Chapter 104 – Verification Complete

“Ah… I see.”

Kim Ji-hoon didn’t believe the excuse about poor condition.

Still, he nodded without arguing.

‘Perhaps he has something he needs to hide?’

That’s all he thought.

The important thing was that Min Do-jun didn’t want to reveal his strength.

“Since we’ve caught the boss, we should finish clearing now.”

“Yes, we should. Cho-hee needs to get treatment quickly too.”

The two walked toward where An Cho-hee was.

She bowed her head while sitting.

“Thank you both. Thanks to you, I could save my life.”

“No, no. I didn’t do anything. It was all thanks to Do-jun.”

Kim Ji-hoon waved it off, but An Cho-hee shook her head.

“But you came all this way to save me. And you tried to lure the boss away…”

“You tried to draw the boss’s attention to save me too. I’m grateful as well.”

They were both indebted to each other.

But above all, there was someone else they needed to thank.

“Hunter Min Do-jun. Thank you so much for saving me. Without you, I wouldn’t be in this world anymore.”

Min Do-jun nodded slightly at An Cho-hee’s respectful bow.

“I just did what needed to be done, that’s all.”

“Thank you so much.”

With the threat of the boss gone, a smile returned to her face.

Kim Ji-hoon also took this opportunity to formally express his gratitude.

Min Do-jun simply nodded in response.

“By the way Cho-hee, how are you feeling?”

At Kim Ji-hoon’s question, An Cho-hee’s smile faded and she showed a fearful expression.

“The poison seems to have spread up to my waist… I can’t move anything below that.”

Kim Ji-hoon opened the clearing window with a serious face.

– Clear Progress: Giant Centipede’s Blue Shell (Not Obtained), Giant Centipede’s Red Shell (Obtained)

– Time Remaining: 5 hours 1 minute 5 seconds

Though plenty of time remained, seeing An Cho-hee’s condition, they needed to leave the dungeon as soon as possible.

“Before it hardens further, the two of us should quickly clear this. Fortunately the previous team got one shell, so we just need one more. Sorry Cho-hee, but please stay here…”

“No, Ji-hoon should stay here too. I’ll get it.”

Min Do-jun was the one who interrupted.

“Ji-hoon is injured too. Rather, please protect Cho-hee here.”

“I can still fight! And two people would be better…”

“What if Cho-hee gets in danger?”

“…”

“Even if this place seems safe, there’s no guarantee monsters won’t appear. You know that, right?”

Kim Ji-hoon nodded in agreement.

Like at Namhansanseong, a Grima-like monster could appear again.

Since they couldn’t keep carrying An Cho-hee around, it was better for Min Do-jun to move alone.

“Alright. I’ll protect Cho-hee, so please go ahead.”

“Okay then.”

He didn’t say anything about whether Min Do-jun would be okay alone.

It wasn’t something to say to someone who solo killed a boss.

Kim Ji-hoon watched the direction Min Do-jun disappeared in and muttered as a thought occurred to him.

“Hm? But why did he go back the way we came?”

* * *

Min Do-jun went back the way they came instead of continuing forward.

Hunting in groups in the centipede caves at the fork would be faster than dealing with them one by one.

Sure enough, while clearing the centipede caves in reverse order, he obtained a blue shell.

[Dungeon cleared successfully!]

[Dungeon break time reset to 120 hours!]

This was achieved just 30 minutes after leaving to get the shell.

‘If I’d gotten it a bit later, I could have killed more centipedes.’

He felt regretful having to forcibly leave the dungeon without killing the remaining centipedes.

“Do-jun!”

Only after the scenery changed and they exited the dungeon did he reunite with Kim Ji-hoon’s group.

“I was surprised when it suddenly cleared. You got it really quickly?”

“I got lucky.”

Just then, Park Hyun-sik, the manager from Hope Guild who had been waiting anxiously, came running breathlessly.

“Cho-hee!”

“Manager oppa!”

The two who seemed close normally met with tears in their eyes.

“So you were the guild member who survived!”

“Yes…”

“Did everyone really… die?”

“That’s what happened…”

“What exactly happened… anyway, where are you hurt?”

The manager was shocked seeing her being supported by Kim Ji-hoon.

“W-what’s wrong with your legs?”

“I was poisoned.”

“How?”

An Cho-hee briefly explained about her blackened legs.

The manager only relaxed slightly after hearing it could be cured by a healer.

Since it was a problem easily solved at a hospital with ability users.

While explaining, An Cho-hee also described what happened inside.

“So a boss really did appear…”

“If these two weren’t there, I would have been helpless against the boss.”

The manager instinctively bowed to Kim Ji-hoon.

Thinking that he, being high level, must have contributed greatly to killing the boss.

“Thank you so much, Hunter. Thanks to you Cho-hee is alive.”

“I didn’t do much. Rather than me, you should thank Hunter Min Do-jun here. He killed the boss alone.”

“What?”

The manager looked at Min Do-jun with bewildered eyes.

‘K-killed the boss alone?’

It would have been surprising even if Kim Ji-hoon had solo killed it, but hearing that an unknown level 1,700 hunter did it was hard to believe.

“Is that… true?”

“It’s true, oppa. I couldn’t believe it either until I saw it myself.”

At An Cho-hee’s words, the manager showed a surprised expression and bowed to Min Do-jun.

“Th-thank you, Hunter! Thank you!”

“Yes.”

Perhaps from hearing so many thanks, Min Do-jun’s response was indifferent.

