NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11
Chapter 11: Inside the Hunter Guild
The inside of the Hunter Guild was relatively quiet. It was partly due to it being lunchtime, but also because many hunters were just like anyone else—they preferred to take a break on weekends.
In front, a beautiful receptionist smiled at the counter, while to the right stood six automated terminals. Most tasks, unless they were high-ranking requests that required formal procedures, could be completed using these terminals.
Yeon-woo approached an empty terminal and placed their student ID on the reader.
Beep! The screen changed, revealing only F-ranked requests illuminated. Touching the request displayed split the screen into two sections.
The top portion featured tasks for herb gathering and subjugation of lesser monsters—mundane chores known to be ongoing, which had to be tackled by someone.
The bottom section contained requests similar to the ones Yeon-woo had encountered before in their past life with Alkeinea. These were commissioned requests, signed off by clients to be handled by the Hunter Guild.
[Only suspicious requests….]
‘That’s how it usually is.’
F-rank—meaning the rank just assigned to newly registered hunters—was an ironic place to be.
It was supposed to offer the safest and easiest requests, yet the death rate for F-rank was the highest of all ranks.
There was a reason for that, really. Clients wanted to give the least amount of reward possible, while hunters were eager to receive the maximum compensation.
Once high-ranked hunters were involved, the reward skyrocketed, and if multiple hunters were enlisted, the price would leap again.
Of course, there were guidelines within the Hunter Guild that aimed to ensure conditions remained fair, but issues arose with unexplored gate explorations where the information available was minimal at best.
The guild had made considerable efforts to lower the death rates in various ways, yet…
What request to accept? The person they used to be had worked as a porter at this point to gain experience, so unless it was a widely known incident, they couldn’t really recall it. Newspapers and news required time, after all.
But thinking back to their time as a porter stirred something in the foggy memory.
The porter role mainly attracted two types of individuals. Those looking to gain experience before officially becoming hunters and those with little or no mana who risked entering gates for a decent payout.
Understandably, the latter comprised over ninety percent of the total. It made sense their conversations revolved around money.
Among the most frequently shared topics was the life-changing story of a porter named Park.
Rumors circulated that he entered a certain gate and struck gold, supposedly excavating a mana stone the size of a boulder.
‘There was definitely something around this time…?’
Vague memories emerged of older men gossiping during breaks. They mentioned that Park bought a sports car—oh my, how did he earn that kind of money? Word had it he mined a fortune at that mountaintop mine.
Park seemed to have a rather ungrateful spirit, lamenting that no matter how hard he worked, it all hinged on luck.
Maybe my memory isn’t half bad…?
Ahem!
It seems that boosting my memory is also a power of the Dragon Heart. What on earth is the Dragon Heart? It can’t be that miraculous, can it…?
But the northern mines—while that’s not a solid lead, it’s not unreachable either. Yeon-woo pressed the commissioned requests section and scrolled down.
It probably wouldn’t be in the exploration category. Suspecting it was in collecting, they filtered the categories until only collection requests remained.
Among them, they spotted a few that piqued their interest. They checked the request details and set them aside for the moment.
Open gates can be entered without accepting a request as long as the gate rank matches the hunter’s rank.
Since the distance was a bit far for a group request and it would take time to gather enough people, it might not be a bad idea to just head in and mine some mana stones.
Still, to meet the initial objective of securing a first request, accepting a task was necessary. The issue was waiting for sufficient numbers if leaving it up to the guild. It would be more convenient if they knew a high-ranked hunter.
Yeon-woo glanced around the Hunter Guild’s interior. There’s no way I’d know anyone here…
As they sat contemplating what to do, the guild door swung open, and a familiar figure entered.
*
Is following someone this enjoyable…?
Whether something within her was awakening or not, Baek In-hwa followed Yeon-woo’s path with a fluttering heart, though she was destined for slight disappointment.
‘…The Hunter Guild?’
Did she have any expectations that they might do something bad? She wanted to see if Yeon-woo would cause some minor mischief so she could have a bit of fun.
When she had followed him to the city, she worried he might start smoking in an alley or rob someone with violence, engaging in some terrible crime—it was hard to imagine facing a classmate like that from the day after tomorrow.
Fortunately, her worries were unfounded. But… it may be a bit inappropriate to say it, but this destination was rather boring.
Going to the Hunter Guild on the weekend could be seen as the action of an honor student. Starting career management at this point? It’s not impossible, but it’s undoubtedly more beneficial after graduation.
Of course, Yeon-woo only required money, but for someone from the Ice Palace, where financial power was substantial, it was beyond comprehension.
‘…Is there any useful information?’
Not that she knew anything about Choi Yeon-woo, but the bad first impression led her to think negatively, and the concepts of Yeon-woo and pure effort felt mismatched.
