“Heh heh, with this, I guess my status has risen a bit, right?”

Park Hyung-seok was feeling pretty smug. Even though this wasn’t his first time meeting an S-rank hunter, he couldn’t help but feel proud that a big shot like Chae Soo-hyun had reached out to him.

‘Sure, things didn’t end well between her and Ji-hoon hyung, but an S-rank hunter is still an S-rank hunter.’

He figured he should separate personal matters from business. Park Hyung-seok felt like he was finally starting to get some recognition.

“Mr. Park Hyung-seok.”

A slightly cold voice greeted him. It wasn’t the reaction he had expected.

“Oh, Hunter Chae Soo-hyun.”

Caught off guard, he quickly shuffled to sit down.

“Sigh...”

Chae Soo-hyun closed her eyes briefly before glaring at him.

“Let’s skip the small talk and get to the point. Was it you who told Ji-hoon oppa about my past?”

Her expression made it clear she was pretty angry.

“Uh...”

Park Hyung-seok was at a loss for words. This wasn’t what he had imagined just moments earlier.

‘Mr. Hyung-seok, I’ll be relying on you. I’m new to the Blue Guild, after all.’ ‘I’m not on good terms with Ji-hoon, could you maybe mediate between us?’ ‘I trust only you, Mr. Hyung-seok. From what I see, you seem to be the closest person to Ji-hoon oppa. Isn’t he the real power behind the Blue Guild these days?’

Those were the kinds of conversations he had been expecting. But what he was actually faced with was cold and sharp.

“I’d rather not repeat myself. Did you give those photos of the other hunters to Ji-hoon?”

Chae Soo-hyun asked the question in such an uninterested way, as if she assumed he would get the point.

“Yes, I did.”

Park Hyung-seok quickly grasped the situation.

‘Looks like Ji-hoon hyung had some sort of confrontation with Chae Soo-hyun.’

“Sigh... Unbelievable. Why? Why dig up someone else’s past...?”

“I don’t think you’re in any position to be asking that, Hunter Chae Soo-hyun. What you did is borderline criminal, isn’t it? Even if it’s not officially a crime, it’s close enough.”

‘Fraud and deceit, that’s what I’d call it.’

“Criminal? Ha, that’s absurd. They all wanted it. Go ask them again. They’ll tell you they agreed.”

“I was just warning Ji-hoon hyung. Better to have information than to be in the dark, don’t you think?”

“Are you joking? Why are you interfering in other people’s business?”

Chae Soo-hyun was convinced that Park Hyung-seok was the root of all her problems.

‘If it weren’t for this bastard... Ji-hoon oppa would have come back to me...’

She glared at him with fierce eyes.

‘Ha, does she think I’m going to back down just because she’s glaring?’

Park Hyung-seok wasn’t about to give in easily either. He could sense what was happening here.

It was clear that Chae Soo-hyun hadn’t joined the Blue Guild with good intentions.

‘What’s her deal? Why’d she join our guild? Is she trying to get back with Ji-hoon hyung? She dumped him, so why would she want him back?’

His mind raced as he tried to figure out why she was acting this way.

“Let me give you a warning, Mr. Park Hyung-seok. Stay out of this. Don’t talk to Ji-hoon oppa about me anymore. I think it’s ridiculous how much you’ve made him misunderstand me because of you.”

Chae Soo-hyun was speaking confidently, clearly believing she wasn’t in the wrong.

“It’s not a misunderstanding. In fact, the truth has been revealed. Ji-hoon hyung is probably furious right now.”

“What did you say?!”

Chae Soo-hyun stood up abruptly, her face showing she didn’t want to hear any more.

“Stop spouting nonsense. Ji-hoon oppa will come back to me. He misses me, I know it!!!”

‘What the hell is she even talking about...’

I could only stare at her in disbelief. It was as if she wasn’t grasping the reality of the situation at all.

“Hunter Chae Soo-hyun, I think you’re mistaken. You didn’t come to the Blue Guild thinking you could patch things up with Ji-hoon hyung, did you? Because if you did, you’re in for a rude awakening. You’re more likely to get beaten down and tossed aside.”

“What nonsense!!”

“Nonsense? Hunter Chae Soo-hyun, I think you’re going to regret what you did to Ji-hoon hyung. We’re about to hit it big, you know. We’re about to be filthy rich.”

“Wh-What?!”

Chae Soo-hyun’s mind immediately jumped to the auction house. She assumed that’s what he was talking about.

