The S-Rank Character Is My Alt

Chapter 18: Welcome to the Sacred Battlefield (7)

“Hello. I am Kang Sujin, guildmaster of Sanctuary. Congratulations on your final acceptance. You have worked hard until now.”

“You have worked hard as well, guildmaster. I heard you watched me directly and approved the hire. It must not have been easy to see it with the naked eye.”

“It was fine. Watching through a medium, I judged there was no great danger.”

At the very top floor of Sanctuary, inside the guildmaster’s office, Lude sat on a reception sofa, gently fiddling with his teacup after receiving notice of his final acceptance.

The black tea just brought by the attendant filled the room with fragrance. To Nari, who had only ever brewed teabags, even the scent seemed luxurious.

As Lude sipped his tea, the guildmaster lifted a document. Hiring was confirmed, so now came the negotiation.

She glanced sidelong at the man sitting before her. The black-clad figure she had only seen on screens sat carelessly with a blank expression, poking at the orange floating in his cup with a fork.

‘He really is a monster.’

Kang Sujin quickly lowered her gaze back to the papers. It was intentional, not to meet his eyes. Seeing him on a screen and seeing him in person were vastly different.

Even Ihyun had radiated a different weight when seen in person. With Lude, it was on a higher level altogether.

The moment he entered, all power in the room seemed to shy away from him. Even Kang Sujin felt sweat trickling down her back.

No matter if she was guildmaster of Sanctuary, Lude was the incarnation of malice. His dark spirit power pressed even against the holy power filling the guild.

She of course had not realized that his very form was only an avatar, which was an even more monstrous truth. She sighed inwardly, set the paper on the table, and spoke.

“I read the conditions you proposed. A one-year contract, not full employment. No one is to pry beyond the information you yourself disclosed. Press control is required. The rest of the stipulations… all are acceptable.”

“That is good to hear.”

Lude still didn't look at her, only handling his cup. Even after being accepted, he showed no joy. Kang Sujin cleared her throat and continued.

“Sanctuary, along with White Night, was one of the first guilds to be established in Korea. Since twenty years ago, led by my younger sibling and their spouse, we have gathered to protect people. No matter what happens, Sanctuary will never abandon order. We are the shield of Korea.”

“And?”

Lude’s tone made clear he had no interest in Sanctuary. Tensing again, Sujin pulled a contract file from her case. This was the second round.

“This is our contract. It is one of the best you will find in the industry. Please read it carefully.”

Sanctuary was one of the Four Great Guilds. It earned money properly, gave excellent benefits, a strong work-life balance, and salaries at the top of the industry.

But of course this contract wasn’t going to satisfy that monster!

This was the man who monopolized every gate from night until dawn in southern Gyeonggi, and one who never even sold boss monster items.

Moreover, he was ranked first in the world, not just in Korea. They couldn't dare offer him only slightly higher pay than others.

That would wound both his pride and Sanctuary’s.

“As a guild run at the highest level for twenty years, we pride ourselves on operating more transparently than anyone for our Hunters.”

Lude opened the file lazily and scanned the contents. Kang Sujin forced a smile while feeling nervous.

‘Please, just be satisfied with that much. If he demands anything more outrageous, the guild itself could be endangered.’

And Lude thought…

‘Wow, is this for real? How many zeroes are here? They are actually offering me this much? Are they crazy?’

The signing bonus alone was several times what Nari earned in a year of convenience store shifts. He kept staring at the contract. The conditions were better than expected.

[The Lord of Chaos cackles, saying our Nari’s life has finally turned around.]

‘Fuck… I should have joined a guild ages ago…’

‘I should’ve just lived normally instead of pointlessly playing the role of some guy hiding his strength… I should’ve just gotten a job… Instead I’ve been scraping by, selling low-grade items bit by bit… working part-time at a convenience store… getting cursed at for having no connections…’

“Haha… Heh… Ahaha… Hah…”

He laughed hollowly, rubbing his forehead. Kang Sujin flinched at the sound.

“Does it not please you?”

“No, it just makes me laugh…”

She misunderstood thinking he was displeased, and sweated inside. But she couldn't back down from here!

“I am sorry if we didn't meet your expectations... But no other guild will offer as much as this.”

“N-No, it is fine, really. I’ll sign.”

Lude, who had regained his composure, waved his hand with a satisfied look as he glanced at Kang Sujin. Her eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected reaction.

So easily agreeing like this? That Lude? There were endless rumors that he was the illegitimate son of a chaebol family, and that he stayed in different five-star hotel suites every day.

The guildmaster, who did not know the truth that Lude’s real self worked part-time at a convenience store and survived by selling low-grade items, hid her joy.

“Then we will put a seal on it.”

Lude pulled a seal from his inventory. Kang Sujin’s expression twisted into something difficult to describe.

“T-That’s… a seal?”

“Is this not acceptable? I didn’t have one at home.”

Huh, Lude pressed the seal he had carefully carved himself into the red ink pad. No matter how you looked at it, it was a pretty red root vegetable, a carrot. And a very solid one at that.

