GM Ch28

After the elevator doors closed, Minjun glanced up at Soohyuk standing next to him. The guild members seemed to be giving him quite a hard time. Feeling the stare, Soohyuk turned his head. When their eyes met, he frowned.

“It’s not what you think it is.”

“What?”

“It’s not like we’re on bad terms.”

“I wasn’t thinking that.”

Minjun started to back away. Rather than having a bad relationship, he thought he was having a hard time with the guild leader, who was an S-class hunter. Of course, he couldn’t tell Soohyuk that directly.

“As if. Your eyes are telling me.”

“Absolutely not, But if you’re not on bad terms, why don’t they want to take the elevator?”

“The elevator has been stuck a few times.”

“How many times?”

In response to the unexpected answer, Minjun unconsciously asked how many times. He naturally wondered how many times the elevator had to stop for everyone to laugh and take a step back.

“Four times. Everyone was safe, so It’s okay. I’m used to riding alone. Ah, here we are.”

While they chatted, the elevator arrived at the 12th floor without stopping another time. As soon as the doors opened, Soohyuk got off and Minjun followed suit.

On the 12th floor, there were offices on both sides of the hallway. Soohyuk’s office was at the end of the hallway.

“The chick has been delivered!”

Soohyuk boomed as he opened the door with a plaque that read Team 1. The hunters, gathered in an office the size of a school classroom, roared with laughter.

“The chick has arrived.”

“Indeed he has.”

“Come on in.”

“Wow, a twenty-year-old hunter.”

June Guild had seven hunters in Team 1. With more than half of them being first-generation hunters, their average age was 33. When a new 20-year-old hunter showed up, everyone was excited to see the fresh face.

The Team 1 hunters, especially those who served as safety guards for the hunter license practical exam, saw Minjun express his dislike of the white guild uniforms in Soohyuk’s presence, saying they were stained easily. As a result, they had a good impression of the confident new hunter who did not cower before the guild leader.

“Hello, I’m Kim Minjun. I’m 20 years old, and I’m a C-class. I’ll be assisting you with buff skills. I look forward to working with you.”

Minjun greeted them stiffly, feeling like he was in the army again. Being on the first team of a large guild like the June Guild meant that they were the main force in combat. No matter what his past was, he was now a twenty-year-old C-class hunter, so it was best to appear polite.

Team 1’s hunters laughed as they watched Minjun, who was now in full gear.

“The youngest seems nervous. Hunter Kim Minjun, we’ve met before, right? I’m Choi Yohan, Team 1’s leader, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask me.”

“Yes. I see.”

A smiling Choi Yohan briefly introduced Minjun to the first-team hunters. The seven first-team hunters, including Choi, were all A-class. There were two women and five men. Although there were some changes in team members along the way, the bond between Team 1 hunters who had been together for several years was obvious at first glance.

How could you put a beginner in a team like this? Minjun swallowed a sigh at Soohyuk’s appointment, but he didn’t let it show. The stone that was rolled had to be quiet so as not to be hated.

“Oh dear. Our youngest is frozen, guild leader. Are you really going to let a C-class little chick go into the dungeon with us? He’s going to be petrified.”

“It’s alright, we have the item.”

“The item better be really good. Little chick, you stay right behind me, and you’ll be safe. Okay?”

A big, muscular man laughed heartily and patted Minjun on the back, his palm as hard as his thick biceps.

Minjun knew the man. Shin Youngjae. He was thirty-eight years old, four years older than Minjun. They weren’t close, but as first-generation hunters, they’d traveled the dungeons in parties a few times. He was skilled and friendly, so they got along well.

Still, ‘chick’ was too much.

Minjun, with his thirty-four-year-old self, winced unnecessarily. It was almost unfair that his appearance had changed after fusing with the spirit stone. He still had decent height and physique, though not as much as he had in the past. However, being amongst C-class hunters made him feel relatively dwarfed.

Minjun wanted to get his rating back up as quickly as possible.

“Hunter Shin Youngjae. It hurts our chick when you hit them like that.”

“Aye, a pretty little chick is here, and the guild leader is berating an old man. I’m upset.”

Minjun smiled as he watched Soohyuk and Shin Youngjae fooling around. If nothing else, it was clear that the atmosphere in the June Guild was good.

***

“Why don’t we start with a dungeon briefing? Everyone’s familiar with it, but our chick is new to it.”

