Chapter 51 – Fame (2)

*Swish, swish.*

It felt like my body and mind were finally at ease after working my muscles for the first time in a while.

Usually, when I trained, Kim Tae-yang and Kim In-ho were right there beside me. But today, the two of them were out on a dungeon raid.

Instead…

“Hello, Team Leader. Would you like an energy drink?”

A woman in a tank top offered me a drink, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“*Hoo, hoo.* Power, power! I am power!”

Next to me, a healthy slab of muscle was yelling out as he crushed the bench press.

Wow, look at him, working out with what looked like several sacks of rice on each side.

“Greetings, sir. I am Gu Bong-dal, the new Team Leader for the newly established Team 4. I look forward to working with….”

This is annoying.

I’m an attention seeker, so I like having eyes on me, but this is just distracting.

At the very least, they shouldn’t be like this during the sacred time of training.

‘It would be better to train at home.’

Honestly, I was bored of working out alone, so I came to mess with the two Kims for a change. But there were too many people vying for my attention. This wouldn’t work.

The Hanul Guild’s training room used to be empty, but with so many new hunters joining recently, it felt crowded.

I finished my workout half-heartedly and left the training room. The stares of the new hunters on my back made the back of my head tingle.

After showering, I returned to the team office to find Olivier waiting for me.

“Hero. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“What’s up?”

“The proposal you submitted before has been approved.”

Olivier placed the approved document on my office desk.

I checked it and saw that the hellish training schedule for the new hunters had gotten the green light.

“Wow, you look like a villain.”

“What does?”

“Your smile.”

“That’s ridiculous. Honestly, where else would you find someone as refreshing as me?”

I turned my head to look in the mirror.

Hmm. I guess I do look a little scary.

The thought of whipping the clueless newbies into shape for the first time in a while was making it hard to control my expression.

No, saying I’m going to whip them isn’t quite the right word.

Honestly, I think I’ve stressed this before. *I’ve awakened and gained abilities, so I’m a superhuman! I don’t need training!*

Thinking like that is the fastest way to get your head bashed in by a goblin’s rock.

Training is fundamental. And training should always be treated like a real battle.

This is all just me being happy out of the ‘kindness’ of my heart, thinking of my colleagues in the same industry.

“But will you be okay?”

“With what?”

“Training the hunters, managing the team, working as a Gader. And on top of that, clearing dungeons.”

Honestly, she wasn’t wrong.

I enjoyed training people, but right now, I was busy enough just improving myself and catching villains.

“Well, I have to at least make a plan.”

We had a lot of new hunters, and Team 4 had just been formed. The problem was that most of the hunters wanted to join Team 3.

In the past, the other team leaders would have tried to check my influence, but thanks to the recent clean-up, things were much smoother now.

The new leaders for Team 1 and Team 2 were former Hanul members, and they seemed to have good character. They looked pretty skilled, too.

That Im Jae-joon guy is really something. Just as you’d expect from a former Demon King, his management skills are top-notch.

You could see the guild developing right before your eyes.

“By the way, what are you going to do about this?”

Olivier handed me a document.

I took it and saw a familiar guild application form.

“Aren’t minors not allowed to join guilds?”

“She’s affiliated with Laon Academy. It’s like a hunter training school, so they can come out for practical training.”

The reason I said this was because the application was for Katrinne.

There’s no law saying a minor can’t become an official guild member.

In fact, there are a few kids who have been recognized for their talent and joined guilds.

And I know Katrinne’s talent better than anyone.

A saintess who possesses the power of a priest.

With her dimension-crossing mana and healing abilities, Katrinne was coveted by every nation in the other world.

“Being too overprotective isn’t good, you know.”

“Overprotective? What are you talking about?”

Unbelievable. What kind of misunderstanding was Olivier having?

If Katrinne wanted to earn her own keep, what reason was there to stop her?

She had been saying for a while that she wanted to earn money, if only for the sake of the residents on the floating island.

“She’s the ultimate healing vending machine. Of course, we have to bring her in. Absolutely.”

“You don’t mean a word of that.”

“Yes, I do. She’s super convenient. Push a button, get a heal. Push a button, get a heal. I’m going to keep her by my side and work her to the bone.”

“Do as you please.”

Olivier said she would process the application and left.

She might be a minor in Korea, but in the other world, she was more than an adult.

I left the office and went outside.

