36 chapter - Mountain Guild (1)

Lee Yechan spoke as if it were nothing special, but in truth, this was an enormous offer.

‘Mountain Guild… they’re practically on par with Taeseong.’

In terms of public recognition alone, the Taeseong Guild—which dominated the capital region—held the clear advantage. But when it came to real combat capability, it was an open secret in the industry that Mountain Guild was superior.

‘Mountain Guild has Han Sooyoung, after all.’

The Sword Saint of Korea.

An S-Rank Hunter.

She was the master of Mountain Guild.

And even putting Han Sooyoung aside, Mountain Guild was known for having top-tier Hunters across the board.

‘They’re the ones handling most of the Gates pouring out of Gangwon-do.’

Low population density, vast stretches of land—the result? Each Hunter had to cover more Gates individually.

Inevitably, the average skill level of their members was high.

A colossal guild ruling over Gangwon-do.

That was Mountain Guild.

And now, an A-Rank Hunter from that very guild was personally scouting me.

“Not just you, Changshik. I wanted to ask all of you—would you consider joining Mountain Guild?”

“You’re saying you want to recruit our entire party?”

“Exactly.”

It was an enticing offer, but I decided to hold off for now.

It wasn’t a decision I could make alone.

“Can I talk it over with my party first before giving you an answer?”

“Of course.”

I led the party back to our lodgings.

“So, what do you all think?”

Lee Yuna, still relatively new to this line ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) of work, spoke first.

“I’m all for it! Mountain Guild’s basically a corporate giant, right? Wouldn’t it be great if we joined?”

A textbook civilian’s perspective.

Im Jin-sol responded, her expression serious.

“Idiot. Just because you join a big guild doesn’t mean everything’s sunshine and rainbows.”

“I mean, sure, not everything is good… but aren’t the positives way more than the negatives?”

“There’s no shortage of perks.”

More money.

Access to expensive Hunter equipment, including premium raid kits.

Dedicated teams to handle all the administrative headaches, like accounting.

Higher social standing. Public recognition. The list went on.

Plenty of advantages.

“But there’s one major downside.”

“What’s that?”

“Endless work.”

Mountain Guild was infamous for its brutal schedules.

They had no choice if they wanted to handle the flood of Gates pouring out of Gangwon-do.

Yuna tilted her head, genuinely puzzled.

“Isn’t that a good thing though? We’re freelancers—more work means more money, right?”

Im Jin-sol let out a small sigh as she explained.

“……Sure, money’s great. But in this business? More work means more ways to die.”

She gestured toward the room where Seong Yohan was still resting.

Frustration flickered in her eyes.

“Look at what just happened. If we hadn’t come to Gangwon-do, Yohan wouldn’t be like that right now. Mountain Guild’s turf is Gangwon-do. If we join them, we’re accepting that kind of risk—”

Creeeeak.

Just then, the door Jin-sol had been pointing at opened, and Seong Yohan stepped out.

All eyes turned to him.

With a miserable expression, Yohan spoke.

“……So… we’re all dead then.”

Looked like the poor guy thought he was in heaven or something.

“Yohan!”

Im Jin-sol rushed over and hugged him tight.

Flustered, his face bright red, Yohan stammered.

“N-Noona, w-what are you doing?”

“Idiot. You had me thinking you were actually gonna die. How’s your body?”

“Huh? Oh… yeah?”

The three of us, aside from Yohan and Jin-sol, simply watched their exchange with blank faces.

“I asked if you’re hurt anywhere!”

“F-Fine! I’m just a little dizzy…”

“Good. Dizziness is probably just from the blood loss. That insect that healed you said so.”

“Wait…? Insect? Healed me…?”

Even while they talked, Jin-sol refused to let go of him.

Watching them glued together like that, I remarked.

“When did you two get so close?”

Jin-sol turned her head toward me, mumbling without missing a beat.

“Why? Jealous? You want a hug too, Boss?”

She tried to play it cool, but her face was redder than a tomato.

“S-Seriously though… what exactly happened? How am I alive?”

I explained everything.

The events that transpired while he was unconscious.

After listening, Yohan looked at me in awe.

“For real? So we’re… joining Mountain Guild now?”

“That’s what we’ve been discussing.”

“What’s there to discuss? It’s Mountain Guild.”

His immediate enthusiasm made Im Jin-sol speak up again.

“Idiot. If we join them, we’ll be working in Gangwon-do nonstop. What happens if you get hurt again?”

Yohan tilted his head, answering casually.

“Wouldn’t joining them make things safer? They’ve got Guild-exclusive housing, right? And all the best Hunters are stationed there. How dangerous could it be?”

“Huh?”

“Mountain Guild gives raid kits and gear that are all top quality. That means we’ll be safer, no?”

“Well… yeah.”

“I even heard they issue Hunter-exclusive firearms to every D-Rank raid squad.”

“For real…?”

“Plus, their contracts are better than most guilds. We all agreed to start tackling C-Rank Gates soon, remember? We’ll need guild connections for that anyway. Why not just go straight to a major guild?”

“That… makes sense.”

“And we’re coming to Gangwon-do either way, for those government subsidies. Wouldn’t it be better to be part of Mountain Guild—the ones who run the place?”

“You’ve got a point.”

Yohan’s rapid-fire reasoning steamrolled Jin-sol into silence.

I took that opportunity to jump in.

Perfect timing.

“Alright, let’s decide. Personally, I think joining Mountain Guild’s the smart move. Anyone against it?”

