Chae Soo-hyun stood with a completely dazed expression, as if she still hadn't recovered from the shock of the hearing.

‘Why... Why did this happen...?’

She looked as if her soul had been thoroughly drained.

- "Hunter Chae Soo-hyun, a blacklist is not a joke. You know that, right? Especially since you even registered someone, this is not something you should take lightly."
- "Ha... I don't understand what you were thinking about the blacklist. Did you have to waste everyone's time like this?"
- "We will completely remove Hunter Baek Ji-hoon's blacklist and post the details accordingly."
- "This session is adjourned."

‘Lee Soo-ah...’

Her eyes began to burn with anger.

She felt that Lee Soo-ah was the root cause of everything.

‘Installing CCTV for scouting surveillance? Sure, I’ve heard that happens sometimes. But why? For an E-rank? For someone who hasn’t even been with the guild for a week?’

She couldn’t comprehend it.

‘Ha... What was today even about?’

Her dignity had been utterly crushed.

‘Damn it... How did this happen...?’

She was too embarrassed to raise her head in front of the hearing committee. The members all grumbled, irritated that they had to convene for something like this.

‘Baek Ji-hoon... Seriously...’

She hadn’t even considered this possibility.

Right before entering the hearing room, she had been thinking about how she could make Baek Ji-hoon beg for her forgiveness. But now, Chae Soo-hyun was completely defeated.

‘No, this doesn’t make any sense. I can’t accept it.’

She furrowed her brow, clearly suffering from a headache.

‘I’ve been dealt a heavy blow. Ha...’
‘I can’t just sit still either.’

She headed to her office.

“Kyaaah!”

Lee Soo-ah let out a scream of delight.

“How was that, Ji-hoon?”
“What do you mean?”
“Didn’t I tell you? We needed those surveillance cameras. I had a feeling it was necessary, and look what happened! We completely crushed her. With those photos, we knocked Hunter Chae Soo-hyun out in one shot, didn’t we?”
“Well... You did well.”

I gave her some hesitant but polite praise.

“But the cameras will need to be removed.”
“Ah... Why... Why?! We just scored a huge win today!”
“I'm not the same Baek Ji-hoon as before. I don’t need them anymore. Please handle it.”

I said firmly, staring directly at Lee Soo-ah.

“Ah... Fine, I get it. I get it!!”

She reluctantly agreed under the pressure.

“Still, thank you, Lee Soo-ah. It was a sloppy job, but it helped in the end.”
“Sloppy job?!”

She protested slightly but looked satisfied.

“Ah, seeing Hunter Chae Soo-hyun’s face today lifted a weight off my chest. After she took my S-rank number one spot...”

She pouted her lips.

‘Hmm. S-rank number one, huh...’

Suddenly, I had a thought during our conversation.

“Hey, Hunter Lee Soo-ah?”
“Yes?”
“Have you ever thought about reclaiming the S-rank number one spot?”
“What?”
“How many points do you need to be number one again?”
“Hmm. Not much, I think. About five million, maybe?”

‘That’s a bigger gap than I thought. I remember Chae Soo-hyun saying she wanted to make sure there was a significant difference before announcing herself as number one.’

“Why... Why do you ask...? Are you... planning to give me some points? Haha. You mentioned something like that before, didn’t you?”

She asked with an expectant, almost gleeful expression. Clearly, she thought I was going to help her reclaim the number one spot.

“Nope. Why would I do that? I’m planning to work you hard.”
“???”

“Hey, Chief Cha.”
“Yesss~~! Ji-hoon, you’re busy, huh?”
“Yeah, I’ve got something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“Starting today, Hunter Lee Soo-ah will be actively participating in dungeon raids.”
“Hmm? What do you mean by that?”
“She’s decided she wants to reclaim the S-rank number one spot and is determined to do so.”

Everyone in the office stood up and started looking our way.

“Really? Hunter Lee Soo-ah, is that true?”
“Ha... Yes...”

Lee Soo-ah stood there with a defeated expression.

- "You said you wanted to be number one again, didn’t you?"
- "Yes...? That’s true..."
- "Then you have to do it, right?"
- "But... isn’t Ji-hoon going to give me the points...?"
- "Soo-ah?"
- "Yes...?"
- "Good luck!"

The conversation we had just had replayed in my mind.

“She only needs to make up five million points.”
“What? She’s five million points behind?”

Hunter Team 6 murmured among themselves, looking a bit downcast as if they were worried about the extra work they’d have to do.

“Don’t worry. Hunter Lee Soo-ah will be working hard.”

They still didn’t seem to fully understand what I was getting at.

