NOVEL NEXT Chapter 32
Chapter 32. Recruitment Proposal
Guild Master of Sweet Fun, Kim Si-hu, lives alone in an apartment in Incheon.
It’s a 13-pyeong apartment with 2 rooms, 1 bathroom, a moderately sized living room, and a small kitchen.
Though it might seem like a common place you can find anywhere, the unusual aspect is that it was specially provided by the government for mixed species and their families.
After his mother, Erna Hass, passed away from illness and his father left for Japan to research monsters, he had been living alone in this apartment for several years, having moved out of the large house where his family used to live.
And today was a day off, not going to the guild.
Vroom—
Kim Si-hu threw his accumulated laundry into the washing machine.
After a tiring day of hunting, he often couldn’t bring himself to care about household chores or other trivial tasks when he got home.
So he had to take advantage of the time he had now to catch up on his chores.
“I have to take care of my staff too…”
Once the laundry was done, he had to tend to the staff he carried with him every day.
Regularly applying special oil significantly increases the lifespan of his wooden staff.
It was a precious artifact that amplified magical power and assisted with mana control, being his mother’s memento, so he couldn’t let it suffer from neglect.
He also had to meticulously check the other equipment he wore.
“Resting isn’t really resting.”
Although it was called free time, it didn’t mean he could just play around.
In fact, it felt much like preparing for what was to come.
After entering the MA, these tasks had become a part of Kim Si-hu’s daily routine.
‘I wonder if Hyung is meeting Min Yu-ri by now.’
Yoo Ji-han had a lunch date with Min Yu-ri today.
Kim Si-hu had refused to push the appointment to another day, citing personal reasons for his absence.
‘Recruitment seems unlikely…’
He agreed with the desire to recruit her, but whether it was actually possible remained uncertain.
Yoo Ji-han wanted Sweet Fun, which was several years behind, to absorb the snowflake created before them.
‘If it happens, great; if not, that’s just how it goes.’
By now, the two were probably chatting about something.
He left the proposition of what conditions to present to her to Yoo Ji-han.
All that was left was to wait for the results to come in.
Drrring!
As he stared blankly at the turning washing machine.
His mobile phone rang with a tone that was slightly different from usual.
It wasn’t a typical call but an internet call through a separate app.
“Father?”
—Son. Can you talk now?
“Yeah. It’s my day off, so I’m at home.”
The caller was Kim Geon-oh, Kim Si-hu’s father, who was in Japan.
—You’re not hurt or anything, right?
“I’m fine.”
—Now that you’ve reached Rank 4, you need to be more careful. It’s rare for a mage to get attacked in Rank 5 MA, but it’s much more common around Rank 4.
“I know, I know. You’ve already told me that a few times.”
—If you were to encounter an intruder, it’s better not to look back and just run away…
In the past, Kim Geon-oh had been a hero, much like his son, Kim Si-hu, as a mage.
Among heroes, he was a Rank 3 hero, the tier where most of them retired.
Having made it that far, he occasionally shared advice with his son.
—Still, I feel less worried hearing you’ve met a good person.
“Thanks to Hyung, I’m benefiting a lot.”
—His name was Yoo Ji-han, right?
“Yes. He’s a hero belonging to Keroes.”
Kim Geon-oh was aware of Yoo Ji-han, a member of Sweet Fun.
Though he had never met him in person, he was familiar with him thanks to Kim Si-hu’s stories.
—At first, I was shocked to hear he transferred a share of the guild to you.
“I only gave him 25%.”
—When it comes to such matters, you should say it’s only 25%! You just gave away a quarter of the guild! Even 5% would feel like a lot…
At first, Kim Geon-oh had doubts about Yoo Ji-han, who had asked for a share of the guild.
He worried that he might have malicious intentions and was trying to undermine the guild from within.
For his son, Kim Si-hu, being a half-elf, encountering racial discrimination was a plausible concern not just in Korea but globally.
Of course, that speculation was merely worry back then.
“Yoo Ji-han is definitely worth sharing the shares with.”
—Hmm…
“He’s not just anyone; he’s a contractor with a Sylph. The fact that the Sylph, who never came out of the staff, suddenly made a contract with him must have a reason behind it.”
Kim Si-hu spoke confidently, holding Yoo Ji-han in high regard.
To Kim Geon-oh’s recollection, no hero had ever been rated so highly by his son before.
‘If the opportunity arises, I should meet him later.’
A hero who had made a contract with the spirit of his long-absent wife.
Kim Geon-oh was curious about what kind of hero Yoo Ji-han really was.
And he wanted to see his wife’s Sylph again, whom he hadn’t seen for a long time.
“How’s the situation in Japan?”
—It’s causing trouble due to mutations. Every day, more than one appears near our research institute.
“Has the cause been identified?”
—Not yet. So we’re researching hard. I saw the data recently released by the Hero Department, and the chicken you caught wasn’t anything special.
The increase in mutated beings was not just confined to Korea; Japan was facing the same issues.
Kim Geon-oh was one of the researchers handling those matters.
—Even though I’m busy, I’ll return to Korea for your mother’s memorial, so don’t go into MA during that time.
“Got it.”
*
“Ji-han! Over here!”
At 12:50 PM.
Yoo Ji-han met Min Yu-ri at the appointed place at 1 PM.
She had arrived 10 minutes early and was waiting for him at the meeting spot.
‘She looks so different from when we first met.’
Wearing slim jeans and a black t-shirt.
Dressed casually outside, she had a different vibe from when she wore equipment in the MA.
“Did you wait long?”