‘…Maybe I should invite him along since I’m bored?’
*
Silver hair cascading down to shoulders, eyes reminiscent of a clear lake. Dressed not in the beige school uniform she had seen before, but rather in a hooded top and shorts that emphasized activity.
With beauty that could draw the eye even in a crowd, the outfit elevated her androgynous charm.
“Eh? Baek In-hwa?”
“…Choi Yeon-woo.”
Yeon-woo was taken aback by encountering a familiar face in such an unexpected place.
They didn’t think anyone else would be in the Hunter Guild, especially on a weekend. What brings her here? An awkward air hung between them. In that moment, Yeon-woo realized and spoke to Baek In-hwa.
“Baek In-hwa, are you registered as a hunter?”
The Ice Palace stands in the northern part of Siberia. One characteristic of the area is that it’s hard to tell whether the environment has been altered by a gate explosion or if it’s naturally cold.
In chillier places, gates often explode around wintery landscapes. So, if a gate were to burst, it wouldn’t stand out much even if it engulfed the environment.
Occasionally, mountains spring up, but that’s rare.
Naturally, the hunters who would throw themselves into such harsh conditions are few. The North Sea Ice Palace is revered as a great family because they contain all the gates in that vicinity by their sheer strength.
So, if Baek In-hwa grew up in such an environment, it wouldn’t be surprising if her hunter rank ranked higher than new students at the academy.
After pondering for a moment with her delicate fingers pressed against her lips, Baek In-hwa nodded.
“I’m D-rank.”
“Whoa! Can I ask you for a favor?”
Upon hearing her response, Yeon-woo cheered and asked Baek In-hwa.
A D-rank. At this age, a D-rank? This kid’s no joke! Yeon-woo thought and decided to take a chance for the sake of not losing anything.
“I need to earn some tuition. Could you accompany me for my first request?”
“…Sure, tuition.”
As Baek In-hwa widened her eyes in surprise, she nodded again.
Is she feeling sympathetic?
Since she didn’t have a tragic past to feel sorry for, Yeon-woo didn’t take it to heart.
“Thanks a lot! I’ll split the reward fairly. It’s a gate near the Seokseong Mountain range, so it should be doable today!”
“I don’t know the way, so you lead.”
With a blunt response from Baek In-hwa, Yeon-woo smiled inwardly.
Her tone may be stiff, but she’s such a nice girl.
A warm feeling emerged. Thinking back, Baek In-hwa had died in her past life because a gate burst in the city.
In an attempt to rescue people from an unexpected gate, she got dragged in and lost her life without completing the task.
Though she may have faced death, her heroic actions resonated with hunters and civilians, awakening awareness about her and leading to a sincere mourning of her loss, so society didn’t descend into negativity.
“…Can you use Air Steps?”
“…Sorry, I can’t. I was planning to take the bus.”
Baek In-hwa sighed softly before gesturing for Yeon-woo to follow as she stepped outside.
…….
The city was covered by a dome-shaped barrier with a hole at the top. This ensured that small monsters couldn’t slip into the city unnoticed.
Fundamentally, all academies are situated on the frontlines of the war against monsters.
They built the academy atop land covered by a gate explosion and constructed the city around that. Naturally, the city would take its name from the academy, hence the name of the city where they lived: Harmony City.
Training talent at the forefront and deploying them straight to the lines produced significant victories.
During the early stages of gate emergence, South Korea only had a few major cities left. They filled the gaps between these using frontline cities centered around academies, leading to today’s peace.
Harmony City was established on a vast grassland, bordered by forests to the west, mountains to the north, and a flowing river to the south. Being the closest academy to Seoul meant that roads branched out in numerous directions.
Thanks to magical civilization, they could develop infrastructure where even telephone poles wouldn’t be necessary.
In any case, Yeon-woo stood on the grassland outside the city’s southern gate, next to Baek In-hwa. Was this a date with the most beautiful girl in the city? Damn~.
Of course, it wasn’t. She had said she’d casually teach him Air Steps. Naturally, Yeon-woo jumped at the opportunity.
Why would she give me this chance? But Baek In-hwa’s expression remained inscrutable. The icy golem’s poker face.
However, surprisingly, once outside, Baek In-hwa stared at him silently without a word. An oddly unfamiliar attitude.
“…How do I teach you?”
“What?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
Amid the murmur, a rather ominous sound seemed to echo. Just as Yeon-woo felt that the lesson was a bit lacking, a young boy’s voice rang out.
“Oh, that’s not how you do Air Steps.”
Yeon-woo instinctively pressed her lips together with both hands to avoid yelling. Both turned to look where the voice had come from.
