▶ Chapter 40. A Certain Hypothesis (1)
[As payment for this notification, the Rank 8 Boss Mana Stone this hunter obtains next will automatically be collected.]
That message had immediately appeared afterward.
A Rank 8 Boss Mana Stone costs sixty million won....!
I felt like crying.
But after taking another bite of delicious meat, my mood improved again.
Right. Sixty million won is cheap in exchange for knowing for certain that someone is trustworthy.... Is it cheap...? It is cheap, right...? It has to be cheap.... It must be!
My attempt at brainwashing myself continued.
Still,
being around someone I knew I could trust definitely felt comfortable.
“My name is Kim Suyeon.”
After saying it, I felt strange.
Since quitting my job, this was the first time I had told my name to someone who was not an employee handling official business.
I didn’t really like my name before.
Kim Suyeon.
A completely ordinary name I had chosen for myself at the second orphanage.
It had always felt like it did not truly belong to me.
Maybe it was because of my previous life.
My name back then had been different.
“University student?”
“No. I’m resting right now. Until about a month and a half ago, I worked as an ordinary employee at a guild.”
“Oh, at a guild? What kind of work?”
“I managed the mana stones and monster materials obtained by the guild hunters.”
“How long did you work there?”
“Three years.”
“Then you must know the industry pretty well! Which guild?”
“One Star Guild.”
Mundal’s eyes widened.
“One Star? Isn’t their guild master, Oh Wookchan.... that handsome-looking fucking idiot?”
I almost spat out the water in my mouth.
“I worked with him once in America or somewhere. He was seriously fucking stupid. He was an S-rank Level 20 hunter back then, but he was worse than an A-rank Level 18.”
Mundal put particular emphasis on the words “Level 18.”
“I also heard One Star treats its ordinary employees terribly. You survived there for three years? That’s impressive.”
“I also think I’m impressive.”
“....”
Mundal chuckled and nodded.
“You plan on finding another job, right?”
“Hmm, yes.”
“Then how about applying to Wish Guild?”
“Huh?”
“Recently, HunterAnham sold a huge amount of mana stones and monster materials to Wish Guild. It looks like they’ll continue doing business too. So apparently Wish Guild is expanding the related department. I heard competition to get hired there is fierce, but with your experience, you probably have a chance.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah. Wish Guild treats ordinary employees well too. Compared to One Star Guild, it’s probably like heaven and earth. You should apply. I can write you a recommendation letter.”
“A recommendation letter?”
“Yeah. I’m going to join Wish Guild soon.”
I was shocked.
“Unnie, don’t you only work overseas?”
“So you knew about me because you worked in the industry.”
“Yes.”
“My aunt, who raised me since I was young, kept begging me to come back. I had no choice but to stop living overseas and return. I didn’t want to come back.”
Mundal was openly complaining.
“There’s someone living here whom I hate more than anyone else in the world.”
“Who?”
“My biological father.”
I almost spat out my water again.
“Wish Guild is extremely powerful in many areas, so joining them helps me. It means I can completely ignore my biological father whenever he tries to use me. Why don’t you join Wish Guild too?”
“I really appreciate the suggestion, but I want to rest for a while.”
“Really?”
“Yes. During the three years I worked at One Star, I woke up at six in the morning, went to work, then came home close to midnight. I worked around seventy hours every week.”
Mundal looked me up and down from head to toe like she was staring at an alien.
Right now, I had completely hidden my strength.
There was no way she could notice it.
Still, it somehow felt like cold sweat was running down my back.
“W, why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because I’m thinking you’re seriously amazing.”
“Huh?”
“You said you worked like that for three whole years. Even if you’re young, that’s hard. You must be incredibly healthy to survive it.”
“I am pretty healthy.”
Otherwise, I never would have survived my previous workplace.
“I’ve never seen an ordinary person as healthy as you. Actually, even among hunters, it’s rare. The three brothers from Wish Guild are like that too.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. All three brothers were born with naturally strong bodies. Maybe you’re the same.”
For some reason,
that made me strangely happy.
“If you ever feel like working again, contact me anytime. Whether it’s Wish Guild or somewhere else, I’ll help you.”
Mundal held out her business card.
“Thank you. But.... why are you being so nice to me?”
Surely she had not discovered that I was HunterAnham.
“The Royal Department Store belongs to my aunt. I feel bad that something like that happened to you here. And.”
Mundal grinned.
“I’m good at judging people. You seem like a really decent person. I like you. You’re cute too.”
“....Unnie.”
“Yeah?”
“You aren’t trying to flirt with me, right? I’m straight.”
