Chapter 44
With the top floor remodeling completed and guild registration finalized, Jun-hyuk officially established his mercenary group.
Named JH Mercenary Corps after his initials.
“Sigh... How on earth did you find out about this?”
He hadn’t told anyone to avoid unnecessary fuss, yet somehow many people arrived bearing congratulatory flowers at his office.
“My, my, this is quite disappointing. As the Association Head, you should have at least informed me. Showing up unannounced makes me feel like an unwelcome guest.”
The Association Head was the first to arrive.
“It’s just me running this small mercenary office anyway. I planned to keep it quiet.”
This wasn’t some grand guild founding ceremony, after all.
“Hey! Boss! Is this how you do things? You should’ve told us about forming a mercenary group! I’m really disappointed!”
Jo Hwan-woo, Taebaek Guild’s leader, and vice-leader Lee Dae-soo had also come.
“So you’ve finally established your mercenary group? Hoho, you know we’ve reserved your first request, right?”
Kang Ji-eun from Genesis arrived as well.
“We briefly met during the Awakening Test at the Association, right? I worried about coming uninvited, but seeing so many fellow ‘uninvited guests’ is reassuring.”
Kim Yoon-ho from Heaven Guild appeared too.
Finally:
“So your plan was to form a mercenary group. I was quite surprised to hear the news.”
Choi Jung-ah from Phoenix Guild—who he thought had returned to America—stood before him.
“Wait, Jung-ah-ssi, didn’t you go back to America?”
“The other two returned. I stayed in Korea for unfinished business.”
What business remained was unclear, but he greeted her politely regardless.
“Ah, I see. But how did you all find out about this?”
Only a few close acquaintances knew about the opening—none connected to these visitors.
Jung-ah solved the mystery by showing her phone displaying Park Chang-soo’s SNS post advertising Jun-hyuk’s mercenary service launch.
“That bastard Chang-soo...”
“Hmph. As you know, Phoenix investigated thoroughly when recruiting you. We’d identified Chang-soo’s SNS during background checks when this post appeared unexpectedly.”
Likely everyone present had discovered the news through Chang-soo’s SNS directly or via others who saw it.
Speak of the devil—Chang-soo arrived with his hunting party members:
“Boss! Congrats on your mercenary group! Cool name!”
Jun-hyuk yelled: “You! Park Chang-soo! Why post this on SNS?!”
Chang-soo looked puzzled: “Huh? Why not? This is business—promotion matters!”
Jun-hyuk sighed: “Fine... Next time, ask me before posting.”
Party member Seo Ye-jin congratulated him: “Jun-hyuk-ssi! This whole building is yours now? So impressive!”
She then worried: “Will hunting with us continue once you’re busy with mercenary work?”
Jun-hyuk reassured her: “I’ll coordinate schedules carefully. Don’t worry.”
Looking at the crowd of elite hunters and guild leaders, Jun-hyuk offered: “I didn’t prepare anything... Should I order jajangmyeon or something?”
Dae-soo interjected: “Don’t worry—I ordered catering before coming! My gift to you!”
Soon the buffet arrived, resulting in an unexpectedly grand opening where Jun-hyuk copied new skills from Kim Yoon-ho and Kang Ji-eun.
His first request involved tanking D-rank monsters for Genesis—pre-booked by Ji-eun to avoid interfering with party hunts.
“Payment’s sent. Check it,” she said.
The 100 million won fee (plus standard tanker cuts) seemed fair given D-rank cores alone were worth 500 million.
Current core prices were:
F-rank: 1 million won
E-rank: 30 million won
D-rank: 500 million won
C-rank: 2 billion won
B-rank: 50 billion won
(A-rank monsters remained unpriced, as none had appeared since The Calamity’s early days.)
After confirming payment, Jun-hyuk asked: “Shall we depart now?”
Ji-eun introduced their Teleporter:
“This is Jeong Ju-hyun-ssi—a third-stage awakened Teleporter.”
Jun-hyuk’s eyes lit up: A third-stage awakened Teleporter?! Jackpot!
Shaking hands while [Copying] her skill, he asked: “Don’t most guilds drive to beginner zones?”
Ji-eun explained: “Most only have first-stage Teleporters. They drive to beginner zones first, then teleport to advanced ones. Second-stage Teleporters can reach advanced zones directly.”
Hunting zones were classified as:
Beginner (F-rank)
Intermediate (E-rank)
Advanced (D-rank)
Noticing missing party members, Jun-hyuk learned they’d gone ahead to scout.
The trio teleported immediately.
At basecamp, Ji-eun introduced Jun-hyuk to Genesis members.
He [Copied] skills during greetings—mostly duplicates but some new ones.
Main tank Bae Deok-su explained: “I’m here to observe your tanking, not participate.”
Jun-hyuk replied: “I hope it won’t be a waste of your time.”
The mapper reported via Map skill:
“Three nearby groups here...here...and here. The issue is these two clustered together.”
Ji-eun suggested targeting isolated groups until Deok-su revealed:
“Heaven and Taebaek already claimed those spots. Other guilds took the next closest ones.”
Kang Ji-eun stared in disbelief: “What kind of nonsense is this?!”