Leaning against the city wall and staring in their direction was a boy who appeared to be around eleven or twelve years old.
What? When did he get here?
As Yeon-woo wondered, she noticed Baek In-hwa wore a look of surprise. Even Yeon-woo hadn’t recognized that he was there?
Baek In-hwa opened her mouth, visibly on guard.
“It’s not polite to eavesdrop on others’ training.”
“Training? What training? You haven’t done anything yet.”
And that has nothing to do with my age!~
Despite his youthful appearance, the boy’s tone was that of an old man, mocking them lightheartedly, which inevitably caused Baek In-hwa’s normally stoic face to flush red with indignation.
…But what was it? She felt like she had seen this kid somewhere before…
“Whoa!”
With a hop, the boy bounced up on his feet and approached them. Spotting him, Baek In-hwa immediately readied herself. A line of blue mana separated the two.
However, as if disregarding that barrier, the boy crossed over effortlessly.
‘What on earth…?’
Baek In-hwa’s expression turned into one of confusion. She hadn’t intended for this to be a real fight, but it was reckless to let an unknown person approach, so she instinctively aimed to dominate the area.
Yet, the boy crossed the line so naturally Baek In-hwa couldn’t react. Stunned, she relinquished the offensive.
“Seems like the Ice Palace lady is a little naive. Is it because you’re specialized in monsters that you’re so soft? If you keep this up, your luck’s going to run out soon.”
The boy chuckled like a grandfather as he bypassed Baek In-hwa and approached Yeon-woo.
What? This kid just slipped by Baek In-hwa like it was nothing?
Though he had no knowledge of battles among those who had awakened, he recognized the entire sequence was far too smooth for comfort.
While Baek In-hwa was gearing up for a clear attack, the boy had made no overt display of mana. That was particularly concerning.
What should I do? I had a skirmish with Namgung Seong, but I’m still not used to fighting with mana. My skills are barely off the ground, so it seemed unlikely I’d compete against this boy.
Though Baek In-hwa hadn’t acted, that didn’t mean it didn’t apply to Yeon-woo.
Yeon-woo drew the wooden sword borrowed from Namgung Seong, hanging from her waist.
She had considered buying a real sword to enter the gate, but thinking of the quality available to purchase, it was doubtful anything would surpass this wooden sword.
The boy relaxed his back and extended his right arm. Though it was difficult to see closely, something shimmered like a mirage along the surface of his arm. It didn’t resemble mana nor did it seem like aura. It was hard to pin down.
The boy began walking slowly. Baek In-hwa, ready to charge, had once decided to hold her ground, but now was cautious, urging herself to refrain from acting rashly.
“Don’t be too tense. It’s just a test. Swing with all your might. Whatever happens, just give it a try. If you don’t swing, sure, you won’t die, but it’ll hurt a lot, so brace yourself.”
“I don’t have a clue what’s happening……!!”
Totally unaware of what was happening around them, it rapidly dawned on Yeon-woo that if she didn’t swing, she was in for a painful experience.
Alright then, I shall swing! Swing away!
Taking a breath, they prepared again, as the unfamiliar boy slowly approached. Waiting until the tip of the sword was in the right range, the moment felt agonizingly long, as if it might last an eternity.
Her heart echoed like a metronome.
Thump, thump, thump, thump…….
───Now.
When the moment came to swing, Yeon-woo without hesitation drew the sword raised above her head downwards. The mana that brewed around her heart flowed firmly through her arm muscles.
At that moment, it felt almost like she could slice through the heavens. Yet, among that incredible sensation came a dull thud following right behind.
Thud! It was a sound unlike anything she had ever heard after swinging her sword before. It was light and airy, akin to catching an incoming newspaper.
The boy, with his hands still behind his back, gently caught the wooden sword with one hand.
“Oho.”
I’ve lost ten years of my life…….
Staring blankly at Yeon-woo, the boy, Yuri, thought.
‘What a silly child.’
The stance she used to thrust her sword was frankly quite clumsy. While her posture was good, it was apparent how she swung the blade. A simple downward stroke without any variation; it was purely a straightforward cut. Such a clean posture said it all.
The more amusing part was, that downward stroke was surprisingly decent. It reached the realm most simply referred to as mystical swordsmanship. If one were only to regard the clean cut, Yeon-woo had reached that level.
‘They say she’s wielded a sword since she was five, so did she spend ten years only doing downward cuts?’
Unintentionally hitting the mark, Yuri had no way of knowing. In any case, she displayed no apparent quirks and looked nearly blank when using the sword aside from that cut. It was likely a gratifying result.
As for Baek In-hwa… due to the Ice Palace’s focus on techniques and not swords, she hadn’t engaged in actual sword combat but had likely picked up a thing or two.
