NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4
Chapter 4. Recommendation Letter
Yoo Ji-han decided to speak casually with Kim Si-hu at his request.
It was because he thought it would be better for the guild to be a friendly one rather than a stiff and formal one.
“Is it okay if I call you hyung?”
“Of course, it’s okay.”
Since Yoo Ji-han had no particular reservations, he accepted the request.
In effect, he had come to regard someone who was the highest-ranking member of the guild as his younger brother.
Building camaraderie among heroes of the same guild was a good thing for the party’s teamwork.
‘Oh no.’
Suddenly thinking of something, Yoo Ji-han spoke up.
“It may be strange to ask since we’ve already signed the contract, but you know my Keroes experience is almost blank, right?”
“I know. You sent me your resume.”
Yoo Ji-han’s official experience as a hero was just two lines.
– Joined Keroes.
– Left Keroes.
It really was an exceedingly simple career.
Originally, records of hunting monsters and repelling invaders from another world while in the party should all have been recorded as experience.
However, since Yoo Ji-han was an unofficial party member, he couldn’t count those towards his credentials.
He had accumulated countless experiences that were too numerous to explain individually, but on paper, he was like someone who didn’t exist.
“Seven years as a hero, and yet there’s a gap in your experience. Doesn’t that bother you?”
“I was a bit worried before you came, but now I’m fine. I know about the unofficial party member stuff.”
“Thanks.”
“Our guild absolutely does not have that kind of weird system.”
Kim Si-hu was largely unconcerned about Yoo Ji-han’s sparse experience.
Instead, he consoled him upon realizing his situation.
While this turned out to be a good thing for Yoo Ji-han joining Sweet Fun…
‘This guy looks like he’s gonna get scammed easily somewhere.’
To phrase it positively, he had a good personality; negatively, one could say he was too trusting as a guild master.
In the hero community, there were many con artists who would stab you in the back or run away with your money.
Trusting people too easily like he did now could potentially lead to big problems later on.
Fortunately, Yoo Ji-han was already familiar with such malice.
Like selling rare potions that made you strong quickly or offering secret training methods used by famous heroes overseas.
He had been scammed in a similar way while active in Keroes.
‘Now that I’m here, it should be fine.’
With his past experiences stacked up, Yoo Ji-han had acquired the ability to discern scams.
As a seasoned person, guild master Kim Si-hu could help him avoid falling for such traps.
“You still haven’t participated in Sweet Fun’s activities, have you? Have you registered the party?”
“I just registered by myself.”
“Have you been to an MA before?”
“I went during practice at the academy.”
Monster Area (MA). For short, MA.
It refers to areas on Earth where monsters appear.
For certain reasons, when monsters appear in a specific area, the Hero Department begins to take control of that area, and if the situation becomes too difficult to suppress within a day or two, it’s declared an MA.
Locations designated as MA generally have countless monsters, and access to them by ordinary people is prohibited.
The guild sends its parties there to assist in monster subjugation.
The monster carcasses and byproducts obtained in that process belong to the guild.
Trading those for money is one of the main sources of income for heroes.
“You haven’t visited an MA since you established the guild, right?”
“No.”
“Hmm…”
Yoo Ji-han fell into thought for a moment.
Regardless of the size of the guild, there were absolute ranks managed by the Hero Department from Rank 5 to Rank 1.
In the case of a party that had never been active, its rank would be naturally at the lowest, Rank 5.
‘I remember there being quite a few Rank 5 MAs in nearby areas.’
The party’s rank becomes the entry condition for the MA.
When the Hero Department declares an MA, they assign the same rank to it, and if the party’s rank is lower than the MA’s rank, entry is prohibited.
Also, it can sometimes happen that the rank is too high to permit entry.
If a guild with a strong party monopolizes an MA, it removes the opportunity for smaller parties to grow.
“Is there a specific reason you didn’t go to the MA?”
“It’s not that I didn’t want to go; it’s that I couldn’t go.”
“What?”
“I kept being denied entry.”
Kim Si-hu said with a slightly aggrieved voice.
Sweet Fun hadn’t been able to enter the MA because, as a one-person guild, they got caught by the examiner who was screening for MA entry.
“They granted you the one-person guild establishment permission but denied entry?”
“Exactly! Is this reasonable?”
“Didn’t you file a complaint?”
“I did, but it didn’t hold any weight. Instead, they said if I worked as a mercenary for other guilds a few times, they’d allow me in next time, but I really didn’t want to do that…”
Gaining entry qualifications isn’t a grand thing.
You only need to show that this party is capable of subduing monsters in an MA.
Yoo Ji-han recalled his past.
He remembered the first time he joined Kim Hyun-tae’s party and the contact he had made with officials from the Hero Department to gain entry into the MA.
Back then, there hadn’t been any complicated issues like now.
“Seems like the standards are really strict these days.”
“But now that you’re registered in the party, wouldn’t it be alright?”
“That’s uncertain.”
Yoo Ji-han’s blank experience could easily make it seem like he had just worked in the guild’s office, rather than as a hero.
Who would have thought he’d be troubled by such an absurd issue?
