Chapter 41. Guild Scout (2)
“Ah! I know you’ve declined once already.”
Feeling a crisis, Kwak Byeong-ki hastily adjusted his slipping glasses and spoke urgently.
“So we had temporarily given up on recruiting you, Hunter.”
“And?”
“However, seeing that you haven’t joined any guild yet, we thought we might reach out.”
He explained with a slick voice, keeping an eye on Kim Gi-ryeo’s reaction.
“The last proposal was so spontaneous that you might not have found the conditions satisfactory.”
“…”
“We highly value your potential as a Hunter, so I brought a revised contract!”
But Kim Gi-ryeo looked at the document as if it were used toilet paper.
Sure, the amount written was surely excessive for an F-Class, but it wasn’t enough to break the vow he made at the time of his reincarnation.
‘Sometimes there are things you can’t trade for money. Like, I don’t know, signed documents?’
He was an outsider who understood the weight carried by the concept of ‘contract’.
Moreover, he was more than aware of the dangers of carelessly getting involved with an organization on Earth in a situation where his memory gaps were wide open.
So, after some contemplation, Gi-ryeo steeled his resolve. He chose freedom.
If he was to spend time researching how to regain his strength anyway, he had to maintain his status of being unattached for now.
‘I reincarnated to escape work, and now you want me to live like a hamster on a wheel again?’
Of course, that rational reason was overshadowed by the agony he had experienced in his previous life; just the thoughts of work were enough to make him decline.
“I’m fine.”
His attitude seemed to signal that there was no value in further discussions.
Kwak Byeong-ki felt as if he had been hit on the head.
‘Other Hunters are dying to join a guild, yet we’re the ones clinging to an F-Class?’
Wasn’t it for nothing that Esther had sent a team leader?
With that attitude, a regular staff member wouldn’t even have been able to get a word in.
“Um, Hunter. Do you perhaps have a different offer you’re waiting for?”
He was growing anxious.
Kwak Byeong-ki cautiously threw out the question, wondering if he had a guild in mind since the response was so cold.
“No, I just don’t plan on joining any guild.”
However…
The answer that came from Gi-ryeo was unexpected.
It wasn’t the conditions that bothered him; he was flat-out rejecting all guild offers.
“Oh, I see.”
It was incomprehensible behavior.
Team Leader Kwak pleaded several times for the guild’s usefulness afterward, but Gi-ryeo’s reactions remained consistent.
He kept a chilling silence, his eyes coiled like a serpent.
‘This is why he’s F-Class; there must be a reason.’
Having spent time around high-ranking Hunters like Esther, Team Leader Kwak thought he was relatively accustomed to their pressures.
But this Awakened being had made his prior experiences feel trivial.
It felt like he wasn’t even viewing Kwak’s group as his own kind.
Kwak Byeong-ki swallowed hard.
“We must have misjudged the situation. Haha, even if you were given a blank check, you wouldn’t be tempted!”
However, Kim Gi-ryeo did not take this to heart.
‘Going to work… I’d rather die than do that…’
In fact, he had been quite shocked to see the term ‘working hours’ in the contract that had been thrust at him earlier.
Gi-ryeo was currently in a slight state of mental and physical fatigue.
But seeing him remain silent only deepened Kwak Byeong-ki’s misunderstanding.
‘Oh no, he’s this unhappy about the blank check. Is he saying not to even toy with him with money?’
When someone lives thinking that money can solve everything, they have no strategy when they encounter someone who isn’t swayed by it.
In the end, Kwak Byeong-ki half-gave up on recruiting Kim Gi-ryeo.
‘Let’s shift our approach.’
It’s fine. He had preemptively been given instructions from the Guild Master for situations like this.
“It seems you’re uncomfortable with a formal contract. Let’s consider this one null and void.”
When the HR Team Leader stepped back, Gi-ryeo also snapped back to his senses.
At that moment.
“Then what I’m about to propose is an entirely separate suggestion.”
“Yes?”
“For example, if it was an unofficial request for a temporary job, would you accept it?”
Korean Magic Tower unexpectedly made an enticing offer.
“A request?”