There were no dungeons to clear, and working out at the guild was getting on my nerves.

The option I chose was my old workplace.

Working out alone at home was boring, and there were too many distractions at the guild.

“Hello.”

I opened the door to my first workplace in a long time.

Huh, something’s a little off. Why is it so quiet?

Whenever I entered the training center, I was always greeted by the sweltering heat of passionate, dedicated workouts.

I liked that atmosphere.

But now, the air was cold.

As if to prove it wasn’t just my imagination, the center was deserted.

What? Is it a holiday today?

“Oh, Hyunbin. What brings you here?”

“Hyung. Why is it so empty?”

A senior I used to work with gave a bitter smile at my question.

“It’s just how things turned out.”

“What do you mean? Where did all the trainers go?”

“The manager told me not to say anything, but…”

As my senior began to speak hesitantly, I let out a laugh of disbelief.

“Tushin?”

“Yeah, the circumstances point to them. But who knows? When a big corporation rolls up its sleeves to crush a small business, it’s all over.”

Apparently, a few new hunters had come to the center to receive training from the Tushin Guild.

Tushin had its own training facility, so it was a bit strange that they suddenly entrusted their hunters to them. But then, things went south.

The new hunters’ attitude towards training was terrible, and they kept provoking the trainers.

Friction arose, and as a result, Tushin filed a complaint and raised hell.

Whether it was because of the rumors or because Tushin was applying pressure, no new hunter training requests came in after that.

For two months, there was no work at all, and they had no choice but to go out and look for clients themselves. But the problem didn’t end there.

“Oh my, Hyunbin. It’s been so long.”

“It’s been a while.”

“You should have called if you were coming.”

Just then, the manager arrived at the center.

He was still wearing a tight pink t-shirt, but his usually cheerful face was etched with fatigue.

“Manager, I’m sorry.”

“Sounds like you heard the story, but why are you apologizing? It has nothing to do with you. Don’t worry about it.”

The Tushin Guild and I did have a lot of bad blood between us. I’d like to think it was just a baseless assumption, but my senior had heard it clearly.

*If you have a problem, go tell Lee Hyunbin.*

“Let’s go inside first.”

My manager, aside from being bald and gay, is a really good person.

He was the one who gave me a job when I came back to the modern world and was struggling to make ends meet.

I think that was a time when I didn’t even have enough money for living expenses, and Katrinne would glance at me nervously even when eating a single cup of ramen.

I had no choice but to swallow my pride and ask for a salary advance at the age of thirty.

And that was only two days after I started working there.

At that time, the manager gave me the advance without asking any questions.

Honestly, I was a little touched.

If it were me, I wouldn’t have given an advance to an underqualified new trainer I barely knew.

But the manager did.

Later, at a company dinner, I asked him why, fueled by alcohol, and he said…

*Muscles don’t lie.*

It was cheesy, but it was cool.

The manager who believed in me was in trouble now. I couldn’t just stand by and not help.

Besides, it wasn’t like I was completely blameless for this situation.

“That’s just how love is. Oh my, how it changes.”

The manager dabbed at the corners of his eyes with a handkerchief in front of me.

“But I’m going to get back up. I just need to find a new love.”

“Ah, yes.”

“It would have been so much better if he was a man like you, Hyunbin.”

The manager said with a sly smile.

Uh, is it okay to hit him?

He really is a good guy, except for the fact that he’s gay.

“Everyone knows you now, Hyunbin. We can’t let the center close when someone like you came from here. Don’t worry.”

The manager said, laughing.

To make matters worse, he had also been scammed by his lover. Thanks to that, the center was now on the verge of closing.

The trainers were doing their best, going around trying to drum up business, but they had no success.

There were plenty of training centers out there, and no one wanted to get on Tushin’s bad side.

“Manager.”

“Yes, Hyunbin.”

Maybe this turned out for the best.

“How about we start a business together?”

“A business?”

It was something I had been keeping in the back of my mind.

Hunters receive only basic education and then train through hands-on experience by going directly into dungeons.

But I’m against this method.

It’s true that hunters connected to the system level up and grow faster by experiencing real combat. But throwing them into dungeons just to mine mana stones without proper survival training or physical conditioning will only lead to unnecessary casualties.

Just like the recently failed Winners Guild.

Winners was once the 13th-ranked guild in the industry, but now it has plummeted to outside the top 40.

“Let’s go ahead with that long-awaited hunter training project you were planning before.”

