"What?!"
Sung Jin-woo's jaw practically hit the floor. He stared at Min-jun in absolute, wide-eyed shock. "You joined the Hunters Guild?!"
"What's wrong, Oppa?" Sung Jinah frowned, glaring at her older brother around a mouthful of sweet-and-spicy chicken. "Don't yell so loud at night! You're going to get us a noise complaint!"
"But, Jinah—Min-jun just joined the absolute strongest Guild in South Korea! The frontline combat there is—"
"It doesn't matter!" Jinah cut him off, waving a chicken drumstick dismissively. "Min-jun Oppa is always just Min-jun Oppa!"
Unlike Jin-woo, who was having a minor existential crisis over the brutal politics and extreme danger of the Hunter industry, Jinah genuinely didn't care about Min-jun's new S-Rank status. To her, he wasn't a walking weapon of mass destruction or a corporate billionaire; he was just the reliable, smart guy next door who bought her dinner and promised to pay her medical school tuition.
As long as he was living well and staying safe, she was happy.
"Here, eat more, Oppa," Jinah beamed, happily piling another piece of perfectly fried chicken onto Min-jun's plate.
"Hmm... thanks," Min-jun hummed, casually taking a bite.
He didn't even have to worry about the greasy calories or maintaining an athletic Hunter physique. The Manager was constantly running in the background, flawlessly regulating his cellular metabolism and keeping his body in absolute, peak physical condition regardless of what he ate.
When he really thought about it, the Manager was arguably the most broken, valuable cheat skill in existence. It might lack the flashy, explosive visual effects of a massive fireball or a summoned shadow army, but its multifunctional utility outside of battle was entirely unmatched.
It was exactly why Min-jun could sit here, comfortably eating chicken in a rundown apartment, completely unstressed about his impending deployment into highly lethal dungeons.
Through the Manager, he had already downloaded and analyzed thousands of years of global archery techniques—from ancient traditional forms to modern Olympic precision firing. The AI seamlessly combined the absolute best stances, calculating optimal wind resistance and muscle efficiency for every possible combat scenario.
In the absolute worst-case scenario, if a raid somehow became too exhausting or tedious, he could literally just flip his body to "Auto-Pilot." The Manager would flawlessly execute lethal, mathematically perfect combat maneuvers while Min-jun's actual consciousness wandered off to mentally review anime tropes, outline a new light novel plot, or simply zone out.
Would he be afraid of losing a fight on auto-pilot?
Please. With the Manager running the physical hardware, his combat efficiency would be entirely devoid of human error. Combined with his new weapon, the Logic Arc—which could instantly change forms and generate its own ammunition—he was practically an automated defense turret.
"But..." Jin-woo ran a hand through his hair, his anxiety spiking. He couldn't even appreciate how comfortable Jinah and Min-jun looked together.
Jin-woo had known Min-jun for years. He knew he was a good guy, and honestly, if Jin-woo ended up dying in a dungeon tomorrow, he would die peacefully knowing his sister was protected by someone like Min-jun. But the Hunter industry was a meat grinder. Despite being known as the "Weakest Hunter," Jin-woo had survived at the very bottom of the food chain long enough to know exactly how manipulative and terrifying the Guilds could be.
"Are you absolutely sure you made the right decision, Min-jun?" Jin-woo asked, his tone deadly serious. "Joining the Hunters Guild so easily..."
"What do you mean, Hyung?" Min-jun looked up, adjusting his glasses.
"They might promise you the moon right now," Jin-woo warned, his fists clenching slightly. "But aren't you worried they're just going to use you as a corporate pawn? Guilds throw rookies to the wolves to secure mining rights all the time."
Before Min-jun could even formulate a response, Jinah rolled her eyes so hard she practically looked at the ceiling.
"Oppa, please," Jinah sighed. "Do you honestly think Min-jun Oppa is stupid?"
"....." Jin-woo blinked.
Min-jun was a certified genius. His flawless admission into the psychology department at Seoul National University—the most prestigious academic institution in the country—proved his IQ was miles above the average Hunter.
"But being a Hunter is completely different from taking a midterm!" Jin-woo argued. "It's filled with unpredictable, lethal danger!"
"But Min-jun Oppa is an S-Rank!" Jinah fired back, crossing her arms.
As the siblings bickered back and forth over his career choices, Min-jun calmly wiped his fingers with a napkin, sighed, and dropped a verbal nuke.
"One hundred billion Won."
"....."
"....."
Both Sung siblings instantly snapped their mouths shut. The room went dead silent.
"What if I told you," Min-jun continued smoothly, leaning back against the sofa, "that my contract guarantees I will easily make that exact amount of liquid capital within my first month at the Hunters Guild?"
"..."