No objections.

I glanced at Hong Soo-ah for confirmation.

“Soo-ah, you really okay with this?”

I remembered her sister was part of Taeseong Guild.

There weren’t open hostilities between Taeseong and Mountain Guild, but they operated differently.

Taeseong was entangled with politics and Korea’s economic system.

Mountain Guild focused entirely on Gate raids.

“……I don’t care.”

Unanimous decision.

“Good. We’re joining Mountain Guild.”

No point dragging it out.

We went straight to Lee Yechan and told him we wanted in.

“Welcome aboard, newbies.”

The perks of Mountain Guild were better than expected.

For starters, they covered all costs from the Orc incident.

The destroyed rental car.

The Hunter-exclusive ammo we burned through fighting the Orcs.

Mountain Guild was footing the entire bill.

Considering how wrecked that rental car was, this alone saved me a fortune.

“Ahem. Now that you’re officially Guild members, I can speak more casually, right?”

He’d already been speaking casually, but I nodded anyway.

“Great. You guys can drop the formalities too. We’re family now. So, shall we head out?”

I asked.

“Where to?”

Lee Yechan smiled faintly as he answered.

“Where else? We’re going home.”

“Huh? Home?”

“Just follow me. You’ll see.”

**

Near Gyebangsan Mountain in Gangwon-do.

Deep in the mountains, completely out of place, stood a luxurious hotel.

Various convenience facilities clustered around the hotel, forming what looked like a small village.

“This… is it?”

“Yeah. This is Mountain Guild’s Third Headquarters. And…”

Yechan pointed his thumb toward himself with a playful grin.

“I’m the Director of the Third Headquarters.”

Fifth time I’d heard that on the way here.

His team members looked entirely desensitized, only half-listening to him at this point.

“Yeah, yeah. Director, we get it.”

It was an open secret in the Hunter industry that Yechan, known as the ‘Little Sword Saint,’ was the Sword Saint’s favorite.

‘Well, his ability justifies it.’

This was the guy slicing clean through Orc Elites whose skin could stop bullets.

No one was calling it favoritism, even if he reached this position at a young age.

“But… are you sure this is okay?”

“What is?”

“Us coming and going as we please.”

“I told you, it’s fine. Don’t make me say it again.”

You’ve said you’re the Director at least five times, though.

“Appreciate it.”

“Don’t worry about it. Seriously, no pressure. Everyone else does the same. Think of this place like a hotel for when you’re on missions in Gangwon-do.”

I wasn’t sure if that was Mountain Guild’s policy or just Yechan’s style, but the freedom they were offering was impressive.

All we had to do was clear four D-Rank Gates a month, and the rest of our time was completely our own.

We didn’t even have to live here.

We could just come to Gangwon-do when we felt like raiding.

“You’ll end up wanting to stay, though. This place has everything.”

True to his word, the facilities were ridiculous.

An indoor pool you’d only find in luxury hotels, a food court with various restaurants, a gym with a full training center, even a convenience store.

“Alright, wanna go check out the rooms first?”

“Waaah—.”

The rooms could easily rival most hotels.

Not huge, but all the furniture, including the beds, was top of the line.

What stood out the most was the massive bathroom, practically the size of the bedroom itself.

At one end, there was even a bathtub.

Im Jin-sol spoke up.

“Boss, can I just live here?”

“……Knock yourself out.”

“Not forever, just for a month. Hey, Yohan, stay too.”

“Eh? Me, Noona?”

“What, you want me stuck here alone, bored out of my mind?”

“Uh… Okay. I’ll stay too.”

Yohan scratched his head before mumbling.

“Shouldn’t we go home first though?”

“Oh, right. Yeah, I gotta head back, ditch that crappy one-room apartment.”

“Uh… Noona? I meant to grab clothes… and stuff…”

“Pfft. Why waste money paying rent when you’ve got this place?”

“Uh… I live with my parents, though…”

“Perfect. Time to finally move out.”

“I… I dunno about that…”

Guess she really liked this place.

Makes sense. Staying at a hotel with these kinds of facilities would easily run 300,000 won a night.

They were offering long-term lodging for free. No reason to refuse.

“Didn’t you say we’d be coming to Gangwon-do a few times a week for D-Rank Gates? Isn’t it easier to just stay here than commute back and forth?”

Yuna gave her a skeptical look.

“Unnie… weren’t you the one against joining Mountain Guild earlier?”

“Hmm? When did I say that?”

“Wow.”

“Hey, hey. I only said we should think carefully. I never opposed it.”

“……”

Yechan nodded with satisfaction and chimed in.

“Who in their right mind would turn down Mountain Guild, right?”

“Of course, Director-nim, couldn’t agree more,” Jin-sol replied enthusiastically.

“Alright, done looking? Let’s head down.”

“There’s more?”

“Yeah, the most important part.”

Yechan led us downstairs to the basement.

“Director-nim! Welcome back!”

What awaited us was a massive shopping area.

At a glance, it looked like your typical department store—clothing, weapons, all kinds of gear displayed.

But even a fool could tell these weren’t ordinary items.

‘No way…’

That’s when Yechan spoke.

“Whose equipment are we getting first? Party leader Changshik’s?”

I spoke up cautiously, already sensing where this was going.

“Wait… all this… is this all Hunter-exclusive gear?”

Yechan nodded brightly.

“Exactly. That’s the reaction I was hoping for.”