Beru got out from Suho's shadow and spoke to him. The hunters clicked their tongues at the same time and turned their heads away from Suho.
"What? You're a summoning hunter?"
"He's a summoning hunter."
"Summoning hunter…"
"…?"
Suho felt like he was dumped without even confessing.
Unaware of Suho's thoughts, Beru flew and patted Suho on the shoulder.
[It's okay. You have me, Young Master.]
"It's because of you."
Suho had many other combat skills besides summoning.
However, because of Beru's appearance, his first impression was taken as a summoning hunter, and other hunters' favorability towards him fell to the floor.
Regardless if one is a C-Class hunter, summoning skill was still non-mainstream among everyone.
Suho sighed quietly and looked back at the other hunters.
They completely avoided Suho's gaze.
"He looks like a newbie and on top of that he's a summoning hunter'
'His summoned thing also looks very weak.'
'If he joins a team, wouldn't he just get free money while not contributing anything?'
They tried their best not to make eye contact with Suho, fearing that he would ask them to join as a team member.
Those who were shunned by other hunters as well were gathered in one place.
Most of them were newbies with unproven careers, or those who were well known in the hunter industry for not being able to do their part because their skills were poor.
Seeing that only such people were unable to join a team and stood hesitantly, the members of the Baekho Guild, glanced at Baek Miho and asked.
"Vice President, what should we do?"
It was a really difficult situation.
They were concerned about the backlash that could happen if they forced those alienated hunters in other teams.
Since clearing a dungeon is a life-and-death matter, they can't force others to accept a hunter they don't like as a companion.
"Hmm."
Baek Miho thought for a moment before speaking.
"Let the rest of them be in one team."
"What? That's too risky…"
"Instead, let's include 3 B-class hunters in that team."
"Ah! That should work. We just need to keep it that way until the villain is caught anyway…"
The guild members nodded at Baek Miho's decision.
Them, gathering C-class freelancers, was not just for the purpose of protection.
The situation where they don't know when and where A-Class villains will appear was a very dangerous situation not only for hunters but also for the locals.
On top of that, they were in the center of Seoul.
'If the villain is hunting hunters anyway, the most efficient way is to wait next to the prey.'
In fact, even the C-Class hunters gathered there were at least convinced that they were decoys.
However, it was safer to become a bait that could still be protected in the event of an attack.
Also…
"I'd rather have a villain appear on our side."
"What? Are you crazy?"
"Why? With this much power, we can run away even if they show up anyway, and we can get a reward even if we just tell the association the location of the villain."
"You… You've never met an A-Class hunter, have you? Do you think it would be possible for a C-Class like us to safely escape from an A-Class?"
"No, but with two B-class hunters…"
"It's still best not to encounter an A-Class hunter no matter what."
The hunters, each of whom had a team, were talking.
Meanwhile, Suho failed to form a team until the Baekho Guild members brought the unchosen hunters together.
[Heheheuk! To think that Young Master was subjected to such humiliating treatment, you would definitely be angry!]
"It's all because of you."
Beru teases in a very loyal way.
Suho decided to be protected by the Baekho Guild.
'I wondered what the other hunters were like, but this is still great.'
Looking back, it has only been less than a month since Suho awakened.
In that short period of time, a lot of things happened, and he even met two traces of dead monarchs.
The King of Beasts, Fang Monarch, Rakan.
The King of Monstrous Humanoids, Iron Body Monarch, Tarnak.
It was clear that the path he was walking was different from other normal hunters, so he was more curious.
How different is he now from other hunters?
Suho's eyes, looking at the other hunters, squinted.
* * *
The Baekho Guild was kind enough to open up pre-emptive dungeons in the guild to C-Class hunters.
Since the Baekho guild members would attack together anyway, the profits would be distributed. Although, it would still be a pretty big loss.
'Baekho Guild has a high reputation for a reason, a truly noblesse oblige.'
Suho admired the consideration of the Baekho Guild and immediately moved to the dungeon with his temporarily formed team members.
The problem was that his members were really non-mainstream.
[Only the really clumsy ones gathered.]
Beru's assessment was too frank.
A total of 10 members.
It consisted of 3 B-Class hunters from the Baekho Guild and 7 C-Class hunters including Suho.
However, 5 of them were rookies who had just awakened like Suho, and the other two experienced hunters were summoning hunters.
The more summoning hunters there were in the team, the worse the raid would be.
It meant that the number of people actually participating in the battle would be reduced by that much.
"… Would this raid really be okay?"
Even the Baekho Guild members who would protect them were muttering words of concern.
There was another problem.
One thing that hunters greatly considered when choosing their team was… personality.
How would they know each other's personalities just by looking at the faces on their first meeting?
Simple.
Most of the newly awakened newbies have a bad personality.
They suddenly awakened with superhuman strength one day, and the price of that power was nothing but like winning the lottery.
