B-rank.
Objectively, that’s a fairly high rank.
The problem is that people held extremely high expectations for Shin Jiho.
Because of the title of “The First Awakened One,” Jiho was an awakened one that the entire world had once paid attention to.
But it turned out that he was only a B-rank with nothing special.
Everyone was disappointed. As high as their expectations were, so was their disappointment.
Of course, if it was only for his low rank, Shin Jiho wouldn’t have become the subject of mockery that he is now.
The problem is that Shin Jiho often vomits blood or faints on the site.
An awakened one’s body is incomparably stronger than a normal human’s body. The higher the rank of the awakened one, the stronger their body, surpassing human limits.
Naturally, there are times when healers or hunters with specialized skills are assessed at high ranks despite being weak in combat.
But Shin Jiho is a normal combat hunter with the [Fortify] skill. A combat hunter who makes a living off of having a tough body.
A B-rank combat hunter who suffers from anemia and faints all the time?
It was unheard of.
Because of that, Shin Jiho was dragged into all sorts of scandals one month after his assessment.
The accusation that something had intervened in Shin Jiho’s assessment quickly swept over Korea and soon, the world.
Unfortunately, Shin Jiho was not the only one to get dragged into the scandal.
Chungram Group, which has Shin Jiho’s father, Shin Joong Ho, as its chairman; Chungram Guild, which is affiliated with Chungram Group; and even the Korean branch of the Hunter Association, which is in charge of the assessments, were under suspicion.
The rumor that Chungram had given money to the association to rig the assessment spread like wildfire.
Large conglomerate, association, and corruption. These three topics fanned the flames surrounding Shin Jiho.
The rumors finally calmed after Jiho took multiple re-assessments both inside and outside of the country. However, the eyes of doubt cast on him never fully disappeared.
Even though Shin Jiho is the first awakened one, he is a hunter that smells of corruption.
Hunters, in particular, truly believe that Shin Jiho had rigged his ranking and hate him. Whenever the name Shin Jiho appears, they immediately jump on it.
Despite the curses, Shin Jiho didn’t step down. Rather, his activities increased. Although his family kept trying to stop Jiho, Jiho never thought about stepping down this way.
If he steps down, would people think, “Oh, he’s stopping because he wants to.”? No, they’ll probably think, “He tried to make it with money, but he’s quietly slipping out because of his incompetence.”
Jiho doesn’t want to stop here and be remembered as an incompetent, corrupt hunter by the world.
Jiho wants to prove his abilities and receive recognition.
‘Though it might be better to just stop here.’
Shin Jiho is the guildmaster of the guild that he created: No Name.
He didn’t start the guild with some great aspiration. He only started it after he had stubbornly refused Joo Yiwon’s offer to join Chungram. Even the name was a half-hearted effort.
But once he made up his mind, he worked really hard. Of course, he didn’t put in just work, but money as well.
Thanks to that, Shin Jiho’s guild, No Name, was able to establish itself as a stable mid-tier guild within a year.
But that was No Name’s limit.
No Name is still unable to break free from the image of a guild that’s operated by someone born with a golden spoon in their mouth as a hobby. That isn’t completely wrong either. If Shin Jiho hadn’t poured in his own money, the guild would’ve long since fallen apart.
Nothing changes with just a guild.
For the normal people who have no interest in hunters, Shin Jiho was already yesterday’s news. Even for the people with some interest, he’s a has-been–someone who makes them think, “Ah, there was someone like that.” As for hunters, well, they curse him like their lives depend on it.
In order to turn the public opinion, Jiho would have to clear a S-rank dungeon.
But that’s not something that can be done with Jiho’s enthusiasm alone.
If it continues this way, No Name will remain as a mid-tier guild forever.
A decided fate. There’s no way to break through.
There is the option of raiding a dungeon by recruiting people outside of the guild. Jiho even knows a hunter who would help him for free if he asked him to. But Jiho doesn’t want to do it that way.
Messy thoughts followed one after another.
“Since I’m just lying down, I’m thinking of all sorts of things.…”
Shin Jiho shook his head as though he was trying to shake all of those thoughts off and sat up.
It’s only been one year. It’s too early to consider giving up.
Instead of thinking of useless stuff, he should just go home. While he was getting ready to change out of his hospital gown to be discharged, someone knocked on the door.
“Who is it?”
Instead of answering, the person opened the door. Jiho tsked. There’s only one person who would act so rude and walk in however he wants like that.
The impertinent man approached Jiho with large steps.
The man’s name is Joo Yiwon.
There’s a lot of words associated with Joo Yiwon.
The world’s only SS-rank hunter.
The absolute strongest hunter with an overwhelming gap over the hunter in second place.
The first hunter in the world to raid dungeons and uncover the principles behind the gates.
