Chapter 363

Anyway, even when you were telling the truth, if the other person refused to believe you, where exactly were you supposed to vent your frustration?

“Are you making excuses just for our sake?”

“No, Haseong-ah.”

“H-Hunter, you’ve always been so honest. So how is it that even when you give us a reason...”

“I really don’t have any money.”

“Look at Hunter Seo. She’s so shocked she can’t even speak.”

“Even today, I have to go home and eat rice soaked in water.”

The brief exchange continued in the hallway.

Then just go make money at a C-rank gate or something. Don’t even think about touching high-rank gates.

“CEO Seo Esther.”

You’re not exactly someone who lives extravagantly. That should be more than enough for ordinary living expenses. What more could you possibly need?

Their positions barely moved any closer together.

“No, it’s just that I have some debt. Actually, I forgot to pay my taxes, so the amount the National Tax Service is about to demand from me is fairly substantial...”

“Excuse me for a moment, Hunter Kim. Come to think of it, before you became a Hunter, didn’t you work at a bathtub factory?”

“That’s right.”

“But if you had that much experience living in society, how could you completely forget about taxes?”

“...”

The idea that an S-rank esper could genuinely have no money was simply too difficult for the Earthlings to accept.

“How did things end up like this...”

And so Jung Haseong and Seo Esther continued to misunderstand him and stubbornly maintained their original stance.

They intended to take care of every high-rank gate in the country themselves, and promptly told Kim Giryeo to stay away from hunting, go home, and peel himself some tangerines instead.

It was undoubtedly a well-intentioned gesture.

For the alien, however, it was nothing but troublesome.

‘Last year, the entire world was practically begging me to work.’

And now people like Jung Haseong and Seo Esther were joining forces to steal all the work away from him!

‘Nothing ever goes smoothly. Why does some kind of crisis happen every winter after I come to Earth?’

Still, even with so many people opposing him, canceling his retirement was absolutely necessary.

Kim Giryeo had to return to hunting.

Besides, if he needed to build up assets worth tens of billions by next February, wandering around low-rank gates alone would make paying off his debts virtually impossible.

‘Ha.’

If I had known things would turn out like this, I should have moved to a planet where money didn’t exist.

Unfortunately, since he could only migrate using the body of a native life-form, it didn’t matter which world he went to. Problems like this were apparently unavoidable.

‘Taxes are making me want to open my notebook again... but would that be too shameless?’

Money.

Wealth.

Finances.

Even wizards capable of performing all kinds of miracles couldn’t escape such mundane concerns.

If that was the case, could magic truly be called magic?

‘Well, if I’m going to live with both feet planted on Earth, then I should follow the rules of this world. So let’s stop thinking about city-destroying magic...’

Kim Giryeo briefly stared out the window with clouded eyes.

The sky above the planet beneath his feet was equally gray and hazy.

Snow was expected today.

***

Before long, winter had fully settled in.

And yet, in this beautiful season when the trees dressed themselves in white...

Who could have imagined he would suffer this kind of tyranny at the hands of fellow professionals?

‘The whole world’s gone white with snow.’

Several days had passed since Jung Haseong issued his threat.

The alien bent over the small screen of his phone and briefly checked the latest situation.

[Gate Breaks Today: ‘0.’ First Extended Zero Streak Since the Shock.]

As the news ticker scrolling along the bottom of the screen showed, the S-ranks Jung Haseong and Seo Esther were keeping their word to the letter.

Claiming they couldn’t stand watching a sick man worry about what was happening in the field, they had gone around slaughtering every last monster.

‘It almost feels like the timing happened to line up perfectly with the fall of the Gisinche.’

The result of their altruism was the unprecedented phenomenon known as Break Zero.

What was more, there wasn’t a single high-rank Gate left in the capital, and even the A-rank Gates appeared to have gone on vacation together.

‘For the feeding grounds to completely disappear in a city this densely populated...’

Then how was he supposed to get out of this predicament?

After failing to reach any kind of compromise with the S-rank Hunters, Kim Giryeo had temporarily returned to his new base.

It was the seaside villa he had purchased only recently, draining what little money remained in his account.

Since he had already come all the way out here, far from Seoul, he had planned to leisurely hunt the Gates in the surrounding region instead...

But.

“Huh?”

Only then did the alien realize what he had overlooked.

Being in the provinces didn’t necessarily mean there would be more available work.

Areas of Earth with smaller populations naturally tended to have fewer Gates as well.

‘At this rate... am I, a former S-rank, really going to end up drifting from one low-level Gate to another?’

Take the Faith Guild in Chuncheon, for example.

In provincial areas, most profitable dungeons—whether Red or Blue—already had established owners.