For this reason, watching Yeon-woo’s sword work shocked her as a fellow 15-year-old. For that instant, the chill couldn’t have been a mere illusion. The blade falling as it did appeared as if a guillotine awaited its fate.
How was she supposed to respond? Even after pondering several strategies, the fact they weren’t perfect unnerved her.
Yet, that shockingly clean impact was caught with bare hands. Though Yuri had told her ‘it’s just a test, so don’t touch’—who on earth is this kid?
Suddenly, Yeon-woo and Baek In-hwa turned at the sound of a burst of clapping. The boy was grinning widely.
“Alright, let me introduce myself. I’m Yuri. No family name, just Yuri. Hailing from the Alkeinea continent.”
“Eh…?”
His origin and name struck a chord. From the Alkeinea continent, there’s someone who’s received their title from a star with a sword. ‘The Ultimate Sword’ Yuri. Though the present time may not be well aware of the significance.
Yeon-woo recalled having once met him in a past life, around twenty years of age, and looking quite youthful; it caught the memory off guard. The thing is, Yuri had crossed through the gate over fifty years ago as a veteran hunter.
Considering that the dimensional gateway connected to the Alkeinea continent had opened about seventy years back, that meant he arrived fairly early on.
Furthermore…
‘Seems it’s indeed the Ultimate Sword?’
Though Yuri didn’t brag about it, he also didn’t disguise the fact he had reached the state of ‘Transcendence’.
If one were to apply that revelation to the boy standing before them, he looked ten years younger than the Yuri she remembered. With black hair and eyes, he had an utterly ordinary face—one that could be found anywhere.
Thinking he could’ve reached ‘Transcendence’ was an eye-opener, as some spoke of the existence of ‘destruction at a glance’. Just yet, his identity had not been confirmed.
Let’s simply ask him.
“Just curious, but are you the Ultimate Sword that became the head of the Hunter Department…?”
“Indeed.”
“Wait, the Ultimate Sword…!?”
The curt response from Yuri, corroborated by Baek In-hwa’s astonishment. The name of the Ultimate Sword astounded even Baek In-hwa, rarely known for her emotional expressions.
The revelation of his identity was a stroke of luck. What if it turned out to be an unidentified individual? In fact, the Ultimate Sword was still something of a weirdo, but at least they knew the identity.
‘But why has he come to see us…?’
That would have been a question, even Baek In-hwa was left in suspense, but Yeon-woo—far inferior as she was to Baek In-hwa—clearly should not catch the Ultimate Sword’s eye.
Why on earth is he interested in me of all people…?
“Relax, I have no intention to harm you. I’m merely here to find a disciple.”
“Disciple…?”
Yeon-woo couldn’t shake off the ominous thoughts. Could it be? A disciple? Me? No way!
“Right. Young lad, how about learning swordsmanship from me?”
“Do I get time to think it over until the weekend?!”
Baek In-hwa shot Yeon-woo an envious glance, but Yeon-woo rushed to respond.
Not too long ago, she’d been singing about wanting a training partner, yet the Ultimate Sword—he wasn’t someone to approach lightly.
“Seriously…?”
Baek In-hwa murmured under her breath, but it was none of Yeon-woo’s concern.
How many rumors had she heard about the Ultimate Sword in her past life?
Honestly, even Yeon-woo could picture herself accepting that offer, but the idea of doing so on the spot felt overwhelming.
“Do that then. If you feel like becoming my disciple, come find me at the Department Head’s Office later.”
“Phew….”
With a sigh of relief, Yeon-woo felt the matter conclude for the moment, yet Yuri opened his mouth again.
“Now, back to business. Baek In-hwa, you planned to teach him Air Steps, right? Mind if I take over? After all, the only way you know is from the Ice Palace, which isn’t what he needs to learn.”
After pondering for a moment, Baek In-hwa eventually nodded.
It was true—training in Air Steps was central to her family’s vision. For that reason, it seemed she had trouble figuring out how to teach Yeon-woo what to omit and what to focus on. Such is the nature of martial arts; omitting even a single aspect could render the entire practice ineffective.
At the same time, Baek In-hwa must’ve expected to take in something herself from watching Yuri teaching Yeon-woo.
While she may not be a swordswoman, Yuri, as someone who wasn’t bound by weapon types, was undoubtedly a formidable figure.
As the sudden Air Steps lesson commenced, Yeon-woo eagerly anticipated it. Learning how to channel mana into her legs while running would take time, yet Air Steps was of an entirely different caliber.
Yuri smiled at Yeon-woo whose eyes sparkled with excitement as he spoke.
“Then let’s start with a run.”
“Okay?”
(To be continued in the next episode)