The creaky iron door opened, revealing two people setting up the last shield trap in the area. They were sweating, diligently infusing the trap with mana. It was the weekend, and the sun had already set, but their faces showed no signs of complaint. Yoon Seo approached the fools who were working hard on something that wouldn't even earn them money.
"Oh? Oppa, I told you to take a break."
"I just want to finish quickly and go home to watch my drama."
Yoon Seo placed his hand on the trap.
Use the skill [Arc of Protection].
Save the [Arch of Guardians] in the shield trap.
It protects this space from very strong impacts.
His eyes glowed blue. Among Yoon Seo's skills, there were some that made his eyes shine blue when used, and [Arc of Protection] was one of them. Yoon Seo deliberately lowered his eyelids so that Park Young-beom and Go Hee-won couldn't see.
"Wow..."
"As expected of Yoon Seo, our guild's ace."
The two were constantly amazed at the scale that instantly covered the entire shantytown area.
The government contract was for a B-rank defense, but now this shantytown had an S-rank shield trap. If something happened and the shantytown remained intact while the tall buildings across the road were damaged, it would raise suspicions...
No way that would happen.
Yoon Seo had done this several times over the past ten years without getting caught.
"This is a unique skill, right? What skill is it?"
"Just a shield generation skill."
"As expected of a Hunter hiding his power... A B-rank Hunter with a unique shield skill and an abundance of mana power. Where did our Guild Master find such a talent? Yoon Seo, you're not getting paid hundreds of billions in salary, are you?"
"Unfortunately, no. But what about your salary, Team Leader—"
"Trying to change the subject to me again. That trick won't work anymore, Yoon Seo."
"....."
"Hee-won, if anyone causes trouble at our merger ceremony, let's show them Yoon Seo's incredible shield skill."
"Sounds good! With Yoon Seo Oppa and Soo-bin Oppa, we can hold our heads high at the merger ceremony. No one will look down on us."
"Exactly. Let's stick close to Yoon Seo."
"What about my opinion?"
"Right, stick close to him."
"My opinion?"
Yoon Seo's words were completely ignored. Despite a twenty-year age difference, Park Young-beom and Go Hee-won seemed to have similar mental ages.
Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Seokyeong Guild's Guild Master's office.
Despite it being midsummer, the air was cool. A man with a serious expression looked up from his work. The reason for the wrinkles forming on his pale forehead was the sound of unceremonious footsteps approaching. Only one person would dare to approach the Seokyeong Guild Master's office so boldly. As Yoo Joon Chul took off his glasses, the door burst open, and the expected man stood there.
A young man in his early twenties with broad shoulders, a solid build, jet-black hair, and gray eyes, wearing earrings in both ears. It was S-rank Hunter Kwon Ji Han. Despite his handsome appearance, his crooked smile, cold eyes, and nonchalant attitude gave off a fierce and rebellious vibe.
"So, you've decided on the guild to merge with?"
Kwon Ji Han strode in as if it were his own room and sat on the leather sofa, crossing his legs.
"Can we at least start with a greeting? It's been a month since we last saw each other."
"Give me the list."
The young man, barely twenty-two, spoke informally to the Guild Master of the world's number one guild, a man even the president would defer to, while tilting his chin up. Yoo Joon Chul's already pale face turned even whiter.
Well, this kid had always been like this, even before the Great Cataclysm. He was so brash that he would mouth off to gangsters, saying whatever came to mind, and got beaten up a lot for it. No matter how many times he was told to curb his temper, he never did. If he hadn't Awakened, he would have been beaten to death by the local thugs.
Yoo Joon Chul rubbed his forehead briefly before tossing the tablet he had been looking at to the young man, hoping to avoid his office being trashed.
"Here, knock yourself out."
Kwon Ji Han caught it effortlessly.
"Let's see... Where's Seo Chaeyoon hiding?"
With a devilish grin, he touched the screen.
Yoo Joon Chul sighed and got up to sit across from Kwon Ji Han.
"Let's look together."
"You're such a bother."
"I did all the research, you brat."
Kwon Ji Han raised an eyebrow in annoyance and flicked his finger. The tablet's screen projected a 3D display between them, a marvel made possible by dungeon by-products and human technology.
The two of them scanned the list together.
***
No.1
Park Kang (29 years old/180cm/80kg)
Level: A
Hunter Name: Amhyang
Affiliation: Muhyang
***
No. 2
Lee Jungin (28 years old/176cm/66kg)
Level: B
Hunter Name: Page
Affiliation: Sejung
***
No. 3
Hwashim (28 years old/190cm/89kg)
Level: C
Hunter Name: Hwashim
Affiliation: Hwashim
***
No. 4
Yoon Seo (29 years old/175cm/60kg)
Level: B
Hunter Name: None
Affiliation: Nakyup
***
No. 5
Hong Euiyoon (27 years old/178cm/65kg)
Level: A
Hunter Name: Hellfire
Affiliation: Endfire
***
No. 6
Kim Jinhae (27 years old/172cm/60kg)
Level: C
Hunter Name: None
Affiliation: Destroyer
***
No. 7
Namgung Shimhae (29 years old/189cm/82kg)
Level: A
Hunter Name: Shimhae
Affiliation: Shimhae
***
"Seven people in total?"