In fact, by using that power, they would be able to make huge amounts of money.
Just from that moment, hunters develop a sly spirit.
Simply put, bluff and go.
"The heck? Why should I be treated like this?!"
While moving to the dungeon prepared by the Baekho Guild, rookie hunter Gu Dongjae suddenly expressed his dissatisfaction.
He was the tallest hunter among the 10, even bigger than the B-Class Baekho Guild members.
A good looking tank.
Gu Dongjae was a newbie who had only awakened for a week, and it was a time when he was overflowing with confidence in his sudden superhuman strength.
In fact, his ability deserves high praises if it was backed up by prior experiences or performances.
If he would accumulate a few dungeon experiences, he could get scouts from good guilds as well.
'But the problem is, he's not in a normal dungeon raid situation.'
He was just a newbie who is intoxicated with his own power and doesn't know how to be afraid of the world.
As soon as the Baekho Guild members saw Gu Dongjae, they defined him as someone exactly like that.
"Hey. Excluding the Baekho guys, it looks like I'm the strongest here, so I'll be the raid leader. Okay?"
"Huh? Be what?"
When Gu Dongjae suddenly volunteered like that, of course the hunters were taken aback.
"Gu Dongjae, you said it's only been a week since you awakened? Now, you want to be the team leader?"
"Isn't it the same for you? There are only rookies who are less than a month old here anyway, so wouldn't it be safe for the strongest person to be the leader?"
"Still, the members of the Baekho Guild rather than us would be a better choice…"
"Didn't you hear that Baekho guys didn't care about running the team from the beginning?"
"Are you speaking without honorifics? How old are you?"
"So what?"
Swook.
As he came forward, the hunter who had been arguing with him had no choice but to falter.
The feeling of intimidation felt from Dongjae was no joke.
Those muscles were never made in the gym.
Maybe that hunk characteristic is his skill in itself?
Beru tilted his head watching the scuffle from afar.
[Young Master, shouldn't the strongest guys just be the leaders?]
What Beru pointed out were members of the Baekho Guild.
Suho shrugged and replied.
"Then, things would turn worse."
[How come?]
In terms of career and rank, in that situation, it was correct that the Baekho Guild members led the raid.
However, they called a lot of freelance hunters saying it was an emergency, and if the guild members even take the leader position…
"That would literally become the tyranny of a large guild. It's like having freelancers controlled by force. Furthermore…"
Suho glanced at the Baekho Guild members.
From a while ago, their attention was focused only on detecting signs from the outside.
In a situation where an A-Class villain might suddenly appear, it was a waste of energy to pay attention to the C-Class people arguing about who would be the leader.
Gu Dongjae looked at Suho with a disapproving expression, perhaps the sound of Suho and Beru's conversation was annoying.
"Why? Would you like to be a leader too?"
"Oh, no. We're summoning hunters, so we're a bit out of position to be leaders…"
It was not Suho who gave a quick answer and stepped back, but the other summoning hunters.
Ironically, the two summoning hunters, excluding Suho, were attacker-type seniors with more than a year of experience.
But even more so, they knew their positions well.
There are two types of raid leaders.
An attack-type leader who controls the raid at the forefront.
Or, conversely, a balance-type leader who controls the entire team's HP from behind.
The latter was, of course, a position only available to healers.
A summoning hunter was unable to do both.
As they took a step back without muttering, Gu Dongjae looked satisfied.
'Good. The power has completely turned over to me.'
The raid leaders have priority in profit sharing.
Distribution ratio is a bit high for them, but above all, if they find a good item in a dungeon, priority is given to the raid leader.
In addition, once they have a career as a raid leader, they have a higher chance of becoming a raid leader throughout their career as a hunter in the future.
'By the way, what's with that guy?'
Gu Dongjae glared his eyes fiercely when he saw the summoning hunter who remained at the spot among the three summoners.
That was Suho.
He was chatting with Beru, not paying attention to Gu Dongjae.
Thud.
In front of Suho, the shadow of Goo Dongjae was casted.
"Why? Are you also interested in being a leader?"
"No. I'm not interested. If you want to do it, do it."
"Haha. Right?"
Gu Dongjae was impressed with Suho's answer.
He tapped Suho's back with a pot-sized palm and laughed.
"Well, I heard you had just awakened like me? It must be heartbreaking to be a summoning hunter. Don't worry. Just trust and follow me…"
Gu Dongjae's expression subtly changed.
Then he looked at his tingling palms.
Something was strange.
If he pat someone on the back, the usual reaction is for their body to flinch with a 'tap!'.
It was different for Suho.
His slender (?) body easily held up to his own strength without being pushed back an inch.
Even the feeling is like hitting a solid giant tree…
"Rather."
Suho added something.
"I will fight on my own."
"What?"