Chapter 42 Part 2: Briefing

“Aren’t you going to the briefing?”

“I’m not interested.”

“You’re not even interested in the mid-level guilds?”

As soon as they disappeared, he immediately shows his true colors. The cordial tone from earlier is gone, replaced by a hint of sarcasm. When I turn my head to look at him, he’s still smiling as usual. His innocent face makes me wonder if I’ve misheard him.

“So you’d better come to the briefing session of the Blue Serpent the day after tomorrow.”

“Why would I go there?”

“It’s a rare opportunity to see the guild leader of the Blue Serpent.”

The guild leader is coming? I thought he was only coming to watch the last tournament, but he’s coming to the briefing? If so, that’s a pretty radical move. I shudder to think of the crowds that will gather just to see his face.

“He wants to know more about you.”

The words were out of nowhere.

“Me?”

“Yeah. You.”

“Why?”

No matter how I think about it, the only person in the Blue Serpent who is connected to me is Lee Eun-Woo.

“Did you say something?”

He immediately denies it, his eyes widening. “No it’s not me. It’s a fact that you and I managed to kill a mutant queen ant, and it’s the talk of the town among the top guilds.”

What? Really? Maybe I was the kind of Hunter who’s not interested in discovering new talents, but I didn’t know guild could have access to such information. Maybe Backwater didn’t know about it as well because they were a mid-tier guild. Or perhaps it was because Pyo Yeon-Won handled the guild matters more, not me.

“There were other recommendations.”

“Who?”

“You’ll know when you see them.”

He smiles, but it’s a crooked smile. Someone else talked about me? Who? Choi Seok-chul? There’s no video footage or proof, so he’s the only one who can add anything to it.

“…I told you I’m not interested in the Blue Serpent.”

“I know. Even if you don’t join the guild, it can’t hurt to say hello, right?”

That’s true. The name of the Blue Serpent carries a lot of weight. In the hunter industry, the influence of a large guild cannot be ignored. Moreover, Red Flames and Blue Serpents are guilds that directly interact with the government. Establishing a good relationship with them will give people a good stepping stone against Toluk.

‘The government may still only suspect the existence of the Toluk, and I can add credence to that theory. To do so, I need direct contact with the government.’

It would make for a nice picture if the Guildmaster of the Blue Serpent could provide that.

“Okay. I’ll go.”

“Good idea.”

I’m pretty nervous about this. I had never met Jeon Seo-ho before in real life. I’ve only heard rumors about him. When I stepped out of the gate, I was in no position to meet the Guild Leader of the Blue Serpent, and by the time I was in a position that no one could ignore, the Blue Serpent had already changed leadership from Seo-Ho to Eun-Woo. He had never once made an impact on the hunter world after retiring, so he really had nothing to do with me.

‘Why did he retire when he wasn’t even at the end of his strength? And why did he retire and disappear like that? There were so many rumors before.’

The most prominent theory was that he had uprooted any room for decentralization of power, in order to consolidate the influence of the next Guild Leader, Lee Eun-Woo.

Though no one knows what the real reason is.

“However, I have no intention of joining the Blue Serpent, and I hope you can make this point clear.”

“Okay. Don’t be so mean.”

I’m just saying that because I can see through it. As you slowly get your foot in the door and get to know the people of the Blue Serpents, the perception of “They’ll probably be part of that Guild” will naturally build, and other guilds who don’t want to waste their valuable manpower will naturally stop paying attention to that hunter. Then, even if they don’t want to, they’ll be forced to take the offer because it’s the only place that gave them a recruitment offer.

‘Does he think that I don’t recognize this slowly tightening snake-like trick?’

“Haha…” Judging from Lee Eun-Woo’s awkwardly smiling face, the idea wasn’t completely lost on him.

The crowd slowly gathered and there was no room to stand still. The big guild briefings don’t even have a list in the first place. Even the lectures are held in a banquet hall.

“There are a lot of people.”

“Yeah.”

The two people next to me shared the same sentiment. It’s true. The small and medium-sized guilds are focused solely on where each trainee fits in, but the big guilds are good for everyone without any specific conditions. Red Flames and Blue Serpent. The rivalry between the two is a well-known one, but I didn’t expect them to compete so openly on the same day as the briefing. It seems that the briefing will be given by Red Flames first, followed by Blue Serpent.

“What kind of people will come?”

“In Red Flames, Hunter Jeon Chung-Woon and Hunter Park Shi-yeon are famous so they might come and represent, and in Blue Serpent, I’m not sure who will come…”

After listening to the chatters, it seems that some hunters that I’m familiar with are also here.

“Don’t these guilds have too many Hunter representatives? I don’t think those who are too famous will come because they’re too busy?”

They asked Lee Eun-Woo if he had heard anything about who was coming from the Blue Serpent today. Lee Eun-Woo only smiled and said that we would find out later. I’m not sure who it could be that’s making him look so happy.

“We’re about to start! Please take your seats!”

The presentation began. Everyone took their seats and stared at the back of the podium. ‘Who is it? Is Jeon Chung-Woon really coming out? I’ve never seen him after our match against Beelzebub’.

I only remember turning down a few of their visitation requests. It would be a bit awkward to meet him again, but I also felt that I wanted to see his face again as well. After all, we had spent months together inside the gate.

“Please give us a round of applause, let’s welcome Red Flames Hunter Jeon Chung-Woon and Hunter Kim Ki-taek!”

(T/N: I had a Feeling that they would come and they did! Hahaha)

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