Chapter 441

Being stopped by someone and asked outright whether she intended to “resign from public service” was certainly unexpected. Seonwoo Yeon didn't answer immediately. She simply stepped past the man in black blocking the doorway and activated the digital door lock. Standing there, she paused and fell into thought.

'In a way, maybe it's for the best that I found out who this person really is so quickly.'

Beep, beep, beep.

For a few seconds, the sound of the five-digit apartment password being entered echoed through the hallway.

'If I'd kept interacting with him without knowing he was an alien, I probably would've misunderstood him for the rest of my life.'

In the process, the unique number that granted access to the apartment was fully exposed, but Seonwoo Yeon paid no attention to that either.

'He really has a strange personality... I probably would've judged him in my head every single time we met.'

That S-rank being was unmistakably an extraterrestrial creature. On top of that, with magic powerful enough to pass through doors like a ghost whenever he wanted, what was even the point of hiding the keypad with her hand?

“I'm asking whether you're thinking of resigning from your public position. I'll pay you a lot! Aren't you going to hand in your resignation?”

The alien near the door kept repeating the same question. If one listened closely, it was actually phrased in a surprisingly Korean way. But since Seonwoo Yeon had absolutely no intention of leaving her current job, she ultimately just shook her head.

'By the way, maybe it's because he's such a powerful and unconventional person, but lately I feel like I've been getting too influenced just from being around him.'

Swish.

The woman with long black hair swung open the door to the small apartment.

“Seonwoo Yeon-ssi, let's make this hypothetical. Even if I gave you ten billion won, would you really still want to work as a public servant?”

“Let's go inside first and talk.”

“Even if someone offered you ten billion won, wouldn't you at least need to think it over?”

What followed was an invitation for the neatly dressed Awakened to come inside.

'Last time, right in front of the gate, Hunter Jung Haseong even unleashed his magic... I was so startled that I ended up asking the alien for a solution.'

But even as Seonwoo Yeon let the alien into the apartment, she continued thinking.

'And then he casually asked whether there were any monster photos, and I ended up handing over Association materials so naturally. Really... I was far too careless this time. I need to get a grip.'

It was a stern rebuke directed at herself.

'From now on, I can't carelessly rely on that S-rank. And if he ever tries to take advantage of my position illegally, I need to refuse him firmly.'

Seonwoo Yeon finally became aware of how much flexibility she had unconsciously allowed herself. At that moment, she firmly resolved not to show favoritism toward acquaintances anymore. Holding onto that determination, she carefully guided the visitor from another world inside.

“It's not about the money. I get a certain sense of fulfillment from this work, so resigning from my position right now would be difficult.”

“I see.”

“But why did you suddenly ask me something like that today? What exactly were you thinking about by yourself?”

“Well... the truth is, from the perspective of a business owner, I suddenly found myself needing some workers...”

“Hmm?”

“Like you said, let's go inside first. I think I'll need to wet my throat with some iced tea before I can even start explaining.”

“You're talking as if I've already prepared green tea for you.”

Workers? And a business owner?

There wasn't enough time to process those words. Kim Giryeo was showing signs of urgency. So, to address the question that had arisen, Seonwoo Yeon decided to brew the green tea her guest had requested first.

.

.

.

But who could have imagined that the alien would bring up something this absurd?

“Seonwoo Yeon-ssi, I'm currently recruiting guild members here on Earth.”

It happened just as the conversation was getting underway. Seonwoo Yeon and Kim Giryeo were sitting quietly across from each other at the tea table. Blowing gently across the surface of the brewed green tea, Seonwoo Yeon suddenly paused and fell into thought.

“That's right. I'd completely forgotten because the guild is so inconspicuous. Come to think of it, the hunting business was properly registered after all.”

She was specifically recalling the online reviews of a certain business.

'Ordinary people don't know the truth about that fourth S-rank. Well, back when the guild was first founded, it did become a topic of conversation...'

Kim Giryeo's guild. Even if the name sounded outdated, the attention surrounding the company had been enormous simply because its guild master was an S-rank Hunter.