The man who could’ve started a guild himself but chose, instead, to join Chungram Group’s Chungram Guild as its guildmaster and build Chungram into the world’s strongest guild.
And he is also both Shin Jiho’s childhood friend who’s like a brother, and, at one point, was a petty rival.
That’s right, it was once like that.
As the two lived in the same house, they attended school together since preschool all the way to college. Thanks to that, they always competed against each other.
The result was always Joo Yiwon first, Shin Jiho second.
And now… Joo Yiwon is first while Shin Jiho had fallen so far behind that he started missing the past when they were only one place away from each other.
“Honey.”
Jiho shuddered at Yiwon’s sweet tone. That was a nickname he could never get used to, no matter how many times he heard it. Jiho scratched his arm and responded bluntly.
“Why did you come?”
“I came to see you, Honey. I ran here as soon as I finished work, are you not going to welcome me?”
“Go home, wash up, and go to sleep.”
Jiho clicked his tongue as he looked at the other up and down.
Though he’s not completely sure, Joo Yiwon was supposed to attend an event related to awakened ones today.
Joo Yiwon had his hair styled up to show his forehead and was dressed in a formal suit. At least his outer shell looks upright.
Yiwon’s appearance wasn’t much different from usual, but the huge bouquet of roses in Yiwon’s hand caught Jiho’s eye. Since it was a formal event, there’s no reason for him to receive a bouquet like that. Where did he get it from?
Just from a glance, it looks like there are several tens of flowers in there. Did he really walk through the hospital with that? There’s no doubt Yiwon doesn’t realize how famous he is.
Jiho was going to ignore him and change, but stopped when he felt a strange, persistent gaze on him. Joo Yiwon’s eyes were aimed near Shin Jiho’s hands that were in the middle of undoing two buttons.
“….”
Joo Yiwon’s eyes, which others call clear and pure, have an ambiguous light in them right now.
Feeling slight chills, Jiho quickly abandoned his plans to change and discharge, and instead, re-buttoned his gown. Only then did the strange light fade.
Jiho felt relieved after the awkward feeling disappeared. He gestured towards the bouquet with his chin.
“What’s that? Did someone give it to you?”
“Curious?”
“No, just thinking that if you were going to come here, you should’ve put it down somewhere.”
“Why would I receive roses from someone else? I bought this to give to my Jiho.”
“What do you mean why…. You receive them all the time.”
The number of welcome bouquets Yiwon’s received from different countries must be several thousand. Yiwon shook his head at Jiho’s words.
“I’ve never received them with my own hands. I pass them on to my secretary. I made this one by hand for you.”
“You made this?”
“Yeah, I trimmed each flower and arranged them into a bouquet.”
Really?
Jiho looked at the rose bouquet suspiciously. Other than the nonsense of him liking Shin Jiho, Joo Yiwon is not the type of person to lie.
Yiwon shook the bouquet with a smile. Whenever the bouquet shook, a strong scent of roses would waft up and tickle the nose.
“Just accept it. It’s just flowers.”
Joo Yiwon likes to give presents. While he tends to give Jiho items he gets from dungeons, they were such good items that it’s usually hard for Jiho to accept.
The only item Jiho’s ever accepted is a pair of gloves. He only accepted it because Yiwon had employed the help of Jiho’s parents and whined about how it was just a glove. Since Jiho refused any of his gifts after that, it seemed that Yiwon decided to change the type of gifts he brings.
As Jiho kept considering it with a doubtful look, Joo Yiwon pretended to sulk.
“You always refuse.”
“Why gift flowers between two men?”
“Don’t put a meaning to each flower, Jiho. Can I not even buy you flowers? Between us?”
“What about us?”
“We’re like family. Are you really not going to accept them?”
Jiho frowned immediately.
This cheater.
There’s no way Jiho can refuse if he comes on like that. Because Jiho’s parents took Yiwon in after he had lost his parents, they had been living together since they were young.
There were even people who made fun of Joo Yiwon for that…. Even though those were all things that happened in the past, Jiho was still bothered by it.
After all, he’s annoying, but Yiwon is still like a brother to him.
“Okay, fine, I’ll take them.…”
Jiho accepted the flowers helplessly. Seeing this, Yiwon grinned widely.
“Then are you going to marry me now?”
“You crazy bastard, didn’t you tell me to not put a meaning to each flower?”
“Are you going to accept flowers from anyone? You’re such an easy person, Honey.”
“I accepted them because we’re family, family.”
“Husbands are also family.”
“If you’re just going to say bullsh*t, then take these back.”
“It’s not bullsh*t but the truth, you just don’t believe me. Why don’t you believe me when I love my Jiho this much?”
Joo Yiwon laughed at Jiho’s growing irritation.
LaZ Bird Corner
I’d just like to say that the Korean readers went crazy over Joo Yiwon’s first official appearance, specifically with his “Honey.” He was immediately accepted.
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