“It’s related to appraisals.”
They wanted to briefly request the appraiser named Kim Gi-ryeo.
“Actually, we acquired a piece of equipment during our recent gate raid, but we’re having trouble analyzing its performance.”
Kwak Byeong-ki adjusted his glasses.
“We haven’t been able to clarify the exact usage conditions, so we were starting to look for outside help.”
“….”
“However, since we have someone who cleared our maze here, we thought to reach out.”
It was an attractive condition.
It wouldn’t take much time to check on a single item logically.
‘No worries about being overworked, right?’
But he had never formally done an appraisal request for items before. What to do?
“And this is the appraisal fee that the Magic Tower has set. Well, it probably doesn’t mean much to you, but it’s required for procedure’s sake.”
The sealing factor for his wavering heart was none other than that white paper.
The amount written in the valuation request that Kwak Byeong-ki revealed showed a number with eight digits.
[15,084,600]
Seeing this, Kim Gi-ryeo didn’t even take a breath before speaking up.
“What time should I come out to work?”
Who would have imagined?
That this seemingly pessimistic man was actually a money-hungry scoundrel at heart.
‘Surprisingly, there’s a soft side to him.’
Kwak Byeong-ki never got the truth.
He simply thought that this mysterious Awakened one felt guilty for continually declining offers, leading him to begrudgingly accept the work.
*
Two days later, Monday.
‘Did I unintentionally apply the Door-in-the-face technique?’
Kwak Byeong-ki thought as he arrived at work at the Korean Magic Tower.
‘It stings to fail in the scouting, but it wouldn’t be bad to slowly reel him in with smaller requests.’
Esther hadn’t originally ordered him to recruit Kim Gi-ryeo without exception.
She only said it’d suffice to establish a friendly relationship.
So, to lure Kim Gi-ryeo in, Kwak Byeong-ki started with a trivial request as bait.
‘Once he experiences the facilities of the Korean Magic Tower and the best treatment in the industry, he’ll change his mind, right?’
His goal was to instill a positive image of themselves.
He had confidence; after all, what kind of guild was this?
“I’ve prepared the equipment for the request here. Please feel free to assess it at your leisure.”
Kwak Byeong-ki said gently to the young man standing behind him.
Kim Gi-ryeo nodded and quietly stepped inside.
The room labeled the Second Analysis Room had a decor that resembled a clean laboratory.
A magic tool soon revealed itself.
“A sword?”
A one-handed black sword lay serenely in a transparent square case.
Dark aura began to swell ominously from its blade.
It was blatantly an unusual item…
As Gi-ryeo gazed at it, an appraiser from the tower appeared nearby to explain.
“This item was acquired from an A-Class Gate. It has been temporarily named the ‘Cursed Sword.’”
“Cursed?”
“There’s a reason for that.”
The Hunter Association classified item ranks into five levels, from common to legendary:
【 Common < Rare < Unique < Epic < Legendary 】 Typically, the ranking is assigned based on a comprehensive assessment of the equipment's strength and abilities. However, this loot obtained from an A-Class Gate was rare enough to be considered Unique solely based on its overflowing basic magic power. But there was a small problem with this magic sword. ‘Sigh, I’ve obtained a Unique item but can’t wield it.’ Kwak Byeong-ki recalled the reason why this item had been temporarily labeled as a cursed sword. - It dropped! Since it came from an A-Class boss, there’s no doubt it’s at least Unique! - Congratulations, Team Leader! You finally have a primary weapon! On the day the black sword was acquired, the Korean Magic Tower’s raid team experienced an unforeseen disaster. Beating a vicious A-Class monster, they believed they’d obtained a coveted piece of equipment all Hunters dreamt of... - Uaaaah! - Team Leader! An A-Class Hunter who touched the sword suddenly screamed and fainted. And the victims didn’t stop there. During the process of moving the black sword, another A-Class was lost, and two non-awakened Hunters fainted. In the appraisal process, one C-Class fainted too. Even the B-Class and A-Class Hunters tried to subdue the item with brute force when they couldn’t figure out its precise usage rules, and three of them collapsed under its curse. The number of people sacrificed by the cursed sword had already exceeded ten. “At least we’ve confirmed that it absorbs magic power. However, the rate of absorption is abnormally high.” “Really?” “We suspect there’s some hidden condition.” But still, there hadn’t been a case where Unique-grade equipment was misappraised so far. Could this unknown appraiser really bring forth better results than the tower’s elite? Kwak Byeong-ki concealed his skepticism and spoke kindly. “Just so you know, even if you fail at the appraisal, there are no penalties, so please don’t worry…” But he couldn’t finish his sentence. “Oh, this feels lighter than it looks?” Swish.