As a result, Kim Giryeo was rapidly being driven into a corner.

‘What? How am I supposed to make 40 billion from low-level Gates? That’s like trying to buy an apartment by collecting empty soju bottles.’

Working in a smaller city meant clashing with the local Hunters.

But returning to Seoul, where there was plenty of work, wasn’t an option either.

There, the S-ranks with their “good intentions” had sealed off the dungeon entrances so thoroughly that it was almost suffocating.

Kim Giryeo sank into thought.

One way or another, earning money would require him to clash with Earthlings.

And that fact alone was enough to leave his mind in turmoil.

But then, only a few hours later...

[Jang Youngja Accounting Firm]

To be precise, it happened after he hurriedly sought out a professional with Seonwoo Yeon’s help.

At the accounting office he had visited to sort out his tax problems, the alien unexpectedly discovered a ray of hope.

“Oh. So you’re saying I don’t actually have to pay the entire 40 billion?”

“Yes, that’s correct. Cases where someone truly has to pay the full amount are rare. Hunters tend to have a great many work-related expenses, so once those are deducted, the actual tax burden usually becomes much smaller.”

“Oh.”

As befitted such an advanced civilization, Earth had an impressively intricate and carefully structured tax system.

“The more money I spend on work, the less tax I have to pay.”

Well, when he thought about it, it made sense.

Sitting on the sofa in the accounting office, Kim Giryeo mentally calculated the total cost of all the potions he had consumed over the previous year.

But even now, just as a faint glimmer of hope had begun to appear, the same problem remained.

“Um. By the way, sir.”

“Yes?”

“Looking at the transaction records you brought, there’s a withdrawal of 100 billion made all at once. What exactly did you purchase with that money?”

“...”

“If you can properly document that expense, then honestly, you probably won’t have to worry much about this foreign-income tax at all.”

Unfortunately, the alien was hiding a secret he could never reveal.

“Sir? Why aren’t you answering? I’m asking what you bought with that 100 billion.”

“...”

“It wasn’t hunting equipment, was it?”

The atmosphere instantly turned awkward.

Truly, this was why they said a woman’s heart was as fickle as a reed in the wind.

‘Damn it. Just because I bought that one [Midnight Shard], I’ve ended up in a serious bind.’

Back when he had been powerless, he had been overjoyed that something so precious could be purchased with mere money.

Now, however, he had become powerful enough that he no longer needed to go through the trouble of absorbing another person’s magic.

As a result, the completed [Midnight Glove] had become, from the alien’s perspective, nothing more and nothing less than an inconvenient fashion accessory.

‘I can’t even casually lose it without causing a massive incident. And it’s not as though I can safely take it off whenever I’m outside...’

But no matter how much he thought about it, revealing the truth simply for financial gain was—

“Hmm.”

The mage calmly kept his brow from furrowing.

If it became known that the [Midnight Shard] had been transformed into the [Midnight Glove], the Earthlings would undoubtedly show enormous interest.

Research into the artifact would inevitably accelerate.

“It’s still too early for a process like that to begin in this era.”

Technology capable of preserving miracles had far too much industrial value.

The being who had folded his arms in place of using tentacles soon reached a conclusion.

As expected, he could not recklessly reveal what had happened to the [Midnight Shard].

Which meant there was only one choice left.

“Is there any other legal way to reduce my taxes?”

The expressionless man asked the question with an unmistakable sense of urgency.

“Ah, I-I see. So that 100 billion falls under expenses you can’t properly account for.”

At that, the tax specialist gave him an interesting answer.

“In that case, there’s only one piece of advice I can give you, sir.”

“Establish a guild!”

A guild.

More precisely, this was the general term used for corporations that generated profit through the activities of Hunters.

“A guild... you mean?”

“Yes. You could establish a company yourself, or you could simply join an existing organization as a member.”

“Hmm.”

“However, what I recommend is establishing the corporation yourself. The policy benefits available to you that way would be significantly greater.”

And if he established the guild himself, even a rough calculation suggested that he could gain benefits equivalent to nearly 20 billion in the first year alone.

‘So my debt could be cut in half without having to fight monsters like Jung Haseong and Seo Esther over dungeon access.’

Kim Giryeo decided to obediently follow the expert’s advice.

There was, frankly, no reason not to.

“Yes!”

Of course, that casual decision soon caused quite a stir throughout society.

[Hunter News 24]

[Exclusive Breaking News! S-Rank [N O V E L I G H T] Awakened Hunter Kim Giryeo Confirmed to Have Inquired About ‘Guild Establishment’ Through Official Channels]

At three o’clock on a weekday afternoon, the report appeared on a public news page accessible to anyone in Korea.