“Oh, that? That thing is a killer, Hyunbin. Didn’t the first batch of hunters all run away, causing it to fail?”

In fact, we had briefly tried to start a hunter training business before. The manager and I.

Honestly, I wanted to try it, and since I had billions piled up, I wanted to do something with it.

I figured if I was going to start a business, I should do something I was good at.

But the first batch of members rang the quitting bell and ran away in less than a day.

“Let’s change the curriculum a bit this time.”

“Change it?”

“This time, instead of me being the drill instructor, the trainers will run it. And we’ll buy a suitable dungeon to incorporate practical training as well.”

“Buy a dungeon? Do you have any idea how much that costs?”

The manager and my senior jumped in surprise at the mention of buying a dungeon.

“It depends on the mana stone reserves, but if it goes to a competitive bid, it can go for tens of billions. Hyunbin. I know you’re doing well these days, but buying one is still out of your reach.”

“Nah, I can’t afford it yet with my own money.”

They looked at me as if to ask what I was planning to do.

I sent a text message on my phone.

<Lee Hyunbin: Hey, go buy a dungeon.>

A reply came back shortly.

<Im Jae-joon: -_-….>

I know you’re making a lot of money since the guild’s been doing well lately.

Let’s see. First, it would be easiest to have Im Jae-joon buy the dungeon.

Then, I’ll push all the new hunters from the guilds pestering me for training help into this hunter training project. If their results are good, other guilds will naturally become interested.

And my name value will be the secret ingredient.

It’s a new brand, but the promotional effect is excellent. So much so that I’m starting to wish I had killed another Earth Dragon.

Once I lay out the blueprint, I can hand over the actual training to the manager and my fellow trainers, and they’ll run it well. They’re people who know how to push others to their limits, after all.

“Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll get everything ready.”

I reassured the two of them with a smile.

Tushin. This was probably the work of that HR team leader, Kim Shin.

The corners of my mouth curled up on their own.

It seems I’ll have to crush them.

* * *

“What are you doing over there?”

“Sir? We heard there was a dungeon here…”

“Don’t you know the Tushin Guild placed a bid on this? Get lost, now.”

The raid leader of the Tushin Guild, Baek Ju-hwan, spoke as he looked at the party from a weak guild that had only three members.

They were a small-fry guild, barely more than a handful of people. He had never even heard of their name.

“But, we’re allowed to enter the first floor, sir.”

The government distributes free access rights for the first floor of dungeons to new guilds as a form of social contribution.

“The first floor? That was before we got here. Scram.”

“…”

It was infuriating, but they were up against Tushin.

If they got on their bad side, it would be hard to make a living in this industry. With resentful hearts, the small guild had to turn back.

“Everyone, check your gear. We’re splitting into two teams and starting the raid today.”

Raid Leader Baek Ju-hwan was preparing to lead the assault on this low-level dungeon.

His own party and one of the newly recruited parties were included.

Their dungeon-clearing performance had been sluggish for a while, so they even had to attend a training camp.

It was humiliating. He’d been grinding in the field for a long time; it was time for him to become an executive.

‘Because of that damn bastard.’

Baek Ju-hwan thought of the detestable guy.

A guy who was far below him in specs and experience, yet acted with complete arrogance.

He wished the guy would just go somewhere and become a cripple, but instead, he had reached S-rank and become the hottest hunter these days.

And he used to be a mere porter.

“We’re the only ones raiding this dungeon today, so let’s clean the place out. But everyone, stay on your toes.”

“Uh, Raid Leader.”

Just then, he heard his party members murmuring.

Baek Ju-hwan turned his gaze. And walking towards them was a man in a power suit.

A white power suit with an armband signifying a Gader.

There were only two people in the country who wore such an outfit.

“Lee Hyunbin?”

“Well, hello. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Why him, of all people, here?

Baek Ju-hwan was inwardly flustered by Lee Hyunbin’s sudden appearance.

He was sure that Tushin was the only guild scheduled for today’s dungeon raid. No other guild, not even Hanul, had been able to place a bid.

“Wow, it’s really Lee Hyunbin.”

“Awesome. I saw that video.”

Baek Ju-hwan wanted to curse at the new recruits who were chattering excitedly, oblivious to his feelings. Forcing himself to remain calm, he spoke.

“What are you doing here?”

“What do you think? I’m here to clear the dungeon.”