"After narrowing it down, that's how many were left."
"That's quite a few."
"It was over a hundred initially, but we reduced it to this."
The Seokyeong Guild had been desperately searching Seo Chaeyoon for some reason since the year before last.
At first, they enlisted Hunters with search-related skills, but no matter what method Seo Chaeyoon used to hide, even S-rank skills couldn't detect him. The next step was to use items. To this end, Seokyeong sent multiple raid teams into S-rank dungeons to obtain S-rank search items, but even those failed to locate Seo Chaeyoon. Finally, Yoo Joon Chul's last resort was manual labor.
He formed a team to track Seo Chaeyoon, gathering candidates based on the only known information: his age during his active period, "late teens." Over a hundred male Hunters aged twenty-seven, twenty-eight, and twenty-nine were identified. Those with solid alibis during Seo Chaeyoon's active period were excluded, but since most pre-Apocalypse records were lost, thirty remained. Further analysis using big data to exclude those whose personalities greatly differed from Seo Chaeyoon's left twelve candidates.
The tracking team assigned one member to each of the twelve candidates, infiltrating their guilds or even moving next door if the candidate was in a one-person guild. After a year of investigation, only seven remained who displayed abilities beyond their registered ranks.
"It was tough narrowing it down this much. We have to find him, but with La Vigina Hunters and the only person in our guild who knows Seo Chaeyoon couldn't tell me anything because they signed a contract that they were never allowed to reveal it, it's been a real struggle. Why does our guild have to be the world's number one? Why isn't there a stronger guild than ours?"
Yoo Joon Chul lamented, but Kwon Ji Han barely listened as he browsed through the photos.
"Why did you bother noting their height and weight?"
"When we analyzed the footage of Seo Chaeyoon from ten years ago, he appeared to be around 175 cm and 58 kg. It's just for reference."
"How is that useful? There are so many disguise items and skills now. I have one myself."
Kwon Ji Han responded indifferently. Although his face was well-known, he used disguise items to change his appearance when he went out, but he never altered his body shape. On the other hand, some Hunters always appeared taller, making the public believe that was their actual height.
Yoo Joon Chul clicked his tongue as if he were dealing with a cluseless child.
"There's that generational gap again. Ten years ago, there were no disguise items or skills, or even signal jammers. We barely managed to cover our faces with handmade masks, and those would break during battles, so we had to wear big masks underneath."
"Wow, I thought that only happened in the Joseon Dynasty. How did you live like that?"
"You have no idea how good you have it. Back in my day, we didn't even have inventories, so we had to carry everything in bags, and we had to run on foot in dungeons because there were no mounts. Without detection skills, we had to go all out even against tiny monsters... Are you even listening to me?"
"No."
Yoo Joon Chul stopped talking when he Kwon Ji Han cleaning his ear with his finger.
Just ten years ago, everyone thought the world was ending, but the rapid advancement of human civilization based on the Gaia System made that time feel like a hundred years ago. For Kwon Ji Han, who was only twelve years old back then, it all sounded like boring stories.
"Kids these days."
"How did you verify their ages? What if they lied on their system profiles?"
"A suitable item came out just in time."
Yoo Joon Chul took an item out of his inventory. It looked like a pair of rimless glasses, but it was an item Kwon Ji Han had acquired from an S-rank dungeon last year.
'How old are you and me?'
Level: C
A hot new product prepared by the Gaia System just for you.
If you're curious about someone's age, try wearing these glasses.
(System Notification) 10/10 Allowed count has been used up.
"Although it's low-grade, the description says 'For your eyes only.' It means it's a unique item, one of a kind. And since it's brand new, Seo Chaeyoon wouldn't have any defense against it. It came out at just the right time."
"No wonder your eyes lit up the moment you saw it."
Kwon Ji Han remembered. When he reported the dungeon loot and tossed this item aside, Yoo Joon Chul's eyes had gleamed with excitement. It was a C-rank item that he didn't particularly need, but Yoo Joon Chul had used it to search for Seo Chaeyoon.
"Did it serve you well? Want it back?"
"Throw it away."
Yoo Joon Chul chuckled and crushed the glasses in his hand. The item had already reached its usage limit, and he had another pair he preferred.
Kwon Ji Han scanned the list again.
"Based on their profiles, Lee Jung In and Yoon Seo seem the most likely candidates in terms of physique. Skill-wise, four of them have offensive skills. Who do you think is the most probable candidate?"
Yoo Joon Chul pointed to one of the names. The man had black curly hair and eyes that seemed to burn with a fiery red. Even from the photo, he looked like a stoic character.
"Hwa Shim. He's registered as a B-rank support type, but one of our hunters confirmed he has flame skills. He doesn't talk much. He appeared exactly one month after Seo Chaeyoon disappeared."
"Fire, huh? That's useful."
"Hong Eui Yoon is also a key candidate. He has both electric and flame attributes and is very powerful. He's cleared a B-rank dungeon solo, so he's considered top-tier even among A-rank Hunters. His personality is a bit hot-tempered, which is different from the Seo Chaeyoon we know, but it's been ten years. Who knows how much he's changed? Anyways, big data didn't filter him out based on personality."
"Electric and flame. Sounds promising."
Kwon Ji Han whistled.
"And who are the other candidates?"