Currently, the Republic of Korea has approximately 7,000 A-Class Hunters.
Considering the country's small land area, having such a large number of A-Class Hunters is remarkable.
Since hunting the SS-Class Monster, the Red Dragon, the number of A-Class Hunters has surged. Though rumors persist that less than half of them are truly qualified...
Still, the sheer quantity was impressive.
Among these, the Top 10 Guilds each maintain dozens of A-Class Hunters.
It's said the Korean Hunter Association boasts over 2,000 A-Class Hunters.
For comparison, the neighboring country with a population exceeding 100 million has only around 9,000 A-Class Hunters. This stark contrast highlights Korea's unusually high concentration of A-Rank Hunters.
"As a joke, people say Korea is blessed by the Hunter God. With so many A-Class Hunters compared to its land area, it's considered the safest country from monsters."
While there are relatively few high-level dungeons (B-Class or higher), A-Class Hunters are frustratingly abundant. Competition for dungeon access is inevitable.
Perhaps because of this, Korean A-Class Hunters frequently take overseas assignments. In other countries with vast territories, the number of dungeons is proportionally higher, eliminating the need for intense competition over dungeon rights like in Korea.
Moreover, developing nations often lack advanced hunter facilities and equipment, resulting in fewer high-ranking Hunters.
"If you're serious about making money, you can earn far more by operating overseas. Most small to medium-sized guilds combine domestic operations with overseas assignments."
In countries like the United States, with their vast territories, even with over 30,000 A-Class Hunters, there's still a shortage.
Russia, with its immense landmass, couldn't contain the dungeons. Now, monsters occupy 15% of its territory.
"So, you're planning to change the Korean Hunter system? Is that it?" I asked indifferently. The problems with Korea's Hunter system can't be solved by people alone.
"No, that's not it. I'm going to create my own Guild. I have no intention of joining the Top 10 Guilds and working like a dog for them."
"What about participating in Dungeon Survival? Wasn't that to showcase your skills to the Top 10 Guilds?"
"Not to the Top 10 Guilds, but to other young Hunters and the public. Once I become an A-Rank Hunter, I'll immediately establish my own Guild."
It was then I realized Kang Seoksu hadn't come to see me solely because of Yu Jeongmi.
"What you really want to say is..."
"Exactly. Why don't we start a guild together?"
I saw the ambition burning in Kang Seoksu's eyes. I shook my head.
"No."
"An immediate rejection?"
"If I start a guild with you, I'll be working myself to the bone. Besides, you're not even A-Class yet."
The requirement for establishing a guild was being an A-Rank Hunter or higher.
Kang Seoksu gripped the waiting room door.
"Five years. I'll become an A-Rank Hunter within five years. If you're still unaffiliated then, I'll ask you again."
"Hmm. I doubt my answer will change by then."
"Viewers! I apologize for pretending to know everything!"
Hong Su-won knelt before the camera and bowed his head. I watched with amusement.
He then stood before Baek Ji-eun, who was beaming.
"..."
"Oh my, your expression is frightening. You're not going to hit me, are you?"
Thud!
Hong Su-won's knees slammed against the floor. The loud sound startled everyone, but no one worried about him. He was an A-Rank Hunter; if anything, they should be concerned about the studio floor.
"Ms. Baek Ji-eun...! I was blind to your true worth. I'm so sorry!"
"...I never thought you'd actually kneel. I'm fine, so please get up."
Baek Ji-eun feigned embarrassment and distress, but I knew she was acting. Deep down, she was probably relishing this moment, just as I was.
"Mr. Hong Suwon, I'll donate too. Good deeds are always better when shared, right?"
The donation amount at stake in the bet was 500 million won. For A-Class Hunters like them, it wasn't a particularly large sum.
Baek Ji-eun was donating because she couldn't let Hong Su-won take all the credit. Simply put, it was about managing her public image. To the outside world, Baek Ji-eun projected the image of a down-to-earth and kind-hearted woman.
After filming wrapped up, they held a celebratory dinner.
Once the dinner ended, everyone dispersed. Han Harin and Eun Sangmin returned to their respective homes, while Jo Seok-hu left, claiming he had urgent business.
"Ms. Sung Yujin, please get home safely. I have a wife waiting for me, so I'll be going now..."
Hong Su-won departed.