Right after that, Kim Gi-ryeo lifted the cursed sword without hesitation.
“Huh!”
“Ugh! Wait, Hunter! Wait, wait!”
He openly behaved as if it were dangerous and yet grabbed it enthusiastically?
Is he a rookie appraiser?
Kwak Byeong-ki was taken aback, unable to utter a word.
‘You shouldn’t touch it…!’
But at that moment.
Something felt off.
Now that he thought about it, four or five seconds had easily passed while he was panicking.
“Why?”
“Um, well…”
“Did you mean to tell me not to touch it?”
The F-Class Hunter calmly caressed the sword’s blade.
He looked as relaxed as someone taking their time to admire a piece of artwork.
“I apologize. I need to physically interact with it for a more accurate assessment. Should I put it down now?”
“Uh, no, I mean…”
To lift the sword from which an A-Class Hunter had screamed and fainted in just a few seconds so casually?
Until now, even the best Hunters couldn’t stand the unique item’s special abilities, collapsing one after another.
‘How can he endure such an immense drain of magic power?’
The man, adorned with snake-like hair dyed bright yellow, was still examining the sword intently.
He boldly trailed his hand along the deadly blade, muttering softly.
“Is the absorption rate steep?”
As if he were completely indifferent to it.
Kwak Byeong-ki’s hair stood on end.
If he could handle a black sword that consumes magic power like a starving beast so casually…
It’s obvious he’d have no understanding of other Awakened’s circumstances.
The gap in their levels was too great.
‘What kind of person is the Guild Master trying to pull into the guild?’
After finishing the appraisal, Gi-ryeo put the sword back in its place.
Everyone held their breath. Clang, the sound echoed clearly in the air as the sword hit the case bottom.
“…”
With the appearance of this enigmatic Awakened, the atmosphere froze.
Observing the situation, Gi-ryeo thought quietly.
‘Huh? Everyone’s acting serious just because I left a fingerprint on it?’
It was sufficiently deducible from this nonchalant reaction; the truth was he had never felt like he was absorbing magic power in the first place.
‘By the way, what a simple magic tool.’
As everyone knew, it demanded specific costs like a vampire.
But a wizard who completely lost their inner magic usually dies.
A tool that kills its owner!
Who would buy such a sword?
That’s why this sword had basic safety mechanisms set in place.
Simply put, it would stop absorbing magic once it detected the minimum amount necessary for survival.
‘Any hunter, even at F-Class level magic, would automatically trigger the cutoff.’
The reason those Hunters had screamed and collapsed in the past was due to their A-Class levels rapidly dropping to zero.
So why was Gi-ryeo perfectly fine?
It was simple.
His magic was already at zero…
‘Wait? Why am I suddenly tearing up?’
While the others fell from heights of ten or nine floors,
Kim Gi-ryeo stood still on the first floor, so there wouldn’t be any impact from the drop.
F-Class was relatively free from the sword’s curse.
But the Korean Magic Tower had no way of knowing this fact.
“H-Hunter, are you okay with your hand?”
“My hand? Of course, it is.”
If a non-awakened person were to touch the sword, magic would surge back and melt their palm down.
‘Even if an F-Class absorbed some power, that would be different from someone with zero magic attempting to wield the sword.’
The Magic Tower, due to its strict adherence to elite status, had no members lower than C-Class.
So, they never validated the item usage of the lowest level Hunters.
Moreover, there had been instances of regular transport workers getting hurt by touching the sword.
When combining this information, would they really conclude that one must lack enough awakening level to wield the sword?