Just then…
Vvvvv—
Yoo Ji-han’s mobile phone buzzed.
Checking the screen, it was Lee Hyun-jae, the head of the management department at Keroes.
“I’ll take this call for a moment.”
Yoo Ji-han asked Kim Si-hu for understanding and answered the phone.
“Hello?”
—Ji-han!
“Hello, current.”
—I heard you left the guild…
“Yeah. That happened.”
—I hope it’s not because you’re not feeling well…
“No, I’m alright.”
Lee Hyun-jae expressed concern as he asked about Yoo Ji-han’s well-being.
He was someone who cared for Yoo Ji-han more than an ordinary party member among Keroes members.
—Are you at home right now?
“No, I’m at the new guild office I just joined.”
—Whaaat?! You’ve already joined a guild?
Lee Hyun-jae sounded genuinely surprised.
It hadn’t even been three days since Yoo Ji-han had left the guild.
He didn’t expect him to switch to another guild so quickly.
—What guild is it?
“It’s a newly established one called Sweet Fun.”
—…Sweet Fun? Sweet Fun? That sounds familiar. Wait a moment.
Through Yoo Ji-han’s phone, he could hear the sound of papers being flipped.
After flipping through about 4 or 5 pages, he spoke up again.
—Isn’t that the one created by a hero named Kim Si-hu?
“Uh? That’s right. How did you know?”
—Got it! Oh right, that guy was on our guild’s recruitment list.
“Oh…”
—But he established a guild before we could contact him, so the recruitment ultimately fell through.
Surprisingly, Kim Si-hu was recognized as one of the next-generation heroes that Keroes had been keeping an eye on.
Large-scale guilds often gather information about talented individuals from various hero academies, and Kim Si-hu happened to be among them.
This was information that not even Kim Si-hu was aware of.
—It must not have been an easy choice to join a new guild. I’m glad to hear you found a decent person.
“Right… and Lee Hyun-jae.”
—Yes?
“Now that we’re in contact, can I ask you a small favor?”
While continuing the call, Yoo Ji-han thought that he might be able to get help from Lee Hyun-jae, who had wide connections in the hero community.
—What kind of favor?
“I heard that Sweet Fun was rejected from entering the Rank 5 MA because it’s a one-person guild. Even though I joined, I’m worried since my experience is blank, and I was hoping you could help a little?”
Kim Si-hu, who was quietly waiting beside Yoo Ji-han, honed in on his call.
There was a hopeful expectation.
And the response he received fully met those expectations.
—That’s a simple request.
“Really?!”
—There’s a recommendation system for entry screenings. It might be tough to write it in Keroes’ name, but I can ask a guild I know for a recommendation letter, and it should be no problem for entry into a Rank 5 MA.
“Ohhh…”
—After we finish this call, I’ll contact them to request the recommendation letter. Please send me Kim Si-hu’s contact number on my phone.
“Understood! Thank you so much.”
—Ah, you don’t need to thank me for something like this.
Yoo Ji-han expressed his gratitude to Lee Hyun-jae over the phone.
Soon, the call ended, and he hung up.
“…Did it go well?”
Kim Si-hu looked at Yoo Ji-han with big, sparkling eyes, as if waiting for his food.
Yoo Ji-han smiled and said, “You’ll be getting a call soon. Just thank them after that.”
“Woahhh!”
Is this what they call connections?
Kim Si-hu made an exclamation of joy.
Thanks to Yoo Ji-han, one of his biggest worries lately had vanished.
*
“It arrived!”
It took less than an hour for the recommendation letter from another guild to reach Sweet Fun.
Lee Hyun-jae had fulfilled Yoo Ji-han’s request that quickly.
“There was a Rank 5 MA held in Bucheon recently. I’ll request entry there.”
“How long do you think it’ll take?”
“Maybe 4 days? Last time it took that long when I submitted it.”
It generally takes some time for the entry screening of a party with no prior experience in MA to be completed.
The expected timeframe was 4 days.
However, fortunately, they had secured a recommendation letter from a partner guild in Keroes for a Rank 2 party, so it could be shorter than that.
Yoo Ji-han asked Kim Si-hu, “What do you want to do in the meantime?”
“…I don’t really have any plans set.”
Kim Si-hu tilted his head.
The recommendation letter they received today was not something he had anticipated at all without Yoo Ji-han, so there were no subsequent schedules planned.
But they didn’t need to just wait for the screening to finish in the office.
“How about we go to the training center together?”
“The training center?”
Yoo Ji-han suggested that they go to the hero training center.
That place, filled with various training prepared for heroes, was a good space to test and hone one’s abilities without the threat of life.
‘How much firepower can we generate with just the two of us…’
The suggestion to train stemmed from wanting to raise their combat sense before entering the MA and to confirm the strength of Sweet Fun.
Since there were no party members they had worked together with like Kim Hyun-tae or tanker Hwang Joon-ho, it was all up to them now.
‘From now on, I need to become the main dealer.’
Sweet Fun consisted of only two members: mage Kim Si-hu and Yoo Ji-han.
As he had entered a new guild, Yoo Ji-han needed to take on the role of the main dealer, which was one of the key positions in the party.