"...You're joking, right, Oppa?" Jinah squeaked, her expression completely freezing in comical disbelief. Was that number even real? Could he possibly be lying?
Jin-woo couldn't even form a coherent word. His brain short-circuited. If he could make one hundred billion Won in a single month, would he ever have to worry about anything ever again?!
"Honestly, though, focusing solely on the hundred billion Won is a trap," Min-jun stated pragmatically. "I don't actually need that much liquid cash. As long as I have enough to be comfortable, the exact number is irrelevant."
What was the actual use of hoarding paper money in this apocalyptic world?
In the reality of Solo Leveling, raw physical and magical strength was the only true currency. He couldn't care less about a few billion Won in pocket change. After all, what could he buy? A massive hospital? A high-rise corporate building? An entire logistics company?
The moment an S-Rank Gate randomly spawned in the middle of Seoul and completely vaporized the city's infrastructure, all those expensive real estate investments would be reduced to worthless, burning rubble!
"When I Awakened as an S-Rank today, two distinct paths opened before me," Min-jun explained, slipping into his analytical, calculating persona. "First, I could become a civil servant. The Korean Hunter Association desperately wanted to draft me as the ultimate 'Defender of Korea.'"
"...You didn't want to be a national hero?" Jin-woo asked softly.
"If I become the government's official defender, when do you think I'd ever get to go home?" Min-jun smiled wryly. "Wouldn't you miss me, Hyung? If I worked for the state, I would be legally mandated to handle every single high-casualty disaster raid the private Guilds refuse to touch. I'd be buried in bureaucratic paperwork, and I'd likely die in some nameless dungeon on a fixed government salary."
"...." Jin-woo winced. He knew exactly how cheap and unhelpful the Association could be to its Hunters.
"On the other hand," Min-jun raised two fingers. "By signing an infrastructure alliance with the Hunters Guild, I instantly gain the absolute legal and physical protection of an entire corporate army. It is the only Guild in Korea that currently boasts two S-Rank Hunters. Since I am a backline Archer, the Guild Master is contractually obligated to keep me safely in the rear echelon. Furthermore, they are allowing me to finish my university degree uninterrupted. I receive the highest-grade training, elite magical equipment, dedicated mining teams, and full liability insurance against property damage."
Min-jun paused, letting the heavy corporate logic sink in.
"But lastly, and most importantly..." Min-jun's eyes softened slightly as he looked at Jin-woo. "To secure my signature, the Guild Master aggressively diversified my portfolio. He legally purchased this entire apartment building, and he officially acquired the private hospital where Auntie is currently staying."
"Ah..."
"What...?"
The last sentence completely shattered the remaining tension in the room. Jin-woo and Jinah both stared at him, their breath catching in their throats.
Their mother was currently lying in a hospital bed, trapped in the comatose state of Eternal Sleep—a rare, magical disease that manifested after the world was exposed to dungeon mana. The life support fees were astronomically expensive. It was the sole, crushing reason Jin-woo threw himself into lethal E-Rank dungeons every single day.
"Don't worry anymore, Hyung," Min-jun said quietly. "Auntie has already been moved to the VVIP suite. She is under the care of the absolute best magical specialists on the continent. The entire hospital is now a protected asset of the Hunters Guild. If a Gate ever opens near that facility, the Guild's elite strike teams will arrive within minutes."
Min-jun then turned his gaze to Jinah, offering a warm smile. "So, go study hard and get your medical degree. Someday, I'm going to need you to manage that hospital for me."
"I LOVE YOU, OPPA!!!"
Jinah burst into happy tears, launching herself across the sofa and tackling Min-jun into a massive, suffocating hug.
"....."
Jin-woo just sat there, completely paralyzed. He didn't try to stop his sister. His mind was struggling to process the sheer, astronomical gap that had just opened between them. While Jin-woo was violently scraping his knees in the dirt, practically bleeding to death every single day just to earn a meager paycheck to keep his mother breathing... Min-jun had completely solved their entire family's generational trauma in a single afternoon by signing a piece of paper.
Still, Jin-woo had to ask.
"What about the other major Guilds? Why not the White Tigers or the Fiend Guild?"
"They lacked vision," Min-jun replied bluntly, trying to pry Jinah's tear-soaked face off his new Arachne-silk blazer. "They just offered me a massive signing bonus and expected me to act like an obedient, salaried attack dog. Choi Jong-In treated me like a business partner."
"....."
Jin-woo nodded slowly. Yes, the Hunters Guild really was the absolute best choice.
Min-jun finally managed to gently push Jinah back into her seat. He adjusted his glasses, looking directly into Jin-woo's eyes with a perfectly calculated, calm expression.
"So, Hyung," Min-jun asked casually. "Do you want to join the Hunters Guild, too?"
The moment the words left his mouth, the living room went completely, utterly silent.