“Rather than this, you should quickly take her to the hospital. The poison has already spread to her waist.”

“Yes! We will!”

While the manager supported An Cho-hee, Min Do-jun turned to leave.

“Then I’ll be going now. Good work Kim Ji-hoon, and don’t neglect going to the hospital just because you feel a bit better. An Cho-hee, get well soon.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Thank you, Hunter! Hope to see you again!”

Min Do-jun gave a light bow before getting in Park Dong-yun’s car.

As he did, he recalled Kim Ji-hoon’s final words.

‘Will we meet again?’

Min Do-jun shook his head side to side.

If not for the boss, they wouldn’t have met like this.

‘No. You never know about these things.’

They might occasionally run into each other in dungeons.

This field was surprisingly small after all.

* * *

While Min Do-jun thought they might meet occasionally, Kim Ji-hoon thought differently.

‘Not occasionally, but frequently.’

It had to be that way.

Because Min Do-jun would soon become an Emperor Guild member.

‘If I tell the Guild Master what I saw today.’

That’s why he wasn’t too sad when parting.

They would have plenty of chances to meet as guild mates anyway.

‘It’s not too late to get close then.’

Though it started with hoping for easy money, that wasn’t the case anymore.

Kim Ji-hoon’s new plan was to gain Min Do-jun as a connection.

Building connections with strong hunters was more valuable than material gains.

‘It won’t be hard to get close while running dungeons together and teaching him about the guild.’

Of course, this was all assuming Hunter Min Do-jun accepted Emperor Guild’s recruitment offer…

‘There’s no way he’ll refuse. It’s Emperor Guild.’

Kim Ji-hoon was certain.

Money talks.

*click*

Arriving at Emperor Guild, Kim Ji-hoon got out of his car and entered the main building.

“Hello, Hunter Kim Ji-hoon… Oh my! Are you okay?”

The receptionist was surprised seeing his dirty clothes.

“I’m fine. Is the Guild Master in?”

“Yes, but why…”

Kim Ji-hoon went straight to the Guild Master’s office without answering.

He wanted to report Min Do-jun’s achievements as soon as possible.

Soon after, Guild Master Kang Hyuk-su greeted Kim Ji-hoon with a surprised face.

“Ji-hoon! You went to catch a boss but look terrible. Are you okay?”

“I got hit once but nothing’s broken.”

“Still, getting hit by the King Centipede means you can’t be fine? Wait a moment. I’ll call a healer.”

After being fully healed by a healing awakened one on standby at the guild, Kim Ji-hoon’s face looked much more comfortable.

“What happened in there that made you rush here without even getting treatment?”

As if waiting for those words, Kim Ji-hoon grinned and said.

“Well, I couldn’t believe it myself until I saw it…”

Kim Ji-hoon excitedly described Min Do-jun’s achievements.

Kang Hyuk-su’s reaction was as expected.

“A level 1,700 solo killed a boss? Does that make any sense?”

“I knew you wouldn’t believe it…”

“The Black King Centipede is an A-rank boss. To kill it alone, all stats would need to be over 1,500. At minimum S-rank would be needed.”

“That’s why it’s amazing. Hunter Min Do-jun did it.”

“So you’re saying that hunter is S-rank?”

Kim Ji-hoon nodded without hesitation.

“Yes, minimum S-rank. Maybe even higher.”

“Nonsense. Even Kyung-min couldn’t do that.”

The person Kang Hyuk-su mentioned was Shin Kyung-min.

Korea’s hottest hunter and Emperor Guild’s greatest pride.

Even Shin Kyung-min wasn’t considered comparable to S-rank at level 1,700.

But this unknown hunter Min Do-jun might be comparable to or even beyond S-rank?

Wasn’t that saying he surpassed the talent of #1 ranked Shin Kyung-min?

His pride was hurt as the guild’s pride was suddenly diminished.

“Are you sure you saw correctly?”

“Yes! He seemed to catch the boss very easily without even using any special skills.”

“Can you guarantee it?”

“Yes. Unless my eyes were wrong, it’s not a lie.”

Only then did Kang Hyuk-su nod as if believing.

Seeing such strong insistence, it certainly wasn’t a lie.

“If he’s that strong, he must have been incredible even at lower levels. Maybe the rumors about him solo killing bosses weren’t lies after all.”

“So you’ll recruit him now?”

Kang Hyuk-su nodded.

With verification complete, there was nothing to hesitate about.

“Of course. Talent of that level is more than qualified to join our Emperor Guild. I should call… no, we can’t just call like other guilds. I need to tell the sales team to visit his home.”

“Um, but…”

Kim Ji-hoon asked carefully.

“How much are you thinking for the signing bonus?”

A hunter who completes skill verification receives 2% of the signing bonus as compensation for contributing to the contract.

Though it wasn’t much easy money, he couldn’t help being curious about his share.

“Signing bonus? For a hunter who can solo kill an A-rank boss, we need to offer at least 100 billion won.”

“Gasp!”

It was an unimaginable amount.

It was also historically high for a signing bonus.

‘That means I’ll get 2 billion won?’

For Kim Ji-hoon who expected 1 billion at most, this was more easy money than expected.

Though it was conditional on the contract being completed.

‘With 100 billion offered, how could he not join?’

Kim Ji-hoon took Min Do-jun’s joining as a given.

However.

The sales team that was supposed to visit his home brought unexpected news the next day.

Hunter Min Do-jun never appeared no matter how long they waited.

It was the same after waiting for days.

Indeed, the place they visited was his house from before moving.