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Jiho peeked at the clock as he flipped close the last document assigned to him that day.

4pm. 

Instead of working longer, Jiho grabbed his jacket and slipped it on before exiting the guildmaster’s office. 

Once outside, he could see the guildmembers, whose numbers have now filled up a lot of the office. After witnessing the scene for themselves last time, all of the employees worked with a resolve about as strong as that of the combat hunters.

Although there were a couple of incidents that happened within the guild two days ago, no reports had come out of them. All of the guildmembers within the guild have been checked to some extent.

Though there’s certainly the fact that a system hasn’t been established yet, Jang Hyo Joo also personally interviewed every single guildmember. On top of that, Jang Hyo Joo has a skill that is very useful in choosing people.

Information

Scale of Mutuality (Lv. 10)
Rank	C
Description	A scale that measures how much the user’s and another’s interests  line up with each other. If their interests align the scale is straight, but if not, the scale dips towards the side of the person with more malevolent intentions. The scale cannot be seen by other people.

Despite it not being registered by the association, Jang Hyo Joo was using [Scale of Mutuality] very well.

Of course, because the skill’s rank is low, it probably doesn’t work on high-ranked hunters, but it was still able to filter out most of the non-awakened ones who infiltrated the guild to catch a lead.

Even though it’s chaotic, the guild is slowly beginning to run smoothly thanks to the new employees filling the guild. To the point that Jiho was able to finish all of his work by 4, despite him working leisurely. 

Once a more systematic order is established, the amount of officework Jiho has to do will lessen even more. Since the guildmaster of a hunter guild is someone who leads people on the scene than someone who does work in the office.

After thinking about how he should spend the rest of his time, Jiho headed down to the training room downstairs.

There, Lim Seung Joo, who used to wrestle with documents, was training with a refreshed expression on his face. These days, Seung Joo practically lives in the training rooms.

Over the last couple of weeks, Seung Joo’s expression had lightened a lot. If Jiho had known Seung Joo would be like that, he would’ve hired more regular office workers earlier, even at the risk of being criticized.

“Ah, you have come.”

As soon as he spotted Jiho, Lim Seung Joo bowed at a perfect 90 degree angle. Since Seung Joo doesn’t listen to him whenever Jiho tells him not to do that, Jiho’s pretty much given up.

Today, Jiho didn’t see the other training room regular, Heo Sori.

Instead, next to Seung Joo was another guildmember, who looked as though he was dying.

That guildmember is the newly-hired B-rank combat hunter, Kang Chan Gi. When Jiho first met him, Kang Chan Gi had looked full of energy, but right now, he looked lifeless, like a yellowed, dried-up plant.

Seeing his sorry appearance, Jiho tsked.

“Be gentler on him.”

“I am being gentle.”

“What will you do if he runs away?”

“I will not run away!”

Kang Chan Gi, who had been rolling around on the ground, suddenly jumped up and shouted. Kang Chan Gi’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Jiho.

“I worked so hard to get into this guild; why would I run away? I plan to bury my bones in No Name!”

Though he’s probably mixed in a bit of flattery because he’s in front of the guildmaster… since Jiho’s never really heard that compliment before, he smiled proudly.

The old guildmembers would have never said such a thing.

And on top of that, Jiho never saw such passion for training in his old guildmembers. Seeing such hard-working guildmember makes him, as the guildmaster, feel extremely delighted. At the same time, his own motivation soared.

Last time, he couldn’t do anything against a mere C-rank monster. What he got from that experience is that he needs to train his body.

While the ideal situation is that he gains a new combat skill, it’s not like skills just fall from the sky.

In truth, even though Jiho’s stats are focused on MP, his other stats were a lot higher than before as well. If he’s careful, he can go up against a B-rank with no problem.

The only problem is that in the past, he fortified his body whenever he fought. As his body has not yet adjusted to this difference in feeling, his body can’t perform up to those stats.

Then there’s only one thing he can do.

That is, to get familiar with this new feeling through training, and to rediscover his combat ability through experience.

Though he was planning to do this alone, this presented a good opportunity.

“I came because I wanted to train…. Hunter Lim Seung Joo, can you perhaps be my opponent?”

“Guildmaster-nim?”

“I would no…”

Kang Chan Gi, who was going to stop Jiho, closed his mouth at Lim Seung Joo’s fierce glare.

“Of course I can help. No, not just that, I will offer all of my strength to help you.”

Jiho started to regret it a little when he saw how determined Lim Seung Joo looked in answering, feeling that the training was going to be especially exhausting. Still, Jiho nodded.

“But isn’t Guildmaster-nim a support hunter? Is there a need for you to train your combat abilities? After all, it is dangerous….”