[HunterNet]

[as***: No way!!! At first I thought you'd screen employees like Garion did, but you're not recruiting new members at all??? Aaaaaah, accept my application, accept my application, accept my application, accept my application]

[.09*: Why on earth does this person want a hunter like Kim Giryeo as their boss, haha.]

[.0M/**: Usually, working under a tiger-like boss is exhausting and harsh. But in this industry, at least you actually learn something, haha.]

The man who had ignored such fervent public interest for so long had now announced that he intended to resume the guild's operations.

And once Seonwoo Yeon listened further, it turned out the alien was facing nothing less than the cliff edge of “cancellation of tax exemptions and full recovery of benefits.”

“Giryeo-ssi.”

Tak.

Seonwoo Yeon set down the teacup she had been holding.

“I understand your situation for now.”

“Yes.”

“But if all you need is to meet the guild's minimum requirements, couldn't you simply post a recruitment notice? You could hire a few hunters while you're at it.”

The black-haired woman's suggestion was perfectly reasonable.

“I'm sorry, but that's a little...”

However, the blond guest waved his hand dismissively, saying there was a problem.

“I was looking for a worker I could really trust—someone whose rank is, well, conveniently low.”

“Does it absolutely have to be someone other than an S-rank Hunter?”

“Yes. Well, it's not like I'm doing this just to fill the headcount with random Hunters.”

“Is that so?”

“The only reason things are delayed right now is because the Hunter Association president is overseas. My license will be reinstated soon anyway, so it's not as though I'm short on hunters.”

“Oh, right.”

From the sound of it, Kim Giryeo wasn't thinking only about taxes.

“Hmm.”

And as if to prove that the homeowner's intuition had been correct... the blond alien soon began explaining the situation he was in.

“Hunter Seonwoo Yeon-ssi. As I mentioned before, I've been working on a way to eradicate the monsters of this world.”

What followed were statements that, from the perspective of hunting, were perfectly natural.

“I want to eliminate the mastermind responsible for creating the gates.”

“Yes.”

“But if you're planning to hunt down and destroy something, you first need to observe where it is and what state it's in, right?”

“That's right.”

“So the first thing I'm going to try to build is something like a telescope for locating the hunting target.”

“A telescope?”

“More precisely, I need a telescope made from a certain special mineral.”

Fortunately, the alien who had settled on Earth wasn't someone who refused to use metaphors. Thanks to that, Seonwoo Yeon had no trouble following along and understanding the general point of what he was saying.

“Just like people here mine and use iron ore, I'm planning to dig up some unusual underground resources found inside Gates and use those instead.”

“I understand.”

“Of course, one fortunate thing is that, since I happen to be a genius, I somehow managed to finish the mineral detector itself...”

What he had just said was basically the equivalent of bragging that he'd invented litmus paper somewhere out in deep space.

Ah.

Then the alien sitting across from her took something out of his [Item Box]. What Kim Giryeo presented with a lifeless expression was a very thin, elongated rod.

“If you stick this into the ground and wait for about two hours, you can determine whether the mineral I need exists in that area.”

However, Seonwoo Yeon had always preferred subjects such as literature and history ever since her school days. In other words, she had never been particularly interested in science or technology.

So she had no real desire to hear about how the device actually worked.

“I see.”

Besides, the alien wanted to make efficient use of his time as well.

“But even though I somehow managed to complete the detection device, the problem is that I have no idea which dungeon might contain the minerals I need.”

The conversation continued smoothly.

“So I roughly narrowed it down to domestic dungeons with environments that seem promising. Most of them turned out to be low-grade hunting grounds, ranging from F to D rank.”

“Ah.”

“And it's not like I'll get results after one or two tries. To find even a single mineral, I'll probably have to clear dungeons a hundred times over...”

“So that's why you needed guild members.”

The man with hair dyed using hair coloring nodded and continued.

Of course, this gray rod—by Alphauri standards—had been made using extremely primitive technology, so even if it leaked or was copied, it wouldn't cause any major problems.