And just like that, the Hunter industry was thrown into turmoil.

***

[Hunter News 24]

[Exclusive Breaking News! S-Rank Awakened Hunter Kim Giryeo Confirmed to Have Inquired About ‘Guild Establishment’ Through Official Channels]

So the fourth S-rank is starting a company.

[Live Chat]

[#1: Hey, isn’t this basically Garion Season 2?]

[#: Seriously = =]

[#: Wow—the guild master is actually coming to the interview in person? This is insane—ugh. Wait. Why does my head suddenly feel... weird...?]

[#: A couple truckloads of Hunters are going to regret submitting their résumés so confidently, lol.]

In truth, the whole thing had started from an utterly trivial motive.

But to the people in the industry who had no way of knowing that, the report was more than enough to cause an uproar.

From [Inevitably Malice] to [Kagoshima Black Dragon] and countless other achievements besides.

An S-rank with a record dazzling enough to make him an idol had established a guild.

And if there was even the slightest possibility of joining his organization, who could possibly remain indifferent?

Of course, until an official recruitment notice appeared, all of it amounted to little more than hopeful speculation.

Nevertheless, many Hunters refused to dismiss the possibility and began preparing in their own ways.

The storm hit large guilds with numerous affiliated Hunters particularly hard.

“Um.”

And eventually, the subject came up there as well.

“Team Leader...”

A cautious voice echoed through Neo Sisters headquarters on an otherwise quiet afternoon.

The person who had brought up the subject happened to be fairly close to one particular member of the guild.

Having finished her dungeon run for the day, she passed the news along to her superior just before leaving.

“By the way, did you hear? S-rank Hunter Kim Giryeo is starting a guild.”

“Ah. That whole commotion online.”

Normally, someone else establishing a guild would not have been especially important to them.

But Park Seunghye, leader of Neo’s Regular Team 3, eventually revealed what had been bothering her.

“Right. From what I’ve heard, it doesn’t seem to be just some baseless rumor...”

There was only one reason her expression had darkened.

Ahn Yoonseung.

Come to think of it, her team included an exceptionally capable defense-type awakener.

And...

If Kim Giryeo were to become the head of some new organization, the first person likely to hear about it would inevitably be that young man.

“Hmm.”

Regular Team 3 had spent a great deal of time learning how to work together.

Their coordination was excellent, and each member had a solid personality, making them a team that could probably remain together for a very long time.

So what would happen if one of them suddenly left?

She mulled over the problem.

But since the person at the center of the issue happened to be walking nearby, the team leader decided there was no point worrying by herself.

She might as well ask him directly.

“Hey, Ahn Yoonseung!”

“Yes!”

Anyway, if he really intended to transfer guilds, it would be better for the rest of the team to know as early as possible.

“Whaaat? If Kim Giryeo starts a guild, are you planning to transfer there?”

But at that moment, Ahn Yoonseung reacted with far more surprise than she had expected.

He was close enough to that particular person that he even had the rare S-rank Hunter’s personal contact information.

Thanks to that connection, whenever rumors surfaced about the man establishing a guild, Yoonseung had usually been the first one to pass along the truth.

“Oh, that? I already asked him directly.”

“He’s not planning to run it seriously like Hunter Esther does. He’s setting it up as a one-person guild.”

“Really? Ah~ I see. Then I worried for nothing. So it really is just Garion Season 2.”

Ahn Yoonseung had no intention whatsoever of joining the newly established company.

“Haha. Still, I can’t seem to stop worrying. It must be some kind of illness. I was actually nervous you might say you wanted to join, even if it meant becoming some low-level grunt.”

As the conversation continued, it became increasingly obvious that he had no plans to transfer.

“Don’t worry, Team Leader. Even for me, that would be a little too much.”

“Right?”

“Sure, I used to daydream about things like that without thinking very seriously about them. But lately, I think I’ve finally come to understand reality.”

“Huh?”

“I respect him just as much as I always have, but to put it metaphorically... it would be like suddenly being given the chance to bow directly before the Buddha. That would be a little overwhelming...”

For context, they were on their way home from work.

Ahn Yoonseung wore a slightly embarrassed expression as he said it, but continued casually.

“To put it more simply, I don’t think I’d be able to work properly if I were constantly that nervous.”

“Besides, he’s already said it’ll be a one-person guild, so there’s no reason for me to transfer anywhere in the first place.”

“Huh?”

“Of course, if Hyung-nim suddenly needed someone to help him, I’d go.”

“But there are plenty of people in this world more capable than I am. Honestly, I’d be more worried about whether I could even compete with them.”

“Ahn Yoonseung... did you quit smoking and start drinking instead?”