“I am not trying to fight like a combat hunter. Since unpredicted fissures have become more frequent occurrences, there’s been a couple of incidents like the one two days ago, right?”

In Jiho’s case, he’s already experienced three unpredicted fissures and gates. Maybe misfortune is following him, as he’s met more of these unpredicted occurrences than other people.

“My base stats have increased a bit from before. Although my stats are lower than when I used to use a skill to strengthen my body, they’re high enough for me to fight a C-rank…. It’s just that, since the feeling is so different from before, I can’t get the grasp of fighting.”

“Ah. I see. Certainly…”

Lim Seung Joo nodded as he thought back to how Jiho fought in the past.

Even if they didn’t have the best relationship before, the two had worked together to take care of multiple fissures over the past year. Seung Joo knew well that if it was before, Jiho could’ve easily taken care of the Serpens they saw two days ago.

“Other support hunters have defense or debuff skills. Guildmaster-nim….”

Lim Seung Joo stopped and glanced to the side at Kang Chan Gi. After catching Kim Tae Yong and Yang Hojin’s clandestine affair, it seems like he was hesitating to speak freely.

Jiho just nodded. After all, the guildmembers had signed a contract laced with mana before entering, which had a clause prohibiting members from spilling internal secrets.

“Yes. I do not have a skill that will allow me to fight or hold out on my own. Though I can’t do anything about A or S-rank monsters, I would like to be able to face B-ranks or weaker.”

“Then again, the number of fissures appearing have increased lately…. It would be nice to be prepared.”

“About fissures, have you heard? The rumor that a monster disguised as a perfect human came out of a gate!”

As someone who knows that that isn’t a rumor but the truth, Jiho maintained a poker face and stayed silent. Lim Seung Joo clicked his tongue once, as if to warn Kang Chan Gi not to say useless stuff, and ignored him.

“Leaving that aside, let us begin training now. The fact that you came down to the training room unprompted, even though you are probably busy, is a good attitude to have. I, Lim Seung Joo, will do my best to teach Guildmaster-nim.”

“Ah, yes….”

He doesn’t have to do his best.

Seeing how fired up the vice-guildmaster appeared in front of him, Jiho couldn’t say that, so he just laughed awkwardly. The pitying look being sent towards him by the guildmember next to them felt particularly sharp.

Seung Joo raised the output of the restraining handcuffs on his wrist to the max. Since the handcuffs are typically used when training with someone weaker, when Jiho glanced at Seung Joo’s system window, his stats had dropped significantly. While they aren’t equals, Jiho has a chance.

Despite being much weaker than before, Lim Seung Joo wasn’t fazed. Seung Joo held a blunt wooden sword meant for training and got into position.

“Come.”

“…Just like this?”

“Yes, doesn’t Guildmaster-nim need a real situation?”

While he was right, Jiho doesn’t feel comfortable going up without any buffs against an opponent who knows all of his moves. Jiho hesitated for a second, before finally charging at Seung Joo.

Jiho’s usual weapon of choice is his fist. Compared to Seung Joo’s weapon, the sword, Jiho’s reach is shorter. Because of this, he has to avoid Seung Joo’s sword and find a way in, but….

“Euk!”

There’s no way Lim Seung Joo would allow an attack like that so easily. Lim Seung Joo’s sword struck hard at Jiho’s side.

“Your movements are too sloppy.”

Perhaps because it’s been a while since he’s been hit, Jiho received a shock. Jiho got back into the proper stance and soon shot his fist forward. That attack was, unfortunately, blocked by Lim Seung Joo.

Jiho narrowly avoided the sword coming in to stab him again. He tried to kick the sword away, but that, too, was blocked. However, this was an attack Jiho was expecting to get blocked. Jiho stepped on the firm wooden sword and jumped.

Jiho spun above Lim Seung Joo’s head. Of course, there’s no way such an obvious attack would hit Lim Seung Joo. Jiho was going to bring his foot down on Lim Seung Joo’s head, but he was stopped by Seung Joo’s sword. Jiho jumped again, landing behind Seung Joo. As soon as he landed, Jiho charged at Lim Seung Joo, whose form had fallen apart.

BANG!

Lim Seung Joo was easily able to block this attack that Jiho was personally pleased with. Then, the corner of Lim Seung Joo’s lips lifted.

BAM!

Seung Joo’s sword struck Jiho once again. Jiho, who barely managed to guard against the attack with his arm, was pushed back.

“I see now how strong your attacks are. It seems quite alright.”

“Sparring has helped me get a better sense of it. I should have done this sooner, no matter how busy I was.”

“Yes, you are much better than I expected you to be. It seems I can go all out.”