“Not too long. The restaurant I reserved is over there.”
“Let’s head over.”
They moved to the designated restaurant.
Min Yu-ri had personally reserved the place, stating that she would treat Yoo Ji-han.
She expressed a bit of disappointment.
“I wish Si-hu could have come too.”
“Where’s Chilla?”
“He stays at home unless it’s a day for MA. He’s too big and conspicuous.”
“That must be a bit sad for him.”
“He’s not really one for outdoor walks.”
Even a certified tamed pet could attract attention if they walked around outside with such a large frame.
Sometimes, people who didn’t recognize the pet would report it to the police.
Because of that, Chilla usually lived in a house with high ceilings.
Fortunately, he preferred staying at home rather than roaming outside, so he had no complaints.
“Welcome!”
As they entered the restaurant, a staff member greeted them brightly.
“I’m Min Yu-ri, I have a reservation for 1 PM.”
“Oh, we’ll take you to the private room!”
The staff recognized Min Yu-ri’s name without even checking the reservation list.
Since it was quite uncommon to reserve a private room at this hour in this restaurant.
“Shall I prepare the food right away?”
“Please give us water first.”
“Sure. If you need anything, just ring the bell.”
After placing a cold water bottle on the table, the staff closed the private room door.
Yoo Ji-han slowly poured water into two cups, thinking.
‘What should I start with?’
Though they had come to a nice restaurant, the purpose of today was definitely not just dining.
‘We really matched well back then.’
A while ago, when they were fighting numerous giant cat monsters in the apartment complex.
Sweet Fun and Snowflake had launched a surprise joint attack.
Despite the sudden union, they had worked together seamlessly.
Even though it was the first time for the two parties to coordinate, they fought like a party that had been together for a long time.
From Yoo Ji-han’s experience, such occurrences were rare.
In most of those situations, the only fortunate outcome was if they didn’t accidentally attack each other.
‘No need to drag it out.’
This was all or nothing.
It would either be a successful recruitment of Min Yu-ri or a failure.
To be honest, Yoo Ji-han assessed that the chances of her accepting the proposal were low.
Even sampling didn’t shed light on her chances of success in recruitment.
‘Still, I can give it a try…’
He handed Min Yu-ri a cup of water and said.
“Actually, I have something to confess to you.”
“A confession?”
“Yes.”
Suddenly saying he had something to confess caught her off guard.
Min Yu-ri put the cup she had been holding back on the table.
Her eyes quickly flickered.
“The reason for today’s meal was just an excuse.”
“Excuse?”
“I had something I wanted to tell you face to face.”
What could he possibly want to say?
She opened her ears wide, waiting for Yoo Ji-han’s words.
“I feel sorry for saying this so soon after we just got to know each other…”
“Please say it.”
“Please don’t take it badly or get angry after you hear it.”
“…It’s fine, just say it.”
“Really?”
“Quickly, just say it.”
Min Yu-ri was unwittingly urging him on a bit.
Clearing his throat to compose himself, Yoo Ji-han spoke.
“Here’s the thing. I want to…”
“Me?”
“I want to recruit you into Sweet Fun.”
“…?”
Min Yu-ri tilted her head in confusion.
“Recruit? You mean you want me to join Sweet Fun?”
“Exactly. You’ve understood perfectly.”
Her expression turned very perplexed.
His proposal to recruit her was something she never anticipated.
“I felt that our combination worked really well when facing the giant cats together.”
“Well… I felt the same way.”
“It’s not easy for two parties that have never coordinated before to fight so well.”
Min Yu-ri agreed with Yoo Ji-han’s statement.
As someone who participated in that fight, she couldn’t deny it.
Over the years fighting alongside Chilla, that one time collaborating with Sweet Fun had felt far more stable.
‘She’s not outright rejecting right away.’
Yoo Ji-han watched her closely.
If he guessed correctly, Min Yu-ri had likely received similar offers from other guilds before.
Thus, if she didn’t like this proposal, she could have rejected it immediately.
After all, it would be one of the many offers she had been bombarded with by now.
“…”
However, she hesitated, not giving an answer.
It appeared there was a faint possibility she might accept the proposal.
“If you don’t have any particular reason to insist on being a solo guild, how about joining us?”
“Um…”
“It’s still a small guild, but I’ll ensure that you receive the treatment you desire as much as possible.”
With the profits gained from the auction this time, he could manage to pay her salary immediately.
And if necessary, Yoo Ji-han was also willing to share his own portion of the shares with her.
‘They want to take me along.’
Min Yu-ri was lost in thought.
As Yoo Ji-han expected, she had been receiving plenty of love calls from many guilds until now.
And the pattern of those guilds sending out love calls was always similar.
They would claim how indispensable she was to the guild, but in reality, they were just fascinated by her being a tamer, wanting to create promotional parties to advertise the guild.
To put it in gaming terms, Chilla was treated as a somewhat rare item compared to regular ones.
‘But that’s not the case here.’
However, Sweet Fun operated a bit differently than the guilds trying to persuade her with sweet words.
Though he hadn’t known Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu for long, he could assure her of their intentions based on their conduct during MA.
“Of course, it’s fine to decline. I don’t want to put pressure on you.”
Gulp—
Min Yu-ri downed the cold water in her cup in one go.
Her head, heated from the many thoughts, felt refreshing now.
After a moment, she opened her mouth after deep contemplation.
“Today.”
“Yes?”
“After today’s meal, please follow me for a bit. I have something I want to show you. I’ll give you my answer afterward.”
After the meal, she had something to show him.
The way she responded was serious, just like when they faced monsters in the MA.