“Sigh... Whatever. Ji-hoon oppa and I will get back together. So, stay out of it, okay?!”

Her face turned red as she stormed off without even waiting for his response.

‘What the... Is she out of her mind? She just rambled nonsense and left? Unbelievable.’

Park Hyung-seok watched her leave, shaking his head in disbelief.

 

“Aaahh!!! What the hell is going on!!!”

Chae Soo-hyun was throwing a tantrum in her office.

“Right? I’m right, aren’t I? The person auctioning off those S-rank items has to be Ji-hoon oppa, right?”

She seemed to be overwhelmed by mixed emotions.

The fact that Baek Ji-hoon was doing so well was both a good and bad thing for her.

On one hand, if she managed to get back with him, she would also benefit from his success. But on the other hand, if she failed to reconcile, it would be devastating for her.

‘I have to... I have to get him back.’

Her desire to cling to Baek Ji-hoon grew even stronger, far more intense than before.

‘There’s no way Ji-hoon oppa would leave me behind and live well on his own. I treated him so well...’

Chae Soo-hyun was lost in her delusions, her expression shifting between concern and eager anticipation.

 

“What the hell... Where did this guy get this item from?”

Lee Jin-hyuk sat staring at the auction screen, a look of disbelief on his face.

“What guild is this from? Can’t we find out?”

“Well... We’re looking into it, but the Hunter Association said they can’t release any personal information.”

“Sigh... Is there a way to check the guild’s revenue ranking?”

“Unfortunately, no... Doing that could cause serious legal issues...”

“What about what’s been in the papers?”

“Those are voluntary reports, so we can’t officially access them.”

“Sigh... Whatever. Better than nothing. It’s just frustrating.”

Lee Jin-hyuk was becoming increasingly curious about the secretive hunter who kept bringing in these high-end items.

He felt like Blue Guild was pulling further ahead of him, and the pressure was mounting.

‘Nothing’s going my way.’

[ The Hunter with Only Money ]

That was the nickname people had given him. And it was fitting.

Lee Jin-hyuk’s power came more from his money than his actual skill.

That’s why he’d brought in Chae Soo-hyun in the first place, trying to shake off that reputation, but that plan had failed miserably.

Meanwhile, Blue Guild had completely crushed Baekho Guild.

‘It’s fine... I’ll just buy everything with the group’s assets...’

The only thing he had left was money. And he planned to use it to turn everything around.

“Hey, how much do you think this item will sell for?”

“Hm... At least... 20 to 30 billion won? Since no one’s ever seen an item like this on the market, the price could skyrocket once it’s available...”

His staff seemed a bit unsure. Since it was an unprecedented item, it was hard to predict its true value.

“Sigh... 30 billion?”

Lee Jin-hyuk’s face darkened. He had been relying on his money to bulldoze his way through, but the sums were getting harder and harder to handle.

‘Let’s just hope no speculators from the US or Japan jump in...’

What worried Lee Jin-hyuk most was the possibility of speculators getting involved.

Since the Hunter Era had begun, things had been relatively calm at first. But as the hunter system became more established globally, speculators started to appear in droves.

With higher returns than real estate or stocks, it was no wonder they were getting in on the action.

“Can’t we contact the seller directly? What if we offer to buy it outright instead of going through the auction? We could try to negotiate the price.”

“Well... We could send a DM, but I don’t think they’ll respond... People who sell things anonymously like this usually don’t reply.”

“Sigh... Just send it. Offer them 25 billion.”

“Understood.”

Lee Jin-hyuk scratched his head. Things were getting more complicated by the minute.

Baekho Guild’s funds were dwindling, and Chae Soo-hyun had left.

The new recruit, Seo Ji-soo, kept trying to manipulate him.

‘Sigh... This is all because of Chae Soo-hyun and Baek Ji-hoon...’

To him, those two had become thorns in his side.

What he thought would lead to success had instead paved the way for his downfall.

“Hey, hyung.”

Hyung-seok called out to me in an excited voice.

“What’s up?”

“Huff... Look at this... We got a DM.”

He pointed to the screen where a DM had appeared from the auction house.

It was a feature we rarely used, so I wondered what it was about.

[ Hello. This is Lee Jin-hyuk from Baekho Guild. I would like to purchase your Golden Armor for 25 billion won, bypassing the auction process. Would you be willing to conduct a direct transaction? ]