With those ominous words, Seung Joo lowered the output of his handcuffs slightly. Even though his stats still weren’t as strong as usual, seeing how his stats increased, Jiho laughed awkwardly.

“Um, there’s not really a need for that….”

“Try your best to avoid it.”

Lim Seung Joo’s sword, which had become visibly faster than before, rushed forward.

From behind Seung Joo, the pitying look Kang Chan Gi, who had been watching their training, sent Jiho was particularly striking.

The training was finally over. It was a truly terrible two hours. Jiho barely forced his aching body up. He looked over at Lim Seung Joo.

“You still hold a grudge against me, right?”

“No. How could I?”

Lim Seung Joo might have said that with a serious expression, but something wasn’t right. Still, thanks to that, Jiho feels like he was better able to put himself into the mindset of an actual fight.

On top of that, Jiho discovered a change through the fight.

“Hunter Lim Seung Joo, it seems like your movements have improved quite a bit.”

Just as Seung Joo has watched Jiho thus far, so has Jiho. Over the past two hours of fighting, Jiho felt that a lot of the weaknesses he saw in Seung Joo’s movements in the past had disappeared. His swordplay, especially, has been refined to be much more aggressive….

Thanks to that, Jiho got hit a whole bunch of times. He was practically a sandbag.

Lim Seung Joo didn’t hear the mild resentment mixed in Jiho’s voice. He smiled shyly.

“Actually, I wasn’t completely sure yet, so I was planning to tell you after a few more checks…. About Guildmaster-nim’s skill.”

“My skill?”

“Yes, [Blessing of the Star]. When I receive that skill from you, something… something changes.”

Lim Seung Joo explained what he and Heo Sori had felt thus far.

[Blessing of the Star].

While they have that skill on them, both Lim Seung Joo and Heo Sori don’t just feel that their stats increase, but that their abilities themselves advance.

Lim Seung Joo was enlightened in how to wield his sword more effectively, and Heo Sori was able to instinctively pinpoint a monster’s weak spot. This means that their fighting methods themselves have also improved as a result.

If it was before, Jiho might’ve brushed their observations off, but after fighting Seung Joo himself, he could only believe it. Even without using any skill, the way Lim Seung Joo, who had received [Blessing of the Star] multiple times, used his sword was definitely sharper than before.

“Then I should look further into this. If you do well, you might be able to become even stronger.”

“Yes, of course.”

Then Jiho really doesn’t have to worry about Lim Seung Joo leaving the guild anymore.

As someone who chases after strength, to Lim Seung Joo, [Blessing of the Star], which not only strengthens a person but raises their limits themselves, is more tempting than anything else could be.

Jiho decided that he should come down to the training room every once in a while and use his skill on other hunters as well. To tie them up so that they won’t be tempted to leave either.

Leaving the training-obsessed man to continue training alone, Jiho used his shaking legs to walk towards the guild office.

Jiho thought there was nothing good about the guild and his house being so close to each other, but today, the fact that all he has to do is get on an elevator to get home was a godsend.

As soon as Jiho arrived on the first floor of the office, thanks to it being 6pm, he could see a huge crowd of people gathered in the lobby. 

As soon as those people noticed Jiho, they instantly went quiet.

‘What?’

The gathering pairs of eyes weren’t carrying particularly malicious intentions. But even though there wasn’t any, Jiho still felt like he could sense sharp malice coming from those eyes.

Jiho could feel his head instantly turn white. Though he managed to walk to the elevator that takes him home calmly, his face had already gone deathly pale.

Although he often experienced this in the past, not recently.

It was only after he got on top of the elevator that only he and Yiwon can use that Jiho was able to take a breath. In just that short bit of time, cold sweat had formed on his back.

Suddenly, his terminal rang loudly.

With trembling hands, Jiho checked the message window. Only after that did Jiho understand why everyone was looking at him.

Heo Sori

OMG Guildmaster-nim, did you see Joo Yiwon’s scandal?? Hmph I didn’t see Chungram’s guildmaster as that kind of person He’s a cheater

“Scandal?”

Stupid Joo Yiwon. Because of his useless jokes, even when an actual scandal breaks out, everyone focuses on Jiho for no reason….

This isn’t the first time Joo Yiwon’s been involved in a scandal. 

But if Heo Sori’s reacting like this, then it looks like it’s kind of serious. Is that why people were looking at him? Since Joo Yiwon was going around introducing Jiho as his crush, half as a joke and half as a shield.

When Jiho went into the search application and searched it up, a cascade of articles appeared. Jiho found a picture of Joo Yiwon and the woman stuck close to each other.

Inside the picture, the two people looked obviously very close.

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LaZ Bird Corner

Yiwon, do you have a death wish or something?

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