I tilted my head in confusion. Hong Su-won was a scout for Bluebird, a man who should have known my value and, I'd assumed, would be all over me trying to recruit me.
What's going on? Am I not the talent Bluebird needs? I expected the Top 10 Guilds to be groveling at my feet, licking my ass clean to get me to join...
With the Top 10 Guilds' intelligence networks, rumors about me must have spread by now. Yet, aside from Kang Seoksu, no guild representatives had contacted me.
I later learned the truth:
The Top 10 Guilds had given up on recruiting me early on, knowing the Shadow Heaven Sword Hall stood behind me.
Jin Wuseong, the Pavilion Master of Shadow Heaven Sword Hall, was not only a high-ranking executive of the Violet Cloud Guild, one of the Top 10 Guilds, but also a top-tier A-Class Hunter, practically considered S-Rank. It was said that Jin Wuseong had issued a stern warning: "Don't touch my disciple."
The Top 10 Guilds, well aware of Jin Wuseong's notorious reputation as the "Poison Beast," immediately withdrew their offers. I never imagined Jin Wuseong wielded such influence.
"Oh, Ms. Sung Yujin, are you leaving already?"
I ran into Baek Ji-eun on the stairs leading down to the parking lot. She smiled sweetly at me. I glanced around we were alone. Perhaps because it was a staircase, there were no security cameras.
"Ji-eun, you shouldn't say things like that... Mmph!"
Baek Ji-eun pressed her index finger against my lips, forcing me to be quiet.
"You never know who might come. Remember our relationship is a secret? We need to be careful about everything."
Baek Ji-eun's expression shifted. The usually refined and elegant woman licked her lower lip like a seductress.
"...I'm feeling particularly tired today and had some drinks, so I'm thinking of staying at a nearby hotel. Do you have any plans, Ji-eun?"
Her words made sense. As if on cue, footsteps echoed from outside. The building was large, and the popular restaurant was crowded.
"Not exactly plans... I have an appointment."
"I see..."
My eyes widened.
Baek Ji-eun grasped the hem of her flowing beige skirt and lifted it slightly, as if presenting it to me.
The pure white panties covering Baek Ji-eun's secret place were soaked in the center. With her other hand, she subtly pulled them down.
Her smooth, hairless, crimson-red pussy was glistening with clear, sticky arousal fluid.
She slightly parted her thighs, bent her knees slightly, and spread her labia with her index and middle fingers, making it clearly visible to me.
Tzzzz.
Just spreading her pussy made a sound.
I can't just stand here and watch.
I unzipped my pants and pulled out my hard cock.
"Looks like you have an important appointment?"
"It's just a promise to meet a friend. I've been too busy to hang out with her lately."
The gaping hole of her spread pussy throbbed, beckoning me. I gripped my cock and slowly moved toward her.
"Really? Since you're meeting a friend after so long, you must be planning to have a lot of fun."
"Yes. We're planning to party all night."
Sizzle.
My glans touched Baek Ji-eun's vagina. If I thrust forward now, I could penetrate her.
But Baek Ji-eun leaned back slightly, pulled down her skirt, and adjusted her panties.
Immediately afterward, a woman appeared from below.
"Ji-eun! What's wrong? Why aren't you coming?"
It was Ji Hui-yeong, Baek Ji-eun's manager. A woman with short hair and rimless glasses. If she took off her glasses, she'd be quite beautiful.
"I'll be there soon, ??. I was just chatting with Ms. Sung Yujin for a moment. Go wait in the car first."
I tilted my head sideways and gave Ji Hui-yeong a slight bow. Fortunately, my cock was hidden behind Baek Ji-eun's body, so Ji Hui-yeong couldn't see it.
"Okay. Come quickly."
Ji Hui-yeong bowed politely and left the room.
I reluctantly tucked my penis back into my pants, pushing aside my lingering disappointment. If I asked Baek Ji-eun and she wanted to, we could have sex right here. But I didn't want to embarrass her.
Moreover, I didn't want to pressure her after her manager had just shown up. Baek Ji-eun was perfect just as she was.
"I should get going now."
"Yes. You too, Ji-eun, get home safe."
Baek Ji-eun approached me and kissed me briefly, a kiss lasting about five seconds. Then she left.
Knock, knock, knock.
Sitting on the sofa in my hotel suite, I jumped up at the knock and rushed to the door, flinging it open.
