Chapter 3.1
“How can I help you?”
“Um… how do I join the guild?”
“Excuse me? Was this arranged beforehand?”
“No?”
“Uh… one moment…?”
The moment I stepped into the grand building of the Void Guild, I ended up bothering the front desk clerk.
If you walked into a guild on par with a major corporation and said, ‘I want to join your guild!’ who would ever answer, ‘Ah, of course, come right in’?
That’s why I made a scene.
Even if it wasn’t Moon Jiwoo, I figured at least someone higher-up would show… but I didn’t think I’d actually meet the man himself.
Leaning against the desk, spacing out, I suddenly had my arm grabbed by Moon Jiwoo from who-knows-where and got dragged off.
His back was already familiar after seeing him once, so I followed without fuss and ended up shoved into some interrogation-room-like place on the first floor.
“You. What are you?”
“Huh?”
And you, what are you?
“You come barging into my guild out of nowhere asking about joining? Just because you’re a little famous these days, you think you can just show up and everything will work out?”
Wow.
Why the hell is he talking like this?
It was so harsh I just sat there stunned, and Moon Jiwoo tossed a sheet of paper at me like he was throwing alms.
“I don’t get why you’re ranked 10th when you’ve done nothing, but whatever. If I let you in, at least you’ll be worth the rank. Read it.”
This bastard… just how much does Moon Jiwoo hate me?
I called the system right away.
Ding—!
A lifeform has been detected nearby.
Calculating Affection Level…
[Moon Jiwoo – Affection Level: −????]
The closest entity is displayed first.
Affection Level exceeds measurable range.
Mana sensitivity proficiency is insufficient.
Hm. I see.
Seo Rana was a saint in comparison.
I flashed a smile at Moon Jiwoo, who apparently hated me so much his Affection Level was outside the measurable range, and shredded the paper he’d thrown at me.
“What the hell are you….”
“I know you don’t like me. But I’d like to know why. You’ve been ignoring me since the first time we met.”
Fine. If you’re going to hate me, then hate me. But at least tell me the reason.
“What? Didn’t you come here to beg me for a contract?”
“Me? Why would I? I’m ranked 10th and I’m S-rank. I could just join another guild or start my own, couldn’t I?”
Not that I actually planned on starting one.
Surprisingly, Moon Jiwoo didn’t say anything as harsh as before; his eyebrow just twitched.
If he’d at least tell me why, that would be something. But staying silent like this is just irritating.
I tapped the table with my fingers, tok tok tok, to prompt him, and Moon Jiwoo ruffled his hair.
“Reason? Nothing special. You suddenly showed up in the rankings at #10, so I got my hopes up. But you’ve done nothing, and yet all of public opinion is on your side. I don’t like that.”
“…That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“Hah.”
I let out a short, incredulous laugh, and Moon Jiwoo laughed along.
You’re laughing? Right now?
“I’m the one who’s dumbfounded. Looks like you’ve got someone waging a public opinion war for you behind the scenes. Quit it.”
“You think I’m doing that? I’m just an ordinary civilian. I’ve never once done anything like that.”
“For someone who says that, public opinion is far too favorable toward you. I can’t stand that. Bastards who try to bury people with public opinion.”
Affection Level of a nearby lifeform has changed.
Calculating Affection Level…
[Moon Jiwoo – Affection Level: ??????]
The closest entity is displayed first.
Affection Level exceeds measurable range.
Mana sensitivity proficiency is insufficient.
Even if I cried out here that I really never did it and collapsed on the floor bawling, Moon Jiwoo would probably cover his eyes and plug his ears.
From the first time I met him until now, he’s been stiff as a board.
Now that I know how much he hates me, there’s no need to stay here any longer.
“The Hunters who hate me, do they all have the same reason?”
As I was about to step out, I slipped in the question, and Moon Jiwoo sneered with a face like he knew it all.
“What, you met Seo Rana? She’s worse than me. Same reason she hates you.”
No, she’s better. She’s only at -100.
I don’t know how he instantly knew I’d met Seo Rana, but in the process I also found out the reason she hated me.
Having found the reason, I became curious about the cause.
Thinking I’d have to look into why Seo Rana and Moon Jiwoo are so sensitive about public opinion, I left the Void Guild without looking back.
Seeing that mess, any desire to join Void Guild vanished.
I hadn’t planned to anyway, but cutting it out completely made me feel relieved.
Then should I join Seo Rana’s guild? No, I hate that too. A workplace where the boss is at -100…
Should I just start a guild?
Rather than working under bastards who won’t listen to me, working alone in poverty… maybe that’s not it either.
The thought of starting from the very bottom made me dizzy.
With no one to help me, if I started recklessly, I might just end up drowning in debt and fail.
Facing reality, I thought of the pamphlet Seo Rana had handed me.
A big guild that gave not only benefits but even a free house.
Who would want to join a guild that just started?
My steps grew slower with worries about the future.
Without a workplace, doesn’t a profession also cease to exist? I couldn’t figure out what to do next.
As soon as I got home, to half escape reality and half to satisfy my curiosity, I gathered up negative articles about the two of them.
There were so many trash articles it was overflowing.
Seeing this much, I could understand why they hated public opinion wars so much.
