The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low Chapter 10

If one were to name the famous guilds in the Republic of Korea, a Hunter powerhouse, anyone would name three guilds without disagreement.

First, PADO.

Second, SAMRA.

Third, SEOWON.

First of all, SAMRA Guild was the Republic of Korea’s official first guild. Its Guild Master was Song Joheon, who had risen from A-class to S-class, proving that Awakened could advance in rank post-awakening, and based on the solid foundation built over a long period, it formed one of the heavy pillars of Korea’s Hunter community.

SEOWON Guild was famous for a different reason. Within SEOWON Guild’s main building existed a massive library connected to other spaces—an ark of sorts that had gathered knowledge from after the Day of the Rift. They were a group that pursued knowledge over money or fame, and focused more on research than actual combat.

And lastly, PADO. PADO Guild needed no lengthy explanation. Two things sufficed to summarize it:

A small elite force, and Lee Sayoung.

∞ ∞ ∞

One side of the spacious PADO Guild conference room was a full glass window, offering a panoramic view of the city. Bae Wonwoo, Vice Guild Master of PADO Guild, crossed in front of it with a tablet in hand as he entered the conference room and rapped on the door as if to knock, drawing attention.

“Alright, alright, let’s start checking attendance—…does anyone know why four seats are empty?”

They had set out chairs to match the exact number of participants, yet four seats were empty. No one had reported being absent, which was strange. Had an emergency Rift broken out somewhere? As Bae Wonwoo scratched his head in confusion, a woman with her bright red hair tied up in a half-ponytail raised her hand and spoke.

“Vice Guild Master~ They’re lying in the treatment room. It’s been about a day, I think.”

“Huh? Why? Those guys didn’t even go into a dungeon.”

At the puzzled question, the red-haired woman, Kang Jisu, shrugged.

“I don’t know. They came back all beaten up from somewhere.”

“What? Who the hell beat up our people? And you just let that slide?”

“Hey, of course we were going to beat them back together. But the Guild Master told us to leave it alone.”

Bae Wonwoo’s gaze snapped toward Lee Sayoung, who was seated at the head of the table. With an indifferent expression, as if uninterested in the preceding conversation, Lee Sayoung was fiddling with something; sensing the gaze, he tilted his head.

“What.”

“No, I mean… our people got beaten up by some bastard, and you tell us to leave it alone? That’s not the PADO way.”

“Leave it. That’s a Guild Master’s order.”

Lee Sayoung answered slowly in his still disinterested voice. Bae Wonwoo narrowed his eyes and tried to see more closely what Sayoung was distracted by. In his hand was… what looked like a crumpled business card.

“What’s that in your hand?”

“A letter.”

“A letter? Who gave it to you?”

“So many questions….”

Tilting his head askew, Sayoung gestured with his chin toward the direction where the guild members were seated.

“Start the meeting.”

“Ugh… Tch. Jisu! You relay the meeting contents to those lying down.”

“Ugh, it’s always me they make do everything.”

Kang Jisu grumbled, but Bae Wonwoo did not add anything more; he stepped up to the podium and adjusted the microphone. Clearing his throat, he announced the start.

“Then we’ll proceed with this quarter’s dungeon bidding meeting. Everyone, turn on your tablets and open the file sent by the support office.”

The meeting, which began with data on several dungeons, ended sooner than expected. Everyone’s opinions had converged on a single dungeon. Bae Wonwoo, standing on the podium, adjusted the microphone and announced the meeting’s outcome.

“Um… If there are no more opinions, for this quarter’s dungeon bidding we will participate in the Jongno 3-ga underground dungeon. Decision made. Does anyone object?”

“No objections!”

“Great~ Jongno 3-ga is convenient for transportation, and the materials that come out of it are decent too.”

“Does that place drop life recovery potion ingredients? Why would the government release such a prime bid?”

“They must be short on money, I guess. The bid price is probably going to be insanely high.”

After it became known that dungeon and monster byproducts could make money, Hunters who had previously taken what they could and closed dungeon doors took a step further and began leaving useful dungeons open.

They started periodically exploring the interiors of dungeons that had been mostly cleared of monsters and gathering byproducts to make money. In addition, the government and the Awakened Management Agency conducted research on ownerless dungeons and selected useful ones to put up for auction.

Normally, the Guild Master and Vice Guild Master would have discussed and decided on auction participation, but this quarter’s auction had an unusually large number of prime dungeons, making decisions difficult. So Bae Wonwoo had convened today’s meeting to hear everyone’s opinions. Yet it ended anticlimactically.

“Then with this, the meeting is—”

“Wait.”

Lee Sayoung, who had been listening quietly throughout the meeting, raised his hand. The guild members, who had been preparing to leave assuming the meeting would soon end, turned their attention to him. Bae Wonwoo, who had been about to wrap up the meeting, also blinked.

“What is it, Sayoung?”

