S-Class Except Me

As Hwang Soomin pointed out, Seo Dojoon was still wearing the ring Haeun gave him.

However, he was wearing it inside the glove so that it couldn’t be seen from the outside, but Hunter Hwang Soomin seemed to have keenly noticed this. 

The dungeon raid is over, but if they ask him why he hasn’t taken it out until now, he doesn’t know. 

For now, he wanted to keep the first gift Haeun gave him. The gift given by someone stronger than him in the sense of affection was quite pleasant for the recipient. 

He then thought she would be offended if he didn’t use the gift she had given him.

There seems to be an unnecessary misunderstanding because the shape is a ring, but—.

“I saw Miss Haeun wearing it last time.”

“It’s just a communication port.”

There was no reason to pique his interest, so Seo Dojoon flatly denied it. 

Besides, there are six people who share this ring. Seo Dojoon was just handed another gift as a bonus when Haeun bought a family gift.

It’s not that he didn’t think anything of it when he received the ring, but that’s the truth.

“It’s not the first time you’ve seen the phrase, so stop speculating. More than that, Guild Leader Lee Hyeonok, I didn’t know that the Hunter Association was even involved in the dungeon raiding activities of individual hunters.” 

“Are you going to call it an individual and move on?”

“Dungeon raid activities are individual freedom. I think it’s too much authority to get involved.”

Lee Hyeonok laughed bitterly.

“Can you just call EX an individual? You must be well aware of the attitude the government is taking toward Hunter Jung Haeun.”

Currently, everyone treats Jung Haeun as a semi-guild and begs to please her. The fact that the American Hunter Association offered Haeun a high salary was not just a rumor, but an open fact. Therefore, they are worried that the nation’s talent may leave.  

‘The reason Hunter Jung Haeun remained in Korea is because of her family.’

In particular, the Korean government paid special attention to Haeun’s family to keep her tied up.

The establishment of a specialized training school for healers, which Lee Yoonkyung had always insisted on, suddenly began to be actively discussed, and it became easier for Jung Jinho to obtain the dungeon by-products needed to make items. The number of dungeons being assigned to the Dawn Guild, where Jung Sehyun was active, subtly increased. 

And Jung Eunwoo’s overtime work… has decreased.

In addition, Haeun was also receiving various special benefits without knowing it, such as a partial decrease in various reports when registering as a hunter for the first time. 

Indeed, whenever Haeun moves, the country of the Republic of Korea is moving together.

“You must know that reporting to the Dungeon Management and Safety Department is required to enter the dungeon, right?”

“After reporting to the Dungeon Management and Safety Department, the Ahyeon Guild proceeded with dungeon raiding activities legally.”

“While using the shallow method of registering Hunter Jung Haeun as an undisclosed support.”

“Does that matter?”

“Of course. It’s because the raid was carried out in an expedient way without reporting to the Dungeon Management and Safety Department.”

Lee Hyeonok originally planned to use her influence in the hunter world to the fullest to isolate Haeun from dungeon raid activities.

The value of a hunter will fall if they don’t proceed with the raid activity. No matter how EX-Class they are, they can’t actually carry out raiding activities, so what’s the use?

‘I’ll make sure you don’t hang around near the dungeon entrance for the rest of your life.’

She was planning to show the bitter taste of the world to Haeun, who dared to refuse to join the Daehan guild.

If Haeun had known Hyeonok’s plan, she would have danced on her shoulders, saying that she had no choice but to play, but Lee Hyeonok didn’t know this.

Hwang Soomin added a word while watching Seo Dojoon and Lee Hyeonok have a fierce argument.

“But Guild Leader Seo Dojoon, this time I too feel regret for the behavior of Guild Leader Seo Dojoon. Can you monopolize the EX like that? If I knew that the two of you would attack like that, I would have made an appointment in advance.”

“I just accepted the request of Hunter Jung Haeun.”

“Are you passing the blame on EX?”

“Don’t misunderstand.”

Seo Dojoon coldly recited. Hwang Soomin smiled widely.

“Well, let’s say that~. Then, next time, I’ll have to try to make Hunter Jung Haeun raid with our Dawn guild. I’m curious about Sehyun’s the older sister who he has been following since childhood.”

Lee Hyeonok glared at Hwang Soomin at the leisurely sound that didn’t match the mood. Hwang Soomin leisurely stroked the Golden Retriever’s head.

As the atmosphere grew sharp, one person cautiously raised his hand.

“I’m…sorry, but can we start the meeting now?”

It was Lim Daehyung, the representative of the small and medium guild federation, who was watching the whales fight.

In fact, today’s meeting was initiated by Lim Daehyung, but even though the meeting was held, the proper meeting had not yet started.