Never in her life had Kang Sujin imagined someone would bring a seal made from a carrot. She was flustered as she answered, partly because Lude had been so confident...

“N-No… it is not that it cannot be used, but… well… wouldn’t an ordinary seal be better…? This one might not stamp clearly… The seal can always be stamped again later.”

“It is fine. I carved it cleanly.”

“Ah, ah okay. Then instead of stamping it on the contract, please test it here first!”

Anxious, Kang Sujin handed him a spare sheet of paper. Lude promptly stamped it, and when she saw the mark, she gasped.

‘He really carved it well… what a waste of talent…’

The imprint read “Lude In.” It was a perfectly round circle as if measured with a compass, with beautiful calligraphy in neat characters. The size was exact. It was no worse than a seal sold in stores.

[The Lord of Chaos teases you, saying the guildmaster seems to be looking at you strangely.]

‘Shut up! It can’t be helped!’’

He truly had no choice. The mock battle had been scheduled the very next day after he received the email. If he passed the battle, he would immediately sign the contract, which meant he had to bring a seal.

But since he had no seal at home… The nearby seal shop had already closed, and ordering online would take three days. He had to make one himself within ten hours…

[While others prepare hard for their mock battle, our Nari carved a carrot seal, the Lord of Chaos says, clapping for you!]

Potatoes, carrots, radishes… he destroyed every hard vegetable in the house to achieve it. It was his ultimate technique, the result of using his talent for extremely delicate control of spiritual energy to its maximum.

‘I probably won’t ever get the chance to do such a thing again.’

Pressing the seal onto the ink pad, Lude stamped the contract, dusted off his hands, and returned the carrot to his inventory.

“So, if I join Sanctuary, will I act together with Hunter Ihyun?”

“In Sanctuary, we do not assign partners separately. If you and Hunter Ihyun’s current partner agree, you may act together.”

“I see.”

Lude only looked down, lost in thought.

Kang Sujin hesitated for a moment. She had originally planned to explain their systematic training process at this point.

She had intended to impress upon Lude the greatness of Sanctuary, to remind him that his words about being inspired by Ihyun were the reason they hired him, and to emphasize that his potential as seen in the mock battle had given them hope. It was supposed to be a speech like a principal giving moral instruction.

‘But I feel like it might not be necessary.’

Truly, as Ihyun had said, the Lude you saw online and the Lude you saw in person were very different. She had felt it during the interview, but now that she had seen him fight and faced him directly, she understood more clearly.

‘He is the type who will grow rapidly on his own if left alone. Why has someone like this never undergone even a single trait evolution…?’

Kang Sujin set aside her curiosity. She had thought about preparing a new in-house training regimen for him, but gave up the idea.

This was a person who would do fine alone. For someone like him, too much interference would be poison.

So she decided to be satisfied with simple words of thanks.

“Your answers during the interview, and the way you performed in the mock battle were impressive.”

“What? W-W-What do you mean…?”

Afraid she might have discovered that he was an avatar, Lude flinched as he glanced at Kang Sujin. She smiled faintly at his expression, which looked as if he had been caught doing something wrong.

“Hunter Ihyun has been criticized by his partner many times for that very personality of his. Even when we tried to fix it, it didn’t work. He always said, "This way is more efficient, so what’s the problem?’”

“…The strong are always the ones who make others fret after all.”

With a weary air, Lude clicked his tongue. Somehow that attitude made it seem like he had known many such people before. Kang Sujin studied him closely, and then Lude suddenly added,

“Well, I don’t need to be like that myself.”

“Yes, it seems so.”

It appeared that the media image of him had been exaggerated. Sujin realized that in reality, he was a calm and ordinary man.

Just moderately kind, moderately selfish, moderately approachable… and despite his cold appearance, the way he treated Ihyun showed he had deep compassion. He seemed quite tough, too.

He could have ignored Ihyun’s bad habit of sacrificing himself recklessly, but instead he pointed it out. He had said it upset him to see such things, which meant it hurt him to watch someone destroy themselves. Maybe he simply could not stand by and watch others suffer.

Whatever his reasons, he seemed to be someone with a deep heart.

“Lude. Thank you once again for applying to Sanctuary.”

Having thought it through, Kang Sujin extended her hand for a handshake. Lude stared at her blankly. Sujin smiled at him.

“Our Sanctuary is one family. Now that you have joined, you are family as well.”

“I don’t believe in things like family.”

At Lude’s sharp words, Sujin laughed. With the soft charisma of an elder, she waited. After hesitating for a moment, Lude finally extended his hand. Sujin grasped it firmly and spoke.

“Then I will put it another way. We will make sure that you do not regret choosing to become a Hunter. Sanctuary will always be on your side.”

Hearing those words, Lude lowered his gaze to their joined hands. He was no longer alone. No longer a solo player. Behind him now stood Sanctuary. They were “together.”

“For the next year, I look forward to working with you.”

“…Yes, me too.”