Still, the alien seemed determined to assign the mineral exploration task to a worker trustworthy enough to keep it secret.

“Hmm.”

Seonwoo Yeon thought there might be another solution to the problem. So, in a calm voice, she offered a different suggestion.

“I understand what you're worried about, Giryeo-ssi.”

“Yes, yes.”

“But if your concern is technology leaking from inside the guild, I think you could simply add a confidentiality clause to the employment contract, just like other companies do.”

This time, the alien's eyes widened as though he were hearing about something from another world.

“['The Knight's Oath'] or not, do you really think people will keep a promise just because it's written on a scrap of paper?”

But Seonwoo Yeon remained calm and composed.

“Employees who unlawfully leak guild know-how can be made to pay substantial damages under the law.”

“Aha.”

If they slipped up even slightly, they could end up being sued by an S-rank Hunter and lose everything. Besides, what courage would weak hunters—whose main territory consisted of low-rank Gates—have to refuse orders from someone like Kim Giryeo?

And above all, just look at the guild master's face.

“And that inspection rod... when you hand it out to people, there's no need to explain its exact function to every single person...”

“Ah, I see. So... you mean I should just tell them it's roughly some kind of secret soil moisture detector I developed?”

The golden-haired magician was eventually persuaded by his companion's words.

“Alright. Listening to you, Seonwoo Yeon, I can see that your point really does make sense.”

“I'm glad it was helpful.”

The alien nodded and continued.

“Indeed, you can't avoid making kimchi just because you're afraid of maggots. If it's for important research, you have to accept a certain degree of risk.”

“Haha, where did you learn a proverb like that?”

“Apparently, that proverb was already in Kim Giryeo's brain dictionary.”

“...”

Then, now that he had finally made up his mind...

“Anyway, thank you for the consultation today. I'll see you again next time.”

“Are you leaving?”

“Staying too long would only be a nuisance.”

“Whoa—That was really something only a human on Earth would say.”

“And I'm especially grateful that you shared those Elixir monster photos with me last time. I'll repay you gradually, so if you ever need quick cash later, make sure to contact me.”

Dmrk.

Kim Giryeo stood up.

“I'll take your advice and try hiring a regular worker.”

His attitude seemed confident and bright.

“It's a little problematic that the boss is an alien, though.”

After all, this one was a universal work-averse being who completely understood the hardships of workers.

Kim Giryeo straightened his back and began outlining a hopeful plan for running the guild.

***

And several days passed.

“...”

For reference, on planet Earth, it was common for the heads of public institutions to travel abroad. Since the new Association president wasn't expected to return until the middle of the month, Kim Giryeo decided to postpone the reinstatement of existing hunters for a few days and focus first on recruiting the long-awaited new employees.

Generous salary.

Comprehensive leave and vacation policies guaranteed.

Moreover, he had even recently rented a proper office in the capital for guild operations. Surely, no applicant would fail to show up for such a respectable workplace, right?

'In life, it's all about serving the right person.'

The alien had made every preparation he could and was now waiting for someone from the industry to contact him.

And yet, today marked a full forty-eight hours since the recruitment notice had been posted.

[Received Emails: 0]

These shocking results were revealed.

“Why?”

For reasons still unknown, Kim Giryeo's guild had received an unusually low number of applications.

“Even though I've offered this much money, why can't I find a proper employee to send out for soil exploration?”

What made it even more absurd was that even now, if he checked the internet, there were still posts full of people desperately shouting that they wanted to work with Kim Giryeo.

Using the knowledge he had recently acquired, Kim Giryeo skimmed through the emails he had already checked once more.

[From: Jung Haseong]

[From: Jung Haseong]

[From: Jung Haseong]

But just as expected, there was nothing encouraging to be found in that list.

In fact, this itself was one of the main reasons preventing the guild from operating in even [N O V E L I G H T] a modest fashion.

Click.

Kim Giryeo sent the gray-marked “read” emails to the trash, then briefly covered his face with both hands.