Chapter 44 – Genius Among Geniuses

“H-how……”

Lee Se-yun’s face was filled with astonishment as he looked at Do-jun Min.

‘He said his level was 670, right?’

Since it could be verified through rankings, there was no way he could have lied.

‘Really 670?’

But his movements just now were definitely not what he knew of level 670.

Skills belonging to the upper ranks among B-class hunters.

The proof was the three archaeopteryxes lying dead.

“Mr. Min Do-jun… how exactly……”

“I told you, didn’t I? You don’t need to worry about me.”

“So you’ve been hiding your skills all this time?”

“You didn’t give me a chance to show them.”

That was true.

Before Min Do-jun could do anything, Lee Se-yun had stepped in first to deal with threats, thinking it was dangerous.

“You could have at least said something……”

“I told you several times I was fine, but you kept helping. So I decided to accept help just until the promised point.”

“Ah…!”

Lee Se-yun recalled Min Do-jun repeatedly saying he was fine and not to worry.

Yet he had mistakenly assumed he was weak and unnecessarily meddled.

‘I thought he’d be weak just because of his level, but I was wrong.’

When Lee Se-yun realized his misconception came from prejudice, he felt so embarrassed he wanted to hide in a mouse hole.

“Sigh… looks like I made a needless misunderstanding. Someone who didn’t need any help at all……”

“It’s fine.”

“I ended up essentially stealing some monsters from you unintentionally.”

“You barely killed any, so it’s nothing.”

Min Do-jun responded as positively as possible.

For now, there was nothing to gain from being on bad terms with him.

“But how can you be so strong? When you’re only level 670……”

“Well, I guess you could say I got lucky?”

That was somewhat true.

After all, one’s measure of strength varies depending on what characteristics they awaken with.

“What’s your class exactly? I saw you using magic earlier……”

“Magic Swordsman.”

“Magic Swordsman? There’s such a class?”

Even Lee Se-yun, an A-class hunter, had never heard of or seen a Magic Swordsman before.

‘Judging by the magic I saw earlier, the power seems considerable……”

To be able to roast archaeopteryxes in one shot, his magical power must be quite high.

‘High strength and high magic power?’

Moreover, seeing his quick movements, his agility seemed high as well.

‘Where did such a monster come from……”

That’s when Min Do-jun bid farewell.

“Well then, I’ll be heading off to hunt now.”

“Ah, wait! Can I come along?”

“…?”

“Well… this is my first time seeing a Magic Swordsman. I’d like to observe more.”

Min Do-jun initially wanted to refuse.

Nothing was more uncomfortable than showing his fighting style to an enemy.

‘No, he might be an enemy to me, but I’m not to him.’

Just looking at how he tried to help showed that.

Lee Se-yun had no ill feelings toward him.

And he was clearly interested in the Magic Swordsman class.

‘Then if I appeal to him with my skills and gain his favor?’

He could get closer to Lee Se-yun and that would make it easier to betray him later.

Having thought that far, Min Do-jun nodded saying it was fine.

“Alright then.”

“Ah, thank you.”

So the two walked through the dungeon.

Screech!

When archaeopteryxes appeared, Min Do-jun would step forward and cut them down in one strike.

‘Wow, what kind of buff lets you kill an archaeopteryx with one sword strike?’

Watching him apply a bluish buff each time he killed an archaeopteryx, Lee Se-yun thought that must be his main skill.

However.

Whoosh! Bang!

Seeing archaeopteryxes fall into critical condition after being hit by flame storms, that didn’t seem to be the case either.

Screech! Screech!

Even when multiple archaeopteryxes appeared, they were no match for Min Do-jun.

Swish- Swoosh-

The way he dodged attacks and swung his sword naturally like flowing water made him look like a veteran with 10 years of experience.

‘This person is the real deal!’

Not some random braggart, but a true master.

‘Among all the C-class hunters I’ve seen, none were this strong.’

He was beyond comparison with C-class.

He could hold his own even against promising B-class hunters.

‘Is this what they mean by genius?’

In this field, you can’t survive on good characteristics alone without skill.

From Lee Se-yun’s perspective, Min Do-jun was a genius among geniuses who possessed both luck and skill.

‘To only discover such a gem now.’

Being this strong at just C-class, his future growth potential must be limitless.

There couldn’t be a better gem than this.

‘Uncle would be pleased to know.’

After dispatching the monsters, Lee Se-yun approached Min Do-jun with sparkling eyes.

“Do-jun, aren’t you tired?”

“I’m fine.”

It wasn’t a lie.

‘He really hasn’t even broken a sweat?’

Repeatedly amazed, Lee Se-yun followed closely when Min Do-jun moved.

“You said you’ve been hunting alone until now?”

“Yes.”

“Is it to monopolize experience points?”

“Partly that, and I found it more comfortable hunting alone.”

“Well, with your skills, party members would probably just get in the way. Haha……”

“……”

Min Do-jun, who had been unresponsive, spotted an archaeopteryx and rushed forward.

After quickly dispatching it and moving on, Lee Se-yun followed and spoke again.

“Seeing how accurately you know their weakpoints, you must have killed quite a few archaeopteryxes?”

“Enough to get the achievement.”

“Ah! The achievement for killing 10,000? I also have that……”

The conversation was cut off again.

Because Min Do-jun went to kill another archaeopteryx.

“It’s really hard to have a conversation. I want to talk more……”

“……”

“So did you also get one of those ancient tablets?”

“Yes.”

“You got 1 right? I asked everyone around but it seems you can’t get more than 2. Even though we don’t know how to use them……”

“Um, Se-yun.”

“Yes?”

“Speaking of which, shouldn’t you be investigating? At this rate we’ll end up clearing the dungeon.”

