Tap, tap, tap.

A strange sound echoed through the office. The source was Hunter Lee Soo-ah, who was nervously pacing around, biting her lip and chattering her teeth.

‘No... no... this can't be happening... Why does even Hunter Chae Soo-hyun have to come here... seriously...’

Her growing unease was turning into reality. When she had first met Baek Ji-hoon, she hadn’t thought he would grow this much, but now his status was entirely different.

Just judging by the atmosphere in the office, everyone’s attitude towards Baek Ji-hoon had completely changed.

The attention she used to get was now shifting toward him, with every spotlight gradually moving in his direction.

‘Ugh... why did I do that? I should have paid more attention to Ji-hoon...’

Lee Soo-ah regretted how recklessly she had lived.

‘I guess I was too full of myself. So much so that I didn’t even notice anyone else. Ugh.’

It was too late for regrets. The damage was done, and all she could do now was try her best to clean up the mess.

But the chances to get close to Baek Ji-hoon were quickly slipping away.

Baek Ji-hoon was dating Cha I-seul, and the A-Team now had too many S-rank female hunters.

‘Sigh... A-Team used to be mine... I could have had Ji-hoon all to myself...’

Lee Soo-ah gazed blankly at her monitor. The auction window.

Of course, she knew about the auction that had become a hot topic recently.

‘Could it be... Ji-hoon...?’

Deep down, she was sure it was Baek Ji-hoon. In her mind, no other S-rank hunter could be responsible for such things.

From her position as someone who knew all the S-rank hunters, she strongly suspected it had to be him.

‘The timing is too perfect. This all started right after Ji-hoon became an S-rank hunter. If he could’ve done this before, he would have. But why only now?’

Lee Soo-ah blinked at her monitor. She wanted to approach Baek Ji-hoon, but it didn’t seem like a good idea. Whoever was auctioning the items was doing so anonymously, and if she tried to act like she knew something, Ji-hoon might get spooked and run away.

‘Should I approach this in a roundabout way...?’

Her head grew more tangled with thoughts.

 

Knock, knock, knock.

“Yes.”

The door creaked open.

“Uh... Ji-hoon...?”

Lee Soo-ah cautiously peeked into the office.

“Yes, what is it?”

“Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Nope.”

“Haha... nothing? Not even a little?”

“Nope.”

“You’re not busy?”

“Nope. Hyung-seok handles everything for me anyway.”

“Aww...”

“Why?”

“No reason...”

She sulked and left the room quietly.

‘What was that? So anticlimactic.’

 

“Sigh... Chief Cha, I’m totally screwed.”

“What’s wrong?”

Chief Cha sipped his coffee, smiling happily. He looked like someone who had not a care in the world.

“Our guild... it used to be mine. Now I’m just a washed-up has-been.”

“Come on. You, a has-been? You’ve still got a bright future ahead, so stop talking nonsense.”

“Sigh... Hunter Chae Soo-hyun joined the guild too. We now have eleven S-rank hunters. Is that even normal? There’s nothing like this anywhere else in the world. I feel like Blue Guild should be purged. Everyone but Ji-hoon and me should be kicked out! Oh, I’ll spare Yoo Ha-na.”

“Tsk, tsk.”

Chief Cha clicked his tongue and looked at Lee Soo-ah with pity.

“What...”

“Soo-ah.”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you just give up on Ji-hoon and go after someone else?”

“Someone else?”

“Yeah, someone other than Ji-hoon. What about someone like Park Hyung-seok?”

Chief Cha subtly suggested, trying to set her up with Park Hyung-seok.

“Why... I mean...”

“Come on. Ji-hoon already has someone. Look at Cha I-seul—pretty face, great personality, and she’s an S-rank hunter.”

“Sigh... but I’m right here!”

“Soo-ah, your personality is a bit... well, it’s tough. It won’t work.”

“Why...?”

“You’re too strong-willed.”

“Sigh...”

She let out a deep sigh, as if the world were collapsing around her.

“Hey, Soo-ah, instead of worrying about useless stuff, why don’t you focus on your work? Even if you can’t be his lover, you could at least become his best friend.”

“Best... friend...?”

Her expression brightened slightly.

If she could become Baek Ji-hoon’s closest friend, wouldn’t that be enough of a connection? There was still some hope in that.

Cha I-seul had become close to him because they were childhood friends. So maybe she had a chance too.

“I understand! I’ll do my best!”

Lee Soo-ah suddenly shouted, full of energy, and hurried out.