Bang!
"...Who are you?"
It wasn't the person I was expecting. A man in his early twenties, wearing jeans and a hoodie.
"What kind of prank is this? Move aside, let me in."
"No. Who do you think you are, trying to barge in... Ugh!"
The man shoved me with tremendous force. He must be a high-ranking Hunter. Tense, I glared at him, channeling my Mana.
This guy's no ordinary punk... Should I bolt? Or ambush him now?
The man stepped inside and slammed the door shut. Click. He even locked it.
Is this guy an assassin... Huh?
The man's body blurred and distorted, then transformed into Baek Ji-eun. It was Baek Ji-eun exactly as I'd seen her on the stairs an hour earlier.
"Huh? What's going on?"
"Transformation Magic," Baek Ji-eun said, showing me her necklace.
Mana emanated from the antique necklace, which was adorned with a blue gem.
"A Transformation Magic Tool... That's illegal, isn't it?"
Transformation Magic and Magic Tools were strictly prohibited due to their potential for criminal misuse. Exceptions required explicit authorization from the Association.
"Have you forgotten where I work?"
"...Ah."
Baek Ji-eun was affiliated with the Association, and a promising executive candidate. Someone of her standing might be authorized to use a Transformation Magic Tool.
"No, no. Even Association staff can't use them indiscriminately, right?"
"It's fine. I obtained usage permission several years ago."
The fact that she still had permission to use it after all these years proved she enjoyed the Association's trust and high expectations.
It seemed like her promotion to Association executive was a foregone conclusion.
"Forget that, let's get to bed. Since you won Dungeon Survival... this noona will show you what paradise truly is."
Baek Ji-eun walked into the suite ahead of me, already stripping as she went. With each step, she tossed off her top and let her skirt fall to the floor.
"Paradise? I think you're the one who's about to experience it."
I watched her striptease with relish, tossing off my own clothes.
Plop.
The sound of her panties, soaked with arousal, hitting the floor. I swallowed hard.
Beneath her bouncing hips, as she moved toward the bedroom, a clean, vivid pink vulva peeked out. She deliberately swayed her hips, teasing me.
Just as I was about to reach out and touch her ass, we arrived at the bedroom.
Baek Ji-eun perched on the plush bed, casually crossing her legs. She was completely naked, even tossing the necklace she'd been wearing earlier onto a nearby chair.
Her large F-cup breasts featured light brown nipples, long and pointed.
"Come here," she beckoned with a flick of her finger. I moved closer.
"What's this? You're rock hard. Were you expecting something?" Her slender index finger traced the length of my cock.
"Of course I was expecting something. I've been like this for ten minutes, ever since you said you were coming."
"Hmm." She poked my balls with her finger.
"What are you doing?"
"Just feeling... new again."
This was the first time Baek Ji-eun had looked at my cock with such lingering intensity. Though she had sucked it before, this was our first proper sexual encounter. Of course, after all our teasing and secret meetings, it felt as if we had already been intimate several times.
"Aren't you going to suck it?"
Baek Ji-eun cupped both my testicles in one hand and began playfully rolling them between her fingers like marbles.
"Tell me honestly. You slept with Han Harin in the Rest Area, didn't you?"
"...How did you know?"
Were there cameras installed in the Dungeon Survival Rest Area?
"Just a hunch. I noticed the strange tension between you two at the company dinner earlier. How many times did you do it? Surely not every day, right?"
"Every day."
Under the guise of maintaining peak physical condition, I had been having sex with Han Harin daily in the Rest Area.
"Tch."
Baek Ji-eun clicked her tongue and squeezed my testicles tightly. Fortunately, not hard enough to burst them.
"Aaaah! What are you doing?!"
"Do you know how anxiously I've been watching you? And you're the only one getting pleasure while I'm left unsatisfied... Maybe I should sleep with another man while I'm at it?"
"Don't."
I said firmly, my expression serious. My woman sleeping with another man? I couldn't tolerate it, not in the present or the future, though I couldn't change the past.
This was an order. Knowing my seriousness, Baek Ji-eun wouldn't meet another man.
"I didn't mean it. I was just saying it."
The grip on my testicles loosened slightly. She seemed to be calming down.
She rubbed the pre-ejaculate glistening at the tip of my glans with her index finger and asked, "Should I just put it in? Or suck it first?"