Soohyuk skillfully calmed the atmosphere. The briefing started right in the office without moving to a conference room. Minjun sat at his assigned desk as he listened to the briefing.

Although their guild leader, Yoon Soohyuk, participated in this raid, the team leader and raid leader was strictly Choi Yohan. Hence, the raid briefing was naturally given by Choi Yohan.

The dungeon Team 1 would be raiding was an A-class, fixed-repeat type dungeon. It was called the Grasslands Dungeon, and it had been managed by the June Guild for three years. The interior terrain was, as the name suggests, a vast grassland, dominated by animal monsters. The climate was chilly, and it got cold at night, so cold weather gear was a must.

The time to clear the dungeon was seven days with S-class Soohyuk and a team of seven. Without Soohyuk, the time would increase to 12 days.

The goal of the raid wasn’t to beat the boss or clear the dungeon. It was about killing as many monsters as you can quickly and safely while collecting gems.

The Grasslands Dungeon was rectangular in shape from the entrance to the boss area, and with such a large area, efficient movement was key.

“The basic briefing is over. One final word, I want you to know that hunter Kim Minjun has joined us. He won’t be in direct combat, but he’ll be in the rear. Don’t use your AoE skills as you normally would. Especially hunter Ryu Kyungoh.”

“Aye. If you criticize me, it will sting me a lot, team leader.”

Ryu Kyungoh shamelessly interjected, causing laughter to break out everywhere. The hunters on Team 1 were all belligerent, but they all admitted that Ryu Kyungoh was unbeatable. Even Ryu Kyungoh himself.

Choi Yohan said with a bitter smile.

“We’ve been running the same dungeon for three years, so we’ve been slacking off lately. Let’s focus.”

The Grasslands Dungeon had been dedicated to Team 1 for over three years. The dungeon was full of A-class monsters, but everyone had gotten used to it and let their guard down. When Choi Yohan pointed it out, everyone nodded in agreement. In their eyes, the twenty-year-old C-class hunter was glassy-eyed.

“That’s all from me.”

When Choi Yohan ended the briefing and returned to his seat, Soohyuk stepped to the front.

“I’ll be responsible for hunter Minjun Kim’s safety. Of course, if I take a C-class hunter into an A-ranked dungeon and there’s an accident, I’m going to be ground into powder. That doesn’t mean Ryu Kyungoh can use his AoE skills at will.”

“No, why am I getting arrowed again? I’m heartbroken. Seriously. I won’t use AoE skills, I won’t.”

Ryu Kyungoh, who had been sniped again by Soohyuk, pouted his lips and grumbled.

“I hope you will keep your promise.”

“I’ll do my best, guild leader.”

“I’ve said it before, but the key is to see how much the buffed skill will reduce your raid time. We want you to do your best. I plan to slowly reveal that Minjun hunter has buff skills. We’re keeping the exact numbers a secret until the last minute. If the media mentions even a single number that an official said, they will blow it up. Even if reporters offer us more money than the penalty, we have to stay mum. As you know, there are more important things in the world than money.”

Soohyuk smiled and politely warned them that if they didn’t keep the secret, he would kill them. The Team 1 hunters shrugged it off as if it was something they were used to before. Some of them playfully responded.

“I have a heavy mouth, guild leader!”

Shin Youngjae bellowed.

“I don’t have any close journalists.”

Ryu Kyungoh, who had a history of getting into fights with reporters who wrote articles with false facts, grumbled, and everyone laughed. After saying that, Soohyuk returned to his seat.

“That’s all for now, meet in front of the meadow at 7 in the evening. Dismissed!”

With that, the Team 1 hunters greeted each other off and left the office. Minjun stayed behind as Soohyuk gestured for him to wait.

Choi Yohan, the head of Team 1, also stayed behind and reported to Soohyuk.

“Guild leader. I have the supplies for hunter Kim Minjun.”

“As expected of the team leader. Hunter Minjun this way.”

Minjun stood up and walked over to Soohyuk and Choi Yohan.

“First of all, our guild has a basic set of supplies for new hunter chicks. Potions, a first aid kit, a survival kit, food and water, a sleeping bag, and two small Magic Boxes to put them in, so you can separate the food from the rest.”

“Oh…”

Minjun watched in awe as Choi Yohan placed the magic box on the table. He had already read about it in the guild guidebook, but it was still different to see the welfare of the guild with his own eyes.

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