“Ah right, that’s true.”

Watching Lee Se-yun recall his purpose for entering the dungeon, Min Do-jun thought he would leave now, but that was just his misconception.

“The investigation can wait until next time. It’s not urgent anyway.”

“……”

Afterwards, Lee Se-yun kept following and asking various questions.

Though it was somewhat annoying having no quiet moments with all the questions, Min Do-jun took it as a positive signal.

‘At least he’s interested in me.’

If not likability, he was definitely getting attention.

The proof was that Lee Se-yun kept talking to him until they cleared the dungeon and went outside.

That wasn’t all.

“Um, Do-jun.”

“Yes.”

Before parting, Lee Se-yun brought up his main point in a small voice.

“It seems you haven’t joined a guild yet, would you consider joining our Blue Dragon Guild?”

At that direct question, Min Do-jun shook his head.

“I have no plans to join any guild for now.”

“Why?”

“For now, I prefer being alone.”

“I see……”

Though rejected so easily, Lee Se-yun wasn’t disappointed.

He had somewhat expected this.

Moreover.

‘No matter how strong you are, there are dungeons you can’t clear alone.’

He thought Min Do-jun would naturally seek out a guild when he reached his limits.

Most high-ranking hunters did, and Min Do-jun would likely be the same.

In fact, he had left room by saying “for now.”

“Can’t be helped.”

Saying that, Lee Se-yun extended his hand.

“Let’s meet again when we have the chance.”

After a light handshake, Min Do-jun stood watching as Lee Se-yun disappeared in his Ferrari.

* * *

After parting with Min Do-jun, Lee Se-yun headed straight to the Blue Dragon Guild.

After parking his Ferrari in the lot, he entered the office.

“Where have you been?”

At the Guild Master’s words, Lee Se-yun flopped down on the sofa and said.

“I went to the archaeopteryx dungeon to look for clues.”

“To investigate the ancient tablet?”

“Yes.”

“Why waste time doing that? I told you it’s useless.”

“It’s not useless. We just haven’t discovered its use yet. I’m sure it has a purpose.”

“Tsk tsk, you’d be better off running dungeons. At least you’d level up that way.”

“Are there even dungeons to level up in? All the A-class dungeons are full right now.”

“There is one.”

“There is?”

“I secured a spot this time. You should be able to go the day after tomorrow.”

“Sigh….. Just when I thought I could rest, looks like I have to work again.”

“Working is good.”

At that moment, Lee Se-yun spoke up as if remembering something.

“Ah, Uncle.”

“What.”

“We’re accepting new members in our guild these days, right?”

“That’s right. Why? Found a good hunter?”

“You won’t believe it. I met a hunter in the archaeopteryx dungeon and he’s the strongest C-class hunter I’ve ever seen.”

“C-class? Can C-class even enter the archaeopteryx dungeon?”

“As long as you’re over level 500, C-class can enter too. And he was incredibly strong.”

“How strong exactly?”

“Strong enough to kill three archaeopteryxes in 5 seconds. Even though he’s only level 670.”

The Guild Master’s eyes widened at those words.

“That’s a genius, isn’t it?”

“Exactly. He’s way too strong for his level. He’s definitely going to make it big.”

“What’s his name?”

“Min Do-jun.”

Hearing the name, the Guild Master let out a deep sigh as if deflated.

“Oh, him.”

“You know him?”

“Of course. The rumors have spread so much that pretty much everyone in the industry knows about him.”

“Rumors?”

“The legendary rookie who solo killed the Armored Mantis and Tarantula King. That’s Min Do-jun’s title.”

“What level was he when he killed them?”

“Level 193 and 354 respectively.”

“Wow……”

He had thought it was after reaching level 500, but it was far from his expectation.

“That’s not all. He even prevented a dungeon break alone and made the news. There’s even a video on YouTube.”

“Why didn’t I know about such a famous person?”

“Because you were too busy running around researching collectibles by yourself!”

“Haha……”

At his uncle’s outburst, Lee Se-yun scratched the back of his head and changed the subject.

“But that’s amazing, isn’t it? Why haven’t we tried recruiting him yet?”

“Because of another rumor.”

“Another rumor?”

“The rumor that he’s rejected every guild that’s tried to recruit him. Even the Wanted Guild offered him a bribe but he rejected them after just one visit, so why would we be any different?”

In terms of fame, if the Wanted Guild was ranked 7th, the Blue Dragon Guild was around 5th.

If the Wanted Guild was rejected even after offering a bribe, the Blue Dragon Guild had pretty much no chance.

“Still, we should keep trying. It’s not easy to catch a rookie who might become A-class in the future.”

“Hey, aren’t you worried about a rookie rising up from below?”

“Why would I be worried? The more strong hunters the better. I don’t mind if they’re stronger than me as long as it helps the guild.”

“You say that… because you know they won’t surpass you.”

“Haha……”

Lee Se-yun didn’t deny it.

No matter how fast Min Do-jun grew, he wouldn’t surpass himself, an A-class hunter.

The level difference was nearly triple after all.

“So, are you going to give up?”

“What else can we do? What, should we offer a bribe too?”

“Whether it’s a bribe or whatever, we need to win his favor.”

“The Wanted Guild offered a billion won bribe. But he still didn’t join. Other guilds were the same. Plus he got 2 billion won reward for preventing the dungeon break. You think bribes would work in this situation?”

“Hmm……”

Lee Se-yun pondered as if it was his own problem.

“Maybe he’s not very interested in material desires.”

“Are there people like that?”

“Anyway, if bribes don’t work we need to try something else.”

“What method?”

Lee Se-yun asked with a meaningful expression.

“You have a priority slot, right?”