“What do you mean by working hard...?”
“What do you think? She’ll be working hard to earn points. She’s committed to doing this by the end of the month.”
“What? Five million points in one month? How is that even possible?”
“That’s why she’ll be working hard.”

Even though I explained it, they still didn’t seem to grasp what I was saying.

“Ha... I’ll do my best...”

Lee Soo-ah had a hollow look on her face.

‘Alright. I’ll push Lee Soo-ah hard to make her the S-rank number one again. That should give Chae Soo-hyun a lot to think about.’

I decided I would take everything Chae Soo-hyun wanted, one by one.

‘And I’ll gradually climb to S-rank myself. Maybe I can even turn Blue Guild into a sanctuary for S-rank Hunters...’

I thought about the guild master. A very secretive person.

No one knew the identity of the guild master. Even Lee Soo-ah, who was said to be close, didn’t know for sure.

‘Well, I’ll get closer to the Blue Guild’s master. If I gather all the S-rank Hunters, shouldn’t I be able to figure it out?’

I decided to start collecting, one by one. My first target was Yoo Hana.

“Oh, and Deputy Kim?”
“Yes, sir!!”

The dynamics in the department had completely shifted. Normally, as the rookie, I would be the one following Deputy Kim, but now the roles were reversed.

“Do you have a list of S-rank Hunters nationwide?”
“Ha.. Well, there isn’t an up-to-date one...”
“Could you make one?”
“Yes, sir! But why do you need it?”
“I’m going to recruit them all.”
“Haha. Ji-hoon, you’re such a joker.”

Everyone laughed.

It wasn’t a joke.

“Aaaaah! No way!!!”

Lee Soo-ah slammed the desk hard.

“He wants me to work in the dungeons?!!!”
“Isn’t Ji-hoon being too harsh? Didn’t he say he could give me points? Or did I misunderstand? Ha... Damn it...”

She felt embarrassed for having gotten her hopes up, even for a moment.

“Didn’t Ji-hoon say he could just give me some points and make me number one again... And now he wants me to work like a dog?”

She looked utterly disappointed.

- "Soo-ah, are you not going to do it?"
- "Ah... No... I’ll do it..."

‘Ha... Damn it... I can’t not do it...’
‘No, it’s okay. I’m fine now, right? After Ji-hoon came, some of my status ailments disappeared, right? It’s okay, it’s okay! I can do this!!!’

Suddenly, Lee Soo-ah was shouting words of encouragement to herself.

She had now become completely dependent on Baek Ji-hoon.

‘Alright, let’s get back that S-rank number one spot! One step at a time!’

“Could you take a look at this?”

Chief Cha placed a massive stack of papers on the Hunter Team 6 table. It landed with a heavy thud, kicking up dust. Lee Soo-ah stood there, looking stunned.

“W-what is this... Chief Cha?”
“You said earlier that you needed to earn five million points within a month, right?”

Chief Cha smiled brightly.

“So...?”

Lee Soo-ah nervously glanced through the papers and was shocked.

“You just need to do this.”

Chief Cha’s smile grew even wider.

“Do... all of this...?”
“Yep. Didn’t you hear Ji-hoon earlier? You knew this was coming, so why are you surprised?”

Chief Cha patted Lee Soo-ah on the back.

“Wait, Chief Cha. Are you kidding me? How can I do all this in one month?”

The papers were plans for various dungeon raids.

“These are the plans that were drawn up a long time ago, centered around you, Lee Soo-ah. Ah, look at the dust. We haven’t used these in ages, but now we can.”
“Wow. I didn’t even know these existed. This was before I joined.”
“Yeah~ This is a strategy to work S-rank Hunters hard.”
“Then what about us?”

The members of Hunter Team 6 focused on Chief Cha’s response.

“We’ll be the ones working Hunter Lee Soo-ah hard.”
“!!!!”

Everyone’s faces brightened.

“No... Chief Cha... Please...”

Lee Soo-ah started to panic.

“Come on, Hunter Lee Soo-ah. You know this well. The main dealer is always the S-rank Hunter. You used to grow fast because of this, remember?”

Lee Soo-ah bit her lip. She knew this very well.

Back before her status ailments, she had always taken the lead and claimed almost all the loot.

“Well, that was true back then... But we don’t do things that way anymore.”
“But Ji-hoon mentioned it earlier~”
“Ha. But he’s not even here now.”

Baek Ji-hoon had returned to Yoo Hana.

“Hmmm~ Where did I put Ji-hoon’s contact info...?”
“Ah!!! Okay, okay!!!”

Lee Soo-ah was trembling. She couldn’t contain her frustration but had no choice but to accept it.

“Now, let’s get back at them for everything Hunter Team 6 has gone through~~~”

The power dynamics had shifted drastically.