no real intention of resigning.
There weren’t many other places I could go from the Blue Guild…
If I truly did resign, it would probably create a bigger mess.
Without a doubt, Hunter Lee Sooah would pursue me relentlessly and wreak havoc.
But one thing was certain.
I could completely reign Lee Sooah in with the mere mention of the word ‘resign.’
‘Phew. At least it seems I have the whip in my hand now.’
“No, Ji… Jihoon… Uh… Um… I… I was wrong. I got a little carried away. Ho ho ho. I’ll withdraw the strengthening of the surveillance. That was just a joke. Ho ho. That’s unreasonable~ I’ve already crossed the line by just setting up surveillance near your house, right? Ho ho ho.”
She seemed totally flustered, making a fuss about it.
‘So she was aware of it?’
“Ho ho. Anyway, from now on, our Team A, no, the Blue Guild will focus on protecting Baek Jihoon.”
She spoke in a very serious tone.
*
“Ha…”
In the dressing room, Yoo Hana sighed while gripping her head.
“Hana, what’s wrong?”
“Oppa… I just can’t stand it…”
“Then go to the bathroom.”
“No! Not that!!!”
She glared at the manager as if feeling frustrated.
“What then…?”
“Ugh… Baek Jihoon…”
Yoo Hana looked at her manager with a distant expression.
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