Is it only public opinion wars? They probably hate journalists to death too.
I lined up the article headlines I had collected.
[Void’s Moon Jiwoo: “Civilians Should Learn to Survive on Their Own”]
It was pure clickbait.
But when I checked the content, it was just Moon Jiwoo giving a common-sense answer that if a dungeon break occurred, civilians should immediately gather together and hide somewhere safe.
[“Hunters Should Stick to Their Own Rank” Seo Rana’s Shocking Statement Leaves the Public ‘Disappointed’]
They twisted her words like this.
All Seo Rana had said was that the hierarchy among Hunters, divided by rank, was a serious problem.
Isn’t this basically fiction?
They completely re-created the words of someone calling out bad practices caused by rank differences, in a purely negative way.
[Moon Jiwoo, S-Rank Civilian Lover Revealed… Handsome Looks, Celebrity?]
What the hell is this?
They spun an article out of a random passerby civilian asking for a handshake and him giving one.
There were plenty more, most of them about the same quality.
Because of that, the comment sections were a total wreck.
People say the illiteracy rate is low or whatever, but true to being a country full of functional illiterates, most people just judge everything from the headline.
[Anonymous: As expected from an S-rank, huh ㅋㅋ? What an asshole. How are ordinary people supposed to survive in a dungeon?]
[죽어도2태서[1]: Our Taeseo isn’t like that, okay? Seriously, don’t lump him in with other S-rank Hunters;;]
[Anonymous: Just stick to Hunter work. What the hell is with this dating crap? What if the country goes down while you’re fooling around?]
This was going too far.
The public wasn’t really interested in the details.
Once in a while, Moon Jiwoo or Seo Rana would release a statement saying the article wasn’t true and that they’d sue the journalist, but those had fewer views than the malicious ones.
And even the few who did read them just fixated on the word ‘lawsuit’ and pointed fingers at the two.
Seeing these things, I could understand why the two were so sensitive about public opinion wars.
And if they thought I was a Hunter waging one… a negative Affection Level was only natural.
In that case, how was I supposed to resolve this misunderstanding?
If possible, I’d rather resolve it peacefully.
There’s nothing to be gained from getting on the bad side of the #1 and #2 Hunters, and no need to make a misunderstanding that could be solved well into something worse.
The solution that immediately came to mind was to show I had neither the time nor the will for a public opinion war by forcing a dungeon entry.
But with no backing, no guild, there was no way I could just walk into one.
The only Hunters I knew were those two, so I would have to ask one of them.
Do I approach the one with “Immeasurable” Affection, or the one sitting at -100…
The choice was obvious.
***
“Hello?”
“Hello, Ms. Baek Youngha. You’ve come earlier than our appointment.”
If that sounded like it meant, ‘Why did you come unnecessarily early?’ then the problem was me.
Ding—!
A lifeform has been detected nearby.
Calculating Affection Level…
[Seo Rana – Affection Level: -110]
The closest entity is displayed first.
Guess it wasn’t me.
There was a sharpness in her tone, and it turned out it was because her Affection Level had dropped further.
I didn’t even need to ask why. Another wave of favorable articles about me must have come out again.
I have no idea who keeps pulling these tricks on my behalf, but I really wish they’d stop.
I’m nothing but an ordinary civilian with nothing to strip away.
I just recently became an S-rank Hunter, supposedly someone the public trusts…
The more I think about it, the more it makes sense that Seo Rana can’t help but hate me.
“Of course I had to come early for something like this!”
I deliberately acted bright to look polite.
I’m socially tone-deaf. I’m an idiot. I don’t get anything, and I absorb sarcasm only as compliments.
“…We’re not quite ready yet, so how about a cup of tea?”
“If you would, I’d be grateful.”
I was already exhausted.
I wanted to go straight home, but I was the one who had contacted Seo Rana first.
I swallowed back my tears, and soon a warm cup of tea was set before me.
“You said you wanted to enter a dungeon?”
“Yes. Ah, hot…!”
“Oh dear, careful. Blow on it slowly as you drink.”
I grabbed the cold water she slid over next to the teacup and hurriedly cooled my tongue.
Her attitude didn’t feel at all like someone with Affection Level -110.
She was so polite it actually created a sense of distance.
“Why do you want to go into a dungeon, if I may ask? Personally, I don’t mind at all going into one with you, Ms. Baek Youngha.”
“Ah, I just wanted to check the limits of my skill. But I haven’t joined a guild yet… trying to figure out a dungeon on my own was overwhelming, so I contacted you. I hope I haven’t troubled you?”
From the little I’d seen of Seo Rana’s personality, there was no way she’d say yes.
“I’m the one who told you to reach out whenever you needed help.”
There was a barb in her words, but it was exactly what I’d expected.
I bared my teeth in a grin to show my thanks.
Affection Level of a nearby lifeform has changed.
Calculating Affection Level…
[Seo Rana – Affection Level: -200]
The closest entity is displayed first.
How far is this going to drop?
I need to get into a dungeon quickly and fix my image.
I mean, what’s with this skill of mine, showing me Affection Levels and… killing things when I touch them.
It’ll… work out, right?
T/N:
[1] ↩
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