 

[ Golden Armor Sold to Baekho Guild ] [ Transaction Total: 35 Billion Won, Largest Single Deal ] [ Overseas Guilds Show Interest... ] [ Domestic Hunter Exchange Rankings Skyrocket ] [ Who Is ‘ID Parfaris’? ] [ World’s Only S-rank Item Harvester ]

Article after article flooded the internet.

“Hmph... Ji-hoon oppa...”

Chae Soo-hyun was growing increasingly anxious. After joining Blue Guild, the physical distance between her and Baek Ji-hoon had shrunk significantly.

‘Oppa... this is you, right?’

All day long, she was reading articles related to him. She couldn’t focus on anything else.

Since she had fallen to E-rank, there was nothing she could do in the dungeons. Compared to the other S-rank hunters, she had to take a backseat.

Instead, she focused on external activities, handling PR for the guild.

‘Oppa... were you always this successful?’

Everywhere she looked—on internet forums, in the news—it felt like everyone was talking about Baek Ji-hoon.

‘Why did I do that? I kicked away a goldmine. Seriously... Soo-hyun, you’re such an idiot. You know that?’

She ruffled her hair in frustration, as if in pain.

‘At least... at least I managed to get into Blue Guild. So, there’s still a chance...’

Hearing the shocking news that he was dating Cha I-seul had thrown her for a loop, but she was confident in herself. She believed she could win Baek Ji-hoon back.

‘If I use my succubus abilities...’

‘No, if I use them and it backfires, I could lose everything.’

She was nervous, spending all day wondering how she could get close to Baek Ji-hoon again. But so far, she hadn’t come up with any clear plans.

There were too many eyes on her in the Blue Guild.

And the tension among the S-rank hunters was palpable.

She could feel it. The way everyone looked at Baek Ji-hoon was different.

Everyone wanted to be with him. They just didn’t show it openly.

‘Ugh... he was mine... How did things turn out like this?’

Baek Ji-hoon had once been her slave, someone she could control as she pleased. Watching him thrive made her fume with anger.

Every time she saw another article about him, it only infuriated her more.

He used to be someone who did whatever she said. But now, he was too successful, and it drove her crazy.

‘Should I try to seduce Park Hyung-seok...? He’s the one closest to Ji-hoon oppa, after all.’

She began thinking of various ways to overcome this challenge.

 

“Oh my, is this it? The Golden Armor?”

Seo Ji-soo circled the item, marveling at it like she was in a museum.

“You bought this for 35 billion won? You even put out a press release?”

“Yep.”

Lee Jin-hyuk responded with confidence.

“Geez, wasn’t that a bit too much?”

“Hah, this is nothing.”

Though it had been a heavy blow, Lee Jin-hyuk pretended it didn’t bother him. He wanted to maintain the image of Baekho Guild as a wealthy, powerful guild to the outside world.

He needed to keep up appearances so that others would respect them.

In reality, most guilds were fairly equal in power. It wasn’t like Blue Guild, which was overwhelmingly full of S-rank hunters. For most guilds, A-rank dungeons were the limit.

“Oppa, are we going to keep going with this strategy?”

“What strategy?”

“You know, this money-throwing strategy?”

“You really have a way with words...”

“But isn’t it true? You’re just throwing money around to buy up items. Isn’t that what you’re aiming for?”

“Sigh...”

She wasn’t wrong. Baekho Guild was operating similarly to a traditional corporation.

They were growing their presence, securing investments, and overwhelming the competition through sheer financial power. Lee Jin-hyuk had adopted this corporate-like approach for Baekho Guild.

By pulling in funds from the Taeyang Group, they inflated their size and presented themselves in the best light, attracting investments and talented individuals.

Normally, this strategy would be more than enough to secure victory, but it wasn’t working as well in the hunter world.

‘Sigh... Baek Ji-hoon... I still don’t understand what kind of guy he is...’

After completing the transaction, his mind was more troubled than before.

Though he had some suspicions, he hadn’t really believed that Baek Ji-hoon was ID Parfaris.

‘Blue Guild is just too dominant. I can’t keep up.’

Though he was currently buying up items with as much money as he could, he wasn’t sure how long he could sustain this.

If Baek Ji-hoon had an endless supply of S-rank items, it would be devastating for him.

‘There’s no way that bastard has that kind of luck. He probably just got lucky once, like winning the lottery and using up all his lifetime fortune to get this. Who could possibly keep spitting out high-grade items like this? Damn...’