It was the Hunter Association that had already gone wrong once due to Seo Dojoon’s refusal. However, today’s agenda was so important that it made it difficult for them to get together again.

“Let’s get back to the point.”

Fortunately, Lee Hyeonok helped Lim Daehyung. Lim Daehyung let out a sigh of relief. As he beckoned, the Hunter Association staff placed reports one by one in front of the people.

“Let’s all take a look at the report given.”

Seo Dojoon checked the document. The corners of his eyes narrowed slightly.

“A report on suspected manipulation of awakening ratings?”

“It’s Zenith’s Guild.”

Lim Daehyung, the representative of the small and medium guild federation, said.

“It is the fastest growing guild among small and medium-sized guilds recently.”

“There were three A-Class in February.”

“That’s right.”

It was surprising. A-Class is enough manpower to send out as a representative of a country. It’s not even close to the S-Class, but the S-Class itself was rare in the first place.

However, the current report was saying that three A-Class hunters were born in just one guild within a month.

“It’s a new guild, a little over a year old. It completed government registration around the end of May last year. However, it didn’t join our small and medium guild federation.”

“Why?”

“It was because the conditions for entering the federation were not met. First of all, the number of guild members was three at the time, so the minimum number of 10 people required to join was not met, and there was no capital. In fact, although it’s an alliance that we created to represent small and medium-sized guilds, aren’t there many places where small and medium-sized guilds are born and disappear? That’s why the conditions for joining are difficult in many ways.”

“What was the average rank of guild members?”

Hwang Soomin smiled softly and asked. Lim Daehyung flipped through the papers.

“Last year, it was an average D-Class guild.”

That, too, was rounded up to D-Class. The one registered as the guild leader was a C-Class hunter, and the other two hunters were E-Class hunters. It was a place that lacked a lot to call it a guild.

Son Jihyun hardened her expression.

“That’s suspicious. I can’t believe there are three A-Class out of nowhere.”

“Of course, it could be the measurement error of the awakening tester, but…”

Basically, measuring the abilities of hunters is based on the dungeon system. The awakening meter installed in public institutions or each guild was close to making a rough measurement by making a database of the dungeon system in the end.

“The same results were obtained when re-measured by the Central Hunter Administration.”

“Hmm.”

“All of those who were judged as A-Class this time are re-awakened. All of them were previously D or E-Class… Ah, there’s B-Class, too. Anyway, I feel the need to investigate properly.”

“Yeah.”

Reawakening was virtually impossible. In particular, a lower-class Awakener, like D or E-Class, couldn’t become A-Class. At most, it would be a step up.

The story of suddenly becoming a higher grade and reversing their life is only possible in novels or dramas.

But if, very if, it’s possible to improve the rank very intentionally.

‘The power of the guild can be increased.’

Except for Son Jihyun, director of the Hunter Dispute Mediation Committee, all those gathered here were incumbent hunters. Not only the guild, but also their own growth.

Now that an EX-Class named Jung Haeun was born, what reason could they not become an EX-Class?

Wanting to become stronger than before was the instinctive desire of the Awakened, and for this, they would have to accept even the poisoned Holy Grail.

Of course, if it is concluded that it is really just an accident based on coincidence, the three large guilds currently dominating the Republic of Korea will have to prepare for the birth of another dinosaur.

Lee Hyeonok twisted her lips.

‘Before that happens, I’ll have to step on the buds.’

She will prevent anyone from challenging her authority in advance.

Including one Hunter who wasn’t here and that Hunter who is still showing hostility to her.

Since then, discussions have continued on the Zenith Guild. First of all, it was decided to summon the head of the Zenith Guild to the Hunter Association and reinvestigate the circumstances of the reawakening.

When the meeting was over, Lee Hyeonok grabbed Seo Dojoon, who was about to leave the room.

“Hunter Seo Dojoon.”

Seo Dojoon slowly turned his head. The expressionless face made it difficult to guess what he was thinking. Lee Hyeonok hardened her mouth.

“Stop looking at EX.”

“Is that the story again?”

“There’s no second time.”

“I think you’d better tell such a story to Hunter Jung Haeun than me.”

Seo Dojoon, who responded without losing a word, left the meeting room without hesitation. Lee Hyeonok raised her eyebrows. Hwang Soomin, who was watching, laughed out loud.

“Hahaha! Hahaha… This is very interesting.”

“Haa. Are you having fun?”

“Don’t be too greedy~ Guild leader Lee Hyeonok. And don’t you know that kids want to do more if they tell them not to? If you want to recruit Hunter Jung Haeun, you should try to talk to her softly. It’s not time to pick on someone for entering the dungeon by expedient.”

“Haa.”

Lee Hyeonok touched her forehead.

“As expected, I hate kids these days.”

A murmur like a sigh remained.