“Do you have something to say…?”

“What’s the matter?”

Curious eyes all turned to Lee Sayoung at once. Had something displeased him? Or an additional dungeon bid? Was he going to steal another guild’s bid rights?

But what came out of his mouth was unexpected, shattering everyone’s predictions.

“Have you seen a man wearing a soju brand apron around here?”

“A soju brand apron? All of a sudden?”

“Yeah. Black. And he carries a ladle about this big.”

“A ladle?”

“Delicate-looking face…. Hair is black… no, was it gray.”

“A delicate face? Hair black but gray?”

Lee Sayoung formed a circle with both hands. PADO Guild’s sturdy shield and Vice Guild Master, Bae Wonwoo, looked around as if to ask what the hell this nonsense was about. But everyone was just looking at Bae Wonwoo with bewildered faces, yielding no useful information.

‘Hey, none of you know?’

‘If the Vice Guild Master doesn’t know, who would?’

Such silent exchanges seemed to pass through the air.

No! Lee Sayoung wouldn’t have brought this up right before the meeting ended without reason. Bae Wonwoo, racking his brains as hard as he could, scratched his cheek and asked.

“Did you… see a soju promotional event somewhere?”

Bae Wonwoo was a diligent and reliable tanker, but he did not possess quick-witted intelligence. His reasoning was completely off the mark, but since the other guild members did not have any particular leads either, they at least went along with Bae Wonwoo’s opinion.

“Oh~ Guild Master, you went to a mart?”

“No, if he’d gone to a mart, the PR team would have contacted us long ago.”

“That’s true.”

“Besides, isn’t it a bit strange to be walking around in an apron in the first place?”

“Why? If you work at a restaurant, that could happen.”

“Why would the Guild Master be looking for a restaurant employee?”

“How would I know. Or maybe he ate a delicious meal and absentmindedly walked out still wearing the apron.”

“Usually, when you pay, the owners tell you to take off the apron before you leave, don’t they?”

“This is completely unhelpful.”

Listening quietly to the guild members’ opinions one by one, Lee Sayoung delivered a cold assessment.

“No, who was the one who suddenly brought up a man in an apron in the middle of bidding talk?”

Bae Wonwoo slammed the podium and expressed his grievance. The wooden podium dented in the shape of his fist. The general affairs team leader, seizing the moment, pushed up his glasses, and a glint—ping!—flashed across the lenses.

“Vice Guild Master, I’ll send up the invoice for podium replacement.”

“Ah, damn. Couldn’t you let it slide just this once?”

Taking advantage of the suddenly chaotic atmosphere, Sayoung rose from his seat. After rolling his shoulders a couple of times, he slipped the crumpled business card into his pocket. Sayoung waved his hand at Bae Wonwoo, who was busily begging the general affairs team leader, and announced the adjournment.

“Never mind. Meeting over. Everyone go eat.”

“Hey, Sayoung! Don’t skip meals again!”

Affectionate nagging followed him from behind, but Lee Sayoung left the conference room first without answering. Watching his back, Wonwoo let out a long sigh. Kang Jisu shrugged.

“Guild Master skipping meals is nothing new, is it? Let’s just go eat.”

“Ugh…. Fine, let’s go have some hangover stew.”

“Ah! Eat less hangover stew, will you. If you’re going to eat that again today, I’m not having dinner with you, Vice Guild Master.”

“Want to come with me? I’ll treat you.”

“Ah, I can’t hear you. I’ll eat at the cafeteria. Go by yourself.”

Just as Kang Jisu escaped the conference room so quickly that there was no chance to stop her, Bae Wonwoo, holding onto his last hope, cautiously asked the remaining members.

“Anyone want to come with me?”

The moment he said that, the Hunters swiftly exited the conference room. They weren’t even that fast when running from Grade-2 monsters!

“From the Guild Master on down, they all treat PADO’s loyalty too lightly!”

In the end, Bae Wonwoo had to head to the hangover stew restaurant alone, trudging by himself. The long-established hangover stew restaurant he frequented daily was a famous spot, but that was not the only reason Bae Wonwoo visited it.

First, as the saying goes, rumors spread fastest where people gather! I go there to gather information by talking with the Hunters there! And to build some rapport! The Vice Guild Master of PADO outwardly proclaimed these profound intentions and faithfully stamped his attendance at the shop every lunchtime. The pride he felt every time he saw his signature on the shop’s old wallpaper was an added bonus.

Second, the hangover stew restaurant had held onto its old prices as much as possible even when prices went crazy, and the food was good with generous portions—to the point that he wondered how they made any profit selling at those prices. The grumpy way the owner grandmother received him every time he visited was also endearing. The hangover stew restaurant was the only place in the changed world that had preserved its pre-Day of the Rift appearance.

It was a few months ago that a unfamiliar young man, looking to be in his early twenties, suddenly appeared at the shop.